Fall TV Preview - Monday

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Fall is in the air, football season is here, and TV shows are returning from their summer hiatus. With so many new series and old favorites cluttering the networks, how will you know what to watch? Wonder no more as The Dirtywhirl has you covered with our Fall TV Preview. Over the next week, we’ll break it down night by night so you know exactly how you should spend your evenings. You're welcome.

Monday Night Preview
Best Returning Bet: Heroes – 9:00 NBC (Starting 9/24)
Without a doubt, THE watercooler show of last season was NBC’s freshman hit, Heroes. In case you’ve been living under a rock and avoiding all manners of media for the past year, Heroes is the sprawling tale of everyday people who come to realize that they have special “abilities” (flight, regeneration, mind-reading, telekinesis, etc.) and are ultimately tasked with nothing less than saving the world. Heroes rocked my ass the first time around, but to watch this show a second time on DVD is to realize the genius of its masterplan. There is no wasted motion as the producers obviously had their season’s endgame in sight as early as the first episode. It was also incredibly satisfying to see how the various pieces of the puzzle were meant to fit together by season’s end, as they were embodied by an incredibly talented ensemble (Adrian Pasdar, Masi Oka, and Jack Coleman were particular standouts) that gelled almost from the beginning of the series. And as if the cast wasn’t already strong enough, Kristen Bell of the late lamented (and genius) Veronica Mars will be joining the cast for at least half of the season. Heroes has been compared by many to Lost, a show that surely provided some inspiration to creator Tim Kring. There are definite similarities, but the major difference between the shows is that while Lost often falls into the trap of avoiding answering questions by raising more questions, Heroes, on the other hand, is much more satisfying because it answers the questions it asked, while raising new ones to keep viewers hooked. If you’ve avoided the show for any reason, now’s the time to jump in. A new story begins with new characters and new problems that, if they’re even half as thrilling as the first season, will prove to be some of the best (and most accessible) sci-fi on TV. One of the three best shows on network TV (along with Friday Night Lights and Supernatural).

Most Promising New Show: Chuck – 8:00 NBC (Starting 9/24)
Coming from Josh Schwartz, creator of The OC, Chuck is the unlikely tale of a lowly IT worker who ends up accidently downloading some of the CIA’s most classified information directly into his brain. OK – I realize how retarded that sounds but Chuck has been blessed with some of the best buzz of any new series not called Pushing Daisies or Bionic Woman, plus it comes from the mind of Schwartz, so you know that witty dialogue and snappy pop culture references are sure to follow. By all accounts, series star Zachary Levi has breakout star potential and the fish-out-of-water saga of a loser becoming one of the world’s most dangerous men will appeal to many. Chuck has the potential to become a modest hit for NBC as it will really only have the Dancing With The Stars juggernaut as serious competition in its timeslot and, serving as the lead-in for Heroes, could combine with that hit to prove to be a very appealing way to spend two hours on a Monday night.

Monday Musings:
• Dancing With The Stars (8:00 – ABC; starting 9/24). Boasting such [cough] luminaries as Jane Seymour, Jennie Garth, and Wayne Newton, isn’t that title really a misnomer? Someone please explain to me how we’re defining the word “star.”
• So we’re at long last going to get to meet the titular mother on How I Met Your Mother (8:00 – CBS; starting 9/24) this season. Last year ended with Ted and Robin on the outs, making the timing perfect for Ted to finally (after two seasons) find the girl that he ultimately weds. For some reason, despite boasting one of TV’s funniest ensembles, no one’s watching this show as it just barely made it to a third year. HIMYM is in all actuality one of the best comedies currently on TV and is deserving of much more attention than it actually gets.
• Prison Break (8:00 – FOX; started 9/17) gets back to its roots as Michael is forced to break out of a Panamanian prison that’s so unspeakable that it’s literally being run by the inmates. Prison Break is often one of the most ludicrous shows on TV as it requires a Herculean level of suspension of disbelief, but it’s often one of the most purely enjoyable as well. Still, we can’t shake the feeling that the show is limping along on its last legs at this point.
• The CW’s Aliens In America (8:30 – CW; starting 10/1) is getting some incredible press but it’s a comedy on The CW. A comedy. On The CW. How good could it possibly be?
• Based largely on his amazing work on The Shield, Anthony Anderson headlines K-Ville (9:00 – FOX; started 9/17), a cop series shot on location in post-Katrina New Orleans. Can this show use its intriguing concept to rise above cop show clichés? Or will its hook merely prove to be a shameless way to draw viewers to a mediocre series?
• Does anyone besides me notice the striking similarities between NBC’s new Journeyman (10:00– NBC; starting 9/24) and the venerable classic, Quantum Leap? Sorry, but if there’s no Al or cheesy opening piano theme, it’s dead to me.

What We’re Watching/Recording On Mondays:
Watching:
How I Met Your Mother
Monday Night Football
Heroes
Monday Night Football
Recording:
Prison Break
Chuck
K-Ville