For true TV nerds, upfront week (the week that the major television networks present their fall schedules to advertisers) is one of the best weeks of the year because we get a look at all of the presents that are going to be under our proverbial TV trees come September. Here, then, we continue a night-by-night analysis of new offerings as well as of old favorites being shifted into new slots.
Note: Click through the hyperlinks for trailers on YouTube for each new show.
Tuesdays
Most Promising Newcomer
No Ordinary Family (ABC, 8:00) - ABC's No Ordinary Family, which stars Michael Chiklis (The Shield) and Julie Benz (Dexter) and is about a family that mysteriously acquires superpowers after a plane crash, is the choice here almost by default as none of Tuesday's new entries significantly stand out. We were a little underwhelmed by the trailer but it's Chiklis's first post-Shield project and series creator Greg Berlanti's track record (Everwood, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone) speaks to the potential quality of this one. Berlanti is also reportedly a comics geek so maybe this will succeed where every season of Heroes (save for the first) failed miserably. Call this a mild recommendation with the option to recant if if actually blows.
Fox's post-
Glee sitcoms - Look, we've got no love for Glee (we made it through 20 minutes of the pilot before we wanted to maul our ears with a rusty garden claw), but Fox's decision to pair three new sitcoms (Raising Hope, Running Wilde, and Mixed Signals) with it in the 9:00 hour throughout the season is puzzling for the simple fact that they all look to be varying degrees of terrible. Words cannot do justice to how bad Raising Hope is going to be - just watch the trailer... or don't if you enjoy your will to live - but you get what you pay for when you greenlight a series by the creator of Yes, Dear and My Name Is Earl. We really want to like Running Wilde since it was co-created by Mitch Herwitz (the genius behind Arrested Development) and star Will Arnett and it co-stars Felicity's Keri Russell (mmm... Keri Russell) but the advance look at the show seems to suggest that it's much, much less than the sum of its parts. Still, with that team we'll be watching and hoping against hope that it's worth our time. And Mixed Signals? Seems to be some generic sitcom about friends in various stages of relationships. Pass. Let's be honest here - Fox is just biding time until American Idol (the gradually receding American Idol - praise Jeebus!) returns in 2011, and that's clear by this throw-crap-against-the-wall-to-see-what-sticks approach.
Glee sitcoms - Look, we've got no love for Glee (we made it through 20 minutes of the pilot before we wanted to maul our ears with a rusty garden claw), but Fox's decision to pair three new sitcoms (Raising Hope, Running Wilde, and Mixed Signals) with it in the 9:00 hour throughout the season is puzzling for the simple fact that they all look to be varying degrees of terrible. Words cannot do justice to how bad Raising Hope is going to be - just watch the trailer... or don't if you enjoy your will to live - but you get what you pay for when you greenlight a series by the creator of Yes, Dear and My Name Is Earl. We really want to like Running Wilde since it was co-created by Mitch Herwitz (the genius behind Arrested Development) and star Will Arnett and it co-stars Felicity's Keri Russell (mmm... Keri Russell) but the advance look at the show seems to suggest that it's much, much less than the sum of its parts. Still, with that team we'll be watching and hoping against hope that it's worth our time. And Mixed Signals? Seems to be some generic sitcom about friends in various stages of relationships. Pass. Let's be honest here - Fox is just biding time until American Idol (the gradually receding American Idol - praise Jeebus!) returns in 2011, and that's clear by this throw-crap-against-the-wall-to-see-what-sticks approach.
Hour By Hour
8:00 - Another night, another inexplicably popular set of CBS series. NCIS is somehow TV’s most-watched scripted series and, for reasons unknown to everyone on this planet, will likely continue to hold that title. People also seem to love the heartwarming schlock of NBC’s The Biggest Loser so that’s one spot where the Peacock Network will actually be OK. To quote the great TV critic Alan Sepinwall, Fox is forcing Glee to put on its big boy pants by having it lead off the night. Look, all of the Glee-tards (credit to Warming Glow’s Matt Ufford for that term) are going to follow this show wherever it goes but don’t think this little bit of news went unnoticed. All of you Glee fans had better realize that your show was created by Ryan Murphy, the dude behind Nip/Tuck. A little TV history lesson - Nip/Tuck started out as an enjoyable guilty pleasure before it rapidly devolved into an unwatchable fever dream of self-parody. This is surely Glee’s fate as well. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that a show whose popularity burns as white-hot as Glee's did in its first year often stumbles under the weight of both critical and fan pressure in its second outing. Fox’s decision to renew it for a third season BEFORE THE SECOND ONE EVEN AIRED is almost Jay Leno at 10:00 bad. Bold prediction – Fox will be looking for a way to get this show off of their schedule by early 2011. ABC throws No Ordinary Family out at this hour and, if it gets enough good enough press, it could gain some traction. Finally, The CW moves One Tree Hill, otherwise known as this generation’s Dawson’s Creek, to Tuesdays where its loyal audience will likely follow it.
9:00 - I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Tuesday’s middle hour will likely be a won by this past season’s bland freshman winner, NCIS: Los Angeles although it will lamentably face stiff competition from the results hour of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. The Biggest Loser will carry over for NBC and, lagging far behind will be Fox’s sitcom hour that we’ve already discussed. This hour’s other entry is the second season of The CW’s Life Unexpected and, frankly, it’s good to see this show getting another chance to catch on. Not that we’re on a soapbox by any means because we love television that pushes the limits, but TV needs more shows like this one. Is it great? No, but it’s enjoyable enough and is a throwback to the days of family dramas like Everwood and Gilmore Girls on The WB that were pleasant enough for all ages to watch (but that were not in any way mawkish and preachy like, say, 7th Heaven).
10:00 - CBS will make Tuesdays a clean sweep with the second season of yet another first-year hit, The Good Wife, but the fight for second place is where it could get interesting. NBC was pleased enough with Parenthood’s ratings as a midseason replacement to award it with a slot on the fall schedule, while ABC plugs the spot that once belonged to NYPD Blue in the 90s with another cop drama, the unfortunately hyphened Detroit 1-8-7. Parenthood is a very well-cast enjoyable family ensemble, while Detroit 1-8-7 is a gritty, documentary-style crime drama in America’s bleakest city. We’ll be watching both of these while wondering why The Good Wife actually wins this hour.
What We're Watching/TiVoing
No Ordinary Family
One Tree Hill
Running Wilde at least initially
Life Unexpected
Parenthood
Detroit 1-8-7
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