I’ve had a bit of a tough time getting into the 2010-2011 television season. And I don’t blame that on the shows — a move and a switch from one cable provider to another left me with a laundry list of shows that I needed to catch up on. In fact, I’m still attempting to get current with a few.
But even before the move I had a lot of cross-outs on my list of premieres. I’m a huge Jimmy Smits fan, and I really enjoyed Cane, but Outlaw was awful. As in, so bad I couldn’t understand how they snagged him (and/or how it made it on the air). No surprise that it disappeared fast.
The Event was a non-event for me. What’s that commercial … if Lost and 24 had a baby, it would be The Event? More like if FlashForward went through a cloning process gone terribly wrong, and then the clone got faxed over to NBC. That’s The Event.
Chase wants In Plain Sight’s success, but it forgot something — Mary McCormack! It’s like this year’s USA Network entry, Covert Affairs, compared to last year’s, White Collar. Not in the same league.
Undercovers is Mr. & Mrs. Smith sans Brad and Angelina, The Whole Truth owes Maura Tierney an apology for wronging her, and The Defenders wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good; there simply wasn’t enough there to hold my attention. Plus Jerry O’Connell should still be rocking Carpoolers, so I’m not okay with him being on another show.
I thought maybe I’d have more luck with the comedic offerings. Raising Hope was a totally miserable experience. I was absolutely shocked that anyone had anything positive to say about it. It wasn’t just dumb — the acting, writing, comedy, etc. were all sub-par.
Running Wilde was … well, do I really need to say anything? I turned it off less than five minutes in. Will Arnett is just that bad. As is Better With You. Josh Cooke needs to screen his projects better (although I did like Four Kings and Big Day … but nobody else did).
William Shatner doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone, but $#*! My Dad Says is awful. What’s interesting about Shatner is that even an utter disaster won’t stick to him. And that’s what the show is. And Outsourced can join Community and Parks and Recreation as one of the worst NBC Thursday night sitcoms to still be inexplicably on the air after five episodes. Who knows why these things happen.
It’s been a rough season for me.
I’m still up in the air about Hawaii Five-O. I’m not going to bother catching episodes two through whatever that I haven’t yet seen, but I will start watching from this week on, despite Scott Caan’s presence on the show (Entourage ruined him for me). We all owe Daniel Dae Kim at least that much.
And there are some in the plus column. I didn’t like him on Life on Mars (the main reason I passed on the show) but Michael Imperioli is doing a great job on Detroit 1-8-7. It’s an intriguing show with a really interesting cast of characters. Hopefully it won’t go the way of The Unusuals, another unique procedural that didn’t find a large enough following.
Blue Bloods is another solid show. I’m hoping for more development on the broad arc front, but Donnie Wahlberg hasn’t been this good since The Kill Point, and Tom Selleck and Bridget Moynahan are doing what they do best — acting the hell out of their respective roles. Len Cariou’s a great part of the cast as well.
Boardwalk Empire was a no-brainer for a fan of The Sopranos like me. This is the role that’s been waiting a lifetime for Steve Buscemi, and I can’t wait to gobble the show up over and over again on DVD.
Finally we get to top honors for the season. The best show to premiere last year was Men of a Certain Age. This year, that honor goes to Terriers. It’s that show on FX that you’ve either never heard of, or the one you’re staying away from because you associate FX with shows like Sons of Anarchy and Justified, and you don’t do dark like that.
But let me tell you something: Donal Logue (as Hank) and Michael Raymond-James (as Britt) are the new hot buddy-buddy pair. The show’s a bit gritty, but it’s also light, witty, intelligent, well written, tremendously well acted, and has introduced us to two new characters who can easily stand against any other twosome for chemistry and compatibility. We know these guys just a few weeks in. If you haven’t seen it yet, you need to rectify that quickly.
How about you? What gems has the new season brought into your life? Duds? Leave your thoughts and picks in the comments below.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Nov 03, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
You’re utterly wrong on “Community”. It’s the funniest and smartest half-hour on TV, and it continues to be so in its second year.
As for my new season choices, I’m still following “The Event” and “No Ordinary Family”, although neither one is a great show. Ditto for “Hawaii 5-0″, where the best part is the 30-second opening credits and the beauty shots of Hawaii (ok, Scott Caan’s character has some charm, as well). I’m watching no new comedies, after giving “Running Wilde” 2 tries. I did the same for “Boardwalk Empire”, but found it to be well-produced but utterly uninteresting.
I’d have to say the only new series I’m really enthusiastic about is a limited 3-episode run–“Sherlock” on PBS, and that’s a year-old British import.
*Sherlock is only a 2 month old British import.
If you want great British stuff, check out Psychoville from the makers of League of Gentlemen which just had a triumphant Halloween special and The Inbetweeners which really is what British young folk are like.
For me, of the new stuff from over there:
Gave up on:
The Event – Really don’t care about any of them
Nikita – fell asleep through episode 1
Boardwalk Empire – looks nice, that’s about it.
Enjoyed:
Rubicon – even the last episode.
And that’s it of the new stuff, still enjoying most of the stuff that’s back on the air, really smarting about Caprica.
Thanks for the “Sherlock” correction. It just seems like it’s been talked about for a long time.
And I forgot “Rubicon”. I wouldn’t quite go all the way to “enthusiastic”, but I definitely liked it and looked forward to it, more than the other new shows I’m still with. I hope the high ratings for AMC’s zombies don’t prematurely kill “Rubicon.”
*POST AUTHOR*
I tried to hang in through four or five episodes of Rubicon, but I never felt it take off. It just kind of sat there, and I don’t have enough TV time to watch something that doesn’t grab me. But knowing AMC I’m sure it connects with a lot of people.
Aryeh, Rubicon took off right after those four or five episodes. Once the focus shifted slightly off Will and onto the rest of the API gang, it became a fascinating show. I really loved it. Kale Ingram ended up being one of my favorite characters on TV.
I would recommend reconnecting when things get slow with the new season. Give it a two or three more eps.
*POST AUTHOR*
Ain’t that always the way? I’ll see if it’s On Demand.
ScottH, I’m with you on “Community” being probably the best half-hour on TV. It’s only failing is NBC’s continuing insistance to sandwich it between two other network shows that draw large audiences. It’s as if they’re damned determined to take Thursday nights back, but all they’re managing to do is kill a fantastic comedy.
I, too, am still watching “No Ordinary Family”, “The Event” and “Hawaii Five-0″, but I almost wouldn’t notice if they got pulled from the schedule. I agree with Aryeh’s description of “The Event” and it only makes me wish even more that “FlashForward” was still on the air.
Sherlock was genius. It was smart, fun, exciting in places, well-written and impeccably acted. The downside is it only ran 3 episodes. The upside is more episodes are coming. I have no idea when they’re coming, but I read more were going to be made and that made me very happy. I read BBCA did some editing of “Sherlock” for broadcast in the States. I don’t know what or why, especially considering I don’t remember anything in the episodes that would be objectionable. Probably more time for commercials.
While I’ve followed Caprica faithfully, I’m not all that upset about it going except I would like to have seen a wrap-up episode, as is always the case for a continuing story arc. I’m hoping, with no logical reasoning, that maybe SGU’s ratings will pick up, but I’m not holding my breath. Most of the viewer complaints about that show seem to be that there’s not enough action, and judging by its predecessors that’s probably why the ratings are so low. Personally, I love the show and the change in the kind of animal that it is, but one would think the producers, at least by now, would realize they need to infuse it with some more “jumping through gates” and “fighting evil aliens” just to bring their numbers up and stay alive. They can still tell the same story, but add some candy to keep the kids happy. My wife and daughters are about 2 episodes away from giving up on it themselves and they’re only still watching because each week I lie and tell them I read this week’s episode is supposed to have more action. I’ve only been right a few times, not that I’m complaining, but I wouldn’t shun a little more action. In fact, I would probably enjoy it a great deal.
This is the worst TV season I can remember and I can’t wait for USA’s shows to start up again.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’m curious why you say that NBC scheduling Community in between “two other network shows that draw large audiences” is a bad thing -– shouldn’t that enhance the show’s audience, not diminish it? And therefore, if Community is failing to draw an audience under those circumstances, isn’t that a comment on the show itself?
Love what you’re doing to get your family to keep watching Caprica. I hope for your sake that they don’t read the site :)
Perhaps I didn’t phrase the “sandwich” comment as well as I could have. What I meant to convey is that it’s on opposite two other strong shows on different networks. You know, that little move the nets have been using for decades of pitting one of their best shows against another net’s heavy hitter. The sad part is I watch all three shows that are on at the same time.
I’ve been saying all my life that all this kind of thing does is cause viewers to lose out, especially those who don’t have the means to record simultaneous programs.
And the show I’m pulling my family along to watch is SGU, not Caprica. Once we found out SyFy wasn’t even going to air the rest of the already finished episodes we just stopped watching. At least SGU still has a thread of a chance, thin as that thread may be.
*POST AUTHOR*
That makes more sense (although not about Bones and The Big Bang Theory being competition; we call that free play hour at my house because nothing’s on!). So what should NBC do? Something has to go up against them and prove that it has the ability to play with the “big” boys.
SGU, Caprica … I have no idea what either is. Regardless, I love the idea behind tricking the family into watching. :)
And just to clarify, the two shows I’m talking about are “Bones” and “The Big Bang Theory” and we love all three (counting “Community”).
*POST AUTHOR*
I’ve seen about 85% of Community episodes (I keep checking back because I feel like it should be funny) but I’m still waiting to enjoy it. I don’t think it’s miserable, like some of the sitcoms I mentioned above that I won’t watch again, but it just doesn’t work for me.
I’m not a British TV guy, but my wife has Sherlock recorded, so I may end up seeing some of it. We’ll see.
Sherlock is awesome, so you won’t like it. :)
Make sure to watch the “Pink” episode, that’s the pilot, the second episode isn’t as good.
I believe you probably said it most recently so you know this, but comedy is a relative concept. My best friend, and so many people online, all rave about “Modern Family” and we have yet to crack a smile. Admittedly, we’ve only watched about 1/4 of the episodes, but we hear a lot of “you need to watch this episode” or “it’s really getting good” so in keeping an open mind we try it again and again, but it’s still just meh all ’round for us. We’re desperately trying to find a second comedy half hour to add to “Community” and have yet to get lucky, although for some reason we still semi-torture ourselves with “Raising Hope” in a misguided attempt to find some of the spark that made “My Name Is Earl” so much fun for us. It’s a little better, but I’m tired of taking medicine each week while hoping to get candy.
Comedy/Drama/Genre preferences aside, I was mainly grousing about how every season there are at least 2-3 hours in the broadcast week where at least 3 of the big nets place shows we watch on at the exact same time. I remember as a kid wishing there was some device that would let you record one show and watch another. My only recourse back then was to watch one show in the Fall and catch another during Summer reruns. Yeah, that was way back when the “big 3″ re-aired their schedule during the Summer, with little exception. Nobody, and I mean nobody, thought of putting something new and original on during the off season.
Oh, and get this. The TV Guide was mostly about what was coming on TV! Crazy, right?
*POST AUTHOR*
I don’t buy into the “you need to watch this episode” or “it’s really getting good” arguments; that’s the excuse everyone gives you when you say their show sucks – “it was just the episode you saw that was bad.” Please.
Check out The Middle. Otherwise, I find myself preferring what would be more accurately described as “adult” comedies — Californication, Weeds, Entourage … great shows all.
You already know I’m a fan of Weeds and I love Californication, too. From the few clips I’ve seen of The Middle it’s probably the second family comedy I’m looking for.
I’m with you in enjoying the “adult” comedies, but having a daughter not quite old enough for them I’m also always looking for shows we can all watch. A second sitcom would be perfect as our viewing habits fit well with 2 comedies. It’s kind of funny that we have this “we need 2 sitcoms” deal going, but that’s kind of been a routine since the kids were old enough to watch with us.
I will most definitely check out The Middle. Thanks for the tip.
*POST AUTHOR*
The Middle is just a solid, realistic comedy. I hope you all enjoy it!
As long as there’s some talk about “Community”, has anyone ever turned on the captioning during the opening credits? It’s such a bright, happy, uplifting song–until you actually read the words being sung.
That’s a brilliant idea! The song does have that “toe tapping” quality about it, but I assume the lyrics will chop those little tapping piggies right off?
On second thought I might just to a quick googling of the lyrics and get satisfaction sooner.
The “Community” theme is from “At Least It Was Here” by The 88s.
The lyrics (from the captions):
Give me some rope
Time in a tree
Give me the hope
To run out of steam
Somebody said
We could be here
We could be roped up, tied up
Dead in a year
I can’t count the reasons I should stay
One by one they all just fade away
And I’ve had that music running through my head all day :)
Thanks, and now that makes two of us with music running through our heads. :o)
I enjoy some of the new shows but from what I understand, two of them are not doing very well. Firstly, I LOVE Terriers. It is funny and I love the relationship between Hank and Britt. I wish more people were watching. The other show I like is The Good Guys. I watched it this summer and was hooked. I think it is hilarious.
I like Hawaii 5-0 but I feel that the under use Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park. I know the original was about McGarrett and Danno but with this show it seems to be about McGarrett’s chest and Danno’s relationship with his daughter not about their working relationship.
The rest of the shows I watch are continuations from the seasons before.
I forgot to mention the new addition. After one episode, the show I will be following on Sundays is The Walking Dead
I’ve never been a fan of horror or zombies and all that stuff, but because of AMC’s track record of quality in their shows I decided to try out “The Walking Dead” and boy am I glad I did. It’s on my must-watch list for good. Too bad we’re only getting 6 episodes this first season, but if the other 5 are as good as the first then there’ll be more substance and satisfaction it a 6-episode season than many shows can offer in 22 episodes.
*POST AUTHOR*
Speaking of subjectivity, I’m no fan of zombies, but I’d more stay away from The Walking Dead because I find AMC’s track record to be somewhat suspect for my tastes. Mad Men is boring, Rubicon took too long to do anything, and Breaking Bad is nuts. But I recognize that that’s me.
I can easily see your point about the AMC shows you listed. To be honest, I gave up on Mad Men after the 3rd episode of this season and Rubicon about halfway. Just got bored. As for Mad Men, I was completely into it when it first started, then it got depressing and I nearly gave up as I let episodes pile up, but I still watch it although I’m growing tired of it.
Please do yourself a favor and just try the pilot of The Walking Dead. I swear to you it’s different from anything AMC has ever aired and blew away all their other shows in the ratings for good reason. One scene with Lenny James and a rifle nearly had me in tears. It’ll make you feel different about zombies.
The show, well, the pilot at least, seemed to strike a perfect balance between characterization and action. Where the other AMC shows seem to move like a zombie, this show zips past them like they were standing still.
Like I said, give it a try. Just one try. If you don’t agree that it’s actually pretty damned good I’ll leave you alone. I won’t even try to eat your brain. Promise!
Remember: this is coming from someone who hates zombie crap. I only tried it because of the good buzz and the fact that I was dumping a couple of shows.
Sorry, should’ve said:
“As for BREAKING BAD, I was completely into it when it first started, then it got depressing and I nearly gave up as I let episodes pile up, but I still watch it although I’m growing tired of it.”
*POST AUTHOR*
I thought the same thing about Hawaii 5-0 (re Daniel Dae Kim), but haven’t seen it since the pilot. Is that still the case that he’s being underutilized?
The Good Guys isn’t my humor, but Terriers is fantastic, isn’t it?
You like Weeds and hate Community? As a fan of Community for almost 2 weeks now I must say you have awful taste in comedies, completely awful. Community is the best comedy on TV right now, the Halloween episode was the funniest thing I have seen in awhile, funnier than the last 3 seasons of Weeds combined.
Outlaw wasn’t great, but it’s on NBC, it’s better than everything else they have. I don’t even understand the point of the show. NBC stuck it on Fridays by itself, as to burn it off even before it aired. Was weird.
NCIS: Hawaii is one of the worst shows this season, a waste of somewhat talented actors in a horrid show.
*POST AUTHOR*
Okay, you don’t get to judge, because you’re wrong. About Greek too.
Look, it’s got to be about the characters, right? I just really enjoy the cast on Weeds, whereas I don’t get them on Community. At least not why we should be connecting with them. Jeff’s a disgusting human being, Britta’s as empty as they come, Shirley lacks substance, Annie plays the naive waif terribly, Troy plays the idiot poorly (same for Pierce), and the Dean needs to decide who (and what) he wants to be. Only Chang and Abed are remotely tolerable.
The question I really want answered is why do you still care about the Weeds characters? More so Nancy? If she died / jailed it would be the best thing to happen to the show.
*POST AUTHOR*
First of all, if Nancy died the show would too. She’s the driver.
Second, as terrible a mother as she is, Nancy’s at least interesting. And creative … you can’t say the show has lacked in its ability to roll with numerous different stages. Andy and Doug are hilarious, Silas is great, and Shane is creepy but very watchable. I want to find out what happens to them all.
Aryeh, you obviously haven’t watched “Community” in a while, judging by your description of the characters. Everything you said about each of the mains was (and in some cases still is) true, but they’ve grown since the first half of season 1.
Jeff has actually shown a lot of decency. He *wants* to be that vapid man-slut he was in the first few episodes, but now that the group is “family” he has a moral compass. Sure, it’s a rusty compass with cracked glass, but he’s a stand-up guy now. Britta hasn’t had enough development as a character, and while she seemed to start as one of the 2 leads with Jeff, she’s often a background character these days. Poor Shirley isn’t much more substantive than she was in the pilot, which is a shame because she could be a hoot if they turned her into a person. She’s a bit more assertive, but still not fleshed out. Annie has gone through a lot of changes, I think. She’s not the push-over little girl we saw most of last year, she’s actually done some “pushing around” of her own here and there. Allison Brie is such a versatile actress, hardly looks like the same person between “Mad Men” and “Community” and IMHO she’s a lot more attractive than the actress playing Britta. She should be playing the “hottie” of the group. I don’t get your criticism of Troy and Pierce playing idiots poorly, they seem to do fine. Chevy Chase has been playing a buffoon of one kind or another for at least 35 years, so I think he has it down. Donald Glover just plays witless and has dropped the jock half of his personality, plus without him there’d be no Abed and Troy moments that top off the show magnificently. It’s been made VERY clear, especially recently, what and/or who the dean is and while I find him a little annoying, his presence seems to be more limited now. Both Abed and Chang have also continued to grow and evolve, building on the strengths of each character and minimizing the weaknesses.
The most important aspect of the show that I think makes it stronger as it goes are the character interactions. Sure, you get a lot of expected moments, but you can count on Community to shove two oddly-paired characters together and come up with something you’d never expect. Plus, we got us some Betty White and NOBODY can put down Ms. White! She can make staring at a lamp post hilarious.
Again, there’s the subjective value of entertainment, especially comedy. My brother and I have what we consider pretty identical tastes in entertainment, comedy in particular. We both love Community, but while he loves Terriers I had enough by the 3rd episode. I just found it weak in practically all respects and I was bored. It was too bad, because I was really looking forward to the show. I do hope it becomes a hit for those of you that enjoy it, though.
*POST AUTHOR*
Unfortunately, I’ve seen just about every episode up to and including last week. I’m not seeing any of the growth you’re referring to (and for the most part you seem to be saying that the characters haven’t grown), but I certainly don’t hold it against anyone for loving it. The Abed and Troy moments are some of the weakest parts of the show for me. They’re both better off paired with other people as far as I’m concerned. And that Daily Show guy who plays the teacher should really get canned. Awful decision having him teach that anthropology class; who wanted more of him?
I apologize. After I posted, I re-read where you said you’ve seen about 85% of the episodes of Community.
I suppose I didn’t present a very good argument for character growth, but I still contend that most of the characters have grown, even if only a little. In my own plodding and overly wordy way I guess I was trying to say I like the character interactions and those are getting better.
If you don’t like the Abed and Troy moments all I can say is we will have to agree to disagree. (Seems like we do that a lot)
I’m disappointed about the anthropology teacher as it was Betty White in the first episode. I thought she was going to fill the part for the entirety of the season, especially since it’s a fairly infrequent and short part. At least we got her for one class and singing some Toto with Abed and Tr…oh wait, you hate that. Nevermind! :o)
*POST AUTHOR*
I’m a Betty White fan, but the way she’s being hyped these days is absurd. I thought she did a terrible job on Community, whereas on The Middle‘s season finale she was great. She’s a comedian, not a gimmick.
I agree with you about most of your list, although I am a fan of Community, and I think Raising Hope started out pretty weak, but the last couple of eps have been really funny. There are only two other new shows that I will keep on my dvr list, Terriers, which is awesome, and the other is The Walking Dead. I tuned in for some good old Halloween horror but was surprised by the great storytelling. Everything else, and I tried at least two eps of all the new shows, was completely terrible. I haven’t seen a weaker season of tv that I can remember.
You should definitely give The Defenders another try, it’s becoming a pretty enjoyable series and it has a quirkyness(sp?) to it lacking in most law procedurals that have emerged after TGW.
(So of course it will get canceled =( )
*POST AUTHOR*
Fair enough. If I have it On Demand I’ll take another look. Thanks. :)
I beg to disagree. The Defenders is a great show! Both Detroit 1-8-7 and Blue Bloods turned old for me quickly. I agree with you on the other shows and I really like Terriers! I enjoy this blog. I learn a lot about what’s coming. It saves me from buying a TV guide!
*POST AUTHOR*
We’re happy to be of service! :)
The best new shows IMHO are The Rubicon, Nikita, Terriers, The Walking Dead and Sherlock. Additionally, though not on the same level No Ordinary Family is a fun watch.
No Ordinary Family has kind of gotten off to a slow start, but it’s getting a lot more fun lately. We watch it and usually end up smiling by the end. It’s kind of a “feel good” family version of Heroes. I doubt it’ll win any awards, but I like fun shows to offset the serious stuff I watch.
Something along similar lines of Heroes, No Ordinary Family and No Heroics is a little British show called Misfits. The show centers around 6 young people who all screwed up and are sentenced to community service. A strange storm brews, strikes them with lightning and they start realizing they have “powers” and these powers seem to fit their personality. The extremely shy guy can turn invisible, the track star with Olympic potential who was busted for buying steroids can turn back time, etc. It’s very inappropriate for the younger crowd, but it’s just so odd and funny in an off-kilter way that you can’t help but love the titular misfits.