So, it’s about that time. Let’s be surprised and/or disappointed by the genre shows the Big 5 (seriously, 5?) Networks have to offer us for the upcoming Fall Season. As Doctor Who, Torchwood and True Blood come to their seasons’ amazing conclusions, lets take a rapid-fire look at what the networks have in store.
Monday
FOX – Terra Nova 8:00pm NEW
Spielberg takes us 85 million years into the past to erase the sins of the future. FOX is banking on this Future/Past series that infuses itself with many of the basic tropes of a successful Sci Fi Series: Dystopian Future, Overpopulation and Time Travel. The beauty of its success hangs on the writing. Over and over we stress that writing is the difference between trope and tripe and this show has all the earmarks of having a great shot.
Why You Should Watch – The producers name says it all, Steve has made his bones and on the basis of that alone
ABC – Castle 10pm
Richard Castle
Mal Reynolds – Detective. While not genre, who cares? It is Not To Miss Nathan Fillion. A great concept, a stellar cast, clean crisp writing and classic villain of the week writing makes this one of the high-water marks in network TV. If you are a discerning watcher, there are frequently barbed side comments at past roles. This show has subtext and I like it.
Why You Should Watch – Its consistently smart, well acted and it’s Capt. Tight Pants. It’s got laughs and it’s just good entertainment, something quite rare on the networks.
Tuesday
CW Ringer 9:00pm NEW
Sarah Michelle Gellar (SMG) returns to TV without Scooby Doo, playing twins in a non-Parent Trap show about an ex-stripper and her “not dead yet” twin. A cool cast includes SMG, Ioan Gruffudd, Kristoffer Polaha and Tara Summers. It has a complex plot with SMG working to create disparate twins, and there are some very interesting twists and turns in the pilot. If the pilot is any indication of what the season has in store, I’m watching it. You should give it a try.
Why You Should Watch – SMG. Simply put, she is a wonderful actress who has been under used for years. JINKIES!
Wednesday
Catch up on your Favorite blog, Sci Fi Saturday Night!
Thursday
Aarti Mann
CBS The Big Bang Theory 8:00pm
Season 5 opens with an awkward explanation of Raj and Penny sleeping together, and the fun continues with our favorite super brained nerds. While we are all confident and comfortable with the basic premise, I find the show interesting because I know these people, I worked with these people. They are just like Sheldon Cooper. I know Howard’s mother, lets face it, we all do. Nerds with brains are the new cool, and this show is very cool.
Why You Should Watch – Jim Parsons gets less and less funny but Aarti Mann is smokin’. Nice trade off. Nerds rule.
CW The Vampire Diaries 8:00pm
Season Three. Never watched it. Evidently, they don’t sparkle. Good for them.
CBS The Mentalist 10:00pm
Wait for Psych to come back on. At least when they’re funny, it’s intentional.
Why Psych is better than The Mentalist:
- Psych is better written.
- Psych doesn’t take itself seriously.
- Psych has a better cast.
- Shawn and Gus have a great chemistry.
- Simon Baker can’t skateboard.
CW The Secret Circle 9:00 NEW
Think, Sabrina The Teenage Witch without a laugh track. Natasha Henstridge is on this show and that means I will watch. CW tries for relevance with a number of new shows and this one may hit the mark. Cassie Blake is the “normal” teenager, whatever the hell that is. Mom dies and the orphan is shipped off to live with Grams in Washington state. Yes, we have been here before, yes its derivative, yes its angsty teens. All that aside, it’s Thomas Dekker, Britt Robertson and the aforementioned Natasha Henstridge.
Why You Should Watch – It’s new and it doesn’t have a laugh track. I think it’s most definitely worth a try.
Friday NERD NIGHT!
CBS A Gifted Man 8:00pm NEW
A self-involved surgeon sees his dead wife. Think Ghost without Swayze and Moore and with lots of medical jargon. We have seen this before and watched it fizzle. Perhaps this time thay have the mix down correctly and it will be worth watching. I know I am not the most knowledgeable person but I simply don’t recognize anyone in the cast. The pilot was directed by series Executive Producer Jonathan Demme, which says something. I just wish I knew what.
Why You Should Watch – No clue.
NBC Chuck 8:00pm
Yes, it’s the last season, and it’s my guilty pleasure. I wish I could say it’s because of the eye candy but the
Chuck
truth is I just enjoy it. The melding of man and computer is a well-worn trope and they have used it well in this series. The fish out of water medallion has been passed around the cast so well that almost everyone has worn it atone time or another. It may not be as well written as some would like but thats too bad. Smallville was on for far too long. This is Chuck’s last season. Sci Fi Spy Fi Fun.
Why You Should Watch – Adam Baldwin is just too damn good.
CW Nikita 8:00pm
Here is your eye candy show of the season. Returning for Season Two, Maggie Q makes this a great hour to watch. It’s not deep and there is nothing wrong with that. The premise has been worked over 3 movies and this second TV series. Maggie is what makes it work this time around. Without her , there is simply no real reason to watch.
Why You Should Watch – Because it’s fun.
NBC Grimm 9:00pm NEW
Who are the Grimms? What secret does this clan of hunters have? Do mythical villains masquerade in our modern world? Is this concept too high or is this going to become casualty of its timeslot. I hope not.
Why You Should Watch – Writer/Producer David Greenwalt (BTVS).
Fringe 9:00pm
So, is Peter alive or gone? How will Water and Walternate co-exist in a single unified universe? I care. This is one of the most finely-tuned, well-scripted genre shows on television. The actors are simply amazing, most doing double duty as slightly different characters in parallel universes. Now that the realities have melded, what can they do? What ever it is, I am there.
Why You Should Watch – Seriously?
CW Supernatural 9:00pm
Somebody told me this is a good show. Its competition is going to make sure I never see it, and I am told that is a shame. I guess I will never know.
Saturday
I am told there are many fine Microbreweries that need your patronage. And if there aren’t, there’s always a new Sci Fi Saturday Night podcast.
Sunday
ABC Once Upon A Time 8:00pm NEW
Cashing in on all the wonderful Fairy Tale movies of the past year…. oh crap.
This is Dome, sayin’: Watch and learn, watch and learn.
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