A Political Pause

I am going to take a brief break from the TV Preview posts to relate a brief observational interlude that I had the other night.

Thursday was Grace's first day of Kindergarten. She has been very excited about the day for many, many weeks now and was counting down each day with fervor. That morning she was very proud to be riding in the van and walking through the doors at the elementary school rather than riding with Hannah to the daycare. It helped that she had Sarah to lead her to her classroom, but she didn't look back to me as she exited the van and never hesitated on her long journey to adult independence.

But, as nice as that was, this story isn't entirely about Grace--though Grace is the reason for the story.

You see, we decided to celebrate Grace's milestone by going out to dinner that night. And if we're going out to dinner, that usually means Bob Evans. (It didn't hurt that we had Kids Meal coupons from our recent visits to the Zoo.) Unfortunately, I experienced some marginal table service while we were there, but that contributed to the story as much as Grace's Kindergarten initiation.

While I waited for my fish sandwich to be correctly plated, I began to listen to a group of six people that were sitting directly behind me. I had not paid any attention to them when they entered the restaurant, but lacking any food to eat, I began to eavesdrop on their discussion.

What first caught my attention was their drink orders. One person asked for water, ice, and no lemon. No big deal. But the next person asked for water, no lemon, and no ice. The third person asked for iced tea and all the lemon the other two had not wanted. I don't mention all this to say that they were being difficult or anything. I just began to think that there were likely to be disappointed in their drink accuracy, since the waitress was the same one that had failed to understand my original entree order and was slow in getting it fixed. So, I was worried for this other table in advance. 

Soon, I got my food and the waitress moved on to get the next table's food orders. This proved to be more complicated than the drinks. One man asked for a chicken salad sandwich--but apparently hadn't examined the menu to see if it was actually offered. The waitress was unsure if that was the case and warned the patron that this might lead to disappointment. The other table mates made their varying orders and the waitress went off to the kitchen and to investigate the likelihood of the chicken salad sandwich.

(Now, I must say that you might find it strange that a restaurant might not have a chicken salad sandwich, something that is a fairly common food item across the country. But, in Bob Evans slight defense, they typically feature chicken salad platters and sandwiches during the summer months. And since football was currently being played in Ohio, the mind said that summer was over.)

I bring up all this falderal about drink and food orders to get to the real point that I was beginning to suspect that this group of restaurant goers were not locals and were more than simply your regular out-of-towners. You see, during the course of my eavesdropping, I heard them mention cities and towns in Pennsylvania as well as Florida. All pretty normal, except that we are in the midst of a presidential election year and three of the important swing states now and forevermore are Ohio (where we were sitting), Pennsylvania, and Florida. 

I began to think that these people were party of either the Obama or the McCain campaign staff--not significant staff certainly, but some of the faceless cogs in the machine that swarms the country getting the local pulse and seeing how people are polling. It was, after all, the night of McCain's acceptance speech and the night after VP-candidate Palin's speech. I couldn't really get a sense as to whether they were Obamaniacs or McCainiacs . . . and I wasn't about to turn around and ask. But the significant swing state name drops and the efforts to complicate the ordering process suggested to me that these people were maybe from way-out-of-town.

I got a look at them when I got up to go pay the check. There was nothing outwardly evident to support my guesses--no straw hats, political buttons, or constant cell phone calls. I suppose I could have been completely wrong about the whole affair, but it was a fun diversion.

ABC Fall TV Preview

This week has been full of posts on network shows offered as the Fall TV season begins.

I've already covered 1) NBC, 2) The CW, and 3) FOX. Tonight it's ABC's turn (and don't worry, no lame and contrived themes tonight. Just straight talk about television).

Monday: I've never liked to dance very much. When I was a young middle school and high school kid, just trying to get the courage to talk to girls I liked, dancing was completely out of the question. If one broke into sweats standing, talking, and looking a desirable girl in the face, then how could one summon the gargantuan gumption to add standing that much closer and touching on the shoulders and (God forbid!) the hips!? So, that said, Dancing With The Stars [9/22 @ 8 pm] just isn't the show for me. I know some people just love it and appreciate the scintillating power of dance, but I could find better things to do. Plus, I am generally suspicious of reality programming, but that suspicion grows more pronounced when I see that the show (such as DwtS) spreads itself out over several nights--thereby metastasizing its hold upon the TV week. I want shows to be neatly contained boxes of entertainment. If I wanted multi-part miniseries, I'd build a time machine and go back to 1986.

I'll admit that I didn't give Samantha Who? [10/6 @ 9:30] much thought last year (and I'm still not advocating it as worth your time), but it seems to have done well enough to keep itself alive for a second season. Of course, this might be more a result of the writer's strike and the resultant discombobulation from that. Perhaps ABC just didn't have better options? I can't tell you if Christina Applegate's Samantha character has continued to suffer from memory loss--which was the point of the first season--but I suspect it being the series major stumbling block. How do writers keep up the conceit of memory loss for an extended period of time, or, how do they prevent a show NOT about memory loss being anything but yet another romantic comedy?

Did you know that Boston Legal [9/22 @ 10 pm] was still on television? Sure is. And did you know that James Spader and William Shatner are still involved? Are there two men that have aged less gracefully, suffering from unfortunate weight gains?

Tuesday: One of the network's new shows kicks off this night--a reality game show called Opportunity Knocks [9/23 @ 8 pm]. The show's description indicates that a roving show will arrive at the home of unsuspecting families, will gather the neighborhood to be the audience, and will then proceed  to ask trivia questions about the family members  themselves and the things in their home. It's supposed to be a way of seeing if the family really knows each other--and while I'll admit that is more friendly-seeming than The Moment of Truth (see Fox's preview), it has a faint whiff of being something cooked up by the Bush administration to search for and identify illegal aliens trying to secure a green card.

Dancing With The Stars spreads from your colon to your liver on this night, beginning at 9 pm.

ABC's Tuesday night wraps up with Eli Stone [10/14 @ 10 pm]. This show is well done, I guess, and I really like the presence of Alias alumni Victor Garber, but at the end of the day, this is just another Lawyer Show that is gussying itself up by giving the title character a brain aneurysm that gives him visions to defend his clients better. It feels like late Fifties cars that were festooned with larger and larger tail fins to no significant utility. Some people liked it and some people saw threw it.

Wednesday: All three shows at midweek are returning shows from previous years, but the best of the bunch is Pushing Daisies [10/1 @ 8 pm]. The highest of High Concept shows, it follows the travails of Ned the Pie Man who has the odd power to bring dead things back to life with a touch. However, a second touch on the reanimated object brings an irreversible death. Ned uses this power in two ways. It helps him run his pie shop economically (he can by the older fruit at a lower cost) and he partners with a local private detective to "interview" the newest inhabitants of the morgue to solve murders. Add to this quirky stew the fact that he reanimated his recently deceased childhood sweetheart, but can never touch her again and you have poignant romance on top of quirk. Further add unnatural set decorations, Barry Sonnenfeld design touches and the narration of Stephen Fry, and all I can say is catch up now!

Private Practice [10/1 @ 9 pm] is also back from last year. I'm not a fan of Grey's Anatomy so I don't find anything compelling to say about this show. It's a spinoff of Grey's and follows the continuing struggles of surgeon Addison Forbes Montgomery as she deals with medical struggles and romantic ups and downs. Physician, heal thyself!

Lastly on this night, Dirty Sexy Money [10/1 @ 10 pm]. The name alone compelled me to kick off last year's ABC 2007 Fall preview. But now, I'll just leave you with the name. Review the link and choose for yourself.

Thursday: The only new show on ABC Thursday night is called Life on Mars [10/9 @ 10 pm]. It follows a NYPD cop that gets thrown backwards to 1973 New York and must find a way to live in the unfamiliar past and find a way to get home. If you think it feels a bit like Quantum Leap, I agree. If you think it also sounds similar to a British television show of the same name, then you are either well read or you subscribe to British cable.

The other shows on Thursday are Ugly Betty [9/25 @ 8 pm] and Grey's Anatomy [9/25 @ 9 thru 11 pm]. I kind of feel that Ugly Betty fills a void left by the earlier and best years of Will & Grace. I don't know this for a fact, but I think that the same demographics of TV viewers liked both shows. I also feel that Grey's Anatomy mostly appeals to women, but I may be wrong with that as well. Still, these shows do well and pull in decent numbers.

But, let's get to the big elephant in ABC's Thursday night room . . . LOST. It won't be back on the air until January 2009. I cry about this a little bit every day. But it gives you the time to recommit yourself to the show you should be watching. I've been writing about TV all week and I can confidently say that there is not another on any of the regular networks that puts more effort, more quality writing and storytelling into a complex plot that can engage the mind and captivate the imagination. Put it on your Netflix queue. borrow Seasons 1-3 from me. Purchase Season 4 this Christmas. You don't want to pass up this opportunity!

Friday: ABC has a pretty weak draw of shows on this night--Wife Swap [10/3 @ 8 pm], Supernanny [10/3 @ 9 pm] and 20/20. I propose to ABC that they combine these three shows into a three hour extravaganza entitled Supernanny Swap/20. This crazy reality show/news program will ask rich families swap their nannies and au pairs with less fortunate wives in lower income brackets. Watch the spoiled nannies struggle to help minimum wage families make ends meet while oppressed middle class mothers try to relax with more opportunity for luxury.

Weekend: Saturday night on ABC is all about college football. On Sunday you get America's Funniest Home Videos, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives [9/28 @ 9 pm], and Brothers and Sisters [9/28 @ 10 pm]. I watched Desperate Housewives with energy its first season but quickly lost season the next year and began watching less and less of all TV on Sunday night since. But you might like Sally Field on Brothers and Sisters and you might find that Desperate Housewives regained some of its zip last year. If so, enjoy.

So, if you are still with me here, I strongly suggest that you give Pushing Daisies a try and make every effort in the world to enjoy LOST while you have the chance.

Until tomorrow night, when I set my sites on CBS . . .

FOX Fall TV Preview

We keep on rolling tonight with another network's Fall TV lineup. On Tuesday I gave my opinions on NBC; on Wednesday I gave The CW a look. Tonight it'll be the FOX network.

For no reason at all, I think we'll use the old phrase "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog" as the thematic system of this preview.

Monday: We'll use The Quick to describe Monday night's on Fox. It begins with Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles [9/8 @ 8 pm]. Why The Quick? Well, when Terminators show up, there tend to be a lot of people that end changing from the Quick to the Dead. (I didn't say this theme would work well every time . . . if at all.) T:TSCC started last season and met with mixed reviews. It has some potential, but there were only about 8 or 9 total episodes aired at the end of last season. It felt to me like the actors were still working their way into their respective roles--especially the young man trying to portray a high-school aged John Conner. He needed to take some acting refresher courses over the summer break, I think. Summer Glau (River from Firefly fame) was an interesting choice as the newest Terminator assigned to protect the Conner family, but her basic roboticness tended to create a one-note performance. I don't exactly know how to get around that, but I think there are quality pieces to work from in this series. 

Also on Fox Monday is another season of Prison Break [9/1 @ 9 pm]. I feel that the buzz on this show flagged pretty strongly after its premiere season that energized a lot of people. The original puzzle-based plot of finding a way to break out of prison was invigorating to people, but once the characters got out of that prison setting, the show sort of became aimless. I say all this without being a fan or watching the show. If anyone has insight on why this show deserves a  successful fourth season, let me know.

Tuesday: This night features two shows, House and Fringe. This night will be described by the words Brown Fox as described below.

Up first is House [9/16 @ 8 pm], a favorite show to a lot of people. I kind of think of it as an edgier spin on ER with a healthy dose of Sherlock Holmes. I like the mystery inherent in each episode and I like the character of House himself. He'll represent the "Fox" here, since many people find him sexy. Perhaps it's his confidence in himself; perhaps its his limp (which makes him vulnerable); perhaps it's his ability to always get to the correct answer, but people dig Hugh Laurie's character.

"Brown" goes with one of the most hotly anticipated shows of the fall, Fringe [9/9 @ 8 pm--a 2 hour premiere with regular episodes airing afterwards at 9 pm]. Why "Brown?" Well, I see it like this. The last time I was this excited by a show on Fox, it was Joss Whedon's Firefly. That show featured Captain Malcolm Reynolds, formerly of the space rebellion force known as the Browncoats. I can only hope that Fox gives Fringe more time to succeed than they gave to Firefly because a great many people are very excited by the idea of Fringe--I don't think it's a X-Files rip off and as a last word I've only got three additional words to add to seal the deal (for me anyway)--J  J  Abrams.

Sign me up!

Wednesday: I'll use Jumps to describe the only interesting show on Fox's midweek lineup . . . because Bones [9/3 @ 8 pm] has five letters just like "jumps." (Man, I am really regretting this terrible idea for a theme!) Bones has always appealed to a lot of people and I think that I would also like it if I had ever taken the time to start watching the show. But I didn't jump on board early enough. That isn't really an excuse in the era of DVD rentals and summer hiatuses, but that is all I've got. Bones is a show about a FBI agent played by David Boreanaz (of Angel) and a forensic anthropologist played by Emily Deschanel. As I am sure I've said before, two more complicated names that are prone to misspelling I'll probably never encounter. I once planned to study forensic anthropology in my early college career, so there's another reason to like. And the two main characters have (I believe) a Mulder/Scully vibe that is also appealing. So, I recommend this show. Catch up with past seasons on Netflix, watch on the web, whatever. But give this show a try.

Thursday: This night makes me use the words Over and Lazy. Why "over?" Well, Fox on Thursday night begins with The Moment of Truth [8/26 @ 8 pm], a show I had hoped would be "over" and done with by now. The premise of destroying lives with public  polygraph questions for entertainment value is reprehensible and shows the worst of Fox's bad tendencies. I want it to end, but I don't think it ever shall.

"Lazy" seems to fit Kitchen Nightmares [9 pm] because the website gives me the impression that this Chef Gordon Ramsey reality show was originally aired in 2007 and are being rebroadcast now to help fill out the schedule. Since I don't like cooking shows that aren't aired on the Food Network, I don't truly care one way or the other, but it does seem a bit shocking.

Friday: The end of the Fox workweek schedule is best characterized by Dog because it is boring, same old, same old stuff. Who really watches Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? [8 pm]. Are these viewers, perhaps, the same one's that watch Don't Forget the Lyrics? [9 pm]. I don't care about either of these shows, so I'll quickly move on.

Weekend: Saturday on Fox is Cops, Cops, and more Cops. Sunday is filled with the animation block that includes King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad. All of these shows have been on autopilot for many, many years and you don't me to tell you anything new about them. End of discussion.

So, what have we learned about Fox? Well, there are some good shows returning (House, Bones), some shows with solid potential (T:TSCC) and one show that just might be something special--fingers crossed! (Fringe) This network just might be worth your time in carefully selected bites. Tread carefully but sample with confidence. 

CW Fall TV Preview

We are carrying on with the 2008 Fall TV preview posts here on WWYG?! Last night I wrote about NBC. Tonight, I am swinging over to the CW, but I'll admit that I should have done this network first, because it is going all out this year and committing itself to quality programming in ways that you just wouldn't believe!

Case in point . . . 90210! It's 2 hour premiere is going on right now as I type . . . but by the time you read this, it'll all be over and you will curse yourself for missing the chance of a lifetime to see a show as great as that in it's Second Coming. Plus, have you heard? Shannon Daugherty is TOTALLY coming back for a few episodes! And OMG! she and Jennie Garth are getting along just great and isn't that awesome!

So, yeah . . . 90210 is back. I didn't care about it the first time around and so I care even less about this incarnation. It doesn't really matter to me how pretty all the actors are--and I have seen that they are very, very pretty. It just seems like this might have been a bigger deal if we hadn't already seen The OC come and go and weren't currently living through Gossip Girl.

But, let's break things down by day, shall we?

Monday: Speaking of Gossip Girl, [9/1 @ 8 pm] it's back on again for the Fall and premiered last night. I haven't watched the show, though some people have tried to tell me that I would like it. I am not entirely sure why that would be the case. I know that originally I think the plot involved a rich kid anonymously blogging about her equally rich friends to much scandal, but I wouldn't doubt that that plot thread faded away and now I suspect it more resembles MTV's The Hills or some other show about rich people (did I mention that 90210 is also on this network?). I'm sure it's a well put-together show and I do like one of the stars (Blake Lively) a bit, but I don't think I'll be tuning in. Sorry.

As to what else is on The CW on Mondays . . . it's One Tree Hill [9/1 @ 9 pm]. This show used to be about basketball, right? I have never watched even one minute of the show over its . . . how many years? . . . two, three . . . ahh, who cares. It's probably just another excuse for pretty Caucasians to sit around and scheme about how they are going to steal each other's significant others.

Tuesday: This is, as I mentioned at the top, the night for 90210 [9/2 @ 8 pm]. But how good can the show be if it has slipped from 3rd rate, maybe 4th rate network FOX (home of the original show) to the even more tenuous CW network? Nothing on the CW inspires much confidence, so I can't say I'll hold high hopes for this show, no matter how many alumnus they drag out of renewed obscurity to pump up the ratings. I am sure Ian Ziering has got nothing better to do, but Jason Priestly and even--god help us all--Luke Perry can probably find more appealing ways to spend their middle-ages now, right?

And let's now forget the "reason for being" of the CW network! Showcasing the lives of the rich, powerful, and vapid. This is reinforced by the OTHER show the network trots out on Tuesday, appropriately titled Privileged [9/9 @ 9 pm]. What is this show about? Well, imagine an earnest, well-meaning young college journalist major that is "taking her lumps" working at a tabloid. She loses her job and manages to swing her way into being the live-in tutor for snooty high schoolers who live in Palm Beach. Can the earnest journalist remain true to herself while trying to enrich the lives of the vapid and also not be seduced by the hot boys and easy living lifestyle of the too rich and not famous? Tune in next Tuesday night to find out!

Wednesday: Midweek on The CW means America's Next Top Model [9/3 @ 8 pm; a 2-hr premiere]. For this, the eleventh cycle of the show, Tyra and Company take a group of homely girls under their wing and get them to realize that beauty isn't important. Instead, the ANTM crew heads into the mean streets of Chicago to volunteer in soup kitchens, pick up trash, and scrap the gum from under the audience chairs at Tyra's talk show.

(Did you believe any of that?)

In actual fact, the latest group of model hopefuls might indeed do the things I mentioned, but only if that was the inane subject of the latest photo set up . . . and preferable if these things could be mimicked while being dangled fifteen feet up in the air.

The other Wednesday night show, Stylista [10/22 @ 9 pm] is a reality show about people competing to get an internship at Elle Magazine. So, if you've seen the movie The Devil Wears Prada, but what you REALLY wanted to see was the video tapes of the casting director for that movie, then this show is right up your alley.

Thursday: If it's Thursday and its the CW, then it must be Smallville [9/18 @ 8 pm]. Yep, the show that no one can believe is still on the air is back on the air again! Clark still doesn't fly; he refuses to see that Chloe is the only person in town worthy of his romantic attention; Lex is marching ever closer to Ultimate Evil; Lois is still annoying as ever, and Lana is dead? I don't even remember what is up with her. I just know that I want it over with. I have invested years of my life in this show and its a habit that I just can't break at this point. I must see it to it's conclusion . . . it's grim, joyless, unfulfilling conclusion.

Supernatural [9/18 @ 9 pm] is also back for another year. Once more I'll say that you would expect me to like a show about demon hunters, vampires, various occult stuff that could (if done better with a more interesting cast of characters) remind me more of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel. But this show doesn't rise to that level of quality, so I don't bother. I'm sure there is a rabid fan base for the show that just got reenergized at Comic Con, but I'll eat my Smallville gruel and move on.

Friday: Friday Night Smackdown. Ugh.

Saturday: local programming

Sunday: Encores of shows done earlier in the week. Pretty pathetic. Except that on 9/21 all hell breaks loose with three new shows--In Harm's Way [9/21 @ 7 pm], Valentine [9/21 @ 8 pm], and Easy Money [9/21 @ 9 pm]. One show is about Greek gods trying to keep their identity secret while matching people up. Another is about ordinary people doing treacherous stuff for a living. And the third is about a family of loan sharks and the one upright son that wants to run the family biz legit. I'll let you sort out which description fits which show. And you also have to guess which show features the always delightful Judge Rheinhold!

So, 90210 . . . this is your network. It can barely put together four weekdays of prime time programming. And you are going to be its salvation? I say good luck to you. And I'll also say that there are several shows listed on the CW website as Coming Soon--all in early October it appears. These shows will not be dealt with in great detail, because they are desperate back ups for equally desperate cannon fodder going out now. But I do note with interest the presence of Bob Saget in one show, Surviving Suburbia [midseason arrival date unknown], because it sounds like he is mimicking the Kevin Spacey role in American Beauty. And we all now know what a horn dog smut head Saget really is, so maybe this is playing more to type?

Another night down, another network excoriated. Tomorrow . . . maybe FOX?

NBC Fall TV Preview

Labor Day has come and gone, the first football games have been played, and there are leaves piling up in my yard (due to drought, but still). That means only one thing--Fall is almost here and that also means one other thing . . . I've got to get to work writing this year's Fall TV Preview posts.

If there is anything constant about my blog (and, no, there isn't much) it is that I have spent some time during this part of the calendar year previewing the upcoming slate of television shows on the networks. It has gotten a bit more complicated over the last few years as the networks have sort of added a summer season, while also mercilessly cutting and destroying poor performing shows. And, of course, I don't spend time talking about cable series and premium channel shows that I am not a subscriber of. So, the utility of this exercise becomes less and less relevant each year, but it means something to me, as when I was younger, I greatly anticipated the arrival of the Fall TV issue of TV Guide. (Yes, I really did.) I loved reading about the new shows, seeing the actors, and trying to gauge which episodes I thought might be interesting to watch and trying to see if I could fit any of the good ones into my schedule.

So, here we go again. For no reason at all, I'm starting with NBC.

While perusing the network website, I am struck by the small amount of new shows upcoming for the Fall. I count only FIVE new shows, if you can believe it. Either than means NBC has truly given up any belief in its ability to create new scripted programming that America wants to watch--a thought process I am not willing to entirely discount--or they are sticking with the shows that, while huge ratings successes in recent years, are at least pleasing to the critics and SOME of the viewing public.

Monday: Chuck [9/29 @ 8 pm] (a show that I said I liked last year and did watch some, but not enough) remains on Monday night's at 8 pm. Chuck's first season was quirky and hit my sweet spot of being nerdy and about spies. So, let's hope the show keeps things going for season two. Heroes [9/22 @ 9 pm] is also back again on Monday. I've read that the creators and writers learned from the poor plotting and delays that screwed up a very poorly received season 2. Season 3, they claim, is going to be more action-packed and more engaging. I just hope it keeps people interested. The mystery isn't nearly as compelling and knotty as LOST, which has used its intrigue and better quality writing to keep going over rough patches. Heroes doesn't have the same loyalty from me or from most people, I'm guessing. So, they need to step up quickly. The other new show on Monday's is one of the few that I am intrigued by. Unfortunately, My Own Worst Enemy doesn't hit the network until next month [10/13 @ 10 pm]. But I'm a fan of high concept (schizophrenic family man that might be a spy in a different life--again with the spy fetish, David?) and Christian Slater is the main character. So, I'll give it a try. It's probably this year's Bionic Woman, but I hope it might be engaging.

Tuesday: Well, NBC doesn't seem to have much going on. Most of the night is filled with another Biggest Loser spinoff (this one focusing on families losing weight together, it seems). I'm all for weight loss, but I don't think I'll be losing much weight by sitting down in front of the TV watching other people do it. And NBC doesn't inspire much confidence the rest of Tuesday night by ending the primetime hours with Law & Order: SVU. I've never been and L & O fan, so it looks like Tuesday night is another network's night in this house.

Wednesday: NBC won't be drawing me in too hard on that night either. The night begins with one of the few new shows of the season, but I've already experienced it (more than once!). You see, it is the ill-conceived reboot of the Knight Rider series that I was a fan of back when I was a kid. I was an unabashed fan of David Hasselhoff and KITT (vers. 1.0), but this new "updated" show probably seemed like a good idea in the executives offices of NBC when they were discussing how much critics liked "Battlestar Galactica." But, BSG is gritty, pseudo-political and just awesome. Knight Rider [9/24 @ 8pm] just doesn't work. I gamely tried the "movie version" of the pilot back in the spring, but I don't think I'll be taking KITT back out for another spin. Following that, you've got Deal or No Deal. (I say No Deal.) And after that is Lipstick Jungle. [9/24 @ 10 pm] You might not be aware that that show was on last season . . . at least I think it was. I distinctly remember typing the title Lipstick Jungle during last year's NBC preview . . . hold it, let's check . . . hmm. I can't seem to find it in last year's writeups. That probably means that it was a mid-season replacement just waiting in the wings. I do know the Brooke Shields is in it, but that's mostly because Brooke was a celebrity judge on Project Runway recently.

Thursday: Moving on, we can see on Thursday, the bulk of NBC's plans and the only place they have really strong shows (other than Chuck on Monday . . . but that's mostly my opinion, I guess.) The night kicks off with My Name is Earl [9/25 @ 8pm] and then moves on to another of the new shows, Kath & Kim, [10/9 @ 8 pm] a show with a flashy website. Usually, that means the network is engaged in the success of the show. It also helps that the show features SNL alumnus Molly Shannon. But it doesn't bode well to me that the show is an Americanization of an Australian original show of the same name. (I know, I know that The Office has done well in this regard, but doesn't anyone besides me remember the disaster that was Coupling?) The 9 o'clock block on Thursday is filled with the reliable and funny duo of The Office [9/25 @ 9 pm] and 30 Rock [10/30 @ 9:30 pm]. These are the shows you can guarantee will be talked about the next day around the office water cooler (do those still exist anywhere? my office has a water dispenser that comes pre-chilled . . . anyway). So, even though you have to wait until Halloween for 30 Rock (and have to fill that time with SNL Weekend Update Thursdays) I recommend you spend time with those shows. I don't even know yet what it's Thursday night competition is, but that's why we DVR stuff, right? And then there is ER [9/25 @ 10 pm]--in it's kajillionth and final season. What can I say? I stopped watching in the Clinton administration but it's still going strong. I guess the legislation on euthanization finally came through? But in a final season, keep an eye out for stunt casting, dramatic returns of old cast mates--those not ridiculously killed by falling helicopters or now far too famous to bother.

Friday: NBC is bringing back Life [9/29 @ 10 pm--a special Monday repremiere before consigning it to death on it's regular Friday slot] from last season and either rerunning Tuesday's episode of Deal or No Deal (I surely hope not) or they are just running another one (not a good option either, when you think about it). The only new thing on Friday night doesn't look very promising on the face of it--Crusoe. [10/17 @ 8 pm] Yes, THAT Crusoe. Supposedly, the show will "brave the elements (??) in a contemporary tale of love, friendship, and self-discovery." I know that some people love costume shows, but I don't think I'll be staying home on my birthday to watch that premiere.

Weekend:Well, it's what you expect. Friday is either Dateline or reruns of what you decided not to watch on the previous weeknight (Knight Rider or Law & Order: SVU) or football, football, football on Sunday.

Not very inspiring, huh? Well, there's not much I can do about it being far from the power center of television and decision making in California. I can only vote by neglect (for the most part) and try my best to give my ratings to the few shows on NBC that seem to be creative and fun to watch.