What I Watched - Fall Premiere Challenge Part 5
Posted by kittson on 08 Oct 2007 at 7:02 pm | Tagged as: Television, Review, What I Watched
Welcome to Part 5 of our 9 part series. This is the halfway point. Let’s see how the shows are doing.
Pushing Daisies (ABC) – This highly stylized drama about a pie-maker who brings people back to life by touching them is the first show this season that seems to be pushing the art of television forward. The pilot is a vibrant cinematic confection reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands. How they plan on maintaining such quality week after week is a mystery (who could forget the letdown after “Studio 60”’s amazing pilot last year). Still, this episode is one everyone should check out. Score: 9
Back to You (Fox) – We’ve seen some bad comedies over the past few weeks. The writers are so bent on being funny every second, there isn’t much of a story. However, the sitcom veterans at “Back to You” know if they concentrate on telling a good story, they can relax a bit and let the funny happen naturally. First Week’s Score: 7. Last Week’s Score: 6. Score: 8. Final Total: 21
Private Practice (ABC) – If we’re dealing with switched-at-birth babies and a sweet old lady poisoning her alcoholic son in the second episode, what kind of movie-of-the-week drama are they planning for sweeps? Wake me up when Addison stops flirting with the Tim Daly character and starts sleeping with the boy-toy midwife. Last Week’s Score: 6. Score: 6
Bionic Woman (NBC) – The arrival of infamous homophobe Isaiah Washington both helps and hurts this sci-fi drama. Washington is at once distracting, forcing your mind away from the action and onto the ethical implications of his presence, and captivating as his superior talent raises the overall quality of the show. Last Week’s Score: 7. Score: 7
Gossip Girl (CW) – At last, a show bravely exposes the outrageous pressure on private school students to go to the same Ivy League schools as their fathers. It’s no wonder they drink so much. First Week’s Score: 7. Last Week’s Score: 7. Score: 8. Final Total: 22
Dirty Sexy Money (ABC) – After years of success in the movies, the affable transvestite is finally finding success on the small screen. My favorite (not played by a former supermodel, of course) is Candis Cayne as Carmelita, Billy Baldwin’s secret lover. Sorry, Dontelle. Last Week’s Score: 8. Score: 8
Life (NBC) – If you were destroyed when Shane left Carmen at the alter - and if you spent the next eighteen months pissed that Sarah Shahi left “The L Word” for “Teachers”, a sitcom that lasted six episodes - you’ll be ecstatic to learn that Shahi is not only one of the stars of this solid crime drama, but she’s a large part of makes it so good. Last Week’s Score: 8. Score: 8
Big Shots (ABC) – F
ortunately the unbelievable and annoying story about Karl’s mistress befriending his wife is only a small portion of the show. I’ll look past it for the sensitive and bruised James and the chipper and newly waxed Brody…for now. Last Week’s Score: 8. Score: 7
Moonlight (CBS) – This vampire can go out during the day, he can have his picture takes digitally, and he has a real issue with murderers. Someone explain to me why they bothered to make him a vampire at all. They should have just made him an ex-con like the rest of the new detective shows. Last Week’s Score: 4. Score: 5
On Wednesday we’ll take a look at the CW’s new dramedy “Life is Wild”. We’ll also reveal the final scores of five shows, including “Reaper” and “Cane”.
If you’re interested in watching any of the shows you missed, most are available for download on iTunes. You can also check out the shows’ websites. Many of them stream episodes for free.
I’m wondering if you’re planning on doing this already since I can’t seem to find the first article about the Fall Premiere Challenge…but wouldn’t it be fascinating to make a mathematical comparison, and then a prediction, as to how long a show would last as measured against Kittson’s scores. This idea seems too exciting for me to be the originator of it…which leads me to ask, where is the first article that introduced the Fall Premiere Challenge???
Check out the September archives for Part 1 of the Fall Premiere Challenge!
Although I totally trust your judgment, and consider you to be a true pop culture attaché, I could not help but be a little skeptical about Dirty Sexy Money. I decided take a leap of faith and watch the show. I can honestly say it is one of my favorite new shows of the season. It initially looked like a show about a vapid affluent family, and the tribulations and woes they face due to their wealth…and it is to a degree. At the same time it has a very human element, making any viewer able to empathize with the characters in one way or another. I love it! And Ms Candis is a true Diva!
I am going to see if I can watch everything that got at least a 7 from you the first week and and a higher score the next. Sorry Moonlight… Thanks again for keeping us in the know and tacky television out of our consciousness.
PS: I would say that Gossip Girls is my new guilty pleasure, but as a gay man I get a reprieve for indulging in shows that focus on drama, bitchy satire, and of course gossip. So I am “coming out” to say that I really like the show!