What I Watched - Fall Premiere Challenge Part 3
Posted by kittson on Sep 30 2007 | Tagged as: Television, Review, What I Watched
While the last set was filled with geeks and slackers, this group of shows seems to be all about the alpha male…and female. We have three about the lifestyle of obscenely rich New Yorkers, two about rogue detectives with nothing to lose, one about a world-class neonatal surgeon, and one show with a new bionic woman that makes the original look like Wang. As you might expect, these over-achievers faired a little better than the nerds.
Private Practice (ABC) – We loved Addison on “Grey’s Anatomy”. Her quirky charm provided a counterbalancing lightness to the primarily bleak cast of characters. This spin-off (a brave gamble or simple laziness?) feels a bit superficial and makes me wonder why they messed with a good thing over at Seattle Grace to create this lesser show that offers nothing new. Score: 6
Bionic Woman (NBC) – I feel like I should like this show, and I may eventually. They’ve got all their ducks in a row. The look of it is very slick. The premise is well developed and plausible (while you’re watching it, that is, not later when you’re trying to describe it to your co-workers). But I don’t really like this Jamie Sommers. Right now she’s just cold and angry. I want her to enjoy kicking ass. Score: 7
Dirty Sexy Money (ABC) – After his father’s suspicious death, Nick George (Peter Krause) reluctantly assumes his role as p
ersonal lawyer to the Kennedy-esque Darling family. This show features a solid cast, including Jill Clayburgh, Donald Sutherland, and one of the other Baldwin brothers (Billy, if you care). Smart writing and a rich array of characters (some sympathetic, some not so much) turn what might have been just another night soap into a genuinely compelling pilot episode. Score: 8
Life (NBC) – Detective Charlie Crews has been exonerated and reinstated after spending twelve years in prison. He’s a little crazy, but he’s got a lot of money and women, and, boy, does he solve good crime. Score: 8
Gossip Girl (CW) – I don’t know how they did it in two episodes, but I’m already worried Chuck will foil Ryan and Marissa’s…I mean Dan and Serena’s(!) chance at love. Okay, it’s not terribly original, but “Gossip Girl” is definitely going to be the guilty pleasure of the season, so don’t believe me when I tell you I’ve stopped watching it. Last Week’s Score: 7. Score: 7
Back to You (Fox) – There were some legitimately funny moments in this second episode (who knew a ring-tone could actually make me laugh), but the repeated killing of goldfish (the gag on which the entire episode was based) was anything but. The possibility for another Grammer-length run for this sitcom is looking bad. Last Week’s Score: 7. Score: 6
Big Shots (ABC) – The ads for this show are pretty misleading. It appears to be about four misogynistic Wall Street sharks who spend too much money and take advantage of women for sport. Some of that is true. They are successful businessmen who enjoy the finer things. But this show is more “Sex in the City” than “Entourage”, and the women in their lives mostly take advantage of them. Score: 8
Moonlight (CBS) – I haven’t seen a drama this bad since the pre-“Monk” days of original programming on cable. Not only is the concept of a vampire detective completely unoriginal, but the cast is so uninspired I can’t help thinking the “casting couch” is alive and well. The good news is it runs opposite “Friday Night Lights”. Score: 4
On Wednesday we’ll take a look at “Aliens in America” (which is actually not a science fiction series), “Cavemen” (which is actually not the first series based on a commercial), and “Carpoolers” (which nobody’s talking about). Plus we’ll also get our first final score with “K-Ville”.
If you’re interested in watching any of the shows you may have missed, most are available for download on iTunes. You can also check out the shows’ websites. Many of them stream episodes for free.





The Big Bang Theory (CBS) – Basically a scripted version of “Beauty and the Geek”, a blond waitress moves in across the hall from two geniuses whose lives revolve around Klingon Boggle and “World of Witchcraft”. The first half of this episode is horrible, actually painful. Then “Studio 60”’s Simon Helberg arrives, and it actually gets kind of funny. However he’s merely a supporting character, and “The Big Bang Theory” will likely be the first show axed this season. Score: 5
Reaper (CW) – Director Kevin Smith’s best work since Chasing Amy, this show about a slacker forced to work as a bounty hunter for the devil is well-crafted and funny. While stylistically similar to “Chuck”, “Reaper” is much more satisfying. If subsequent episodes can live up to this enjoyable pilot, the fledgling CW will have its first hit series. Score: 9
tracks. But the truth is Kelsey Grammer has made a career out of turning unlikable into sympathetic. Plus I’m always happy to see Fred Willard. I guess I should expect more from sitcom legend James Burrows. Score: 7
Entourage (HBO) – Due to some bizarre scheduling, we got the end of the third season and the beginning of the fourth, thus a bunch of extra “Entourage” in one summer. But it certainly wasn’t just quantity that put the show on our list; it was the comeuppance of Johnny Drama. Having Kevin Dillon, Matt Dillon’s much-less-famous brother, play Vincent Chase’s much-less-famous brother is a not-so-inside joke. Drama’s incessant failure has always been the counterweight to Vince’s easy success, providing tension to a show where nothing ever seems to go wrong. Now again art imitates life. While Vince wasted the season on the doomed Medellin (You, Me and Dupree, anyone?), Drama found success as a television actor and became the bread-winner as well as the guy who does all the cooking.
Real Genius meets “Dawson Creek”. Rusty Cartwright (vaguely reminiscent of Sam from cult-classic “Freaks and Geeks”), a freshman physics genius, facing four years among the nerds, pledges a fraternity, where he discovers drinking and sex (“a new kind of family,” indeed). It often feels like a guilty pleasure. It is, after all, the answer to the teen soap opening left by “The O.C.” Yet the pleasure outweighs the guilt, and while the format is familiar, the characters are all new. At first glance they seem like old stereotypes – socially- and athletically-challenged geeks, sex- and alcohol-crazed frat boys, and rich-bitch sorority sisters – and a couple of new ones – a born-again roommate and a closeted pledge – but as the season progresses, their complexities and sincerities are revealed. Thank goodness, no thank god, this series has been renewed and will return at the beginning of 2008.
Saving Grace (TNT) – Set in present day Oklahoma City, a female detective, still haunted by the bombings, who drinks too much, drives too fast, and has sex with too many of the wrong people, is the recipient of unwanted counseling by an angel, Earl, trying to rescue her soul from hell. Yes, it sounds very “Touched by an Angel” or “Highway to Heaven”, but this series claims no allegiance to Christianity, and the amount of swearing and bare skin would make Michael Landon blush. It’s a solid cop show, reminiscent of “Cagney and Lacey” and “Hill Street Blues” more than “Law and Order”, but the single most powerful thing “Saving Grace” has going for it is the magnificent Holly Hunter. More than any of all the starlets making names for themselves in cable TV right now – Glenn Close, Kyra Sedgwick, Minnie Driver, etc – Hunter appears to be stepping it up a notch rather than settling into a day job, as she rails against the bad guys, her family, God, and mostly herself. If you missed it, they’re starting from the beginning next Monday on TNT.
Mad Men (AMC) – Set in 1960’s NYC, through the lens of ad agency Sterling Cooper, the world of “Mad Men” is chronologically only 47 years old, but socially and culturally, it may as well be 200. As the women struggle with shifting social paradigms and confusing identities while navigating their way through the corporate jungle and the men who inhabit it (my respect for women who lived through this era has grown tenfold!), the men maintain a shield of bravado and one-upmanship that’s downright exhausting in a world where sexual and professional conquests are the only way to prove your manhood. They almost never talk about their feelings, and secrets must be hidden at all cost. No wonder they drink and smoke all day!
Flight of the Conchords (HBO) – I’m absolutely in love with Flight of the Conchords and am seriously considering quitting my day job and following them all over the world (or at least the tri-state area). The premise of the show is simple: two-man, digi-folk band from New Zealand (Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement) try to make it in NYC. With the help of their manager, Murray, they’ve so far managed to…well, not get very far. Like real struggling musicians, they live in a tiny apartment, share a bedroom, sleep in twin beds, have annoying friends, and work a crappy day job (once). But Bret and Jemaine have better chemistry than most on-screen couples and their deadpan delivery, comedic timing, and musical skills make for one of the most refreshing and entertaining series in a long time. Each episode features 2-3 hilarious, and damn impressive, songs that weave in out of the show like perfectly timed music videos revealing their innermost thoughts and desires; or sometimes, just providing a silly diversion. Songs about once-a-week sex (“Business Time”), surviving in the city (“Inner City Pressure”), and Bret’s appeal as a “humpable” heterosexual guy (“Bret, You’ve Got it Going On”) have been swimming around in my head for weeks. HBO has ordered a second season of “Flight of the Conchords”. I can’t wait to see what delightful songs will be stuck in my head next summer as I deal with my own “Inner City Pressure”.
Folks who love musicals will enjoy Hairspray; folks who don’t probably won’t.

Now let’s take a moment to honor this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, “Gilmore Girls“.












