Posts tagged: Chuck

Jan 07 2011

Best of 2010 and what to look forward to in 2011

Now I watch quite a bit of TV so this was a VERY hard list to come up with. I found myself putting in some shows that may not actually be more favorable over others but I have to give props if they had an impressive year. I’ll try to keep summaries to a minimum but there are gonna be spoilers to give a little on why one such show was awesome last year.

12- Cougar Town – Title withstanding, the ABC show has really came into its own and improved significantly, and we’ve seen less of Barb, so that alone is a major improvement. 2nd season airs Wed. 9:30PM, ’til February, then returns again in April.

11- The Vampire Diaries – Yeah, it’s a bit on the soapy teen side, but it still has more sex and violence (at least what can be on broadcast, so no nudity, but that’s okay) than a certain (non)-vampire movie franchise (note, I’m basing that on the 1st movie). Plus, the introduction of werewolves, bringing in more witches, and the arrival of Katherine, the vampire who turned Damon and Stefan and who Elena looks like. The writing is much stronger and the storylines now are really making it a bit of a surprising drama series that I find very much worth watching. The 2nd half of its 2nd season returns January 27th at 8PM on the CW.

10- Modern Family – What’s not to love about this one of a kind comedy where you have a father who married a younger Colombian woman with a son, and a daughter with a man-child of a husband and three kids, and a gay son who adopted a Vietnamese baby with his partner. Add in a doc-style therapy narration and you have a unique comedy that not only does extremely well in demo, but it actually won an Emmy too for a comedy and get this, it’s actually funny. This ABC series 2nd season airs Wed. at 9PM.

9- Eureka – The Syfy series saw some real creative genius last year when Carter, Allison, Henry, Jo, and Fargo had traveled back to the past and arrived back to the present with a man named Trevor Grant joining, to find a very different Eureka (Jo and Zane never dated, Tess never left, Henry is married, Allison’s autistic son was surprisingly no longer autistic, and, Fargo is in charge of GD). Playing with time can be a tricky thing, but this show excelled (although I’m still not sure how a kid would no longer be autistic), but it was still a fun show to watch, and I look forward to more. Return TBD.

8- Sanctuary – This little Syfy gem may not get the press that the now canceled SGU and Caprica got, but it certainly tops my list from the net. And last year it got even better, picking up after the the Big Bertha storyline, Magnus and her team look for Hollow Earth, and the last ep of the year was a big “WTF” moment that still has me in shock. I look forward to its return this spring to finish out its 3rd season, and hope for renewal of such an underrated series.

7- Fringe – This FOX series, now in its 3rd season, is moving to Fridays, so spread the word ’cause this series must continue. The 3rd season opened us up more to the alternate universe with the first half switching between the ‘Fringe’-world we know and the alternate one, having our Olivia “over there” and Fauxlivia (the “over there” Olivia) “over here.” The once X-Files-esque show is going more in mythology and the deepness of it is a hard sell to average viewers, which is a shame, because this has been a truly great year. 3rd Season returns January 21 at 9PM on FOX (with an episode titled, get this, “Firefly”)

6- Bones – Oh last year saw the 100th episode with Booth telling Brennan he loved her and she rejecting him and then the last ep of the year in which Brennan saw herself in a victim and realized she made a mistake and her putting her heart out there, but because of, eh, Hanna, Booth then rejected her. I say, give the Emmy to Emily Deschanel, please. Oh, and Hodgins and Angela got married in jail and are now expecting. Really looking forward to the aftermath of Brennan’s tearjerking moment, plus, there are spoilers out there that a supporting character (possibly one of the squinterns) is gonna say hello to a bullet. 6th season returns January 20 at 9PM on FOX (yes, 9PM now, not 8PM, 9PM, don’t forget it).

5- How I Met Your Mother – The closest thing to a Friends replacement, this CBS comedy is now in its 6th season and isn’t slowing down. Any show that can take what should be a simple story to kids on how their parents met and make it into a non-stop force of comedy for 6 years running is a masterpiece. Now if only Neil Patrick Harris can get that Emmy for this series he so DESERVES, and maybe little more love for Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan this year? Oh, and let’s not forget that almost a year ago was the 100th episode, with the wonderful musical number “Girls Vs. Suits.” This CBS series 6th season airs Mondays 8PM.

4- Smallville – Hey, it’s in its 10th and final season and they are giving us one hell of a season. The 10th season is now getting more into the Superman mythology, even that scene with the ‘Superman Returns’ costume in the Fortress of Solitude gave me goosebumps (got them again just thinking about that scene). And let’s not forget the wonderful 200th episode where James Marsters returned as Brainiac and Clark and Lois’s floaty dance at the end, it’s just, well, super. 10th season returns, with only 11 episodes left, of this epic series, on January 28 at 8PM on the CW.

3- Chuck – This spy-action comedy series is very much adored by its close-knit of fans, and that dedication has helped bring this series into its now 4th season. But, hope for a 5th dwindles unless ratings can spike, and last year saw a massive amount of what they call stunt casting, but, though it didn’t hurt, Linda Hamilton, Lou Ferrigno, Summer Glau, Robert Englund, and Timothy Dalton didn’t help ratings either. 4th season returns January 17 at 8PM on NBC.

2- True Blood – Well, duh, my #2 show in general is the HBO hit with vampires, werewolves, and now fairies. Going into a 4th season this year, we should see more witches and, from what I hear, more vampire politics. The sex and gore didn’t stop in the 3rd season (the disturbing head twist sex scene between Bill and Lorena and Russell ripping the spinal column of a news anchor on live TV, great stuff.) 4th season airs this summer on HBO.

1- Supernatural – Not a surprise, it’s always been my most favorite show since it premiered. With a great mix of drama, action, and comedy, strong characters, excellent writing, we haven’t had a show this strong since Buffy. Last year we got the 100th episode, a showdown with Lucifer, and more crazy “WTF” moments (“fairies”?), a great Bobby episode, and you also had Castiel watching porn, I never laughed so hard in my life. Kidding aside, it’s still a strong serious show, and now that Sam has his soul back, with the unreliable “patch” from Death, what’s next for our favorite demon hunters? 6th season returns January 28th at 9PM on the CW.

BEST NEW SERIES from LAST YEAR:
Haven (Syfy) – The series will return for a 2nd season this summer (yay!) and is actually a quite intriguing show, much better than the highest rated scripted show on Syfy, Warehouse 13, which is good too, but I like Haven more. Taking place in a small town in Maine, it follows an FBI agent who found herself trying to unlock the mystery of the Troubles and a mysterious picture in an old newspaper of a woman that she believed to be her mother. It’s got a great cast, and when we last saw it, Audrey got more clues to her mother, that it might not have been her mother, but her! Plus Duke’s hunt to find out who is supposed to kill him, bringing in the mystery of the maze tattoo. Oh, and this is loosely based on the Stephen King novella ‘The Colorado Kid.’

Shows I Wish Weren’t Canceled:
My Boys – The highly underrated TBS comedy was a pleasant surprise to me. I started watching it when it was halfway through its 1st season since someone recommended it, and I’m glad I did. It was a smart and funny show, with a great ensemble.

Party Down – The Starz comedy by Rob Thomas (not the singer, the guy who gave us the wonderful Veronica Mars) was about actors, writers, comedians who work at a catering company called Party Down in order to pay the bills as their dream jobs aren’t going well.

Heroes – Yeah, ratings were low, blah, blah, but all I really wanted was some shorter season to tie up loose ends, as the last episode ended with a HUGE cliffhanger, Claire showing her regeneration ability on camera for everyone to see.

Stargate Universe – after a rocky start, the show really improved. It was canceled last year, but the remaining 10 eps of its 2nd season will air this year, and I believe I heard there’s a cliffhanger (of course).

Dollhouse – Of course I’m gonna have this on here. Those few eps last year were among the strongest. Guess it’s a good thing Joss Whedon pretty much knew the chances of renewal were slim, and the last episode at least had an ending, while Heroes did not.

NEW SHOWS this year:
The Cape (special premiere on January 9th at 9PM on NBC, regular time slot begins January 17 at 9PM) – Summer Glau returns to TV! NBC is promoting this more heavily than their other new shows, and it does seem interesting, but is it too soon after the fall of Heroes?

Mr. Sunshine (premieres February 9 at 9:30PM on ABC) – Chandler Bing! Yes, Matthew Perry is back on TV, 2nd time after the end of Friends and with a sweet timeslot after the super hit Modern Family. Though, that means Chandler is being mean to Monica, being it’s bumping Cougar Town for a little bit.

Camelot – Starz isn’t slowing down in an effort to go up against HBO and Showtime, and this further proves it. A retelling (yes, another) of the Arthurian legend, this version will primarily be using Thomas Mallory’s 15th century work, “Le Morte d’Arthur”, along with other Arthurian legends as its source. Premieres April 1.

RETURNING Shows looking forward to:
Primeval – It came back on New Year’s, after over a year since the 3rd season and news of a cancellation, the show was brought back with a deal of 13 episodes spread between two seasons. BBC America is currently showing this wonderful British series on Saturday nights for us in America.

Torchwood – The 4th season of this British show, which was missing last year, returns this year, now on Starz (for us). The series will take a slightly different direction as Captain Jack and Gwen Cooper will travel across the pond, as the series will now have US financing (thanks to Starz) along with continuing BBC love. The 4th series adds Americans Bill Pullman and Mekhi Phifer to the cast, as well as some big guns in writing, with former Buffy writer Jane Espenson, X-Files & Supernatural writer John Shiban, and House writer Doris Egan adding their magic touches to the season along with creator Russell T. Davies and John Fay returning. This will be one series not to miss.

—-

I don’t have much to say in terms of music and movies (I didn’t purchase that many CDs last year, getting only CDs from bands I like enough to get the day they come out (which is VERY few) and I don’t go to the movies, it’s been 2 years almost since I’ve last been.

But, going by albums released last year, I actually purchased 5 total CDs, and only 3 of them were new releases (Godsmack ‘The Oracle’, Disturbed ‘Asylum’, and Apocalyptica ’7th Symphony.’) So I guess there’s my top 3, but Apocalyptica would be my favorite of the three.

And, I saw newer movies in other ways (Netflix). So, movies that came out at the end of 2010, of course I haven’t seen yet, but for those available to rent and buy (I believe I only bought 2 movies – ‘Legion’ and ‘Kick-Ass’) but I’ve also eventually saw ‘Daybreakers,’ ‘Death at a Funeral’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘The Grown-Ups’, ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice,’ ‘Hot Tub Time Machine,’ ‘The Losers,’ and ‘When in Rome.’ And when they are available to rent or when popularity dies down, I look forward to check out ‘Skyline,’ ‘Toy Story 3,’ ‘Inception,’ and hopefully in about 4-5 months, ‘Little Fockers,’ ‘Yogi Bear,’ ‘Tangled,’ and I kind of want to see ‘Gulliver’s Travels.’ Unfortunately, I haven’t seen them, so I can’t say anything about them other than that they look good from previews.

Anyway, of the ones I saw, I think people were too negative about ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ ’cause I thought it was entertaining (even though there were some amounts of lameness, I mean seriously, Prime Merlinean?) ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be, but it was still funny, but ‘Death at a Funeral’ was HILARIOUS. ‘Legion’ wasn’t as good as I would have hoped, but ‘Daybreakers’ was actually pretty good (not the best vampire film, but is a better movie than the shit a certain studio is selling as vampire films (you know what I’m talking about). ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was, eh, okay, but eh, was a waste of my time, ‘The Losers’ was pretty awesome, and ‘The Grown-Ups’ was pretty funny (not the funniest Adam Sandler movie, but good). And ‘Kick-Ass,’ well, it KICKED-ASS.

As for what to look forward to in 2011 as far as music and movies:

MOVIES:
Cabin in the Woods‘ – Joss Whedon, need I say more

‘Super’ – limited April 1 – Rainn Wilson stars as a man who decides to become a superhero, even having a crazy sidekick played by Ellen Page. Nathan Fillion, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon also star.

‘Super 8′ – June 10- not much is really known, but it’s Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams working together on this, super secret movie.

‘Thor’ – May 6 – the kickoff of the summer blockbusters starts with a Marvel superhero. The movie looks good, and as much as I tend to prefer DC over Marvel, I’d be more inclined to check this out over ‘the Green Lantern,’ though I kind of want to see that too.

‘Your Highness’ – April 8 – It’s a spoofy movie on the whole like medieval prince/princess/dragons stuff which stars Danny McBride, James Franco, Zooey Deschanel, and Natalie Portman.

MUSIC:
One confirmed album I’m looking forward to: Within Temptation‘s 5th album ‘The Unforgiving.’ A concept album based on a comic book series by Steven O’Connell. Set for release in March.

Anything else is up in the air as the year just started, but Lacuna Coil are writing (stated on their Facebook page) and Tantric is also working on a new album (also mentioned on their Facebook page, but vaguely).

AND, let’s not forget VIDEO GAMES:::
First, ‘Mass Effect 2′ comes to the PS3, which is the console I have, so that means, if/when I get it, I can finally play it.

And on 11/1/11 we get the third ‘Uncharted’ game, ‘Drake’s Deception,’ which is available only for the PS3. HAHA, take that Xbox owners!

Sep 17 2010

Returning Shows to Watch

Many, many, many TV-related sites have all their ‘Returning TV’ lists as well as ‘New TV’ lists; an all in one guide to this fall TV season (I’ve done a ‘new series to watch list’ after the upfronts, in two parts: Part One (ABC/FOX/NBC), Part Two (CBS/CW), in case you’re interested). *Note, I have since decided not to watch a few, since it’s difficult to find time to watch all these shows (unless I got paid, which would be sweet, BTW, as retail sucks), also a few video clips appeared to have expired, I’ll update it when they premiere and I can review them further.

Back to what I’m getting at here.

I watch a ton of TV shows, I counted 19 shows returning this season (3 of which had already returned) just on the broadcast nets alone (ABC/FOX/CBS/NBC/CW). Monday is a big day, with 9-20-10 seeing the returns of How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 6th season), House (FOX, 7th), Chuck (NBC, 4th), in the 8pm hour alone. Of course, I love them all, but I push Chuck more, since Mondays are so blah, Chuck is the fun-fast action-spy-adventure that takes away the Monday blah. Plus, another reason to watch this season: Linda Hamilton (yo, it’s Sarah Connor, dudes), Eric Roberts (who was in Less Than Perfect with Zac Levi, and will be in the upcoming Syfy Sharktopus, and in The Expendables), Olivia Munn, Dolph Lungdren (you know, from Rocky IV, as well as this year’s The Expendables), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk, dudes), Bronson Pinchot (remember, Balki Bartokomous), Isaiah Mustafa (Old Spice dude), Harry Dean Stanton (Alien), and Timothy Dalton (James Bond #4, I think), phew, that’s a lot of guest stars. Check out a 5 min look at Chuck:

And of course, ABC’s Castle (3rd) comes back that day as well, in the 10pm hour. Tuesday already saw the return of CW’s Life Unexpected (9pm, 2nd) and NBC’s Parenthood (10pm, 2nd), and on 9-21 will be the return of NCIS (8th) at 8pm on CBS (plus the spin-off series 2nd season, which I ended up stop watching). Wednesday, 9-22, is all about the return of ABC’s comedy lineup, including EMMY winning series for Best Comedy, Modern Family (9pm, 2nd), and at 9:30pm Cougar Town (2nd), which will feature guest Jennifer Aniston (cue Friends reunion), and on the serious side, CBS’s Criminal Minds (9pm, 6th) continues to be a powerful night, it’s one crime-procedural that continues to improve itself (like NCIS, this year it’ll have a spin-off series in the midseason). Thursday, we saw the return of CW’s hit The Vampire Diaries (8pm, 2nd), which I like watching, but admit there are lots of room for improvement (it’s not Buffy, that’s for damn sure), and on 9-23, FOX’s Thursday brings us the return of Bones (8pm, 6th) and Fringe (9pm, 3rd).

New paragraph, as September 24th, 2010 is the most important night in television, remember it. The CW has it’s most powerful night (sorry for using the word ‘powerful’ again), but it really is. 8pm start it off with the TENTH (yes, 10th) and FINAL season of one of the most beloved series from the WB era that transitioned to the CW (it’s 5 on WB and now 5 on CW, kind of like Stargate SG-1, which had 5 on Showtime and 5 on what was the Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy). Smallville is monumental, because, knowing it’s the last, means they can pull out all the stops and close the series that’ll give it justice. Also, it will beat SG-1 in terms of having the most produced episodes for a sci-fi/fantasy series in the US (they’re still tied in terms of there being 10 seasons). And hey, Clark may (hopefully) now finally FLY. Actually, I believe they said they will finally do that, plus the teaser with the Superman suit (from Superman Returns). Check out this CW official video clip, highlighting Clark through the seasons, it’s just purely awesome:

And then at 9pm, the 6th season of the BEST TV SHOW, Supernatural (sorry for the shouting, it’s just all too exciting). Last season, was all about the impending apocalypse, now, with Sera Gamble now taking the helm as showrunner, it’ll be more about the monsters that go “bump in the night.” The premiere is set a year after the events of the 5th season finale. And thanks to TNT, next week, starting on the night of Sept. 23 at midnight and ending at 8pm the next day, a beautiful 20 hour Supernatural marathon. Catch a few, including the end of the 5th, and watch the premiere of season 6 on the CW at 9pm (might as well watch Smallville before it, the marathon does end at 8pm, so why not?). Check out this preview clip from the CW:

And then there is Sunday, which has FOX’s ‘Animation Domination,’ with the 22nd season premiere of The Simpsons, plus returns of Cleveland Show, Family Guy and American Dad.

Obviously, the series I like the most are highlighted by embedding video clips, but I also push FOX’s Thursday with Bones and Fringe as well as Criminal Minds on Wednesday, and just to pick one series on Tuesday, my favorite is Parenthood (Lauren Graham, come on Emmy people, recognize brilliance), and my fave Sunday is Family Guy, but I want to keep this post from getting too long. Too many video clips can be annoying.

And, remember, this is just broadcast, there are a few cable ones too, but I won’t get into that now.

Jan 10 2010

Chuck Returns; How I Met Your Mother 100th

Ahh, 10 days into the new year and the TV schedule is already filling up. First, the third season of Chuck returns on NBC on Sunday, January 10th, with a special 2-Hour event starting at 9/8c. Then, the series will return to its normal, regular timeslot of Mondays at 8/7c on January 11th. For those who’ve watched the show (or at least checked the last few eps last season), know that Chuck has been upgraded with the Intersect 2.0, which does more than just causes him to flash for intel when triggered (either by the face of a spy or even a top secret device), now, in a given situation where he needs to act fast, he’ll flash for a useful skill. As seen in the second season finale, he and Sarah and Casey were in a little tight situation, so he flashed on kung-fu skills, and boom, he knew kung-fu. Previews show him flashing on complete languages and even getting mad guitar skills. It’ll sure be a fun and interesting development for our favorite little spy that could. Check out the preview trailer for the upcoming 3rd season:

Also, Sunday night sees the 450th episode of The Simpsons plus a 20th Anniversary special, starting at 8/7c, on FOX.

FOX, has decided to bring House back from winter hiatus a little early (those pesky devils), going up against the new Chuck as well as How I ‘s milestone 100th episode. And what a special episode it’ll be. First, Barney has to choose between wearing a suit or dating a girl, which leads to an awesome musical number involving 75 people dressed in suits. Second, a clue to the mysterious ‘Mother,’ as in, who she might be. CBS.com is lovely and nice enough to have a 2-min clip of a behind the scenes look:

How I Met Your Mother – ‘Girls vs Suits’ airs Monday, Jan. 11 at 8/7c on CBS.

And let’s not forget the rest of Monday night, with new Heroes after Chuck (I don’t care what anyone says, I still see good in it), a special night for Fringe on FOX after House (guess they want to see if Fringe can get some better ratings with a more higher-rated lead-in, like it did last year, also when it wasn’t against 2 mega-ratings dramas), and a new Castle on ABC at 10/9c with special guest Alyssa Milano (Charmed).

Phew, that’s just the next two days. The week will also see Bones back from hiatus (note, their 100th is currently scheduled to air on April 8th [could change]). Next week, the CW will come back with their #1 lineup on Thursday with the Vampire Diaries and Supernatural, and Fridays are complete again (briefly) with the return of Smallville [sadly, Jan. 22 will also serve as the day Dollhouse is dismantled]. Also, see the return of USA Network’s #1 shows come back in full force, including new nights for White Collar (Tuesdays at 10pm, starting Jan 19) and Psych (Wednesdays at 10pm, Jan 20), and for those who watch [unfortunately, time didn’t allow[, Burn Notice remains on Thursdays (10pm though) on Jan 21. The CW will premiere a new series, Life Unexpected on Jan. 18 at 9/8c, starring Roswell alum Shiri Appleby, which I might give a shot. See when/if your favorites return this winter at the futon critic.

Aug 31 2009

Fall TV 2009: Is Approaching

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in Supernatural Season 5.  the CW 2009.

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in Supernatural Season 5. the CW 2009.

Tomorrow is September, yep already. With majority of Summer TV winding down (oh, the season finale of HBO’s True Blood is September 13th, sucks we have to wait two weeks, but I can’t wait), the broadcast networks of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and CW are about to premiere their television lineup of favorites and new series, with the CW pretty much leading the way with 90210 and Melrose Place on September 8th. But the biggest premiere of all of TV, comes from the CW’s very own Supernatural, returning for a milestone 5th season with the rise of Lucifer, on September 10th. But instead of following Smallville (which doesn’t return until Sept. 25), a new series will premiere in the Thurs 8PM slot, The Vampire Diaries, which, like True Blood and Twilight, is based on books, but more closer to Twilight in that its teeny, so I don’t expect much from it, it won’t even touch the greatness the WB had with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much less touch the latest TV-Vamp sensation, True Blood. Anyway, it’s got vamps, I’ll still check it out. There are other CW shows, but if I mention all shows coming back, this will be a long post, so I’ll stick with what I’m watching (note, that doesn’t include Melrose or 90210, those were just for the purpose of noting the main beginning to Fall TV).

FOX is next in line, with their own Thursday night lineup, with Bones (also 5th season) and the 2nd season of Fringe on Sept. 17. NBC’s comedy night returns, but w/o Earl, the only show I think worth checking out is Community, which will start in the 9:30 slot, before moving to 8PM in early Oct. and stars Chevy Chase.

And then there’s CBS and ABC, and very few NBC shows to watch (mostly due to the Jay Leno Show, starting Sept 14):

Monday, September 21 will mark the, yeah, 5th season of How I Met Your Mother on CBS at 8PM (actually all of CBS Monday Comedy night, and one drama). ABC will also bring back Castle on Sept. 21 as well at 10PM. NBC’s Heroes returns to a 4th season at a new time (8PM), and the 6th season of FOX’s House at 8PM as well (busy busy Monday, certainly make full use of DVR & my DVD Recorder).

CBS’s 7th season of NCIS returns Tuesday, Sept. 22, along with the new spin-off series, NCIS: LA. ABC’s V premiere’s Nov. 3 on Tuesday 8PM. Wednesday, Sept. 23 will bring back CBS’s Criminal Minds (no surprise, a lot of 5th seasons), and also that night ABC’s comedies, including Courteney Cox’s new show Cougar Town (9:30PM), and the TV adaptation of Witches of Eastwick, simply titled Eastwick at 10PM. NBC also has a new series, starring former Buffy alumna Michelle Trachenberg, in Mercy, airing at 8PM.

Thursday, Sept 24 will see the 10th season return of CSI, unfortunately, with FOX’s moving of Fringe, and Superntural still on, and for a few weeks, the new NBC comedy Community, I won’t be watching it, but I feel need to mention it, as I did like it, a little. ABC also has a new show, Flash Forward at 8PM that may be worth checking out.

Eliza Dushku stars as Echo.  FOX promo.

Eliza Dushku stars as Echo. FOX promo.

And Friday, September 25th, we will once again enter the Dollhouse on FOX at 9PM, plus the CW’s move of Smallville to Friday at 8PM, and CBS bringing Medium back and premiering it in the 9PM slot, between Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs (which I’ve lost interest in).

And, then there’s the FOX animation-domination night (really, it’s a Seth MacFarlane animation-domination night), coming back Sept. 27, with new series The Cleveland Show, a Family Guy spinoff, which will still lead into the other MacFarlane show, American Dad. And, the record-breaking season of the Simpsons (officially, the 21st season now), starting it all at 8PM. (note, there is an NFL overrun, so set DVRs accordingly). CBS’s new series Three Rivers premieres Oct. 4th, which stars Alex O’Loughlin, aka Mick St. John from CBS’s canceled vampire series Moonlight which I’m still pissed about (one year later, and it would have still been on).

And let’s not forget the cable shows, though most bring in the goods during the summer, doesn’t mean they don’t try to take over from fall nights.

Recently premiered returns of Monk and Psych on USA’s Fridays overlap into the fall, well, Monk appears to be airing it’s final season through, while Psych goes on hiatus after Oct. 16 to make room for the new series White Collar (Oct. 23), which seems to be USA using the final season of Monk to lead into a new show, to gain viewers, so when Psych returns, they both end this season together and become the new Friday-night pair for the USA network. Also, we still of SyFy’s Ghost Hunters on Wed. 9pm, and its buddy Destination Truth returns on Sept 9 at 10PM. Comedy Central’s South Park returns on Oct. 7. F/X will bring back Nip/Tuck for its 6th season on a new night, Wednesday at 10PM on Oct. 14.

And of course, SyFy has their Friday nights, with the latest Stargate spin-off, Stargate Universe on Oct. 2 at 9PM (2 hour premiere), and the next week will see the return of Sanctuary. (BUSY busy, Friday for me too).

And then there are midseason shows, including the return of Chuck on NBC, which will be in March, after the Winter Olympics.

Full Guide to Fall 2009 by the futon critic

May 04 2009

NBC Announces new Shows and Renewals, except…

..the fate of Chuck. Looks like we’re gonna have to wait a week or two. Until then, fans are encouraged to watch Chuck online at NBC.com or Hulu.com, actually, specifically “Chuck vs the Colonel” tonight at 8PM, to show NBC we mean business. (ChuckTV.net).

My Name is Earl, Life, Law and Order are also unknown, and actually, so is Knight Rider‘s fate, which is strange, no official word on cancellation, despite that being a shoe-in for getting canned. Oh well, NBC, I guess, is trying to figure in what they can have, since they now have to factor in the 5-night-a-week Leno Primetime show (which, I like Jay Leno, but 5 nights at 10PM? Why not have done a, say, 2 nights a week kind of deal? That removes two hours, giving us back 3 hours.) Anyway, I could decide to completely go without posts until then, but with no actual certainty of when NBC will finally tell us, I won’t. BTW, we should definitely know by May 19th, seems to be when NBC will actually have a schedule ready, will be interesting to see that.

I will, however, get to the new series NBC picked up.

There were only two that I figured I’d watch based on nothing more than plot summaries, an cast/crew information from the futon critic. And those were Parenthood (which is actually a second series based on the movie of the same name, first didn’t do so well, but maybe a second could prove better?), and Community, a comedy with Chevy Chase.

PRESS RELEASE on Community: From Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and Anthony Russo (“Arrested Development”) comes “Community,” a smart comedy series about higher education — and lower expectations. The student body at Greendale Community College is made up of high-school losers, newly divorced housewives, and old people who want to keep their minds active. Within these not-so-hallowed halls, “Community” focuses on a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin’ lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, “The Soup”), who form a study group and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work. In addition to McHale, the series also stars: Gillian Jacobs (“The Book of Daniel”); Yvette Nicole Brown (“Rules of Engagement”); Danny Pudi (“Greek”); Alison Brie (“Mad Men”); and comedy legend Chevy Chase (“Saturday Night Live”).

PRESS RELEASE on Parenthood: From the executive producers of the box-office hit “Parenthood” — Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (Oscar winners for “A Beautiful Mind”), and writer/executive producer Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights”) — this contemporary re-imagining of the blockbuster film depicts the colorful and imperfect Braverman family — four grown siblings sharing the headaches, heartaches and joy of being parents. The star-studded cast includes Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen and Sarah Ramos. When Sarah Braverman (Tierney, “ER”), a financially strapped single mother, returns home to her parents and siblings in Berkeley, Calif. after packing up her Fresno apartment and uprooting her two inconvenienced kids, Amber (Mae Whitman, “In Treatment”) and Drew (Miles Heizer, “ER”), she is greeted by her opinionated father, Zeek (Nelson, “Family Stone,” “Coach”), and strong mother, Camille (Bedelia, “Heart Like a Wheel”), who are privately dealing with their own marital issues. As Sarah is reunited with her siblings — sister, Julia (Christensen, “Traffic”), and brothers Crosby (Shepard, “Baby Mama”) and Adam (Krause, “Six Feet Under”) — all struggling with issues of their own, it’s clear that the Braverman reunion is just what they need to face the everyday challenges of modern family life.

As for the other shows?

Those one about nurses called Mercy: “Mercy,” a new medical drama with a unique point of view, portrays the lives of the staff at Mercy Hospital as seen through the eyes of those who know it best — its nurses. Nurse Veronica Callahan (Taylor Schilling, “Dark Matter”) returns to Mercy from a military tour in Iraq — and she knows more about medicine than all of the residents combined. Together with fellow nurses Sonia Jimenez (Jamie Lee Kirchner, “Rescue Me”) and Chloe Payne (Michelle Trachtenberg, “Gossip Girl”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Callahan navigates through the daily traumas and social landmines of life and love both inside the hospital and out in the real world.

Then there’s one about paramedics called Trauma: Executive producer Peter Berg (NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”) delivers “Trauma,” the first high-octane medical drama series to live exclusively in the field where the real action is. Like an adrenaline shot to the heart, “Trauma” is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics.

Seeing a theme yet? Guess ER ending means NBC wants to find a fitting medical drama, with more interest to other staffers other than doctors.

And then there’s Day One, which seems to be NBC’s Jericho: From executive producer/writer Jesse Alexander (“Heroes,” “Lost,” “Alias”) and director Alex Graves (“Fringe,” “Journeyman”), “Day One” tells the story of life on earth following a global catastrophe that has devastated the world’s infrastructures. Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the cataclysmic event, an eclectic band of survivors — played by Adam Campbell (“Date Movie”), Catherine Dent (“The Shield”), Julie Gonzalo (“Eli Stone”), David Lyons (“ER”), Derek Mio (“Greek”), Carly Pope (“24″), Thekla Reuten (“Sleeper Cell”) and Addison Timlin (“Cashmere Mafia”) — strives to rebuild society as they unravel the mysteries of what happened and face their uncertain future.

Then the other comedy, 100 Questions for Charlotte Payne: Emmy winner James Burrows (“Will & Grace,” “Friends”) directs “100 Questions,” a new comedy series written and executive-produced by Christopher Moynihan (“For Your Consideration”) that provides hilarious answers to 100 questions about love. Charlotte Payne (Sophie Winkleman, “Peep Show”) is looking for love and has rejected multiple marriage proposals — but she has yet to meet Mr. Right. When she joins a popular online dating site, she gets a little help from her dating counselor Ravi (Amir Talai, “The Ex List”) – who requires her to take a 100-question compatibility test. The questions aren’t easy for Charlotte to answer, and each one requires her to recount a poignant and humorous time in her life with friends Leslie (Elizabeth Ho, “Women’s Murder Club”), Jill (Joy Suprano, NBC’s “Law & Order”), Mike (Christopher Moynihan “For Your Consideration”) and Wayne (David Walton “Quarterlife”). The test becomes a journey of self-discovery for Charlotte who begins to realize what she truly wants in a relationship.

Oh, and then there’s that whole Leno thing.

I would post the videos for all, but the futon critic did that already, so I’ll just provide the link:
NEW NBC Series Videos

Apr 28 2009

Chuck Vs NBC

Chuck Finale 'Chuck vs the Ring', from Sci-Fi Wire.  NBC.

Chuck 'Chuck vs the Ring', from Sci-Fi Wire. NBC.

There will not be another post, no matter how important the news update is, until next Monday (May 4th or Tuesday the 5th, found two different dates, but the futon critic says 4th) when the NBC Upfronts take place, and we’ll know the fate of the truly AWESOME show.

I won’t go into too much detail on the finale (I’m sticking with just finale for now, until we know otherwise), since there are DVR user who may not have gotten to the episode yet (another reason why the current ratings system needs a complete overhaul, since advertisers don’t care for DVR viewings b/c of the magic fast-forward button), but let me way: WOW!.

First the struggle to get the wedding done with, as Ted Roark (come on, are you telling me Chevy Chase is not enough to help the ratings for this marvelous show?) is alive and will stop at nothing to have Chuck’s head on a stick (he may not have said it that way, but close enough). We had Scott Bakula back playing Chuck and Ellie’s father (who happens to be Orion also), and Devon’s (aka, Captatin Awesome) parents return (played by Morgan Fairchild and Bruce Boxleitner). And Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer), Chuck’s former friend-now semi-nemesis, returned as well.

All the spies, family and friends, gathered together to witness the union of Devon Woodcomb and Ellie Bartowski. Pure magic.

And with Chuck without the Intersect in his head, will he finally live a normal life. I don’t think it would be too spoilery to say, eh, not-so-fast Bartowski. The show may be on the bubble, but it had to go as if there will be a 3rd season, which means, the end, oh the end. Let’s just say, it ends with a bang and a BIG…to be continued.

But, if you want the rundown, SCI-FI WIRE has posted a nice little article to sum it up–> Did Chuck’s Finale Deliver? – SCI-FI WIRE.

And, in my opinion, it DELIVERED.

As far as saving Chuck, the campaign is to buy a $5 footlong at Subway, since they are one the major sponsors. Actually, enjoy this little video on Chuck himself, Zachary Levi, leading 400 conventioners (from the Starfury Convention to be exact) to a Subway, and even getting behind the counter to make the sandwiches himself:

Chuck Campaign – ChuckTV.Net

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