I would say programming lineup announced, but they neglected actual dates, or even go more into the returning series in July (which I’m assuming, Eureka will be the last half of season four, you know, a year after the first half premiered, like what happened with season three (shame on you Syfy), so basically we’ll be watching the rest of season four when we should actually be watching season 5, which starts filming soon). The press release (you can find here on Blastr), basically mentions a ton of shows set to premiere this summer, as well as a few into fall, plus the Saturday movies, dated into 2012.

Now, the title of this post should hint to how I feel about the new stuff Syfy is going for.

Returning series in the summer include (as mentioned above) Eureka, plus Warehouse 13, and Haven. New scripted series added will be Alphas (ordinary people with abilities again, though it has Ryan Cartwright, who played my favorite intern (Nigel-Murray) on Bones, so I’ll probably still check it out). Where there is one scripted premiere, there are THREE reality premieres coming: Haunted Collector (haunted objects, *yay* -that’s sarcasm BTW) in June, Legend Quest (which I guess is like Destination Truth, but it’s finding relics around the world, which might be interesting, but more appropriate for History Channel, IMO) in July, and Paranormal Witness (team behind Locked Up and Gold Rush Alaska bring a dramatic-documentary series of people who survived paranormal encounters…or something like that) in September.

As you can tell, I myself am a bit furious with 3-1, Reality over Scripted on Syfy. I miss Sci-Fi Channel, even that also had the likes of Wrestling, it’s first dive into unscripted were relevant to the network. I’m not gonna be the person to dismiss series of supernatural and paranormal stuff, saying that’s not sci-fi, since I see it as sci-fi/fantasy, but Syfy now has gone WAY too far. Looking at what’s in development, there are 4 total scripted series versus 10 (yes TEN) unscripted/reality/whatever. One scripted series in development that I hope goes further is Three Inches, since I know that has James Marsters (SPIKE, need I say more). Do we need a docu-series on photography? No. Do we want something with Tommy Lee? Hell no. Do we want a series where people eat with Deepak Chopra? (excuse my French) A big fuckin’ NO. Now, I do watch Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth and Fact or Faked, so I’m not overly closed to them existing, just not in this magnitude, and absolute stupidity. Come on Syfy, you may have taken the “ci” and “i” out and replaced this with “y”s, but this is just ridiculous. They needed to keep Stargate Universe, the one series everyone agreed being sci-fi, thought Eureka I think also fits the bill (a fictional show with scientific stuff), so in a strict sense, Syfy has ONE series once SGU officially ends (note, I do watch all the current scripted shows on the network, but I see why most wouldn’t appeal to the hard-core sci-fi geeks). Now, they have another Battlestar prequel in development, but they’ve seemed to extremely limit themselves with space-action-adventure series.

Anyway, for the shows actually premiering, either I skipped over and missed it, but I didn’t see anything even say what day they would be on. I can assume based on past experiences, that Haven will stay on Friday and premiere shortly after Sanctuary ends its run (it comes back April 15th, which I predicted after the midseason finale as a likely scenario), so with ten episodes of Sanctuary, if we take in account one possible rerun and may at least a week in between, Haven could premiere July 8. So, logically, Alphas could be following footsteps of Being Human and premiere the Monday before that (so July 4, but I’m skeptical now on that, but you never know) and having Eureka and Warehouse 13 pair up, since there Christmas outing did fine, say July 5. I’m doing this for an estimate since Syfy didn’t actually really announce a schedule. The reality crap would fill Wednesday and Thursday, essentially.

Also in the press release, the Saturday B-Movie goodies, but the main part seems to be the fact that the next re-imagining event Neverland where Keira Knightley will be the voice of Tinker Bell. Also cast is Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies as Captain Elizabeth Bonny, Charlie Rowe as Peter Pan, and interestingly have Smee played by Bob Hoskins (who played the character in the 90s movie Hook). It calls it a movie event, I hope it’s a mini-series, so it’s in line with the like of Tin Man and Alice from previous years (which are the only events where Syfy even sees Emmy nominations, and for good reason, they are very good, especially Tin Man).

And Syfy Ventures will have games on Facebook under Syfy Games.

Again, whole article of actually three press releases can be read at Blastr.

[update 3/23/2011: I want to link to this TV.Com article, which highlights each of the series coming out or in development, and rates the sci-fi-ness of the reality slate. Seems a little lenient on some, but for the most part, I agree and had to share the link.]

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!

My Thursdays are now complete (though CSI doesn’t come back ’til next week, I have to drop that show in my long list of shows, since my DVR only records two shows at once (like they all do) and I have, currently, 3 shows in the 9pm hours as it is). Tonight, is the season five premiere of Bones at 8/7c, and the second season premiere of Fringe at 9/8c on FOX. Along with giving the CW’s The Vampire Diaries and 2nd try at 8/7c and continuing the love I have for the best show on air, the CW’s Supernatural at 9/8c, which tonight will see the return of Ellen and Jo (The 4400‘s Samantha Ferris and Veronica Mars‘ Alona Tol), my Thursdays are pretty full now, and the rest of the fall doesn’t come back until next week. Luckily, I have my DVR and DVD Recorder (DVR records 2, DVD-R can take one more, usually FOX shows given I have to go over-the-air for it).

But tonight is now about the premiere of FOX’s new Thursday night lineup, where Bones picks up about 6 weeks after Booth’s brain surgery (remove a tumor), with him trying to get back into the game. Guest stars Cindy Lauper as a psychic who led Booth and Brennan to a grave of 11 bodies. And on Fringe, Olivia returns to the alternate reality she traveled to in the first season finale where she met Massive Dynamic’s founder William Bell, and Peter tries to find information about her visit, while Walter prepares custard for his son’s birthday.

Oh, and NBC has a new comedy, Community, which might be worth checking out. It premieres tonight as well at 9:30/8:30c, but will move to the 8/7c timeslot in October.

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.

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

What used to be a break from primetime has quickly changed. With popularity of cable and pay-premium shows, summer has become quite a busy TV season. Though there may not be as many shows as during regular network-tv season between September and May, but what the summer lacks in quantity, it makes up in quality.

Cast of 'The Listener.' © 2009 NBC Universal, Inc.

For the major networks of NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX, there’s not much going on. NBC has two shows, Thursday’s The Listener and Sunday’s Merlin. Both shows are imports, with Listener being a Canadian production, that actually premiered worldwide back in March, and is now airing in both US and Canada (CTV) (at 10PM ET) during the summer, and Merlin is a British show on the BBC that, from my understanding, already aired there and already has a second season order. Between the two, The Listener is an easy choice. It was received well everywhere back in March, but like any sci-fi series, has a hard time finding an audience in the US, most notably because of going up against cable’s new hit, USA Network’s Royal Pains. But hopefully, since this is the summer (and it was going up against sports), NBC can look past it, be happy it at least performs over the network’s average for the night. I don’t know how it does in Canada [actually, found an article for both Canada and US ratings: Media in Canada], so I guess, like Flashpoint (another Canadian show which airs on CBS here), as long as it’s worth it on CTV, and there’s enough for it elsewhere, there could be more. It kind of has a Tru Calling feel to it, IMO, while the character there was a morgue attendant that relived days to help prevent a preventable death (usually a murder or suicide), The Listener has a character who can hear thoughts, and despite being a paramedic, it doesn’t stop him from doing his own little detective work to help those in need. I actually do prefer it over Royal Pains.

Speaking of USA, In Plain Sight, now in its second season, continues to keep me glued to my TV screen Sunday nights (at 10PM). It’s a prime example of USA’s whole idea to not just have great shows with enjoyable plots, but to have the most intriguing characters and character interactions. The chemistry between Mary and her partner, Marshall (yeah, a US Marshal named Marshall), her boss, the new office manager (that was fun), dealing with local law, dealing with WITSEC witnesses, and her family (a sister and their mother) aren’t making it any easier.

Showtime’s Weeds continues on with Nancy Botwin, our favorite pot-dealing single mother in a suburban setting. Unfortunately, I am without Showtime, but I did catch a majority of the last season, and this certainly is a fantastic show. Showtime’s long running show, which is odd for me to mention being it’s not a fictional series with story arcs and characters, but an enjoyable documentary-like comedy series. Of course, I’m referring to Penn & Teller: Bullshit, coming into seven seasons now. The name says it all, they choose a topic, like the premiere episode which focused on Astrology, and have interviewed different “experts” of said subject and pick it apart, explaining why it’s all just a bunch of, well, bullshit.

The Sci-Fi, no scratch that. Not only did Ghost Hunters International (which, honestly, I have recorded to DVR, but don’t really pay attention to it, I just prefer the regular one, which comes back in the fall) and Eureka return, the Sci-Fi Channel became…simply…SyFy. Last Tuesday, July 7th, the rebranded network premiered the new series, Warehouse 13, and let me just say, I am hooked. Again, like any sci-fi series, there may be a slow build-up, but once you get through, there are questions you just have to have the answer for. Warehouse 13 is no exception. Following two Secret Service agents who were reassigned to a place in the middle of nowhere, teaming up with another agent who was already working the area in order to collect artifacts with supernatural effects. The premiere episode had a piece of jewelry that was cursed and effected the wearer to do anything to get what she wants (including murder) by using it to control them. There are a bunch of old gadgets, like the two-way video communicator which was invented before there were cell phones. Then there’s this thing of goo, which is used to neutralize whatever object they capture. It really is good, I’m just not good explaining things.

Stephen Moyer as Vampire Bill on 'True Blood'. © HBO

And let’s not forget the hottest show of the summer, that of course is HBO’s True Blood. My top pick, for if I had to choose between all these shows airing now, and the ones to come, True Blood is the top, must see. Afterall, it’s only on HBO, it has vampires, violence, sex, and well, more sex and violence, and characters you actually give a damn about, and maybe a few you wouldn’t mind see get beaten up a little (and who knows, they may just get beaten up). Our favorite telepathic waitress just got herself into a deal with thousand year old vampire, Eric, and she and her vampire lover, Bill, will travel to Dallas to investigate the disappearance of a vampire Sheriff, who’s older than Eric. Meanwhile, Maryann is still stirring up the town, and Tara just realized what kind of person she is (while Sam still doesn’t know what she is), and then there is the Fellowship of the Sun, which Sookie’s brother Jason has got wrapped up all in.  Plus, where else are you gonna get vampires that recycle?  HBO took a breather last week, but it will be new this Sunday, 9PM ET, only on HBO. Oh, and the official site for Season two, is awesome: HBO: True Blood – Season 2.

Now those were the shows on, let’s take a look at upcoming shows. First, BBC America on July 20th will premiere the 5-part miniseries Torchwood: Children of the Earth. Then, there is July 25th, with the premiere (well, in both cases, US premiere) of a new series, Being Human, which, (now, this may sound like a joke setup, but it’s not), follows a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost (and, no, they don’t walk into a bar). They do, however, end up living together, and try to live normal lives despite their conditions.

And USA Network, when In Plain Sight, and all the others will either have ended their season runs or will be very damn close to it, then that’s when we get Friday night’s popular lineup of Monk (8th and final season) and Psych (4th season). Our favorite OCD detective will return with one last season, and with a surprise guest appearance from a former series regular. And the lovable, “psychic”-detective will return with more wild adventures of fun, odd, and amusing crime-solving tactics. Both shows return August 7th.

Cast of TNT's 'Leverage.' © 2008 Turner Network Television

And, TNT’s Leverage returns July 15th at 9PM ET. Starring Oscar winner, Timothy Hutton, follows a group of individuals whom possess a unique talent for the group in order to help basically “stick it to the man”, so to speak. When the little guy is screwed by an insurance company, they find a away to screw the insurance company themselves. It’s all about getting even, and I highly recommend it to anyone. Also, on July 15th (this Wednesday, BTW) is premiere of a new series: Dark Blue, starring Golden Globe winner, Dylan McDermott.

From TNT.TV

In Dark Blue,Dylan McDermott is Carter Shaw, the leader of our crack undercover team of police officers whose relentless pursuit of LA’s worst criminals has cost him any semblance of a personal life; Omari Hardwick is Ty Curtis, a recently married cop who struggles to maintain his dual existence; Logan Marshall-Green is Dean Bendis, a shoot-from-the-hip officer whose activities make fellow team members question his loyalties; and Nicki Aycox (Meg from Supernatural!) is Jaimie Allen, a green patrol cop with a hidden past.

And if you ever wonder about a Grey’s Anatomy-like show in space, well, ABC has a got a new show called Defying Gravity, if that’s the sort of thing you’re looking for. Eight people, (4 female, 4 male), in space, dealing with relationships, and based on the trailer, it’s basically sex in space. And guess what, it’s also a Canadian production, another CTV (kind-of partnership, I guess), like NBC has with The Listener, and CBS with Flashpoint. [Press Release]. It premieres, August 2nd.

I think, I think that about wraps up the summer before all of our favorite shows return to CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and the CW, and of course more SyFy, with returns of Ghost Hunters, Sanctuary, and the a new Stargate series, Stargate Universe.

I couldn’t come up with a better title for this post.  FOX has announced its midseason changes.  The only think staying will pretty much be Fringe (sticking Tues 9pm, getting Shit Idol viewers, whatever), and the return of 24 will stay Mon 9pm, and Sunday will still be “Animation Domination”, and then there’s that Kitchen show on Thurs.  Shit Idol loves to fuck everything up.  Why people watch it is beyond me.  House will not be on Tues 9pm as originally predicted, nope, it’s gonna be Mondays at 8PM (teamed with 24, despite Bones being a better pair for House, IMO).  A new series Lie to Me will be on Wed 8pm.  That makes Bones and Terminator homeless, plus the highly anticipated Whedon show, Dollhouse (which was originally gonna be on Monday).  This is FOX’s dumbass move:

Bones will seek shelter on Thursdays at 8PM, while Friday night will be FOX’s Sci-Fi Fridays (sound familiar?  That’s because the best sci-fi lineup to last is Sci-Fi channel’s Stargates (both of them), Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica), and so on..).  Whedon’s new show, with two former Buffy/Angel alum Eliza Dushku and Amy Acker will have the 9PM timeslot, b/c Terminator’s ratings (starring another Whedon actress, Summer Glau) has been so well to lead off Fridays.

Why is the Friday move so bad?

History.

You know Jessica Alba?  Well before she was a movie star, she starred in this little old series called Dark Angel.  It aired on Fridays and was killed after 2 seasons (I think it only last that long b/c it had, well, Jessica Alba, boobs and butts means something to FOX apparently).  But it was a genuinly good, fantastic, superior show.  It was basically replaced by, guess what, Joss Whedon’s Firefly, and we all know what happened with that.  And the little, much short lived and almost highly as loved, Wonderfalls, started on Fridays.  Guess what, it was canned after 3 or 4 episodes.  What do they all have in common.  They were sci-fi series.

Alone, sci-fi and FOX don’t go well together.  Look at Terminator, enjoying a second season since it’s series premiere had fantastic numbers, and the first season overall did well, the second, well, not too bad, but not the 10+mil it got before.  Take a look at former Eliza Dushku series Tru Calling, with a 1st season that aired against the last season of NBC’s Friends, FOX tried its best to be supportive, even granting a second season (I guess they recoginzed the timeslot it was in to be very challenging).  However, its team-up with the OC was delayed by months, and during that time, they already canned it, after canning both North Shore (which did sound like a better match with the OC) and the other replacement show, (which just happens to be another sci-fi series), Point Pleasant.  Note, those two series, the ratings were lower than Tru‘s (even if slightly lower, they were lower).

FOX itself has a more obvious reputation of being the one to cancel a series, even only after 3-4 airings, as they did with Drive (starring other Whedon actors Nathan Fillion (Firefly) and Amy Acker (Angel).  I think I’m seeing a pattern though, seems like FOX definitely not fond of the Whedonesque series, whether it be former actors from his previous shows, or even those he has worked with on those shows (exec producer of Wonderfalls was Tim Minear (who previously worked on Angel and Firefly.

Most of my examples, I realize, are more recent.  So let’s go back to say, Sliders, which manage to have three years on FOX before moving to SCI-FI Channel for its 4th and 5th seasons.  Sliders was actually canned in the 1st season, but there was enough protest at that time to reverse the decision, I guess.  The show was aired out of order, another thing FOX loves to do, as they did with Firefly, ‘causing errors to the timeline (called continuity, which, with a sci-fi drama, can be very confusing if things are aired in order, very confusing).  Millenium saw 3 seasons (’96-’99), Harsh Realm lasted only 9 episodes in 1999, and the Lone Gunmen had just 1 season (only 13 eps) in 2001, and may I add that these two shows were from Chris Carter, you know, creator of The X-Files which is the only sci-fi series I can think of to last over 5 years on FOX (it had 9 seasons, and is 2nd longest running sci-fi series of all time in the US, after Stargate SG-1‘s 10 seasons).

Also worth noting, the longest lasting live-action scripted series on FOX ever was 11 seasons of Married…with Children, a comedy (That 70s Show‘s 8 seasons make it 2nd behind Children for FOX sitcoms (live-action), and of course, the current longest running series on FOX, 20 seasons (currently airing, BTW), of The Simpsons (an animated comedy).  Compare those to other networks (NBC’s Law and Order I think is 19, NBC’s ER is in its 15th, and NBC also had 10 seasons of Friends, 11 seasons of Cheers and 11 seasons for Frasier (its spinoff) as well).  I think it’s safe to say, sci-fi series don’t fair well on any network, since the longest running series we have, tend to be animations, sitcoms, or dramas (but not of the supernatural variety).

It’s sad really, since sci-fi series are also the ones that tend to be most creative and also have impressive writing and character development, much better than what ER could ever have (I just lost interest in the show).

Amazing how I go from initially being pissed at FOX putting two quality shows in the “Friday-Night” death slots to just generally being pissed at networks being mean to sci-fi (let’s not forget the Emmys being extremely cruel towards sci-fi shows, as they only get technical categories, and nothing major (with exception to Lost (which one for a Drama series) and Heroes (which has been nominated, but never won).

WHY????

I say, to the Emmy people… Smallville and Supernatural make clean sweep, hehe, yeah, even with Smallville dwindling and somewhat repetitive storylines, and annoyances, it’s still better than a lot of shows out there, and Supernatural, well, that show is simply a work of art.