Continuing our look back at the fall television season and what is coming up this winter.

CBS

How I Met Your Mother – Based on the season premier, we are no closer to meeting the titular mother, and the surprise reappearance of VIctoria will likely kill some time.  By adding another tease (who will Barney marry?), the show seems intent on giving its critics more ammunition, but could avoid it if they start paying off on some of these “mysteries”.  Meanwhile, after a season that stretched his dramatic acting skills, the first two episodes of the season gave Jason Segel more comedic moments.

I still enjoy the show and am not one of those people who think they absolutley need to get the whole mother meeting out of the way, but the writers do seem to be treading water somewhat, almost as if they are deliberately not introducing the mother, but they don’t know what else to do at this point.

2 Broke Girls – The first episode started off kind of weak, but it got better later in the half hour.  I’ve been a big fan of Kat Dennings dating back to The 40 Year Old Virgin and Beth Behrs seemed to have some chops as well.  I’ll give it a chance.

The show has gotten better, but it still seems to be missing something.  I do think Behrs has been one of the shining stars of the new season. 

Hawaii Five-O – After a mostly popcorn-fun first season, the show returns with a new recurring guest star in Terry O’Quinn.  That in and of itself would be a reason to turn in.

 Continues to be a fun show that doesn’t take itself too seriously.  O’Quinn has been entertaining in his occassional appearances.

NBC

The Playboy Club – NBC’s venture into the Mad Men-esque nostalgia scene.  It looked bad going in, and the pilot did little to change my mind.  The one thing it has going for it is Amber Heard in a bunny costume, but it will take more than that to keep anyone interested.

Well, I only lasted the one episode, and the show didn’t have much of a chance to improve beyond that as it was pulled after 3 episodes aired.

FOX

Terra Nova – Originally picked up for last year, the show, which finally debuts tonight, is about a group of people from the future who, facing a dying Earth, find a way to travel to pre-historic times.  The commercials show them dealing with dinosaurs, which may get tiresome over a long season.  I’ll give it a shot, but it will be on a short leash.

I managed to stick out the entire season (series?), but the show was mostly wasted opportunities.  It was never bad enough to stop watching, but never good enough to look forward to.  It was just kind of there.

House – Some shakeups at Princeton Plainsboro, as Lisa Edelstein has checked out as Dr. Lisa Cuddy.  House begins the season in prison, where, according to the promos, he comes across Odette Anabel’s new character.  She will be a welcome addition, as I feel that Olivia Wilde will be checking out sooner rather than later.  With Cuddy gone, there will have to be a new status quo, which is obviosuly needed for any show entering its eighth season.

While I am enjoying the new doctors played by Odette Anabel and Charlyne Yi, I fear that this show has started to go stale.  It may be time to wrap things up.

New this winter, we have Alcatraz, which returns Lost veteran Jorge Garcia to the small screen.  It looks interesting and I’ll definately be checking in.

ABC

Castle – The premiere followed up on Beckett’s shooting, leading to a more grim and serious episode than Castle normally gives up.  Previews for the next episode seems to point towards a return to form, which is good as there are plenty of grim procedurals to choose from and few that fill Castle’s niche.

Not much new to say about Castle, as it continue to do what it does best, wrap the serious police procedural in a comedy bow.

CW

Heart Of Dixie – There is not much that looks to be appealing about this show, but I’m willing to give it a shot just for Rachel Bilson.

 I ended up watching a number of episodes and it was a cute little show, but not good enough to keep taking up DVR space.