Tag / CBS

by admin

Midseason Review – Fridays

Finishing up our look back at the fall television season.

CBS

Blue Bloods – The surprise hit of last season.  A decently solid show with a small mystery that lurks in the background.

Last season’s mystery has been replaced by the occassional undercover plot, but still a consistent, if unspectacular, performer.

NBC

Chuck – The final season kicks off its thirteen episode run in late October.  It will likely be a fun ride to the finish line.

And tonight is the finale.  It will be sad to say goodbye to the Buy More.  A good show that did not deserve the jerking around it has gotten in recent seasons.

Grimm – All I know is that Jennifer Morrison is involved and it has something to do with the Grimm fairy tales.

See, this is what happens when someone steals your Fall TV Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly and there are two shows with similar backgrounds.  Jennifer Morrison, of course, is on Once Upon A Time.  This show is horrible and I’m surprised it is still on the air.  Yet NBC can’t find a place for Chuck or Community on the schedule.

FOX

Fringe – Peter is gone and the two universe’s have merged into one.  I’m not sure what the new season has in store for us, but I’m on board.

You know, for someone who took at lot of grief for her “stiff” acting style, Anna Torv has played 5 distinct versions of the Olivia character and has applied different nuances to all of them.  She really is quite good and it is a shame she will never be recognized for the work she is doing here.  Also a shame is the ratings the show is getting, making it ever more likely that this will be the final season. Continue reading →

by admin

Midseason Review – Thursdays

Nearing the end of our look back at the fall television season.

CBS

Big Bang Theory – The nerds return for more fun.

This show has wisely mixed things up, with the focus nearly equal between the guys and the girls.  The additions of Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik to the cast have made a strong show even stronger.  There was one occassion where the show fell victim to the main charge of its critics, where it laughed at nerds instead of with them.  Hopefully that was a blip and not a tonal shift.

How To Be A Gentleman –  This looks to be horrible.  I doubt it lasts through November sweeps.

And it didn’t.

Person Of Interst – Michael Emerson’s first post-Lost series.  That alone is enough of a reason to give this a chance.

This is not really a bad show, but it isn’t really a good one and it seems like a total waste of Michael Emerson’s talents.  It looks like they may be mixing things up a bit by bringing Taraji P. Henson into the fold, so maybe that will help.

The Mentalist – Based on the premiere, it will be more of the same from The Mentalist.  It’s a good enough show, but I can see it burning out quickly if they don’t shake things up sometime soon.

More of the same indeed.  The addition of one of the kids from the new Melrose Place as the new boss is kind of weird, but beyond that, nothing really new.

NBC

Community – Back for a surprising third season.  John Goodman has joined in a recurring role, and, so far, looks to have brought his A-game. 

Well, John Goodman only appeared 2 or 3 times, but this season has been bizarrely brilliant.  Of course, this means that NBC has pulled it from the schedule, claiming it will return at some undetermined point in the future.  I know 3 seasons is more than most series see, but losing this show will hurt more than most. Continue reading →

by admin

Midseason Review – Wednesdays

Time to look back on our thoughts regarding Wednesday’s television slate from the fall.

CBS

Criminal Minds – Last season saw A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster written out of the show and replaced by Rachel Nichols.  Someone must have realized it was a mistake, as this season Rachel Nichols has been replaced by A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster.  As it enters its seventh season, it may not be the best move to return back to the old status quo.

Well, we certainly are back to the status quo.  It is still entertaining, but I don’t know how long you can keep beating this horse before he dies.

NBC

Up All Night – Two espisodes in and it has been decent so far, with the appeal of Christina Applegate cancelling out the annoyances of Will Arnett.  The scenes at home with the baby have far surpassed those at work to this point.

This has turned into a pretty decent show, and has been rewarded with a move to Thursdays.  Christina Applegate has been her usually charming self and I have even come to enjoy Will Arentt’s performance in this. Continue reading →

by admin

Midseason Review – Tuesdays

Once again, we continue our look back at my expectations for the fall television season, and today we are focusing on Tuesdays.

CBS

Unforgettable – This may end up being utterly forgettable, but I’m going to give it a shot.  The main hook, that Poppy Montgomery’s character has total recall of her memories, was played off in the pilot where she was witness to a crime.  As she re-joins the police force, it may be interesting to see how they use this ability without her being personally involved in every case.

This is by no means a good show.  I really should stop watching it.

NBC

Parenthood – Nothing really new to say here.  It is what it is.  Never great, but usually good enough.

I think this show works better in bunches than in week to week doses.  I caught up on the latest 6 episodes during the December vacation and enjoyed it.  But, I hadn’t enjoyed it enough previously to not let the 6 episodes pile up.

FOX

New Girl – The one pilot I saw early, thanks to the magic of OnDemand.  I find Zooey Deschanel to be very charming, and would likely watch her reading the phone book for a hour.  Thankfully, this seems to be much more impressive than that.

Continue reading →

by jim

Midseason Review – Mondays

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 Continue reading →

by jim

Midseason Review – Sundays

As we start to gear up for midseason premieres and February sweeps, let’s take a look back at what I said and thought back in September.

ABC

Pan Am – ABC’s attempt to hop on the Mad Men brigade premieres tonight, with Christina Ricci making her move to television.  It looks somewhat interesting, so I will give it a shot.

Not a bad show, but it didn’t take off (see what I did there?) as expected.  Kelli Garner made more of an impression than Christina Ricci did, but that still wasn’t enough to save the show.

Once Upon A Time, which I either didn’t plan on watching or didn’t include because it didn’t start until late October, turned out to be pretty good and one of the highest rated new shows of the season.

CBS

The Good Wife – Slowly built itself up to a top performer last season and should do even better on Sundays without much competition.  The only problem with the new timeslot will be in the fall due to football overruns.

Still a strong performer.  Should be much easier to watch now that football is over and it will air at a consistent time.

Not included in the fall were the cable shows that made up most of my Sunday night viewings, The Walking Dead, Dexter, and Homeland.  TWD started and ended strong, but spent entirely too much time on a plot that should have taken 2 episodes, 3 tops.  Dexter explored religion and whether it was possible for a serial killer to grow.  Homeland was the breakout hit of the fall, with both Claire Danes and Damian Lewis giving standout performances.

New shows for the spring include the second season of Shameless and the new show House of Lies, both of which premiered on Showtime earlier this month.

by jim

2011 New Fall Season – Fridays

CBS

Blue Bloods – The surprise hit of last season.  A decently solid show with a small mystery that lurks in the background.

NBC

Chuck – The final season kicks off its thirteen episode run in late October.  It will likely be a fun ride to the finish line.

Grimm – All I know is that Jennifer Morrison is involved and it has something to do with the Grimm fairy tales.

FOX

Continue reading →

by jim

2011 New Fall Season – Thursdays

CBS

Big Bang Theory – The nerds return for more fun.

How To Be A Gentleman –  This looks to be horrible.  I doubt it lasts through November sweeps.

Person Of Interst – Michael Emerson’s first post-Lost series.  That alone is enough of a reason to give this a chance.

The Mentalist – Based on the premiere, it will be more of the same from The Mentalist.  It’s a good enough show, but I can see it burning out quickly if they don’t shake things up sometime soon.

NBC

Community – Back for a surprising third season.  John Goodman has joined in a recurring role, and, so far, looks to have brought his A-game. 

Continue reading →

by jim

2011 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

CBS

Criminal Minds – Last season saw A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster written out of the show and replaced by Rachel Nichols.  Someone must have realized it was a mistake, as this season Rachel Nichols has been replaced by A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster.  As it enters its seventh season, it may not be the best move to return back to the old status quo.

NBC

Up All Night – Two espisodes in and it has been decent so far, with the appeal of Christina Applegate cancelling out the annoyances of Will Arnett.  The scenes at home with the baby have far surpassed those at work to this point.

Free Agents – This has not been very good so far, despite featuring the return of Anthony Stewart Head to American television sets.  I give it until January, if that long.

Continue reading →

by jim

2011 New Fall Season – Tuesdays

CBS

Unforgettable – This may end up being utterly forgettable, but I’m going to give it a shot.  The main hook, that Poppy Montgomery’s character has total recall of her memories, was played off in the pilot where she was witness to a crime.  As she re-joins the police force, it may be interesting to see how they use this ability without her being personally involved in every case.

NBC

Parenthood – Nothing really new to say here.  It is what it is.  Never great, but usually good enough.

Continue reading →