Continuing our look back at September’s thoughts about humpday’s tv output.
7:00
Undercovers – JJ Abrams revisits the spy drama for the first time since Alias, which was one of my favorite series. That alone will give this show a reasonable leash. I haven’t seen the pilot yet, so I can’t really comment on it beyond that.
Imagine a show with all of the problems Alias had integrating the spy world with the family stories, but without any of the good stuff Alias had. NBC has pulled it off the schedule, never to be heard from again.
7:30
Better With You – I’ve enjoyed Jennifer Finnigan and Joanna Garcia in previous series, and last season’s new ABC comedies on Wednesday night turned out to be great, so I gave this a shot. The only thing worse than this pilot is Garcia’s taste in men.
As you may have guessed from the comment above, this did not get a second chance. Also, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, F Nick Swisher.
8:00
Criminal Minds – Probably the one returning series I am most concerned about. Most of the female cast has been either let go or reduced to part time status, so it will be interesting to see how they handle that storywise. If it is not handled well, they can continue their new sausage-fest without me.
The total sausage fest did not really come to pass, and it looks like Rachel Nichols may be on board, at least for a little while.
Modern Family – One of the surprises of last season. I hadn’t even planned on watching this going into last season and it turned into one of my favorite shows.
A surprisingly strong start to the second season. Many comedies struggle to re-capture the magic, but this has continued to be one of the best comedies on television.
Hellcats – The CW did a good thing by premiering this early, otherwise I would never have given it a chance. The plots are decent but, let’s be honest, the real draw is the eye candy of the cheerleading squad.
More good popcorn tv. It’s not going to challenge you in any way, but it is fun.
8:30
Cougar Town – The focus of this show changed considerably over last season, to the point where producers considered changing the title to match. It now has more of a Friends vibe, if the Central Perk gang was older, had kids, and drank too much.
Continues to be a quirky, fun little show that is hurt in the ratings by its title.
9:00
The Defenders – This was a tough one. Jerry O’Connell seems like a good guy and is generally likeable in his roles. Jim Belushi, on the other hand, is a blight on this country and needs to go away. The pilot was decent, but I don’t know how much of the lesser Belushi sibling I can tolerate before calling it quits.
OK, I admit that I may have been a little hard on Mr. Belushi here. I’ve enjoyed this silly little show much more than I expected.
The Whole Truth – I like both leads, and the work off each other well, but there wasn’t really much else here. Since the time period is light, it will probably stick around until ABC puts it out of its misery.
It wasn’t too bad, but ABC did, in fact, put it out of its misery.