With the advent of winter premieres and with February sweeps around the corner, it’s time to revisit my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Sunday nights.
7:00
Once Upon A Time – ABC found themselves a winner last year with this series about fairy tale characters who have been forced to live in the real world thanks to the evil Queen. Last season ended with the characters remembering their true selves, which promises a new status quo for season 2.
Snow White and Prince Charming were split apart for most of the first half of the season, but were reunited in the midseason finale. Now that the evil Queen’s eviler mother has come to Storybrook, it might allow Regina to be softened somewhat.
8:00
The Good Wife – Thanks to the great DVR crash of 2012, I missed the last few episodes of last season. While never flashy, this show is always solid. The big problem in the fall will be catching the entire episode when football runs long.
For the most part, The Good Wife continued to be its strong self, but it did have a slight misstep with the story surrounding Kalinda and her ex. Fortunately, following fan backlash, that storyline was wrapped up quickly, hopefully to never be seen or heard from again.
Revenge – ABC’s other breakout hit of last season moves from Wednesday to Sunday as Emily VanCamp continues her secret rampage through the Hamptonites that ruined her father’s life. This was a surprisingly good soap that delivered the goods last season.
The second season of Revenge has been more of the same, but seems to be lacking some of the excitement of the first season due to familiarity. I am enjoying the show, but I can see myself burning out on it at some point.
Dexter – Speaking of shaking up the status quo, last season ended with Jennifer Carpenter’s Deb walking in on Dexter mid-murder. To make things more interesting, former Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski joins the crew at Miami Metro.
Dexter wrapped up its season in December with another shocker, Dexter under suspicion for being the Bay Harbor Butcher and Deb murdering LaGuerta to cover his tracks.
The Walking Dead – Zombies return to AMC in mid-October, with our group of survivors three months down the line from the events that drove them from the farm that served as their home last season.
The first half of the third season for The Walking Dead ramped things up and was the best the show has been thus far. Hopefully the second half can keep up the frantic pace.
9:00
The Mentalist – Entering it’s 5th season, the show moves from anchoring Thursday nights to Sundays. While still enjoyable, the show is starting to show its age, which may have had something to do with the move to a less competitive night.
The show’s resident hot girl, Amanda Righetti, has been sidelined for most of the season due to a real-life pregnancy, which hasn’t helped knock the rust off the show. While still enjoyable, the show could use some kind of mix-up, either in the cast or the status quo.
666 Park Avenue – The first new show to make an appearance. Vanessa Williams and Terry O’Quinn return to ABC in this supernatural soap that looks to combine the core audiences of its 2 lead ins. After Lost, I’m willing to give anything O’Quinn does a try.
A relatively enjoyable show that nobody else seemed to be watching. ABC first decided against picking up the back nine and then pulled the show off the air, “saving” the remaining episodes for the summer.
Homeland – Showtime’s breakout hit from last year returns with both Damian Lewis and Claire Danes back as the former POW who may be plotting against his nation and the CIA analyst obsessed with him.
Season two of Homeland wrapped up with Brody exposed as a terrorist and on the run. Things got a little goofier this season, but the show was still entertaining. While Damian Lewis is an amazing talent and I understand the show’s desire to keep him on board, it may be time for Brody’s story to come to a close.
Returning shows debuting tonight are the cable hits Shameless and House of Lies on Showtime and Girls on HBO.