THE FALL TV UPDATE

The Fall television season--which is still the most important one, coming in just slightly ahead of Winter--has arrived in full force and as I like to do every year, I've selected a healthy number of new shows to sample to see if any of them are worth watching. Oh, who am I kidding? I want to see which of the new shows are worth DVRing. Or maybe watching on Hulu.

Since I still have a blog that I post to occasionally, I thought it use this post to share my impressions of what I've seen so far. Feel free to ignore this completely:

GOOD - WORTH WATCHING REGULARLY

Nikita (the CW) - I'll grant you that it caught my attention because Maggie Q, playing
the title character, is insanely good looking (in a she-can't-be-one-of-us-mere-mortals-can-she? kind of way), but to my surprise, the writing and action on this show are so far top notch. Having a "mole" on the inside is a good twist too that has already paid some dividends. This is the best show on the CW by far, although as I am fond of saying, that is like being the best player on the midget basketball team. Still, I plan to watch this regularly.

Better With You (ABC) - Funny, funny, funny, from the people (some of them) who brought us Everybody Loves Raymond. Cliched at times? Yes. Don't let that stop you from checking it out. It airs before Modern Family, last year's best new show.

Hawaii Five-O (CBS) - I know, I know...Alex O' Laughlin (playing the son of Steve McGarrett from the original 70's series) is as stiff as a board...so far Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica) is just eye-candy...there's nothing original here...and yet, somehow, so far, the whole thing works. The bad news? If the ratings stay high, expect a whole raft of other shows from the 70s and 80s to be remade with diminishing results. How about Danny DeVito as Barretta? (Didn't think so.)

Boardwalk Empire (HBO) - I only saw a six-minute trailer and I fell in love with it. Damn...why does HBO have to be so expensive?

MEDIOCRITIES - PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Running Wilde (Fox) - it tries too hard, Keri Russell shows no knack for comedy and the relationships aren't clearly established yet, but it's creator Mitchell Hurwitz (Arrested Development)and Will Arnett (Gob from Arrested Development!) so it would be stupid not to give it a chance.

Undercovers (NBC) - damn those two (Boris Kodjoe & Gugu Mbatha-Raw) are sexy. What was that show about again?

Outsourced (NBC) - I didn't find it offensive, but then I'm not Indian. What I did find was that it was uneven.

Shit My Dad Says (CBS) - Well, it is an entertaining blog and William Shatner is an entertaining actor but...ech! Maybe it will settle into a groove. Maybe not...

Terriers (FX) - well-acted, low key detective series. Kind of like The Rockford Files 2010.

The Event (NBC) - It took me two weeks to cool on this Lost/24/FlashForward hybrid, but you might find it more intriguing. It does have an attractive cast and seems a little more committed to meting out clues behind "the event" than Lost did at giving consistent clue to it's mystery. Still, I'd be shocked if this show didn't peter out by March.

BAD - FIND SOMETHING BETTER TO DO

Lone Star (Fox) - oh well, it's going to be cancelled soon anyway.

The Defenders (CBS)

Outlaw (NBC)

STILL ON MY LIST TO CHECK OUT

Law & Order: LA (NBC) - so why did they cancel the original Law & Order again?
Blue Bloods (CBS) - have Tom Selleck, will travel.
No Ordinary Family (ABC) - I think I may have seen this when it was called The Incredibles, but at least it has Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz.

And that's enough TV to watch because I still try to keep up with Modern Family, The Office, Mad Men, NFL football and Community.

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Finally, I want to send my special thoughts to the friends, family and colleagues of Sally Menke (1954-2010) one of the best film editors who ever lived and who has now passed from this Earth too soon. The brutal Southern California heat wave has claimed an unexpected victim indeed.

Rest in Peace.