Last Day of Upfronts

Today's the last day of the network upfronts, and it belongs to last-place finisher The CW. You can check out the full schedule here. As a guy over the age of 14, I don't watch a lot of CW, but still somehow more than CBS. So here's my thoughts.

Only two new shows, Hellcats and Nikita. Hellcats is a cheerleading show starring a girl from High School Musical. While the show may be set in college, I'm skeptical anyone college-age or above will be watching. Which leaves Nikita as the CW's most promising new show by default. The original was supposed to be cool, so may be worth a shot (even if it is another remake).

In the returning shows front, Life Unexpected was renewed, fortunately. It may have had an uneven first season, but it was likable enough that it deserves another year to figure things out. One Tree Hill continues to be the show that won't die. But you do have to give it credit as one of the few shows that cares so little about quality they'll do whatever they think seems crazy. And Melrose Place is, unsurprisingly, history.

So now that we've filled in the network grid, how's the fall looking? Compared to this past year, I'm seeing surprisingly few conflicts a DVR can't solve. Nothing near the difficulty of Glee vs. Lost. On Tuesdays at 8 Glee's going against the promising-sounding No Ordinary Heroes, but let's wait to see how that is before worrying about time-delaying it. Thursdays at 8 is Community vs. Big Bang Theory, which will piss off a lot of people but I don't currently watch either. And Sundays continue to be cable-only for me.

We won't know if any of these new shows are any good until pilot reviews start popping up and we get a chance to check them out ourselves. But I'm skeptical this fall will be a repeat of the previous one, when Glee and Modern Family broke onto the scene. Maybe I'll find one or two shows to add, but the networks aren't going to find appointment TV if they keep relying on the same cop shows, lawyer shows, and remakes they've depended on for years.

CBS Fall Schedule

Entertainment Weekly posted CBS' fall schedule, and I'm going to have to break my "two shows worth checking out per network" pattern from the past couple days cause I don't see anything that looks like it's for me. While some are calling CBS "bold" for moving around its hit shows on the schedule, there's nothing bold about the typical parade of procedurals and conventional sitcoms that CBS is adding to the schedule. It has that reputation for a reason.

Here's what they've got:

Hawaii Five-O - Remake, but at least with a good cast

Criminal Minds 2 - In case the original wasn't bad enough

Defenders - Yet another legal show

Blue Bloods - Yet another cop show

Shit My Dad Says - Sounds like it's been given the broad CBS sitcom treatment

Mike and Molly - Another probably lame sitcom, but Chuck Lorre did make Big Bang Theory, so the only thing that might be worth checking out.

I'm still waiting for the next Lost.

Tuesday Upfront Update

Entertainment Weekly just posted ABC's fall schedule, so time to take a look at what they've got going on this fall. As with the other networks, the majority of shows seem to be more cop and lawyer procedurals. Seriously, are there people watching every single one of these? Enough! But just as yesterday I picked out the two most promising sounding shows for NBC and Fox, I've got 2 ABC shows I'm looking forward to as well.

No Ordinary Family - A drama about a family that suddenly gets superpowers, this is basically Heroes meets The Incredibles. But The Incredibles is awesome, and with a cast that includes Julie Benz (Dexter) and Tate Donovan (Damages), I'm hoping it can hold up better than Heroes did.

Mr. Sunshine - When Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip premiered, I had high hopes that it would be Sports Night starring Matthew Perry. But it's looking like this new comedy may be closer to the mark, with Matthew Perry playing the owner of a sports stadium. The pilot's even directed by Sorkin-collaborator Thomas Schlamme! Also stars Allison Janney.

Monday TV Tidbits

I know I've been away from the blog for awhile, but today marks a good day to check-in with plenty of TV activity. First up, NBC and Fox announced their fall schedules today, and I look at the shows I'm most excited for this fall (despite not having even watched the trailers yet). Next, what I thought was the How I Met Your Mother finale but clearly wasn't. And finally, a very action-packed Gossip Girl finale. Spoiler warnings for the latter.

Next year, the networks have some big shoes to fill with two of the biggest giants in appointment TV retiring: Lost and 24. So what are they doing to cash in on that void? From what I've seen, it appears not much. So far the upfronts have led to announcements of the typical parade of cop shows and lawyer shows (if fewer doctor shows) and nothing trying to be the next Lost. But there are a few shows that seem promising.

Undercovers - Not only the first pick-up of the season, but one of the most high-profile new shows for the fall. With JJ Abrams returning to his Alias roots by putting out a spy show, it's bound to make for a good time.

Running Wilde - Creator of Arrested Development + Will Arnett + Kerri Russell. That's enough to make it my most anticipated comedy so far.

The Event - Wondering what to watch when 24 ends? Well The Event isn't very subtle about trying to fill the void. Not only is it a thriller that features the president as a character, but it's even in 24's current timeslot. Whether it lives up to its predecessor or not, seems worth a shot.

Terra Nova - We have to wait til midseason for this one and nothing's been shot yet, but this Spielberg produced time-travel dinosaur show is the only thing that seems to be thinking on Lost's scale.

ABC, CBS, and the CW are still upcoming, so more to come later this week.

For some reason, I thought tonight was the How I Met Your Mother finale, but despite its year-in-the-making premise, it was clearly just another episode. It was fun to revisit season 4's activities, but did the movie-within-the-show have to be SO exaggerated? I know it's through Future Ted's distorted memories, but it still came off as particularly broad, especially since we were told it was instantly the 5th highest grossing movie ever. More proof that the show is getting more sitcommy with age. Still better than The Office's attempt to do a movie-within-the-show though. But revisiting the Stella arc just served as a reminder of how little Ted's had to do since then. Maybe he'll get something in the real finale.

Lastly, the Gossip Girl finale aired tonight with lots of crazy twists. It didn't seem like there was too much left to do after last week's episode, which so thoroughly tied up the William Baldwin storyline that it felt like a finale in itself. But turned out there was plenty leftover: Jenny's general craziness, Chuck's ultimatum to Blair, Dorota's pregnancy, and so on.

I have to say, for a show as ADD as Gossip Girl that typically finishes up its storylines within 3 episodes and then moves on, these last two episodes did an impressive job pulling everything together. Jenny's drugdealing, Dan and Georgina's one night stand, Jenny and Eric's early-in-the-season fight - all came back. Even Georgina's Grand Central entrance was straight out of the pilot. So while most of the episode may have been designed to shock, at least there's that.

As for the big twists: Jenny and Chuck was just icky, but at least it had some dramatic consequences. Blair banning Jenny from Manhattan was pretty bold. But still, gross. Dan and Serena - last season made everyone beyond sick of them when they broke up again and again, but the show did work best when they were together. Just no more scenes about the Bass brunch. And who knows, maybe it will make Serena seem like less of a bitch than she's been all season (and especially as of late).

Chuck getting shot: Already in interviews the writers aren't even pretending there's a chance he might die. Clearly just for cliffhanger drama. But I guess it worked. Still, biggest cliffhanger was Georgina's pregnancy. I believe it's real (though it sure looked fake), but she's still got to be up to something. Could it be Dan's brother's? Or did the show forget he exists? I certainly did. And what was up with all that stuff about Russia?

Whether any of these things lead to an improved fourth season I couldn't say, but with most of the season ranging between uneven and dull, at least the finale got my attention. With a baby, a gunshot, a pregnancy, a deflowering, and a send-off, most of the May trademarks were present. So not a bad way to start finale week.