TV Midseason Preview 2010

Hey everyone, happy New Year! I know we're already a few days into 2010, but for the first Zandervision post of the year I thought it would make sense to look ahead to all of the various TV show returns, season premieres, and new shows over the next few months. Many thanks to Entertainment Weekly for essentially already doing this, and if you're curious about a show I don't watch, go there.

Scrubs and Better Off Ted (January 5th, 8-10 PM, ABC)

These shows have been airing straight through the holidays, but starting Tuesday they begin doubling up to expedite the burning-off process. While Scrubs' likely cancellation may be for the best, Better Off Ted just keeps getting funnier. Maybe think about giving it a shot before it disappears for good?

Modern Family (January 6th, 9-9:30 PM, ABC)

The funniest new show of the season returns with Benjamin Bratt guest starring as Manny's father.

How I Met Your Mother (January 11th, 8-8:30 PM, CBS)

Not only is this the date that HIMYM returns, but it also marks its 100th episode with Rachel Bilson guest starring, the promise of actually seeing the mother, and best of all, a big musical number featuring the entire cast in suits.

30 Rock (January 14th, 9-10 PM, NBC)

30 Rock returns with two episodes in a row? I want to go to there.

Archer (January 14th, 10-10:30 PM, FX, NEW SHOW)

I missed the preview during the fall, but this animated comedy for adults from some Adult Swim writers is supposed to be well worth a look.

Project Runway (January 14th, 10-11 PM, Lifetime)

If it seems soon for another season of Project Runway, it's probably to wipe away our memories of last season's disaster. But since this time it's back in New York with all judges present, I'll give it at least a few episodes.

The Golden Globe Awards (January 17th, NBC)

The awards themselves don't mean much (if they gave Nine 5 nods they clearly don't watch the movies), but Ricky Gervais as host should make for an entertaining night.

Human Target (January 17th, 8-9 PM, Fox, NEW SHOW)

A comic book based action show starring Mark Valley, Chi McBride, and Jackie Earle Haley. Sounds cool to me.

24 (January 17th & 18th, 9-11 PM & 8-10 PM, Fox)

Yes! Bauer is back, and this time in New York with a ton of new blood including Freddie Prinze Jr., Starbuck, Indian Regis Philbin from Slumdog Millionaire, and Bubba from Forrest Gump. Plus some old blood in Chloe, Renee, and President Taylor.

Life UneXpected (January 18th, 9-10 PM, The CW, NEW SHOW)

TV Guide Magazine calls it "Gilmore Girls meets Juno." Since it's about a teenager who becomes friends with her biological parents, if you like Gilmore Girls, you'll probably like this. Not my kind of show, but at least it's not yet another remake of something from the '90s

The Office (January 21st, 9-9:30 PM, NBC)

With the sale of Dunder Mifflin, maybe The Office will find yet another way to keep itself relevant in its 6th season. Just as long as they never do something like "Scott's Tots" ever again.

Dollhouse (January 22nd, 9-10 PM, Fox)

Not a return but an ending, as Dollhouse airs its series finale. Since the episode is titled "Epitaph 2," it looks like Echo and De Witt's fight against Rossum won't stop the eventual apocalypse, but we may find out what happens to everyone after tech takes over.

Caprica (January 22nd, 9-11 PM, SyFy, NEW SHOW)

If you want to get a headstart on this prequel series to Battlestar Galactica, you can catch the two-hour pilot on DVD. Having just watched it, I can say it's nowhere up to BSG quality yet and is a lot slower paced, but I still found enough cool and intriguing stuff here to want to check out the show. Seems appropriate to be premiering the night Dollhouse ends, since I could certainly use something to fill the sci-fi void.

Spartacus (January 22nd, 9-10 PM, Starz, NEW SHOW)

This attempt to essentially turn 300 into a TV show is probably far too silly for my taste, but if the idea of Lucy Lawless doing something somewhat back in the Xena realm sounds exciting, this is the show for you.

Damages (January 25th, 10-11 PM, FX)

Heading into its third season, Damages is looking to be just as complex and crazy as ever. This time the case centers on a Bernie Madoff like figure (played by original Sweeney Todd Len Cariou) and his wacky family, including wife Lily Tomlin, son Campbell Scott, and secret keeper Martin Short, in an attempt to go serious. If nothing else, Damages always wins for creative casting.

Lost (February 2nd, 9-11 PM, ABC)

Beginning its final season, Lost is easily my most anticipated return of all of 2010. Since the writers say even a single clip would give away everything, all I can say about season 6 is that Claire's back, a bunch of dead people guest star, and it's going to be awesome.

Parenthood (March 1st, 9-10 PM, NBC)

Originally slated for the fall, Parenthood intrigued me then and still does now that Lauren Graham's starring. Though does that mean I need to see the movie?

Gossip Girl (March 8th, 8-9 PM, The CW)

Why such a long break mid-season? Hopefully the writers are taking their time to come up with something good to close the season, because Dan's threesome and Tripp's bug-eyes certainly don't count. And no, neither does bringing Chuck's mom back from the dead.

V (March 30th, 10-11 PM, ABC)

It's looking like a massive ratings drop is inevitable given ABC's idiotic decision to take a long break after airing the initial four episodes. But if you keep watching, the mistake doesn't have to be fatal.

Glee (April 13th, 9-10 PM, Fox)

Another mind-bogglingly long mid-season wait, but the promise of Sue Sylvester singing and dancing makes it worthwhile. The bigger problem will be what to watch first now that Glee and Lost share a timeslot.

Are the Visitors Leaving So Soon?

Well, that was fast. Before I could even write up a pilot review for V, it's already time for the fall finale, which means no more V eps until March. We saw back in Lost season 3 how successful the fall "mini-pod" of episodes works, and I'm not optimistic about ABC's decision to treat V the same way. I'm even less excited that other networks are scheduling similarly sized breaks in their shows' seasons, most unfortunately in the case of Glee, which Fox announced today will not be returning until April (?!?!?!?!) after its December fall finale. Word to the higher-ups: having a show disappear for months at a time kills momentum and buzz WAY worse than a few weeks of repeats.

I'm only bothering to complain about the scheduling because, while four episodes may not have been enough to all-out hook me, it certainly left me intrigued. In many ways, V is the show FlashForward should have been. Less concerned with trying to be the next Lost, V has no higher aspirations than to be an enjoyable action show with cool twists and fun shoot-outs in every episode. The characters may not be any more developed than on FlashForward, but they don't need to be. While FF is about how a group of characters deal with a single event, so we're meant to care about them, here the characters serve the bigger story.

Plus, whatever the characters don't have in the writing is made up for in an appealing group of actors, none of whom seemed to learn TV acting from David Caruso (I'm looking at you Joseph Fiennes). The show's got mad geek cred, not only putting a popular Lost alum (Elizabeth Mitchell) in the lead, but finding room for not one but two Firefly alums in the cast (Alan Tudyk, not straying too far from his role as Alpha on Dollhouse, and Monica Baccarin as Anna, the head of the Vs, whose line deliveries kind of remind me of Betty Draper). Add in Scott Wolf as a reporter, and you've got a good group.

And unlike the dreary, exposition-heavy FlashForward (what did you see in your flash forward? What did you see in your flash forward?) V keeps the story moving. Already in these four episodes the main resistance fighters have found each other, we've found some unexpected Lost-like connections between other characters, and the mythology is building up with talk of the Fifth Column and the mysterious John May. And every episode has had a couple of different action sequences to keep things exciting. Wherever the plot may be heading, at least it's moving somewhere.

Still, despite all that's happened in these four episodes, tonight's "finale" still felt like a fourth episode. While there were cliffhangers (the priest getting stabbed, the image of the V fleet waiting on the other side of the universe), it lacked that huge twist to make you say, "Ok, I definitely need to watch that when it comes back." An appropriate comparison is Battlestar Galactica, which also began with a four hour miniseries. While I generally think the miniseries is nowhere near as good as the series that follows, what got me to keep watching was that final "Sharon Valeri is a Cylon!" reveal. Without something that big, a four month wait may leave most of us forgetting what we saw.

Of all the new sci-fi offerings this fall, V to me seems to hold the most promise. Interestingly enough, it seems a lot of sci-fi fans like Entertainment Weekly's Doc Jensen have been quick to turn against V for disappointing when they would normally say to wait and see (and he's a FlashForward fan. Huh?) But personally, I've found each episode satisfying enough to want to see what comes next. It may ultimately disappoint, but it would be more disappointing if it's this scheduling experiment that ends up dooming it.

Fall TV Preview

As enjoyable as summer TV could be, this week begins the process us TV junkies have been waiting for: Fall TV Season, when all of our favorite shows come back from their summer vacations to come entertain us once more. If you want to know when CSI and Grey's Anatomy come back, look elsewhere. If you want to know what I'll be watching, read on.

Glee (September 9th, 9-10 PM, Fox, NEW SHOW)

If you saw the pilot last May (and if you haven't, do it now), you know this is heading into the fall as frontrunner for best new show. As hard as that performance of "Don't Stop Believing" may be to top, the news that there will be 2 soundtracks in 2009 alone to cover all the songs leaves me very hopeful.

Gossip Girl (September 14th, 9-10 PM, The CW)

Will Gossip Girl avoid the college curse that's plagued every high school show ever? Since we never actually saw them in high school, and NYU barely counts as college, they stand as good a chance as anyone. Just as long as it's not another season of "omg Blair & Chuck 4eva omg."

The Office (September 17th, 9-9:30 PM, NBC)

Jim and Pam get married! Other than that, we'll really see the writers' creativity in keeping this show going into its sixth(!) season.

Community (September 17th, 9:30-10 PM, NBC, NEW SHOW)

A chance to see Joel McHale do something other than make fun of Speidi/Ryan Seacrest/Miley? I'm so there (as long as I can still get my weekly Soup fixings on Friday).

Curb Your Enthusiasm (September 20th, 9-9:30 PM, HBO)

This show's still on? After however many seasons, Larry David's found a surefire way to get people to watch: Seinfeld reunion! Guess he wins, cause I'll be watching.

Bored to Death (September 20th, 9:30-10 PM, HBO, NEW SHOW)

Sure, it's cool that the cast consists of Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, and The Hangover's Zach Galifinokusableskiver (maybe someday I'll learn his name, but today is not that day). But the real reason I'm excited? The theme song. Wouldn't be the first time I watched a show just for its theme song (that would be Angel).

How I Met Your Mother (September 21st, 8-8:30 PM, CBS)

Barney & Robin! Ted's at Columbia! The mother's in his class! 100th episode musical spectacular! All of which suggests this season will be legen - wait for it...

Heroes (September 21st, 8-9 PM, NBC)

I know I wrote a whole post on how Heroes' fourth volume wasn't as bad as everyone said, but that doesn't mean I'm actually looking forward to the new season. It's go big or go home time for Heroes, cause I don't think anyone will put up with another year of coasting by.

...dary! Legendary!

The Good Wife (September 22nd, 10-11 PM, CBS, NEW SHOW)

This so doesn't seem like my kind of show, but critics seem to be enjoying it. And there's absolutely nothing else AT ALL on Tuesday nights. So maybe I'll check it out? We'll see.

Modern Family (September 23rd, 9-9:30 PM, ABC, NEW SHOW)

Count this as another one the critics (may or may not) have convinced me to watch. Sounds like a pretty standard family sitcom to me, but supposedly it's hilarious. Maybe I should actually watch a promo...

Cougar Town (September 23rd, 9:30-10 PM, ABC, NEW SHOW)

Ok, promos aren't going to help on this one, but it's Bill Lawrence! The Scrubs man himself! So I've got to at least give it a try.

Flash Forward (September 24th, 8-9 PM, ABC, NEW SHOW)

People keep calling it "the next Lost", thinking it will fool all of us die-hard Lost fans into watching. They're right. I can't wait. Whether it lasts past the pilot to become a great series or suffers The Nine syndrome (which many critics fear), at least it won't be an NCIS spin-off.

Dollhouse (September 25th, 9-10 PM, Fox)

Yes! After getting hooked this summer, this is one of my most anticipated returning shows. Adding to my excitement is their decision to go all-out geek this year, with guest/recurring roles by BSG's Apollo and Colonel Tigh, Summer Glau of Firefly fame, and Buffy and Angel's Alexis Denisof (aka Mr. Alyson Hannigan). Now we just need to get Amy Acker's show canceled so we can have our Whiskey back.

Saturday Night Live (September 26th, 11:30 PM-1 AM, NBC)

New girls were cast. Other girls were kicked off. Still nobody can do a decent Obama.

The Cleveland Show (September 27th, 8:30-9 PM, Fox, NEW SHOW)

Even though I no longer regularly watch Family Guy, I'd still like to give the spin-off a look. Can't be as bad as American Dad, right?

Dexter (September 27th, 9-10 PM, Showtime)

Yes! My #1 most anticipated show of the fall. No matter what the storylines, I'm always happy to watch Dexter, Deb, Rita, and the rest. And with John Lithgow's Trinity Killer, the return of FBI Agent Lundy, and domesticated Dexter now married with a baby, this season should up the watercooler factor even further.

South Park (October 7th, 10-10:30 PM, Comedy Central)

South Park likes to alternate between smart, satirical humor and stupid, gross humor. While the former may be less than 25% of the show, it's good enough that I trudge through the rest.

30 Rock (October 15th, 9:30-10 PM, NBC)

Why does NBC keep holding 30 Rock back a month? If season 4 starts better than last year's guest star marathon, I'll forgive them.

V (November 3rd, 8-9 PM, ABC, NEW SHOW)

Juliet vs. aliens? What's not to love? It's like a preview to the Lost series finale (I'm kidding....I hope).

So that's what I'm looking forward to. How about you? What new shows are you most excited to try, what returning favorites have left you in suspense all summer, and what shows are finally getting kicked off your DVR? That's what the comments are for.