Sunday, October 2, 2011

What New Shows Am I Watching This Season?

Well, folks, here it is, the new fall season of television, usually one of my favorite times of the television year. Last year was rough, with no new shows making my list of must sees. This year I believe will fair a little better.

On Monday nights, Fox airs Terra Nova. Terra Nova presents a dystopian future, that has somehow figured out how to send people back to a far distant past, before pollution, greed, and overpopulation made our world an environmental disaster. So far in the past, that dinosaurs rule the earth. Terra Nova features the very likable Jason O'Mara as a cop who had been imprisoned for daring to have three children. His wife, a noted physician, is recruited to Terra Nova, but she can only take their two oldest children. A little bribery and chicanery later, the entire family makes it to Terra Nova. I'm going to give this show a try, but I'm not convinced I like it. It features not one but two stereotypical teenagers, and O'Mara's character was rather easily accepted by the leader, played by the exceptional Stephen Lang. Terra Nova is clearly trying to make itself the Lost of the season, with its hints at mysteries under the surface. Indeed, several times, I felt like I was watching scenes from Lost.

On Tuesday nights, the CW is airing The Ringer. This soap opera/thriller focuses on identical twins, both with so many secrets that nothing is what it seems. There's only one reason I'm watching this show: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy herself, plays the twins. So far, there are holes a-plenty, and the male characters are especially one-note. But I can't help myself. I must watch. I'm sure I'll have more to say on this later.

On Thursday nights, Person of Interest airs on Fox. What happens if there is a computer that can monitor humans so much, it can determine when a crime of violence will happen? Michael Emerson's character created such a computer to combat terrorism. The fact that the computer could predict other crimes was an unexpected, and apparently unwanted, side effect. For reasons yet unknown to us, Emerson has hired the man who once played Jesus, Jim Caviezel, to help him prevent murders and other kinds of violent mayhem. Both men are extremely serious and driven, and both have secrets and painful pasts. Like Lost, little bits of the characters' pasts will be revealed week by week. Some critics are not fans of Caviezel's stoicness, but like Anna Torv's Olivia on Fringe, I think it fits.

One show I hope to watch and just haven't yet is New Girl, with Zooey Deschanel. As soon as I have, I'll give my impressions.

Buffyverse Fan Alert - Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar on The Ringer. Duh.

Lost Fan Alert - Michael Emerson, the mysterious Ben, plays a mysterious do-gooder billionaire on Person of Interest. Nestor Carbonell, the immortal Richard Alpert, plays an FBI agent trying to catch one of the twins on The Ringer.

In the meantime, what are you watching?

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