The Fall Season

I must say I'm sadly underwhelmed by the new season this year. For the first time in I can't tell how long, I'm not adding a single show to my "must see" list. Some thoughts:

I don't know why I wasn't interested in The Event, touted by many as the next Lost. As you know, I like me some Lost, but nothing about the show interested me in any way. I'm happy that Jason Ritter (from Joan of Arcadia), ER's Laura Innes, and go-to guy Blair Underwood have found work, but their presence is not enough to make me want to watch. I saw a half hour the other day. As you may recall, I didn't start Lost from the first episode. But I caught part of an episode later in the season, and I found myself enthralled and wanting to know more. That's not the case with my glimpse into The Event. None of the characters jumped out at me, and I'm totally not interested in knowing why some characters will do anything to get Jason Ritter's character.

I did watch a full episode of the revamped Hawaii Five-O, solely to watch Daniel Dae Kim's new show. The powers-that-be have been desperate to find a vehicle for Alex O'Loughlin. His first show, Moonlight, was a cult favorite that was cancelled too soon (full disclosure: I never watched it). His second show was the abysmal Three Rivers, which found itself on the chopping block pretty quickly. I think he's found a successful show, however, in Hawaii Five-O, in which he takes over from Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett. He's joined by Scott Caan as Danno, Kim as Chin Ho Kelly, and Grace Park as the now female Kono. I watched the premiere, and will watch no more. I found the dialogue to be cliched, the characters to be cardboard, and the villain (played by the former Spike, James Marsters) to be dull.

I have on a season pass of sorts Undercovers, a new show by J.J. Abrams. I've yet to watch a single episode. That tells me I'm not looking forward to it, and I may just have to cancel the whole thing. I never watched Alias, so maybe I just don't like the genre?

I also tried to watch No Ordinary Family, starring the former Darla and Dexter's Rita Morgan, Julie Benz. She's joined by Michael Chiklis and one of the Panabaker girls. You would think the show is right up my geek-girl alley. The family takes a trip, the plane crashes, and each has a special power afterward. But I found nothing new or unusual in the pilot, just a family drama filled with cliches, in which the family just happens to develop powers. It doesn't help that the show has one of the worst cliches of all time: the stereotypical troubled teenager.

Lost and Buffyverse fan alert: Daniel Dae Kim (Jin and Gavin Park) plays Chin Ho Kelly in the revamped Hawaii Five-O.

Buffyverse fan alert: James Marsters, Spike, played a villain in the premiere episode of Hawaii Five-O. Does Marsters just not want a series or do producers not recognize his charisma? Granted, his charisma was not in evidence in this episode... Also, Julie Benz, Darla, plays Stephanie Power in No Ordinary Family.