TV Hot Spot: News

"Entertainment Weekly" talks about the FALL SEASON SHOWS!

Post by: Sal

Here is a list of what "Entertainment Weekly" thinks which new shows this FALL, will either be a HIT or a FLOP:

HITS:

The Bionic Woman (NBC)
I know, I know, sounds like a horribly silly idea... or does it? The old '70s hit has been restyled for the new millennium by Battlestar Gallactica's David Eick, with young Jamie Sommers (played by Brit import Michelle Ryan) landing sleek robotic limbs and a mechanical eye after a car crash — against her will, mind you, and with definite strings attached. Looks like a good government paranoia thriller laced with badass fights. Perhaps the next Alias has arrived?

Chuck (NBC)
Chuck (played by Less Than Perfect's Zachary Levi) works as a blandly nice computer technician when the government's secrets end up downloaded into his little brain and spies start to circle. Levi is fairly adorable, and the tone is light and friendly — but good luck keeping the premise afloat week after week.

Gossip Girl (CW)
The best-selling book series has spawned a sex-money-and-scandal soap that actually promises to be fun. The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz seems to have another set of winning, privileged high-school kids on his hands.

K-Ville (FOX)
Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, this cop drama has a nice hard edge to it — plus, after his stunning turn on The Shield, it's great to see Anthony Anderson in a lead role, this time as a New Orleans family man and detective who wants to make a dent in the crime wave.

Lipstick Jungle (NBC)
The latest Sex and the City-inspired soap, this one from the actual writer of Sex, Candace Bushnell. Three powerful New York City women, played by Brooke Shields, Kim Raver (24), and Lindsay Price (Pepper Dennis, wear great clothes and have wacky sex lives. The trio seems to have good chemistry, and the scenes are funny enough, though that may just be my good cheer at seeing 24 escapee Kim Raver do something but shake and cry.

Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld brings his lush, oddball vision to a fairy-tale story about a guy (Wonderfall's Lee Pace) who has one hell of a conundrum: He can bring people back to life with a touch, but they die for good if he ever lays a finger on them again. The lovely Anna Friel plays the man's childhood love, whom he saves from the crypt after a nasty murder. Offbeat, good-natured, plus it has Tony Award-winning Broadway star Kristen Chenoweth (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Wicked) — what's not to like?

Reaper (CW)
Happy Birthday! And, uh, we sold your soul to the devil. On his 21st, our hero (The Loop?s Bret Harrison) discovers his parents have basically apprenticed him to Satan (played by 24?s Ray Wise), so he?ll get to spend the rest of his life capturing hell?s escapees on earth. From Kevin Smith, Reaper?s humor is suitably low-key and perfectly timed — and Wise, slick and swell-suited, looks like he?s having a blast.

Sam I Am (ABC)
Christina Applegate is an amnesiac who doesn't quite feel like herself — whatever that may feel like — in this daffy little comedy that has the good sense to cast Jean Smart (24) as her mom and What About Brian castoff Barry Watson as her hapless beau.

Viva Laughlin (CBS)
At least it's not a procedural. What it is: A gambling story-slash-musical set around a Nevada casino. Think semi-regular Hugh Jackman as a big-shot moneyman, crooning ''Sympathy for the Devil.'' Based on the BBC series Blackpool, Laughlin might be quite strange, could be awesome, but will certainly be memorable.


FLOPS:

Canterbury's Law (FOX)
Julianna Margulies returns to series TV... for this? Yet another legal drama about a lawyer who pushes the envelope too far and/or doesn't know where to draw the line. We'll draw the line right at this unoriginal premise, thank you.

Cashmere Mafia (ABC)
From Sex and the City producer Darren Star comes another drama about four Manhattan women who have it all...and are super, super good friends! Including Lucy Liu, this foursome isn't nearly as likable as the quartet in the rival NBC drama, Lipstick Jungle. Nor or they as bubbly — Cashmere seems like a real so-hard-to-be-a-woman downer.

Cavemen (ABC)
Seriously, the cavemen from the (admittedly, slightly amusing in short bursts) Geico TV ads have their own comedy, which is sure to be as one-note-annoying as the It's Pat movie.

Journeyman (NBC)
Yet another time-travel drama, with Rome's Kevin McKidd shuffling around between past and present, getting confused and then growing into his gift. Or something. The main point is, I'm already dizzy with the changing scenery.

Life (NBC)
An LAPD cop (Damian Lewis) is released from prison after serving more than a decade for a murder he didn't commit. Now he's on the force, being all loose and positive, bantering with his dubious partner (Sarah Shahi). And get this: the guy loves to eat fruit! That's his thing: Fruit! Hahahahaaa... ehhhh.

Life Is Wild (CW)
A gooey-looking drama about a troubled family that relocates to South Africa so the teens can get grounded and look at cheetahs. Aims to be inspiring, but mainly feels like a bad '70s Disney movie.

Moonlight (CBS)
You've got to appreciate a vampire who doesn't wear the usual gothic frills and leather. But this bland, crime-fighting bloodsucker (Australian Alex O'Loughlin), sporting V-necks and a puppy-dog eyes is so uncharismatic he's asking for a quick stake in the heart.


Take Care,

Sal