Primetime Pulse » The Sarah Conner Chronicles

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Episode 2-6 Review

Susan Kearl — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:35:29 +0000

After a brief hiatus, sadly Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles failed to get us pumped up with this week’s slow paced and dramatic episode. Whether the writers wanted to steer clear of being labeled an action show, or whether they just wanted to compete with shows like Grey’s Anatomy, episode six was full of emotions and almost operatic, with only a smidgeon of sweet Terminator stunts.

The Connor gang decides to focus their attentions on Dr. Sherman, a man who will somehow be connected with Skynet, so they can discover if he is friend or foe. As it turns out he’s a family counselor specializing in children. Signal the emotional floodgates to open! Suddenly we learn that John is apparently suffering from PTSD. The strain of being a soldier fighting a not-yet-existing battle is too much for our 16 year old hero. While this does make sense, it also seems inconsistent with his behavior of late. John’s character wavers between efficient fighter and moody teen. Hopefully, as the series continues this fluctuation will cease, because right now it’s downright annoying!

In addition to John’s problem, the good doctor diagnoses Cameron with a social disorder (nice catch, Doc!). This brings us to another mildly irritating inconsistency. Why is it that the Terminators can act so human sometimes and then seem to lose that ability other times? When we first met Cameron, she was charming and flirtatious; everything a normal teenage girl should be. So why is it that now her movements are jerky, her face is constantly passive, and her tone is emotionless? This change only serves to single her out from the crowd. The same goes for Catherine Weaver, who managed to alluringly seduce a man in one episode, but who can’t seem to get smiling right in this episode. Either the Terminators can be convincing as humans or they can’t. It’s nonsensical to have them switch back and forth, as it singles them out and is detrimental to their purposes.

Another apparent non-human, Derek Reese, finally comes out of with some emotions of his own for newcomer Jesse. Jesse is a soldier from the future who has gone AWOL to be with Derek. He doesn’t seem to mind this at all and before long they’re in bed. Whoa! What happened to the gravelly-voiced Derek whose sole purpose seemed to be to utter dire phrases and only turn up in time to shoot stuff? It appears the writers decided to flesh him out, but they went from 0 to 60 in the process! We applaud Derek for getting some (maybe now he won’t be so tense) but let’s not evolve into one of the more sex-oriented shows here, okay Fox?

The Connor Crew aren’t the only ones with emotional problems this week. Even the program that Weaver has been developing is having issues. The program has been showing nonsensical pictures and losing efficiency, baffling the programmers working on it. Meanwhile, in an attempt to make her acquired daughter like her (after scaring the child into wetting her pants) Weaver has encountered Dr. Sherman. Intrigued by his success with her “daughter,” Weaver brings him to visit the computer program. He quickly identifies the pictures as a riddle and diagnoses the problem: the growing pains of a bored child. Impressed, Weaver hires him as a consultant, thereby answering the question of his Skynet connection for the audience.

Finally, even Sarah is dealing with matters of the psyche. Although she has always seemed in control and fully competent before, this week she is fragile and unsure. The idea that John could be suffering mentally had somehow eluded her mind until this point and now she can’t accept the possibility. In the end, after listening to a conversation between John and Dr. Sherman (recorded by the bug Cameron placed in his office) Sarah finally breaks down and accepts that she and John are both flawed, and visits the doctor herself.

In the midst of this soap-opera of feelings revealed and explored, there was one moment of pretty cool action as Cameron faced off with a Terminator sent to Dr. Sherman’s office. Clued in to her presence by her similarly inhuman behavior (again, what happened to the ability to blend in?), Cameron takes on the new machine in the elevator. The best part: after defeating the Terminator, Cameron twists her into a little Terminator pretzel. Unfortunately, they learn nothing from the robot’s chip as it somehow self-destructs. Still, the fight was a welcome break from the intense emotional drama going on elsewhere.

While it’s nice to see relatable characters and be reminded that they are imperfect too, those reminders should come at intervals. To have this show go from edge-of-the-seat Terminator action to an hour of histrionics (waah waah, we get it already) is a sure buzz kill. Elvis put it best when he said, “A little less conversation, a little more action please.”

Susan Kearl is a university student with too much time on her hands who loves to watch TV. She’s happy to contribute her opinions to the world of television viewers like you.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Episode 2-5 Review

Susan Kearl — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:11:45 +0000

This week in the world of Sarah Connor is one part excitement, one part memories of the future that might be, and one part sadness. A new terminator is on the hunt, but surprisingly not for John. This particular Terminator is hunting for Martin Bedell (a future aide-de-camp to John) – every Martin Bedell in the area in fact, just to be thorough. One has died already, so the gang decides to split up and protect the other two, while planning to stop the Terminator along the way.

Sarah and Cameron’s Martin turns out to be a young boy. They arrive just in time to save him from the Terminator, but saving him also means kidnapping him. While they’re trying to decide what to do about little Marty and the Terminator, the boy’s parents are desperate for his return. Marty himself is desperate, but not to go home. Instead he’s worried about his unfinished book report, and loses no time angrily telling Sarah it will be her fault if he fails. It seems little Marty Bedell is this week’s sassy character. Marty’s attitude has a charming effect on Sarah as he brings out her mothering instincts. She gives him The Wizard of Oz (John’s favorite book), and they read it together in a tender bonding moment.

John and Derek, meanwhile, head to a nearby military academy. As it turns out, this is where the real Martin Bedell is – or at least the one who ends up as John’s friend. Derek arranges for John to look over the school (posing as a prospective student), while at the same time conveniently snagging a substitute teaching job there. During his time with Martin Bedell at the academy John is once again troubled at the thought of his future role and the responsibility for the lives of the men who will follow him. He is nothing if not a reluctant hero.

Derek, meanwhile, is also thinking of the men he has fought for and with. He has a series of flashbacks centering on the very same Martin Bedell who is the star of this episode. Future Martin proves to be the kind of soldier Derek is now, while Derek was more rule-bound and disapproving. It’s an interesting reversal when combined with the shots of current time where it’s Bedell who is appalled at Derek’s continuing display of casual obedience to rules and a distinct dislike for the role of a soldier. Perhaps this is another of the time paradoxes this story is so fond of: Derek learned to be more flexible about following orders from the Martin Bedell of the future, while Martin himself learned the same attitude from the Derek who came back in time.

In the end, to the accompaniment of Sarah and Marty reading a description of the Wicked Witch’s attack against Dorothy Gale, John and Derek use a student exercise as a convenient excuse to lead the military students against the Terminator, who has found his way to the school. Derek arranges for most of the students to be safe, but Bedell stumbles in the machine’s path and witnesses John’s bravery and Derek’s trickery as they lure the Terminator to its end. He is so horrified at the future they describe, and at the same time impressed by their courage, that he agrees to stay the course, finishing his military training so that he can be truly useful to John when he is needed.

After it’s all over, Sarah returns Marty to his parents (with the understanding that he won’t lead the police to her). John and Derek are driving home, and Derek reveals the end of his flashback series: that Martin Bedell sacrifices himself to save John’s life. He tells John, “He died for you. We’d all die for you,” as John silently weeps for the future he can’t seem to avoid.

Susan Kearl is a university student with too much time on her hands who loves to watch TV. She’s happy to contribute her opinions to the world of television viewers like you.

Sir Linksalot: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Episode 2-4 Review

Susan Kearl — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:09:15 +0000

This week in the Terminator universe is a walk down memory lane for our characters. Sarah Connor relives some experiences from her past regarding John’s birth. Catherine Weaver reveals to James Ellison the haunting memories that drive her to learn more about the mysterious machines – even if these memories are false or stolen. Finally, we are privileged to get a chilling glimpse Cameron’s past as a glitch sends her mind traveling back and forth between the present and the past.

The Connors’ new and very pregnant landlady, Kacy Corbin, asks Sarah to help her to the hospital due to some abdominal pains. Although she is fine, she has to stay for testing so Sarah stays with her. After Kacy discusses the pending birth, Sarah tells her of John’s delivery in the depths of the jungle (the price of running for your life). We get to see a tender side of Sarah as she reveals to Kacy that while John’s father died before John’s birth, she tells people he was there with her because that’s how she wishes it had been. However, being the tough-as-nails woman she is, she also sternly tells Kacy that being alone shouldn’t stop her from being a strong mother and making it through. An interesting development in this newfound friendship is that the father of Kacy’s child is a police officer. After the promise Sarah makes to help Kacy, it’s only a matter of time before he recognizes her as a wanted criminal.

The wait to know Agent Ellison’s decision regarding CEO (and Terminator) Catherine Weaver’s request that he work for her tracking down Terminators is finally over. Weaver tells Ellison that her husband’s death in a helicopter crash was the result of human error, and explains that her interest in the machines is to explore the possibilities they offer in the way of eliminating such human error – not to raise a destructive army of human-killing robots. After having his ex-wife (interesting peek into his past) do a background check on Weaver (which naturally came up clean – duh! Terminator!), Ellison gives in to his curiosity about the robots and agrees to help her. On a side note – Weaver had a “daughter” with her. Is this child the daughter of whoever Weaver is impersonating? Is she a small mini-Terminator? Interesting developments ahead!

At last, we come to Cameron’s trip down the lane of memories. The episode starts with a flashback (or is it flash forward?) of a girl frantically running from a Terminator, and we quickly realize this is Cameron herself. Before we can process wonder at Cameron’s very human fear, we are back in the present where John is sending Cameron for groceries. She experiences another flashback of herself being questioned by Terminators that leaves her in a state of robot amnesia. Unsure of who she is and without any ID, Cameron is taken to the police department where she has a memory of being Allison Young, and apparently human. We should pause here to applaud the acting skills of Summer Glau. She exudes robotic nature – cold and emotionless – in every scene as Cameron, and then switches so believably and passionately to Allison Young. Glau was an excellent choice for this role.

After Cameron is released, she is befriended by another former detainee; Jodie. Jodie takes Cameron to a homeless shelter shows her the ropes. Cameron, in her new role as Allison Young, is running the gamut of human emotions – joy in her new friendship, fear at her lack of memory, etc. During an interview with the shelter’s counselor, her flashbacks to the interrogation by Terminators become more frequent. She suddenly remembers a family in Palmdale, and a mother named Claire Young. The counselor dials the number and a young pregnant woman answers. It seems that this is the mother that Allison Young will have – once she’s born.

John finally tracks Cameron to the shelter, only to have her aggressively resist his attempts to make her leave. Security forces John out of the shelter, but seeing him awakens new memories in Cameron. In her mind, Allison Young is brought face to face with her questioner, only to find that it’s a Terminator made to be exactly like her. We realize that Cameron wasn’t human; rather she was made to emulate this specific human being, a trusted friend to John Connor. Cameron’s purpose was to adopt her identity in order to infiltrate the camp and kill John. As she is recalling this in the present, she ceases to act human and once again becomes the cold robotic Cameron we know and love.

Jodie convinces Cameron to go with her to a home that she plans to rob. As Cameron helps open the safe she realizes that Jodie had planned to rob the house and leave Cameron to take the blame. In her memory, her past self strangles and kills Allison Young, and her present self starts to do the same to Jodie… right as John bursts into the house. While Jodie survives the encounter, we aren’t sure whether this was mercy or an accident on Cameron’s part.

This episode was a flood of information about the mysterious Cameron. Unfortunately, it’s the kind of information that only opens the way for more questions! Nevertheless, the episode was revealing and wonderfully acted. Happily, there was no exposure to sulky John, no dark and ominous words from Derek Reese (who was AWOL the entire episode), and plenty of awesome Cameron action. Hopefully, we’ll continue to get these glimpses into Cameron’s past and learn why exactly she is here.

Susan Kearl is a university student with too much time on her hands who loves to watch TV. She’s happy to contribute her opinions to the world of television viewers like you.

Sir Linksalot: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Episode 2-3 Review

Susan Kearl — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:09:25 +0000

Old boyfriends, old nemeses, old teenage angst; this is the checklist that the raggedy team protecting John Connor (future savior of humanity and grumpy teenager) faces this week. Sarah’s ex Charley Dixon is dragged back again, Cromartie finally finds way back to John, and John has relapsed into the sulky teenage boy who doesn’t quite believe his crazy mother and all this talk of saving humanity. Despite the old themes and faces, as well as some obnoxious human foibles on the part of our heroes, this week’s episode isn’t too shabby.

We begin the episode with a leisurely exit attempt on the part of Charley and his wife, Michelle. Despite having firsthand knowledge of the destructive power of Terminators, as well as warnings from Sarah and FBI Agent James Ellison to get out of town, Charley and Michelle are moseying along like they have all the time in the world. We are therefore unsurprised when Cromartie finds them and kidnaps Michelle to use as bait.

Cut to the current Connor residence where John has reassumed his angsty attitude, picking fights with everyone and being generally disagreeable. Presumably this is in response to the way he was treated after revealing his weakness for Cameron, but maybe the writers just remembered that he is a teenager after all. John receives a call from Charley who wants Sarah’s help in saving his wife. To Charley’s credit he doesn’t immediately spill the beans to John; instead he contrives to talk to Sarah who agrees to help in oh-so-clever code (wink wink, nudge nudge). If John wasn’t so busy sulking, he would have picked up on everything, but then Sarah would have made him stay and he would have gone back to sulking, so it’s just as well. At any rate, Sarah sends John and Cameron away while she grabs Derek (whose role in this episode is to lurk around occasionally uttering raspy and dire comments) and rushes to the rescue.

Sarah and Derek find Charley just as he receives a phone call from Michelle. We must pause here to give credit to Michelle for her daring in the face of her kidnapping. She knows what these machines are capable of, and yet she finds her phone and calls her husband anyway. You go girl! Michelle tells Charley what she knows about her location, but her call is cut short by the return of Cromartie. He sets an elaborate trap around her using mousetraps and what appears to be a bomb, while eerily (and in some sort of semi-British accent) explaining the history of mousetraps, and implying that Michelle is the cheese for a humantrap.

The intrepid trio quickly find their way to Michelle. While they’re trying to figure out how to save her without killing themselves (any movement on her part would cause the trap to explode), Cromartie – that sneaky bastard – is out front disabling their truck. Once again we should pause to applaud Michelle for being so sassy in the face of death. Instead of complete hysterics, she snaps at Sarah and Charley for their obnoxious patronizing. Gotta love the sass! Once our heroes realize the car is dead, they also realize that Cromartie’s goal was to lure them away from John and strand them so that he could go kill John without them around. Michelle’s trap is a fake, a mere distraction! Sarah immediately and foolishly calls John (instead of a taxi) – a call which Cromartie traces. He blows up the nearby cell tower so that Sarah can’t call John again, and then arranges to meet John using Sarah’s voice. John has been spending the episode in guilty pleasure with his new paramour, Riley, after naughtily ditching Cameron. Now when Cromartie calls, he is obedient instead of surly, and immediately ditches girlfriend Riley to go to the potentially fatal meeting. What gives, John?

Upon escaping from the rubble left by the cell tower explosion Sarah, Derek, Charley, and a severely wounded Michelle make their way to the road where they carjack a van. Barreling toward John, Michelle’s wounds worsen until Charley demands that Sarah stop and take him somewhere to help her, which Sarah does! Fortunately this lapse in Sarah’s motherly instinct doesn’t end in John’s death.

Waiting for his mother, John spots Cromartie and starts running. Cromartie follows in that very special Terminator stalk, that is somehow faster than running speed, until John comes to a dead end. Cameron, who has discovered John’s whereabouts by questioning Riley, finds both John and Cromartie right as they jump from the dead-end pier into the ocean. At last we discover a benefit of being human vs. Terminator: robots sink! John swims to the surface leaving Cromartie behind, and joins Cameron to go meet Sarah. Cromartie is left to walk back out of the water onto the shore, although I’m not sure why it would have taken long since they jumped from a pier, not a boat. Details, details.

Before we wrap up the episode, there are also two brief encounters with Agent James Ellison and our favorite new terminator, Catherine Weaver. She tries to lure him onto her payroll by using her devilish charms to play off his intense curiosity about Terminators, reminding him of the death and destruction caused by these mysterious robots and inviting him to help her find more. However, we aren’t shown his final decision. Instead we’re left with a “to be continued” vibe on the Ellison front.

In the end, the spunky Michelle’s spunk is not enough to help her survive her ordeal. We close on two scenes: Charley and Agent Ellison at Michelle’s funeral, with Cromartie lurking in the distance; and the Connors at home, eating dinner. These scenes are accompanied by a voice-over from the funeral sermon, which is a message about not losing hope in the battle for a better future, despite obstacles and loss along the way. Go team Connor!

Susan Kearl is a university student with too much time on her hands who loves to watch TV. She’s happy to contribute her opinions to the world of television viewers like you.

Sir Linksalot: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Episode 2-1 Review

Susan Kearl — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:00:07 +0000

Welcome back to one the few new shows to survive the 2007/2008 Writer’s Strike, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. For those who don’t remember it, or who didn’t watch it, the show focuses on the lives of Sarah and John Connor after the end of the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Last season we were introduced to the following characters:

John Connor – future savior of humankind

Sarah Connor – kick-ass mom and all around awesome woman

Cameron – a Terminator sent back by the future John Connor to protect his teenage self

Cromartie – a Terminator sent back to find and destroy young John

Derek Reese – John’s uncle, also sent back from the future by John’s older self

FBI Agent James Ellison – the agent in charge of apprehending Sarah Connor

Charley and Michelle Dixon – Sarah’s former fiancé and his current wife

To re-cap the season one finale: Agent Ellison had tracked down Cromartie (who was impersonating an FBI agent in order to find the Connors) with a team who were all mercilessly slaughtered, except Ellison himself. Charley Dixon, an EMT, came to the scene of slaughter too late to help. The Connors discovered that a man they thought Derek Reese had killed to help the cause of destroying Skynet (future bane of mankind) was actually alive. Unfortunately they didn’t discover this in time to prevent him from blowing up their car (with Cameron in it) and attacking their house. All of this coincidentally takes place on John’s 16^th birthday.

That brings us to this episode. Cameron is sitting apparently lifeless in the wreckage of the Connor-Mobile. Fortunately, being a Terminator, bombs mean nothing to her and her systems come back online just in time to enter the Connor house and kill all the bad guys attacking Sarah and John. Unfortunately, her programming has also reset to Kill-John-Connor mode. Before she can shoot him, a conveniently timed explosion goes off. Sarah and John leap from the window and take off on foot, while Cameron’s system must once again reset.

Meanwhile, Charley has raced to the Connor home just in time to pick up Derek. The two of them follow the path of chaos left by the escaping Sarah and John (cars jacked and then crashed, etc.), while Derek, like a scary dad, tries to discover Charley’s true intentions toward Sarah.

Sarah and John find their way to a chapel and claim sanctuary in order to plan and rest. Both realize that Cameron must be stopped, so they set a trap. A trail of blood leads Cameron to the baptismal font wherein an alarm clock has been placed. As she reaches into the water, Sarah and John flip a switch causing Cameron to be electrocuted and temporarily go offline. Sadly, despite this brilliant plan, they are lacking the tools they need to finish the job and remove her programming chip – a sharp knife and the proper screwdriver. This sets a pattern for quite a few more similar attempts to be made and thwarted before Sarah and John finally trap Cameron between two cars.

While John is trying again to remove Cameron’s chip (somehow he seems to have found the right screwdriver while he was running), Cameron tells him that she has healed herself and is good again, and that they she loves him. This strikes close to home with John. After he removes her chip, he sinks into a deep sulk as he wrestles with the possibility that she wasn’t lying. Finally he tells his mother to prepare a bonfire so they can burn Cameron, claiming that he understands and agrees with this necessity. However, instead of lighting the fire, John replaces Cameron’s memory. From her Terminator viewpoint we see John listed first as a target designated for destruction, and then that order is overwritten. Cameron has somehow managed to fix herself – this time.

Also interspersed throughout the episode are scenes with a new character; Catherine Weaver, played by Scottish singer Shirley Manson. The CEO of a company called ZeiraCorp; she has purchased the Turk program that will one day become Skynet. We discover in the end of the episode that Catherine Weaver is actually a T-1001, and will clearly become an important character in future episodes.

The episode ends with everyone collected at home checking inventory and reviewing the actions of the day. Cameron, after discussing faith and the idea of resurrection with Sarah, tells her not to ever let John save her again – as though Sarah needed to be told that! John sheds his Zack Efron haircut in favor of a snappy short new do in what is presumably a symbolic gesture to show his shift from a boy of 15 years to a man of 16.

There was a strange religious vibe in this episode; the sanctuary of a Catholic chapel, Cameron’s fascination with the image of Jesus Christ and the possibility of resurrection, and even biblical references from newcomer Catherine Weaver. There were also a few mystery spots. For example, how did Cameron override her directive rather than killing John? And why didn’t she do it earlier? For the most part, though, this action- and explosion-filled episode was a thoroughly satisfying start to the new season. The show has so far done an excellent job at upholding the Terminator standard of violence and Sarah Connor kicking butt, and it doesn’t seem likely to change any time soon.

Susan Kearl is a university student with too much time on her hands who loves to watch TV. She’s happy to contribute her opinions to the world of television viewers like you.

Sir Linksalot: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

[NEWS] Post-Strike Schedule For All Your Favorite Shows

Josh Clinton — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Now that the strike is over, you probably want to know when your favorite “scripted” television shows will be coming back to the air with new episodes. The networks have quietly begun outlining plans to salvage what’s left of the current TV season and here is what they have come up with…

***However, schedule is subject to change at any moment***

24 -
Season 7 likely postponed until January ‘09.

30 Rock -
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

Aliens in America -
Eight pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Back to You -
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future TBD*.

Battlestar Galactica -
Returns April 4 with first half of 20-episode final season. Production on second half could start as early as March. Airdate for those TBD.

The Big Bang Theory -
Expected to shoot 5 to 9 new episodes to air in April/May.

Big Love -
Expected to go into production on Season 3 in March. Airdate info is TBD.

Big Shots -
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Bionic Woman -
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Bones -
Four pre-strike episodes left. Unclear whether additional episodes will be produced for this season.

Boston Legal -
Expected to shoot 6 to 8 new episodes to air in April/May.

Brothers & Sisters -
One pre-strike episode remains. Expected to shoot 4 or 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Burn Notice -
Production on Season 2 expected to get under way in late April. New episodes could start airing as early as July.

Chuck -
No new episodes until fall.

The Closer -
Expected to kick off its fourth season this summer.

Cold Case -
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in April/May.

Criminal Minds -
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI -
Expected to shoot 4 to 8 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

CSI: Miami -
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

CSI: NY -
Expected to shoot 4 to 8 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

Desperate Housewives -
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Dirty Sexy Money -
No new episodes planned until fall; three remaining pre-strike episodes will undergo some tweaking and kick off fall run.

ER -
Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.

Everybody Hates Chris -
Twelve pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Friday Night Lights -
No new episodes expected for this season. Future TBD.

The Game -
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 8 or 9 additional episodes to air in March/April/May.

Ghost Whisperer -
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Girlfriends -
Two pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected, although a special one-hour series finale is being discussed.

Gossip Girl -
Expected to shoot 5 or 6 episodes to air in April/May/June.

Greek -
Kicks off second half of Season 1 on March 24. Still awaiting Season 2 pickup.

Grey’s Anatomy -
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May

Heroes -
No new episodes expected until fall.

House -
Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.

How I Met Your Mother -
Expected to shoot 5 to 9 new episodes to air in April/May.

Jericho -
Seven episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Journeyman -
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Las Vegas -
Two pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Law & Order -
Expected to shoot an indeterminate number of episodes to air in spring.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent -
Expected to shoot an indeterminate number of episodes to air in spring.

Law & Order: SVU -
Expected to shoot an indeterminate number of episodes to air in spring.

Life -
No new episodes expected until fall.

Life Is Wild -
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Lost -
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Five additional episodes could air this season.

Medium -
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot additional episodes for this season.

Men in Trees -
Eleven pre-strike episodes remain, the first of which airs Feb. 27. No additional episodes expected this season.

Moonlight -
Could produce a handful of new episodes to air in April/May.

My Name Is Earl -
Expected to shoot 8 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

NCIS -
Expected to shoot 5 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

The New Adventures of Old Christine -
Seven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Nip/Tuck -
Season 5 concludes Feb. 19. Production on the show’s eight-episode sixth season expected to start up this summer. Airdate TBD.

Numbers -
Expected to shoot 5 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

October Road -
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

The Office -
Expected to shoot 6 new episodes to air in April/May.

One Tree Hill -
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 5 or 6 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Prison Break -
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Private Practice -
Slim chance it could return with 4 or 5 new episodes this season. Either way, it’ll be back in the fall.

Pushing Daisies -
No new episodes until fall.

Reaper -
Three pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 5 or 6 additional episodes to air in April/May.

The Riches -
Seven-episode second season kicks off March 18.

Rules of Engagement
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 additional episodes to air in March/April/May.

Samantha Who? -
Three pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot an additional 3 episodes to air this spring, likely after Dancing with the Stars.

Saturday Night Live -
Returns Feb. 23.

Scrubs -
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Four additional episodes will likely be shot; unclear whether they’ll air on NBC or go straight to DVD.

Shark -
Expected to shoot as many as four new episodes to air in April/May. Future beyond that TBD.

The Shield -
Final season already shot. Airdate TBD.

Smallville -
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Supernatural -
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 4 or 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles -
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Two and a Half Men -
Expected to shoot 5 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

Ugly Betty -
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Without a Trace -
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

Women’s Murder Club -
No new episodes expected this season. Future beyond that TBD.

* TBD = To be determined

Credit: TV Guide

Prime Time Pulse Roundtable Discussion: A Look Back at the 2006/2007 TV Season and a Look Forward to the 2007/2008 TV Season

Josh Clinton — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:00:00 +0000

Last month another TV season ended. It was another interesting one. But who exactly came out on top? Which shows climbed to the top of the mountain and looked down at all of its fallen foes in â€œTV Rerun Hellâ€? Which shows got cut too soon and which shows surprised us all? What about the upcoming TV season? How will the TV war go down between the major networks this Fall? Which shows will be the surprise hits of the 2008 season? To help me answer all of those questions, I decided to ask a few staff members here at Prime Time Pulse. So what follows is a look back at this past TV season and I look at the future TV season coming this Fall…

Craig Russell

What a long, strange season it’s been. Fox is giving long-standing CBS a legitimate run for its money as the #1 overall network. Thanks to the juggernaut that is American Idol, they’ve already taken over the 18-49 demo. NBC had, by far, the best new programming â€“ yet you wouldn’t know it by the ratings. And ABC had a very up-and-down season, much like its franchise show Lost. And in the â€œif a tree fell in the forest and didn’t make a soundâ€ category, we have The CWâ€¦

So which network has the most to sing about as the 2006-07 campaign comes to a close. And who is positioning themselves to move up the charts in 2007-08? Here are my thoughtsâ€¦

ABC: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
It must be hard for ABC execs to decide what kind of mood they should be in. Every success the network enjoys seems to coincide with failure. Sure, they scored a pair of freshmen hits with Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters. Yet that was offset by a very long list of misses: The Nine, Day Break, Six Degrees, Big Day, Notes From the Underbelly, Knights of Prosperity, In Case of Emergency, October Road, and Help Me Help You. Dancing With the Stars became a bona-fide (albeit strange) ratings-winner, but how do you explain The Bachelor and Boston Legal still hanging around? ABC will head into the fall in dire need of a few more breakout hits, yet I’m not sure Cavemen (yes, those cavemen from the Geico commercials - seriously) or Carpoolers (looks like a blatant Office rip-off) fit the bill. As for how ABC rates on a night-by-night basis, they remain strongest on Sunday (Desperate Housewives) and Thursday (Grey’s Anatomy) â€“ which should come as no surprise. Their bizarre, un-even split of Lost’s third season certainly didn’t pay off â€“ so our favorite castaways don’t return â€˜til January ‘08. This turns Wednesday into a question mark, as ABC will take a risk by debuting three new shows. I guess you’d have to say Grey’s spin-off Private Practice is the safest bet for ratings. Overall, ABC can’t be entirely satisfied. They must improve the beginning of the week: finding a solid partner for Dancing With the Stars on Monday, and suring up Tuesday â€“ would be a good place to startâ€¦

CBS: Still Solid, But..
Well, they knew it wouldn’t last forever. While the Tiffany network still boasts the most stable programming lineup, they don’t have American Idol. And no one has to tell them about the importance of a beyond-huge non-scripted show: it wasn’t too long ago that Survivor was the hottest thing going. Those days are gone, and CBS is smart enough to know they’re going to have to start taking some risks. The trick is to continue playing to their strengths (procedural dramas and comedy), yet being open to change. Some will argue that CBS has played it a little safe the last few years, and that’s why Fox is catching up. True, some of their signature shows are starting to look tired: Without a Trace was a slight disappointment on Sundays, seemingly chased off the block by the new kid (Brothers & Sisters). It returns to Thursday, its old stomping grounds, in the fall. They also didn’t have a significant breakthrough newcomer this past season (sorry, Shark doesn’t qualify), and that has to be a cause for concern. Going forward, CBS knows it can count on at least two of its CSIs to anchor Monday and Thursday. And Two and a Half Men still delivers, just not like Raymond used to. Plus, it doesn’t have as strong a supporting cast: How I Met Your Mother is really funny, but simply doesn’t pull in the numbers. The two envelope pushers they are banking to succeed are Cane, an ambitious project revolving around a wealthy Latino family; and Viva Laughlin â€“ a British spin-off (all the rage these days) starring Hugh Jackman and leading out of 60 Minutes.

The CW: Starting Over…
However many worse-case scenarios CW execs prepared themselves for heading into last fall, surely they didn’t plan on pretty much every one coming true. Outside of America’s Next Top Model, which is suddenly their only trademark show â€“ the CW’s 2006-07 was basically one to forget. They were beyond excited about the prospect of teaming two of the coolest shows of the decade, Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars. The result? Gilmore ratings declined nearly 20%, V. Mars failed to hold even half of that audience â€“ and both just aired their series finales. Ouch. The CW is also saying goodbye to 7th Heaven, and Everybody Hates Chris numbers are in free-fall as well. This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, though. As I stated in my Fall 2006 preview, the new network’s success or failure simply wasn’t going to depend on vets like Gilmore Girls and 7th Heaven, or critic-cult fave V. Mars. As strange as it sounds, The CW might be better off. And there’s really nowhere to go but up. But starting from scratch is a scary proposition. The question is, how’s the new product? At first glance: a mixed bag. The Reaper (think Clerks meets Buffy) and Gossip Girl (based on the popular book focusing on prep-school rich kids) show promise, and could say a lot about the future of the network. On the flip-side, their Sunday lineup is more frightening than any episode of Supernaturalâ€¦

Fox: The A.I. Network…
Let’s just come right out and say it: as long as America continues its love affair with Idol (and no one in their right mind would expect anything different), Fox will remain a major player. All you have to do is look at the pile of junk they offered up last fall: Vanished, Standoff, Justice, Happy Hour, and â€˜Til Death (the only returning show, for reasons beyond the unknown). Just think of fall as Fox’s opening band, and American Idol as their headline act. They do have House as well, which might be their only show combining ratings and a sense of dignity. Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? certainly supplies the former: we’ll see how it fares on its own next fall. Fox’s two weekly cliffhangers, 24 and Prison Break â€“ both delivered less than stellar seasons creatively, yet (for now) can still be counted on for numbers. And it must be nice to have a license to be lazy, and keep that older than dirt animated Sunday lineup intact. Do American Dad and King of the Hill really have any right being on anyone’s schedule? But I digress. Fox rolls out So You Think You Can Dance? in the summer, which did extremely well for them last year. Looking ahead, they’re spinning off Idol with The Next Great American Band (title still subject to change) â€“ but will it be too rock n’ roll for the masses? And they might actually be trying with Back to You, bringing together comedic vets Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton as bickering news anchors. Whether it’s any good remains to be seen, but if Fox can actually deliver a freshmen hit in the fall â€“ they could realistically catch CBS for total household ratingsâ€¦

NBC: When Improved Programming Doesn’t Equal Improved Ratings
It has to be frustrating. NBC had three of last season’s five best new shows in Heroes, 30 Rock, and Friday Night Lights. Yet here we are in May, only Heroes delivered big ratings â€“ and NBC is still running a distant fourth behind Fox, CBS and ABC. So what now? And, more importantly - what went wrong? Well, for starters: Studio 60. I think NBC was counting on that show for a lot of things, and it failed across the board. The Apprentice’s alarming decline didn’t help, either. You just had a feeling the move to L.A. was too little, too late. When your network’s strongest vehicle stars Howie Mandel, you know you’re in trouble. Deal or No Deal is brainless, harmless fun I suppose. But that doesn’t make it okay to be your signature show. So does NBC have anything else going for it? The Thursday lineup remains intact, with a solid group of comedies led by The Office - plus the ancient ER. They just wish the ratings were better. Sunday Night Football in the fall is certainly something to look forward to. But come January, they had better hope Lipstick Jungle (pulled from the pages of Sex and the City’s Candace Bushnell) is something special â€“ especially going up against Brothers & Sisters. They will also have a lot riding on their reboot of Bionic Woman. I hate to be a pessimist, but I don’t see NBC’s fortunes changing anytime soon.

Writer’s Note: Rumor has it that NBC just dumped Kevin Reillyâ€¦

Raffi Shamir

The Good
When it came to returning shows, Lost was the kingpin this season. After a second season that didn’t go very well with the viewers, Lost knew they had to deliver big time in the third season, and they did just that. Granted, they didn’t start very strong but once the show came back from the winter break everything just clicked. New twists, new characters, new directions, new ways to tell the story, together with the favorite elements from the past meshed together and paved the way to the spectacular and brilliant season finale, that had to live up to very high expectations caused by all the hype, and managed to surpass them. The show took the promised 180 turn and now I’m more excited about the season 4 premiere than I was about the premieres of the last two seasons. The Office should also be mentioned as the best comedy on network TV.
As for new shows, I think we can sum it up with just three letters â€“ NBC. Almost every new show presented by the peacock was good to great. Heroes, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock, Kidnapped not a bad show in the bunch (Let’s just ignore 20 Good Years). Not all of those shows had the best start, not all of them connected with the audience (I’ll touch on that later) but NBC delivered the best new shows line-up this season, and added to that in the mid-season with The Black Donnellys. They had something for everyone â€“ for comic book lovers (not geeks), for the families watching together, for the high-end audience, and for those just looking to sit in front of the tube and forget about their lives.

The Bad
Rather than go with just one show (or a bunch of them) that were bad, I’d like to focus on the bad trend that started a couple of years ago â€“ no patience. Shows are being pulled from the schedule very quickly, sometimes after just two weeks. This puts a lot of pressure on the creators of new shows but also hurts viewers’ involvement with new show. I believe one of the reasons there are no break away hits this season (Heroes is the most successful new show this year but it didn’t come close to making the impact Lost made in 2004) is that the audience is afraid to start watching a new show that might be cancelled in a week or two. It’s an even bigger concern with the increasing number of serialized dramas that demand more attention and devotion from the viewers at home. NBC, for example pulled a show that could have been its new flagship, Smith two weeks after it premiered and left the audience in the air. Same can be said for The Nine, Vanished, Kidnapped, Six Degrees etc. In a few cases the networks put the remaining episodes on their websites, but it’s doesn’t necessarily help, as not always those episodes wrap the story up (coughvanishedcough) and the viewers are still left in the air not knowing how everything ends.

The Shark Jumpers
Two shows come to mind when it comes to jumping the shark. The first one is ER. That show has jumped the shark so long ago, that the shark has been hunted and served in Japanese restaurants years ago. I understand that NBC is desperate and needs to hold on to any show that makes decent ratings, but please, close down County General.
The second show is 24 but this one still sees the shark in its rear view mirror and may still return to its glory days. Sometimes it seems like the Bauer gang has exhausted everything they had (This year they detonated the nuke very early) and it’s getting harder and harder to suspend the disbelief. They can still turn back and rebound, but they need to change the show in a major way. Perhaps a change of scenery, perhaps less of the same old formula â€“ in any case the seventh season is critical for 24.

Most Frustrating
Again, just three letters â€“ NBC. I already mentioned how that network had the best lineup of new shows this past season. But only about half of them live to see a see a second season. Kidnapped was pulled very early and finished its days on nbc.com (Same goes for The Black Donnellys) and Studio 60 took a very long hiatus and returned only to finish off the remaining episodes after the official word came that it’s cancelled. The cancelling of this show is particularly depressing for me â€“ it was the new show I expected most this season and it’s also the best new show not to get renewed, in my eyes. But none of it helped, as NBC is still stuck in fourth place and is now going to invest more in cheap reality and game shows and less in high-end dramas.

Most Promising Trend
It took the networks long enough but they finally recognized the power of the internet. Full episodes are available on their websites (Sometimes as previews before the season starts and sometimes as replays), cancelled shows get to finish their lives on the web and special web content is produced to supplement the regular TV episodes. To fully understand Lost or Heroes it’s not enough to watch TV â€“ you need to visit their websites. Once the internet started playing such a major role there’s no turning back and it’s going to continue in the coming years.

January
January belongs to FOX. It’s amazing how a network can lag in third or fourth place between September and December and then ride just two shows all the way to the top. Can you imagine FOX without American Idol and 24? Would any of the network execs have a job without these two shows? It’s not like FOX doesn’t have other good shows â€“ they have Prison Break, House and the Sunday cartoon/comedy block, but until January nobody seems to care about FOX and from January nobody can follow them.

End of an Era
We’ve been focusing so much on the major networks that the biggest story of the year was almost neglected - The Sopranos had its final episode this year. What can I say about this show that hasn’t be said? Hell, what can I say about its finale (Especially the final five seconds) that hasn’t been said? I’ll keep it short. The best show on all of TV (Lost, The Office, FNL etc. are the best of network TV) signed off and this medium will never be the same. Until The Sopranos, the film industry (And fans) always looked down on TV. They can no longer do that and the entire TV industry has improved thanks to the existence of The Sopranos. Thank you David Chase, thank you despite the last five seconds.

Looking Ahead
I can’t really make any predictions. In previous years there were always certain show that I wax excited about just by reading the premise and description before they premiered. Lost, The Office, My Name is Earl, Studio 60, How I Met Your Mother (Thanks to the cast) and several others. This year I have no such show. There are shows that seem good, shows that I know I’m gonna watch at least once - Chuck, Journeyman, The IT Crowd, Cavemen, Big Shots, Dirty Sexy Money, Viva Laughlin, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Reaper (Not counting some reality shows I look forward to). The problem is I’m not excited about any of these shows like I was about Studio 60 and 30 Rock last year. It’s even harder to predict which show will even survive its first month. After this past year I won’t surprised if many viewers will just record the new shows, wait to see whether they survive, and then watch it from their Tivo or PC. But still, we’re all here because we love TV, so we might as well hope for a good season.

Trevor MacKay

When it comes to new TV shows, I’m pretty fussy. I don’t really have any interest in the standard crime/legal/medical/suburban life shows. On top of that, I’m really picky about what sitcoms I will watch. So, right off the bat, the vast majority of new series’ fail to pique my interest. In the fall 2006 season, there were only two new shows with a premise that motivated me enough to actually watch them (Jericho and Heroes).

While there are exceptions, in general there are only a couple of types of shows that I’m likely to get interested in before their debut. I’ve always been a sci-fi/fantasy fan so if a show falls into one of those two categories I’m likely to at least give it a couple episodes to impress me. I’m also a fan of quirky shows, so if your show is quirky, even without any sci-fi or fantasy, I’m probably interested in it.

Obviously, when one looks at the ratings, it’s apparent that not everyone shares my lack of interest in regards to legal, police, and medical dramas. But I bet some of you out there are like me, drawn to things that are a bit different. So with that in mind, here’s my look at the upcoming season’s new entries.

ABC

At the moment there’s not a single TV series I watch on ABC. The 2007 season does have a couple possibly promising shows though.

High Hopes
Not a thing for this category, ABC.

Potentially Promising
Pushing Daisies - The quality of this show will be entirely dependent on whether or not the writers can keep the touch of life/death thing interesting. It’s a neat idea, in and of itself, especially with the added ability to save a life at the cost of another, but it seems like an idea that might be better suited for an episode of a show like The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. Still, if the writers can keep the touch of life fresh, this could be a good show.

Samantha Who? - The idea behind this show, an amnesia victim slowly recovering their memories and not liking who they were, has actually been done at least once before (with Viper, a not so great action show from the mid 90s), but it’s still a fun idea. The show could easily get too sappy though, plus it’s not really a premise that lends itself well to a long running series (after a couple seasons, the main character will either have her memory back, or have built up enough new memories that the amnesia wouldn’t be that big a deal anymore).

The Rest
Big Shots - Top executives having crappy lives does not compelling TV make.
Carpoolers - If they went all out and had the show set exclusively in a single car, then I’d say promising. Otherwise, pass.
Cashmere Mafia - I like a lot of the people involved in this, but it still holds no interest for me.
Cavemen - Even if they somehow made a good show out of this, people have already concluded it’s a failure.
Dirty Sexy Money - I do kind of like the premise for this one, but not enough to check the show out.
Eli Stone - Oh boy! More legal drama!
Miss/Guided - It was created by Ashton Kutcher. And has a really lame pun for a title. Enough said.
Private Practice - I haven’t seen a single episode of Grey’s Anatomy and I’m not about to start with the spin-off.
Women’s Murder Club - The premise isn’t bad, but I still have no interest in crime procedurals.

NBC

At present there are two shows on NBC I watch regularly (Heroes and The Office). 2007 looks to expand on that.

High Hopes
Heroes: Origins - This has the potential to be a neat addition to the Heroes franchise. The fact that one of the heroes featured will end up becoming a regular member of the main series is cool, but at the same time it places some limitations on the anthology format (for example, you can’t have the hero die at the end of the episode if fans are going to be voting to decide on them becoming a regular). I expect some interesting stories to come of this.

Journeyman - I’ve always been a fan of shows dealing with changing history (particularly Quantum Leap, and Early Edition but those shows didn’t really spend much time dealing with the domino effect changing history can have (Early Edition was changing the present with a paper from the future and so that wasn’t really an option for them, and Quantum Leap just never focused on that aspect very much). So the premise of Journeyman, with a man dealing with the consequences of meddling in time, appeals to me. I have a feeling the show will be short-lived, but I’ll be all over it while it lasts.

Potentially Promising
The IT Crowd - I’ve never seen the British version of this show, but apparently it’s quite funny. That is, of course, no guarantee the American version will be any good, but given NBC’s most recent adaption of a British series (The Office) turned out so well, I’m hopeful they can do the same here.

Chuck - This series, with its premise of an average guy suddenly winding up with a head full of spy secrets and having wacky adventures could be amusing. It could also be incredibly stupid. It’s been deemed ‘Family Friendly’ but the Family Friendly Programming Foum which certainly doesn’t do much to bolster the chances of the show being amusing. Still, I’ll probably give it a shot.

The Rest
The Bionic Woman - I’ve never really had any interest in the Bionic franchise.
Life - The premise is kind of neat, but I still have no interest in crime shows.
Lipstick Jungle - Much like Cashmere Mafia this one is way
outside my interest area.

CBS

I only had one show I watched on CBS this year, and it was canceled. Fortunately, the show was Jericho and its revival means that there will be one returning show on CBS for me to go along with the new crop.

High Hopes
Moonlight - It amuses me greatly to see ‘vampire detective show’ well on its way to becoming its on genre. Not only have there been two previous vampire detective shows (Angel and Forever Knight) but there’s even a second vampire detective show premiering this fall (a Canadian series called Blood Ties). The earlier examples of the ‘genre’ have been pretty good and this one has David Greenwalt (co-creator of Angel) as the show runner so I expect good things.

Potentially Promising
The Big Bang Theory - This one sounds like it could be amusing. ‘Could’ is the operative word in that sentence as, if the writers get lazy, the show could devolve into little more than “Look at those two guys, they’re doing something geeky! Haha! And now look at this hot chick, she’s being hot! Hilarious!”

The Rest
Viva Laughlin - I give it props for being quirky, but the actual premise just doesn’t do anything for me.
Swingtown - I’ve never really been a fan of shows set in the recent past. This also sounds like a type of show which would work better on a channel like HBO.
Cane - Do you find the sugar and rum businesses fascinating? Then this is the show for you!
Kid Nation - The only way to make this show interesting would be to leave the kids completely to their own devices, with no structure or support. But then it would be uncomfortable and cruel.

Fox

It seems like each year I have less and less shows I watch on Fox. I gave up on Family Guy this year leaving on The Simpsons, American Dad and 24 to entertain me (in 24’s case, that didn’t go so well). The new season brings potential but no sure bets.

High Hopes
Sorry Fox, no high hopes for you.

Potentially Promising
The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Fox seems to have high hopes for this one, but I think it could really go either way. I think as long as the show doesn’t take itself too seriously, it has the potential to be a fun, action-adventure style show. In the show’s favour, it’s got Summer Glau kicking all kinds of ass; that’s always a good thing.

Back to You - Kelsey Grammar’s a funny guy. His presence on the project alone is enough to move the show into ‘Potentially Promising’ category. The premise, with a Grammar being forced back to his old job, now beneath him, has the potential for comedy.

New Amsterdam - The premise of the show, with a cop who will remain immortal until he finds his true love, could possibly be good. The show could easily get too sappy and/or melodramatic over the true love aspect though. If the writers are careful with how they handle the true love clause, this could be an interesting show.

The Rest
K-Ville - This is one of those shows that sounds like it could be good, but is outside of my interest area.
The Return of Jezebel James - 2(Estranged sisters) + baby != comedy
The Rules for Starting Over - Sounds like another generic sitcom to me.
Kitchen Nightmares - I don’t think I’ve ever liked a show with ‘Kitchen’ in the title.
Canterbury’s Law - Wow, a rebellious lawyer who plays by her own rules?
Nashville - I’ll pass.

The CW

The only show I watched regularly on CW this year was Veronica Mars. Sadly, that show is gone. So if CW wants to keep me around, hopefully one of these new shows will impress. There aren’t a lot of likely candidates for that though.

High Hopes
Reaper - Kevin Smith directed the pilot for this one, so automatically that makes me optimistic about the show. The premise of a guy being assigned the task of retrieving souls that escape Hell has actually been done before, but not in a comical fashion. I have a lot of hope for this one.

Potentially Promising
Which is good because there’s nothing else that’s even promising on the CW this season.

The Rest
Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants - I have about as much interest in seeing a mother/daughter beauty pageant as I have in stamp collecting.
Aliens in America - I envision
Gossip Girl - Kristen Bell is the narrator, but otherwise, this show has nothing to interest me.
Life is Wild - Once again, I’m struck with a vision of lame humour and overly-sweet, end of episode scenes.

So it looks like we’ve got four shows I’ve got high hopes for, six that are potentially promising and a whole bunch I have no interest in. That doesn’t mean all of the shows counted among The Rest are going to be bad, or even that I’ll never see any of them, I just will have no interest in checking them out unless someone else starts raving about how awesome the show is (the premise for Veronica Mars, for example, held no appeal to me. It wasn’t until my sister bought the first season and forced me to watch it that I realized how great the show was).

Josh Clinton

After reading the thoughts of Craig, Raffi, and Trevor, I thought I would just sum up things. I will tell you what I agreed with from them and what I didn’t agree with, and just throw in my general comments on everything.

I kept track of the ratings the entire season and there is no doubt that CBS is the #1 network on TV. They dominated from beginning to end. Actually, that’s a little bit of a lie. In the beginning, ABC and CBS dueled it out for #1. But once reruns started coming into play, CBS was king. I don’t know what it means exactly, but it’s definitely interesting when the majority of CBS’ reruns are kicking the pants off of every other network’s reruns. Maybe people decided to watch new episodes of shows from other networks first, but then don’t want to watch them again so they head to CBS. I think one word can sum up CBS, though. Consistent.

Make no mistake about, FOX dominates the second half of the TV season. However, it really doesn’t help them in the overall scheme of things. They suck so much in the first half, that they dig themselves in a GIANT hole that even the great Ryan Seacrest can’t pull them out of. Really, it’s just American Idol and House as far as ratings go. Nothing else comes close. They may get the demographic that advertisers love, but they are still battling it out for 4th place with NBC in the overall ratings.

ABC is an interesting beast. Its top 5 shows are VERY popular. Most weeks you can find at least 3 ABC shows in the top 10. But guess what? After those top shows, there is nothing. Somehow ABC is able to survive on these shows and at least contend for the #1 prize with CBS. FOX can’t say that, because their top shows only air in the second half of the season, with the exception of House. Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Lost can still deliver when it wants to, and ABC was smart to put Dancing with the Stars on twice a year. Too bad that American Idol is still able to CREAM DWTS when it counts, though.

NBC definitely had some of the best new shows on TV, but I agree with everyone else when they said â€œbut you wouldn’t know it.â€ That’s pretty much all you can say on that network. It is still stuck in 4th place, eventhough it has some quality shows.

The CW is not worth talking about really for a few reasons. My new cable company doesn’t even carry that channel! Yeah, you heard right. It has the freakin’ MY NETWORK channel on the old UPN channel and that’s it. They continue to say that it’s coming, but it never does. It doesn’t matter, though, as nothing on that network interests me. There is one exception actually and that’s the underrated Everybody Hates Chris. That show is funny and should be CBS or something.

Now then I agree mostly with Craig on the new shows that became surprise hits with two exceptions. Shark and October Road actually did great in the ratings and are coming back next season. October Road can have Grey’s Anatomy to thank for that, but that’s the kind of show that should follow GA. These two shows aren’t the best, but people are watching them so that is what counts most to ABC right now.

I also agree with Raffi on the bad trend of pulling shows too early, but really Smith, Kidnapped, Six Degrees, and The Nine weren’t setting the world on fire either. They just weren’t as engaging. Now then I do think a few new shows got pulled too soon and pretty much agree with Raffi on Studio 60 and The Black Donnellys. Studio 60 was good, but it was stuck in a bad timeslot. The same one The Black Donnellys was in. Although, some would argue that being after Heroes would help but Heroes is still new as well. It’s fan base it not fully built yet. Those two shows are the only ones I will miss, but I won’t cry about it.

My top shows haven’t changed much. I still dig The Office and it’s the best comedy on TV. How I Met Your Mother is a close second and luckily it got renewed for another season. I actually soured on Grey’s Anatomy a little bit this year as it was pretty boring during the middle of the season, but it did end strongly once again. 24 was good at the start, but it got hard to watch and I agree with Raffi. They need to change something next year. It’s completely predictable. My favorite drama is and always will be The O.C.. Yeah, I said it. It was sad to see it go, but it went out with a bang. Lost was probably as good as the first season, but poor scheduling hurt it. But it was probably my favorite drama overall ahead of Grey’s Anatomy, The O.C., and Heroes.

Let me talk about the success of Heroes for a second, which took home our prize as the â€œBest Show of 2006â€, eventhough it was only on the air for half of that year. What really helped Heroes, though, was the fact that people thought it was a â€œcomic bookâ€ show, but NBC said time after time that it wasn’t. In fact NBC pretty much hated Heroes being called that. So that just pushed the comic book fans further into the show and drew in casual, non-comic book fans as well. Heroes was without a doubt, the best marketed show on TV this past season. I was in probably 7 conference calls for that show. The cast list just kept getting bigger, but you hardly noticed. It just felt like a natural progression. New shows this coming Fall should talk to the marketing people behind Heroes.

Speaking of new shows, let me tell you what I want to see this Fall. First with ABC. The Grey’s spin-off, Private Practice is not half bad. It has a different vibe than Grey’s Anatomy and that’s a good thing. It will need to anchor down the Wednesday night lineup for ABC to contend with CBS next year. It will also need another breakout drama to do well as well. Dirty Sexy Money looked like the top prospect, but they should talk to Six Degrees and The Nine about being overhyped. The new comedies on ABC really don’t look that appealing. Carpoolers could be okay and I’m sure everyone is looking forward to Cavemen for “off-beat” factor.

On NBC I only really like Chuck thanks to Josh Schwartz, creator of The O.C., being behind it. The It Crowd could be a decent comedy. That’s about all right now, though.

For CBS, I’m looking forward to The Big Bang Theory with Kaley Cuoco from 8 Simple Rules. Of course, it replaces The Class so who knows if people will catch on to this show or not. Cane may very well be the breakout drama of the bunch, though, thanks to Jimmy Smits.

On FOX, K-Ville and Back To You look interesting, but FOX doesn’t have a good track record with new comedies OR new dramas. It needs something new to succeed, though, and hopefully before the month of January.

Not like I have The CW, but if I did, I would check out Gossip Girl. That’s another new Josh Schwartz show. I still say that Beauty and the Geek is the most underrated reality show on television, though.

And that’s about all we can say about this past season. We will have more coverage on the new shows airing this Fall as we get closer to September. Also, look for a more complete rundown on the upcoming season as well. But for now, say goodbye to all of your new old favorites and the ones that didn’t get a chance to breathe. Celebrate as your favorite shows get renewed and cry when they get canned one week later! TV is one crazy busines. You just have to learn how to hang on tight and enjoy the ride. My suggestion is to learn this phrase in as many languages as you can. â€TiVo is My Best Friend!â€

Sir Linksalot: Television News