The One with the September Premiere Reviews (#1.02)

Welcome!  Welcome to Illyria, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome... to Illyria.  I just wanted to say, “welcome.”

As we all know, September is a wonderful month for finding new TV and returning to old favorites.  Our DVRs are forced to awake from their summer slumber (although mine got only a short cat-nap).  It can be confusing which new shows are going to be worth your time and which ones will be on their way out as soon as they begin.


Here are my thoughts on a September full of premieres - both new and returning...

**These opinions refer only to the premiere episode of the season/series.**

Best Returning Comedy Premiere

TIE

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia “Frank’s Pretty Woman"

Raising Hope “Prodigy”

Both of these shows came back with a fury.  If you don’t watch either of these shows, it’s time for you to start!  Coming into its seventh season, Sunny is still firing on all cylinders.  In the premiere, the Gang attempts a Pretty Woman-style makeover for the prostitute Frank (Danny DeVito) insists he’s marrying.  This is a great episode to start with if you haven’t seen the show and want to know what it’s all about.


          Sample quote: "She's been my number one girl for a while but she's still
          plowing other dudes. Tiger Woods has been calling her lately. I gotta lock
          her down." - Frank 


Raising Hope, on the other hand, has found its beat (or off-beat?) as it begins its second season.  “Prodigy” focuses on the tremendous musical talent Jimmy (Lucas Neff) possessed as a kid, how he lost it, and the many attempts the family makes to get it back.  My favorite part was this line, where Burt (Garret Dillahunt) remembers the day Jimmy lost his talent:

"I’ll never forget that day: September 11, 2001, the day I threw that putter." - Burt

Too soon?  I wasn't sure, but it definitely made me laugh.  This entire episode was packed with hilarity, plus the babies that play Hope are crazy adorable.  And for the record, Martha Plimpton deserved every bit of that Emmy nomination and more.

Best Returning Drama Premiere

Fringe "Neither Here Nor There"

Why are you not watching this show?!  If you are a fan at all of science fiction, the supernatural, or simply really, really good television, you need to stop what you are doing and watch Fringe!  In this season's premiere, we get a glimpse of how things are now that Peter (Joshua Jackson) never existed.  It's clear that Olivia (Anna Torv) and Walter (John Noble) are not quite complete without him, but Agent Lincoln Lee (Seth Gabel) does his best to fill in the gap.  I don't want to get started about how badly this show was snubbed by the Emmys, so I'll just say that season 4 is off to a fantastic start.

Runner Up

Hawaii Five-O "Ha'i'ole"

The second season premiere had to come back from a season finale with too many cliff-hangers to count.  And they did it the right way.  Explaining and solving nearly all of the open-ended mysteries  allowed the audience to find closure, as well as push things back into the regular rhythm.  They didn't explain everything, though.  Kono (Grace Park) is still very much under investigation.  John Locke, er, Terry O'Quinn fits in nicely with the rest of the cast and the return of Larisa Oleynik (yes, Alex Mack fans) is welcome, even when the twist with her character at the end may not be.  I look forward to another season of what is likely to be the best procedural currently on TV, a category I am not usually too fond of.

Most Lackluster Return

Glee "The Purple Piano Project"

Zzzzzz.  Seriously, Glee, I used to love you dearly, but now I can barely keep my eyes open while you are on.  Nothing seems to ever change.  Every week is the same story of the lovable misfits who can't accept themselves for who they are, while Sue (Jane Lynch) and Will (Matthew Morrison) rage war against each other just because they can.  I'm not saying this never worked, because it did once upon a time, but it does not work every week.  Back when there was character development and plot movement, this show was fun and entertaining.  But now, it has gotten stale and the few changes that occurred in this premiere - Quinn is suddenly a skank and Blaine transferred schools! - happened too quickly and with little explanation.  I'm still holding out hope that things will get better, but this premiere was, in a made-up word, yawnful.

**Honorable Mention goes to Desperate Housewives.  I've been ready for it to end for a while, so it makes me happy knowing that this is the last season.  It will always have a special place in my heart, but these days, I feel like the Muppet hecklers when I watch it.

Best New Comedy Pilot

Suburgatory

This one surprised me.  I expected to be much more infatuated with Up All Night and New Girl than Suburgatory, but then I glimpsed my future...

Suburgatory was funny and it did a great job of setting up the premise - a NYC teen and her dad move to the suburbs where the people are plastic - without being too awkward.  The main character, Tessa (Jane Levy), is highly sarcastic and rebels against her new situation, but she isn't completely dismissive of her new neighbors - particularly when Cheryl Hines' Dallas gives her a gift she didn't know she wanted.  This show might not be for everyone, but it certainly has the potential to be a very funny addition to ABC's Wednesday night comedy lineup.

Best New Drama Pilot

Person of Interest

Person of Interest interested me mostly because it came from J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan.  It also starred Michael Emerson (Ben Linus from Lost).  The story revolves around Emerson's Finch, a rich and tech-savvy man who helped the government build post-9/11 surveillance equipment that can accurately determine who will be involved with a future crime.  The government took the part that locates acts of terrorism and Finch was left to hack into the part that deals with regular murders (regular?).  He enlists the help of ex-military, but current badass Reese (Jim Caviezel).  The pilot was full of action when it came to preventing whatever crime involved Diane Hanson (Natalie Zea) and it was a fun ride.  The plot twists were slightly less than original (the cops are crooked!), yet I still found myself rooting for Reese and Finch to prevail in their noble quest.  I look forward to how this series will progress and hope that it will continue to surprise and excite.

Most Surprising New Show (in a GOOD way)

Hart of Dixie

I did not plan on watching this show at all, but I went to a preview event at the Paley Center for Media and got a sneak peek of the pilot.  It is now on my DVR season pass.  I'm not saying that this is a perfect show, but it was fun and very adorable.  Rachel Bilson stars in what I once saw described as The OC meets Sweet Home Alabama with a hint of Gilmore Girls (that article here).  I think this is a pretty accurate summary, although I feel compelled to mention that the main character, Zoe Hart (Bilson), is a doctor and, therefore, medical things are a big part of the story.  Of course parts of it are silly, but it's funny, light, and full of heart (I tried to stay away from the pun, but it beckoned) which is a very welcome combination in my life.

Most Surprising New Show (in a BAD way)

Free Agents

My expectations for this series were not unusually high.  Still, the pilot fell very short.  I'm not sure what it is that doesn't quite work.  It could be that Dan (Mo Mandel) feels like a cheap imitation of Scott Caan.  Or that when I see Gregg (Al Madrigal) all I can think about is a grown up Neal Schweiber (Samm Levine in Freaks and Geeks).

I think Paige might have hit the nail on the head when she said that Hank Azaria doesn't fit in the role of Alex.  In general, I am a fan of Mr. Azaria, but I think I agree.  There is something very odd about him in this role (maybe it's his lack of an accent?).  Anyway, Kathryn Hahn is still good as Helen, a woman who has lost her fiancé and is now being pursued romantically by her recently divorced co-worker Alex (Azaria).  Not a terrible premise, although it feels rather limited.  Overall, I think we're better off skipping this one.

Most Disappointing New Show

Ringer

I had really high hopes for this one, which is probably why I was so disappointed.  It's not a bad show, but the production quality is much lower than anything else I have seen lately and I think that took me out of it a little (the boat scene in particular, for those of you who have seen it).  I saw this pilot, like Hart of Dixie, at the Paley Center for Media preview event.  I was really looking forward to it - how could I not?  The return of Sarah Michelle Gellar to TV plus Nestor Carbonell (yes, another guy from Lost)?  Sounded like a dream come true, especially with its trippy and tangly story lines.  Bridget and Siobhan (pronounced Shavon) are twins, Siobhan kills herself (or does she?), Bridget is on the run and pretends to be Siobhan, affairs, the FBI, gang members, Narcotics Anonymous, and an unexpected pregnancy - this plot is seriously complicated.  I haven't given up on it yet.  There is still plenty of potential for an interesting series, but after watching the pilot, I was definitely disappointed. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

As always, there are some shows that start strong and fizzle, just as there are others that begin so-so and become great.  At the time of posting this, I have only quit watching Free Agents - all others will continue to get the chance to prove themselves, one way or another.  There are also about seven series that don't premiere (with a pilot or a season premiere) until October that I have not had a chance to see yet.

Feel free to agree or disagree.  I very much look forward to how you feel about all the new TV in September!

Until next time, have a great apple and sandwich*!

*Another quote from David Cross' character in She's the Man.