But here is my assessment of the new shows I've seen offered up this Fall.
Bob Hearts Abishola (CBS, Mondays 8:30)
Bob has a heart attack and falls for his nurse, Abishola. It's a classic story of two people from different worlds who fall in love. The cast is likable enough, but none of the jokes made me laugh and they didn't sell the immediate chemistry between the leads.
VERDICT: Pass.
Prodigal Son (FOX, Mondays 9:00)
A profiler for the NYPD is the son of a deranged serial killer. Together, they solve murders. The premise was intriguing and very well shot. However, the lead actor hasn't quite found his rhythm. He has the haunted, semi-crazy look, but something about his delivery is a bit off. The rest of the cast is fine. Lou Diamond Philips is as good as ever.
VERDICT: 3 Episode Probation.
Bluff City Law (NBC, Mondays 10:00)
A corporate attorney returns to her father's small civil rights law firm to help fight for the little guy. Jimmy Smitts is great and so is the lead actress. There is a subplot about how people who cheat on their wives can still be good people, which is a trend I find incredibly annoying. The pilot had a good emotional payoff, so I am curious if they can keep this up.
VERDICT: 3 Episode Probation
Emergence (ABC, Tuesdays 10:00)
A plane crashes in a small town. The local sheriff finds a young girl at the crash site and mysterious forces are trying to get her. Also, she may have super powers. I love high concept shows. The pilot was incredibly tense and very well done. And I love any time I get Clancy Brown in anything. This show could run out of steam very quickly, but I am intrigued.
VERDICT: At least Half a Season.
Stumptown (ABC, Wednesdays 10:00)
Of all of the new shows, I might be enjoying this one the most. Cobie Smulders is great as a self-destructive wannabe PI. This show has a lot of intrigue, charm, suspense, and action. The supporting cast is excellent so far as well. One of the things that is impressing me the most is that they are allowing Smulder's character to not be awesome at everything. She is clearly an extraordinary observer and she is a good fighter, but she often gets fooled and gets beaten in physical combat. She has enough flaws to make her interesting, almost to the point of repellent. She may push the envelope a bit too much down the road, but right now, it feels a lot like watching Castle.
VERDICT: Full Season Watch
The Unicorn (CBS, Thursdays 8:30)
Walter Goggins plays a widower who is raising two girls and whose friends are pushing him to date again. Goggins is very good and the supporting cast is fine, but there were two things that rubbed me the wrong way. In the first episode, his eldest daughter, who looks about 12, is caught with a boy getting to 2nd base. I have a real problem with shows that introduce this kind of sexuality to young kids. It's one of the reasons I dropped Blackish after the 2nd episode. The second thing is the way his friends keep pushing him to date. He is raising two daughters and his focus should be on them. It is possible to do both, but his friends pushing him to date feels awfully intrusive and disrespectful to his wife. I could not imagine my friends doing the same to me.
VERDICT: Pass
Carol's Second Act (CBS, Thursdays 9:30)
Like Nate Fillion's The Rookie, but substitute "Doctor" for "Cop." Patricia Heaton plays a middle-aged woman who is just now becoming a doctor. I want to like this show so much because I've enjoyed Heaton's work on TV for the past 20 years. But this show is a dud. I didn't laugh once in both episodes I saw. The jokes are lazy and they never get anywhere near as insightful as a show like Scrubs
VERDICT: Pass.
Perfect Harmony (NBC, Thursdays 8:30)
The show is about a recently widowed and suicidal big city choir director who ends up leading the choir in his wife's rural hometown.
The comedy is incredibly broad to the point of being blunt. But the jokes work and I laughed a lot during the pilot. On top of that, there were some surprisingly touching moments I was not expecting that involved silly things like the song "Eye of the Tiger." Bradley Whitford hits exactly the right note. And so far, they haven't made fun of Christianity, just Christian foibles. It could be looked at as talking down to rural America, but Whitford's character is just as much the butt of the jokes as anyone else.
VERDICT: Full Season Watch
Sunnyside (NBC, Thursdays 9:30)
Kal Penn plays a disgraced New York City Councilman who is trying to find a modicum of redemption by helping some privileged people become citizens. It is a fine premise, but I didn't laugh once during the entire pilot.
VERDICT: Pass.
There are still a few new shows rolling out this month and I will update the list as they come out. Tonight I'm going to check out the new Batwoman show (though my expectations are very low).
Thoughts?
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