Fall TV so far

I'm not morally opposed to television like a lot of people are. I don't think that TV is inherently evil. I do not, however, often find much on TV that is worth following. I know everyone in the world thinks CSI & Law and Order, in all of their MANY incarnations are the bees knees. I don't really get into them. (let the flogging begin) There have only been a few shows over the years that I've followed closely. Alias, Lost, Friends, and back in the day, X-Files. Last year I started watching Grey's Anatomy. Oh how I love that show, but more on that later.

This year, for the first time in a long time, I have nothing to do after work. There is NOTHING in the movie theaters to interest me yet, and it's the start of the TV season. I didn't miss all of the premieres! In fact, I have made a nerdy little chart of all of the shows that look interesting and I am systematically recording them and watching. Some of them have, with only one episode, thoroughly impressed me. Some have left me running for the door. Some will require further viewing to decide. The following is a list of what I've watched so far and what I think:

Justice (Fox): Oh how I wanted Victor to find something good to follow Alias. I love him, even though his Alias character was gruff and mean. . . But OH what a disappointment. This show tries desperately to be fast paced, clever, and intelligent. It fails SO completely. It mostly just feels like a cast doing a speed through and tripping over themselves. A total disappointment.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC): WOW! Aaron Sorkin is a genius. I loved this show. It succeeds in all of the ways Justice fails. It's got a fantastic cast that can keep up with the pace the show is meant to have. It's quick, it's clever, and it's engaging. I can't wait to see how it evolves. I always regretted not keeping up with West Wing. This is at least as entertaining. & I LOVE the fact that NBC is basically making fun of themselves.

Smith (CBS): meh. I wasn't bowled over by this one. It felt a little bit forced and like it was trying to be a cool caper show, but wasn't really succeeding. I may watch it one more time. Ray Liotta didn't really impress me, but Virginia Madsen was intriguing, and Johnny Lee Miller may have potential as the kid just out of jail.

Jericho (CBS): I really think I'm not going to like this one. I'm probably going to watch it one more time, though, just to give it another chance. Skeet ULrich is like a poor man's Johnny Depp, with not even half his acting chops. . . and no one else in the show is particularly compelling. But the idea is interesting, so maybe it will improve.

Kidnapped (NBC): I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It's surprisingly well written and produced. I was sucked in by the story right away, and the acting is good. Apparently we'll follow the same kidnapping case through the whole season, and that's a very different approach. I'm interested to see how they stretch it out. The acting is good, and I cared about the characters already. But they left the audience with plenty of unanswered questions to come back to find the answer to.

Grey's Anatomy (ABC): I was a little bit underwhelmed by last night's premiere, plot wise. I LOVE this show, and I wanted to have a few answers to the things that were started in the season ender. On the other hand, it's the next morning. Nothing would have changed significantly yet. & I'm definitely along for the ride to see what happens next. I know I shouldn't want Meredith & McDreamy to get together, but I do. I admit it. I do. I just wish he'd divorce his wife first, for heaven's sake.

6 Degrees (ABC): I wanted to love it. I wanted to jump right in and love it like I do most JJ stuff. I didn't. I did like it, though. It was certainly worth going back to, and I think it has the potential to evolve. I was a little bit bugged that so many connections were made SO quickly. Why can't we get to know the people before they know each other? Isn't that the point of the whole season? Do we need to find out how they're connected from the beginning? I'll watch again. Definitely. But I'm hoping it gets better.

In general, I'm impressed by how star-studded TV is this year. Maybe it's because there are NO good scripts out there in the film world right now. Or maybe it's because the pay checks in TV are better than they used to be. I don't know. But we keep recognizing EVERYONE in the casts of these shows. There is very little new blood.

A few that I'm still looking forward to: Brothers & Sisters, Lost, The Nine, Heros. I'll report when those have aired.