Fall TV Preview
Which new shows are worth your time, and which will be the next Work It.
Which new shows are worth your time, and which will be the next Work It.
Its time for the networks to unleash the tidal wave of new shows. Since only about 0.093% of these shows will last longer than a season, there’s no reason to get attached to the characters or stories. But are there any new shows worth watching? Here are the good, the bad and the “Let’s bring back Family Double Dare.”
666 Park Avenue
Photo: Patrick Harbron / ABC | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2012
Premiered August 30th. You’re already missing it!
After bringing the character of John Locke to life on Lost, Terry O’Quinn is once again becoming a cryptic, seemingly evil wish granter in this supernatural drama set in a New York building that is definitely not trying to mimic Rosemary’s Baby.
Will We Watch: Yep. BecauseAmerican Horror Story isn’t back for another month.
Why It Won’t Last: Supernatural shows tend to start strong, but the when the viewers demand answers for the many questions the show asks, the writing goes down hill.
The Mindy Project
Photo: Beth Dubber / FOX | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2012
Premieres Tuesday September 25th
Mindy Kaling is pretty damn funny in small doses on The Office, so in her own show, we’re curious to see if she’ll be the next Tina Fey or if she’ll end up as the next Jenna Elfman. (Who is a real person. Just ask your grandparents.)
Will We Watch: Sure. She’s great.
Why It Won’t Last: We get the feeling from the promos and ads that this is another “Young woman on the go tries to balance love and life!” type show. Perhaps a better title would be: Mindy McBeal.
Elementary
Photo: Nino Munoz / CBS | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2012
Premieres Thursday September 27th
An American, modern version of Sherlock Holmes seems like a tired, desperate idea, but Lucy Liu as Watson is unorthodox casting at its finest.
Will We Watch: Yes. The BBC update of Sherlock is a hit with nerds and mystery nuts and the Robert Downey Jr. films are rather watchable, so maybe this version will work too.
Why It Won’t Last: The novelty of the show will wear thin after about 16 minutes. (cough…Life on Mars…cough.) There better be solid writing and interesting stories or else we’re going back to the brits and Iron Man.
Photo: Chris Haston / NBC | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2012
Premieres Wednesday September 26th
You may have heard of this show from the 8 trillion ads that ran during NBC’s coverage of the Olympics. Those ads did nothing to make us watch this show about a “funny” veterinarian’s office.
Will We Watch: Nope. Life’s too short to spend any amount of it watching this show. Instead, we’re going to spend hours and days making fun of it.
Why It May Not Last: It’s horrible.
Photo: Karen Neal / ABC | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2012
Premieres Wednesday September 26th
Comedy usually works best when the concept is simple. People at a bar? Cheers. New York friends complain? Seinfeld. A family that’s yellow? The Simpsons. But Neighbors is mixing typical sitcom hijinks with aliens. That may have worked for Third Rock from the Sun, Alf, Futurama, Mork and Mindy…wait. This is actually a guaranteed hit!
Will We Watch: We’ll DVR the first few episodes. Maybe it won’t suck.
Why It Won’t Last: Unless there’s a wisecracking puppet, we’re checking out.
Photo: Vivian Zink / NBC | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2012
Premieres Wednesday September 26th
No thank you.
Will we watch: No.
Why it Won’t Last: Sadly, it might last. Dumb shows have a tendency to beat the odds and actually drip into a second season. Hi, Whitney!