I think it’s that time of year again when I look back on what Fall TV I’ve been watching. I tend to watch two hours of TV a night. That’s without commercials so I’m talking about two hour shows and one half an hour show. Or some combination of that. I know people who watch a lot more than that but to me it seems like two hours a night is a lot. There a bunch of new seasons of old shows that I continue to watch and I don’t have much to say about them except they’re solid. I tend to like quirky detective and police shows so Castle, Bones, The Mentalist, Grimm, and Supernatural are on that list. I also like fast paced and a little out there sit-coms so It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, New Girl, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Eastbound and Down, Web Therapy, The Simpsons, and Modern family are on that list. The one reality show I watch is Comic Book Men. Occasionally I also watch old 1970s detective shows. The Rockford Files is my favorite but I’ve also watched Cannon and Banacek lately. Friends and Cheers are my go-to nostalgia sit-coms when I need a pick-me-up. So what is new?
Back in the Game – All of the new sitcoms from last year that I liked got cancelled so I tried a bunch of new sitcoms this year. This is one of them and it’s already been cancelled. It’s an okay show and that’s about as much praise as I can lavish on it. It’s nothing great or revolutionary but James Caan is good in it as the crotchety old father/grandfather. I’m not surprised it got cancelled but I’m sorry to see Caan go. Who doesn’t like to laugh at a crazy violent grandfather?
The Blacklist – I’m a little behind on this one have seen only the first four episodes but I like what I see so far. It’s another variation on the quirky detective genre except this time one half of the detective team in a guy (James Spader) who is a criminal mastermind. For as a yet unexplained reason he turned himself in to the FBI and offered to help them fight crime. He insisted on teaming up with a new female agent for a, once again, unexplained reason. I think this one is doing pretty well in the ratings and it’s a decent show. It’s dark and the criminals they go after are the super-bad ones. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen of it so far.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – This one took a few episodes before I started to like it. It’s a half hour comedy about a precinct of police in Brooklyn NY and has an ensemble cast that stars Andy Samberg who I know only from some of the Saturday Night Live digital shorts that he made. Terry Crews is also in it who is a guy I always find funny. After about ten episodes the cast of characters is starting to gel a bit and it’s much funnier than when it started. There are about eight characters and now that I think about it it’s a bit like Barney Miller. Except they leave the station more often and have more women in the cast. I hope this one grows and lasts.
The Crazy Ones – Sarah Michelle Gellar and Robin Williams star in this show as a father and daughter team of ad executives. It’s better than I thought it would be. I find that Robin Williams can be annoying but here he tends more towards charming in this so that’s a win. Plus the cast of about four other character besides the main two are pretty strong. So far the plots have been fairly unmemorable but there are still laughs to be found. Lot’s of product placement a name dropping as they work in an ad agency and are always mentioning the product campaigns they are working on. We’ll see how it does.
The Michael J Fox Show – I’ve read that some people have a hard time watching this show because of Fox’s Parkinson’s disease. That hasn’t bothered me at all because they just made it part of the show, joke about it, and move on. That and Fox is the best part about the show. He’s as likable as ever. It’s a family comedy but the problem is that most of the family is dull. The little brother, the sister, and the mother/wife are all generic. They don’t have much to do. I like the oldest son. He’s a college age kid who quit college and now has to live at home with his parents. He’s ambitious though and is looking to make his way in the world. Fox also has a sister in the show who lives downstairs and fills the role of the quirky neighbor. She’s pretty generic too. Overall the show is just good enough to watch for a little longer to see if it goes anywhere. But it might get cancelled before that ever happens.
Inside Amy Schumer – A comedy sketch show starring Amy Schumer of course. Like most sketch shows it’s uneven but I found enough funny in it to watch all ten episodes. She’s got lots of stuff in there about sex and relationships and some woman-on-the-street interviews about sex that are funny. I’ll be back for more if there is a next season.
Agents of SHIELD – I’ve heard a lot of complaints and disappointment about this show but it’s okay. I never expected greatness from it so it hasn’t disappointed me and it has steadily gotten better episode by episode. I understand people’s complaints though because it’s a fairly generic show with a cast of young and pretty people. Typical television that there is not a whole lot of character to. But I like a lot of the dialogue if not the plots so I’ll stick with it a little while longer.
Sleepy Hollow – I’ve heard good things about this one. Mainly that it’s a fun show. So far I’ve only seen the first two episodes but I’ll check out some more. There are supernatural monsters, Ichabod Crane (time traveler from the Revolutionary War), and a police officer. I like its straightforward nature. By that I mean there is no “Lost” type “What is really going on here?” mystery that so many shows have copied. We got good guys and monsters trying to take over the world. Sure we don’t know everything about the evil plot and monsters but we know that they’re monsters and therefore will naturally plot evil. No complicated (and boring) mystery within a mystery stuff.
So there is the new stuff I’ve been watching. How much of it will last? Who knows? It already looks bad for the sit-coms.
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