The New Fall Season: Out With the Old, In With a Few – Part One

The new fall television season appears to be greatly affected by the writer strike. While there was some concern earlier in the year that an actor strike might also have a devastating effect, it appears that the actors themselves are not particularly interested in the strike and the studios know it. Currently, it looks as if we may have a "regular" season like we once did and perhaps actually get a bit of a break. Specifically, it is long become the habit of the major networks to schedule their new seasons only up to a point that matters for the Nielsen ratings. Although premieres are necessary in the fall in order to try to capture some audience, and even then shows are given only a brief period of time to rise or fall, the networks often start dropping reruns on us early on in order to pack the sweeps periods (November, February, and May) with new episodes and ”event” programming.

The good and bad of the new season is that there are very few new entries into the network schedules, meaning that older shows that just two years ago would have been canceled (such as Big Bang Theory on CBS, Life on NBC and Reaper on CW), have been given green lights. Friday Night Lights, a terrific television show that I and only three other people watch, has been renewed under as unique as scenario that as far as we know has ever occurred on network television. Specifically, FNL will first premiere on DirecTV (Oct. 1) and will not appear on the network schedules until sometime in 2009 (and actually on Fridays for the first time in its three seasons). Whether this means the DirectTV version will push the censorship envelope is unknown.

The ultimate effect, for better or worse, is fewer new shows. Here they are on a night by night basis.

Mondays

Only two new fall series appear on Monday nights. The Worst Week, a half-hour comedy to follow Two and a Half Men on CBS, in which the main character tries to impress his future in-laws, may be funny but sounds like a limited premise.

On the other hand, The Videot is looking forward to My Own Worst Enemy, a Christian Slater action-adventure series that follows Heroes on NBC. Slater is an everyday guy who's split personality alter ego (ala Jekyll and Hyde) is a superspy. NBC of late has a tendency to be somewhat risky in their hour long series (such as Chuck, Heroes, and the ill-fated remake of the Bionic Woman) and since The Videot likes genre shows, gives them a lot of credit for continuing to try despite so many failures. My Own Worst Enemy is definitely a show that the video will be hoping the best for. Teaming it with Heroes makes sense, but only if Heroes picks up a larger audience than its shortened second season and the audience stays tuned to NBC.

Tuesdays

Five new shows are scheduled for Tuesdays, with three of them, The Mentalist (CBS), Privileged (CW), and Fringe (Fox) all pitted against each other in the second hour of the night, opposite the returning Dances With the Stars on ABC. The Videot predicts and votes for Fringe as the winner, as it comes from J. J. (Lost, Alias, Star Trek) Abrams and should benefit from the strong lead in from House. The show looks like an X-Files style FBI show, with an ongoing conspiracy and sci-fi elements. Here’s hoping that the show does not get “Lost” in its mythology. The Mentalist has a been here done that feel, as a former psychic who really just has good powers of perception, works as a police officer, and looks for the serial killer that killed his family. Privileged is targeted to the CW core audience, as a young woman is hired to tutor two rich young women. The Videot guesses that the show will sneer at the rich while showing off to its young female audience how cool being rich really is.

The CW also has a remake/update of Beverly Hills 90210, simply called 90210. While The Videot has no intention of watching this night time soap, this idea makes loads of sense for the CW as the show comes somewhat pre-marketed, may bring in older than usual demographics to the network, and may also promote good DVD sales of the old shows.

The last new show on this night is Opportunity Knocks, a game show described by ABC as “One lucky family … brought together each week to play the game of a lifetime … to prove they know each other inside and out.” The Videot will never watch this show. Not once. Not ever.

Wednesday

Of the four new shows that will grace Wednesday nights, only Gary Unmarried, a sitcom about a newly divorced man played by Jay Mohr, looks watchable by the Videot. Why? Did I mention Jay Mohr?

The CW has Stylista, a “reality” show in which voted-off-each-week members are competed for a job at Elle magazine. The originality of this show is awe inspiring.

Do Not Disturb is a comedy on Fox about the workers and patrons of a swanky hotel. The Videot yawned while writing this.

Finally, here is hoping that Knight Rider, a remake with updated effects, plot and Val Kilmer as the voice of Kitt, gets Bionic Womened, and sooner rather than later. Val Kilmer deserves better, unless of course he is getting huge bucks for very little work.

Tune in tomorrow for Thursday through Sunday.