Paranormal Television Shows for 2007

Every fall for years, I've scanned the television line-up in hopes of seeing the kind of shows I like. There would be years where nothing really piqued my interest. As evidenced by my participation on this blog, I like romance and I like paranormal. Combine the two, and I'm a happy viewer (or reader). This isn't to say I like any willy nilly combination -- I've never been a fan of soap operas, for example -- but once the current paranormal craze gathered speed, back in the Buffy days, I've never watched so much television in my life.

If I'm not careful, I'll be adding a bunch of new shows to suck my writing time dry this fall. Have you noticed aliens have taken over primetime television? If not aliens, then vampires. Ghosts. Robots. And of course, those Heroes. To supplement current offerings like Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Ghost Whisperer and Heroes, the new season's line-up boasts a slew of devils and time travelers for fans of the paranormal. This trend has been with us for a while and doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon.

New shows include:

Bionic Woman
Chuck
Journeyman
New Amsterdam
Moonlight
Reaper
Pushing Daisies
(And, technically, Cavemen, but feel free to join me in pretending it doesn't exist.)

Returning or already returned shows include:

Dr. Who
Stargate Atlantis
Jericho
Lost (Maybe it's paranormal...maybe it's not!)
Supernatural
Smallville
Heroes
Ghost Whisperer
Battlestar Galactica
The Dead Zone
The 4400
Eureka
Flash Gordon (please cancel...)
Painkiller Jane (this heinous show...)

Did I miss any? This doesn't even include reality programs like Ghost Hunters and John Edwards.

I've heard a lot of theories about why shows like this are so popular, ranging from societal reactions to 9-11 to the turn of the century to cyclical Jungian influence. Whatever it is, it's taken hold of our collective imaginations and has resulted in some of the best and some of the worst television in recent memory.

Are you giving any of the new shows a chance to be your best...or your worst? Hubby wants to see Bionic Woman and Journeyman. Maybe I'll tape the pilots and give everyone here a thumbs up or thumbs down, yes? In advance, I can definitely give a thumbs down on Flash Gordon and Painkiller Jane. Yikes!

Jody W.