Happy Autumn! I hope you enjoyed the Equinox. Whether you celebrate it spiritually or secularly, after the summer temperatures we’ve had, it was a welcome sight! I love the trappings of fall that have appeared everywhere over the past two weeks, and this weekend in particular. From the pumpkin pies, tarts, drinks and even ice cream, to all things fresh apple, caramel and apple and apple cider, it’s had everything but the leaves changing—but that’s the Southwest for you.
My all time favorite sign of fall would have to be the shows! Although I absolutely love the fact that networks like USA and TNT have created wonderful summer seasons that aren’t to be missed, there’s still nothing quite like the premier of the new fall lineup. To me, it’s akin to that sensation of going back to school as a young kid. There’s excitement, nervousness, a desire to put it off a few more weeks, and a rush to see what’s changed. And just like going back to school, the fall premiers are a chance to see old friends again as trusted shows return, and a chance to make new ones that will hopefully last the year.
This season’s new guys have shown some promise, but this will be the week where everything shows it’s true colors. Much to my delight, this year the colors are skewed heavily towards sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal. Terra Nova premiers tonight with a two hour pilot and more pressure than any new show should carry. In our post-Lost television landscape, there’s been a search for a successor these last two years. Shows like Flashforward and The Event, failed to live up to the mantle, but Terra Nova has been promised as the show to turn all of that around. It has time-travel, dinosaurs, an apocalyptic future and a solution 85 million years in the past. What’s not to like?
On the heels of FOX’s Terra Nova this week, next week gives us a return to fairy tales in shows like NBC’s Grimm about detectives investigating crimes by fairy creatures, and ABC’s Once Upon A Time where Snow White, Prince Charming and other beloved characters live under assumed/alternate identities in the mysterious New England town of Storybrooke. ABC also has a spring debut in The River, a supernatural thriller even closer to the phenomena of Lost. Not to be left out, NBC also has a midseason paranormal in Awake, about a police detective whose perception is split between alternate realities after a car accident. FOX will greet the midseason with the J.J. Abrams show Alcatraz about a group of guards and prisoners that appear in modern day after disappearing 30 years ago, starring Lost veteran Jorge Garcia.
CBS got a jump on the other networks and tried to make amends for its treatment of Medium with the new show A Gifted Man. This ghostly drama debuted Friday about a surgeon who begins to see his ex-wife’s ghost and is left trying to fulfill her unfinished business. Just an episode in, I have to say that I truly like the supporting cast, the premise works well and the main character—although a complete jerk—has a incredible potential if the writing stays even and on track.
Toddler on the block, the CW went two for two and debuted yet another show based on a L.J. Smith series, The Secret Circle about a bloodline of witches that have been stripped of their powers after a mysterious tragedy sixteen years ago. The teens of these bloodlines have found out about their heritage and finally have a complete circle with the arrival of Cassie, who returns to live with her grandmother after her mother’s death. Two episodes in, this has not yet lived up to Practical Magic meets Dawson’s Creek, and has veered dangerously close to The Craft meets 90210 at points, but it has a likeable cast, gorgeous scenery and a real chance to find success with what it truly is, The Vampire Diaries but with witches. *Grin*
Speaking of The Vampire Diaries, CW saw a strong ratings with the return of it’s third season and even stronger viewership for truly veteran paranormal Supernatural this past Friday for it’s 7th season. Fox was pleased with the return of Fringe for season four, while ABC is pretending V never happened.
For those of us in love with sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal, it’s a good crop so far this fall, with promise for winter and spring. But we’ve seen a good number of shows, both firmly in the genre spectrum like Stargate Universe, and skirting it’s edges like Pushing Daisies, just drop off the radar, never to be seen again. So I’m hopeful for the new season, but like always, I’m not getting attached until May 2012 upfronts when I know their coming back and even then....
Expect a Thursday Thirteen on the new shows a few months down the line, but for now, this ramble is done, Kittens!
Happy Viewing,
~X
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