Fall TV: The Same, Only Different

If you've been following along, you may remember that I mentioned I was going to talk about the networks' previews of upcoming fall TV shows. I may have also mentioned something about doing it on Monday. Obviously that didn't happen, but we're here now, right?

For the most part, it's more of the same: familiar genres, familiar faces, and in two cases, outright reboots of familiar (at least to some viewers) shows. A lot of it is somewhat escapist in nature, which is understandable. I've read comments from people in the business that claim that when times are tough, viewers want shows that distract them from their troubles, as opposed to complex, serialized shows that demand a serious commitment from viewers.

Speaking for myself, I can only handle watching so many shows at a time, regardless of whether or not they are serialized. With the departures of Lost and 24 I'll have a couple of viewing slots available this fall, and some tough decisions about which new shows I'm going to watch. (I'm not going to run down every new show, because it would just take too much time and space, and you would all be bored, though if you really are interested I can point you to plenty of places online where you can read all about them.)

NBC, the network many of us love to hate. is offering plenty of standard stuff: two legal shows (one with Jimmy Smits, one with Kathy Bates), a romantic-comedy anthology in the vein of Love, American Style, another Law & Order variant set in Los Angeles, and a series from Jerry Bruckheimer about U.S. marshals. Also, NBC is holding Parks and Recreation until midseason and moving 30 Rock to the 8:30 slot on Thursday so they can launch a new comedy after The Office about a guy who is sent to manage his company's call center in India. I thought the clips from this show, Outsourced, were rather unfunny, and The Office had a weak season (and it's unclear how much gas is left in its tank), so I question whether messing with the Thursday comedy lineup is a good idea.

But there are a couple of shows that could break out. One is a light spy show from J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Fringe) called Undercovers, about a pair of married former CIA agents who are pressed back into service. The other is called The Cape, and it's about a police officer who is framed and is forced into hiding, where he assumes the identity of a comic-book superhero character. This isn't a show I would watch, but I could definitely see it finding an audience.

Fox has what strikes me as a fairly mediocre slate of new shows. They have been accused in the past of not trying very hard during the fall, then coming on strong in winter when you-know-what returns each year. Among their offerings are a Dallas-esque drama about a family in the oil business and a comedy about a self-absorbed jerk (Will Arnett) who falls for a do-gooder (Keri Russell). I think Arnett is hilarious, but the premise sounds trite.

Fox may have better luck with Raising Hope (from the creator of My Name Is Earl), about another wacky family that includes Martha Plimpton and Cloris Leachman. The Fox show I'm most looking forward to won't arrive until midseason; it's a cop drama called Ride-Along from Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield (so you have my attention right there) that will be filmed on location in Chicago.

ABC is not trying to find a replacement for Lost (they already tried it this past season with FlashForward, and it bombed), but they are offering No Ordinary Family, a show about a family that survives a plane crash and returns home to discover they have super powers. I'm very tempted to call this a live-action Incredibles, but that's not quite fair. I could see this as a show that families would want to watch together, which there isn't enough of on TV.

Elsewhere, they have a couple of relationship comedies, a legal show, a doctor show (two if you count the Quincy-ish Body of Proof with Dana Delany), a comedy with Matthew Perry in midlife-crisis mode, and Detroit 1-8-7, a police dramedy (it's about time) shot mockumentary style (that gimmick is going to be overdone soon), starring Michael Imperioli. Could be okay.

CBS got more attention for its schedule moves and surprise cancellations (Boob Ghost Whisperer, New Adventures of Old Christine) than for its new shows. Still, they are offering the fewest new shows of any network, which speaks to their overall rate of success with proven formulas. CBS is moving Survivor to Wednesday and is bringing The Big Bang Theory over from Monday to Thursday, where it will be followed by Shit My Dad Says, based on the Twitter page (yes, really) and starring William Shatner (yes, really). Obviously they're going to have to do something about that title; the current plan is to write it as $#!+ and to use a bleep sound when it's being spoken. There are so many things wrong with those last couple of sentences; I'll leave it to you to ponder all of them.

CBS's other big bet seems to be on its remake of Hawaii Five-O, which will displace CSI: Miami from Monday to Sunday. They've been trying to build a successful show around Alex O'Loughlin (who will be playing the son of Steve McGarrett) for a while now, and if this one doesn't work, maybe he should just give up and go back to Australia. But I imagine the folks who tuned in on Monday for Horatio Caine and crew will like this show too.

CW? Nothing to see here, move along... Well, of course they're going to have a couple of new shows, but really, do you care?

One other bit worth noting is that all the networks seem to be looking to get viewers to return to Friday nights. In decades past, Friday was home to some of TV's most popular shows, but in recent years it had become something of a wasteland. Looking at the fall schedules, all the networks are offering at least one new show on Friday, and in some cases they are moving established shows to Friday to help lead viewers to new shows.

CBS is moving CSI: New York to Friday before its new NYPD drama Blue Bloods, with Tom Selleck, though I predict that by midseason CSI: NY will be back on Wednesday, mainly because its replacement on that night, a legal show with Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell, is dreadful and will make a quick exit. Fox is also moving Human Target to Friday; I was just happy they thought it did well enough in its first season to get a renewal. It's an implausible, escapist, fun action show, and airing it on Friday makes sense.