TV Notes

It's two months into the TV season, and the networks are already shuffling their lineups and touting new shows that will start premiering in January. (I wish the big networks would just embrace the idea of two seasons, fall-to-spring and spring-to-fall, but no one's going to listen to me.) NBC is going to try running three full hours of comedies on Thursday nights, which strikes me as perhaps a bit of overkill, but at least it means Parks and Recreation will be back on come January.

Of the shows that premiered this September, I've only been watching a couple. I tried to get into The Event; I think I watched four episodes before I decided it was just trying too hard to be another Lost, and that I didn't care about anything that was happening. I've been recording Blue Bloods, the NYPD family drama on CBS, but I'm several episodes behind. I've been watching the new Hawaii Five-O as popcorn TV, but I don't know if or how long I'll stick with it.

The one new show I really like is Raising Hope, a comedy about a young guy who has a one-night stand with a woman who turns out to be a serial killer, who is put in jail where she learns she is pregnant, gives birth, and is executed. The guy, who lives with his parents, gets custody of the baby and suddenly has to deal with parenthood. Did I mention it's a comedy? It's a bit loopy, but it's also very warm and sweet and quite funny.

This Sunday night, the US version of Top Gear has its premiere on the History Channel, and I'm going to recommend you at least check it out. I've seen only a short clip, but everything I've heard and read about the show leads me to think it's going to be worth watching, though I've also read that it takes a few episodes for the show to jell. It will never top the original, but there's nothing wrong with having our own version.