When the last television season ended, I just knew that I wouldn’t be watching much of anything anymore — the demise of The West Wing, the fading away of Will & Grace, and before that the end of Judging Amy. The only show left that I still watched was Lost.
But only one week into the new season, I am started to discover that there are a pretty good crop of new shows, and I’ve settled on the ones to which I will give my allegiance.
Lost
Duh. It’s like television crack. There is simply no way to extricate myself from the twists and turns and mysteries — and I’m not even interested in the fake commercials and websites and books.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
It’s pretty good, although I have to admit that after two episodes, it seems a bit heavy on the preachy aspects of Aaron Sorkin and less on the humorous aspects. One thing that bugs me about it is the style, which is so like West Wing — typefaces of titles, walk-and-talk long takes — that they should have just brought back the entire West Wing cast as different characters. Still, I’ll give it a few more weeks to really hook me. Right now, it’s tough because of the sheer number of characters being thrown at us.
Jericho
Is it a “Lost” knockoff, or something different? Here’s a small town that is suddenly isolated from the world by a nuclear explosion — or several. Is the United States under attack? How many cities were destroyed? So far, it seems like an adaptation of the book Alas, Babylon, I keep drawing parallels between the book characters and situations and those in the TV series.
Ugly Betty
Hands down the winner this year, Ugly Betty is absolutely hilarious… and at times, poignant. The lead actress is a joy to watch, and she knows how to give a subtle look that makes me laugh out loud. And when all the characters around her put her down or are just outright mean, I love Betty all the more.
So, that’s four shows that the DVR will be recording, and that doesn’t even include Battlestar Galactica when it returns. Looks like a couch potato year!
