This is going to reveal my rather sad addiction to television, but I figured I’d offer up a few short impressions of the shows premiering last week. I haven’t watched everything, especially the dramas, but I’ll post about them once I have:
2 Broke Girls – Not a terrible pilot, but definitely the weakest premier out of the new slate of sitcoms I watched. Max is an interesting character. The other girl? Not so much.
How I Met Your Mother – This continues to be good. I’m not a fan of the time jumping narrative where it goes back and forth a lot between the future (where he’s talking to his kids) and the present (the main storyline timeframe). The premier was even worse because there was a third timeline; some point between the two involving Barney’s wedding. Ugggg. Just focus on the present, ok. Frankly, I’d be fine if they dropped the “talking to the kids” thing altogether. Still. it’s a funny show and if you watch it, you’re probably so invested in the characters at this point that these little things don’t end up mattering much.
Two and a half Men – I haven’t really followed this much for a few years, but I went ahead and recorded the premier. I’m glad I did. Charlie’s funeral was a riot. Seriously. No restraint was shown at all, and that’s what made it great. Ashton Kutcher’s character was entertaining, but not quite all there just yet. I assume he’ll settle into the role soon enough. I’ll probably put this one back on my regular recording schedule.
New Girl – This was pretty good, but a little schizophrenic. Zooey Deschanel was off the charts: funny, charming, cute, a little over the top but still believable. The three guy roommates were just all over the place; over the top in the not-so-believable way (a la Happy Endings) and oddly inconsistent. Still, it was fun and “Jess” was reason to enough to keep following this; at least for a while.
Raising Hope – I’m so glad this got renewed. It’s not one of those “must see” shows that you rush to watch either live or immediately after it’s recorded, but it’s always funny and the characters in it have been amazingly consistent and well defined from the start.
The Middle – This is another one just like Raising Hope. Great characters and good writing. I’m not sure how anyone could watch this and not see at least a little of their own family’s craziness in it.This season’s premier was classic.
The Big Bang Theory – Not much to say here. If you like this show, you’ll like the premiere.
Whitney – This was my favorite of the new sitcoms so far. Unlike many premieres, especially sitcoms, the pilot was polished and the characters seemed already well established; even most of the co stars. Whitney Cummins was hilarious. My only complaint, and it’s probably an odd one, is that they went a little overboard with risqué nurse’s costume. Seriously, there was NOTHING left to the imagination with that skirt. It could have been six inches longer and not affected the scene whatsoever. I understand that a lot of these adult oriented sitcoms are going to have jokes and even language that make them a little inappropriate for kids, but usually you can at least have the show running with the kids in the same house. If what we saw in the premiere is going to be the norm, then Whitney will definitely be an “after the kids are in bed” kind of show. And that’s too bad.
NCIS – I’m not nearly as enthralled with this show as a lot of other folks, but I’ve been watching it long enough that I kind of just want to see what will happen to the characters. The premier was pretty standard fare for the show. The grand conspiracies of the last few seasons are a little tired in my book, but as shows age, they all seem to fall into this pattern (of course some start with it). A new conspiracy, linked loosely with the old ones, was introduced. <Yawn>.
Nikita – This show is my guilty pleasure. I eat this up as soon as it’s recorded. I was a little disappointed to see the direction they were taking Alex’s character at the end of last season, and unfortunately the premiere continues the trend. Her and Nikita’s relationship was one the strengths of the show. I guess they’re trying to have the same thing with Michael’s character instead of Alex, but it’s not the same. We get see lovers in every show; a mentor-student bond with the trust needed in such a relationship was much more interesting. In any case, the premier put in place the structures that will apparently be followed this season and all in all, it was pretty good, even if some of the premises were a little shaky.
That’s it. I have a ton of other shows recorded including a bunch of new dramas. I’ll put up some thoughts as I watch them.
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