Whats Hot On TV

What happened to the fall TV previews? Am I the only one that remembers when the big three networks would break out the ads starting in June showing us previews of the upcoming new fall TV season? Around this time every year they’d even have a special night with the stars of those shows and more clips. Saturday morning cartoons used to do this as well.

At some point, I don’t know when, those special previews disappeared. We have a few previews to the shows that are being pimped by the networks, but that’s about it. We will still have the special Fall Preview edition of the TV Guide, and that’s always another thing to look forward too, as they handicap the good and bad. Not that I agree, but it’s always interesting, at least.

I didn’t want to wait for that special edition of the TV Guide to come out, though, so I did my own sleuthing, which at times was like pulling teeth. ABC doesn’t have a fall preview seemingly anywhere. NBC has a small fall preview set up, but they also have an even larger section on the same webpage of shows that are in development, as if that’s what we’re looking for right now. Instead, I want to know what will be on next month! So here’s a night by night preview of what you can look forward to and what to avoid. Many cable channels don’t follow fall previews, more or less setting their own season, so I’m not including those.

Mondays: ABC will have a return of Dancing With the Stars, but no confirmed cast list has been announced yet. CBS will feature one new show, Worst Week, a comedy that is supposed to be like Meet the Parents. I’ll be skipping it, as I can’t watch sitcoms anymore, as they’ll just never compare to the likes of Seinfeld, Friends, Cheers, etc.

NBC will feature two new shows, the first being America’s Toughest Jobs. Everyone wants to think their job is the absolute worst, and this will be like Dirty Jobs meets Survivor, with a person being kicked off each week that can’t handle it out there in the real world. The other new show is My Own Worst Enemy. Christian Slater’s star power alone makes this one worth it, but the show about a guy leading two separate lives actually looks interesting as well.

Tuesdays: ABC offers up Opportunity Knocks, which has JD Roth knocking on people’s doors. He’s not taking over for Ed McMahon and offering them up Publisher’s Clearinghouse Prizes; he’s inviting them to play a family style game show where they’ll answer questions about each other. CBS gives us The Mentalist, a psychic detective that seems like it’s been done before … like maybe Medium?

The CW is bringing back 90210 which features some of the same stars returning, as well as a similar story to the original Beverly Hills, 90210. Also on the CW will be Privileged, featuring a young woman tutoring two teenage twin girls. All three look astonishingly alike. Fox will debut Fringe, a sci-fi drama from the same people behind Lost. The only person that can help the FBI agent out with these mysterious crimes has been institutionalized for twenty years. NBC will bring back The Biggest Loser, and while we have no couples this time, we’re back to families fighting the battle of the bulge. I beg of this show to please go back to individual contestants. The team format just isn’t as compelling or interesting.

Wednesdays: CBS brings us the comedy Gary Unmarried about a recently divorced father with a controlling ex. I suppose this is what we’re stuck with because of the writers’ strike last year. The only thing to look forward to with this one is star Jay Mohr. The CW brings back America’s Next Top Model, followed by Stylista, which seems to be a cross between Project Runway and The Devil Wears Prada, as the winner becomes a fashion editor at Elle.

Fox has a new comedy, Do Not Disturb, guest starring Audrina Patridge from The Hill and starring Jerry O’Connell. She’ll play a guest checking into a “swanky” inn. This sounds like a cross between Hot L Baltimore (I’m really dating myself with that reference) and Newhart. Knight Rider makes a return as well, with the series now taking over where the film left off. It leaves me asking who it is that has not had their fill of Knight Rider yet.

Thursdays: A detective from present day finds himself waking up in 1973 and fighting to get back in Life On Mars. It could be good if they played it with a funny angle, but it seems to be played more serious and less Back to the Future. Survivor makes a return to CBS as they now go to Africa, but we have yet to see a confirmed cast list. Also on CBS is Eleventh Hour about an on-call biophysicist investigating scientific happenings. I think I’ll stick to ER and its final season.

NBC is showing Kath & Kim, an Australian-based comedy starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as a dysfunctional mother and daughter. I like Shannon, but again, it’s hard for me to get into sitcoms these days. We’ll also get a special prime-time edition of Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update as they focus on the presidential election, but only until the end of October when 30 Rock returns.

Fridays: CBS will premiere The Ex List, about a woman who hears from a psychic that one of her ex-boyfriends is her future husband. If she doesn’t find him in a year, though, she’ll remain single for the rest of her life. Maybe that isn’t such a bad thing if she already passed him up the first time. The only other new show on this night is Crusoe on NBC, an adaptation of the classic novel.

Saturdays: There is absolutely nothing new, unless you consider repeats of the Knight Rider episode from earlier in the week new.

Sundays: The CW features a whole new lineup for this evening. First up is In Harm’s Way, a noncompetitive version of America’s Toughest Jobs. The hunky Survivor who only fell to Boston Rob’s devilish ways, Hunter Ellis, hosts. Following this is Surviving Suburbia, a new Bob Sagest comedy. Please, no return of Kimmy Gibbler. Valentine features a group of Greek gods who assume human identities to bring soulmates together. Bringing up the rear in this lineup is Easy Money, a dramedy about loan sharks. I appreciate their attempt, but I think I’ll just stick to The Amazing Race and Cold Case.

While it’s not entirely exciting, there are a few little nuggets to look forward to, with the most promising being Slater’s My Own Worst Enemy. I’m hoping that sooner, rather than later, NBC, as well as the other networks, will be pulling out those shows that they have in development, to add a little more excitement.

For more on the upcoming fall season, listen to Reality Shack’s Fall TV Preview featuring Carrie Grosvenor and Laura Tucker.

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