The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

It’s that time of year again. The new Fall TV season is upon us. I have to admit, I’m not that excited about it. There are a few shows I’m excited about. All returning shows. I can think of only one new show that I am dying to see. It seems like a pretty ho-hum season.

I’m ready for new episodes of The Office. I’m ready for new episodes of 30 Rock. Those two shows are pretty solid. The Office kicked ass last season. I’ll admit I did not start watching 30 Rock until about halfway through last season. It has quickly climbed the list of my favorite shows. New episodes of both shows start Thursday. I’m pretty excited.

I’m anxious for the start of Heroes’ new season also. I don’t know that I can say I’m excited about it, though. So far Heroes has seen a pretty consistent fall off in quality since season 1. Last season was just awful. It got better in the second half, but not much. I hope last season’s first half was the bottom-out point. There is pretty good buzz about this season so far. I hope the buzz proves true.

Other than that, I’m not really eagerly waiting for any returning shows. I’ll probably try to get back into Chuck. I feel out of the habit of watching last year. Nothing to do with quality, I just fell out of the habit. I’ll save my “returning show” excitement for early 2010 when Lost returns for its final season!

I can only think of 2 new shows I’m even remotely excited about. I’m really more curious than excited about Community. Joel McHale is great on The Soup, but how will he do in a sit-com setting? Chevy Chase returning to TV? You’ve got my interest. I’ll give it a few weeks and see how it turns out. Could be good stuff. Could fall faster than Chevy doing his Gerald Ford impersonation.

Glee is the only new show I am genuinely excited about. So far, two episodes in, I’m loving it. Tony nominees (Matthew Morrison & Lea Michelle), show tune versions of pop classics (Don’t Stop Believin’ from the pilot– Rock of Ages be jealous), a great supporting cast (Jane Lynch, wow), and the us versus them sociology that is the High School ecosystem all spell hit. I hear there are lots of guest stars from the Great White Way coming this season. That makes me all the more excited. Plus, it’s a musical!

I guess the real story for me this season is the shows that aren’t back. There were two mid-season replacements that I loved last year. Neither was renewed. Kings was a classic television drama. A great cast, intriguing stories, and amazing locations and set pieces made for a captivating show. It was a modern retelling of the story of King Saul and David. I’m sad it didn’t last longer. It got better every week, but was killed by awful time slots. I’m finishing up the series now on TiVo. I have two more episodes to watch; I think I’ll savor them.

I liked The Unusuals even more that Kings. This show followed a group of NYPD detectives who tended to get, well, unusual cases. I’m not sure why this show didn’t take. Could have been ABCs marketing. The promoted it as a little bit supernatural. It wasn’t really. It did have some great characters and wonderful writing. I’ll miss the detectives of 2^nd precinct.

One last thing: Do you think Conan O’Brien is pissed at NBC and Jay Leno? They give him The Tonight Show and then here comes Jay doing what seems to be The Tonight Show in primetime. Talk about pulling the rug out from under someone. I don’t get that idea. Well, I do from a financial aspect. I think I heard that Jay 5 times a week will cost much, much less than even one episode of the traditional hour-long drama. Again, we’ll see how it works. But I bet Conan is pissed!

That’s my take on the new season. Aside from Glee and 30 Rock, I’m not overly excited. I hope I’m pleasantly surprised with this TV season. Otherwise I guess I’ll have some extra time on my hands. What do you think of the new season? What are you looking forward to watching?