Ahh, the Fall season. Cooler temperatures. The wonderful sights of foliage and smoke coming from chimney tops as winter approaches. But forget all that. Who needs to bother raking leaves when you can lock yourself in a room with no windows and watch all the great TV that's starting up? Pumpkins, scarecrows, Thanksgiving dinner? Big deal. Here's what I'm really looking forward to.
1.) The Wire - Only until recently did I get in to this show. I'm all caught up now and it's fantastic. Bob made a good point the other day when he asked why no one seems to talk about this show though. Why is that? It's great, the writing is tight, and everyone from the bottom to the top turns in a flawless performance. Even Dominic West, who until now, I only knew as the guy in that terrible Julianne Moore movie is outstanding as Jimmy McNulty. The Wire returns to HBO with it's fourth season on Sunday, September 10. Although I heard somewhere that you'll be able to screen the episode earlier than that on HBO On-Demand.
2.) Nip/Tuck - Coming back from what most considered a lackluster third season (at least I did anyway), Nip/Tuck is sure to still be a crowd pleaser. It certainly qualifies as a guilty pleasure, but I'm thinking that we have a pretty solid (and guest-star laden) season in front of us. Now that The Carver storyline is cleared up for the time being, I hope that we'll get more of the interaction between Sean, Julia, and Christian that made season two so wonderful. The show returns to F/X for it's fourth season on Tuesday, September 5.
3.) Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Now this show I've really missed. After the hugely disappointing fourth season (can you even count three episodes as a season?), the Adult Swim classic is returning with a new ten episode season on Sunday, October 15. My only request? More Plutonians. The Mooninites have had plenty of episodes.
4.) How I Met Your Mother - This is really the first sitcom that I've felt attached to in a long time. The writing is smart (every season one episode was laugh-out-loud good), and the ensemble cast works so well together. Great article here if you want to know more about the writing and directing process that each installment went through. The show returns to CBS on Monday, September 18.
5.) Criminal Minds - This show's first season was definitely a pleasant surprise for me last fall. With TV being so inundated with CSI's and Law and Orders, I really didn't have high hopes for another new crime procedural. But this show is legit. Great stories, another fantastic ensemble cast, and the only season one cliff-hanger that I'm looking forward to seeing resolved. Mandy Patinkin and the rest of the Behavioral Analysis Unit return on Wednesday, September 20.
Honorable Mention
Dexter - I've seen/heard/read so little about this show and yet I can't wait to see it. Showtime hasn't really been advertising it much like they did with the second (and final) season of Huff though. I'm not sure if that means anything, but even the show's website is vague and only says that it premieres Fall 2006. No specific date is given. The premise? Michael C. Hall (of Six Feet Under fame) plays a forensic investigator. Alone, that sounds boring. But here's the twist. He's a serial killer... who only kills other serial killers. A serial killer killer. If that doesn't have you hooked...
Giveaway Monday: How I Met Your Mother season three DVD
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The evolution of TV Squad
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-08-2006 @ 12:54PM
Allen said...
Couldn't agree more with "How I Met Your Mother". What got me hooked was when one character was commenting on a scheme and said, "oooh, bad idea jeans". I don't know anyone else who got that obscure reference to a late 80's SNL jean ad parody, but it was hysterical. Got me hooked.
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8-08-2006 @ 1:04PM
Chris W said...
I've been looking forward to new ATHF for so long. Those three episodes, including the deleted-scenes of the movie thing, were so WEIRD. I mean ATHF is weird enough, but seriously...
Totally agree about HIMYM too (it's acronym city over here). I haven't enjoyed a formula sitcom so much since I first saw the BBC's Coupling. And it's not all setup-punch, which I respect. All the characters are relatable in their own way, and likeable (even Robyn, despite her bitchiness).
And thanks for the scoop on Dexter. The premise sounds AWESOME. I wouldn't have heard of it otherwise.
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8-08-2006 @ 1:14PM
elf said...
Dexter: A serial killer who only kills other serial killers... I've got two questions:
1. Are there really that many serial killers that he'll so enough to hunt down?
2. How does he find the serial killers before the police do? Is he a serial killer AND a master detective? Or does he just get responses to his personal ad that reads "Lonely serial killer seeks same. I enjoy moonlit walks on the beach and strangling puppies"?
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8-08-2006 @ 1:15PM
Allen said...
So glad to see TV Squad getting on The Wire bandwagon. I can't wait for it either.
Beyond the ususal suspects (Lost, 24, Prison Break, Studio 60) what I am really looking forward to is Season 2 of Weeds (though technically it premiers in the summer, not fall). It was such a hidden gem last time, but now it has some buzz, so I am anxious to see if it can match last season with some pressure on it.
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8-08-2006 @ 1:35PM
Jeff Keezel said...
Can't wait for The Wire. The show does struggle for ratings - the dense storyline turns people off. But there is usually a lot of buzz happening when the show is on the air.
I think what happened here was season 3 ended with a lack of commitment for a season 4. The show went silent for many weeks before news came out about the new season.
So fans put it out of their minds, expecting the worst. When word finally came that it was coming back, we were all into the other shows that were running - Rome, Extras - that we were pleased but preoccupied with current viewing.
And HBO didn't help by letting the website go fairly slack during production. So it wasn't until The Sopranos started and we got a few glimpses of McNulty in the between-show-bumpers that I at least, felt confident that The Wire was returning.
Long-winded answer - sorry - but I'm a huge Wire fan and I geek out a bit about it sometimes...thekeez
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8-08-2006 @ 1:48PM
Carl Winslow said...
@#1 Allen - that is ridiculous! The same joke was used on "The Office." I laughed pretty hard at the use of such a throwaway obscure reference. Perhaps it's not as obscure as we thought...
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8-08-2006 @ 3:47PM
Veruka said...
I don't know much about most of the shows on the list (though I do want to see "The Wire" after reading such great comments recently) but I have to say that I find "Criminal Minds" to be the WORST crime-based show out there. The procedural stuff is way off-base, the dialog is awful, and the characters are wooden and obvious. I really tried to like it, mostly because of Mandy Patinkin, but after watching about 4 or 5 episodes, I had to give up in disgust.
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8-08-2006 @ 4:07PM
ferley said...
This Is the first list from this site that I agree with 100%.
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8-08-2006 @ 5:40PM
Jimmy said...
I'm a huge fan of the two books the Dexter series will based on (Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter). Dexter himself is a very interesting character and Michael C. Hall is an excellent choice to play the mild-manner killer of "bad people." If done right it could be one the best series Showtime has ever done and give them a true breakout in the vein of the Sopranos. My only question is whether or not the show can work as a weekly series, even with the usually short seasons of cable.
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8-08-2006 @ 6:47PM
This Girl said...
I agree with you on Criminal Minds and How I Met Your Mother. I'm also looking forward to the new season of Bones, Veronica Mars, and Supernatural as well, but I'm more interested in what the new season will bring. So Dexter is not a serial, serial killer killer, but just a plain old killer who we will sympathize with because pedophiles are much worse? Sounds crazy. I think the one show I am looking forward to is Tina Fey's 30 Rock. You should do a list of shows you are looking forward to seeing from the new season.
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8-08-2006 @ 7:34PM
wassily said...
Hooray for another mention of The Wire on TV Squad!
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8-08-2006 @ 9:39PM
Etnad85 said...
I'm wait for the new seasons of both, The Wire and How I Met Your Mother to arrive
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8-09-2006 @ 6:32AM
ana said...
I love the concept of "Dexter" and from a short clip I saw, Michael C. Hall is excellent again. Even the author thought he "was born to play Dexter". But I´m afraid the average viewership will find it too bloody and will not enjoy the very dark humour.
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8-11-2006 @ 11:45PM
Keith McDuffee said...
Guys, I just got through watching the first episode of 'Dexter', and it's GOOD. I'm sending it off to Jonathan for an early preview post for you all. I'm not sure why Showtime's not hyping this show more. Commenter Kristie above describes it perfectly.
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8-18-2006 @ 5:36PM
RedPen said...
Regarding comment #8: You know, I listened to all the griping about the characters throughout season 1, and how the show makes profilers look like they're psychic, and all of that. Now, having spent the summer doing some research on the work that profilers do, and what it took to get the BAU's Investigative Support Unit (which is, technically, what Gideon's group is a part of-- the BAU itself is a training and teaching organization, and the ISU is the "hands-on" branch of that)going in the first place... I will restate the comment I made mid-season, and wanted to throw back at the reviewer who made the "psychic" comment.
One of the hardest things to write, and then show on television, is the processes of the human mind. The pschological tracking that goes on can very well seem like "supernatural powers"-- until you realize how many murderers and rapists and truly sick individuals these profilers (at least the ones who started the program) intereviewed, spent hours with, to learn what characteristics make these depraved people tick, so they can stop the next one on the assembly line before he too decides to take his frustrations out on society at large.
That's a big order to fill, when you also have to establish characters and come up with stories that hold an audience's attention. In reality, profilers don't go in with guns blazing-- they are a SUPPORT unit. But hey, if all we had to watch was Patinkin and Co. advising the local and other law enforcement systems, we'd mostly get pretty bored.
Give them time-- first seasons are killers with heavy dramas like this-- but I find more than enough to keep me interested in this show to allow them time to establish the characters and the subplots.
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8-26-2006 @ 12:03AM
Kristie said...
Regarding Dexter...
I've read both books this series is based on, & he doesn't just kill serial killers. He kills people who "deserve" it. i.e., pedophiles, murderers, rapists, etc. His (adopted) dad was a cop, & the dad recognized he had a thirst for killing, so he decided to turn Dexter's thirst into something useful. Now Dexter's dad has passed away, his sister's a cop, & Dexter has a job in the police department as an expert in blood splatter patterns.
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