TVSquad

I only disagree with you on one show: My Name Is Earl. Sure, it's not a "great" show but it varies from good to very good. It's a show which does just enough for me to tune in each week.

Plus, I think the biggest problem with dramas on network TV is the 22 episode requirement. The best dramas on TV have mostly been on cable (excluding Lost, 24), and I think the major reason is that there are only 12/13 episodes. 22 episodes must create a lot of pressure on writers, and imo even Lost would benefit greatly if it was only a 13 episode per season show.

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Over the years I've adopted a 6-episode rule. If I decide to start watching a new series, I give it 6 episodes to pull me in and if it hasn't after that half-dozen attempts, I stop watching. A lot of shows take longer than just two or three episodes to get their footing and I've been rewarded by showing patience with some shows. Unfortunately, I'm more often disappointed, but I still think a bit more patience is worthwhile just so I don't miss those potential gems.

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Wow. I think you guys are becoming more and more critical every year. Come on ... I thought Heroes was freakin amazing. All the people I spoke with also thought it was amazing. I think you guys are falling into the professional movie critic hole where your job as critics becomes so big that you can't really enjoy anything that much. All you see are the flaws.

No offense to Keith, cause I'm usually a big fan of his, but I don't think it's fair to be so negative and trashy of future episodes of Heroes. It's just one guys opinion and it may ruin the experience for many many fans of the first episode.

How about sticking to reviewing shows that already aired and maybe softening up on the critical part of your jobs.

(I mean come on ... My Name Is Earl??? Would you rather ten years of Till Death or Happy Hour??, Earl is awesome!)

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I dunno. For my money, "Heroes" and "Jericho" were two of the best I've seen this season. I really enjoyed them both and am looking forward to the rest of the seasons. I also really enjoyed "Smith," and "Kidnapped" but we'll see how long that lasts. (I've only seen the first episode of each.)

I thought "Justice" was okay -- the cast is good, and the show looks polished -- but watch it every week? I just couldn't bring myself to do that. I fell out of love with it pretty quickly, like I did two years ago with "Desperate Housewives" and last year with "Bones." I watched the first few episodes of the latter this season. And while it's good, it's also a lot of the same week to week. (I can take formula -- I mean, I really like "House" -- but a show's got to do something with it.) I'm worried the same thing might be happening for me with "Lost" and "Prison Break" as well.

I thought "Men in Trees" was nice, but I'm not sure I want to invest the time into it. I think I've missed an episode or two already. Then there are the few others I haven't yet watched, like "Shark" and "Runaway." I'll have to see if I think they're worth the time either.

"Standoff" really didn't appeal at all. I think the cast is great, but it looked like something that could get very formulaic very fast.

However, the only show I know I've *definitely* stopped watching this year is "Vanished." Man that was lousy. (I mean, I've seen worse, but last year I made the mistake of giving "Reunion" two episodes. Not again.)

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Thank you Cee, your comments sum up my growing experience/observations here also.

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Wow Anna (and to a certain extent, Keith).

If you can't take television and are getting jaded with this line of writing, you really shouldn't be working where you're working any longer. There are those with much more passion who are able to appreciate and discern good television shows from bad ones.

And I have to say that the TV Squaders have been showing some disgusting attitude these days. If you guys are worn out, don't take it out on the shows. You can talk about the trajectory of the shows but don't flat out dismiss them. There are people who take your opinions seriously and you have the responsiblity to give opinions that are well thought out and not just blogged out like it's a personal site to rant on.

Now I know, you guys dont' respond to those who are critical of your pieces, but I just had to say my peace about the declining standards on here.

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I like Standoff so far, sure it's not entirely believable that there will be that many situations for them to be involved in but it's no less believable in terms of creative license than anything that happens to Jack Bauer. That said, it could get stale fast.

Justice, just isn't any good. The gimic isn't that entertaining and without that you're just left with dull characters and at the mercy of how strong each weeks story is - so far they've been weak.

The Class sucks primarily because they cast can't pull off comedy, as far as I can see they could have swapped the actors into each others' roles and it would have been no better or worse.

Having only seen the pilot of Jericho and Heroes I can't really comment. I suppose they're closer to Lost than your more typical dramas and as such their out there elements didn't grab me in the same way, neither did the characters or execution. Which is not to say that once they kick in they'll live up to the intriguing nature of their setups.

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Of all the new shows, the ones I'm lukewarm about...

Smith: Generic, and it still tears me up we have this instead of Thief.
Shark: Generic, but might have enough to keep me watching.
Justice: I'm still watching, and somewhat liking, but it's more of a "I'll watch it if it's on, but it's not something I'd Tivo".
Heroes: I feel like I'm supposed to like it because of the buzz, but it's cheesy and generic, and I'm still yet to feel compelled by the story.
Help Me Help You (I'm a psychology major, so this one kind of grabbed my attention): Generic, kind of funny, but seems somewhat okay. I'll give it two more episodes.

That said, this fall season is one of the better ones for a while. Studio 60 is simply amazing television, and I have high hopes for Dexter.

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Side note, for me, while I like the show, and do find it funny, Scrubs is getting generic (or it's just becoming more obvious), and unfulfiling to watch. Even worse is when they try to inject drama into the show, which just feels out of place. I can't comprehend how people give Scrubs so much credit, yet shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia go relatively unnoticed.

It's fair for people to be hostile to Heroes, as it has been getting a free-ride lately, and for some of us, it wasn't all that great. Mind you, the acting is better than Lost, which is why I gave up on that show, but it was a pretty lackluster episode, personally speaking.

The Jericho pilot was bland and generic. Worth watching to see if it improves, but really, nothing special, and filled with too many cliches. That said, visual wise, it was great.

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Disagree with Heroes. Very interesting premise.

Agree with all others.

Time to add Studio 60 to that list. I feel like I've seen that show before. Oh wait, I have. It's the same formula used in Sports Night and the West Wing.

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Here is good news for Heroes fans ...

http://hollywoodhotline.typepad.com/watcher/2006/09/the_overnights__7.html

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I just read on Reuters that Tim Minnear is joinging Standoff as consulting producer. I think that's very good news. And Ron Livingston will keep me watching.

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I havent only seen a few of these shows, and I find that the problem is this: too many dramas tracking the "Lost" model. It forces the viewer to watch every minute of every episode, or else feel (ahem) lost, and fatigued. So if you pick up 6 or 7 of these shows, its like reading 7 Tom Clancy-sized novels at once. (this is true of 24, but it often works as standalone episodes, since "previously on 24" gives you the essentials... e.g. theres a bomb/jack's undercover/his boss is a dope/his treo is better than mine).

I loved the Smith pilot. But I watched 10 minutes of episode 2 and felt that I could not invest in another "novel", not without giving up Lost, The Wire, Battlestar Gallactica, or something else. And I won't give those up.

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I agree with Standoff and Justice and I'd like to add the unit as well. I'm pretty sick of dramas that have some sort of ending in each episode. Is it too hard to see that not havign a season long story line as well as time line is ineffective? 24 did so well with a season long theme that it surprises me other shows don;t try to emulate iwthin reason(the whole alias rimbaldi will forever leave a bad taste in my mouth as hopw they jumped the shark with a ddesperate idea that was so ungodly protracted.) I think the 9 will show this next week to be true as it plays out. I like the Unit and Standoff and I feel that if they pulled a longer term plot rather than the complications of dating someone from work that it woudl be better. The same could be said for studios 60's f buddy premise.

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Saw the last 20 minutes of Heroes last night, meh. I don't see any reason to commit time to it. Maybe when the DVD comes out.


But your description of Standoff (Ron Livingston has a show?!) sounds like House to me. I saw six or seven House episodes this weekend, for the first time. Man, is that show repetitive.
Someone comes in either with seizures or spitting up blood (out of any orifice).
House comes up with some extreme diagnosis.
One of the three other doctors says it is Lupus.
Patient gets worse.
House changes extreme diagnosis.
One of three doctors says it is Lupus.
House says Lupus does not advance this rapidly.
One of three doctors (alternating) has moral issues with House's decision.
Patient gets worse.
House changes extreme diagnosis.
One of three doctors says it is still Lupus.
House almost kills patient.
No one looks in a book.
House considers it may be Lupus, decides against it, almost kills patient again, figures out what it is.
One of three doctors has extreme moral issues and goes behind House's back, almost kills patient.
Family gets angry at House.
House saves patient.
Everyone laughs and says "House is never wrong, we should always believe him!"

Repeat.

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I like novels for television. More, usually, than the alternative. I want to be actively involved in whatever television I watch. I almost never, for instance, just watch to see what's on.

That said, I can understand not wanting five to ten novels all at once. (I could feel a little fatigue settling in myself last year, even with just "Lost"). The brain -- to say nothing of the television market -- does have a saturation point. And the truth is, for a lot of people that point is pretty low. Me, I don't necessarily mind having to watch every episode. Lots of people, however, do.

Which, *that* being said, is sort of a shame. Because I think a lot of these are novels worth "reading". I'd like to give them all a chance. It's just...well, I have a life and a job and things I'd like to do besides watch television. I feel like I'll *need* to give up on some of these, if only to be able to do those things.

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Well, I'm not a television writer, and I don't consider myself a particulary jaded viewer, but I am 100% in agreement with Anna & Co on both "Heroes" and "Jericho." In both cases I was really looking forward to the series because the premises were so fantastic, and in both cases I was really disappointed in the execution. I think people can dislike shows without it meaning that they're either jaded or elitist. Or arrogant. Or whatever. We don't all like the same stuff--that's life, people.

The big eye-roller for me in "Jericho" was the emergency trach--oh, geez, AGAIN?--but I agree the whole episode was chock full o' cliche. "Heroes" was simply slow-moving and disjointed. Lots of shows manage to introduce a lot of disparate characters without letting the seams show quite so obviously.

I haven't seen the other three shows in The Five, but as far as I'm concerned Anna's on the money.

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Heroes got the major players all in one location in a single episode and its slow moving? What'd you expect, some sort of dire threat that needed to be stopped right then and there?

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I like "Heroes." I'm a newby around here so I'm not familiar with all th critics. However, I do have to agree that if you critique for a living it is difficult to look at something without trying to point out its flaws.

I have to say that I am surprised by this years television shows. There are so many new shows that have been getting a buzz for their quality. I'm going to check out Men in Trees (provided nothing else I watch is on) and Ted Danson's new show. I'll also take a look at Ugly Betty tomorrow.

This is the first time in a long time that I haven't been hearing tons of complaints about the mediocrity of the shows being offered. I think it is a good sign, for television. Hopefully the trend continues.

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Hmm...just when a lot of us seemed to be thinking there were maybe too *many* shows with season-long or open-ended stories...

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