Fall TV Wednesday

The fall television schedule has got some winners. And some real losers. Sort out the ones to see - and the ones to flee.

By Eric Deggans, Times TV / Media Critic
Published September 23, 2007

Back to You

8 p.m., Fox, debuted last Wednesday (9/19).

Showbiz shorthand: Frasier meets Broadcast News.

My take: If anybody can save the modern sitcom, it's this crew, with ex-Frasier star Kelsey Grammer and former Everybody Loves Raymond co-star Patricia Heaton as Pittsburgh TV news anchors who can barely stand each other. Those familiar with the laws of TV comedy know this means a hook up is in their future. Or, perhaps, their past . . .

TiVo or Ti-No? Watching Grammer play a bloviating anchor as smoothly as he played a bloviating psychiatrist, you wonder if he might, improbably, have a third successful sitcom in him, post-Cheers and Frasier. TiVo for sure.

Kid Nation

8 p.m., CBS, debuted last Wednesday (9/19).

Showbiz shorthand: Lord of the Flies meets Survivor.

My take: CBS set 40 kids loose in a New Mexico ghost town (and ex-movie set) to fend for themselves with virtually no adult assistance. As parent complaints and official condemnations pile up, CBS looks more like a corporation willing to exploit kids to make a few ratings points.

TiVo or Ti-No? The idea of rewarding such a boneheaded show with viewership - ensuring more clones - makes me ill. We'll see if America shares my delicate sensibilities. Ti-No.

Pushing Daisies

8 p.m., ABC, debuts Oct. 3.

Showbiz shorthand: There may be no shorthand for this oddball blend of the supernatural, a private-eye drama and suburban satire in one stylish package.

My take: A piemaker named Ned brings the dead to life with a touch. But if they stay alive longer than a minute, someone else dies. If touched again, they're dead forever. So what happens when he brings back his strangled childhood sweetheart while waking murder victims to solve crimes?

TiVo or Ti-No? Cool cast (Swoosie Kurtz, Chi McBride and Kristin Chenoweth) plus hot producers Bryan Fuller (Heroes) and Barry Sonnenfeld (Men In Black) equals promise. But does all this style and absurdity add up to a consistent series? TiVo to find out.

Bionic Woman

9 p.m., NBC, debuts Wednesday (9/26).

Showbiz shorthand: Lindsay Wagner's '70s action hero gets a reboot for '07.

My take: This time, Jamie Sommers is dating a college professor who puts her back together with bionic hardware after a car accident. But the technology was nicked from a super-secret spy program. So will the new Jamie accept her super side? Or follow the fate of her nemesis, the first bionic woman, driven crazy by her implants?

TiVo or Ti-No? It's got name recognition, slick special effects and a creator from the most successful reboot on TV, Battlestar Galactica. So why is this pilot such a dreary, confusing mess, saved only by Galactica alum Katee Sackhoff as the bad girl? TiVo, for the answer.

Private Practice

9 p.m., ABC, debuts Wednesday (9/26).

Showbiz shorthand: Grey's Anatomy in a small Los Angeles medical practice.

My take: I'm not sure why TV needed another medical soap with doctors who argue and sleep together, but this Grey's spinoff has more bad buzz than Joey and Kid Nation combined. TV vets Tim Daly, Amy Brenneman, Taye Diggs and Audra McDonald join Kate Walsh's Addison Montgomery in a wacky practice where guys die while giving sperm donations and personal conflicts between physicians affect treatment decisions.

TiVo or Ti-No? Sillier than Grey's with worse characters, I'm thinking this one might die on the table. Ti-No.

Gossip Girl

9 p.m., The CW, debuted last Wednesday (9/19).

Showbiz shorthand: Paris Hilton's life in high school, played out online.

My take: A surprisingly entertaining soap opera about rich (and a few not-so-rich) kids in Manhattan thrown into a tizzy when one of their most popular party girls comes back to their tony prep school after a year gone with a new attitude. All the drama is chronicled on a popular blog maintained by the anonymous title character.

TiVo or Ti-No? Disgusted as we all are by the real-life antics of the rich and pampered, this show seems promising; mostly because the party girl is beginning to reconsider her selfish lifestyle. TiVo, if only to keep up with what the kids are watching.

Kitchen Nightmares

9 p.m., Fox, debuted last Wednesday (9/19).

Showbiz shorthand: Extreme Makeover done Hell's Kitchen style.

My take: Psycho chef Gordon Ramsay brings his profanity-laden bombast from Hell's Kitchen to ineptly run restaurants. It's a cynical exercise - staffers and owners trade humiliation on national TV for world-class menu advice and new equipment.

TiVo or Ti-No? Like Jerry Springer or Dr. Phil, Ramsay wades into an obviously dysfunctional situation - one do-nothing co-owner wears expensive watches and suits while his kitchen lacks working stoves - with obvious solutions. Ti-No, unless you run a restaurant and can use the tips.

Dirty Sexy Money

10 p.m., ABC, debuts Wednesday (9/26).

Showbiz shorthand: Arrested Development meets Gosford Park, with a lawyer as the family servant.

My take: From the moment Peter Krause thunders onscreen as the principled attorney who refuses to take over his dead father's role as lawyer/fixer for a family of wealthy crazies, you know he's going to do it. At least Donald Sutherland, Jill Clayburgh and Billy Baldwin are convincing as the crazies.

TiVo or Ti-No? The concept is trite, but Krause is at his best playing the overwhelmed everyguy, and Sutherland always shines as a knowing eccentric. I'll TiVo, so you don't have to.

Life

10 p.m., NBC, debuts Wednesday (9/26).

Showbiz shorthand: Like Raines or Monk. If they did time for a murder they didn't commit.

My take: Brit Damian Lewis is mostly wasted as an American cop wrongly imprisoned for a dozen years. Armed with a multimillion-dollar settlement, a pushy partner and a quirky style - which, unlike Monk and Raines, doesn't much help his detective skills - Lewis' Charlie Crews is back on the force irritating everyone, including viewers.

TiVo or Ti-No? They actually try to keep you guessing about whether Crews is going to hunt down whoever set him up. Ti-No, mostly for underestimating our intelligence.

[Last modified September 21, 2007, 10:57:54]