As the kids go back to school and the parents unwind from summer vacation, it’s time to put those couch potato butts back in their rightful place. TV season is upon us and, like it or not, there will be shows old and new, borrowed, and yes, even blue. While many of us are eager to return to Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, Lost and 24, a whole bunch of actors and producers are waiting to see how the American population responds to the new slate.
Gossip Girl has clearly made an impact, as there are a gaggle of new rich-kids-gone-bad debuts happening in the coming months. First off is the updated Beverly Hills 90210 series with some of the old-timers back in business – Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty (I guess Brandon and Dylan said no) among them. The new 90210 premieres on the CW September 2 and was created by the same people who made Freaks and Geeks. 90210 was there before Gossip Girl although it never was as racy and scandalous. What do you want to bet the new one will be?
Naturally, there is the usual cluster of cop and adventure shows. My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) stars Christian Slater as a dual personality where one is a dad and the other is a spy. Life on Mars (ABC) follows a cop who is transported back to the Dirty Harry days of 1973. Hey, what do you expect; cop shows were better then. There is also The Mentalist, which continues the recent trend of making psychics solve crimes. This time, though, he is a former TV fake. Simon Baker should melt hearts along the way.
Eleventh Hour (CBS) pairs up a scientific adviser with the FBI to solve crimes all over the world. It stars Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton. The show is based very tightly on the brilliant British series by the same name. Can the American version live up to it, even with the British Sewell in the lead?
Someone thought it was a good idea to give Grey’s Anatomy’s Elizabeth Reaser her own show and she stars in The Ex-List (CBS), which is about a woman who is searching for her one true love by looking back over those she let get away. A psychic told her she will be married by the end of the year to someone she already dumped. It would appear that audiences are eager to see Ms. Reaser searching for love after losing her mind on Grey’s.
Perhaps the best offering this season is NBC’s Crusoe, which is a retelling of Robinson Crusoe starring Philip Winchester, Anna Walton and Sam Neill. The show has been filmed in many different countries and will air internationally. Many of the details are being kept under wraps, but it could be just the thing to wake up the repetition of the same formula reworked again and again. What better way to get back to reality but by visiting the 1700s?
