Premieres and Notables: September 24-30, 2012

Monday, 9/24

Dancing With the Stars; ABC. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

How I Met Your Mother; CBS. 7 pm CST Season Premiere.

Bones; Fox. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Partners; CBS. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Two Broke Girls; CBS. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The L.A. Complex (The CW; 8 pm CST).  Season Finale.

Mike & Molly; CBS. 8:30 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Hawaii Five-O; CBS. 9 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Tuesday, 9/25

The New Girl; Fox. 7 and 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
This one started slow, but became of the best of last season by the end.

Ben and Kate; Fox. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
This comedy about a brother and sister raising her five-year-old daughter has been on many "must watch" lists for the new season.

The Mindy Project; Fox. 8:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Mindy Kaling hopped off that sinking ship known as The Office and landed in this series where she plays an ob-gyn looking for love.

Private Practice; ABC. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Vegas; CBS. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Dennis Quaid stars as a rancher who becomes sheriff of Las Vegas of a few decades ago. And Michael Chiklis stars as the big-time mobster he runs across.
Yeah-- this should go without saying: must watch.

Tosh.0; Comedy Central. 9 pm CST. Mid-season Return.

Brickleberry; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
An animated series about a national park that can't attract tourists.


Wednesday, 9/26

The Middle; ABC. 7 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.
This underrated show is back for another season. Check it out.

Modern Family; ABC. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Criminal Minds; CBS. 8 pm CST.8th Season Premiere.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; NBC. 8 pm CST. 14th Season Premiere.

The Neighbors; ABC. 8:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Jami Gertz and Lenny Venito star as a couple who move into a gated community full of aliens.

Top Chef Masters (Bravo. 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

South Park; Comedy Central. 9 pm CST. Mid-season Return.

Bitchin' Kitchen; Cooking Channel. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Key & Peele; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
Great show.  Glad it's back (Comedy Central likes to cancel great shows early).
[Of course, Comedy Central also doesn't know how to cancel a no-longer-great show. See: South Park above.]


Thursday, 9/27

The Big Bang Theory; CBS. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Last Resort; ABC. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Andre Braugher stars as a nuclear sub captain who doesn't follow orders to bomb Pakistan and goes rogue. 
Another new series I've been reading lots of "must see" buzz about...

Two and a Half Men; CBS. 7:30 pm CST. 10th Season Premiere.

Grey's Anatomy; ABC. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Person of Interest; CBS. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
Highly recommended.

Scandal; ABC. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Elementary; CBS. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu star as modern-day Sherlock Holmes and Watson.
Lots of buzz about this one as well.

Louie (FX; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Friday, 9/28

CSI: NY; CBS. 7 pm CST. 9th Season Premiere.

Made in Jersey; CBS. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Some show about a female lawyer from Joisey...

Fringe; Fox. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.
The final season begins.

Blue Bloods; CBS. 9 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Saturday, 9/29

Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Cartoon Network. 8:30 am CST. 5th Season Premiere.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series; Cartoon Network. 9 am CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Nickelodeon. 10 am CST. Series Premiere.

Doctor Who; BBC America. 8 pm CST. Mid-season Finale.
Highly notable because this episode features the last regular adventure the Ponds accompany The Doctor on.
Previous companion-endings (since the relaunch) have not yet been fatal-- but they've all been heartbreaking in their own ways.


Sunday, 9/30

60 Minutes; CBS. 6 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Once Upon a Time; ABC. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Amazing Race; CBS. 7 pm CST. 21st Season Premiere.

The Simpsons; Fox. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Bob's Burgers; Fox. 7:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Revenge; ABC. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The Good Wife; CBS. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Family Guy; Fox. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Dexter; Showtime. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

American Dadl Fox. 8:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.

666 Park Avenue; ABC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams star as the building managers of a Manhattan high-rise which has some odd things going on.

The Mentalist; CBS. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Homeland; Showtime. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

And the real, undoctored one...

Premieres and Notables: September 17-23, 2012

Sorry-- busy weekend, so not much commentary and no trailers for new shows.
Google is your friend if you don't know what a show is about.

Monday, 9/17

Bones; Fox. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The Mob Doctor; Fox. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Revolution; NBC. 9 pm CST.  Series Premiere.

Be Good Johnny Weir; Logo. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Tuesday, 9/18

So You Think You Can Dance (Fox; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.


Wednesday, 9/19

Survivor: Philipines; CBS. 7 pm CST. 25th Season Premiere.

Royal Pains (USA; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

Big Brother (CBS; 8:30 pm CST). Season Finale.
Finally-- an insane, unpredictable season. And it didn't need stupid twists (other than one that was dumped right away as usual).
Gotta say Dan's making a run at being the best player ever.
If he pulls off the win, he just may be able make that claim.

South Beach Tow; truTV. 8:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Thursday, 9/20

Up All Night; NBC. 7:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The Office; NBC. 8:00 pm CST. Season Premiere.
Mercifully, they're finally closing shop on this show this year.

Parks and Recreation; NBC. 8:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Rock Center With Brian Williams; NBC. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Friday, 9/21

Haven; Syfy. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Sunday, 9/23

Treme; HBO. 9 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Premieres and Notables: September 10-16, 2012

NBC is getting a jump on the competition (gotta pull out the stops when you're #4...)

Monday, 9/10

Katie; Syndicated. 2 pm CST (check local listings). Series Premiere.
Katie Couric's daytime talker finally begins. (Haven't we been hearing about this show-- or the whispers of this show-- forever?)

Bachelor Pad (ABC; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

Hell's Kitchen (Fox; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

The Voice; NBC. 7 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Masterchef (Fox; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

The New Normal; NBC. 9:00 pm CST. Series Premiere.
[In a typically moronic NBC move, it's going to premiere this show a day early.  All the magazines say it's premiering Tuesday at 8:30 pm.  Surprise!  You may miss the entire premise because tomorrow's ep is the next one; not a rerun of thr pilot.]
Creator Ryan Murphy brings us this show about a gay couple who wants a baby-- timed directly with a single mom's desire to get out from under her old school, bigoted grandmother's thumb who's willing to become the couple's surrogate.
I watched the pilot last night, and it has potential, but Murphy didn't waste any time hitting us over the head with the message-- one which I am wholeheartedly in support of, but I dread that it'll get as tiresome as it did on Glee.
But the show's heart is in the right place, and the actors are charming enough to keep me watching for a few episodes until I see something that makes me keep it or drop it..


Tuesday, 9/11

Go On; NBC. 8 pm CST. Timeslot/Series Premiere.
The pilot that aired after the Olympics was okay; had promise.  Worth trying.



Parenthood; NBC. 9 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Sons of Anarchy; FX. 9 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

Criminal Defense; National Geographic. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Wednesday, 9/12

Damages (DirecTV; 8 pm CST). Series Finale.

Guys With Kids; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere/Sneak Peek.
Three fathers deal with having kids. I'll give it a try, but the commercials haven't "done it" for me.  Looks like yet another stunted adult man show; guys in their 30s doing things only sitcom characters would do.

Family Guns; National Geographic. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A father-and-son team look for antique firearms.


Thursday, 9/13

The X Factor; Fox. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

America's Got Talent (NBC; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

Glee; Fox. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.
I'll give it one more season. Season Three was a bit of a step up from Season Two. I'm hoping that means they're on an upward curve.

Trip Flip (Travel Channel; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

Extreme Chef (Food Network; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Awkward (MTV; 9:30 pm CST). Season Finale.


Friday, 9/14

Shark Tank; ABC. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

A leftover, unaired Season One episode of Touch airs tonight on Fox at 7 pm CST.

Ghost Adventures; Travel Channel. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The Ultimate Fighter; FX. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Primetime: What Would You Do? ABC. 8:01 pm CST. Season Premiere.

20/20; ABC. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Saturday, 9/15

Dog Whisperer (Nat Geo Wild; 7 pm CST). Series Finale.

Saturday Night Live; NBC. 10:35 pm CST. 38th Season Premiere.


Sunday, 9/16

Boardwalk Empire; HBO. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.
Dang! Didn't S2 just air a few months ago?

Leverage (TNT; 8 pm CST). Mid-season Finale.

Weeds (Showtime; 9 pm CST). Series Finale.
What an up-and-down series.  Fortunately, this season has improved upon the last (and way better than the borderline terrible middle seasons), and I may actually miss it a little. I certainly loved the final season's return to different musicians performing the "theme music" song "Little Boxes".
And, unlike some shows (*cough cough* Entourage *cough cough*), this one didn't dick around for 2/3 of its final season before wrapping things up.  In fact, Weeds was probably too plot-filled the final season as it seemed to change direction a number of times since it began.