Television Premieres and Notables: October 5-11, 2015

Tuesday, 10/6

The Flash; CW. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
This is a really fun show. If you like your superheroes heroic instead of brooding, you may like it.
And it's also the most "super-heroic" of the comic book shows right now. It's amazing what they attempt-- and nearly always succeed with. Time travel, intelligent apes, Firestorm...

iZombie; CW. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
This is a fun show. If you missed it last season, check it out now.


Wednesday, 10/7

Arrow; CW. 7 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Supernatural; CW. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

American Horror Story: Hotel; FX. 9 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.
And this season: a lot more Lady Gaga...

Jay Leno's Garage; CNBC. 9 pm CST. Series Prmeiere.
Jay and some of his friends explore the origins of popular makes and models.

Casual; Hulu. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Michaela Watkins stars in this comedy about a recently divorced woman getting back into the dating scene.


Thursday, 10/8

The Vampire Diaries; CW. 7 pm CST. 7th Season Premiere.

The Originals; CW. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Billy on the Street; TruTV. 9:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.
I discovered this show last season, and it's crazy-funny. Check it out.

SuperMansion; Crackle. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Bryan Cranston voices superhero Titanium Rex in this stop-motion animated comedy.


Friday, 10/9

Reign; CW. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Undateable; NBC. 7 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.
And every episode is live on the East Coast.

Red Oaks; Amazon. Streaming. Series Premiere.
This series goes back to the style of the famous coming-of-age movies of the '80s.


Saturday, 10/10

The Last Kingdom; BBC America. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
This series, set in the 800's, when England was still a divided people.


Sunday, 10/11

America's Funniest Home Videos; ABC. 6 pm CST. Season Premiere.
Yep-- this show is still on...

The Walking Dead; AMC. 8 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.
It's back-- and the first three episodes are supposed to be intense...

Don't know if true, but...

Television Premieres and Notables: September 28-October 4, 2015

I didn't get a chance to watch too much TV last week. Tried a few shows, avoided others.
But you can't judge a new series by its pilot (most especially for comedies), so I'll stick-it-out for a while.

Quick thoughts:

The Muppets: Taking an overdone genre but adding characters we already know who don't fit into the genre could work. But they forgot they had The Muppets. What a dull and pessimistic show for a bunch of characters who always found the good and the fun in things. I don't have high hopes it'll find its feet. Someone thinks edgy is what's needed here. They're wrong.

Life in Pieces: kinda boring. But it has a great cast that I think can keep it together until the writing catches up.

Weird-- those are the only new ones I tried last week...

But we have a casualty already. One that has been in the making for 2-3 years.
After having seen every episode-- all the way back from the first airing of the pilot-- I'm giving The Big Bang Theory the boot.
Ever since it moved to Thursdays, it's been dumbed-down and sexed-up.  I'd go in streaks where there'd be 3-4 bad eps, and I'd give it one more episode, and it always made it.  But last week's season premiere-- a season premiere after a cliff-hanging finale, for cryin' out loud-- was boring as shit. Or, an even worse sin: it's the same as we've seen over and over. Penny and Leonard are having an "off-again"? The only thing different this time is that they're married, making it a little tougher to be broken up.  Snore...
And what did they do to Stewart? He started out as a joke; he became a sympathetic character over time; and now, since last week anyway, he became a creepy one. This dude has been around the main crew for a few years now, and he thinks he actually has a shot with any of the women-- who still have strong ties to their respective male "mates"-- as soon as things go south with their relationships? Not funny.

Aaaaanyway:


Monday, 9/28

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah; Comedy Central. 10 pm CST. Series Premiere.
He's got a tough job, but there's no reason why he can't make the show his own.
But it'll take some time. Hopefully the fans-- and the network-- will let him have it.


Tuesday, 9/29

Grandfathered; Fox. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.
John Stamos plays a bachelor who discovers he not only has a son-- but he also has a granddaughter.

Grinder; Fox. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Rob Lowe is an actor who played a lawyer. That job goes away, so he decides to be a lawyer for real. And he decides he'll work with his brother, who became a lawyer the regular way.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ABC. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 9/30

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

Code Black CBS. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Marcia Gay Harden and Luis Guzman star in this series that takes place in the busiest ER in the country.

Chicago P.D. NBC. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Thursday, 10/1

Bones; Fox. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Sleepy Hollow; Fox. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The Blacklist; NBC. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

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

Benders; IFC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A new series following the exploits of the teammates on an amateur hockey team.


Friday, 10/2

Dr. Ken; ABC. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Ken Jeong taps his former life as a doctor in this new comedy.
We'll see how it goes; I've found Jeong better in smaller doses.


Saturday, 10/3

Saturday Night Live; NBC. 10:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.
Starring Miley Cyrus.


Sunday, 10/4 (as always: pay attention to the football games this afternoon; times could change)

Madam Secretary; CBS. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

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

The Leftovers; HBO. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Homeland; Showtime. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

CSI: Cyber; CBS. 9 pm  CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The Strain (FX; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

The Affair; Showtime. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: September 21-27, 2015

I don't have the time to go through each series that's beginning this week, and you don't come here for my commentary anyway. Check out the links below-- or Google/Bing/whatever show you see here that you want to know more about.

av Club Part 1

av Club Part 2

EW Critics pick best new Fall shows

Monday, 9/21

The Big Bang Theory; CBS. 7 pm CST. 9th Season Premiere.

The Voice; NBC. 7 pm CST. 9th Cycle Premiere.

Gotham; Fox. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Life in Pieces; CBS. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Scorpion; CBS. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Minority Report; Fox. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Castle; ABC. 9 pm CST. 8th Season Premiere.

NCIS: Los Angeles; CBS. 9 pm CST. 7th Season Premiere.

Blindspot; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Tuesday, 9/22

The Muppets; ABC. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

NCIS; CBS. 7 pm CST. 13th Season Premiere.

Scream Queens; Fox. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Fresh Off the Boat; ABC. 2nd Season Premiere.

If you missed this last season, make it up and watch this season.

NCIS: New Orleans; CBS. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Limitless; CBS. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Wednesday, 9/23

The Middle; ABC. 7 pm CST. 7th Season Premiere.

Survivor; CBS. 7 pm CST. 31st Cycle Premiere

Rosewood; Fox. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

The Mysteries of Laura; NBC. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The Goldbergs; ABC. 7:30 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Modern Family; ABC. 8 pm CST. 7th Season Premiere.

Empire; Fox. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Law & Order: SVU; NBC. 8 pm CST. 17th Season Premiere.

Blackish; 8:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Another one to watch if you didn't give it a chance last year.

Nashville; ABC. 9 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Thursday, 9/24

Gray's Anatomy; ABC. 7 pm CST. 12th Season Premiere.

Heroes Reborn; NBC. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Scandal; ABC. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

How to Get Away With Murder; ABC. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The Player; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Fashionably Late With Rachel Zoe; Lifetime. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Friday, 9/25

Last Man Standing; ABC. 7 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

The Amazing Race; CBS. 7 pm CST. 27th Season Premiere.

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

Hawaii Five-O; CBS. 8 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

Blue Bloods; CBS. 9 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

Saturday, 9/26

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy; Disney XD. 8:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Sunday, 9/27

Bob's Burgers; Fox. 6:30 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

Likely to be pushed-- or preempted-- every week due to football...

Once Upon a Time; ABC. 7 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

The Simpsons; Fox. 7 pm CST. 27th Season Premiere.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine; Fox. 7:30 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Blood & Oil; ABC. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

CSI; CBS. 8 pm CST. Series Finale.

CBS brought it back for one last movie, incorporating everyone who they could fit in and who was available.

Family Guy; Fox. 8 pm CST. 14th Season Premiere.

Indian Summers; PBS. 8 pm CST (check local listings). Series Premiere.

The Last Man on Earth; Fox. 8:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Quantico; ABC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: September 14-20, 2015

The new Fall Season is starting up; another couple premieres this week.
--Time to clear-out the DVR because it's gonna be coming hard next week...


Monday, 9/14

Dancing With the Stars; ABC. 7 pm CST. 21st Cycle Premiere.


Tuesday, 9/15

Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
An 8-part live variety show starring NPH.

The Bastard Executioner; FX. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Sons of Anarchy's Kurt Sutter brings us this series about a knight who takes up being an executioner.

The Mindy Project; Hulu. Streaming. 4th Season Premiere.



Wednesday, 9/16

South Park; Comedy Central. 9 pm CST. 19th Season Premiere.

Moonbeam City; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Friday, 9/18

Black Jesus; adult swim, 10:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Saturday, 9/19

Doctor Who; BBC America. 8 pm CST. 9th ("New Who") Season Premiere.