The New Television Season

A new television season has arrived and I thought that I’d give a review or synopsis of the ones that I like to watch, some of which I’m a die hard fan, some which are new and I’m following with some interest. I decided to organize by the night shown here in the US.

Monday nights

The only show that I watch, well, before 24 is back on in 2010, is House on the Fox.

Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House is a tour de force on this show and is surrounded by an excellent cast. Each week, Dr. Gregory House’s special team of doctors have to solve a medical mystery, brainstorming, the diagnoses and attempted treatments are usually hit and miss until solved. The other doctors on the team though seem to be more poked and prodded mentally than the patients physically, also humbled or humiliated throughout the process.

The two hour season opener ‘Broken‘ for House was remarkable, and clearly the best episode yet from this medical series. House had been institutionalized at the end of the last season due to his Vicodin addiction which caused him hallucinations. The season opener reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as House was surrounded by patients which various fobias and mental afflictions. Initially he decided to stir the pot in the ward which caused at least one bad but not fatal event for a fellow patient although House’s intentions were good. He falls for a woman who visited her sister-in-law who had not spoken in many years. Andre Braugher as the director of the mental institution was very good, his interactions with House were both subtle and brilliant. I will not spoil the outcome of the episode but I highly recommend watching this episode either via Fox or Hulu online, it will be time well spent.

Tuesday nights

Naval Criminal Investigative Service is a long time favorite of mine, the comraderie of the cast in the show is tangible. Mark Harmon [Gibbs] as the team leader and former Marine sniper, Michael Weatherly [DiNozo] as the comical special agent and supposed ladies man, Cote de Pablo [Ziva] as an Israeli Mossad officer assigned to the team is the tough and sexy female lead, Sean Murray [McGee] is the computer and tech wizard on the team, David McCallum [Ducky] is the medical examiner and Pauley Perrette (Abbie) as the quirky but supreme lab technician.

The season opener ‘Truth or Consequences‘ was great as DiNozo and McGee go to northern Africa to save Ziva from a terrorist camp. She had left NCIS and returned to Israel and Mossad which is headed up by her father, was sent on a mission, captured and showed signs of torture. DiNozo’s humor in the face of the lead terrorist and facing death was very good, and there is plenty of action near the end of the episode during the attempted rescue of the team. Recommend checking out this episode as well online via the CBS or Hulu websites.

NCIS: Los Angeles is a spin off of the original NCIS series starring Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J as the agents, and surprisingly, Linda Hunt as the director of the team, and so far, its her bits in the show that I find most interesting. The show has less mystery solving than the original NCIS and is more action focused, I hope it can find the right mix and be a successful program.

The Forgotten starring Christian Slater is a very interesting show about a private team of investigators that take on murder cases which the police have failed to solve. I watched the first two episodes and liked both, the rest of the cast is good but it has been the story lines so far that has kept me very interested, worth a look !

Thursday nights

FlashForward is a show with a very interesting premise, one day, at exactly the same time, everyone on the planet blacks out, for an hour, and all awake with a short vision of their future. The blackout naturally caused much death and destruction around the world. The people of our world are left with questions about their vision, some of which seemed to be good, and others that were disturbing for varying reasons. The cast of the show is an FBI team that is trying to solve the blackout, and deal with their families and lives impacted by the blackout and the visions.

The cast is headed by Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Courtney B. Vance [all on the FBI team], Peyton List playing Fiennes’ wife, Lennon Wynne as their daughter, and Brian F. O’Byrne, an actor from Cavan, as his friend. This new show is getting a lot of buzz and is definitely worth watching.

Fringe is another favorite of mine and is gaining more interest this season. It is directed by J.J. Abrams [Star Trek] and stars the lovely Anna Torv as an FBI agent, who is assisted by Joshua Jackson [Mighty Ducks] and John Noble [Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers] as his slightly mad, and funny, scientist based at Harvard University.

If you missed the first season, the show is about the learning of a parallel universe. The show is very good, as the team tries to unravel events and what is really going on between the parallel univeres. Anna Torv is excellent as the key character on the show, she does a brilliant job as the person most afflicted by the events and what the future holds. John Noble, who played Denethor, father of Faromir and Boromir in Gondor, is great as the madly funny scientist who tries to solve events, deal with his past, and knowledge of the parallel universe of which he knows. I recommend watching this show as well, I think I provided a lot of information without giving much away.

Friday nights

Stargate Universe series opened last Sunday night with a two hour show which I DVR’d. I have not watched it in its entirety but it seems to be a potentially good program. I watched the original Stargate-1 series, saw none of Stargate Atlantis. I’d check out http://www.syfy.com/universe/ for complete information on the SyFy website.