Premiere Recap

So CTV is showing Studio 60 at 7:00pm on Sunday now. Maybe. This coming week is the ‘official’ start of the TV season also knows as Premiere Week. If you watch as much TV as I do, you can look forward to seeing the Amazing Race, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, How I Met Your Mother, 2½ Men, Smith, The Unit, Boston Legal, Law & Order: SVU, Kidnapped, CSI: NY, CSI:, My Name is Earl and The Office all premiere this week. But since you probably don’t watch as much TV as I do, you may be asking, what should watch? Well, lucky for you, I do my research. In a stroke of great bandwith, I was able to download many of the new show pilots to see just what was worth watching. But before I get to those, a quick recap on the series that have premiered so far.

Prison Break –The pace is still keeping me on the edge of my seat. The casting of William Fitchner (Invasion) as the lead detective with the same intelligence as Scofield was a genius move. And not to spoil the premiere for those who haven’t seen it yet, but the death at the end of the first episode was a joy to be hold. Finally, as assassin who got it right; a shot to head to make sure they’re dead. You hear me Alias bad guys?

Justice – Speaking of Alias, Victor Garber is so fun to watch. One of my favourite Alias scenes ever was Jack Bristow berating Sydney’s fiancée on the phone and not granting his blessing. Now we get to see this angry character every week. Thematically, I love the way the show incorporates the effect the media has on a trial even if it is over-exaggerated. Love the wit. Love the strategy. Love the slick CSI:-style camera work. And the show is made even more enjoyable with the truth being told in the closing seconds of the program. If only more clients were guilty, and if only the show weren’t going up against Lost in a couple of weeks.

Vanished – Boring. I gave up after the lackluster premiere. The biggest problem with this show is that I could care less about the people involved. The senator is not at all sympathetic, the daughter is annoying, the Asian agent is cardboard, and the news reporter is overdone. The only person I cared a speck for was the lead agent, but not enough to continue the series. Don’t waste your time on this show. Besides, it’s on Fox, so they’ll probably yank it half-way through like they did with last year’s serialized mystery, Reunion.

House – Still good. Can’t complain. I even kind of like Robert Sean Leonard’s Wilson character being a jerk to House. Now if only they could change the show’s formula up a bit.

Simpsons, American Dad, Family Guy – It’s like they’ve never left. I am so glad they moved the awful War at Home to a later timeslot so it doesn’t interrupt this fine 90 minutes of animation.

Survivor: Cook Islands – I gave this show fifteen minutes, then changed the channel. The gimmick wore off. It’s like these survivors feel that they are representing their entire race, as if they have been chosen to tell the rest of us what they are really like, while at the same time adopting the stereotypes placed on them. I remember watching Bowling for Columbine and seeing Canadians talk as if they spoke for the whole country. They couldn’t be more wrong and couldn’t make us look more stupid. It annoyed me. Still does. Oh, and I can see trouble a-brewing when they award one ethnicity over the other at the final tribal council. Let the bigotry begin