Sittin' in the Bistro

I'm killing a bit of time before my class starts tonight. I should be grading...but I left my folders at school. Oh well... :-) So here are my thoughts on the new season:

Vanished - I'm liking it. This is one of those shows that grows on you. The first episode seemed rather generic, but it is getting more and more interesting every week. There is a mysterious conspiracy and I really have no idea where it is going. I also heard that they are killing off the lead character next week! The lead! (And this isn't Buffy. He ain't comin' back.) My understanding is that this was the plan from the beginning. Gale Harold has been scheduled to start rehearsals on a play in NYC for awhile. He was the reason I tuned in in the first place, but I might stick around after he leaves because I'm so shocked by the turn of events. (Then again, I might not. It sort of ticks me off that Gale is leaving. He's still the reason I tune in.)

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - It's not as good as The West Wing. Okay, now that the inevitable comparison is over...I think it's going to be pretty good. I'm definitely interested in the character interactions. I think I'm going to love Matt and Danny, not to mention a few others. The first episode had some off-putting comments about conservative Christians (although a few of them were not wrong.) Before I got offended, I remembered that The West Wing started the same way. (Remember the whole Josh and Mary Marsh debacle on Capitol Beat?) Anyway - TWW went on to treat conservatives and Christians with a healthy measure of respect. It didn't necessarily agree with them, but the show respected them. I have enough trust in Aaron Sorkin as a writer to wait and see what he will do.

Criminal Minds - This is my favorite premiere so far. It was a nice conclusion to last year's cliff hanger. Talk about characters I love. This show is just head and shoulders above any of the CSI formula shows. You learn about the characters. Just as important, their strengths and weaknesses are significant. I think Spencer Reid is my favorite character on TV now that Josh Lyman is gone. :-)

Bones - I'm loving this one also. The characters seem to be a larger part of the story. Again, a crime show with interesting characters that actually change over time. What a shocker! (Can you see a theme with me?)

House, M.D. - Ahh, Gregory House. Don't you just want to fix this guy? I call it the "Han Solo Syndrome." There is a certain segment of the female population that is just irresistably drawn to broken men. "Hi, my name is Jill and I am an angsty-guy-aholic." Anyway - House brings it out in us. He certainly has a core of integrity that seeps through, even though he tries to hide it. And besides, the show has Neal from Dead Poet's Society. It's so fun to see Robert Sean Leonard in something.

C.S.I. - Thursday's episode was something of a question mark. I'm still pretty irritated that we don't get to see any of the development of the Grissom/Sara relationship. I feel cheated out of the story that I am most interested in. I only care about the murders and subsequent drama as they relate to the characters. When huge parts of character development are ignored, I feel as if the writers just gave me the finger. They were perfectly willing to explore Grissom's fear of relationships, but we get nothing of how he got over that fear. Irritating.

Smith - This is the first one to go for me. I hated it. I was looking forward to something like The Thomas Crown Affair or Ocean's 11. Instead, I got a cast of characters that are unabashed murderers. These are genuinely amoral people and I have absolutely no sympathy or interest in the rest of their story. Imagine The Usual Suspects with bad writing, no Keyser Soze, and no characters you like at all. Yuck. (And The Usual Suspects is one of my favorite movies.)

Justice - this is a maybe. I like Kerr Smith and Victor Garber. It's defense lawyers and crime. Hmmm.

Shark - better than Justice. This is prosecution lawyers and crime. It's got James Woods and Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine, if you care about that sort of thing.) I like his interaction with the team of interns. We'll see. I'm waiting for at least another episode.

Men in Trees - I like it. And I'm surprised that I do. It's the quirky supporting cast that makes it fun. (Hmmm...Alaska? Quirky cast? Remind you of any show?)

There are several shows that I haven't had a chance to see yet. I'll let you know more as the season progresses. Note on the FOX situation...it's still AWOL. So annoying. Now I've got to download the Fox shows. Yuck.