New and Old Shows to Watch This Fall

By Thomas Willett

I must admit that this year’s Fall TV programming has snuck up on me. True, I have been watching pilot episodes as they have been made available and have been reviewing them, but I didn’t expect them to already be premiering. I know that it is September, yet the concept of prepping for returning shows just seemed a little farfetched. This is partially because I couldn’t think of too much worth checking out.

That is not to say that there isn’t. However, when I look back at the track record for the shows I checked out last year, I had a few notable standouts. Shows like New Girl have become added to my weekly viewing habits and even the surprise hits of the Spring season: Girls and Don’t Trust the B**** in Apt. 23 has left me charmed and wanting more. True, there were some duds like Whitney and 2 Broke Girls (a show that I had trouble letting go of), but it was a solid season overall.

It is only a shame that when I went to review this year’s titles that I couldn’t find too many shows that I wanted to invest in. With some flagships like 30 Rock finally calling it quits, what was going to replace that free time? Even the show runner changes on Community may leave NBC in desperate need of some new faces (most of which I have seen and am worried about).

So instead of dedicating a whole blog to who should stay and who should go, I decided to just take a look at the returning shows that I am looking forward to and a few of the newbies that I may have seen and not like, but share some criticism on why I may return to them if the ratings manage to pick up. Let’s start with the returning class:

1. Bob’s Burgers (Sept. 30)

Somehow this is the third season for a show that has withstood two brief episode runs and beat out Allen Gregory and Napoleon Dynamite for the Fox Animation Domination. As far as a companion to the Simpsons goes, this show is proving to be one of the more ambitious and weird cartoons to come along in quite some time. It isn’t as ribald as say Family Guy, but it does bring the funny. I am also excited because this is an extended season, so we should be able to see more great moments from the show.

2. Parks and Recreation (Sept. 20)

Now that Leslie Knope is an elected official, what can we expect from the season? With a reported return of Jean Ralphio, there is much that we can expect. Maybe moving away from Pawnee will provide fresh air to the series, which has managed to stay consistently funny over the past few years. As long as Knope manages to bring the entire gang along with her for the outing, I have no doubt that the show will continue to be a refreshing alternative to whatever real life elections will providing for us this fall.

3. The Simpsons (Sept. 30)

I have admitted on several occasions that the Simpsons’ previous season was one of the worst. It is true that there were some gold nuggets spread throughout, but in the grand scheme, it provided the worst Treehouse of Horror and a very lackluster 500th episode. Still, the show (which I am still assuming is one season away from retirement) does feature an impressive guest list that includes the return of Anne Hathaway and new faces like Zooey Deschannel, Sarah Michelle Gellar, ad Sarah Silverman. Even if the show has reached a point of mediocrity, I am sure that there will be a few surprises along the way to keep my favorite show afloat.

4. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Oct. 11)

It is kind of surprising that a show in its 8th season is coming off one of their best and raunchiest. Last season was a revelation to what the show could be and I only assume that this season will see the continuation of their crazy antics as they become a veteran comedy. At very least, I can be happy to know that I will have a few moments to laugh with Charlie Day (my vote for the funniest man on TV) on a weekly basis again. More milk steak, please.

5. Community (Oct. 19)

This show has probably more notoriety than fans at this point. With the exile of show runner Dan Harmon (whose brilliant podcast Harmontown only makes you realize how much Community was his voice) is going to greatly effect a shift in tone, I am curious to see if the show can maintain some wild genius, or if it will be some weird creature. At very least you can look forward to the Community Fantasy League and a possible podcast offshoot of Nerd’s Eye View to join the circuit. Who knows? Maybe all of this nitpicking will seem silly after the season is over.

6. New Girl (Sept. 25)

My favorite of the Fall 2012 class returns for their second season. Now that they have managed to get all of the sitcom tropes out of the way, it is time to see what else the gang has in store. At very least I can expect for some fun roommate humor and Zooey Deschannel being all cute and awesome. The more Lizzy Caplan you can fit in will also be a nice touch. I just hope that the shows that are paired with it (Ben and Kate, the Mindy Project) don’t suck the fun and energy out of the show.

7. Don’t Trust the B—— in Apt. 23 (Oct. 23)

This show was surprisingly good and is making me reevaluate every ABC show simultaneously. Returning for its first full season, the show follows nasty Kristen Ritter as she ruins everyone’s life in hilarious ways. While I don’t love this show as much as I expected from a six episode run, it left me with the expectations that it could be better over a full season. At very least, we can have a few more fun jabs at James van der Beek’s acting by random strangers.

8. The League (Oct. 11)

My knowledge of sports is very low. However, when it comes to the League, I wait for people to call fantasy leagues as “the league” so that I could drop a few references. This is the wildcard FX show that I find a weird fascination with. Featuring the likes of Paul Scheer, frequent blog topic Mark Duplass, and Nick Kroll, there is little going against it. Even if I don’t understand exactly how the league that the show is based around works, I can expect some good machismo humiliation on a week to week basis from some of my favorite comedians.

9. 30 Rock (Oct. 4)

I know that I called the previous season a disappointment, but there is little reason to give up now. The show is mere months away from having a finale, and I am of the mindset that the show can turn things around. It does manage to bring the comedy to every episode, but being a veteran show, it feels like the ideas are too commonplace. Maybe we’ll see them attempt to do more wild and unexpected things thanks to their numbered days. Maybe another live episode (though hopefully not another dumb reality show episode) and someone besides Tracey and Jenna hogging the plots could turn things around. Even if it doesn’t, it will be sad to see one of the more inspired sitcoms of the past few years say goodbye.

10. 2 Broke Girls (Sept. 24)

Okay, I know that I said that I have given up on this show. In fact, I feel in my heart that I should after being burned out week for week from terribly crass jokes and lame CBS filming techniques. However, as the time off has given me time to not watch the show, part of me is left feeling that Kat Dennings deserves better. Maybe the inclusion of Martha Stewart in the finale will also see the show finally take ambitious new turns. I’d say that this show has promise, but the first season didn’t show it. I may return to this show, but only if the episode criticisms are more positive.

Then there are new shows. I haven’t seen all of them, but for the most part, this is a disappointing batch of shows. Fingers crossed that it is only the pilot syndrome and that the show will secretly be getting better as time goes on.

1. Revolution (Sept. 17)

The plot to this show is pretty dumb. Electricity is scarce and 15 years later, we see a new type of society rise. The reason that this show ranks so high for me is not that I am intrigued to see how they handle the scenario, but we see the return of Giancarlo Esposito to TV. I don’t know who he plays, but if he is as menacing and fun as he was on Breaking Bad, there is a good chance that I will be sticking around to see if he can bring some joy to a show that otherwise didn’t look that appealing based on the trailer.

2. The New Normal (Sept. 11)

This is the one show that I overlooked in all of my prepping for the Fall season. It is not because Ryan Murphy has never appealed to me, but it was just low on my standards. The plot is about a gay couple who has a surrogate child. Mormons ironically hate it (especially since star Andrew Rannells was the lead in the catchy Book of Mormon), but it is the last of the new NBC shows that I need to check out. I am notably intrigued because Rannells was good on Girls and I can expect for him to be at very least interesting in this one. It is also nice to see a hopefully progressive take on modern on nuclear families. Here’s hoping that it brings the comedy.

3. The Mindy Project (Sept. 25)

Of the few shows I have seen, this seems to be the most promising. In truth, it irks me that Mindy Kaling’s character is a doctor and gets arrested for driving a bicycle into a pool in the pilot. I felt that the aspects don’t parallel. However, there is some wit and fun here that possibly could be worked out over time and make it a nice addition to the Fox comedy block. At very least, her choice to obsessively quote romantic comedies may seem too much like the New Girl pilot, but if they are in any way similar, I can expect them to get better. Here’s hoping.

4. Animal Practice (Sept. 26)

While I am not an activist level of an animal lover, my notable concern with this show is in the amount of dead animal jokes that I heard in the pilot. I also found the incompetent staff to be an issue, though Justin Kirk’s character seems to be a promising role amongst a cast of right now broad stereotypes. If this show can work out the kinks and not be reliant on too many bad animal jokes, this could be good. For now however, I am left trying to understand the plausibility of how this show could work, even with the monkey who played Annie’s Boobs on Community.

5. Go On (Sept. 11)

This is the show that I am probably least likely to return to. Matthew Perry goes to an anger management class and turns things around for the entire class, which includes surreal comic Brett Gelman for some reason. I don’t hate the idea of the show, in fact a different approach to exploring self-esteem seemed inspired to me. It was just the way that they handled it by being too upbeat and playing it safe. There doesn’t feel like much at stake and I worry that the show will never solve this problem. It will be harmless and easy to watch, but if this lasts long enough to figure out the kinks, it will only make me want Free Agents to return.

There you have it. These are the shows that I will be keeping an eye on as the season continues. I must admit that it isn’t nearly as interesting as last year, but with many veteran shows coming to a close, I can expect that 2013 will produce some ambitiously new projects. Who knows what those will be. Did I miss a show that I should be watching? Will Arrow be any good and add to the archery phenomena this year? Should I begin checking out shows like Homeland, Once Upon a Time, or even the show that I maligned Suburgatory? Why not hit me up and we’ll get a dialogue going. Until then, I better get caught up on all of my shows.

You can read Thom’s blog every Wednesday and hear him on Nerd’s Eye View every Tuesday and Thursday at nevpodcast.com. Send your thoughts to nevpodcast@gmail.com. You can also read Thom’s movie reviews for Cinema Beach at cinemabeach.com.