Fall TV is Looking Good

I love watching TV, and fall 2011 seems to be the season for a bunch of brand new TV
shows. I can recall how frantic I was trying to set about six or seven new
series recordings on my U-Verse. With already two series cancellations (The Playboy Club and Charlie’s Angels) barely three weeks in,
I’m beginning to see what works when it comes to TV and what doesn’t.

What Works:

Original Ideas: This might be where Charlie’s Angels got it wrong. We’ve seen three strong, intelligent
women fight crime time after time in the movies and on TV. Not even Minka Kelly
was able to change that fact. America is ready for something different. What
made shows like The O.C. and Dawson’s Creek so memorable? They were
groundbreaking and were spitting out new ideas for their time. Now we see about
three new teen dramas all come out the same year, each with a love triangle and
actors who are definitely not
seventeen. We want something new.

And so we found it. Shows like Pan Am are
exploring new ground, while Hart of Dixie
puts a new spin on the seen-a-million-times medical drama.

What Doesn’t Work:

The “I’m new here” brigade: You know those shows where there’s
a new girl, and then there’s the outgoing girl that immediately walks up to her
and acts like they’re best friends? And then that girl’s friend comes over and
they all start talking like they’re best friends. And then, the insta-group start
showing this new girl around, like “oh, that’s [insert jock’s name here],” and
then they spill all of that guy’s secrets in five seconds flat. And then, that jock’s popular girlfriend
walks up to the jock, and then the insta-group begins to spill all of her
secrets. Yeah, that’s a show that’s sure to get cancelled. It’s cheesy, and
that’s not the way friends are made in real life. America is getting smarter
now; we want to see more realistic situations. The new comedy New Girl solved this problem by
beginning the pilot episode with a roommate interview, so we’re still able to
learn about the main characters without the unrealistic first meeting.

All in all, this year seems to be
promising in the land of the small screen. Besides the shows mentioned above,
some of the shows I’ve begun to watch include Suburgatory and Up All Night.
Some old favorites that just keep getting better are Gossip Girl, Happy Endings,
and Modern Family.