next week 6/15

New and notable in the week ahead… procrastinator picks are underlined.

Monday

  • DJ & the Fro (MTV, 5pm) Series Premiere – Are animated slackers watching viral videos more amusing than real life people doing the same?
  • Greek (ABCFam, 8pm) Season Finale – Cappie or Max? There’s really no question…
  • Run’s House (MTV, 10pm) Season Premiere – The family takes a Hawaiian vacation.

Tuesday

  • CMT Music Awards (CMT, 8pm) – Bill Engvall hosts this year’s awards show, tune in for Taylor Swift, and some other country artists.
  • Wedding Day (TNT, 8pm) Series Premiere – Real life weddings with no apparent twists.
  • The First 48 (A&E, 9pm) Season Premiere
  • HawthoRNe (TNT, 9pm) Series Premiere – Jada Pinkett Smith and Michael Vartan make this medical drama worth tuning into at least once.
  • The Lazy Environmentalist (Sund, 9pm) Series Premiere – They show us it’s easy being green.
  • Saving Grace (TNT, 10pm) Season Premiere – More answers this season or just more questions as Grace goes to the purple door.
  • The Singing Bee (CMT, 10:30pm) Season Premiere – Expectations may be a little higher as this follows the CMT Awards.

Wednesday

  • The Othersiders/Survive This (Cart, 8/8:30pm) Series Premiere – Paranormal investigations and survival skills.
  • Gordon Ramsay’s F Word (BBCA, 9pm) Season Premiere – Gordon Ramsay is back.
  • I Survived a Japanese Game Show (ABC, 9pm) Season Premiere – Really, this is back?
  • The Unusuals (ABC, 10pm) Series Finale – This quirky ensemble cop show deserved another season.

Thursday

  • NBA Basketball (ABC, 6pm) – Could it go to Game 7 with the Magic and the Lakers?

Friday

  • Jeffrey and Cole Casserole (Logo, 11pm) Series Premiere – Another sketch and look at viral videos, and this time with a gay old slant.

Saturday

  • Brainrush/Destroy Build Destroy (Cart, 8/8:30pm) Series Premieres – Trivia in rollercoaster conditions and then making something from the debris of what’s been destroyed.
  • Can You Duet (CMT, 8pm) Season Premiere – The open auditions begin.
  • Eli Stone (ABC, 10pm) – I don’t actually remember where we left off with Eli, his visions, and his law firm.

Sunday

  • Just for Laughs (ABC, 7pm) Season Premiere – More awkward setups for some chuckles.
  • Merlin (NBC, 8pm) Series Premiere – A look back when Merlin and the Prince were young and hot and magic was outlawed, Giles from Buffy is in this so I’ll give it a look.
  • Guys Choice (Spike, 10pm) – One thinks that guys make some sort of choice.
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midseason fun

Midseason has been rolling out for some time, and I thought it might be time to take a look at what we’ve taken a look at.

  • Better Off Ted (ABC) – Set in the corporate world where crazy people invent crazy things, it does a funny take on the soulless company and has some funny folks, but maybe Ted’s too much of a company man, I’m not fully into it yet, I’m still watching.
  • Castle (ABC) – The premise and cases aren’t groundbreaking but Nathan Fillion is engaging as the crime writing novelist paired with a by the book detective, plus his family is kind of funny, this got a season pass.
  • Cupid (ABC) – The psychologist and the maybe crazy guy/maybe cupid are at odds for the best way to help the lovelorn, I just wasn’t that into either of the leads or the romances, much preferred Rob Thomas’ first take, I tuned out.
  • Dollhouse (Fox) – This latest Joss Whedon has grown on me as we’ve come to learn more about the folks who are programmed to be anyone and the people who hire, program, and protect them, this got a season pass.
  • Harper’s Island (CBS) – So cheesy it was almost entertaining but couldn’t quite bring myself to check back on this mysterious island wedding where the secrets are plenty and one cast member gets killed off a week, I tuned out.
  • Kings (NBC) – I was intrigued by the premise of this alternate reality where the King of a country and his family cross paths with a young idealist, but at least in the pilot the characters and dialogue were too simplistic and heavy handed, I tuned out.
  • In The Motherhood (ABC) – I always want to enjoy a half hour comedy and this series taken from a web version had a good enough cast including Megan Mullally and Cheryl Hines, but the mom jokes just weren’t making me laugh, I tuned out.
  • Lie to Me (Fox) – These folks study the art of lies and use their expertise to consult on cases to find the lies and then the usually the truth, but the science and the characters didn’t quite pull me in, I tuned out.
  • Parks & Recreation (NBC) – From the creators of The Office, I feel like they’re still trying to get their footing with the documentary style now set in the government, with Amy Poehler doing the heavy lifting as misguided bright-eyed optimist, I’m still watching
  • Sit Down, Shut Up (Fox) – I have to admit I missed this last weekend, it has a good pedigree and cast, but the reviews I read weren’t good, might still catch an ep.
  • Southland (NBC) – From the creators of ER, this time they’re focusing on cops, with an interesting cast and a gritty style, I am not totally drawn in but will give it some time, I’m still watching.
  • Surviving Suburbia (ABC) – Bob Saget can actually be funny, it’s too bad I’ve never seen him be funny in a series, this is a relatively typically loser head of the household comedy, I tuned out.
  • The Unusuals (ABC) – This cop drama is set in a detective office where there’s some corruption, some secrets, and a whole lot of quirky in the cases and the characters, this got a season pass.

A few more titles keep coming up that might be on the horizon: The Goode Family, The Listener, The Philanthropist, Meet the Browns, Mental, Merlin… And I didn’t really mention the reality fare, for that you’re on your own. Next week’s will continue to note new shows.

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midseason

dollhouse.jpg Midseason dates tend to shift around, so check your local listings, and I’ll note these on ‘next week’s as they arrive.

  • Game Show in My Head (CBS, 1/3) – A hidden camera game show.
  • Superstars of Dance (NBC, 1/4) – The folks who do So You Think You Can Dance bring in the experts.
  • Momma’s Boys (NBC, 1/5) – The moms get into the act on this latest dating series.
  • 13 – Fear is Real (CW,1/7) – Folks face their fears to survive this reality gameshow. 
  • Howie Do It (NBC, 1/9) – Mandell does something with folks.
  • Lie to Me (Fox, 1/21) – Tim Roth is some sort of perceptive crime fighter.
  • XIII (NBC, 2/8) – This miniseries stars Val Kilmer in an ‘adrenaline charged’ conspiracy.
  • Dollhouse (Fox, 2/13) – The latest from Whedon where folks are programmed with new identities each week.
  • Castle (ABC, 3/9) – Who can pass up Nathan Fillion, he’s a mystery writer helping out a cop in the latest buddy crime of the week.
  • Kings (NBC, 3/19) – The two hour premiere kicks things off before it moves to its normal night, this is supposedly a modern day telling of David and Goliath
  • Cupid (ABC, 3/24) – Can they do justice to this remake of the Piven/Marshall show, it’s all about the chemistry, oh and the writing.
  • The Unusuals (ABC, 4/8) – Amber Tamblyn joins as fresh detective with an ‘unusual’ group of homicide detectives.
  • Harper’s Island (CBS, 4/9) – Can a new cast member be killed off each week and the show survive?

Returning: The Bachelor (ABC, 1/5), Scrubs (ABC, 1/6), Biggest Loser Couples (NBC, 1/6), Flashpoint (CBS, 1/9), American Idol (Fox, 1/13), Hell’s Kitchen (Fox, 1/15),  Friday Night Lights (NBC, 1/16), Lost (ABC, 1/21), Medium (NBC, 2/2), Survivor (CBS, 2/12), The Amazing Race (CBS, 2/15), Celebrity Apprentice (NBC, 3/1), Dancing with the Stars (ABC, 3/9), Reaper (CW, 3/17).

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