New TeeVee

So we are deep into TV land now and everything has pretty much off to about it’s 4th or 5th week on. So how is it going?

Surprise Hit: Reaper (The CW)

For the first 20 years of his life, Sam (Bret Harrison, “The Loop,” “Grounded for Life”) wondered why his parents went so easy on him. Whether it was school, sports or career choices, Sam’s mom (Allison Hossack, “Falcon Beach”) and dad (Andrew Airlie, “The L Word”) always let him get by with the least possible effort. As a result, Sam skipped college, took a dead-end job at the local Work Bench home improvement store and now wastes endless hours playing video games. Everything in his slacker world changed the day Sam turned 21 and discovered the ungodly reason his parents let him slide: they sold his soul to the devil before he was even born.

Yeah, I thought it was a bit hokey at first but it actually turned out to be quite a good mix of dark comedy and interesting characters. Plus Ray Wise as the Devil is a perfect fit.

The “Oh God This is Bad but I can’t stop watching it”: Moonlight (CBS)

Mick St. John is a captivating, charming and immortal private investigator from Los Angeles, who defies the traditional blood-sucking norms of his vampire tendencies by using his wit and powerful supernatural abilities to help the living. In a life-altering twist of fate, Mick was “bitten” 60 years ago by his new bride, the seductive Coraline. Forever 30 years of age, Mick’s as handsome and charismatic as the day he was “turned,” and he eschews others of his kind who view humans only as a source of nourishment. With only a handful of like-minded confidantes for company, including the eternally young, wealthy and mischievous Josef, a hedge fund trader who relishes his uniqueness, Mick fills his infinite days protecting the living.

Most of the time this show is a train wreck. There is no chemistry between the two leads, Mick St. John and Beth Turner. The only shining star, acting wise, is the performance by Jason Dohring (Josef) but he’s very rarely in an episode for more then 10 minutes. The reason I (and Jessi too) keep watching it is because it fills a void that was left by The Dresden Files (the best show that cancelled last year) and Angel/Buffy being off air. A private investigator who is a vampire, how can that go wrong?! The interseting thing is that if the acting picked up this would be a great show, the writing is really good and the premise isn’t that far fetched. And they also make use of the new-age vampire mythos which remove the whole changing into a bat, garlic, stake to the heart (it parallizes vampires) and burning up in sunlight (not to say they don’t get hurt by the sun, they still are. They just don’t burst into flames). I’ll keep watching until the 13 episodes are up and it’s cancelled and I’ll enjoy every bit of it.

New show that I’m coming around too: Big Bang Theory (CBS).

Meet two brainiacs with a lot to learn. Leonard and Sheldon can tell their quarks from their quantum physics, but have no clue how women add up. Leave it to their pretty new neighbor, just off a messy breakup, to teach them a thing or two.

Admittingly, I panned this when I first saw it. I didn’t like it and I didn’t like the premise. I felt that it was just too easy and really hasn’t the geeky guy gets the girl thing just a bit too cliched at this point?

Well, I’m still not sold on it and if I miss an episode no big deal. The big winner on the show is Jim Parsons character Sheldon. A genius since birth he has the most trouble coping with “real life” and has some really funny lines for it. My only major concern is that they are hitting the well to early for ironic guest stars. Johnny Galecki plays Leonard but most people will probably recognize him as David from Roseanne. Who was dating (and I think eventually married) Darlene who was played by Sara Gilbert. Sara has already starred in an episode of BBT, even as a love interest for Leonard. Then comes the latest episode which had Laurie Metcalf guest starring as Sheldon’s mom. Laurie also starred on Roseanne as Jackie, Roseanne’s sister. So you can see that the next logical step is either have Roseanne guest or John Goodman.

There are other categories and shows that I go into more depth on but they don’t really warrant. Here is a rundown of some of the new stuff we are recording:

• Pushing Daises
• Last One Standing
• Kitchen Nightmares
• Journeyman
• Chuck
• Dirty Sexy Money

Anything you are watching that’s new a stand out for you?