Hey, look! CBS has one of those fall preview shows on. These used to be a big deal when I was a kid; the Big Three networks collectively provided about 80% of the country’s entertainment options back in those days. I’m not exaggerating. They used to do two of them for each network; one for primetime shows, one for the new slate of Saturday morning cartoon shows for the kiddies.
For this edition, the intros and interstitial material are performed by the cast of Big Bang Theory. I hope this really brings home to them how immensely lucky they are to be on a show with good writing.
Two Broke Girls – AWFUL! One’s a lifetime waitress with attitude, the other is a vacuous former rich girl who now has to become a new waitress. They’re the original Odd Couple! And oh, Garret Morris. So sad.
Unforgettable – Woman cop has an “autobiographical memory,” a real life but amazingly rare condition. Basically it allows for special effects sequences reminiscent of R.O.T.O.R.’s Flashback Vision, minus the gel effect and with a million dollar budget. Otherwise just YET ANOTHER cop show with a tough but vulnerable female detective. Looks pretty generic and lame; in other words, a lot better than Two Broke Girls.
How To Be a Gentleman — One guy is tough and street smart, the other is shy and reserved. They’re the original Odd Couple! And oh, David Foley. So sad.
And…a Hawaii Five-Oh promo? Really, are they out of new shows already? I guess when you have 47 hours of CSIs and NSICs, you don’t need a lot of new stuff. But man, it kind of depressing that of three valuable pieces of primetime network real estate, those are the three that made it on the air.
Whew, another new show. Person of Interest is about a former government assassin who teams up with a Homeland Security-esque supertech guy—they’re the original Odd Couple!—to solve crimes before they actually happen. Like Tom Cruise starred in movies before they were TV shows. Good actors, though, including Jim Caviezel, and produced by JJ Abrams. This potentially could actually be decent, assuming it’s tough minded enough and doesn’t spend all its time worrying about whether the U.S. is really the bad guy.
A Gifted Man A self-absorbed, high-powered doctor finds he still has a relationship with the ghost of his dead wife. They’re the original Odd Couple! She teaches him to be a Better Man. It’s Raines meets The Ghost Whisperer meets Regarding Henry meets every sappy, preeningly moralistic hospital show ever. Looks awful, but could they’re possibly be an audience for this? Ghost Whisperer was on for years, so maybe.
Veteran actors added to preexisting shows: Terry Quinn on Hawaii Five-Oh, Ted Dansen on CSI (actually interesting casting), and of course Ashton Kutcher on Two and a Half Men.
All in all, a pretty lame slate. The comedies particularly will have to be MUCH better than their previews looked if they are to stick around.
