Glorious New Shows of Fall 2009

When I was deciding what to write for my college newspaper this week, I mostly wanted to spend the entire article mourning the cancellation of Dollhouse. This is the first time I've had to endure the loss of a show that I truly loved, that I thought had a lot more story to tell. (Note: This statement only applies because I didn't watch the my other tragically-cancelled favorites--Firefly, Veronica Mars--as they aired). But, while I am still sad about this, even more I am glad to have been able to enjoy it as long as I did. I am grateful for every single episode, and as always, I always look forward to whatever projects the people of the Whedonverse do, so now I get to add Enver Gojak, Dichen Lachman, Miracle Laurie, and Fran Kranz to that wonderful group. So I didn't spend my article ranting about Dollhouse, but instead took a happier tone and celebrated the great shows added to my viewing list this fall season.

In the ever-changing world of television, you might wake up one morning and a new show has become the talk of the watercooler. More often than not, however, shows have to fight to establish themselves with an audience. So far this fall, networks have already cancelled those series that never really made it out of the gate, like ABC’s Eastwick and Hank. It requires a challenging balance of broad appeal and intriguing, multi-layered characters to make viewers want more.

This fall has been a pleasant surprise, with a handful of memorable new shows that probably have many seasons in their future, as well as several shows in their second season that have managed to overcome the dreaded “Sophomore Slump.” The best freshman series have been spread pretty evenly across the major networks, and come from a diverse range of genres.

CBS has been very popular on the procedural front. The spinoff of the very successful NCIS, featuring Mark Harmon as the sarcastic team leader of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is NCIS: Los Angeles. Starring Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J, the new show, which follows its parent show on Tuesday nights, is able to retain much of the audience, and is doing a good job of finding its own sense of humor while appealing to procedural-loving Americans. Also on Tuesday night is the solid new law drama, The Good Wife. Julianna Margulies stars as a woman in the aftermath of her politician husband’s public affair and corruption charges. In her best role since playing Nurse Carol Hathaway for 6 years on ER, she exudes intelligence and empathy as rookie lawyer Alicia Florrick.

V follows the same setup as the 1980’s sci-fi show on which it is based—an alien race called “The Visitors” arrives on Earth and seeks an exchange of water (to them a valuable resource) for technological and medical advances. After the masterpiece that was the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, I will never judge a sci-fi show as cheesy without first giving it a chance. After only a couple of episodes, V has not disappointed. LOST’s Elizabeth Mitchell stars as an FBI agent who is rightly skeptical of the V, led by the ethereal Morena Baccarin of Firefly fame. They claim that they are “of peace, always,” but their intentions are thrown into a new light when it is revealed that a group of Visitors have been living on Earth for years under assumed identities. Presumably, they have sought to infiltrate the human race in preparation for some master plan of destruction upon the arrival of their species.ABC is continuing to offer quality sci-fi/fantasy fare with FlashForward and V. Both are definite products of a post-LOST era, in which television is becoming highly less episodic in favor of serialized shows that develop over season-long arcs through intricate character development and slowly unraveling mysteries. FlashForward, with an ensemble cast that includes Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger, John Cho, Gabrielle Union, and Courtney B. Vance, tells the story of a world in panic after every person blacked out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds and witnessed their lives 6 months in the future. Observing people’s different responses to the event would be an interesting enough psychological study, but add to it that the flashforwards aren’t necessarily set in stone and the possibility that a couple of enigmatic, evasive individuals might have caused the blackout, and you have a pretty compelling drama.

In perhaps the most unexpected development of the fall, ABC also has some great comedy programming. The Wednesday night lineup contains a block of half-hour comedies—Modern Family, The Middle, and Cougar Town. All have their own merits, and a respectably sized viewership. Modern Family, in particular, has been outstanding. Starring Julie Bowen (Ed, LOST) and Married…With Children’s Ed O’Neill, the show follows the same documentary style filming made popular by The Office, this time on the wisdom of parenting. Modern Family is a wonderful combination of laugh-out-loud funny, smart, and endearing,

NBC’s Community, with Chevy Chase and Joel McHale, has also become a fan-favorite, focusing on a quirky group of students at a community college. Although the peacock network doesn’t really have any other noteworthy new shows, Parks and Recreation has been gaining momentum in its second round of episodes, after an uneven freshman season. Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, and Rashida Jones are taking that show to new levels of hilarity, as they continue to tell stories about local government through the lens of the Department of Parks and Recreation of Pawnee, Indiana.

Keeping in tune with the current crazy-hotness of vampires, The CW has found favor with Twilight and True Blood fans in The Vampire Diaries, based on a series of books by L.J. Smith. The young cast is led by Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, and Ian Somerhalder, who portray the strong-willed human girl (of course) and the vampire brothers.

While the next series might not have the most viewers, it has without a doubt the most devoted new fan following. FOX’s Glee has flashy musical numbers, adolescent hormones mixed with sweet emotion, and a unique, if inconsistent, sense of humor. From the creative vision of Ryan Murphy (going from Nip/Tuck to Glee is not exactly the straightest of lines), this series showcases the talent of musical theater superstars like Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, and Amber Riley. It is the dry wit of comedienne Jane Lynch as cheerleader coach Sue Sylvester that usually redeems even the shaky episodes. Plus, Glee has been so widely embraced by the Hollywood and Broadway communities that they are also able to bring in a shining presence like Kristin Chenoweth, or in future episodes, director Joss Whedon and Spring Awakening star Jonathan Groff.

Another gem of the fall season has been FX’s Sons of Anarchy. Although technically in its second year, this show has seen a rebirth, surging into the pantheon of great television. SOA follows a motorcycle club in the small town of Charming, CA, and, odd as it may seem, is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Charlie Hunnam (Green Street Hooligans) plays Jax Teller, the impetuous young VP of the Sons, whose outlook on life is changed by the birth of his son and the discovery of his dead father’s journal. Jax’s stepfather, Clay Morrow, is the club’s hard-headed president, skillfully portrayed by Hellboy’s Ron Perlman. Katey Sagal plays Gemma, the matriarch of the Sons. In Season 1, she had a toughness to rival any of the tatted, bike-riding criminals, but a brutal attack in the Season 2 premiere left her broken and vulnerable. Sagal’s real-life husband, Kurt Sutter, is the creator and executive producer for SOA—the man knows how to tell a story. Another memorable performance comes from Maggie Siff (Mad Men), as Jax’s rekindled love, Tara. Overall, a great cast and a fascinating glimpse into the hierarchical dynamics of an MC. Because it airs on cable instead of one of the major networks, this drama has short 13-episode seasons instead of the normal 22, so it feels okay to talk about this one as a relatively new show.

All of the above-mentioned shows are worth checking out. There is some high-quality television being made right now, and these new series are rising to the challenge.