2011-2012 Fall TV Preview: the New Shows on CBS

I experienced an earthquake for the first and, most likely, last time in my life not more than two hours ago. Naturally, I was mid-blog when my house shook. I would've preferred writing about something more exciting than the new shows on CBS's fall schedule but I wasn't. Ideally, I would've been engaged in something more exciting than blogging during the quake like a climbing a tall tree. The earth would've no doubt shook me from the branches, forcing me to grip onto a branch as I dangled mid-air with only my impressive upper-body strength as the difference between life and death. Alas, I was only blogging about 2 Broke Girls.

The CBS fall schedule's dull. Apparently, during press tour, critics want to protest the CBS panel out of boredom. The schedule's boring and dull because the network's secure. They have established hits. Why replace a peanut butter and jelly with honey mustard? Anyway, read on for what CBS is offering in the fall.

2 BROKE GIRLS

Created By Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings

Premiere Date: Monday, September 19

Premise: (from CBS's press release, May 2011) 2 BROKE GIRLS is a comedy about two young women waitressing at a greasy spoon diner who strike up an unlikely friendship in the hopes of launching a successful business - if only they can raise the cash.

Thoughts: Whitney Cummings is a busy woman. She'll star in her own sitcom on NBC while her other show, 2 Broke Girls, airs on CBS. Cummings became an extremely famous comedian over the last year or so. I remember The Sports Guy telling his Twitter followers about the woman, so that he'd cement himself as someone who liked Whitney before she blew up. Whatever. 2 Broke Girls has potential. CBS sitcoms usually follow the same structure and 2 Broke Girls don't seem likely to stand apart from the others, which isn't a criticism. I enjoy CBS sitcoms when they aren't being ran into the ground by two former Letterman writers. I never joined the Kat Dannings bandwagon after The 40 Year Old Virgin and that film with Michael Cera. The actress is very, very good in the scenes I saw. I enjoyed the characters' dry wit and Dannings' delivery. There's a lot of humor within the setting on a greasy spoon diner in Manhattan. Of course, the last shot of the two women sitting on a horse reminded me why sitcoms, except for the one's on NBC--Les Moonves probably thinks two pretty women atop a horse in Manhattan's the joke that makes a sitcom a hit. And, well, it's CBS so it's bound to be a hit.

Chance of Weekly Review: 3%

A GIFTED MAN

Created By Susannah Grant

Premiere Date: Friday, September 23

Premise: (from CBS's press release, May 2011) A GIFTED MAN is a drama about a brilliant, charismatic surgeon whose life changes forever when his deceased ex-wife begins teaching him the meaning of life from the "hereafter."

Thoughts: The premise of A Gifted Man's basically misleading. Yes, it's about a brilliant surgeon whose life changes forever when his ex-wife appears to him. The show, though, is about both of them equally (possibly...maybe). The premise lacks an engaging hook because the spirit of a deceased person who teaches someone the meaning of life's been done many times in TV, film and books. The preview hooked me a bit, though. I felt compelled to watch this surgeon help his ex-wife with the work she couldn't complete on earth. His ex-wife assisted the people the health-care system priced out. The series should cover BIG themes like life, death and spirituality. The quality of the storytelling's most important for A Gifted Man. Grant and her writers will be telling dime-a-dozen stories, so the characters have to be fully developed and the writing needs to be top-notch. Everwood proved that great writing makes the difference. I'll say A Gifted Man has potential if they can avoid the generic trappings of the genre. I'm hopeful, though. With the exception of No Ordinary Family, Julie Benz doesn't join lousy shows.

Chance of Weekly Review: 74%

HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN

Created By: David Hornsby

Premiere Date: Thursday, September 29

Premise: (from CBS's press release, May 2011) HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN, inspired by the book of the same name, is a comedy about the unlikely friendship between a traditional, refined writer and an unrefined personal trainer.

Thoughts: Sometimes CBS sitcoms remind me of Shakespeare's comedies. Now, The Bard would recoil if he was alive and I compared sitcoms with his plays. Sometimes, CBS sitcoms remind me of Victorian plays. The point, the development team's fond of series about different types of individuals forced to work together. How To Be A Gentleman's the male version of 2 Broke Girls. The show follows a gentleman and his high school bully. The gentleman wants to learn how to be a man while the bully wants to learn how to be a gentleman. The premise is so strong that I already know the structure for each episode. I feel like I know the sorts of jokes and situations that will be used in episodes. I don't have much interest in the show.

Chance of Weekly Review: 0%

PERSON OF INTEREST

Created By Jonathan Nolan

Premiere Date: Thursday, September 22

Premise: (from CBS's press release, May 2011) PERSON OF INTEREST stars Jim Caviezel, Emmy Award winner Michael Emerson and Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson in a crime thriller about a presumed dead former-CIA agent who teams up with a mysterious billionaire to prevent violent crimes by using their own brand of vigilante justice.

Thoughts: The show shares similarities with Wanted, the graphic novel-turned-film. I remember Morgan Freeman in a role similar to Michael Emerson's. Surprisingly, the eary reviews have been for the show. In May, I wrote about my excitement for the show after watching a preview online. The style's gritty and noir-ish. Jonah Nolan, sibling of Chris, created the series and wrote the pilot. I understand the tepidness. Cavaziel's been criticized for his performance. The week-to-week storytelling might become tiresome. Wanted, after all, became tiresome 80 some minutes into the film (but I watched parts of it too many times as usher at local cinema). One might say that Wanted dealt with assassin designed to commit violent crimes, and that person would be right; however, the story comes from the same place. Three months ago, I felt excited. Now, I'm reserved about Person of Interest. I'll just have to watch to find out.

Chance of Weekly Review: 34%

UNFORGETTABLE

Created By John Bellucci

Premiere Date: Tuesday, September 20

Premise: (from CBS's press release, May 2011) UNFORGETTABLE stars Poppy Montgomery as Carrie Wells, an enigmatic former police detective with a rare condition that makes her memory so flawless that every place, every conversation, every moment of joy and every heartbreak is forever embedded in her mind. It's not just that she doesn't forget anything - she can't; except for one thing: the details that would help solve her sister's long-ago murder.

Thoughts: Honestly, Unforgettable looks as generic as the most generic procedural on television. The season-long arc will be Carrie Wells' attempt to solve her sister's murder. Weekly, she'll use her flawless memory to solve various crimes. The series is sound structurally--it's just bland.

Chance of Weekly Review: 0%

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