What’s on TV – 2009
The following is a preview of new and returning shows for the Spring TV season.
Part 1 – Boradcast TV
ABC
Lost (returning January 21st)
Here’s another sneek peak with Jack and Ben. Awesome.
Castle (premiering March 9th)
ABC’s newest drama has Nathan Fillion returning to the small screen as a crime novelist asked to help the NYPD solve a murder based on one of his books.
Cupid (premiering April 8th)
From the creator of Veronica Mars and starring Sarah Paulson (Studio 60) and Bobby Cannavale comes the story of a man who really believes himself to be the God of Love.
The Goode Family (premiere unknown)
Latest animated fare from Mike Judge.
NBC
Friday Night Lights (returning January 16th)
I have already seen this season on DirecTV and it is very good. A lot of what went wrong in Season 2 has been fixed. Even though I sometimes feel as though I’m watching Dawson’s Creek with a football, I find myself liking it more and more. It’s probably in my top five right now.
Kings (premiering March 19th)
This modern retelling of the David vs. Goliath story is getting positive reviews. Stars Deadwood’s Ian McShane.
Also coming to NBC, Jay Leno’s nightly talk-show and Howie Do It which I didn’t bother to preview. Your welcome.
CBS
Harper’s Island (premiering April 9th)
A group of friends gather on an island for a wedding only to become victims, one by one, to a serial killer. The mystery is supposed to be wrapped-up by the time the 13-episode season ends.
FOX
24 (returning January 11th)
Not that I need to show you the trailer, but…
American Idol (returning January 13th)
There have been some changes. Kara DioGuardi joins the show as a judge. Some contestants will be offered a second chance with the return of the wild card. For the other changes, there are quite a few, see here.
Dollhouse (premieres Feb 13th)
Joss Whedon’s latest with Eliza Dushku who “plays a young woman named Echo, a member of a group of people known as “Actives” or “Dolls.” The Dolls have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas, including memory, muscle memory, skills, and language, for different assignments.”
Fox is also introducing two shows that bring two big-screen actors to the small screen with Alfred Molina in Courtroom K, and Tim Roth in Lie To Me.
Sit Down, Shut Up (premiere unknown)
Some of the Arrested Development alumns (Arnett, Bateman) have reunited for an animated remake of an Australian sitcom about the staff of a dysfunctional high school.
CW
Reaper (returns March 17th)
I’ve just about given up hoping that Dollhouse will be any good. I’ve yet to see a very enthusiastic review, and most of them have been pretty bad. And the more I think about the premise, the more it strikes me as kind of stupid. Whedon is good at high-concept stuff, but this one might just be a bit too high-concept.
I fully expect Lost to pick up where it left off and be really great this season. (Alas, I’ll be traveling on business during the season premier, so my recap may have to wait a day or two.)
I’d like to see Castle transcend its gimmicky procedural premise, because I like Fillion a lot. But I’m skeptical.
I’m not quite sure I understand why they are trying to bring back Cupid, sans Jeremy Piven. But Rob “I was never in Matchbox 20″ Thomas is a genius, so maybe they know what they are doing.
I predict that this so-called “American Idol” program will fail. I mean, people don’t really want to watch that sort of thing, right?
Comment by BTD Greg — January 2, 2009 @ 9:48 am
Yeah, Piven made Cupid. The original (along with that years remake of Fantasy Island) were surprisingly good and original. They remind me of Pushing Daisies.
Comment by clark — January 2, 2009 @ 10:17 am
Dollhouse isn’t getting much of a shot from Fox, being given a Friday night slot after the struggling Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Castle needs to be more than a younger version of Murder She Wrote.
Comment by Tim J — January 2, 2009 @ 10:19 am
Been a while since we’ve had a TV thread. Thanks for some of the previews, I miss all of these because I don’t watch without DVR anymore. I’ve already had Dollhouse on the list of shows to check out, but that preview isn’t getting me excited. Kings was another that I had written down as well, but hadn’t seen a preview. I might give Courtroom K, Lie to Me and Castle a shot.
Anyone else watching Leverage, that’s been a nice little show, very “Ocean’s 11 meets the A-Team”. It’s holding up for now.
Comment by Darin H — January 2, 2009 @ 11:32 am
One omission from the list: Scrubs starts its (probable) last season this week on ABC (jumping networks from NBC). While the show has lost a lot of steam the last couple of seasons, it’s probably still worth checking out.
Comment by BTD Greg — January 2, 2009 @ 11:39 am
I’m sure most of these new shows will be horrible, but I can’t help but get excited. Especially about Ian McShane’s new one, he was so amazing in Deadwood. Castle looks better than the normal formulaic cop show.
Comment by jjohnsen — January 2, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
Tim,
How many episodes did you count on Direct TV? I think I’m missing one. ~
Comment by Thomas Parkin — January 2, 2009 @ 6:24 pm
FNL, I mean. ~
Comment by Thomas Parkin — January 2, 2009 @ 6:25 pm
I think there’s still the finale left. Maybe another one too?
Comment by Tim J — January 2, 2009 @ 9:09 pm
Oh, good, Finale is the one I’m missing. ~
Comment by Thomas Parkin — January 2, 2009 @ 10:58 pm
This blog says there are seventy-one (71) new and returning shows this spring. Wow.
Comment by BTD Greg — January 5, 2009 @ 5:25 pm