New show picks - Fall 2011

[Dex]

With the CW's new show "Ringer" premiering last night, and the new season of Survivor starting this evening, I think it's safe to say that the new Fall season has started. With that in mind, there are a LOT of new shows premiering this season, most of them look pretty shitty, but a few should be on your radar, especially if you don't pay attention to commercials on TV/radio. Here are my top 5 picks to help you guys out;

Person of Interest (CBS)

Premise: 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.
Stars: Jim Caviezel ("The Prisoner"), Michael Emerson ("Lost") and Taraji P. Henson ("Boston Legal").
Production Team: J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk ("Lost"), Academy Award nominee Jonathan Nolan ("Memento"), David Semel ("Heroes") and Greg Plageman ("Cold Case") are the executive producers.

Terra Nova (FOX)

Premise: An ordinary family goes on an incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a daring experiment to save the human race.
Stars: Jason O'Mara ("Life on Mars"), Shelley Conn ("Mistresses"), Landon Liboiron ("Degrassi: The Next Generation"), Allison Miller ("Kings"), Naomi Scott ("Life Bites") and newcomer Alana Mansour
Production Team: Executive producers Steven Spielberg ("Saving Private Ryan," "Jurassic Park"), Peter Chernin, René Echevarria ("Castle," "The 4400") and Brannon Braga ("24")

Unforgettable (CBS)

Premise: Carrie Wells is 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.
Stars: Poppy Montgomery ("Without a Trace"), Dylan Walsh ("Nip/Tuck") Michael Gaston ("The Mentalist," "Rubicon"), Kevin Rankin ("Big Love," "Friday Night Lights') and Daya Vaidya.
Production Team: Ed Redlich, John Bellucci, Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly are executive producers.

Alcatraz (FOX)

Premise: When San Francisco Police Department Det. Rebecca Madsen is assigned to a grisly homicide case, a fingerprint leads her to a shocking suspect: Jack Sylvane, a former Alcatraz inmate who died decades ago. He is now loose on the streets of San Francisco, leaving bodies in his wake. And strangely, he hasn't aged a day since he was in Alcatraz.
Stars: Sarah Jones ("Sons of Anarchy"), Jeffrey Pierce ("The Nine"), Robert Forster ("Jackie Brown"), Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park"), Jorge Garcia ("Lost"), Jonny Coyne ("Undercovers"), Jason Butler Harner ("The Changeling") and Parminder Nagra ("ER").
Production Team: J.J. Abrams ("Fringe," "Lost"), Elizabeth Sarnoff ("Lost," "Deadwood")

Awake (NBC)

Premise: When Detective Michael Britten regains consciousness following his family's car accident, he is told that his wife Hannah perished but that his teen son, Rex, has survived. As he tries to put the pieces of his life back together, he awakens again in a parallel reality in which his wife is very much alive -- but his son Rex died in the accident. In order to keep both of his loved ones alive at one time, he begins living two dueling realities in parallel worlds.
Stars: Jason Issacs ("Harry Potter," "Brotherhood"), Laura Allen ("Terriers"), Dylan Minnette ("Saving Grace"), Steve Harris ("The Practice"), Wilmer Valderrama ("That '70s Show"), Cherry Jones ("24") and BD Wong (NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit").
Production Team: Kyle Killen ("Lone Star") and Howard Gordon ("24") are executive producers. David Slade ("30 Days of Night") also serves as executive producer and directed the pilot written by Killen.

[Dex]

Another show to add to the list; Showtime's HOMELAND
http://www.sho.com/site/homeland/home.sho

I don't have to speculate here, since I've seen the pilot episode... this show is A+ excellence.
You can watch it here;

The official premiere is October 2nd, airing alongside the newest season of Dexter.
If anyone needs extra incentive to watch... Morena Baccarin (Firefly, V) is full on naked 9 minutes in.

[gulliver]

Thanks for the suggestions Dex.

[AngelBaby]

Unforgettable was pretty good, Person of Interest was very cool.

[smash]

Good god, Whitney is horrible. Totally garbage. I knew it would suck, but it sucks on levels that Perfect Couples did.

[Dex]

Since we are weighing in on new shows;
Unforgettable = B
The Playboy Club = B-
New Girl = A
The Secret Circle = B-
2 Broke Girls = B
Up All Night = C
Free Agents = C-
Whitney = D-

[AngelBaby]

I think I'm all caught up with the new TVs to this point, so here are my grades...

Person of Interest = A
Prime Suspect = A
The Playboy Club = B+
Unforgettable = B
Pan Am = B-
Revenge = B-
New Girl = B-
Charlie's Angels = C+
Up All Night = C
Whitney = D+

Tonight we get Terra Nova, and I must admit, I've got my doubts going into this one. But I'll reserve judgement and see if I can't be pleasantly surprised.

[smash]

I've taken a new tact this year to my TV new shows. I'm pretty much watching none of them... I'll wait to see who gets canceled and who doesn't. Then I'll just consult Dex on what I need to catch up on, and go with what he tells me. Honestly, it's pretty much what I do anyway, so why not just simplify the process?

The FX American Horror Story looks interesting, but I fear it'll turn into a pile pretty easily. Homeland is going to be amazing, I'm sure. Although I did grab A Gifted Man(not yet seen), Ringer is the only new drama show I started watching and so far...it's alright.

[smash]

Angelbaby,

Are you watching "A Gifted Man"? I like it, which means it is probably doomed.

[Dex]

Angelbaby,

Are you watching "A Gifted Man"? I like it, which means it is probably doomed.

No, and yes.

[AngelBaby]

Smashy, I know you have a soft spot for Julie Benz, but I just couldn't fit this show into my already packed TV schedule. I do love medical dramas, but the premise just seemed too goofy for me. Dex mentioned something about the main character being somewhat like Dr. House, but there can be only one House, so that comparison didn't win me over.

Are you watching Person of Interest? IMO, it's one of the best new dramas on right now, I'd put it and Prime Suspect as the two best of the new bunch.

[smash]

I have a hard spot for Julie Benz... get it right! She's barely in the show.

The main character I wouldn't compare to House. He's just a good surgeon, and an elitist snob. The central conflict is his dead ex-wife is visiting him as a ghost to make him a better person by helping the common man.

I'm really not sure what I like about the show, I think I just like that it's a very odd twist on a typical doctor show. Like in the "Pushing Daisies" was a very odd twist on a standard comedy. However, I'm quite sure that it'll get the axe. The question is will it get a full season.

---
Person of Interest is piling up on my DVR with the first 3 episodes already downloaded to watch. Dex told me it would be amazing, so I am looking forward to it.

[smash]

Am loving Person of Interest. As usual, Dex is correct.

[efilflah]

I can't be the only one watching this can I?

[AngelBaby]

^^^
No, you are not. It's one of my faves of the new season. Weird and creepy as hell, but I can't look away.