Matt’s Take: The Fall TV Hotlist … PCS Style
Posted by: Matt Bergin on September 29, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Whether I’m gorging myself on complete series whole seasons at a time on DVD, enjoying some happy couch time with the wife as we burn through our nightly DVR regimen, or logging on to Hulu to catch up on any Must See shows that I Just Missed, I watch a lot of television. There may be no cure for my comics addiction…but when it comes to TV, I refuse to admit that I even have a problem.
And now, with the new TV season upon us, I’m joining the other PCS contributors in sharing my Top 5 Fall TV Shows:
Just because a show has been on the air for 35 years doesn’t mean they’ve all been good, but that’s kind of the charm of Saturday Night Live–it’s always a mixed bag of extremes, ranging week to week from trainwreck to genius, and either extreme is fun to watch. And even when the cast is weak, the show has always been a proving ground for Hollywood–a place where anyone who enjoys their celebrities as much as they do the celebrities’ work can see what those stars are really made of, doing comedy on live TV. The casts themselves are always an exciting thing to watch, knowing that huge movie stars got their start as featured talent and background fillers on the Saturday Night stage. The musical guests–often very much in tune with my iTunes rotation–aren’t too shabby either.
Speaking of trainwreck comedy, It’s Always Sunny is a horrorshow featuring the worst people in the world doing terrible things to each other and everyone around them, and it makes me smile wider and laugh harder than any other show on TV.
I first heard about this show one day when I suddenly blacked out for 2 minutes and had a vision of my future where I was thoroughly entertained by the pilot episode and satisfied that it might actually succeed in having the right mix of mystery and payoff needed for a show to be “the next Lost” (that’s a good thing for me–I love Lost). Just kidding, I saw a commercial for it in a movie theater a few weeks back. But the other stuff is true. Great premise (based on a book, right?), exciting opener, and so far I’m down with the pandering-to-Lost-fans casting.
How can you not love this show about a serial killer of serial killers struggling with his inner serial killer? Lead actor Michael C. Hall is really amazing to watch in the lead role, and that premise is just so juicy–but the real fun of the show comes from the combination of a hammy supporting cast, crazy episodic moments, and a smart sense of humor about its very dark subject matter.
Nathan Filion is a charming son of a gun. Somehow, that shark-nosed cad got me watching (and enjoying) a primetime crime procedural. And good for him, getting a second season with this one.
So What Else Is On?: It’s a little antiquated to fixate on the “Fall TV Season” as if that’s still THE time of year when all new shows debut. The Summer TV season had great shows like Rescue Me, True Blood, and Mad Men at the top of my Must list, and the Winter season will bring the final season of my favorite show of all time (right now)–Lost–and a second season for my favorite debut from last year, The United States of Tara. And thanks to TV on DVD, I’ll be spending a pretty big chunk of this Fall season catching up on shows like Breaking Bad, The BBC series Jeckyl, and the complete series of The Shield. And several other Fall shows I’ve got programmed on my DVR could sub for some of my Top 5 choices above–How I Met Your Mother, Dollhouse, The Office…
Sadly, because my wife insists, I will also be watching The Vampire Diaries. Any word on that suckfest getting canceled yet? And despite a strong sense of fanboy guilt over the decision, I will not be watching Heroes or Smallville, because no amount of nerd-friendly subject matter can get me to sit through those limp, convoluted time wasters. They’re holofoil variant cover bad–the only reason you’d want them is because you hope they’ll improve in value over time.
