New & Returning TV This Week (May 3 -9)

May 032010

It is still a bit early for the networks to announce their cuts, renewals and orders but that is planed to happen mid May unless the news leak out early. Rumors last week say that Heroes has been renewed for a final season already, personally I couldn’t care less

Last weeks sad news is that Legend of the Seeker and 10 Things I Hate About You have been canceled. The later might not upset many of you but LOTS will be missed by many.

I put the videos at the end.

Monday April 3

Monday is a good day for us genre viewers in sheer quality.

Chuck vs the Role Models (NBC) takes the newlyweds into training with another married pair of Agents, but they hate each other which screws up Chuck and Sarah’s mushy minds. Meanwhile Casey is supposed to train their new agent, Morgan. I am already smiling in anticipation. [Video below]

The Big Bang Spegetti Catalyst (CBS) features Sheldon as the in between. Leonard and Penny aren’t speaking and Sheldon tries to keep them both happy which is sure to amuse, a lot. [video below]

Castle (ABC) has Food to Die for when a high profile chef is found Frozen to death in the Kitchen of a hot NY resturant. Complications ensure as Castle and the restaurant owner, an old high school girlfriend of Beckett, share an attraction. Meanwhile, Beckett’s relationship with Detective Demming continues to grow. This looks like a great episode, the whole dynamic between Beckett and Castle is what makes Castle such a enjoyable show. [Videos below]

Of the non SF series you might want to check out Romantically Challenged (ABC) or Rules of Engagement (CBS). They go to a high school reunion respective look for a surrogate mother.

Tuesday May 4

It’s sad that the genre shows on Tuesdays don’t hold as much for me as the non-genre shows do.

In V the aliens tries to win the Hearts and Minds with the creepy live aboard program, Anna invites Tyler to join. Time for the freezers? The V sends a shuttle load of deadly V trackers after the fifth column and they have to stop it before it can land, unfortunately they might have been missinformed. V is on the bubble for renewal/cancellation and I don’t care about the numbers as much as the networks do but so far V has failed to hook me in, I hope that it will soon. It worries me I couldn’t find any action shots in the promotional photos. [videos below]

Lost shows the Candidate but I am not following that show. All the fans are excited about the series finale that is coming up now in May.

In NCIS (CBS) Anthony DiNozzo finds lady trouble in Obssesion.

Glee (FOX) is about Bad Reputation as a certain list circulate the school and Sue’s private music video of Olivia Newton-John’s classic ‘Physical’ surfaces.

Peter’s electronic monitor goes off as he chases The Good Wife (CBS) out of the apartment and her kids are covering for him. Alicia has her job cut out for her, again. This redemption thing works so well and the talented cast is a joy. [videos below]

In Justified Raylan invest the apparent suicide of a financial wizard, Owen Carnes. The widow Caryn knows more than she is letting on, making the case hard on Raylan. [video below]

Wednesday May 5

When his father chops off his hand Deputy Tommy Conroy is reluctantly forced to take over as the new sheriff of Haplin, the Happy Town. He has to investigate the recent murder and the return of the little towns dirty little secret serial killer, the Magic Man. Meanwhile perky Henley is determined to get to the secret third floor of the Boarding house. [video below]

You might want to check out Cougar Town where they consider friends with benefits.

Thursday May 6

After last weeks ‘musical’ episode Fringe is back to normal. Peter helps local law enforcement with a serial killer investigation with ties to Newton. Meanwhile Walter have to deal with maybe having to go back to the loony bin. Someone from the ‘other side’ pay’s a visit using the Northwest Passage? I wonder if we get any Peter – Walter resolution this episode? Do you know? [video below]

Supernatural (CW) is Two Minutes to Midnight when Bobby sells his soul to Crowley to avoid the Apocalypse and the Winchesters tangle with Pestilence who puts a deadly virus on them forcing Castiel to intervene. Dean goes head to head with Death and forms an unholy alliance at a high price for himself, in the hunt for the four rings they need to put the devil back into his underworld cage. Mark Sheppard who plays Crowley is such a glorious bastard, I can see where this is heading. [video below]

FlashForward goes on my save-to-watch pile, in the hope they will be better if I watch them all together. Someone is murdering the people that think they survived their flash forward fates and Mark helps Simon track down his missing sister.

Isobel returns to Mystic Falls in Vampire Diaries (CW). Mother and daughter finally meets, but Isobel refuses to answer most of Elena’s question but reveals she isn’t going to stop at nothing to find the mysterious invention Johnathan Gilbert has been searching for. Isobel’s dangerous actions lead Stefan, Damon and Bonnie to step in and help Elena deal with the situation.

Friday May 7

Friday is still SciFi Friday, but that might change next season. Syfy has allready decided to move it’s SciFi shows to Tuesdays when they return in autumn.

SGU is about Sabotage when one of the twelve FTL drive modules on the Destiny explode due to an overload, the crew calls upon a brilliant scientist from Earth to help find a solution. Nothing about what happened to Eli, Chloe and Scott? They where stranded at the end of last episode I would like to see how that play out. [video below]

Much to Clark’s surprise Martha Kent returns to Smallville with her new boyfriend Perry White. Perry and Lois get into trouble perusing a story about the Red Queen while Clark and Chloe search for the Book of Rao, which they think contains information they need to stop Zod. As the episode is named Hostage I think you can see where this is going.

Take a look at Gravity on Starz if you have the possibility.

Ariel becomes alarmed as she starts to loose large chunks of time in her life on Medium.

Melissa investigates an unresolved kidnapping that put her at more danger than anticipated in Ghost Whisperer.

Saturday May 8

We are lucky to have Legend of the Seeker on Saturdays, this week Rhal capture Cara and turn her against Richard as the Series Finale approach in Eternity. Richard and Kahlan discover the Stone of Tears is in a magical land from which they cannot leave; a surprise reunion lures Cara and Zedd into a deadly confrontation… I always thought Goodkin’s books where on the kinky side and this looks like another kinky episode. [video below]

The Doctor is recruited by Father Octavian to track the last of the Weeping Angels through the terrifying Maze of the Dead in this weeks on BBCA Doctor Who. As the Time Lord faces the Lonely Assassins, last seen in Blink, River Song is by his side. But can she be trusted?

Sunday May 9

No science fiction on Sundays, yet. Try Treme you might like it.

Click Continue for the Videos

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New on TV in May 2010

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Apr 302010

May is a month of season finales and renewal and pilot-to-series announcements. Not much new at least not scripted and science fiction. The only new non-reality series I found was this drama-comedy The Good Guy from FOX. It’s a a new action comedy about what happens when an old-school cop and a modern-day detective expose the big picture of small crime. It looks promising (more of it at the end of the post).

Returning tv series. Ashes to Ashes season two premieres May 11, but thats not a show I am following. Past Life is expected to return with the remaining episodes after it’s first run was prematurely canceled, expect it to suck.

Legend of the Seeker has its Series Finale Saturday May 22 since it’s been canceled (Read the post). I have really enjoyed the series even if it wasn’t perfect all the time. Richard, Kahlan and Zed, you will be missed.

It’s time for Season Finales now as spring hits nature here on the northern hemisphere. Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, Smallville, Chuck, Castle, V, Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Lost, The Big Bang Theory and FlashForward all spring their’s season finales in May. Most of them are expected to return but I doubt that FlashForward will and some other shows are still on the bubble Chuck and V for example.

Of the finales I am especially looking forward to the Apocalypse on Supernatural.

A few non SF shows I follow is also ending their season NCIS, House, Cougar Town, Bones, Gossip Girl, The Good Wife, Two and a Half Men and The Mentalist. Hmm, wonder if Two and a Half Men will be back, Charlie Sheen might want to get out according to the papers?

Recaps of April: Many of my favorite series returned after hiatus. Fringe came back with the truth about Peter arc, it’s better than ever. SGU picked up the pace and returned with aliens and a whole new positive beat, worth watching. Chuck and Sarah are finally together, and yes they are still spies (so are Morgan and Casey – on a mission together). Chuck has been fantastic this season. Two new shows you should try are Romantically Challenged, a comedy of four friends staring the talented and funny Alyssa Milano and Gravity, a comedy show about suicide and two star crossed and quirky people that meet through a suicide support group. Treme on sundays is also new and worth a non SF watch, great music. Happy Town is not a comedy, I am watching the premiere as I write this. It was okay, I will watch a few more episodes before I write a review. I also watched the first two episodes of Miami Medical but wasn’t impressed. Did I miss anything good?

The God Guy – A New Comedy on FOX

Premieres May 19, looks promising enough for me to give it a try.

From Matt Nix (“Burn Notice”), comes THE GOOD GUYS, a new action comedy about what happens when an old-school cop and a modern-day detective expose the big picture of small crime.

Once upon the 1970s, DAN STARK (Bradley Whitford) and his partner, Frank Savage, were big-shot Dallas detectives. So big, in fact, that they were lauded as American heroes after saving the Governor’s son. Thirty years later, Dan Stark is a washed-up detective who spends most of his time drunk or re-hashing his glory days. A stranger to modern police work who would much rather trust his old-school police instincts, Dan has the reputation as being a bit of a wild card. Able to skate by on the heroic deeds of his yesteryear, he is still a semi-active presence on the force, and with the help of his liquor of choice, occasionally comes through to solve a petty crime.

Dan’s new partner, JACK BAILEY (Colin Hanks), is an ambitious, by-the-book and overall good detective, but is sometimes a bit too snarky for his own good. His habit of undermining himself has earned him a dead-end position in the department, and he is stuck solving annoying petty theft cases that nobody else wants. Worse, he’s been given the thankless task of babysitting Dan, the drunk pariah who can never keep partners for long. Jack may not see it, but he has little chance of getting out of his situation; his knack for making enemies at the station has assured he is not going anywhere.

His only ally is ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY LIZ TRAYNOR (Jenny Wade), a quick witted former girlfriend whom Jack hasn’t quite gotten over and the one person he turns to for help with his current professional predicament. Until Jack finds his way out of this situation, he is stuck awaiting the day when he can turn everything around, get back to solving actual cases and return to being a real detective.

On one fairly typical day, as Jack and Dan are pursuing a Code 58, the Dallas police code for routine investigations, which puts them hot on the case of a stolen humidifier, they inadvertently become engaged in a shootout over a stolen golf bag belonging to a notorious drug smuggler. This starts Jack and Dan on a wild chase to retrieve the bag, recover the contents inside and go after the drug smuggler – all while dodging his hired assassin!

The excitement of the case reminds Dan of the way he and Frank busted punks back in the good old days, and he convinces Jack to go along for the ride. Needless to say, many departmental rules are again broken in the reckless pursuit, showing their boss, LIEUTENANT ANA RUIZ (Diana Maria Riva), that Jack and Dan will be spending many more days in the Property Crimes Division, assigned to investigate seemingly minor crimes in order to keep them out of major trouble.

It”s going to be a fantastic month with all these season finales!

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What’s New or Returning on TV This Week (April 5 – 11)

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Apr 052010

This is filming season for some mighty interesting new shows like Betwixt (CW) and The Gates (ABC). They were using real wolves on the later according to Janina Gavankar who plays Leigh Turner on the show that will air this summer. Hope we will see some promo pics soon.

Back to already filmed TV. No new or returning SF this week, Just some shows that feel as New as they started.

Monday is Chuck’s (NBC) night as Sarah, Shaw and Chuck reunite to find the Ring operative who killed Shaws wife. But don’t forget that there is also Castle (ABC), I know it’s non SF but Nathan Fillion is reason enough to look forward to. I will also watch Saving Grace’s (TNT) second episode in the final season of the series. I was a bit disappointed in the season premiere last week it felt a bit colorless compared to earlier but I for one hope it will pick up with some angel and crime action this time.

Tuesday is the night most folks watch Lost, I will go for V (ABC). The new version of V is really picking up, tonights episode is A Pound of Flesh. I will dabble in NCIS and The Good Wife outside SF.

Wednesday is Human Target, in my reality Chance’s power of adaption and ability to shake any skill he needs out of his sleeves is SF enough.

Thursday is Fringe day, just the name of this episode is enough Olivia. In The Lab. With The Revolver to want to watch it. I might watch some FlashForward (ABC) but there is a big risk that Bones wins that competition, sorry SF. I still store up Vampire Diaries to watch in one go. The Winchester brothers will have 99 Problems in tonights Supernatural but they get help from a very peculiar town.

Friday is Stargate Universe time, tonight’s episode is called Divided. I might save Ghost Whisperer and Medium to watch later.

Rest of the week is not much unless you live in the UK and can watch Dr Who.

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What’s New or Returning on TV This Week? (8-14 March 2010)

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Mar 072010

This is a more normal week but still few genre shows Chuck, The Big Bang Theory and Caprica since I am not into Lost.

Sons of Tuscon premieres, Castle is back from hiatus. Season finales from Psych, White Collar and Numb3rs (Series finale?).

Sons of Tuscon 1.01 – Pilot (FOX) Series Premiere

This is a new comedy and I will wait until a few episodes to say anything. Unless it totally rocks my world.

Sunday 14

In the tradition of “Malcolm in the Middle” and “The Bernie Mac Show,” SONS OF TUCSON is a family comedy about three brothers who hire a charming, wayward schemer to stand in as their father when their real one goes to prison. What begins as a business relationship evolves into something more complex and compelling: a family unlike any we’ve ever seen.

The three brothers find their dad-for-hire, Ron Snuffkin (Tyler Labine, “Reaper”), at the local sporting good store. Ron will be forced to draw on a wide array of skills and a vast bag of tricks as he steps into the patriarch role to take care of the boys of the Gunderson family.

Robby Gunderson (Davis Cleveland, “How I Met Your Mother”), 8, is a loose cannon who doesn’t respond well to authority;

Gary Gunderson (Frank Dolce, “Doubt”), 11, is a bright and street-savvy leader who is every bit the con man his father is;

Brandon Gunderson (Troy Gentile, “Entourage”), 13, is a gentle free spirit who simply goes along for the ride.

Maggie Morales (Natalie Martinez, “Saints & Sinners”), Robby’s second-grade teacher and the object of Ron’s affection, might just be the only stable figure in the lives of this quirky quartet.

While SONS OF TUCSON is grounded in the day-to-day challenges of a single-parent home, nothing in the Gunderson household is quite what it seems. An ongoing chess match between Ron and the boys will keep both parties on their toes, as neither side can afford to give up too much power or independence.

Pilot: When the Gunderson boys Brandon, Gary and Robby hire Ron Snuffkin to pretend to be their father after their real father goes to prison, they find out that there’s more to their “fake” dad than meets the eye. Ron has to enroll them in school, convince Robby’s teacher to keep him in her class, sweet-talk the principal, locate mint-condition toy soldiers at his grandmother’s house and avoid a thug who wants his money.

House 6.05 – Private Lives (FOX) returns from hiatus

Monday 8th

House (Hugh Laurie) and the team take on the case of an avid blogger (guest star Laura Prepon, “That ‘70s Show”) admitted with sudden bruising and bleeding. From her hospital bed, the patient blogs about her symptoms, doctors and prospective diagnoses to her dedicated band of followers and solicits their advice on a course of treatment. Such openness leads the team to contemplate the value of privacy, especially after House and Wilson uncover secrets from one another’s past.

Gossip Girl 3.13 – The Hurt Locket (The CW) returning from hiatus

Monday 8th

Nate and Serena decide to explore the boundaries of their friendship. Blair suspects that Chuck is having problems forgetting about the woman (guest star Laura Harring) he saw at his father’s grave. Jenny agrees to accompany Damien (guest star Kevin Zegers) to a State Dinner but is unaware that he needs her help with a drug exchange. Vanessa and Dan attempt to move past the awkwardness of Dan’s confession of love. Rufus returns from a ski trip and tries his best to avoid Lily.

Castle 2.06 – The Mistress Always Spank Twice (ABC) returning from hiatus

Monday 8th

This is a show that keeps getting better and better and now its back with another saucy episode.

When a half-naked woman is found covered in caramel sauce and hanging by bondage cuffs in a public park, Castle and Beckett’s investigation takes them into New York’s underground world of sexual domination. Naturally the case serves as sexy fodder for their already charged relationship banter

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New & Returning TV This Week March 1-7 2010

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Feb 282010

The black hole of the winter Olympics is finally behind us.

Parenthood (New Series Premiere)

Tuesday, March 2

I like cosy and warm, deal with it.

We are introduced to the very unique Braveman family. Single mom Sarah, and her two kids Amber and Drew, are moving back home with Sarah’s parents Zeek and Camille. Julia, Sarah’s sister and complete opposite is a successful attorney trying to do both, work and motherhood, alongside her stay-at-home husband, Joel. Sarah’s younger brother, Crosby is a commitment-phobe who must accept adult responsabilities when his old flame Jasmine shows up with a kid. Meanwhile, the older sibling of the Bravemans, Adam, his wife Kristina and their teenage daughter Haddie learn that their little boy, Max has Asperger’s Syndrome. Although each sibling has its own problems, this reunion may be the push they needed to help each other with the challenges that every family faces while raising children and starting over.

Chuck 3.08 – Chuck vs the Fake Name (returning from hiatus)

Monday, March 1

Love that Chuck is back!

Chuck goes undercover as the world’s most dangerous assassin. Chuck promises to cook dinner for Hannah, Ellie and Awesome but must first assume the identity of the world’s most dangerous assassin for his latest mission. Meanwhile, Sarah is determined to keep her relationship with Shaw strictly professional.

Other TV Shows of Interest

Monday, March 1

Life Unexpected 1.06 – Crisis Unaverted

Sounds pretty predictable, I expect better.

In the midst of feeling like he is being pushed out of Lux’s life by Cate and Ryan, Baze wins the chance to compete against Ryan in a radio station contest and is determined to be the last man standing. Cate contemplates finally telling Ryan the full truth about Baze, but can’t bear the thought of what might happen if she does. When Tasha tells Lux she may have to move three hours away to a new foster home, Lux decides to help Tasha track down her mother who is still living in town.

The Big Bang Theory 3.16 – The Excelsior Acquisition

Sheldon misses his chance to meet comic book legend Stan Lee. Sheldon winds up in traffic court when he gets a ticket because of Penny.

Tuesday, March 2

NCIS 7.16 – Mother’s day

Secrets arise when Gibbs’ former mother-in-law surfaces as a witness in a murder investigation

The Good Wife 1.15 – Bang

While Peter gets acclimated to life at home and works on a comeback strategy with his political team, including Eli Gold , Alicia and Diane wrestle with spousal privilege laws in a murder case that hinges on their ability to get a wife to testify against her husband

Wednesday, March 3 (no luck)

Thursday, March 4

Burn Notice 3.16 – Devil You Know (3rd season finale)

Finally!

Michael is approached by his alter ego – the man who actually commited the crimes that were used to burn him.

Friday, March 5

Ghost Whisperer 5.15 – Implosion (100th episode)

A ghost who knows of a hidden munitions dump with unexploded bombs confides in Melinda that one of those bombs is missing and in the wrong hands, warning that someone will lose their life