Emmy picks 2011

Just for fun, my personal favorites...

Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire; Dexter; Friday Night Lights; Game of Thrones; The Good Wife; Mad Men

My vote: Sentimentally I'd favor "Friday Night Lights" since it's never won, but "Mad Men" had one of its strongest seasons and deserves to win again. (Haven't seen "Dexter," "Game of Thrones")

Should be nominated: "The Walking Dead," "In Treatment"

Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law; Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights; Mireille Enos, The Killing; Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU; Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

My vote: Britton because she's never won and the role of Tami Taylor should've earned her at least one by now. But if she already won, I'd be torn between Margulies and Moss. (Didn't see Bates beyond the pilot; saw less than five for Hargitay)

Should be nominated: Katey Sagal, "Sons of Anarchy"

Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire; Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Jon Hamm, Mad Men; Hugh Laurie, House; Timothy Olyphant, Justified

My vote: Hamm all the way. (Haven't seen Hall, Laurie, Olyphant)

Should be nominated: Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife; Michelle Forbes, The Killing; Christina Hendricks, Mad Men; Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire; Margo Martindale, Justified; Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife

My vote: Without seeing Martindale (who would probably get my vote), I'd go with Macdonald over the universally strong competition.

Should be nominated: Amy Ryan, "In Treatment"

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age; Alan Cumming, The Good Wife; Josh Charles, The Good Wife; Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones; Walton Goggins, Justified; John Slattery, Mad Men

My vote: Haven't seen half the contenders here (Braugher, Dinklage, Goggins) which would force me to go with Cumming, a solid but not dominant contender.

Should be nominated: Michael B. Jordan, "Friday Night Lights"; Vincent Kartheiser, "Mad Men"; Irrfan Khan, "In Treatment"; Denis O'Hare, "True Blood"

Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory; Glee; Modern Family; The Office; Parks and Recreation; 30 Rock

My vote: Easy call: "Parks and Recreation."

Should be nominated: "Bored to Death"; "Louie"

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Laura Linney, The Big C; Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly; Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope; Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

My vote: Poehler is the best part of the best comedy on TV. But Linney is nearly as good, which says a lot. (Didn't see McCarthy or Plimpton beyond their pilots)

Should be nominated: Lea Michele, "Glee"

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock; Louis C.K., Louie; Steve Carell, The Office; Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory; Matt LeBlanc, Episodes; Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

My vote: I wouldn't object to Carell finally winning but without seeing "The Office," I go with CK. (Haven't seen either "Big Bang" actor)

Should be nominated: Danny McBride, "Eastbound and Down"; Jason Schwartzman, "Bored to Death"

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Julie Bowen, Modern Family; Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock; Jane Lynch, Glee; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family; Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live; Betty White, Hot in Cleveland

My vote: Vergara.

Should be nominated: Heather Morris and Naya Rivera, "Glee"; Merrit Wever, "Nurse Jackie"

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell, Modern Family; Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men; Chris Colfer, Glee; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family; Ed O'Neill, Modern Family; Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

My vote: Colfer, though my "Modern Family" vote would go to Burrell, even better in the show's second season. (Haven't seen Cryer)

Should be nominated: Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis, "Bored to Death"; Rob Lowe (foolishly submitting himself as lead) and Nick Offerman, "Parks and Recreation"

TV movie or miniseries
Cinema Verite; Downton Abbey; The Kennedys; Mildred Pierce; The Pillars of the Earth; Too Big to Fail

My vote: Richly cinematic "Mildred Pierce" over elegantly addictive "Downton" (Haven't seen "Pillars" or "Too Big"; suffered through just a partial episode of "The Kennedys")

Should be nominated: "Carlos"; "Luther"; "Sherlock"

In TV movie/mini-series acting I'd go with Edgar Ramirez ("Carlos"), Kate Winslet ("Mildred Pierce"), Guy Pearce ("Mildred Pierce") and Maggie Smith ("Downton Abbey").

Should be nominees:
Actor - Benedict Cumberbatch ("Sherlock")
Supporting Actor - Martin Freeman ("Sherlock"); Brendan Coyle ("Downton Abbey")
Supporting Actress - Ruth Wilson ("Luther")

Memo to idiotic Emmy voters

Hour long shows can be comedies too.

This was a really strange year for TV and overall the nominations aren't terrible.

But these picks are way better.

Best Idol Ever

Oh happy day.

Stankjaya got the boot.

The glee on Simon's face as he realized his season-long dream coming true was priceless.

After Chris' disastrous performance I thought he'd be going home (he's been in the bottom three twice before, suggesting his fan base is weak, and he was practically as bad as lil' Stanky last night). But he didn't even hit the bottom three. Apparently America agrees with him that "nasally" is a valid form of singing...

LaKisha also seemed to be on shaky ground and was the last one standing next to He of the Demonic Grin.

But all negatives aside, now that the kid is gone I have to hope he doesn't have a life of ridicule ahead of him. The nasty side of Idol is in the way it can build people up and then toss them aside with no regard. It's not completely the show's fault, it's also Sanjaya's and his family's for deciding to enter the competition and stay in under the pressure.

Hopefully he'll just move on to a life and career outside of music. But the temptation to cash in on fame while he has it may be too much to resist. And the attempts to do so will surely be painful.

But the competition will be a lot more fun from here on. I don't think it's a coincidence Melinda and Jordin are now the only two contestants to never land in the bottom three. I think we have our final two right there (barring a Daughtry-esque elimination "shocker").

Go Doolittle!

In praise of The Shield

The Sopranos' return to HBO was the TV event of the week (and probably the season) but one of its few true peers, FX's The Shield, is back on the air too.

I'm lucky enough to be the LA Times "showtracker" for the series and my first piece is up on the recently launched Showtracker blog.

Big fat spoilers if you've never seen The Shield, not to mention it won't mean much if you haven't, but I feel a little bit honored to be able to write about something so good. If it's not too lame to admit that.

First decent Idol results of the season

Finally, one of the top 12 who really deserved to be booted actually was. Goodbye Haley, no one will miss you or your botched attempts at sex appeal.

And since Stankjaya is still seemingly Untouchable (offense intended), it was appropriate to see Phil and Chris in the bottom three.

Latin week was hideous. Country week is up next...

These Idol producers really know how to pick a theme well suited to their contestants, don't they?

Idol thoughts

I’ve been silent on American Idol so far this season but it’s not because I haven’t been enjoying it. Melinda and LaKisha are terrific and Blake and Jordin help to keep the competition interesting. One exceptional, one near exceptional and two solid talents make for a more satisfying line-up than last season. With any luck they’ll be the final four…but who knows.

There is the Stankjaya problem. To give the Worst Top 12 Contestant Ever some credit: he does bring a bizarrely compelling quality of his own to the show. The producers must be watching all of this nervously. He’s pushing the limits of the any-publicity-is-good-publicity theory and his presence on the show blurs the line between the top 12 performance shows and the audition rounds like no one ever has before. All that credibility carefully cultivated by album sales, Grammy wins and even an Oscar win for former contestants could be in serious jeopardy.

Right now it’s a given that he’s going to outlast more talented people. Last week was the first time in over a month that someone significantly better wasn’t eliminated after A.J., Sabrina, Brandon and Stephanie were knocked out over the previous four weeks. And last week’s victim, Chris Sligh, didn’t start off horribly, he just fell apart under the pressure. Obviously he too should’ve outlasted Stankjaya in any normal competition.

Tonight is “standards” night and the contestants most in jeopardy have to be Phil Stacey and Haley Scarnato, who have both long outlasted their welcome (neither deserved top 12 placement). Phil did better than ever before last week but there’s no reason to think either of them have enough support to stay around much longer. Standards week could also do some damage to another mediocre contestant, Gina Glocksen, and Chris Richardson needs to avoid being boring.

I dumped even more general thoughts on the show so far into this photo gallery. And the page for the departed Chris Sligh.

Season finale, times three

In an unusual coincidence, there are three season finales for quality serial dramas on TV tonight. Showtime airs the fourth season finale of The L Word, Sci Fi has the third season finale of Battlestar Galactica and HBO will run the second season (and also series) finale of Rome.

The L Word has rebounded nicely from a series-worst third season with a lighter, fresher approach driven by new relationships and evolving characters. The performances have always been the show's standout element, and this season has given Jennifer Beals another chance to shine as alternately vulnerable and narcissistic power lesbian Bette Porter, provided some of the best material yet for ace supporting actresses Katherine Moennig (who brings the drama as perpetually damaged Shane) and Leisha Hailey (who brings the comedy as sprightly social hub Alice) and enjoyably transformed Brit actress Rachel Shelley's character from vaguely villainous to a lovably neurotic mess (which gives the gorgeous Shelley an opportunity to show off considerable comedic skills).

And the show added a couple of recognizable TV faces: Marlee Matlin fits in perfectly as a new love interest for Bette, while Cybill Shepherd feels more like stunt casting as Bette's colleague who comes out as a lesbian late in life. Foxy guest star Kristanna Loken and welcome new addition Rose Rollins have also delivered this season, helping to make The L Word good soapy fun and more entertaining, if not necessarily better, than ever.

Rome, on the other hand, has had a difficult time matching the sharpness of its first season. It's still an addictive adult pleasure but the storylines were a little flabbier this time around, especially for former Centurions Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson). And the political intrigue of Mark Antony vs. Gaius Octavian (who will become Caesar Augustus) hasn't quite matched the compelling first season arc of Julius Caesar. But the ensemble cast is still effective and the knowledge that this would be the show's final season seems to have encouraged the producers to knock off key characters with ruthless efficiency. Someone seemed to die in practically every episode (of course history may have necessitated much of that as well). In an encouraging sign for tonight's finale, Rome's most recent episode was also the season's best. The excellent hour finally brought together Antony and Cleopatra and set the stage for a war between Antony and Octavian. Chances are good this unusual series will end on a high note.

The only one of tonight's finales that I've already seen is Battlestar Galactica's, and considering the show is the best of these three I'm betting this exceptional season ender is also the highlight of what's airing tonight.

Battlestar is known for thrilling cliffhanger endings and what happens tonight will change the series' world as much as last season's jump into the future. Nearly every major character reaches a turning point and the show furthers the season's mystery involving previously unseen Cylons. Battlestar has had its roughest season yet, with too many self-contained episodes in place of its usual compelling story arcs and not enough material for some key players including Mary McDonnell's President Roslin and Tricia Helfer's Cylon Number Six. But even when it's weaker, Battlestar remains one of TV's top hours. And when it's really on its game, as it has been for the past three weeks and continues to be tonight, it's a prime example of just how good serial television can be.

FX rebounds with The Riches

Tonight's premiere of The Riches on FX couldn't arrive any sooner. The "edgy" cable network still has its most recent misfire on the air, and they haven't launched a successful hour since Rescue Me which is about to enter its fourth season. With The Shield's latest season still nearly a month away from launch there's a serious lack of quality at the network right now. I'm not sure The Riches has what it takes to become a ratings juggernaut but at least the pilot is good, and suggests the start of something worth paying attention to.

The show is a strange creation, even for a boundary-pushing network like FX. Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver star as the heads of a family who live out of their camper, roaming from town to town stealing for a living. It's a gypsy lifestyle and from what we learn in the pilot it's also how Driver's character was raised. But when the family gets an opportunity for a fresh start they take it.

The closest comparison for The Riches on TV today is HBO's Big Love, which also looks at an American family with circumstances so unique they might as well be from another planet and their awkward relationship with society at large. The basic set-up of a family assuming new identities recalls The CW's instant flop Runaway, while Izzard and Driver appear primed to play out the kind of complicated relationship full of moral ambiguities that Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen were robbed of when CBS rudely yanked fall's promising crime drama Smith. Like the latter two shows The Riches wouldn't have a prayer on network TV, but like Big Love it has the opportunity to speak to an appreciative niche audience while making the most of the creative freedom cable provides.

There's plenty of naughty language, some violence and a little sex in the show's pilot but unlike some other FX shows The Riches doesn't seem eager to abuse its freedoms and "push the envelope" just for shock value. The characters are more than enough to grab viewers' attention.

The Riches will air Mondays at 10 on FX with repeats throughout the week and the pilot is available to watch anytime this week on Yahoo! TV.

Lost lessons

Lost was much improved last night, the turnaround from an all time low last week to one of the season's best this week was dazzling. (Of course being one of the "best" in a mediocre season isn't much to celebrate, but I think it's all that can reasonably be expected from the show anymore.)

Top three reasons why:

1) John Locke. Don't the writers understand this is their best character? And unlike Hurley or Sawyer he's worth including in every episode.

2) A backstory that was well acted, well written and actually meant something for the episode. Plus, Sayid is probably the show's second best character.

3) I was able to fast forward through the handful of Sawyer scenes. I only watched the first scene for Sun & Jin and the entertainingly awful new characters.

Tracking Heroes, Lost

I wrote an item on Monday's episode of Heroes for the new LA Times TV feature Showtracker. It's very spoiler heavy, so if you watch and haven't seen the latest episode yet you'll want to steer clear. But it's really the first piece I've written specifically for LA Times, so that's exciting.

And in anticipation of this week's new episode of Lost I'd recommend this recap of last week's staggeringly awful hour (the writer happens to be really talented and beautiful but that's not my only reason for liking it).

The episode was such an unnecessary tangent, at such an inopportune time, I really think it might be the single worst Lost episode to date. That's quite an achievement considering previous pointless hours wasted on Sawyer, Kate, Hurley and Charlie. The next two weeks supposedly focus on Sayid and Claire and will hopefully give me a reason to keep watching without feeling like a complete masochist.

Good TV: Knights of Prosperity

This season's standout new half-hour comedy, The Knights of Prosperity, finally arrives tonight at 9 on ABC. It's a smart, single camera show about a group of blue collar guys (and one attractive woman) who decide to improve their status by robbing a celebrity. In the pilot they set their sites on Mick Jagger (who plays himself in very funny segments throughout tonight's episode).

If the series had premiered last year as originally planned it would've been one of my top picks for Fall TV, but the network decided to hold off until midseason. At the time I thought that might be a good move, but it's possible Knights could've benefited from the Dancing with the Stars lead in that Ted Danson's Help Me Help You squandered. Now Knights goes out with According to Jim as a lead-in...the differences couldn't be more striking.

Knights stars vaguely familiar TV faces like Donal Logue, Sofia Vergara and Lenny Venito but their credits are not as important as the chemistry they develop as an ensemble. Each of the six characters is well defined, unique and smartly cast. One of the show's most immediately appealing traits is the lack of cookie-cutter casting.

The writing and direction for the pilot are equally sharp. It's impossible to say if the show will sustain its heist-driven concept, but the writing and cast chemistry should make Knights a welcome addition to the quality TV comedy landscape.

If you miss tonight's premiere you can still catch it on ABC.com tomorrow.

Knights is paired with another new comedy, In Case of Emergency. I haven't seen it, but I hear it's not so good.

FX strikes out

I'm not finished looking back at 2006 yet but I already want to declare the new FX series Dirt, which premieres tonight, the worst show of 2007. This is the kind of disaster only a network normally associated with quality could produce.

It's not worth discussing the details of the show other than to say it has some of the worst writing, acting and filmmaking you can currently find in scripted television. What's notable is where you find it. If Dirt was airing on Lifetime it wouldn't be much cause for concern. But coming from FX—home to The Shield, Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and scores of noble misfires—this is pretty shocking. It goes beyond HBO's recent atrocity, Lucky Louie, which at least had a decent concept despite its horrendous execution.

After just a few minutes of Dirt's pilot episode it's obvious that the show never should've made it to air in its current form. It demands reshoots, rewriting, recasting. Courteney Cox Arquette, who is both executive producer and series lead, gives a performance so wooden and inept it's just embarrassing. But there's really no one to blame except the FX executives who ushered this on the air.

They could've said no. Luckily viewers can correct that mistake.

Fall TV Update

Don't tune in to CBS tonight expecting to see a new episode of Smith, one of my fall season favorites. Chances are you weren't planning on it anyway.

Smith, rather sadly, appears to have suffered the grand indignity of being the first fall season casualty. Poor ratings on a network that doesn't need to tolerate audience apathy seem to be the cause for the rapid yanking (only three episodes aired).

Meanwhile, over on NBC (which needs to tolerate audience apathy pretty much seven days a week) the classy thriller Kidnapped has been told to wrap it up at 13 episodes. More insulting: the show has been banished from its 10 pm Wednesday timeslot to the TV Siberia of Saturday nights. But at least it appears NBC is giving it a chance to wrap up its storyline (and it's a sure bet for a DVD release).

Fox has made several changes to their schedule as well, banishing Vanished to Friday nights where it can die quietly and promoting Justice to Mondays where the network hopes the lame procedural can pull a House and grow an audience over time. Not that that strategy has worked yet for Bones.

They've also pulled Happy Hour (aka the Worst New Show) from the schedule, saying it will return but keeping the details so vague it's obvious they hope people will simply forget it ever aired. And seriously Fox, why did it air?

Oh and The CW is switching their Monday and Sunday night program blocks. Will anyone even notice?

But back to Smith. I haven't had time to watch the two episodes that aired after the pilot and it's possible the show started to flounder creatively, but this still has to be considered a disappointment for fans of good TV. CBS took a chance with a show that, well, took chances. And it turned out that didn't fit with the network's formulaic schedule.

I'm not sure how many episodes of Smith were produced or if they'll get to complete their order. At this point CBS won't even say the show is dead, but the network has plenty of midseason contenders to fill the holes created by fall flops (both Shark on Thursdays and especially The Class on Mondays are struggling as well).

The medical drama 3 lbs. with Stanley Tucci and Mark Feuerstein has already been pegged a likely replacement for Smith, while David Spade/Patrick Warburton relationship comedy Rules of Engagement is a clear fit for Mondays. There's also the multi-generational soap Waterfront that could work on Thursdays.

Smith falls down. CBS moves on. And so it goes.

Better ratings news for other standout shows: Ugly Betty, Heroes (picked up for a full season), Jericho and Brothers & Sisters, which are all performing well in their timeslots. The Nine's debut was underwhelming but as long as it doesn't bleed viewers the way Invasion did it should survive, and even that show got one full season which is all The Nine needs anyway.

November's right around the corner. Then things get really ugly.

Frakkin' toasters

If you know what that subject line means then you probably also know that Battlestar Galactica returns for a third season tonight on Sci Fi Channel (with encores airing Sunday, Monday and Tuesday).

Last season the show was one of my picks for the season's best and having seen rough cuts (without visual effects, sadly) of four new episodes I can happily report that BSG is still great TV. And no not "great sci-fi TV" or "great for Sci Fi TV." Just great TV. One of the best dramas on TV, regardless of genre or network. If you like 24, if you like Lost, if you like the HBO or FX dramas, I can pretty much guarantee you will like this.

Battlestar is full of rich human drama, unexpected and provocative political themes that parallel current events, generally excellent ensemble acting (including Oscar-nominated leads Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, remarkable scene stealer James Callis and surprisingly strong model-turned-actress Tricia Helfer) and a documentary-like visual style worthy of a top notch indie film. It's smart, exciting, addictive.

But here's the thing, I wouldn't recommend that anyone who hasn't already been a regular viewer start watching now. The third season is great, dark, dramatic stuff but it's also different in many ways from what the series has been in the past. Newcomers won't have a sense of the tone of the show up to this point, and the drama won't possess the same weight if you haven't followed the journey.

Go back and check out the DVDs of the miniseries and seasons one and two (which is split into two halves). They're all available on Netflix and should be in most video stores as well. Catch yourself up, you'll be glad you did.

Fall TV Top 5: The Nine

The fourth new show of the season that hooked me with just one episode is The Nine. (And based on recent news, we won't be seeing #5 until midseason now. Which is hopefully good for the show, but means I'm really doing a Fall TV Top 4.)

The Nine is one of the season's heavily hyped elaborate "high concept" shows. Nine people are taken hostage in a bank for 52 hours. We'll see what happened during those 52 hours over the course of the season while also seeing how the event changed their lives and created a unique bond among them.

So yes there are flashbacks that will tell us more about the characters, yes there's a large ensemble cast and yes this directly follows Lost on ABC's schedule. Unlike last season's Invasion, which never really caught on, I think The Nine has a good shot at turning into a hit. And if Lost continues to be as frustrating as it was in its second season, and The Nine keeps up the high quality of its pilot...well we might even see a dramatic change in what ABC's most popular Wednesday series is.

The cast of The Nine is populated with familiar TV faces: Chi McBride (Boston Public), Kim Raver (24, Third Watch), Tim Daly (Wings, Eyes), Scott Wolf (Party of Five, Everwood), Lourdes Benedicto (24, ER, NYPD Blue), John Billingsley (Star Trek: Voyager), Owain Yeoman (Kitchen Confidential) and Camille Guaty (Prison Break). And the pilot does a good job of balancing them all. How these characters develop will be critical, since the hostage situation can only be expected to provide material for a full season (let's hope).

But no matter where it leads The Nine is well worth checking out in the early goings.

Fall TV Top 5: Ugly Betty

Tonight is the night for the new series premiere I'm most excited for people to see: Ugly Betty on ABC.

There's a style, attitude and energy to this show that's like nothing else on TV. It's light, funny, immediately involving and features the actress who everyone has pegged as the season's breakout star: America Ferrera. And in her case it's not just empty hype.

I wrote a little about the show before (back when it was still called "Betty the Ugly," a literal translation of its original telenovela title) and I'm pleased that's it has received a good amount of pre-season attention. Pairing the show with monster hit Grey's Anatomy will hopefully work in Betty's favor (it's much better than the Friday timeslot the show originally was set for).

Hopefully there will be a backwards halo effect since Grey's didn't help lead-out Six Degrees much last week. Betty is a significantly better show and if it becomes a ratings success like the network's Lost and Desperate Housewives were in their first seasons it would be another victory for that all too rare breed: quality network television.

Hopefully it won't face the same sophomore slump as those shows, but I'm way ahead of myself there. Let's just get through the first season and hope we don't get a repeat performance of last season's ABC buzz series.

Fall TV Top 5: Heroes

The concept of NBC's Heroes—"ordinary" people discover they have extraordinary superpowers, but don't know why or what for—sounds like it could be a perfect TV show, or an incredibly ridiculous one. The first episode of the show falls somewhere in the middle, but it's more on the positive side and there's enough that's intriguing to make me optimistic about where this one is going.

Superheroes aren't very common on TV and when they do turn up it's often cartoony. The most important thing to know about Heroes is that it's not like that at all. It's closer to the first two X-Men films' or Batman Begins' approach to superhero mythology, or Lost's "realistic" take on fantasy/sci-fi story elements. This is a show rooted in characters, necessitated by smaller budgets in TV no doubt but also a clear creative intent to make its world relatable and recognizable first, fantastic second.

The best superhero show I've ever seen was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of the best superhero stories in any medium of storytelling. After one episode Heroes can only aspire to that show's masterful blend of comedy, drama, horror, romance and action, but the aspiration is clearly there.

Not every storyline in the premiere works—I found one a little too melodramatic (Ali Larter's single mom stripper) and one a little too self-consciously "funny" (Masi Oka's bored Japanese worker)—but I'm very curious to see where this is all heading. And, unless the episode that airs is different from the one I saw, we won't even meet a key player (a police officer played by Alias vet Greg Grunberg) until the second episode.

Also Airing Tonight:

Runaway is officially the first new show of The CW. It's basically The Fugitive if Richard Kimble had a family. A whole family—dad, mom and three kids—goes on the run when the patriarch (Donnie Wahlberg) is falsely accused of murder. It's not bad but the big question is why get wrapped up in another show with an overarching mystery when there are so many—new and returning—on television right now. And also when this show's timeslot competition is Heroes for the immediate future and the return of 24 come January, if Runaway lasts that long. Still, since this one is on CW it may wind up the beneficiary of lowered network expectations.

After watching the second episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip I've decided the thing I hate most about the show is that it's not bad. It would be so much easier to simply ignore. It's still way too much like The West Wing to feel fresh, and I still don't really like any of the characters. But tonight's episode goes by pretty fast anyway. And I give them credit for doing something I really didn't expect they would: actually showing us part of the show, within the show.

Fall TV: Brothers and Sisters

Brothers and Sisters starts tonight on ABC. It's not one of my top five picks for new shows but I'll be watching it regularly.

So far, the show has been most notable in the entertainment press as the "troubled one" of the new season. The pilot wasn't included with the rest of ABC's pickups in the Fall Preview DVDs that TV writers received back in May. Supposedly that was due to "recasting" a few key roles and "reconceiving" the tone and story of the first episode. Understandable reasons but not the kind of explanations that generate good buzz. And even before the show was picked up there had been negative buzz about how test audiences were reacting, specifically to series star Calista Flockhart (she's a good actress but can be an alienating screen presence). Then, just as production was ramping up, the show lost an executive producer (Marti Noxon who worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) due to "creative differences." (She was ultimately replaced by Everwood creator Greg Berlanti.)

All along those working on the show—including executive producer Ken Olin, playwright/creator Jon Robin Baitz and actors Rachel Griffiths and Ron Rifkin—tried their best to reassure the media that everything was fine. They weren't wrong. The first episode of Brothers and Sisters is really pretty good. Revolving around the relationships of a family with two daughters and three sons, all adults, it has that Zwick/Herskovitz high class, character driven soap vibe. And I've been missing that since Once & Again went off the air several seasons ago.

Plus, the show has what everyone was interested in in the first place: an incredible cast. Yes, you get to see Ally McBeal, Brenda Chenowith and Arvin Sloane back on TV (all playing significantly different characters), as well as the recognizable TV faces of Sally Field, Patricia Wettig and Tom Skerritt.

There are a few too many characters for the first episode to handle (Wettig and Sarah Jane Morris—as the family's only daughter-in-law—are barely even introduced) but in a season where so many shows have people doubting their long-term potential Brothers and Sisters deserves some credit for creating a world with a lot left to explore. And at least there's a built in reason for these characters to be together and for the audience to care about them, unlike ABC's generally limp Six Degrees.

I have my doubts about the show's audience appeal but creatively it's off to an interesting start.

Fall TV Top 5: Smith

I haven’t said much about the new fall TV season yet. But now that the networks are starting to premiere their new shows I figure I should at least mention my favorites.

This was actually a very good pilot season and with the exception of everything on Fox (and ABC’s horrendous wedding day comedy Big Day) I’d be willing to sample a second episode of all the new shows.

But there are five that I’m already committed to based on the pilot alone. (Last season there was only one: ABC’s Sons and Daughters.) So I'll be sure to point those out here as each is about to premiere.

Of course none of those are on Fox. I deliberately ignored saying anything about their new series as the network started rolling them out a couple weeks ago. They’re all bad. The Thursday night comedy Happy Hour is particularly notable as the worst new show of the season. Thankfully ratings for the shows are in line with their quality.

ABC’s Anne Heche-led relationship “dramedy” Men in Trees has also already started airing. The pilot wasn’t bad but it wasn’t very good either. The show has a Friday night timeslot of death that pretty much guarantees it won’t be around come 2007.

Last night brought the premieres of the perfectly adequate traditional comedy The Class on CBS (after one episode I like it more than the same network’s How I Met Your Mother, but will I bother watching?) and the season’s most overhyped new show NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

But that brings us to tonight’s premiere: Smith on CBS. It’s a heist drama (a genre failed multiple times last season including FX’s Thief and NBC’s Heist) but it has a killer cast, the best production values of any new series and a potential for greatness.

The most surprising thing about Smith is that it feels like a cable show, but it’s on CBS. And it’s entirely possible that that will be an oil-and-water combination that will lead to failure. But I like ambitious TV and it’s rare to find something on network TV that is this ambitious.

That killer cast I mentioned is led by Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen, welcome additions to series television, and also includes Simon Baker, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Franky G and Shoreh Aghdashloo. Not all huge names but put them together and they make a strong TV ensemble. The pilot isn’t heavy on character development for the supporting players but there’s enough to make you believe these people will go in interesting directions in the future.

And the characters and relationship written for Liotta and Madsen are fantastic. He leads the heists, she doesn’t know but she has demons of her own. It’s great to see good actors get good material (they wouldn’t find this kind of stuff on film very easily).

I don’t know if Smith is going to attempt to pull off a heist a week (a “commercial” choice, but also risky), or if it will focus in on the characters and explore their moral ambiguities with an occasional heist on the side (an “artistic” choice, but also wiser).

Either way I’ll be watching.

Top Ten TV Shows of 2005-06

It's become increasingly difficult to properly define a "season" of TV. Not only because the networks continue to test the boundaries of the traditional season and cable has never restricted itself to a "proper" September-May schedule, but also because the rise of TiVos, On Demand and TV on DVD have made it easier than ever for viewers to create their own schedules and watch entire seasons of shows on their own terms.

But I'm gonna stick with tradition and pay tribute to the best of the conventional TV season that ended about a month ago. That means stuff that aired between June 2005 and May 2006. After all, it's still the way the Emmys define their eligibility period (this year's nominations are due out July 6, while I'm on a break from this blog).

I could list out everything that I watched over the past year, and everything I still plan on catching, but instead I'll reserve this space for what I liked most of all. However, there are a few shows that would have made my list of the season's best, if I had more room:

-Big Love, yet another strong effort from HBO which invited viewers into a unique world (and lifestyle) in a credible way
-Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX), two cranky comedies that regularly made me laugh out loud

and first place runner-up...
-Wonder Showzen (MTV2), still wonderfully warped, if a little less fresh, in season two

But on to the real deal...

10. Rome (HBO; available on DVD)

HBO and the BBC teamed up to turn truly ancient history into an addictive soap, equal parts class and trash. The first season of this opulent epic was overflowing with raunchy sex and graphic violence, but it never felt forced thanks to its strong characterizations and extraordinary ensemble cast (with Ray Stevenson and Polly Walker especially relishing their scene-stealing roles). Forget Hollywood's ponderous period pictures, for costume drama that sizzles all roads lead...right here.

Standout episodes: The Stolen Eagle; The Ram Has Touched the Wall; The Spoils; The Kalends of February

9. Sons and Daughters (ABC)

This could have been the next great family comedy, if only people had bothered to watch. It probably should've aired on cable where the show's sharp, partially improvised dialogue, semi-serialized storylines and extensive ensemble would've been properly viewed as strengths rather than flaws. At least ABC took a chance and let ten episodes air, making network television a more interesting place in the process.

Standout episodes: Anniversary Party; BBQ Therapy; Surprise Party; The Homecoming

8. Six Feet Under (HBO; available on DVD)

The last season of HBO's signature sex-'n'-death drama started off a little weak, but by the time it hit the home stretch Six Feet Under delivered some of its finest episodes ever, culminating in a remarkable series finale that gave the show the arty/invigorating/absurd/glorious/pretentious/abundantly satisfying ending it deserved. And on a series that always honored its supremely talented cast, Frances Conroy and Rachel Griffiths finished the run as first among equals.

Standout episodes: Rainbow of Her Reasons; All Alone; Static; Everyone's Waiting

7. Extras (HBO; available on DVD)

Following up one of the greatest TV shows ever made is a pretty tough challenge. But Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant proved themselves up to the task with this unique portrait of two insecure and self-sabotaging background players in the U.K. film world. Gervais again starred, paired this time with the equally brilliant Ashley Jensen, and the result was a short season of piercing hilarity.

Standout episodes: Kate Winslet; Ben Stiller; Patrick Stewart

6. 24 (Fox; available on DVD)

It's surprise enough that such a gimmicky concept even made it to a fifth season. But watching this high-wire-act of an action drama deliver its most consistently compelling season yet was downright shocking. Bolstered by the show's strongest ensemble ever, "Day Five" raced breathlessly from one tension-filled situation to the next. Cast members dropped like flies, bold twists divided (and delighted) the audience and the clock kept ticking... making those seven days between new episodes seem like an eternity.

Standout episodes: Difficult choices for a show that's more about moments than episodes but: 7:00 A.M.-8:00 A.M. (season premiere); 4:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. (motorcade attack); 10:00 P.M.-11:00 P.M. (the big reveal); 11:00 P.M.-12:00 A.M. (season finale)

5. Bleak House (PBS; available on DVD)

Who knew a novel from the 1800s, by Charles Dickens no less, could be turned into something so gripping in 2006? This Masterpiece Theater presentation of a BBC sensation preserves Dickens' serialized storytelling format but shatters PBS' stodgy reputation thanks to an audacious filmmaking style and passionate emotional resonance. Anna Maxwell Martin turned in arguably the best performance of the entire TV season as the radiant and intelligent Jane Austen-esque heroine.

Standout episodes: Parts 1, 4, 6

4. The Sopranos (HBO; available on DVD)

Continually setting the bar for the level of quality possible on television, the landmark drama had a fascinating sixth season. Complaints about the pace seemingly disregard the peerless filmmaking and performances. Tension mounted as the people we've come to know so well took baby steps forward, and backward, in this introspective season that explored big questions of mortality, heredity, enlightenment and the irresistible lure of a lifestyle that has great rewards but even greater penalties. Only eight more to go.

Standout episodes: The Fleshy Part of the Thigh; Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request; Johnny Cakes; Cold Stones

3. Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi; first half and second half available on DVD)

In case you haven't heard, this is the show that single-handedly made sci-fi (both the channel and the genre) a respectable destination for lovers of quality drama. And over the course of an exhilarating and provocative 20-episode second season, split into two equally riveting halves, this re-imagining of a cheesy 70s space opera blossomed into one of TV's unquestionable best. Despite its cosmic setting, no show has more to say about the way we live now. Episodes make time for kick ass action and challenging portrayals of religious fundamentalism, terrorism, war, civil liberties and other vital topics without pandering or preaching. And damn is it fun.

Standout episodes: Home; Resurrection Ship; Downloaded; Lay Down Your Burdens

2. The Shield (FX; available on DVD)

It's a real mystery why The Shield isn't on the tip of everyone's tongue as one of TV's best dramas. This richly complex police drama gets deeper, and better, with each new season and long ago deserved the right to be mentioned in the same breath with The Sopranos, as a true contemporary classic. The problem is you've got to start at the beginning, but by the time you hit season five and see the Strike Team face off with a fiercely committed IA agent, who is determined to expose and end their corruption once and for all, you'll wonder why you ever resisted watching in the first place.

Standout episodes: Trophy; Kavanaugh; Of Mice and Lem; Post Partum

1. Arrested Development (Fox; available on DVD)

No, putting it on top isn't some statement about a great show that ended too soon. In fact part of me is glad that Arrested Development is done, finished, kaput. Yeah I said it. It's actually heartening to know that this brilliant comedy never lost its mojo. How it survived for three genius seasons without fading, becoming desperate or selling out is for wiser people than me to know. I'm just glad we have 53 episodes of these miserable bastards, and enough in-jokes to last a lifetime. Bob Loblaw. Mr. F. Oh come on. Has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken? I've made a terrible mistake.

Standout episodes: The Ocean Walker; S.O.B.s; Fakin' It; Development Arrested