Another show that I forgot to mention that just premiered is..

Human Target, FOX
The pilot had Tricia Helfer aka Six from BSG. The "season premiere" had brief glimpses of Gaeta and Doc Cottle from BSG (sorry, forgot the actors' names.) Call me biased because I am. When BSG alumni show up I'm interested. Nevertheless, had the BSGs not been in the first two episodes of Human Target, I'm sure I would've enjoyed them immensely. This tv show derivative of a DC Comics title stars Mark Valley as Christopher Chance - a highly specialized.. bodyguard of sorts. He is part of a 3-man security team with him being the agent, another as the grease-man, and the third as the point man. In the comics, Chance takes on the role of the people he's helping to evade death - kind of like Quantam Leaping into a chase-flick. Human Target basically is what it is: it's an over-the-top action ride with some drama and good doses of humor. The credit sequence is an animated watercolor painting type of effect backdropped with a very old-school theme song that would fit in old James Bond ripoff attempts. Yes, I meant that in a good way. This would be the antithesis of Damages: it's very light, don't need to spend too much time focusing on minute details, and there's not much to keep track of. It's popcorn stuff and a great complement to the headier stuff I have on the DVR (Fringe, LOST, Caprica).

Life Unexpected, The CW (update)
I watched the rest of the episode and it was hit and miss. This show is evidently a light drama but I wouldn't call it a dramedy. It was overly cheesey at some points exacerbated with the OG WB style music. Yet, I appreciated the cheesiness of some of the scenes and sentiments. The actress that plays Cate hammered the scene when she first "meets" Lux. In fact, she's the anchor of this show in terms of performance. Cate, aside from Lux, is the most complex character so far. Their scenes were my favorite and most emotionally engaging. Baze, the father, is ready, but definitely not there yet. Right now, he's just another typical 2K 30 year old that's still loving the rootless life of a drunkard fraternity boy. Ryan (formerly Jack on Dawson's Creek) is a foil right now - we're not sure what to make of him, if anything, at this point despite being one of the four main characters of the show. The pilot made things to easy. Foster care is taken lightly in this episode, and I'm sure it will in the whole series. But, as Lux had pointed out to her immaturely dueling bio-parents in one scene, we have to get over it. This show is about moving forward with pieces that shouldn't make it work - hence the external and internal conflicts that will steer this ship. Again, it's light. It's predictable. It's like Human Target in that it is what it is - it's a light family drama focused on characters, family dynamics, and witty banter. Hopefully, when it does delve deeper into the drama that they don't exploit the characters. Let's hope.

and more later...

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Now that the holidaze is done, that means the 2nd halves of seasons are rolling in and mid-term premieres start jumping. I'm completely BEE-HIIND, sorta.

Here's a rundown on things that have already arrived and things that are joining in on the fun soon. (In no particular order...)

Damages, Season 3, FX
Over the weekend I DVRed and watched the S2 finally. I watched the first 2 or 3 episodes of the season and waited to finish S1 before moving forward. Never did, but still didn't seem to miss much in terms of plots. Apparently, I missed a bunch of twists, turns, and shark jumping according to reviews in anticipation of S3. This will always be a tough one to stomach weekly. There are details, performances, time jumps, red herrings, and other important things that I can't NOT pay attention to, so sitting down and giving this one undisturbed attention in my "time-cramped" nights would be tough. There are a few shows that I MUST pay attention to per second. This would have to be one of them. But will it hold up? Season 3 premiered last night so I have to see what ties are going to be unraveled, withered, and utterly destroyed.

Caprica, SyFy
Never caught the official pilot that was a straight-to-DVD release that included the nudity and cursing (yes, earth version "frakking" - in both cases). Finally caught the two parter on OnDemand a couple weeks back. It officially premiered last week. It took me a few scenes to displace my BSG-ties to fully commit to this prequel, but when I did I found it pretty darn good. Except for the final scenes in the 2nd hour that, I suppose, had to be included as the big carrot on the stick, the overall experience did its job well. I am engaged with the characters and I thought Esai Morales and Eric Stoltz demonstrated the chemistry and singular ability to carry this character driven family (and societal) drama. Yes, the BSG nods beyond the obvious familial ties, like the racism, religion, and CYLONology, made me geek out.

Life Unexpected, The CW
Just for full disclosure, I have a soft spot for CW shows. Yes, I admit that the 13 year old in me does come out often. But, that's not why I hope for CW shows to hit. Because the Big 3 1/2 (CBS, ABC, FOX, and nbc) will undoubtedly control the network ratings, the CW is the one network that will consistently take risks in programming. They've hit and they've missed, but at least they try. And yes, this goes back to the WB and UPN days. They have procedurals, but they're housed in comedy or horror (Buffy, Supernatural, Reaper, Roswell). They master the nighttime soap/ guilty pleasure (targeted at the tweens, teens, and the rest of us that think that shit's funny) like Dawson's Creek, Gossip Girl and 90210. Although, ripoffs of older iconic shows isn't all the risky. And, they do family dramas with compassion and style (Gilmore Girls, early Smallville, Charmed). Now, they have a chance to hit that stride again with Life Unexpected. I've only seen the first segment of the pilot and I can see how it can work. Quirkly dialogue, potentially complex characters, real family dynamics to work out, and pretty people. I'm definitely on board until it proves stupid, lame, or insensitive or inane (re: the foster youth experience).

Chuck, nbc
I'm on board until the Kristen Kreuk arc runs out. Kristen's not much of an actress, but she'll always be Lana to me so I'll follow. Chuck's never hit with me. The colors/lighting aren't appealing. The sets looks really cheap. The humor can be hit or miss. It basically looks like a USA Network show or something that could be syndicated on late night Saturdays (like She Spies or that Pam Anderson joing, VIP or something). Nonetheless, KK's reppin' so I'm steppin. And, if it gets good, I'll keep rolling til it's not.

More later..

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