As though diving headfirst into a full class schedule isn't hard enough, fall television brings new distractions to draw our attention and keep us sane. Television provides a plethora of shows to amuse, entertain and inspire -- or, at the very least, make us forget about the term paper due tomorrow. Here are some of the shows to look forward to this season.
"The Cleveland Show" A more diverse "Family Guy" -- need we say more? Actually, yes. With a new family come new random exposés on the nature of the universe. Like the original that spawned it, "The Cleveland Show" promises to be funny at every turn, making old jokes funny and fresh with each episode. Talking bears for neighbors and Cleveland's soft-spoken attitude show promise for a new and interesting program with enough of its own flair to be watched alongside the Griffin family, with little to no redundancy.
"Entourage" "Entourage" is perhaps the best, most entertaining and certainly the funniest depiction of the Hollywood lifestyle on television today. This past season has shown Vince's house broken into by the most dreaded entity of stardom, the celebrity stalker. E and Turtle are both out to find themselves, with E trying his hand at a major talent-management agency that he was recommended for by Sloan, whose re-appearance promises no end of awkward moments and recommendations for sex rules concerning ex-girlfriends from Drama. Turtle is going back to school and dating Jamie-Lynn Sigler of "The Sopranos" fame. Drama's constant dissatisfaction is sabotaging his career through his well-meaning attempts to interfere with his boss's seduction of Turtle's girl. "Entourage" continues to work because it is never the same show twice, always reinventing itself along the topsy-turvy, up-and-down career path that epitomizes the sometimes rich and often famous.
"FlashForward" We're genuinely intrigued by a show where every man, woman and child on the planet blacks out for two minutes and seventeen seconds to experience memories of themselves six months in the future. Plenty of shows are based on a premonition of the future, but few involve everyone on Earth and appear as complex as what we are shown in a world where everyone tries to figure out a mystery that involves seven billion people.
"Stargate Universe" It's exactly the promise of shows like "Stargate Universe" that keep us faithful to science fiction. Obviously borrowing heavily from the "Battlestar Galactica" and "Star Trek: Voyager" theme of a group of survivors searching for a home, "Universe" brings with it energy and a reinvigoration of the Stargate franchise. A darker tone and a cast of wholly new, innovative characters promise extensive development and maybe even that which previous incarnations of Stargate have lacked -- genuine fear that someone will die, that everything will not work out in the end and will instead lead to simply more misery and death. As much as we enjoy Stargate in general, after a while you begin to question if the minds behind the show simply don't have the guts to truly challenge and even kill-off their characters. "Universe" appears to be bound by no such dilemmas, as it appears to be a world of genuine danger and contains the thrill of living on the edge of existence.
"Trauma"/"Mercy" We have nothing against medical dramas, but we just don't see the need for so many. First this summer's "Hawthorne," and now what looks like the two different extremes of "ER." In "Trauma," we have the explosions and action, and in "Mercy" we have all the personal drama and subtle feel-good vibes. Both have their fair share of rebels who push against the edge of medicine to save the patient only to have the edge push back on their personal lives and sanity. Where "Trauma" brings intensity and speed that drags along men and women who still seem to remain human characters amidst the chaos, "Mercy" shows the gentler side of life, death and love amidst the beeps of a heart monitor.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
