September 29th, 2011
10:53 AM ET
'Suburgatory' is familiar, but funnyIf “Mean Girls” and “Easy A” had a network TV baby, it’d probably look something like “Suburgatory.” ABC’s new comedy follows Manhattanite Tessa and her single dad George as they relocate from their city digs to the 'burbs after George finds an unopened box of condoms in his daughter's room. Tessa, whose own mom left as soon as the umbilical cord was cut, finds the surgically enhanced, Lady Gaga concert attending, mall trolling moms the most foreign. Cue the oft-played joke of a pink sweater-and-pearls soccer mom rapping along to a song about being a gangsta. You’ve seen it before, but the deadpan delivery is what sells it in “Suburgatory.” 
September 27th, 2011
12:43 PM ET
Likable actors prop up ‘Hart of Dixie’The new CW dramedy “Hart of Dixie” uses a formula that has succeeded previously on screens both big (“Doc Hollywood”) and small (“Northern Exposure”): A big city doctor who's fish-out-of-water in a quaint small town. In the new show, Rachel Bilson plays Zoe Hart, a young doctor whose dreams of being a cardiothoracic surgeon are derailed by her emotionless approach to medicine, forcing her to head south to Bluebell, Alabama for a year as a general practitioner. (Before we go any further, know that we’re going to mention one big spoiler. So if you haven’t watched yet and plan to, stop reading now.) 
September 27th, 2011
09:30 AM ET
What's the verdict on 'Terra Nova'?It's been a very long journey for "Terra Nova," first announced by Fox in May of 2010, and then delayed a few times. It finally had its premiere Monday night with an episode that reportedly cost $10 to 20 million (later episodes are estimated to be closer to $4 million). So, after all the hype, how was it? For starters, that money is definitely there on the screen. Terra Nova, the place itself, is breathtaking. In its own way, the dystopian future we see at the beginning of the show is as well. There's no doubt "Terra Nova" should be up for Emmys next year for visual effects and art direction. [The discussion on "Terra Nova" is continuing over on CNN's Geek Out blog.] To my surprise, I found that I really cared for the Shannon family, who journey back 85 million years in time as part of a lucky group of settlers who get to "start over" and build a new society, since earth is on its last legs. 
September 26th, 2011
05:42 PM ET
No one is safe on Fox's new 'Terra Nova'To say that there has been a lot of hype in the past year or so about tonight's series premiere of "Terra Nova" would be a vast understatement. The prehistoric time travel series, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, has been promoted all over the Fox network for months on end, with a bus that traveled around the country over the summer, giving potential viewers the opportunity to stand in front of a green screen and be "eaten" by a dinosaur. "It’s a pretty big production—the size of which I’m not sure has been seen in recent memory on broadcast TV," series star Jason O'Mara told reporters last week. 
September 26th, 2011
03:03 PM ET
'The Simpsons' not quite like 'The Simpsons'No opening scene couch gag? No Itchy and Scratchy? More importantly, what is happening to “The Simpsons”? For those of us who have seen the show through its peak seasons, last night’s season 23 premiere, “The Falcon and the D’Ohman” was slightly disappointing. 
September 26th, 2011
02:33 PM ET
ABC's 'Pan Am' lifts offOf the two ‘60s-set new dramas this fall, so far “Pan Am” seems to be the favorite frontrunner. (Sorry, "Playboy Club.") It’s arguable that ABC’s new show is “Mad Men” inspired, but “Pan Am” doesn’t even pretend to carry the complexity of AMC’s Emmy winner, and that’s OK. Following a soap (“Desperate Housewives,” now in its last season) this series was a fitting bit of glossy escapism when it premiered Sunday night. “Pan Am” makes the bygone days of plane travel look glamorous and breezy, bouncing around between New York, London and Rome. In this version of the '60s, everything is so shiny and new – I know it was about the past, but the interior of that Pan Am Clipper Jet looked like the dream of the future. |
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