What do we have to look forward to this fall in the different TV networks?

ABC

Look forward to a lot of dramas from ABC this fall. No Ordinary Family, a superhero show, starring Michael Chiklis goes against FOX’s Glee on Tuesdays. Crime dramedy Detroit 1-8-7 goes head-to-head-to-head with CSI: Miami (CBS) and Parenthood (NBC). The Whole Truth with Rob Morrow battles with CSI: NY (CBS) on Wednesdays. Flashforward has been cancelled and will be replaced with docu-style dramedy My Generation.

The Friday night schedule killed Ugly Betty. Let’s hope it won’t be the same for Dana Delaney and Body Proof on Friday nights. Off The Map, from Shonda Rhimes, and Mr. Sunshine, starring Matthew Perry, will start midseason. Better Together, from Shana Goldberg-Meehan, joins the Wednesday comedy nights on ABC.

CBS

Mike and Molly, with Swoosie Kurtz, will fill in the Monday night slot left empty by Accidentally on Purpose. S**t My Dad Says starring William Shatner will also join the Monday night lineup. Hawaii Five-O, Blue Bloods and Defenders completes the new drama lineup.

CW

Nikita, with Maggie Q as a government agency operative, will debut this fall on The CW. Hellcats, about a pre-law student trying to pay for her tuition, will also mark its premiere this fall. Life Unexpected will be back for another season.

FOX

The new comedy lineup on FOX include Running Wilde, with Keri Russell, Raising Hope and Mixed Signals. Dallas-inspired Lonestar and cop show Ride Along will occupy Monday nights. Sci-fi drama Terra Nova will also premiere this fall but no date has been set.

NBC

A conspiracy thriller starring Jason Ritter, The Events, will premiere Monday nights. Jerry Bruckheimer‘s The Chase battles CSI: Miami. On Wednesdays, Law & Order: SVU will be flanked on both sides by JJ Abrams‘ new spy drama, The Undercovers, and the newest member of the franchise, Law & Order: Los Angeles. Outsourced will be joining 30 Rock and The Office on Thursday comedy night. Jimmy Smits will be invading your Friday nights with Outlaw.

What do you think? Lots of new shows to look forward to this fall. Who will make the cut?

Wow! So many shows to look forward to this summer. Here are some more new shows premiering this summer.

June

Rookie Blue (ABC)

ABC brings us the newest police drama on television this summer. Starring Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith, Rookie Blue is about the lives of rookie cops, fresh from the Academy. At the heart of the show is Andy McNally (played by Peregrym), a second-generation cop, who has found a family among the other rookies.

ABC, June 24, 2010, 9/8c

Scoundrels (ABC)

Based on the TV show from New Zealand, Outrageous Fortune, Scoundrels is about a family of criminals trying to change their crime-filled lives. Virginia Madsen stars as Cheryl West, the middle-aged mother who has decided to motivate her family to leave their criminal life behind, after the leader, her husband, Wolf, is sent to prison for a long sentence.

ABC, June 20, 2010, 9/8c

The Good Guys (Fox)

Fox previewed the pilot episode last May 19 and continued the regular run of The Good Guys last June 7. The Good Guys stars Bradley Whitford as Dan Stark, who was once a great cop in the Dallas Police Department but has been stuck in the past, and Colin Hanks as Jack Bailey, his snarky, by-the-book-detective partner. Together, they rid Dallas of the bad guys, who according to Stark, “…never take a day off”.

Fox, Monday, 9/8c

Louie (FX)

Louie is loosely based on the life of Louis C.K., a stand-up comedian. In Louie, he plays a newly-divorced man, trying to raise two girls in New York City.

FX, June 29, 2010, 11/10c

Memphis Beat (TNT)

Jason Lee stars as Dwight Hendricks, a Memphis police detective, who has a passion for the blues and still lives with his momma. Alfre Woodard co-stars as his demanding new boss, who doesn’t quite like Dwight’s style.

TNT, June 22, 2010, 10/9c

Stay tuned next time for more shows!

The fall and spring seasons for TV may have ended but don’t fret! The summer season is about to begin. And even more good news, there’s a lot of new shows to look forward to for the summer.

June

The Gates (ABC)

The Gates is the newest supernatural crime drama TV show from ABC set to premiere on June 20. It follows the lives of former cop Nick Monahan and his family, after being promoted to police chief of The Gates, where his neighbors are not who they appear to be. Frank Grillo stars as Nick Monahan, Marisol Nichols as his wife, Sarah, and Travis Caldwell as Charlie, their son. Also joining the cast are Luke Mably and Rhona Mitra, their neighbors.

ABC, June 20, 2010, 10/9c

Huge (ABC Family)

Huge is a TV show about seven overweight teenagers in weight loss camp. Based on a young-adult novel of the same title, they’ve been sent by their parents to attend the camp called Wellness Canyon. Nikki Blonsky, of 2007 movie Hairspray, stars as Willamina (or Wil), a funny girl with lots of opinions, who is angry at her family for sending her to camp.

ABC Family, June 28, 2010, 9/8c

Hot In Cleveland (TV Land)

Debuting on TV Land, Hot In Cleveland stars three LA women of a certain age, who get rerouted to Cleveland, Ohio, and realize how glamorous they are in Cleveland. As TV land’s first foray into original scripted comedy, Hot in Cleveland stars Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves as three LA women who move to Cleveland, Ohio after discovering their glamorous status in this city. Betty White also stars as their sassy caretaker.

TV Land, June 16, 2010, 10/9c

July

The Glades (A&E)

From A&E TV comes The Glades, a TV show about Jim Longworth, a former homicide detective from Chicago forced into exile to Palm Glades, Florida, after he was wrongfully accused of having an affair with his former captain’s wife. Starring Matt Passmore as Jim, Palm Glades may not be as sleepy as he thought it was.

A&E, July 11, 2010, 10/9c

Haven (Syfy)

Based on the Stephen King novel, The Colorado Kid, Haven is a supernatural drama show set in Haven, Maine. FBI agent Audrey Parker (played by Emily Rose) has just moved to Haven, where she soon finds out has long been occupied by people with supernatural afflictions.

Syfy, July 6, 2010, 10/9c

Summer’s not yet over. There’s still more shows to premiere this July and August. Stay tuned!

Lost is nearing the end. Last week they promised, PROMISED, us some answers. The Man in Black’s motivations would be revealed, the promos told us.

So what did we get?  Answers that spawned more questions.  Incomplete answers to questions we never asked.  A new character with unexplained motives and backstory used to fill in the motives and backstory of old characters.

Jacob was a dimwitted wuss before he became, well, Jacob.  The Man in Black was a good guy, or at least a neutral guy by any measure, right up until the time his murderous liar of a fake mother beat him over the head and stole his dream away from him.  Dare I even ask why his dead real mother appeared to him and not to Jacob?  Was it his dead real mother, or was it the smoke monster disguised as his dead real mother?

Somewhere along the way, I just stopped caring.  Looking back, I think it was when the castaways who wanted to destroy the plane gave up on their plan because Hurley blew up the dynamite.  Really, they couldn’t smash all the instruments with a rock?  Wouldn’t that have achieved the same goal?  The TSA thinks I could render an airplane un-airworthy with a pair of tweezers, so I think a dozen people with GUNS, KNIVES, and ROCKS could probably get the job done without hauling 200-year-old dangerously unstable dynamite across the island.

But I digress.  Two episodes until the finale.  I was hoping against all hope that the Man in Black’s flashback episode was going to be the one, the episode that pulled me back in, that filled in the blanks and made me believe that the writers had this thing under control.

Instead, we get the answer to a minor question from Season One that was so minor I had forgotten about it.  We now know that Adam and Eve are really the Man in Black and his fake mother.  Big whoop.

Trying to find a brighter note, I guess we do now that the Man in Black isn’t really the Man in Black, but the smoke monster playing the Man in Black.  That’s something, I suppose.

Not going to be home in time to see your favorite show? If you have a DVR, you certainly could record it, but what if you don’t own a DVR? If you have Netflix, many shows are available there, but what if you don’t use Netflix? Luckily, many popular TV networks post recently-aired episodes on their Web sites. This means that you can catch up on missed episodes of Grey’s Anatomy or House with just a couple of clicks on your computer, as long as you have access to the internet. Two major television networks that participate in this posting of episodes are ABC and FOX.

Here are some of my favorite aspects about being able to watch shows online:

1. It’s free, really. All you have to do is visit their Web sites and find the link that says “Watch Full Episodes.” No strings attached.
2. It makes it easier for me to multi-task. We have two TVs in our household, and neither are in suitable places for getting things done. I like to use my laptop to watch the shows so that I can simply tote it to a new location (e.g. ironing laundry in one room and folding in another).
3. I don’t have to worry about storing anything or deleting anything. I can’t “forget” to record it because the TV networks are doing all the work for me. Also, I don’t use any storage space on any of my devices, so I don’t have to worry about deleting anything either.

Naturally, there are also some negative aspects about watching shows online. Certainly, most computer monitors don’t offer the large size and high definition that TVs offer. The online episodes also still include commercials, though less than a regular airing of the episode. Lastly, you may encounter technical issues, especially if your network doesn’t have the capacity for the viewing of an episode. However, for the most part, I’ve viewed many missed episodes without a problem and find it the easiest way to catch up on missed shows or to simply tune into something new while getting some work done.

ABC already has signed ten new pilots to premiere in the Fall 2010 TV season. Which ones look promising? And which ones look doubtful?

Mr. Sunshine

Starring Matthew Perry, it’s the story of a second-rate sports arena manager who thinks only of himself and is forced to reevaluate his life on his 40th birthday. This is his first TV series since Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (The End Of Steve was never picked up). It’ll be fun to watch him on the small screen again. He was always my favorite in Friends, and I’ve always tried to keep up with his career after the show ended. Alex Barnow and Mark Firek co-wrote the series with Matthew Perry. Allison Janney and Andrea Anders will co-star with Perry on the show.

Freshmen

Freshmen is an ensemble show about three first-year members of Congress. Greg Malins (of How I Met Your Mother) will be writing it. Arianna Huffington will be producing it. And Pam Fryman (of How I Met Your Mother) will be directing it. Sarah Chalke (of How I Met Your Mother and Scrubs) will be the lead role.

Wright vs Wrong

Stephnie Weir (of Mad TV) is the writer behind Wright vs Wrong, about a conservative expert who tries to maintain her public person despite her weaknesses. No cast yet.

Funny In Farsi

Funny In Farsi follows the life of an Iranian immigrant growing up in Newport Beach in the 1970s. Nastaran Dibai and Jeffrey Hodes will be penning the show, and Barry Sonenfeld will be directing it. Cast includes Maz Jobrani (Better Off Ted) and Hrach Titizian (24), among others.

How To Be A Better American

Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley are the writers behind How To Be A Better American. It’s about a father who embarks on a journey to become a better person and drags his family along with him.

It Takes A Village

It Takes A Village centers around a teenage boy with divorced parents living in houses across from each other. He shuttles back and forth, living between the two houses. His father has come out, and his mother has a boyfriend. Casey Johnson and David Windsor (of Greek) are writing. No cast yet.

Who Gets The Parents

Joe Port and Joe Wiseman are the writers behind Who Gets The Parents, about three adult siblings who have to deal with their parents’ later-in-life divorce. No cast yet.

Other Shows

There are several untitled shows that were signed with ABC. Shana Goldberg-Meehan (Friends) has written a show about two sisters in different stages in their romantic life. Joanna Garcia and Jennifer Finnigan play the two sisters; one who is unmarried but in a long-term relationship, and the other who married because she was pregnant.

Dana Gould (The Simpsons) has written a new comedy about a father, also a high school counselor, who’s caught between his conservative upbringing and his wife’s progressive ideals. Brian Dennehy stars as the father.

Damon Wayans, Jr. will be starring in a comedy about a couple who breaks up at the altar. Their friends now are trying to figure out how to maintain their relationship.

Any of these shows got you excited for the fall season?

TV executives are preparing for the summer and fall TV seasons and signing new TV shows. Here’s a list of upcoming shows to watch for.

ABC

From the same creator of Friends comes a comedy about sisters. Scoundrels, from Shana Goldberg-Meehan, is about two sisters in different kinds of romantic relationships. Jennifer Finnigan plays the sister in a long-term but unmarried relationship and Joanna Garcia plays the other sister, who gets pregnant and marries the baby-daddy.

CBS

An untitled Criminal Minds spinoff is set to be introduced during an episode of Criminal Minds this spring. Starring Michael Kelly and Forest Whitaker, the series centers around a group of profilers working outside the FBI bureaucracy.

A new comedy is set to premiere on CBS called True Love. Written by Scrubs’ Matt Tarses, the story is about four friends in New York, looking for love. Minka Kelly is set to play one of the friends, Kate, a “sweet but strong-willed romantic”.

NBC

Jerry Bruckheimer is set to bring a new show to NBC called Chase. Starring Rose Rollings, it revolves around a “high-priority fugitive-apprehension team in South Texas”. Rollings will be playing the group’s weapons and tactical specialist.

FOX

Bret Harrison will be starring in a new comedy produced by Adam Goldberg. Directed by Seth Gordon, it stars twenty-something computer geniuses, cracking computer security systems.

ABC

A new comedy called Awkward Situations For Men is set to premiere on ABC. Starring Danny Wallace and Laura Prepon, Wallace moves to the US and gets in trouble with the Americans because of his British habits.

Shonda Rhimes brings another medical drama to ABC. Off The Map stars Enrique Marciano, as one of three doctors who leaves the States to work in an isolated tropical clinic. Marciano will play a plastic surgeon.

Another comedy, written by Mad TV’s Stephanie Weir, called Wright vs Wrong, was signed by ABC. No news yet on the cast.

CW

Two reality shows are set to debut on the CW: Fly Girls and High Society. Fly Girls follows the lives of five Virgin American flight attendants. High Society follows the lives of New York socialite Tinsley Mortimer and her friends. Both shows are set to premiere this March on the CW.

Syfy

Syfy has signed a new supernatural drama series called Haven. It stars Emily Rose as an FBI agent who arrives in Haven, Maine, to solve the murder of a local ex-con and discovers a refuge for people with supernatural powers.

Are you excited to watch these shows?

Lost is coming back to a TV near you.  In less than a week, the nearly nine month layoff will be over, and the show that leaves us dazed, confused, and, well, lost will be back on the air.

As much as I’m going to miss it when Jack, Sawyer, Kate and the rest sign off for good in May, I applaud the show makers for leaving on top.  This is not a show that could continue to be good for another five years.  I’m sure that ABC was willing to back dump trucks full of money up to the producers’ homes in order to keep the show on the air, but they opted to bow out with some dignity.  Good for them.

It has been nearly three quarters of a year since we last saw our heroes.  Jack and his crew had intersected recently with Sawyer and company in the 1970s.  Then Juliet blew them all up.  I think.  Man, it has been a long time.  Did Sun and Jin ever find each other?  I think he’s in the past, and she’s in the future… well, his future, our present.  Or I guess our past, too, since less time has elapsed in the show than in the real world since the series began.

Anyway, I do remember that Locke went from being cool Locke to wimpy Locke back to cool Locke, only to discover (in one of the show’s least surprising surprises) that the new cool Locke was really some immortal guy pretending to be Locke, and the real Locke who died back on the mainland stayed dead.  If that sentence made sense to you, congratulations, you’re a true Lost follower.  If not, I recommend you get the DVDs of seasons 1-4 and start watching immediately.  If you ensconce yourself in your room with a DVD player from now until Tuesday, you can be caught up in time to catch the premier of the final season this week.

Nine months is a long time.  The show is confusing enough as it is.  Add in such a long layoff and the premier promises to leave our heads spinning.  Just the way we Losties like it.

We’ve discussed six new shows so far. What do you guys think of the first part of the list?

This week, we’re discussing four more shows.

Cougar Town

Missing Courteney Cox? No need to worry. You can watch her every Wednesday night on her newest show, Cougar Town. Cougar Town is about Jules Cobb (played by Courtney Cox), a 40-something newly divorced woman who ventures into the dating world again while living with her 17-year-old son. Together with her young assistant, Laurie (played by Busy Phillips), she reenters the dating scenes and makes up for lost time by dating younger men.

Wednesday, 930/830c, ABC

The Cleveland Show

The Cleveland Show stars Cleveland Brown, Family Guy’s Peter Griffin’s former neighbor. He’s come out on his own and has followed his former sweetheart, Donna, to their hometown, Stoolbend, Virginia. Together with his son, Cleveland Brown, Jr, his new wife, Donna, and Donna’s two kids, Roberta and Rallo, they start a new life.

Sunday, 830/730c, FOX

White Collar

In White Collar, Matt Bomer plays Neal Caffrey, a con man who escapes from maximum security federal prison three months before completing his four-year sentence to find his old girlfriend, Kate, who he believes is in trouble. Peter Burke (played by Tim DeKay), the same FBI agent who captured him the first time, captures him again. Caffrey strikes a deal with Burke: he will help Burke catch criminals as part of a work-release program. Burke hesitatingly agrees until Caffrey manages to convince him that he will not try to escape again.

Tuesday, 10/9c, USA

The Middle

The Middle stars Patricia Heaton as Frankie Heck, married to Mike Heck and mother to three kids, in the midwestern town of Orson, Indiana. Frankie is a not-so-successful car dealer at the local dealership, which is not a problem for her because her family is always the priority, not her career. Besides she’s got enough problems dealing with her husband, Mike, the sarcastic manager at the quarry who tends to be brutally honest, the rebel first-born Axl, where Guns’N'Roses was a factor in his conception, her socially-awkward daughter Sue, who always tries to get into anything but fails all the time, and her youngest and smartest of the kids, Brick.

Wednesday, 830/730c, ABC

What do you think? What was your favorite new show in 2009?

Note: This random list was compiled through users’ and critics’ review.

Continuing last week’s post on the top new TV shows of 2009, here are the next three top new shows.

Flashforward

We all know what Flashforward is by now. It’s the newest sci-fi series that deals with the future. Everybody blacks out for 137 seconds and glimpses a flash forward of their lives. The show is currently on hiatus and will be back in March 2010, leaving its viewers with so many unanswered questions. Who took Lloyd Simcoe? What’ll happen to Demitri? What’s the significant of the blue hand? We’ll have to wait until March 18 to find out the answers.

ABC, Thursday, 8/7c

The Good Wife

The Good Wife stars Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick, the wife of a former politician and takes place after he was jailed because of a very public sex and corruption scandal. To take care of their two children, Alicia decides to go back to her former work as a lawyer and gets a job as a junior associate. Diana Lockhart (played by Christine Baranski), a top litigator in her firm, tries to be her mentor, but Alicia realizes quickly that she can’t really trust anyone but herself to succeed.

CBS, Tuesday, 10/9c

Community

Community stars Joel McHale as Jeff Winger, a lawyer, whose license gets suspended after the state bar deems his degree invalid. He goes back to school and attends Greendale Community College in Colorado to get his law degree back. Along the way, he meets Britta (a girl he develops a crush on), Pierce, (a middle-aged tycoon played by Chevy Chase), Abed (a film student who keeps bugging him) and several other characters.

NBC, Thursday, 8/7c

Next shows: Cougar Town, The Cleveland Show, White Collar and The Middle