The Up-Fronts

I've been a little out of whack these past couple of days and to top it all off, now I'm fighting off a cold, so I'm dosed to the gills on allergy/cold meds and producing snot at a brisk clip and generally feeling like shit on a stick but what I have been noticing is that it's UP FRONT season...  so that means the networks get to tease everybody with the new and potentially awesome shows that are coming to our screens this fall and there's some intriguing stuff out there and some stuff that's probably going to be awesome and then cancelled immediately and then there's stuff that's just horrendous in every possible 'what are they thinking?' type of a way.

Let's break down what I found interesting by network:

NBC:
The Blacklist:  James Spader is always a good thing though this looks a little too much like Hannibal/The Following to inspire much confidence in me.  I might check it out just for the Spader-y goodness but I'm sort of yawning already.

The Michael J. Fox Show:  I liked Spin City.   I like Michael J. Fox.  Anything that puts Michael J. Fox back on television has the real potential to be awesome and with The Office ending its run, NBC is in the market for a new comedy hit.   While I like that his character also has Parkinson's and they use that in the trailer for humor, it seems like kind of a tightrope to me.  Self-deprecating humor is something I can appreciate but too many jokes about Parkinson's could fall flat and seem tacky to people.  But this looks eminently watchable.

Ironside:  A reboot/remake of a 60s television show about a wheelchair bound cop played by James Garner (I think) the new version stars Blair Underwood (always good) and Spencer Grammer (Kelsey's daughter lately from ABC Family's Greek...  a show that I liked quite a bit...  in fact, I feel a Netflix binge of that coming on.  Maybe after I'm done with Fringe and the new season of Arrested Development.)  I think the genre of 'cop show' is something that's been done a lot but this looks like a twist that might be worth watching and it looks pretty bad-ass.

Fox:
Fox is apparently bringing 24 back for a limited run next year.  Why?  I don't know...  there's a myriad of sitcoms and other things for your viewing pleasure but only one show intrigued me.

Almost Human:  JJ Abrams is producing this so there's a high geek potential and it looks awesome in an 'I, Robot' sort of a way.  But, as with all awesome science fiction shows on Fox, as soon as I find it awesome and interesting, Fox will undoubtedly cancel it immediately.

ABC:
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D:  Very, very intrigued by this...  there's tons of potential here and Agent Coulson apparently survived his encounter with Loki in The Avengers and is back to head up a team of scrappy agents running around the world and tackling all kinds of bizzare, crazy, superhero related stuff.  The nice thing about expanding Marvel's reach to the small screen is that you can introduce other heroes from that universe that might not necessarily be big enough to carry a movie by themselves but who still have devoted fan followings (nerd-dom is abuzz but the possible sighting of Luke Cage in a frame-by-frame analysis.) Personally, I'm rooting for She-Hulk to make her way into the mix- because, well, she's awesome.

I think the success or failure of this might just hinge on Agent Coulson himself- how did he survive?  Did he really die?  What's with the car?  Clark Gregg is an awesome enough actor to pull it off and I remember chatter on the 'net, post-Avengers that a reference to a lady friend in Portland might be referring to the Scarlet Witch- which would be one hell of a subtle Easter Egg that could tie right back into the build-up to The Avengers 2.  (That's my theory anyway.)

Back In The Game:  Sort of a Bad News Bears meets 'I got divorced and have to move back in with my parents' thing, this seems a lot more likely to click than any other sitcoms ABC is thrusting upon the viewing public.  Plus, it's got Maggie Lawson in it- and being a fan of Psych that automatically makes this a 'must watch.'

The Goldbergs:  A nostalgia drenched comedy set in the 80s, Wendy McLennon-Covey from Reno 911 stars alongside Jeff Garlin with Andy Richter doing the Fred Savage thing a la The Wonder Years.  I'm dubious and yet I have to admit, I chuckled at a couple of points watching the preview.   Yet I will forever harbor hatred in my heart over the cancellation of Happy Endings.  (Which brought us  joy-inducing brilliant things like this...)

The CW:
I have not really found anything worth watching on The CW as of yet but I was pleasantly surprised, nay almost excited to find out they were bringing back Whose Line Is It Anyway?  with the original peeps (Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mockerie) and Aisha Tyler as host (brilliant, brilliant choice).   I now have a reason to watch The CW.

Oh, what the hell...  we'll give The CW some love too.

Reign:  Looks like a 'safe for network television' version of The Tudors- this time, telling the story of Mary Queen of Scots.  There's a lot of young, beautiful people in the preview and I suppose the costumes might appeal to certain demographics but without excessive boobs/sex scenes for the boys and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers for the ladies, I hope this show has something else in its back pocket to keep people interested.

StarCrossed:  Some interesting parallels to Roswell with a group of aliens who look like humans except with tattoos integrating into an all human high school á la Little Rock in 1957.  (Complete with angry human xenophobes with protest signs...)  That premise alone got my attention...  of course, there's a love angle for pretty young people, which seems to be what The CW is going for these days.

CBS: 
Mom:  The latest from sitcom Emperor Chuck Lorre this one doesn't look all that horrible.   Will it be the next Big Bang Theory, I don't know- but it looks better than 2 Broke Girls (which started out with some promise and despite the fact that Kat Dennings rocks my face off didn't hold my interest).  This one has Anna Faris (funny) and Allison Janney (awesome, West Wing alum and funny) so it might be worth watching for an episode or two.

The Crazy Ones: Robin Williams is back on network television and Sarah Michelle Gellar is along for the ride?  Yeah, I'd watch that.

Intelligence: Josh Holloway from Lost and Marg Helgenberger from CSI?  Again, sounds like an intriguing combination and if you throw John Billingsley from Star Trek: Enterprise into the mix, then you get a high geek/nerd quotient.  But the premise is basically that of a spy with a computer in his which sounds an awful lot like Chuck-  and this looks like a serious, hardcore version of Chuck without  much in the way of funny.   Could work, might not.