1. Spaced: I'll be honest- it took me awhile to get into this show. I'm a fan of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and there are plenty of familiar faces from their movies that show up in this, their lamentably short-lived television show. It's really hard to pin down what this is though. Is it science fiction? Is it comedy? Is it drama? Or is it the story of a pair of mid-to-late 20s friends trying to figure their lives out? (I suspect it's a little of everything.) It was a struggle at the start but by the end, I was sad that I had run out of episodes.
2. The IT Crowd: Love, love, LOVE this show. It doesn't totally translate into my current job but I can definitely identify with people whose job consists of answering phone calls from idiots/genuinely confused people and as you can expect, there's plenty of comedy gold to be mined here as well. Remember the cop from Bridesmaids? Well, he's in this show- and his name is Chris O'Dowd, by the way! And he's joined by the excellent Richard Ayoade and Katherine Parkinson to deliver an excellent, tightly written sitcom. I'm on Season 3 and I don't want it to ever end. Except it just did. Last week with a special final episode.
3. Borgen: I had heard good things about this Danish show but didn't actually get around to watching it- I took a chance and snagged the first season for my birthday and it's about as close to perfect as you can get. Essentially the Danish version of The West Wing only with parliamentary shenanigans and an unlikely female Prime Minister coming to power, it's taut, tense and probably the best portrayal of politics on television anywhere. There's a reason why Stephen King named this one of his best shows of 2012. It's that good. 2 episodes in and I'm in love.
4. Brooklyn Nine Nine: Early reviews had this pegged as one of the best new comedies of the fall... the pilot episode had a few good moments but nothing that really made me laugh out loud too much. (Which is how I usually judge comedies: if they can get genuine, spontaneous laughs out of me, they get to stay.) The second episode picks up the funny and I think this could be around for the long haul-- Andy Samberg could be unbearable yet isn't and Andre Braugher is just about perfect as the straight-laced, by the book Captain of the precinct. I'll keep watching. (Trophy Wife was sort of 'meh.' Good cast but it's got work to do. The Goldbergs seemed a lot like one of those nostalgia trips that networks try from time to time but it wasn't awful.)
5. Sleepy Hollow: I'm curiously intrigued by this show. It seems a little too nuts for it's own good yet part of the charm seems to be the fact that they seem to know that the idea of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman waking up in the present day is utterly ludicrous and yet they just go with it. Oh and there's the potential apocalypse and possibly the Devil involved somehow? Seems like a crazy mash-up of The X-Files, National Treasure with a dollop of Twin Peaks weirdness thrown in for good measure. Will I watch it religiously? Meh. Maybe for a few episodes but I'm not sold yet.
6. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Well, after the pilot episode, I think we can safely say what my appointment television is going to be from now until this show either goes off the air or gets cancelled. Agent Coulson played by the wonderful Clark Gregg is back, he's got his own team of agents and they're all about investigating the weird, the wonderful, the super-heroic and it's got all the usual Whedonesque touches that make television shows awesome. Must keep watching... must keep watching!
7. The Blacklist: James Spader makes this worth watching just by himself. A non-cannibal Hannibal Lecter style of uber-villain/master criminal who turns himself in for reasons unknown and partners himself up with a newly minted FBI Profiler (Megan Boone) to catch criminals on something called The Blacklist. I'm intrigued...
8. The Crazy Ones: Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar as a father-daughter ad executives? Mork and Buffy? Hell yes! Robin Williams does his thing and does it wonderfully and Sarah Michelle Gellar bounces off of him nicely. This might be heresy to some people but this made me laugh multiple times. And when it comes to shows about ad executives, it's better than Mad Men at least so far. I'm sold.
9. The Michael J. Fox Show: Help, I'm going into sugar shock! Don't get me wrong: It's awesome to see Michael J. Fox back on television and I really, really hope that this show succeeds because he's a great actor and entertaining to watch. The second episode eases up on the treacle and nostalgia and brings the funny a little more... I'd say this show is off to a promising start. I'll keep watching.
10. Almost Human: This doesn't actually premiere until November 4th, but Karl Urban can do wrong in my book. Have to check this one out, just on the strength of the previews alone.
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