Even though a few of my favorite shows have yet to return (30 Rock, Samantha Who) and a new series debuts tonight (Life on Mars), I have been pretty underwhelmed with Fall Television thus far…with a few exceptions.

Admittedly, it’s early; I’ve only seen an episode or two of each. But here is how I would grade each right now:

• Bones: B (Zach’s return as a Hannibal Lecter type consultant works for me)
  

• Brothers & Sisters: A- (love the cast & chemistry)
  

• Chuck: C (I gave up on it last season & tried again to no avail)
  

• Desperate Housewives: C (flash forwards work…on Lost)
  

• Dexter: A (characters, script, cast – all consistently compelling)
  

• Dirty Sexy Money: B (so far, so good)
  

• Entourage: C (forward movement for Vince would be nice)
  

• The Ex List: B (charming & worth a look, even though CBS blew it w/timeslot)
  

• Fringe: A (saving grace of the season)
  

• Grey’s Anatomy: B (wish: less Meredith, more Yang)
  

• Heroes: C (yikes; really disappointed with each ep since premiere)

• House: B+ (more Thirteen please)
  

• Life: B (like the addition of Donal Logue)
  

• Lipstick Jungle: B (new to my TV radar, pleasant surprise)

• The Office: B+ (thank you Amy Ryan and the gas station surprise)
  

• Private Practice: B (more serious tone & medical cases = great improvement)
  

• Pushing Daisies: B+ (a rare gem of positive energy)
  

• Saturday Night Live: C- (if it weren’t for Tina Fey, I’d stop watching altogether)

• Sons of Anarchy: B- (lost interest for now, will catch marathon in the future)

• True Blood: B (getting better & more intriguing each work)
  

• Ugly Betty: B (Mark & Amanda are my Jack & Karen)
  

Reality Shows
I still haven’t watched the entire 2 hour season premiere of Survivor, but I think that setting will prove to be an interesting challenge and I’ll tune in online at some point.  I catch every other episode of The Amazing Race but it just doesn’t hold my interest week after week any longer. Even Project Runway has been less than stellar this season; none of the contestants has truly stood out with a great personality or as the most talented. Thank goodness for the return of Top Chef; Season 5 debuts next month on Bravo.

The sheer delight I experience while watching Dexter is a tad disturbing, and I wanted to explore why 4 of my favorite television characters of all time are murderous psychopaths.

Here is the official description from ABC.com:

Where were you in 1973? NYPD Detective Sam Tyler finds
himself in the cultural hotbed of New York City in the tumultuous times
of the Vietnam War, Watergate, women’s lib and the civil and gay rights
movements – without a cell phone, computer, PDA or MP3 player –
suddenly hurtled back in time when he’s ripped from 2008 after being
hit by a car while chasing down a criminal. He’s trying mightily to
understand what has just happened to him and how he can get back “home.”

Last week, I had the opportunity to listen in on a teleconference call with lead Jason O’Mara (who was recently on both Men in Trees and Grey’s) and co-executive producer Josh Appelbaum (October Road, Alias). The creators of this show were huge fans of the original, and aim to honor the spirit and tone of the British series; in addition to relocating it to New York, there will only be “one key change to the mythology.”

Do you live in the Los Angeles area? What are you doing on Thursday, October 16?

Do you watch and enjoy talking about any of these shows: 30 Rock, Bones, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Dexter, Dirty Sexy Money, Entourage, Friday Night Lights, Fringe, Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, House, Life, Lost, Mad Men, The Office, Private Practice, Project Runway, Pushing Daisies, Rescue Me, Samantha Who, Saturday Night Live, Sons of Anarchy, True Blood, Ugly Betty or Weeds?

I am hosting a casual evening of pop culture conversation at a wine bar in LA, and would love to meet fellow TV & film fans and blog readers in person!

Eagle Eye is not the type of film I usually see in the theater. However, I found myself with some time today and sought out movie suggestions from friends on both Facebook and Twitter. There appeared to be a tie between Eagle Eye and Vicky Christina Barcelona, and here is why I chose to see the former…

1. It was far too early to absorb Woody Allen (11am)
2. I am lazy; VCB is only playing at an indie theater 20 minutes away & the theater down the street was showing EE on 2 screens

I will start by stating that my primary complaint with the action/thriller genre tends to be the acting and cheesy dialogue. Thankfully, there was far more adventure than actual conversation in Eagle Eye. It was intense and suspenseful, with very little of the  relationship crap that every studio head feels necessary to interject (to address the female demographic).

Personally, I cringe at forced, failing chemistry between two leads in
any type of film; most of the time it is an unnecessary distraction
from the script, pace, plot, etc. For what it’s worth, I never rooted for Mulder & Scully to get together, and am hoping that Fringe strays far from the romance angle. But I digress…

Perhaps the secret to successfully avoiding contrived courtships in typical ‘guy’ films is the inclusion of a female screenwriter. Eagle Eye was co-written by Hillary Seitz, who also scripted Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia and was responsible for uncredited rewrites on movies such as I, Robot and The Italian Job. I credit her for keeping the focus in Eagle Eye not on the coupling of the two leads, but rather on their mission at hand.

It is no secret that I LOATHED Transformers. And outside of Holes, I’ve never been a huge Shia LaBeouf fan. I’m still not entirely sold that he can hold a film, but with Eagle Eye, it’s safe to say that he’s making a better impression.

The jury is also still out for Michelle Monaghan. I enjoyed her in the underrated Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but hope that she chooses a kick ass solo lead in the near future, a la Angelina Jolie.

Overall, Eagle Eye was what I like to call a ME Movie (mindless entertainment); you know what you’re in for and either buckle up or kick back for the ride. Conspiracy theorists may find the overall theme of the film more disturbing than entertaining, but if you’re able to suspend your disbelief for two hours…it was a pleasant surprise, worth the price of admission and one I recommend you experience in the theater.