Early Report Card: Fall TV Thus Far

Posted by JOpinionated on October 9, 2008 in Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Television | 0 comments

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.