Film and TV

Five Things We're Not Looking Forward To In The Upcoming Fall TV Season

Just when you were afraid the lack of fresh content on your television might finally force you to get up off your couches and engage in some meaningful interaction with your loved ones, here comes the 2010 fall season and its annual helping of canned laughter, reality shenanigans, and FCC-approved "adult themes" to save your wheezing, doughy asses.

True, the idea of a "fall TV season" is becoming more and more outdated, with mid-season replacements and basic cable networks having the temerity to start their seasons in (*gasp*) June, but that doesn't stop the Big Four from their yearly full-court press to convince you they're still just as relevant as AMC and Showtime, gosh darn it.

And while there are some things to be thankful for (no more Ghost Whisperer) and look forward to (another year of COPS) in the coming months, there's just as much (if not more) to dread. And I'm not just talking about the return of Grey's Anatomy.

But man, do I hate Grey's Anatomy.

Belushi's Back

Jim, that is. Those of you who continue to insist on the existence of a benevolent god need only ponder this: Jim Belushi's career has spanned 33 years (he joined The Second City in 1977); John Belushi was 33 years old when he died in 1982. The pertinent take-away here is that the younger Belushi has been making K-9 movies and horrible, formulaic sitcoms for the entirety of Joliet Jake's life (or Jesus Christ's if you want to go that route). And he's set to surpass that this year with The Defenders, which I'm sure will be anything but a horrible, formulaic show about lawyers.

Which brings me to...

Lawyers, Guns and Money

Network executives must have a particularly skewed vision of the world, which would explain why they continue to churn out shows about two professions people really don't seem to like that much: lawyers and cops...especially lawyers (the love affair with crime scene techs seems to have cooled off a bit). We bade farewell to Numb3rs, Cold Case, and the original Law and Order last season, but this was apparently just to free up schedule space for the likes of Detroit 1-8-7, Blue Bloods, The Defenders, Hawaii Five-0, The Whole Truth, Chase, Harry's Law, Ridealong, and of course, Law and Order: Los Angeles.

And I understand the junior McGarrett in Hawaii Five-0 is an ex-Navy SEAL. Hmm, if only they'd thought of making a show about an ex-SEAL solving crimes in Hawaii earlier.

KEEP THE HOUSTON PRESS FREE... Since we started the Houston Press, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls.
Peter Vonder Haar writes movie reviews for the Houston Press and the occasional book. The first three novels in the "Clarke & Clarke Mysteries" - Lucky Town, Point Blank, and Empty Sky - are out now.
Contact: Pete Vonder Haar