Monday, January 3, 2011

2011 and the TV Shows it Brings

So I felt inspired by Jen's blog post about the TV shows she's excited for but won't have time to blog so I thought I would throw together my own list of shows I'm excited about for 2011. This list will include both new and returning shows.

V
Returns: 1/4/11 @ 9pm (ABC)

While V wasn't super strong last season, it was better at plot arcs and character development than FlashForward. And season 1 ended with a huge cliffhanger; an extremely emotional Anna unleashing something that turned the entire sky red. It can't be good and I'm guessing whatever the Visitors plans are will be jumping into gear from the get go of this season. I'm interested to see how the resistance, led by Erica handles having Ryan turning on them. Plus there is the intriguing Anna/Lisa dynamic now that Lisa is helping Fifth Column. And if that all wasn't enough to keep me wanting to see the new season, they resurrected Joshua at the end of last season, too. I liked his character so I'm happy he'll be around, even if he's getting tortured by Anna and her minions.

Merlin
Returns: 1/7/11 @ 10pm (SyFy)

If you’ve followed my rants about my computer at all, you’ll know it’s had some mishaps thanks to trying to watch Merlin series 3 online. So I stopped and am excited that it is coming to SyFy so soon. I can get my fix every week now! I know I’ve seen the first 10 episodes already but I want to rewatch them. This season has been really strong, even if they have moved Morgana’s storyline faster than I would have liked. I am enjoying how they are slowly laying more pieces to the Arthurian puzzle into place. I hope this will tide me over until we get series 4.

The Cape
Premieres: 1/9/11 @ 9pm (NBC)

So back when NBC was originally promoting this show, I wasn't sure it would be any good. The premise seemed a little hokey. But then I heard Summer Glau was involved and I realized I had to at least check it out. It turns out that her role is going to be very big in this show as she's the main character's side-kick of sorts. Plus she gets to be badass and beat people up. River Tam anyone? Then NBC started putting out the promos for the show and it looks really good. Not your typical superhero with no actual superpowers show. It looks dark and gritty and awesome. I may end up blogging it for More TV Please!. If that happens, I will cross-post all the recaps I do for anyone interested in reading.

White Collar
Returns: 1/18/11 @ 10pm (USA)

Okay, so technically right now White Collar isn't a returning show. It's just finishing up its summer 2010 season with 4 final episodes. But they are going to be great episodes. We find out who shot Mozzie (and why) plus who killed Kate. And the damn music box fiasco supposedly gets resolved. I just love Matt Bomer and his chemistry with Tim DeKay is just fantastic. It's a fun twist on the con show that I don't necessarily get with Leverage. So, it will be a welcome addition for a short while to my Tuesday line-up.

Fairly Legal
Premieres: 1/20/11 @ 10pm (USA)

I wasn't originally going to check this new USA legal dramedy out but then Is aw the promos and realized the lead was played by the lovely Sarah Shahi. I first discovered her on the NBC series "Life" where she played a recovering alcoholic detective partnered with a cop who had spent time in prison for being falsely convicted of murder. Then I saw her on "The L Word" which was a completely different role for her. A fun role but different. Now she's playing a lawyer who leaves the legal field in one sense and joins up in another. Fed up with the system she becomes a mediator. Having taken ADR this past semester, I want to see if they actually employ any of the mediation techniques we learned about in class. USA shows are usually pretty good at keeping things real to life but you never know. I did see a clip where a judge sent two parties to mediation and said something along the lines of "this is alternative dispute resolution, also known as mediation". It kind of irked me because generally the "aka" of alternative dispute resolution is ADR. But that could be me just getting nitpicky. We'll see how it fairs.

Body of Proof
Premieres: 3/29/11 @ 10pm (ABC)

I have been talking about this show for ages. And ABC has finally given a release date. So come the end of March, I will be blogging it each week. I will of course post the recaps when I send them over to More TV Please! for Jen to post. I can’t wait to have Jeri Ryan back on my screen every week. I’m rather indifferent to Dana Delaney, though I find her character’s back story interesting (at least what I’ve read of it). I hope the show works out. It’s a different twist on the forensic/crime drama shows out there. Plus, there’s Jeri Ryan. Did I already mention that? I can’t help it!

Doctor Who
Returns: March 2011 (BBC America)

If anyone remembers the blog post I did ages ago for More TV Please comparing the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors, you know I’m not much of a fan of Matt Smith’s Doctor. Even after series 5, I’m still not thrilled with him. I find his portrayal to be immature and childish. I like my Doctor dark and angsty. But considering Stephen Moffat is now at the helm, I doubt if we’ll see the Doctor go dark any time soon. But there are good things to come in series 6. We get more River Song and some new bad guys. I even enjoyed the Christmas special this year (not as much as The Christmas Invasion but yeah…nothing beats David Tennant’s entrance). I will give series 6 a go and hope for the best.

Torchwood
Returns: Summer 2011 (Starz)

I am a diehard Jack/Ianto fan and am still slightly pissed with Russell T. Davies for killing Ianto. I still can’t watch Children of Earth. Thinking about it makes me sad and cry. I refuse to believe Jack’s encounter with Midshipman Frame (End of Time Part 2) was anything more than a one-night stand. And given that Jack’s rebound relationship once he returns to planet Earth is supposed to be a one-night stand, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. I’m disappointed that Jack has to have flings to get over Ianto. But I do want Jack and Gwen back on my TV screens o I will tolerate it. I want to know what gets Jack to come back to Earth and what kinds of mischief they get up to now.

Being Human
Returns sometime in 2011 (BBC America)

If you’ve been watching SyFy the last few weeks you’ve likely seen their ads for the US remake of Being Human. I urge you to purge those from your memory. Why mess with the original when its coming back to the US airwaves? Plus the SyFy version looks horribly stupid and lame. Though, funny point that they renamed the vampire from Mitchell to Aidan. Funny because Mitchell is played by an actor named Aidan Turner. Anyway, I’m excited for series 3 of Being Human because series 2 ended in a crazy place. Even if series 3 is the final for the series, it should be intense while George and Mitchell attempt to save Annie. Plus, they’re in Cardiff now. Who knows, maybe they’ll run into a rift in space and time? A girl can hope!

No comments:

Post a Comment