Clear Your Schedules! Fall TV is Upon Us

So “30 Rock” and “The Office” are leaving the airwaves. A lot of your favorite cable shows are signing off, too (sorry, “Breaking Bad” fans!) You want to check out some new shows this year, but you don’t know where to start. Don’t worry, Kate’s done (some of) the work for you! Here’s my comprehensive list for 5 new shows you should check out. Come on! Give them a shot.

NASHVILLE (ABC, Wednesdays at 10 p.m., premieres Oct. 10)

Nashville

You Better Watch.

Okay, I’m not just saying this because I’m a proud Nashville native and I’m basically pissing my pants because they film this in my hometown. I’m saying you should watch it because it looks awesome. The plot seems very similar to another Nashville-set country music drama, the 2010 film “Country Strong,” only with more believable actors playing the lead two roles – Connie Britton as the aging superstar and Hayden Panettierre as the young, Swiftian ingénue. (Can you believe anyone tried to pass Gwyneth Paltrow and Leighton Meester off as country singers? Blech.) It’s got drama, it’s got songs, it’s got Hayden Panettierre in the superbitch role she was born to play.

Watch it if you liked: Friday Night Lights, The Good Wife, Smash

GO ON (NBC, Tuesdays at 9 p.m., premieres Sept. 11)

Go On

I think this show won't suck. Almost sure.

Yes, I liked the pilot for “Go On.” Sue me. I, Kate, with a heart of stone, found it to be quite touching. And pretty funny, too. I liked Matthew Perry (Chandler always was my favorite Friend), I really liked Tyler James Williams, and I just loved that old lady taking home her donut box crown and the whole crew chasing the Google cameras at the end. It was a surprisingly sweet show with characters I took to immediately, with the exception of the therapist/group leader lady. The “kooky, diverse misfits” ensemble reminds me somewhat of “Community,” which is a very good thing. I think this show needs to work out some kinks, but it has great potential, and could also bring in some big ratings if NBC times its inevitable sports star guest spots correctly. I mean, the biggest program on television is NBC’s Football Night in America… they’re going to milk that for all it’s worth on a show with a sports motif, right? Also, if you blinked you might have missed him, but John Cho’s in the cast!

Watch it if you liked: Sports Night, Community, How I Met Your Mother

LAST RESORT (ABC, Thursdays at 8 p.m., premieres Sept. 27)

You know the show is serious business when everyone's doing the power-pose.

In a somewhat appropriate slip-up, I first typed “Lost Resort” as the show’s title – clearly, ABC is trying to fill the void left by “Lost” with a suspenseful, tropical-set drama, only without the sci-fi elements (I assume?). The story is as follows: a U.S. submarine crew goes rogue after they decide to disobey orders to bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age. They are then attacked by their own countrymen, leading the crew to declare their own nation on a remote island. I am interested in this drama (which as readers know would not be my usual cup of tea) for a few reasons: 1.) The plot involves turning against the U.S. government, which is pretty daring for primetime. (IT IS OF COURSE SOMETHING THAT I DO NOT CONDONE, SECRET FBI INTERNET-WATCHERS.)  2.) I’m a little impressed that they cast a black dude, Andre Braugher, in their lead role as the Captain. Of course, they put a white dude on all of the posters… but progress is progress, right? 3.) Dichen Lachman, former “Dollhouse” hottie and thief of my heart, is also in cast. Possibly in a role that would require her to wear a bikini. Hey-oh!

Watch it if you liked: Lost, Dollhouse, Terra Nova

THE MINDY PROJECT (Fox, Tuesdays at 9 p.m., premieres Sept.25)

I truly believe that Mindy Kaling is the spiritual successor to Tina Fey. She has a lot of the same sensibilities, the same ability to be a writer, producer and actor all at the same time, and, like Fey, she’s fucking hilarious. Both women are truly funny, not just “funny, for a girl.” However, those who aren’t familiar with Kaling should not expect her to be anything like Fey in style. Kaling’s strength comes from playing off an essential girlishness that she embraces about herself, a girlishness that Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and others rarely exhibit. In “The Mindy Project,” the Mindy Lahiri character is obsessed with romantic comedies and finding her true love (“I’m Sandy Bullock!” she drunkenly yells in the pilot episode), but she is more than just unlucky in love – there is an inherent loneliness and desperation to her that Kaling is okay with exploring. Mindy, the character, should be a powerful, self-possessed woman – she’s a successful OB/GYN – but because she’s been fooled by society into believing in the lie of movie romance, she feels incomplete. I’m really excited to see where the show takes her character.

Watch it if you liked: New Girl, The Office, 30 Rock

THE NEW NORMAL (NBC, Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m., premieres Sept. 11)

The New Normal

They've already banned this show in Utah. SO IT MUST BE GOOD.

I’m recommending this show hesitantly. The premise, in my opinion, is delightful – a woman agrees to be a surrogate for a gay couple, and her daughter and wacky mother tag along for the ride. The cast is brilliant – Ellen Barkin is a powerhouse, and I must admit to a huge crush on Andrew Rannells, who shot to fame staring in the Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon” but who was known before that as a voice actor for cartoon series like “Pokemon” and “Yu-Gi-Oh” (thereby sealing his place in my heart forever). However, this show is produced by Ryan Murphy, creator of some of the weirdest shows ever – “Popular,” “Nip/Tuck,” “American Horror Story” – and one of the greatest burnouts of all time, “Glee.” That means this show could be amazing, or it could be so laughably terrible and preachy that we’ll all want to stab our TVs, and our brains. He also cast a former Real Housewife in the show, in a role I have yet to understand the purpose for. So there’s that. But I’m really holding out hope that this show takes off, because as Georgia King’s character so adorably puts it in the pilot episode, love is love – and who doesn’t want to watch a show about love?

Watch it if you liked: Modern Family, Glee, Arrested Development (Barkin gives me a Lucille Bluth vibe)

 

1600 Penn

Bill Pullman should always be the President, right?

Wait For It: 1600 PENN, another NBC comedy starring a “Book of Morman” headliner, Josh Gadd, doesn’t premiere until midseason, but the dysfunctional-Presidential family story has me interested already. Also, I’m not sure what CULT, a CW midseason drama, is about – is it about a cult, or about a TV show about a cult? I dunno, but it sounds kind of unique, so I’ll give it a shot.

What shows are you looking forward to? What did I miss?

Why are they still making this show?

I watched the newest episode of Glee last night, and all I could think was WOW, there is clearly a star on this show and it’s not Lea Michele.

Darren Criss steals every scene he’s in, every song that he sings, and is clearly meant for better things than High School Afterschoolspecial Musical.

While I think that Chris Colfer’s quite the budding starlet as well and I truly believe he’s got a huge future ahead of him, Kurt and Blaine have zero chemistry and I’m sick of St. Hummel as a character. It would be smart for this show to graduate Kurt, Rachel and the other seniors and start a fresh slate, using the old favorites for guest spots in the future, but unfortunately the makers of Glee love shooting themselves in the foot.

It’s difficult to remember that this season started out great: full-time addition of Blaine, truly excellent story lines for Santana and Mike (Mike! Where was he last night?), the awesomeness that was the Troubletones.

But the past three weeks haven’t been able to keep my interest at all, and even what previously could save a horrible Glee episode – a mesmerizing musical performance – has not helped. Last night’s versions of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and “It’s Night Right, But It’s Okay” were good, but not episode-saving.

Better than any critique I could offer, however, is the one from my boyfriend as we sat on the couch watching the show. While I’ve forced my musical-loathing beau to watch many an hour of Glee before, he usually appreciates the quick humor and stomachs it quite well. But last night, all he could say was, “I thought this show used to be funny.”

I did, too, darlin.

On a positive note, MVP of the Week goes to Puck and Sam, who offered some much-needed humor (“I can be super helpful, but when you ask me stuff, you’ve got to be real specific.”) Thanks, guys.

TV Babe and Bro of the Week – March 21

Since I took a week off last week I’ve really got to bring it this week with the hot people, so without any ado, here are pictures of two incredibly attractive TV stars, both of which currently appear on Ryan Murphy-produced programs and are known also for making out with members of the same sex – one onscreen and one off.

First up is the very lovely Naya Rivera, breakout star of Fox’s Glee:

Maxim shot of Naya Rivera from Glee

This is what everyone will look like in the future when all the races are one. Start breeding, mixed race couples!

Naya Rivera is basically the hottest woman in the world. Okay, when she dances on Glee she sometimes looks like a meth tweaker, but when she sings it’s as smooth as silk (and I don’t think that’s just the AutoTune). She’s funny, she can act, and as Santana she can sling an insult like nobody’s business. She turned that mostly non-speaking role on  the first season of Glee into a fearless portrayal of a lesbian struggling with one foot out of the closet. And did I mention she’s hot? Ohmigod. Way hot. Work it girl.

Next up is a man beloved in the nerd community (that’s me by the way), Zachary Quinto!

Zachary Quinto Heroes Star Trek

I wonder if any guy out there has ever asked him to put on the ears... Just saying.

Quinto stole all of our hearts as Spock in the 2009 update of Star Trek, but he first turned heads as the dashing villain Sylar on NBC’s ill-fated Heroes. Being the huge nerd I am, I LOVED the universally adored first season of Heroes. But like everyone else on the planet, I hated the subsequent seasons. But Quinto was the one actor from the show that always really stuck out to me – he played a tortured character and he was just… smouldering onscreen. He burned with intensity in every scene. It was hard not to have the hots for this guy. And luckily for all the boys of America (not so lucky for us hetero ladies), Zach came out last year – a secret to no one, for sure, but still a brave move for a burgeoning film star.

As always, leave suggestions for future Babes and Bros in the comments!!

TV Babe and Bro of the Week

Our very first TV Babe of the Week is comedy nerd’s dream Lizzy Caplan, who starred as Casey on the beloved Rob Thomas series Party Down, which I was lucky enough to watch last year on Netflix.

 

Lizzy Caplan

Let's not forget Matthew Perry has tapped this.

 

She’s currently appearing on Fox’s New Girl (unfortunately). It is my secret desire that she be cast as the titular Mother on How I Met Your Mother, because that would be awesome.

 

Our first TV Bro of the Week is (drumroll)…. John Francis Daley!

John Francis Daley

Sam Weir turned into this - whoda thunk it?

 

Daley currently has a supporting role on Fox’s Bones as Lance Sweets, but let’s be honest, we all still remember him for playing Sam Weir, lovable, adorable geek on ABC’s Freaks and Geeks. In a million years, I never would have guessed that he would have turned into such a squeal-inducing hottie. I mean, right now just typing this, there’s a little version of myself saying “ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod” racing around in my head.

 

And then my head exploded.

 

TV fans, have any suggestions for a Babe or Bro of the week? As always, must be a network (or Netflix) star in some capacity – so no Timothy Olyphant! (Sorry, ladies.)