It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The leaves are turning, the temps are dropping, and across America, DVRs are warming up for the new television season!

Must-Squee TV
NCIS (September 25, CBS, Tue@8)
Supernatural (October 3, CW, Wed@9)

Also Recording
Big Bang Theory (September 27, CBS, Thur@8)
Blue Bloods (September 24, CBS, Fri@10)
Bones (September 17, FOX, Mon@8)
Castle (September 24, ABC, Mon@10)
Hawaii 5-0 (September 24, CBS, Mon@10)
NCIS:LA (September 25, CBS, Tue@9)
Person of Interest (September 27, CBS, Thur@9)
Sons of Anarchy (September 11, FX, Tue@10)
The Walking Dead (October 14, AMC, Sun@9)

Auditioning
666 Park Avenue (September 30, ABC, Sun@10)
Arrow (October 10, CW, Wed@8)
Elementary (September 27, CBS, Thurs@10)
Made in Jersey (September 28, CBS, Fri@9)
Revolution (September 17, NBC, Mon@10)

On the Bubble
How I Met Your Mother (September 24, CBS, Mon@8)

The 2012-13 season looks thin and disappointing. Revolution is the only new show I'm excited about; the post-apocalyptic setting is a personal favorite and I think the Abrams/Kripke team could be outstanding. I'll certainly give Elementary a try, but the buzz I've heard (standard procedural you wouldn't recognize as Holmesanian if the characters weren't called Holmes and Watson) isn't promising. I'm giving Arrow and 666 Park Avenue a try only because they're genre shows; in a season with other sci-fi/fantasy choices, I probably wouldn't. I'll be pleasantly surprised if I make it past the pilot.

I'm not even trying the re-boot Beauty and the Beast; if the lack of the society Below wasn't enough to put me off, casting Kristen Kruek is about as off-putting a move as CW could have made. The rest of the new shows seem to be aligned along two themes: 1) the suburbs are evil; and 2) incompetent doctors are endlessly fascinating. Neither of these are particularly new or appealing. The networks seem to be in a creative rut that's only going to accelerate the rush to cable programming and new media.

Sadly, I'm not terribly excited about most of my returning shows, either, with the exception of Supernatural and NCIS. Supernatural has really made a comeback over the past season, shifting away from the Heaven/Hell arc to focus more squarely on the brothers, allowing them a more stable and equal relationship. Jeremy Carver has written several of my favorite eps, so I think he could be a great showrunner. NCIS continues to be my go-to procedural with heart; writers who stay in their wheelhouse and never lose sight of the character relationships, great cast, dead terrorists. What's not to love? In addition, myfieldnotes and mrwubbles held me hostage in hotel room until I broke realized just how awesome Hawaii 5-0 is. Cracky and unrealistic, but damn they're serving the bromance! Not appointment television, but at least I have something fresh to enjoy.

Unfortunately, some of my previously squee-worthy shows aren't engaging me as they used to. I moved Bones down to 'still recording' because, while I still dig the extended family at the Jeffersonian, I'm not enjoying Booth and Bones as a couple. I'm not a huge fan of romance to begin with, and the way they were so quickly paired off and only really brought together over the accidental child unlikely and unnecessarily rushed. Unsurprisingly, as the Castle romance grows ever more explicit and whiny angsty, I'm enjoying the show less. Both are still solid viewing, but not as compelling.

On the other hand, summer programming was unexpectedly good! I really enjoyed Katee Sackoff's new series, Longmire. The central character could have been a tired archtype (widowed cop), but the writers and actor really worked to provide a fresh take; Longmire's grief felt raw and realistic. Setting the drama near an Indian reservation allowed for fleshed out, more nuanced than usual presentation of that community (and Lou Diamond Philips, who is 50 and still inexplicably hot). I also love the character interactions, and my big flatscreen loves the all the panoramic views of the New Mexico countryside. Falling Skies was back and continued to be awesome; fun sci-fi with great family drama. I also got hooked on George R.R. Martin's epic Game of Thrones. I watched the first season on DVD, and was so fascinated with the story I actually subscribed to HBO for the second.