Fall TV Preview

Premiers, old favorites and where to find them

Maya Peraza-Baker Guest Writer

By the final week of September, Vassar students have settled into their semester-long schedules of studying, sleeping and socializing. However, as the leaves change, the last element of student life can finally fall into place as the new TV season gets underway. Beginning this past week and continuing through October, everything from Survivor to Ugly Betty returns with new episodes, and what’s more, a slew of new shows joins these old favorites. Here is a daily rundown highlighting the shows that Vassar students are watching and where to see them on campus, as well as fresh shows that may soon join students’ must-see TV.

Monday

8 p.m. Prison Break returned last week, so all students with a passion for shaved heads, tattoos and brotherly love should remember that the Strong MPR is now the official Wentworth Miller viewing spot on campus. (FOX)

9 p.m. Heroes is back for its sophomore season, and if you like globe-trotting, time-traveling, familial angst and special effects, share that heroic fervor in the Josselyn MPR. (NBC)

10 p.m. Journeyman (New) Dan Vassar (Kevin McKidd of Rome) is a San Francisco reporter who travels through time and may or may not solve people’s problems. He does not found a women’s college and he does not brew beer. He also can’t control when and where he time travels. In the first episode, enough intriguing tidbits are dropped about how and why he’s traveling to entice viewers to tune in again. However, unless this show adds a little levity to the somber time travel project, this could easily become another failed serial endeavor trying too hard to be mysterious. (NBC)

Tuesday

9 p.m. Chuck (New) A Buy-More (read: Best Buy) computer technician named Chuck (Zachary Levi from Less than Perfect) is exposed to government secrets in a manic slideshow and now, in place of his Xbox marathons, he enjoys adventures, petit mal seizures and sexual tension with a lady spy from the CIA. The series is slickly produced and funny, with characters likable enough to keep me tuning in for the second episode. (NBC)
Premiered Sept. 24; regular time is 9 p.m. Tuesdays

9 p.m. Reaper (New) Reaper is the supernatural alternative to Chuck, featuring another “nerdy” retail worker thrown into exceptional circumstances. A Work Bench (read: Home Depot) employee named Sam (Bret Harrison from The Loop) turns 21 and gets both good news and bad news. The good news: he has nifty supernatural powers. The bad news: they’re a result of his parents selling his soul to the devil before he was born. Now Sam has to work for Satan (played wonderfully by Ray Wise of Twin Peaks), capturing evildoers who have escaped from Hell. Kevin Smith directs the pilot, and as with any Smith endeavor, the humor and supporting characters are entertaining, but both the plot and the look of the show need more direction before I’ll stay for an hour every week. (CW)

9 p.m. House is back for another season and you can see all the pill-popping curmudgeonly action in the Main Third-Floor MPR. (FOX)

10 p.m. Nip/Tuck is moving to L.A. for its fifth season, but you just have to move to the Josselyn MPR to get some work done. (FX)
Returns Oct. 30

Wednesday

8 p.m. America’s Next Top Model returned earlier this week and you can catch every minute of Tyra-fueled insanity in the Cushing MPR. (CW)

8 p.m. Pushing Daisies (New) This show is ridiculously delightful and of all the new shows this season, this is the one I’m most excited about. The plot revolves around a sensitive and neurotic pie maker (Lee Pace from Wonderfalls) who can bring the dead back to life with his touch; complications develop because if he touches them after resurrection, they die again. Rather precious and filled with quirky minutiae, Daisies is reminiscent of the film Amélie, Tim Burton at his most whimsical, or Wes Anderson at his most literate, only on a weekly basis. Be sure to watch when it airs in October in the Raymond MPR. (ABC)
Premieres Oct. 4

9 p.m. Private Practice (New) If you saw the Grey’s Anatomy episode “The Other Side Of Life” from last season, then expect to see the same faces from Addison’s California adventure in this hour-long spin-off. Look for a remixed version of all the neuroses and emotionally stunted characters of Grey’s Anatomy, but with better weather and a red-head that wants a baby in place of a chronically depressed brunette. Watch all the drama, sex and talking about feelings in the Jewett MPR. (ABC)

9 p.m. Bionic Woman (New) From Ron Moore (creator of critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica), the dark drama Bionic Woman (yet another NBC sci-fi serial) revamps the 1970s action show. Jaime Sommers, a bartender, is in a serious car accident and her only hope of survival is a major bionic refurbishment. Rumors abound that the show has been retooled since the pilot, so it remains to be seen what the series will finally look like. Tune in, if only to watch the fight between Jaime Sommers and Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from Galactica) as another, more villainous, Bionic Woman. (NBC)

9 p.m. Gossip Girl (New) The final new show competing for Wednesday night, Gossip Girl is based on the teen book series of the same name and developed for television by Josh Schwartz, creator of The O.C. Gossip Girl is framed around a voice-over from Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), the unseen and omniscient writer of “Gossip Girl” a blog about the goings-on of rich teenage Manhattanites attending an exclusive private school. Unfortunately, judging by the premiere, this show has all the angst and debauchery of a successful teen soap with none of the humor or interesting/sympathetic characters. But if you miss the melodious tones of Veronica Mars, you can watch this program in the Davison MPR. (CW)

Thursday

8 p.m. Survivor: China is beginning and you can show your school spirit by watching a show once won by Vassar alumnus Ethan Zohn. Survive in the Lathrop MPR. (CBS)

8 p.m. Ugly Betty starts another season, and maybe all those cliffhangers will be resolved. If you’ve been in a car accident, trapped in a secret room, shot or deported, go to the Noyes MPR. (ABC)

8 p.m. My Name is Earl is back, and you can absolve the karma of Wal-Mart shoppers in the Josselyn MPR. (NBC)

9 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy is here again, and the perhaps all the emotional wreckage from last season will finally be cleaned up. Watch the hazmat of the heart in the Strong MPR. (ABC)

9 p.m. The Office is also returning, along with many a Vassarion’s passion for hilarity mixed with discomfort, sexual tension and a pinch of romantic angst. Push some paper in the Main Third-Floor MPR. (NBC)

Friday

9 p.m. Moonlight (New) He’s a vampire and a private eye, but it’s not Angel or Forever Knight. This series follows an immortal investigator named Mick St. John as he solves crimes and deals with love. That’s about all I know. (CBS)
Premieres Sept. 28

10 p.m. Women’s Murder Club (New)
Four professional women meet regularly to discuss their careers and trade information. However, instead of chatting over coffee, it’s mostly blood. There’s a homicide detective, a district attorney, a medical examiner and a reporter…basically a sampler platter of every other crime drama on television…for the ladies! (ABC)
Premieres Oct. 12

Saturday

Nothing’s on.

Sunday

8 p.m. Viva Laughlin (New) Hugh Jackman sings, dances and gambles in this Americanization of the British series Blackpool. While singing and dancing are assured, quality and American tolerance of musical television are not. (CBS)
Premieres Oct. 21

9 p.m. Desperate Housewives has returned. Take a gander down Wisteria Lane in the Noyes MPR. (ABC)
Returns Sept. 30

10 p.m. Brothers and Sisters is back for a second season. Go to the reunion in the Main Third-Floor MPR. (ABC)
Returns Sept. 30