O.T.: 30 Hours a Week: New on TV

I explained the other day why I'm up for watching 30 hours of TV per week. This time last year I was hyped about three sci-fi shows involving hurricanes and alien life forms (OK, one of them didn't have hurricanes). I liked all three, but none are still around this season. Here's the low down on what new shows my family expects to give a chance this season:

ACTION / SCI-FI:

(CBS) - This is probably my highest hope for the season, although Skeet Ulrich, who we like, didn't do so well on "Miracles" which was cancelled mid-season a couple of years ago (even though it was nominated for an Emmy and has an IMDB rating of 9.6, higher than any movie in history). The plot for this one is that nuclear bomb(s) go off and the city of Jericho may be the only survivors.

(NBC) - This sounds a little like X-Men or The 4400 -- people wake up one day with superpowers -- but we're willing to give it a chance, mainly because of Ali Larter (loved her in Final Destination) and Greg Grunberg (the guy who played Weiss on "Alias").

(FOX) - Going to give it a whopping chance and very likely to pickup. Ron Livingston from one of our favorite movies "Office Space" plus Gina Torres from one of our favorite series "Firefly". They are an FBI crisis negotiation team. Will have to really offend us with those two in it.

(CBS) - Has potential... high stakes criminals must keep their lives secret from their wives (ala "The Unit" which I liked, but my wife did not). With star power from Ray Liotta, we'll give it a chance.

(ABC) - We'll give this one a chance because I like the concept of Six Degrees of Separation and because it's producers come from "Lost", which has done a good job with that concept, and "Alias". Not really anyone we know in it.

(ABC) - This one has some star power from Tim Daly and Scott Wolf (we're not huge fans, but how can you go wrong with a couple of high-profile stars, plus we liked Daly in "Eyes") and also Chi McBride who we enjoyed in "Boston Public", "House", "I, Robot" and even tried to follow briefly in the ill-fated "Killer Instinct". We also like John Billingsley from Prison Break and many past brilliant (but cancelled) sci-fi shows such as "FreakyLinks","G vs. E.", "X-Files", "Angel", etc. He has 64 credit listings on IMDB, more than twice Scott Wolf.

(ABC) - This is the show to replace "Lost" temporarily mid-season, so it had better be good. And with the star power of Adam Baldwin and Taye Diggs, it just might work. It has a wider appeal than "Invasion" (which interrupted "Lost" last year) because it's not about hurricanes and alien under-sea creatures (which was targeted to a very small audience, say, ME, who loved it) but the more palatable (and classic sci-fi) repeating-day syndrome. Think one episode of "Tru Calling" stretched out to a season.

(NBC) - Sounds just like "Vanished," (see below) but if you believe NBC's own promo, it's more intriguing and cinematic (that could be true, or it could be complete bull. We'll know on September 20th. Really nobody I know is in this thing, so I'm not hopeful.

(FOX) - Not high hopes for this one, pilot on August 21st was not great. Nobody great in it, couldn't identify with stuffy characters. Laurel agrees. Plot is a senator's wife disappears and he and the FBI spend the whole season trying to find her. Second episode was on Tuesday night, unannounced, so this one's already "vanished" off my list.

COMEDIES:

(ABC) - Totally up for another Donal Logue comedy after falling in love with "Grounded for Life", which FOX cancelled but WB picked up until it cancelled it too. But Logue will be busy; his IMDB page lists him in 10 movies in '06-'07. I couldn't decode the plot from ABC's description but that could mean it's not run-of-the-mill and may last.

(ABC) - Group therapy comedy. Has some serious star power and even though we don't particularly care for Ted Danson, there's always Charlie Finn (from various comedy flops) and Jere Burns from "Good Morning, Miami," another obsession of mine that is long-gone (wife says: good riddance).

(CBS) - They were in 3rd grade together, now they're "Friends," but there's nobody we know/like in it. I'm willing to give it a try, only because the spash screen reminds me of NBC's Teachers, which was mildly amusing (but too much dry humor for us Americans), is gone. And because it's before How I Met Your Mother, which we really adore.

(FOX) - Even though every comedy that any ex-Raymond/Seinfeld/Friends person has ever done has failed miserably, we're going to give Brad Garrett one chance, but one chance only for this, dare I say it,

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DRAMA:

(ABC) - This sounds more like an hour-long dramedy, and it sounds a LOT like "Northern Exposure". Anne Heche's character writes a self-help book about getting married successfully, then her husband cheats on her and she moves to a town with mostly men in Alaska. I really, really wasn't going to consider this one, because it sounds kind of girly, but it does have Anne Heche and also John Amos who I really liked in "Fresh Prince" and, well, everything (76 credits on IMDB, including "I Love the 80's").

And now, my wrist is weak from two nights of typing this entry, so I need to sit down, relax and... watch some TV.

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