The Best New Shows of Fall 2011

Every year after the hubbub of all the new shows has died down, I like to look back and see which shows liked up to expectations and which ones did not. The networks already did a good job thinning the heard already with The Playboy Club, Free Agents, Charlie’s Angels, How to Be a Gentlemen, and H8R already canceled and being left off the midseason schedules do not bode well for Pan Am, Man Up, and Prime Suspects. With the holiday break fast approaching here are the shows you should be catching up on while everything is in repeats and where you can catch up at.

1. Homeland (Showtime)
Not just the best new show of the season, but the best show currently on television (at least until Justified returns). The crazier Claire Danes gets, the better the show is.

2. Suburgatory (ABC) iTunes – Amazon Instant Video - Hulu
Jane Levy is easily the breakout star of the season even if Emma Stone broke out with the same persona two years ago. And Dalia is easily the scariest thing on television, yes scarier than the zombies on The Walking Dead.

3. Revenge (ABC) iTunes – Amazon Instant Video - Hulu
I basically only started watching this show for Amy Abbott and she remained the only character I actually care about, yet this show is still extremely addictive.

4. Once Upon a Time (ABC) iTunes – Amazon Instant Video - Hulu
When I heard about this show (as well as Grimm) I was hoping for Pushing Daisies with fairytales but unfortunately we just got Lost with fairytales.

5. Two Broke Girls (CBS) CBS.com
Kat Dennings is comedy gold, but the rest of the cast certainly is not.


But who cares what I think, so I asked sometime contributor Doug, who apparently watched as many new shows this fall as I watched total, his thoughts and here is his favorite new shows of the fall.

1. 2 Broke Girls (CBS)
They need to get a new song for in-between songs. I'm already sick of it.

2. Revenge (ABC)
Classic trashy fun.

3. Suburgatory (ABC)

4. Ringer (The CW) iTunes – Amazon Instant Video - Hulu
Have no idea how they can keep this show going longer than 1 season.

5. Hart of Dixie (The CW) iTunes – Amazon Instant Video - Hulu
Cute throwback to the WB days. Hope The CW gives this time to develop.

Best of the Week - 11/19/11

Quote of the Week: You think you can get by with your Justin Bieber hairdo and your Invisaline braces, guess what, puberty is gonna set in and it is gonna set in ugly. Be a friend; be a friend not a bully. (Kristina, Parenthood)

Song of the Week: Someone Like You – Adele (Saturday Night Live)

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: NBC Announces its Midseason Schedule: The headlines coming out of the new NBC schedule was the lack of Community which was scuttered from the line up to make room for 30 Rock. In other comedy news, Up All Night is trading places with Whitney which NBC looks to be killing off putting the critically abused show in a rough timeslot without a chushy lead in that it has had. And it does not bode well for the Chelsea Handler sitcom to get the post-Whitney timeslot (I wonder what Vegas has the Over / Under for when Community and new show Bent replacing the duo because I would take the under at any point after Valentine’s Day).

On the drama side, Prime Suspect looks to be effectively canceled being left off the schedule with new show The Firm replacing it on Thursdays (but will have a two hour premiere Sunday January 8 at 9:00). Ratings anomaly Harry’s Law (which manages to be the networks most watch drama yet has the lowest rating in the most sought out advertising demo) moves to Sunday at 8:00 while Rock Center takes its old timeslot. And once again Parenthood will be ending its season early (February 28) to make room for something called Faison Star which sounds like something that should be airing on a basic cable channel like Bravo instead.

Oh yeah, and for those not already sick of the ads playing ad nausea: The Voice get the post-Super Bowl slot before settling in on Mondays and will be followed by Smash.

Free Download of the Week: Hundreds of Songs from Google Music: Google Music came out of beta this week in style with hundreds of free songs from artists ranging from John Mayer to Outkast to Living Colour to Bill Withers to Willie Nelson to an entire twenty-nine song live album from Pearl Jam and not one, but two free Dave Matthews Band live albums. Unlike beta, you can now download these songs to your computer. You can download tracks individually by clicking on them in your Google Music Library or with the Music Manager (you may have to reinstall it like I dide if there currently a “download” tab in the program). Granted now I have over 600 songs to download.

New Album Release of the Week: My Life II: The Journey Continues, Act 1 [Deluxe Edition] - Mary J. Blige

New DVD Release of the Week: Three Amigos [Blu-ray]

Video of the Week: You know you watch too much On Demand when you can recite a commercial word for word which I can do for The Muppets trailer because ABC On Demand has been airing it during every commercial break for the last month (and I watch four of their shows On Demand per week). And apparently the best way to avoid the naughty words in Cee-Lo’s Song Otherwise Known as Forget You is just to have it performed by animals that cannot actually sing it. And now here is a full version of the song performed by a bunch of chickens. Sadly no one was smart enough to change the title to Cluck You.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, 9AM on NBC: It is the 85’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and they are pulling out all the stops this year because I actually recognize some of the names. This year you can look out for Stars joining the festivities this year include Rodney Atkins, the Big Apple Circus, Mary J. Blige, Cobra Starship, Neil Diamond, Michael Feinstein, The Fresh Beat Band, Cee Lo Green, Avril Lavigne, Shelby Lynne, Mannheim Steamroller, China Anne McClain, Scotty McCreery, Ingrid Michaelson, the cast of The Muppets, Savannah Outen, Power Rangers Samurai, cast of Broadway's Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Daniel Radcliffe and the cast of Broadway's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Willard Scott, cast of Broadway's Sister Act, cast of Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Straight No Chaser, US Naval Academy Glee Club, Johnny Weir, and Zendaya. In addition, the telecast will feature a special performance from the world-famous "Radio City Rockettes." And if that is not enough Parade for you, later that night NBC is running a special on the Parade at 10:00.

Best of the Week - 11/12/11

Quote of the Week: Trust me, if I had a death ray I wouldn’t be living here. I’d be in my lair enjoying the money the people of Earth gave me for not using my death ray. (Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: Kiss from a Rose – Seal (as sung by the cast of Community)

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: A Melancholy Happy Tails to Heavy D: I lived in the right time for rap music with the Golden Age of the genre spanning my middle and high school years. And if I were ever to get around to writing a book on the Golden Age of Hip Hop, Heavy D and the Boyz would definitely get a couple pages. The Overweight Lover MC showed that people of girth were not just resigned to being a novelty act and could actually flow and dance (seriously, check out the Now That We Found Love video; though rewatching it, we may have him to thank for the super-shiny suits that dominated videos in the genre from the nineties; and the see-through suit that one of the dancers wore remains disturbingly funny). Heavy would be one of the few rappers who collaborated with Janet and Michael Jackson (on his underrated Jam) and his Nuttin’ But Love video featured a pre-Friday Chris Tucker and Rebecca Gayheart back when she was still referred only as the Noxzema Girl. Heavy would later focus on acting playing the guidance counselor on Boston Public and stared in the recent Tower Heist film. But his greatest contribution to television remains as providing the theme song to In Living Color. Heavy D was 44 and gone way too soon.



Free Download of the Week: When I Was Young – Nada Surf (Rolling Stone)

Deal of the Week: 100 Holiday Albums for $5 Each: We are still six weeks away from Christmas but for those already to get their holiday cheer on, Amazon MP3 has 100 Christmas albums for $5 each including She and Him, Boyz II Men, Snoop Dogg (seriously), and John Denver teaming up with the Muppets.



New Album Release of the Week: Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982 - 2011 - R.E.M.

New DVD Release of the Week: The California Raisins Collection

Video of the Week: The latest episode of Boardwalk Empire hits HBO this Sunday at 9:00 and here is a quick promo:

Ep. 20: Two Boats and a Lifeguard - Preview

Next Week Pick of the Week: Suburgatory, Wednesday at 8:30 on ABC: Being a suburbanite, I was interested in checking out Suburgatory expect it airs opposite Survivor (which I cannot miss because it is basically the only watercooler show I watch. So after it premiered I fired up Hulu to give it a look except it was not there. Same for abc.com and iTunes. I checked back a week later and still not up. I resigned that the show would be a DVD catch up until last week I noticed it was finally on Hulu (sans the Pilot, but since I had some credit for Amazon Instant Video, I checked it out there; you can also download Suburgatory on iTunes). So after a quick marathon I am finally caught up and ready to call it the best new show this fall on terrestrial television which says a lot because as funny as it is, I am a bit offended at its depiction of the suburbs. But there are few things funnier than a black dude in a Medium fan club.