I’ve been checking out the new shows (well, at least a few of them). There are some really good ones this season, although I’ll have to let you know in 6 months whether they’ve managed to hold my attention. So, here’s my brief take on the new shows I’ve checked out so far.

George already mentioned Heroes. I didn’t realize until a couple of weeks ago that this was a superhero show. I’ve watched the previews all summer, and it just looked, well, weird. I thought it was going to be about real life people (not true to life, but written to seem that way) who committed heroic acts. Little did I realize it was going to be about flying people and mirror images that have a life of their own. Anyway, other than being an interesting concept, it’s also fairly well written. It moves along quickly. The characters that are supposed to be likeable seem likeable, so far. There is just enough mystery to keep you guessing and wondering what will happen next, but not so much that the show becomes confusing. So far, after one whole episode, I’d give it a thumbs up. We’ll definitely be watching again.

I missed most of the second episode of Jericho, due to a PVR scheduling mistake, but I really liked the first episode and the last 15 minutes of the second episode. It’s been pretty much non-stop action to this point in the story. Like Lost, I wonder how long you can keep up a storyline for characters who seem to be completely isolated, but Lost has found a way to make it work. The show reminds me of a book called, “Alas, Babylon”, which I enjoyed reading back in high school, so much so that I made my own students read it when I became a teacher. In case you haven’t been watching, the basic jist is that there has been some sort of attack that has wiped out a large number of cities throughout the United States. No one really knows just exactly what has happened because communication with the outside world for the citizens of Jericho, Kansas is pretty much non-existant. I wonder whether it will continue to be as interesting when the radiation storms and escaped convicts have all gone away, and the town is left to try to grow food, find water, and get on with the question of survival. We shall see.

Now this one I said I wasn’t going to watch– yes, I’m talking about Kidnapped. I thought I would just take a peak. You know, find out if it was one long storyline about ONE kidnapping or a different kidnapping every week. Luckily for my already-heightened mother sense of paranoia, it’s about one kidnapping. Since my husband isn’t a bazillionaire with skeletons in the closet who finds it necessary to have a bodyguard for our children, I don’t have to get up extra times to check the locks at night. Unluckily for my television watching schedule, it’s about one kidnapping. You don’t think I can honestly just walk away until I find out whether they save the boy, do you? The first week they needed that hook to get me back. The show dragged and was a bit boring, but the second week was a lot better. I’m still not sure I’ll be watching it by the end of the season– won’t they eventually have to let the boy go home and move on to another kidnapping? But I’m in it until they get the boy home, or until I decide they’re just yanking me around by not getting him home.

And now for my personal favorite of the new season– the show with the impossibly long name: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which I will be referring to simply as Studio 60 from now on (or that show with Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, or Studio Whatever). I think the show is funny, intelligent, well-written, not quite as left wing as the West Wing (but I’ll keep an eye on that), and just thoroughly enjoyable. Matthew Perry is great. Bradley Whitford is great. The whole cast is great. I don’t really have anything negative to say about the show– except that I really don’t like the name.

Thus far, I would say NBC is the winner with regards to new shows. If you’re interested in any of the shows mentioned but haven’t watched them, don’t despair. Visit the websites for the shows. Many of them have the full episodes, or at least a summary recap on their web pages. As a matter of fact, I’m going to watch Jericho in the next couple of days.

So, let me know– what are you watching? What’s your favorite new show of the season?