NBC Fall Preview

Like a lot of people I've been watching the Olympics in between ads for the new NBC shows. I think that the Olympics will last longer than some of them. Or at least they should.

They have been in a bit of a funk since Friends went off the air. It's as if they lost their mojo. Other than 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live and Sunday Night Football I really don't watch NBC.

I can hear you say, "What about Community?" My answer is, "Exactly my point sir/ma'am. What about Community?" That is a case where NBC has a show that could be their Big Bang Theory but they treat it worse than CBS does Rules of Engagement. Serously. How did that show get on the air in the first place?

One of the new shows on NBC is Revoultion. normally this would be a no brainer for me since I am a big JJ Abrams fan. However it is on NBC. That scares me. Anyone remember Undercovers?

Usually JJ Abrams+spies=awesome but I forgot to divide by NBC. A show like that has two choices; it's either about spies who happen to be married or it's about a married couple who happen to be spies. That was a case of a show that had no idea what it was.

If it weren't for JJ Abrams name being attached then it probably would have been on USA where it might have had a chance. However, USA has the far superior Covert Affairs which is sort of Alias-Milo Rambaldi.

While I'm at it, do we really need yet another post-apocalyptic show on TV? I liked Jericho. No, I didn't send CBS a sack of peanuts when they cancelled it.

The thing is that even the best of these shows is a bit formulaic. It always comes down to good guys versus bad guys. Some of the good guys aren't so good and some of the bad guys aren't so bad. Sometimes.

Then there is the inevitable group of stereotypical Rednecks who have the weapons and/or medicine. At least Falling Skies got this hackneyed plot point out of the way in the first episode. One could argue that on The Walking Dead they are all Rednecks. I'm from the South. Some necks are redder than others.

Then there is Go On. I like Matthew Perry. I liked Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Yep, that was me. When I heard that he was going to have a new show I was a bit worried. It was as if some NBC exec said, "If Matt LeBlanc can win a Golden Globe for playing himself then Mathew Perry can win an Emmy for just about anything."

I watched Go On the other night. I liked it. Mostly. Perry plays a sports radio talk show host whose wife died and management makes him go to group therapy.

The therapy sessions are the strong part of the show. It's so easy to make the members into stereotypes because we've seen it all before on The Bob Newhart Show and Dear John and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. So far they have avoided it but it was only the first episode.

The weak part seems to be the sports talk bit. Terrell Owens was in the pilot and he did a good job but if they are depending on sports stars to be actors and/or drive the ratings then they are in serious trouble.