Fall pilots to watch

Now that the new TV season is underway, I feel it's my duty to help all of you out there decide on which new shows to add onto your DVR/TiVo. Luckily, the networks, in an effort to create buzz about their shows, have put a lot of the pilots online for people to get a sneek peek at them. Here now are my thoughts on the ones I've been able to see. You'll note that none of the pilots are from ABC as I continue to boycott that network until they start putting on some shows that appeal to men (aka when Lost returns in February)

Must-See TV
Chuck (NBC, Mondays at 8): This is the only fall show, as of now, that I can say I will be watching on a regular basis. After watching the first episode, I can safely say that this show is crazy, but in a good way. It's almost like a virtual cartoon. The action is so over the top, but because the show doesn't take it seriously, you can have fun watching it, instead of rolling your eyes at it. The show does a nice job of delivering on both action and comedy. One of the producers described the show as a mix of The Bourne Ultimatum and The 40-Year Old Virgin. If that doesn't sound like the ideal show for me, I don't know what does. Check this out, you won't be disappointed. This is a great lead-in the Heroes on Monday nights.

Give Them a Try
Journeyman (NBC, Mondays at 10): This show probably has the strongest premise (Man mysteriously travels through time and ends up helping people in the process), but I need to see more of it before I render a verdict. For me, the show was a little too serious. Plus, given that pilots are typically all about exposition, this show was a little too vague on how he's time travelling and the reasons he's going to the places he lands in. Hopefully these minor problems will be rectified and this show can solidify NBC's Monday as the most awesome night in TV.

Reaper (CW, Tuesdays at 9): I can't believe I'm recommeding a show on the CW, but this one looks really appealing. I'm not going to give it a full recommendation because I actually haven't seen the complete pilot. However, based on the extended clips I have seen, this seems like it'll be a lot of fun. The premise is that a young man must recover lost souls for the devil after his parents sold his soul to Satan when he was born. The cast looks strong and the first episode was directed by Kevin Smith. This show has a lot of promise, so I hope it delivers.

Aliens in America (CW, Mondays at 8:30): Yet, another CW show? I must be going crazy. This one is about a dorky teenager who is an outcast at his high school. To help him, his parents sign up to have a foreign exchange student live with them and it turns out to be a Pakistani boy. Hilarity ensues. This could be really corny, but the humor is actually twisted and funny. They do a lot of cutaways ala Family Guy, which give the show some of its biggest laughs. Same basic rationale for why this doesn't get a recommendation from me as of yet as Reaper. Hopefully though, this will be another winner.

Back to You: (FOX, Wednesdays at 8:00): This one actually already began airing this past Wednesday. Watching the first episode, I wasn't completely impressed, but I think a lot has to do with the fact that so much of the episode was revealed in FOX's endless promos, so a lot of the laughs fell flat. The shows earns a reprieve based on the strength of the lead actors. Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton play to their strengths with these two characters. The rest of the cast, save for the fantastic Fred Willard, leave a lot to be desired. If the show focuses on the bickering between the two newscasters, it has a chance to be as good as shows like Murphy Brown or Newsradio.

Probably can skip
Bionic Woman (NBC, Wednesdays at 9:00): Easily the biggest disappointment of the new fall crop. The show was just plain boring. All of the primary characters were too vanilla for me to care about any of them. I understand the reason this concept was resurrected after the success of Heroes, but this one just did not execute properly. Now I have heard that a lot of changes were made to the pilot, so I'm not sure if I saw the original or the re-tooled one. Because of this, and since there isn't much else on Wednesdays for me, I may give it one more shot. However, I'm not giving this one much hope.

The Big Bang Theory (CBS, Mondays at 8:30): This one could have been decent. The basic idea here is that two friends who are geniuses have their world turned upside down when an attractive young woman moves in across the hall from them. While I like the premise, the show fails as a result of the two geniuses not being very likeable. The writers bludgeon you over the head with the fact that these guys are smart by having them mention some quantum physics theory everytime they speak. It got so annoying after a while. The cute girl character is also confusing as it's not clear why she bothers to give these guys the time of day. The show did have a handful of good laughs, but it's weak characters and the fact that it's on a crowded TV night for me makes me likely to skip future episodes.

So there you have it, some fearless picks for the new fall shows. Feel free to voice your own opinions on these or any of the other new shows you happen to see in the next week.