Fall TV Report Card (Returning favorites pt. 3)

Fringe: The best drama you're not watching returned in fine form for their fourth season. While on the surface, things appeared to be normal (the central case was a typically creepy one involving a translucent man attacking people) we all know that something is very wrong with the world that currently exists. The big problem is the absence of Peter Bishop who after operating the machine last season vanished, erasing himself from the memories of all the other characters. This has produced some changes in the Fringe team. Walter has a fear of leaving the lab, Astrid now occasionally goes out into the field and Lincoln Lee has been brought on as a new member. Of course, each of the actors have done a tremendous job conveying their new role, but it still doesn't help us who are desperate to see Peter return. Thankfully we got glimpses of him throughout the episode, suggesting that he'll find a way to return to our world sooner rather than later. And I haven't even touched upon the 'Other World' members who lurked in the background in this first episode. That's how jam-packed this premiere was, nothing new for this terrific show. In just one episode, they've set into motion a number of different storylines that I can't wait to see how they play out. Grade: A- Saturday Night Live: The stalwart sketch comedy returned for another season and opened on a notable moment as host Alec Baldwin broke the hosting record with his 16th (!) effort. Of course, previous record holder Steve Martin couldn't resist showing up to rain on Baldwin's parade. The rest of the episode was a mixed bag as it related to the humor. The cold open involving a Republican primary debate set the foundation of which cast members would be parodying the key political figures for the next year and a skit involving footage of actors auditioning for the film Top Gun highlighted the talented cast's strengths at mimicking a lot of famous people (Bill Hader's Alan Alda impression is scary good). As usual, some skits fell very flat - in particular a one about a couple on a date dealing with one of the dater's obnoxious child didn't do anything for me. The one impressive thing about this opener though was that it relied almost predominantly on original skit ideas. In recent years, the show had become too reliant on its recurring sketches running them into the ground before they had a chance to peak in popularity. Let's hope that's a trend that continues throughout the year. Grade: B+ The Amazing Race: The Emmy-award winning reality show got started in just about the opposite direction as this year's edition of Survivor did. Watching the opening episode, I found myself struggling to care or root for any of the contestant. Even the one team which features a pair of former Survivor winners (Ethan and Jenna) did very little to make me want to see them win another million dollars. Most of the teams felt like they featured stereotypes we had seen too many times before on the Race. Perhaps as the teams move forward my opinions will change. But even if they don't, I can still enjoy all of the gorgeous locations (the first episode saw teams heading to Taipei, Taiwan) that the show travels to as well as the wacky challenges they come up with for the contestants to endure. This may have gotten off to a rocky road, but this show has proven time and again that they always find a way to right the ship. Grade: B-

Fall TV Report Card (Returning favorites pt. 2)

The Big Bang Theory: The big question for this show would be how they would address the shocking cliffhanger from last season that saw Raj and Penny seemingly have sex after a night of heavy drinking. I was not crazy about that twist so I was glad to see they copped out of it to begin this year by explaining what exactly happened. The rest of this hour premiere was a good collection of hearty laughs from the expanding cast. The show really felt like it was already in mid-season stride, which was nice to see. The addition of the female cast members has really made this a richer show and prevented it from simply becoming the Sheldon show. This may not be the smartest show, despite being about very smart people, but it's one of the most consistent performers and I look forward to another strong season from this merry band of geeks. Grade: A-

Community: After making a promise through song and dance that this show will be 'less weird' this year (yeah right), the rest of the half hour was spent trying to introduce us to a couple of new recurring characters this season - Michael K. Williams (The Wire) as a tough as nails biology teacher and John Goodman as Greendale's vice dean. Both played imposing forces that will likely cause many problems for the study group and dean, respectively. As is often the case, the show veered into some dark territory that didn't exactly provide a lot of laughs but made for an interesting character study. Here's hoping that as the season progresses, we get fewer character study and more group efforts that showcase the widely talented cast that this show has to offer. Grade: B

Parks and Recreation: You cannot imagine how happy I am to see this show return. This premiere picked up right where things left off last season with Leslie dealing with the prospect of running for city coucil and Ron trying to run away from his evil ex-wife Tammy One (played by Patricia Clarkson), not to be confused with his other evil ex-wife Tammy Two. Because we had a lot of story to get through in the episode, this wasn't their funniest effort, but a strong outing nonetheless. Leslie's breakup with Ben was perfect and extremely heartbreaking. The fact that we learned Tammy One works for the IRS is just brilliant (the one agency even more evil than the library). I was also really happy to see that Andy opted to work as Leslie's assistant rather than with Tom at Entertainment 720 since that will likely yield more comedy gold. The stuff with the revealing photos being sent to everyone's phones was a bit silly, but it also showed that the people that run Pawnee as just as creepy as the people they represent. All in all it's great to be back in Pawnee. Grade: A-

The Office: While news had leaked earlier this summer that James Spader had been added to the cast, we also knew that he would not become the regional manager (his Robert California character actually convinced the Sabre CEO to give him her job). The answer came in the premiere and low and behold, Cornell's own, Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) was chosen. He's probably the best person for it as he has the acting chops and star quality befit of this bigger role and he doesn't have to abandon the qualities that made him a great character to begin with (unlike if say someone like Jim had become the manager). The other big surprise was learning that both Pam and Angela are pregnant. That will likely yield some interesting comedic situations throughout the season. While Steve Carell's presence was missed at times, I thought the show did as well as it could to move forward without him. This is certainly a whole new show now. I feel that there are enough talented people working on the show to still allow the show to remain funny, but it's likely it'll never reach the greatness that it once had. Grade: B

Fall TV Report Card (Returning favorites part 1)

Survivor: South Pacific - The show had an admittedly down year last year with a weak cast in the fall and then Boston Rob's dominance leading to predictable episodes in the spring.  Thankfully the show seems to show promise once again in their latest effort.  This seems thus far like a strong, likeable cast.  There were very few people that I was wishing would get eliminated quickly.  The returns of Ozzy and Coach should be interesting as well as they aren't the same players as Russell or Rob, so how they'll fare is still a bit unclear.  Speaking of Russell, his nephew is part of this cast and he's one of the few that I'm not crazy about.  He seems creepy, especially around women.  He claims he wants to keep his relationship to Russell a secret, but I highly doubt he'll be able to do that.  Lastly, the redemption island twist is back once again.  I wasn't overly crazy about it for a number of reasons, but I'm willing to see it play out again before completely condemming it.  If it can reward someone worthy while also providing some good gameplay, I'll be happy.  For now, this new season has restored my faith in this stalwart series.  Grade: A-

How I Met Your Mother: The show seems to be taking a renewed interest in Ted's lovelife, even if we aren't really anywhere closer to learning who the titular mother is.  If true, I would say that it's a positive step since I am more interested and invested in that than I am in their fruitless efforts to neuter the Barney character by saddling him with this relationship storyline involving him Robin and Nora.  That is a total snoozefest which unfortunately took up way too much time in the first two episodes that premiered this past Monday.  As for Lily and Marshall, they remain enjoyable and it should be fun seeing them approach parenthood.  The show offers enough laughs to keep me around, but they better make some wise choices with regards to their storylines.  Bringing back Ted's old girlfriend, Victoria the cupcake girl, at the end of the second episode was certainly a move in the right direction.  Grade: B