Tuesday, September 20, 2011

TV: Monday CBS Comedies (9/19/11)

Ah, TV premiere week is now in full swing. And last night my typical Monday CBS comedy line up had two hours of new programming. Here are my first impressions (warning: there will be plot *spoilers* - proceed with caution).


How I Met Your Mother - Last season HIMYM had some ups and downs: hated all the stuff with Zoe but loved all the stuff dealing with father/son relationships (Marshall's, Barney's). The later half of that season redeemed itself. The new season hit the ground running with two new episodes back to back. While this meant I have to wait a week for the premiere of Mike & Molly, my favorite new show from last season, this worked well for me. We definitely have a few larger framing arcs going for this new season which I like: Marshall's new job, Lilly's pregnancy, Barney's wedding (just who is the bride? I think we'll find out long before we find out who the mother is - even the voice-over cracked on how long this was taking, twice!). The other thing I like is that is back to characters, focusing on the core five. It seems like a bit of back-to-basics which is nice. Plus, who doesn't love seeing NPH dance (and Colby is no slouch either)?

Two and a Half Men - much hype surrounded this debut. Charlie Sheen was out after last year's blow up with the producers that cut the season short. Ashton Kutcher signed on, for a season at least. Rumors leaked out about how the character of Charlie Harper would be dealt with (and those rumors that were denied turned out to be actual true leaked spoilers - but that's okay as that opening scene with all those cameos was worth it!). I like that too when we return from the break all the cast is in the scene to again show that the show has a lot to build on even in Charlie's absence. Not so subtle but it works. What I also liked was how Jon Cryer was given a nice spotlight to show he has been a critical part of the show from day one. Very nice. As for Ashton's character of "Walden" - I'm still on the fence. I see the potential but worry if it isn't played out just right. Time will tell. Oh, and one more note: love the extra cameos with those who came to the Open House for the property (nice touches).

2 Broke Girls - this show got a lot of commercial hype this summer while I watched Big Brother, maybe too much. A lot of the scenes were spoiled by that and I think that gave me a colder first impression. It is sort of an Odd Couple for the new millenium, changing the genders, but the girls have more in common than just being broke. Max and Caroline have smarts and sass that could mean they won't be broke forever. I liked the touch at the end of the running money tally. Will I watch next week? Probably so. Does it have work to do until the end of October to convince me to stay for the whole season? Yes.

No comments:

Post a Comment