You Haven't Struck Out Yet

With the writer’s strike in full swing with no signs of ending any time soon, people are getting desperate for new programming to watch. You might start wondering things like “Was the second season of “Dark Angel” really as horrid as I remember?” or “If I sign that petition, maybe “Salute Your Shorts” will hit DVD faster” or even “Maybe I should check out “American Idol”, just to see what the fuss is all about.” Believe me, these are things you don’t want to start thinking (except maybe the “Salute Your Shorts” thing). Fear not loyal readers, I have come up with five shows premiering shortly that should chase away these bad thoughts (in order of importance).

5) Torchwood (BBC America, season 2 premiering 01/26) – Since I still have three episodes remaining in Season 1, I really can’t tell you where we left off, but the season finale was titled “End of Days”, so you know something big went down. Minus the whole Owen and Gwen hooking up thing (which is more palpable after Suzie came back in that one episode) the first season has been top notch. There were a lot of stand alone episodes that gave us insight into the characters and the organization. From what I hear, we get a nice little story arc at the end of the season, so I have something to look forward to. Enough of the past, let’s talk future. With a solid base of character development set, I expect to get what I get from most British shows, solid story telling that draws you in and leaves you wanting more.

4) Psych (USA Network, second half of season 2 premiering 01/11) – We left off with Shawn and Gus clearing Gus’s parents of the murder of a crotchety old neighbor in a funny Christmas episode. I know most people think “oh great, another cop show”, but it’s actually kind of unique and funny. Any show that makes a reference to the movie “Top Secret”, gives us a joke about V’Ger and Stephen Collins, and states that Chad Michael Murray is pure evil is alright in my book. So, what can we expect for the remainder of Season 2? I would expect more of the same, which means loads of pop culture references and some nifty detective work.

3) Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles (FOX, season 1 premiering 01/13) – The show picks up where T2 ended, with Sarah and John on the run. I don’t know if they are pretending like T3 never happened (you know, sort of like season 3 of “Roswell”). I also don’t know if I’m watching this because FOX bombarded me with ads for it or if it’s just because of Summer Glau (River from “Firefly”). Basically, I think this show is either going to suck eggs or rock the house. I really don’t see any in between on this. Basically, yet another Terminator is sent to kill John, but yet another Terminator comes to save him. Wait, wasn’t that the plot of T2? I’m sure they’ll fill in the plot holes, but who knows. Most of the crap on TV panders to the lowest common denominator, any those people don’t care about plot holes. They want scantly clad women and explosions.

1A) Lost (ABC, season 4 premiering 01/31) – I had a hard time picking between this and the other number one show, so I just figured “screw it” and made it a tie. We left off season 3 with the survivors of Oceanic 815 getting rescued and we find out that Jack’s crazy flashbacks during the finale were actually flash-forwards. If you weren’t completely awe struck when Jack was yelling “We have to go back Kate. We have to go back!” well, you just don’t deserve to have a television. So, where do we go from here? Well, you gotta figure we’ll actually get some answers, as well as even more questions. With this show, I’ve learned its best not to guess or think too much about these things and just sit back and enjoy the ride.

1B) Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi Channel, season 4 premiering in 03/2008) – You know this was coming. We left off at the end of season 3 finding out the identities of four of the final five Cylons and Starbuck magically reappears in a Viper next to Lee, telling him she’s alive and knows how to get to Earth. We got the movie “Razor” a little while ago (a flash back) that told us that Starbuck was the “harbinger of death” (of course, only Shaw heard this, and she’s dead). Now, I don’t know about you, but harbinger of death doesn’t sound like a good thing. Let’s not forget that Baltar has been acquitted in his war crimes trial, so he’ll be fluttering about. We already know that this is the final season, so we should get answers to all the major questions. Who is the final Cylon, do they find Earth, and will Adama grow back his 80’s style mustache?