Are You Ready for Fall Television?

From Geek Goes Rogue TV Editor Zach W. Lorton, who hasn’t been himself since a certain DEA agent died…

What do you do when you’re trawling the internet, but trying not to read ANYTHING about the latest episode of Breaking Bad because you haven’t watched it yet?

What’s easy?  Let’s look at the fall television lineup.

ABC is touting some creativity and some blandness for the new shows they’re rolling out, and nothing is more anticipated than Marvel’s Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D., starring Clark Gregg, sure to be one of the most celebrated crossover stars from the Marvel universe.  The show may feature younger, more attractive people in the action roles, but Agent Coulson is the backbone of the show, and he’ll be what draws people to come back again and again.  Honestly, if he was the only one featured in the network’s promos, that would be enough for me to watch.

“Don’t touch Lola.”

ABC’s other seemingly bright star is the new comedy The Goldbergs, starring Wendi McClendon-Covey (Bridesmaids, Reno 911) and Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development) as the head of a family in the mid-1980s whose geeky youngest son decides to capture every aspect of his family’s life on video camera.  The nuclear family sitcom gets tweaked with the format, but the comic delivery of Garlin and McClendon-Covey are guaranteed to draw unbelievers to the network.  If anything could sink this show, it’s George Segal as Pops (guess what his role is).  I have only seen one piece of work that I enjoyed him in, and it was the network TV movie Not My Kid (1985), where he starred as a man trying to deal with the fact that his teenage daughter is a drug addict.  I HATED him in Just Shoot Me!, but there was a lot about that show that made it suck for seven seasons.  Hopefully, the writers of The Goldbergs are smarter, and they’ll let Segal breathe life into a part that matches his skills a bit better.

TBS is rolling out a new Mark Burnett-produced program that pulls comics D.L. Hughley and Michael Ian Black together for Trust Me, I’m a Game Show Host.  The new game show will pull people from all walks of life, especially those who hear people lie to them all the time, and gives them the chance to win BIG MONEY if they can figure out which game show host is telling the truth.  Hard to say whether this will be a hit or miss for TBS, but Michael Ian Black is hilarious, and if the writers allow him and Hughley to give their input, this could be a win for the network.  Or it could be as much of a loser as no Conan on Friday nights.

NBC.  Well, I don’t have the most faith in NBC since they passed on John Mulaney’s sitcom pilot, Mulaney.  Seriously, they passed.  One of the most gifted comics of our generation, also a staff writer for Saturday Night Live, produced an original, entertaining pilot that received positive reviews, and they passed (Mulaney has since talked with Fox to re-produce the pilot and resubmit for approval).

However, two shows ready to blast off this fall have my interest.  A longtime fan of Michael J. Fox, I’m interested to see what’s going to happen with The Michael J. Fox Show, which also features Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad).  Fox plays a well-known news anchor in New York who put his career on hold after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and five years later finds himself in a place where it might be time for him to get back to work.  I’ll have to watch before I can decide if this is worth my time.

Another show I really want to catch is Blacklist, starring Emmy winner James Spader about a former government agent turned criminal broker who surrenders himself to the FBI in order to help them catch a terrorist.  But the offer is only the first of what turns out to be a running list of people that Spader’s character wants to remove from the world.  A lot of mystery surrounds the premise, which is what’s pulling me to the story, and it’s unclear whether this will fit the one-story-per-episode formula or the season-long-story-arc method of production, but I have a feeling this will intrigue many who love their mystery/crime story fix.  But one thing is true — James Spader has a habit of picking winners.

Fox is putting their hat into the science fiction/action pool with Almost Human, a buddy cop show starring Karl Urban as a cop who hates robots and finds himself paired up with a robot that has been designed to experience human emotion, played by Michael Ealy.  Imagine Lethal Weapon in a futuristic setting, but without Danny Glover.  Almost Human won’t premiere until November, though, taking over the time slot that will be left by Bones.  Many critics are looking forward to the series, including this guy (*thumbs at himself*), so expectations are pretty high.

Plus, there is a whole host of shows I’m stoked will be returning, including Community, The Big Bang Theory, New Girl, The Mindy Project, and The Neighbors, which took me by surprise last year by being zonked-out goofy.  It’s a lot more fun than you’d think.

What shows are you looking forward to the most?  Tell me about it below.

Zach W. Lorton is a media producer and professional DJ/MC by trade, and a comedian, actor, and musician by default.  His debut music project is set to begin recording in 2014, and will likely take the world by storm, possibly in the form of a Sharknado.