It’s never too early to start programming your TiVo for some of the most intriguing new shows and returning favorites from the fall TV season. We’ve got more scoop on the series the networks are serving up in part 2 of our fall TV guide.
ABC
Desperate Housewives
A primetime sudser with a truly contemporary take on “happily every after,” this new hour- long drama takes a darkly comedic look at suburbia, told from the point of view of a housewife named Mary Alice Young who committed suicide (Brenda Strong). She introduces us into the lives of her friends, who include divorcee and single mom Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher); ex-career woman Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), bored and panicky now as the mother of four unmanageable kids; Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross), whose family is out of control; and Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria), the ex-model who’s fooling around with the 17-year-old gardener (Jesse Metcalfe).
Then there are the men: Hunky new neighbor Mike Delfino (James Denton), a supposedly widowed plumber who has Susan and Edie vying for his attention; Bree’s husband Rex (Steven Culp), who wants a divorce; Gabrielle’s not-so-better half, Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who figures he bought his wife a $15,000 diamond necklace, so she should do whatever he tells her; and Mary Alice’s widowed husband Paul (Mark Moses). Desperate Housewives, Sundays, 9/8c.
Boston Legal
Another spin-off, this time from David E. Kelley’s venerable legal drama The Practice, Boston Legal takes quirky legal eagle Alan Shore (James Spader, who shot invigorating new blood into the former series’ final season) and deposits him in the high-powered law firm run by his eccentric former mentor Denny Crane (a character created especially for and brilliantly played by William Shatner). They’re joined by two more Practice holdovers, Tara Wilson (Rhona Mitra) and Sally Heep (Lake Bell, of the defunct Miss Match), and a new character played by Keen Eddie’s Mark Valley, designed to serve as the conscious of the often morally challenged group. Boston Legal, Sundays, 10/9c.
life as we know it
One of the most promising new series on ABC’s fall schedule is life as we know it, a teen-oriented, coming-of-age drama that bypasses the melodrama of the Dawson’s Creek variety for a much more real, hard-edged look at teenage life. Created by veterans of the far, far underappreciated cult show Freaks and Geeks, the series stars a cast of relative unknowns, unless you count D.B. Sweeney, who’s playing a far-from-typical dad role, and first-time actress Kelly Osbourne. Yes, that Kelly Osbourne.
Filming in Vancouver, the 18-year-old actress (who is fresh out of rehab and full of energy and her characteristic candor) is enjoying living on her own for the first time–OK, she did buy a Brussels Griffon puppy named Manny to keep her company–but misses her Beverly Hills brood horribly. ” My dad will call and he’ll be like [she imitates her rocker pop, Ozzy], ‘Oh, I can’t sleep and I was just thinking about you. Are you all right?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, Dad, I’m fine!'” Meanwhile, mama Sharon is a devoted fan of her baby’s new show, insisting on seeing each new script as they roll in–but don’t look for any stunt casting featuring Jack or the rest of the family, says Kelly. “I think that would be cheesy.” life as we know it, Thursdays, 9/8c.
CBS
CSI: NY
Jerry Bruckheimer’s popular CSI franchise brings all the usual bells and whistles–corpses, a respected male lead from the movies (Gary Sinise this time), a TV-familiar female lead (Providence‘s Melina Kanakaredes) and one more Who song for the opening credits (the venerable “Baba O’Reilly”)–to the Big Apple.
“We’re a forensic procedural drama at heart, but this show will be slightly more character-driven,” promised executive producer Anthony Zuiker, who in just a few short years went from being a tram operator at the Mirage in Las Vegas to helming the hit CSI family of shows. “We tend to shy away from romance inside the core ensemble,” he demurred, “but there may be a situation later on that if one story develops where we may see some of that. It’s on the back burner, not the front burner, of what we’re doing.” CSI: NY, Wednesdays, 10/9c.
Cold Case
After a freshman season as the top-rated new drama on television, Jerry Bruckheimer‘s Cold Case is coming back, but don’t look for the life–or love life–of sexy detective Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris) to move to the forefront. The show will continue to focus on solving unique dead-end cases from various decades, going back even further than usual–the series shot its first sepia-toned ’40s-era episode and is trying to figure out how to set another in the ’20s–and only occasionally dole out a bit more details on the personal lives of the characters in teeny, tiny doses (Rush’s colleague Valens (Danny Pino) will continue to have a relationship with his not-so-stable girlfriend).
That doesn’t mean the show won’t get really personal. “Some of our best episodes are when the detectives have a case real point of view about the case,” said Kathryn. “And we also have personal stuff that’s filtering into the pressure at work.” The actress said she’s been constantly stunned at the response she’s received from viewers, particularly women. “It’s not just about being a cop. I feel I’ve become a spokesperson for the single working woman. I’ve had so many people come up and share how it’s nice to see a female in a man’s world, who cares for people nobody cares about, for justice for people, and also just this strange sort of connection with women in the workplace, how their main focus in life is work, just like a man.
“And then they want to know when we’re going to have more episodes on and about the boyfriend,” she added with a smile. Cold Case, Sundays, 8/7c.
dr. vegas
Last year, both Rob Lowe and Joe Pantoliano lept from the ensembles of highly successful established series (The West Wing and The Sopranos, respectively) to star vehicles that didn’t quite catch the same fires (Lyon’s Den and The Handler, respectively)–now CBS has teamed the two actors for its off-kilter drama dr. vegas. Lowe plays Dr. Billy Grant, an unorthodox physician who sets up his shingle as the in-house medico inside a high-end Sin City casino (yes, a real-life doctor practiced at Caesar’s Palace for many decades), often finding himself forced to cater to the whims of his pal, casino boss Tommy Danko (Pantoliano). It’s not just treating strep on the Strip–the doc, who’s often lured by the siren call of the craps table, is on call 24/7 and is often drawn into the shadowy dramas behind the scenes of the neon-lit playground.
Lowe says that after playing such upright, highly moral characters like White House staffer Sam Seaborn, “I was interested in playing someone with a little more of a fun, devil-may-care, bad-boy quality. I played some roles like that earlier in my career and had a really good time with them on About Last Night and St. Elmo’s Fire. And on both The West Wing and Lyon’s Den, those guys were incredibly earnest,” he explained. “I was thinking it might be fun to play a little bit of a wiseass.
“One of my favorite doctors in television history was Hawkeye Pierce [M*A*S*H], and I think that’s the road we aspire to walk: great at what he does, but behind closed doors an iconoclast who doesn’t take any crap from anybody and likes to stir it up,” he said.
Despite a sudden explosion of Vegas-based programming–from crime dramas like CSI and the lighthearted Las Vegas to reality series like The Casino, Rob said he feels the city is still ripe for both dramatic and comedic exploration. “One of the reasons I decided to do this show was ‘Hmm, do you think there’s anything provocative going on in Las Vegas? Let me think.’ And the answer is: EVERYBODY’s provocative in Vegas. You GO to Vegas to be provocative.” dr. vegas, Fridays, 10/9c.
Everybody Loves Raymond
As the top-rated sitcom heads into its ninth and final season with an abbreviated schedule of 16 episodes (maybe one or two more if an irresistible idea comes up), not only could I not find anyone from the cast to clue us all in on the show’s future storylines, even executive producer/co-creator Phil Rosenthal would barely hint at what’s in store for the Barone clan.
“I would have been fine ending this past season,” Rosenthal admitted, saying he met with his writing staff back in January while pondering the show’s finale to see if there were any stories left to tell (“if there’s any life in the old horse”). When the team came up with about eight fresh plotlines, they decided they could probably double that number over the next months and return for a truncated season (cast and crew will be paid for a full 24-episode run)–Rosenthal shelved the series finale idea he’d planned and will now dust it off again in 2005.
While being extra-mum about his plans, Rosenthal did say that the now-extended family of Ray Barone (Ray Romano) will appear throughout the season–including Katherine Helmond, Robert Culp, Fred Willard, Georgia Engel and Chris Elliott–and he expects CBS to create an appropriate amount of hoopla to send off its comedic crown jewel. “I want Walter Cronkite to host it live,” he said. “And at the end I want Walter to choke up and say ‘They’re gone.'”
And what does the producer have to say to those longtime fans of the show desperate for even more tales of the bickering Barones? “Goodbye,” he deadpans. “Read a book.” Everybody Loves Raymond, Mondays, 9/8c.
For Part One of our preview, click here.
