Bi-Monthly Power Rankings- 20 Through 11

Yes, it is that time again. It's time for the Quiet Pool Perspective's take on power rankings. Every two months, here at The Pool, we like to let you know what you should be watching on the small screen. Just like in sports, an opinionated take on what is the best of the best is great for television. It's too bad that Tim Goodman is the only other one out there that I know of that puts out Power Rankings. His come out weekly, or any week that he remembers to do it, and that's a bit much. Every couple of months, the television landscape changes here at The Pool, and therefore we now come out with our November Power Rankings. So go grab a couple of boat drinks, turn on some reggae, and take a look at what you should be watching.

Jason Ritter as Sean Walker on The Event

Place. Show- (last time)...red=moving down, green=moving up

20. The Event- (-) Mondays on NBC
Critics can hate on it all they want, but what do they know? They only get paid to know what tv is good. I'm enjoying The Event and I know must of the other Poolies are as well. It's action packed. There are plenty of twists. And there are some crazy sci-fi elements in it. A promising start to the first season. I mean it's a great possibility that everything blows up in its face, but for now I'm enjoying the ride. Jackie Boy just mentioned to me that if Michael Giacchino was scoring this series it would jump to the top. He makes a solid point, why wouldn't Giacchino score every show on television?

19. Californication- (17) Sundays on Showtime
It will be about a year and a half since we last saw Hank when Californication comes back in 2011. The series has held steady in this late teen range over the last couple of rankings, but will it stick when the show comes back? Can they live up to the greatness of that season three finale? We shall see. It never hurts to have Rob Lowe joining your cast for some episodes.

18. Parks and Recreation- (16) Thursdays on NBC
Insert generic rant and rave about Parks and Rec not being on NBC's Thursday night lineup here. As much as I enjoyed its second season, in the long run I might be happier if it never comes back at all. If only to shut up Sepinwall, McNutt and the rest of the critics who so ridiculously claimed that it was the best comedy of the season last year. Having said that, never seeing Rob Lowe in Pawnee again would be a travesty.

Adam Scott, Nick Offerman and Rob Lowe on Parks and Rec

17. Boardwalk Empire- (-) Sundays on HBO
The biggest complaint I have heard about Boardwalk Empire by the common folk is that it is too slow and confusing, and there are too many characters. Hmmm, I think they have described the starts of The Wire and Mad Men exactly. These are two of the top three praised dramas of the past 15 years. If I were to compare the three, I'd say Boardwalk Empire is much less boring than the start of Mad Men, and much less confusing with less complicated plots than The Wire. So if you're having trouble jumping in with both feet in this one, I don't understand how you can claim to have loved The Wire or Mad Men.

16. Terriers- (-) Wednesdays on FX
Finally one where I am absolutely buying the critical hype. Terriers is loved by the pros, but is hurting in terms of ratings. It definitely is in trouble of not getting renewed for a second season and that would be a darn shame. Donal Logue and Michael Raymond James as private detectives in San Diego is a great show to watch. It has some nice long running story lines and plenty of great stand alone plots on a week to week basis. The dynamic between Logue and Raymond James, who are best friends in real life, is a pleasure to watch on the screen. If you're not watching this, you should be.

15. Treme- (19) Sundays on HBO
After watching the first season of The Wire for the first time this summer, I've somehow moved Treme way up in my Power Rankings. I have high hopes for the second season come this spring. If Treme didn't have as unbelievable a story arc as The Wire's first season, it might have had better characters. Between Davis, Creighton, Big Chief and Antoine there were four studs right there that were hard to compete with. Spoiler alert, Creighton won't be back next season, but I'm sure a few newbies will be on the scene to pick up the slack.

14. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia- (10) Thursdays on FX

Sunny takes a bit of a drop as the opening to the season hasn't been that strong. It certainly didn't help by the fact that I knew Dee was pregnant and I could help but stare at her fat belly the entire time. They were trying to hide it behind outfits and obstacles, but it didn't work. I was distracted, but Frank's "Two dudes getting married, that doesn't seem very gay" gives you a lot of room to work with before you can drop off too far.

13. Justified- (14) Tuesdays on FX

Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens

So last week T-time tweeted this: "Is it wrong that the commercial for Justified is the best thing I've seen on tv all fall?" And I have no problem with his statement. I got as excited by that commercial than by any episode of Sons or Chuck this season. Sure, trailers have an easier time of building excitement, but Raylan Givens? Plus that haunting tune by Lissie? I already downloaded her album to hear more of that song. The only thing that has me a tad worried is that they killed off MC Gainey's Bo Crowder at the end of the first season. Walton Goggins getting bumped to series regular? Best move you could've made.

12. 30 Rock- (-) Thursdays on NBC
After falling out of the rankings last season, 30 Rock jumps way back up after a great start to the year. I feel like they've really just gotten back to what works. A lot of laughs from Tracy, no Jack relationship drama, Jenna not being as crazy, and Dr. Spaceman every once in a while.

11. Dexter- (9) Sundays on Showtime
A solid start to the fifth season, but nothing has me that excited so far. I continue to hate on LaGuerta and Batista, but the rest of the crew is fine. The switch in showrunners hasn't been very noticeable to me. Everything seems like business as usual, except there doesn't seem to be a single big bad thus far. I realize that season three didn't quite have that either, but Jimmy Smits's Miguel Prado was kind of Dexter's main adversary. Could that be Quinn and his investigation into Dexter? We'll see.

The Event 106- Age Is Just A Number

Spoiler alert...Below are a few thoughts on last night's episode and the start of The Event's first season. So watch the eps, bring me a sunflower 50 years too late, then read what I have to say.

I really want to do a better job of talking about some of the shows that I don't get to write about over at TV Fanatic. I could wait until the first of the month, and the November Power Rankings, to give my thoughts on the start of The Event, but last night's episode intrigued me enough to give it its own post.

Most of my readers (like 5 out of 6 total) enjoyed Flash Forward more than I did, but I still found much of it interesting. I find Flash and The Event so easy to compare because they have both come out as saying they are like Lost and critics immediately slammed both of them for being nothing like the recently retired great.

Both shows were and are of the serialized format, and both series had and have science fiction elements in them. The one area that I felt Flash fell short, and contrarily have seen some promise for in The Event, is getting the audience to care about the characters.

Throughout the season, I have enjoyed Jason Ritter and Sara Roemer story, and have been pleased with the tale of Simon the undercover alien. This week we got to know Simon in much greater detail as they kept flashing back to his life in the 1950s and early 2000s. In what was a great technique for Lost back in the day, I thought the flashbacks worked perfectly to get me more involved in Simon's story.

The only negative that came from this is that I think he died underneath that building. I'm not ruling out that he is still alive though, since he may have some super human alien strength. Let's hope so because last night he became my favorite character on the show, and it would be a shame if they got rid of him just like Flash Forward did to Al Gough.

Again, the flashbacks are a great technique to get the audience deeper in the minds of the characters. I think once we figure out what went down in President Martinez's past, he could become a more interesting guy, but for now he's one that I could care less about.

Keep the crazy stuff coming, but don't forget to make us care about the people that this crazy stuff is happening to.

NBC Upfronts- Gut Reactions

Oh NBC, how you are the current laughing stock of John Q. Public. Because of the Jay Leno Show disaster that was the 2009-10 season, the Peacock has a ton of new shows set for next year. Let's take a look at how it all shapes up.

Canceled: Heroes, after a terrific first season, has failed to churn out anything of quality since and has finally gotten the axe. Thank God, because I was too invested to stop watching, and it was killing me to watch such garbage. The original Law and Order is finally off the air, while Mercy and Trauma didn't make it past one season.

Returning: Despite all the trash talk, NBC has a lot of quality programming returning to its lineup. All four Thursday comedies are back for the first time in a while, but Parks and Rec has been sent off to mid-season to leave room for a terrible-looking new sitcom. Chuck is back for what I bet is its last season, while Parenthood will get a second year and Friday Night Lights' final season will get run off some time in the spring.

New Shows

With the multitude of newbies on NBC's plate, there are four that I will give a shot at early on. The Event seems to be the only one that they are showcasing at this point that could be good. It stars Simon Elder from Dirty Sexy Money as the President and is pretty confusing as to what it is actually about. There's an assassination plot, a kidnapping and a CIA cover-up in the trailer so it seems pretty exciting.

I also really like the looks of The Cape. Anything that eerily resembles Batman Begins is worth a look in my book. The main character is framed for murder, fakes his own death and then trains to fight crime as a vigilante in a crime-filled city. Awesome.

And on the comedy side of things, The Paul Reiser Show looks good. I never watched Mad About You, but this Curb Your Enthusiasm-type show shows promise with its trailer. I will also give Perfect Couples a try.  The only notable is Janice from Flash Forward, but the character that likes to leave rooms with his own depressing music seems golden.

Then there are a couple that are in limbo for me. Outlaw is airing on Fridays, but it stars Jimmy Smits as a retired supreme court justice turned renegade so it could be decent. Friends with Benefits seems to be a sort of sitcom starring Kyle from Party Down and Daneel Harris so it could be decent, but the trailer doesn't make it seem that funny.  The Undercovers is a spy show from JJ Abrams.  It is about a married couple a la Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

And then there are a bunch of new shows that don't look good. Love Bites seems to be a mess of a romance show at this point. Another Law and Order, this time in LA. The Chase and Harry's Law are standard cop and law shows, respectively. And then there is Outsourced, which is taking Parks and Rec's spot in the fall and looks absolutely terrible.