Not much to see here as The CW doesn't have that much programming.
Canceled: A couple of reality shows I never heard of and the new Melrose Place. This was never really any worse than the rest of The CW's dramas, but it got a terrible wrap early. It didn't help that it's actors weren't nearly as good looking as those on 90210, Gossip Girl and the like.
Returning: You got the three sci-fi joints in Smallville, Supernatural and Vampire Diaries. And then there are the four soap dramas. 90210 and Gossip Girl got renewed early but veteran One Tree Hill and newcomer Life Unexpected had to wait til the last minute to get word that they were back for another year. Life Unex had both good ratings (for CW) and good critical reviews, so I'm not sure why it took so long to make that decision.
New Shows
Nothing much here. Another reality show called Plain Jane? Then there is the fourth or fifth remake of Le Femme Nikita, titled Nikita. And finally we have another teen drama, this time about cheerleaders, called Hellcats. None of these sound good.
90210 The way Adrianna dealt with her dating situation was so realistic I can't believe it was actually television. I can remember many occasions when I dealt with a relationship the exact same way that she did this week. She was bored with dating Navid, and Teddy intrigued her, therefore she dumped Navid and gave him no real reason and went straight to Teddy. That's how it's done in high school people (at least back in 2002).
The whole Annie/Jasper story line is so very interesting to me. There are a ton of angles to think about. First off, they obviously like each other, but Annie knows that she killed Jasper's uncle and Japser doesn't...or does he? He's known as a freak to everyone in the school, but is truly a nice guy around Annie. He saves her from the creepy rapist type dude, but then gets all knifey on the dude's car like a psycho. When will Jasper find out what Annie did? Or does he already know (or just has a good feeling) and is waiting for the right time to let her know he knows?
Principal Harry brought a good amount of comic relief to this week's episode with his love for being Ryan's wingman. Old guys trying to act cool is always funny.
Melrose Place Violet may or may not be one level higher than Valerie Malone on the conniving scale, but she definitely doesn't pull it off well for me. Maybe it's because Ashlee Simpson is a terrible actress or she doesn't have Valerie's charm, but it is definitely not working for me thus far. This week she went through a lot of trouble to get back at Michael (he's so smug) for what he did to who she thinks was her mother. Sneaking into his office, buying him drinks at the bar she works at, and then applying to be his kid's nanny. If Valerie, Gina Kincaid or even early Claire Arnold had done something so deceiving, it would have been exciting, but with Violet it was rather boring.
90210 Let's begin with the most important scene of this week's ep...Naomi's meeting with the guidance counselor. Umm, how come that wasn't Kellly telling Naomi what to do with her future? You have a perfectly capable guidance counselor that will bring in the viewers in Kelly Taylor, and instead you use some nobody. Interesting move. Are they getting rid of Kelly on the show? Because that would be a mistake. At least Jackie Taylor was back in full force this episode. But during Naomi's meeting with the no-name counselor there was a fantastic moment. When Naomi told her what she wanted to do after high school, she stated that she was going to go to the fictitious California University because she was a legacy. It doesn't get much better than that. The same made-up college that old gang all went to is getting some love in the new 90210. My only wish would be that this whole crew ends up going to the CU Condors' rival school, Southern California University instead. That would be a nice switch up.
Melrose Place Another lackluster ratings night for Melrose (1.6 million), but it continues to keep my attention because of a couple of interesting characters and I nice murder mystery storyline. Ella continues to impress me with her charming personality towards her friends, as well as how scared she is and the lack of confidence she shows about where she was during the time of Sydney's death. Speaking of Syd's death...the murder mystery plot is a good way to keep the audience's attention until viewers get a relationship with the characters. My question is, what will happen after they figure this whole thing out? I hope it is not like what happened after the first season of Desperate Housewives. After season one of Housewives, it immediately went down hill because the mysterious aspect of it was completely gone. I feel like the lives of these characters may be able to hold up without the murder story, but it may not. Oh and it will probably be canceled by then anyway.
90210 It looks like the Annie Wilson/Shenae Grimes combo has jumped out of the basemented worst character/worst actor combo she held during the first season. In this week's episode I loved her rant at Naomi in which she lied about sleeping with her boyfriend and then continued to rub it in her face, saying that they would lie in bed and make fun of her. Through the entire episode I notice that Grimes' acting was much better than it had been in the past. Maybe she's just more comfortable playing a jerk than a sad sack of garbage. Dixon, on the other hand, is unwatchable. Why they gave the starring role to this kid is beyond me. He's mechanical, he's not funny, he doesn't seem sincere. All in all a great candidate for this year's Marissa Cooper Award.
Melrose Place As Jerry Seinfeld said, "Oh that Michael, he's so smug." Although I never watched the original Melrose, I feel like I have a relationship with it because of the constant references to it from other shows (mainly Seinfeld and King of Queens). Through two eps I find that it's pretty different than what I expected. I didn't see such a dark, mystery aspect coming. All of the who-done-it stuff with the death of Sydney has kept my interest so far. Meanwhile, Michael Rady's Jonah Miller has me screaming at the television set. This guy is so unlikeable in everything I've seen him in. From his small part in the summer series Swington, to his stint on Greek and now the terribleness that is his Jonah on Melrose. This character is the epitome of lame and Rady keeps playing the same guy, so it is safe to assume that he's just playing himself. And finally, Katie Cassidy has yet to disappoint as publicist Ella Simms. She was great in last year's Harper's Island and may be better here.
Gossip Girl Hardly any of the characters are sweet and the story lines could be a lot tighter, but there is always enough drama on Gossip Girl to make it a good prime time soap. After a second season finale in which the voice of Kristen Bell got all of the main characters together and told them they were all Gossip Girl, we will now gear up for a third season where they all (or most) head off to college. Post-high school dramas can sometimes be made or broken after graduation, but since GG never spent much time in the classroom, I don't see many changes happening this season.
One Tree Hill Finally! The loss of Chad Michael Murray and Hillarie Burton from the One Tree Hill cast has been a long time coming. Lucas could be dealt with, but Peyton was always one my least favorite characters on television. If this means more Nathan, Haley, Julian and Brooke, I will be very happy. Apparently, with Luke and Peyton leaving, they will do another time jump. Not of the five year variety, like last time, but I have heard a year or two. I liked the time jump last time, so I'm looking forward to seeing all of the changes that happened this time.
90210 After struggling through the first half of its inaugural season, the new 90210 started to turn itself around and came into its own down the stretch. As I've mentioned before, the link to the original Beverly Hills, 90210 brings the new version up a few notches, and without that link, I wouldn't have been watching it through the first 6 to 8 episodes. When we last left the Southern Cal crowd, Annie had hit someone with her car and there was a bit of a love triangle between Dixon, Silver and Ethan. The bad news is that Dustin Milligan's Ethan will no longer be on the show. The good news ist that Kelly Taylor will definitely back in the swing of things.
Melrose Place The new 90210 did so well, wait did it? Anyway, The CW decided to bring back another 90s primetime soap classic, Melrose Place. Because I didn't watch any of the original, I'm not as excited for the start of this redux, but I'm still looking forward to it. The promo video spotlights a ton of drama. The problem to me is that none of the girls are that appealing. I hope the dudes step to the plate. I may be making this up, but I believe Michael from the original Melrose will be back in primetime. And that reminds me of an unbelievable Jerry Seinfeld quote. As the Melrose Place opening music plays and he just finished going through a lie detector sequence in which he tried to deny that he watched the show, he exclaims "Oh that Michael, he's so smug."
What's Gone Privileged, Reaper, The Game, Everybody Hates Chris
--Although I've never seen Reaper, I've heard great things. The biggest loss here is Privileged. A great show with a great star. There was a lot of room to grow and it's a shame it's getting dumped to take a chance on a new Melrose and a Vampire show.
What's Back Smallville, Supernatural, Gossip Girl, 90210, One Tree Hill, America's Next Top Model
--The sci-fi twins return. The Gossip crew heads off to college, while the new kids in Beverly Hills make it to season two. It's a shame they're giving Ethan (Dustin Milligan) the boot, because he was one of the highlights of 90210. One Tree Hill does themselves a favor by letting Chad and Burton hit the road for better things. They were two of my least favorites on the show. Adding Julian (Austin Nichols) to main character status will help the cause.
What's New Melrose Place, Vampire Diaries, The Beautiful Life, Parental Discretion Advised
--Melrose, a reboot of the original, will be worth a try, and I might check out this Vampire joint as well. No thank you to Micha Barton and The Beautiful Life and whatever this other thing is.
