Fall TV Preview: What to Watch on Friday Nights

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 5, 2008

We bring our Fall TV Preview to a close with a look at the best shows that Friday night has to offer…

Life (NBC) Airs Fridays 10/9c, Special Premiere on Monday, September 29th
Detective shows and courtroom dramas — two types of TV shows that I could never get into. No “Law & Order” or “NYPD Blue” for this guy. Then, as if happenstantially, I stumbled across the NBC show “Life,” which stars Damian Lewis as a cop who served 12 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, only to return to the force upon his release to become one of the LAPD’s most zen-like homicide detectives. It is a fresh, incredibly creative, yet simple premise that is the base for one of the most fascinating shows on television. In season 1, we saw detective Charlie Crews get closer to uncovering the conspiracy behind his incarceration, as well as uncover some interesting information about his new partner, played by Sarah Shahi. In season 2, Crews is back to finish the job and move on with his life, but don’t be surprised if this season is filled with even more outlandish murders and intriguing characters. Take it from a guy who doesn’t like this kind of show, there is something about “Life” will have you under its spell in no time.

Recommendation: Season 1 just hit DVD shelves. Go check it out and get ready to be hooked by the time season 2 starts. - Neil Miller

Monk (USA) Airs Fridays 9/8c, New Episode on September 5
A decade ago, Tony Shalhoub was just “that foreign guy from Wings.” Now, he’s got a legacy of his own in Monk. As a former detective with the San Francisco Police Department, Adrian Monk (Shalhoub) is brought in on various cases (usually murder investigations) because of his keen eye and uncanny deductive ability. An obsessive-compulsive germaphobe, Monk was crushed ten years earlier when his wife Trudy was killed by a car bomb. Although he’s not stable enough to be reinstated to the force, Captain Leland Sottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) rely on him to help solve the toughest of cases. Helping Monk along the way is the spunky widowed mother Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard) as his personal assistant, helping him in every way from driving him around town to reorganizing his silverware drawer. Tragedy struck the show in preparation for this season when Stanley Kamel, who played Monk’s therapist Dr. Kroeger, died of a heart attack. This was written into the show, and Monk reluctantly found help in Dr. Neven Bell (Héctor Elizondo). With season seven rumored to be a final season, the show is hitting a milestone this week as it airs its 100th episode, quaintly titled, “Mr. Monk’s 100th Case” (although it has been noted in the fifth season that he has already solved more than 100 murders).

Recommendation: Forget Jessica Fletcher. Adrian Monk is the current standard in quirky murder mysteries. - Kevin Carr

Psych (USA) Airs Fridays 10/9c, New Episode on September 5th
Miss Cleo has nothing on Shawn Spencer (James Roday). While neither may be psychic, Shawn has more people believing he is. In truth, he’s really just very observant, but he puts on a good show for the Santa Barbara Police Department, who routinely call on his services to solve crimes. Shawn was originally warned that he would be prosecuted if it turned out his powers were fake, but now the police seem to be totally committed to his abilities. To take his ruse the full extent, Shawn opened a psychic detective service with his childhood best friend Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill). Their biggest supporters at the SBPD are Chief Karen Vick (Kirsten Nelson) and junior detective Juliet O’Hara (Maggie Lawson). Senior detective Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) is a skeptic and often at odds with the pair, but he concedes that Shawn does help in solving crimes. Sharing Lassiter’s views is Henry Spencer (Corbin Bernsen), Shawn’s father and a former cop with the SBPD. Most episodes begin with a flashback (often to 1987) when Shawn and Gus were kids, and this flashback often holds a clue to the mystery at hand. Be sure to catch the shows on USA to watch the minisodes of “Lil’ Shawn & Gus” and select “Psych-Out” moments (otherwise known as bloopers).There’s also a pineapple featured in each show… sometimes in stealth mode, sometime hidden on set. In the upcoming episode, Shawn and Gus are put to the test when they try to solve a string of robberies at a roller derby… and the hilarity ensues.

Recommendation: The show never takes itself too seriously, and sometimes you can guess the culprit, which can lead to psychic delusions of grandeur. Check it out for some silly escapism on a Friday night. - Kevin Carr

Stargate: Atlantis (SciFi) Airs Fridays 10/9c, New Episode on September 5
Five years ago, while “Stargate: SG-1″ was winding down, SciFi Channel launched a new chapter in the ever-expanding Stargate universe. “Stargate: Atlantis,” currently in its fifth season, follows an international, joint civilian/military mission to the Pegasus Galaxy, where the Ancients once lived. They live in a lost city of the Ancients, which is capable of shielding itself from attack, cloaking to avoid detection and even flying off into space. Lieutenant Colonel John Shepherd (Joe Flanigan) leads a team of soldiers and scientists to various planets in the Pegasus Galaxy, looking for help in fighting the Wraith, a deadly race of vampire-like beings that literally suck the life out of their human prey. Over the past four and a half years, the Atlantis team has faces other adversaries, including human-form replicators, Wraith hybrids, military rebels and energy beings. The fifth season saw Colonel Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) of SG-1 fame replaced by Richard Woolsey (Robert Picardo) as expedition leader. The deceased Dr. Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion) has shown up again as a clone, and resident brain Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) has started a potential romance with the new doctor, Jennifer Keller (Jewel Staite). Teyla Emmagen (Rachel Luttrell) continues to work with the team despite being a new mother, and Ronon Dex (Jason Momoa) continues to kick a whole lotta ass. With the replicators (and ultimately original expedition leader Dr. Elizabeth Weir) put to rest for good this season, the major villain is the genetically altered Wraith Michael (Connor Trinneer) who is trying to take over the galaxy with human-Wraith hybrids.

Recommendation: Whether you’re a die-hard sci-fi fan or not, Stargate Atlantis is worth watching. - Kevin Carr

For more, check out our 2008 Fall TV Preview page.

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