Fall TV has arrived—and with it have come the highs and lows of cable and network programming. We’ve already seen our first renewals (The New Girl, Whitney) and our first cancellations (The Playboy Club, Free Agents). Now that the TV season is well underway, let’s take a look at which new shows have shot out of the gate and which shows have stumbled.
The Good
Up All Night (NBC)
This new sitcom from former Parks and Recreation writer Emily Spivey features a stellar comedic cast of Christina Applegate, Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph. Up All Night has some kinks to work out, specifically with the broadness of Maya Rudolph’s character, but an understated (read “Not GOB-like”) performance from Arnett and a charming turn from Christina Applegate as the central couple keep the show’s emotional core grounded and believable. Up All Night airs on Wednesdays at 8 on NBC.
2 Broke Girls (CBS)
The multi-camera sitcom has become more and more of an endangered species on TV in recent years, despite some of the highest rated comedies on television being shows like Two and a Half Men. Multi-camera sitcoms now seem to be perceived as being inherently hampered by the format. But CBS’s 2 Broke Girls, from creators Whitney Cummings (Whitney) and Michael Patrick King (Sex and the City), strikes a good balance between goofy multi-camera material and a more edgy brand of comedy. Kat Dennings is fantastic as Max, a cynical Brooklynite working at a diner to pay her bills. Beth Behrs is pleasantly ditzy as the Paris Hilton-esque Caroline Channing. 2 Broke Girls airs on Tuesdays at 8:30 on CBS.
Homeland (Showtime)
Showtime has a history of running high-concept shows into the ground, but Homeland came out of the gate strong with the best pilot of the season. Homeland follows the story of Sergeant Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a Marine who returns to the U.S. after being a POW in Iraq for 8 years. Claire Danes stars as Carrie Anderson, an ultra-dedicated (and potentially insane) CIA agent who suspects that Brody has been turned and now works for Al Qaeda. The cast, rounded out by Mandy Patinkin as Carrie’s mentor, is incredibly strong. Lewis steals the show in the pilot episode with a nuanced performance as Sergeant Brody. He uses moments of unnerving stillness to convey his character’s inner conflict and ambivalence. Homeland is my favorite new show of the fall season and is definitely worth the watch. Homeland airs on Sundays at 10 on Showtime.
The Not so Good
Whitney (NBC)
Whitney Cummings is a busy woman nowadays—currently juggling two new sitcoms on the air. Unfortunately, the show that is the most directly connected to her persona is the weakest. Whitney’s writing often feels stilted, like a bit that Cummings has tried to transfer from her standup into the format very directly. The show ends up feeling lost between a standup routine and a sitcom. For a comic that has been touted to be very edgy, Whitney’s humor is pretty bland save for a zinger or two about vaginas. Whitney has already been renewed for a second season, but as of now, the characters are too broadly drawn for me to care about any of them. Whitney airs Thursdays at 9:30 on NBC.
American Horror Story (FX)
This latest effort from Glee co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk fails so spectacularly in its premiere episode that I actually recommend it. American Horror Story (ostensibly) centers around the Harmon family, comprised of Mrs. Coach herself, Connie Britton, as Vivien Harmon, Dylan McDermott as Ben, and Taissa Farmiga as Violet. The Harmons move away from Boston to a haunted house in Los Angeles to start anew, but they soon realize that they’ve walked into trouble with their new home. Murphy and Falchuk, following the pattern of previous Murphy productions like Glee and Nip/Tuck, seem unconcerned with actually developing any of the central characters, exchanging characterization for cheap scares and horror movie tropes. The characters make choices for no discernable reason, and the writers never actually answer the central question of haunted house movies: why don’t they just leave? American Horror Story, at least in its pilot episode, is a mess; however, it is a mess of such spectacular proportions it’s almost a comedy. American Horror Story airs Wednesdays at 10 on FOX.
