Daryl Tay.net

There were a lot of great shows launched last season which didn’t get the full season or treatment they deserved because of the writers’ strike: Chuck, Reaper, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice, Gossip Girl, Life, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Big Bang Theory and Lipstick Jungle. Now that I’ve watched at least two episodes each of the series that I finished last season, I thought I’d pen my thoughts.

Yvonne Strahovski

Chuck
Season premiere was great. Enough recap for new viewers without being too heavy, and Yvonne Strahovski looks amazing. The quick wrapping up of last season’s finale cliffhanger was believable, and the series quickly moved forward. The second episode was hitting overly familiar territory for me and I really want Chuck to progress both in terms of plot (him being more adept at agent work?) and character development.

The Big Bang Theory (TBBT)
This show is awesome. I mean How I Met Your Mother is right up there for comedies, but TBBT is not terribly far behind. The premise is you have two highly intellectual (think multiple phd) scientists interacting with a girl who has never even finished college. I feel like a total geek for even being able to catch the Star Trek jokes, comic book references and random science jokes, but this show is awesomely written and acted.

Life
Life is centered around Charlie Crews, an ex-cop who got framed for murder, thrown into jail, and is now a cop again. Oh and he has millions of dollars from a settlement for being wrongly convicted. He’s now all “zen” which annoys his partner, but is also on a mission to find out who framed him in the first place. Like Chuck, great job in wrapping up last season’s cliffhanger quickly and moving the plot forward. The partnership between Crews and Reese is brilliant and I feel like the writers and actors are really hitting the right spots this season. I want to see the overarching story about the framing move forward a little quicker though.

Zoe McLellan

Dirty Sexy Money
One of my favourite debuts last year, season two starts strong with multiple twists in each episode, though the twist in the second episode was very obvious. Lucy Liu joins this season after Cashmere Mafia’s doom and both her acting and her character brings a very different dynamic to the show, one that I didn’t see coming. I really hope they manage to write her in for the next season too, because she really livens the show up. One thing I didn’t like, was the flippant explanation of the disappearance of Juliet aka Samaire Armstrong, and even then it was only done in episode two. Oh the nerve. Also, Lisa George played by Zoe McLellan is gorgeous and really deserves more screen time. (People who know me, will know why I have the hots for her)

Shamefully, I haven’t finished season one of Reaper, Lipstick Jungle, Pushing Daisies and Private Practice, though I am working my way through both Gossip Girl and The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which I am loving, even with no existing knowledge of the Terminator mythology).

In the meantime, if you’re deciding which recurring TV shows are worth watching this season, Chuck, Life, Dirty Sexy Money and The Big Bang Theory aren’t bad places to start.

Have you watched any of these shows? Or can’t believe I haven’t watched the other shows like Pushing Daisies? Be heard in the comments!

Coming tomorrow: Comments on the freshman lineup!