Fall TV reviews.

“Kid Nation” CBS Tuesdays 8:00
This is one of the most talked about shows for this season. Let’s put 40 kids in a ghost town and see w hat kind of society they come up with? Will it be better than adult society or will they all die of some sort of plague?

While the premise is exciting and original, the final product is wholly unrealistic (this coming from the guy who’s favorite reality show is SciFi Channel’s “Who Wants To Be A Superhero”).

While the kids do have to do their best to make society work, the interview segments, especially, seem overly edited and entirely too well scripted for this to be a reality show. Of course it’s hard to watch this and think that everything you see is completely spontaneous when there are obviously cameramen everywhere. Kid Nation is another reason I set aside Tuesday Nights for reading.

“Chuck” NBC Mondays 8:00
He’s a computer geek who works at a superstore helpdesk whose best friend who emailed him the only copy of all the secrets of the NSA computer. Several secret service agents chase after him only to be convinced that he can help them.

The premise is weak and wholly unrealistic. While the special effects and female lead look great the show is too far into left field to deserve an hour drama format. They should have reduced the complexity of the plot to and made it a hybrid comedy like Scrubs.

If you really want to laugh at a nerd who can’t seem to function correctly around beautiful women check out “The Big Bang Theory” over on CBS at 8:30. That show already made up its mind to be a pure comedy.

“Journeyman” NBC Mondays 10:00
If “My Name Is Earl” is Quantum Leap for white trash, then Journeyman is Quantum Leap for… well, Quantum Leap fans. Journeyman is the story of a man who travels through time every time he falls asleep. Oddly enough he tends to visit his late ex-fiancé which would probably make his wife at least a little jealous.

The show is very well produced, acted and written. The period music for each “journey” Is very fitting though sometimes overpowers the dialogue.

Journeyman is a surprisingly good show and should do well with a solid lead-in from “Heroes.”

Bionic Woman NBC Wednesdays 9:00
In a nutshell: Too much drama, not enough ass kicking. Jamie Sommers, a San Francisco bartender becomes the Bionic Woman. What would otherwise make this show seem more plausible is that the agreement between Sommers and the black-ops organization that made her bionic is the exact same premise that “Chuck” used two days earlier.

Flash Gordon SciFi Channel Fridays 9:00
For a character who got his start in black-and-white B-movie serials it’s fitting that the modern incarnation is a relatively low-budget cable show. However, when you get past some of the production goofs (like flash finishing a marathon without breaking a sweat) the show is pretty enjoyable. Gone is Flash’s rocket ship zipping from planet to planet, and instead we find Steve “Flash” Gordon a local athletic hero from Suburban Virginia who ends up traveling to the bizarre planet of Mongol and also battle evildoers from there as well.

It’s not great but gets pretty good mileage out of it’s meager special effects budget.

Back To You Wednesday 8:00 FOX
I havent’ seen it yet but seeing Patricia Heaton give Kelsey Grammer his comeuppins on a weekly basis sounds like a hit to me!

Other returning favorites:
Smallville: Should have killed off Chloe… would have made for better story and easier transition to new cast members (who is a really hot blonde!).

Heroes: underwhelming set-up episode for season 2. Don’t over think things, it’s just television!

Lost: Won’t be found on TV until February.

The Office: Pam and Jim together at last. Finally I can sleep at night.

Ugly Betty: I still don’t want to watch something called UGLY BETTY!