Tesiae

Please post here which Returning Shows you think are good/terrible thus far this season.


Best:


NYPD Blue - I feared that with the departure of Danny Sorensen ( Rick Schroeder ) and the introduction of Mark Paul Gossler the show would just slip, but DAMN! that Season premiere and second episode were gangbusters. Not only does Sipowics get a nemesis, but Det. Connie McDowell ( Charlotte Ross ) has come into her own. Excellent, excellent writing.



Good

The Practice - As usual, David Kelley is in top form and this past week's ( 11/18 ) episode was awesome though the ending was typically unrealistic. Although it was great to see Linda Hunt return as Judge Hiller, I hope we get to see Judge Kittlerson ( The Horny Judge ) come back as well.

Boston Public - Depite the REALLY over-the-top Season Premiere, I'm happy to see the show settle down and be funny. I like the new additions, Michael Rappaport and Kathy Baker, and even Ms. Floatation Device herself, Jeri Ryan, has proven to be good. I'd also LOVE to see more of her not-so-ex-ex Billy Zane, what a cad!

That 70's Show - I like the new tension resulting from Forman and Donna's breakup. And it's great to see Tommy Chong join the cast.



Not So Good

Ally McBeal - Last season was the best since Season 1, what with Ally finding someone with whom she had actual chemisty ( Robert Downey Jr. ). But Downey had to go and do something stupid resulting in him getting kicked off the show. The new "Boy Toy" for Ally has the charisma of dead wood. Lisa Nicole Carson is gone, and Ally gets some perky, jittery waif as her pal, who incidentally had a thing with Boy Toy. The addition of the "Uncomfortable" Lawyer as Ally's therapist is good, but the subtraction of Lucy Liu is not. Portia de Rossi's character will now be left without a b!tchy partner, but not to worry, her character has been neglected for the past two seasons anyway. I get the feeling that the show will be pushing up daisies real soon.



Worst:

X-Files - What the hell is this?! That's all I have to say.

Jeraden

Best: I'd have to say Angel, some great episodes so far.

Worst: I'll go with Dark Angel, just not very interesting stories really.

Eternia

I haven't been able to catch NYPD Blue yet. I wanted to check it out since Mark-Paul is on it now (I am a huge Saved by the Bell fan). Which, of course, is why it is nice to see Tiffani-Amber on Just Shoot Me. Although I guess she dropped the Amber.

Thus far I think the best shows are Frasier and Family Law.

BizRodian

I only watch two shows on TV.

Best: Angel - Good as always.
Worst: Buffy - Good as always, but not as good as it used to be.

But with only two shows it's hard to say best and worst :P

Venusian

i was gonna say this too, they are ruining the show. i havent watched last week's episode yet, hopefully it'll help the show turn around by bringin back the old characters

mikehunt

agreed, except for ally, only because I haven't watched it enough to judge

dave955

You haven't been watching from the beginning, have you? That's what most of us were saying in season 5, season 6, and *shudder* season 7. This stuff is actually a step up from the craptacular lows of those years...

elektra

Best - Buffy and Angel

Worst - Roswell. This show lacks serious direction.

das Monkey

Are we talking about the best and worst returns of shows we like? Or just the best and worst shows that happen to be returning?

Two shows that made strong comebacks after somewhat average seasons are 'Once and Again' and 'Sex and the City'.

Best:
The West Wing
Buffy
South Park

Worst:
Dark Angel
X-Files

das

Red Dog

Best: Friends - I had all but given up on this show last year, but it has definitely rebounded despite the total lameness of Chandler and Monica. Not up to the level of where it used to be, but much better than the last 2 seasons so far.

Worst: Law & Order - The new ADA is simply awful. Even worse, she isn't that great to look at. The storylines have been subpar. Usually I prefer the 'Order' 2nd half but I find myself enjoying the 'Law' 1st half more. Ironically, L & O has more viewers than ever - these viewers have no idea how great L & O used to be (I am a fan of seasons 5-9). The other problem is that L&O is stretched too thin - they have to come up with 3X as many stories now.

Geofferson

BEST:

Ed - Keeps up the great writing given the whole worn-out Ed/Carol thing.

CSI - I thought they would run out of good storylines after last season, but it isn't the case. So far so good...

WORST:

Dawson's Creek - I could practically care less about this show now.

BDB

Best - Friends

Worst - X-files

I am enjoying ER and CSI this year. CSI I only started watching during the summer.

Frank TJ Mackey

BEST: Once and Again
Friends
Boston Public
Ed

WORST: Saturday Crap Live

bboisvert

Tesiae -- we must have similar tastes! Just reading the subject line of the thread, I immediately thought "Worst = Ally McBeal and The X-Files"

Best -- E/R, The West Wing, NYPD Blue. All of these have had really great episodes, with crisp scripts.

Fair -- Friends, Law and Order, The Practice. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that any of these "suck", they are defniitely losing their appeal. I've watched them all this season, and I'm finding them mildly entertaining at best. These may wear out their welcome really soon.

Bad, Bad, Bad -- Ally McBeal and The X-Files. These shows have both been terrible this season. They both seem to be struggling with revolving casts and having a really hard time coming up with interesting stories. I'm about 1 episode away from bailing on both of these shows completely.

Gil Jawetz

i don't think so. With the exceptions of the worst of the worst (3, Fight Club) season 9 is looking to be a total nightmare of boring, suck-butt episodes. I'm open to it getting better but so far it don't look good.

Tscott

Hey, call me crazy but I like this season's Ally McBeal so far. I love Jenny and like the relationship between her and Ally. The only trouble I have is the two new male cast members. They're just too much alike for me to tell them apart. They need to give them a few more quirks (plus the other new female lawyer who is being under-used).

Also, yes the X-files is on it's last legs but I've got to give it more than the season premire two-parter (these have always been weaker than the rest of the episodes, IMO) before I decide anything.



Worst returning show has to be Roswell. I guess it's a good thing though- it gives me less to watch on Tues. night.

Best returning shows are Buffy, NYPD Blue and Gilmore Girls.

Stats

Best:

Gilmore Girls. Ed. And Friends is surprisingly good.

Worst:

ER - recycling stuff seen about 5 years ago. Wasn't Clooney just in a storm?

Frasier - getting way too sappy and self-serious. The season premiere was just awful, and the recent 200th was OK but the follow-up flubs show was pure garbage. I'd like to give it up but we have one TV and the wife still likes it.

(edit) I'll add my wife's pick - Providence. She used to watch this drivel but now it's too syrupy even for her. I can only imagine how melodramatic it must be - shudder.

WarriorPrincess

Some of this is a repeat of what I said in the "show's I've dropped" thread, but I've edited it to stay on topic here and added other returning shows that I forgot in the other thread.

The shows I've kept but are on my "list" (i.e. wavering):
- Dark Angel (if it weren't for Logan I'd drop it because the plots this year bite bigtime)
- X-Files (no more Duchovny Oh how I wanted him to get together with Scully for SO many years now...just want Mulder to be happy)
- The Practice (if this season is another scream-fest between the main characters, I'm outta here - but it seems to be on track so far, so yay!)
- Ally McBeal (darn that Robert Downey Jr for screwing up his real life which in turn screwed up Ally's fake life! Honestly, I miss him - his chemistry with Ally made last season worthwhile. I've yet to see this season come close to the old magic or the new RD jr magic, but we'll see)
- Dawson's Creek and Felicity (both seem to have lost the bit of charm they had, but Felicity still holds promise)

Still love:
- Buffy (my favorite show, though this season needs to lighten up - which is what I'm hoping the musical episode will do - prove to be a transistional point where we can get on with some plot - Buffy isn't supposed to be brooding (that's Angel's job) - she's supposed to be more light-hearted than that, at least imho)
- Angel (the beautiful Boreanaz - I could watch anything he was in - well, except Valentine )
- Gilmore Girls (better dialogue and snappy banter doesn't exist - love this show SO much)
- Charmed (still love this one, but I'm ready for the powers to be more of a focus - as opposed to spells)
- Roswell (love Max, can't help it )
- NYPD Blue (who'd a thunk a show like Saved by the Bell could have such a good actor in it?!? Not me - though I've come to automatically assume that if NYPD Blue chooses someone to be a regular cast member, they WILL be good - because it's been proven time and time again. I mean, if the Ricker can be great, what more proof do you need that this fabulously written/directed/acted show will not choose cr@p actors? I'm satisfied. )
- West Wing (love the snappy banter and it makes me all proud )
- Law and Order (perennial classic)
- Andromeda (Herc in space - I like it )
- Friends (the Halloween episode was the funniest I've seen in years - I watched it 3 times - this gives me hope they won't lose their magical chemistry)

Tesiae

Stats: Completely disagree with you on Frasier. The Season Opener was downright hilarious, and that segment in the cabin with Frasier accompanied by his first ex-wife, his second ex-wife Lilith, his almost wife Diane Chambers, and his mother Hester is a classic moment. The followup Halloween show was also very good, what with Niles dressed as Martin. The 200th Show however wasn't very good, but at least Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe is back.

saoirse

Best:

OZ
Sopranos
Third Watch
ER
Boston Public
A few of those lovely and hated Reality Shows


Worst:
Friends (never liked it)
and too many more to mention.


Biggest Letdown:
Simpsons since they started that Futurama crap. The show seems to be lacking good writers these past few seasons. Maybe if they stoped Futurama and concentrated on the Simpsons, it would be up to the old standard.

Stats

Of course we're all entitled to our own opinions, but the Frasier scenes/shows you talk about were just not funny, IMO, but rather were trying to be dramatic. There were some jokes in the Halloween ep, but the main storyline was a drama about Martin's true character versus his sons' perception of his character. They can choose to do stuff like that, but don't call it comedy! Plus I have no respect for Bulldog after his melodramatic groveling during that one ep just before he left when he fell in love with Roz - blecch. The writers should stick to light themes. Again, just all IMHO.

bmello

No doubt!

Rand

My best returning shows:

Once and Again
Gilmore Girls
Angel
NYPD Blue

Series that have taken a down turn:

Ally McBeal
Earth: Final Conflict
Dawson's Creek

Tesiae

Stats: But Frasier has always had tinges of drama. Ever since the first season when Frasier was coping with moving to a his hometown after a bitter divorce and wrestling with what to do with his convalescent father. The best moments in the series for are when the characters face something serious... Martin learning to live with his estranged sons and accepting that he needed help with his busted hip; Niles learning to be independent of his domineering life squashing wife; Daphne trying to get a marriage started only to be sideswiped with the news of Nile's pining; even Roz deliberting about what to do with her pregnancy, the drama has always been there.

Dansize

No one has mentioned Drew Carey!

They've taken an entertaining show and made it almost unwatchable!

The season opener (Back to School Music Special) was without any heart. Almost every show since, with the exception of one or two, has been a gimic show.

Not that I didn't like those. I liked the seasons where you could look forward to one or two GOOD production numbers or revised title sequence. It seems that this year they are trying for that every week and missing the mark. The live show was OK, but certainly not their best.

The most entertaining line this year was related to the story line when Drew is married to both girls at once. After he was discovered (and written about), everyone says, "Look, there's the impotent, bi-sexual bigamist."