The first 4 episodes of the new “V” has aired. How does it stack up to the original? I say, “great”. But why take 3 months off?!?!

Let’s take a beloved classic television event and remake it with popular television actors, and update the story to be more relevant to todays world. Then, just as it’s getting off the ground, let’s take it off the air for 3 months including February Sweeps. Yeah, let’s do that. That’s smart…really smart….not!. This seems more like a Fox move than ABC (re: Firefly, Dollhouse, etc). Most people will forget about “V” by the time it comes back around. Fail.

It started off great and took a few episodes to hit its stride. Yes, it is very annoying that the ‘visitors’ are call “The V’s”. Very stupid. “V is for victory”…remember? The only character I’m not to happy with is Georgie. I don’t know if it’s the actor or the character, but I cringe when he is on the screen. This should be more pivotal, but is merely filling a gap to bring the 3 main resistance fighters together. He’s no Mike Donavan or Ham Tyler.

Speaking of Mike Donavan. Scott Wolf’s character (Chad Decker) needs more development. We expect his journey to be the same as Marc Singer’s in the original, so you have to give us more development pre-rebel. The focus can’t constantly be on Erica.

Elizabeth Mitchell (Erica) is performing terrific as the lead of the series. Her character is very believable and fits well with Ryan and Father Jack. When it comes to Erica, we are seeing way too much of her son. I understand the parallels to the original with the recruitment of Tyler, but there is too much. It doesn’t help that Logan Huffmann (Tyler) and Laura Vandervoort (Lisa) are not the best performers. Laura seems to be playing the same character she played on Smallville without the super powers.

Father Jack (Joel Gretsch) is also a great character. His journey is and will be interesting to watch. The priest in the original was a supporting player, but I like that he was made a main character here. It’s more interesting.

Anna (Morena Baccarin) and the other top Visitors are played well. I like that they are playing them ‘wooden’; it makes it more believable. The ‘just like us’ mannerisms of the original series would have been a little campy.

The 5th Column is handled well. Ryan (Morris Chestnut) is a believable character, and I like how they mixed the themes of 5th column and crossbreeding from the original into this single character. He is played strongly, and I see him as a recruiter for Chad Decker.

In all, “V” started out strong, and is really just hitting the mark to be a great series. Too bad ABC is giving is treating it so badly. I hope it survives.

Sonya Walger has been popping up everywhere the last few years, and I’ve loved every minute she’s been on the screen. She’s finally moved from supporting to main character in ABC’s new drama, Flash Forward. TVGuide online posted an interview with this amazing actress. Here is part of the interview.

TVGuide.com: All right, when are you returning to Lost?
Sonya Walger: No idea. Not a clue. I don’t even know if I’m in the last season.

TVGuide.com: Do you think Penny should die in the end?
Walger: Are you saying in a sacrificial way, Penny needs to die? I hope not because Penny’s so great. There would be mass outcry, but you know what, they killed off Charlie, so anything can happen. I feel like her dad should be the one to bite it. I am not kidding.

Go on over and check out the entire interview. Sonya is one of the reasons I’m drawn to Flash Forward, and I’m looking forward to rest of the season. Also, I really hope we get closure with Penny on Lost.

Robert Carlyle, Ming-Na, Lou Diamond Phillips and Christopher McDonald all in one show! Stargate Universe debuted looking more like Battlestar Galactica than Atlantis or SG-1. This isn’t your usually Stargate fair. But a welcome change of pace.

The characters are good. It’s nice to have normal people mixed with the ‘best of the best’ of the US Military. This the way to do what Voyager tried to do. The only resemblance to previous incarnations is the gate mythology itself, and the few cameos.

Speaking of cameos, the way that the old-guard handed of to the new-guard was really good. It was handled so matter-of-factly. Any new viewer wouldn’t have even known Carter, O’Neil or Jackson were anything special; as opposed to the handoff between SG-1 and Atlantis. Anytime SG-1 characters were part of an Atlantis episode it was treated as a special event.

The character of Eli is going to be very polarizing. You’ll either love him or hate him. I for one love him. Bringing an everyman into the Stargate realm is just what is needed. Daniel was close, but was already an expert. Eli brings us into the show, and it works well. The only issue I had was that he should have been on the base longer before the event that puts them on the ship. A montage or wipe that shoots them ahead a month would have given more credibility to his character. But after a few weeks, we’ll forget about this.

I hope they don’t try to be too much like BSG. I like the grittier version of Stargate, but I don’t want BSG-Lite. I’m looking forward to this series. Especially more of the talented Ms. Ming-Na. What did you think?

I completely dismissed Cougar Town. I watched the pilot (planning to watch ONLY the pilot) simply because of Courtney Cox. I was very surprised.

First off, I was very impressed with the cast. Like I said, I avoided anything about Cougar Town so I was surprised to see so many quality actors: Courtney Cox, Busy Philipps, Ian Gomez, Christa Miller, Josh Hopkins. They were all very funny, and I believe cast perfectly.

I also liked the look. The Desperate Housewives style approach to shooting this sitcom made it pleasant to watch. This is a half-hour sitcom that is produced like an hour long dramedy. This was a very good choice.

What initial turned me off of Cougar Town was the name. Really? Naming a show after a contemporary slang term? Like calling a show in the 70s, “That’s Bogue”. I was happy to see that the name of the high school mascot was “The Cougars”. So, Cougar Town makes a little more sense.

I laughed. I was interested. I’m going to watch next week. Will you?

The New Adventures of Old Christine started off its 4th season with a very funny episode. Julia is an amazing comic actress; no wonder she was the first one to break the Seinfeld curse. The supporting case also brings in amazing performances that make this one of the most enjoyable sitcoms on to watch.

The season 4 premiere brings the season 3 cliffhangers to very comic closure. The highlights of the night were:

• Richard waiting outside all night for new Christine
• Christine’s behavior on the airplane.
• Richie’s reaction to the entire situation

When it comes to sitcoms, I really like to be surprise. Are we loosing new Christine? Is Emily Rutherfurd leaving? She is an integral part of the ensemble, I’d hate to loose that comedic component of her relationship to the group. The premiere could have been a misdirection, so we’ll wait and see.

Speaking of relationships, the show now boasts a very soapopera-like set of relationships. Christine used to be married to Richard, who is now engaged to Barb, who slept with Matthew and is currently married to Christine. Funny.

I’m looking forward to this season, how about you?

The premiere episode of season 6 of House may have reshaped the show as we know it…in a good way. If you’ve been a viewer of House for more than a couple of seasons, you’ll notice that the only character that doesn’t seem to evolve is Dr. House himself. All the other characters change in some way due to the events on the show. House is still the same grumpy old man.

That may changed based on the season 6 premiere; I hope it does. We start off with House in the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital that he checked into at the end of last season. In this episode House is forced to deal with his mental and emotional problems for the first time. Yes, they’ve come close in the past, but this time it was real (and not chemically induced). Watching House realize that his flaws are not always a good thing was intense. He evolved.

I hope that the writers let the evolution stick. If they are to evolve the show, we need to see the new Dr. Gregory House and how he solves the mystery disease of the week. It starts to become a different show, which is what you need when you’ve solved over 100 cases of some Lupus-like disease.

We of course couldn’t have an episode of house where he doesn’t ‘cure’ an illness. Even though they telegraphed it, the payoff was great. When House brought Lydia to see her sister playing, I welled up inside a bit. They’ve reinvigorated the show before it needed to be.

What do you think? Should House remain ‘cured’?

CBS Comedy Monday Night is back full throttle. How I Met Your Mother anchors the night, with Jenna Elfman’s Accidentally on Purpose taking the lead in and the excellent Big Bang Theory moving to 9:30.

HIMYM started off on very safe and even. Nothing distinguished the episode from a normal one (it didn’t feel very premiere-like). Not to say it wasn’t good, just not that memorable or legen…dary. I think they handled the Barney/Robin situation quite well. It was a nice balance, and does fit the character personalities. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.

The new Jenna Elfman comedy Accidentally on Purpose left me with mixed feelings. I believe the events in the pilot should have been stretched out over 2-3 episodes. Everything moved to fast. We’ve seen this story before (“Knocked Up”) so we knew where it was going. Why did we have to rush to get to the end? We couldn’t savor the story, or get to know the characters (even on sitcom terms). That being said, Elfman was entertaining as always, so I will be giving this one a chance.

Big Bang Theory was the highlight of the night. Again here, the coupling of two main characters was handled well (Penny/Leonard). Having Penny jump Leonard immediately completely took the will they/won’t they question off the table (which can get annoying). I hope that they keep the relationship going a while, and don’t pull a bad “Ross/Rachel” on us. The episode was full of hilarity (“That’s why I added the -tator”), and sets up the season nicely. Jim Parsons (Sheldon) was a good as ever (should have won the Emmy). Next to Curb, this is the best sitcom on television, and it didn’t disappoint.

Of course you may notice I skipped over an entire show; Two and a Half Men. I don’t watch this show anymore. I gave it a chance several times and find it a very overrated piece of garbage. It is a waste of the talent of Sheen and Cryer. It’s telling that the night is bookended by HIMYM and BBT. Even CBS knows where the quality lies.

What did you think of Elfman’s new show? How about Barney/Robin or Penny/Leonard? Did CBS comedy start off with a bang? Leave your thoughts below.

Curb starts off Season 7 with a bang. The main focus of the premiere Larry trying to decide how to get out of his relationship with Loretta before her cancer diagnosis is revealed. This was more motivation than entertainment. It had its funny moments, but I felt just served to kickstart this seasons arc.

The highlight of the storyline was the exchange between Larry and Auntie Rae. Larry asserts that Auntie Rae not talk to the neighbors, because “…neighbors impose. I’d rather have the thieves than the neighbors – the thieves don’t impose. Thieves just want stuff. I’d rather give stuff than time.”

The B-story involved Funkhouser’s “crazy” sister who was just released from a mental institution. This was the episode story that was there to bring the funny. I’m not sure how I feel about Jeff cheating this early in the season, but maybe it could signal a turnaround in his relationship with Suzie. Them arguing is always good.

It was nice to see Cheryl (and Wanda) in the first episode. I’ve always felt that Cheryl Hines was an integral part of this show, so it is nice to see her back. We’ve always wondered what could make Larry David ( real Larry or Curb-Larry ) agree to a Seinfeld reunion. We have the answer now, the chance to get his wife back.

What did you think of the premiere? What are your thoughts on season 7?

The dynamic duo is coming back to network television playing (who else) themselves. The stars and creators of one of cable televisions best shows, Penn & Teller Bullshit, are now taking their R-rated act to PG television. Variety reports:

ABC has given a script order to the Penn and Teller project. Comedic one-hour stars the duo as Penn Jillette and Teller — Las Vegas magicians by night. But here’s how the show takes a slight twist from real life: By day, the duo become reluctant detectives.

I love Penn and Teller. I first subscribed to Showtime just to get their show. I wonder how their brand of humor (if you’ve seen the Showtime program you’ll know what I mean) will translate to ABC/Disney. I have high hopes though. I don’t believe that they’d put their name on it if it wasn’t quality (I’m not saying that they don’t sell out, but it usually has someone else’s name over the title).

The description reminds me of Curb Your Enthusiasm. On Curb, Larry plays a caricature of himself. Here P&T will be doing something similar. I’m definitely putting this on my watch list.