TV Patrol: Wonderful Wednesday!

It’s ABC’s big night of television. The freshman sitcoms from ’09 have advanced to their sophomore year & a newbie has been sandwiched in amongst them. There is plenty of competition from the other networks though. NBC is continuing to pump out 10pm dramas to try & help us forget their “Leno” disaster. CBS, of course, is not afraid to give us something new at 10pm. It’s has definitely been the week for drama…. lots of cops & lawyers. I smell a trend!  Over at Fox, we have another Gordon Ramsey favorite. He seems to hold alot of the cards over there. Let’s see what’s new!

8pm:

Undercovers (NBC) J.J. Abrams was brought in to give NBC an edgy new drama. He decided to mimic the movie Mr & Mrs. Smith. Not very original if you ask me. Steven & Samantha Bloom are retired spies who are asked to return in the hopes of finding a missing agent. They decide they miss all the action & re-enter the world of espionage.

Hell’s Kitchen (FOX) It’s HK‘s 8th season & Chef Ramsey is back after only one week away from our televisions. Once again, 16 wannabe chefs vie for a job as head chef. This season it’s the JW Marriot Hotel & Restaurant in LA. They will also get the title of official spokesperson at the Rosemount Estate Winery. Tonight Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto shows them the proper way to prepare sushi. TV promos tease about the most outrageous contestant EVER! Will he be the 1st to go?

The Middle (ABC) Its second season starts off with the kids going back to school. Doris Roberts guest stars as Brick’s new teacher who’s not happy with his mom, Frankie. Isn’t it nice how “Raymond” co-stars still can get work. Don’t forget… daughter Sue starts her first year on the cross country track team. I’m a big fan of this show so I’m happy it’s back.

8:30pm:

Better With You (ABC) This new sitcom fits right in with the rest of the Wednesday night line-up. It’s a multi-family comedy & everyone is related in some way or another. Three couples… Maddie & Ben, have been together for 9 years. Mia & Casey have been together for 7 weeks… and Vicky & Joel have been married for 35 years. They are the parents of Maddie & Mia. Can you see where this is going?

9pm:

Law & Order: SVU (NBC) The 12th season premiere starts out with the abduction of a 10 yr. old girl. When they find her, she’s with Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond from “LOST”). He swears he has nothing to do with her being gone, but things get iffy when he starts talking about other abductions. This is the 1st season that L&O:SVU hasn’t paired up with the original L&O (which retired). On Sept. 28th, it will lead in to the new Law & Order: LA.

Modern Family (ABC) Fresh from it’s huge Emmy win, the show’s 2nd season premiere is all about Phil wanting to get rid of the family station wagon. This causes a great deal of nostalgia. Cameron, being the busy body he is… thinks it’s a good idea for Jay to help Mitchell build Lily a princess castle. Meanwhile Manny has a girl over to “study”. I hope to enjoy this return!

Criminal Minds (CBS) It’s the show’s 6th season & they’re still after those pesky serial killers. Man… there’s alot of them out there these days. Tim Curry returns as the one who keeps getting away. AJ Cook was cut from the cast. She was let go for financial reasons. CBS claimed they needed to cut back on expenses.

9:30pm:

Cougar Town (ABC) Another season 2 premiere! Jennifer Aniston is back as Jules’ new psychiatrist. Of course, Ellie is jealous of this relationship but they find out the Doc’s methods are a tad shady. Grayson & Jules are still “doin’ it” & this makes Bobby feel icky. It’s the least of my ‘favorites’ for tonight, but I’ll record it for later.

10pm:

The Whole Truth (ABC) This new series claims that it’s NOT your average lawyer show. With Maura Tierney (Abby from “ER”) as prosecutor Kathryn Peale & Rob Morrow (Don from “Numb3rs”) as the defense attorney, the show constructs both sides of a case & how each side prepares for court. Of course the two of them are law school classmates so they have a heads-up on each other’s thinking which should create some sparks. First case… a teacher kills a student…. or did they?

The Defenders (CBS) Here’s another new series about lawyers. The difference is… these are Las Vegas defense lawyers! Jim Belushi is Nick & Jerry O’Donnell is Pete. Their clients are on the seedy side & these guys are a tad quirky in their methods of defense. I’m hoping for some entertaining court scenes. I miss Alan Shore (“Boston Legal”) & I’m hoping this fills that void.

So we have quite a mix for this evening. I plan on watching all the ABC sitcoms & I’m interested in the Jim Belushi show, The Defenders. I have no interest in Undercovers & The Whole Truth is DVR material.

Thanks to CattyFan for giving me the “heads up” on Detroit 187. Turned out to be a really good show with a totally unexpected ending!

Glee was a tad disappointing. I guess I didn’t like the song choices this week. And I totally called it on DWTS. The Hoff was a goner!

Fox’s two new sitcoms were okay. I think Raising Hope tried too hard to make me laugh & fell kinda flat in that respect. Running Wilde, on the other hand, did make me laugh a few times. I will give both of them another chance.