Fall 2011 TV Preview: What to Watch

Thursdays

All shows premiere the week of September 19-25 unless otherwise indicated.

Charlie's Angels (8:00/7:00, ABC)

This flashy reboot stars pretty girls Minka Kelly, Rachael Taylor, and Annie Bonzeh as a car thief, cat burglar, and corrupt cop who get recruited by...well, you know. Bosley (Ramon Rodriguez) is young and hot, Isaiah "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" Mustafa is joining as a cop ex, and the ladies are sporting lots of sexy outfits, so it's pretty much going to be what you expect: fun, flashy, frivolous entertainment. I take no issue with this, I watch Hawaii Five -0 after all, and though I don't expect it to raise any bars, I'll be watching (along with the rest of America, I expect).

Pictured: The beginning of every tampon commercial

How to Be a Gentleman (8:30/7:30, CBS)

This new series, loosely based on the 1998 book of the same name, follows etiquette columnist Andrew (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's David Hornsby) and man's man Bert (Entourage's Kevin Dillon) through wacky Odd Couple hijinks and trying to be a little more like each other. What I've seen so far has been really inconsistent, so it could be a great follow-up to Big Bang Theory, or it could be.... Two and a Half Men.

Thin ice, show. Really thin ice.

Person of Interest (9:00/8:00, CBS)

I've done this show on my worst of the fall preview, because the premise just seems really done to me. I trust JJ a lot, so I'll be watching the pilot, but it better blow me away because at this point I just don't care.

Yeah, make all the concerned faces you want, I'm still not interested.

The Secret Circle (9:00/8:00, CW, premieres 9/15)

A great follow up to the sexy teen drama of The Vampire Diaries, this new CW guilty pleasure will be exactly the same show, and we will love it. I've made it one of my top five of the fall for just that reason. Well, and for this:

Hi, sexy! I missed you!

Whitney (9:30/8:30, NBC)

Not funny.

No. Just...No.

Prime Suspect (10:00/9:00, NBC)

I love Maria Bello. I think she is awesome. So I really want to like this show. I have a hard time with the whole "woman in a man's precinct" premise, which was fine when Helen Mirren did it in the 90's in Britain, but I'm not buying it for today in NYC. I mean, Benson's been doing just fine for 15 years. However, I really like Maria Bello. So I figure if she was willing to get on board, there has to be a reason.

It was the jaunty little hat.

So, what should you watch?

Thursdays are a bitch, Freaks. There's a lot of good TV, and it all wants your attention. If you are fortunate enough, like myself, to have four DVR channels, then just record everything and have a ball. If not, then do this:

Watch Community (8/7, NBC) and Parks and Recreation (8:30/7:30, NBC) live, DVR either The Vampire Diaries (8/7, CW)  or Big Bang Theory (8/7, CBS) and How to Be a Gentleman. (ABC will put the Angels online tomorrow). At 9:00/8:00, watch Person of Interest or The Secret Circle as is your preference (I'll be with the hotties), and DVR Grey's Anatomy (ABC) or Bones (FOX) when it returns in November. You can watch The Office (NBC) on Hulu.

Do not watch Whitney.

Then watch Prime Suspect and DVR The Mentalist (CBS).

Unless the combo hotness of Taye Diggs and Benjamin Bratt is enough to make you able to put up with Private Practice (ABC).

So close.

In exciting news, I will be a guest on the radio show Black Sheep on GVB Radio September 20th, talking Fall TV as well as a recap of the Emmy's! Tune in at 12:00am EST/ 11:00 pm CST on http://www.gvbradio.com/ and check out the awesome Back Sheep show here!


Stay tuned all week for the TV Freak's What to Watch guide, and if you haven't already, like me on Facebook (TV Freak) and follow me on Twitter (@theTVFreak)!