The New Fall Season...So Far

People ask me constantly, "What do you like about the new fall season?" Being a television-obsessed individual, I certainly have an answer. Unfortunately, I've been watching too much tv to give an answer...until today. Let's start with my top five new shows. This amazing feat will be accomplished in order!

Pushing Daisies. People who know me know that this would have to be my favorite show of the season, new or old. Why? The easy answer is that Wonderfalls is my favorite show ever. Daisies borrows heavily from the creative team and has a similar likable oddness to it. But Daisies is a fairy tale, and a compelling one at that. The narration by Jim Dale (in an unfortunately narration heavy season) makes the show utterly charming. The cast is just about my dream cast. Lee Pace (amazing in Wonderfalls) is so charming and crushworthy that I could feel the room swooning. The supporting cast includes Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene, Kristen Chenoweth, Chi McBride (all among my favorite actors) and Anna Friel. I don't often comment on the art direction of a television show, but the charm is so enhanced by the colors and stylized sets, that it makes for a wonderfully beautiful image and a great show.

Reaper. Two of my top-five shows are ones I hadn't anticipated watching. Networks take note: Free downloads work! Reaper was one I recorded because I had space on my Tivo. I'm hooked. Bret Harrison is perfect for the slacker who becomes a superhero, Sam. Ray Wise is almost too perfect as the devil who comes to collect Sam's soul after his parents sold it 21 years earlier. The show is laugh-out-loud funny, but it also has something to chew on. As the reluctant demon-slayer, Sam is learning some life lessons. And the devil makes a pretty decent father figure. And there is brilliance in involving Kevin Smith in this project.

Aliens in America. I'm a little nervous about putting this in my top five so soon, but I was totally seduced by Aliens in America. Raja, a Pakistani exchange student, comes to live with the Tolchucks and hijinks ensue. Except that when Justin Tolchuck accepts Raja into his life, so do we. The fish out of water elements only inform a story with great heart. And it is funny. I was skeptical for the first 15 minutes, but when daughter Claire blurts out "Mom, I wanna go on the pill" in the middle of a family crisis, I was hooked. And in the last five minutes I was seduced.

Moonlight. Film noir is difficult to do on television and very difficult to maintain on television, but I have hope for Moonlight. The style, narration, flashbacks all create this great atmosphere. I don't love it yet, but I might. It is a David Greenwalt project, after all.

Chuck. It's the other slacker/superhero show this season. While it's not as crisp and engaging as Reaper, it has great charm, it has Sarah Lancaster, and it has the great fortune of preceding Heroes. All good!

I'm still not sure about Private Practice and Dirty, Sexy Money, both of which I continue to record.

I am sure about Grey's Anatomy, which I am deserting. After last season, I wasn't even sure I'd give it a chance this season. I am dismayed by the poor choices the writers and the actors continue to make. Mostly, though, I cannot abide George with Izzie. It's wrong, it's unappealing, it's free of chemistry. Buh-bye.

Heroes and Ugly Betty continue to impress. And I'm finishing up the seasons of Eureka (a respectable and enjoyable second season), Damages (could you resolve this already) and Weeds (great, improved, fun...with a little danger built in).

And now that I've made it through the opening week of the season, maybe I can get back to the movies.

Suzanne Vega in Brattleboro

Touring in support of her new release, Crime and Beauty, Suzanne Vega stopped in Brattleboro, Vermont at the Latchis Theater. It was the perfect set. Vega looked almost exactly the same as she did 20 years ago when I saw her at Symphony Hall in Salt Lake City. She's become only slightly more animated in the last two decades, but much more charmingly self-deprecating about it.

Vega's set was a perfect blend of songs from the new album, traditional versions of older songs and updated versions of classic tunes. A bass only version of "Left of Center" and a traditional rendering of "In Liverpool" were amazing. The concluding number, "The Queen and the Soldier," was the song that seduced me more than two decades ago resonates with greater intensity today.

Perfect!