Thoughts on TV's Fall Premiere Week

Image credit: Fox

*Warning -- Spoilers ahead from a whole bunch of season premieres.*

Lots of TV shows premiered this week, several more (The Good Wife, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters) will be premiering in the next few days. Here’s a wrap-up of the good, the disappointing and the jury’s-still-out premieres:

House – The episode marked the official beginning of “Huddy.” As I watched House and Huddy spend a lot of time in bed and get emotionally intimate with one another, I was plagued by this question: How in the hell is a House-Cuddy romantic relationship going to work given that he’s a nut case and she’s, well, she’s Cuddy AND his boss AND has a small child at home?

That’s what the rest of the season will tell us apparently. I'm hoping this won't turn out disastrously, like so many of the pairings of leads who’ve been kept apart then become an official couple turn out to be. (FYI – LOVE Wilson.)

Image credit: NBC

The Event – I’m still licking my wounds from that Lost series finale which left me feeling duped and stupid for having invested so much time and energy trying to parse scenes, statements and motivations when none of it even mattered. And I still harbor disappointment about how last season’s FlashForward failed to capitalize on a fascinating premise. So when I watched the pilot episode of the complicated, flashback/flashforward/present time show I was leery of getting burned again. I’m not giving this show much time to hook me, I’ll tell ya that much.

Raising Hope – This quirky, politically incorrect half-hour comedy about a guy suddenly getting custody of a child he conceived on a one-night-stand -- with a woman he didn’t know was a serial killer -- surprised me. The hapless dad, who still lives with his parents (who had him when they were teens) and his loopy grandma, has a Malcolm in the Middle-like appeal. I’m intrigued.

Parenthood – I thought the first two episodes of the sophomore season of this show were well done – read my CliqueClack TV review of the latest episode here -- but I was surprised that the writers made Peter Krause’s character Adam Braverman look like an obnoxious control freak in the second installment. Still can’t stop seeing Lorelai Gilmore in Lauren Graham’s Sarah Braverman.

The Middle – This season two premiere resonated a bit too well and loudly in my household where three kids recently went back to school. It was set on the first day of school and featured Patricia Heaton’s Frankie Heck vowing that -- after day one of school went badly -- the family was going to start the new year off fresh and “get in front” of all the possible problems. Frankie's noble campaign, of course, backfired.

Image credit: ABC

 Modern Family – After so much pre-game hype, this premiere fell short of my insanely high expectations of it being laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end, although Cameron ducking Mitchell’s crazy nailgun wielding was hilarious. As was "Buckety."

30 Rock – Okay, I know I’ll be inviting haters for saying this, but, even with Matt Damon on board, I was kind of bored with this premiere.

Grey’s Anatomy – Pitch. Perfect. This was a perfect follow-up to the tense, shocking season finale where 18 people at Seattle Grace were shot, 11 killed. The characters all responded differently to their emotional trauma, but I think Meredith Grey will, as usual, take longer to heal than the rest. Read my CliqueClack TV review of the premiere here.

Private Practice – After a rather unusual mashup of love scenes between Pete and Violet, and Cooper and Charlotte (the scenes reminded me of something out of a movie) this premiere disappointed me because, following the emotional punch of its season finale in May where a main character unexpectedly died, a volatile couple reunited while a kept-apart one got back together, I wanted more depth, more . . . something.

Your thoughts on the big fall TV premiere week?

Image credits: Fox, NBC and ABC.