SFist Watches: Wednesday's Fall TV Premieres
We're going to start with NBC and the series premiere of "Life" at 10 p.m. because everybody's favorite bumblebee Jennifer Siebel is in it! (See above.) She's only in the episode briefly, at the very beginning, playing the lead character's ex-wife, but she's supposed to be in at least two more episodes this season. However, we don't know if we'll be able to invest the time in this show because we really kind of hated the pilot. They're obviously going for a "House" vibe here, even going so far as to cast a Brit (Damian Lewis) in the lead role as a cop who spends 12 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. After he's cleared of the crime, he's released and goes back on the job with a fat settlement and a weird penchant for fruit. He's supposed to be this odd, brilliant, "zen" cop, but he really just comes off as someone who likes to stand uncompfortably close to people when he's talking to them. There's just nothing about this show that separates it from every other procedural out there. Also? We're getting tired of all the fake American accents on TV right now. See: "House," "Journeyman," "Cane," "Moonlight," "Viva Laughlin" and...
The "Bionic Woman," which premieres at 9 p.m. on NBC. First off, the show is supposedly set in San Francisco, but they make absolutely no effort to make Vancouver look like S.F. None. We think we even saw a Canadian license plate on one of the cars. Why not just set the damn show in Canada? Or at least Washington state where you can explain away all the pine trees? It's actually kind of insulting. So, yeah, we were a little distracted by all those snowcapped mountains in the background, but we were still able to come away from the pilot thinking it was both hit and miss. On the hit side is Katee "Starbuck" Sackhoff as the rogue, first bionic woman; totally loved her response to Jaime Sommers, "What do you want from me?!" plea. Speaking of Jamie Sommers, that's on the miss side. We acknowledge that Michelle Ryan is quite the looker. But she just doesn't bring enough spark to her bionic woman, and that's probably why the producers decided to expand Sackhoff's role in the series. Plus, villains are always more fun than good guys. Miguel Ferrer is also on board, and he brings his usual amusing deadpan delivery to the show. Lots of potential here--for both good and bad. We'll give it a few more chances to wow us.
On ABC we've got another damn "Dancing with the Stars" at 8pm, followed by the premiere of the "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Private Practice" at 9 p.m. Some casting changes have been made since the original pilot episode ran earlier this year, but the set-up remains the same, with Addison joining a...private practice in Southern California with a bunch of doctors that are a little bit older than the kids up in Seattle. We can only hope their antics won't be quite so juvenile.
"Dirty Sexy Money" follows at 10 p.m., and we don't know a whole lot about this show, except that it's a drama centered on a very rich, and very screwed-up family, and their lawyer, who may or may not be rich and/or screwed up. The cast, which includes Jill Clayburgh, Donald Sutherland, William Baldwin, and Peter Krause, seems to be the show's biggest selling point. Haven't seen it; can't say much more about it.
We also don't have much to say about the season premieres of "Criminal Minds" at 9 p.m. and "CSI: New York" at 10 p.m., both on CBS. Except that if you watch "Criminal Minds" because you are totally in love with Mandy Patinkin, you probably won't want to watch this season.