On the cusp of a new television season: What should we be addicted to now?

So it's mid-August 2007 and the new television season starts in a month or so. I'm excited and totally ready for it. Are you?
Personally I've spent the summer watching a little reality television, but not enough to make me truly ashamed of myself.
I love Kathy Griffin's Life on the D List, she's just very real and honest with herself and that translates into good comedy and good reality television (I know "good reality television" is kind of an oxymoron, but not in this case, I promise you it's an accurate statement). The next reality show I watched was Bravo's Top Chef. I didn't watch it from the start but I caught it every now and then and I basically just love watching the food being made and the end product being presented. On another Food TV note, I also watched The Next Food Network Star and the woman I was rooting for, Amy, won it. I actually text messaged for the first time in my whole life (I know, and I call myself a twenty-something!) just to vote for her. I've also watched on occasion The Next Design Star on HGTV because I'm totally addicted to that network. I haven't watched every episode of it, but I do have my favorites, I like Sparkle Josh and I should have liked Earthy Josh because he is from St. Paul, MN, my new adopted city, but he just didn't have what it took and didn't seem like much of a designer.

I've also caught new shows premiering this summer like AMC's Mad Men, and FX's Damages. I tried to watch that Holly Hunter show Saving Grace and even though I love her and can't get enough of her in films like Broadcast News I just think this show is horrible, especially the whole biker guy angel named Earl coming to "Save Grace." Blah, totally not worth of my time or yours. I like Mad Men it has a totally different feel to it and not just because it's set in the 60s, but because it has a slower pace to it but the characters are so intriguing and well-written, I'm inspired to keep up with it. Also it's about the industry I'm in and even though the ad world I work in now in 2007 is much different than the one portrayed on Mad Men (thank god I'm not a "girl" expected to be quiet, submissive and pretty) there are still enough poignant similarities that I just can't stop watching it and getting excited for each new episode.

So now that summer is drawing to a close and rain seems to be taking over my climate here in Minnesota, I'm excited to curl up on the sofa and watch some new Fall TV. What will I be watching in the 2007-2008 television season? Well so far I haven't paid too much attention to what is coming up on the pipeline on all the networks but there are a few shows I will definitely tune in for:

1) Pushing Daisies: This is my number one anticipated show of the fall season. In the short previews, cast interviews and short clips of it that ABC has posted on their website, I'm already a little obsessed with this show. The star of it, Lee Pace, is absolutely adorable and totally my type (I'm aware that sounds odd and stalker like especially since he's a TV actor I'll never meet, but stay with me people). Also, the look of the show is really beautiful and the plot is intriguing. Basically the plot from what I can tell is a young boy realizes he has a strange talent of bringing things back from the dead by touching them. But he can't touch them again or else they will die and if he lets the things live with a second chance at life, someone else will die as a consequence. Flash forward to present time and he's a super yummy (Lee Pace) man (who is a pie baker, which makes him really yummy, especially if he makes a wicked cherry pie) who has used his talent on his childhood crush and now must not touch her again (even though he really really wants to) so that she can live and be in his life. Sounds good and totally worthy of my obsession (and yours). We'll see how it pans out.

2) Private Practice: So this is the much talked about spin-off to Grey's Anatomy and I definitely will be watching it since I am an avid fan of Grey's. But, Private Practice did a little "Practice" run at the end of the 2006-2007 season of Grey's and I watched it and wasn't too impressed. But it sounds like the creator is aware of the kinks and went back to fix those, hopefully no more talking elevators (that was just plain stupid) and hopefully they better utilize the cutie from Veronica Mars (Chris Lowell) without subjecting him to be young 20-something boy candy, he does not work well in that capacity. Also I hear they've recast the role of Addison's best friend with a Broadway talent, Audra McDonald, so hopefully they have better chemistry than Kate Walsh and Merrin Dungey had in the test run pilot. I'll of course be watching this one and waiting for it to live up to its potential. There are other shows premiering on ABC but I don't know that I'll watch any of them right away, Samantha Who? could be cute because Christina Applegate has a lot of charisma, but the premise sounds a little forgettable (pun used on purpose since this show is about an amnesiac). Big Shots and Dirty, Sexy Money both have actors I like (Michael Vartan in Big Shots and Peter Krause in Dirty, Sexy, Money) but the previews for them are unwatchable so I'm guessing the actual shows will be too.

3) Aliens in America: This one looks cute and it's on The CW, which could be its downfall or its saving grace, depending on how well marketed and well-written it is. The previews I've seen of it look cute and kind of compelling (which is totally odd to have a compelling sitcom, especially on The CW), so I'm intrigued. They've also recast the father role with Gilmore Girls veteran Scott Patterson, and I've always considered him watchable so we'll see how the show does. The plot is that an awkward Wisconsin High Schooler is miserable at high school so his meddling mom signs up for a foreign student in hopes that it will be a young, blonde, beautiful Swedish boy who will help guide her son into the popular high school social circle. Instead they get a Pakistani boy who I think is basically an orphan so he is so excited to be in a new setting living with a family. They want to send him back since he is just as awkward as their son, but they feel badly for him and his orphan status, so they keep him and an awkward and geeky friendship ensues between the two boys. It has a lot of potential so I'm definitely watching.

4) Gossip Girl: I actually watched like the first 10 minutes of the pilot that was on The CW's website and it looked a little unwatchable, but it has the possibility of replacing The O.C. and we all know I had a love/hate relationship with that show, so I will give this one a try. And Kristen Bell (from my beloved and cancelled Veronica Mars) will be the narrator and title character in Gossip Girl, at least in a few episodes so if she deems it worthy I'll give it a try.

Well that's about it for the shows that I know about, I know it's a short list and I'm sure I'll find more to watch in Fall 2007 (don't worry about that, you know me I always have more than enough TV to watch)! So tune into my blog and hopefully my podcast (I'd like to give that a try) and I'll discuss all the tried and true favorites and all the new charmers on TV.

Stay Tuned and Keep Watching.