Five new TV shows to watch this fall
‘90210’ rich kids, vampires among offerings
Associated Press
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
“90210”
(CW, 8 p.m., premiered Tuesday).
Ray Mickshaw / Associated Press/
Ron Perlman (left) and Charlie Hunnam in a scene from ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ premiering Sept. 3 on FX.
Elevation Photos/
Writer-filmmaker-actor Hadjii is shown in a promotional photo for ‘Somebodies,’ premiering Sept. 9 on BET.
Erstwhile fans of 1990s sensation “Beverly Hills, 90210” will want to take a peek, if only to behold the refugees from the original cast (Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley and Jennie Garth are reprising their roles, along with Joe E. Tata as Peach Pit cafe owner Nat). But viewers who watch for old time’s sake are beside the point. “Young” is what counts.
“Sons of Anarchy”
(FX, premieres 10 p.m. Wednesday).
Picture the Sopranos on Harleys, with a club that’s nothing like the Bada Bing! These Sons are working-class antiheroes as their motorcycle club keeps an outlaw grip on their California town, while striking a blow for family values. Ron Perlman is perfect as the tough, overburdened club boss who’s often spinning his wheels. Katey Sagal is fierce but nurturing as his other half.
“True Blood”
(HBO, premieres 9 p.m. Sunday).
Brooding, brawling, campy and hot-blooded, this horror-romance imagines a live-and-let-live breakthrough in a small Louisiana town. Now vampires can buy synthetic blood to quench their thirst, therefore keeping their fangs out of humans. Does that mean ordinary folks will accept vampires as their equals? Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is ready to, especially when the first vampire she has ever met (handsome Stephen Moyer) moves into town. Of course, Sookie isn’t so ordinary: She is cursed with the ability to overhear what people are thinking.
“Somebodies”
(BET, 10:30 p.m. Sept. 9).
BET’s first scripted series, this half-hour comedy is the brainchild of one-named, multi-talented Hadjii, the writer-filmmaker-actor who plays an easygoing college student in no hurry to do much of anything — least of all graduate. Filmed on location in Athens, which Hadjii calls home, “Somebodies” has a sparkling look and a cast of refreshing new faces.
“Fringe”
(Fox, 8 p.m. Sept. 9)
Surely the fall’s most talked-about new show. From J.J. Abrams (“Alias,” “Lost”), this is a creepy-crawly sci-fi-mystery. It’s got a doomed airliner, a lab with a pet cow, yucky special effects, a mad scientist and a sexy FBI special agent (John Noble and Anna Torv). The cast also includes Mark Valley, Joshua Jackson, Kirk Acevedo and Lance Reddick.
