Thoughts on the Newbies

I've finally had some time today to sit down and watch some of the new shows that have hit the airwaves this fall so thought I'd give y'all some scoop and thoughts about them.


Hawaii Five-O, CBS, Mondays 10pm EST

photo seen at TV Fanatic

I wasn't too sure about this one at first but I wanted to tune in because of the stellar cast. Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim, and Grace Park star as the special task force working to keep Hawaii safe in this reboot of the classic series. We start with Detective Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) losing his father at the hands of Victor Hesse (James Marsters!) and heading back to Hawaii to attend his funeral and investigate his death. He gets roped into a special task force for the HPD by the governor (guest star Jean Smart) who grants him immunity and so begins his time kicking ass in Hawaii. He soon forms a reluctant partnership with Detective Danny "Danno" Williams (Scott Caan), picks up Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) and his cousin, Kono (Grace Park) along the way and the task force is complete. The first two episodes centered around McGarrett attempting to avenge his father's murder, and a kidnapping of a man with lots of government secrets. There was a lot of action packed into the first two episodes and it was overall really fast paced and fun. I would say my favorite part of the show thus far is the crazy good chemistry between O'Loughlin and Caan. Both men are great actors and play off each other so well! Caan is caring and hilarious, just as he was in his recent stint on Entourage and O'Loughlin is tough and rugged.  They are really great together and needless to mention, very easy on the eyes! The scenery in the episodes is also gorgeous and provides a great contrast to the gritty crimes they're investigating.

Verdict: so far, so good, I'll keep watching!

No Ordinary Family, ABC, Tuesdays, 8pm EST

photo seen at daily zombies

This show is very much like 'The Incredibles' but live action. So i guess you could say it's like 'The Fantastic Four.' While it was cute, and relatively well acted, I wasn't immediately drawn in. The premise of the show is that a family survives a plane crash which lands them in some water which gives them super powers. The mom, Stephanie Powell (Julie Benz) is a high power researcher who becomes super fast. The dad, Jim Powell (Michael Chiklis) is a police sketch artist who becomes super strong. The daughter, Daphne (Kay Panabaker) becomes telepathic and the son, JJ (Jimmy Bennett) becomes super intelligent. See it's 'The Incredibles,' except no one can become invisible?  It seems their family was in a bit of a tough way prior to their superpowers and that this is what will bring them together. The rest of the characters are rounded out by George (Romany Malco), Jim's confidant and best friend; Katie (Autumn Reeser), Stephanie's confidant and lab tech at Global Tech, and Dr. Dayton King (Stephen Collins) who is Stephanie's Boss. Seems Dr. King knows something about people with these super powers as we see towards the end of the pilot. Meanwhile, Jim wants to become Michael Chiklis's other super strong character, The Thing from 'The Fantastic Four.' I love the actors in this show and the story line seems alright thus far.

My Verdict: I need some more episodes to make a final decision but for right now I'll keep with it!

The Event, NBC, Mondays, 9pm EST

photo seen at screen rant

Right from the get-go, I wanted to watch this one, because I needed to know "WHAT is the event?" These types of shows always hook me, and when i heard it marketed as another Lost/24, I knew I would probably love it. I was hooked the moment  **SPOILER ALERT** Leila's (Sarah Roemer) family got attacked and she got kidnapped. I loved how it was made out like her and Sean (Jason Ritter) were never on the cruise.  The show is set up in a great but somewhat divisive structure (you'll either love it or hate it), going back and forth between different times that give you insights into how the different characters fit into the Event.  It felt like a puzzle that we had to put together. It was very exciting, and interesting and I can't wait to learn more. I don't want to talk too much about what happened exactly to avoid completely spoiling the show for those who haven't seen it but there was a lot of action, great relationships and some awesome plot/character development. If you want to read some good recaps about what's happened thus far, head over to EW.com for Jeff Jensen's always fabulously intelligent recap. Also check out NBC's website for the show for some great character bios and other information!

Verdict: a must watch!

I've yet to watch Nikita, Undercovers and Running Wilde but they're sitting on my TiVo waiting for me, so when i get to them i'll post some more thoughts on this new crop!