The River
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 9:00 p.m. on ABC
ABC has been seeking a replacement for its supernatural thriller LOST since it ended in 2010, and The River may be the answer. The show tells the story of a famed explorer and TV personality who disappears deep in the Amazonian rainforest. Six months later, his son leads a search team to find his missing father. Although the show is relatively unknown, there are some big names working behind the scenes, namely Stephen Spielberg as the executive producer. The mysteries surrounding The River surely won’t be solved after the first episode. Expect a formula of cliffhangers and plot twists.
Touch
Monday, March 19, 9 p.m. on FOX
With a heavy promotional campaign exploiting Kiefer Sutherland’s role on 24, FOX seems to be hoping he’s enough to draw in viewers. The promotion might be all about Sutherland, but the show itself has promise. Sutherland stars as a former journalist whose wife dies in the 9/11 attacks. His son is mute and can predict future events. It’s a combination of Heroes and 24, with Danny Glover playing the son’s doctor. FOX aired a special preview event last week, but the show is set to officially premiere later in the midseason on March 19.
Alcatraz
Mondays, 9:00 P.M. on Fox
“On March 21st, 1963, Alcatraz officially closed. All the prisoners were transferred off the island. Only that’s not what happened. Not at all.” The tagline FOX uses for its new sci-fi series Alcatraz obviously raises the question of what happened to all those bad, bad prisoners. The show is performing well following its two-hour premiere. With J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions producing, and Jorge Garcia of LOST starring, the show has what it takes for FOX to compete this season. Only three episodes have aired thus far, so there is still plenty of time to catch up on this sci-fi drama.
Smash
Monday, Feb. 6th, 10 p.m. on NBC
This musical drama is being called a more “adult” Glee, and it arrives on NBC at an optimal time to potentially steal some of its competitor’s audience. The show centres on the production of a Marilyn Monroe Broadway musical, and focuses on the key figures putting the project together. With names like Debra Messing, Angelica Houston, and Katherine McPhee attached, Smash has benefitted from major buzz, and critical enthusiasm for the pilot episode suggests a promising first season.
Cougar Town
Tuesday, Feb. 14, 8:30 p.m. on ABC
After a long hiatus, ABC has set Cougar Town‘s premiere for Valentine’s Day. Fans have been waiting for many months to see Floridian, wine-drinking, non-cougar Jules (Courtney Cox), finally get married to Grayson (Josh Hopkins), her boyfriend of two seasons. Lucky for viewers, a reduced episode count means the show will be forced to condense a season surrounding a proposal and a wedding into a refreshingly realistic time frame. Creator Bill Lawrence will be bringing in help from his Scrubs friends to join the cul-de-sac gang, as Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke are set to guest star. This third season is a crucial period for this relatively undiscovered comedy gem, determining whether it stays on air or suffers a fate similar to Community, an intelligent comedy counterpart whose airings were suspended just a few months ago.
