ABC Family's Strange and Wonderful New Addition

It's a little old for their demographic and completely inconsistent with the goofball brand, but ABC Family has picked up a show that completely changes the way I view their network. Starting September 7th, you can watch Friday Night Lights every night of the week, right from the beginning.

The brilliant and subtle show is the furthest thing from ABC Family's usual brand of zany sweetness but it does have lots of teen characters (brilliantly developed ones) and core family values (beyond the strippers, the beer swilling and the gang violence lies the show's moral centre in well-meaning husband/wife duo Erik and Tammy Taylor).

Some of (if not most of) the themes will be new territory for the network and its usual audience, but maybe this is an indication of what's to come for ABC Family: quality first.

2010 Spring TV Schedule

It's Here! The spring TV season is among us so we at My TV have made you a handy dandy (and pretty, if we do say so ourselves) schedule of what we're watching and when and where you can find it for yourselves (which you absolutely should do). Click on the image for a larger version.

Quality TV in the Summer?

This Saturday marks the return of NBC's ambitious passion project Kings. Predictably, the epic drama failed to produce the sort of ratings that the last place network needed so it was cancelled after airing only a few episodes this winter. Now the series will have a chance to burn off their remaining episodes and wrap up the stories in a satisfying way over 7 weeks, starting this Saturday (the 13th) at 8pm on NBC.

Also on Saturdays are the final episodes of Pushing Daisies on ABC. Be sure to tune in to see the ending of the happiest show on TV.

And with the final season 1 episodes of the new (and renewed) gem Better Off Ted scheduled to start airing June 23 on ABC, it seems as though summer may not be such a TV wasteland after all.

For my review of Kings' early episodes click here

Returning Soon

Anxious for your favourite shows to return? See below for the spring premieres of all your favourites. 

*shows with asterisks are ones that My TV contributors watch (*for Kelly, ** for Rachael, *** for both)

***Samantha Who?- March 26, 8:30 (ABC)

*90210- March 31, 9pm (The CW)

***My Boys- March 31, 10:30 (TBS)

**Greek- March 30, 8pm (ABC Family)

Rescue Me- April 7, 10pm (FX)

*Prison Break- April 17, 8pm (FOX)

*The Bachelorette- May 18, 9pm (ABC)

And be sure to tune into these shows which have just gotten underway within the past couple weeks (though some aren't really worth the look):

*The Amazing Race- Sun, 8pm (CBS)

Celebrity Apprentice- Sun, 9pm (NBC)

Dancing with the Stars- Mon, 8pm (ABC)

*Rules of Engagement- Mon, 9:30 (CBS)

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon- Mon, 12:304 (NBC)

Reaper- Tues, 8pm (The CW)

America's Next Top Model- Wed, 8pm (The CW)

What's New?

With premiere time part 2 of the year getting under way, it's about time that we here at My TV let you in on what we're watching.

*shows with an asterisk are Kelly's most anticipated/favourites

What We're Watching (or at least taking for a test drive)

* United States of Tara (Showtime, Sun 10:00)

Created by Steven Spielberg, writen by Diablo Cody, starring Toni Collette, John Corbett and Rosemary DeWitt- perfect. 

*Dollhouse (FOX, Fri 9:00)

Joss Whedon is a genius. 

Better off Ted (ABC, Wed 8:30)

We love Portia, Andrea Anders is pretty funny and it looks like a lot of fun. 

Castle (ABC, Mon 10:00)

NATHAN FILLION!!! that is all. 

*Cupid (ABC, premieres March 31, Tues 10:00)

We need a replacement for our dearly departed Valentine, and Bobby Cannavale is always charming. Oh, and this version doesn't have Jeremy Piven- always a plus. 

Harper's Island (CBS, premieres April 9, Thurs 10:00)

Out of sheer love for Chris Gorham this long shot will get at least a one week trial from My TV. 

*Kings (NBC, Sun 8:00)

It looks damn cool and there's a need for dramas that aren't sci-fi or procedural. 

In The Motherhood (ABC, premieres March 26, Thurs 8:00)

It was a web hit. Hopefully it won't be too stupid. The comedy pedigree in the cast deserves our respect though. 

Parks and Recreation (NBC, premieres April 9, Thurs 8:30)

We'll follow Amy Poehler anywhere, though this doesn't promise to be a favourite. 

*Party Down (Starz, premieres Tomorrow, Fri 10:30)

Rob Thomas writes good stuff! Also: Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, Jane Lynch and Lizzy Caplan. Plus amazing guest stars like Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring and Rob Corddry.

Southland (NBC, premieres April 9, Thurs 10:00)

Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) is back on TV! How could we not watch that? Also: former West Wing showrunner John Wells is at the helm. 

The Unusuals (ABC, premieres April 8, Wed 10:10)

Amber Tamblyn + Adam Goldberg make up for our left over Michael hatred that prevents us from ever really embracing Harold Perrineau. 

What I'm Watching

Now that most of the fall TV schedule is underway, I thought it'd be a good idea to let you know what I'm watching this season so you'll know what I'll be writing about. Without much ado at all, my list is as follows...

red= must watch, most likely to write about

blue= will watch regularly, might not write

green= will only watch when I can

purple= we'll see

SUNDAY

8pm- Valentine (CW) 

9pm- Desperate Housewives (ABC) 

10pm- Brothers & Sisters (ABC)

MONDAY

8pm- Prison Break (FOX)

        - Gossip Girl (CW)

        - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

8:30- How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

9pm- One Tree Hill (CW)

9:30- Samantha Who? (ABC) 

10pm- My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) 

          - Boston Legal (ABC)

TUESDAY

9pm- Privileged (CW)

WEDNESDAY 

8pm- Pushing Daisies (ABC)

        - Little Mosque on the Prairie (CBC)

        - So You Think You Can Dance Canada (CTV)

8:30- Gary Unmarried (CBS)

9pm- Private Practice (ABC) 

9:30- Do Not Disturb (FOX): already cancelled

10pm- Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)

THURSDAY

7:30- So You Think You Can Dance Canada (CTV)

8pm- Ugly Betty (ABC)

8:30- Kath and Kim (NBC)

9pm- Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 

        - The Office (NBC)

9:30- 30 Rock (NBC): premieres Oct 30

FRIDAY

9pm- The Ex List (CBS)

SATURDAY

11:30- Saturday Night Live (NBC)

WHAT's TO COME

- Dexter (after I finish season 2 and catch up online)

- The New Adventures of Old Christine 

(CBS, once I catch up) 

- My Boys (when it eventually returns to TBS)

- Friday Night Lights (coming to NBC, midseason)

- Dollhouse (FOX, midseason)

- Scrubs (ABC, midseason)

- Lost (ABC, midseason)

- Rules of Engagement (CBS, midseason)