We’re well into the new TV season now, which of course means that it’s time for
your complimentary list of the top five best new series. And don’t say you’re too busy
stressing out over who next season’s “Glee” cast is going to be, when everyone knows
the show is going to go downhill fast, as soon as the current actors “graduate.”
You might as well free up some room in your schedule for a new show now, right?
Alright, put away that textbook and start watching the best new
shows of the season.
**”Pan Am” (Sundays, 9 p.m. on ABC)**
Bright colors, bright lights and, of course, bright smiles from the Pan Am
stewardesses. This show, set in the 1960s, comes complete with clothes and hair
right out of “Hairspray,” swing music that will keep your feet tapping and gorgeous
classic cars (can you say, “1963 split-window Corvette?”). This show even has
a generous helping of cheesy dialogue between the two main characters about how
the world is such a gorgeous place, a flight attendant’s life is so dramatic and that
they are always there for each other. But don’t worry, you manly men out there:
This show isn’t all glitzy mush in a historical setting. It’s set up to be quite
like a James Bond film, just in the sky.
**”Terra Nova” (Mondays, 7 p.m. on FOX)**
So, let’s say you take “Jurassic Park” and break it up into episodes. That’s pretty much exactly what the producers of “Terra Nova” did. And they seem to be doing a damn good job of it, at least in the first episode. However, this
show seems to have two huge possibilities: First, it could become a show where
everything that could possibly go wrong, goes wrong. Think “Degrassi.” The other,
more hopeful option is that it gains all the poor, lost followers of “LOST” and gets them
into another show built on roughly the same premises, just with dinosaurs.
**”Grimm” (Fridays, 8 p.m. on NBC)**
Hold off on watching this show for a bit, because it actually doesn’t premier until
Oct. 28. It’s made this list, though, because out of the slew of fairy tale-based
shows coming out this season, “Grimm” looks the most promising. The basic premise
of the show is, “What if the fairy tales were real and written to tell us of actual
events?” In the show they were, so it’s up to the Grimm family to keep the
balance between humanity and mythology. It might seem weird, but the show might
be worth a shot. The trailer has some good special effects, at least.
**”Person of Interest” (Thursdays, 8 p.m. on CBS)**
Ever seen “Minority Report”? Then you’ve seen “Person of Interest.” Kind of. Except for
the whole everything-has-to-be-done-in-secret thing. The show is overall a nice
blend of two men hunting down potential threats to society as determined by “The
Machine” (again, “Minority Report,”) while running from cops who think that they’re the
real threats to society. The producers also have an interesting way of showing you
about half the show through surveillance footage. Also, out of all the new shows,
this one seems to have the most staying power.
“American Horror Story” (Wednesdays, 9 p.m. on FX)
With the exception of no one being entirely sure how this is going to become a long-
lasting, consistently scary show, “American Horror Story” is flawless. The camera
work is super jumpy, making you wonder, “Did you really see that? Was that real?
What was it?” The show also has a little of every type of horror. There are ghosts,
murderers, stalkers, creepy mental patients and a lot of unexplained but equally
weird things. The music choice, however, is the exact opposite. There are lots of
suspenseful silences, of course, but upbeat ’50s-style music often plays as well.
Perhaps this only adds to the genuine weirdness of the show. Overall, this is a dark,
suspenseful and creepily erotic thriller that should not be missed.