Easy as ABC (Part 3 of My Unfair Previews)

Right, we've covered Fox and NBC, what about ABC's new season?

Cougar Town
"Can a woman of a certain age be a mom, a successful career woman and still be on the prowl? Jules Cobb (Courteney Cox) is about to give it a try. In a small Florida town, the center of high society is the Cougars high school football team... which is wildly appropriate since this town is the natural habitat for over-tanned, under-dressed divorcées prowling for younger men. Jules desperately doesn't want to be one of them, but with an ugly divorce behind her and 40 staring right back at her, she's longing for a little more action in her life."
I suppose if you are a woman of a certain age, or a man (or a woman) who finds women of a certain age attractive, or a Courteney Cox fan, this might float your boat. Personally,I pretty much want to tear my eyes out just watching the trailer for this. Here, see what I mean - but put the knives away first.

I see that Dr Cox's ex (from Scrubs) is here, playing (from the 2-second clip on the trailer) much the same role again. And it appears that Carla from Scrubs is also here. One can only hope that the last-minute reprieve of Scrubs will save them from having to earn a crust by appearing in this terrible-looking show.

Eastwick
"Single-handedly, housewives accomplish astonishing things... and together, watch out. In the seaside village of Eastwick, this might just be evidence of their inner-witch rising to the surface. Until today, Roxanne, Kat and Joanna didn't get along because of their preconceived notions of each other. Roxanne was the flaky artist, Kat was a doormat wife and mom, and Joanna the uptight local reporter. But after a weird encounter in the park coupled with a few margaritas, these three have suddenly become fast friends. Now, a mysterious stranger's arrival in town will bring them even closer and test them in ways they'd never imagined."

Frankly, this doesn't look much better, although as a remake of an 80s movie, it's a better choice than Parenthood. Odd to see Paul Gross (Benton Fraser from Due South) making a comeback:

If I had to choose between this and Cougar Town, this would win by a country mile, but thankfully, I don't have to choose, so instead my tv screen will remain unpolluted by either show.

Flash Forward
"A mysterious global event causes everyone to black out simultaneously for two minutes and seventeen seconds, and each person sees a glimpse of their lives six months from now. When they wake up, everyone is left wondering if what they saw will actually happen. "

This is ABC's great hope to recapture the lightning in a bottle which was Lost's first season, and it's an interesting idea. The idea that all these people know what their future holds, and their efforts to understand and, in some cases, avoid that future, could be engaging. It has Joseph Fiennes and Sonya Walger, who shows up from time to time in Lost as Desmond's significant other. I'll be taking a look at this show, but I worry it might be a bit too sci-fi for it to last long.

Hank
"Sometimes scaling back is the best way to get ahead. Wall Street legend Hank Pryor (Kelsey Grammer) and his wife Tilly have been living the high life in New York City. That is until Hank is forced out of his CEO job and has to move his family back home to the small town of River Bend. A self-made man, Hank is used to running the show, but now that he's lost almost everything, can he learn how to hang with his family?"


Yes, it's another attempt to kick-start Kelsey Grammer's career, after the roaring success that was Back To You. And, on first impression, it looks like Mr Grammer will continue to be best known as Frasier Crane. Mind you, in these troubled economic times, maybe what the public wants is to laugh about a successful businessman getting sacked and ending up losing his house? (Note to American fans: in the United Kingdom, ousted CEOs usually do a little bit better in the settlement)

Modern Family
"Today's American families come in all shapes and sizes. Just ask these three families. Jay recently married Gloria. Now Jay is trying hard to keep up with his much younger and hotter Colombian wife, along with her passionate pre-teen son, Manny. Claire is having a hard time raising her own family. Her husband Phil is great, except that he thinks he's "down" with their three kids, much to all their embarrassment. And, Mitchell and his enthusiastic partner Cameron have just made a major life change by adopting a Vietnamese baby named Lily. Shot from the perspective of an unseen documentary filmmaker, this comedy takes a modern look at the complications that come with being a family in 2009."


The Office has a lot to answer for. One mockumentary at a time is enough, even if it does have Al Bundy in it. Oh, and Denise from Boston Legal. I can't say the trailer exactly gripped me, but hey, your mileage may vary. At least Kelsey Grammer's not in it.

The Forgotten
"Gone but not forgotten. That's what they say. But what if a killer took your life -- and your name? Every city has its share of unidentified murder victims. When standard police procedure fails to give them a name, that's when the Identity Network steps in. A group of dedicated, amateur detectives, the members of the Identity Network attempt to reconstruct the pieces of these John and Jane Doe's lives from what little evidence is left behind. "



Actually, I quite liked this trailer. Mind you, I'm having trouble working out what that accent that Rupert Penry-Jones is using is meant to be. (I guess the producers weren't sure either, since apparently he's been bumped, along with co-star, 24's Reiko Aylesworth) I'm also unsure if this is supposed to be based on a real situation: are there amateur sleuths throughout America putting their efforts into solving murders where the solution isn't handed to them on a plate. Either way, it looks vaguely interesting, though again, more the Wife's scene than mine.

The Middle
"Forget about athletes, movie stars and politicians. Parents are the real heroes -- but Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton), well she's some kind of superhero. A loving wife and mother of three, she's middle class in the middle of the country and is rapidly approaching middle age. Frankie and her husband, Mike, have lived in Jasper, Indiana their whole lives. A man of few words (every one a zinger), Mike is a manager at the town quarry and Frankie is the third-best used car salesman (out of the three) at the local dealership. She may not be a high-powered career woman, but when it comes to her family, she'll go to just about any length."

Again, this doesn't look too bad. I sometimes wonder if I react better to comedy shows without a laugh track, as I suspect the show won't be as much fun as it seemed from the trailer. By the way, this is where Patricia Heaton, Kelsey Grammer's co-star from Back To You, ended up. I'll probably give this a try, possibly only because the Janitor from Scrubs is in it.

You know, considering Scrubs' renewal, ABC appear to be posting an awful lot of the show's cast to other shows. They really are serious about just getting a whole new cast, aren't they?

Anyway, I reckon of this lot, I'll be taking a look at Flash forward and The Middle, and possibly The Forgotten, if they ever settle on a cast. The rest of them, I think I'll give a miss.