Pushing Daisies
Executive produced by Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld, Pushing Daisies is about a pie maker named Ned who possesses the ability to revive the dead-the caveat being he can never touch them again or they will die forever. It’s part romance (Ned revives his childhood sweetheart), part crime procedural (he also revives murder victims so they can name their killers). With its super-saturated colours and quirky subject matter, Pushing Daisies is a highly distinctive show and a welcome change from usual network fare. Here’s hoping notoriously fickle viewers will give it a chance. CTV is pre-releasing the show Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
The Tudors
Judging by the attention lavished on it during its fall preview event, CBC has high hopes for this series, a Canadian-Irish co-production which has already aired on Showtime in the U.S. (where it has been renewed for a second season). Hailed by the New York Post as the best series since The Sopranos, The Tudors chronicles the early years of arguably the most famous British monarch in history, Henry VIII. As played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Match Point), Henry is one randy royal. This is a lusty Medieval soap opera filled with sex and the occasional beheading. Its Tuesday 9 p.m. time-slot pits it against House on Global and Dancing with the Stars on CTV.
Back to You
In one of the fall’s few new sitcoms, Kelsey Grammar-famous for his role as pompous, preening psychiatrist Frasier Crane-plays pompous, preening news anchor Chuck Darling. Grammar isn’t exactly breaking new ground here, but will audiences be able to accept him as anyone other than the vainglorious Dr. Crane-a role he perfected over 20 years on two of the greatest sitcoms ever, Cheers and Frasier? Former Everybody Loves Raymond star Patricia Heaton and the always terrific Fred Willard round out a solid comedic cast. Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Global, simulcast with Fox.
Reaper
The latest entry in Citytv’s long line of supernatural fare. Reaper is a dramedy about a 21-year-old slacker named Sam who discovers his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born. Now, the devil has come to collect, and he has a job for Sam: recapturing souls that have escaped from hell, using a super-powered Dirt Devil mini-vac (kudos to the agency that came up with that nifty bit of product integration). With its pop culture references, cool soundtrack (Beck, the Fratellis, !!!) and monster effects, this is sure to be a hit among young adults. Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
Dirty Sexy Money
Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) plays Nick George, who follows in his late father’s footsteps as a personal lawyer for a powerful New York family headed by Patrick “Tripp” Darling III (Donald Sutherland). It sometimes feels like an update of ’80s prime-time soaps like Dynasty and Dallas, but uniformly great acting makes it worth watching. CTV is airing the show in post-release at 10 p.m. Sundays, with Desperate Housewives as the lead-in.
The launch of E!
CanWest MediaWorks is relaunching the CH brand as E! this fall. Formerly something of a dumping ground for Global castoffs, E!’s new look will incorporate light reality fare (Dr. 90210, Kid Nation, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?) and episodic drama (Bionic Woman, K-Ville).
Shows we’re avoiding: Moonlight (a vampire as a New York private eye. Bloody awful); Bionic Woman (falls on the wrong side of campy. Give us Lindsay Wagner any day); Journeyman (Ordinarily we’d be big fans of a show about a time travelling reporter-hey, no more deadline pressure-but it’s been done better before. Remember Quantum Leap?)
