“I fear I may have discouraged you, my faithful followers, with my oh-so-negative preview of what these multibillion dollar networks have regurgitated into homes, but Hark! What tidings of great joy I bring unto you with my 10 best new shows! OK … so I haven’t seen all of them yet, but they show promise and originality and bring us the hope of better things to come.”
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I fear I may have discouraged you, my faithful followers, with my oh-so-negative preview of what these multibillion dollar networks have regurgitated into homes, but Hark! What tidings of great joy I bring unto you with my 10 best new shows!

OK … so I haven’t seen all of them yet, but they show promise and originality and bring us the hope of better things to come.

10. Damages (F/X Tuesday 10 p.m.)

I sadly report to you that this show has been running since the beginning of August and the season finale is only four episodes away.

Rose Byrne stars as Ellen Parsons, fresh out of law school and new hire for New York’s toughest litigator, Patty Hewes (Glenn Close).

Parsons and Hewes have their hands full with the scandal of Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) and his attorney Ray Fiske (Zeljeko Ivanek) as they seek to bring justice to Frobisher’s employees who went bankrupt after a corrupt stock trade. But things turn ugly when witnesses end up missing, and Parsons’ fiance is found bludgeoned in his own bathtub.

I cannot stress to you enough, watch this show!

9. Kid Nation (CBS, Wednesday 8 p.m.)

Out in the field, a plow cuts into the barren soil. The poor soul roasting in the sun pauses, wipes the perspiration from his brow and takes a sip of his apple juice, then returns to the task at hand.

In Kid Nation, 40 children, ages nine to 15, must learn to sustain a town with the help of only their peers.

They must work together, solve problems and keep the town afloat … with no adults to aid them.

Their gold stars earn them $20,000 and the finale promises a huge surprise for all the children involved. Hey, at least it’s not Survivor: China.

8. Journeyman (NBC, Monday 10 p.m.)

The dynamic team that brought us West Wing is back on primetime, shifting from the White House to the San Francisco Bay. Rome’s Kevin McKidd is Dan Vasser, a local journalist.

The drama unfolds as Vasser begins to enigmatically travel through the span of time, changing the course of present-day life.

Tension is sure to arise with these mysterious disappearances and life at home is strained further when Vasser comes into contact with his ex-fiancée, back when she wasn’t quite the ex.

7. Back to You (FOX, Wednesday 8 p.m.)

Two of my favorite TV stars are teaming up for what promises to be one of the wittiest comedies in years. Patricia Heaton, of Everybody Loves Raymond, teams up with Kelsey Grammer of Frasier fame for a new comedy about life in the news studio.

Grammer stars as Chuck Darling, egotistical jerk of the newsroom, fresh off a humiliating on-air diatribe, returns to his local station to revive its ratings. Working alongside former anchor and know-it-all Kelly Carr (Heaton), Darling must reacquaint himself to the Pittsburgh scene and fit himself into the new team of anchors.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about this comedy is Fred Willard as the hilarious sports anchor.

Willard brings his jovial and always tasteless humor to the small screen as a familiar face to Darling and company.

But can this reunited team, with a slew of fresh faces around the studio, bring the ratings back?

6. Life (NBC, Wednesday 10 p.m.)

Detective Charlie Crews is back on the force and the streets. But it’s been a long road, one littered with false accusations and a trial that landed him in prison.

Apparently, the fact that he was innocent didn’t have anything to do with the legal proceedings.

Lawyer and friend Constance Griffiths helps Crews out from behind bars and back onto the beat. From the directing team of Heroes’ pilot episode and a fresh hot cast starring Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers), Life is sure to impress.

5. Samantha Who? (ABC, Monday 9:30 p.m.)

Here’s the post-coma show you’ve been waiting for! Forget Bionic Woman, give me a little Christina Applegate with amnesia. After a hit-and-run accident places Samantha Newly into a weeklong coma, she awakes with a clean slate, literally.

Armed only with the love and support of her family and friends, Samantha sets out to find her past. What she finds, she’d like to forget. Learning of her past life of indiscretion, lying, drinking and all-around debauchery, Samantha begins to re-evaluate her life.

4. Dirty Sexy Money (ABC, Wednesday 10 p.m.)

Power, privilege and family money are a volatile cocktail. That couldn’t be truer in DSM, which follows the events in the life of Nick George (Peter Krause of Six Feet Under), a do-good attorney who was raised in the shadow of the Darling domain.

Tripp Darling (Donald Sutherland), the patriarch of the Darling clan, propositions George to take over his father’s job of protecting the Darling family secrets.

Co-starring William Baldwin, Samaire Armstrong and Seth Gabel, and with a dysfunctional collection of seedy relationships, spoiled debutante daughters and more greenbacks than a high-school cheerleading squad, DSM is sure to appall and entertain.

3. Viva Laughlin (CBS, Sundays 8 p.m.)

Blue-eyed optimistic businessman Ripley Holden has it all: a sexy wife who demands more time, loving kids who desire assistance with life and a casino nowhere near ready to open.

Heading off to meet with casino-shark Nicky Fontana (played by the show’s producer Hugh Jackman), Holden gets caught up in a series of events leading to the murder of his business partner.

Wrapped in the middle of a murder investigation, Holden keeps the grin and presses on to where love, life and a little bit of gambling can be found under the fluorescence of Laughlin, Nev.

2.
Chuck (NBC, Monday 8 p.m.)

I watch the reruns of The Office every week. And every week I am taunted with the previews for a new series. This series.

From the production team that brought you The O.C., Charlie’s Angels and We Are Marshall, comes a new series about geeks and government conspiracy. Chuck Bartowski (Less Than Perfect’s Zachary Levi) trades in his pocket protector and electronics-store badge for a little Kevlar when he unknowingly downloads government files into his brain.

Via subliminal messaging and decoding within an opened e-mail, the files are transferred. Now, with the future of the country in his head, Chuck is set up with a team of the nation’s elite.

Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Special Agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strzechowski) must now protect Chuck from the terrorists and assassins hunting that information. How cool does this show sound?

1. Pushing Daisies (ABC, Wednesday 8 p.m.)

You’ve been patient, and now the pay-off arrives. Deemed one of the most original series of the year, Daisies takes a whole new approach to pastries and that thing called love.

Lee Pace stars as Ned, a connoisseur in the kitchen with a very special gift. With one touch of his hand, he can bring rotten fruit back to its prime.

Content in his pie shop, working alongside beautiful waitress Olive (Kristin Chenoweth), Ned is thrust from his comfort zone when a private investigator finds out about his gift.

After posing the idea of using Ned’s gift to solve crimes by bringing the dead back to life long enough to reveal the killer, private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) lands him a case that will change his life forever.

Ned’s childhood sweetheart, Charlotte Charles, has been mysteriously murder
ed on a cruise ship. Ned brings her back to life, realizing Charlotte is the only girl he’s ever loved. The catch: Another touch from Ned and she will return to the grave. Forever.

Daisies is sure to be one of the greatest concoctions of romance, dark comedy and fantasy to ever grace the small screen.

No need to wait for the first frost, check out a sneak preview at abc.go.com, keyword: Daisies. Happy viewing, folks!

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