We'd like to make a bold, controversial statement about the new fall season: We're looking forward to it! Yes, we know, the press just loves to pooh-pooh the broadcast networks' drecky prime-time programming. The Big Four, critics snipe, are dinosaurs that deserve to lose viewers. Cable has the only fresh ideas. Blah, blah, blah.
And, okay, the nets have delivered a couple of stinkers this fall (CBS' Ken Olin drama L.A. Doctors comes to mind), not to mention a handful of knockoffs and rehashes (single dads, attractive twentysomethings, paranormal shenanigans, etc.). But cynics take note: There's enough smart writing and originality among this season's 36 debuts to restore one's faith in mega-conglomerates. (When, for example, was the last time we saw a sitcom with a horny, cross-dressing Abraham Lincoln? Must have been at least a couple of years ago.) Add these promising newcomers to returning gems - Everybody Loves Raymond and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for instance -and you too can have no social life.
Our comprehensive, fact-packed critical guide to this fall's lineup follows. See for yourself if TV isn't good.
MELROSE PLACE FOX, 8-9 PM
Andrew Shue, Alyssa Milano, Linden Ashby, Brooke Langton, and Lisa Rinna have moved out, while Days of Our Lives' Steve Wilder, The Untouchables' John Haymes Newton, and General Hospital's Rena Sofer are checking in. Expect the show to focus on Heather Locklear's Amanda and feature less outlandish story lines, although executive producer Charles Pratt Jr. promises "it's going to be steamier than ever. We have our usual sexual-obsession stories, which are relatable with the stuff you see on Jerry Springer about the lengths people will go to bed the objects of their desire." Josie Bissett's Jane has returned - and reunited with ex-hubby Michael (Thomas Calabro). "Michael changes into this softie," says Bissett. "It's really cute, because you're so used to him being such an a--hole." (Started July 27; fall season officially begins Sept. 14)