Midseason TV - What to Watch?

Lots of new shows coming out in the next few weeks - I've read all of the reviews and I'll tell you whether to watch it, DVR it for later viewing, or skip it.

BETTER OFF TED (ABC)
Wednesday, March 18, 8:30 p.m.
As Portia de Rossi says, "Better Off Ted is kind of like a crazy [show] about a very moral guy who works in this very immoral, giant corporation." Ted's workplace would seem bizarre and evil if it weren't so dead-on truthful in describing the life of a modern corporate drone just trying to get the cute girl's attention while furiously managing upward.

Verdict: Watch it - this is great stuff.


CASTLE (ABC)
Airs: Mondays at 10 p.m.
Nathan Fillion, millionaire playboy author Richard Castle, and Stana Katic, edgy N.Y. detective Kate Beckett, are midseason TV's most charming odd couple. Katic’s finely honed detective technique mesh nicely with Fillion's brilliant instinct for sussing out means, motive and opportunity—he did it for his fictional characters, and he easily transfers the skill set to actual crimes.

Verdict: Watch it! (especially if you like Bones or CSI)


CUPID (ABC)
Tuesday, March 24, 10 p.m.
As Bobby Cannavale explains about his character, Trevor "Cupid" Pierce, "Trevor has a goal. He's got to match up 100 couples to get home [to Mount Olympus]." Cupid is meant to be a lighthearted romp, but the tepid series-lead chemistry between Cupid and his psychiatrist, played by Sarah Paulson, is not quite there.

Verdict: Skip it!


HARPER'S ISLAND (CBS)
Thursday, April 9, 10 p.m.
A bunch of people go to an island for a wedding. People are killed. People scream. More people are killed, until finally they run out of people. The end.

Verdict: Skip it!


KINGS (NBC)
Sunday, March 15, 8 p.m.
Set against the backdrop of an alternate-universe monarchy, Kings reaches back to the biblical tale of King David for inspiration. In this story about a peasant prince who would (although not necessarily on purpose) be king, Chris Egan is gorgeous as David, but the real intrigue lies with Susanna Thompson's not-to-be-underestimated queen.

Verdict: Watch it! Anyone who enjoys an epic saga (like Lost and Battlestar Galactica) will love NBC's Kings. The pretty boys don't hurt either. (Mom, this show is all you!!)


IN THE MOTHERHOOD (ABC)
Thursday, March 26, 8 p.m.
Motherhood is a spinoff of the original Web series about the real-life horror stories of mommydom. I’ve seen a few episodes of the web series, and it made me laugh out loud. Any real life Mommy’s will definitely get a laugh out this.

Verdict: DVR it!


PARKS AND RECREATION (NBC)
Thursday, April 9, 8:30 p.m.
Billed as a "mockumentary about a local government public works project," Parks and Recreation is really a clever way for the intelligent folks who run The Office to comment properly on popular politics. As Amy Poehler explains about her character Leslie Knope's worldview, "She slams into the reality of how things are done behind the scenes, how things become very bureaucratic and complicated."

Verdict: DVR it!


SIT DOWN, SHUT UP (Fox)
Sunday, April 19, 8:30 p.m.
From the creator of Arrested Development, this is an animated-against-a-live-action background look at high school, told through the eyes of the demented teachers and administrators. The cast (Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Kristin Chenoweth, Cheri Oteri ) means it's a sure thing.

Verdict: DVR it! Bateman, Arnett and Chenoweth? I’m so there.


SOUTHLAND (NBC)
Thursday, April 9, 10 p.m.
Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie - - Ryan Atwood on the OC) is a rookie cop who's being shown the ropes by his partner, John Cooper. As he learns about the streets and struggles with a cop's life in L.A., which includes shooting a man dead on his first shift, the audience learns along with him.

Verdict: DVR it, especially if you enjoyed NYPD Blue, or Hill Street Blues.


THE UNUSUALS (ABC)
Wednesday, April 8, 10 p.m.
A motley crew of New York detectives split their time between solving crimes and working out their wacky personal problems. Amber Tamblyn is a rookie detective , Jeremy Renner is her hot but unsympathetic new partner. Meanwhile, Adam Goldberg's character has brain cancer, but he would rather die in the line of duty than get chemo. His partner, played by Lost's Harold Perrineau, is the exact opposite: He was shot and survived, but now refuses to take off his bulletproof vest and pretty much bubblewraps his life.

Verdict: DVR it, but I have a feeling this one won’t make it.