The Fall's Hottest New TV Stars

So after viewing nearly all of this Fall's hottest new network shows, I've decided to assess which aspiring stars seem to have the most breakout potential. The following actors are those that I feel really captured my attention throughout this whole pilot season. It was hard this year b/c you have so many "name" actors in the starring roles. Still, these relative unknowns really pulled out an awesome performance and really brought something new, fresh, and exciting to the screen. Could there be the next Hayden Panettiere or Adam Brody among them? I think so. These young hopefuls could easily become a household name by the end of the Fall Season if they play their cards right, so take note now:

The Girls
Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies)--Anna is just lovely, she has a real every girl quality about her and a true sweetness that makes her likeable all around.
Yvonne Strzechowski (Chuck)--Definitely the bombshell of the bunch, I was pleasantly surprised by Yvonne's acting talents as well. With such a sexy secret agent type role, she's sure to make waves.
Taylor Momsen (Gossip Girl)--I just adore this girl, and watching the pilot she certainly pops right off the screen. While much younger than the other girls, I certainly think she captures your attention the most, much like Hayden Panettiere on "HEROES."
Michelle Ryan (The Bionic Woman)--While Michelle is already a bit of an established name, I really think this role could help to push her career to that next level. There's definitely an exposed vulnerability and yet strength to her character that works much like Evangeline Lilly on "LOST."

The Boys
Seth Gabel (Dirty Sexy Money)--So sexy with flowing charisma, this young man was by far my favorite this pilot season. I mean it caught me off guard how immediately taken by him I was. He has the weight and sense of danger that Josh Holloway had when he burst on the scene with "LOST."
Thomas Dekker (Sarah Connor Chronicles)--So young, innocent, and just plain adorable, Dekker's sweet romance with Hayden on "HEROES" definitely made waves. I hope he can grab as much attention on his own as well.
Tyler Labine (Reaper)--Everyone's all "ooh...Bret Harrison" (who I do love and respect), but I have to say, Tyler Labine really steals the scenes. I mean the guy is just so darn funny, and with a higher profile show the the previous "Invasion" I really think he can make a name for himself here.
Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl)--The next Adam Brody if he plays his cards right, Penn really caught my attention with his striking good looks and goofy charm. Hopefully he can maintain it throughout the series.

There's also the obvious picks: Bret Harrison on "REAPER," Lee Pace on "Pushing Daisies," Zachary Levi on "Chuck," Blake Lively and Leighton Meester on "Gossip Girl," the cast of "Private Practice," etc. Instead, I purposely picked a few people whose characters are a bit more under the radar, but who definitely popped right off the screen.

Dirty Sexy Money Gossip Ads

I'm all about advertising creativity, and being an entertainment blog junkie (Perez/Pink/TMZ), I have been loving the way ABC has been advertising my favorite of their fall dramas: "Dirty Sexy Money." Since the show revolves around New York's most affluent and powerful family The Darlings, the marketers have chosen to put faux gossip posts alongside real ones on some of our favorite blogs. You can learn about Juliet Darling's latest petulant slant while reading about Britney's most recent disgrace or Amy Winehouses last cancelled concert. Its all so very Allegra Coleman (for those of you who don't get the reference, I'll post on it later)! Check out one of the ads I pulled from Perez Hilton featuring my favorite of the Darling clan....don't get mad ABC, its free advertising!

Fall 2007 New Series

So in case you were all interested, below is a list of the networks new shows for the fall, when they're airing, and who the stars are. I've taken the liberty of highlighting the shows I have any interesting in watching based on my opinion of the pilots and what their scheduling is. Some are shows that I think I'm gonna love to hate like "Gossip Girl" and "Chuck." We'll have to wait and see once everything airs b/c that an awful lot of tv on top of my current faves "Lost," "Heroes," "The Office," "30 Rock," "Cold Case," etc.

NETWORK NEW ORIGINAL SERIES—FALL 2007

ABC
Big Shots—Thurs/10 (Michael Vartan, DylanMcDermott, Christopher Titus, Joshua Molina, Nia Long, Paige Turco, Peyton List, Wendy Moniz, Jessica Collins, Amy Sloan)

Carpoolers—Tues/8:30 (Jerry O’Connell, Fred Goss, Jerry Minor, Time Peper, Faith Ford, Allison Munn, T.J. Miller)

Cavemen—Tues/8 (Nick Kroll, Bill English, Sam Huntington, Kaitlin Doubleday, John Heard, Stephanie Lemelin)

Dirty Sexy Money—Wed/10 (Peter Krause, Seth Gabel, Glenn Fitzgerald, Samaire Armstrong, Zoe McLennan, Natalie Zea, Billy Baldwin, Donald Sutherland, Jill Clayburgh, Laz Alonso)

Eli Stone—MS (Johnny Lee Miller, Natasha Henstridge, Victor Garber, Loretta Devine, Sam Jaeger, Laura Benanti, James Saito)

Miss/Guided—MS (Judy Greer, Brooke Burns, Krostoffer Polaha, Jonathan Sadowski, Earl Billings)

Private Practice—Wed/9 (Kate Walsh, Paul Adelstein, Amy Brenneman, Tim Daly, Taye Diggs, Audra McDonald, Chris Lowell)

Samantha Who?—Mon/9:30 (Christina Applegate, Jean Smart, Jennifer Esposito, Barry Watson, Melissa McCarthey, Tim Russ, Kevin Dunn)

Cashmere Mafia—MS Tues/9 (Frances O’Connor, Miranda Otto, Lucy Liu, Bonnie Somerville, Peter Hermann, Julian Ovenden)

Women’s Murder Club—Fri/9 (Angie Harmon, Paula Newsome, Laura Harris, Aubrey Dollar)

Pushing Daisies—Wed/8 (Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Swoosie Kurtz, Kristen Chenowith, Jim Dale)

NBC
The Bionic Woman—Wed/9 (Michelle Ryan, Chris Bowers, Miguel Ferrer, Molly Price, Will Yun Lee, Lucy Hale)

The IT Crowd—MS (Joel McHale, Richard Ayoade, Rocky Carroll, girl TBD)

Life—Wed/10 (Damian Lewis, Sarah Shahi, Adam Arkin, Melissa Sagemiller, Robin Weigert)

Lipstick Jungle—MS (Brooke Shields, Kim Raver, Lindsay Price)

Journeyman—Mon/10 (Kevin McKidd, Moon Bloodgood, Gretchen Egolf, Reed Diamond, Charles Henry Wyson)

Chuck—Mon/8 (Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strzechowski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster)

FOX
Canterbury’s Law—MS Thurs/9 (Julianna Margulies, Linus Roache, Ben Shenkman, Trieste Dunn, Jocko Sims)

Back to You—Wed/8 (Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Fred Willard, Josh Gad, Ty Burrell, Laura Moreno)

K-Ville—Mon/9 (Anthony Anderson, Cole Hauser, Maximiliano Hernandez, Blake Shields, Tawny Cypress, John Carroll Lynch)

New Amsterdam—Tues/8 (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Zuleikha Robinson, Alexie Gilmore, Stephen Henderson)

The Return of Jezebel James—MS Wed/8:30 (Parker Posey, Lauren Ambrose, Scott Cohen, Michael Arden, Ron McLarty)

Unhitched—MS (Craig Bierko, Rashida Jones, Johnny Sneed, Shaun Majumder)

The Sarah Connor Chronicles—MS Sun/9 (Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, Richard T. Jones)

The CW
Aliens in America—Mon/8:30 (Dan Byrd, Adhir Kalyan, Amy Pietz, Scott Patterson, Lindsey Shaw)

Life is Wild—Sun/8 (Leah Pipes, K’Sun Ray, Andrew St. John, Mary Matilyn Mouser, David Butler, Calvin Goldpink, Tiffany Mulheron, Atandwa Kani, Jeremy Sheffield, D.W. Moffett, Stephanie Niznik)

Reaper—Tues/9 (Bret Harrison, Allison Hossack, Andrew Airlie, Kyle Switzer, Missy Peregrym, Ray Wise, Tyler Labine, Rick Gonzalez, Valarie Rae Miller)

Gossip Girl—Wed/9 (Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgeley, Taylor Momsen, Connor Paolo, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick, Kelly Rutherford, Sam Robards, Matthew Settle)

CBS
Cane—Tues/10 (Jimmy Smits, Hector Elizondo, Nestor Carbonell, Paola Turbay, Rita Moreno, Eddie Matos, Polly Walker, Lee Tergesen)

Swingtown—MS (Molly Parker, Jack Davenport, Grant Show, Lana Parrilla, Miriam Shor, Josh Hopkins, Shanna Collins, Aaron Howles, Brittany Robertson)

Viva Laughlin—Sun/8 (Lloyd Owen, Madchen Amick, Hugh Jackman, D.B. Woodside, Eric Winter, P.J. Byrne, Ellen Woglom, Carter Jenkins)

Moonlight—Fri/9 (Alex O’Loughlin, Shannyn Sossamon, Jason Dohring, Sophia Myles)

Big Bang Theory—Mon/8:30 (Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar)

Pilot Re-Cast Alert

Oh, the inevitable re-cast. Once pilots are picked up and its stars excited at the prospect of network tv stardom looming around the corner, the networks jump in and rip the magic carpet out from underneath them. Oh, its not all tragedy... sometimes its the stars themselves that want out and other times the actor just wasn't right for the role or the role is being reworked so its best for the rest of us if someone new takes their place. Still, you can't help but feel sorry for the ones that don't make the cut. I mean, they are just people afterall. Now that my sympathies are expressed, I'm gonna be completely hypocritical and judge them. Yes, judge them against their shiny new replacements. See below:

"The Bionic Woman" (NBC)
Mae Whitman replaced by
Lucy Hale
I already talked about this below. I love love Mae and thought she was great, but I'm happy for Lucy to have the opportunity. I'm hearing rumors that the character is being completely reworked to be no longer deaf and have amazing computer hacking abilities. Hopefully it was Mae walking away from the series herself to go on to do bigger and better things.

"Private Practice" (Grey's Anatomy Spinoff)(ABC)
Merrin Dungey replaced by
Audra McDonald
I like Merrin, but I have to agree with ABC here that she brought a disconnect to the budding series. I just didn't buy her and Kate Walsh as bff's. The chemistry just wasn't there. Besides, Audra has won like 4 Tony Awards...clearly the better choice :)

"Reaper" (The CW)
Nikki Reed replaced by
Missy Peregrym
So I wasn't in love with Nikki at all in the pilot, and I definitely felt like she was the weak link. That being said, I've never been all that sold on Missy either. I felt like her character in "Heroes" this past season fell kinda flat. I guess she's the prettier choice. Hopefully she can pull it out for this Kevin Smith series.

"Aliens in America" (The CW)
Patrick Breen replaced by
Scott Patterson
Boo. I don't really support this decision. I think Patrick is a solid comedic actor and was happy with the dynamic he brought to the series. While I am a fan of Scott's, I am not pleased at the prospect of sexy-ing the dad up, which places more of a focus on him and away from the kids. Changes the series completely. Oh well.

"8 Days a Week" (The CW)
Johnny Lewis replaced by
Justin Hartley
I still can't believe this series got picked up...I mean Mario Lopez is a series regular. Anyway, they definitely sexed the role up like 5 notches with Justin. Yes please, I'll take 2. Johnny was sweet, but not really star material. Still, I've heard Justin a pretty horrific actor. I guess we'll see how it all comes to together. I love how the CW's solution to everything is "More Sexy." Fabulous.

"Cavemen" (ABC)
Dash Mihok replaced by
Sam Huntington
Perhaps Dash realized this show was career suicide, I'm not sure, but he's out and adorable Sam is in. As long as fellow caveman Nick Kroll sticks with it, I'll give this show a few more episodes...he's hilarious. Hopefully Sam can add some more depth to his caveman...what am I saying here? I mean, this show is based on a Geiko commercial for crying out loud...its gonna die a fiery death.

"Moonlight" (CBS)--PILOT OVERHAUL
Rade Serbedzija replaced by Jason Dohring, Amber Valletta replaced by Shannyn Sossamon, Shannon Lucio replaced by Sophia Myles
Clearly they're going in a different direction since they dropped about 50 years off of the character Josef b/w Rade and Jason. Both Amber and Shannon are cute, but that's about where their talents ended here. I'm a huge Shannyn fan, so I'm stoked to see her as an ass-kicking vampire, I think. I'm not familiar with Sophia at all, but she has a strong vampire movie background, so I'm sure she had a kickass reel for this. The real question is, why didn't they recast Alex O'Loughlin in the title role...wasn't a big fan.

Other recastings include the parents on The CW's "Life is Wild" (Brett Cullen and Judith Hoag) being replaced by D.W. Moffet and Stephanie Niznik. Jessica St. Clair's character on NBC's comedy "The IT Crowd" is also rumored to have a replacement in the works.

Also, Victoria Pratt (the lip-purser who I hated from Dirty Sexy Money) is being left out of announcements for the show...I hope this means there's a re-cast in her future...

I Love Lucy!

I Love Lucy, Lucy Hale that is.
Actress Lucy Hale has been added to the series regular cast of NBC's upcoming "Bionic Woman" remake. I am simultaneously deeply saddened and yet optimistic by this development. Hale will be replacing Mae Whitman as the title character played by Michelle Ryan's deaf teenage sister Becca. I think Whitman is just phenomenal and am sad to see her leave the cast. However, I am happy to see Lucy have the opportunity to step into the role, as this is her first big series role. Previously she has done some guest spots on "How I Met Your Mother" and "The OC," among other things. Lucy is as sweet and vibrant an actress as can be, and I just knew she was someone to keep an eye on. I don't really see her as the misbent goth youth, but obviously the casting director saw something in her (its just as possible they've changed the role entirely). I was impressed with her energy most of all so hopefully she will be able to bring it to the screen and really make a name for herself in the network tv world! Congrats!

Pilot Review: The Return of Jezebel James

The Return of Jezebel James
FOX PILOT

Parker Posey, Lauren Ambrose, and Michael Arden

Concept: A 30-something children's book editor decides that she is ready to have a child, but when she finds out she is unable to conceive, she looks to her 20-something estranged slacker sister for help.

Review: Cute. Not great, but it could definitely grow on you like "How I Met Your Mother" started for me. Strange concept, but Parker Posey can make anything funny.

Parker Posey. LOVE LOVE LOVE. She is so funny and interesting in everything that she does, whether it be a bitchy high school senior in "Dazed and Confused" or a neurotic pet owner in "Best in Show," I love it all. She's hysterical and adorable all at the same time, and even though the characters that she creates are only charicatures of real people, she makes it work on a level unmatched by most actors.

Lauren Ambrose. Interesting combo to Posey, I've never really considered Lauren to be all that funny. Still, she's cute and sweet and a good actress, so maybe she can make this work.

Michael Arden. He's a good find. He has great comedic instincts and he's just adorable. He looks like a young slightly more charismatic TR Knight. I'm interested to see where this show takes his career.

Honorable Mentions: Dana Ivey as the sarcastic boss and Savannah Stehlin as the little girl. Both were entertaining.

Pilot Review: The Bionic Woman

The Bionic Woman
NBC PILOT
Michelle Ryan, Chris Bowers, Katee Sackhoff
Miguel Ferrer, Will Yun Lee, and Mae Whitman

Concept: A re-imagining of the 1970's TV series about a woman implanted with super-human bionic body parts. Here, she is a 22-year-old bartender who is saved from a tragic car crash by her scientist-doctor boyfriend in the hopes that she will serve his secret company's purpose once she is healed.

Review: I really liked it. Overall, it felt very 24 meets Battlestar Galactica. There was a lot of heart to it amongst the action and the characters seemed pretty relatable and interesting. Even though its a remake, I would definitely watch this series.

Michelle Ryan. I wanted to not like her for some reason going in, but I found myself liking her a lot. She plays this strong yet oddly vulnerable woman that works so well for this character. She's very multi-dimensional and I feel like she was a strong choice for this role.

Katee Sackhoff. LOVE my BSG peeps! I was so excited to see her on the screen here; I think she's a phenomenal actress. At first it was very clear to me that she had taken some tips from BSG co-star and real-life best friend Tricia Helfer because I definitely saw a lot of Number 6 in Sackhoff's "Sarah." It worked well for the character, so I don't hold it against her, and towards the end, she definitely infused a lot of her own interpretation into the character of "Sarah" that emerged.

Chris Bowers. Of all the characters, I liked him the least. He's dry and a bit boring at times...its really hard to buy him as the romantic lead. Hopefully he'll be able to pick up the pace a bit once the series gets underway.

Miguel Ferrer. I always like this guy, he's a great actor and while he doesn't especially stand out, he's a great addition to any cast. He's consistant and always manages to develop a very human character that the audience can relate to and be interested in.

Will Yun Lee. Will is another solid actor that always brings something interesting to every cast. He's typically pretty dry, but unlike Bowers it works well for his characters because there's almost an eery quality about him that keeps the audience wondering.

Mae Whitman. Oh, I love her. She's such a fabulous young actress who has been in the business for years in great roles, but who also manages to stay under the radar (my favorite is the dorky yet adorable little girl from Hope Floats). Here she plays The Bionic Woman's rebellious teenage sister who is also deaf. Its a great role for her with a lot of depth and I'm excited to see what more she brings to the character.

Honorable Mention: Molly Price. I thought she was great as the one female scientist, kind but strong.

Pilot Review: Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl
The CW PILOT

Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick
Penn Badgley, Taylor Momsen, Matthew Settle, and Kelly Rutherford

Concept: The private school social scene of a group of New York's most priviledged teenagers, as narrated by the school's own "Gossip Girl" who keeps everyone in school in the know via her gossip blog. The pilot follows the re-entrance of infamous mean girl Serena after a brief hiatus in boarding school (following a hook-up with her bff's bf, of course).

Review: HATRED. Its not that its bad, but there's just something about this pilot that rubs me completely the wrong way. As for it being the most talked about new series...I just don't get it. The characters are simply not likeable and completely unrelateable and some of the main plot points and storylines are stripped straight from The OC. Now, I loved The OC, and I had high hopes for USC Alumni Josh Schwartz, but if this is any indication of what he's got, then throw him back because I don't want it.

Penn Badgley. I'm starting with him because I loved him. He was the only thing I really liked about this series at all. He's a very likeable actor, charming, endearing and personable with a sense of wit. The only thing is...his character kind of sucks. He's just too cute to be believable as a goofy outcast, plus we've seen it all before. Seth Cohen, anyone?

Blake Lively. Eh, okay. The actors weren't really terrible in this series...its the series itself that sucks so much. She's pretty cute, but she's too sweet to be believable as some kind of super-bitch only a few months before the pilot enters into the story.

Leighton Meester. You're supposed to hate her, I think, and I pretty much did. Nothing too spectacular about her that stands out in my mind though.

Chace Crawford. Who? He's supposed to be one of the main characters, but he got lost in the story for me. He's very cute, but I'm gonna need to see more from him if he's going to carry out the series. He might have a real actor in there somewhere.

Ed Westwick. Hatred yet again. His character is oh-so-cliche and one-dimensional, think of a combo of all the bad qualities of characters in Cruel Intentions without any of the likeable ones. Not to mention, I didn't think he was cute...just obnoxious and slimy. Its easy to create a villian, its harder to make person who's bad...and he had no really human qualities it seemed.

Taylor Momsen. She was so adorable, I really liked her a lot and was happy to see her back in entertainment all grown up (she was the adorable little girl in The Grinch). She was perfectly cast in this role (young, innocent, with a touch of spunk) and really held her own for being the youngest cast member.

Other Cast Mentions:
Connor Paolo. Cute, likeable. I wanted to see more of him than most of the other guys, that's for sure.
Matthew Settle. I liked his acting, I just didn't feel he was cast well. I mean, there's hot-dad, then there's too-young-and-hot-to-be-a-dad. It wasn't just that of course, he didn't seem to fit the role overall. Plus, when you combine him with Kelly Rutherford and Florencia Lozano (the other parents), it felt very OC again.

**PS**If you were wondering who the infamous "Gossip Girl" is who narrates the series, I'll tell you. Its none other than the CW's own KRISTEN BELL from Veronica Mars!

Pilot Review: Aliens in America

Aliens in America
The CW PILOT

Dan Byrd, Adhir Kalyan, Amy Pietz, Lindsey Shaw, and Patrick Breen

Concept: A young high school student struggles with fitting in and being "cool" at his school in Wisconsin, when his neurotic mother decides to import him a friend through the school's foreign exchange program, only the student that arrives is a Pakistani muslim, not the English golden boy that they all expected.

Review: Awesome. This was a pleasant surprise. The cast is amazing and fun, all of which are in their first big series role. This show has a lot of heart and even a little spunk and wit thrown in for good measure. A perfect family-oriented series.

Dan Byrd. For being so young, I got a feeling that he had great comedic instincts. He's a versatile actor too (his performance in The Hills Have Eyes was impressive, and that's hard to do in a cheesy horror movie). Plus, he is in a awkward-looking teenager phase which is perfect for this series.

Adhir Kalyan. This newcomer was a gem. Sweet, endearing, and funny. Perfect for this role and really fun to watch.

Amy Pietz. I love her, and she was so good as the neurotic mom who's just looking out for her child, but in all the wrong ways. She first got my attention in a great episode of L&O:SVU, where she plays a lesbian mom accused of sexually abusing her daughter. She's a phenomenal actress and hilarious to boot.

Lindsey Shaw. For being the stereotypical "hot sister," I felt like she really brought something new and interesting to the role. It felt more real than most portrayals of such a character b/c she's not what you expect, but it works for her.

Patrick Breen. Funny guy for a funny role. Its always good to bring in someone with seasoned comedy chops that everyones else can play off of. I liked him as the dad here.

Pilot Review: Back to You

Back to You
FOX PILOT

Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Ty Burrell, Fred Willard, and Ayda Field

Concept: An anchorman gets fired from his fancy LA job and comes back to work at his old station from 10 years ago, where he discovers a one-night-stand with a co-anchor produced a daughter.

Review: It had its moments, but overall it sucked. Too much like a wannabe Anchorman plus 10-20 years, but without Will Ferrell and Steve Carell of course. It just seemed out-dated...my roommate came in and goes "Are you watching "Frasier" or "Everybody loves Raymond," which was funny, but shows that it doesn't have much originality.

Kelsey Grammer. Oh, how I want Kelsey to find something that works again. He really is a phenomenal actor, but maybe he should stay away from TV for awhile. No one can see him as anything but Dr. Frasier Crane.

Patricia Heaton. I never watched "Raymond," so I haven't had much exposure to her as an actress, but I liked her. I thought she had great comedic timing and a likeable demeanor.

Ty Burrell. Same actor as the "man in red" in "Lipshitz," this guy really is funny. He was certainly the one that caught my attention the most in this series.

Fred Willard. A comedy staple, this character actor is always a good addition to any type of comedy whether it be tv or film.

Ayda Field. I remember who she is and what she did, but not much about her acting...which couldn't have been too terrible or I would have remembered, but couldn't have been too good either.

Pilot Review: 8 Days A Week

8 Days A Week
THE CW PILOT

Christina Milian, Anna Chlumsky, Johnny Lewis, and Robert Ri'chard

Concept: 4 Twenty-Something friends struggle to make a career and a life for themselves while working under New York's top executives.

Review: I didn't hate it. I really wanted to like this series b/c I can absolutely relate to the storyline, but it felt a little flat to me. It seemed to be a cross b/w Ugly Better and The Devil Wears Prada, but I don't have much else to say about it because it didn't really strike me one way or the other.

Christina Milian. She was the saving grace of this series. She's so adorable, sweet, and engaging, how has she not broken in big yet? This girl is on the cusp. She has never looked better and her acting skills have been honed.

Anna Chlumsky. This is the former "My Girl" star's first big gig since her return to acting. She maintains that sweet yet tough tomboy thing that worked so well for her as a kid and she brings something a bit different to the screen along with her obvious familiarity. I liked it.

Johnny Lewis. He was cute and sweet. I found his very endearing. Hopefully he can bring a little more of an edge if this show gets picked up to series.

Robert Ri'chard. I had the same reaction to him as I did to Johnny. Cute, Sweet, not a lot of depth, but I think he can bring it.

Honorable Mentions: Derrex Brady as "Wilson" (Milian's ex-boyfriend)and Jerrika Hinto as "Marjorie" (Milian's boss).

NOT Honorable Mentions: Mario Lopez (such a bad actor, please take him off the screen), and Rosa Blasi (who I usually like, but her annoying/stupid character really annoyed me...I didn't find her that funny here at all)

Pilot Review: Reaper

Reaper
CW PILOT
Bret Harrison, Tyler Labine, Nikki Reed, and Rick Gonzalez

Concept: A 21-year-old slacker finds out that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born, so now he must act as a bounty hunter for the devil to save his mother's life.

Review: It's a CW show. That says it all really. It's pretty good I guess, but the concept just seems so out there to me, I just don't think I can get behind it. Its definitely targeted at a younger audience too.

Bret Harrison. THAT is Bret Harrison? Wow, he looks so different these days...filling out I guess. He's still cute and charming. He's pretty funny too, I liked him a lot.

Tyler Labine. HAHA, this guy is great. He's funny-looking and has great comic timing and delivery. I'm kind pissed I didn't find him sooner...maybe if I had watched "Invasion"...

Nikki Reed. I was so impressed with this actress's real life achievements and the movie "Thirteen," but I have to admit, she's hasn't been my favorite as of late. I just feel like I can see her acting too much...then again, she hasn't really had a chance to prove herself yet.

Rick Gonzales. He didn't have much of a part so its hard to judge, but I liked him. He's definitely entertaining and has a great look.

**UPDATE** I knew Nikki Reed was the weakest link here. She was recently replaced by Missy Peregrym of "Heroes" and "Stick It" fame. While she has never really stuck out for me, I think she has a lot of potential if put in the right role. We'll see how she fairs as Bret's love interest as this series progresses.

Pilot Review: CHUCK

CHUCK
NBC PILOT

Zachary Levi, Sarah Lancaster, Yvonne Strzechowski, and Joshua Gomez

Concept: A goofy 20-something computer nerd is the CIA's most valuable asset when he becomes a walking computer full of government secrets after his college roommate sends him an encripted email.

Review: The concept is just outrageous...and there are a lot of flaws in the storyline. Plus it fels like he's trying too hard to be a loser. Still, its got a lot of good points too. It's well-made overall, but I just don't know if it can work.

Zachary Levi. At first I really liked him and found him to be cute, funny, and endearing, but as the story progressed it just felt forced.

Sarah Lancaster. I always see her and think "oh, how cute!" but then I see her acting, and I'm like "oh, how annoying!" She just doesn't come off genuine or real at all to me.

Yvonne Strzechowski. She's a great find. I really liked her performance and she was the one thing kinda pulling this whole thing together I felt like.

Joshua Gomez. The goofy slacker friend, who also happens to work as a member of the "nerd herd." Okay.

Pilot Review: Big Shots

"Big Shots" fka Perfect Gentleman
ABC PILOT

Michael Vartan, Dylan McDermott, Christopher Titus, and Josh Molina

Concept: Touted as the male version of "Sex and the City," Big Shots follows the lives of four successful business men and the relationships they share.

Review: Kinda Lame. I mean, who is gonna watch this? Male SATC isn't going to appeal to guys...and as a girl, I wasn't too interested either. I wanted it to be better, and it just kept getting worse.

Michael Vartan. Hot, sexy, sweet. You're supposed to buy him as a golden boy (which is fine) who is head over heals in love with his wife, this not-so-hot chick who cheats on him. Bleh.

Dylan McDermott. His character was kind of cool but far too predictable...well, minus the whole trannie incident. Still, I was less than impressed and I have always like Dylan.

Christopher Titus. Considering I can't remember much about his storyline and I watched it yesterday, that is not a good sign. Still, he's a funny-looking guy so that counts for something.

Josh Molina. What an oddball, but he definitely had the coolest storyline. A neurotic dork who is cheating on his gorgeous wife with some ditzy ho. Interesting. I like how its the sweet funny one that is the cheater, mixes it up a bit.

Pilot Review: Sam I Am

Sam I AM
ABC PILOT
Christina Applegate, Barry Watson, Jennifer Esposito, and Jean Smart

Concept: A successful woman (Applegate) finds herself waking up after being in a coma for 8 days, having no recollection of the life before her. As she discovers who she used to be, she struggles to find herself again and be not who she was, but who she can be.

Review: Most Promising. I was skeptical about the show going in b/c it seemed very "lifetime movie" for my taste, but I have been converted. It's really good. Within the first 30 seconds, you just know that its going to be good. Its hilarious and warm and really a nice multi-faceted comedy, reminiscent of the feel you get from Friends.

Christina Applegate. She's as cute as ever. Her comedic timing has not faltered and she has that slightly-neurotic hot chick thing going for her that works. While it only lasted one season, I remember really enjoying her in "Jesse" all those years ago, so I have full confidence that she can carry a series, and unlike "Jesse," "Sam" has some real depth to it.

Barry Watson. So I'll admit, my first response was "oh no, that guy is in this?" But he won me over. I hated him as poor-little-hot-guy in "What About Brian," but I've got to give him credit here. I found him to be extremely endearing and sweet. You really pull for him in this.

Jennifer Esposito. Again, I don't normally like her, but she works so well in this. I don't think I've ever seen her be so funny and the superficial best friend thing works really well for her here.

Jean Smart. As the "mom," she is an essential element that pulls this whole thing together and no one could have done it better. She was hilarious really, the perfect neurotic mom to the neurotic daughter. I loved her lots.

Honorable mentions go to Melissa McCarthey (Lorelei's best friend on Gilmore Girls), Tim Russ (the doorman here) and Kevin Dunn(the dad). All brought some great and interesting comedy elements to pepper the series.

Pilot Review: Cavemen

Cavemen
ABC PILOT

Bill English, Nick Kroll, and Dash Mihok

Concept: Based on the Geiko Commercials, Neanderthals struggle with the negative stereotypes of their kind in modern society.

Review: I mean really, does it matter? Everyone knows this isn't going to be the next "LOST," but its not that terrible. It certainly has its hilarious moments. My favorite is pictured below:

Funnymen Bill English, Nick Kroll, and Dash Mihok are cast as the hilarious trio of cavemen that center the story. Nick Kroll is certainly the breakout star here...practically everything he says is hilarious with excellent comedic timing and great lines like "I'm gonna biscuit it up." Realistically, I don't think this show has too much of a shelf-life, but you never know...it could become an instant cult classic.

Pilot Review: Carpoolers

I'm not even going to justify this ABC show with a whole post. It was terrible. Sure, it had like one or two funny things, but overall, it just didn't make sense and really didn't go anywhere...and quite frankly, the jokes just weren't funny enough to sustain it.

You're so Trendy!

I'm so sorry my blog has been on the "All Pilots All The Time" Channel for the past few days, but its really all I've had time for. Since its so consumed my life, I've started to notice various trends and common threads throughout the pilots that some might find amusing. See below:

PILOT TRENDS

1.) The Year of the VoiceOver (Pilot after pilot start and often continue throughout with the voiceovers--its an epidemic)
2.) Women in Power (Its all about replacing that "Sex and the City" gap with groups of powerful women)
3.) The Supernatural (Whether it be Vampires, Aliens, Zombies, or The Grim Reaper himself, there is certainly an influx of things unexplained.)
4.) Work-Place Laugh-Fest(Jumping on the success of office-related comedies like "The Office" and last year's "30 Rock," the networks have scrambled to develop their own office success story)
5.) Classically Trained Actors (Actors from prestigious Theatre school backgrounds with Tony Awards and Stage Experience--this isn't your usual crop of Texas and midwest Los Angeles transplants who want to be a star)
6.) Foreign Stars (It seems a lot of our talent is being imported this year from England and the like at a much higher percentage than normal. The audience seems to be sick of seeing the same old stars.)
7.) Acupuncture (Not sure why, but there have been numerous references to this in the pilots I've seen)
8.) Transvestites (Transvestites are the new gay I guess...going from never seeing them on TV to seeing 2 decent-sized parts in 2 huge pilots is intriguing)
9.) Making the Old, New (From "Bionic Woman" to "Sarah Connor Chronicles"-Terminator to "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and the Grey's Spinoff "Private Practice" its been all about taking something that worked once and making it work again)
10.) Law & Order, Crime and Punishment (Per usual, the networks get that the procedurals work and scramble to discover the next big crime drama)

Pilot Review: Dirty Sexy Money

Dirty Sexy Money
ABC PILOT
Peter Krause, Donald Sutherland, Samaire Armstrong, Billy Baldwin
Seth Gabel, Glenn Fitzgerald, Natalie Zea, and Victoria Pratt

Premise: In this Dynasty-meets-SixFeetUnder drama, lawyer Nick George (Krause) takes on the financial management of high society's most powerful and recognizeable family after his father's plane crashes to his death.

Review: All right, now we're getting somewhere. This is really good! Dirty Sexy Money is all that its name implies. It's chock full of scandal, secrets, and sex, and it has a phenomenal ensemble cast. Surprisingly, this pilot has a lot of heart and promises to humanize the demons of fame and fortune. I also just love how it ties in aspects (and real life actors) of our own American power-families.

Peter Krause. Man, first leading man that I was really excited for from the start and continued to be excited for throughout the pilot. Not only is he sexy beyond belief, but he just carries with him this relatable human quality that allows him to do some perhaps morally questionable things and yet you still know in your heart that he's a boyscout.

Donald Sutherland. Ooh, what a phenomenal actor, it gives me chills up my spine. His character is just so decisively evil and yet a perfect gentleman all in the same breath. Some things only Mr. Sutherland could pull off and this might be the role he was born to play, the ultimate patriarch.

Samaire Armstrong. While I lit up to see her on the screen again, I have to admit that she fell kinda flat. Yes, her character is slightly vapid and empty (ala Paris Hilton), I still didn't enjoy her performance. Hopefully she can step it up when the show is picked up to series.

Billy Baldwin. Oh, how I love the Baldwins...its uncanny how recognizeable they are. I wasn't really aware of Billy's work up to now, but his performance in this certainly got my attention. It seems that while he is the family gold boy (successful, married with kids), he might be in love with a lovely transvestite (ala Alexis Arquette).

Seth Gabel. He was so my favorite! His character reminded me a bit of a charicature of Pete Doherty (Kate Moss's husband/boyfriend) if Pete was charming and hot and effortless cool. His character is just so fabulous, a rebellious drug addict and spoiled brat who knows his own power and influence. Plus, he's just a trip to watch.

Glenn Fitzgerald. His character is genius, a "man of god" who is certainly the most corrupt out of the whole bunch. Glenn has this cool, no-apologies kind of corruption that is just very intriguing to watch. I was really impressed with him.

Natalie Zea. I liked her. She has this sweet, almost regal, yet slightly trashy thing that is perfect for her character...I don't know how else to describe it.

Victoria Pratt. Eh, she just seemed like a poor man's Kate Winslett to me, and I didn't like it. I felt like she didn't really bring anything new and interesting to the table, plus she kept doing this lip-pursing thing when she talked that made me want to scream.

Other supporting cast members worth mentioning are Jill Clayburgh (the matriarch), Zoe McClellan (the wife), and Candis Cayne (the trannie). All of whom did a great job as well.

**UPDATE** THESE CAST PHOTOS WERE JUST POSTED ONLINE:

PILOT WATCH

So I've been watching pilots far faster than I can post my reviews of them...there's just so many to get through, and I wanted to have an unbiased opinion befored things got picked up. But, alas, I am not quite like the "Bionic Woman" and I don't move at the speed of light, so the pickups have begun and I've only put a small dent in the overall list. To give you an idea of what I've been dealing with here, I've decided to post the pilots for each network in order of their "buzz." I've starred the ones I've watched. As you can see, I've started at the top of the list and tried working my way down. The highlights are for those lucky pilots that have already gotten the greenlight:

ABC
*PRIVATE PRACTICE (Grey’s Spinoff)
*DIRTY SEXY MONEY
*PUSHING DAISIES
BIG SHOTS (aka Perfect Gentleman)
*MARLOWE
FOOTBALL WIVES
CASHMERE MAFIA--Midseason
*ELI STONE--Midseason
SUSPECT
JUDY’S GOT A GUN
WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB
MR. & MRS. SMITH
UNT. RINA MIMOUN aka REINVENTING THE WHEELERS

*CAVEMEN
*SAM I AM
*CARPOOLERS
*MISS GUIDED--Midseason
THE CALL
FAMILY OF THE YEAR
NICE GIRLS DON'T GET THE CORNER OFFICE
THE MIDDLE
THE HILL


CBS
LOS DUQUES
BABYLON FIELDS
THE MAN
SWINGTOWN--midseason
PROTECT & SERVE
CANE
SKIP TRACER
VIVA LAUGHLIN
UNT. BARRY SCHINDEL aka LAW DOGS
DEMONS
MOONLIGHT

THE CAPTAIN
THE BIG BANG THEORY
GIANTS OF RADIO
THE RICH INNER LIFE OF PENELOPE CLOUD
FUGLY


Fox
SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES--midseason
APOSTLES
THEM
NURSES
K-VILLE
THE CURE
CANTERBURY’S LAW--midseason
NEW AMSTERDAM
SUPREME COURTSHIPS
NSA INNOCENT

ACTION NEWS aka BACK TO YOU
SLUTS
THE RULES FOR STARTING OVER--midseason
THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES--midseason
MINISTER OF THE DIVINE
ME AND LEE?
PLAYING CHICKEN


The CW
*GOSSIP GIRL
*REAPER
UNT. SOUTH AFRICA aka WILD AT HEART aka LIFE IS WILD
BARNES aka WORLD ACCORDING TO BARNES
SPELLBOUND
PAIGE ARMSTRONG

*ALIENS IN AMERICA
DASH FOR CASH


NBC
JOURNEYMAN
*CHUCK--under lock and key
BIONIC WOMAN
LIFE

*THE IT CROWD--midseason
LIPSTICK JUNGLE--under lock and key
BUSINESS CLASS
I'M WITH STUPID


MISC: M.O.N.Y (unknown), Insatiable (Showtime), Californication (Showtime)

And those are just the ones that I know about...