Boston Bionic Idol

As I mentioned a few days ago, the new prime time television season is nearly here – about a week away now. In the midst of a pretty weird day of college football (that will keep until tomorrow after the NFL games) we did a quick check of what’s new and what’s coming back.

The returning shows are headed by my favorite, Boston Legal, and Jeannie’s Two and a Half Men. After that, shows we’ve watched before and will watch again include
Brothers and Sisters and Grey’s Anatomy on ABC, Cold Case and Shark on CBS, Law and Order and Friday Night Lights on NBC, House and (after the new year) American Idol on Fox.

Two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, who we’ve met in our race coverage, is competing on Dancing With the Stars, so we’ll check that out, though I’ve been previously resistant.

New shows that look interesting enough to be worth a try are Private Practice, a Grey’s Anatomy spin-off, Dirty Sexy Money (for the title if nothing else), and Cavemen (as far as I know the first time a program been created from an ad campaign) all on ABC. Chuck and Bionic Woman (can it be better than it was 31 years ago with Lindsay Wagner, pictured on TV Guide above?) are debuting on NBC, and New Amsterdam is new on Fox. CBS comes up empty.

Now, if they’ll refrain from changing times and nights, putting a series on an extended mid-season hiatus, and alternating new and re-run episode…but of course they won’t.