Premiere Week - Monday Dramas

Chuck - A new offering on NBC (before Heroes) is kind of 40-Year-Old Virgin meets Alias. It's got a pretty impossible concept - a rogue spy blows up an NSA/CIA computer and sends all the images on it to his college roommate (Chuck) before being killed. Chuck sees all these seemingly unrelated images and is able to predict a bomb threat and call it off. Chuck works for the "Nerd Herd" at a electronics store fixing computers and such. He's pretty socially awkward and lives with his sister and her boyfriend. By the end of the episode -and launching a series that could go on forever - Chuck will secretly work for the NSA/CIA as the memories of these images he saw are put together. Presumably they will fill him in on ongoing activities. Overall, it's very cute, and with lots of fun action. It's a pretty tame option, but unlike 40YOV, there's little potty humor and more geek humor, and unlike Alias, we know what the heck is going on. The actors are all pretty terrific, especially Chuck. The return of several other TV regulars is fun - Adam Baldwin (from Angel and Firefly) is the NSA rep trailing Chuck, and Sarah Lancaster (from Everwood and Life of Brian is Chuck's sister). I'm going to keep watching!

Heroes - In case you are only just joining Heroes (and I highly recommend you do) I won't spoil too much, but the season premiere was pretty tame and yet very confusing. Hiro is in 15th Century Japan and meets his hero who turns out to be a money grubbing hired thug rather than the mystical hero he knows. Played expertly by Alias' David Anders ("Sark"), this story could become fantastic, but was pretty slow to get started. The cheerleader is starting her new life and seems to have found another hero at her new school. The best storyline was Greg Grunberg's (the cop) living in NYC and protecting the little girl who finds heroes. He's divorced, but finally a detective, and seems to be getting a handle on life and his gift. Also, there's some sort of big plan to take down the hero-hunting "company", but overall, I wasn't thrilled with the premiere, but based on the last 10 seconds, the next one will be terrific!!

CSI: Miami - Yes, I love this show, and even want to go to Miami to see the city the run around, though as it's been pointed out to me, they play with the colors on the film to make it look that cool and I would probably just be disappointed. The premiere was exactly like all other episodes, so if you already like this show you'll love this episode, and if you don't watch it, it's worth it just for the cheesy one-liners and watching David Caruso take his sunglasses on and off. Check out this blog entry about just that.