TV is the New Reading

New fall season is upon us

The new fall season is upon us, so fire up ... that good book.

Seriously, CBS is opening with a couple of shows all but guaranteed for midseason replacement – if they make it that far. “Viva Laughlin” (Oct. 18) is a musical drama. I ... really don’t know that I need to say more than that. Crime procedurals with musical numbers ... well, one can only hope, but not much. Hugh Jackman (somehow) and D.B. Woodside (“24”) are in it, and for that, I pity them.

Less well-known are the entire cast of “Kid Nation” (Wednesdays at 7 p.m.) which dumps 40 children in a ghost town in New Mexico and follows them around as they try to feed, clothe and govern themselves.

First question: If there are grownups with cameras filming them, how are the kids not under constant adult supervision? Which, while preferable, seems to go against the premise. Also, from the previews, there’s some sort of a host-type person and I don’t see any way for him to avoid becoming a de facto babysitter – especially since he’s involved in dispensing rewards as the kid council sees fit.

One suspects such a show could end up feeding the programming needs for Court TV as 40 sets of parents are hauled before a judge and asked what they were thinking, but on the face of it, it seems like a relatively unstructured summer camp with cameras.

‘K-Ville’

But leave it to FOX to make the truly disturbing move with “K-Ville” (Mondays at 8 p.m.)

Setting a drama in New Orleans takes guts. Filming actually in the Ninth Ward is only going to be gritty and painful. Center it on the problems faced by the NOPD and it doesn’t even need to be a scripted drama.

How will it play? Well, one expects FOX to pursue the same take on the disaster in its drama as its news division – that noble, well-meaning politicos wanted to help but had no clue as to how, and meanwhile all of the real problems are caused by poor people and criminals and buffle-headed local officials.

So how will that play? Well, I hate to make predictions – “M*A*S*H” certainly had a great run. But time will tell if a national audience is ready to watch a team of actors and writers fiddling around with a sucking wound.

One new FOX show I am truly looking forward to is Kelsey Grammer’s “Back to You” (Wednesdays at 7 p.m.) which features a pair of local news anchors thrown together after 10 years apart and the sparks of that reunion. There seems to be enough “there” there for the show to be a good one. Grammer has always had pitch perfect comedic sensibilities and funnywoman co-star Patricia Heaton has never looked better.

And lord knows, after “K-Ville,” we’re probably going to need a good laugh.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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