Boob Tube: Sophomore Season

A few years ago, some of the most important dates in my fall calendar were the season premiere nights of all of my favourite television shows. Not anymore.

Thanks to DVR, Netflix, and the Internet, television viewing schedules have become much less rigid. Due in large part to this new flexibility, television has become even more competitive. With virtually every episode of every show ever made always at our fingertips, new shows have to work harder to prove themselves as a worthy source of entertainment.

Though much in television has changed, fall still marks the beginning of new seasons.

At this point in the year, television critics are jumping over each other to tell you which new shows will succeed, and which will fail. But with so much competing for my television attention, I’d rather focus on those shows which have already had a season to prove themselves.

My favourite three shows that were new LAST year have all officially begun their sophomore seasons, and I have reviewed them for you here:

Don’t Trust The B— In Apartment 23

During the first season of this show I loved it and worried about it with equal fervor.

The comedic brilliance of this show is almost entirely wrapped up in one running joke: the casting of James Van Der Beek as a fictional version of himself who is entirely wrapped up in the fame and success he achieved on Dawson’s Creek.

I really thought his character would get old and wouldn’t hold up through the entire first season, let alone several. Now in the second season, the Van Der Beek plot line is stronger and more entertaining than ever. Watch the new episode to see Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris) talking to Van Der Beek about the danger of reunion shows. I’m not kidding.

Krysten Ritter is also brilliant. This show is a must-watch this season.

Revenge

This thriller had me hooked instantly last season, and it was the show I was most excited to see return this fall.

The acting is exceptional and the writers drop paradigm-shattering plot twists almost every episode, with minimal, if any, impact on continuity. Main-character Emily’s morally ambiguous mission to exact cruel revenge on everyone who played a role in the wrongful-imprisonment and eventual death of her father is interesting enough to hold my attention, but not so heavy that it keeps me up at night. (Does anyone else have Breaking Bad nightmares? Only me?)

This is a great show that I am confident will continue to entertain for at least a few more seasons.

Suburgatory 

I was surprised that I stuck with this show all the way to the end last year, but for some reason I couldn’t tune out. It registers high in cheese, but also high in LOLs.

While the relationship between Tessa and her dad is often eye-roll inducing, the excellent supporting cast — including actors who have starred in comedies like Weeds, SNL and Curb Your Enthusiasm — is consistently hilarious. Neither of these elements have changed this season.

Also, Jeremy Sisto plays the dorky dad. I spent the entire first season praying he would shave his hideous goatee and return to the handsome Sisto I remembered from the nineties. He finally shaved it this season, and as it turns out, time was not his friend.

Watch the first season if you want to see a Clueless reunion.