Fall 2010 Television Preview Part 1: The Newbies and the Comebacks

Hawaii Five-O

Summer 2010 will be remembered for its hot and humid weather, as well as a surprisingly full television schedule.  As always, there were plenty of reality shows, including guilty pleasures (Jersey Shore, The Bachelorette) and not so guilty ones (So You Think You Can Dance, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List).  Some old favorites disappointed longtime fans with lackluster seasons (Entourage, Top Chef), while newer shows, such as White Collar and Rizzoli and Isles, dazzled audiences with entertaining characters and intriguing storylines.

As the summer draws to an end, however, we here at Poptimal are gearing up for the new television season and haven’t been this excited since, well, last fall.  We have our fingers crossed that the sophomore seasons of Glee and Modern Family are as good as we know they can be and cannot wait to see if new shows like Running Wilde and Hawaii Five-O will deliver the goods or fail miserably.  Keep reading to find out what we think are the best new and returning shows and check back tomorrow to get our picks for the worst shows of the 2010-2011 television season (yes, $#*! My Dad Says, we’re looking at you).

Most Anticipated New Show

The Event. With the absence of Lost and 24, Event‘s intriguing mix of action-packed political conspiracies with sci-fi friendly mythology should fill a void fans of both departing shows would otherwise miss. I’m also looking forward to HBO’s Atlantic City prohibition drama Boardwalk Empire and AMC’s Frank Darabont-produced The Walking Dead. – Erin Biglow

Running Wilde. Keri Russell and Will Arnett. Need I say more? – Liz Cooper

Nikita – It looks really badass and the most interesting. Other than that, I really can’t say I’m excited about any specific show this season. – Stephanie Jaar

Boardwalk Empire. True Blood might be HBO’s flagship, but it isn’t necessarily a show that fits the network’s brand, yet the darkness and the mystery of this gangster drama screams it. – Inisia Lewis

Conan O’Brien on TBS!!! Also Raising Hope, by the creators of My Name is Earl and starring Cloris Leachman. Definite potential! – Kelley Lynn

The Event or Outsourced, can’t decide. Everyone else is on the Hawaii Five-O bandwagon, figured I’d change it up. – Renata Sellitti

I’m most excited for Hawaii Five-0! Lots of buzz about this remake and I can’t wait to watch its great cast in action…”Book ‘em Danno!” – Allison Toner

For me it’s a toss-up between Running Wilde and Undercovers. For the larger viewing audience, I’d guess The Event is up there among shows people are willing to give a shot. I’m excited for Running Wilde because it will usher Keri Russell back to primetime television. Undercovers has the privilege of naming J.J. Abrams as its creator, which all but guarantees a show with solid writing, acting, and a high-concept plot. – Trisha Ziegenhorn

Most anticipated returning show

Dexter. Season Four’s finale left viewers completely stunned and the beloved, morbidly flawed titular hero has some serious guilt to deal with. I’m anxious to find out how the aftermath of Rita’s death will affect Dexter’s “dark passenger.” – Erin Biglow

Bones.  I got addicted to Bones this summer and had no idea what I have been missing for the past 5 years. – Liz Cooper

So many! Glee, Modern Family, and Community are my top 3. – Stephanie Jaar

Glee. The songs, the dancing, the witty humor, the utter absurdity. It’s everything and more. – Inisia Lewis

Mad Men, Glee, Modern Family. – Kelley Lynn

One word: Glee. Oh, and Modern Family. I’ve been actively trying to recruit people to watch it if they weren’t already on the MF train, so funny… – Renata Sellitti

Modern Family

Modern Family: This hysterical (and Emmy winning) comedy quickly became one of my must-sees last season. I can’t wait to see what kind of shenanigans they get into and how they make me laugh this season. – Allison Toner

I waffled between Vampire Diaries, Big Bang Theory, and Fringe. In the end, going with Fringe was an easy choice. The writers left us with a huge cliff-hanger and about a million different questions. With each episode the plot threads burrow deeper as we wait for someone to yank one and pull everything loose. This is one of the best written, acted, and executed shows on television and there’s no reason to think the upcoming season will let viewers down. – Trisha Ziegenhorn

While The Office hasn’t exactly been in a total slump, fans of the show generally agree the last couple of seasons have been following a downward trend. Since this is Steve Carell’s last turn as the now-iconic Michael Scott, I’m hoping the writers really bring their A-game to give Carell the send-off he deserves. – Erin Biglow

Community. It never really went anywhere seeing as how it has only been on one season, but I have a feeling it is going to really hit its stride in Season 2 Parks and Recreation-style. – Liz Cooper

Grey’s Anatomy. After a game-changing season finale, Grey‘s cleaned the slate and could get back to the show I used to love, centered around characters and emotions and less of the soap and suds. – Inisia Lewis

Dancing With the Stars will be huge, with its ridiculous cast of “The Situation” and Bristol Palin. – Kelley Lynn

Criminal Minds?! It didn’t go anywhere, just really seems to be one of the more underrated awesome shows on TV. – Renata Sellitti

Grey’s Anatomy: After last season’s emotional and jaw dropping finale, I’m curious to see what they have in store for us this season. – Allison Toner

Grey’s Anatomy. The finale last year made snoozing viewers sit up and take note; brought us back to the reasons we loved this show to begin with. We laughed. We cried. We bit our nails and gasped out loud. I’m sure I’m not the only one willing to give Grey’s another few episodes based on their season finale alone. The success of the comeback hinges on their ability to keep our attention now that they have it back. – Trisha Ziegenhorn

Do you agree with what our writers have to say? Cast your predictions in the Comments section below and come back tomorrow for Part 2 of our Fall Preview!

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Photographs courtesy of Fox, CBS, ABC, and IMDbPro.