Film Festival

Press tour: The best new shows I saw

A new HBO gangster drama, buddy private eyes and more

Every summer when I come back from press tour - or when I'm still there and chatting with industry folk curious about the competition - everyone asks me some variation of the question "So what's going to be good on TV this fall?"

Overall, 2010-11 doesn't look like it's going to be as strong a season for new product as last season, which gave us (among other things) "Community," "Modern Family," "Justified," "Treme," "Parenthood," "The Good Wife," "Cougar Town," "The Middle," "Glee" (I don't like it but recognize that many people are nuts about it), and more. But there are some definite standouts, particularly on cable.

Last night, Fienberg posted his breakdown of press tour winners and losers (including some of the shows I'm about to list), and after the jump are some of the best new shows I got to see in conjunction with the trip:

Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 29: Press tour and 'Mad Men'

PBS and cable at TCA, and Don Draper in California

The

Happy Tuesday! I needed some extra time off yesterday to remind my family who I was, so we pushed this week's Firewall & Iceberg Podcast to Tuesday. (We'll be back to the Monday schedule next week, presumably.) This week, Dan and I deal with the second half of press tour, as well as the latest episode of "Mad Men." The breakdown:

TCA Press Tour wrap-up -- 00:00 - 27:40

"Mad Men" -- 27:45 - 44:10

As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. Or you can always follow our RSS Feed, download the MP3 file or stream it at Dan's blog.

Interview: 'Parks and Recreation' co-creator Mike Schur previews season three

What to look for when NBC finally brings back one of its best shows

Interview: 'Parks and Recreation' co-creator Mike Schur previews season three

Will "Parks and Recreation" be back on NBC by Christmas-time?

Credit: NBC

"Parks and Recreation," one of the best shows NBC has and one of the best comedies anywhere on television, is for reasons fathomable only to people who think the pilot for "Outsourced" is funny, not on NBC's fall schedule. It will be back at some point in mid-season - hopefully right after "Outsourced" deservedly fails, but maybe not. (NBC has a bunch of other comedies slated for mid-season, and the network's priorities are, as always, weird.)

That the show isn't on that schedule came as a surprise to everyone who works there, since the series stayed in production after the end of the second season so they could film six more episodes before Amy Poehler had to go on maternity leave. (She and Will Arnett had their second baby, Abel, a few days ago.) Instead, those episodes will sit on a shelf for a bit, and last week "Parks and Rec" showrunner and "Office" alum Mike Schur began plotting out the rest of the third season, which will now include Rob Lowe as a regular. (Where Adam Scott signed on full-time immediately, Lowe was originally going to be in only a handful of episodes.)  Since I was still in town for press tour, I drove over to the lovely CBS-Radford lot to ask Schur to revisit certain developments from last season, and to preview some of what's to come whenever the show returns.

(NOTE: There are some mild plot spoilers to follow, but nothing Schur was uncomfortable discussing, and certainly nothing that ruins any of the jokes on this very funny show. But if you want to remain completely unaware of the goings-on at Pawnee City Hall, don't click through.)

'Firefly' Rewind - Episode 10: 'War Stories'

Jealousy rears its ugly head - and so does Niska

'Firefly' Rewind - Episode 10: 'War Stories'

Mal (Nathan Fillion) and Wash (Alan Tudyk) fight through a tough situation in "Firefly."

Credit: FOX

It's time for another review of Joss Whedon's outer space Western "Firefly." My thoughts on "War Stories" coming up just as soon as I'm fired from a fry cook opportunity...

'Survivor': Is Jimmy Johnson too famous to be a contestant?

How 'bout dat Cowboys twist?

I'm recuperating from press tour, so posting's going to be light for the next few days, other than regularly-scheduled stuff like Firefly. (I also have to catch up on a bunch of the other regular shows that are sitting on my DVR.) But I couldn't resist commenting a bit on the announcement of the "Survivor: Nicaragua" cast. Dan has a gallery of all the contestants, who are split into old and young teams - a twist that's not as novel as the show is suggesting, since that's how the schoolyard pick approach largely defined the "Survivor: Thailand" teams - but after the jump, I want to focus on one contesant in particular.

'Mad Men' - 'The Good News': They have beef

Don's New Year's vacation doesn't go as planned

'Mad Men' - 'The Good News': They have beef

Joan (Christina Hendricks) has problems with her husband (Sam Page) on "Mad Men."

Credit: AMC

A review of last night's "Mad Men" coming up just as soon as I smoke the dress...

'Rubicon' - 'Keep the Ends Out': Does a bear hibernate in the woods?

Will follows another trail, but who's following him?

'Rubicon' - 'Keep the Ends Out': Does a bear hibernate in the woods?

Will (James Badge Dale) tries to sniff out a tail in "Rubicon."

Credit: AMC/Craig Blankenhorn

A quick review of the third episode of "Rubicon" coming up just as soon as I'm officially hungry and financially irresponsible...

Press tour: HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire' brings Martin Scorsese to television

An Oscar winner, a "Sopranos" producer and Steve Buscemi team up for a tale of Prohibition-era Atlantic City.

Press tour: HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire' brings Martin Scorsese to television

Steve Buscemi in HBO's "Boardwalk Empire."

Credit: HBO/Craig Blankenhorn

Martin Scorsese has wanted to work in television for a long time. With HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," one of the final series paneled at press tour, he finally has his chance.

Appearing via satellite from London, the excitable Oscar-winning director said that the TV drama revolution of the last decade fulfilled the promise of "what we had hoped for in the mid-60s, when films were being made for television at first. We hoped that there would be this kind of a freedom.

"I've been tempted over the years to be involved in (a TV drama) because of the nature of the long form," he added, "and the development of character and plot."

'Friday Night Lights' - 'Thanksgiving': Pride of the Lions

The season climaxes with the Lions-Panthers game.

'Friday Night Lights' - 'Thanksgiving': Pride of the Lions

Coach preps for the big game on "Friday Night Lights."

Credit: NBC

For the final time, I reviewed all the episodes for this season of "Friday Night Lights" on my old blog as they aired on DirecTV. Because I can't bring content from the old blog over here, each week I'm going to link to those reviews so you can see what I and the DirecTV audience thought of them back in the fall, then discuss them here.

This week: the season finale "Thanksgiving," in which the Lions and Panthers finally play their game, the Riggins brothers face justice and Coach and Mrs. Coach gather their loved ones around the table for some turkey. So go read the review and tell me what you thought.

'The Wire' Rewind: Season 3, Episode 10 - 'Reformation' (Veterans edition)

Is a slow train coming for Bunny and Stringer?

'The Wire' Rewind: Season 3, Episode 10 - 'Reformation' (Veterans edition)

Cutty (Chad L. Coleman) on "The Wire."

Credit: HBO

We're in the home stretch for these reviews of "The Wire" season three (you can find my reviews of the other four seasons on the siderail at my old blog), and as always, we're doing this in two versions: one for people who have seen the whole series from beginning to end and want to be able to discuss it all, and one for people who are relatively new to the series don't want to be spoiled for what's to come past where they are. This is the veteran version; click here for the newbie-friendly one.

A review of episode 10, "Reformation," coming up just as soon as I got the Bingo tonight...

Alan Sepinwall

About This Blog

All through his childhood, Alan Sepinwall's relatives told his parents, "All that boy does is watch television! How's he going to make a living doing that?" His career as a TV critic has been 15 years and counting of his attempt to answer their concerns. "What's Alan Watching" is a blog whose title is self-explanatory: Alan watches TV shows, then writes about what he watched. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

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