Privileged

For exclusive on-set videos and hot features on the new TV season, check out BuddyTV's Fall 2008 Preview.

Normally, at this time of year, I would be daydreaming about all the new shows that are set to begin in just a few short weeks, but I'm largely unimpressed by the new fall shows this season. To be fair, I have not seen many of them yet because many of the networks have had their production schedules pushed back due to the WGA strike last year, so my choices are not as informed as they could be. Instead, I really only had the reputations of the cast and crew or, if I was lucky, a one or two minute preview on YouTube, to guide me in my list-making endeavors.

Three shows immediately stood out to me as programs that I would enjoy, and they immediately went into my top three. As for the rest, well, I was so uninspired by everything else that I just used the process of elimination: Starting at the very bottom of the pack, I picked the shows that look absolutely awful and probably would not live to see the light of episode three and went from there.

Making this list was actually a useful exercise that taught me a lot about myself. I learned that I am the CW's bitch.

5. Kath & Kim

My colleagues here at BuddyTV were horrified to learn that Kath & Kim made it to my top five list, but this is more a testament to the lack of quality new shows than it is an indication of my poor taste. Kath & Kim is an American remake of a popular Australian sitcom, so hopefully, it will follow the same trajectory as The Office, which came to us from the U.K. It probably won't, but it'll fill the time between My Name is Earl and The Office.


4. Crusoe

Although I'm a little peeved that Crusoe is scheduled on a Friday night (I'd like to have at least one night of the week when I don't have to be glued to the TV!), my appreciation for pirates outweighs my desire for some semblance of a social life. And besides, that's why I have a DVR, isn't it? Crusoe certainly looks like a departure from the usual NBC fare, and I'm going to give it a chance just because the scope of the show looks so sweeping and dramatic. Moreover, before even having seen the pilot, I'm going to have to give Crusoe bonus points for bring pirates to the small screen.


3. Stylista

I love a good trashy reality show. It allows me the luxury of sitting on my couch and feeling smug and superior to all the fame whores who'll step on everyone on their way to the top. Stylista, brought to us by the creators of America's Next Top Model and Project Runway, pits aspiring fashion enthusiasts against each other for the grand prize of a paid editorial position at Elle magazine. They must first prove themselves and their sense of fashion and taste by working for Elle's fashion news director Anne Slowey. The thing that really excites me about Stylista is that Anne Slowey looks like an imposing boss who inspires a paralyzing fear in the hearts of her underlings. I'll definitely be watching and thanking my lucky stars that I don't have to work for her.


2. 90210

I grew up watching the original show about that famous zip code, Beverly Hills 90210. I watched its humble beginnings, its rise to glory (the pinnacle of which was Donna Martin graduating), and its precipitous fall from grace. Little did I know that, from out of the ashes, an edgier new 90210 would rise, phoenix-like, onto the CW's tawdry, tawdry landscape. I can assure you that I'll be watching carefully, relishing in all the skankiness that is bound to occur. It's going to be a blast.


1. Privileged

Gossip Girl is my top returning show, so it only makes sense that Privileged, which is like Gossip Girl: South, would be my most anticipated new show. (See what I mean about being the CW's bitch?)

I have a tendency to identify with TV characters to an unhealthy degree, and I can already see that I'll be doing the same with Joanna Garcia. Garcia, who starred in the surprisingly entertaining Reba, plays a recent graduate of a top-notch university who aspires to become a journalist, but ends up working at a tabloid. (Not that BuddyTV is a tabloid or anything…) Here's where we diverge, though: Garcia's Megan Smith becomes the tutor to two ultra-wealthy, ultra-bratty teenage twins, and gets a first-row view of the lifestyles of the fabulously privileged.

My favorite television shows tend to involve some combination of snarkiness, pretty teenage characters with unattainable wardrobes and appealing female leads, so I'm guessing that Privileged is right down my alley.


<<PREVIOUS   |   NEXT>>


-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of CW)