by Amy Van Veen (Blogger)
Email: onlineeditor at ufv dot ca
Another year ends, a new one begins and “Auld Lang Syne” could be sung, or the credits and theme songs can start to run for 2011’s fall comebacks. The first week already has CBS and ABC bringing their shows back, while FOX and NBC are less keen, probably still nursing their hangovers. Despite the fury of Survivor followers and the reality craze that has been littering network TV for the past decade or so, half-hour comedy sitcoms have remained a constant through game shows, medical dramas and the next Crime Scene Investigation spin-off.
CBS brought their Monday night line-up back with a very real episode of How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) with the usual hilarity, like Sandy Rivers’ secret; the final doppelganger; and an intense ending that rocked Marshall’s entire world. Thursday night follows up this strong CBS start by bringing back the nerdtastic gang of The Big Bang Theory complete with an alpha nerd stand-off and, thankfully, Penny and Sheldon’s fantastic friendship dynamic, even if they did forget a “knock-knock-knock Penny” scene.
ABC came back in full force on Wednesday night starting with the Putneys and the fight over pregnancy jeans in Better With You followed by the Hecks taking back the house from their kids in The Middle. Modern Family was immensely improved with the homeless and handsome James Marsden, not to mention Gloria finally learning to ride a bike and Claire’s epic fail: “Slow Down Your Neighbours”. At 9:30pm, Jules finally hears Grayson say those three little words in Cougar Town while Trav’s new girlfriend exposes Bobby to the harsh realities of the world outside of his parking lot boat.
NBC has a lot of competition to live up to for the premieres and returns of their 2011 shows fitting six different sitcoms into one comedy-packed Thursday night. Community, The Office, 30 Rock and Outsourced all return with much anticipation while, even more excitingly, Amy Poehler and the gang in the Parks and Recreation department are coming back to NBC in a mid-season premiere. What happened to the government of Pawnee? Did Andy and April ever make amends? Will Mark Brendanawicz ever get over Anne Perkins? Will Rob Lowe really live to be 150 years old? Only time will tell. A new show, Perfect Couples, is also on the rise on Thursday night. It will take viewers into the highly dysfunctional lives of three less than perfect couples giving relief to all those men and women out there who think they suck at relationships.
This new year has already brought back lots of laughs and it can only get better, fingers crossed.
