5. Penn & Teller Tell a Lie
If you haven’t heard of this show, I don’t blame you, because it has not generated much buzz, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable show. Magician/comedy duo Penn & Teller bring their irreverent spin to this program about unbelievable truths. Every episode Penn & Teller take about a half dozen difficult-to-believe stories and explain how they are actually 100% true, except for the one story that is a downright lie. The audience is invited to watch along and look for hidden clues as to what story is the lie and which ones are real. The result is a fun hour of television spent skeptically picking apart the various stories looking for things that don’t add up. Penn & Teller, like many magicians, are devoted skeptics and this new show gives the two (Penn at least; Teller doesn’t speak) a chance to preach their own ideas about questioning everything. To date the show has covered plenty of classic myths such as cutting a bullet in half with a sword or shooting a gas tank to make it explode. If this sounds like Mythbusters then you are right, because the two shows have been placed back to back and advertised together by Discovery. Did you know that you can freeze a safe with liquid nitrogen in order to break the lock? It’s true…. unless I’m lying.
Terra Nova is the latest sci-fi show from Fox in which a family from the future makes the 65 million year journey to the past in a new settlement established to save the human race. Between the sci-fi elements, the dinosaurs, and the mysterious other group of settlers, there are plenty of conflicts to keep the residents of Terra Nova busy. The show has spent some time developing their characters and correcting many of the early problems with the show. It is one of the few shows that I am excited to watch week after week and that earns it the number four slot on this list. Check out my full review of the first couple episodes of Terra Nova here . . .
3. New Girl
New Girl was probably one of the more heavily hyped shows going into premiere season and boy did it live up to that hype. The premise is a wacky girl moves in with three dudes after breaking up with her boyfriend and hilarity ensues. But with any good situation comedy, the funny doesn’t come from the initial set up but from the characters and that is where this show really shines. The cast has great chemistry and manages to make their interactions feel quite genuine even amongst ki-man-os, feeling sticks and the most rockin’ Funky Chicken that I’ve ever seen performed at a wedding. Also, since its premiere, New Girl has only gotten better with each new episode. In other words, go watch it right now before it gets too good for your mind to handle.
2. Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time is a show that is very difficult to sum up concisely. It all starts when the evil queen casts a curse that sends all the residents of fairy tale land to a place where there are no happy endings, our world. The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, a grown woman with no knowledge of her literary heritage, must find a way to break the curse and bring back the happy endings all while reconnecting with the son she gave up 10 years ago. The week to week story involves flashes between the fairy tale land and the normal world in which we get to see each actor pulling double duty between their fairy tale self and their “real world” self. I am finding Once Upon a Time to be much more enjoyable then Grimm. Grimm is a solid procedural, but Time is something I have been waiting for for several years, a successor to Lost. Between the use of flashes to fairy land as a story-telling device, and the heavy focus on both characters and an overarching mythology, it is difficult to not compare this show to Lost. Many shows have tried to find that sweet spot that gave Lost such wide ranging appeal, but most (like The Event, Flashforward, or Fringe) have focused too heavily on the mystery aspect of the show and overlooked the heavy character focus that pulled people in during the early seasons. I am hopeful that as Once Upon a Time hits its stride people will start to pay attention and it will enjoy the success that Lost held for so many years.
1. American Horror Story
The horror genre has been a staple of big screen releases for decades, but rarely do we see the genre made with a television audience in mind. Though there are other shows that have been labeled as horror shows (Buffy, Supernatural, The Walking Dead), most of these shows seem to fall more in the fantasy category in my opinion. The great thing about a horror movie is the emotion it invokes in the audience. Whether it makes us afraid, grossed out, or just plain makes our skin crawl. The best scary movies have all been ones that walked a fine line between making you want to keep watching and run from the room screaming, and American Horror Story does this perfectly. The story follows a dysfunctional family that moves into a haunted house to start a new chapter in their lives following a series of tragedies. The backstory about the families trouble prior to moving are compelling, but even more interesting is the backstory of the house itself. The home feels like a character, massive and full of intrigue. The home has been the host to a seemingly endless number of murders, accidents, and other horrible events over the years and every episode has teased a little more about the house’s history. This show has some moments and characters that are just plain creepy. Few shows this year have given me characters I want to learn more about and a story that keeps me coming back excited every week, but American Horror Story is definitely one.
What do you think? Did we miss your favorite new show? Let us know in the comments.
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