With the final week of summer session hanging over campus like the oppressive summer heat, the onset of the fall semester also means we’re trudging toward some highly anticipated television seasons. Here are a few that might catch your eye in addition to the popular “Glee” or “Weeds.”
‘Gossip Girl’
NETWORK: The CW
WHEN: Monday, Sept. 13 at 8 p.m.
I’ll admit it — I don’t particularly follow this show. However, the times I’ve been prodded into watching it were not all that regrettable. In entertainment news, Jenny Humphrey will be absent from the show because of actress Taylor Momsen’s falling out with the network. Word on the street is that Momsen and the network executives ran into some “creative differences” when she wanted to go on Warped Tour with her band, The Pretty Reckless. On the bright side, though, the show will pick up the gorgeous and talented Clémence Poésy, who played Fleur Delacour in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and Chloë from “In Bruges.” Poésy comes on as the mysterious, French love interest of Chuck Bass after last season ended with Bass getting mugged and shot. Allegedly, Bass, a notorious playboy, has done some serious soul-searching and has decided to cut some of his dumbassery.
‘Modern Family’
NETWORK: ABC
WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m.
TV Tuesday readers may recall an earlier column praising ABC’s newest mockumentary, “Modern Family.” The writing is just as good as “30 Rock” or “The Office,” but still in that gloriously fresh, new comedy phase where characters are still unfolding and exploring new directions. While reruns are played each Wednesday, the show is light enough to where you don’t need to catch up on the backstory to just plop down and enjoy it. “Modern Family” centers around a large family with the recently remarried patriarch (played by Ed O’Neil), his homosexual son and semineurotic daughter at the core. Each of these characters has his or her own family unit with a spouse and children, so the mixed cast may seem a bit confusing at first. However, if I can get my mother to change the channel to something that isn’t Home Shopping Network — a bizarre addiction that I still don’t quite understand — then I think anyone can get into this show.
‘Dexter’
NETWORK: Showtime
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.
Thankfully, you still have enough time to waterboard the last four seasons into your head, but if you’re not that much of a TV addict, then here’s what happened last season. The series follows Dexter Morgan, a forensics investigator in Miami and a serial killer who kills serial killers. After stalking and finally putting down the “Trinity Killer,” one the most creepily realistic serial killers ever conceived — a role for which John Lithgow garnered an Emmy — Dexter comes home to find his wife dead in a bathtub filled with her own blood. If that wasn’t enough of a psychological kick in the throat, his newborn son was left to sit in blood much like his own “dark birth,” where he witnessed his mother murdered by drug dealers. My only concern is that it might turn into a rehash of season two, with the Miami police officers suspicious of Dexter while he covers his tracks for the rest of the season. Even if it does, though, I’m still thrilled to see Michael C. Hall, who plays the titular character, return to television after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
