Thursday Night TV: Last Resort Series Premiere, Person of Interest S.2 Premiere, Elementary Series Premiere & More

News & Notes

Tonight, ABC has the series premiere of Last Resort, the ninth season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy and second season premiere of Scandal and CBS has the sixth season premiere of The Big Bang Theory, the 10th season premiere of Two and a Half Men, the second season premiere of Person of Interest and the series premiere of Elementary.

Over on cable, FX has the third season finale of Louie and Lifetime has the series premiere of Prank My Mom.

Prime Picks

Last Resort (ABC): Series Premiere. A U.S. sub receives orders to launch nuclear weapons, but they come through an alternate back channel that is only supposed to be used if the capitol had been destroyed. When the question the orders, they are fired upon. So, they seek refuge on an exotic island. Tonight’s premiere is really very good. It’s my second favorite new fall drama. Yet, at the end of the first episode there were a few concerns. Like, the cast is really good, but also really large. Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age, Homicide: Life on the Streets) is great, as usual, but he was the only memorable character by the end of this episode. Also, you wondered about the long term potential of the show, given the premise. But, having seen the first three episodes, I am happy to report that those concerns are mostly alleviated. A couple other characters are expanded on in the next episode and a couple others in the third. Three episodes in and you are only a few days into the standoff, so the show looks to be told on a shortened time frame. Meaning that at the end of a 22 episodes season, you might not be much more than 22 days into the story. One other problem is not with the show, but with the time slot ABC has given it. Leading off Thursday nights has not been a good place to be on ABC over the last few years. Yet, this is the best show they’ve put there in quite some time too. So, hopefully it will break the trend. Will you be watching tonight?

Person of Interest (CBS): Season Premiere. Carter and Fusco are looking for Finch. Reese gets a number from the machine. Runs 61 minutes. I really like the storytelling style on this show and how they expand on the characters and the overall story with the flashback segments. Tonight’s episode uses that format to tell you more about the machine that Finch created.

Elementary (CBS): Series Premiere. Sherlock Holmes is getting back on his feet after rehab from a drug problem by helping the New York Police Department investigate a murder. He meets his sober buddy, hired by his wealthy father, Jane Watson. Starts a minute after the hour and runs 59 minutes. I quite enjoyed this opening installment of this twist on the Sherlock Holmes tale. I personally don’t care that there are other versions on TV and in the movies right now. Heck, The Mentalist, Psych, Perception and others are all just twists on the Sherlock Holmes character. A highly observant investigator that picks up on things that most everyone else misses. I just care whether this version is any good or not. This one has an interesting setup and very much like the Watson character.

Solid Selections

The Big Bang Theory (CBS): Season Premiere. Wolowitz is still in space, but still has to settle an argument between Bernadette and his mother. Raj is thinking about his loneliness, as everyone else is on dates. Runs 31 minutes.
Two and a Half Men (CBS): Season Premiere. Walden is planning on a big surprise for Zoey on her birthday. Starts a minute after the half hour and runs 29 minutes.

The Office (NBC): New. Roy, Pam’s ex, is getting married and Jim and Pam go to the wedding. Runs 31 minutes. What do you think about The Office now seemingly being about Jim and Pam all of a sudden?
Parks & Recreation (NBC): New. Leslie takes on obesity by passing a soda tax in Pawnee. Andy is preparing to take the police entrance exam. Starts a minute after the half hour and runs 29 minutes.

Scandal (ABC): Season Premiere. Olivia goes on trial. Fitz deals with his wife trying to push him in a certain direction regarding a big decision he has to make. A senator comes to Olivia for help with a problem he doesn’t want to go public. Starts two minutes after the hour and runs 58 minutes. Still don’t care for the political side of the storyline here, but the firm helping people out of jams etc. still does. Yet, the Quinn storyline outcome in tonight’s episode changes things up big time from what the show seemed like in the beginning of the first season. There is a whole lot more going on here. Makes me want to go back and watch the last few episodes of last season and get back on board this show that I gave up on part way in last season.

Other Options

• Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): Season Premiere. The doctors try to deal in the aftermath of plane crash. Runs 62 minutes.
• Louie (FX): Season Finale. The holidays are getting to Louie. Runs 31 minutes. Plays twice and again later.
• SNL Weekend Update Thursday (NBC): New Special. The SNL players have some fun with the political campaign and recent news stories. 30 Rock premieres in this timeslot next week.

Sports Notes

• ESPN has Thursday Night College Football with Stanford at Washington.
• ESPN2 has doubleheader WNBA Playoffs conference semifinals coverage.
• MLB Network has a game tonight.
• NFL Network has Thursday Night Football with the Cleveland Browns at the Baltimore Ravens.

Late Night

• Boss (Starz): Repeat. Last Friday night’s episode, “Backflash,” replays. Also replays earlier today.
• The Great Food Truck Race (Food Network): Repeat. This past Sunday night’s episode, “Mistake By the Lake,” replays. Plays again later.

Thursday TV Marathons

Syfy has the past five episodes of this season of Warehouse 13 in late night.
Oxygen has eight episodes of House tonight.
TNT has 11 episodes of The Mentalist.
USA Network has six episodes of Burn Notice followed by seven episodes of NCIS.

What Thursday night TV shows are you looking forward to watching tonight?