Show: Eleventh Hour (CBS)
Episode: “Resurrection” - Series Premiere (Season 1)
Premiere Date: Thursday, October 9th, 2008
Rating: 3.5 out of 4 Stars

Quick Synopsis: Investigating cases of a scientific nature.

Long Synopsis: A guy gets caught trying to discard what turns out to be an aborted fetus. This leads to a possible group that is performing human cloning. A brilliant scientist and his security detail/partner are sent by the FBI to investigate the case.

Review: Eleventh Hour is great, one of the best new shows of the season. It was one of the shows I was looking forward to checking out and I was not disappointed.

Rufus Sewell (John Adams, Amazing Grace) is outstanding as the brilliant, but somewhat awkward, Dr. Jacob Hood. While the mystery is interesting, he is the main reason to watch. This episode provides a great introduction to his character and as stated before, I tend to like shows that revolve around a main character that is the smartest person in the room. This is the case with Dr. Hood.

The first episode of a show can be difficult and they don’t always reflect how good a series will turn out to be in the long run. Well, this is not the case here. This episode is an example of what a series premiere episode should be. It introduces the characters and the premise quite nicely. Granted, with only two main players, spending time on each is not a problem.

This first episode also introduces the nemesis factor. Dr. Hood has been on the trail of a person or group that pops up in this episode. Having an overarching story to periodically go back to is usually a good thing for these types of series and I think it will be here.

I’ve harped recently on a few shows being too slow or badly paced. Well, Eleventh Hour does moves slowly, but it doesn’t ever feel slow.

Overall, Eleventh Hour is totally worth checking out. Other than a couple of minor quibbles, the show is very enjoyable. It’s only major competition in the third hour of primetime will come from ABC’s Life on Mars, but seeing as how I’ve yet to see that one, I will give this the edge as of now.

Eleventh Hour premieres tonight, Thursday, October 9th on CBS.

Show: Kath & Kim (NBC)
Episode: “Pilot” - Series Premiere (Season 1)
Premiere Date: Thursday, October 9th, 2008
Rating: 1 out of 4 Stars

Quick Synopsis: Daughter moves back home and things are different.

Long Synopsis: The recently married daughter of a woman wants to move back in after problems arise in her marriage. The mother is not too enthused by the idea, as she is in the process of getting her life going again, like she has a new boyfriend. This frustrates the daughter because things have changed a lot after she left home.

Review: Kath & Kim is more annoying than funny. Well, actually it’s pretty much just annoying. I laughed once during this episode and once more during episode two, which airs next week.

The show stars Molly Shannon (Saturday Night Live), as Kath Day, and Selma Blair (Hellboy), as her daughter Kim. Given the cast and it being based on a successful Australian show of the same name, I had high hopes. Given the mostly lackluster comedy offerings so far this fall, I was hoping for something good.

Well, the talented cast is completely squandered with an uninspiring and tedious story. Unless things improve markedly in episode three, this one could quickly join Do Not Disturb on the cancellation list. Yet, I don’t see a lot of people sticking around for a third episode to find out.

Overall, Kath & Kim may get watched by those who watched My Name Is Earl and are waiting for The Office to begin, but it makes for a terrible bridge between the two. One you shouldn’t bother trying to cross. For me, it’ll continue to be Smallville on The CW, while recording My Name Is Earl in the first hour of primetime.

If you do try to traverse this bridge, come back and let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Kath & Kim premieres tonight, Thursday, October 9th on NBC.

Show: Testees (FX)
Episode: “Pilot” - Series Premiere (Season 1)
Premiere Date: Thursday, October 9th, 2008
Rating: 0.5 out of 4 Stars

Quick Synopsis: Testees blows.

Long Synopsis: Two guys make their living as test subjects for a company called Testico. They then have to deal with any side effects.

Review: Testees is one of the worst attempts at comedy I have seen in quite some time. I haven’t like a lot of the new comedies for this fall, but this one takes top honors for worst of the worst.

Testees is aiming at the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia crowd, which is what it will be paired up with. It’s no secret that I don’t particularly care for Sunny, but this so disgustingly unfunny that even Sunny fans are going to be wondering how this made it to air.

So, you may be asking yourself, if you thought it was so bad, how come it even got half a star? Well, I will admit to laughing once, so I gave it a courtesy half star. But, I didn’t feel good about it afterwards, since the rest of it is so cringingly bad.

I know this is FX and things are different on basic cable. Just look at the rest of their shows, but this one had stuff going on that you would expect to only see late night on one of the premium cable outlets, if at all.

Overall, Testees fails. I guess FX can’t pick winners all the time, but when they miss, they really miss.

Testees premieres tonight, Thursday, October 9th on FX.

Show: Easy Money (The CW)
Episode: “DNA” - Series Premiere (Season 1)
Premiere Date: Sunday, October 5th, 2008
Rating: 2 out of 4 Stars

Quick Synopsis: Loan sharking is a tough business.

Long Synopsis: A family runs a storefront loan business. They are basically loan sharks. They have to deal with a cop that defaulted on his loan and some new competition that has moved into town. One member of the family struggles with what his life has become and some news finds out.

Review: Easy Money is a show that didn’t really sound all that interesting, but it turned out to be good. Yet, it has the potential to be really good. I will be tuning in again to find out.

So, you may be wondering why it only got two stars. Well, it’s because the first half of the show is a bit of a slog. I know its purpose is to introduce you to the Buffkin family and the storefront loan business they run, but it was pretty boring.

But, if you can make it through that beginning, you get introduced to an interesting story revolving around Jeff Hephner’s (The O.C., The Jury) Morgan Buffkin. He is one of the children that have a part in running the family business. He is conflicted about what he does and wishes he could be doing something more. By the end of this episode, where the last scene just hooked me for some reason, I wanted to know what was going to happen next with him.

The cast is full of faces you will probably recognize. The head of the family is Bobette Buffkin, played by Laurie Metcalf (The Norm Show, Roseanne). Nick Searcy (Rodney, Seven Days) plays her husband Roy. Morgan has a brother Cooper and sister Brandy, who are played by Jay R. Ferguson (Sleeper Cell, Surface) and Katie Lowes (Swingtown). Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop) plays an investigator for the store.

Overall, Easy Money is worth checking out, but there is a lot of good stuff in the second hour of primetime on Sundays. On the network side, it will be up against ABC’s Desperate Housewives, CBS’ Cold Case, FOX’s Family Guy and American Dad and NBC’s Sunday Night Football. It also has to contend with HBO’s True Blood and Showtime’s Dexter.

Right now, given this first episode, it would be my fourth choice in the time period. But, if it becomes more like the second half of the show going forward, I could see it rivaling Desperate Housewives for the number two spot behind Dexter. I will definitely continue to watch and find out.

Easy Money premieres tonight, Friday, October 5th on The CW.