sammi says

Farewell, "Heroes." I'm not shocked at all to learn that NBC has officially given "Heroes" the ax after 4 seasons. "Heroes" was a show that had absolutely the most potential to succeed but after one amazing season it lost all of its magic. Season one of "Heroes" stand alone is the some of the greatest TV in the last ten years. It had so much potential. Rich characters that we cared about with great backstories and even greater futures ahead of them.

It's such a shame that instead of focusing on these characters that we already knew and loved, the show's creators brought on too many new heroes and gave them too much screen time. The new heroes had interesting abilities but they didn't deserve to become season regulars. Why not just feature them in an episode or two? I think they wanted to capitalize on the success of the first season dealing with ordinary people coming to understand their superhuman abilities and went overboard. "Heroes" became boring and did very little to progress the stories of the characters we already liked.

I am sad that NBC has canceled "Mercy." This is totally not a show I would normally watch, but I caught the first episode and consistently wanted to see more. I usually overlook medical dramas because I find them unoriginal, but this one offered us a little more. My dad calls it the "poor man's 'Nurse Jackie'" which I find hilarious because it's kind of true. They both focus on no-bullshit nurses in New Jersey. "Mercy" doesn't push the line as much as "Nurse Jackie," but it still has some edge. The main character, Veronica, is an emotional wreck. She suffers from post traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq and is an alcoholic going through a divorce with her high school sweetheart all while dating a doctor at her hospital. This show had serious potential and I enjoyed it. I would have loved to have seen a second season especially after the cliffhanger season finale.

Another cancellation that hurts is "Flash Forward." I'm disappointed the show didn't catch on. I think it had a great premise but was maybe hindered by the fact that viewers don't know how the show could progress past the date the characters saw of the future. I agree, I don't know where they could take the show, it could have been another "Heroes" on our hands, but I enjoyed it. I don't know what kind of resolution we'll get in the remaining episodes but I'm sure it won't be a proper finish for a worthwhile show.

It consistently blows my mind that shows like "Minute to Win It," "The Marriage Ref," "The Bachelor," "Wife Swap," "Wipeout," "Undercover Boss," and any other contrived, cheap and ridiculous reality/competition show the networks can come up with get picked up over scripted TV shows. If "Chuck" hadn't been renewed for a fourth season, I'd really start to lose faith that the networks have any idea what people like to watch. Don't get me started on the whole ratings system. The whole thing is a bunch of nonsense the numbers are so flawed. With all the technology in today's world there's still no better way to track TV viewership than for a couple thousand households in our country to type in codes into a box? Please.

Shows like "Modern Family," "Glee," and even "The Vampire Diaries," give me hope for the future of network television...even though we all know cable's where it at.

It's been a long summer with my TiVo a little too empty for my liking. I'm so glad it's time for fall TV. Here's what I'm looking forward to most.

Glee (Fox Wednesday 8pm)- "Glee" already premiered last week, but I had been looking forward to seeing this show since they previewed the pilot last spring. I'm a big fan of musicals making me the target audience. It takes a certain type of person to allow for the suspension of disbelief especially when dealing with high schoolers who look too old, breaking into song in the middle of class and fully produced musical fantasy numbers. The show is incredibly cheesy, which is exactly what is working best for it. The show is full of amazing talent like Lea Michelle and Amber Riley, not to mention Jane Lynch in a hilarious supporting role.

The Office (NBC Thursday 8pm/Sept. 17)- "The Office" returns for its sixth season this Thursday making all of us Jim and Pam fans very happy. I hear that they get right down to business with their wedding plans before Pam starts showing her pregnancy. I have really high hopes for this season. Last season it felt like the show was rejuvenated with the Michael Scott Paper Company. It proved that Michael is not a complete idiot and perhaps that he gained a little respect from his employees.

Community (NBC Thursday 8:30pm/Sept. 17)- "Community" stars Joel McHale as a cocky lawyer who faked his degree and now is headed back to community college. I love Joel McHale- for those of you who don't recognize his name, he is the hilarious host of "The Soup" on E! I don't know if the show was starring someone else that I'd care too much, but it's starring Joel so I'm going to go ahead and give it a go.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX Thursday 9pm/Sept. 17) I love these guys. I really don't know how I can explain to someone what this show is about without making it sound incredibly stupid. Maybe it is incredibly stupid, but it's also incredibly funny. The show is about a group of five, highly immoral people who do really stupid stuff all the time to try and benefit themselves. You know what, if you don't already watch the show or haven't heard of it, it probably isn't for you.

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO Sunday 8pm/Sept. 20) "Curb Your Enthusiasm" ended last season with quite possibly the greatest two minutes in the history of television. Ok, I might be exaggerating but I've never been so shocked or thrilled at a cliff hanger (watch here. ) The past season dealt with the real life issue of Larry David divorcing his wife. While all of that is going on Larry is getting much closer with the Blacks, a black family of hurricane refugees that Larry takes in, most notably being Loretta played by Vivica Fox and Leon played by J.B. Smoove (my favorite Leon moment) The last season of "Curb" ended in November of 2007, so it's safe to say I'm ready for its return. Oh yeah, did I mention that this season deals with the fake reunion of "Seinfeld" with all of the cast guest starring?

Heroes (NBC Monday 7pm/Sept. 21) I feel like everyone, myself included, keeps hanging on to this show because the first season was so amazing. Everything after the first season hasn't been so great. This show has so many problems like too many characters, slow moving story lines and super powers that don't always follow their own rules. Last seasons finale we saw Nathan Petrelli die and his mother deciding to cover it up by tricking the evil Sylar, a shape shifter, to take on Nathan's form and continue to live his life for him. How that's going to pan out, I'm not sure, but I'll probably keep watching until the show gets cancelled holding onto hope it's going to get better. Plus, I think Peter Petrelli, played by Milo Ventigmilia is super hot.

Cougar Town (ABC Wednesday 8:30pm/Sept. 23) The only reason I will give this show a chance is because it stars Courtney Cox. I really don't have much else to say about it.

Flash Forward (ABC Thursday 7pm/Sept. 24) The premise of this show is that the whole world blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds and gets a vision of their future. Some people want their vision to come true, others, not so much. It stars Sonya Walger (aka Penny Widmore from "Lost") and John Cho (aka Harold from "Harold and Kumar") along with a lot of people I've never heard of before. I don't know why, but the trailer has me intrigued, here's a preview. Apparently, I'm a big nerd and really like shows about time travel.

The Amazing Race (CBS Sunday 7pm/Sept. 27) The last season of "The Amazing Race," was the most exciting season of this show to date. It's the only reality competition show worth watching (ok, besides "Project Runway"). Last season we saw my favorites, Tammy and Victor, a brother and sister team win the show, but we can't forget the other memorable teams like Margie and Luke, the mom and deaf son (who was a total d-bag by the way) and my personal favorites gay writer/director Mike White and his gay dad, Mel. I hope that this season of show brings us just as many likable, strong teams as the last.

For a full list of Fall TV premieres head over to Watch With Kristin's calendar.