Not everything has premiered yet, but some of the new shows have aired their second episodes. I’ve yet to love anything so much that I want to add it straight away to my watchlist. Here’s my take on the handful of shows I wanted to give a second chance. Back to You — Kelsey Grammer’s character is sufficiently un-Frasierly, and a second viewing featured subplots to bolster supporting characters. There are a few laugh-out-loud jokes, but mostly the humor tries to hard. I don’t feel compelled to follow the show further, but I would recommend it to my dad. The Big Bang Theory — This episode featured Jim Parsons a little more prominently as roommate Sheldon. His twenty-something David Hyde Pierce quality works well. The show manages to mine the nerd subculture in a way that is funny whether you relate or not. Kaley Cuoco does a masterful job staring blankly to dismiss the nerdiest moments, as if she doesn’t notice or understand just how nerdy her new pals are. You kinda believe this hottie would be friends with the nerds next door. I will continue to watch, though I wouldn’t go out of my way to suggest this show to folks less inclined than me to watch sitcoms purely for research.

Bionic Woman – Jaime Sommers decided to start working for the secret, anti-terrorist government agency that bionicked her.  (‘Bionicked’ is a word, right?)  Her kid sister is still really annoying.  There are bad guys out there trying to kill people with bioweapons.  Other than that, we didn’t learn much, and we’re kinda wanting a bit more.  Not in that good, Lost way of wanting to know more, sadly.  I’ll watch another, but it’s time for them to up the interest.

Cane — I liked the pilot, but somehow this week felt tonally off. It was soapier, somehow smacking of the influence of “younger”, WB-style shows with pretty people having problems stacked on. If you decide to watch future episodes, try to skip past the horribly written voiceover intro catching you up with the show. Jimmy Smitts telling us he’ll “do what whatever takes,” turns the cheese factor to eleven. That’s before the scorpion in a gift box. I like the cast of this show a lot, but decided to stop following it halfway through the second episode.

Reaper — The second episode didn’t appeal. I’m wondering now if the show can survive, long-term. Our hero must track down escaped damned souls. If the formula continues to be that some monster is chasing around town, and in the end Sam just beads the baddie using whatever device the Devil gave him at the beginning of the episode, where’s the fun in that? The torment from the devil lacked edge this week, and the subplot about lying to his mother was just lame. Overall, however, there’s wit. I’ll give it one more.

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