NBC is trying to make Wednesday the new Thursday (Remember Must-See TV?) with a trio of crime-stoppers, beginning with the remake of “Knight Rider” at 8 tonight. Then “Life,” returning to Wednesday, follows at 9 as a lead-in to “Law & Order” (10 p.m.). The moves seem to be designed to showcase “Life,” which has been struggling in the Peacock Network’s 10 p.m. Friday slot, now home to “Lipstick Jungle.”

If there’s any justice in this world, the Friday gambit will work. Read more of this entry »

You know how on the Oscars someone invariably wins for a performance he gave three years ago? That’s how I feel about Simon Baker’s success on CBS’ hit “The Mentalist.”

On the one hand, Baker should’ve become a big star with his previous Eye Network outing, “The Guardian.” And he’s been an attractive presence in movies good (the delicious race-reversal comedy “Something New”) and bad (the ultra-violent, beyond-awful, post-Civil War study “Ride With the Devil,” a rare misstep by Ang Lee). So I’m glad Baker has gotten his due.

On the other hand, “The Mentalist,” which airs at 9 p.m. Tuesdays, is lightweight fare at best, particularly when compared to the dramatic complexity of “The Guardian.” Read more of this entry »

I’m on vacation through Tuesday, but all this exciting “Chuck” news was just too good not to post in the meantime.

First, and most important, NBC announced Thursday that “Chuck” will be picked up for a full second season! (Thanks to fellow Accessory Brian Howard for the tip.) Here’s what Teri Weinberg, an executive veep for NBC Entertainment, had to say about the pick-up:

“We couldn’t be more excited with the creative direction Josh (Schwartz) and his team are executing on ‘Chuck.’ This show has really hit its stride and deserves a full-season commitment to carry out the producers’ vision for this unique series.”

The news is particularly remarkable for a show that was not only on the renewal bubble in the spring but also hadn’t even broadcast its second season premiere, slated for Monday, Sept. 29. Kudos to NBC for realizing the show’s initial potential, but also for recognizing how it hit its stride halfway through debut season. I’m sure its cast’s strong showing and overwhelming fan response at Comic-Con this summer also made the Peacock take notice. Tack on the best stunt-casting on an active show not named “30 Rock,” and you’ve got a lot to be excited about in the year ahead. Read more of this entry »

In keeping with the episode title format of NBC’s “Chuck,” call this scenario “Chuck vs. the Other Networks.”

Zachary Levi, who deftly plays the dramedy’s charmingly nerdy title character, will be hosting NBC’s prime-time preview special across the network’s broadcast and online platforms from Aug. 30 to Sept. 28. And in this blogger’s humble opinion, there couldn’t be a better choice.

With the proliferation of the Internet, cable networks and other entertainment sources in recent years, it’s no secret that networks these days have a short leash for new series that struggle to find large audiences. (See ABC’s “Emily’s Reasons Why Not”… because no one else did! Hiyo!) Back when “Seinfeld” struggled to find an audience for The Peacock, networks could exhibit more patience in the hope that word of mouth would not only keep a show afloat but, in time, deliver a ratings champion. But it’s no longer the ‘90s, and networks that fail to land quick hits often pull the plug, leaving audiences disappointed by premature cancellation and more wary than ever to dedicate the time to newer series.

Which brings us back to Levi, “Chuck,” the preview special and NBC’s classy gamble. In having Levi host the show, it’s essentially dedicating a half-hour of subliminal advertising to “Chuck,” which was on the bubble as far as second-season pickups were concerned. For its fall preview special a few years ago, NBC showed similar faith in handing over hosting duties to the stars of another show on the ropes: “The Office,” which since has become a critical darling and modest success in the Nielsens. Here’s hoping “Chuck” receives the same boost.

Of course, “The NBC Primetime Preview” will do more than offer “an exclusive backstage look” at new series like “My Own Worst Enemy” (starring Christian Slater), “Kath & Kim” (Molly Shannon and Selma Blair) and “Crusoe” (Philip Winchester and Sam Neill). It’ll also show off some teasers for returning series (“The Office,” “30 Rock,” “Heroes,” “Life,” et al.).

The special’s being offered to all of NBC’s broadcast and Internet affiliates and will even be shown on “selected United Airlines flights.” Chuck’s flown a helicopter, after all, so I suppose that works.

NBC’s premiere week officially kicks off Sept. 22.

(Photo courtesy of NBC.com.)

NBC’s fall slate is out, confirming among other things that The Office returns Sept. 25.

30 Rock doesn’t return until Oct. 30, more than a month later, to make room for prime-time, election-editions of Saturday Night Live on Oct. 9, 16 and 23.

Other highlights include Heroes’s three-hour premiere (which includes an hour-long compilation show) Sept. 22, the Oct. 9 debut of Kath & Kim (9:30 p.m. ET) and the relaunch of Knight Rider Sept. 24 (8 p.m. ET). Entertainment chief Ben Silverman unveiled the lineup today.

Chuck returns (Thankfully!) Sept. 29 (8 p.m. ET) and leads into Christian Slater’s new show, My Own Worst Enemy 10 p.m. ET).

Kath & Kim,” starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, replaces Scrubs —which jumped to ABC—on Thursdays. Reality hit The Biggest Loser launches with a two-hour Families edition, filling the America’s Got Talent slot on Tuesdays.

America’s Toughest Jobs jumps its Summer 2009 scheduled debut with a two-hour episode on Sept. 12 (8 p.m. ET). Check local listings. Its schedule is zany. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (10 p.m. ET) starts its 10th season Sept. 23. Read more of this entry »

“Life was his sentence,” defense attorney Contance Griffiths (Brooke Langton) says of exonerated client Charlie Crews (Damian Lewis) on NBC’s “Life.” “And life was what he got back.”

But fans of the drama — which returns this fall in the 10 p.m. Friday time slot, where it has the potential to become the Peacock Network’s “House” — have to ask themselves, What kind of life is it?

As we commemorate Human Rights’ Day, we’re regularly confronted on the news with real-life Charlies — men, and women, who’ve serious time for serious crimes they didn’t commit and who were finally exonerated thanks to the new forensics technology. (My favorite recently was Cynthia Sommer, who was convicted of poisoning her Marine hubby, basically because she slept around and got a boob job with the insurance money after he was gone. The case is known on the Web as the Boob Job Murder. Hey, just because you act like a hussy doesn’t make you a killer.)

I don’t have to tell you that few of the exonerated get the sweetheart deal Charlie did — a $50 million settlement from the Los Angeles Police Department, where he was a uniformed officer, plus his job back with an upgrade to detective, and all that $50 million can buy — the mansion, the orange grove, the parade of cool, soon-to-be-discarded cars and cool, equally disposable girlfriends. Then there’s the also-beautiful, also-damaged partner; the sympathetic roomie; the eager stepmom-to-be; the tough but fair-minded boss; the guilt-ridden ex-partner. Sounds like a solid support system, right? This is, after all, TV.

But the truth is Charlie lost the life he knew— the lovely wife he had, the children he might’ve. Indeed, he is not the man he used to be, no man could be after being so brutalized.

Read more of this entry »

For the past few weeks, some of you may have noticed the badge in our blog’s sidebar that declares today as the day that Bloggers Unite for Human Rights.

We at Remote Access decided to join in, writing about topics that relate to some of the shows we watch and write about.

First off, at 12:30 p.m., Brian Howard uses The Office as a springboard to talk about the inherent right people have to work and earn a living to support their families.

At 3 p.m., Georgette Gouveia discusses Life and what society owes the wrongly imprisoned.

Finally, at 5 p.m., Amy Vernon addresses 24 and the issue of torture. Just because it works for Jack Bauer, does that make it right?

We’ll update this post as the day goes on to hyperlink to each of the aforementioned posts.

Please feel free to join in the discussion throughout the day.

Finally! The dramas are beginning to trickle back. Tomorrow, we get a new episode of CBS’ “Moonlight,” which is good since I can’t remember if hunky vampire/private eye Mick St. John (Alex O’Laughlin) is still human or turning back into a vamp. How quickly we forget.

Monday, “House” returns with first-run episodes. No need to worry about tube amnesia here. Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) is always bedeviling his assistants, looking down Dr. Cuddy’s blouse even as he considers how to outmaneuver her, putting upon the put-upon Dr. Wilson and diagnosing lupus. Thank goodness for misanthropic consistency.

Now if we could only get “Life” back on NBC (alas, not till the fall). I also have my fingers crossed for the autumnal return of “New Amsterdam,” although I’m not loving the way our hero, John Amsterdam (the estimable Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) fell into and out of bed with his beloved.

More sexual tension, less sex, please.

NBC announced three series pickups for the fall: Chuck, Life and Heroes. That last one was not a shock to anyone, to be sure, but it’s definitely nice to see the news about Chuck. I haven’t watched Life, but it sure gets good play… It’s not clear if any more episodes of Chuck or Life will be filmed for the rest of this season, but Heroes definitely won’t be back until fall.

NBC also recently announced it had picked up the American series adaptation of the popular Australian comedy, Kath & Kim. The American version would star Molly Shannon as Kath, “a cheerful, forty-something divorcee,” and Selma Blair as Kim, “her self-absorbed daughter.”

Speaking of, NBC and CBS also announced when several other shows would come back.

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What is the true nature of evil? I mean, the real nature of evil?

When I was a child, the nuns used to tell us that all evil had its roots in selfishness, which I suppose is a good general way of looking at it. But I think in modern times, evil specifically is the disproportionate rage at rejection.

Read between the lines of TV’s recent sad coverage of the shooters at the Omaha mall and Virginia Tech, then go back and look at the biographies of everyone from Adolf Hitler to Lee Harvey Oswald — who haunts a Jan. 14 exploration of John F. Kennedy’s assassination on PBS’ “American Experience” —to Osama bin Laden even, and you’ll see a pattern emerge. These men experienced some kind of rebuff in life — failure to get into a chosen profession, dismissal by a girlfriend, coldness on the part of the father or a daddy figure — and instead of chalking that up to life experience, they chose to visit a world of hurt on others, turning disappointment into devastation.

This has always been a great theme in the arts, and I’m sure someday some clever college professor is going to create a whole course on “the literature of rejection,” including Achilles in Homer’s “The Iliad”; Iago in Shakespeare’s “Othello”; Lucifer in Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” the pathetic monster in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights,” to name a few.

To these we can add Det. Charlie Crews on NBC’s “Life,” who on the last first-run episode of the year (the series returns in January) came dangerously close to going over the edge in his quest to right the brutal wrong that was done to him. Indeed, part of what kept you transfixed for the hour — I could barely breathe, let alone move — was watching star Damian Lewis and the writers (ah, writers!) dance on that ledge. When Charlie went after Kyle Hollis — the man who actually committed the murders for which he was sent to prison — you feared that Charlie might exact his pound of flesh by burying him alive. The level of ice-cold threat in Lewis’ performance was so riveting at the point that it was like watching in horror as someone you loved revealed a monstrous side you had never seen before. In that moment, I almost found Charlie hateful.

Of course, it all turned out to be a ruse on Charlie’s part to extract a confession from Hollis — a confession that in reality would be inadmissible in court since it was coerced. (Therefore, the other cops clapping for Charlie as the worked-over Hollis was brought into the police station seemed more than a little unrealistic.)

As fascinating as the whole episode was, with some great images — Charlie throwing the Zen tape out the window before his single-minded pursuit of Hollis; the snake with the gun inside it; Charlie cradling the long-lost Rachel (you knew it was her!) “Pietà”-style; Charlie in the car, upside-down after the accident, taking a cool-eyed shot at some bad guys — the single most important scene was the one in which Charlie met with his ex-wife and asked for her forgiveness.

In a way, it was an odd moment: She abandoned him, not vice versa. She loved him but not enough.

But forgiveness is not about the person who’s being forgiven. It’s about the person extending the forgiveness. At that moment, with Hollis in the trunk of his car, Charlie thought he might do something that would send him back to the slammer and so, decided to get right with the ex at least.

It turned out to be a step in the right direction. Another was retrieving the Zen tape from the highway. Charlie has a long road ahead. But when I think of him, I think of those lines from William Wordsworth’s “Imitations of Immortality”:

“Shades of the prison-house begin to close

“Upon the growing Boy,

“But He beholds the light, and whence it flows,

“He sees it in his joy.”

I’m still trying to figure out why some critics say Charlie Crews is much more interesting than the cases he investigates on NBC’s “Life.” Like “The Simpsons” — another well-written though vastly different show — each quirky episode of “Life” starts out being about one thing and ends up being about another. (Sort of like Life, without the quotation marks.)

Last night’s tremendous installment — which featured all kinds of creepy, controlling daddy figures — began with the story of a murdered teenage girl and ended with a teenage boy, called Nate, who befriended her. Turns out he had been kidnapped years ago by a guy who was obviously a pedophile and who kept his “son” a psychological prisoner. This, of course, immediately spoke to Charlie (Damian Lewis), who knows that the bars people place on their souls can be as powerful as the ones they put on cells. And it led to an understated but no-less-haunting finale, in which Charlie — hinting at the sexual abuse he undoubtedly endured in prison — reached out to the boy, suggesting by his very presence that while Nate would always be an individual set apart because of his traumatic experience, there was nonetheless a way through it.

I’m of two minds about “Life’s” treatment of the prison rape Charlie must’ve endured. (I say must’ve, because I don’t think it would be possible for such a man — a good-looking cop — not to be assaulted in prison, even if he were ultimately placed in solitary confinement. As one of the characters in Spike Lee’s disturbing “25th Hour” says of the handsome drug dealer brilliantly embodied by Edward Norton, he doesn’t have the face for prison.) On the one hand, I think “Life” should acknowledge the 800-pound-gorilla in the room and address the issue psychologically. On the other hand, with all the exploitative sex and violence on the tube, the series’ restraint and ironic distance might be the best approach.)

In any event, scenes like last night’s closer have clearly given NBC the confidence to order a full complement of episodes of “Life” for this season and to begin to showcase the program with a two-parter airing at 10 p.m. Monday and Wednesday (on Channel 4 locally). This does not, however, bode well for “Journeyman,” which currently occupies the 10 p.m. Monday time slot and has not received the same vote of confidence from the Peacock Network. While I like “Journeyman” and think it’s getting stronger, it’s not as compelling as “Life” and may wind up losing its time slot to the better show. Survival of the fittest. Such is life.

Now a word about Damian Lewis’ performance as Charlie, which looks all the more remarkable when you have the pleasure of contrasting it — as I did over Thanksgiving weekend — with his turn as Soames Forsyte on WNET-Channel 13’s marathon airing of “The Forsyte Saga,” part II.

Soames Forsyte — the constricted, possessive scion of a wealthy British family at the dawn of the 20th century — would so hate the free-wheeling Charlie Crews, even though they have more in common than meets the eye. (Watch Charlie interrogate a suspect. Like Soames, he has a killer instinct.)

Soames’ dark secret — the thing he can scarcely bring himself to discuss, he’s so ashamed — lies with the cruelty he visited on the wife who betrayed him. Yet such is the genius of Lewis’ performance that he makes the sometimes villainous Soames totally intelligible. Indeed, it’s worth watching the entire series on DVD to revel in the stiff way Lewis’ Soames comports himself — speech clipped, shoulders hunched, arms close to the body.

His Charlie has a whole different verbal and kinetic rhythm — looser but still edgy. Like an Olivier, Lewis can create a character from the outside in. But like a good Method actor, he can also express the internal, as in that scene with that lost boy, in which he says and does little and yet conveys so much compassion.

So, the People’s Choice awards approach. This is where you, the people, get to choose the best shows. So long as they’re in the list of shows that the People’s Choice people decide you get to choose from.

Anyway, here are the TV nominations:

Favorite sci-fi show: Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who, Stargate Atlantis (my choice: BSG)

Favorite new TV comedy: Aliens in America, Back to You, The Big Bang Theory, Carpoolers, Cavemen, Chuck, Reaper, Samatha Who? (my choice: Reaper)

Favorite TV comedy: The King of Queens, My Name is Earl, Two and a Half Men (my choice: this is a choice?)

Favorite animated comedy: Family Guy, King of the Hill, The Simpsons (my choice: The Simpsons)

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Lifers, rejoice!

NBC’s “Life” (10 p.m. Wednesdays, Channel 4 locally) is finally getting some of the buzz it deserves, with promos on the peacock net’s “Football Night in America” and a spot at No. 10 on Entertainment Weekly’s “The Must List” this week.

Wednesday night’s episode, titled “Farthingale,” should further justify that attention and solidify fans’ adoration. The terrific script — about the bizarre murder of a government agent who both is and isn’t what he appears to be — makes use of word reversals in sentences in a way that recalls the King James Bible, of all things. The episode also keeps all the major characters in play, even Constance (Brooke Langton), who’s back from the right coast with revelations for Charlie (Damian Lewis). Indeed, everyone has something to reveal and something to hide in an episode about the divided self. Meanwhile, the overall conspiracy thickens as the lead detective in the investigation that sent Charlie to prison is murdered, and Charlie becomes suspect numero uno — again.

A couple of things to think about as you watch this episode: The blogs at the show’s official site have begun floating the idea that Dani (Sarah Shahi) may be the long-lost Rachel. “Farthingale” should fuel that speculation.

Secondly, Who is the voice on the Zen tapes Charlie keeps listening to, the ones that tell us we’re not alone, that everything is connected, a major theme Wednesday? The voice has a British accent.

Could it be the voice of Lewis — a Brit actor, after all — speaking to his American alter ego?
Talk about a split personality.

With “Life” now a must in my life and “Journeyman” finally taking off, I’m happy to report a vast improvement in CBS’ vampire drama, “Moonlight.” Obviously, the Eye Network is liking what it sees, too: It’s ordered up four more episodes, although with the writers’ strike upon us, this is all a moot point, isn’t it?

Well, perhaps we’ll get an early rerun of last Friday’s honey of an episode, in which private eye/vamp Mick St. John (Alex O’Loughlin) gets a call from vamp pal Josef (Jason Dohring) — more like a tap on the old cryogenic coffin — to nab a 500-year-old bloodsucker named Lola, who once took Josef for a million bucks. Of course, it’s more complicated than that: Lola’s dealing in a drug made of vampire blood and silver that renders both the living and the undead permanently gone. In small doses, it’s also something of an aphrodisiac, transforming Beth Turner (Sophia Myles) — our otherwise stalwart Lois Lane, who has a long history with Mick — into something of a vixen.

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Well, the stock market’s down and Joe Torre’s gone — at least, from the Yankees — but all in all, it’s been a pretty good week on the tube, with NBC’s Matt Lauer navigating the tricky Sen. Larry Craig waters gracefully; PBS’ “Frontline” doing solid work, once again, on Vice President Dick Cheney; the PBS documentary “Wordplay” offering real insight into the psyche of New York Times crossword puzzle fanatics (Who knew the Yankees were such word-smiths?); and the village of Tuckahoe offering stellar support on Fox in “Kitchen Nightmares,” with chef Gordon Ramsay at perhaps his most rational. Take a bow all.

Surfing the nets this week got me thinking about a variety of subjects. For one, I’m wondering if Det. Dani Reese could possibly be the missing Rachel on NBC’s “Life”? Consider this: She’s about the right age and coloring, and she’s got enough personal demons to make it plausible that she endured some trauma as a child (like surviving the psychopathic murder of her entire family). Of course, she would be deliberately hiding her identity from her partner, Det. Charlie Crews. But still, there could be an explanation for doing so. I’d love to hear from fellow “Lifers” on this.

Still on “Life,” how come everybody on TV seems to have some variation on the name Charles this season? There’s Charlie on “Life” and on CBS’ “Two and a Half Men,” who’s played by a real-life Charlie (Sheen). Then there’s Chuck on ABC’s “Pushing Daisies,” Fox’s “Back to You” and, of course, NBC’s “Chuck.”

“Charles,” from the Old German meaning “free man,” is a chilly, formal name. “Chuck” and “Charlie” have a friendly sound. That must be it.

TV’s Charlies certainly live in fabulous abodes, “Two and a Half Men’s” Charlie in a Malibu beach-house (Does he know Barbie?), while “Life’s” Crews dwells in the quintessential Los Angeles house. Is this the season we go from “House” to houses? Dan’s Victorian on “Journeyman” is to die for, leaky ceilings and all, while the jewel-colored, Cuban-style manse on CBS’ “Cane” is virtually the only reason to tune in the show. (Honestly, if “Cane” is hoping to be the 21st-century’s “Dallas” or “Dynasty,” it’s going to have to get down and dirty and unleash Polly Walker.)

There’s also some nice real estate on CBS’ musical dramedy “Viva Laughlin,” which is otherwise unspeakable. Someone should foreclose on this one.

By far, however, the most entertainment on the tube this week was provided not by a network drama or comedy but by the news divisions reporting on China’s women trouble. Back in 1980, the government instituted a one-child policy, which led many couples to favor boy babies over girls, since sons take care of the parents in old age. Apparently, it never occurred to anyone that this would lead to a scarcity of marriageable women, who would then gain the upper hand in, oh, say, 2007. Duh.

Well, those chickadees have now come home to roost, and anxious young Chinese men are vowing to win the persnickety ladies’ hearts by earning a lot of money and buying big houses. (Gee, like on “Life”? Forget the shacks, guys. Try acquiring some of Damian Lewis’ charisma.)

“Life” may be good, but real life remains unparalleled in its irony.

NOTE: This originally was posted Oct. 12 on our temporary site.

Additional scripts have been ordered for five new fall series, according to The Hollywood Reporter—Bionic Woman, Life, Journeyman and Chuck, on NBC and Cane on CBS.

This is a big deal because of the looming writer’s strike, which is set to start Nov. 1 if everything falls apart in negotiations.

THR says most of the series involved already have the scripts for their initial 13-episodes order—if not completed, then close to it—and this’ll help get them through, I guess, the end of the year. Or, at least until everything pretty much goes on hiatus for the winter season and the 40-year-old Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman, A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and their brethren grace the small screen for a few weeks until after New Year’s.

The NBC shows got three additional scripts and Cane got four.

An order for additional scripts is cheaper than an episodic order, and it keeps the writers working. If the network follows them with a full-season pickup, with the teleplays already in place, the shows can resume production almost immediately with shorter hiatuses for the cast and the crew. Only one new series this season, CW’s “Gossip Girl,” has been given a full-season pickup so far.

One of the great pleasures of being a critic on vacation is the difference in the way you watch TV – with more of a willingness to be diverted than a critical eye.

Still, the critical eye is never entirely absent. I found many of my first impressions unchanged. I was tickled by “Chuck” the second and third time around —you have to love a guy who’s willing to do “the girl part” in the tango —and wished, yet again, that I could say the same for “Moonlight” and “Journeyman.” (Although you’ll notice that the writers on “Journeyman” are making an effort to explain Dan’s ability to time-travel and to distinguish between past and present with flashes of white light. I still say the show’s success will hinge on the triangle with lost love Livia and beloved wife Katie.)

Some shows, however, improve greatly upon acquaintance. Such is NBC’s “Life” (10 p.m. Wednesdays, Channel 4 locally), which I originally liked for star Damian Lewis’ sake, but which now has me hook, line and sinker.

I love the way exec producers Rand Ravich, Far Shariat, Dan Sackheim and David Semel manage to satisfy two often diametrically opposed audiences. For those who can’t stand continuing story lines, there are cases that are solved each week in the self-contained episodes. But for those who don’t mind being “Lost” in an over-arcing plot, there is the larger issue, unspooled documentary-style, of who framed Det. Charlie Crews (Lewis) for the grisly murder of a family that sent him to the slammer for 12 brutal years. (Clues are embedded in each episode and at nbc.com.)

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Here’s the Wednesday premiere ratings, via The Hollywood Reporter:

Bionic Woman lost in total ratings to the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Private Practice, but in the key “demo” (adults 18-49), defeated Addison & Co., so it’s pretty much a wash. But ABC won the night (just barely, by a 10th of a ratings point!) in part because of a THIRD CONSECUTIVE NIGHT of Dancing With the Stars. What? How many freakin’ nights can this show air?

Anyway, here’s how all the new shows fared last night:

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How much do we love damaged men?

Wait, that didn’t quite come out right. There are, of course, women like Dr. Cameron who hope to save the misanthropic Dr. Houses of the world and in so doing, save themselves. More likely, audiences are attracted to brittle characters whose wounds — like that of the legendary Fisher King —fascinate because they cannot be healed.

Damian Lewis’ Charlie Crews — who makes his first bid for our sympathies at 10 tonight in NBC’s new drama “Life” — is the latest candidate for a latter-day Fisher King.

Like that shattered figure — as well as Dr. House over on Fox — police Det. Crews has terrible physical wounds that hint at larger psychic ones. We are told, more than once, that many of his bones were broken en route to his surviving 12 years of imprisonment for a murder he didn’t commit.

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It has arrived: Ãœber premiere week, though I don’t think that’s the official name. Anyhow, gobs and gobs of shows are premiering this week. Here’s what’s ahead:

Monday, Sept. 24
8 p.m. — Chuck (NBC)
— Dancing with the Stars (special 90-minute premiere) (ABC)
— How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
8:30 p.m. — Big Bang Theory (CBS)
9 p.m. — Heroes (NBC) (pictured, at right)
— Two and a Half Men (CBS)
9:30 p.m. — Rules of Engagement (CBS)
— The Bachelor (special 90-minute premiere) (ABC)
10 p.m. — Journeyman (NBC)
— CSI: Miami (CBS)

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