Revenge - ABC

Do you ever wonder what it would feel like to be a bad ass and get true, premeditated revenge against someone who has hurt you? Welcome to Revenge!

Revenge is a show about a young woman who spends the summer in the Hamptons to get revenge on the people who destroyed her father. It starts off looking like another prime time soap, but then surprisingly, it gets pretty good as you cheer on Emily in her quest for revenge.

Confucius said, "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." Will her vengeance finally get the best of Emily, or will she get the best of the those who wronged her family? I will be watching episode #2 to find out.

Slated for Wednesday nights up against tough competition in CSI and L&O SVU, the only question is will anyone watch. I hope so because Revenge just might be my new guilty pleasure.

Pan Am - ABC

Where were you in 1963? If you spent any time in the air you will feel like you have gone back in time watching Pan Am.

But that's where the coolness of Pan Am ends. In Pan Am we follow beautiful Stewardesses (they weren't called flight attendants back then) as they enter the jet age... and the cold war age. Here is how ABC describes their new drama, "In their individual quests for adventure, the Pan Am crew face both opportunity and peril, as they juggle their lives, their loves, their hopes and dreams while flying around the world to glamorous international cities like Paris, Berlin, Jakarta and Monte Carlo. Welcome aboard, and fasten your seat belts... Adventure awaits!"

Sounds exciting, but it's not. If you want to relive a little of the golden age of flying when we had "Champagne Service" instead of the current cattle car mentality, go ahead and spend a few minutes watching the pilot of Pan Am. And if you're anything like me, you won't be around for the second episode.

Prediction: Pan Am lasts a month, then is replaced with Good Christian Belles.

Good Christian Belles - ABC

Why is it that prime time soaps have to be based in Dallas? Why is it that we have to have prime soaps at all?

GCB, Good Christian Belles is based on the book Good Christian Bitches... makes sense to change the B word to Belles so that we don't have another *&%&*#@$ My Dad Says.

Amanda was the mean beautiful girl from high school that the boys loved and the girls hated. Now 20 years later her life and marriage have fallen apart and she is forced to move back home with her rich Mom in Dallas.

Actually the soap part of GCB is over rated and this is actually a mild drama with some very funny moments. Amanda is now nice, but the old haters want revenge. Everything is based around church and a scriptural excuse can always be found for a well deserved act of meanness. Throw in the kids fresh from LA to Dallas and there are some likeable characters.

ABC must not have much faith in this program because it isn't even listed on their fall or mid-season schedules anywhere. If I were ABC's program director I would run it right after Desperate Housewives - it's the same audience. Only one problem with that scenario, ABC is running their new drama Pan Am Sunday nights after Housewives.

No worries, Pan Am will only last a month, then GCB can drop right in that slot. And with no other replacements in the pipeline Belles should last the rest of the year.

The X Factor - FOX

They're baaaaack...

What can I say about The X Factor? The network isn't letting anyone see the pilot, but everyone knows what it will be like and it is expected to earn huge ratings.

If you like Simon & Paula you will be watching. If you're just curious what all the hype is about, you'll at least watch the first episode.

The only question is how tired are Americans of singing competitions? Based on how well The Voice did this summer, we're ready for more. Well, my teenagers will be watching, but I'll be doing anything else I can think of.

Alcatraz - FOX

One of the ways I judge a new program is by how much I am looking forward to seeing episode two and three. Alcatraz falls into this category.

In 1963 the Alcatraz prison was closed and the prisoners and guards were moved to other facilities. Or were they? The premise of Alcatraz is that all 300 of these people disappeared into thin air and now, nearly 50 years later, they are returning one at a time.

Of course if bad guys are secretly and mysteriously returning, a special law enforcement agency is needed to capture and put them away. But it must be done quietly and even the new prison facility must be kept under wraps.

I can't wait to see the next episode of Alcatraz. This is a program with the depth to make a great long running series. Unfortunately it's not scheduled to start until mid-season.

FOX is in an enviable position in which they can shelve a program this good and bring it out whenever they need it. But if FOX were to listen to my advice it would kill Kitchen Nightmares and put Alcatraz in its Friday night slot NOW.

Mysterious, interesting, and even some nail biting. Cool show.

The Finder - FOX

The Finder is a new procedural based on a man with a remarkable gift for finding people and things.

Walter is an Iraq war veteran who was blown up by an IED. His subsequent recovery included the discovery of a new gift for finding the unfindable. Of course someone like this has to be a little weird and Walter is no exception. He lives in Key West and makes a local bar his home and office.

FOX has jumped on the current band wagon of law enforcement consultant (Mentalist, Castle, etc) shows, and in this case it's the FBI that needs help. And the Finder does his job.

The Finder will be Bones' mid-season replacement and should do just fine. Not great, but good enough. It may hold 2/3 of Idol's lead-in audience and that's enough to stick around for the season and beyond.

I Hate My Teenage Daughter - FOX

Fox's other comedy this fall is a loser.

I Hate My Teenage Daughter is difficult to watch. Imagine two divorced best friend women raising their over-the-top spoiled brat daughters together. They are lousy moms being manipulated by girls who know how to push their buttons. Sounds like a funny premise, right?

I would go into the rest of the plot, but that would be a waste of time... which is what you'll be doing if you watch I Hate. It's not funny, but it is annoying. It's FOX's worst pilot in a long time.

However, FOX must really believe in this show because they are leading it in with X-Factor. Can an expected huge audience be enough to save I Hate? No. It will lose at least half of X-Factor's audience and FOX will be scrambling for a replacement.

New Girl - FOX

Fox doesn't have many new programs this fall and New Girl is their only decent comedy.

Jess is a twenty-something who just went through an ugly break up and needs a new apartment. She finds one with three guys who need a new roomie... but they have no idea what they're in for with the new girl. Tears, hormones, tissues and Dirty Dancing are her current life. Oh ya, and she never stops singing. Do the guys have any idea what they are getting into?

Jess is a fun, quirky character. The three guys are going to learn more about women (albeit a fairly strange one) through this relationship.

New Girl has a strong lead-in on Tuesday nights running after Glee. It's fun, it's cute; the Glee crowd will love it. A keeper for Fox.