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David Mumpower: With regards to the new shows, the big surprise was Running Wilde, a show I had TiVo'd only because Keri Russell is in it. I loved her in Mission: Impossible III and Waitress so much that I was willing to overlook the presence of Will Arnett, someone I would hit in the face with a shovel if given the opportunity. The pilot offered a hysterical bit between two ultra-rich characters who had no ability to deceive and that gag co-starred Peter Serafinowicz, whom I have loved ever since Tim Bisley shot him in the groin with a paintball gun in Spaced. I don't give this show any hope of long term sustainability/popularity, but I'll be watching the rest of it.

Hawaii 5-0 had a quirky start with a mismatch of tight action and woeful exposition. The first 10 minutes featuring Spike from Angel against that other vampire from Midnight in a scene directed by the guy who also directed his wife when she played a vampire in Underworld was...oddly non-vampiric. But it was white hot. After that, the show was a mixed bag, but I liked it well enough to give it a shot. That goes double if James Marsters makes a return appearance here and there.

As for The Event, I find it telling that after so many people I know gave the show a chance for one episode, there was almost no discussion among my friends about the follow-up episode. Suffice it to say that my answer to the question "What is The Event?" is "Boring." I'm learning a lesson from the Flash Forward fiasco and cutting my losses right now.

The other two new shows we've given a shot thus far are Top Chef: Just Desserts and Nikita. The former show is a complete bust as Bravo seems to have chosen the hateful and craziest contestants they could find. They had this misstep with the most recent season of Top Chef as well, but viewers got lucky in that the innocuous people wound up advancing far into the game while the all the bitchy people (except Angelo) got eliminated quickly. For that to happen on Top Chef: Desserts, the entire cast would have to be eliminated. Unlike Top Chef, this is a show that has contestants serving food I might actually enjoy eating (I have the palate of a four-year-old with the applicable matching sweet tooth), but the personalities chosen to compete make me unwilling to watch further.

Meanwhile, Nikita is a concept I have always loved going back to the original French film (Anne Parillaud FTW!) and I very much enjoyed the Canadian series (Peta Wilson FTW!). I also have a huge crush on Maggie Q for her performance in the afore-mentioned Mission: Impossible III (I really, really like that film if it's not obvious) as well as her rendition of Pour Some Sugar on Me during the end credits of Balls of Fury. I do not, however, award her a FTW! for her performance in Nikita thus far. In fact, she is the worst part of the show to date, slutty outfits notwithstanding. I simply don't understand how this is possible in that she's a fun, charismatic person yet she is playing this role as if inflection is her mortal enemy. I'm going to keep watching for a while longer, but Nikita is breaking my heart. Dear producers of the show: please get better so that I can give Maggie Q the FTW! she so sorely needs.

We were also planning to watch Lone Star, a show whose first two episodes I've TiVo'd, but....well, you know. Adrianne Palicki's fate as an actress appears to be choosing wonderful roles in television series that critics fall all over themselves to praise critically that no one else watches. Personally, I think that's a better fate than working on Two and a Half Men and the like, but Palicki's accountant probably disagrees with me.

Kim Hollis: I remain most excited about Boardwalk Empire. I mentioned last week, I think, that I thought the first half of the show was a bit slow, but that second portion was great and I look forward to seeing where they take it. The Event was so awful. I started making fun of it only a few moments in and watched the whole episode, but I could have turned it off after a half hour. The supposed big moment is not shocking, not unexpected and honestly, pretty dumb.

Running Wilde is pretty charming, which wasn't entirely what I was expecting. I laughed a lot, and that's good enough for me. Undercovers is actually fluffy and silly but fun. I'll give Nikita a pass after watching two episodes. It does nothing for me. Top Chef: Just Desserts should have been awesome since the food is fantastic looking, but there is not a likable chef in the bunch.

The best hour of TV remains Modern Family/Cougar Town. I really don't care much about anything else with perhaps the exception of Boardwalk Empire, but that's not because I've fallen in love with it but because I see potential.

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