Your Virtual Fall TV Preview: Thursdays

This is the time of year when all the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and the CW) put out those cheap, cheesy “preview” specials. They often put them on at odd times, and mostly focus on what seems to be the worst of what they have to offer. Consider this as an improved version of that.

The following are previews of the new shows that will be airing on Thursday nights, along with a little background information and some speculation on how long they might last.

ABC is premiering My Generation at 8 pm. It’s a fictional look at how the current lives of friends who graduated in the year 2000 differ from their original teenage dreams.

The advertisements for this show make it look depressing with the implied message that the 2000’s aren’t so great. In these times, I’m guessing that people don’t want to see such misery and My Generation will soon be canceled.

CBS is batting for “Must See TV” status by moving the highly popular The Big Bang Theory to Thursday nights. Following it, at the 8:30 hour is $#*! My Dad Says, the only sitcom with a title that can’t be printed.

Why would anyone want to watch a show in which William Shatner plays the foul-mouthed father of a down-on-his-luck blogger? Then again, I don’t get the enormous popularity of the book or Twitter account on which the show is based on, either.

During the 9 pm hour, The CW debuts Nikita, a reboot of the popular cable series La Femme Nikita. For the unfamiliar, it stars Maggie Q as a female assassin who is on the run from the secretive powers who trained her.

Alias ran for years, and the success of movies like Salt prove that people like female assassin/spies. Still, Nikita looks expensive and it airs on TV’s biggest night. Will the network quickly can it in favor of a cheap reality show?

NBC is continuing their Thursday comedy line-up, with the only new addition being Outsourced at 9:30. In it, the supervisor of a “novelty item” company is sent to India to train the local customer-reps.

This comedy about clashing cultures certainly sounds like an interesting concept; but will it end up being funny, insulting, or full of cliches?

Coming soon, a look at Friday nights.