Top Ten New Shows: #7 - "Do Not Disturb"

Bryan Christian — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:27:00 GMT

The new fall season is almost here. Starting next week, the cable and broadcast networks will begin rolling out their new shows to see if they take off like castaways on an island or singing casino managers. Here, then, are the top ten new shows we're most looking forward to seeing.

Before you say anything about Jerry O'Connell, let's first all recognize that he was great in Stand By Me. Right? And in the intervening years, well, he's not been bad at doing what he does -- the occasional drama role like on Crossing Jordan, but mostly that genre of male humor and action that we'd normally call "pratfall handsome" (though in his case we might start that first word with an 'f'). And even if we suspect that deep in his heart, he'd like nothing more than strangle Brendan Fraser with his bare hands, you gotta admit: when you see the guy, like us, you're probably like "well, if he's good enough for Rebecca Romijn, he's good enough for me!"

But is he good enough for Arrested Development's MVP? Because the director of Do Not Disturb -- which, perhaps we should mention, is a multi-camera comedy set in a hotel where, no doubt, there are mixups and eccentrics aplenty -- is none other than Jason Bateman, who started his career as a sitcom director way back when he was part of the Hogan Family, and who we're positive picked up a few neat tricks during his three year run as Michael Bluth. Also, just for reference, it comes from an AD writer, and the first episode is apparently entitled "Work Sex," which, you know, we'd watch This Old House if it had an episode named that.

Will Fox show more forethought and consideration with Do Not Disturb than it did with Arrested Development, which got antagonized and rescheduled into oblivion. Oh, hell no. This show's got "hiatus" written all over it. Which is why we will be DVR'ing every episode.

Do Not Disturb (Wednesdays at 9:30 PM EST) premieres Wednesday, September 10 at 9:30 PM EST on FOX.

TOP TEN NEW SHOWS 2008

#1. "Fringe"
#2. "True Blood"
#3. "90210"
#4. "Life On Mars"
#5. "The Mentalist"
#6. "Sons of Anarchy"
#7. "Do Not Disturb"
#8. "Eleventh Hour"
#9. "Kath & Kim"
#10. "Knight Rider"

Do You Care About A "Las Vegas"/"Knight Rider" Crossover?

Bryan Christian — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:24:00 GMT

You should! 'Cause it's coming! Maybe! And if you're a fan of Crossing Jordan or Heroes -- well, you probably already guessed what we're gonna say next.

Now, maybe you're not a fan of any of these shows, and you're all sort of like "Huh?" Well, the deal is this: NBC cancelled Las Vegas this spring after the writers strike truncated the show's third season, and, to be fair, after the show has been through the familiar dance of declining ratings, cast defections, a new timeslot. Oh, and also literally one day after showrunner Gary Scott Thompson was signed to captain their new Knight Rider reboot.

Which, you know, good for Gary -- but bad, perhaps, for Vegas fans, who were kind of expecting the show to return for the '08-09 season, particularly after the season (er, series) finale had Danny and Delinda getting hitched with a baby on the way -- like, really on the way, if you catch our meaning -- and the return of Tom Selleck's character from almost-certain death, and a couple of other things that we've forgotten that implied they'd be back.

Well, turns out Thompson might be pushing to have Danny and Delinda turn up on an episode of Knight Rider.

Thompson says that Josh Duhamel and Molly Sims are particularly interested in spelling out what became of Danny, Delinda and their baby. "I talked to them both the other day, and they said we should do something. It was their characters that were really left hanging, and they were very upset by it."

Here's the thing about this: astute viewers of all things NBC will note that Las Vegas was known for its crossovers, with explicit or implicit appearances by characters from Crossing Jordan, Magnum P.I., and -- wait for it -- Heroes. That's right. Heroes. As in: if this thing goes down, you could see Sylar vs. a tricked out goddamn superintelligent Ford.

The Remote Island : Crossing Jordan

Top Ten New Shows: #7 - "Do Not Disturb"

Do You Care About A "Las Vegas"/"Knight Rider" Crossover?