bionicwoman

You can probably tell fall TV's almost here by how many Back to You ads Fox pumps during So You Think You Can Dance.

But is Pushing Daisies as good as the commercials look? Will Bionic Woman be the next Battlestar Galactica? And can a show based on a Geico commercial be anything but terrible?

After watching all the pilots (lucky me), I started thinking about my best and worst list. I always get envious of movie critics at the end of the year, with their top 10s, top 20s -- heck, I've seen top 100s. Well, the fall season is the TV fan's time to shine.

So, I've made my list and checked it twice. Bionic is among the best and Cavemen one of the worst. Check out my full list of best and worst new fall TV shows.

Whatdo you think will end up on your best and worst list?

Ron Moore, he of the super-stupendous remake of Battlestar Galactica, will be sticking around the television universe for a few more years. According to press reports Moore has signed a two-year, seven-figure deal with Universal Media Studios, which is part of NBC Universal.

This deal means that he will continue to work with partner David Eick on BSG, which ends its run after this season (the fourth). He'll also work on other projects for the studio. This means that you could see something from Ron on NBC, USA, or SciFi Channel in the near future. There's even talk that Moore could have a new series on the air as early as fall 2008.

And, who knows? If Bionic Woman, which Eick is heading up, needs a bit of help perhaps Moore will stop in to give him a hand.

Good news everyone. TV Squad reader Kim points us to a myspace entry from Mark Sheppard revealing that he has just been added to the cast of Bionic Woman, as a series regular. I say it's good news because Sheppard is one of those actors that has been great in short lived roles on a number of shows, but never had that one big role. This has the potential to be his breakout.

Many people will recognize him from his role as Badger on Firefly, or his recent run on Battlestar Galactica as Romo Lampkin. In case you missed it though, one of my favorite Sheppard characters is his semi-recurring gig (one episode each season) on Medium as Dr. Charles Walker/Jack Walker. He also had a nice six episode run on day 5 of 24. Along with those more notable roles, his credits include one or two episode stints on another 20-odd shows. With this news, The Bionic Woman has vaulted to the top of my must-see list for the fall.

Ben Silverman is loosening up as the NBC executive session panel continues.

Asked what he felt was missing from NBC's lineup, the new Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, joked he wanted the chimes in the network's jingle turned up by 30%.

Silverman assures a reporter that he and Graboff are comfortable working side by side. "This wasn't an arranged marriage," he says. "We've known each other a long time."

Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, Co-chairs of NBC Enterainment and Universal Media Studios, start off their first TCA executive sessoin by reading some programming changes.

Deal or No Deal is moving to Friday night at 8, providing a nice lead in for critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights and Las Vegas, which has Tom Selleck joining its cast.

Isaiah Washington is going to join The Bionic Woman. He'll be in five of the first eight shows.

OK, so the networks have given their upfronts and they've sent out the screener DVDs. These are the pilot episodes of the new fall shows, in not-quite-completed form. Things could still change before they hit the networks this fall, but they give a good general sense of what the shows are about and what they're like.

Today Joel and I start with previews of some new NBC shows: Bionic Woman, Life, Chuck, and Journeyman. More networks and other shows coming soon!

(Photos courtesy NBC.com)

Ladies and gentleman, after poring over the material given to us during the network upfronts, viewing preview clips of all the new fall shows, and reading your opinions about it all, I have one thing to say about the upcoming 2007-2008 television season . . .

Meh.

This is one of the blandest fall seasons I have seen in a long time. Sure, there are a few shows that seem promising and mildly entertaining, but nothing that really popped out at me as a clear hit, nothing that got me excited. When I thought about it further I realized why that was: the new season is lacking hype, something that last season had a crapload of.

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that British actress Michelle Ryan has landed the role of Jaime Sommers in NBC's forthcoming remake of the Bionic Woman.

22-year-old Ryan shot to fame in the top-rated BBC soap opera Eastenders, playing troubled teenager Zoe Slater, but hasn't made much of an impact in anything else of note, which makes the casting all the more unusual.

However, she's tall and exceptionally beautiful -- in the Jennifer Garner mode -- and if she can shake off the east London accent, she may be able to convince American viewers that she truly is composed of $50million-worth of discarded computer parts.