Autumn Preview, Part 1.

Watching Prison Break yesterday has got me all excited about the start of the new season, although it's still 5 weeks away. In celebration of this anticipatory mood, I thought I'd share with you what info I have on the shows that matter. I'll be doing films and new shows in seperate posts, and today I'll be looking at the returning shows that'll be worth watching come September.

Firstly, Smallville. Season five ended strongly, and I expect season 6 to start well, and hopefully last a few episodes before descending into its usual mid-season dross. General info suggests all the lead characters survive their cliffhangers from season 5, and are contracted for the whole season. Many people take that to mean no deaths in season 6, but Jon Scheider was contracted for the whole of last season and was killed off half way through. The full season contract kept him available for flashbacks and ghostly appearances, and we all know how great they were. There're two new seires regulars joining the cast this year. Firstly Justin Hartley
plays billionaire Oliver McQueen. He's a campaigner against corporate injustice, which obviously brings him into conflict with Lex. The comics literate among you will also know Oli McQueen is also Green Arrow. Arrow makes his first apprearance shortly after McQueen, and I'm told he'll involve Clarke in trying to set up a naescent Justice League.This could mean more Aquaman/Flash apprearances in season 6, but no news on that yet. Secondly Aaron Ashmore joins the cast playing Jimmy Olsen, a well known character from the DC Superman universe. He's been mentioned in the show before, and will be a love interest for Chloe. The first episode will see Clark escaping from the Phantom Zone (with a little help from a mystery friend) and doing battle with Zod on earth. The producers have said this will be a "really big" episode. For more bits and bobs visit Kryptonsite, which is in the links on the sidebar here.

Next up, Lost. There's more info and rumours doing the rounds than you can shake Mr. Eko's shitty stick at, so I'll do my best to condense if for you. First of all, if you're a fan of the show you should really check out The Lost Experience. It's a very, very complicated multi-ledia game connected officially to the show that reveals little bits of mythology. Luckily there's no need to actually get involved as that blog posts all the relevant revelations for easy digestion.The first 6 episodes will form a "mini-series" according to the show's Producers. We'll find out what happens to Jack, Kate, and Sawyer in the hands of The Others, and what became of Desmond, Locke and Eko when the hatch went nova. The Others will be the focus of the third season, and we'll find out their origin and motivations. In the first couple of episodes Kate will "make a choice". I assume this to mean between Jack and Sawyer, but that's by no means certain. As The Others take center stage Michael Emerson joins the cast as a season regular playing Henry Gale. Penny will be an important character in season 3 and the relationship between the island and the outside world will be explored as a result. Libby will still feature despite her death on the island, so we assume that'll be in Desmon and Hurley flashbacks. Three rumours persist more than others, and if they're to be believed then amongst other things we'll see an underwater hatch, learn more about the Polar Bear, and learn that the monster and the black smoke are one and the same. The producers have quashed the notion that the black smoke is made of nanobots, and also stated clearly that the word "cloning" will never appear in connection with Lost. Episode one, "A Tale of Two Cities", will follow the captive trio. It'll be Kate-centric, and a 60yo woman and handsome 20yo man have been cast for the flashbacks. Lost returns on the 4th of October.

A bit of light relief now with My Name is Earl and Scrubbs. Nothing much to say about sit-coms, other than they're both back late September and both retain the full cast. I do hear rumour that Scrubs will be doing a musical episode this season, a-la Buffy. In further synchronicity the episode will be Season 6 episode 6, and Buffy's musical episode was also 6/6. Also, Kim, Elizabeth Banks' character, is definitely pregnant, but will only be around for a few episodes. Could be some tragedy in store for J.D.

Oh shit, I've got to go to the bank. Check back tonight for 24.