The flood of premieres slowed down a bit over the last couple of weeks, but there were still some interesting premieres with a few surprises.  

Doctor Who

Hugely anticipated was the arrival of Jodie Whittaker as the latest incarnation of the reincarnating Doctor — first time as a woman. In the premiere episode, everything was new since there was no carryover from the last season of companions or alien enemies. Even the location has shifted to South Yorkshire, and the format has changed a bit with more than a couple of “companions” at once (though they’re not technically companions, just active bystanders) having an adventure with the Doctor. In fact, even the TARDIS is MIA in the first episode of the new season, so the classic newbie reaction to the ship being bigger on the inside has not yet occurred. So far, Whittaker has made a wonderful new Doctor. I’m still getting used to a new incarnation of the character, and she’s really different from the Peter Capaldi version that we just left behind. She’s got that kind of absent-minded, hyperactive energy that was characteristic of Matt Smith’s version of the Doctor. Plus, she’s still gradually relearning her skills and knowledge to some degree, so it’s humourous how she is learning about her new body and new situation with equal freshness. The plot of the premiere revolves around a pair of strange aliens, one who is some kind of hunter, which The Doctor and her new sidekicks need to stop. Even with a new showrunner, Chris Chibnall, the season seems off to a very good start as the episode is a nice blend of sci-fi adventure with some character scenes and dramatic narrative thrown in. I’m excited for the rest of the season with this new female Doctor.  

Riverdale

Archie and the gang are back, and daring us to find remnants of their comic-book origins as our redheaded hero is on trial for murder, having been framed by his girlfriend Veronica’s mobster father, Hiram Lodge. If you think that plot thread is outlandish, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet because the other parts of the episode get only weirder. If you weren’t already tired of the gang war between the Southside Serpents and the Ghoulies, there’s a bit more of that still left on the plate. At Betty’s home, her mother and sister have joined a cult (or is it pronounced “occult”?). Out of nowhere, Jughead’s nerd friend shows us what every conservative midwestern parent fears: that role playing games lead to satanic rituals. They really seem to be leaning into the dark and creepy just in time for the arrival of sister series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix. I think Riverdale is a lot of crazy fun and they definitely throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. I didn’t love the mob storyline last season nor the gang stuff, but I hope we are moving on from that. I do enjoy creepy mysteries, so I’m glad if the premiere indicates that we’re going down that path instead.  

Will & Grace

I was delighted with last year’s revival of this beloved sitcom, and some of the episodes last season were really enjoyable. However, I’m almost afraid that they are moving into that area that I didn’t like in their original run where they introduce too many wacky plots just so the characters can cut loose. The storylines seemed to swing wildly and the relationships seemed unrealistic and ridiculous (Remember when Karen almost married Lyle Finster?). At the end of last season Will and Grace’s two surviving parents had a fling and decided to get married. WTF! Jack decided to get engaged to a flight attendant that he just met. WTF! In the season premiere they deal with some of those plot threads (Jack has a botched Facetime call with fiance Estefan’s parents) but it focuses a lot more on Grace and her burgeoning relationship with David Schwimmer’s guest character, a grumpy blogger known as the Westside Curmudgeon. They seem so mismatched it’s not even funny (I mean that) but then again, her relationship with Woody Harrelson’s Nathan was actually pretty good, so who knows? I hope this hodge-podge of stories does not already indicate fatigue in the writer’s room. I don’t want this show to go quickly back down the tubes.  

Fresh Off The Boat

The quality of this series was also waning last season, and I was getting a bit annoyed by Jessica and her easy success as a writer. I was afraid that in this season, after the success of actress Constance Wu in the movie Crazy Rich Asians, Jessica’s character would become even more prominent and annoying. Happily, that has not been the case since, unfortunately for her character, Jessica’s book was not a huge success so she’s back to being a mom. I hope this will focus more stories on the boys, which it seems to have done. I thought the storyline in the premiere about Eddie having to say goodbye to Nicole — his neighbour, first crush, and best friend — was pretty good. I’m not sure where the season plans to go, but I’m hoping it returns to being more of a family sitcom than having the Huangs get focused on other external things — it’s a classic pitfall for family sitcoms after a few seasons. Just in time for Halloween, there’s still a couple of witchy premieres to come: the controversial premiere of the Charmed reboot and the aforementioned Sabrina reboot. Stay tuned!