Blog Posts by Angel Cohn

Arrr, matey: "Hart of Dixie" has taken "cutesy" to a whole new level (Greg Gayne/The CW)"Hart of Dixie" started out with a ridiculous premise, but we didn't think it would be able to deliver that kind of insanity on a regular basis. But it has, and not just by having a medical professional running around in short shorts and fighting to keep a practice with patients she is either grossed out by or has personally injured, but by making the "quaint" happenings in Stars Hollow seem practically normal by comparison.

Turtle Time
Big sporting event in Bluebell? Turtle racing. And a turtle race that is fixed so snobby Southern women don't get all twisted up. Between that and the gumbo contest (which is almost just a shoo-in for Brick to win), there are far too many contrived "events" in this town designed to placate blowhards. And this one puts the poor turtles in the middle.

Whistlin' Dixie
The pilot was ripe with bizarre images, like a fancy doctor walking in Louboutins on a dirt road, encountering an alligator (what is with this town and its animals?) and struggling to deal

The truTV series "Full Throttle Saloon" starts its third season this week, albeit without the fanfare of a "Jersey Shore" or a "Real Housewives of fill-in-the-blank." But that doesn't mean it is any less compelling. The show focuses on the popular bar at South Dakota's famed Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and features lots of drunken people, loud music, half-naked women, and a ton of money. Toss in some volatile relationships and you've got a solid reality show with rough-around-the-edges personalities that don't ham it up for the camera the way that The Situation or Lisa Vanderpump do.

With the majority of our favorite shows essentially going into hibernation in December, it's the perfect time for networks to dust off their classic holiday specials and throw a few new ones in the mix, too. Here's what's worth watching, even if you're a Grinch or a Scrooge.

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A very sweet 16: The contenders line up on "Top Chef: Texas" (Virginia Sherwood/Bravo)To prove the old "everything's bigger in Texas" adage, "Top Chef: Texas" started with 29 chefs and whittled them down to the Top 16 over the course of two episodes. But this season has a wild-card element in the form of the online "Last Chance Kitchen" (the show's twist on "Survivor's" Redemption Island), which means a 17th chef has a shot at re-entering the competition. So which member of this supersized cast has the best odds of winning it all? We've got some early predictions.

Andrew Curren
First Impression: Seems like a cool guy who studied to be a veterinarian and then traveled around the world cooking, but he made messy mushrooms, got a second chance, and still didn't quite make the cut.
Odds of Winning: 1,000 to 1. Don't count him out yet, because he's the first winner of "Last Chance Kitchen," but in order to get into the finals, he'll have to beat every single person who gets eliminated. Those are some long odds.

Now that both "Once Upon a Time" and "Grimm" have finally debuted, there's not much to look forward to this fall, with the notable exception of AMC's "Hell on Wheels" (premiering November 6) and the less notable exception of Fox's "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" (premiering November 30). So let's look ahead to all of the new programs coming this winter and spring -- including those we've only read about, but that have already piqued our interest.

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The judges picked the Top 12; now it's our turn (Ray Mickshaw/FOX)It's the first season of "The X Factor," and after weeks of bloated audition and semifinal episodes, the live voting rounds are mercifully here. But which singers in the Top 12 actually stand a chance at winning? Is having Nicole as a mentor more terrible or less than getting advice from Paula? Will Simon find a way to sex up Drew? Will Twitter voting improve some contestants' chances? Our early predictions are here.

Melanie Amaro
Mentor: Simon Cowell
First Impressions: She was almost kicked out of the show because Simon was swayed by hotter chicks, but the other judges convinced him that this was actually a singing competition and not a dating show, and she came back and earned her way into the Top 3 girls without dressing all trashy.
Odds of Winning: 10 to 1. She's got a chance here, but she might be forgotten, as her voice isn't quite as powerful as Stacy Francis and she's not as memorably cute as Rachel Crow.

Astro (formerly known as Brian Bradley)
Mentor: L.A. Reid
First Impressions:

(Television Without Pity) — Shows that debut around the same time with similar thematic elements aren't exactly a new thing -- just think of "30 Rock" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"; "Ghost Whisperer" and "Medium"; "Lipstick Jungle" and "Cashmere Mafia"; or even this season's "Mad Men" wannabes, "Pan Am" and "The Playboy Club."

Now NBC's "Grimm" is premiering less than a week after ABC's "Once Upon a Time," and on the surface they have one major commonality: Both take classic fairy-tale characters and storylines and attempt to bring them into the present day. But the similarities primarily end there. Will viewers look past the promos and magazine blurbs to realize that the programs are absolutely nothing alike, or will they lump them together forever? And, more important, will either show last more than a season or two?

(Television Without Pity) — Most of the time, we're up in arms about decisions that TV networks make (particularly when they cancel shows that we love), but this fall there have been a surprising number of good moves on their part -- not including the full-season pickup for "Whitney," of course. Here are the ones we respect the most:

10. Moving "The Good Wife" to Sunday Night
We were initially upset about the show getting shuttled off to Sundays, especially since it meant we'd have to set our DVRs for "CSI: Miami" because of NFL-induced overruns. But even though it has taxed our DVRs, the move seems to have worked in terms of ratings, not despite but rather because of football and the huge audience it pushes to CBS's primetime lineup. Anything that gets more people watching "Good Wife" is fine by us.

9. Making "The Sing-Off" a Fall Show
This really wonderful reality singing competition is usually given a few short weeks in the doldrums of December, but now it's a real show with a lot