Two New Shows I've Been Excited About

I'm always on the look out for shows that can get me excited and hooked. My criteria are pretty loose, in the sense that I don't dismiss teenybopper shows so easily or the slow pace of a serious conspiracy drama. I've watched Gossip Girl and Lost since their respective pilot episodes! I'd like to think that interesting stories and characters draw me to shows. Aside from watching Pretty Little Liars (Yes, I know I've been remiss with the episode recaps two weeks running now), I've been quite intrigued by AMC's Rubicon and ABC's The Gates.

I wasn't really keen on adding new shows this season, but the idle time I had then really helped in giving me enough patience to find new stories to follow. Rubicon had its teaser aired after Breaking Bad last June 13, 2010. Though some people have complained about its languid pace, let me share five things I liked about it.

What's interesting about it?
1. What struck me as very unique was it's aesthetics. The colors were muted, and while watching it, I thought the time period was in the 70's or 80's. I was quite surprised it was set in 00's. What is great about its look is that it totally fits the milieu of the show.
2. Speaking of milieu, it revolves around a think tank in New York that provides security intelligence to the U.S. Government. How they show New York is quite different with how other shows have used the city-state as the setting of their story. They focused more on the nondescript parts of the city, where people work and live.
3. We all love our conspiracy theories! This time we look at the 4th branch of government, who seems to be connected to the mysterious deaths of two individuals, which includes our protagonist's father-in-law/boss.
4. Miranda Richardson is part of this show 'nuff said.
5. Last but not the least, its lead star is James Badge Dale, who's proven himself in Steven Spielberg's The Pacific. I find it a bit funny though that he looks exactly like Matthew Morrison from Glee and he's also named Will in this show.

Catch the 2 hour season premiere on August 1, 2010. I'm sure, I will!

The other show I've raved about is ABC's The Gates. It's not the perfect TV show that has the most solid plot, but it does deliver on cutesy moments, surprising situations, and flawed characters that it's expected that drama will ensue.

What's interesting about it?
1. It had a cracker of an opening sequence. We immediately get to know that the Gates is not your ordinary upper class gated subdivision. It's actually inhabited by quite a number of other worldly beings.
2. It has a very CW-looking cast, which simply means, there are tons of pretty people to ogle at.
3. Two episodes in, they've set up clashes between its inhabitants already, and have given the viewers a taste of the weaknesses, problems, possible missteps that could spell quite a difference in the dynamics of each others relationships and could endanger their place in The Gates.
4. While it's quite cheesy and most probably wrong, I found the lie detector scene cute and kilig (tickled pink). Great chemistry already with the love triangle.
5. As much as it's been used on TV, the smarty pants kid wins! ('Cause aren't we all know-it-alls who probably would've done the same thing to our mom, dad and brother)

Catch Episode 3 on July 11, 2010.


So what about you guys, has any of the summer shows hooked you yet? Or are you just waiting for the fall season to arrive (or wait for White Collar to air its 2nd season already)?