THE TV COLUMN

Raining reigning shows, pouring out new ones

Partners, a new sitcom on CBS, debuts at 7:30 p.m. Monday and stars (from left) Sophia Bush, David Krumholtz, Brandon Routh and Michael Urie.
Partners, a new sitcom on CBS, debuts at 7:30 p.m. Monday and stars (from left) Sophia Bush, David Krumholtz, Brandon Routh and Michael Urie.

— Brace yourselves, fellow Arkansans, the long-awaited fall TV deluge has arrived.

The 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards airs at 7 p.m. today on ABC. Pull out today’s TV Week insert to read my cover story on that three-hour event, then come back here to study this week’s kickoff of the 2012-13 TV season.

A number of new and veteran series have already made it onto the fall schedule, but this week will see 10 new shows and 24 returning series join the lineup.

Here’s this week’s nightly breakdown, with new series in boldface. Hope you have the DVR warmed up.

MONDAY

7 p.m. ABC, Dancing With the Stars All-Stars.

CBS, How I Met Your Mother.

7:30 p.m. CBS, Partners. Two lifelong friends - one gay, one straight - are partners in an architecture firm.

8 p.m. CBS, 2 Broke Girls.

8:30 p.m. CBS, Mike & Molly.

9 p.m. ABC, Castle.

CBS, Hawaii Five-0.

TUESDAY

7 p.m. CBS, NCIS.

Fox, New Girl.

7:30 p.m. Fox, Ben and Kate. Slacker brother moves in with his single-mom sister to help raise her daughter. One of the best new shows of the fall.

8 p.m. CBS, NCIS: Los Angeles.

8:30 p.m. Fox, The Mindy Project. Young doctor deals with her wacky personal and professional life. One of the season’s top new shows.

9 p.m. ABC, Private Practice.

CBS, Vegas. It’s mobster vs. the sheriff in 1960s Las Vegas.

WEDNESDAY

7 p.m. ABC, The Middle.

NBC, Animal Practice (regular time slot).

7:30 p.m. NBC, Guys With Kids. Three new fathers struggle with the changes in their lives in this unfunny comedy.

8 p.m. ABC, Modern Family.

CBS, Criminal Minds.

NBC, Law & Order: SVU.

9 p.m. ABC, The Neighbors. A comedy where the neighbors are aliens - outer space aliens. Panned as the worst new show of the fall.

CBS, CSI.

THURSDAY

7 p.m. ABC, Last Resort. Outstanding conspiracy thriller about a rogue nuclear submarine that refuses to fire its missiles when unlawfully ordered to.

CBS, The Big Bang Theory.

7:30 CBS, Two and a Half Men.

8 p.m. ABC, Grey’s Anatomy.

CBS, Person of Interest.

9 p.m. ABC, Scandal.

CBS, Elementary.

Modern day tale of Sherlock Holmes set in New York with Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson.

FRIDAY

7 p.m. CBS, CSI: NY.

8 p.m. CBS, Made in Jersey. A streetwise Jersey girl joins a snooty Manhattan law firm. Fish outta watta stuff ensues, capisce? Fuhgeduhboutit.

Fox, Fringe.

9 p.m. CBS, Blue Bloods.

SATURDAY

9 p.m. CBS, 48 Hours Mystery.

I’ll be looking at each night’s programs in Tuesday’s and Thursday’s columns, but first, a peek at Monday.

Partners, the new comedy on CBS, comes from Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, the creators of Will & Grace, and is loosely based on their lives as writing partners.

Joe (David Krumholtz, Numb3rs) and Louis (Michael Urie, Ugly Betty) are life-long friends and partners in their architecture firm.

It’s the classic bromance buddy comedy.

Where’s the comedy, you ask? Joe is straight and Louis is gay. Let the hilarity begin.

Not much new ground is broken in the odd-couple aspect of the sitcom, so let’s toss in some significant others.

Louis’ companion is Wyatt, played by Brandon Routh (Superman Returns). Wyatt is a vegan nurse whom Louis insists is just a promotion away from becoming a doctor.

Joe’s newly minted fiance is Ali, a sophisticated jewelry designer played by Sophia Bush.

Fans will recognize Bush from her nine seasons on One Tree Hill.

Time will tell if their business and personal bond can adapt to the addition of two other important relationships.

More importantly, can Mutchnick and Kohan strike gold again? Their last project, $#*! My Dad Says, crashed and burned.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail: [email protected]

Style, Pages 52 on 09/23/2012

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