UPFRONTS: TV Trends for Fall 2011

With clips for all the new fall and midseason network series still fresh in my head (it's been a long week), here are just some of the themes and trends of fall that I've been able to identify. More to come, and feel free to add yours in the comments!

We’re Terrible Roommates, But Hey, We’ll Stick Up For Each Other In The End: Two Broke Girls (CBS), Apartment 23 (ABC), The New Girl (Fox)

I See Dead People, But I Don’t Want It To Stop: Awake (NBC), A Gifted Man (CBS)

I See Dead People, But Please, Make It Stop: Alcatraz (Fox)

You’ve Been Recruited to Help Me Solve Crimes And Look Sexy While Doing It: Charlie’s Angels (ABC), Person of Interest (CBS)

Men Are Wusses:  Last Man Standing (ABC), Man Up (ABC), How to Be a Gentleman (CBS)

Men Are Pigs: Work It (ABC), Free Agents (NBC)

Being a Parent is Hard, Yo: Up All Night (NBC), I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Fox)

Your Show Is Getting Screwed, But We’ll Somehow Spin It As A Good Thing: America’s Most Wanted (Fox), Rules of Engagement (CBS)

I’m New In Town, and Wow, The Townspeople Are Quite Bitchy About It: Suburgatory (ABC), Hart of Dixie (The CW), The Secret Circle (The CW), G.C.B. (ABC), and perhaps Revenge (CBS)

Fairytales are For Realz, People: Grimm (NBC), Once Upon a Time (ABC)

Mad Men Can Barely Attract 2 Million Viewers? Hey, Where’s My 1960s-Themed Drama?: The Playboy Club (NBC), Pan Am (ABC)

Maybe the Thriving Music Industry Will Save TV! Wait, What?: The X Factor (Fox), Smash (NBC), The Sing-Off (NBC)

Watch Out, That Thing Plans To Tear Your Head Off: Terra Nova (Fox), The River (ABC), Grimm (NBC)

Prepare A New Opening Credits Sequence: Two and a Half Men (CBS), The Office (NBC), House (Fox), Law & Order: SVU (NBC) (maybe)

Powerful Women in A Man’s World: Prime Suspect (NBC), Scandal (ABC)

Something Mystical Is Going On Here: A Gifted Man (CBS), Touch (Fox), Alcatraz (Fox), The Secret Circle (The CW), Unforgettable (CBS)

I Faked My Own Death (Or Did I?): Person Of Interest (CBS), Ringer (The CW)

Multi-Cam (In a Single-Cam World): Whitney (NBC), I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Fox), Two Broke Girls (CBS), Last Man Standing (ABC),

You Know This Creepy Town You Just Moved To? YOU’RE ONE OF THEM!: Once Upon a Time (ABC), The Secret Circle (The CW)

The Fat Lady Is Singing: Chuck (NBC), One Tree Hill (The CW), House (Fox) (maybe)

They’re Baaaack: Tim Allen, Kiefer Sutherland, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Rachel Bilson, Christina Applegate, James Van Der Beek, Poppy Montgomery and, yes, Simon Cowell

Who Needs Movies?: Zooey Deschanel, Christina Ricci, Ashley Judd, Kerry Washington,