With the new TV season heading towards the halfway mark, it seemed like an appropriate time to write my first entry on the new season. Why wade in when everything is new and confusing?
It turns out that we've picked up very few new shows, which isn't particularly surprising given the number of shows we're already struggling to watch in something resembling a timely fashion. Of all the new shows, we're watching Glee (based on the pilot preview in the spring, smart move there), FlashForward, V (technically we're not watching it yet, but we're taping episodes), and Community (which the wife has bailed on but I still watch).
I'm not addicted to any of them, but I do like each of them in their own way. I'm a little irritated that both Glee and FlashForward are going away until the spring, but that does give us some catch up time with the DVR.
We never sampled the ABC's new lineup of Wednesday sitcoms, probably to our detriment given how well they've been recieved (excepting Hank, of course). We've also never ventured into Jay Leno's new show, but we didn't watch his old one, either.
I am finding that my interest in three returning shows has waned considerably. I'm at the point where I'm not even recording Heroes, and while I plan to catch up through on demand or online viewing, I could see it not happening. I really don't like any of the directions the show is taking this season. I'm feeling more obligated than interested in Desperate Housewives and America's Next Top Model, but still watch both. Model in particular is a sad case, in that it's gotten very tired but is unlikely to get a makeover of its own (or canceled, even). I miss the days where the models drank (though it's easy enough to relive them given the reruns that are cropping up on various channels).
The only other thing to note is that I did manage to watch the most recent season of Mad Men in roughly the same period in which it aired. I have to say it was pretty depressing until the last episode. Hearing Lane Pryce wish Saint John Powell a Happy Christmas after getting fired was a welcome laugh after a season of watching the Draper marriage crumble.
So that's where things more or less stand now. More later, hopefully before May.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
New on TV: Three for the Nerds
There's a trio of new shows I've been watching this summer, and while they have little in common, all appeal to the inner (or outer) nerd, one each on public, network and cable TV.
Taking them in that order, we'll start with PBS' Time Team America, a kind of History Detectives spin-off where a team of archaeologists visit sites and give the researchers regularly at the site three days of extra help, often using tools not readily available to the regular team.
The typical story arc of an episode is as follows:
Day 1: arrive at site, dig some trenches, use the geophysical instruments to survey.
Day 2: use the survey results to dig more trenches. Find random bits of pottery no bigger than your thumbnail. Survey some more, as a decent chunk of yesterday's data is inconclusive.
Day 3: Dig a bit more, and hopefully find something other than pottery. Maybe a post hole.
As this suggests, the biggest problem with the show is the lack of actual finds. While that's probably true of how archaeology works, it does not make for particularly riveting television. The host, who is also the team's artist (do archaeology teams regularly employ artists?), tries to pull things together and add background by interviewing various people with a connection to the site. He's also not the most dynamic person; at times it's like the show is being hosted by a somewhat annoying TA.
I'm also not a fan of the team's logo - which appears in the credits and on their vehicles - or the use of Coldplay's "Speed of Sound" as theme music. That'd have been a great choice if the show debuted in 2005.
Moving to network, we have Defying Gravity, a multinationally-produced series that ABC picked up for a summer run. Set in the 2050s (with flashbacks from approximately 5 years before the show's present), we follow the eight person crew of the Antares as they set out on a six-year mission to visit seven planets. The only problem is that there's something calling the shots on the mission that is not part of the International Space Organization. To this point it's only referred to as Beta, and it's monkeyed with the make-up of the crew and has taken one other member back to an ill-fated mission to Mars.
Add into the 2001: A Space Oddysey mix some notable romatic entanglements, including a married couple split up by Beta's shenanigans and a flight engineer (played by Ron Livingston) who had a one-night stand with another crew member (before she became an astronaut) but who is having regular booty calls with a different crew member. The show was apparently pitched as Grey's Anatomy in space, but I don't think we're quite at the point where the show is Grey's Astronomy. It's still too much involved with the oddities, from an Indian crew member who went on an unscheduled EVA with his statue of Ganesha after getting bumped to the aforementioned female member of the one night stand hearing baby cries (care to guess how the one night stand ended?). Odder still, none of the other crew seem suspicious that she keeps on asking them if they've heard something when no one else has.
It's not a great show, but it's good enough for the summer.
Finally, we have SyFy's Warehouse 13, which follows two Secret Service agents as they go about the country to claim objects of unusual power, which then gets stored in the title location, which is somewhere in South Dakota. The agents have a Scully and Mulder sort of relationship, only not as entertaining. They also seem a little slow, as in at least a couple of cases I managed to sort out what they needed to do before they did. Considering I only watched three or four episodes before removing it from my recording list, that's not so good.
I did like Saul Rubinek as the warehouse administrator and CCH Pounder as the program's shadowy leader, Mrs. Frederick (she should be on every episode). There's also a bit of a steampunky vibe to the show, from computers using manual typewriter keyboards to personal communicators in tin cases called Farnsworths, but there weren't enough of those elements to keep me watching.
Oh, and in a related noted, the rebranding of the Sci-Fi Channel to SyFy doesn't do anything for me. I suppose it loosens things up so they can show crap like the ECW and Ghost Hunters, but I fear that this is the start of a slide that sees the network go from something that covers a niche pretty well to one that, in an attempt to find a broader audience, loses identity.
Taking them in that order, we'll start with PBS' Time Team America, a kind of History Detectives spin-off where a team of archaeologists visit sites and give the researchers regularly at the site three days of extra help, often using tools not readily available to the regular team.
The typical story arc of an episode is as follows:
Day 1: arrive at site, dig some trenches, use the geophysical instruments to survey.
Day 2: use the survey results to dig more trenches. Find random bits of pottery no bigger than your thumbnail. Survey some more, as a decent chunk of yesterday's data is inconclusive.
Day 3: Dig a bit more, and hopefully find something other than pottery. Maybe a post hole.
As this suggests, the biggest problem with the show is the lack of actual finds. While that's probably true of how archaeology works, it does not make for particularly riveting television. The host, who is also the team's artist (do archaeology teams regularly employ artists?), tries to pull things together and add background by interviewing various people with a connection to the site. He's also not the most dynamic person; at times it's like the show is being hosted by a somewhat annoying TA.
I'm also not a fan of the team's logo - which appears in the credits and on their vehicles - or the use of Coldplay's "Speed of Sound" as theme music. That'd have been a great choice if the show debuted in 2005.
Moving to network, we have Defying Gravity, a multinationally-produced series that ABC picked up for a summer run. Set in the 2050s (with flashbacks from approximately 5 years before the show's present), we follow the eight person crew of the Antares as they set out on a six-year mission to visit seven planets. The only problem is that there's something calling the shots on the mission that is not part of the International Space Organization. To this point it's only referred to as Beta, and it's monkeyed with the make-up of the crew and has taken one other member back to an ill-fated mission to Mars.
Add into the 2001: A Space Oddysey mix some notable romatic entanglements, including a married couple split up by Beta's shenanigans and a flight engineer (played by Ron Livingston) who had a one-night stand with another crew member (before she became an astronaut) but who is having regular booty calls with a different crew member. The show was apparently pitched as Grey's Anatomy in space, but I don't think we're quite at the point where the show is Grey's Astronomy. It's still too much involved with the oddities, from an Indian crew member who went on an unscheduled EVA with his statue of Ganesha after getting bumped to the aforementioned female member of the one night stand hearing baby cries (care to guess how the one night stand ended?). Odder still, none of the other crew seem suspicious that she keeps on asking them if they've heard something when no one else has.
It's not a great show, but it's good enough for the summer.
Finally, we have SyFy's Warehouse 13, which follows two Secret Service agents as they go about the country to claim objects of unusual power, which then gets stored in the title location, which is somewhere in South Dakota. The agents have a Scully and Mulder sort of relationship, only not as entertaining. They also seem a little slow, as in at least a couple of cases I managed to sort out what they needed to do before they did. Considering I only watched three or four episodes before removing it from my recording list, that's not so good.
I did like Saul Rubinek as the warehouse administrator and CCH Pounder as the program's shadowy leader, Mrs. Frederick (she should be on every episode). There's also a bit of a steampunky vibe to the show, from computers using manual typewriter keyboards to personal communicators in tin cases called Farnsworths, but there weren't enough of those elements to keep me watching.
Oh, and in a related noted, the rebranding of the Sci-Fi Channel to SyFy doesn't do anything for me. I suppose it loosens things up so they can show crap like the ECW and Ghost Hunters, but I fear that this is the start of a slide that sees the network go from something that covers a niche pretty well to one that, in an attempt to find a broader audience, loses identity.
Friday, July 17, 2009
New on TV: The Great American Road Trip
At the start of this NBC summer reality show, the host makes an important point when he tells the competing families that this is not a race. And given the nature of the show - seven families going from Chicago to LA in RVs while competing in challenges along the way - it was hard not to think (with reference to a similar CBS show) that is is also not amazing.
That being said, the show isn't awful in any obvious way. The host, Reno Collier (a comedian best known as Larry the Cable Guy's opening act), is game if not particularly dynamic. The families, as you'd expect, come from the various elements of our great melting pot/salad bowl. Just with more "energy." And in the case of the family from Texas, a set of gigantic fake knockers.
But I digress.
The point of the show is that the families drive their RVs to a location with some historic impact (such as Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois) and compete in a task. The winner gets a prize, while the bottom three families participate in another challenge, with the loser there going home. In the first episode, the yuppies from Westport, Connecticut, who saw their education as their greatest asset, lost in large part because they forgot that the shortest distance between to points is a straight line. I'm sure that'll keep them up nights in their McMansion.
And, of course, there's drama along the way, but as it's a family show the drama is more light comedy than something from Chekov. The Alabama housewife and Yonkers dad have a desperate moment while trying to come to grips with the uses for "youse" and "y'all." The Yonkers mom accuses the downstate Illinois family of cheating. The Long Island daughter throws a tantrum over gummy worms. Woo.
So while it's not particularly worth seeking out, it's not the worst a network could do for a summer series (ABC's The Scholar, for example). Just don't expect anything surprising.
That being said, the show isn't awful in any obvious way. The host, Reno Collier (a comedian best known as Larry the Cable Guy's opening act), is game if not particularly dynamic. The families, as you'd expect, come from the various elements of our great melting pot/salad bowl. Just with more "energy." And in the case of the family from Texas, a set of gigantic fake knockers.
But I digress.
The point of the show is that the families drive their RVs to a location with some historic impact (such as Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois) and compete in a task. The winner gets a prize, while the bottom three families participate in another challenge, with the loser there going home. In the first episode, the yuppies from Westport, Connecticut, who saw their education as their greatest asset, lost in large part because they forgot that the shortest distance between to points is a straight line. I'm sure that'll keep them up nights in their McMansion.
And, of course, there's drama along the way, but as it's a family show the drama is more light comedy than something from Chekov. The Alabama housewife and Yonkers dad have a desperate moment while trying to come to grips with the uses for "youse" and "y'all." The Yonkers mom accuses the downstate Illinois family of cheating. The Long Island daughter throws a tantrum over gummy worms. Woo.
So while it's not particularly worth seeking out, it's not the worst a network could do for a summer series (ABC's The Scholar, for example). Just don't expect anything surprising.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
2009-10 Season; Friday
There are a couple of notable changes on this second-least watched night of TV.
ABC - They probably have the biggest one, as Ugly Betty moves over from Thursday to anchor a night stuck between Supernanny and 20/20. There's two schools of thought on the move. The first is that Betty is being banished to Friday due to ratings that have been sagging over time and are now more appropriate to Friday nights. The other, as espoused by ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson, is that they can use Thursday and the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice pairing to help Flash Forward debut strong and build an audience.
I tend to fall in the former camp. Betty has seen its ratings diminish, and a declining show is least likely to survive on ultra-competitive Thursday nights. If it manages to bring its current fan base to Friday, the show would be a qualified hit. I don't know if Betty will boost the evening as a whole - I don't expect the intersection of Betty and 20/20 viewerships to be that great - but it has to be an improvement over Wife Swap, doesn't it?
CBS - Will continue to dominate Fridays thanks to The Ghost Whisperer and Numbers, which are now flanking Medium, picked up from NBC's scrap pile. Medium is kind of in a similar position to Ugly Betty in regards to bringing fans over (with the added difficulty of a new network to boot), but where it's going to a well-established night of programming it'll have more of a cushion, I'd think. It should also be less risky than bringing in a new show.
Fox - Opens the night with Brothers, a sitcom about a former NFL player who moves home to help his brother, whose restaurant is struggling, but then may wind up home for good if his mom has her way. What makes this interesting is that the show starts actual former NFL player Michael Strahan, who has plenty of charisma but hasn't acted much outside of Subway commercials. The cast includes Darryl "Chill" Mitchell, CCH Pounder and Carl Weathers, which should help to even things out if Strahan is a little uneven.
Brothers is paired with Til Death, which was off the air for most of this past season. It'll return in the summer on Sundays before moving to Fridays in the fall.
Perhaps the biggest surprise from Fox was the return of Dollhouse, Joss Whedon's drama about sexy secret agents who have their memories erased after each job. There wasn't much hope for the show when it premiered, but apparently Fox still feels bad about axing Firefly and is making amends here. If nothing else, it's the perfect capper to a strange night of TV.
NBC - If you were wondering if anyone actually tries to win the 49 and over demographic, this night may be your proof. It opens with Law & Order, now in its 20th season of ripping stories from the headlines. It's followed by Southland, the LA cop drama that was a surprise pick-up. It ends with Leno. If any night is AARP-approved, it's this one.
The CW - Limps into Friday with Smallville - it's still on! - and reruns of America's Next Top Model. For this they cancelled Everybody Hates Chris. It's official: The CW is the suckiest bunch of sucks to ever suck.
ABC - They probably have the biggest one, as Ugly Betty moves over from Thursday to anchor a night stuck between Supernanny and 20/20. There's two schools of thought on the move. The first is that Betty is being banished to Friday due to ratings that have been sagging over time and are now more appropriate to Friday nights. The other, as espoused by ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson, is that they can use Thursday and the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice pairing to help Flash Forward debut strong and build an audience.
I tend to fall in the former camp. Betty has seen its ratings diminish, and a declining show is least likely to survive on ultra-competitive Thursday nights. If it manages to bring its current fan base to Friday, the show would be a qualified hit. I don't know if Betty will boost the evening as a whole - I don't expect the intersection of Betty and 20/20 viewerships to be that great - but it has to be an improvement over Wife Swap, doesn't it?
CBS - Will continue to dominate Fridays thanks to The Ghost Whisperer and Numbers, which are now flanking Medium, picked up from NBC's scrap pile. Medium is kind of in a similar position to Ugly Betty in regards to bringing fans over (with the added difficulty of a new network to boot), but where it's going to a well-established night of programming it'll have more of a cushion, I'd think. It should also be less risky than bringing in a new show.
Fox - Opens the night with Brothers, a sitcom about a former NFL player who moves home to help his brother, whose restaurant is struggling, but then may wind up home for good if his mom has her way. What makes this interesting is that the show starts actual former NFL player Michael Strahan, who has plenty of charisma but hasn't acted much outside of Subway commercials. The cast includes Darryl "Chill" Mitchell, CCH Pounder and Carl Weathers, which should help to even things out if Strahan is a little uneven.
Brothers is paired with Til Death, which was off the air for most of this past season. It'll return in the summer on Sundays before moving to Fridays in the fall.
Perhaps the biggest surprise from Fox was the return of Dollhouse, Joss Whedon's drama about sexy secret agents who have their memories erased after each job. There wasn't much hope for the show when it premiered, but apparently Fox still feels bad about axing Firefly and is making amends here. If nothing else, it's the perfect capper to a strange night of TV.
NBC - If you were wondering if anyone actually tries to win the 49 and over demographic, this night may be your proof. It opens with Law & Order, now in its 20th season of ripping stories from the headlines. It's followed by Southland, the LA cop drama that was a surprise pick-up. It ends with Leno. If any night is AARP-approved, it's this one.
The CW - Limps into Friday with Smallville - it's still on! - and reruns of America's Next Top Model. For this they cancelled Everybody Hates Chris. It's official: The CW is the suckiest bunch of sucks to ever suck.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
2009-10 Season: Thursday
Easily the night with the best programming across the board.
ABC - They've decided to break up their female-friendly night of programming by moving Ugly Betty and replacing it with Flash Forward. This high-concept drama takes place in the aftermath of every person in the world blacking out for two minutes and 17 seconds, during which time they get a glimpse of their future.
Does this sound like something that would go with relationship dramas? Not particularly, which makes me worry for this intriguing show. Shorts ads for it did run during Lost this past season, and it seems like those two shows would air together. And perhaps they will - assuming Flash Forward survives.
CBS - Returns with Survivor and CSI, and moves The Mentalist over to create a very strong night, likely their strongest of the week.
Fox - Pairs Bones with Fringe, which doesn't seem like an obvious paring but doesn't sound disastrous. There's also an interesting comparison to ABC, given that these shows have female leads but don't center around their loves lives. It'll be interesting to see if Bones - which is popular but not exactly a ratings-grabber - can boost Fringe, which fared OK in its inaugural season.
The CW - Opens the evening with The Vampire Diaries, which seeks to make hay off the Twilight craze, which seems like smart move but I don't know if the die-hards are going to cotton to a rip-off. It's paired with Supernatural, which makes sense. This could wind up being a decent night for the former Frog.
ABC - They've decided to break up their female-friendly night of programming by moving Ugly Betty and replacing it with Flash Forward. This high-concept drama takes place in the aftermath of every person in the world blacking out for two minutes and 17 seconds, during which time they get a glimpse of their future.
Does this sound like something that would go with relationship dramas? Not particularly, which makes me worry for this intriguing show. Shorts ads for it did run during Lost this past season, and it seems like those two shows would air together. And perhaps they will - assuming Flash Forward survives.
CBS - Returns with Survivor and CSI, and moves The Mentalist over to create a very strong night, likely their strongest of the week.
Fox - Pairs Bones with Fringe, which doesn't seem like an obvious paring but doesn't sound disastrous. There's also an interesting comparison to ABC, given that these shows have female leads but don't center around their loves lives. It'll be interesting to see if Bones - which is popular but not exactly a ratings-grabber - can boost Fringe, which fared OK in its inaugural season.
The CW - Opens the evening with The Vampire Diaries, which seeks to make hay off the Twilight craze, which seems like smart move but I don't know if the die-hards are going to cotton to a rip-off. It's paired with Supernatural, which makes sense. This could wind up being a decent night for the former Frog.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
2009-10 Season: Wednesday
Remember when I said Tuesday was the night you could skip out and not miss anything on TV? Well, Wednesday isn't much better.
ABC - Throws an entire night of new shows at us, five of their total of eight new shows for the season. Four are sitcoms:
ABC - Throws an entire night of new shows at us, five of their total of eight new shows for the season. Four are sitcoms:
- Hank, starring Kelsey Grammer as an ex-tycoon looking to make his way back to the top;
- The Middle, a Roseann ripoff starring Patricia Heaton;
- The Modern Family, a documentary-style show about the different styles of families out there and how they operate and interact, starring Ed O'Neill;
- and Cougar Town, starring Courtney Cox as a newly-divorced mom getting back into dating.
ABC apparently showed the entire pilot of The Modern Family during its upfront, and at least one critic (Aaron Barnhart of TV Barn and the Kansas City Star) reported that it was pretty well-recieved. That's a good thing, as based on ABC's press releases they all sound like they were generated by the Sitcom9000.
The network ends the night with Eastwick, a drama based on the movie The Witches of Eastwick. Sadly, this is not the only show on Wednesday based on a 20+ year old movie.
Really, a pretty thin night for ABC, but it's probably enough to keep them in third place until they cancel some stuff and bring back Lost.
CBS - Will battle for first place for the night, starting with The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, moving to Criminal Minds at 9 and finishing with CSI: New York. Solid night all the way around.
Fox - Opens with results shows (So You Think You Can Dance or American Idol) followed by one of two new shows. The first is Glee, the high-school dramedy that aired its pilot earlier this month to good reviews. The oddity is the other show, Human Target, which stars Mark Valley as a man whose job is to get close to potential targets of violence so he can become the target in order to save lives. I don't quite understand how this fits in with a night otherwise dedicated to singing and dancing.
NBC - Starts the night with the other show based on an ancient movie, Parenthood. This is the second go-round in trying to make this into a TV series, and I don't know why it will do any better now. It will move aside in the spring for Mercy, a medical show that's Grey's Anatomy from a nurse's perspective. Had NBC been thinking they'd have combined this with Trauma so they only had one Grey's ripoff on the schedule. That or they'd have scheduled them for the same night and time so that one runs into the other. Viewers may not even notice that they are different shows.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent follows at 9 and Leno wraps things at 10.
The CW - Gives us the next cycle of America's Next Top Model, and follows the unscripted show about model with a scripted one, The Beautiful Life. I wouldn't expect much from it, except that the cast has something for everyone - Elle Macpherson, The OC's Mischa Barton and High School Musical's Corbin Bleu are all in the ensemble. So this may actually work, or at least work as well as anything on The CW does.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
2009-10 Season: Tuesday
After looking at the tentative schedule, if you were looking for a night to do errands or otherwise not be in front of your TV, this might be the night.
ABC - Wraps the results show for Dancing With the Stars around two new shows. The early one, Shark Tank, is an Americanized version of BBC America's Dragon's Den, as entrepraneurs present their ideas to a panel of five self-made millionaires in the hopes that they'll provide seed capital. Sounds find in concept, and hopefully the producers here will remember how NBC failed to turn Last Restaurant Standing into a success with Chopping Block.
On the other end is The Forgotten, which sees a group of amateur sleuths work to put names to unidentified murder victims, with the hope that an ID will help lead to an arrest. Reiko Ayelsworth, best known for playing Michelle Dessler on 24, is part of the cast. This may be enough of a twist on the police procedural to work, and having Jerry Bruckheimer involved should help, too.
In the spring, the first two hours will change to a show to be named later (I'm hoping it's the V remake, which sounds atrocious on principle) and a sitcom block of Scrubs and Better Off Ted. Both are somewhat surprising additions to the schedule. Scrubs got a proper send-off, and will now apparently toil on without Zach Braff. The surprise for me with Better Off Ted returning is that ABC managed to keep the right midseason sitcom, as they could have brought back In the Motherhood.
To my eyes, ABC has the best line-up for the night, which is depressing as I really don't feel compelled to watch any of these shows.
CBS - Looks to replicate the success of spinning off CSI into different locations by giving us NCIS: Los Angeles in the 9 pm slot, airing after the original NCIS. I don't know if that's such a great thing, though I suppose it's a way to build an audience with current NCIS viewers who may potentially follow the show to another night later in the season. The new show stars Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J, though once I hear the name "Chris O'Donnell" I start to look for the remote. I'd be surprised if this brings in enough viewers to make the cancellation of The Unit look like a smart move, though I may be underestimating the loyalty of the average NCIS viewer.
The 10 pm spot is filled by The Good Wife, the latest show to cast Juliana Marguiles as a lawyer. In this show, though, her character returns to practice more than decade after leaving to be a full-time mom, forced to pick things up again after a public sex and corruption scandal lands her husband in jail. The cast looks solid, as it includes Chris Noth, Josh Charles and Christine Baranski. If it's done well, this would be the best pick for the 10 pm slot for the night.
Fox - Will bank on reality for the night, with So You Think You Can Dance? in the fall and American Idol in the spring. I can't imagine they'll go a full two hours for Dance each week, especially with an hour-long results show the next night. Then again, Fox does like to milk hours with reality performance programming, so I'm sure they'll find a way to fill the time.
In the spring, AI will share the night with Past Life, about a pair of "detectives" who determine if your current problems are being caused by who you were in a past life. Um, no.
NBC - Dedicates pretty much their entire non-Leno programming in the evening to The Biggest Loser. In the spring, they'll cut the show to 90 minutes and add 100 Questions, the sitcom about the woman who has a wacky romantic anecdone for each of the 100 questions on a dating service survey. I guess it fits with the expected Loser demographic, but I can't help but have visions of quick-cancelled shows like The Ex-List and Emily's Reasons Why Not floating in my head. They'd have been better off snagging Samantha Who? off of ABC's discard pile.
The night ends with Leno at 10. Get used to that.
The CW - Brings back 90210 and adds to it a new version of Melrose Place. Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro return from the original, and Ashlee Simpson appears as one of the young, new tenants. If only the network did three hours of programming a night, we'd be guaranteed a revival of Models, Inc. next season. Oh, to dream...
ABC - Wraps the results show for Dancing With the Stars around two new shows. The early one, Shark Tank, is an Americanized version of BBC America's Dragon's Den, as entrepraneurs present their ideas to a panel of five self-made millionaires in the hopes that they'll provide seed capital. Sounds find in concept, and hopefully the producers here will remember how NBC failed to turn Last Restaurant Standing into a success with Chopping Block.
On the other end is The Forgotten, which sees a group of amateur sleuths work to put names to unidentified murder victims, with the hope that an ID will help lead to an arrest. Reiko Ayelsworth, best known for playing Michelle Dessler on 24, is part of the cast. This may be enough of a twist on the police procedural to work, and having Jerry Bruckheimer involved should help, too.
In the spring, the first two hours will change to a show to be named later (I'm hoping it's the V remake, which sounds atrocious on principle) and a sitcom block of Scrubs and Better Off Ted. Both are somewhat surprising additions to the schedule. Scrubs got a proper send-off, and will now apparently toil on without Zach Braff. The surprise for me with Better Off Ted returning is that ABC managed to keep the right midseason sitcom, as they could have brought back In the Motherhood.
To my eyes, ABC has the best line-up for the night, which is depressing as I really don't feel compelled to watch any of these shows.
CBS - Looks to replicate the success of spinning off CSI into different locations by giving us NCIS: Los Angeles in the 9 pm slot, airing after the original NCIS. I don't know if that's such a great thing, though I suppose it's a way to build an audience with current NCIS viewers who may potentially follow the show to another night later in the season. The new show stars Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J, though once I hear the name "Chris O'Donnell" I start to look for the remote. I'd be surprised if this brings in enough viewers to make the cancellation of The Unit look like a smart move, though I may be underestimating the loyalty of the average NCIS viewer.
The 10 pm spot is filled by The Good Wife, the latest show to cast Juliana Marguiles as a lawyer. In this show, though, her character returns to practice more than decade after leaving to be a full-time mom, forced to pick things up again after a public sex and corruption scandal lands her husband in jail. The cast looks solid, as it includes Chris Noth, Josh Charles and Christine Baranski. If it's done well, this would be the best pick for the 10 pm slot for the night.
Fox - Will bank on reality for the night, with So You Think You Can Dance? in the fall and American Idol in the spring. I can't imagine they'll go a full two hours for Dance each week, especially with an hour-long results show the next night. Then again, Fox does like to milk hours with reality performance programming, so I'm sure they'll find a way to fill the time.
In the spring, AI will share the night with Past Life, about a pair of "detectives" who determine if your current problems are being caused by who you were in a past life. Um, no.
NBC - Dedicates pretty much their entire non-Leno programming in the evening to The Biggest Loser. In the spring, they'll cut the show to 90 minutes and add 100 Questions, the sitcom about the woman who has a wacky romantic anecdone for each of the 100 questions on a dating service survey. I guess it fits with the expected Loser demographic, but I can't help but have visions of quick-cancelled shows like The Ex-List and Emily's Reasons Why Not floating in my head. They'd have been better off snagging Samantha Who? off of ABC's discard pile.
The night ends with Leno at 10. Get used to that.
The CW - Brings back 90210 and adds to it a new version of Melrose Place. Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro return from the original, and Ashlee Simpson appears as one of the young, new tenants. If only the network did three hours of programming a night, we'd be guaranteed a revival of Models, Inc. next season. Oh, to dream...
Monday, May 25, 2009
2009-10 Season: Monday
Monday offers up our first taste of split-season goodness, as three of the five networks have separate schedules for fall 2009 and spring 2010.
ABC - Will stick to the reality that's been successful on Monday, with a new installment of Dancing With the Stars in 2009 and The Bachelor in 2010. Backstopping both at 10 pm is Castle, the Bones meets Murder, She Wrote drama that one assumes will follow in the footsteps of mid-season premiers like Eli Stone and October Road and not make it past next season.
CBS - Keeps How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory and puts Accidentally on Purpose in the 8:30 slot. The show stars Jenna Elfman as a woman who gets pregnant after a one-night stand and decides to keep both the baby and the father, a younger guy whose immaturity makes Elfman's character think she has two children to raise. There are various friends and family members who offer her help and advice, as well as an ex-boyfriend (played by Grant Show) to keep things interesting. Sounds OK (though I assume it depends on how much you like Jenna Elfman), and it should last the season at least protected by the other sitcoms.
CSI: Miami rounds out the evening at 10.
Fox - Splits the season, with House in the 8 pm hour, with the 9 pm hour split between Lie to Me in the fall and 24 in the spring. Seems like a solid night for Fox, assuming they can get Lie to Me to build a bit.
NBC - The Peacock opens the season with Heroes at 8 and first-responder drama Trauma at 9. I don't quite think these shows go together all that well, but if Heroes couldn't mesh with the now-departed Medium I suppose it may not make that much difference.
In 2010, we start Mondays with Chuck, a surprise renewal given that the show wasn't mentioned during NBC's "infront" presentation earlier in the month. It pairs with Day One, the show about life after a massive infrastructure failure. I don't know if these shows go together all that well either. With both Heroes and Chuck firmly on the fence as far as ratings go, there's a real chance that all four could get axed at the end of the season if things don't go well.
And then there's the grand Jay Leno experiment, which sees him on at 10 pm every weeknight. I don't know if this is much of a risk, as Leno has a built-in fan base and (I assume) the show has production costs similar to reality programming, making it easier to turn a profit. It may also bring back fans who would watch The Tonight Show if it were on earlier. Probably not the most coveted viewers, but any viewers are welcome in this economy. Still, I'd be very surprised if it won the time slot on Mondays.
The CW - Gives us Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. The former should keep doing well with its expected target audience, while One Tree Hill seems a little vulnerable with the loss of a couple of its stars. Still, this is probably their strongest night.
ABC - Will stick to the reality that's been successful on Monday, with a new installment of Dancing With the Stars in 2009 and The Bachelor in 2010. Backstopping both at 10 pm is Castle, the Bones meets Murder, She Wrote drama that one assumes will follow in the footsteps of mid-season premiers like Eli Stone and October Road and not make it past next season.
CBS - Keeps How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory and puts Accidentally on Purpose in the 8:30 slot. The show stars Jenna Elfman as a woman who gets pregnant after a one-night stand and decides to keep both the baby and the father, a younger guy whose immaturity makes Elfman's character think she has two children to raise. There are various friends and family members who offer her help and advice, as well as an ex-boyfriend (played by Grant Show) to keep things interesting. Sounds OK (though I assume it depends on how much you like Jenna Elfman), and it should last the season at least protected by the other sitcoms.
CSI: Miami rounds out the evening at 10.
Fox - Splits the season, with House in the 8 pm hour, with the 9 pm hour split between Lie to Me in the fall and 24 in the spring. Seems like a solid night for Fox, assuming they can get Lie to Me to build a bit.
NBC - The Peacock opens the season with Heroes at 8 and first-responder drama Trauma at 9. I don't quite think these shows go together all that well, but if Heroes couldn't mesh with the now-departed Medium I suppose it may not make that much difference.
In 2010, we start Mondays with Chuck, a surprise renewal given that the show wasn't mentioned during NBC's "infront" presentation earlier in the month. It pairs with Day One, the show about life after a massive infrastructure failure. I don't know if these shows go together all that well either. With both Heroes and Chuck firmly on the fence as far as ratings go, there's a real chance that all four could get axed at the end of the season if things don't go well.
And then there's the grand Jay Leno experiment, which sees him on at 10 pm every weeknight. I don't know if this is much of a risk, as Leno has a built-in fan base and (I assume) the show has production costs similar to reality programming, making it easier to turn a profit. It may also bring back fans who would watch The Tonight Show if it were on earlier. Probably not the most coveted viewers, but any viewers are welcome in this economy. Still, I'd be very surprised if it won the time slot on Mondays.
The CW - Gives us Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. The former should keep doing well with its expected target audience, while One Tree Hill seems a little vulnerable with the loss of a couple of its stars. Still, this is probably their strongest night.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
2009-10 Season: Sunday
OK, I missed the upfront presentations this week (as the four of you who still read this know, the wife and I had a baby last week, and as expected all of our schedules are out of whack). Instead, I'm going to look night by night at next season's schedule and mock the networks that way. All of this is based on the schedule grid posted over at The Futon Critic. We start with Sunday.
ABC - stands pat with a lineup of America's Funniest Home Videos, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters.
CBS - Returns 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race and Cold Case. They add in Three Rivers, a medical drama focused on an organ transplant team. There's a fair amount of Grey's Anatomy in this one, from the young female resident trying to live up to a legendary parent to the womanizing surgeon. It's going to air opposite Desperate Housewives, which seems like a bad idea.
NBC - has football for the first half of the season, and for the second half goes reality with Dateline NBC, yet another edition of The Apprentice, and something called The Marriage Ref, which sees celebs provide advice and guidance on marriage for non-famous couples. Because if there's any group of people known for rock-solid marriages, it's celebrities. Really, I have no idea why anyone would tune in to NBC once Sunday Night Football wraps for the year. And on that note, I would like to request a new version of the theme song. I'm getting a little sick of Faith Hill.
Fox - Finally gives us The Cleveland Show, the long-awaited spin-off of The Family Guy that features Cleveland Brown moving back to his hometown in Virginia to reuinite with his high school sweetheart. It can't be worse than American Dad, can it?
In 2010 Fox will add the live-action Sons of Tucson, the story of three boys who hire some guy they met at a sporting goods store to pose as their dad because their actual dad has gone to prison. I find this oddly intriguing, even though it doesn't really entice me to watch.
The CW- gave Sunday nights back to their affiliates, which is probably for the best as they've never been able to program the night correctly. Though I wouldn't have objected to them keeping the night in order to save Everybody Hates Chris. But more on that later.
ABC - stands pat with a lineup of America's Funniest Home Videos, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters.
CBS - Returns 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race and Cold Case. They add in Three Rivers, a medical drama focused on an organ transplant team. There's a fair amount of Grey's Anatomy in this one, from the young female resident trying to live up to a legendary parent to the womanizing surgeon. It's going to air opposite Desperate Housewives, which seems like a bad idea.
NBC - has football for the first half of the season, and for the second half goes reality with Dateline NBC, yet another edition of The Apprentice, and something called The Marriage Ref, which sees celebs provide advice and guidance on marriage for non-famous couples. Because if there's any group of people known for rock-solid marriages, it's celebrities. Really, I have no idea why anyone would tune in to NBC once Sunday Night Football wraps for the year. And on that note, I would like to request a new version of the theme song. I'm getting a little sick of Faith Hill.
Fox - Finally gives us The Cleveland Show, the long-awaited spin-off of The Family Guy that features Cleveland Brown moving back to his hometown in Virginia to reuinite with his high school sweetheart. It can't be worse than American Dad, can it?
In 2010 Fox will add the live-action Sons of Tucson, the story of three boys who hire some guy they met at a sporting goods store to pose as their dad because their actual dad has gone to prison. I find this oddly intriguing, even though it doesn't really entice me to watch.
The CW- gave Sunday nights back to their affiliates, which is probably for the best as they've never been able to program the night correctly. Though I wouldn't have objected to them keeping the night in order to save Everybody Hates Chris. But more on that later.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
American Idol - Four to Go
Last year, I handicapped American Idol when it got down to the final four, so I figure I should do so again this season. However, thanks to the magic of the DVR, I'm six weeks behind. So take these with an even larger grain of salt than usual (remember, I had David Archuleta at 1-4, and look how that turned out).
Kris Allen - I don't have much of a read on him, as he didn't get a lot of focus during the early part of the season. He's done pretty well in the first couple of episodes (and clearly does well going forward), but to me he's still a bit of a non-entity, at least compared to the other three. I suppose he'd be the "cute" one who makes the top five but never wins. I don't expect he'll be the guy to break the streak. But I may be underestimating him.
Odds of winning: 15-1
Danny Gokey - Unlike Kris, Danny did get a lot of attention in the early going, between auditioning with his best friend (who did not make the semifinals) and his tragic backstory (his wife died due to complications from heart surgery). But he sings well enought that he'd probably have made it this far regardless. Paula predicted he'd make the finals, and I can't say that I disagree.
Odds of winning: 6-1
Allison Iraheta - Allison was clearly the best of this season's subpar group of women. That she's made it this far isn't particularly surprising, as (from what I can tell) she's been very consistent and performs well in her rocker niche. Like Syesha Mercado last season, she's well-positioned from a demographic standpoint, as she's not only the lone remaining woman, she's also the only remaining teen and the only non-white competitor still in the field. While that didn't work out so well for Syesha, it may help that Allison appears to actually have a personality.
Odds of winning: 7-1
Adam Lambert - He's the other person Paula put into the final in her early season prognosticating, and despite a scare last week he seems like he'll make it. And while I don't dislike Adam per se, I can't say he's a fave. I'm not a fan of his emoish look, and in close ups I could swear we're looking at someone closer to 37 than 27.
As for his ability, he clearly has the greatest command of his voice. It's just that he likes to take it to odd, screechy places that, while technically impressive, don't do anything for me. But it does get people talking, as noted by his performance of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," done in a style very similar to that used by Dilana Robichaux on Rockstar: Supernova (which Randy Jackson attributed to Jeff Buckley for some reason).
That being said, it seems like Adam tones it down enough in later weeks to get unceasing praise from judges and mentors alike (or at least that's what I've read), so he seems to have the inside track.
Odds of winning: 5-2
Kris Allen - I don't have much of a read on him, as he didn't get a lot of focus during the early part of the season. He's done pretty well in the first couple of episodes (and clearly does well going forward), but to me he's still a bit of a non-entity, at least compared to the other three. I suppose he'd be the "cute" one who makes the top five but never wins. I don't expect he'll be the guy to break the streak. But I may be underestimating him.
Odds of winning: 15-1
Danny Gokey - Unlike Kris, Danny did get a lot of attention in the early going, between auditioning with his best friend (who did not make the semifinals) and his tragic backstory (his wife died due to complications from heart surgery). But he sings well enought that he'd probably have made it this far regardless. Paula predicted he'd make the finals, and I can't say that I disagree.
Odds of winning: 6-1
Allison Iraheta - Allison was clearly the best of this season's subpar group of women. That she's made it this far isn't particularly surprising, as (from what I can tell) she's been very consistent and performs well in her rocker niche. Like Syesha Mercado last season, she's well-positioned from a demographic standpoint, as she's not only the lone remaining woman, she's also the only remaining teen and the only non-white competitor still in the field. While that didn't work out so well for Syesha, it may help that Allison appears to actually have a personality.
Odds of winning: 7-1
Adam Lambert - He's the other person Paula put into the final in her early season prognosticating, and despite a scare last week he seems like he'll make it. And while I don't dislike Adam per se, I can't say he's a fave. I'm not a fan of his emoish look, and in close ups I could swear we're looking at someone closer to 37 than 27.
As for his ability, he clearly has the greatest command of his voice. It's just that he likes to take it to odd, screechy places that, while technically impressive, don't do anything for me. But it does get people talking, as noted by his performance of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," done in a style very similar to that used by Dilana Robichaux on Rockstar: Supernova (which Randy Jackson attributed to Jeff Buckley for some reason).
That being said, it seems like Adam tones it down enough in later weeks to get unceasing praise from judges and mentors alike (or at least that's what I've read), so he seems to have the inside track.
Odds of winning: 5-2
Monday, May 04, 2009
Upfronts 2009 - NBC
It's that time of year again, when the network bring in the advertisers and try to con them into buying air time during the coming year's programming. NBC kicked things off today with an announcement about the shows that will make up its 2009-10 season, but not the tentative schedule (that's coming later this month, which is when most of the other networks are scheduled to make their announcements).
Anyway, here's what the Peacock has on tap.
Old Shows - NBC announced most of their pick-ups earlier in the year, but we did learn that both Heroes and Medium will be back, while Chuck and My Name is Earl are getting the boot. It would not have surprised me if things went the other way around, though, as none of these shows set the world on fire this season.
I'm also interested to see that Law & Order: SVU is back, but there's been nothing said yet about the original. I assume it'll be back, though I could see it being held to plug a hole somewhere.
Knight Rider, Kath & Kim and Life are all also missing from next season's offerings for the time being, though out of the three I figure only Life might find its way back on the schedule, though I doubt it given that they're bringing Southland back.
New Shows - Most notable here is Jay Leno's new show that'll air each weeknight at 10 pm. I can't say I'm particularly interested (I can't recall the last time I watched a full episode of the Tonight Show), but I figure it will do reasonably well, or at least be cost-effective. I still think this is also motivated by NBC's inability to find solid dramas. They're happy to limp along with the L&O franchise and partner with DirecTV to keep Friday Night Lights afloat, but the vast majority of NBC's hour-long shows haven't been the most inspired offerings.
Which leads us to Parenthood, a second attempt at bringing the 1989 movie to the small screen. This one may go better than the first attempt, as the cast includes Maura Tierney, Peter Krause, Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer also appear to be involved (or have at least allowed their names to be used in conjunction), so their input may also help. Still, it's a show based on a 20 year old movie. I expect next season we'll get a bold, contemporary re-imagining of Mrs. Miniver.
Still, this looks better than the other three dramas:
There are also three unscripted shows in the mix, which I won't bother to describe, though one features self-help guru Anthony Robbins. He's either five years too late to the party or will single-handedly revive the reality genre (and I can tell you which way it's going to go on my series of eight one-hour cassette tapes, on sale for a bargain price of $149.95).
Prognosis - somewhat unclear without seeing how the shows are going to be scheduled, but there's not much here to catch the eye.
Anyway, here's what the Peacock has on tap.
Old Shows - NBC announced most of their pick-ups earlier in the year, but we did learn that both Heroes and Medium will be back, while Chuck and My Name is Earl are getting the boot. It would not have surprised me if things went the other way around, though, as none of these shows set the world on fire this season.
I'm also interested to see that Law & Order: SVU is back, but there's been nothing said yet about the original. I assume it'll be back, though I could see it being held to plug a hole somewhere.
Knight Rider, Kath & Kim and Life are all also missing from next season's offerings for the time being, though out of the three I figure only Life might find its way back on the schedule, though I doubt it given that they're bringing Southland back.
New Shows - Most notable here is Jay Leno's new show that'll air each weeknight at 10 pm. I can't say I'm particularly interested (I can't recall the last time I watched a full episode of the Tonight Show), but I figure it will do reasonably well, or at least be cost-effective. I still think this is also motivated by NBC's inability to find solid dramas. They're happy to limp along with the L&O franchise and partner with DirecTV to keep Friday Night Lights afloat, but the vast majority of NBC's hour-long shows haven't been the most inspired offerings.
Which leads us to Parenthood, a second attempt at bringing the 1989 movie to the small screen. This one may go better than the first attempt, as the cast includes Maura Tierney, Peter Krause, Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer also appear to be involved (or have at least allowed their names to be used in conjunction), so their input may also help. Still, it's a show based on a 20 year old movie. I expect next season we'll get a bold, contemporary re-imagining of Mrs. Miniver.
Still, this looks better than the other three dramas:
- Trauma is the latest attempt to center a drama around paramedics, which hasn't been successful since Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe played EMTs on Emergency! - in the 1970s.
- Mercy is Grey's Anatomy if the female doctors were nurses. There's even a new doctor for the lead nurse to get entangled with, as if we weren't already sick of the same thing going on at Seattle Grace Hospital.
- Day One follows a group of people who all live in the same southern California apartment building when a "global catastrophe" plays havoc with the infrastructure that keeps us alive. I'm assuming the episode where one of the building-mates gets eaten by the others will kick off fall sweeps.
There are also three unscripted shows in the mix, which I won't bother to describe, though one features self-help guru Anthony Robbins. He's either five years too late to the party or will single-handedly revive the reality genre (and I can tell you which way it's going to go on my series of eight one-hour cassette tapes, on sale for a bargain price of $149.95).
Prognosis - somewhat unclear without seeing how the shows are going to be scheduled, but there's not much here to catch the eye.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
They're Listening - Sort Of
While I've not seen any of the new season of American Idol, I am happy to report that Fox did implement two of my suggestions, at least partially. There will be more Hollywood this time around (but no reduction in auditions that I've heard of, though I understand the freak show aspect will be toned down), and they did add a judge, which isn't quite the shake-up I'd hoped for but it's something.
No check yet from Fox for the consulting, though. They must have sent it to my old address.
No check yet from Fox for the consulting, though. They must have sent it to my old address.
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