If nothing else, ABC's quick hook makes for fun upfront recaps. So here we go again!
What's Cancelled?Everything. OK, maybe not everything but a lot of things. Trophy Wife, Super Fun Night, Suburgatory, and The Neighborsall got the axe, as did anything that was mid-season that's not Resurrection.
Starting this Fall
Monday - Dancing With the Stars leading into Castle. Easily their strongest night of the week.
Tuesday - Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. moves back and hour to open up the first hour for two new sitoms. The first is Selfie, which by name alone makes me hope it gets cancelled during its first episode. It's about a woman who is Internet famous and realizes she'd rather be an actual person, and hires a guy to help her. It's apparently based on My Fair Lady, and as much as one may like Karen Gillian and John Cho, they aren't exactly Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.
That leads to Manhattan Love Story, about the start of a relationship where we can apparently hear the couple's thoughts. I think. Can't say I care.
The night closes with Forever, the story of an immortal medical examiner who uses his current cases to try to discover why he hasn't died. We're apparently not done with TV shows about people who can't die.
Wednesday - mostly returning shows (The Middle, The Goldbergs, Modern Family, and Nashville), with the new sitcom Black-ish at 9:30. It's about an African-American family whose dad (Anthony Anderson) is concerned that he's assimilated too much. Helping him address this is his father (Laurence Fishburne). Worried about the potential for devolving into cliche, but given who is involved there's hope.
Thursday - Grey's Anatomy moves to 8 - too early! - and is followed by Scandal and the new drama How to Get Away with Murder. The latest from Shonda Rhimes, it's about a law professor (Viola Davis) who gets involved with four of her students in applying what they learn in class to real life cases. Kind of meh, though having Viola Davis around is promising.
Friday - Last Man Standing returns, leading into Cristela, about a woman whose six year law school career is finally leading to a big job. But at what cost to her ethnic identity? Not feeling it. Shark Tank and 20/20 finish the night.
Saturday - college football
Sunday - America's Funniest Home Videos, Once Upon a Time, Resurrection, and Revenge all return. A good night of shows that are still growing.
And then at midseason
OK, I'm not going to go through all of the shows. Most notable are:
American Crime - a killing with racial overtones begins to tear a town apart. Some notable names here (Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton), making this the show that will probably get the biggest push.
Galavant - a musical about a knight who loses his princess and is going to get her back. Just goofy enough to work? Alan Menken is involved, so the songs should be pretty good.
Marvel's Agent Carter - ABC's required new show based on a comic book, the former girlfriend of Captain America has to balance a reduction in work now that men are coming back from WWII, the occasional secret mission, and her newly single status. This will work well once something gets cancelled and they can put it after Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Secrets & Lies - a man (Ryan Phillipe) discovers a dead boy and is arrested for the killing. He has to prove his innocence while the investigator on the case (Juliette Lewis) starts to reveal the town's... secrets and lies. It's apparently based on Australian show, even if sounds like a neatened up version of Twin Peaks.
The Whispers - aliens have invaded, but are using children to unwittingly set things up for their final assault. I actually like this twist for what is a pretty hoary subject.
Outlook
Not sure some of the time slot moves are going to work - well, Grey'sat least - and there's enough high concept stuff here to be worried about midseason shows sticking around as well.
Showing posts with label ABC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ABC. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
For Old Blogs That Be Forgot
I've been pretty neglectful of the blog of late, so in these last minutes of 2013 I figured I'd write about the new shows I've picked up for the year. Which is pretty easy, actually, as the only new show I'm watching is The Blacklist, which I've enjoyed for something that's been sort of silly in that overhyped international treachery sort of way that 24 employed so often. James Spader's been fun to watch, and there have been some interesting villains of the week (favorite so far: Robert Sean Leonard as a biotech genius turned mass murderer). I do like that they're taking their time with the standing plot lines (the basis of Reddington's interest in Liz Keen, the potential secret history of her husband, and the identity of the people who are watching the Keen house).
I did try watching Marvel's Agents of SHIELD but couldn't get into it. Not sure if it's because I'm approaching it as an outsider (having not read the comics or seen the movies) or because it's all a bit too ludicrous. Still, I didn't hate it, and hope it sticks if for no other reason to keep networks open to this sort of programming.
I have also seen a couple of episodes of The Crazy Ones and The Millers. I feel like I like the former more than the latter, but haven't quite gotten motivated to follow either.
We did also watched a couple of episodes of Genealogy Roadshow, a PBS series that takes the Antiques Roadshow approach to finding out if everyday people are related to someone famous, or someone involved in a major historical event. I found it a little glib, between the host (who adds nothing but a layer of unctuousness) and the genealogists who don't always explain their findings that well or in enough detail for my taste. This needs a serious retooling before I'd watch it again.
The last new show I'll mention isn't something I watch specifically for me. It's Peg + Cat, a PBS animated show from the Fred Rogers Company that follows a girl (Peg) and her cat as they have math and science-related adventures. It's a very different series than Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and offers some amusement for adults from the catchy songs to witty asides. This may actually be the best new show I've seen in 2013.
Oh, and I did watch the live version of The Sound of Music. Audra McDonald deserved better.
Anyway, happy New Year! Hopefully more posting in 2014.
I did try watching Marvel's Agents of SHIELD but couldn't get into it. Not sure if it's because I'm approaching it as an outsider (having not read the comics or seen the movies) or because it's all a bit too ludicrous. Still, I didn't hate it, and hope it sticks if for no other reason to keep networks open to this sort of programming.
I have also seen a couple of episodes of The Crazy Ones and The Millers. I feel like I like the former more than the latter, but haven't quite gotten motivated to follow either.
We did also watched a couple of episodes of Genealogy Roadshow, a PBS series that takes the Antiques Roadshow approach to finding out if everyday people are related to someone famous, or someone involved in a major historical event. I found it a little glib, between the host (who adds nothing but a layer of unctuousness) and the genealogists who don't always explain their findings that well or in enough detail for my taste. This needs a serious retooling before I'd watch it again.
The last new show I'll mention isn't something I watch specifically for me. It's Peg + Cat, a PBS animated show from the Fred Rogers Company that follows a girl (Peg) and her cat as they have math and science-related adventures. It's a very different series than Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and offers some amusement for adults from the catchy songs to witty asides. This may actually be the best new show I've seen in 2013.
Oh, and I did watch the live version of The Sound of Music. Audra McDonald deserved better.
Anyway, happy New Year! Hopefully more posting in 2014.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Bring Out Your Dead, 2013-14
Another year, another attempt to win the Ted Marshall Open TV Dead Pool. Here's my entry, in order of bonus points I get if the show is cancelled/does not air after the end of this season (you get 20 points if the show is cancelled plus whatever bonus points you assign to the show):
10: How I Met Your Mother. Probably the easiest pick in the bunch, as it's been no secret that this is the show's final season.
9: Nikita. Also an easy choice, as this show is also in its last season.
8: Dads. Chosen because I don't think I've read a single positive word about the show. The ratings tend to reflect this, though Fox's Tuesday night seems to be tanking across the board.
7: Sean Saves the World. Also got very little positive press, though its premiere outpaced Parks and Recreation, which makes me sad.
6: Lucky 7. ABC's lottery winner drama was the first show to get cancelled this season, which I think makes this the first time that a show was cancelled before I could write about my entry.
5: Betrayal. The third time is not the charm for ABC's single-word named prime time soaps, as the rating suggest that this show will meet its end well before Revenge or Scandal.
4: Super Fun Night. I went with this as the description sounded ridiculous, although it's not exactly a show meant to appeal to my demo. As it stands reviews have been mixed at best, and ratings for its debut were disappointing given it had Modern Family as a lead-in.
3: We Are Men. This show should be something I'd gravitate to, but I'm wary of sitcoms based around men being manly men, as they all tend to suck and get cancelled. This attempt may go the same way, as its debut landed it in 4th place for its timeslot.
2: Back in the Game. My entries usually get taken out by a sitcom renewal, and this may be the one that gets me this season. I thought the story seemed kind of light, but the show seems to be settling in behind The Middle.
1. Enlisted. A military-based Fox sitcom about brothers serving on the same base while most of their unit is serving abroad. I don't often take mid-season shows, but this one seems like something that would get stuck somewhere to fill time and then get cancelled. On the other hand, I should have trusted my instinct and gone with the Ironside reboot here, as that seems terrible.
In fact, Ironside was one of the three shows that were among the top 10 shows picked by entrants that I did not pick. The other two are Trophy Wife and The Goldebergs, both on ABC's doomed Tuesday. It was an odd night to begin with, trying to balance Marvel's The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with these two sitcoms and Lucky 7. And now the whole night seems to be imploding. Maybe ABC should have held on to the Dancing with the Stars results show?
10: How I Met Your Mother. Probably the easiest pick in the bunch, as it's been no secret that this is the show's final season.
9: Nikita. Also an easy choice, as this show is also in its last season.
8: Dads. Chosen because I don't think I've read a single positive word about the show. The ratings tend to reflect this, though Fox's Tuesday night seems to be tanking across the board.
7: Sean Saves the World. Also got very little positive press, though its premiere outpaced Parks and Recreation, which makes me sad.
6: Lucky 7. ABC's lottery winner drama was the first show to get cancelled this season, which I think makes this the first time that a show was cancelled before I could write about my entry.
5: Betrayal. The third time is not the charm for ABC's single-word named prime time soaps, as the rating suggest that this show will meet its end well before Revenge or Scandal.
4: Super Fun Night. I went with this as the description sounded ridiculous, although it's not exactly a show meant to appeal to my demo. As it stands reviews have been mixed at best, and ratings for its debut were disappointing given it had Modern Family as a lead-in.
3: We Are Men. This show should be something I'd gravitate to, but I'm wary of sitcoms based around men being manly men, as they all tend to suck and get cancelled. This attempt may go the same way, as its debut landed it in 4th place for its timeslot.
2: Back in the Game. My entries usually get taken out by a sitcom renewal, and this may be the one that gets me this season. I thought the story seemed kind of light, but the show seems to be settling in behind The Middle.
1. Enlisted. A military-based Fox sitcom about brothers serving on the same base while most of their unit is serving abroad. I don't often take mid-season shows, but this one seems like something that would get stuck somewhere to fill time and then get cancelled. On the other hand, I should have trusted my instinct and gone with the Ironside reboot here, as that seems terrible.
In fact, Ironside was one of the three shows that were among the top 10 shows picked by entrants that I did not pick. The other two are Trophy Wife and The Goldebergs, both on ABC's doomed Tuesday. It was an odd night to begin with, trying to balance Marvel's The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with these two sitcoms and Lucky 7. And now the whole night seems to be imploding. Maybe ABC should have held on to the Dancing with the Stars results show?
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Up Fronts, Rated
OK, I usually rank the up fronts right after they're done, but haven't felt compelled this year as no one blew me away with their excellence/crapulence. Still, might as well get it over with.
5. Fox. To be honest, I'm finding it hard to make distinct differences between everyone who isn't CBS. Fox has at least one show I'm interested in checking out (Brooklyn Nine Nine), but most of the new shows don't do much for me. They've also dedicated 1.5 nights a week to The X-Factor and American Idol, neither of which are doing the network any favors. More info on the return of 24 could have moved Fox out of the basement.
4. The CW. As with everything related to the netlet, this is kind of on the curve. I think their new shows (and programming in general) is aimed at the people they want, but that sort of focus doesn't really lead to growth.
3. ABC. They'd be lower if it wasn't for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And I'm not even a comic book fanboy. Also concerned that Monday might finally show signs of aging.
2. NBC. I'm a little surprised they're here, as I wasn't particularly overwhelmed with their new shows. Maybe I'm just sending them good vibes for renewing Community and Hannibal. And really, if I were to rewrite this a couple of hours from now I might have a completely different lineup here.
1. CBS. I'm not over the moon with their new shows, but the combination of known talent and strong returning shows puts them in the best position to succeed.
So there it is, for what it's worth.
5. Fox. To be honest, I'm finding it hard to make distinct differences between everyone who isn't CBS. Fox has at least one show I'm interested in checking out (Brooklyn Nine Nine), but most of the new shows don't do much for me. They've also dedicated 1.5 nights a week to The X-Factor and American Idol, neither of which are doing the network any favors. More info on the return of 24 could have moved Fox out of the basement.
4. The CW. As with everything related to the netlet, this is kind of on the curve. I think their new shows (and programming in general) is aimed at the people they want, but that sort of focus doesn't really lead to growth.
3. ABC. They'd be lower if it wasn't for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And I'm not even a comic book fanboy. Also concerned that Monday might finally show signs of aging.
2. NBC. I'm a little surprised they're here, as I wasn't particularly overwhelmed with their new shows. Maybe I'm just sending them good vibes for renewing Community and Hannibal. And really, if I were to rewrite this a couple of hours from now I might have a completely different lineup here.
1. CBS. I'm not over the moon with their new shows, but the combination of known talent and strong returning shows puts them in the best position to succeed.
So there it is, for what it's worth.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Upfronts: ABC
How do you spell ABC? M-E-H. That describes the network's overall ratings (stuck in third with NBC closing) and the general offerings, which tend not to fail miserably but also don't wow. And with one or two exceptions, we're getting more of the same for 2013-14.
Who Stays? Who Goes? There's nothing tremendously surprising for ABC in the shows they brought back and those they cut loose. Based on premise alone I'd slated The Neighbors for cancellation, but the aliens next door sitcom found a place in and among ABC's other (higher-rated) shows and is coming back. Two of last year's borderline renewals - Body of Proof and Happy Endings - met the axe this time around. Otherwise, the shows you expect to be back are back and those that aren't aren't.
What's Coming?
Monday - Dancing with the Stars expands to two hours, and will apparently combine performance and results. Curious to see how that works out, as it could be a guide for other mature reality shows whose sagging ratings may have something to do with padded episodes covering multiple nights. It's followed by Castle. And while it's not listed, you have to expect at some point during the season The Bachelor will show up in here.
Tuesday - all new, and led by what might be ABC's most notable new show, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's Marvel's first TV show, and set in the same universe as its movies (Avengers, Iron Man, etc.), expect some synergy (if not actual appearances by the movies' stars). It's about an elite organization whose members battle the most dangerous criminals. Joss Whedon is involved, which just doubles the amount of fanboy hysterics.
Not sure if this is scheduled too early. It's a good time to draw in the younger eyes, but may not be able to be adult enough for those fans.
Then comes two sitcoms, The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife. The former is set in the 1980s and is about the titular family and their wacky antics, as seen through the eyes of 11-year old Adam and his video camera. As far as I can tell it's not related to the radio-turned-TV show of the same name, and the premise makes me miss Everybody Hates Chris. Trophy Wife is about a woman who meets a guy at a karaoke bar and winds up married to him a year later. She then has to figure out how to be a stepmom while under the watchful eye of two ex-wives. There are some notable names in the cast (Bradley Whitford, Marcia Gay Harden), but the set-up doesn't do much for me.
The night ends with Lucky 7, a drama about a group of gas station employees who play the lottery together, their lives, and how their lives would change if they ever win. They'd better win by October sweeps, otherwise I don't know what keeps this show going.
Wednesday - The Middle and Modern Family are at 8 and 9. In the first half hour we get Back in the Game, where a single mom and her son moves in with her dad (James Caan!). Both dad and daughter are former athletes who never reached their potential, and the son is basically inept at sports. Caan's character winds up coaching his Little League team, so there won't be any vicarious living through the kid, nosiree.
The other half hour is Super Fun Night, where a trio of party girls have a standing night out (the Super Fun Night of the title) disrupted when one of them gets a promotion and a new boyfriend, who can get them into an even more hip/exclusive/expensive bar. So is every episode some sort of two dates/one night scenario, where the one woman bounces between her guy and her friends? I don't quite get it, though I am of an age and gender where I'm not supposed to get it.
The night ends with Nashville.
Thursday - opens with Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, where Lewis Carroll gets the Once Upon a Time treatment. Alice is, like the real Alice, a girl in Victorian England, but in this case she has actually been to Wonderland, and the authorities want to drug her up so she'll forget her hallucinations. But a couple of Wonderland creatures show up and they escape down the rabbit hole and on to new adventures. I suppose if you're into the parent show you might be into this one. Fair warning: John Lithgow will be on hand to chew the scenery - literally and otherwise - as the White Rabbit.
Grey's Anatomy and Scandal close things out.
Friday - It's an all-returning lineup, with Last Man Standing, a relocated The Neighbors, Shark Tank and 20/20.
Saturday - college football in the fall, reruns or other crap in the spring.
Sunday - things are familiar up to 10 pm, with America's Funniest Home Videos, Once Upon a Time, and Revenge. The last show of the night is Betrayal, about a man and woman who enter into an affair only to have the man wind up defending a murder suspect who is being prosecuted by the woman's husband. I think the suspect is also the defense attorney's brother in law, the description is a little confusing. But it seems like it'll fit in here as well as anything else.
Of all the possible midseason shows, the only one that caught my eye was Resurrection, where a young boy suddenly wakes up in rural China, thousands of miles away and 30 years after dying in Arcadia, Missouri. He's returned home by an Immigration agent, and while the expected questions come, the boy also remembers details about his death that only he'd know as the decedent, which makes things extra awkward, I'm sure. I could see this as part of a revamped supernatural Tuesday.
The Verdict?
This seems like a line-up created to keep ABC in third place. They might get a bump if the dramas take off, but the sitcoms are a pretty dull bunch, which is a problem. The network should be using Modern Family to develop and launch other shows into other nights, but they need to come up with something that can develop and audience and keep it when it moves. Suburgatory might have been able to do that, but it's been handled in such a way that it's not going to happen.
The best hope here is that S.H.I.E.L.D. blows up and gives the network a foothold on Tuesday that they can exploit. Otherwise, ABC will probably be in the same place - or worse - this time next year.
Who Stays? Who Goes? There's nothing tremendously surprising for ABC in the shows they brought back and those they cut loose. Based on premise alone I'd slated The Neighbors for cancellation, but the aliens next door sitcom found a place in and among ABC's other (higher-rated) shows and is coming back. Two of last year's borderline renewals - Body of Proof and Happy Endings - met the axe this time around. Otherwise, the shows you expect to be back are back and those that aren't aren't.
What's Coming?
Monday - Dancing with the Stars expands to two hours, and will apparently combine performance and results. Curious to see how that works out, as it could be a guide for other mature reality shows whose sagging ratings may have something to do with padded episodes covering multiple nights. It's followed by Castle. And while it's not listed, you have to expect at some point during the season The Bachelor will show up in here.
Tuesday - all new, and led by what might be ABC's most notable new show, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's Marvel's first TV show, and set in the same universe as its movies (Avengers, Iron Man, etc.), expect some synergy (if not actual appearances by the movies' stars). It's about an elite organization whose members battle the most dangerous criminals. Joss Whedon is involved, which just doubles the amount of fanboy hysterics.
Not sure if this is scheduled too early. It's a good time to draw in the younger eyes, but may not be able to be adult enough for those fans.
Then comes two sitcoms, The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife. The former is set in the 1980s and is about the titular family and their wacky antics, as seen through the eyes of 11-year old Adam and his video camera. As far as I can tell it's not related to the radio-turned-TV show of the same name, and the premise makes me miss Everybody Hates Chris. Trophy Wife is about a woman who meets a guy at a karaoke bar and winds up married to him a year later. She then has to figure out how to be a stepmom while under the watchful eye of two ex-wives. There are some notable names in the cast (Bradley Whitford, Marcia Gay Harden), but the set-up doesn't do much for me.
The night ends with Lucky 7, a drama about a group of gas station employees who play the lottery together, their lives, and how their lives would change if they ever win. They'd better win by October sweeps, otherwise I don't know what keeps this show going.
Wednesday - The Middle and Modern Family are at 8 and 9. In the first half hour we get Back in the Game, where a single mom and her son moves in with her dad (James Caan!). Both dad and daughter are former athletes who never reached their potential, and the son is basically inept at sports. Caan's character winds up coaching his Little League team, so there won't be any vicarious living through the kid, nosiree.
The other half hour is Super Fun Night, where a trio of party girls have a standing night out (the Super Fun Night of the title) disrupted when one of them gets a promotion and a new boyfriend, who can get them into an even more hip/exclusive/expensive bar. So is every episode some sort of two dates/one night scenario, where the one woman bounces between her guy and her friends? I don't quite get it, though I am of an age and gender where I'm not supposed to get it.
The night ends with Nashville.
Thursday - opens with Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, where Lewis Carroll gets the Once Upon a Time treatment. Alice is, like the real Alice, a girl in Victorian England, but in this case she has actually been to Wonderland, and the authorities want to drug her up so she'll forget her hallucinations. But a couple of Wonderland creatures show up and they escape down the rabbit hole and on to new adventures. I suppose if you're into the parent show you might be into this one. Fair warning: John Lithgow will be on hand to chew the scenery - literally and otherwise - as the White Rabbit.
Grey's Anatomy and Scandal close things out.
Friday - It's an all-returning lineup, with Last Man Standing, a relocated The Neighbors, Shark Tank and 20/20.
Saturday - college football in the fall, reruns or other crap in the spring.
Sunday - things are familiar up to 10 pm, with America's Funniest Home Videos, Once Upon a Time, and Revenge. The last show of the night is Betrayal, about a man and woman who enter into an affair only to have the man wind up defending a murder suspect who is being prosecuted by the woman's husband. I think the suspect is also the defense attorney's brother in law, the description is a little confusing. But it seems like it'll fit in here as well as anything else.
Of all the possible midseason shows, the only one that caught my eye was Resurrection, where a young boy suddenly wakes up in rural China, thousands of miles away and 30 years after dying in Arcadia, Missouri. He's returned home by an Immigration agent, and while the expected questions come, the boy also remembers details about his death that only he'd know as the decedent, which makes things extra awkward, I'm sure. I could see this as part of a revamped supernatural Tuesday.
The Verdict?
This seems like a line-up created to keep ABC in third place. They might get a bump if the dramas take off, but the sitcoms are a pretty dull bunch, which is a problem. The network should be using Modern Family to develop and launch other shows into other nights, but they need to come up with something that can develop and audience and keep it when it moves. Suburgatory might have been able to do that, but it's been handled in such a way that it's not going to happen.
The best hope here is that S.H.I.E.L.D. blows up and gives the network a foothold on Tuesday that they can exploit. Otherwise, ABC will probably be in the same place - or worse - this time next year.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Flipping Around
Figured I should get at least one post in before the first quarter of the year is done.
* I wasn't particularly sad to see Private Practice go, but I did find it funny that the show ended with all of the doctors in the practice's kitchen, which is pretty much the only room we've seen on a consistent basis for the last couple of seasons. As much as it tried to serve as a coda to the series (with the debate if the show's title was a good title for Violet's new book), it also reminded me of how far the series had strayed from its original idea.
* And while it's not related, I will take the karmic trade-off of Private Practice for The Sing-Off any time. The a capella competition is back next season, and back in its short-run format during the holidays, as it should be.
* Finally got around to watching the first episode of The Following, liked it quite a bit, even if the Joe Carroll's minions seem a little too perfect at carrying out their deeds without being detected.
* While I'd not have used so much profanity, I would have hit on most (if not all) of the same reasons why Chuggington is awful.
* I wasn't particularly sad to see Private Practice go, but I did find it funny that the show ended with all of the doctors in the practice's kitchen, which is pretty much the only room we've seen on a consistent basis for the last couple of seasons. As much as it tried to serve as a coda to the series (with the debate if the show's title was a good title for Violet's new book), it also reminded me of how far the series had strayed from its original idea.
* And while it's not related, I will take the karmic trade-off of Private Practice for The Sing-Off any time. The a capella competition is back next season, and back in its short-run format during the holidays, as it should be.
* Finally got around to watching the first episode of The Following, liked it quite a bit, even if the Joe Carroll's minions seem a little too perfect at carrying out their deeds without being detected.
* While I'd not have used so much profanity, I would have hit on most (if not all) of the same reasons why Chuggington is awful.
Monday, December 10, 2012
My new least favorite TV character
The two or three of you who read this with any sort of regularity know that Amelia Shepherd from Private Practice is my least favorite TV character. Well, was my least favorite TV character. Part of this is based on changes to Amelia's character and the fact that Private Practice is down to its last few episodes. But mostly it's because the character sucks. I am talking about Kitty, the new Cheerio introduced this season on Glee.
Kitty is supposed to be the replacement for the Quinn and Santana we first knew, bitchy and sent to New Directions to take it down from the inside. The plan for Kitty, apparently, was to give her as many words to deliver as Quinn and Santana would per episode, but only do it in the average amount of time a supporting character would usually get. The result is a hasty mishmash of catty, overly written putdowns delivered with almost no pace or nuance.
Kitty was also forced upon us on day one with no real exposition as to who she was or why she's so disagreeable. She's bitchy for bitchiness' sake, an automaton in Spanx who pushes buttons to get a reaction from characters and viewers alike. We've been given no reason to care about who she is or why she does what she does. She is not helped by being surrounded by other new characters that were also hastily thrown at the viewers, albeit with a smidgen of background.
I don't know how much of this to lay at the feet of the actor - maybe her delivery has always been a rushed mess - but I really think it's a symptom of the writing and planning for the show, which more or less lurches from plot point to plot point while distracting us with song and dance. I will say that Kitty can at least do that to the appropriate Glee level.
I should also add that, while not a character, I would also be happy if Marley (another of the new characters, who I think is intended to be the new Rachel, just without her drama, interesting character traits, or voice) never appeared wearing that newsboy hat again.
Kitty is supposed to be the replacement for the Quinn and Santana we first knew, bitchy and sent to New Directions to take it down from the inside. The plan for Kitty, apparently, was to give her as many words to deliver as Quinn and Santana would per episode, but only do it in the average amount of time a supporting character would usually get. The result is a hasty mishmash of catty, overly written putdowns delivered with almost no pace or nuance.
Kitty was also forced upon us on day one with no real exposition as to who she was or why she's so disagreeable. She's bitchy for bitchiness' sake, an automaton in Spanx who pushes buttons to get a reaction from characters and viewers alike. We've been given no reason to care about who she is or why she does what she does. She is not helped by being surrounded by other new characters that were also hastily thrown at the viewers, albeit with a smidgen of background.
I don't know how much of this to lay at the feet of the actor - maybe her delivery has always been a rushed mess - but I really think it's a symptom of the writing and planning for the show, which more or less lurches from plot point to plot point while distracting us with song and dance. I will say that Kitty can at least do that to the appropriate Glee level.
I should also add that, while not a character, I would also be happy if Marley (another of the new characters, who I think is intended to be the new Rachel, just without her drama, interesting character traits, or voice) never appeared wearing that newsboy hat again.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Lost Resort
The early round of TV cancellations got a jolt from ABC when they axed both Last Resort and 666 Park Avenue. I'm not that broken up about the latter; as much as I enjoy Terry O'Quinn, I never warmed to the show's premise. I am more broken up about the former, which has done well with a pretty high concept and, of course, features Andre Braugher.
My favorite part of the linked story is the reference to ABC's "difficult" 8 pm Thursday slot. How difficult is it?
2012: Last Resort cancelled at 13 episodes.
2011: Charlie's Angels, which aired only 7 of its planned 13 episodes.
2010: My Generation, cancelled after two episodes.
2009: FlashForward, managed an entire season before being cancelled.
2006-08: Ugly Betty, the rare success in the time slot.
2005: Alias, in its final, peripatetic season.
2004: Extreme Makeover, non-home edition
2003: Threat Matrix, cancelled after 14 episodes
2002: Dinotopia, six episodes.
1999-2001: Whose Line Is It Anyway, back-to-back episodes
1998: Vengeance Unlimited, 16 episodes
1997: Nothing Sacred, 20 episodes but Peabody Award!
1996: High Incident, which got a second season at 10pm Tuesday, then cancelled.
1995: Charlie Grace, 9 episodes.
1994: My So-Called Life, 19 episodes and cancelled en route to endless MTV airings.
1993: Missing Persons, 17 episodes.
1992: Delta/Room For Two, a sitcom paring that didn't survive the season.
1991: Pros and Cons, James Earl Jones not enough of a draw.
1990: Father Dowling Mysteries, in the last of its three seasons.
1989: Mission Impossible, in its second, shortened and final season.
1988: Knightwatch, a summer series that made it to fall thanks to a writer's strike.
1987: Sledge Hammer!/The Charmings, both in their second - and last - seasons.
1986: Our World, a news/history series that was well reviewed but little watched.
1985: The Fall Guy, in its last season.
1984: People Do the Craziest Things/Who's the Boss?, the latter in its first season.
1983: Trauma Center, cancelled before Christmas.
1982: Joanie Loves Chachi/Star of the Family, the former tanked when moved to Thursday at 8.
1981: Mork & Mindy/Best of the West, the latter in its only season.
1980: Mork & Mindy/Bosom Buddies, the latter in its first season.
I hadn't planned to go that far back, but looking at the last 32 years really gives an appreciation of the dumpster fire ABC has going at this time slot. It took them 26 years to come up with a scripted show that could hold the slot for more than a season. The shows you've heard of in the time slot were either moved after debuting or moved there to die.
How to explain such long-term suckitude? I have some ideas.
1. 8 pm is too early for drama. Most of the failures on this list are hour-long programs. What successful shows have appeared on this time slot are half-hour shows (Mork & Mindy, Who's the Boss? and Whose Line). I'd guess the preponderance of this was done to counter-program other networks' sitcoms, but that did not seem to work with any regularity.
The exception here is Ugly Betty, though I think it's easy to make the case that the show wasn't a typical hour-long drama. It also was more female-friendly, which fit its pairing with Grey's Anatomy and ABC's programming in general.
2.Conceptual difficulties. Of late, at least, the shows in this slot have been pretty high concept (rogue nukes! seeing the future!), while other times the shows have been decidedly low concept (Charlie's Angels and Vengeance Unlimited come to mind). In fact, the few times show have worked in this slot they've been pretty easy to deal with, concept-wise. Not too stupid, and not too challenging. Just right. Call it the Goldilocks Zone.
3. Tough competition. NBC owned Thursday night for years, which could lead to some quick hooks when shows weren't able to match up. And for every two or three shows that probably deserved the hook, you get one - like Last Resort - that probably didn't.
Here's an interesting comparison. Grey's Anatomy moved to Thursdays at 9 in 2006. For the three years it shared the night with Ugly Betty, the lowest it finished in seasonal rankings was 12th. Then in 2009 it finished 17th, and slumped to the 30s in the following two seasons. All three of its lead-ins were given quick hooks. This year it's up to 19th, but Last Resort hasn't been as successful. So off it goes.
Not sure why ABC continues to balk at trying comedy or unscripted programming here. I suppose they're trying to counter-program against the sitcoms at CBS and NBC, but with their lack of success this might be a case of if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
My favorite part of the linked story is the reference to ABC's "difficult" 8 pm Thursday slot. How difficult is it?
2012: Last Resort cancelled at 13 episodes.
2011: Charlie's Angels, which aired only 7 of its planned 13 episodes.
2010: My Generation, cancelled after two episodes.
2009: FlashForward, managed an entire season before being cancelled.
2006-08: Ugly Betty, the rare success in the time slot.
2005: Alias, in its final, peripatetic season.
2004: Extreme Makeover, non-home edition
2003: Threat Matrix, cancelled after 14 episodes
2002: Dinotopia, six episodes.
1999-2001: Whose Line Is It Anyway, back-to-back episodes
1998: Vengeance Unlimited, 16 episodes
1997: Nothing Sacred, 20 episodes but Peabody Award!
1996: High Incident, which got a second season at 10pm Tuesday, then cancelled.
1995: Charlie Grace, 9 episodes.
1994: My So-Called Life, 19 episodes and cancelled en route to endless MTV airings.
1993: Missing Persons, 17 episodes.
1992: Delta/Room For Two, a sitcom paring that didn't survive the season.
1991: Pros and Cons, James Earl Jones not enough of a draw.
1990: Father Dowling Mysteries, in the last of its three seasons.
1989: Mission Impossible, in its second, shortened and final season.
1988: Knightwatch, a summer series that made it to fall thanks to a writer's strike.
1987: Sledge Hammer!/The Charmings, both in their second - and last - seasons.
1986: Our World, a news/history series that was well reviewed but little watched.
1985: The Fall Guy, in its last season.
1984: People Do the Craziest Things/Who's the Boss?, the latter in its first season.
1983: Trauma Center, cancelled before Christmas.
1982: Joanie Loves Chachi/Star of the Family, the former tanked when moved to Thursday at 8.
1981: Mork & Mindy/Best of the West, the latter in its only season.
1980: Mork & Mindy/Bosom Buddies, the latter in its first season.
I hadn't planned to go that far back, but looking at the last 32 years really gives an appreciation of the dumpster fire ABC has going at this time slot. It took them 26 years to come up with a scripted show that could hold the slot for more than a season. The shows you've heard of in the time slot were either moved after debuting or moved there to die.
How to explain such long-term suckitude? I have some ideas.
1. 8 pm is too early for drama. Most of the failures on this list are hour-long programs. What successful shows have appeared on this time slot are half-hour shows (Mork & Mindy, Who's the Boss? and Whose Line). I'd guess the preponderance of this was done to counter-program other networks' sitcoms, but that did not seem to work with any regularity.
The exception here is Ugly Betty, though I think it's easy to make the case that the show wasn't a typical hour-long drama. It also was more female-friendly, which fit its pairing with Grey's Anatomy and ABC's programming in general.
2.Conceptual difficulties. Of late, at least, the shows in this slot have been pretty high concept (rogue nukes! seeing the future!), while other times the shows have been decidedly low concept (Charlie's Angels and Vengeance Unlimited come to mind). In fact, the few times show have worked in this slot they've been pretty easy to deal with, concept-wise. Not too stupid, and not too challenging. Just right. Call it the Goldilocks Zone.
3. Tough competition. NBC owned Thursday night for years, which could lead to some quick hooks when shows weren't able to match up. And for every two or three shows that probably deserved the hook, you get one - like Last Resort - that probably didn't.
Here's an interesting comparison. Grey's Anatomy moved to Thursdays at 9 in 2006. For the three years it shared the night with Ugly Betty, the lowest it finished in seasonal rankings was 12th. Then in 2009 it finished 17th, and slumped to the 30s in the following two seasons. All three of its lead-ins were given quick hooks. This year it's up to 19th, but Last Resort hasn't been as successful. So off it goes.
Not sure why ABC continues to balk at trying comedy or unscripted programming here. I suppose they're trying to counter-program against the sitcoms at CBS and NBC, but with their lack of success this might be a case of if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Leaving the Lane
We finally got through the last episode of Desperate Housewives last night, and can't say that I'll miss it. I did like how the very last scene referenced the major theme of secrecy (and like even better that it's not leading to some sort of reboot), but was hoping for more resolution with older characters (especially the kids, who were largely absent in the final season). Though I should give kudos to Kathryn Joosten for taking her real-life lung cancer battle and playing it out through Karen McClusky. I can't even imagine what that was like.
In any case, we did learn how each of the main characters filled out their years away from Fairview, which I will rank here in descending order of plausibility.
5. Renee Perry and Ben Faulkner got married and were never heard from again. I know this character was in the supporting/special guest Housewife role, but it wouldn't have hurt to at least make a reference to the happy couple's future.So to me, the idea that nothing happened to them is the least believable result of the bunch. I'd have written them in as the ones that stayed on the lane for the rest of their lives, a twist on Renee's early disdain for the suburbs.
4. Bree and Tripp move to Louisville, where she becomes a state legislator. I have no doubt Bree would fit in with the moneyed class in Kentucky, what with her twin sets, traditional family values, and arms cache. But ten minutes on Google would give any opponent the information that Bree is an alcoholic, was once the Fairview town pump, was on trial for murder, has a gay son, and a daughter who makes a living selling sex swings on the Internet. That might be OK in Texas or Louisiana, but I'm sure the Bluegrass State has an even more self-satisfied prig with an eye for public office that would put up quite a primary fight.
3. Susan moves to wherever Julie is going to school to get a new start. The implausible part of this is that Susan didn't run anyone over or suddenly need a heart transplant while driving away. Or that she didn't actually see the ghosts who were all standing around watching her leave and drive into a telephone pole. Otherwise, the idea that she'd move off the street where both of her husbands died makes a lot of sense.
2. Gaby parlays her personal shopping into a website and TV deal, moves to a California mansion. I don't know how you'd actually do that (moving to online and TV would make her more of an impersonal shopper), but if you can create a sitcom based on a Twitter feed, what happens here is entirely plausible.I also like how Carlos was critical to getting things going, in that it (a) breaks the pattern that one of the pair would be too busy in business to be a good spouse, and (b) that for as much as Carlos wants to do something meaningful, at his core he's about success.
Also fully believable: that they'd buy some gaudy monstrosity of a house and spend all their free time yelling at each other while having drinks in the pool.
1. Lynette and Tom move to New York so she can run the US division of Mayfair's Microwave Mangerables. The only problem I have with this ending is the reveal that the couple only has six grandkids. Does fecundity skip a generation? Can the male kids only reproduce by accident? Are all the kids scarred by their family life and swear to not have kids, leaving only Paige to make up the difference? Yeah, the last one.
The most plausible part, of course, is that Lynette spends her quality time with the grandkids yelling at them. Why should that ever change?
In any case, we did learn how each of the main characters filled out their years away from Fairview, which I will rank here in descending order of plausibility.
5. Renee Perry and Ben Faulkner got married and were never heard from again. I know this character was in the supporting/special guest Housewife role, but it wouldn't have hurt to at least make a reference to the happy couple's future.So to me, the idea that nothing happened to them is the least believable result of the bunch. I'd have written them in as the ones that stayed on the lane for the rest of their lives, a twist on Renee's early disdain for the suburbs.
4. Bree and Tripp move to Louisville, where she becomes a state legislator. I have no doubt Bree would fit in with the moneyed class in Kentucky, what with her twin sets, traditional family values, and arms cache. But ten minutes on Google would give any opponent the information that Bree is an alcoholic, was once the Fairview town pump, was on trial for murder, has a gay son, and a daughter who makes a living selling sex swings on the Internet. That might be OK in Texas or Louisiana, but I'm sure the Bluegrass State has an even more self-satisfied prig with an eye for public office that would put up quite a primary fight.
3. Susan moves to wherever Julie is going to school to get a new start. The implausible part of this is that Susan didn't run anyone over or suddenly need a heart transplant while driving away. Or that she didn't actually see the ghosts who were all standing around watching her leave and drive into a telephone pole. Otherwise, the idea that she'd move off the street where both of her husbands died makes a lot of sense.
2. Gaby parlays her personal shopping into a website and TV deal, moves to a California mansion. I don't know how you'd actually do that (moving to online and TV would make her more of an impersonal shopper), but if you can create a sitcom based on a Twitter feed, what happens here is entirely plausible.I also like how Carlos was critical to getting things going, in that it (a) breaks the pattern that one of the pair would be too busy in business to be a good spouse, and (b) that for as much as Carlos wants to do something meaningful, at his core he's about success.
Also fully believable: that they'd buy some gaudy monstrosity of a house and spend all their free time yelling at each other while having drinks in the pool.
1. Lynette and Tom move to New York so she can run the US division of Mayfair's Microwave Mangerables. The only problem I have with this ending is the reveal that the couple only has six grandkids. Does fecundity skip a generation? Can the male kids only reproduce by accident? Are all the kids scarred by their family life and swear to not have kids, leaving only Paige to make up the difference? Yeah, the last one.
The most plausible part, of course, is that Lynette spends her quality time with the grandkids yelling at them. Why should that ever change?
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Upfronts: ABC
A little retooling with ABC, but not too much.
What's Back? What's Not? ABC brought back two mideason shows - Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 and Scandal, but not The River or GCB (or, as we're still thankful for, Work It). Pan Am got the expected axe as well, not sure why the network let it linger for as long as it did. There's no Cougar Town, either, but it's hardly surprising as the news has been out for a while that it's likely heading to TBS.
What's New? There appear to be seven new shows on the schedule, evenly mixed between comedy and drama.
Monday brings nothing new, with two hours of Dancing With the Stars (fall) and The Bachelor (spring) leading into Castle. Boring but steady performers, as long as the bottom doesn't drop out of either reality show.
Tuesday leads with the DWTS results show, which leads into relocated Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 at 9, with Private Practice taking the 10 pm slot. Private Practice seems to have settled in to its slot, but there's talk this might be the show's final season (with only 13 episodes ordered to boot).
Two new sitcoms replace the results show in the spring. The first is How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life), which stars Sarah Chalke as a single mom who moves back in with her parents (played by Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett). Cross-generational hilarity will hopefully ensue. The other show is The Family Tools, about a son who takes over a handyman business from his ailing dad (J.K. Simmons, apparently getting comedy cred for his Farmers Insurance ads), and the family that's waiting for the son to fail based on his shaky employment history. I'm catching a bit of an Arrested Development vibe from the press release, which might be worth something if (a) the show actually shares this vibe, and (b) the actual Arrested Development wasn't coming back (even if just to Netflix).
Interesting sitcom battle brewing on Tuesdays,especially between the two hour blocks here and on Fox.
Wednesday starts with three returning sitcoms - The Middle, Suburgatory, and Modern Family. At 10 pm we have Nashville, an All About Eve-inspired drama where an established country music star waning in popularity (Connie Britton) is set up to tour with an up and coming singer (Hayden Panettiere) in an attempt to use the newcomer's fanbase to reinvigorate her own. The newbie, of course, sees this as her opportunity to grab the spotlight and take her place as a top performer. There's also subplots involving a songwriter and the established singer's father, who is a powerful figure in Tennessee business and politics. This could work out pretty well given the cast (the dad is played by Powers Boothe, who will hopefully be as brooding and menacing as he was on 24). It can't do any worse than the last network show called Nashville.
In between all of this at 9:30 is The Neighbors. A family moves into a gated community in New Jersey that almost never has openings (the last one was 10 years ago). Once they move in, they notice some strange things involving their neighbors, such as they all have pro athlete names. A dinner party reveals the truth: the community is made up of aliens, and the new family is the first real interaction they've had with Earthlings. Wackiness ensues as we learn about the differences (men have the babies!) and, of course, just how similar we all are.
There's high concept, and then there's geostationary orbit concept.
Thursday starts with Last Resort, a Crimson Tide meets Lost affair, where a US submarine is told to fire its nuclear missiles at Pakistan, but both the captain and the XO refuse to fire without confirmation. The sub is then fired upon, and is forced to limp to a remote island, where the crew disembarks and sets up shop while trying to figure out just what is going on.
And Andre Braugher is playing the captain? I'm in.
Grey's Anatomy returns at 9, and Scandal keeps the 10 pm slot it started in.
Should be a solid night, but once again ABC puts a show at the 8 pm hour that doesn't quite sync with the rest of the night (past examples: Flash Forward and My Generation). Third time's the charm?
Friday starts the season with Shark Tank, Primetime: What Would You Do?, and 20/20. In November, 20/20 drops off the schedule, the other two shows move one hour later, and we get sitcoms in the 8 pm hour. The first is Last Man Standing, which I expect will suffer from the move. It's followed by Malibu Country, where the freshly divorced wife (Reba, who now only goes by Reba? Did I miss her ditching her last name?) of a country music legend gathers her family and moves to Southern California to jump start her own musical career, which she put on hold to raise a family. Lily Tomlin plays her mom, and Sara Rue her new Malibu neighbor. Could be family friendly, I suppose.
Saturday brings college football, until there is no more college football, at which point we'll get reruns or dead air or something.
Sunday kick off, as it has since the Clinton administration, with America's Funniest Home Videos. This is followed by Once Upon a Time and Revenge (which seems appropriately sudsy, if a little darker, than Desperate Housewives). The 10 pm hour is taken by the new drama 666 Park Avenue, the street address of an apartment building whose residents can meet their highest (or lowest) goals, ambitions and desires, just so long as they meet the demands of the building's owner (Terry O'Quinn) and his wife (Vanessa Williams). The nature of this arrangement becomes clear when a new couple moves to New York to manage the building. Sounds like a more demonic spin on Fantasy Island, but I'll tune in just to see if O'Quinn can channel the undead John Locke.
Elsewhere at midseason Body of Proof will fit in somewhere. There's also a US version of Mistresses, widow takes on the mob drama Red Widow, and a Da Vinci Code/National Treasure clone called Zero Hour that I admit I will watch because I'm a giant nerd.
Summing up. I imagine ABC will do reasonably well as long as the veteran series hold up. At least a couple of the new dramas seem promising, making up for the sitcoms, which don't sound like much to me.
What's Back? What's Not? ABC brought back two mideason shows - Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 and Scandal, but not The River or GCB (or, as we're still thankful for, Work It). Pan Am got the expected axe as well, not sure why the network let it linger for as long as it did. There's no Cougar Town, either, but it's hardly surprising as the news has been out for a while that it's likely heading to TBS.
What's New? There appear to be seven new shows on the schedule, evenly mixed between comedy and drama.
Monday brings nothing new, with two hours of Dancing With the Stars (fall) and The Bachelor (spring) leading into Castle. Boring but steady performers, as long as the bottom doesn't drop out of either reality show.
Tuesday leads with the DWTS results show, which leads into relocated Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 at 9, with Private Practice taking the 10 pm slot. Private Practice seems to have settled in to its slot, but there's talk this might be the show's final season (with only 13 episodes ordered to boot).
Two new sitcoms replace the results show in the spring. The first is How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life), which stars Sarah Chalke as a single mom who moves back in with her parents (played by Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett). Cross-generational hilarity will hopefully ensue. The other show is The Family Tools, about a son who takes over a handyman business from his ailing dad (J.K. Simmons, apparently getting comedy cred for his Farmers Insurance ads), and the family that's waiting for the son to fail based on his shaky employment history. I'm catching a bit of an Arrested Development vibe from the press release, which might be worth something if (a) the show actually shares this vibe, and (b) the actual Arrested Development wasn't coming back (even if just to Netflix).
Interesting sitcom battle brewing on Tuesdays,especially between the two hour blocks here and on Fox.
Wednesday starts with three returning sitcoms - The Middle, Suburgatory, and Modern Family. At 10 pm we have Nashville, an All About Eve-inspired drama where an established country music star waning in popularity (Connie Britton) is set up to tour with an up and coming singer (Hayden Panettiere) in an attempt to use the newcomer's fanbase to reinvigorate her own. The newbie, of course, sees this as her opportunity to grab the spotlight and take her place as a top performer. There's also subplots involving a songwriter and the established singer's father, who is a powerful figure in Tennessee business and politics. This could work out pretty well given the cast (the dad is played by Powers Boothe, who will hopefully be as brooding and menacing as he was on 24). It can't do any worse than the last network show called Nashville.
In between all of this at 9:30 is The Neighbors. A family moves into a gated community in New Jersey that almost never has openings (the last one was 10 years ago). Once they move in, they notice some strange things involving their neighbors, such as they all have pro athlete names. A dinner party reveals the truth: the community is made up of aliens, and the new family is the first real interaction they've had with Earthlings. Wackiness ensues as we learn about the differences (men have the babies!) and, of course, just how similar we all are.
There's high concept, and then there's geostationary orbit concept.
Thursday starts with Last Resort, a Crimson Tide meets Lost affair, where a US submarine is told to fire its nuclear missiles at Pakistan, but both the captain and the XO refuse to fire without confirmation. The sub is then fired upon, and is forced to limp to a remote island, where the crew disembarks and sets up shop while trying to figure out just what is going on.
And Andre Braugher is playing the captain? I'm in.
Grey's Anatomy returns at 9, and Scandal keeps the 10 pm slot it started in.
Should be a solid night, but once again ABC puts a show at the 8 pm hour that doesn't quite sync with the rest of the night (past examples: Flash Forward and My Generation). Third time's the charm?
Friday starts the season with Shark Tank, Primetime: What Would You Do?, and 20/20. In November, 20/20 drops off the schedule, the other two shows move one hour later, and we get sitcoms in the 8 pm hour. The first is Last Man Standing, which I expect will suffer from the move. It's followed by Malibu Country, where the freshly divorced wife (Reba, who now only goes by Reba? Did I miss her ditching her last name?) of a country music legend gathers her family and moves to Southern California to jump start her own musical career, which she put on hold to raise a family. Lily Tomlin plays her mom, and Sara Rue her new Malibu neighbor. Could be family friendly, I suppose.
Saturday brings college football, until there is no more college football, at which point we'll get reruns or dead air or something.
Sunday kick off, as it has since the Clinton administration, with America's Funniest Home Videos. This is followed by Once Upon a Time and Revenge (which seems appropriately sudsy, if a little darker, than Desperate Housewives). The 10 pm hour is taken by the new drama 666 Park Avenue, the street address of an apartment building whose residents can meet their highest (or lowest) goals, ambitions and desires, just so long as they meet the demands of the building's owner (Terry O'Quinn) and his wife (Vanessa Williams). The nature of this arrangement becomes clear when a new couple moves to New York to manage the building. Sounds like a more demonic spin on Fantasy Island, but I'll tune in just to see if O'Quinn can channel the undead John Locke.
Elsewhere at midseason Body of Proof will fit in somewhere. There's also a US version of Mistresses, widow takes on the mob drama Red Widow, and a Da Vinci Code/National Treasure clone called Zero Hour that I admit I will watch because I'm a giant nerd.
Summing up. I imagine ABC will do reasonably well as long as the veteran series hold up. At least a couple of the new dramas seem promising, making up for the sitcoms, which don't sound like much to me.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
What if... there were no hairdressers?
I won't be watching tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy for a while, but based on the ads I can one thing for sure: the greatest change if the doctors had made different decisions in their lives seems to be their hair. There are some fugly 'dos on tap, and I don't know if I'll be able to focus when I finally do watch the episode as I'll be too distracted.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
New on TV: Pan Am
It's 1963. The jet age has dawned, and we're going around the world with the crew of a Pan Am Clipper. That crew is made up of a captain searching for his gone-missing stewardess girlfriend, his co-pilot who appears to be Pan Am's version of Pete Campbell, and four stewardesses. Two are sisters, one the black sheep of the family, the other the golden child who bolted from her own wedding and wound up on the cover of Life magazine after joining Pan Am. One is a burgeoning feminist/free thinker, as we're shown by her living in the Village and having some guy at her apartment using Marx as an excuse to not answer the phone. The fourth is a Frenchwoman who was apparently sleeping with a married man, which she learned when he brought his family on a flight.
Oh, and did I mention that the black sheep has been recruited by the CIA at the suggestion of the stew who went missing?
Ridiculous espionage subplots aside, there is a certain charm to this show. The sisters have a troubled relationship, but they're secure enough with each other to be honest and have each other's backs when their manipulative mom shows up on a flight. The captain, as much as he's trying to project the alpha male characteristics expected of someone in his position in 1963, is clearly hurting, and his dedication to find his girlfriend is a welcome vulnerability.
The other characters, well, I'm not so sure where they're going. They may be a little to tightly defined as horndog/bohemian/French, and it'd be nice to see them get some range.
As for the show's ability to capture Mad Men's vibe, well, no. They try very hard, certainly with the costumes and music, but try too hard by inserting incidental dialog that sounds like a forced attempt to remind us that it's 1963. The writers do not have Mad Men's ability to come up with dialog that sounds like it would be spoken by people in the 1960s but not sounding like they're trying to prove that it's the 1960s.
Still, this is a pleasant enough show, and the airline setting does allow for a broad range of locales and potential plots. I don't know how much of a chance we'll have to explore the world with this crew, though, as the show's ratings are dismal, thanks in no small part to the anemic numbers put up by Desperate Housewives, whose last season is, almost unbelievably, stupider than any of the previous seasons. I also don't see a good time for them to move the show to without possibly making the show weaker, ratings-wise.
So while this experiment in ripping off basic cable is going better than The Playboy Club, I wouldn't actually call it a success. It's likeable enough, but it doesn't keep me from hoping that March 2012 would just get here already.
Oh, and did I mention that the black sheep has been recruited by the CIA at the suggestion of the stew who went missing?
Ridiculous espionage subplots aside, there is a certain charm to this show. The sisters have a troubled relationship, but they're secure enough with each other to be honest and have each other's backs when their manipulative mom shows up on a flight. The captain, as much as he's trying to project the alpha male characteristics expected of someone in his position in 1963, is clearly hurting, and his dedication to find his girlfriend is a welcome vulnerability.
The other characters, well, I'm not so sure where they're going. They may be a little to tightly defined as horndog/bohemian/French, and it'd be nice to see them get some range.
As for the show's ability to capture Mad Men's vibe, well, no. They try very hard, certainly with the costumes and music, but try too hard by inserting incidental dialog that sounds like a forced attempt to remind us that it's 1963. The writers do not have Mad Men's ability to come up with dialog that sounds like it would be spoken by people in the 1960s but not sounding like they're trying to prove that it's the 1960s.
Still, this is a pleasant enough show, and the airline setting does allow for a broad range of locales and potential plots. I don't know how much of a chance we'll have to explore the world with this crew, though, as the show's ratings are dismal, thanks in no small part to the anemic numbers put up by Desperate Housewives, whose last season is, almost unbelievably, stupider than any of the previous seasons. I also don't see a good time for them to move the show to without possibly making the show weaker, ratings-wise.
So while this experiment in ripping off basic cable is going better than The Playboy Club, I wouldn't actually call it a success. It's likeable enough, but it doesn't keep me from hoping that March 2012 would just get here already.
Friday, June 03, 2011
Don't McDream It's Over
I've been meaning to say something about Patrick Dempsey's departure from Grey's Anatomy, I find it more interesting that they may wind up cashiering all of the original characters.
You can argue whether or not the show would survive without Dempsey (though I think losing Ellen Pompeo, whose character the show is named for, is a bigger problem). But losing just a significant chunk of original characters makes me think of those last, lame years of prime time soaps like Dallas and, even more chilling, the entirely unnecessary last season of Scrubs.
This is a case where a large-scale cast change should either trigger a new series (such as how The Practice begat Boston Legal) or a wrapping up of the show entirely. Shonda Rhimes shows no remorse when killing off characters, and I hope she'll be similarly decisive when it comes time to determine the fate of the entire show.
You can argue whether or not the show would survive without Dempsey (though I think losing Ellen Pompeo, whose character the show is named for, is a bigger problem). But losing just a significant chunk of original characters makes me think of those last, lame years of prime time soaps like Dallas and, even more chilling, the entirely unnecessary last season of Scrubs.
This is a case where a large-scale cast change should either trigger a new series (such as how The Practice begat Boston Legal) or a wrapping up of the show entirely. Shonda Rhimes shows no remorse when killing off characters, and I hope she'll be similarly decisive when it comes time to determine the fate of the entire show.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Upfronts: ABC
Here's what the Alphabet has in store for next season:
Retuning Shows: No major surprises, though Happy Endings getting renewed may be a small one. Then again, ABC usually finds one mid-season bubble show to bring back (think October Road, Better Off Ted, Notes from the Underbelly, or Eli Stone). On the down side, none of these got a second renewal. Save your money, Happy Endings cast and crew!
Schedule-wise, Cougar Town loses its Wednesday spot and moves to Tuesdays after Dancing With the Stars ends. Probably not what they wanted. Body of Proof also lands on Tuesdays, hoping to build on DWTS so it can survive without it later.
I'm fairly surprised that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was moved from Sunday to Friday, as the Sunday group of shows seemed like a good family/female alternative to football on NBC. It also seems like an odd fit with Shark Tank, which follows.
New Shows:
Monday - No new shows.
Tuesday - the night opens with Last Man Standing, about a manly man (Tim Allen) who is the boss at work but is under the thumb of the gynocracy at home thanks to his wife (Nancy Travis) and three daughters. Then the wife goes back to work, gets promoted, and dad has to take on more parenting duties. To me, this sounds like they're just reshooting episodes of According to Jim or some crap like that. Pass.
The show that follows, Man Up, seems equally regurgitated. Three sensitive modern men apparently try to figure out how to be manly men like their dads, while at the same time try to keep the women folk happy. I am not sure how this is different than former ABC shows The Secret Lives of Men or Big Shots. Oh wait, it's not!
At midseason we'll also get Apartment 23, about a woman who moves to New York to work for a company whose boss gets busted for embezzelment shortly thereafter. She then gets a job at a coffee shop and moves in with another employee after they bond over scamming each other. And James van der Beek plays himself. As odd as this sounds, it still seems to be the best new show they'll have on Tuesdays.
Wednesday - Moving into the Wednesday block of sitcoms is Suburgatory, which sees a dad and his teenaged daughter move out of the city and move into a suburban neighborhood that is apparently straight out of The Stepford Wives. While I do like that the single parent in this case is a dad, I'm less crazy about returning to the suburban jungle trope.
That theme is expanded upon in the night's drama, Revenge. The lead character is a young woman newly moved into a town in the Hamptons... or newly moved in again, as the locals don't realize that, as a child, she lived in town until her family was destroyed. The woman blames certain residents for this, and so she's moved back to get, well, you know.
If you ever wanted to know how the Paul Young story line from Desperate Housewives would have worked out if Paul was a young woman, here you go.
Thursday - the night opens with the return of Charlie's Angels. 30 years after the show ended its first run on ABC and eight years after the last movie. This time around the Angels aren't overmatched police cadets, but rather women who have fallen afoul with the law (or military) but who have certain talents that are recognized by Charlie Townsend, who brings them together to solve crimes. The other change is that the new show is set in Miami, for what that's worth.
I suppose there is enough nostalgia factor for this to reach people, between the generations who watched the show and the more recent generations who saw the movies. Minka Kelly is probably the biggest name involved, which may also help bring in the youngsters. If it manages the lighter tone suggested in the press release this may be a good lead in for the returning shows.
Friday and Saturday - no new shows.
Sunday - gets two new shows. The new lead in for Desperate Housewives is Once Upon a Time, in which a young bail bondswoman is reunited with the son she gave up for adoption. He tells her that he believes she is the lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, and that the town he lives in is full of fairy tale characters who were sent into modern times, unaware of their past, by the evil queen. Got that?
As much as I want to dismiss this, the cast features some notable names: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, and Robert Carlyle. I suppose it also qualifies as being more family/female friendly. Interested to see how this goes, even if I don't plan on watching it.
Finally, if you're going to riff on Mad Men, you might as well do it in that show's time slot. That seems to be the thinking with Pan Am, a drama featuring pilots and stewardesses at the dawn of the jet age. I have similar concerns here as I do with The Playboy Club, that the show will be more about the '60s and less about the story.
On the plus side, with Mad Men not coming back until next March, Pan Am may fill a need for those of us jonesing for Don Draper and his cronies.
Not Yet Scheduled - on the drama side we have Good Christian Belles, which sounds like a TV version of Hope Floats - Texas woman who had it all loses it, and moves home to people who expected her to be the same person she was when she left. I really wish the show was using the name of the book it was based on - Good Christian Bitches. There's also Missing, starring Ashley Judd as a mom who goes to Europe to find her missing son, using the contacts developed by her dead husband, who was a CIA agent. Last but not least is The River, which sees the family and friends of a well-known TV naturalist go to the Amazon to find him after he disappears. Maybe he's with Ashley Judd's kid?
The lone sitcom left is Work It, where two "alpha males" (and what is up with all the manly men at ABC this season?) dress as women to land jobs as pharmaceutical reps. The press release calls it "smart, funny and relevant." What it does not call it is an updated version of Bosom Buddies. Somewhere, Peter Scolari calls his lawyer.
Retuning Shows: No major surprises, though Happy Endings getting renewed may be a small one. Then again, ABC usually finds one mid-season bubble show to bring back (think October Road, Better Off Ted, Notes from the Underbelly, or Eli Stone). On the down side, none of these got a second renewal. Save your money, Happy Endings cast and crew!
Schedule-wise, Cougar Town loses its Wednesday spot and moves to Tuesdays after Dancing With the Stars ends. Probably not what they wanted. Body of Proof also lands on Tuesdays, hoping to build on DWTS so it can survive without it later.
I'm fairly surprised that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was moved from Sunday to Friday, as the Sunday group of shows seemed like a good family/female alternative to football on NBC. It also seems like an odd fit with Shark Tank, which follows.
New Shows:
Monday - No new shows.
Tuesday - the night opens with Last Man Standing, about a manly man (Tim Allen) who is the boss at work but is under the thumb of the gynocracy at home thanks to his wife (Nancy Travis) and three daughters. Then the wife goes back to work, gets promoted, and dad has to take on more parenting duties. To me, this sounds like they're just reshooting episodes of According to Jim or some crap like that. Pass.
The show that follows, Man Up, seems equally regurgitated. Three sensitive modern men apparently try to figure out how to be manly men like their dads, while at the same time try to keep the women folk happy. I am not sure how this is different than former ABC shows The Secret Lives of Men or Big Shots. Oh wait, it's not!
At midseason we'll also get Apartment 23, about a woman who moves to New York to work for a company whose boss gets busted for embezzelment shortly thereafter. She then gets a job at a coffee shop and moves in with another employee after they bond over scamming each other. And James van der Beek plays himself. As odd as this sounds, it still seems to be the best new show they'll have on Tuesdays.
Wednesday - Moving into the Wednesday block of sitcoms is Suburgatory, which sees a dad and his teenaged daughter move out of the city and move into a suburban neighborhood that is apparently straight out of The Stepford Wives. While I do like that the single parent in this case is a dad, I'm less crazy about returning to the suburban jungle trope.
That theme is expanded upon in the night's drama, Revenge. The lead character is a young woman newly moved into a town in the Hamptons... or newly moved in again, as the locals don't realize that, as a child, she lived in town until her family was destroyed. The woman blames certain residents for this, and so she's moved back to get, well, you know.
If you ever wanted to know how the Paul Young story line from Desperate Housewives would have worked out if Paul was a young woman, here you go.
Thursday - the night opens with the return of Charlie's Angels. 30 years after the show ended its first run on ABC and eight years after the last movie. This time around the Angels aren't overmatched police cadets, but rather women who have fallen afoul with the law (or military) but who have certain talents that are recognized by Charlie Townsend, who brings them together to solve crimes. The other change is that the new show is set in Miami, for what that's worth.
I suppose there is enough nostalgia factor for this to reach people, between the generations who watched the show and the more recent generations who saw the movies. Minka Kelly is probably the biggest name involved, which may also help bring in the youngsters. If it manages the lighter tone suggested in the press release this may be a good lead in for the returning shows.
Friday and Saturday - no new shows.
Sunday - gets two new shows. The new lead in for Desperate Housewives is Once Upon a Time, in which a young bail bondswoman is reunited with the son she gave up for adoption. He tells her that he believes she is the lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, and that the town he lives in is full of fairy tale characters who were sent into modern times, unaware of their past, by the evil queen. Got that?
As much as I want to dismiss this, the cast features some notable names: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, and Robert Carlyle. I suppose it also qualifies as being more family/female friendly. Interested to see how this goes, even if I don't plan on watching it.
Finally, if you're going to riff on Mad Men, you might as well do it in that show's time slot. That seems to be the thinking with Pan Am, a drama featuring pilots and stewardesses at the dawn of the jet age. I have similar concerns here as I do with The Playboy Club, that the show will be more about the '60s and less about the story.
On the plus side, with Mad Men not coming back until next March, Pan Am may fill a need for those of us jonesing for Don Draper and his cronies.
Not Yet Scheduled - on the drama side we have Good Christian Belles, which sounds like a TV version of Hope Floats - Texas woman who had it all loses it, and moves home to people who expected her to be the same person she was when she left. I really wish the show was using the name of the book it was based on - Good Christian Bitches. There's also Missing, starring Ashley Judd as a mom who goes to Europe to find her missing son, using the contacts developed by her dead husband, who was a CIA agent. Last but not least is The River, which sees the family and friends of a well-known TV naturalist go to the Amazon to find him after he disappears. Maybe he's with Ashley Judd's kid?
The lone sitcom left is Work It, where two "alpha males" (and what is up with all the manly men at ABC this season?) dress as women to land jobs as pharmaceutical reps. The press release calls it "smart, funny and relevant." What it does not call it is an updated version of Bosom Buddies. Somewhere, Peter Scolari calls his lawyer.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
On the Bubble: ABC
ABC appears to have the most shows not yet renewed, so settle in.
Saved: 20/20, AFV, Body of Proof, Dancing With the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Primetime, Saturday Night College Football, Secret Millionaire, Shark Tank
Lots of reality, not surprisingly, with some of these poised to take over for failed new shows. I don't think Body of Proof is strong enough to anchor a night, but it could work to complete a night (Wednesday or Sunday at 10, perhaps)?
I also half-expect to see special Sunday editions of Saturday Night College Football if the NFL owner's lockout drags into the season.
Gone: Better With You, Brothers & Sisters, Detroit 187, Happy Endings, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Mr. Sunshine, No Ordinary Family, Off the Map, V, Wife Swap
As much as I think these will all go, ABC may surprise by keeping a couple of them. I could see them poaching one of the sitcoms to fill the one empty slot in the Wednesday lineup. Happy Endings seems more likely, as I think it'd be easier to keep a mid-season show (and it seems more in line with the family/relationship comedies than Mr. Sunshine).
The other obvious question is Brothers & Sisters, which I've put on here thanks to the revolving door for cast and producers alike. The current season finale could sub as a series finale, and the ratings jump it received may convince ABC to try to squeeze one more season out of it.
On a personal note, I'll be sad to see Detroit 187, as despite the awful name it wound up being a pretty good show. I'm more ambivalent about the potential loss of V. The season finale shook things up quite a bit, but I think it's too little too late.
Saved: 20/20, AFV, Body of Proof, Dancing With the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Primetime, Saturday Night College Football, Secret Millionaire, Shark Tank
Lots of reality, not surprisingly, with some of these poised to take over for failed new shows. I don't think Body of Proof is strong enough to anchor a night, but it could work to complete a night (Wednesday or Sunday at 10, perhaps)?
I also half-expect to see special Sunday editions of Saturday Night College Football if the NFL owner's lockout drags into the season.
Gone: Better With You, Brothers & Sisters, Detroit 187, Happy Endings, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Mr. Sunshine, No Ordinary Family, Off the Map, V, Wife Swap
As much as I think these will all go, ABC may surprise by keeping a couple of them. I could see them poaching one of the sitcoms to fill the one empty slot in the Wednesday lineup. Happy Endings seems more likely, as I think it'd be easier to keep a mid-season show (and it seems more in line with the family/relationship comedies than Mr. Sunshine).
The other obvious question is Brothers & Sisters, which I've put on here thanks to the revolving door for cast and producers alike. The current season finale could sub as a series finale, and the ratings jump it received may convince ABC to try to squeeze one more season out of it.
On a personal note, I'll be sad to see Detroit 187, as despite the awful name it wound up being a pretty good show. I'm more ambivalent about the potential loss of V. The season finale shook things up quite a bit, but I think it's too little too late.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Shondaverse: No One Gets Out Alive
I've think I've made passing reference to the abnormally high body count for main and supporting characters in Shonda Rhimes' shows, but having just seen the episode of Private Practice where Bizzy's kills herself after her new wife dies from a blood clot in the lung I'm left kind of amazed at how no character in her shows gets to leave standing upright... except for Izzy Stevens and Preston Burke. I assume they made it part of their exit package not to have their characters bumped off.
I was especially irritated with the decision to kill Bizzy off, given that her character seems to be of sterner stuff. I suppose you can argue that she wasn't able to see her way past losing her one true love, but I still don't see Bizzy choosing to OD. I would expect her to live a long and bitter life, making sure to remind Addison at every turn about how she's such a disappointment. That seems more in line with Bizzy as she was presented.
I was especially irritated with the decision to kill Bizzy off, given that her character seems to be of sterner stuff. I suppose you can argue that she wasn't able to see her way past losing her one true love, but I still don't see Bizzy choosing to OD. I would expect her to live a long and bitter life, making sure to remind Addison at every turn about how she's such a disappointment. That seems more in line with Bizzy as she was presented.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Big F!$%ing Deal
I really don't care that Melissa Leo dropped the f-bomb during last night's Oscars broadcast. It was bleeped in time and provided something of interest during a dull show. And to whether or not it was done intentionally, who cares? It was better than the tedious list of thank yous that dominate the winners' speeches.
As a telecast, last night was a snooze - no real upsets, no interesting speeches, and no dresses that looked like waterfowl. Kirk Douglas was fun to watch, even he went a little long at the end of his shtick, and was a nice counterpoint to the incredibly vapid "remembrance" that Halle Berry gave for Lena Horne. This also may have been the least competently directed shows in memory - how many times did you see people walking around in the back of a shot? - which was funny given the announcement that ABC will be the home of the Oscars through 2020.
I'll pass on commenting on the hosting, other than to say I think the best solution is to have no host at all. The time given over to an opening monologue and stupid bits in the middle could be put to better use.
Three things I could have done without:
1. The historical bits linking yesterday and today. If this ceremony was about making things younger, why keep referencing the past? Especially when it's done in a clunky way that doesn't really link things together. Take Tom Hanks talking about how Gone With the Wind was the first of a handful of films to win three specific artistic awards - only to have the chance of that happening this year dashed by the time he left the stage. Why bother with that factoid at all if there's no way to build up drama?
2. Presenters talking directly to nominees. Thinking here specifically of Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock's presentations. It was creepy.
3. Award winners presented without speaking. I don't particularly care if there's a separate ceremony for honorary Oscars and the Thalberg Award, but why then bring the winners out for an ovation? If they're going to be on stage, let them speak. I'd have much rather heard Coppola or Wallach speak than witness Franco and Hathaway's awkward opening.
Anyway, like most Oscar shows, it wasn't perfect. At least there's not so much talk about it being too long (though I'd prefer if it started at 8; I don't know why we need 90 minutes for the fatuous gasbags who work the red carpet).
As a telecast, last night was a snooze - no real upsets, no interesting speeches, and no dresses that looked like waterfowl. Kirk Douglas was fun to watch, even he went a little long at the end of his shtick, and was a nice counterpoint to the incredibly vapid "remembrance" that Halle Berry gave for Lena Horne. This also may have been the least competently directed shows in memory - how many times did you see people walking around in the back of a shot? - which was funny given the announcement that ABC will be the home of the Oscars through 2020.
I'll pass on commenting on the hosting, other than to say I think the best solution is to have no host at all. The time given over to an opening monologue and stupid bits in the middle could be put to better use.
Three things I could have done without:
1. The historical bits linking yesterday and today. If this ceremony was about making things younger, why keep referencing the past? Especially when it's done in a clunky way that doesn't really link things together. Take Tom Hanks talking about how Gone With the Wind was the first of a handful of films to win three specific artistic awards - only to have the chance of that happening this year dashed by the time he left the stage. Why bother with that factoid at all if there's no way to build up drama?
2. Presenters talking directly to nominees. Thinking here specifically of Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock's presentations. It was creepy.
3. Award winners presented without speaking. I don't particularly care if there's a separate ceremony for honorary Oscars and the Thalberg Award, but why then bring the winners out for an ovation? If they're going to be on stage, let them speak. I'd have much rather heard Coppola or Wallach speak than witness Franco and Hathaway's awkward opening.
Anyway, like most Oscar shows, it wasn't perfect. At least there's not so much talk about it being too long (though I'd prefer if it started at 8; I don't know why we need 90 minutes for the fatuous gasbags who work the red carpet).
Friday, December 10, 2010
Horror!
So I now see that Amelia Shepherd is a regular character on Private Practice. Because what medical practice focused on treating the whole person doesn't need a neurosurgeon? And don't get me started on how Charlotte can apparently be the chief of surgery at St. Ambrose and run her sex practice at the same time. I'm beginning to think that St. Ambrose is kind of a crappy hospital.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Annoying
I know I'm several weeks behind Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice due to our DVRing habits, but I did want to mention that I find myself unusually irritated by Amelia Shepherd. I don't know if it's the character, the actress, or an overall annoyance with the combined Grey's universe. I'd say it's 60 percent character (she has an unfortunate combination of brattiness and ego), 10 percent actress (Caterina Scorsone, who I think I've only previously seen in the UPN by way of CBC hockey drama Power Play), and 30 percent the show universe (which seems to favor whinier, needier characters over people I'd rather not see get hit by buses).
It may also be that I'm annoyed with Private Practice in general, as it's given up pretty much any pretense at being a medical drama. I'm pretty sure they only see patients who are lost or looking for a bathroom or something. There is part of me that expects that the show won't end until all the main characters have had sex with each other, which we're about one good sweeps episode away from seeing. Get working, writers!
It may also be that I'm annoyed with Private Practice in general, as it's given up pretty much any pretense at being a medical drama. I'm pretty sure they only see patients who are lost or looking for a bathroom or something. There is part of me that expects that the show won't end until all the main characters have had sex with each other, which we're about one good sweeps episode away from seeing. Get working, writers!
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Aloha
One less show to watch, for now - I've given up on Hawaii 5-0.
I was fairly accepting of the deficiencies in story for the first couple of episodes, wanting to give the show some time to find its feet. What finally cut it for me was the episode involving the shooting death of a surfing company exec. The shooting took place from an area where there were no roads. How to get there? Cut to a scene of McGarrett and Chin blazing through the jungle on dirt bikes. Then cut back to the office for a couple minutes, then back to the jungle. Why? Just to have the action sequence, it appears.
In the balance this isn't the most egregious sin a show could commit, but it underscored the growing feeling I had that there was nothing compelling to bring me back every week. The over-arching story of police corruption that innvolved McGarrett's dad and his Tool Box of Clues, which seemed poised to give some added weight to the show, had pretty much ground to a halt as well. The last we saw of this story was McGarrett's ne'er-do-well sister putting the evidence on her phone. If she could get her hands on this information, I have a hard time believing that one of the cops involved in the plot hasn't managed to steal the box and throw it in the ocean by now.
I will happily chug along with Detroit 1-8-7, which at least tries to be compelling.
I was fairly accepting of the deficiencies in story for the first couple of episodes, wanting to give the show some time to find its feet. What finally cut it for me was the episode involving the shooting death of a surfing company exec. The shooting took place from an area where there were no roads. How to get there? Cut to a scene of McGarrett and Chin blazing through the jungle on dirt bikes. Then cut back to the office for a couple minutes, then back to the jungle. Why? Just to have the action sequence, it appears.
In the balance this isn't the most egregious sin a show could commit, but it underscored the growing feeling I had that there was nothing compelling to bring me back every week. The over-arching story of police corruption that innvolved McGarrett's dad and his Tool Box of Clues, which seemed poised to give some added weight to the show, had pretty much ground to a halt as well. The last we saw of this story was McGarrett's ne'er-do-well sister putting the evidence on her phone. If she could get her hands on this information, I have a hard time believing that one of the cops involved in the plot hasn't managed to steal the box and throw it in the ocean by now.
I will happily chug along with Detroit 1-8-7, which at least tries to be compelling.
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