Three Up
1. Mrs. Hughes. Now that there's a wedding date, it seems like the Abbey will host at least part of the event, either in the servant's hall (thanks for nothing, Lord Grantham) or upstairs (thank you, Lady Mary). Or will it? Mrs. Hughes is very determined to have her wedding be something independent from the Crawley family, come hell or Carsten's sense of duty. It's nice to see her stand her ground.
2. Anna Bates. Turns out her inability to carry children to term is a physiological problem, one that can be addressed by surgery when she's next pregnant. Not only does this remove her continuing guilt over not being able to give her husband the family he wants, it also frees all of us from the interminable gloom that hangs over these two.
3. Lady Edith. The kidnapping of her daughter aside, it was another episode where Edith continued the path towards independence. She got into it with a stroppy editor, and looks closer to making London her permanent home. It would be entertaining if, in the end, Edith winds up with the happy ending while Mary get stuck delaying the inevitable at home.
Honorable Mention: Mr. Mason. He wasn't in the episode, but I get the sense that much of what transpired is going to help him land on his feet once he loses his tenancy.
Three Down
1. The Drewe Family. Speaking of losing one's tenancy, the Drewe's are out after Mrs. Drewe kidnapped Marigold during a livestock fair. And while it's hard not to feel that Mrs. Drewe was done wrong in the affair, it's not a defense to abduction. I do feel bad for her husband, who got caught up trying to do his best for everyone but wasn't quite up to the challenge.
2. Thomas Barrow. Continued concern over his position at Downton leads Tom to interview for a position at another house. Turns out they want one man to do about a half-dozen jobs, which Thomas is not interested in doing. He's also continuing to get the cold shoulder from the new (footman? underbutler? I have no idea what the guy's title is), who was warned about Thomas and is taking the warning seriously.
3. Lady Mary. She's facing a little resistance from the tenants about being the estate manager, more for her station than her gender, I think. She's handling that OK. The real problem here was that she didn't fully understand how difficult it would be for Mrs. Drewe to see Marigold, and it's hard not to think she inadvertently caused the kidnapping. She does help Anna sort out her baby issues, so it wasn't all bad where children were concerned.
Honorable Mention: the oldsters. are we really going to have the senior set spend this entire season squabbling over the local hospital? What a waste of Lady Violet's bon mots.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Sunday, January 03, 2016
Three Up, Three Down: Downton Abbey, Season 6 Episode 1
One last go 'round with the world's favorite northern English household. Let's see how this ends up!
Three Up
1. Mr. & Mrs. Bates. The ongoing saga of who killed Mr. Green has (apparently) come to a conclusion, as a woman (another victim of Green's) has confessed to the killing and there's a witness to corroborate her story. This frees them up to plan for the future again, and while Anna is concerned that Bates will be unhappy at their lack of children (she's had several miscarriages), Bates appears sincere when saying he has everything he wants. The news even gets the Crawleys to come downstairs and break open some quality bubbly!
2. Mrs. Hughes. She's been putting off her wedding to Carson, concerned that she won't be able to meet his expectations in the bedroom as she's older and not what she once was. She gets Mrs. Padmore to raise the issue with Carson, and once the awkwardness subsides he confirms that he wants a full marriage, and that his love for Mrs. Hughes will see things through. Carson thinks she's going to call things off, but she confirms that she's in for the long haul.
3. Lady Edith. She seems to be the one person on the show who is embracing change and the possibilities of the future. She's kept Gregson's publishing firm, but is having issues with an editor who doesn't like working for a woman. She's also kept his London apartment, and with the tenants moving out the idea forms that she could keep the apartment for herself and have a place to stay when in town on business. A chat with her aunt also raises the idea that Edith could bring Marigold with her, as in a place as big as London there would be less notice of an unattached woman raising a child. So maybe this will be the season of Edith?
Honorable Mention - Lord Robert. He gets to ride a hunt rather than attend a hospital board meeting, celebrate the exoneration of the Bateses, and in between gets rid of a blackmailer (more on that anon). He's also becoming accustomed to the idea that the old way to running the household will have to change (more on that anon as well). It's a pretty good outing for the Earl of Grantham, all things considered.
Three Down
1. Rita Bevan. A chambermaid at a Liverpool hotel, Miss Bevan knows that Lady Mary and Lord Gillingham had an assignation, and she intends to get paid for her knowledge. Miss Bevan says she wants Mary to pay her 1000 pounds, or else she'll go to the papers. Mary says no, but has no plan other than not pay and ride out the scandal should the press run with the story. But daddy comes to the rescue, paying off Miss Bevan with 50 quid while getting her to sign a confession to blackmail, which will go to the police should the story come out. So while she technically didn't fail, Miss Bevan certainly came out on the bottom of this transaction.
2. Lady Violet and Isobel Crawley. Going back to that hospital board meeting, it turns out that the big hospital in York is looking to take over the village hospital. Lady Violet got this information from a friend on the York hospital's board, but hadn't shared it with anyone before the meeting. This gets under Isobel's skin, as she thinks Violet is trying to conserve her power by withholding the information to gain time to block the move. Isobel (backed by Lord Merton) thinks the merger would be a good thing, while Violet (backed by Dr. Clarkson) wants to keep things local. Will this conflict cause a permanent rift between them?
3. Daisy Mason. The owners of a neighboring estate are selling up, and as part of that their tenants have been given notice. This means that Daisy's father in law may wind up having to leave the farm his family has tended for generations (assuming that the new owners don't take the tenants back on). This all comes to a head at an auction of the goods from the main house, when Daisy decides to confront the new owner in front of everyone at the auction. This puts the new owner in much less of a mind to bring Mr. Mason back, and puts Daisy's job in jeopardy. Lady Cora intercedes to keep Daisy from getting fired (which was Carson's preference), but she's still likely caused her father in law to be cast out with no prospects for the future.
Honorable Mention - Miss Denker. Lady Violet shares the prospect of staff reductions at Downton with Denker, and asks her not to share this with anyone as no plans have been made. Feeling a little too secure in her position, Denker wastes no time telling the Downton staff, and gives Spratt the business by adding that he's the most expendable member of Lady Violet's household staff. This leads Spratt to ask Lady Violet if he can get reasonable notice of when the cuts will be made so he can prepare, and mentions that he heard about the cuts from Denker. Lady Violet manages to turn this into a conversation with Denker saying that it may be Denker who gets let go, which puts a fright in Denker, as she doesn't know that Lady Violet said that without any intention of letting her go. Always a hoot, that Dowager Countess.
Three Up
1. Mr. & Mrs. Bates. The ongoing saga of who killed Mr. Green has (apparently) come to a conclusion, as a woman (another victim of Green's) has confessed to the killing and there's a witness to corroborate her story. This frees them up to plan for the future again, and while Anna is concerned that Bates will be unhappy at their lack of children (she's had several miscarriages), Bates appears sincere when saying he has everything he wants. The news even gets the Crawleys to come downstairs and break open some quality bubbly!
2. Mrs. Hughes. She's been putting off her wedding to Carson, concerned that she won't be able to meet his expectations in the bedroom as she's older and not what she once was. She gets Mrs. Padmore to raise the issue with Carson, and once the awkwardness subsides he confirms that he wants a full marriage, and that his love for Mrs. Hughes will see things through. Carson thinks she's going to call things off, but she confirms that she's in for the long haul.
3. Lady Edith. She seems to be the one person on the show who is embracing change and the possibilities of the future. She's kept Gregson's publishing firm, but is having issues with an editor who doesn't like working for a woman. She's also kept his London apartment, and with the tenants moving out the idea forms that she could keep the apartment for herself and have a place to stay when in town on business. A chat with her aunt also raises the idea that Edith could bring Marigold with her, as in a place as big as London there would be less notice of an unattached woman raising a child. So maybe this will be the season of Edith?
Honorable Mention - Lord Robert. He gets to ride a hunt rather than attend a hospital board meeting, celebrate the exoneration of the Bateses, and in between gets rid of a blackmailer (more on that anon). He's also becoming accustomed to the idea that the old way to running the household will have to change (more on that anon as well). It's a pretty good outing for the Earl of Grantham, all things considered.
Three Down
1. Rita Bevan. A chambermaid at a Liverpool hotel, Miss Bevan knows that Lady Mary and Lord Gillingham had an assignation, and she intends to get paid for her knowledge. Miss Bevan says she wants Mary to pay her 1000 pounds, or else she'll go to the papers. Mary says no, but has no plan other than not pay and ride out the scandal should the press run with the story. But daddy comes to the rescue, paying off Miss Bevan with 50 quid while getting her to sign a confession to blackmail, which will go to the police should the story come out. So while she technically didn't fail, Miss Bevan certainly came out on the bottom of this transaction.
2. Lady Violet and Isobel Crawley. Going back to that hospital board meeting, it turns out that the big hospital in York is looking to take over the village hospital. Lady Violet got this information from a friend on the York hospital's board, but hadn't shared it with anyone before the meeting. This gets under Isobel's skin, as she thinks Violet is trying to conserve her power by withholding the information to gain time to block the move. Isobel (backed by Lord Merton) thinks the merger would be a good thing, while Violet (backed by Dr. Clarkson) wants to keep things local. Will this conflict cause a permanent rift between them?
3. Daisy Mason. The owners of a neighboring estate are selling up, and as part of that their tenants have been given notice. This means that Daisy's father in law may wind up having to leave the farm his family has tended for generations (assuming that the new owners don't take the tenants back on). This all comes to a head at an auction of the goods from the main house, when Daisy decides to confront the new owner in front of everyone at the auction. This puts the new owner in much less of a mind to bring Mr. Mason back, and puts Daisy's job in jeopardy. Lady Cora intercedes to keep Daisy from getting fired (which was Carson's preference), but she's still likely caused her father in law to be cast out with no prospects for the future.
Honorable Mention - Miss Denker. Lady Violet shares the prospect of staff reductions at Downton with Denker, and asks her not to share this with anyone as no plans have been made. Feeling a little too secure in her position, Denker wastes no time telling the Downton staff, and gives Spratt the business by adding that he's the most expendable member of Lady Violet's household staff. This leads Spratt to ask Lady Violet if he can get reasonable notice of when the cuts will be made so he can prepare, and mentions that he heard about the cuts from Denker. Lady Violet manages to turn this into a conversation with Denker saying that it may be Denker who gets let go, which puts a fright in Denker, as she doesn't know that Lady Violet said that without any intention of letting her go. Always a hoot, that Dowager Countess.
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
Bring Out Your Dead - The Ted Marshall Open 2015-16
So as you might have guessed from my not recapping all of the broadcast network upfronts this year, there was nothing really standing out in any offerings, either good or bad. For every interesting show (like the return of the Muppets), there were three shows were the only reasonable response was "meh."
Which also carried over to this year's running of the Ted Marshall Open, the Internet's greatest TV dead pool. Last year's slew of planned final seasons led to this year's dearth of them, and with few of the new shows really standing out for suckitude, this was one of the harder years to come up with 10 shows comfortably in the cancellation zone. Still, I made my picks, which are (from 10 to 1, most likely to get cancelled to least):
10 - American Idol. This was the no-brainer pick, given all of the press when it was announced this would be the show's final season.
9 - Truth Be Told. It's this year's generic multi-relationship comedy, with the added burden of being on NBC's Friday night lineup, needing to fend off The Amazing Race and ABC's TGIF lineup. It does not help that the show already has had a name change.
8 - Blood and Oil. It's Dallas for a new generation, starring Don Johnson and Chace Crawford! But it's up against football and The Good Wife. And has Once Upon a Time as a lead in. I couldn't see that wizards and fairy tale set naturally flowing into something so soapy and unmagical.
7 - Of Kings and Prophets. I took a bit of a flyer here, ignoring my usual rule about avoiding midseason shows that aren't a lock to air, as a prime time soap set in Biblical times seems ripe for being absolutely awful.
6 - The Mysteries of Laura. Still not sure how NBC brought this back - it seemed like it was on the cancellation side of the bubble - but as dead pool practice suggests, once a show is on your list you don't take it off.
5 - The Odd Couple. Also not sure why CBS brought this back.
4 - The Player. People betting on crime in Las Vegas is a little too high concept this season.
3 - The Guide to Surviving Life. Now Cooper Barret's Guide to Surviving Life, it features its title millenial giving advice to Gen Z on how to survive your early 20s. How this wound up on Fox rather than the CW I'll never know. Also a midseason show, so I've violated my rule twice.
2 - Heroes Reborn. I'm hopeful that it will recapture some of the magic of the first season or two, but am worried that it will just take up where things limped to the end and try to make us care about a bunch of new characters without improving the overall story.
1 - Undateable. The other generic (to my eyes, anyway) dating sitcom NBC is throwing at us on Friday nights. But one that managed to get renewed, so it gets put lower on the list. I'm still not sure how a show called Undateable works on Friday, when the people who are home are those who couldn't find a date.
And, as usual, the top ten choices among all participants include a few shows I did not pick.
Dr. Ken - Ken Jeong's TGIF sitcom, where he plays a doctor trying to balance work and family. The setup isn't particularly inventive (though does it have to be for TGIF?), and Jeong can be a lot to take (I wish I'd developed Changnesia for some of the Community episodes where his character figured prominently). The premiere won its time slot (not a particularly noteworthy accomplishment), and was the second most watched show of the night for broadcast (behind Shark Tank). Interested to see how much viewership falls off by this week.
Blindspot - One of the more high concept new shows, but I left it off because I thought (a) it's coming from the people behind The Blacklist, who have proven that they can do this kind of show, and (b) NBC did a nice job promoting the show over the summer. The promos were a good mix of exposition and mystery, and made me want to watch.
Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris - I passed on this because (a) I'm loathe to bet against the NPH, and (b) it's different enough (and likely cheap enough to produce relative to scripted shows) that even if ratings are middling it could stick around. I also thought the format of the show would allow for easier changes towards bits that appeal to viewers. NBC's been pushing it heavily on Today, which I expect will help.
Uncle Buck - This was apparently the one show where I stuck to my rule about midseason shows. I will say that I'm intrigued that the show is going to feature an African-American cast. Don't know if that will matter in the end.
So I think I feel pretty good about my choices, and in dodging some of the shows chosen by conventional wisdom (Blindspot was the highest-rated new show last week, while Best Time Ever was tied for 24th). Here's hoping for title number two!
Which also carried over to this year's running of the Ted Marshall Open, the Internet's greatest TV dead pool. Last year's slew of planned final seasons led to this year's dearth of them, and with few of the new shows really standing out for suckitude, this was one of the harder years to come up with 10 shows comfortably in the cancellation zone. Still, I made my picks, which are (from 10 to 1, most likely to get cancelled to least):
10 - American Idol. This was the no-brainer pick, given all of the press when it was announced this would be the show's final season.
9 - Truth Be Told. It's this year's generic multi-relationship comedy, with the added burden of being on NBC's Friday night lineup, needing to fend off The Amazing Race and ABC's TGIF lineup. It does not help that the show already has had a name change.
8 - Blood and Oil. It's Dallas for a new generation, starring Don Johnson and Chace Crawford! But it's up against football and The Good Wife. And has Once Upon a Time as a lead in. I couldn't see that wizards and fairy tale set naturally flowing into something so soapy and unmagical.
7 - Of Kings and Prophets. I took a bit of a flyer here, ignoring my usual rule about avoiding midseason shows that aren't a lock to air, as a prime time soap set in Biblical times seems ripe for being absolutely awful.
6 - The Mysteries of Laura. Still not sure how NBC brought this back - it seemed like it was on the cancellation side of the bubble - but as dead pool practice suggests, once a show is on your list you don't take it off.
5 - The Odd Couple. Also not sure why CBS brought this back.
4 - The Player. People betting on crime in Las Vegas is a little too high concept this season.
3 - The Guide to Surviving Life. Now Cooper Barret's Guide to Surviving Life, it features its title millenial giving advice to Gen Z on how to survive your early 20s. How this wound up on Fox rather than the CW I'll never know. Also a midseason show, so I've violated my rule twice.
2 - Heroes Reborn. I'm hopeful that it will recapture some of the magic of the first season or two, but am worried that it will just take up where things limped to the end and try to make us care about a bunch of new characters without improving the overall story.
1 - Undateable. The other generic (to my eyes, anyway) dating sitcom NBC is throwing at us on Friday nights. But one that managed to get renewed, so it gets put lower on the list. I'm still not sure how a show called Undateable works on Friday, when the people who are home are those who couldn't find a date.
And, as usual, the top ten choices among all participants include a few shows I did not pick.
Dr. Ken - Ken Jeong's TGIF sitcom, where he plays a doctor trying to balance work and family. The setup isn't particularly inventive (though does it have to be for TGIF?), and Jeong can be a lot to take (I wish I'd developed Changnesia for some of the Community episodes where his character figured prominently). The premiere won its time slot (not a particularly noteworthy accomplishment), and was the second most watched show of the night for broadcast (behind Shark Tank). Interested to see how much viewership falls off by this week.
Blindspot - One of the more high concept new shows, but I left it off because I thought (a) it's coming from the people behind The Blacklist, who have proven that they can do this kind of show, and (b) NBC did a nice job promoting the show over the summer. The promos were a good mix of exposition and mystery, and made me want to watch.
Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris - I passed on this because (a) I'm loathe to bet against the NPH, and (b) it's different enough (and likely cheap enough to produce relative to scripted shows) that even if ratings are middling it could stick around. I also thought the format of the show would allow for easier changes towards bits that appeal to viewers. NBC's been pushing it heavily on Today, which I expect will help.
Uncle Buck - This was apparently the one show where I stuck to my rule about midseason shows. I will say that I'm intrigued that the show is going to feature an African-American cast. Don't know if that will matter in the end.
So I think I feel pretty good about my choices, and in dodging some of the shows chosen by conventional wisdom (Blindspot was the highest-rated new show last week, while Best Time Ever was tied for 24th). Here's hoping for title number two!
Monday, May 18, 2015
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "Person to Person"
Three Up
1. Joan Harris. The episode opens with Richard telling Joan that her life is undeveloped real estate, and in time (and after a lunch with Ken Cosgrove), she finds something she wants to develop - a film production company, doing industrial films for Dow to start. She offers a partnership to Peggy, who declines, but Joan presses on. Her desire to build something of her own winds up driving Richard away. It's the crowning moment for Joan in the series, really, as she finally has true independence. And Kevin is also now getting part of Roger's estate when he dies, so he's even secure.
2. Peggy Olsen and Stan Rizzo. They're both staying at McCann, but in talking over Joan's offer to Peggy, and Peggy insulting Stan, they learn in their make-up phone call that they're in love with each other. There will be fans that will hate this, but it's the sort of professional and personal synthesis that kind of makes sense for someone as driven as Peggy. And Stan hanging up the phone while Peggy was talking to run up to her office was too cute.
3. Don Draper. Don starts the episode in Utah test driving cars, and now looks every bit a Whitman with his plaid shirts, jeans, and (relatively) untamed hair. He finally learns that Betty is sick, and calls her to say he's coming home, but she (and Sally before her) tell him to keep his distance. This leads him to California, and to Anna's niece Stephanie, where he's looking to crash a bit before heading back. But Stephanie takes him to some sort of New Age retreat up north, which eventually leads to him breaking down after calling Peggy to say goodbye. He's completely adrift until, in one session, he listens to an office worker talk about how he feels unloved and ignored. It's a cathartic moment for Don, as the troubles of this guy put his own issues in perspective. It also apparently leads Don to realize that the best solution for his issues is the one he used before: reinvention. The episode closes with Don in a meditation group, chanting om and smiling. He's at peace and one with the universe, the yin to New York Don's yang.
Honorable Mention: Roger Sterling and Marie Calvet. Marie has left Emile and come to New York, but she and Roger get in a fight because Marie thinks Roger will eventually throw her over. He responds by marrying her and apparently moving to Canada. They seem very happy in the last scene we see them in. As Joan noted, the timing finally worked out.
Three Down
1. Sally Draper. Sally breaks the news about Betty to Don, and then has to make the argument that it's better that he not come back to assert his fatherhood. She thinks it would be too much for Bobby and Gene, and that living with their uncle and aunt would be more stable. She makes no argument about herself, already assuming the mantle of adulthood. She later assumes a maternal role when she comes home to check in on everyone, and finds out that Bobby already knows (he overheard the fights between Betty and Henry). Sally cooks them dinner (Bobby tried but failed), and is still home washing dishes in the last scene we see her in, Betty sitting at the kitchen table and smoking. Welcome to adulthood.
2. Richard Burghoff. For all of Richard's talk about Joan's ability to do whatever she wants, Richard really wants Joan to be with him and not tied down. Her new business will tie her down, and he knows that, so he calls it off before things get ugly. Which is a wise move, but giving up Joan is a mistake.
3. Stephanie Horton. When Don arrives on her doorstep she assumes her folks sent him over to cause trouble over her son, who is being raised by the father's parents. Once they straighten out that Don is there simply because he wanted to check in, she invites him to the retreat. Which she leaves after people in a group session judge her on not wanting to be with her son. She leaves the retreat, going back into the world with the same baggage and problems as before. On the plus side, her conversation with Don before she leaves helps him, I think, as he talks with her about reinvention, potentially getting him to realize that starting over will be best for him.
Honorable Mention: Meredith. She gets canned once McCann realizes that Roger has been using her in addition to Caroline. She's still perky about her chances, agreeing with Roger that she'll land on her feet. Hopefully with a translation service in need of a pig Latin expert.
1. Joan Harris. The episode opens with Richard telling Joan that her life is undeveloped real estate, and in time (and after a lunch with Ken Cosgrove), she finds something she wants to develop - a film production company, doing industrial films for Dow to start. She offers a partnership to Peggy, who declines, but Joan presses on. Her desire to build something of her own winds up driving Richard away. It's the crowning moment for Joan in the series, really, as she finally has true independence. And Kevin is also now getting part of Roger's estate when he dies, so he's even secure.
2. Peggy Olsen and Stan Rizzo. They're both staying at McCann, but in talking over Joan's offer to Peggy, and Peggy insulting Stan, they learn in their make-up phone call that they're in love with each other. There will be fans that will hate this, but it's the sort of professional and personal synthesis that kind of makes sense for someone as driven as Peggy. And Stan hanging up the phone while Peggy was talking to run up to her office was too cute.
3. Don Draper. Don starts the episode in Utah test driving cars, and now looks every bit a Whitman with his plaid shirts, jeans, and (relatively) untamed hair. He finally learns that Betty is sick, and calls her to say he's coming home, but she (and Sally before her) tell him to keep his distance. This leads him to California, and to Anna's niece Stephanie, where he's looking to crash a bit before heading back. But Stephanie takes him to some sort of New Age retreat up north, which eventually leads to him breaking down after calling Peggy to say goodbye. He's completely adrift until, in one session, he listens to an office worker talk about how he feels unloved and ignored. It's a cathartic moment for Don, as the troubles of this guy put his own issues in perspective. It also apparently leads Don to realize that the best solution for his issues is the one he used before: reinvention. The episode closes with Don in a meditation group, chanting om and smiling. He's at peace and one with the universe, the yin to New York Don's yang.
Honorable Mention: Roger Sterling and Marie Calvet. Marie has left Emile and come to New York, but she and Roger get in a fight because Marie thinks Roger will eventually throw her over. He responds by marrying her and apparently moving to Canada. They seem very happy in the last scene we see them in. As Joan noted, the timing finally worked out.
Three Down
1. Sally Draper. Sally breaks the news about Betty to Don, and then has to make the argument that it's better that he not come back to assert his fatherhood. She thinks it would be too much for Bobby and Gene, and that living with their uncle and aunt would be more stable. She makes no argument about herself, already assuming the mantle of adulthood. She later assumes a maternal role when she comes home to check in on everyone, and finds out that Bobby already knows (he overheard the fights between Betty and Henry). Sally cooks them dinner (Bobby tried but failed), and is still home washing dishes in the last scene we see her in, Betty sitting at the kitchen table and smoking. Welcome to adulthood.
2. Richard Burghoff. For all of Richard's talk about Joan's ability to do whatever she wants, Richard really wants Joan to be with him and not tied down. Her new business will tie her down, and he knows that, so he calls it off before things get ugly. Which is a wise move, but giving up Joan is a mistake.
3. Stephanie Horton. When Don arrives on her doorstep she assumes her folks sent him over to cause trouble over her son, who is being raised by the father's parents. Once they straighten out that Don is there simply because he wanted to check in, she invites him to the retreat. Which she leaves after people in a group session judge her on not wanting to be with her son. She leaves the retreat, going back into the world with the same baggage and problems as before. On the plus side, her conversation with Don before she leaves helps him, I think, as he talks with her about reinvention, potentially getting him to realize that starting over will be best for him.
Honorable Mention: Meredith. She gets canned once McCann realizes that Roger has been using her in addition to Caroline. She's still perky about her chances, agreeing with Roger that she'll land on her feet. Hopefully with a translation service in need of a pig Latin expert.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
2015 Upfronts: Fox
What's Cancelled? The only relatively new cancellations are The Mindy Project (which was announced last week, with the potential that Hulu may pick it up) and The Following.
The New Lineup:
Monday: Gotham opens the night, followed by Minority Report, a TV version of the movie where one of the precogs has secretly returned to fighting crime, aided by a cop with a troubled past. They're once again trying to prevent crimes before they happen, so sort of a Person of Interest without the computer. I would have more faith in this if Fox had a better track record with shows set in the future.
Monday will also see the return of The X-Files in January.
Tuesday: is all new, and opens with a pair of sitcoms. Grandfathered stars John Stamos as a bachelor who learns that he's not only a father, but a grandfather. He then has to balance his new family with his work family, and work out the love lives of his son and himself. This is followed by The Grinder, in which a TV lawyer (Rob Lowe), finding his show cancelled, moves home to work in his family's law firm, to the consternation of his brother (Fred Savage) and father (William Devane). I find the latter show more interesting than the former.
The following hour gives us Scream Queens, Ryan Murphy's follow-up to Glee. An elite sorority is forced to open its pledge process to all students, which apparently causes a killing spree. We'll get another body each week until the killer is found, or something. I'm dubious about this one, if only because of how Glee wandered for most of its run.
New Girl returns later in the year, followed by a new comedy, The Guide to Surviving Life. The new show follows a group of young people who are living together for the first time. Probably a good match for New Girl and for viewers who don't remember Friends.
Wednesday: Opens with Rosewood, in which a brilliant private pathologist (Morris Chestnut) uses his sophisticated lab and skilled assistants (his sister and her fiancee) to find clues that the Miami PD missed. Which leads me to wonder why the Miami PD doesn't just have him do their autopsies to begin with. And there's a detective with her own inner demons for him to clash with, of course.
This is followed by Empire, which doesn't seem like the most natural combination.
Thursday: Bones, followed by Sleepy Hollow in a new time slot.
Friday: Masterchef Junior, follwed by the clip show World's Funniest.
Saturday: college football
Sunday: unchanged, notable in that midseason comedy The Last Man on Earth will return in the 9:30 slot after Family Guy.
Midseason?
*Lucifer, based on a comic book where the fallen angel moves to Los Angeles to punish bad guys, although living in LA means he's not keeping the peace in Hell, which may allow evil beings to escape (from a hellmouth?). Seems very Buffy/Angelish.
* The Frankenstein Code, where a septugenarian sheriff is killed by mobsters but brought back to life by a couple of thirtysomething techies, with some unpredictable superpowers thrown in to boot. I assume the reanimated lawman is not afraid of fire?
* Bordertown, an animated comedy from Seth MacFarlane set in a town on the US-Mexico border. Which I assume will allow him to use all of the jokes left over from The Cleveland Show, only edited to be about Mexicans.
We're also getting a live version of Grease, as Fox horns in on NBC's territory. And, as noted pretty much everywhere, American Idol will return for its final season.
Thoughts?
Seems like Fox is betting heavily on sci-fi/fantasy themed programming, which hasn't quite worked out for them in the past. But if they can embrace it, and give shows time to develop, it could work out very well for them. And while there may be derivative notes in some of the new shows, they are at least for older shows that may not be as familiar to current 18 to 34 year olds; it's new to them!
The New Lineup:
Monday: Gotham opens the night, followed by Minority Report, a TV version of the movie where one of the precogs has secretly returned to fighting crime, aided by a cop with a troubled past. They're once again trying to prevent crimes before they happen, so sort of a Person of Interest without the computer. I would have more faith in this if Fox had a better track record with shows set in the future.
Monday will also see the return of The X-Files in January.
Tuesday: is all new, and opens with a pair of sitcoms. Grandfathered stars John Stamos as a bachelor who learns that he's not only a father, but a grandfather. He then has to balance his new family with his work family, and work out the love lives of his son and himself. This is followed by The Grinder, in which a TV lawyer (Rob Lowe), finding his show cancelled, moves home to work in his family's law firm, to the consternation of his brother (Fred Savage) and father (William Devane). I find the latter show more interesting than the former.
The following hour gives us Scream Queens, Ryan Murphy's follow-up to Glee. An elite sorority is forced to open its pledge process to all students, which apparently causes a killing spree. We'll get another body each week until the killer is found, or something. I'm dubious about this one, if only because of how Glee wandered for most of its run.
New Girl returns later in the year, followed by a new comedy, The Guide to Surviving Life. The new show follows a group of young people who are living together for the first time. Probably a good match for New Girl and for viewers who don't remember Friends.
Wednesday: Opens with Rosewood, in which a brilliant private pathologist (Morris Chestnut) uses his sophisticated lab and skilled assistants (his sister and her fiancee) to find clues that the Miami PD missed. Which leads me to wonder why the Miami PD doesn't just have him do their autopsies to begin with. And there's a detective with her own inner demons for him to clash with, of course.
This is followed by Empire, which doesn't seem like the most natural combination.
Thursday: Bones, followed by Sleepy Hollow in a new time slot.
Friday: Masterchef Junior, follwed by the clip show World's Funniest.
Saturday: college football
Sunday: unchanged, notable in that midseason comedy The Last Man on Earth will return in the 9:30 slot after Family Guy.
Midseason?
*Lucifer, based on a comic book where the fallen angel moves to Los Angeles to punish bad guys, although living in LA means he's not keeping the peace in Hell, which may allow evil beings to escape (from a hellmouth?). Seems very Buffy/Angelish.
* The Frankenstein Code, where a septugenarian sheriff is killed by mobsters but brought back to life by a couple of thirtysomething techies, with some unpredictable superpowers thrown in to boot. I assume the reanimated lawman is not afraid of fire?
* Bordertown, an animated comedy from Seth MacFarlane set in a town on the US-Mexico border. Which I assume will allow him to use all of the jokes left over from The Cleveland Show, only edited to be about Mexicans.
We're also getting a live version of Grease, as Fox horns in on NBC's territory. And, as noted pretty much everywhere, American Idol will return for its final season.
Thoughts?
Seems like Fox is betting heavily on sci-fi/fantasy themed programming, which hasn't quite worked out for them in the past. But if they can embrace it, and give shows time to develop, it could work out very well for them. And while there may be derivative notes in some of the new shows, they are at least for older shows that may not be as familiar to current 18 to 34 year olds; it's new to them!
Monday, May 11, 2015
2015 Upfronts: NBC
It's the most wonderful time of the TV year: the broadcast networks trout out their planned schedules for the upcoming season, in the hopes of selling as much ad time as possible. NBC and Fox go today, ABC tomorrow, CBS Wednesday, and The CW on Thursday. Let's start with the Peacock.
What's Cancelled? Nothing surprising, really, and mostly things that have already been cancelled. Most notable shows not coming back include Parks and Rec, Parenthood (both planned endings), State of Affairs, The Sing-Off, Allegiance, and Constantine.
The New Lineup. Here's what's on tap for the fall:
Monday: The Voice for two hours, with Blindspot moving in at 10. This new drama sees a woman wake up in Times Square not knowing who she is or how she got there. She's also only covered by a set of intricate tattoos, one of which is the name of a FBI agent. Working together, they realize that her tats are related to crimes, and that solving them will help the woman get back her identity and apparently expose some sort of international conspiracy. If it's done well it might not be bad, but I'm sensing this as every international conspiracy show of the last decade with a Blacklist overlay.
Tuesday: begins with The Voice, and then moves to new drama Heartbreaker, about a heart surgeon whose professional brilliance in a male-dominated field may only be matched by a "racy" personal life. This is the latest attempt to find a Grey's Anatomy for a younger set, I'm guessing.
The day wraps with what might be the most interesting new show of the year, Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris. It's a return to the variety show, promising music, comedy, stunts, audience participation, and various giveaways. I'll admit to being intrigued.
Wednesday: No changes here, with The Mysteries of Laura (so much for a repeat win in the Ted Marshall Open) followed by Law & Order: SVU and then Chicago PD.
Thursday: Starts with the reboot of Heroes, which still seems like a bad idea. That's followed by The Blacklist, and then The Player, which stars Wesley Snipes as a special ops guy turned Las Vegas security pro who is tasked to stop major crimes by a shadowy group of millionaires. This may also help Snipes finally learn the truth about the death of his wife, because working for a shadowy group of millionaires to stop major crimes isn't enough. I just hope Snipes gets his withholding correct this time around.
Friday: The one relocated show is Undateable, which kicks off the evening, followed by People are Talking, in which to diverse couples who live next door to each other talk about life, love and... sorry, I fell asleep in the middle of the synopsis. Marc-Paul Gosselaar stars, for those of you still upset about Saved by the Bell not getting the reboot treatment.
Grimm and Dateline round out the evening.
Saturday: Dateline followed by vintage SNL repeats.
Sunday: Football scores, followed by football game.
Midseason?
Chicago Fire comes back in November in place of NPH's show, and there are a variety of unscripted programs (Celebrity Apprentice, The Biggest Loser, etc.) that aren't on the schedule but will likely fill some cracks. As far as new scripted shows go, we have:
* The reboot of Coach, where Hayden Fox comes out of retirement to help his son, who is the head football coach at an Ivy League school where the eggheads don't know sports.
* Hot & Bothered, a sitcom set behind the scenes of a telenovela. Eva Longoria stars.
* Crowded, about empty nesters who suddenly have children and parents living with them. The description calls this setting "timely," which is probably true if we're measuring in geologic time.
* Superstore, a big box workplace comedy starring America Ferrara and Ben Feldman. This is closer to timely, NBC, especially if the leads started working their after losing their jobs in the Great Recession.
* You, Me and the End of the World, an apocalyptic comedy about a group of misfits whose lives intersect in the shadow of an impending collision between the Earth and a comet. Stars Rob Lowe, Jenna Fischer and Megan Mullaly.
*Chicago Med, another Chicago Fire spinoff. Looking forward to next year's Chicago Sanitation.
* Game of Silence, which strikes me as Revenge combined with I Know What you Did Last Summer, when a secret shared by a group of high school friends comes to light 25 years later.
* Shades of Blue, about a crooked cop (Jennifer Lopez!) who has to turn on her fellow crooked cops when she gets pinched by the FBI.
Also, we're getting a live version of The Wiz this season.
Thoughts?
First thought is that after years of giving NBC crap about turnover, they've done a nice job of developing some shows with staying power. Quick second thought is that they've only got one hour of traditional sitcoms for the fall, and it's on Friday. Must See Thursday is well and truly dead.
There's not much among the new shows that really piques my interest, other than the variety show, and that's less about content than format. But I also think the new shows are OK, not so derivative to be obvious about who they're ripping off but not so original to potentially be off-putting (though People are Talking sounds dreadful). So good work, I guess?
What's Cancelled? Nothing surprising, really, and mostly things that have already been cancelled. Most notable shows not coming back include Parks and Rec, Parenthood (both planned endings), State of Affairs, The Sing-Off, Allegiance, and Constantine.
The New Lineup. Here's what's on tap for the fall:
Monday: The Voice for two hours, with Blindspot moving in at 10. This new drama sees a woman wake up in Times Square not knowing who she is or how she got there. She's also only covered by a set of intricate tattoos, one of which is the name of a FBI agent. Working together, they realize that her tats are related to crimes, and that solving them will help the woman get back her identity and apparently expose some sort of international conspiracy. If it's done well it might not be bad, but I'm sensing this as every international conspiracy show of the last decade with a Blacklist overlay.
Tuesday: begins with The Voice, and then moves to new drama Heartbreaker, about a heart surgeon whose professional brilliance in a male-dominated field may only be matched by a "racy" personal life. This is the latest attempt to find a Grey's Anatomy for a younger set, I'm guessing.
The day wraps with what might be the most interesting new show of the year, Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris. It's a return to the variety show, promising music, comedy, stunts, audience participation, and various giveaways. I'll admit to being intrigued.
Wednesday: No changes here, with The Mysteries of Laura (so much for a repeat win in the Ted Marshall Open) followed by Law & Order: SVU and then Chicago PD.
Thursday: Starts with the reboot of Heroes, which still seems like a bad idea. That's followed by The Blacklist, and then The Player, which stars Wesley Snipes as a special ops guy turned Las Vegas security pro who is tasked to stop major crimes by a shadowy group of millionaires. This may also help Snipes finally learn the truth about the death of his wife, because working for a shadowy group of millionaires to stop major crimes isn't enough. I just hope Snipes gets his withholding correct this time around.
Friday: The one relocated show is Undateable, which kicks off the evening, followed by People are Talking, in which to diverse couples who live next door to each other talk about life, love and... sorry, I fell asleep in the middle of the synopsis. Marc-Paul Gosselaar stars, for those of you still upset about Saved by the Bell not getting the reboot treatment.
Grimm and Dateline round out the evening.
Saturday: Dateline followed by vintage SNL repeats.
Sunday: Football scores, followed by football game.
Midseason?
Chicago Fire comes back in November in place of NPH's show, and there are a variety of unscripted programs (Celebrity Apprentice, The Biggest Loser, etc.) that aren't on the schedule but will likely fill some cracks. As far as new scripted shows go, we have:
* The reboot of Coach, where Hayden Fox comes out of retirement to help his son, who is the head football coach at an Ivy League school where the eggheads don't know sports.
* Hot & Bothered, a sitcom set behind the scenes of a telenovela. Eva Longoria stars.
* Crowded, about empty nesters who suddenly have children and parents living with them. The description calls this setting "timely," which is probably true if we're measuring in geologic time.
* Superstore, a big box workplace comedy starring America Ferrara and Ben Feldman. This is closer to timely, NBC, especially if the leads started working their after losing their jobs in the Great Recession.
* You, Me and the End of the World, an apocalyptic comedy about a group of misfits whose lives intersect in the shadow of an impending collision between the Earth and a comet. Stars Rob Lowe, Jenna Fischer and Megan Mullaly.
*Chicago Med, another Chicago Fire spinoff. Looking forward to next year's Chicago Sanitation.
* Game of Silence, which strikes me as Revenge combined with I Know What you Did Last Summer, when a secret shared by a group of high school friends comes to light 25 years later.
* Shades of Blue, about a crooked cop (Jennifer Lopez!) who has to turn on her fellow crooked cops when she gets pinched by the FBI.
Also, we're getting a live version of The Wiz this season.
Thoughts?
First thought is that after years of giving NBC crap about turnover, they've done a nice job of developing some shows with staying power. Quick second thought is that they've only got one hour of traditional sitcoms for the fall, and it's on Friday. Must See Thursday is well and truly dead.
There's not much among the new shows that really piques my interest, other than the variety show, and that's less about content than format. But I also think the new shows are OK, not so derivative to be obvious about who they're ripping off but not so original to potentially be off-putting (though People are Talking sounds dreadful). So good work, I guess?
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Three Up, Three Down: Mad Men, "Milk and Honey Route"
Three Up
1. Pete Campbell. Pete runs into Duck in the elevator at McCann, and it turns into Duck talking Pete into meeting with an executive from a private jet service. This is actually Duck trying to get Pete into a senior position with the company, which Pete turns down because he's happy at McCann. At least he is until Duck is able to work the company into an offer that matches what Pete would get from McCann. Pete rushes to Trudy with the news, proposing that they all move to Wichita and resume family life, which Trudy accepts.
2. Don Draper. Don is still on his road trip, keeping tabs with the kids and enjoying not being at McCann. His car breaks down somewhere in Oklahoma, and he's stuck there for nearly a week before it can get fixed. He gets in good with some of the locals, enough to get invited to a social for veterans (which is actually a fundraiser, at which he is able to admit that he caused his CO's death). Don later takes a phone book to the face a few times when he's suspected of stealing the fundraiser proceeds (the locals know he has money, and seem to think this is how he gets it). Turns out the thief is the handyman at the motel, and Don gets him to return the money, and gives him a quick lesson on being a con man and the negative aspect of living under a false name. Don gives the kid a ride to the bus station, but then gives the kid his car. The episode ends with Don sitting at the bus stop, huge grin on his face. He's gotten rid the last physical reminder of his New York life and is apparently looking forward to letting Greyhound do the driving.
3. Duck Phillips. Duck gets to eat for the rest of the year! Nice bit of work maneuvering Pete into the new job, maybe not so nice that he's apparently back on the sauce. Probably too much to ask that we'll have one more great drunk Duck scene.
Honorable Mention: Trudy Campbell. For all the great backbone that Trudy's shown as a divorcee in the suburbs, it turns out that she's spent the last couple of years waiting for Pete to come back and declare his love for her. She's not forgotten what he's done, but she seems amenable to moving on. Which I'm not sure I'm happy about, but it'd be nice to have a happy Trudy back, even if we don't get to see it.
Three Down
1. Betty Francis. HOLY CRAP BETTY HAS TERMINAL CANCER. A fall at school leads to the discovery that she's got lung cancer that's spread to bones and lymph nodes, and could have a year if she submits to various treatments. She's not going to do this, much to Henry's dismay. Betty asks Henry to not tell the kids until she figures out how she wants to do it, so of course he goes and tells Sally. This leads to Sally coming home, ostensibly to talk Betty into treatment, but Betty gives Sally a pretty good explanation about knowing when something is over, and how fighting that is generally not worth the trouble. This is easily the most adult thing we've ever seen Betty do.
Also, between Anna and Betty, Megan should use some of the million that Don gave her to get regular cancer screenings. Being Mrs. Don Draper is apparently carcinogenic.
2. Sally Draper. Sally is apparently going to be the responsible adult when it comes to Betty's death, as Betty gives Sally postmortem instructions, noting that Henry isn't going to be any use once it happens. So Sally is going to have to deal with helping him through as well. She can't even tell her brothers what's going on, and doesn't have a way to tell Don until he calls again. So she's carrying this on her own, at least for now. And she has to sell her field hockey equipment, what a drag.
3. Henry Francis. When Henry breaks down after telling Sally about Betty, it's the first and best clue that Betty's assessment is correct. He's also in pretty heavy denial, doing research into oncologists and telling Betty that she's always been lucky. He is going to make a horrible widower.
Honorable Mention: Al Bettendorf. The drunk vet burns down his kitchen, and then beats up a stranger who he thinks stole the money raised to fix it. Wonder who he'll beat up next year when they have to have another fundraiser to rebuild whatever he burns down next.
1. Pete Campbell. Pete runs into Duck in the elevator at McCann, and it turns into Duck talking Pete into meeting with an executive from a private jet service. This is actually Duck trying to get Pete into a senior position with the company, which Pete turns down because he's happy at McCann. At least he is until Duck is able to work the company into an offer that matches what Pete would get from McCann. Pete rushes to Trudy with the news, proposing that they all move to Wichita and resume family life, which Trudy accepts.
2. Don Draper. Don is still on his road trip, keeping tabs with the kids and enjoying not being at McCann. His car breaks down somewhere in Oklahoma, and he's stuck there for nearly a week before it can get fixed. He gets in good with some of the locals, enough to get invited to a social for veterans (which is actually a fundraiser, at which he is able to admit that he caused his CO's death). Don later takes a phone book to the face a few times when he's suspected of stealing the fundraiser proceeds (the locals know he has money, and seem to think this is how he gets it). Turns out the thief is the handyman at the motel, and Don gets him to return the money, and gives him a quick lesson on being a con man and the negative aspect of living under a false name. Don gives the kid a ride to the bus station, but then gives the kid his car. The episode ends with Don sitting at the bus stop, huge grin on his face. He's gotten rid the last physical reminder of his New York life and is apparently looking forward to letting Greyhound do the driving.
3. Duck Phillips. Duck gets to eat for the rest of the year! Nice bit of work maneuvering Pete into the new job, maybe not so nice that he's apparently back on the sauce. Probably too much to ask that we'll have one more great drunk Duck scene.
Honorable Mention: Trudy Campbell. For all the great backbone that Trudy's shown as a divorcee in the suburbs, it turns out that she's spent the last couple of years waiting for Pete to come back and declare his love for her. She's not forgotten what he's done, but she seems amenable to moving on. Which I'm not sure I'm happy about, but it'd be nice to have a happy Trudy back, even if we don't get to see it.
Three Down
1. Betty Francis. HOLY CRAP BETTY HAS TERMINAL CANCER. A fall at school leads to the discovery that she's got lung cancer that's spread to bones and lymph nodes, and could have a year if she submits to various treatments. She's not going to do this, much to Henry's dismay. Betty asks Henry to not tell the kids until she figures out how she wants to do it, so of course he goes and tells Sally. This leads to Sally coming home, ostensibly to talk Betty into treatment, but Betty gives Sally a pretty good explanation about knowing when something is over, and how fighting that is generally not worth the trouble. This is easily the most adult thing we've ever seen Betty do.
Also, between Anna and Betty, Megan should use some of the million that Don gave her to get regular cancer screenings. Being Mrs. Don Draper is apparently carcinogenic.
2. Sally Draper. Sally is apparently going to be the responsible adult when it comes to Betty's death, as Betty gives Sally postmortem instructions, noting that Henry isn't going to be any use once it happens. So Sally is going to have to deal with helping him through as well. She can't even tell her brothers what's going on, and doesn't have a way to tell Don until he calls again. So she's carrying this on her own, at least for now. And she has to sell her field hockey equipment, what a drag.
3. Henry Francis. When Henry breaks down after telling Sally about Betty, it's the first and best clue that Betty's assessment is correct. He's also in pretty heavy denial, doing research into oncologists and telling Betty that she's always been lucky. He is going to make a horrible widower.
Honorable Mention: Al Bettendorf. The drunk vet burns down his kitchen, and then beats up a stranger who he thinks stole the money raised to fix it. Wonder who he'll beat up next year when they have to have another fundraiser to rebuild whatever he burns down next.
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