Someone asked me a couple of weeks ago what new fall shows I was looking forward to. I hadn't gotten my Entertainment Weekly Fall TV Preview yet so I didn't really know. It arrived, so here's what I'm looking forward to:
Terra Nova - New sci-fi thing on Fox about future people sent back into time to live with dinosaurs. Will probably suck (all network sci-fi has sucked), but I'll be tuning in.
Prime Suspect - a police show based on an acclaimed British Show that starred Helen Mirren. This one stars Maria Bello. I'm in.
Person of Interest - A crime drama from J.J. Abrams starring Michael Emerson (Lost's Ben). I'm in.
Pan Am - This is usually paired with The Playboy Club and described as network TV's answer to Mad Men. I wasn't that interested until I read the creator really was a stewardess from 68-75 and this includes real stories (including a real stealth mission to rescue Cubans) from her and other stewardesses they interviewed. It could be fun for a season or two.
The Playboy Club - I just expect it to suck.
Grimm - a fairy tale police procedural. If it's like the comic Fables it could be a lot of fun. It's creators come from Buffy and Angel so they know how to do this schtick right. It's got a shot, but I don't expect it to be great.
Homeland - a Showtime series by 24's creator about a US soldier who was a prisoner of war in Iraq returning home and a CIA analyst (Claire Danes) who suspects he might be a terrorist.
Boss - a new drama on cable channel Starz with Kelsey Grammer as a power-mad Chicago mayor. Could be fun.
Once Upon a Time - probably closer to Fables than Grimm with fairy tale characters trapped in a Maine town. They say the story telling is similar to Lost with flashbacks to their fairy tale lives. It stars Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love) and Jennifer Morrison (House). But it won't be easy to get the storytelling right.
Charlie's Angels - is there a way this couldn't suck? Well Hawaii Five-O surprised me as reasonable fun brainless entertainment to read by, this could do the same. And hey, Minka Kelly was really good on Friday Night Lights.
Ringer - I've heard about the premise and that it stars Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) but nothing about if it's good. It's something about her playing identical twins and one pretends to be the other who she thinks is dead but she isn't. Remember how Lone Star has such huge buzz last fall and lasted like two episodes? I suspect this is like that, without the buzz. I've now seen the pilot and it was awful, including a scene on a boat that was obviously filmed on a soundstage. This seems more like Dynasty if you woke up and found yourself in Joan Collins' body.
American Horror Story - a new FX drama with Dylan McDermott and Connie Britton. I like both of them and FX has a good record with me on being daring (Rescue Me, Justified and Louis).
Up All Night - a new NBC sitcom with Will Arnett and Christina Applegate as new parents and Maya Rudolph as her crazy boss. So great cast but it's created by an SNL writer who worked on it for the last decade and this is her first show. That's not a good pedigree in my book. I saw the pilot and it didn't really keep my interest.
There are a few other sitcoms with a known star and some lame premise that didn't interest me but it will all be in the execution: Free Agents (Hank Azaria), Suburgatory (Cheryl Hines), I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Jaime Pressly). I saw the Free Agents pilot and while at first I found it very forced, by the end I had laughed a few times. The supporting cast is all caricatures but that could improve over time.
2 Broke Girls - is a CBS sitcom. I have no interest other than Kat Dennings is one of the stars and I liked her in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and thought she was funny in Thor. I'll wait til I hear some buzz. New Girl - is a Fox sitcom with Zooey Deschanel that's in the same category for me.
4 comments:
I caught the premier of the Playboy club last night and was impressed. I thought it had good production value and the acting was nicely understated. There are a lot of characters and a lot of plot line, so it could be difficult to do well, but if they pull it off (and the show isn’t cancelled before it has a chance to explore it’s potential) it could be great.
I wasn't as impressed. Maybe I'm comparing it to Mad Men but it struck me as just another nighttime soap with pretty generic characters. I found it hard to suspend disbelief at the opening murder and body dumping (that the DA would do it, that anyone could wander back to the store room with no one else around since the managers seem to be watching the bunnies all the time, and that they could get the body out of the building). After that it turned into standard back stage new ingenue, former ingenue, rivalry with stock guys. The black bunny and gay club offered some interest, but they have to handle that better than they did the main story this week.
I'll try it again once or twice more but if it doesn't improve I'm not sticking with it. Hawaii Five-O was a more fun hour.
2 Broke Girls wasn't great, but had some snappy lines. Actually a lot of snappy lines, it was pretty dense for a standard sitcom. And wow, Garrett Morris :)
Seems like a reasonable assessment. Clearly our standards differ. In comparison to other broadcast shows, and particularly my recollection of last years premiers, this seemed pretty good. Some of my impression was probably based on perceived potential, too.
I'm pretty sure I heard a piece on NPR last year about how it was the worst premiere season ever. Based on what I think I"m watching that started last year they may be right. I think it's only Hawaii Five-O. I also remember how Lone Star was praised as the best new show of last season and it lasted just a couple of episodes.
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