Midseason replacements!
It's that most glorious time of year after the shock and pain of watching some of your favorite shows get the axe has been tempered and you're ready to open your heart to some new hopefuls. Due to the delay in pilot season, this midseason is more crowded than most. Henceforth, for the sake of time and sanity, most of the descriptions and reviews below are not my own. I'll be doing this for each of the major networks and the same principles apply. I've scoured the web and compiled as much decent information as I can on these shows, but didn't have the motivation to rewrite anything into any sort of cohesive review. I have offered my two cents here and there, but for the most part, these next few posts will be gleaned from all over the place and the views and opinions expressed are not necessarily reflective of myself, my network, or my parent companies.
With that out of the way, here's what the Fox network has to offer for midseason. Besides nauseating amounts of American Idol.
DOLLHOUSE:
I've already lauded Dollhouse's creative team and concept numerous times, so I'll keep this short. I've been hearing some concerning and rather dismaying reviews of the show, but I'm keeping the faith (heh, no pun intended). Other articles that I've read have bolstered my confidence, but I plan on remaining cautiously optimistic. No matter what I come across, I'll be there with bells on when Dollhouse premieres on Friday (yeah, I know), February 13th.
In case you're out of the loop, here is the network's summary of the show:
- Joss Whedon, creator of groundbreaking cult favorites "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly," returns to television and reunites with fellow "Buffy" alumna Eliza Dushku for a thrilling new drama, DOLLHOUSE.
ECHO (Dushku) is an "Active," a member of a highly illegal and underground group who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas. Confined to a secret facility known as the"Dollhouse," Echo and the other Actives including SIERRA (Dichen Lachman, "Neighbours") and VICTOR (Enver Gjokaj, "The Unit") carry out engagements assigned by ADELLE (Olivia Williams, "X-Men: The Last Stand," "Rushmore"), one of the Dollhouse leaders. The engagements cater to the wealthy, powerful and connected, and require the Actives to immerse themselves in all manner of scenarios - romantic, criminal, uplifting, dangerous, comical and the occasional "pro bono" good deed.
After each scenario, Echo, always under the watchful eye of her handler BOYD (Harry Lennix, "Commander in Chief," 24), returns to the mysterious Dollhouse where her thoughts, feelings and experiences are erased by TOPHER (Fran Kranz, "Welcome to the Captain"), the Dollhouse's genius programmer. Echo enters the next scenario with no memory of before. Or does she?
As the series progresses, FBI Agent PAUL SMITH (Tahmoh Penikett, "Battlestar Galactica") pieces together clues that lead him closer to the Dollhouse, while Echo stops forgetting, her memories begin to return and she slowly pieces together her mysterious past.
LIE TO ME:
Well, what can I say? Here we have yet another procedural where the main character's seemingly preternatural abilities solve crimes in unconventional ways. Yeah, this one looks a whole lot like The Mentalist, but with less Simon Baker... Tim Roth is a pretty incredible actor, however, and this show has significantly less Robin Tunney, so it really does have a lot going for it. Geez, if they could just
go back in time and recast Robin Tunney's role, that show would be so much better. Awh, hindsight. Oh wait, no, she's been dead weight in everything she ever been in. Seems like the brass at CBS probably should have noticed that.Anyway, here's the official description:
From writer Samuel Baum ("The Evidence") and the executive producers of "24" and "Arrested Development" comes LIE TO ME, a drama series inspired by a real-life specialist who can read clues embedded in the human face, body, and voice to expose the truth in criminal investigations.
When you scratch your chin, wring your hands, wrinkle your nose, or swallow too much, DR. CAL LIGHTMAN knows you're lying. He doesn't just think so, he knows so, because he's taken his exceptional skills of observation to become the foremost deception expert in the country. Being a human lie detector, Cal can uncover the deepest secrets and crack the hardest cases. More accurate than any polygraph test, he knows when those in front of him are being less than forthcoming, be they family, friends, or complete strangers.
Cal heads up a private agency contracted by the FBI, local police, law firms, corporations, and private individuals when they hit roadblocks in their sea
rches for the truth. Joining him are a variety of experts in the field of behavioral evaluation: DR. GILLIAN FOSTER is a gifted psychologist and Cal's professional partner, a woman whose guidance Cal needs, whether he knows it or not; WILL LOKER is Cal's lead researcher, and he's so aware of the human tendency to lie that he's decided to uncomplicate matters and practice what he terms "radical honesty": he says everything on his mind at all times. RIA TORRES, the newest member of the team, arrives at the truth differently by acting more on instinct and using her natural, less-studied ability to read body language and catch certain clues that Cal's other pledges may miss.
Brian Grazer, David Nevins, and Samuel Baum serve as executive producers in conjunction with 20th Century Fox Television on this intriguing character drama based on the science of emotion. The show will tell stories that are not simply about the search for an elusive criminal, but also about the search for something even more difficult to pin down: fundamental human truth.
LIE TO ME probes how people can deceive themselves just as easily as they deceive others, and explores the idea that there's nothing more revealing than when we choose to tell the truth and when we decide to lie.
I honestly haven't heard much about this one. It's a half-hour animated comedy from the team that brought us Arrested Development and features the voice talents of Will Arnett and Jason Bateman, so I'll be giving it a shot. Of course, it also features a writer who worked on Two and a Half Men, so I'll only be giving it one shot. And the fact that it's a remake of an Australian show doesn't exactly bode well for the show (Kath and Kim, anyone?), but this genuinely does seem a lot more promising (insanely low bar duly noted).
Here's the official write-up:
From Emmy Award-winning writer Mitchell Hurwitz ("Arrested Development") and Eric and Kim Tannenbaum ("Two and a Half Men") comes SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, an
With a distinctive new look - a combination of animation against a live-action backdrop - SIT DOWN, SHUT UP is a series for the young and old at heart. It lampoons modern society while exposing the dreams, flaws and struggling humanity of our first and most formative authority figures: teachers.
animated comedy that focuses on the lives of eight staff members at a high school in a small northeastern fishing town (Go Baiters!) who never lose sight of the fact that the children must ALWAYS come second. We watch them grapple with their own egos, needs and personal agendas, their petty insecurities and prejudices, unrequited loves, and ruthless battles for power - and that's just at the staff meeting.
SUE SEZNO (Kenan Thompson, "Saturday Night Live"), a woman who frequently says "no," is the acting principal of the school (the actual principal is recovering from a series of unfortunate accidents that might be seen as escape attempts). Then there's Vice Principal STUART PROZACKIAN (Will Forte, "Saturday Night Live") who has a terrifically positive and upbeat attitude...possibly from the performance-enhancing medication he's been secretly put on by the other teachers. There is one educator who feels the focus should be on academics, but despite the old adage, at this school, those who can teach, teach gym - and that's where LARRY SLIMP (Jason Bateman, "Juno," "Arrested Development") has been exiled to. Immensely frustrated, Larry nurses a crush on science teacher MIRACLE GROHE (Maria Bamford, "Stuart Little 2"), a woman whose superficial grasp on science is balanced by her superficial grasp on spirituality. Rounding out the staff is the aging German teacher WILLARD DEUTSCHEBOG (Henry Winkler, "Arrested Development," "Happy Days"), a deeply defeated man whose yearbook quotation reads "If I believed in reincarnation, I'd kill myself tonight." Uptight HELEN KLENCH (Cheri Oteri, "Saturday Night Live"), a librarian whose life's work in research and archiving can now be surpassed by the average Google search from the average cell phone. Proud ANDREW SAPIEN (Nick Kroll, "Best Week Ever," "Cavemen") is the flamboyant drama teacher. And finally there's HAPPY (Tom Kenny, "SpongeBob SquarePants"), the plotting secretive custodian who's assumed to be Hispanic despite the fact that his real name is Muhannad Sabeeh Fa'ach Nuaba.
Yeah, I've got nothin' to offer on this one. This is the first I've heard of it. It's another half-hour animated comedy from Fox, so that already comes with certain expectations.
This one isn't really sounding like my cup of tea, so, yeah...Here's the description:
Many years ago, CLEVELAND BROWN (voiced by Mike Henry) was a high school student madly in love with a beautiful girl named DONNA. Much to his dismay, his love went unrequited, and Donna wound up marrying another man. Cleveland once told Donna he would always love her, and if this man ever done her wrong, he'd be there when she called.
Well, this man done her wrong.
Donna's husband skipped town with another woman, leaving Donna with a daughter and a baby. Now she's come to Cleveland and offered him another chance at love. Unattached after the Loretta-Quagmire debacle and true to his word, Cleveland joyously accepts and he and CLEVELAND JR. move to Stoolbend, VA, to join their new family.
Once in Stoolbend, Cleveland has a few surprises in store for him, including a flirtatious new stepdaughter, a 5-year-old stepson who loves the ladies, as well as a collection of neighbors that includes a loudmouth redneck couple, a British family seemingly stuck in the Victorian era and a family of bears living at the end of the block.
FAMILY GUY was only the beginning. Get ready for THE CLEVELAND SHOW (working title)!
This looks completely awful. And it's yet another remake of a foreign show (this time it's the British who get to cringe at us). I'll be passing on this one. Wow. Fortunately, I didn't come across any premiere date for this little gem, so hopefully it was scrapped before it ever made it on to the schedule.
If you're feeling masochistic, here's what you can expect:
OUTNUMBERED takes a fresh and hilarious approach to the staid family sitcom. The show offers "Curb Your Enthusiasm"-style improvised dialogue with a "Malcolm in the Middle"-like premise about the triumphs and travails of parenting. The adult actors are scripted, while the children's dialogue is improvised and off-the-cuff.
No one ever said parenting was easy. You make the rules up as you go, and some days dealing with your bundles of joy leaves you at your wits' end. For GREG (Ken Marino, "Veronica Mars") and JENNA EMBRY (Brooke Bloom, "CSI: Miami"), whose 6-year-old LILY (Alina Foley, "Days of Our Lives") has the diva act down pat, 7-year-old JACK (Aidan Potter, "Opposite Day") lies with the dexterity of a con-artist and pre-teen KYLE (Ridge Canipe, "Walk The Line") is...well, a pre-teen, it's three against two and they're OUTNUMBERED. Rounding out the madness in Greg and Jenna's lives are TANYA (Beth Dover, "Criminal Minds"), Jenna's slightly off-balance spiritual-healing sister, and EDDIE (Bill English, "Cavemen"), Greg's wheeling-and-dealing, fast-talking salesman brother. These two end up being more of a liability than an asset to the family.
Based on the hit British series, OUTNUMBERED is written and executive-produced by Larry Levin ("Dr. Doolittle").
If you're not in the mood for yet another crime procedural, how about yet another courtroom drama to whet your palate? I enjoy the occasional courtroom drama, and as I don't currently have one in my rotation, I'll likely give this one a shot. Plus, Alfred Molina is excellent (and I'm not sure why he's doing TV, but I'll take it), so it has some potential. I couldn't find a premiere date for this one either, so it might have already bit the dust, but if not, enjoy the litigiousness.
Here's the official description:
From executive producer Paul Attanasio (HOUSE, "Homicide: Life on the Street") comes COURTROOM K, a darkly comedic look at the life of a courthouse in a Midwestern city.
An American courtroom is the last bastion of absolute feudal power, and upon this throne sits dictatorial JUDGE HAROLD ROBAR (Alfred Molina, "Spider-Man 2," "The Da Vinci Code"), a former trial lawyer who is completely convinced he can do both the prosecutor's and the defense lawyer's jobs better than either can do it themselves. Gruff, sarcastic and lovable JUDGE ROBAR does not suffer fools gladly, but he will gladly make fools suffer.
COURTROOM K centers on a group of public servants who cope daily with the basic fact that no one gets in legal trouble for a smart reason. This cast of characters includes District Attorney KENT PUCKER (Michael Landes, "Final Destination 2"), a self-deluded Midwestern booster with a joyful disregard for his own insensitivity; Public Defender MARIJANE DIEHL (Megan Dodds, "Not Going Out"), whose grace under pressure is tested by the insanity of the system; and Diehl's boss, DANIEL JUNE (Jonathan Sadowski, TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES), a clever, boyish bureaucrat 10 years younger than her. Filling out this family are court reporter ROSE MARIE CHEEKS (Noureen DeWulf, "Ocean's Thirteen") and ORTHA SCHUNK (Diana Maria Riva, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"), Judge Robar's court clerk who knows him so well, she could be considered his "work wife."
