Lord help me, I'm going to try to include embedded videos for the new show trailers. Given that Blogger has decided to plumb the depths of craptacularity just in time for Upfront season, I'm not holding my breath here. Come onnnn, HTML editor! You can do it!
Again, not a lot of surprises this year in terms of pick-ups and cancellations. The only shows there were even kind of up in the air were Alcatraz (which I thought might get a Friday night reprieve, paired with Fringe) and The Finder, whose ratings were bad, but whose association with Bones might have given it an edge. At the end of the day, I figured both would be cancelled, and I was right. I thought Touch would get the axe as well, truth be told, but it's been pushed to Friday, so it's only a matter of time.
Here's the schedule for fall:
MONDAY
MONDAY
8/7c Bones
9 pm THE MOB DOCTOR
TUESDAY
8 pm Raising Hope
8:30 pm BEN AND KATE
9 pm New Girl
9:30 pm THE MINDY PROJECT
WEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY
8 The X Factor
THURSDAY
THURSDAY
8 pm The X Factor (Results Show)
9 pm Glee
FRIDAY
8 pm Touch
9 pm Fringe
SUNDAY
8 pm The Simpsons
8:30 pm Bob’s Burgers
9 pm Family Guy
9:30 pm American Dad
NOT RETURNING NEXT SEASON: Alcatraz, Allen Gregory, Breaking In, The Finder, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Napoleon Dynamite and Terra Nova.
Scheduling notes: Glee has moved to Thursday, as a result of its ever-decreasing ratings, methinks. Tuesday night is now all comedy (hoping to replicate their success on Sundays, no doubt), with the new shows peppered in between consistent performers. Say what you will about Fox, their scheduling strategies make a lot more sense than most networks. That said, I think Touch is going to die on Fridays right along Fringe's final season.
Here are the new pilots for next season (fingers crossed that this actually works) and a corresponding Potential-O-Meter score regarding how excited I am about it, how well I think it will do, how much longevity I think it has, etc. (0 being that cross-dressing CBS comedy from last season, 10 being Justified or The Good Wife):
THE MOB DOCTOR
My Take: You know, at first blush (i.e. the first 20 seconds of the trailer), I was ready to write this off as your typical “I’m a doctor with a bizarre/special/unique/quirky attribute who can save people better than anyone else” kinda show, but as the trailer went on, I actually became somewhat intrigued. I assumed it would be your standard medical procedural (yawn), but it actually looks to be far more serialized than that and with much higher stakes. To boot, said stakes are pretty unconventional. Mobsters in general aren’t my cup of tea (which I literally just wrote “cup o tea” and almost left it that way), but the show seems to have integrated them in a more creative way than usual. I can’t say I’m over the moon for this one or that I think it has much chance of longevity, but serials get my full attention and are granted the most leeway. I like Jordana Spiro well enough and think she could anchor the show adequately. I loathe Michael Rappaport, however, so hopefully he’s a more minor player. At the very least, he doesn’t appear to be a potential love interest for Spiro, so that wins the show about a million points. Were they to head in that direction, I’d be heading in the opposite direction.
Potential-O-Meter: 5.5
BEN & KATE
My Take: Aside from the innate prejudice I have about couples named Ben and Kate (there are a truly disturbing number out there, it seems), this show looks pleasant. Not uproariously funny or anything, but pleasant enough. In terms of comedies out there, it does err on the side of “train wreck guy, high strung girl”, but it seems to have more heart about it. I can’t say I see where a long term storyline could develop here, but the show seems charming enough that I’m willing to see what they can do. There’s something appealing about a brother and sister banding together for the greater good and forming an unconventional family for that little girl. In a world with a hell of a lot of deadbeat dads, I find this angle pretty damn charming, even if I’ll need to see more before judging longevity potential. So long as the show doesn’t bank on “he’s an idiot” too much, they could really make this work. From the trailer alone, it looks like they’ll definitely need to flesh out the supporting cast though. A little girl and an eccentric friend just aren’t going to do it.
BEN & KATE
My Take: Aside from the innate prejudice I have about couples named Ben and Kate (there are a truly disturbing number out there, it seems), this show looks pleasant. Not uproariously funny or anything, but pleasant enough. In terms of comedies out there, it does err on the side of “train wreck guy, high strung girl”, but it seems to have more heart about it. I can’t say I see where a long term storyline could develop here, but the show seems charming enough that I’m willing to see what they can do. There’s something appealing about a brother and sister banding together for the greater good and forming an unconventional family for that little girl. In a world with a hell of a lot of deadbeat dads, I find this angle pretty damn charming, even if I’ll need to see more before judging longevity potential. So long as the show doesn’t bank on “he’s an idiot” too much, they could really make this work. From the trailer alone, it looks like they’ll definitely need to flesh out the supporting cast though. A little girl and an eccentric friend just aren’t going to do it.
Potential-O-Meter: 6
THE MINDY PROJECT
My Take: I like Mindy Kaling quite a lot, but I’m not sure I can handle yet another “she’s a disaster looking for love in all the wrong places” comedy. To be fair, I think Mindy can pull off such a show better than most, but the conceit wore thin about 800 iterations ago. I’m really torn. The cast looks great, the writing team can’t be beat, but seriously, the concept is a total turn off. If her love woes weren’t cliché enough, she’s also a doctor. I did not see that coming. My mind is blown. Ugh. The trailer had some funny moments, but it had just as many eye-rollingly hackneyed moments as well. I’ll certainly give it a shot, but I’m definitely on the fence with this one. I would really have loved to have seen Mindy at the helm of something really fresh and original, but instead, she’s pretty much just playing herself playing every girl I’ve seen in every irritating romantic comedy for the past 20 years. Not exactly in my wheelhouse… That said, it’s being paired with New Girl and has enough of an Office pedigree that I think it will do really well.
THE MINDY PROJECT
My Take: I like Mindy Kaling quite a lot, but I’m not sure I can handle yet another “she’s a disaster looking for love in all the wrong places” comedy. To be fair, I think Mindy can pull off such a show better than most, but the conceit wore thin about 800 iterations ago. I’m really torn. The cast looks great, the writing team can’t be beat, but seriously, the concept is a total turn off. If her love woes weren’t cliché enough, she’s also a doctor. I did not see that coming. My mind is blown. Ugh. The trailer had some funny moments, but it had just as many eye-rollingly hackneyed moments as well. I’ll certainly give it a shot, but I’m definitely on the fence with this one. I would really have loved to have seen Mindy at the helm of something really fresh and original, but instead, she’s pretty much just playing herself playing every girl I’ve seen in every irritating romantic comedy for the past 20 years. Not exactly in my wheelhouse… That said, it’s being paired with New Girl and has enough of an Office pedigree that I think it will do really well.
Potential-O-Meter: 5
THE FOLLOWING (midseason)
My Take: Maybe I’ve seen too much TV, maybe I’ve seen too many episodes of Criminal Minds, or maybe I’ve just grown weary of crime shows in general, but in spite of some interesting ideas, a great cast, and the fact that it’s not a story-of-the-week procedural, I just can’t seem to get excited about this one. It all just seems too familiar to really grab me. Seriously, this is like every third episode of Criminal Minds plus a healthy dollop of cinematic psychological thriller. Objectively, it actually looks really good. Not the most original show I’ve ever seen, but it certainly raises the bar well above its genre competitors. Kevin Bacon seems well suited to the role and James Purefoy is always great. I’m not sure I can handle yet another show where all I can think is, “Oh, for hell’s sakes, Winona,” but I’ll certainly try. The dynamic between Bacon and Winona (aka Natalie Zea) could be interesting… or totally ridiculous… but it’s enough to have me intrigued. Odds are this won’t bring a whole lot of new facets to an old routine, but in general, I enjoy the old routine well enough to give this one a shot. Again, it’s a serial (no pun intended), so even if it’s less than unique, I’ll give it some slack.
THE FOLLOWING (midseason)
My Take: Maybe I’ve seen too much TV, maybe I’ve seen too many episodes of Criminal Minds, or maybe I’ve just grown weary of crime shows in general, but in spite of some interesting ideas, a great cast, and the fact that it’s not a story-of-the-week procedural, I just can’t seem to get excited about this one. It all just seems too familiar to really grab me. Seriously, this is like every third episode of Criminal Minds plus a healthy dollop of cinematic psychological thriller. Objectively, it actually looks really good. Not the most original show I’ve ever seen, but it certainly raises the bar well above its genre competitors. Kevin Bacon seems well suited to the role and James Purefoy is always great. I’m not sure I can handle yet another show where all I can think is, “Oh, for hell’s sakes, Winona,” but I’ll certainly try. The dynamic between Bacon and Winona (aka Natalie Zea) could be interesting… or totally ridiculous… but it’s enough to have me intrigued. Odds are this won’t bring a whole lot of new facets to an old routine, but in general, I enjoy the old routine well enough to give this one a shot. Again, it’s a serial (no pun intended), so even if it’s less than unique, I’ll give it some slack.
Potential-O-Meter: 6
THE GOODWIN GAMES (midseason)
My Take: Well, I’ll be damned, I’m intrigued. Even in spite of the Becky Newton of it all. Seriously, had I not recently grown to dislike her immensely and shake my head disapprovingly at her acting ability, I think I’d be even more interested in the show than I already am. Having watched as much TV as I have, I’m a total sucker for a unique concept, and this one comes pretty damn close. Sure it borrows themes and elements of other shows, but all together, it looks like a charming take on the “kids coming back together as adults” motif (although to be honest, it’s a motif I always really enjoy, so even if it were half as promising, I’d still be interested). It might just be my love of that episode of Friends where they play Ross’ trivia game about each other in order to win the apartment, but hey, I’ll take it. It also kind of has a Royal Tennenbaums-y feel to it that I totally dig. I can see where this could make a series and not just a great pilot, which is always a plus. All in all, aside from Becky Newton, I’m actually quite looking forward to this one. Which, of course, automatically means it’s being held till midseason. Boo.
THE GOODWIN GAMES (midseason)
My Take: Well, I’ll be damned, I’m intrigued. Even in spite of the Becky Newton of it all. Seriously, had I not recently grown to dislike her immensely and shake my head disapprovingly at her acting ability, I think I’d be even more interested in the show than I already am. Having watched as much TV as I have, I’m a total sucker for a unique concept, and this one comes pretty damn close. Sure it borrows themes and elements of other shows, but all together, it looks like a charming take on the “kids coming back together as adults” motif (although to be honest, it’s a motif I always really enjoy, so even if it were half as promising, I’d still be interested). It might just be my love of that episode of Friends where they play Ross’ trivia game about each other in order to win the apartment, but hey, I’ll take it. It also kind of has a Royal Tennenbaums-y feel to it that I totally dig. I can see where this could make a series and not just a great pilot, which is always a plus. All in all, aside from Becky Newton, I’m actually quite looking forward to this one. Which, of course, automatically means it’s being held till midseason. Boo.
Potential-O-Meter: 7
Well, there you have it, folks. Nothing totally disastrous, but nothing I'm salivating over either. Fox is playing is pretty safe this season. I hate safe.
And good lord, Blogger. This job should not be this hard! I really hope all that worked above, but I seriously doubt it... UGH!!!
And good lord, Blogger. This job should not be this hard! I really hope all that worked above, but I seriously doubt it... UGH!!!
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