While NBC is clearly the bottom of the Big Four barrel, ABC has been nipping at their heels for some time now. Last season seemed to be a turn in the tide though with the successes of Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Happy Endings, Scandal, etc. As such, they don't have as many shows coming this fall, but they have a hell of a lot slated for midseason (a bridge which will be crossed at a later date).
In a season where there have been hardly any surprise pick-ups or unjust cancellations, ABC is right in the middle, once again. The only real note of interest is that Cougar Town was cancelled by ABC, only to be picked up by TBS, which should prove a much better fit. That said, looking at the horror that is ABC's new comedy slate, they should have held onto Cougar Town with both hands and a foot. In terms of scheduling, the biggest news is that Revenge is moving to Sundays. I think that's a better fit in terms of tone, but in terms of being opposite The Good Wife, I'm less than thrilled.
Here's the full fall schedule:
MONDAY 8/7c Dancing With the Stars/The Bachelor (in January) 10 pm Castle
TUESDAY 8 pm DWTS Results 9 Happy Endings 9:30 pm Don’t Trust the B—– In Apartment 23 10 pm Private Practice
In January 8 pm HOW TO LIVE WITH YOUR PARENTS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE 8:30 THE FAMILY TOOLS
WEDNESDAY 8 pm The Middle 8:30 pm Suburgatory 9 pm Modern Family 9:30 THE NEIGHBORS 10 pm NASHVILLE
FRIDAY 8 pm Shark Tank 9 pm Primetime: What Would You Do? 10 pm 20/20
In November 8 pm Last Man Standing 8:30 pm MALIBU COUNTRY 9 pm Shark Tank 10 pm Primetime: What Would You Do?
SUNDAY 8 pm Once Upon a Time 9 pm Revenge 10 pm 666 PARK AVENUE
NOT RETURNING NEXT SEASON:Charlie’s Angels, TBS-bound Cougar Town, Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition, GCB, Man Up, Missing, Pan Am, The River and Work It
THE NEIGHBORS
My Take: Oh my holy god, are you effing
kidding me?! Wow. Just wow.
This looks like a really bad idea for a family-friendly Disney
made-for-TV movie that somehow got turned into a comedy on ABC. I… have no words. Seriously, how on earth is this going to be
an ongoing series? The 2 minute trailer
was painful on its own. I’m sure ABC is
banking on Modern Family to buoy the show’s ratings (as they’ve banked on for
every other comedy to have debuted in the last 3 years), but I don’t think
there’s anything that can save this. If
I had to actually assess the show (and it pains me to do so), I’d say the cast
is charmless and the conceit is oppressive.
There is no possible way to have any real heart or story arc in a show
that revolves around a family that moved into a neighborhood full of aliens. The gags employed in the 2 minute trailer
will undoubtedly be employed every few minutes during every single episode
because there’s really nothing else there.
I can’t believe this got picked up and I really can’t believe ABC is
wasting the plum post-Modern Family slot on this. I’m almost morbidly curious here. Surely there was something ABC saw in this, right? Potential-O-Meter: About 10 points south of “If I had to watch
this show on a regular basis, I’d shoot myself”.
NASHVILLE My Take: For as off-putting and
unappealing as country music and Hayden Panettiere are, this actually looks
like a pretty solid production with a good base conceit and a great cast
(cheerleader notwithstanding). I adore Connie Britton and I have a feeling
she could carry just about any show, even if its basic concept doesn’t really
speak to me. It’s a serial, to be sure,
so that wins it some points, but again… Hayden Panettiere… [insert cold shudder] To be fair, she’s playing an utterly
loathsome character, so it shouldn’t be too hard to translate my hatred into
even more hatred. My main concern is
that the show will want me to love her at some point and I’m just not sure I
can do that. For the better part of
Heroes, I was more than happy with letting the world explode or melt or
whatever it was going to do if it meant that we could stop saving the effing cheerleader.
Anyhow, aside from some conceptual aspects that don’t really get me
salivating, it looks like it could be an excellent drama. Again, Connie Britton can pretty much do no
wrong and I’m excited to see her back on TV, doing something other than giving
birth to a demon. In my heart of hearts,
I’m hoping the approach of this show will be a lot like The Good Wife in terms
of focus. Connie is the star and the
rest of the actors are peripheral.
Should they try to skew younger and make Hayden more central, I might
just have to tune out. Given that it
will be premiering after the abomination that is The Neighbors, I suspect I
won’t be the only one. That’s a nasty
timeslot and I think the show will suffer for it. Potential-O-Meter: 6.5
LAST RESORT
My Take: When the trailer began, I was
fully expecting a “we’re the best of the best and we take no prisoners” blah,
blah, blah, but it actually turned in a direction I didn’t expect (a fairly
ridiculous direction, to be sure, but still different). It really sounds a bit more like a summer movie
than a series at this point, but it really depends on where they take it. If the show focuses on the reasons behind the
attempted sinking of the submarine, looks at the people and the politics that
make such decisions, etc, I think this could be more grounded and interesting
than the Michael Bay overtones would suggest.
If nothing else, it’s not very often you run across a show about the
crew of a submarine, so at least it’s something off the beaten path (although
it seems they’ll be creating a new society on an island, or something, so who
the hell knows). The cast is entirely
too young and pretty to be believable as nuclear submarine anythings, really,
but so it goes in Hollywood. The cast
and production look pretty solid, even if the story is up for grabs. It all had a not-so-vague resemblance to The
Rock, but that’s all part and parcel of the whole action show gig. All in all,
I think this one could go either way.
I’m not exactly chomping at the bit, but if the writers really focus on
the drama and politics of their situation rather than the promise of explosions
and gun play, this could be a viable contender (or total guilty pleasure). Potential-O-Meter: 5.5
MALIBU COUNTRY
My Take: Okay, seriously, what the hell
is ABC thinking with their new comedies this season?! Good lord, this looks painful. I never watched Reba for a number of reasons,
and now they seem to have taken all those reasons, multiplied them by 37 and
made a new sitcom out of them. Ugh. Well, I guarantee that this piece of shit
isn’t my cup of tea, but I can see where any number of people might enjoy
it. It’s being paired with Last Man
Standing, which is also horrendous, so odds are they’ll share a fair bit of the
same kinds of viewers. It’s a sub-par
family sitcom with a painfully abused laugh track that will probably pair
splendidly with a show like Last Man Standing.
The only point of interest in the trailer was the nearly unrecognizable
Sara Rue, for whom blondness and weight loss seem to be in direct
correlation. At the end of the day, this
looks like a low-budget, poorly produced steaming pile of cliché that I’ll be
avoiding at all costs. Surely there were
better comedy pilots out there. Surely. Potential-O-Meter: The theoretical temperature at which entropy reaches its minimum value.
666 PARK AVENUE
My Take: I honestly have no idea what
this show is actually about. At the same
time, I think it easily has the most potential of any of ABC’s fall
offerings. My sensibilities tend more
toward supernatural than horror, but it looks like this show might have a nice
blend. The trailer doesn’t really tell
me much about what to really expect on an episode to episode basis, but I think
they’ve left a lot of room for the show to explore and a great basis for their
own mythology. The “haunted
house/mansion/hotel” is a mainstay of fiction that doesn’t generally appeal to
me much, but 666 Park Avenue has a great look to it and a captivating visual
language. I’m not really sure what I’ll
be getting myself into with this one, but I’m pretty intrigued to give it a
shot. Depending on the narrative
approach and main focus of the show, it could be a fine or illogical pairing
for Revenge, which has been moved to Sundays (aka the day it should have been
on all along), but only time will tell.
Even though I have pretty much nothing to go on but a few vague notions,
my interest is piqued. Potential-O-Meter: 7.5
There you have it, kiddies. It's a pretty mixed bag for ABC. I don't know who is in charge of their comedy development department, but sweet Jesus, they need to be fired immediately. The dramas have some potential, but that's about it. I'm guessing both comedies will come and go quickly, which might be why they have so much in store for midseason. Fearing the worst.
It's dawning on me that the fall season is just around the corner and I'm in very real danger of not getting all the shows previewed in time. As such, I'm going to streamline and truncate the process. First and foremost, it has become abundantly clear that reviewing comedies in this kind of format is a lost cause. There just isn't enough to really indicate if a show is going to be funny or not (usually not). The 2 minute promo seems to do more justice to dramas, so unless there's a comedy that really stands out, I'll be sticking to their more serious, hour-long friends. I was tempted to keep the midseason slate to a minimum (what with them not showing up until January or February, but so many of the most promising options are relegated to winter that I can't.
ABC has several new comedies for fall, but most of them look to be hit or miss. Hopefully they pan out better in full than they do in the trailers, but some of them have no hope. I've linked to trailers for them in case you're really, really interested.
In short, Last Man Standing stars Tim Allen ('nough said) and looks unspeakably bad. As per his nauseating Home Improvement persona of yore, it's a show that has very little to say or do other than made broad, sweeping generalizations about the sexes and pretend they're hilarious. They are not. I have very little tolerance for the notion that women are in charge and men simply have to put up with them. No one forced you to get married and have kids, genius. Shows like this make men look stupid and useless and make women look like shrewish harpies. Um, yay? Not so much. Worst of all, I think I spied Caitlyn Dever (aka Loretta from Justified) playing one of his daughters. Geez, talk about trading down. Ouch.
Man Up follows in the men vs. women trend, but has a hell of a lot more potential. I'm not saying it looks like a surefire hit or anything, but after watching the Last Man Standing promo, this looks like pure gold. Again, with comedies, it's hard to tell, but this looks like it could be fun. It seems to be opting for men are children and women have to take care of them, which also does neither gender and favors, but at least it isn't as nauseating. Done in the right way, this could work.
Suburgatoryappears to have the most potential of the bunch. My good friend Michael Ausiello really enjoyed the pilot, and based on the promo, it appears to have more edge and perspective than ABC's other options. A lot of the notes being hit seem to be aiming for Popular, which is a show I loved, but which have become pretty prevalent lately, so they don't seem quite as fresh. That said, asking if team spirit is something that will clear up on its own wins them a hell of a lot of points. I'm intrigued.
Work It features men in unconvincing drag, because, you know, there's nothing funnier than men dressed as women. I had a class in college called "Queer Theory" where we dissected why it's oh-so-hilarious for burly men to dress up as women and yet why when women dress like men, it isn't funny at all. What it boiled down to was that people see it as men reducing and degrading themselves for comedic effect, but see women dressing as men as powerful and confident. What could possibly be more ridiculous than a man wanting to dress like a woman? Hilarious, I say! Yeah, no. This looks absolutely terrible, and for more reasons than gender-coding, but its basic premise alone is completely cringe-worthy. Pass.
Midseason, of course, has the comedy I'm most excited about. Why or why are the networks doing this? See below for the sum-up of shows that won't premiere till January or February. Oy.
With the fall comedies quickly out of the way, here are ABC's midseason dramas:
THE RIVER
Description: Stars Bruce Greenwood (John from Cincinnati), Leslie Hope (24), Eloise Mumford (Lone Star), Joe Anderson (The Crazies) and others. Written by Michael Green (Kings) and Michael R. Perry (Persons Unknown). Executive producers include Oren Peli and Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) and Steven Spielberg.
First Impressions: This looks like a solid production with an interesting bent, but I'm not sure it'll be my cup of tea. I've never been one for the Blair Witch-y, Cloverfield-y fake documentary format and I generally find thrillers to be less than thrilling. That said, it's not your typical network television fare and I'm always looking to add something new to my rotation. I have a feeling this will struggle in the ratings department, however, and that it will likely get lost in the shuffle. All in all, this feels more like a feature film than a television show, which, speaks to the production quality, but also speaks to the narrative. It's hard to tell from this particular promo, but I'm just not sure how good a series this will make. In short, it's too early to make a snap judgment with this one. It's the kind of show that will either be incredibly well done or will be a disaster. From what I've seen so far, it's likely the latter, but even if its a home run in general terms (good cast, interesting premise, high production values), it just doesn't strike me as the kind of show I'll be invested in week to week.
SCANDAL
Description: Stars Kerry Washington (Ray), Henry Ian Cusick (Lost), Tony Goldwyn (Ghost), Guillermo Diaz (Mercy), Columbus Short (Studio 60), Darby Stanchfield (NCIS) and others. Based on the career of crisis management consultant Judy Smith, who serves alongside producers including Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice) and Betsy Beers (Grey’s Anatomy).
First Impressions: First thought? Oooh, she's sassy! [in mock tone] Second thought? Desmond!!! Okay, so here's the deal. This is a Shonda Rhimes production. Citing a long list of precedent, there are certain aspects of the show which we can all assume will be there, whether you like it or not. That said, this looks to be a farther step out of her mold than usual. At the very least, viewers will be spared yet another medical drama and even better, we won't have to endure the trials and tribulations of newbies on the job. Kerry Washington is lovely and appears more than capable of anchoring the show. Her character has a bit too much in the "she's amazing, she gets the job done no matter what" department, but that's to be expected with this kind of concept. More importantly, Desmond. Oh, how I love Henry Ian Cusick and I'm honestly pretty excited to see him back in action, even if sans delectable accent. I'm also a big fan of Joshua Molina, but it doesn't look like he's a regular. What it does look like is that the show appears to value a good guest actor and that can mean the difference between memorable episodes or terrible ones, especially if this is in any way a procedural. I'm hoping, and from the promo it appears to be the case, that this is a serial drama and doesn't pen itself in by procedural conventions. If it can truly break out of Shonda's mold and take its own unique spin, this show could be pretty engaging. I'm not willing to bet the farm or anything, but this looks far and away like Shonda's most promising new project in years.
On the comedy end of the spectrum, ABC has some serious contenders slated for midseason. Why they're holding them to January, I'll never know, but I guess they got the memo that all the major networks seem to have gotten. Oy.
At any rate, here are the midseason comedies:
APARTMENT 23
Description: Stars Dreama Walker (The Good Wife), Krysten Ritter ('Til Death), James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek), and others. Nahnatchka Khan (American Dad) and Dave Hemingson (Traffic Light) penned the pilot and will produce along with Jeffrey Morton (Traffic Light).
First Impressions: Okay, I have two sets of first impressions for this one. When the new slate of shows was initially announced, this show didn't have a trailer so much as a hilarious clip of James Van Der Beek basically being himself on the show, and capitalizing on his Dawson days. It was pretty damn funny. The trailer certainly points to some potential, but it's that clip in my head that has me excited about this show. Well, not the only thing, but its front and center (and no, I couldn't find it on youtube--they seem to have scrubbed it from the internet). Anyway, aside from Dawson, we have Dreama Walker who, after devious turns on Gossip Girl and The Good Wife, has really proven herself as a formidable actress. She is an absolute pro at playing vengeful and cunning, so her battles with the equally wonderful Krysten Ritter should be kinda sorta awesome. Krysten is wonderful in just about everything and can play it straight, comedic, or completely insane at the drop of a hat. The website I pulled the cast list from has her main credit listed as 'Til Death, but that really shouldn't be her claim to fame. When I cite a love of Krysten Ritter, I'm talking about her roles on Veronica Mars and Breaking Bad, thanks. In short, I'm more excited about this show than I have been about a comedy in a long time. We'll have to wait a couple more months to see if it actually pans out, but so far so good. The only way I think Dreama could have more going for her is if she and Eli Gold were granted a spin-off. Now that's a show with an automatic spot on my ever-crowded regular rotation.
GOOD CHRISTIAN BITCHES (which was retitled Good Christian Belles because the brass at ABC has no guts, and then retitled GCB, because Good Christian Belles was terrible... not as terrible as GCB, but once you've started that snowball rolling downhill, it's hard to stop it)
Description: Stars Leslie Bibb (Popular), Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies), David James Elliott (JAG), and Annie Potts (Designing Women). Robert Harling (Laws of Attraction), who penned the pilot, produces alongside Darren Star (Sex and the City) and Aaron Kaplan.
First Impressions: I'm super-excited for this one if for no other reason than Kristin Chenoweth. Okay, there are other reasons, but she's certainly the biggest one (and, conversely, the tiniest one as well). The original title, Good Christian Bitches, was enough to get me intrigued by this one. Indeed, that title is what would have assured the show some viewers come midseason. Sure, it would have offended some people, but at least you'd know what the hell the show was about. GCB? Seriously? Ooooh, I love it when those three letters are together! Can you imagine when G and B start talking about C behind her back! Dear ABC, I know you're prudes and that network TV is the last bastion of watered-down drudgery, but unless they're in the industry, no one is going to know what that means. Oy. Anyway, aside from the god-awful title, this looks like a soapy, sudsy, "mean girls" of the south and I kind of can't wait. I am a little confused over the concept exactly though... Apparently all those women supposedly went to high school together? Uh, they aren't even close to the same age, people... Oh, well. Suspension of disbelief if my middle name (Agnes was already taken). If this were airing anywhere by network, I'd be even more excited. My main fear is that ABC will be so afraid of offending anyone (which already appears to be the case) that the show will lose any and all edge it once had. Fingers crossed they somehow slip by, but I've been burned by network TV too many times to be confident. Even a bowdlerized version will still have Kristin Chenoweth, so that's what I'm really hanging onto. God, I miss Pushing Daisies.
Just when you thought NBC was the only major network with major problems, along comes ABC which had nearly as horrendous a development slate last year and a very real problem with aging serieseseses like Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. Brothers & Sisters finally bit the dust, and it's looking like GA and DH will soon follow. Bearing that in mind, ABC really needs some hits this fall to replace the dinosaurs. Their new slate has some promising pilots, but ABC's schedule doesn't exactly lend itself to hit-making these days, so even the best and brightest are likely to struggle.
After canceling everything but Body of Proof and Happy Endings, ABC has a lot of new shows for the coming year. As with all the other networks, some of the promising options are being held till midseason, but ABC has a good foot forward this fall, Charlie's Angels notwithstanding. Oy.
Here's how the schedule is stacking up for fall (new shows are in caps and the times are Eastern Time):
MONDAY 8/7c Dancing with the Stars 10 pm Castle TUESDAY 8 pm LAST MAN STANDING 8:30 pm MAN UP 9 pm Dancing with the Stars Results Show 10 pm Body of Proof
WEDNESDAY 8 pm The Middle 8:30 pm SUBURGATORY 9 pm Modern Family 9:30 pm Happy Endings [new time slot] 10 pm REVENGE
FRIDAY 8 pm Extreme Makeover: Home Edition [new time slot] 9 pm Shark Tank [new time slot] 10 pm 20/20
SUNDAY 7 pm America’s Funniest Home Videos 8 pm ONCE UPON A TIME 9 pm Desperate Housewives 10 pm PAN AM
They've made some peculiar scheduling choices, I must say... Placing new thriller Revenge after a block of comedies seems like a odd move to me and having new show Charlie's Angels anchor the night on Thursdays rather than feeding off a Grey's lead-in is a bit perplexing. I guess Grey's is in even more trouble than I thought. It's an interesting strategy... whatever it may be.
At any rate, here are the dramas slated for fall:
REVENGE
Description: Stars Emily Van Camp (Brothers & Sisters), Connor Paolo (Gossip Girl), Nick Wechsler (Roswell), Josh Bowman (Make It or Break It) and others. Mike Kelley (Swingtown) wrote the script and will executive-produce.
First Impressions: When the new slate was initially announced, this show had a different, less interesting promo. Based on the new one, I have to admit I'm intrigued. This show is billed as a modern spin on The Count of Monte Cristo, a book I loved, so if they can do the story even partial justice, they're probably in the right ballpark. It's not a literal enough translation to be annoyed by any heavy-handed or missing parallels, it seems, so hopefully they capture the spirit of the thing and play off the beats from the book without pulling everything. I'll cop to being an Everwood fan, and even though Amy was fairly annoying on the show, Emily Van Camp brought as much likability to an unlikable role as she could. I'm not sure she has the gravitas to carry a series like this, but I'm hopeful. The supporting cast looks solid and is populated by the kind of actors you recognize, but don't remember their names. Marc Blucas will only be sucking the life out of every scene in flashbacks, so that's a big help. All in all, I'm not sure how this will work as a multi-year series, but its base concept, at the very least, has me interested. I assume that once the The Count of Monte Cristo elements have been revealed a whole host of other mysteries and scandals will rise up (assuming the show has long enough to get there), but it's hard to tell. It'll be interesting to see how long they draw out the reality of her identity at the very least. With a reputable source material for the foundation of the show, hopefully the writers will have enough of a guide that they can really pull this off and keep the soap opera elements in check. So far, I'm in.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS
Description: Stars Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights), Rachael Taylor (Grey's Anatomy), Annie Ilonzeh (General Hospital), Ramon Rodriguez (The Wire). Original series producer Leonard Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Smallville's Miles Millar and Al Gough are all producing.
First Impressions: As much as I loved Friday Night Lights and want to give Minka Kelly the benefit of the doubt, this completely unnecessary reboot looks like a substance-less waste of time. I point this out in case "Executive Producer Drew Barrymore" didn't tip you off the probable quality of the show. As with Hawaii Five-O before it, this show appears to be a lot more concerned with looking cool than with telling a good story. It's a cast of beautiful people in a fabulous location with lots of guns and car chases and explosions and crap... which is a set-up that appeals to a whole lotta people. I can see where this show could do pretty well, because there are a lot of viewers out there who are looking for this kind of thing, but I seriously doubt I'll make it past the pilot. I can see where programming that is easy to watch and requires no effort whatsoever has a certain appeal. Sometimes you just don't want to have to try. I get it. But for me, not trying at all generally equals not caring at all. Even my lowest commitment shows tell a good story, even if I don't have to work very hard to watch. From the trailer alone, I'm already bored with this tired routine and the cheesy dialogue. At least Hawaii Five-O has Scott Caan to bring some actual depth and acting ability to the table. Minka, I love you dearly, but this just isn't the role for you, methinks. I honestly don't even want to screen the pilot, I'm not going to lie. I will, of course, but not without bias. I have my fingers crossed that this is secretly excellent, but I'm not holding my breath.
ONCE UPON A TIME
Description: Stars Jennifer Morrison (House), Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love), Lana Parrilla (Swingtown), Robert Carlyle (Stargate Universe) and others. From from Lost scribes Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz who will produce and write.
First Impressions: Um, wow. VERY intrigued. I can't quite tell if this is going to be an amazing and beautiful exercise in literary structure or a disaster, but count me in either way. From what I've heard from people who've seen the pilot, it's definitely the former. I loves me a good fairy tale and this looks like a theatrical blend of fantasy and reality told in a stylized way. It kind of has a Pushing Daisies bent to it, but with a darker lining. Unlike Grimm, NBC's stab at the the blurring of lines between the real world and the storybook, I think Once Upon a Time will actually pull it off. While Lost certainly had its ups and downs, no one can argue that it didn't play with convention in a successful way, so with any hope, the creative team really brings their A-game and makes this work. The cast is excellent, with erstwhile House underling Jennifer Morrison and the always delightful Ginnifer Goodwin (taking a break from her SYTYCD run) at the helm. It'll be nice to see Morrison in a role that doesn't suck. She's a wonderful actress, but often misused or underused. Goodwin is a pure delight anyway you slice it and already looks like she was plucked from a fairy tale, so, win-win. I'm more willing to suspend disbelief and go with a concept than a lot of viewers out there, so I can see where this show might struggle, but if it can find a core following, I think it's going to be a whimsical, fascinating, and exhilarating ride (those sword fighting scenes looks stylish and exciting). If nothing else, this is a concept that I haven't ever seen before, so even if it has problems, at least it's not another crime procedural or medical drama. It's anchoring the night on Sunday, so it might be in for a challenge, but here's hoping. Why ABC is having these new show up first for the evening, I simply don't understand. Not that they have any returning shows that would really do this show a ton of favors, but even Grey's is better than nothing.
PAN AM
Description: Stars Christina Ricci (Monster), Michael Mosley (Justified), Kelli Garner (My Generation), Jonah Lotan (CSI: NY) and others. Jack Orman (ER) wrote the pilot and will executive-produce with Tommy Schlamme (The West Wing), who is also directing the pilot.
First Impressions: I think I speak for everyone when I say, "Holy shit, that's Christina Ricci?!" Wow, unrecognizable. With that out of the way, this looks like a much more successful foray into a Mad Men-ish vintage setting than NBC's The Playboy Club. So, after these last two reviews, I think the moral of the story is, both ABC and NBC picked a lot of similar-ish set-ups, but ABC's invariably look more promising. The big difference here is that the creative team totally speaks to me here. I was a quite the ER devotee and Tommy Schlamme is an absolute pro. At first blush, I thought this would be a light, soapy romp set in the 60's, but the trailer portends a lot more depth and intrigue. In just the two-minute promo, it raises a lot of questions and social issues, ranging from the rights and roles of women in the 60's to international espionage to the overall experience and security of flying. As with any period piece, setting a show in a different era gives the writers a different rubric within which to work. It's sets up different rules and restrictions and makes the narrative seem fresher. The creative team seems to be having a lot of fun with the concept without sapping it of substance. At the same time, the cast seems very solid and gives a lot of strong female actresses an interesting set-up to work with. My only concern would be the apparent lack of minority actors involved. I'd be more critical, but based on the profession at hand and the era they're in, it makes sense. There won't be any male flight attendants either. Anyway, this looks a lot better in execution than it did on paper. I'm not sure it's the kind of thing that will be a firestorm in the ratings department, but it should certainly appeal to the same demo as Desperate Housewives, so that should prove an effective pairing (that is, assuming anyone still watches DH--I'm hearing this will be the last season though, so maybe that will spark more interest). I'm not saying this will be a perennial favorite for me, but it looks like a true contender for fall.
Boy, just when I thought NBC was the sole pathetic loser out there, after actually taking stock of ABC, it seems NBC is in good company. I honestly used to watch a whole hell of a lot of ABC, but now? It's pretty much Castle and... reruns of Castle. Granted, my slate of network shows is decreasing considerably across the board, but holy hell, I'm living in a world where I watch more shows on CBS than ABC. I never thought that would happen...
I don't think ABC did either. As a 28-year-old woman, I basically am their target demo, and if I've turned away, that's not a good sign. To their credit, they seem to have noticed the downturn and have cut a lot of the dead weight. I'll be posting about their new pilots later on, but seriously, ABC needs a win this fall if they're going to keep their heads in the game. They haven't had a breakout hit since Modern Family debuted. Based on what I've seen for their fall slate, I'm guessing they'll be waiting another year for a win. That, or midseason. In a rather annoying and confounding trend, most of the new pilots this year that actually look promising are being held till midseason, with no greater offender than ABC. Weird. Good luck with that, ABC.
Anyways, here's how the chips fell. In terms of freshman shows returning for a second season, ABC only fared marginally better than NBC. Not a statistic to be proud of...
SHOWS THAT HAVE BEEN CANCELED:
Better With You I'm only mostly sure I know which of the lame-ass slew of relationship comedies this one is, but it won't be missed even if I'm thinking of the wrong one.
Brothers & Sisters I only ever saw the pilot, and that was enough. Geez, this sucker has been around for ages, so even though I can't speak to its current quality, it has to be pretty long in the tooth at this point.
Detroit 1-8-7 I hear this one actually got pretty good. It's a shame it won't be back. Maybe TNT wants to flesh out its cop show rescue programming and pick it up. The Chicago Code as well.
Mr. Sunshine Wow, won't be missed. Nice try, Matt. No ci-gar.
No Ordinary Family Fun concept, horrible cast. If I could have gotten past the Julie Benz and Michael Chicklis of it all, it might have been watchable, but that's a whole lot to get past.
Off the Map Lame concept, wonderful cast. It's a shame Shonda refused to step out of her box on this one. Of course, its cancellation frees up a lot of good actors for better projects, so kudos, ABC.
V I gave up on this one after the first, uh... pod(?) of episodes. It had some real potential, but the scheduling situation was too annoying to bear.
SHOWS THAT HAVE BEEN PICKED-UP:
Body of Proof Meh. It's a decent enough medical procedural, if you're into that sort of thing, but I ain't.
Castle Oh, my darling Castle. Way to be the only show on this entire network worth watching. Okay, seriously, that finale!? Awesome! I had a feeling Montgomery wasn't going to survive the episode, but I didn't seem him as the pseudo-baddie at all! Unlike Bones, who picks villains out of a hat 10 minutes before writing the big reveal, Castle did a lovely job setting this up and paying it off. The fight between Ryan and Esposito was surprisingly jarring, the confrontation with Beckett was brutal, and the attempt at Beckett's life at the funeral? Unexpected and evocative. Plus, as a box full of cookies to shippers everywhere, Castle's confession of love to Beckett right before she passed out was just perfect. Well done, show. Well done.
Cougar Town It's nice to see at least one of the Friends has broken the curse. Who'd have ever guessed it'd be Monica? Not Chandler, I tell you that much (see Mr. Sunshine, above).
Desperate Housewives Wow, speaking of long in the tooth, I can't believe this show is still on. It'll now be opposite The Good Wife, which, if viewers have any savvy at all, means that DH devotees will be jumping ship for some real quality programming.
Grey's Anatomy Uh, good for them?
Happy Endings Along with Body of Proof, this is the only other Freshman series to be returning in the fall. Don't get me wrong, that means that last year was twice as successful as NBC, but again, not something to brag about. It's a catastrophically low bar.
The Middle
Modern Family Yeah, I'm just not feeling the love so much these days... This season has been uneven at best and downright dull at worst. It's still amusing on the whole, but not much of a laugh-out-loud event the way that Community is.
Private Practice The last thing I remember was Violet getting a C-section performed by a psychopath... Wonder how that turned out. Wait, no, I don't.
In this here volume, I'll be polishing off the dramas and hopefully tackling the comedies as well. I don't review reality shows in this capacity (since they aren't really pilots, per se), but don't you worry, they have a new Undercover Bossish show where the filthy rich get a taste of what poverty is all about. I'm sure they're aiming for heart-warming and revelatory, but I'm guessing we'll end up with infuriating and schmaltzy.
And, after taking full account of ABC's new slate, it appears they feel rather stung by the past few seasons seeing as all efforts to do anything original have officially flown out the window. Literally, the basis for their new fall agenda includes a cop show, a legal show, a crime procedural, and a medical show. Way to... not step out of the box. At all. I think failed "out of the box" shows like Pushing Daisies, FlashForward, and to large extent, V, have left ABC a little gun-shy, spurring them to run for the safety of convention and cliche. It's a real shame that more unique, more serialized shows have had such a hard time, but to be honest, their past attempts at legal shows and crime procedurals were even less successful, so who knows what ABC is thinking. What I'm thinking so far is that they've done a pretty piss-poor job of selecting new pilots and that I have very little to be excited about... Sigh.
Anyway, preamble over. On with the show... er, shows...
OFF THE MAP
Description: Stars Martin Henderson as Ben Keeton, Caroline Dhavernas as Lily Brenner, Enrique Murciano as Manny Diaz, Mamie Gummer as Mina Minard, Jason George as Otis Cole, Valerie Cruz as Zita (Zee) and Jose Julian as Charlie. “Off the Map” is executive-produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, and created/executive-produced by Jenna Bans.
My Take: Well, what ABC fall schedule would be complete without a Shonda Rhimes enterprise on the list? A good one! Ba dum bum! Oy. You know, most showrunners at least pretend to try new things. Shonda? Not so much. Here we have Grey's Anatomy: Survivor. Ooh! Or Grey's Safari? Eh? Eh?! Okay, lame, but only 80% as lame as this show appears to be. If I had never seen a show like this, I'd probably think it looked like a fun little medical romantic dramedy, but having seen 622 shows just like this, 613 of which were from Shonda herself, it's hard to watch that preview with anything but a groan. Mamie Gummer is wonderful, but I don't think she can carry a show. I didn't recognize anyone else, but I'm better neither can they. Who knows. I really did enjoy the first few seasons of Grey's, so maybe Shonda will hit another one out of the park. It's slated for midseason though, so it sounds like ABC might not be all that confident in it... or, they're just hoping to hell the same thing that happened to midseason sensation Grey's will happen to this one. I'm not holding my breath. It genuinely doesn't look awful, it just looks awfully familiar. And when you watch as much TV as I do, a little originality goes a long, long way. Every character type, every medical situation, every tense moment, every untoward relationship, every hunky doctor... I've seen it all before. Here's hoping lightning strikes twice for Rhimes. God knows it has to be better than Private Practice. Brushing away all pre-conceived notions of Shonda's shows, it looks like it might be all right. At it's core, it'll be a character-driven show, so assuming some of these new faces really make a splash, it might be worth keeping around. I doubt it'll ever be a top tier contender, but I could see it falling into second tier guilty pleasure territory. If you are or were a fan of any of Shonda's other projects, you should definitely check this one out. If not, skip it. She appears to have done absolutely nothing to reinvent her wheel other than move it to a purdy location. For me? I don't think that's going to be enough.
THE WHOLE TRUTH
Description: Stars Rob Morrow (“Numb3rs”) as Jimmy Brogan, Someone Someoneson as Kathryn Peale, Eamonn Walker (“Oz”) as Sr. ADA Terrence “Edge” Edgecomb, Sean Wing as Chad Griffin, Anthony Ruivivar as Alejo Salazar and Christine Adams as Lena Boudreaux. The pilot was written and co-executive produced by Tom Donaghy, and the executive producers are Jerry Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman.
My Take: Why yes, yes that was Jerry Bruckheimer's ominous moniker you noticed! And we know that always means quality! If only... This one actually looks like it might be kind of interesting, even if still stuck in this omnipresent genre. I generally enjoy a good legal drama and they've at least tried to take a new spin on it. The problem? Well, Joley Richardson has already dropped out of the show, so it's impossible to know exactly what it will look like in the end. It's also unclear why she dropped out. The official reason is that she wanted to spend more time with her family... My guess would be that if it were a really good show, "family time" wouldn't be that high on her list. I assume her real reason is something along the lines of, "jumped ship before it sank," which I can respect. Her departure is the primary reason I'm apprehensive about this one (aside from Bruckheimer). I'm hearing that Maura Tierney might take over as the female lead... Yeah... no good. I like Maura well enough, but this is not a good role for her. She's just so dour and vulnerable. Anyway, in terms of construct, I actually quite like the idea of getting to see both sides of the case in a more straight-forward fashion (most shows kind of show each side, but the audience knows who the writers want you to pull for). But, knowing TV, it will probably turn out to be your standard legal show in the end and they've had a spotty success record lately at best. With Richardson dropping out, I suspect script changes will follow. All the behind-the-scenes changes leave me a bit wary of this one and the more changes and cast shake-ups there are, the worse a show generally is. Based on this already defunct trailer alone, it looked like it could be an interesting take on the genre (albeit not the most imaginative take), but it's looking like it'll be a very different show come this fall. As such, I'll be tuning into whatever incarnation appears, but I'm not carrying a torch for this one. Here's hoping they go with someone other than Tierney and that she can really hold her own. Here's also hoping she has chemistry with Rob Morrow because I give it exactly 3 episodes before the writers simply can't help but to hook the two leads up (or at least head in the will-they-or-won't-they direction). Actually, yeah, they probably plan on hinting at a hook-up for the next 5 years... ugh... Mercifully, I doubt they'll be around that long anyways.
Boy, with heaping dollops of awesomeness in the drama department (note sarcasm), I can't wait to see what comedies we have in store! Honestly though, comedy is the only arena in which ABC has had any real success in the past few years, so maybe this is their niche. Here goes!
BETTER TOGETHER
Description: Stars JoAnna Garcia as Mia, Jennifer Finnigan as Maddie, Josh Cooke as Ben, Jake Lacy as Casey, with Kurt Fuller as Joel and Debra Jo Rupp as Vicky. Shana Goldberg-Meehan is executive producer and writer. The pilot was directed by James Burrows.
My Take: Oh. Dear. God. This looks awful. I mean awful. To say it looks criminally unfunny would be generous. I never so much as a cracked a smile during this preview, and that comes from someone who’s a bit of a grammar snob herself! Good lord, this one looks positively painful. Oh, look how hilarious couples are! It’s funny because it’s true! Everyone can relate to this crap, right? Oh, he's funny because he's stupid! Get it?! Dear ABC, just stop. You knocked it out of the park with Modern Family. Let’s leave it at that, shall we? Please? Is there someway I can convince you that passing on crap this is somehow... uh, greener(?) than other options? Maybe? Wait, I know, speaking of “better,” how about you stop picking up shit like Better Together and instead, market pure genius like Better Off Ted in a way that will actually garner viewers. It makes it all the sadder than Better Off Ted was canceled when you see the drivel they’ve pinned their hopes on for this fall. This is the first comedy I’ve screened, so hopefully the others are (adjusting expectations according to ABC’s current worth)… watchable? Is that asking too much? Better Together is a generic mess that is pretending to have a new spin, but totally doesn’t. The stock characters are even more stock than usual and none of them appears to be even slightly likable. Worst of all, several respectable names are attached to this steaming pile. Even with as little faith as I have in the American viewing public, I don’t think this show will catch on. I suspect it will go the way of other multi-camera comedies of late and die a quick, yet eye-gougingly painful death, a la 100 Questions and Romantically Challenged. How bad was the trailer? I don’t think I’ll even be giving the pilot a shot. And I give just about everything a shot! The morbid curiosity has me tempted, but seriously, the three minutes the trailer offered led to some serious brow furrowing and eye rolling. The couples on this show may be better together, but I’m quite confident this show and I are better apart. Way apart.
HAPPY ENDINGS
Description: Stars Elisha Cuthbert (“24”) as Alex, Eliza Coupe as Jane, Zachary Knighton as Dave, Adam Pally as Max, Damon Wayans, Jr. as Brad and Casey Wilson as Penny. From executive producers Jamie Tarses, Jonathan Groff (and no, this is not the same guy who played Jesse on Glee--at least not that I know of), Anthony & Joe Russo, and co-executive producer David Caspe, “Happy Endings” examines the complex network of long-term friendships. The pilot was written by David Caspe and directed by Anthony & Joe Russo. The series is from Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios.
My Take: Okay, I don’t know if it’s the Better Together aftertaste talking or what, but this actually looks like it might have some potential. It’s pretty obviously the spawn of Friends, but now with 16.67% more diversity! Geez, it was ridiculous in 1994 that the entire regular cast of Friends was white, but now it’s 16 years later and we still have 5 out of 6? Seriously? Oy. I’m trying to give this show the benefit of the doubt and assume that it’s set in a largely Caucasian city (you know, unlike Friends, wherein New York City is akin to Mayberry), but even then, it’s still fairly irksome. Anyway, aside from that, this show looks like it might be kinda fun. Whereas My Generation (formerly called Generation Y) doesn’t seem to speak to me at all (in spite of the fact that I fall smack dab into the middle of that particular demographic), Happy Endings holds much more appeal and seems more relatable. I myself haven’t made any new friends in like a decade, so I guess it’s nice to see that I’m not the only one. The cast seems likable enough (I never watched 24, for Cuthbert doesn’t present as many obstacles for me) and there were moments of the trailer that genuinely made me smile, even if it didn't rise to the level of actual laughing. I think if I grew to know and adore these characters, I’d find it considerably funnier, but even as is, it seemed pleasantly amusing, if not uproarious. The fact that that guy really does look like “if Paul Rudd gave up” definitely won them some points. Long story short, it’s basically Friends, but you know, I quite liked Friends, so here’s hoping this show takes a modern angle on it… and by “modern” I mean “Ross-free” of course. I'll definitely be giving this one a shot. I was leary of Covert Affairs as an Alias reboot, but that is totally working for me, so maybe it's just time the mid-90s were rebooted. Good god, I feel old.
MR. SUNSHINE
Description: Stars Matthew Perry (“Friends”) as Ben, Allison Janney (“The West Wing”) as Crystal, Andrea Anders (“Better Off Ted”) as Alice, James Lesure as Alonzo, Nate Torrence as Roman and Portia Doubleday as Heather. The Pilot was written by Matthew Perry and Alex Barnow & Marc Firek and directed by Thomas Schlamme.
My Take: As one of the 9 people who enjoyed Studio 60, I couldn’t help but to smile at Matthew Perry anchoring another series along with Tommy Schlamme. Add to that Allison Janney and Andrea Anders, and I must admit, I went into watching the trailer with fairly high hopes. After watching it, I’m a little torn. It looks like the kind of set up that could really have some potential, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a stronger cast, but there was just something a little off about it. I think they’re relying a bit too much on wackiness for my tastes. As seen in Friends, Perry can definitely work with wacky if he has to, but it’s not the style of comedy he’s best at. He does appear to be playing the straight man in all this though, so hopefully he’ll be right at home. Even just from the preview, it looks like Janney is poised to be the scene stealer of the series. Fortunately, I love her, so that totally works for me. Andrea Anders wasn’t my favorite character on Better Off Ted, but she can certainly hold her own. I wasn’t wowed by the trailer, but I’m optimistic for the series. It has a hell of a lot going for it, so with any luck, that will translate to the screen. At the very least, it’s refreshing to have a new setting for a comedy to inhabit and new situations for them to face. Based on the trailer alone, it felt a bit like the writers were trying a bit too hard, but comedies usually settle in after a few episodes, so that doesn’t worry me too much. I’ll certainly be giving this one a chance, but it sounds like I’ll have to wait till midseason… which often speaks to a network’s overall confidence in a show… Here’s hoping Mr. Sunshine bucks the trend. It has to be better than Better Together, right? Good god, in the span of only one blog post, that show has become my new benchmark for awful. Ouch...
I was all gung-ho to get all the new network pilots reviewed for this here blog, but then NBC decided they'd wage a war of attrition by picking up... well, basically they're an entirely new network. Never, in all my days, have I seen so many new pilots for one network. Don't get me wrong, the reign of terror implemented by Jeff Zucker (what I affectionately refer to as a "clusterzuck") essentially decimated the network, prompting the complete overhaul, but this all begs the question, where did they get this kind of money?! Seriously, the network was ailing before they decided to shell out millions of dollars in development. Well, however it happened, it wore me out. As such, it's only now, with barely a month to go before premiere week, that I finally move on to ABC.
Oh, ABC... They're a bit more subversive about their implosion, but show for show, they're in almost as much trouble as NBC. Once again, they've picked up a hell of a lot of pilots and forked over obscene amounts of cash. Suffice it to say, both these networks need some major hits to come out of this fall's slate of pilots. The fate of each network (or at least the suits in charge of this mess) may very well depend on it. Seriously, last season was a disaster. With the exception of Modern Family, nearly their entire slate got canceled, or should have. If ABC had more going for it, V wouldn't be come back and neither would The Middle. They can't afford to have another season turn out like that, so they've picked up a lot of shows (rather expensive shows) and are promoting the hell out of them. Some appear to have some promise. Others? Not so much... At present, their established shows are a little too established (i.e. they're getting a little long in the tooth... that is, to say, they're OLD), so they're banking on some new blood. They pretty much have to at this point.
Here is the tentative ABC schedule for this fall (please bear in mind that this list is subject to change--and quite frankly, it's been months since this list was first compiled, so it might have errors already):
MONDAY 7 p.m. Dancing with the Stars 9 p.m. Castle
TUESDAY 7 p.m. No Ordinary Family (new) 8 p.m. Dancing with the Stars Results Show 9 p.m. Detroit 1-8-7 (new)
WEDNESDAY 7 p.m. The Middle 7:30 p.m. Better Together (new) 8 p.m. Modern Family 8:30 p.m. Cougar Town 9 p.m. The Whole Truth (new)
THURSDAY 7 p.m. My Generation (new) 8 p.m. Grey's Anatomy 9 p.m. Private Practice
FRIDAY 7 p.m. Secret Millionaire (new) 8 p.m. Body of Proof (new) 9 p.m. 20/20
There are other new shows which will be reviewed here, but I assume they'll be premiering at midseason. Or, depending on how well these ones do, they could premiere earlier than that... The suits at ABC are already shaking in their boots and hoping to hell that isn't the case. Heh.
Anyway, as per my arbitrary usual, we'll start off with the dramas.
BODY OF PROOF
Description: Stars Dana Delany as Dr. Megan Hunt, Jeri Ryan as Dr. Kate Murphy, Geoffrey Arend as Dr. Elliot Gross, John Carroll Lynch as Detective Bud Morris, Windell Middlebrooks as Dr. Curtis Brumfield, Nic Bishop as Peter Dunlap and Sonja Sohn as Detective Samantha Baker. Christopher Murphey wrote the pilot, which was directed by Nelson McCormick.
My Take: First thought? Ugh. As much as I’d like to believe that this is a searing character piece about a woman trying to start over, I think we can safely assume it’s actually a crime procedural dressed up as an actual drama. Dana Delany is a power-player who can absolutely anchor a show, but I find myself wishing she were at the helm of something else. Based solely on the trailer, it’s hard to tell just what proportions of the show will be drama and procedural. If this were CBS, I’d err on the side of lots of procedural, very little everything else, but this is ABC, so it’s a tough call. They’ve been trying to tap into this woefully overdone genre for ages, but with very little success. Off the bat, I’d say the procedural elements seem pretty generic, and for as much as I enjoy Delaney, the drama elements seem pretty bland to boot. ABC hasn’t really been delivering quality drama on its dramas lately, so the odds of them delivering in an overdone story like this are slim. Overzealous neurosurgeon ruins relationship with child then has life-changing event (a car accident) that causes said doctor to reevaluate life. Been there, done that. Only in more compelling ways (you know, with the adorably moody Ephram Brown on hand). This show is already making me miss Everwood. Long story short, this looks pretty hackneyed and uninspired. If anyone could make this more than your typical crime procedural, it’s Delaney, but I’m less than confident that she can make that happen. Truth be told, even if this is considerably more drama laden than it looks, it’s not the kind of concept that has me chomping at the bit. Delaney deserves better, and the viewer audience at large deserves fewer procedurals on the docket. People seem to love this procedural crap, however, so this one might just have a chance. The sexy medical examiner (a la Rizzoli & Isles, and to a certain extent, Castle) seems to be the latest trend these days… for completely unknown reasons. Ugh.
DETROIT 1-8-7
Description: Stars Michael Imperioli (“The Sopranos”) as Detective Louis Fitch, Jon Michael Hill as Detective Damon Washington, James McDaniel (“NYPD Blue”) as Sergeant Jesse Longford, Aisha Hinds (“True Blood”) as Lieutenant Maureen Mason, Natalie Martinez as Detective Ariana Sanchez, D.J. Cotrona as Detective John Stone and Shaun Majumder as Detective Aman Mahajan.
My Take: In case Body of Proof just didn’t manage to plumb the depths of overdone genres enough, ABC has also decided to take on a cop show. Sigh. This seems pretty standard as well, but there were little elements of the trailer that pointed to something more unique. They’re taking the angle that there’s simply so much crime and murder in Detroit that the good guys are simply trying to stem the tide because there’s no conceivable way to actually stop the violence. The fact that they take a very matter-of-fact approach to such a horrific problem has a certain quirky appeal, but I think it was primarily a reaction to being on network TV. When they were looking for a shell casing on the street was probably the best aspect of the trailer for me. “I think I’ve got it! Oh, nope, it’s a .45.” Heh. I couldn’t help but to smile. I’m hoping they find a way to make this genre new and fresh, but I’m pretty sure at this point, even all the trappings in the world couldn’t make it truly special. After watching The Wire, I’m supremely confident that for a cop drama to really be as gritty as writers want it to be, it needs to be on HBO or Showtime. Even basic cable would have a hard time doing it justice, but network TV? I’m not holding my breath. I have a sinking feeling that they wanted this to be a realistic, hard-hitting, brutal look at one of the roughest cities in the country, but that it had to be sanitized and watered-down for the general public. The “cop show” has never been very high on my list, but it has been infiltrating my schedule more and more lately. Will Detroit 1-8-7 continue the trend? I seriously doubt it. I’ll give it a shot, but suspect the pilot will be the only episode I’ll ever see.
MY GENERATION
Description: Stars Michael Stahl David as Steven, Kelli Garner as Dawn, Jaime King as Jacqueline, Keir O’Donnell as Kenneth, Sebastian Sozzi as Falcon, Mechad Brooks as Rolly, Anne Son as Caroline, Daniella Alonso as Brenda and Julian Morris as Anders. Created and written by Noah Hawley (“The Unusuals,” “Bones”), who is also an executive producer, along with Warren Littlefield, Henrik Bastin, Patrick Magnasson and Martin Piersson.
My Take: In theory, this show should speak to me and my peers more than just about any other demographic. I graduated in 2001, so this pseudo-docu-soap should tap into my sensibilities on a fundamental level… and yet? Not so much. I don’t know, this trailer was really more of a behind-the-scenes look than anything else, so it’s hard to tell exactly what the show itself will look like, but from what clips they did show us, it looks pretty damn sappy. Have you chased your dreams? Faced your fears? Gag me. If they present it as a straight up narrative about people who just so happen to be this age, that could fine, but I have a sneaking suspicion this is a platform for the writers to send a heavy-handed message. Call me crazy, but I’m not so much a fan of the ham-fisted soap-boxing, thanks… I want to give them a little credit for at least trying to come up with a basic conceit that’s a little different, but at the end of the day, they’ve simply picked a few handfuls of clichés out of a bag and put them all in the same show. The jock, the rich kid, the overachiever, the good girl, we get it. We get it a lot, in fact. I realize that they’ve constructed the show around high school clichés (and what clichés those clichés turn into), but that doesn’t make them any less generic. There were a couple of elements of the trailer that had me mildly interested, but by and large, this doesn’t strike me as a keeper. The only way this is really going to work is if they’ve hired some actors who can turn those standard one-dimensional characters and make turn them into something really special. I have serious doubts, but with a considerable amount of luck, this might be something worth watching. Chronologically speaking, I kind of feel like it’s my duty to watch it, so here’s hoping it’s better than it looks. To its credit, it was created by the same guy behind The Unusuals, which happens to be a show that turned out to be just that. Better than it looked.
NO ORDINARY FAMILY
Description: Michael Chiklis (“The Shield”) stars as Jim Powell, Julie Benz (“Dexter”) as Stephanie Powell, Romany Malco (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) as George St. Cloud, Tate Donovan (“Damages”) as Mitch McCutcheon, Autumn Reeser as Katie Andrews, Christina Chang as Yvonne Cho, Kay Panabaker as Daphne Powell and Jimmy Bennett as JJ Powell. The pilot was written and executive-produced by Jon Feldman. The series is executive-produced by Feldman, Greg Berlanti, Morgan Wandell and David Semel, who also directed the pilot.
My Take: I’ve heard pretty good things about this one on the web, and I want to be excited for it, but I’m apprehensive. It’s the kind of concept that has to be handled in just the right way or it could be disastrous. On its face, a show about a family of superheroes sounds like carefree fun. Those associated with it keep saying that it is NOT The Incredibles, but first off, yeah, actually, it kind of is, but secondly, only not as good. I think I’d be a lot more excited about it if it were animated… you know, because then it wouldn’t have Michael Chiklis or Julie Benz at the helm. I honestly never watched much of The Shield and that has a lot to do with how unappealing Chiklis is. Aside from being difficult to look at, his overall manner and acting style are off-putting. He isn’t someone who would have me excited for a show simply because he’s in it (I’m not going to lie, the primary reason I’ve been watching Criminal Minds is that Matthew Gray Gubler is simply beautiful). Then there’s Julie Benz. I’ve hated most of her past characters (even the ones the audience wasn’t supposed to hate), so I have to assume it has something to do with her. She’s a fine actress, and I suppose she’s just doing what is asked of her, but for whatever reason, I generally hate her. I really hope her newest incarnation is nothing like her previous roles, because frankly, Darla redux? Rita 2.0? No thanks. Aside from disconcerting casting decisions, this one looks like it could be a lot of fun. If handled in just the right way, I think this show could do for the superhero genre what Chuck did for the spy-thriller. A more light-hearted, carefree approach could work incredibly well... I’m not totally sure how they’d make this work in the long term, but presumably, they should be able to bank a least a season or two of quality. Here's hoping. I mean really, how bad could it be? It can’t possibly follow the same trajectory as Heroes, right...? Right?!
When thinking about television networks that are in trouble, the mind invariably goes to NBC first, then the CW. But, now that I'm actually looking at things, ABC isn't exactly sitting pretty either. I guess it points to the problems with the medium overall, but somehow ABC kind of flew under the radar. I mean, I knew that a lot of their pilots (pretty much everything but the comedies) were foundering, but until I actually put the list together, I didn't really grasp just how much trouble they're in.
Various disasters from last year's development slate have led to quite a few new pilots for fall. I'll be posting clips of everything in the coming weeks, but for now, see below to see who made it and who didn't. I certainly hope their coming agenda has some winners because after last season, all they're really left with are modest ratings-getters and aging used-to-be powerhouses...
There really haven't been a whole lot of surprises with this year's upfronts, but ABC at least tried to shake things up with their pair of bubble shows, but only in that they were more generous than expected. For ABC, it's Network Cagematch: SciFi Edition (oooh!) between V and FlashForward. Turns out, my earlier predictions were correct.
***SHOWS THAT MANAGED TO SURVIVE, EVEN IF SOME OF THEM SHOULDN'T HAVE*** V I'm a little surprised and a little not. I had predicted earlier that V would survive and FF would get the axe, and although I was ultimately correct, at the end of the day, I had feeling both might be canceled, given V's less-than-stellar ratings of late. I fell off the V bandwagon a while ago, but now that it's been picked up, I'm more inclined to get caught up on the show. If only it had some characters that I actually cared about... Anyway, I think this pick-up was more than a little influenced by the fact that ABC's docket of new shows from last fall were such failures (for the most part). With the exception of a few comedies, this past year has been largely disappointing for the network. I think picking up V was more about saving face than making money. Plus, given the scheduling strategy for the show, I'm guessing they plan on plugging holes left by even less successful shows. Its ratings have been modest at best lately, but they did see a slight uptick last week. That may have been the final point it needed for a pick-up. It's only been picked up for 13 episodes though, so you can see just how much confidence ABC has... Grey's Anatomy This one comes as no surprise whatsoever, even if maybe it should. The show's ratings aren't what they used to be, the creative aspects have been hit or miss, and many of the shows breakout stars and original cast members have either hit the road or want to. I gave up on this sucker a couple of seasons ago and have no plans to give it another shot. I'd have taken it out back and shot it a long time ago, but its ratings are some of the best on the network, so it's not going anywhere.
Private Practice Well, at least Grey'sstarted out as a good show... Private Practice? Yeah, not so much. I suffered through about a season and half of this one and regretted just about every minute of it. I just kept expecting it to get good, but instead it somehow got increasingly preachy and after school specialy. I say "somehow" because from where it started, I wouldn't have thought that was possible. It's also way soapier (and not in a good way--note the picture I chose... um, seriously?) than I can handle, so I cut this one loose ages ago (and yet, somehow, still not soon enough). I'd be cutting the dead weight if I were ABC, but the ratings are still strong enough to keep it. Blah. Poor ABC, I don't know what happened... They had a few years of being on top, but somehow everything seems to be falling apart.
The Bachelor/The Bachelorette Hour-long embarrassments to humanity with each passing episode. In a world where For the Love of Ray J gets air time, you had to know these two crap piles would survive. At least they provide hilarious cannon fodder for The Soup week-in and week-out. So in that vein, welcome back!
Modern Family, The Middle, and Cougartown Truly, this is the only area in which ABC's development slate from last season succeeded. I don't watch The Middle or Cougartown, but Modern Family is probably the funniest, sharpest comedy since Arrested Development. It has also had top ratings pretty much every single night its been on. For once, the creative and the consumer actually see eye-to-eye. Where the hell were all these viewers when the Bluths were struggling to survive? And Better Off Ted, for that matter!?! (Nope, not bitter. Not bitter at all...)
Dancing with the Stars ...will obviously be back. I'm pretty sure the only way I'll ever get around to watching the show for real is if Johnny Weir competes next season, but until then, The Soup gives me as much as I'd ever want... and then some. I assume we all saw Bruno Tonioli (and I mean all of Bruno Tonioli) the other day? Wowzers, it was fun to see Joel look more than a little discombobulated by the situation. Awesome.
Castle One of the very, very few hour-long successes for the network lately, Castle is one of my darlings and I'm thrilled it'll be back. It's nice being able to root for a show because it's good and not just because you're desperate to see Nathan Fillion find steady work. What a nice change of pace... (What's that? You say I forgot about Drive? Yeah, so did everyone else. But don't you worry, I absoulutely sat through all four episodes just out of Whedonverse loyalty.)
Desperate Housewives ...will be back again next year, even in spite of creative decline and Nicollette Sheridan's caterwauling about being assaulted by Marc Cherry. The show is getting pretty long in the tooth and the ratings aren't what they used to be, but it's a solid performer (somehow). I certainly wouldn't have shed a tear if it were canceled, but apparently someone would.
Brothers and Sisters I watched the pilot as I recall, but that was enough for me. It's yet another of ABC's aging dramas, however, so who knows how many more seasons it has left in it. Quite frankly, if last fall's crop of pilots had been more promising, I think some of these tired, stale shows would be in much worse shape.
***SHOWS THAT JUST... DIDN'T... QUITE... SURVIVE... (by which I mean most of them crashed and burned in spectacularly embarrassing fashion)***
FlashForward ...lost the SciFi battle and was rightfully canceled (among so many others). Okay, this loss is a bit of a shame, but not really. It started off promisingly enough, poised to be ABC's answer to Lost ending and presented one of the best pilots of last fall. But, after three sets of showrunners, a painfully earnest, self-important, and dour creative angle, and a base concept that really lends itself better to a movie of the week, people just stopped caring. Including yours truly. The show has been having its ass handed to it by its competitor on the CW for weeks. I don't know if you've met TV, but that's an insult. (Even if the show it's up against is The Vampire Diaries, which is awesome, big four shows are almost never beaten by the fare on the red-headed stepchild CW). In the show's defense? The four-month hiatus really didn't help the already slow momentum of the story, but ultimately, I don't think this show had much of a chance anyway. Geez, you'd think a show about a global catastrophe would be enthralling, not tedious. You'd be wrong, apparently. Better Off Ted It comes as absolutely no surprise, but it still hurts. In all honesty though, the second season was a Dollhouse-sized miracle, so I'm mostly just grateful it survived that long. The anemic ratings, ridiculous scheduling schema, and show/brand mismatch never gave Veridian Dynamics a real chance. Sigh. You will be missed, show. Sorely missed. Oh, who am I kidding with this "will be missed" crap. I've been missing the show for months and am still wondering if they're ever going to air the rest of it! Note to ABC, AIR THE LAST TWO EPISODES. finally This show had so many great one-liners and laugh-out-loud moments that it's hard to choose just one, but in the end, my parting quote from the show simply had to come from Veronica. "I'm thinking I might need new breasts. These are covered in sadness." So long, awesometacular show, so long... Scrubs The show that just wouldn't die finally, finally has. After I don't know how many seasons on two different networks, the peeps at Sacred Heart can finally get new jobs and move on with their lives. I only caught this show on occasion, and not at all during the past few seasons, so I certainly won't miss it. From what I hear about Scrubs 2.0: The New Class (i.e. this past season), neither will anyone else. The Deep End Wow. Just, wow (the show, not the fact that is was cancelled). This was one of the most painful misfires I've sat through (although, to its credit, I did make it through the whole pilot--an accolade not afforded to all, Miami Medical). Grey's Anatomy + Lawyers = Awful, apparently. Yikes. It won't be missed.
Happy Town Who's happy now!? Not ABC, that's for sure. This show never had a chance (and never should have been greenlit in the first place) and ABC knew it. I didn't even make it through the pilot. Aside from the fact that the pilot was bad, bad, bad, I knew the show had no chance, so I wasn't willing to give it much attention. I wasn't too keen on this one the second it stole Amy Acker away from Dollhouse, which was a slap in the face, but then to find that she ventured outside the Whedonverse for a show that's insanely awful? Well, that's just more like when you're stomping grapes on live TV and you fall and make a lot of really inhuman sounds and then the show anchors try desperately not to laugh at you while feigning concern for your well-being... "Gee, Phil, I sure hope she's okay." "Me too, Karen. In other riveting news, kittens were born yesterday..."
Romantically Challenged Has been canceled after only 3 episodes aired. In my opinion? That's about two and three quarters episodes too many. This show's title alone was begging for cancellation, so this comes as no surprise whatsoever. "Comedically Challenged", "Ratings Challenged", "Acting Challenged" (holy hell, ACTING CHALLENGED indeed)... When those are the review titles floating around, you know the end is near. Hopefully this means Alyssa Milano can guest star on Castle again... you know, a show that doesn't suck.
Ugly Betty You know, I never watched a single episode of this show. Not even the pilot. I hear it was good... Maybe someday I'll give it a shot... No, probably not... (What can I say? I have a very busy viewing schedule as is, and given the number of shows I have waiting for me on DVD, I'm afraid Betty and her braces just never made it onto the list, and likely never will.)
The Forgotten How's this for sad? The Forgotten was so bad and was cast aside so long ago that I forgot to put it on this list initially... Heh. Same goes for Hank, which doesn't even warrant a heading. Fortunately I'll never have to remember it ever again. Unless of course I end up on some sort of gameshow that focuses on embarrassing amounts of televisual acuity... (No, no, no, that's not my life's ambition at all. Silly rabbits.)
Lost ...is finally coming to an end, but you already knew that. Unlike Ugly Betty, this is a show that I absolutely intend to see one day. When will that day be? Who the hell knows, but at least it's been penciled in (quite an honor, I hear).
