In no particular order... The CW goes back to the DC Universe with [yt=Arrow]K5V4T8gqv1Q&feature=relmfu[/yt] The best cast and, to me, the most intriguing possibilities are in [yt=Vegas]ZIJSII0LwSY[/yt] Interesting concept, but what's with the casting for the lead? [yt=Zero Hour]3d8Kmus_T6o&feature=related[/yt] Kevin Bacon high concept crime drama - [yt=The Following]f8H4ewQzKFM&feature=related[/yt] (reminiscent of "The Killing" in tone and style? i duno, never watched it) Hayden Panaterre in a show that by rights OUGHT to be one of the biggest successes because the concept is as original as anything in the hopper (that I've seen) and seems to be well done - [yt=Nashville]76fS5Kg0TXQ&feature=related[/yt] The most manly drama of the fall, and another fascinating concept: [yt=Last Resort]OWaq3LLQ8Ig&feature=related[/yt] Not sure about this one, horror is hard to do well on tv, but it has Terry o'Quin as the evil villain so...there.s that - [yt=666 Park Avenue]TXZtBV8aOn0&feature=related[/yt] If you liked 3rd Rock From the Sun, maybe you will like [yt=The Neighbors[/yt] And this all on the heels of a season which added three new hours to my weekly viewing habits (well, more than that - but three that will be back in the fall) I reject the notion that they are not making any excellent stuff for TV anymore. It seems to me that the networks are finally picking up the gauntlet thrown down by AMC and FX and other cable nets. There are at least five shows that i will make every effort to watch on that list (albeit Arrow mostly because I'm a sucker for any comic book related event). Thoughts?
I was just going over some network trailers. the cables are always turning out new good shit but being on their non-traditional schedules, it's a little harder to pin those down.
None of those really have me excited. I can't figure out how Last Resort is a series rather than a one-shot movie. How do you stretch that kind of a plot for years?
I get that feeling a lot. there seems to be an inverse relationship between having a really intriguing concept and being able to sustain that concept over multiple seasons. as far as being excited, more and more I find that a good cast can make up for a multitude of flaws with me. some of these intrigue me specifically because the casting is impressive (IMO)
Everything that happens in the trailer probably happens in the 1st episode. From there they declare that they're a sovereign nation with nuclear capability; "You've been warned"; and set about to prove that they're innocent. Could work. I'm interested, but I have my doubts.
Arrow seems interesting. It looks like they are going to put more action into it than Smallville. It looks to be targeting an older audience too. Speaking of Smallville and the CW, you missed this one: [YT="Beauty & The Beast"]FWR685KffUA[/YT] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWR685KffUA Of course, you know I'm not going to miss this. Also, Hayden Panetierre was at my comic con, and she mentioned she was doing Nashville. I forget what she said though, (probably because I was too busy staring at her cleavage) but it has her, and it has to do with country music, so I'll probably tune in.
I DON'T think the smart play would be to have them set up shop by the end of the first episode. The smart play would be to take until at least the end of the November sweeps, preferably February, before you got past the "we're under attack" drama.
I could see Last Resort as a one season deal, kind of like Invasion, which incidentally also aired on ABC. Unfortunately that'll also probably mean it'll end the same way, with an unresolved season hook rather than a planned ending. It's too bad, really, because there are some shows that could have benefited by taking an anime approach to them, which is to say they are planned from the start to only be one or two seasons long. American shows, on the other hand, try to keep going even when they really shouldn't.
another route for shows like that would be the cable series approach of 13 episode seasons. I'm really not sure why the networks are dragging their feet about going to that model and pairing two shows in a time-slot with certain types of shows. To be sure, an NCIS or Law & Order type show make a lot of sense for the full-season model. But other shows, like those mentioned in the previous post, seem much more ideally suited to the cable model. I know there was a time when a minimum number of eps were necessary to make money in syndication - but how many syndicated hour long dramas are there anymore? there are some minor networks like Ion, but you are not going to place something like "Invasion" on a channel like that, they have too many more mainstream options. so what's the new bottom line for how many eps it takes to make a profitable series?
Actually, they've already kind of adopted shorter seasons, it's just that they aren't calling them splitting the show up by a few months separate seasons. Instead, they call these something along the lines of "season 2.0" and "season 2.5".
Maybe I'm just burned out, but I don't particularly feel excited about any of what little I've read about the new shows. I'll probably watch a couple of episodes of Arrow out of curiosity. Having been burned by investing time into so many shows that were disappointing (Terra Nova, No Ordinary Family) or shows that were killed before their time, I'm probably going to switch to the approach of waiting for a show to get good reviews and survive a full season before catching it on DVD.
if you have Netflix (or similar) or buy a heckuva lot of DVDs, then yeah, that's a solid plan. Even if one is killed in one season, but is widely praised - you can still watch it but without being burdened with the expectation that it might survive, just simply for the chance to enjoy a quality short-run production.
^I would say that there are probably only two or three new shows a season that make it and I'd be interested in. This past season, the only new show that I watched and is going to a sophomore season was Person of Interest. I thought about watching Once Upon a Time, but didn't. Now that it's made it to a second season, I might check it out on DVD (or actually on Hulu/ABC's website). Same with Grimm. I could see watching Touch, but have mixed feelings toward Kring after Heroes went into its death spiral. It might be worth $100 a year or so to not invest time in convoluted series like Ringer (which I watched despite the stupid-ass premise for Sarah Michelle Gellar), underwhelming series like Terra Nova (which I watched because...dinosaurs), or series that don't get to live out their potential like Alcatraz. Also, seeing a good series on DVD at your own pace is generally a better experience than having to deal with the network schedule of at a minimum a week gap between episodes.
And pilots are so tricky. I find that a lot of sitcoms have a crap pilot and end up finding their groove if given enough time. 30 Rock and The Office come to mind right away, and more recently, New Girl. But a lot of dramas have a great pilot and can't keep the momentum going (Studio 60 and Flashforward, I'm looking at you). But a show with a killer pilot that only keeps getting better is incredibly rare, at least for network TV.
Ah, New Girl gets better as well? Have to try it again then. Aside from sitcoms, I think the most extreme example of this in recent years must have been nuWho. I realize everyone keeps applauding it, but in all honesty, the pilot 'Rose' was pretty awful.
New Girl gets much better. The first few episodes are really twee and cutesy, but once the show humanizes Jess and gives the roommates more to do, it really breaks out. It's the only new sitcom from this season I'm still watching.
Sorry, I can't forgive shows that start that way.... ...unless by season 2, there's crack addiction, and fetal cannibalism, or something.
Grimm is a solid, if "paint by the numbers" procedural with a twist. Think "Angel", which is not surprising since the head honcho of "Grimm", David Greenwalt, was also a writer/producer of Angel as well. "Once Upon A Time" is probably the best show that came out last year. It sports a fantastic cast to go along with imaginative writers.
Angel is a great comp for Grimm, actually. And Monroe is a Weadonesque character who, IMO, steals the show. OUaT is a very enjoyable show, IMO, and Robert Carlyle shines in it. BUT "best show" HAS to go to Person of Interest. it's not just the best acted, most well executed, and best written new show, but without considering cable offerings, it's in the discussion for best hour-drama on network television IMO. Plus, they ended the season with a game-changing cliffhanger which promises to significantly escalate things next season.
I wondered that when I saw the first trailer for "Prison Break" Going on a tangent, I wonder if there is a market in America for that type of TV--I know Japan and I think Britain does this--with TV shows that have a definite beginning, middle and ending all in one 12 to 26 episode season. I would think working with a defined guideline of how long the show will air would help to focus the ideas and make for better TV, versus the fatigue you see in most shows that run more than five seasons. I'm looking at you, Jenji Kohen.
I can actually think og dozens of failed TV shows that would have been legendary if they were a defined, say, 40 episodes and done (a pilot and 3 13-ep seasons - for example) Still it is true that one wonders if audiences which are jaded into successful shows running 7-10 seasons could get used to the idea that they could invest themselves in something that limited. On top of there, there are surely massive numbers of books which would make very good series in that format when they don't have to be sustained beyond the story in the book. Lucifer's Hammer (modernized) would be great like that; the new Stephen king book, 11/22/1963 would be wonderful in a short-form format - much more nuanced than a movie could be, but also not over-padded as a series would be. but if there's anything the networks don't want to do it's take chances. if it were going to happen that way, it would have to be the cable channels.
From what I remember reading on the internet, Prison Break was suppose to be 2 seasons long. It did much better than expected, which is why they threw wads of cash at the creator to come out with more seasons. Can't say I blame the creator.
I do love me some "Person of Interest," but I do wish that sometimes the leads would consider all the possibilities. Maybe it's that I have the benefit of third-party distance and knowing how TV does its twists, but there are plenty of times when I'm like, "Shouldn't they be considering that so-and-so is a potential perp rather than a potential victim?" and lo and behold, the person is in fact a perp. Or "Huh, I wonder if Elias is going to double-cross them?" And there's a double-cross that catches them by surprise. I liken "Person" to what a weekly Batman series might be if Batman were fine with using guns and was basically stuck with real-world equipment. The trouble is that Reese and Finch don't spend Batman-esque time thinking through contingencies.
