I am – Hercules!!
Longtime AICNer MiraJeff writes at length about 15 of the shows rocketing toward your TV set. He makes some excellent choices …
Greetings AICN, MiraJeff here with a look at 15 of this fall's new TV shows. I know Hercules the Strong normally handles these things and he already did a bang-up job this year, I'm just providing a second opinion and filling in some gaps, although keep in mind he did see twice as many shows as I did. The great thing about Herc is that he is pretty much always right, so let's kick things off by echoing his Fall TV preview.
1. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip- Grade: A
This is, without a doubt, the best new show of the season, and could arguably be the best show on TV, period. It was simply great. Absolutely riveting entertainment from start to finish. It should be #1 on all of your Netflix queues so you can see it without commercial breaks, plus you also get the Kidnapped pilot on the same disc. When I read Aaron Sorkin's pilot for this series, back when it was Studio 7, I knew it would be one of the best series on network television and after viewing the first episode, with the perfect cast in place, I can safely say I'm hooked. Everything about this show seems simply fascinating. In fact, I can't imagine network neighbor/thematic rival 30 Rock lasting more than one season once America hooks its talons into this series, which goes behind-the-scenes at a late-night sketch comedy show that might as well be called Friday Night Live.
Let's start from the top-down. Wilson White (Ed Asner) is the chairman of the National Broadcasting System's parent company. Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber) is the chairman of NBS. Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) is the newly-hired president of the network, a tough-as-nails but likable executive. You'd sign over the life-rights to your first-born to get on her good side. Wes Mendel (Judd Hirsch) is the producer/showrunner who has an on-air meltdown, a la Peter Finch in Network, where he rants about the depravity of the country and the demise of his once-funny show. Wes doesn't make it past the first half of the pilot but I have a feeling we'll be seeing him again later on in the season, possibly as a mentor for... Matt Albie and Danny Tripp (Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford).
Since these two are the stars of the show, I think I can let the cat out of the bag and tell you that these two replace Wes and take over the show, although it's more complicated than that. Formerly staff writers, they left the show to pursue careers in film, but their latest project is indefinitely delayed when Danny fails a drug test and can't get an insurance bond that will allow him to direct Matt's screenplay. Having been sober for 11 years, Danny tests positive for cocaine and now has to have clean piss for 18 months before he can get an insurance bond, leaving the window open for him and his best friend to take on the job. The show stars Simon Stiles (D.L. Hughley), Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson), and Tom Jeter (Nate Cordry), aka The Big Three. They're a trio of veterans who act as the elder statesmen and three-headed mouthpiece of the cast. Harriet and Matt have a romantic history together so his return to the show throws her off-guard, but for the sake of professionalism, they postpone the fight they're due for, at least for a couple of years. My only qualm about the pilot is that it features a running joke about Matt and Harriet's break-up that just doesn't work, isn't funny, and is a little too Sorkinian for me. The rapid fire dialogue is very similar to the brilliant, underappreciated Sports Night, which begs the question, why couldn't they have gotten Josh Charles on this show. Can someone show the man with two first-names a little love? Nate Cordry, sorry, is so flavor-of-the-month. He made zero impression on me in the pilot, and looked a little out of place if you ask me. I haven't even yet mentioned the actor who impressed me most, and that would be Timothy Busfield. He plays Cal Shanley, the director who squares off against Standards and Practices in the pilot's most heated scene. Wonderful work here by Busfield, and I imagine it's hard to stand out in a cast as great as this one. The pilot also features cameos by Felicity Huffman and Three Six Mafia as the program's host and musical guest, respectively. Love the tone of the show and the balance between the jokes and the drama. This show has a bright and shiny future that should prominently feature multiple Emmy nominations.
2. Kidnapped- Grade: A-
I sat down to watch the pilot and was positively giddy to find the 2nd episode hiding on the DVD screener. This is a very good show. The cast is solid, with Lindo basically reprising his role in Ransom, although thank God there's no Mel to be found here. Timothy Hutton is pretty restrained but I always liked him as an actor and I think he'll get more intense as the season goes on. He does nice, quiet work here. Same with his on-screen wife, Dana Delany, who is still sexy at nearly my mother's age. But the difference maker here is Jeremy Sisto who is the man. Since this show will inevitably be compared to Vanished, I'll tell you Sisto's a trillion times better than Gale Harold, who is the weakest link on that show. The pilot has a couple cool sequences that come out of nowhere and I loved the actual kidnapping scene with Mykleti Williamson brandishing a semiautomatic. Sure it's a bit formulaic, especially the bit with the sister and her "date" (can you say 24 pilot?), but the production values are high and the supporting cast is fantastic. Episode 2 features a very creepy Anthony Rapp. Series should hold plenty of twists and turns. I wonder which parent will end up being involved? And who's the shadowy figure bouncing a rubber ball against a wall? "It was nice seeing you in Brooklyn."
3. Dexter- Grade: A-
Herc didn't give this show any love so let me act like Paul Revere here and tell everyone that Showtime has found another keeper. This is like the series every Law and Order/CSI/Criminal Minds/Killer Instinct fan always wanted to see. Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under) plays a forensic cop who analyzes blood spatter by day, and plays serial killer at night. The cooler thing is that he kills other serial killers, which is like that episode of Killer Instinct a year ago, and also reminded me of Jeff Povey's gnarly book, The Serial Killers Club. The pilot was surprisingly funny, especially Dexter's interactions with a black cop who gets the creeps from Dexter and suspects he might not be as normal as he appears. Dexter is a black hole who feels nothing, but he's good at acting like he does feel something. He is a complete sociopath. Romantic subplot feels a bit forced and the female lead isn't great but I'll give this show the benefit of the doubt. The pilot is pretty gruesome and involves a guy who drains his victims’ bodies of blood and chops up their bodies in nice, neat sections. This series isn't for the faint of heart. Showtime is quietly establishing itself as a must-have network, what with Weeds, Brotherhood, and now this.
4. Heroes- Grade: B+
Herc was absolutely right about this show being way more Unbreakable than X-Men. I think this will probably end up being this season's hottest new show, if only because there are millions of geeks out there like us. There's the requisite superhero characters. The guy who can fly, the girl who can't be hurt, the guy who can teleport, the guy who can see the future, etc. The cast isn't particularly likable yet, although I am developing a thing for Hayden Panetierre who plays a cheerleader who videotapes herself jumping off of bridges and running through fires. The pilot leaves something to be desired, namely an appearance by Greg Grunberg, but so far so good. I love the Asian guy named Hiro (Masi Oka) whose scenes are subtitled in that cool Man on Fire way, so it almost looks as if the words are coming out of voice bubbles like in comic books. The way they do his teleportation scene doesn't make much sense but I'm sure it will eventually. This character gives the pilot a much needed sense of humor and self awareness. Ali Larter is particularly strong as a single-mother stripper with a violent mirror twin and a boy genius son (Lady in the Water's Noah Gray-Cabey). Didn't like the chemistry between the two brothers, Nurse Peter and politician Nathan Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia and Adrian Pasdar) but definitely enjoyed their twist at the very end of the episode. Sendhil Ramamurthy broods throughout the episode and his character is a little annoying. I like how his father was slowly figuring out where all the world's heroes live, but I don't know where his character is going, and he's no Naveen Andrews. The most important thing is the tone of the show and I think creator Tim Kring nailed it. Very excited to get into this show and establish more of a bond with the ensemble cast.
5. Jericho- Grade: B
Welcome back Skeet Ulrich. Where the hell have you been? Jericho is about a mushroom cloud that causes power outages that leaves a small town in the dark. It's definitely got an X-Files vibe to it. It strikes me as better than Invasion and Surface but I don't know that I'll tune in every week. The pilot ends with a very cool visual showing Skeet standing amongst a lot of dead... things. Herc mentioned the strong supporting cast but I didn't necessarily feel that anyone stood out. I think the show is bolstered by its writing which is credited to Stephen Chbosky, author of the future cult classic novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Very smart guy, he also wrote the screen adaptation of Rent, go figure. I don't see him letting this show run off the tracks though. Pilot was a solid set-up and I'm sure the show will establish its rules and mythology in time.
6. The Nine- Grade: B
That sounds funny. Number 6, the 9, get it? But seriously folks, what's all the fuss about? Sure this show has the potential to be great. But the pilot felt pretty by the numbers to me. The big twist at the end wasn't all that shocking. This feels like a show that is going to string us along all season until there's some big reveal in the finale. And I have no idea what they're planning for season 2. It's a great premise for a serial but the execution thus far hasn't been as perfect as Lost, although this series should benefit from airing on the same night. The casting is pretty good and I, like many other TV critics, liked Egan (John Billingsley), the best. Throw in Tim Daly, Scott Wolf, and Chi McBride into the mix and the ingredients for a hit show are there. Too bad the picked up 24's leftovers in Kim Raver, who wasn't any good on that show and doesn't fare much better here. Still, at this point, everything seems pretty shady, including Scott Wolf's ability to be cast on a primetime show despite being about 5'4. And www.onlytheyknow.com? C'mon, what's with the marketing gimmicks ABC is employing these days. I get bullshit Lost emails all the time asking me to spend half my life searching on the Internet for random clues. Just save that shit for the show so I don't have to listen to Charlie sing one more fuckin' song to kill time.
7. Six Degrees- Grade: B-
So the premise of this show is basically all about coincidences. We’re all connected, yada yada, our paths cross, main characters pass by each other on the street without even knowing that they in fact, star on the same ABC show. We get it. The good thing about this is the cast is incredibly likable and one of the best of the new season, probably because J.J. Abrams’ name is attached to the show. We get Jay Hernandez as an earnest prosecutor who falls for Erika Christensen, a woman with a secret past who gets busted in the pilot for flashing all of Greenwich Village from the top of a garbage truck. The show also stars the luscious Bridget Moynahan aka soon to be Mrs. Tom Brady, Goddess of the World, as well as Hope Davis and Campbell Scott to boost its indie cred. Campbell Scott has always been a fascinating actor to watch, particularly in The Spanish Prisoner, and I’m glad to see the guy get a weekly gig. I have no idea why Davis is on this show when it seems like her film career was just about to take off, relatively speaking. The sixth degree is a black limo driver whose storyline seems more appropriate for The Sopranos, and therein lies the rub with this series. Its tone is startlingly all over the place. And I mean all over the place like God is all over the place. There’s crime, mystery, romance, family drama, a little bit of comedy, for God’s sake pick a genre and stick to it. I hope J.J. isn’t turning himself into a Quentin Tarantino Presents type guy. Put this show and Star Trek on the backburner and get back to writing Lost, dude. The show also relies heavily on cool hipster music including tracks from Radiohead and U2, which is fine by me, but could probably get pretty grating to the average viewer who might not be down with Radiohead. I doubt this series will catch on, there’s simply too much good TV around these days and I expect this one to get lost in the shuffle. Judging by the pilot, I’d also say that J.J.’s other effort, What About Brian, was better. Christensen is still as hot as her Swimfan days though.
8. Friday Night Lights- Grade: B-
This is basically the exact same thing as the movie, which is both a good and bad thing. Bad because the pilot didn't show me anything new, good because you could choose far worse movies to adapt for the small screen. The show sets up the characters pretty well but the plot turns are stock. Can't we find anything new in teen sports dramas? Instead of the Booby Miles character getting injured, it's the QB, Street, which means the 2nd string QB comes in to win the big game, getting two scores in the final minute, which is about as likely as me outboxing Uwe Boll. Show has a big-screen quality and the explosive Explosions in the Sky score returns, which gives the show atmosphere, but it also seems to swipe pages directly out of the Varsity Blues playbook. I think it's gonna be a pretty big show though. With football season underway and Americans thirsty for as much gridiron game as possible, I think guys are going to flock to this in droves. Kyle Chandler may not be Billy Bob Thornton, but honestly, who the hell is? Plus the women on this show are ridiculously hot. Ridiculously. Tune in and judge for yourself.
9. Ugly Betty- Grade: C+
This will probably be a huge hit with women and it should be, because it's good. That said, I don't think I would watch the second episode. This is like a direct photocopy of The Devil Wears Prada, and as much as I really like Eric Mabius, the guy's no Meryl Streep. America Ferrera is endearing as the title character but her character and the whole plot is so by-the-numbers. The most fun part of the show is Vanessa Williams who is probably one of the most beautiful women in the world. How does she not get more film roles? This seems like a role Mabius could grow comfortable in. I never watched The L Word but I liked the guy in Cruel Intentions and even The Crow 3. I couldn't believe the end of this show had the balls to use the same song as one of Devil Wears Prada's montages. Salma Hayek executive produces and cameos as a Spanish TV star, and while more of Salma is always welcomed, she's a bit distracting. Why do we care what Betty's family watches on TV? Overall, Ugly Betty is a nice piece of fluffy entertainment that goes down easy, it just needs some time to find its footing in those Blahniks. Is it a comedy or a drama? Should I laugh or cry? Tell me what to do ABC because I just don't know at this point. PS, I can't imagine straight men watching this... ever, unless of course they happen to be TV critics.
10. Vanished- Grade: C+
I liked Vanished and was disappointed to learn every single critic knocking it for not being as good as Kidnapped, but then I watched Kidnapped and saw why. I missed the second and third episodes already so that doesn't bode well, but I feel like this show could have some fun twists and turns to offer. I liked that it's steeped in the political underbelly. Gale Harold is not very charismatic or bad-ass and he's just not a good fit as the lead investigator. Rumor has it the show's producers felt the same way and are replacing him with Eddie Cibrian. Rebecca Gayheart makes the most of her Gale Weathers-ish sensationalist reporter. Let's just hope she doesn't run anybody over on her way off the studio lot.
11. Raines- Grade: C
Jeff Goldblum plays a detective who talks to dead people. The victims are hallucinations of his, which means they don't give him any information he doesn't already know, they just help him interpret it. The pilot has some cool visual effects and features a pretty big twist at the end that totally had me, never saw it coming. Pilot has Raines investigating the death of a working girl. Goldblum is, was, and always will be the man, and I think the material suits him well, but yes he looks awkward chasing suspects and holding a gun. Pilot has a noir-ish feel that helps distinguish it from Medium, and this could lead to a career rebirth for him like Medium helped Patricia Arquette, but it remains to be seen whether the show will hook audiences. Of movie stars popping up on the small screen, Goldblum could get lost in the shuffle, with James Woods and Ray Liotta also offering new shows. Luis Guzman might help things in a recurring role and his back and forth with Raines is amusing.
12. 'Til Death- Grade: C
You know, call me crazy, but I kinda liked it. Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher play a married couple who've seen it all. Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster play newlyweds who move in next door. To make matters that much worse, EKT is the new vice principal at the high school where Garrett teaches, making EKT his boss, technically. Garrett spends the whole half-hour griping about married life and predicting how EKT's conversations with his wife will go. The plot revolves around a pool table and whether or not Foster will let EKT have it. The pilot contains a few good laughs and this series should find its footing after the first couple of episodes. The only thing that didn't work for me was Eddie's wife, who came off a little bland. I didn't even recognize Joely Fisher either. But this show belongs to the men and they work pretty well together for now.
13. The Class- Grade: C
So I just finished watching the third episode of The Class. Didn’t see the first two, which means I didn’t see the pilot that everyone seems to be gushing about. So judging strictly by this episode, I’ll say that the potential for something decent is there, but for now it’s depressingly bad. You know when you excuse yourself for four minutes to get a snack and don’t pause the DVD and then don’t rush on your way back from the kitchen, it means whatever you’re watching probably isn’t any good. Here’s what I saw and liked. The red-haired guy is pretty funny, had good timing, and could be this year’s Rainn Wilson. But there are lines he delivers where he seems to know just how bad the lines coming out of his mouth are. The sarcastic punk girl is hot and funny, probably the best one on the show. And the last scene of the third episode, with Jason Ritter bidding farewell to his ex-fiancé who dumped him, was the best scene and the most honest. That said, there are about 5 horrible characters including 2 who can’t seem to speak English. I don’t even know if they’re prominently featured characters because I didn’t see the first two episodes, but this whole cast is in need of a major retool. I might even say it was the most embarrassing overall cast of any I’ve seen this year, including Happy Hour. There are just a couple of horrible, horrible actors on this show, which has way too many leads for a generic sitcom. And what’s with The Class gimmick? You could’ve called Friends “The Class” and only had to change a few minor details. The Class is just a device that the writers use to explain that these people have known each other for a long time. I guess familiarity is much easier to write then people actually beginning meaningful friendships with each other. Isn’t the point of a sitcom supposed to be you can tune in without ever having seen it before and still enjoy it and laugh? There were so many people in this class you’d think the characters went to an urban public school, but of course they didn’t, because they’re basically all white. Someone needs to blow this Class up and get a diverse group of transfer students to hang with Ritter, Firecrotch, and Hottie McNaughty. There were also a couple of big physical sight gags that seemed overly ridiculous for a show like this. A giant stop sigh being blown by a hurricane into a news anchor’s face on live TV; A woman in a wheelchair holding an umbrella who gets pulled by a gust of wind as if the chariots in Ben Hur were pulling her. Come on, are you kidding me! David Crane, what have you gotten yourself into and how can you allow your co-producers’ name to light up in the logo during the end credits, thereby diverting all attention away from your name? You should switch it up every week. I’m telling you I replayed it a few times and my eyes couldn’t help but gravitate towards his name. Do something about it for the love of Crane!
14. Julie Reno: Bounty Hunter- Grade: C-
You'll never see this show. Know why? Cuz it didn't get picked up. Know why? Cuz it isn't very good. But... that said, it was still better than Happy Hour and I think it would make a nice companion piece to My Name Is Earl. It's about a bounty hunter in Reno who collars lowlife scumbags. Sure it's not quite as funny as Dog the Bounty Hunter, which isn't even a comedy series, but I thought it held some Midwestern appeal and a couple laughs, plus the dad from Donnie Darko, which is fine by me.
15. Happy Hour- Grade: D+
What can I say about this series that hasn't already been said. It just isn't very good. The casting sucks, the plot seems to go nowhere, the only thing it's good for is a couple of good looking chicks with big boobs. This show, it seems, is about absolutely nothing. Its big mantra is that people should be enjoying their lives and drinking martinis at 4pm. It should be suggesting people drink themselves into an alcohol-induced stupor before whatever time slot this show airs in so people might think it's funny. This will be canceled very, very soon. I just expected more from Jeff and Jackie Filgo, co-producers of That 70's Show. The writing is lame, the cast is lame, there are just very few right decisions being made on this show. Happy Hour is pretty sad if you ask me.
That’ll do it for me, folks. I did the best I could but I’m just the messenger. It’s up to you to decide what to watch so use that remote wisely. I’ll be back soon with a bevy of reviews including Gridiron Gang and The Black Dahlia, plus a bunch of other stuff. You can always contact me at mirajeff@aintitcool.com. ‘Til then, this is MiraJeff signing off…
