Fake TV Critic

2013 Fall Schedule: The CW

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:31:00 +0000

As surprised as I was by ABC's schedule a few days ago, The CW's might take the cake. There are, like last year, shake-ups on each night.

Monday

8:00 - Hart of Dixie (New Timeslot)
9:00 - Beauty and the Beast (New Timeslot)

Beauty and the Beast's move was expected, but I didn't expect it from Hart of Dixie. Monday has become just as dire for the network as Friday (if not more so), so I suppose it makes sense to not debut a new show up against The Voice and the CBS comedies. But this is an odd pairing to me; I know they're both romances at heart, and Hart of Dixie is probably a low risk no matter what night it airs considering it must be low-budget in comparison with the action/paranormal shows.

Tuesday

8:00 - The Originals (NEW)
9:00 - Supernatural (New Timeslot)

Now I'm a little lost. I assumed the whole point of ordering The Originals to series was to finally try to find a compatible partner for The Vampire Diaries. What better to fill the position than a show with a bunch of characters from The Vampire Diaries? But here it is anchoring a difficult night. The Originals will be up against Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, which I suspect will take a sizeable chunk of its audience, and Supernatural, which has been doing great numbers behind Arrow on Wednesdays, will be up against The Voice and the female-oriented comedies on Fox. I'm not sure how smart this decision was, even if the two shows are a decent pairing.

Wednesday

8:00 - Arrow
9:00 - The Tomorrow People (NEW)

Arrow gets to keep its timeslot and lead in to a new superhero show, the X-Men-like The Tomorrow People. This is a perfect pairing, and Arrow should provide a good audience for the new series. I just assumed that because it and Supernatural were doing so well together that the CW would want to have at least one night of guaranteed viewership.

Thursday

8:00 - The Vampire Diaries
9:00 - Reign (NEW)

The CW must be higher on Reign than anyone anticipated to give it such a high-profile timeslot. Granted, The Vampire Diaries isn't what it used to be (the show has stumbled creatively and in the ratings since turning Elena into a vampire in last year's finale), but this is still a big opportunity for the costume drama. There aren't any similar shows in the timeslot, except maybe Grey's Anatomy, so it has a chance to succeed. I say this every year, but here's to hoping Reign is the hit the CW needs.

Friday

8:00 - The Carrie Diaries (New Timeslot)
9:00 - America's Next Top Model

I'm a bit surprised that The Carrie Diaries is on the fall schedule, especially since that means Nikita was bumped to midseason, but I like the pairing of it with America's Next Top Model. The veteran reality show was relegated to summer last season, and that was supposed to be the case again this year; but after seeing how everything on Fridays bombed, it will debut in late August and continue through the regular season in the fall. It should match nicely with The Carrie Diaries for a fashion-themed night, and Fridays will be a very low-pressure night for the sophomore show where it could succeed if it maintains its current ratings there.

Midseason

The CW confirmed that Nikita will be returning for a final cycle of 6 episodes sometime at midseason. Joining it will be two new scripted series, Star-Crossed (formerly Oxygen) and The 100, as well as a new reality series, Famous in 12. I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the fall shows were designed as half-seasons (approximately 13 episodes) so that these two shows could replace them; but a concept like The Tomorrow People seems perfectly suited to short seasons, as does Reign, which seems to be in the vein of costume dramas like Downton Abbey.

I like the pairings of most of these nights, but I don't necessarily like how they were done. I just see the Tuesday line-up falling flat; Supernatural is pulling 0.9-1.0 in the ratings right now, but I don't think it will sustain anywhere near those numbers in its new slot. And based on how low the backdoor pilot for The Originals rated last month, I don't think it will provide a great lead-in, especially up against stiff competition from ABC. I don't know how I feel about Reign being paired with The Vampire Diaries; I don't see much overlap between the two genres (paranormal romance vs. period romance), but perhaps I'll be proven wrong. I'm just kind of shocked that Arrow and Supernatural have been broken up, and that The Originals isn't airing after its parent show. I'm excited to see how The Tomorrow People turned out, even if it's a blatant rip-off of a dozen predecessors (X-Men, Heroes, Misfits, etc), and I'm especially excited fro Star-Crossed at midseason; the actors in the love triangle are all great in their own right, and advance word on the script was very positive.

Oh, and The CW might as well change its name to The JP, because Julie Plec now has three shows on the air, a third of the network's scripted content: The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, The Tomorrow People.

Read after the jump for descriptions of The CW's new series.

The Originals (Tuesdays at 8:00) - Family is power. The Original Vampire family swore it to each other a thousand years ago. They pledged to remain together, always and forever. Now, centuries have passed and the bonds of family are broken. Time, tragedy and hunger for power have torn the Original Family apart. When Klaus Mikaelson, the original vampire-werewolf hybrid, receives a mysterious tip that a plot is brewing against him in the supernatural melting pot that is the French Quarter of New Orleans, he returns to the city his family helped build. Klaus’ questions lead him to a reunion with his diabolical former protégé, Marcel, a charismatic vampire who has total control over the human and supernatural inhabitants of New Orleans. Determined to help his brother find redemption, Elijah follows Klaus and soon learns that the werewolf Hayley has also come to the French Quarter searching for clues to her family history, and has fallen into the hands of a powerful witch named Sophie. Tensions between the town’s supernatural factions are nearing a breaking point as Marcel commands his devoted followers and rules with absolute power. For Klaus, the thought of answering to his powerful protégé is unthinkable, and he vows to reclaim what was once his – the power, the city and his family. While they wait to see if their sister Rebekah will leave Mystic Falls and join them, Klaus and Elijah form an uneasy alliance with the witches to ensure that New Orleans will be ruled by The Originals once again. The series stars Joseph Morgan (The Vampire Diaries, Immortals) as Klaus, Daniel Gillies (The Vampire Diaries, Saving Hope) as Elijah, Claire Holt (The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars) as Rebekah, Phoebe Tonkin (The Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle) as Hayley, Charles Michael Davis (Grey’s Anatomy, Switched at Birth) as Marcel, Daniella Pineda (The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, Homeland) as Sophie, Leah Pipes (The Deep End, Sorority Row) as Cami and Danielle Campbell (Starstruck, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection) as Davina. The Originals is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with My So-Called Company, Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios. Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, Kyle XY, Wasteland), Leslie Morgenstein (The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl) and Gina Girolamo (The Lying Game) are executive producers. Plec wrote the pilot episode, which was directed by Chris Grismer (The Vampire Diaries).

The Tomorrow People (Wednesdays at 9:00) - They are the next evolutionary leap of mankind, a generation of humans born with paranormal abilities — the Tomorrow People. Stephen Jameson stands at the crossroads between the world we know and the shifting world of the future. Up until a year ago, Stephen was a “normal” teenager — until he began hearing voices and teleporting in his sleep, never knowing where he might wake up. Now, Stephen’s issues have gone far beyond the usual teenage angst, and he is beginning to question his sanity. In desperation, Stephen decides to listen to one of the voices in his head, and it leads him to his first encounter with the Tomorrow People — John, Cara and Russell — a genetically advanced race with the abilities of telekinesis, teleportation and telepathic communication. The Tomorrow People are being hunted down by a paramilitary group of scientists known as Ultra. Led by Dr. Jedikiah Price, Ultra sees the Tomorrow People as a very real existential threat from a rival species, and the outcast group has been forced to hide out in an abandoned subway station just beneath the surface of the human world. Trading in secrets, Jedikiah offers Stephen the chance for a normal life with his family and best friend, Astrid, if he will help in the struggle to isolate and eradicate the Tomorrow People. On the other hand, Cara, John and Russell offer Stephen a different type of family and a home where he truly belongs. Unwilling to turn his back on humanity or the world of the Tomorrow People, Stephen sets out on his own path — a journey that could take him into the shadowy past to uncover the truth about his father’s mysterious disappearance, or into an unknown future with the Tomorrow People. The series stars Robbie Amell (Revenge) as Stephen, Luke Mitchell (H20: Just Add Water) as John, Peyton List (Mad Men) as Cara, Aaron Yoo (Disturbia, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) as Russell, Mark Pellegrino (Lost, Supernatural) as Dr. Jedikiah Price, and Madeleine Mantock as Astrid. The Tomorrow People is from Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios with executive producers Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Green Lantern), Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, Kyle XY), Phil Klemmer (Political Animals, Chuck) and Danny Cannon (Nikita, CSI: NY). The pilot was directed by Danny Cannon.

Reign (Thursdays at 9:00) - Hidden between the lines of the history books is the story of Mary Stuart, the young woman the world would come to know as Mary, Queen of Scots. Queen of Scotland since she was six days old, the teenage Mary is already a headstrong monarch ─ beautiful, passionate, and poised at the very beginning of her tumultuous rise to power. Arriving in France with four close friends as her ladies-in-waiting, Mary has been sent to secure Scotland’s strategic alliance by formalizing her arranged engagement to the French king’s dashing son, Prince Francis. But the match isn’t signed and sealed, it depends more on politics, religion and secret agendas than affairs of the heart. Prince Francis is intrigued by the fiery Scot, but like most young men, he resists the idea of settling down into marriage, especially when he has a history with a lady of the court and his own point of view on the wisdom of an alliance with Scotland. Still, an attraction between Mary and Francis is ignited. Further complicating things is Bash, Francis’ roguish half-brother, who has a history of his own ─ despite his illegitimate birth, Bash is his father’s favorite. And now that Bash has caught Mary’s eye, a royal triangle may be forming. While at French Court, fierce foes and dark forces conspire to sabotage Mary’s marriage to Francis and even threaten her life, until a mysterious shrouded guide becomes her ally. With danger and sexual intrigue around every dark castle corner, Mary rallies her ladies-in-waiting and steels herself, ready to rule the new land and balance the demands of her country and her heart. The series stars Adelaide Kane (Teen Wolf) as Mary, Toby Regbo (One Day) as Prince Francis, Torrance Coombs (The Tudors) as Bash, Megan Follows (Anne of Green Gables) as Queen Catherine, Alan Van Sprang (The Tudors) as King Henry, Celina Sinden as Greer, Caitlin Stasey as Kenna, Anna Popplewell (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) as Lola, and Jenessa Grant (Cyberbully) as Aylee. Reign is from CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television with executive producers Stephanie SenGupta (Hawaii Five-0), Laurie McCarthy (The Ghost Whisperer), Frank Siracusa (Beauty And The Beast) and Brad Silberling (Moonlight Mile). The pilot was directed by Brad Silberling.

The 100 (Midseason) - Ninety-seven years ago, nuclear Armageddon decimated planet Earth, destroying civilization. The only survivors were the 400 inhabitants of 12 international space stations that were in orbit at the time. Three generations have been born in space, the survivors now number 4,000, and resources are running out on their dying “Ark” ─ the 12 stations now linked together and repurposed to keep the survivors alive. Draconian measures including capital punishment and population control are the order of the day, as the leaders of the Ark take ruthless steps to ensure their future, including secretly exiling a group of 100 juvenile prisoners to the Earth’s surface to test whether it’s habitable. For the first time in nearly a century, humans have returned to planet Earth. Among the 100 exiles are Clarke, the bright teenage daughter of the Ark’s chief medical officer; Wells, son of the Ark’s Chancellor; the daredevil Finn; and the brother/sister duo Bellamy and Octavia, whose illegal sibling status has always led them to flaunt the rules. Technologically blind to what’s happening on the planet below them, the Ark’s leaders — Clarke’s widowed mother, Abby; the Chancellor, Jaha; and his shadowy second in command, Kane — are faced with difficult decisions about life, death and the continued existence of the human race. For the 100 young people on Earth, however, the alien planet they’ve never known is a mysterious realm that can be magical one moment and lethal the next. With the survival of the human race entirely in their hands, THE 100 must find a way to transcend their differences, unite and forge a new path on a wildly changed Earth that’s primitive, intense and teeming with the unknown. The series stars newcomer Eliza Taylor as Clarke, Paige Turco (Person of Interest, Damages) as Abby, Thomas McDonell (Suburgatory) as Finn, Eli Goree (Emily Owens, M.D.) as Wells, Marie Avgeropoulos (50/50) as Octavia, Bob Morley as Bellamy, Kelly Hu (X2: X-Men United, Arrow) as Cece, Christopher Larkin (Squad 85) as Monty, Devon Bostick (Aim High) as Jasper, with Isaiah Washington (Grey’s Anatomy) as Chancellor Jaha, and Henry Ian Cusick (Lost, Scandal) as Kane. Based on the upcoming book series by Kass Morgan, The 100 is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios with executive producers Matthew Miller (Human Target, Chuck), Jason Rothenberg (upcoming Twilight Zone feature), Bharat Nalluri (Torchwood, Emily Owens, M.D.), Leslie Morgenstein (The Vampire Diaries) and Gina Girolamo (The Secret Circle). The pilot was directed by Bharat Nalluri.

Star-Crossed (Midseason) - When Emery was 6 years old, an alien spacecraft crash-landed in her small town. Whether they came in peace or with more sinister intentions didn’t matter: a fierce battle erupted as humans fought for control over their new rivals, an alien species called the Atrians. In the midst of the conflict, Roman, a 6-year-old Atrian boy, found his way to a shed behind Emery’s house, where she protected him from harm, bringing him food, comfort – and friendship. In their brief time together, Emery and Roman forged a deep bond, but the authorities wasted no time tracking Roman down and capturing him in a violent confrontation. Emery has grown up believing that Roman was killed that day. Ten years later, the Atrians have been acclimated to life on Earth, but they are interned in a heavily-guarded camp known as the Sector to keep them separate from humans. Now, for the first time, a group of Atrian teens will enroll in a suburban human high school, with the goal of testing the feasibility of human/alien integration. The eyes of the nation and the whole world are fixed on this historical social experiment, an endeavor fraught with suspicion and fear. In the mayhem of the first day, Emery is amazed to learn that Roman was not killed by the authorities and is, in fact, one of the Atrian students. Their childhood bond is quickly rekindled – in a school and a society that distrusts everything about the Atrians, Emery and Roman have found each other again. However, their relationship is threatened by the small-mindedness of their respective communities and the political agendas of people in power. While the world around them rages with anger and prejudice, their bond becomes increasingly strong and increasingly dangerous. As an epic Romeo and Juliet romance unfolds, a violent encounter between Roman’s father and Emery’s father occurs in the Sector. Can Roman and Emery’s love – and peace between the species – survive? The series stars Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights) as Emery, Matt Lanter (90210) as Roman, Grey Damon (The Secret Circle) as Grayson, Natalie Hall (Pretty Little Liars) as Taylor, Malese Jow (The Vampire Diaries, Big Time Rush) as Julia, Titus Makin, Jr. (Glee) as Lukas, Chelsea Gilligan (How I Met Your Mother) as Teri and Greg Finley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) as Drake. Star-Crossed is from Ole Productions, Isla de Babel SL and 360 Powwow in association with CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television with executive producers Meredith Averill (The Good Wife, Life on Mars), Josh Appelbaum (Life on Mars, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), Bryan and Sean Furst (Daybreakers, Tough Trade), Daniel Gutman (Dance!, 12 Corazones), Andre Nemec (Life on Mars, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), Scott Rosenberg (Life on Mars, October Road) and Richard Shephard (Golden Boy, Ringer). The pilot was written by Meredith Averill and directed by Gary Fleder (Beauty And The Beast, Vegas, Runaway Jury).

Famous in 12 (Midseason) - There is a family in the U.S. that has what it takes to become famous — the question is: Can they pull it off in 12 weeks? That’s the challenge in the new unscripted series Famous in 12, a unique social experiment that tracks the lives of one determined family as they move to the entertainment capital of the world — Los Angeles — and seek fame in a 12-week time frame. Members of the family will all have unique and varied talents, and they will each get a series of challenges to create a public profile fit for a Kardashian. The family will be guided by the TMZ machine, which will create a series of opportunities for them. TMZ and Harvey Levin will help, but it is up to the family to pull it off. When they succeed at their challenges, they will appear on the TMZ TV show and TMZ.com, which will raise their profile. Family members will exploit all forms of social media to wage a campaign of fame. In addition to the challenges, the family will circulate day to day … at the gym, restaurants, bars, parties and other places where celebs hang and opportunities call. Executive-produced by David Garfinkle (The Surreal Life), Jay Renfroe (The Surreal Life) and Harvey Levin (TMZ), Famous in 12 is from Renegade 83 and Harvey Levin Productions in association with Warner Horizon Television and Telepictures.

2013 Fall Schedule: CBS

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:18:00 +0000

Eh... boring.

Monday

8:00 - How I Met Your Mother
8:30 - We Are Men (NEW)
9:00 - 2 Broke Girls
9:30 - Mom (NEW)
10:00 - Hostages (NEW)

I don't like that We Are Men is shoved in the middle of the multi-cam block, especially since CBS has another multi-cam comedy on the bench, Friends with Better Lives. It makes me think they expect We Are Men to fail, making their decision about where to stick Friends (or Mike & Molly) at midseason easier. Hostages will be a limited 15-episode season, so I expected to see it in the spring. I also aniticpated CBS giving Mom, the first pilot they ordered from their biggest money maker, Chuck Lorre, a better timeslot than they did.

Tuesday

8:00 - NCIS
9:00 - NCIS: LA
10:00 - Person of Interest (New Timeslot)

Moving Person of Interest to Tuesday was a good choice; these three shows are the most-watched dramas on television (in total viewers), so this should be a strong night for them. It'll also provide Chicago Fire with some stiff competition.

Wednesday

8:00 - Survivor
9:00 - Criminal Minds
10:00 - CSI

No changes, as expected. Why fix what isn't broken?

Thursday

8:00 - The Big Bang Theory
8:30 - The Millers (NEW)
9:00 - The Crazy Ones (NEW)
9:30 - Two and a Half Men (New Timeslot)
10:00 - Elementary

So instead of using Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory as lead-ins for both new shows, CBS did a single-cam block from 8:30-9:30 with its two biggest comedies as bookends. On the one hand, it's kind of nice. The Big Bang Theory will provide a great lead-in for The Millers, and then The Crazy Ones is anchoring the block at 9:00 with Two and a Half Men hopefully giving Elementary a little help at 10:00. On the other hand, these two new comedies are a strange coupling, and all of them don't really seem to fit together.

Friday

8:00 - Undercover Boss
9:00 - Hawaii Five-0 (New Timeslot)
10:00 - Blue Bloods

I'm a bit surprised to see Undercover Boss on the schedule. I expected for CBS, like last season, to save it in case something on the schedule fails; that would have also freed up another slot to debut a second new drama. But CBS seemed to want to make as few changes to their schedule as possible. Hawaii Five-0 gets relegated to Friday, and with good reason: for at least the past three Mondays, it's been in last place in its timeslot.

Sunday

8:00 - The Amazing Race
9:00 - The Good Wife
10:00 - The Mentalist

Midseason

Intelligence will take over the slot occupied by Hostages, Mondays at 10:00, at midseason. Unscheduled at this time are new drama Reckless and new comedy Friends with Better Lives, plus returning comedy (which as a full 22-episode order) Mike & Molly.

Nothing really to write home about here. I do find it strange that CBS is debuting four new comedies and only one new drama in the fall. I suppose it's six of one, half-dozen of the other (it would be five new shows either way if they put Mike & Molly on the schedule and replaced Undercover Boss with a new drama). They made the necessary changes (expanding the Thursday comedy block, shifting Person of Interest and Hawaii Five-0), but they also didn't do anything exciting. All of their new drama pilots look boring and trite, but they did put the most interesting one on the fall schedule. The stable networks are always the least exciting at upfronts...

Read after the jump for descriptions of CBS's new shows

We Are Men (Mondays at 8:30) - We Are Men is a single-camera comedy about four single guys living in a short-term apartment complex who unexpectedly find camaraderie over their many missteps in love. Carter (Chris Smith), the youngest and most recent addition to the group, moved in after being ditched at the altar mid-ceremony, and is now eager to re-enter the dating scene and get on with his life with some guidance from his “band of brothers”: Frank Russo (Golden Globe and multiple Emmy Award winner Tony Shalhoub), a successful middle-aged clothing manufacturer and four-time divorcée who still fancies himself a ladies man; Gil Bartis (Kal Penn), a small business owner who was caught having the world’s worst affair; and Stuart Strickland (Jerry O’Connell), a speedo-wearing OB/GYN who’s hiding his assets until his second divorce is settled. Jill (Rebecca Breeds) is Frank’s charming and attractive daughter, who stands as the one positive remnant from his failed relationships. Armed with a hot tub, pool-side barbeque and plenty of questionable advice, these losers in the marriage department take Carter under their wing to impart their own brand of wisdom about the opposite sex. Emmy Award winner Rob Greenberg, Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum are executive producers for CBS Television Studios. Rob Greenberg directed the pilot.

Mom (Mondays at 9:30) - Mom is a comedy from executive producer Chuck Lorre starring Anna Faris as a newly sober single mom raising two children in a world full of temptations and pitfalls, and multiple Emmy Award winner Allison Janney as her critical, estranged mother. Christy (Faris) is a waitress at a posh Napa Valley establishment who is four months clean and doing her best to be a good mom and overcome a history of questionable choices. Her sobriety is tested when Bonnie (Janney), her recovering alcoholic mom, reappears chock-full of passive-aggressive insights into Christy’s many mistakes. Bonnie joins Christy’s already complicated circle of relationships: her handsome, married boss – and lover – Gabriel (Nate Corddry); the restaurant’s hot-tempered chef, Rudy (French Stewart); her pretty, 16-going-on-25-year-old daughter, Violet (Sadie Calvano); her sweet but overly honest son, Roscoe (Blake Garrett Rosenthal); her irresponsible ex-husband and Roscoe’s father, Baxter (Matt Jones); and Violet’s clueless boyfriend, Luke (Spencer Daniels). Christy tries to remain positive as she pursues her new path in life, but she faces an uphill battle, surrounded by a dubious support system – and a copious amount of dysfunction. Chuck Lorre and Eddie Gorodetsky (Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory) are executive producers for Chuck Lorre Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Pamela Fryman directed the pilot. Gemma Baker co-wrote the pilot with Lorre and Gorodetsky.

Hostages (Mondays at 10:00) - Hostages, from executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer, is a high-octane suspense drama starring Emmy Award winner Toni Collette as a premiere surgeon thrust into a chilling political conspiracy when her family is taken hostage by rogue FBI Agent Duncan Carlisle (Dylan McDermott). Dr. Ellen Sanders (Collette) and her family are held captive in their home by Carlisle, a desperate man doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, who orders her to assassinate the President (James Naughton) when she operates on him. His highly skilled accomplices include his brother-in-law Kramer (Rhys Coiro), whose loyalty to Carlisle will be tested; quick-tempered and intimidating Archer (Billy Brown), an ex-military man with a razor-sharp tongue; and the only woman involved, Sandrine (Sandrine Holt), a mysterious last-minute replacement to the team. With her family’s life in peril, Ellen faces an incomprehensible moral dilemma in order to save her overbearing husband Brian (Tate Donovan), her secretive daughter Morgan (Quinn Shephard) and her not-so-innocent son Jake (Mateus Ward). In this high-stakes standoff between Ellen and Carlisle, fraught with tremendous national and personal consequences, the choices between right and wrong become even more blurred. Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Rick Eid, Omri Givon, Rotem Shamir and Chayim Sharir are executive producers for Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with Warner Bros. Television.

The Millers (Thursdays at 8:30) - The Millers stars Will Arnett as Nathan Miller, a recently divorced local roving news reporter looking forward to living the singles’ life until his parents’ marital problems unexpectedly derail his plans. After Nathan finally breaks the news of his divorce to his parents, Carol (Emmy Award winner Margo Martindale) and Tom (Emmy Award winner Beau Bridges), his father is inspired to follow suit and stuns the family when he leaves his wife of 43 years. Already in shock, Jack is even more aghast when his meddlesome mom decides to move in with him. Meanwhile, his absent-minded dad imposes upon Nathan’s sister, Debbie, her husband Adam and their daughter Mykayla (Eve Moon). Nathan’s best friend and news cameraman, Ray (JB Smoove), was excited to be Nathan’s wingman in the dating scene, but Carol manages to even cramp his style. Now, as Nathan and his sister settle in with their truly impossible parents, they both wonder just how long the aggravating adjustment period is going to last. Emmy winner Greg Garcia (Raising Hope and My Name is Earl) is the executive producer of The Millers for CBS Television Studios. Emmy Award winner James Burrows directed the pilot.

The Crazy Ones (Thursdays at 9:00) - Academy Award winner Robin Williams returns to series television in The Crazy Ones, a single-camera workplace comedy about a larger-than-life advertising genius whose unorthodox methods and unpredictable behavior would get him fired… if he weren’t the boss. Simon Roberts (Williams) is the head of a powerful agency, with the biggest clients and brands in the world, but even more important to him is that his daughter Sydney (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is by his side. As his partner, Sydney is Simon’s exact opposite – focused, organized and eager to make a name for herself, but also too busy parenting her father, which she’d resent if he wasn’t so brilliant at what he does. Joining them in the firm are the dashing and talented Zach (James Wolk); art director Andrew (Hamish Linklater), who’s as hard-working as he is neurotic; and the beautiful and deceptively smart assistant Lauren (Amanda Setton). With his team and his daughter behind him, Simon continues to set the advertising world on fire, and it looks like they are definitely buying what these crazy ones are selling. Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal and The Practice), Bill D’Elia, Emmy Award winner Jason Winer (Modern Family), Dean Lorey, John Montgomery and Mark Teitelbaum are executive producers for Twentieth Century Fox Television. Jason Winer directed the pilot.

Intelligence (Midseason) - Intelligence is a dramatic thriller starring Josh Holloway as a high-tech intelligence operative enhanced with a super-computer microchip in his brain. With this implant, Gabriel (Holloway) is the first human ever to be connected directly into the worldwide information grid and have complete access to Internet, WiFi, telephone and satellite data. He can hack into any data center and access key intel in the fight to protect the United States from its enemies. Leading the elite government cyber-security agency created to support him is Director Lillian Strand (Marg Helgenberger), a straightforward and efficient boss who oversees the unit’s missions. Strand assigns Riley Neal (Meghan Ory), a Secret Service agent, to protect Gabriel from outside threats, as well as from his appetite for reckless, unpredictable behavior and disregard for protocol. Other skilled members of the Cybercom team include Chris Jameson (Michael Rady) and Gonzalo “Gonzo” Rodriguez (James Martinez), two resourceful federal investigators. The brains behind the design of the chip is Dr. Shenendoah Cassidy (John Billingsley), whose son, Nelson (PJ Byrne), is jealous of Gabriel’s prominent place in his father’s life. As the first supercomputer with a beating heart, Gabriel is the most valuable piece of technology the country has ever created and is the U.S.’s secret weapon. Michael Seitzman, René Echevarria, Tripp Vinson, and David Semel (for the pilot) are executive producers for ABC Television Studios in association with CBS Television Studios.

Reckless (Midseason) - Reckless is a sultry legal drama set in Charleston, S.C., where a gorgeous Yankee litigator and a charming Southern attorney must hide their intense mutual attraction as a police sex scandal threatens to tear the city apart. Jamie Sawyer (Anna Wood) is enviously cool, confident and armed with south-side-of-Chicago street-smarts as she takes on the good ol’ boys in the South. Her handsome courtroom rival, Roy Rayder (Cam Gigandet), a divorced father of two, embodies the Old South and is the newly minted City Attorney, thanks to his influential former father-in-law, Dec Fortnum (Gregory Harrison). When disgraced cop Lee Anne Marcus (Georgina Haig) hires Jamie to represent her in a lawsuit against the police department, Jamie and Roy discover that Lee Anne is at the epicenter of a sinister case with dire implications for the members of the Charleston P.D. Heading that department is Deputy Chief Holland Knox (Michael Gladis), a family man who radiates integrity. Working under him are Terry McCandless (Shawn Hatosy), a cocky and corrupt detective, and Preston Cruz (Adam Rodriguez), Jamie’s well-respected boyfriend who might not be all that he appears. Helping Jamie is her confidante and paralegal, Vi (Kim Wayans), an expert at digging up case-winning information. As Jamie and Roy spar in and out of the courtroom, dark secrets simmer behind every door and threaten to tarnish the genteel facade of seductive Charleston. Ian Sander, Kim Moses, Dana Stevens, Corey Miller and Catherine Hardwicke are executive producers for CBS Television Studios. Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) directed the pilot.

Friends with Better Lives (Midseason) - Friends with Better Lives is a romantic comedy about six friends at different stages in their lives – married, divorced, newly engaged and single – who are outwardly happy, but secretly questioning if their friends have it better. Andi (Majandra Delfino) and Bobby (Kevin Connolly) are happily married with two kids but at times long for the days they had less responsibility and more fun; Will (James Van Der Beek) is newly single and preaching the bachelor lifestyle, but still pining for his ex-wife; Jules (Brooklyn Decker) and Lowell (Rick Donald) are high on their passionate new relationship; and Kate (Zoe Lister Jones) has a successful career but may take a swan dive into the L.A. River when she finds out her last remaining single friend, Jules, just got engaged. When it comes to relationships, these six friends are finding it a challenge to look at each other without wondering… who really has the better life? Dana Klein and Aaron Kaplan are executive producers for Twentieth Century Fox Television. Emmy Award winner James Burrows directed the pilot.

2013 Fall Schedule: ABC

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:48:00 +0000

Some real surprises in ABC's fall schedule:

Monday

8:00 - Dancing with the Stars
10:00 - Castle

I have to give a big congratulations to Castle: for the past two weeks, it has out-rated not only everything else in its timeslot (Hawaii Five-0 and Revolution) for the first time this season, but it is now out-rating its lead-in, Dancing with Stars. Having said that, I didn't expect ABC to split them up or move them.

Tuesday

8:00 - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (NEW)
9:00 - The Goldbergs (NEW)
9:30 - Trophy Wife (NEW)
10:00 - Lucky 7 (NEW)

I'm absolutely shocked that ABC is trying an entirely new night, though Tuesday was the best option if they were going to. Gone are Dancing with the Stars results shows, replaced by what will likely be fall's biggest show, Agents of SHIELD. That should give a decent lead-in to the new comedies they have plugged in at 9:00 and 9:30 (though I maintain that Rebel Wilson's new show should be in this block, if only to double the exposure of the Tuesday night lineup). Lucky 7 is a good choice for a tough slot, since it's sounding like it will be a limited series; if it fails, it gets replaced at midseason and can be called "limited" rather than "failing."

Wednesday

8:00 - The Middle
8:30 - Back in the Game (NEW)
9:00 - Modern Family
9:30 - Super Fun Night (NEW)
10:00 - Nashville

I'm most surprised that Nashville is staying put; it's been struggling of late, in the mid 1's in the 18-49. I'm assuming ABC is hoping for Super Fun Night to be a runaway hit, between its Modern Family lead-in and Rebel Wilson's growing fanbase, and that it will then boost Nashville as well. I'm not entirely sure that's what will happen; the premise of Super Fun Night doesn't really fit in with the family theme of the Wednesday comedy block.

Thursday

8:00 - Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (NEW)
9:00 - Grey's Anatomy
10:00 - Scandal

This is strange to me. All signs pointed to Once Upon a Time in Wonderland being a very limited series that would air while Once Upon a Time was on hiatus, thereby cutting down on repeats in the spring. Seeing it on the fall schedule, especially in a timeslot with which ABC hasn't exactly had success, is a total surprise. Maybe trying something female-oriented will help (though it didn't do much for Charlie's Angels and Missing two seasons ago).

Friday

8:00 - Last Man Standing
8:30 - The Neighbors (New Timeslot)
9:00 - Shark Tank
10:00 - 20/20

As expected, The Neighbors takes the post-Last Man Standing slot, and Suburgatory is saved for midseason (or until a new comedy bombs).

Sunday

8:00 - Once Upon a Time
9:00 - Revenge
10:00 - Betrayal (NEW)

I also correctly predicted this line-up. Betrayal was tailor-made to pair with Revenge, though if they were going to put Once Upon a Time in Wonderland on the fall schedule, I'm surprised it's not paired with its parent show.

Midseason

Not on the schedule are returning comedy Suburgatory and several new shows: comedy Mixology and dramas Resurrection, Mind Games and Killer Women (which is still in dire need of a new title). Paul Lee stated that various fall dramas (Once Upon a Time, Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and possibly Revenge) will take extended breaks in the winter/early spring for new limited series. New reality series The Quest will take over for Once, while the others are still up in the air; additionally, Lee stated that Betrayal and Resurrection are designed to only run for 12-13 episodes per season. So it seems likely that Resurrection will then occupy the 10:00 slot on Sunday nights at midseason. That leaves only two new dramas to debut with three possible shows airing in two separate blocks (10-12 in the fall, break, 10-12 in the spring) and then no options for replacing low-rated fall shows. In other words, I don't know if I trust that this model will actually work Also returning at midseason are reality series The Bachelor and The Taste, the latter of which is a bit of a surprise after its very low-rated final episodes.

This schedule is surprising, but not terrible. I like that Tuesday got a complete and total rehaul, and I mostly like the placement of the new shows (even if I would have liked to see Resurrection on this fall). Cutting Dancing with the Stars back an hour will hopefully help improve ABC's overall ratings picture, especially since it's being replaced with such a high-profile new series. I'm surprised they only moved one returning show (The Neighbors); everything else is in the same place as last year's upfront, with new shows filling in holes for canceled series or series returning at midseason. Some of these shows likely could have benefitted from a time change (Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Nashville), but, with any luck, the new shows can provide subsequent boosts to them. I think there's a good possibility for success here, which ABC needs after failing to secure any real hits this past season. I still question the decision to spin-off Once Upon a Time at all, considering the decline in both quality and ratings; but Alice in Wonderland does seem to have some sort of timeless power over people to make them love the story so much, so perhaps it's a good idea. Time will tell.

Read after the jump for descriptions of ABC's new series
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Tuesdays at 8:00) - Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel's feature films, as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange and the unknown around the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson's team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage; Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), expert pilot and martial artist; Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), brilliant engineer; and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet). Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel's first television series, is from executive producers Joss Whedon (Marvel's The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, who co-wrote the pilot (Dollhouse, Dr.Horrible's Sing-Along Blog). Jeffrey Bell (Angel, Alias) and Jeph Loeb Smallville, Lost, Heroes) also serve as executive producers. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.

The Goldbergs (Tuesdays at 9:00) - Before there were parenting blogs, trophies for showing up and peanut allergies, there was a simpler time called the '80s. For geeky 11-year-old Adam (Sean Giambrone) these were his wonder years, and he faced them armed with a video camera to capture all the crazy. The Goldbergs are a loving family like any other, just with a lot more yelling. Mom Beverly (Wendi McClendon-Covey) is a classic "smother," an overbearing, overprotective matriarch who rules this brood with 100% authority and zero sense of boundaries. Dad Murray (Jeff Garlin) is gruff, hot-tempered and trying to parent without screaming. Sister Erica (Hayley Orrantia) is 17, hot, terrifying and not one to mess with. Barry (Troy Gentile) is 16, a grade-A spaz with classic middle child syndrome. Adam (Sam Giambrone) is the youngest, a camera-wielding future director who's crushing on an older woman. Rounding out the family is beloved grandfather Al "Pops" Solomon (George Segal), the wild man of the clan, a shameless Don Juan who's schooling Adam in the ways of love. When Pops buys a new sports car and offers his Caddy to middle child Barry, it's enough to drive this already high-strung family to the brink of chaos. The Goldbergs stars Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids) as Beverly, Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Murray, George Segal (Don't Shoot Me) as Pops, Hayley Orrantia (The X Factor) as Erica, Sean Giambrone as Adam and Troy Gentile (Good Luck Chuck) as Barry. The Goldbergs was written and executive-produced by Adam F. Goldberg (Breaking In, Fanboys) and also executive produced by Doug Robinson. The pilot was directed by Seth Gordon (Identity Thief, Horrible Bosses). The Goldbergs is from Adam Sandler's production company, Happy Madison, and is produced by Sony Pictures Television.

Trophy Wife (Tuesdays at 9:30) - They say the third time's the charm, and reformed party girl Kate (Malin Akerman) is hoping that's true when she becomes Pete's (Bradley Whitford) third wife. She fell into his arms (literally) at a karaoke bar, and a year later Kate's got an insta-family, complete with three stepchildren and two ex-wives. Diane (Marcia Gay Harden) is ex-wife number one, an intense, over-achieving doctor and the mother of twin teenagers Hillary (Gianna LePera) and Warren (Ryan Scott Lee). Diane is quick to convey her withering disapproval of Kate's barely tapped maternal instinct. Ex-wife number two, Jackie (Michaela Watkins), is mother to adopted son Bert (Albert Tsai), and can pull Pete's strings with her special blend of neurotic, new-ageyness. Juggling all this baggage is uncharted territory for Kate, who finds support with her best friend Meg (Natalie Morales), a party-hearty singleton and the only woman Kate knows who has less experience with kids than she has. Trophy Wife stars Malin Akerman (Suburgatory) as Kate, Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) as Pete, Marcia Gay Harden (Into the Wild, Damages) as Diane, Michaela Watkins (Saturday Night Live) as Jackie, Natalie Morales (90210) as Meg, Ryan Scott Lee (Super 8) as Warren, Albert Tsai (How I Met Your Mother) as Bert and Gianna LePera (Modern Family) as Hillary. Trophy Wife is written and executive-produced by Emily Halpern & Sarah Haskins, executive produced by Lee Eisenberg & Gene Stupnitsky (The Office), produced by Malin Ackerman. The pilot was directed by Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect, Avenue Q). Trophy Wife is from ABC Studios.

Lucky 7 (Tuesdays at 10:00) - In Astoria, Queens, a group of seven gas station employees have been chipping into a lottery pool for months, never thinking they'd actually win. Money could solve problems for each of them: Matt (Matt Long) could get his girlfriend and two kids out of his mother's house; Matt's brother, Nicky (Stephen Louis Grush), an ex-con, could pay off a dangerous debt; Samira (Summer Bishil), a second-generation Pakistani immigrant, could afford to go to Juilliard; Denise (Lorraine Bruce), a plucky cashier, could focus on rebuilding her crumbling marriage; Leanne (Anastasia Phillips), a young mother, could help her daughter realize her dreams; Bob (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), the store's manager, could finally retire; and Antonio (Luis Antonio Ramos) could give his wife and kids a whole new life. Lucky 7 stars Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (The Wire) as Bob Harris, Matt Long (Private Practice) as Matt Korzak, Stephen Louis Grush (Detroit 1-8-7) as Nicky Korzak, Lorraine Bruce (Eden Lake) as Denise, Anastasia Phillips (Stoked) as Leanne, Summer Bishil (Towelhead) as Samira Rajpur, Luis Antonio Ramos (The Ruins) as Antonio Clemente and Christine Evangelista (The Joneses) as Mary. Written by David Zabel (ER) and Jason Richman (Detroit 1-8-7), Lucky 7 is executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, David Zabel and Jason Richman. The pilot was directed by Paul McGuigan. Lucky 7 is produced by ABC Studios and Amblin Television.

Back in the Game (Wednesdays at 8:30) - Terry Gannon Jr. (Maggie Lawson) was an All Star softball player until life threw her a few curve balls -- a baby, a lost college scholarship and a loser for a husband. After striking out on her own, Terry and her son, Danny (Griffin Gluck), move in with her estranged father, Terry Sr., aka "The Cannon" (James Caan). The Cannon is an opinionated, beer-guzzling, ex-athlete who never quite made the cut either as a single father or professional baseball player. As hard as Terry tries to keep Danny away from the sports-driven lifestyle of her youth, Tommy wants to play Little League. His stunning lack of baseball skills (he doesn't even know which hand the mitt goes on) makes him the laughing stock of the baseball field and of his grandfather's living room. When Danny and a group of other athletically-challenged hopefuls fail to make the team, Danny's disappointment forces Terry to face her past. So when a wealthy neighbor volunteers to finance a team for the rejected kids, Terry reluctantly offers to coach the team of misfits. Back in the Game stars Maggie Lawson (Psych) as Terry, Jr., James Caan (Las Vegas) as Terry "The Cannon" Gannon, Sr., Lenora Crichlow (Being Human, Fast Girls) as Gigi, Griffin Gluck (Private Practice) as Danny, Ben Koldyke (Big Love) as Dick, Kennedy Waite (I-Doll) as Vanessa, J.J. Totah (Jessie) as Michael and Cooper Roth as David. Back in the Game was written by Mark and Robb Cullen (Lucky, Las Vegas), who also executive-produce along with directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (Bad Santa, Crazy, Stupid, Love) and Aaron Kaplan (The Neighbors). Back in the Game is from 20TH Century Fox Television/ Kapital Entertainment.

Super Fun Night (Wednesdays at 9:30) - Junior attorney Kimmie Boubier (Rebel Wilson) and her two best friends, Helen-Alice (Liza Lapira) and Marika (Lauren Ash), have had a standing date every Friday night for the last 13 years. They even have a motto for what they call "Friday Night Fun Night": "Always together! Always Inside!" However Kimmie's recent promotion throws a monkey wrench into the tradition. Not only is she now working with her idol, "Lady Lawyer of the Year" Felicity Vanderstone (Kelen Coleman), but she meets a dashingly handsome British attorney, Richard Lovell (Kevin Bishop), who invites her to his party at a trendy club. Determined to spend time with Richard and heed Felicity's advice to network, Kimmie sets out to convince her friends to take Super Fun Night on the road. Super Fun Night stars Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids) as Kimmie, Lauren Ash (Lars and the Real Girl) as Marika, Liza Lapira (Don't Trust the B - in Apartment 23) as Helen-Alice, Kelen Coleman (The Newsroom) as Felicity and Kevin Bishop (Star Stories) as Richard. Super Fun Night was written by Rebel Wilson who also serves as co-executive producer. Executive producers are Conan O'Brien, Jeff Ross, David Kissinger and John Riggi (30 Rock), who also directed the pilot. Super Fun Night is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Conaco and Warner Bros. Television.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (Thursdays at 8:00) - In Victorian England, the young and beautiful Alice (Sophie Lowe) tells a tale of a strange new land that exists on the other side of a rabbit hole. An invisible cat, a hookah smoking caterpillar and playing-cards that talk are just some of the fantastic things she's seen during this impossible adventure. Surely this troubled girl must be insane, and her doctors aim to cure her with a treatment that will make her forget everything. Alice seems ready to put it all behind her, especially the painful memory of the genie she fell in love with and lost forever -- the handsome and mysterious Cyrus (Peter Gadiot). But deep down Alice knows this world is real, and just in the nick of time the sardonic Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha) and the irrepressible White Rabbit (John Lithgow) arrive to save her from a doomed fate. Together the trio will take a tumble down the rabbit hole to this Wonderland where nothing is impossible. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland stars Sophie Lowe (Beautiful Kate) as Alice, Michael Socha (This Is England) as Knave of Hearts, Peter Gadiot (The Forbidden Girl) as Cyrus, Emma Rigby (Hollyoaks) as Queen of Hearts and John Lithgow (3rd Rock from the Sun) as the voice of the White Rabbit. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland was written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (Once Upon a Time), who serve as executive producers. Steve Perlman and Zack Estrin also serve as executive producers, and the pilot was directed by Ralph Hemecker. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland is produced by ABC Studios.

Betrayal (Sundays at 10:00) - A chance meeting between photographer Sara Hadley (Hannah Ware) and Attorney Jack McAllister (Stuart Townsend) leads to an instant and undeniable attraction. Sarah's husband, Drew (Chris Johnson), is a successful prosecutor with political aspirations, while Jack is married to Elaine (Wendy Moniz), the daughter of his boss, Thacher Karsten (James Cromwell). When Karsten's brother-in-law Lou is murdered, all evidence points to Karsten's son, T.J. (Henry Thomas). Jack, the company's lead counsel, will have to defend him, but for Sara's prosecutor husband, Drew, this is the kind of high-profile murder case that can secure his political future. Just as Sara and Jack's affair is starting, the lovers find themselves in an impossible situation -- on opposite sides of a murder investigation. Betrayal stars Hannah Ware (Shame, Boss) as Sara, Stuart Townsend (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) as Jack, James Cromwell (Babe, American Horror Story) as Thacher Karsten, Henry Thomas (E.T., Gangs of New York) as T.J. Karsten, Chris Johnson (The Vampire Diaries) as Drew, Wendy Moniz (Guiding Light, The Guardian) as Elaine, Elizabeth McLaughlin (The Clique) as Val and Braeden Lamasters (Men of a Certain Age) as Vic. Betrayal was written by David Zabel (ER) and directed by Patty Jenkins (The Killing, Monster) and is executive-produced by David Zabel, Rob Golenberg (Red Widow) and Alon Aranya. Betrayal is produced by ABC Studios.

Killer Women (Midseason) - Of all the notorious lawmen who have ever patrolled the violent Texas frontier, none are more storied than the Texas Rangers. But being the only female ranger in this elite squad isn't going to stop ballsy, badass Molly Parker (Tricia Helfer). Molly is committed to finding the truth and seeing justice served. While she's surrounded by law enforcement colleagues who want to see her fail, including Police Lieutenant Guillermo Salazar (Vic Trevino), the Rangers have her back, led by Company Commander Luis Zea (Alex Fernandez). Molly has also got her brother, Billy (Michael Trucco), and his wife Becca (Marta Milans). On the verge of getting divorced from her smarmy husband, Jake (Jeffrey Nordling), Molly begins an affair with sexy DEA Agent Dan Winston (Marc Blucas). Killer Women stars Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) as Molly Parker, Mark Blucas (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Dan, Marta Milans (Shame) as Becca, Alex Fernandez (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) as Luis and Michael Trucco (Battlestar Galactica) as Billy. Killer Women was written by Hannah Shakespeare and is executive-produced by Sofía Vergara (Modern Family), Martin Campbell, Ben Silverman, Luis Balaguer, Electus, Latin World Entertainment. The pilot was directed by Larry Trilling. Killer Women is produced by ABC Studios.

Mind Games (Midseason) - Clark (Steve Zahn) and Ross (Christian Slater) Edwards are brothers and partners in a unique agency committed to solving clients' problems using the hard science of psychological manipulation. Clark is a former professor and a world-renowned expert in the field of human behavior. But he has a checkered history due to bipolar disorder, which sometimes results in quirky, manic episodes. Older brother Ross is a slick con man who has spent time in prison. Each in their own way knows what makes people tick. Drawing from the most cutting edge research in psychology, they can a tailor a plan to influence any situation. It's a little bit science, a little bit con artistry, plus a smattering of Jedi mind tricks. The brothers, along with their team of master manipulators, are offering clients an alternative to fate. Mind Games stars Steve Zahn (Treme) as Clark, Christian Slater (True Romance) as Ross, Megalyn Echikunwoke (CSI: Miami) as Megan, Cedric Sanders (The Social Network) as Latrell, Gregory Marcel (The Good Shepherd) as Miles and Wynn Everett (The Newsroom) as Claire. Written and executive-produced by Kyle Killen, the series is also executive-produced by Keith Redman. Mind Games is a 20th Century Fox Television production. Miguel Sapochnik directed the pilot.

Resurrection (Midseason) - The people of Arcadia, Missouri are forever changed when their deceased loved ones suddenly start to return. An 8-year-old American boy (Landon Gimenez) wakes up alone in a rice paddy in a rural Chinese province with no idea how he got there. Details start to emerge when the boy, who calls himself Jacob, recalls that his hometown is Arcadia, and an Immigration agent, Martin Bellamy (Omar Epps), takes him there. The home he claims as his own is occupied by an elderly couple, Harold (Kurtwood Smith) and Lucille Garland (Frances Fisher), who lost their son Jacob more than 30 years ago. While they look different, young Jacob recognizes them as his parents. Those closest to the family try to unravel this impossible mystery, including Sheriff Fred Garland (Matt Craven), whose wife Barbara drowned 30 years ago while trying to save Jacob. But this boy who claims to be the deceased Jacob knows secrets about his own death that no one else knows -- secrets that Fred's daughter, Gail (Devin Kelly), will begin to investigate and discover to be true. Resurrection stars Omar Epps (House) as Martin Bellamy, Matt Craven (Crimson Tide, A Few Good Men) as Fred, Devin Kelley (Chernobyl Diaries, The Chicago Code) as Gail, Frances Fisher (Titanic) as Lucille, Kurtwood Smith (That '70s Show) as Harold, Sam Hazeldine (The Raven) as Abel, Samaire Armstrong (Entourage, The O.C.) as Elaine, Nicholas Gonzalez (Off the Map) as Connor, Mark Hildreth (Dragon Ball Z) as Tom and Landon Gimenez as Jacob. Written by Aaron Zelman (Damages, The Killing), Resurrection is executive-produced by Aaron Zelman, JoAnn Alfano, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Jon Liebman, Brillstein Entertainment and Plan B. The pilot was directed by Charles McDougall. Resurrection is produced by ABC Studios.

Mixology (Midseason) - One bar. One night. Ten single people. Welcome to Union, a high-end bar in Manhattan's trendy meat-packing district. Recently dumped by his fiancée, Tom (Blake Lee) hasn't been out on the town in a decade. His best friends, handsome, confident Cal (Craig Frank) and fast-talking Bruce (Andrew Santino), are throwing Tom back into the dating pool whether he likes it or not. Tom's first encounter is with Maya (Ginger Gonzaga), an attorney who's as beautiful as she is brutal; before long, Tom is in tears. After that, it only gets worse. Rounding out Union's chic crowd is Maya's engaged-for-now friend, Liv (Kate Simses); aggressive single mom Jessica (Alexis Carra); her younger, naive sister, Janey (Sarah Bolger); bubbly cocktail waitress Kacey (Vanessa Lengies); dark, mysterious bartender Dominic (Adan Canto); and failed internet entrepreneur Ron (Adam Campbell), who's having the worst night of his life. Mixology stars Blake Lee (Parks and Recreation) as Tom, Andrew Santino (+) as Bruce, Kate Simses (What's Your Number) as Liv, Adam Campbell (Epic Movie) as Ron, Craig Frank (8.13) as Cal, Vanessa Lengies (Glee) as Kacey, Alexis Carra (Incredible Girl) as Jessica, Sarah Bolger (Once Upon a Time) as Janey, Ginger Gonzaga (Legit) as Maya and Adan Canto (The Following) as Dominic. Mixology was written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (The Hangover, 21 and Over), and is executive-produced by Lucas, Moore, Ryan Seacrest, Nina Wass and Adam Sher. It's directed by Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Entourage, Borat), and is produced by ABC Studios.

The Quest (Midseason) - The Quest is a new reality adventure that takes 12 lucky contestants on the journey of a lifetime when they enter the world of "Everealm." For The Quest, the producer of the blockbuster movie franchise The Lord of the Rings has joined forces with the creators and producers of The Amazing Race to conjure a land of magic and malevolence, where mythical creatures lurk in the woods, agents of darkness stir in the shadows, and mystical beings infiltrate the keep. For 12 lucky souls, a fantastic world will come alive in a unique competition series where players will engage in epic challenges. Fantasy meets reality when one player emerges as a real-life hero. The Quest is from executive producers Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri (The Amazing Race, Profiles Television), executive producers Mark Ordesky and Jane Fleming (Court Five), and executive producers Rob Eric and Michael Williams (Green Harbor Productions).

2013 Fantasy Schedule: CW

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:56:00 +0000

Monday

8:00 - Beauty and the Beast
9:00 - Oxygen (NEW)

Both shows have a similar theme of a regular person in love with an extraordinary one (the Beast in the former, an alien in the latter). Plus, Beauty and the Beast is underperforming on Thursday and could easily be thrown to the wolves on Monday night against The Voice.

Tuesday

8:00 - Reign (NEW)
9:00 - Hart of Dixie

Reign is the only new show the CW has that could be seen as "traditional," so I think it will get paired with Hart of Dixie, the most normal show on the network. I also think the CW will try to avoid debuting a new show against The Voice here, so I think the veteran show will get pushed back to 9:00.

Wednesday

8:00 - Arrow
9:00 - Supernatural

This night is working very well for the CW, so I don't think they will touch it.

Thursday

8:00 - The Vampire Diaries
9:00 - The Originals (NEW)

I don't think The Originals will do as well as the CW hopes, judging by the ratings for the April backdoor pilot, but it will hopefully retain more of the audience from The Vampire Diaries than any of its previous companions have.

Friday

8:00 - Nikita
9:00 - Encores / Reality

If the final season of Nikita truly is as short as it has been rumored to be (6 episodes), then I don't see the CW attempting to pair anything with it right away. Encores will also present an opportunity to showcase a new drama, much like they did with Arrow repeats this past year.

Midseason

The CW has two other new shows, The 100 and The Tomorrow People, on tap, and I think they will be saved for midseason. The Carrie Diaries was renewed for a second season, and I think it will take over for Nikita on Fridays.

Bottom Line Predictions

New Series - The 100, The Originals, Oxygen, Reign, The Tomorrow People

Canceled Series - 90210, Cult, Emily Owens MD, Gossip Girl

2013 Fall Schedule: Fox

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:10:00 +0000

This... is... a mess.

Monday

8:00 - Bones / Almost Human (NEW)
9:00 - Sleepy Hollow (NEW)

Okay. So to start the season, Bones keeps its slot, followed by Sleepy Hollow. Then, after the World Series destroys all regular scheduling, it will be shipped off to Fridays and be replaced by Almost Human. Already, this is too much.

Tuesday

8:00 - Dads (NEW)
8:30 - Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NEW)
9:00 - New Girl
9:30 - The Mindy Project

I honestly think it's ridiculous that The Mindy Project gets to keep its slot considering how terribly it's been doing. And I don't think Dads and Brooklyn Nine-Nine will be very compatible; a better choice to pair with the new Andy Samberg sitcom would have been Enlisted, which instead gets a Friday slot. What's even crazier is that New Girl will get the post-Super Bowl slot, followed by another new comedy... which has to mean Us & Them. What a waste.

Wednesday

8:00 - The X Factor

No move, no surprise.

Thursday

8:00 - The X Factor - Results
9:00 - Glee

No changes again, though spring will be interesting. Glee will go on an extended hiatus, with Rake taking its place after American Idol. That means Glee will air into summer, though it seems like Fox is trying to do more year-round programming when you look at their midseason plans (coming up shortly).

Friday

8:00 - Junior Masterchef (NEW) / Bones
9:00 - Sleepy Hollow (encores) / Raising Hope
9:30 - ------- / Enlisted (NEW)

A new reality series will debut in the beginning of the fall, followed by encores of Sleepy Hollow, which I thought might instill some faith in the new series, but then I realized it was the only new series debuting in the early fall. Then Junior Masterchef gets replaced by Bones, and Raising Hope takes over at 9:00, followed by the military sitcom Enlisted. If Sleepy Hollow fails on Monday, I can see it moving to Friday and Bones staying put.

Sunday

8:00 - The Simpsons
8:30 - Bob's Burgers
9:00 - Family Guy
9:30 - American Dad

The only thing worth noting here is that The Cleveland Show was never officially canceled by Fox, yet it does not appear anywhere in their press release.

Midseason

Already mentioned above, Rake will debut midseason on Thursday night and The Following will return to Mondays at 9:00. There was no mention of where Gang Related, Surviving Jack, or Us & Them will end up, though it was stated that Gang Related would start in May. Also in May will be a reboot of 24, a limited series of twelve episodes subtitled Live Another Day. Also coming midseason is a blind pickup of a new series from M. Night Shyamalan called Wayward Pines, starring Matt Dillon. They also have American Idol returning, plus the new animated series Murder Police.

Overall, I kind of hate this schedule. It's all over the place. Why, when you have a terribly low-rated show like The Mindy Project, would you schedule a new comedy for Friday night? The last time Fox aired a freshman sitcom on Friday night was Brothers in 2009. Remember that show? Exactly. Plus, Enlisted is a male-skewing show and will be up against at least one already-established male-skewing show (Grimm on NBC). It just seems silly. I also can't believe Fox said nothing about The Cleveland Show; I predicted it would be canceled, but it's not even on the schedule. Does that mean they have no more episodes to air? Or that they are waiting to see if they even want it at 7:30 on Sunday at midseason? Either way, it's getting the shaft. I'm pleasantly surprised, however, to see Sleepy Hollow airing on Monday. I assumed it would go to Friday, just because that's where Fox typically puts that type of show; but I can guarantee if it gets a second season renewal this time next year, that's where it will be on the 2014-2015 schedule.

Read after the jump for descriptions of Fox's new series.
Sleepy Hollow (Mondays at 9:00) - What if you suddenly woke up from the throes of death 250 years in the future to find the world is on the brink of destruction, caused by unimaginable events, and you are humanity’s last hope? Welcome to Sleepy Hollow, the thrilling new mystery-adventure drama from co-creators/executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek and Transformers franchises, Fringe). In this modern-day retelling of Washington Irving’s classic, Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers. Revived alongside Ichabod is the infamous Headless Horseman who is on a murderous rampage in present-day Sleepy Hollow. Bound to the Headless Horseman by a blood spell cast on the battlefield of the American Revolution, Ichabod quickly realizes that stopping Headless is just the beginning, as the resurrected rider is but the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. As this re-invented Ichabod finds himself in present-day Sleepy Hollow, he discovers a town and a world he no longer recognizes. All that is brutally familiar are Headless and Ichabod’s determination to annihilate this immortal being. It’s a mission he must complete quickly, as Headless already has viciously slain Sheriff August Corbin (guest star Clancy Brown, Cowboys & Aliens, Carnivale). Grey served both as mentor and father figure to Detective Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie, Shame, American Violet), a young cop whose own supernatural experiences help her form an unlikely bond with Ichabod. But Sleepy Hollow’s head of police, Captain Frank Irving (Orlando Jones, The Chicago 8, Drumline), isn’t buying any of this. In fact, the only person who is on Abbie’s side is Ichabod. His extensive first-hand knowledge of our secret American history, coupled with her superior profiling and modern threat assessment skills, will make them a formidable duo as they work together to triumph over evil. The complex pasts of Ichabod and Abbie, from Ichabod’s inclusion in the powerful and secretive Freemasons Society and the ghostly appearance of his late wife, Katrina (Katia Winter, Dexter), to Abbie’s childhood visions, will help them solve the intricate puzzles of Sleepy Hollow in order to protect its future. As history repeats itself, the oddly-linked pair will draw on the real stories and hallowed secrets this nation was founded on in their quest to stop an increasingly vicious cycle of evil. Sleepy Hollow is from K/O Paper Products in association with 20th Century Fox Television. The series is co-created by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Phillip Iscove and Len Wiseman (Hawaii Five-0, Underworld, Total Recall). The series is executive-produced by Kurtzman, Orci, Wiseman and Heather Kadin. Iscove serves as supervising producer. Wiseman directed the pilot.

Dads (Tuesdays at 8:00) - Honor thy father. Way easier said than done. Especially when your dad’s broke, living in your house and ruining your life. From Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, the creatively outrageous minds behind last year’s highest-grossing feature comedy, “Ted,” and FOX’s hit animated series Family Guy, Dads explores the often treacherous terrain of the father-son landscape. This new multi-camera comedy series follows two successful guys – and childhood best friends – now in their mid-30s whose relatively stable lives get turned upside down when their pain-in-the-neck patriarchs move in. Eli (Emmy Award winner Seth Green, Family Guy, Robot Chicken) and Warner (Emmy Award nominee Giovanni Ribisi, My Name is Earl, Ted, Avatar) are the co-founders of a successful video game company. Warner is married with two kids, two dogs and a beautiful home. Despite his success, he’s a bundle of nerves, constantly worrying that his next paycheck will be his last. He and Eli came up with the idea for the company while stoned in college, and Eli has remained stoned ever since. In contrast to Warner’s picture-perfect life, Eli’s is a bit messier, with brief stabs at self-improvement. What he lacks in courage, he also lacks in moral fiber. Although Warner and Eli are at very different places in their lives, they are so close, their friendship is more like a marriage. And that relationship is more complicated now, as their dads invade their lives. Warner’s neuroses likely stem from having grown up in a family whose fortunes fluctuated wildly from year to year, due to the failed get-rich-quick schemes of his father, Crawford (Martin Mull, Two and a Half Men, ’Til Death). A self-described “businessman” (in wine-stained khakis) and a perpetual optimist, Crawford still firmly believes the next big opportunity is just around the corner. Now living with Warner and Warner’s beautiful, hotheaded wife, Camila (Vanessa Lachey, Wipeout, True Beauty), Crawford continues to spend beyond his means, making well-intentioned grand gestures that he can’t afford and that Warner ends up paying for. Eli’s dad, David (Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Peter Riegert, The Good Wife, The Sopranos), is a towering monument to negativity. Equal parts cheap and cranky, David relishes disappointment and has always prepared his son for it, who in turn rebels by spending excessive amounts of money. After hitting hard times, David turns to Eli, who blames his dad for his own shortcomings, including his inability to settle down. In fact, his longest relationship with a woman remains the one with his cleaning lady, Edna (Tonita Castro, Go On). Trying to help both Warner and Eli through their myriad life challenges is Veronica (Brenda Song, New Girl, Scandal), their witty and surprisingly entitled assistant, who is a force to be reckoned with. The invasion of the Dads will give these friends and business partners their biggest challenge yet. Between dubious schemes, passive-aggressive busy-bodying and light kissing-on-the-lips, will these beleaguered sons be able to hold the line in the face of two massive game-changers? Dads is produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Fuzzy Door Productions. The series is created and written by Emmy Award-nominated writer/producers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild (Ted, Family Guy). Seth MacFarlane, Sulkin and Wild are executive producers. Marc Cendrowski (The Big Bang Theory) directed the pilot.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Tuesdays at 8:30) - From Emmy Award-winning writer/producers Dan Goor and Michael Schur (Parks and Recreation), and starring Emmy Award winners Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live) and Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age, Homicide: Life on the Street), Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a new single-camera ensemble comedy about what happens when a talented, but carefree, detective gets a new captain with a lot to prove. Detective Jake Peralta (Samberg) is a good enough cop that he’s never had to work that hard or follow the rules too closely. Perhaps because he has the best arrest record among his colleagues, he’s been enabled – if not indulged – throughout his entire career. That is, until the precinct gets a new commanding officer, Captain Ray Holt (Braugher), who reminds this hotshot cop to respect the badge. Jake may have collared more criminals, but Detective Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero, One Life to Live, Gossip Girl) is close behind, and she’s keenly aware of how many arrests she needs to close the gap. Amy grew up with seven brothers who were all cops. She’s the first girl in the family to put on a police uniform, and suffice it to say: she’s extremely competitive…about everything. Also working cases in Brooklyn’s 99th precinct is Sergeant Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews, Bridesmaids, Everybody Hates Chris), a linebacker of a man who’s lost his nerve, not because he’s a wimp, but because a year ago, his wife had twin baby girls – Cagney and Lacey – and he can’t imagine not seeing them grow up. Detective Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio, Wreck-It Ralph, Superbad), who idolizes Jake, is the precinct’s workhorse; he’s not that brilliant, he’s not physically gifted, but he tries harder than anyone else. Charles pines for Detective Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz, Modern Family, The Closer), with whom he stands no chance at all. Rosa is simultaneously tough, sexy and scary as hell. She’s vocally opinionated about everything. Cleaning up everyone’s mess is Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti, Parks and Recreation, Kroll Show), the eccentric, civilian office manager who somehow gets involved in everyone’s business. Together, these tightly knit – or is it tightly wound? – cops interrogate suspects, arrest perps and solve murders. But, ultimately, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a workplace comedy that’s not really about the job. It’s about the men and women behind the badge – singing karaoke, grabbing a beer and hitting on each other – all while protecting the fine people of Brooklyn. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is produced by Universal Television. The series is executive-produced by Goor, Schur and David Miner (30 Rock). The pilot was directed by the team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs).

Junior Masterchef (Fridays at 8:00) - Move over grown-ups…the kids are taking over the kitchen! Junior Masterchef is a new culinary competition series for talented kids between the ages of eight and 13 who love to cook. Based on the hugely successful U.K. and Australian format, the series extends the Masterchef brand in the U.S. to include a younger group of aspiring masterchefs. Junior Masterchef will give budding cooks the exciting opportunity to showcase their talent, culinary smarts and passion for food through a series of delicious challenges and cook-offs. Similar to Masterchef, Ramsay will be joined by restaurateur and winemaker Joe Bastianich (Del Posto, Eataly) and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot (Graham Elliot, Graham Elliot Bistro) on the judging panel. Together, the celebrated food experts will coach and encourage the promising hopefuls to cook like a pro and teach them the tricks of the trade along the way. After a nationwide search, 24 of the best junior home cooks in the country will create their best seafood, pasta or dessert dish and present it to the judges in the audition round. Those who impress the judges will continue in the competition, during which they will face exciting challenges – including taking over a celebrated fine dining restaurant – until one talented kid is named America’s first-ever Junior Masterchef. Junior Masterchef is produced by Shine America and One Potato Two Potato, and is based on the format created by Franc Roddam and Shine. Shine International handles distribution for the Masterchef format. Elisabeth Murdoch, Eden Gaha, Paul Franklin, Robin Ashbrook, Gordon Ramsay, Adeline Ramage Rooney, Patricia Llewellyn and Ben Adler serve as executive producers.

Almost Human (Mondays at 8:00, late fall) - From Emmy Award-winning executive producer J.J. Abrams (Fringe, Lost, the Star Trek and Mission: Impossible franchises) and creator/executive producer J.H. Wyman (Fringe, The Mexican), comes Almost Human. Starring Karl Urban (Star Trek) and Michael Ealy (Sleeper Cell, Common Law), the new series is an action-packed police drama set 35 years in the future, when police officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids. The year is 2048. Meet John Kennex (Urban), a cop who survived one of the most catastrophic attacks ever made against the police department. After waking up from a 17-month coma, he can’t remember much – except that his partner was killed; his girlfriend, Anna Moore (guest star Mekia Cox, Crazy, Stupid, Love., Undercovers), left him after the attack; and he lost one of his legs and is now outfitted with a highly sophisticated synthetic appendage. Suffering from depression, mental atrophy, trauma-onset OCD, PTSD and the “psychological rejection of his synthetic body part,” John returns to work at the behest of longtime ally Captain Sandra Maldonado (Emmy Award nominee Lili Taylor, Six Feet Under, Ransom). By mandate, every cop must partner with a robot. And despite his passionate aversion to androids, John is paired up with a battle-ready MX-43. But he abruptly terminates his partnership after the robot discovers incriminating information about him. So technician Rudy Lom (Mackenzie Crook, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) introduces John to Dorian (Ealy), a discontinued android with unexpected emotional responses. Although such responses were deemed flaws, it is in these “flaws” that John relates to Dorian most. After all, John is part-machine now, and Dorian is part-human. John and Dorian’s understanding of each other not only complements them, it connects them. As he adjusts to working with his new partner, John also must learn to get along with his new colleagues, including the eager and somewhat starstruck Detective Valerie Stahl (Minka Kelly, Friday Night Lights, (500) Days of Summer) and the distrustful Detective Richard Paul (Michael Irby, Law Abiding Citizen, The Unit), who does not welcome John back with open arms. Almost Human will follow the week-to-week missions of John and Dorian, as they fight crime across this futuristic landscape, while the mysteries surrounding his attack and the larger mythology of this new world unfold. Almost Human is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The series is created by J.H. Wyman, who wrote the pilot. The series is executive-produced by J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk and Wyman. Kathy Lingg (Person of Interest, Revolution, Fringe) and Reid Shane (Fringe) are co-executive producers. Brad Anderson (Fringe, The Killing) directed and served as co-executive producer on the pilot.

Enlisted (Fridays at 9:30, late fall) - Three brothers, one Army, but absolutely no fighting! Enlisted is an irreverent but heartfelt single-camera comedy about three brothers on a small Florida Army base and the group of misfits who surround them. Charming, funny and a natural-born leader, Sergeant Pete Hill (Geoff Stults, Ben and Kate, The Finder) was on a path for a huge military career until one mistake overseas got him booted stateside to Fort McGee, the base in Florida where his two younger brothers are stationed. Now, as head of their platoon, Pete must serve both as big brother and military boss. Corporal Derrick Hill (Chris Lowell, Private Practice, Veronica Mars) is the middle brother – smart and sarcastic, he likes to stir up trouble and doesn’t really care about being a soldier. Private Randy Hill (Parker Young, Suburgatory), on the other hand, loves it. He’s the hyper-enthusiastic, hyper-goofy – just hyper – youngest brother who wants to be the gung-ho “GI Joe” military ideal. The Hill brothers serve on the Rear Detachment (Rear D) unit, comprised of the soldiers left behind when everyone else is deployed, because they’re not quite good enough to be sent overseas, yet not bad enough to be kicked out of the Army. These are the men and women who mow lawns at the base, sort mail, wash tanks, find lost dogs and maybe engage in a war game or two. But the Rear D’s main job is taking care of deployed soldiers’ families. Whatever they need, the Rear D soldiers do. And, in the event that something happens to a soldier overseas, the Rear D troops break the news to the family and become a supportive shoulder to cry on. It’s a job that shifts each moment from the thrilling to the mundane to the emotional and back again. Fort McGee is run by Command Sergeant Major Donald cody (Emmy Award winner Keith David, Cloud Atlas, The Cape), a firm but fair man who served with the brothers’ late father. Major Cody promised to look out for them, so he brought all the brothers to the base to fulfill that promise. Cody has seen it all and lost a foot to prove it – which no one can forget, probably since he never misses an opportunity to bring it up. Confident, funny, tough and beautiful, Sergeant Jill Perez (Angelique Cabral, Friends with Benefits) is the same rank as Pete and leads the other Rear D platoon on base. A military-set family comedy, Enlisted centers on three brothers who, when the best of the best are sent overseas, stay behind to try to keep the base in order. Between hijacking tanks, inventing new drinking games and accidentally blowing up a fuel truck, they will inadvertently discover the key to strengthening their long-lost childhood bonds. Enlisted is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, and written and created by Kevin Biegel (Cougar Town, Scrubs, South Park). The series is executive-produced by Biegel and Mike Royce (Men of a Certain Age, Everybody Loves Raymond). The pilot was directed by Phil Traill (Suburgatory, Raising Hope).

Gang Related (Midseason) - Only people who really know the streets can win the battle on the streets. In the gritty new action-drama Gang Related, Detective Ryan Lopez (Ramon Rodriguez, Battle Los Angeles, The Wire) is a rising star in Los Angeles’ elite Gang Task Force. What the world doesn’t know is that long before Ryan was a cop, he pledged allegiance to a different band of brothers – a powerful Latino gang called Los Angelicos. When Ryan’s best friend and partner is senselessly killed by a notorious gang member, Ryan teams up with longtime Task Force member Cassius Green (RZA, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Californication), who has been at the forefront of the city’s war on organized crime. In this war between law enforcement and gangs, the series explores how every villain has a noble cause, and every hero has a dark side. Despite his profession, Ryan is still beholden to the gang’s leader, Javier Acosta (Cliff Curtis, Live Free or Die Hard, Training Day), the father figure Ryan has tried to make proud his entire life and the man who masterminded his entry into the police force. It’s a secret that has been held for a decade by Ryan, Javier and Javier’s sons: cold-blooded gang lieutenant Carlos (guest star Rey Gallegos, Sons of Anarchy, 24); and Ryan’s childhood best friend, straight-laced investment banker Daniel (Jay Hernandez, Last Resort,Hostel). But Ryan is even more dedicated to being a cop. He is respected by his team, including Tae Kim (Sung Kang, Fast Five, Live Free or Die Hard), Vanessa “Vee” Harel (Inbar Lavi, Underemployed, Street Kings 2: Motor City) and Task Force leader Sam Chapel (Terry O’Quinn, Lost), Ryan’s other surrogate father figure, whose estranged daughter, Jessica Shaw (Shantel VanSanten, One Tree Hill, The Final Destination), is the city’s Assistant District Attorney. Ryan’s education comes from the streets. And that schooling will work to his advantage, as he, Cassius and the rest of the task force take aim at the city’s most dangerous gangs, while his increasing sense of loyalty to his task force family helps him determine which side of the law he is really on. Gang Related is from Chris Morgan Productions, Skeeter Rosenbaum Productions, Imagine Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television. The series is created and written by Chris Morgan (Wanted, Fast Five). The series is executive-produced by Morgan, Scott Rosenbaum (The Shield, Chuck), Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer (24, A Beautiful Mind) and Francie Calfo (The Great Escape, The Playboy Club). Allen Hughes (Dead Presidents, Book of Eli, Menace II Society) directed and served as an executive producer on the pilot.

Rake (Midseason) - Rake, a character-driven drama based on the Australian nominee for Best Television Drama series of the same name, follows the comedic and chaotic life of criminal defense lawyer Keegan Deane (Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Greg Kinnear, Little Miss Sunshine, The Kennedys). On a single day, Keegan Deane is described as many things. His ex-wife-calls him “unreliable”; his son calls him a “pal”; most judges think he’s “an outrage”; the IRS calls him a “defendant”; and to his former dealer, he’s simply a “tragic loss.” Brilliant, frustratingly charming and with zero filter, Keegan is one of life’s great addicts. His staggering lack of discretion and inability to self-censor land him the cases that nobody else will touch, but behind that lies a resolute optimism and belief in justice that fuel his dogged determination to defend those who seem beyond redemption. He always tries to do the right thing, but at the same time struggles to save himself from the many self-destructive elements that plague his own life, such as his overindulgence of various excesses, including women and gambling. Keegan gets a majority of his cases from Ben (John Ortiz, Silver Linings Playbook, Luck), his best friend since law school. Ben is married to Scarlet (Necar Zadegan, Emily Owens, M.D., The Event), another of Keegan’s old friends and, as Assistant District Attorney for the city of Los Angeles, quite often his opponent in court. In addition to Keegan’s cases within the justice system, the series follows his personal trials and tribulations, including his mounting debt to his bookie and his overlapping liaisons with various women, including Melissa “Mikki” Partridge (Bojana Novakovic, Edge of Darkness, Drag Me To Hell), Keegan’s favorite prostitute and de-facto love interest. Also among his predicaments is his ongoing battle with the IRS. But always there to help Keegan clean up his mess is Leanne Zander (Tara Summers, Ringer, Damages), his extremely put-upon, no-nonsense assistant. Meanwhile, Keegan’s ex-wife, Maddy (Miranda Otto, The Starter Wife, War of the Worlds), a psychologist by profession, begrudgingly acts as his therapist. She also is the mother of their hormonal son, Finn (Ian Colletti, Phoebe In Wonderland), who displays many of the same proclivities as his father. Each morning, Keegan tends to wake up bruised – physically, emotionally, spiritually. Usually it’s a combination of them all. Then it’s out into the world – onto the battleground of Keegan’s day. Rake is produced by Fedora Entertainment and Essential Media & Entertainment Pty Ltd., in association with Sony Pictures Television. The series is created and written by Peter Duncan (creator of the original Australian series). The series is executive-produced by Duncan, Peter Tolan (Rescue Me, Analyze This), Michael Wimer (2012), Richard Roxburgh (Mission: Impossible II, Moulin Rouge) and Ian Collie (Rake). Kinnear and Leslie Tolan (Rescue Me, The Job) are co-executive producers. Sam Raimi (Oz the Great and Powerful, Spider-Man franchise) directed and served as an executive producer on the pilot.

Murder Police (Midseason) - Murder Policie is a new animated comedy series that expands the boundaries of the cop show genre as only animation can. From David A. Goodman (Family Guy) and rising writer/animator/performer Jason Ruiz, the series follows a dedicated, but inept detective and his colleagues – some perverted, some corrupt, some just plain lazy – in a twisted city precinct. At the center of this maelstrom is Manuel Sanchez (Ruiz), a neurotic and nerdy cop who aspires to be a good policeman, but his efforts to solve crimes are constantly put in jeopardy by his own clumsiness and the incompetence of his fellow detectives. Making matters worse, his egotistical, bribe-accepting partner, Tommy Margaretti (Will Sasso, The Three Stooges, MADtv), a tough, rule-breaking “bad cop,” can’t interrogate a suspect without beating him up. The other detectives in the precinct include Randall Hickox (Chi McBride, Golden Boy), a cop with little interest in police work. He’s lost a lot of partners, hates his job and often hands off his resume to crime scene witnesses. Randall’s newest partner, Justice (Jane Lynch, Glee), is a self-righteous working mother whose child is lodged in a baby bjorn that is permanently secured around her chest. Undercover cop Donel (Phil LaMarr, Family Guy, Futurama) is in so deep that he often does things of questionable legality. They all are supervised by the perpetually annoyed Captain John Rushour (Peter Atencio, Key and Peele), a brusque, overweight old-school cop who expects failure and can’t be bothered to even get out of his Rascal scooter. Manuel’s ex-wife, Rosa (Justina Machado, Private Practice, Six Feet Under), is a defense lawyer who remains irritated that Manuel always put his job first. But they remain bonded in the upbringing of their son, Mario (Ruiz), a troubled teen who is less impressed with his father than he is by the criminals he catches. These cops often find themselves mildly interested in the most recent crime victim, but completely obsessed with who “destroyed” the bathroom. Nevertheless, where there’s a mystery, Manuel somehow finds a way to solve it. Murder Police is produced by Bento Box Animation (Bob's Burgers) and 20th Century Fox Television. The series is co-created by David A. Goodman (Family Guy) and Jason Ruiz – one of the writers/animators discovered through the Fox Inkubation program. Goodman serves as executive producer and showrunner, and Ruiz is co-executive producer.

Surviving Jack (Midseason) - Father knows best…well, sort of. Surviving Jack is a new single-camera comedy based on best-selling author Justin Halpern’s autobiographical book, I Suck at Girls. Set in 1990s Southern California, the ensemble series is about a man becoming a dad, as his son is becoming a man, in a time before “coming of age” was something you could Google. Jack Dunlevy (Emmy Award nominee Christopher Meloni, True Blood, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), ex-military and an oncologist, is a no-bull kind of guy. He sees little, if any, need to sugar-coat the truth. Up to this point, Jack’s been the parent who’s left for work early, come home late, eaten the big piece of chicken, yelled at his kids and gone to bed. But after years of deftly raising and running the family, his wife, Joanne, is going back to law school, leaving Jack as a full-time parent for the very first time. Jack’s teenage son, Frankie (Connor Buckley, Deception), is just starting his freshman year in high school. Lanky, quick-witted, self-deprecating and not entirely sure of himself, all Frankie wants to do is fly under the radar. But over the summer, he grew 10 inches, threw a no-hitter against a rival team and started to attract girls – all of which put him in some awkward situations – especially when the only base he’s ever been to is on the field. Fortunately, no matter how embarrassing the situations Frankie gets himself into are, Jack is there to pick up the pieces and lead his son to manhood…with the least gentle hand possible. Although Jack may be unorthodox, unfiltered and sometimes even unkind in his approach, his intentions are always good. For better or for worse, he’s Frankie’s only resource now. Even more confusing to Jack than Frankie’s growing pains are those of his daughter, Rachel (Claudia Lee, Hart of Dixie), a gorgeous and super-smart 17-year-old high school junior. Up until now, Rachel’s done everything right. No longer under the watchful eye of her mother, she’s now a handful. Jack considers the mind of the teenage girl beyond his (or anyone’s) comprehension – a fact which Rachel will take full advantage of. In addition to disciplining his own children, Jack must keep a watchful eye on Frankie’s best friends: George (Kevin Hernandez, Get the Gringo, The Sitter), an overly confident Mexican-American with a big vocabulary; and Mikey (newcomer Tyler Foden), a tough kid from a broken home. Only time will tell if Jack’s blunt and unpredictable parenting style will keep his kids out of trouble, or if Joanne will have to put down the law books and somehow step in to keep the family order. Until then, Jack’s the dad the Dunlevy kids always wished they had – most of the time. For someone who is used to taking care of people with cancer, Jack’s got this…right? Surviving Jack is produced by Doozer in association with Warner Bros. Television. The series is written by Halpern and Patrick Schumacker ($#*! My Dad Says). The series is executive-produced by Emmy Award nominee Bill Lawrence (Spin City, Scrubs, Clone High, Cougar Town), Halpern, Schumacker and Jeff Ingold. Victor Nelli (Scrubs, The Bernie Mac Show) directed the pilot.

Us & Them (Midseason) - When two people finally come together, they never come together alone. Us & Them is an outrageous but authentic ensemble single-camera comedy about a pair of young lovers, whose path to happily-ever-after is complicated by the screwed-up circus of people closest to them. New York pharmaceutical copywriter Gavin (Emmy Award nominee Jason Ritter, Parenthood, The Event) is a neurotic Woody Allen-ish personality with indie-rock looks, who has never been in love. On the other hand, pretty Pennsylvania-based printing press employee Stacey (Alexis Bledel, Mad Men, Gilmore Girls) has a subtle wit and has been engaged before. For the past six months, they have been flirting online and finally agree to meet…with their best friends in tow for double-date safety. Gavin and Stacey’s wingmen are, respectively, Chris “Archie” Archuletta (Dustin Ybarra, We Bought a Zoo) and Nessa (Ashlie Atkinson, Inside Man, Rescue Me). Archie is often wrong but never in doubt and the loudest, most outrageous character in any room. Nessa is brutally blunt – actually, just brutal, in general – with a rock-a-billy look, complete with messy tattoos (many of which she doesn’t remember getting). Gavin lives in an apartment below his parents, Pam (Emmy Award nominee Jane Kaczmarek, Whitney, Malcolm in the Middle) and Michael (Kurt Fuller, Psych, Midnight in Paris). With zero filter and little volume control, Pam is fearful she is aging and that the good times may be behind her. Michael thinks of himself as the family’s voice of reason. He is wrong. Dillsburg, PA, is a tiny dot of grit in the green countryside. Stacey lives there with her widowed mom, Gwen (Kerri Kenney, Reno 911!). Brian (guest star Michael Ian Black, Ed), Stacey’s uncle, and her late father’s brother, has taken on the role of family protector. He is a simple man who is amazed by the little things in life…like white Toblerones. Stacey’s long-distance romance unnerves both Gwen and Brian, who fear she might fall in love and move away to the big city. When all of these characters collide to create a salty but sweet romantic comedy, we wonder not if the two leads will get together, but how they ever will stay together. After all, it’s complicated enough trying to make a relationship work. But the biggest complications of all are the friends and family who are part of the package deal. Us & Them is produced by Sony Pictures Television and BBC Worldwide Productions. It is based on the hugely popular and multiple-award-winning BBC series Gavin and Stacey, which was created and written by James Corden and Ruth Jones. Us & them is adapted and written by David J. Rosen (I Just Want My Pants Back), and executive-produced by Rosen, Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, Corden and Jones. Steve Coogan and Henry Normal serve as executive producers for Baby Cow Productions. Michael Patrick Jann (Drop Dead Gorgeous) directed the pilot.

Wayward Pines (Midseason) - Imagine the perfect American town… beautiful homes, manicured lawns, children playing safely in the streets. Now imagine never being able to leave. You have no communication with the outside world. You think you’re going insane. You must be in Wayward Pines. Based on the best-selling novel Pines by Blake Crouch and brought to life by suspenseful storyteller M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs), Wayward Pines is the intense new mind-bending event thriller evocative of the classic cult hit Twin Peaks. Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke (Academy Award nominee Matt Dillon, Crash, City of Ghosts) drives to the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, ID, to find two missing federal agents. Ethan was the logical choice for the mission. He’s one of the best Secret Service agents in the Seattle office. He’s also the man who knew missing agent Kate Hewson better than anyone. They were partners. They were more than that. Their relationship nearly destroyed Ethan’s marriage. Kate transferred to Boise and Ethan thought he’d never see her again. Now, Kate and her new Secret Service partner, Bill Evans, are nowhere to be found. But just as Ethan spots the sign that says “Welcome to Wayward Pines, Where Paradise is Home!,” a truck slams into his car. When Ethan wakes up in the Wayward Pines Hospital, he remembers his name, his address in Seattle and the accident on the outskirts of town. He knows he’s a Secret Service Agent who came to Wayward Pines to investigate the disappearance of two agents. What he can’t figure out is what’s wrong with this eerily perfect little town. None of the phones work. He can’t get through to his wife back home or his boss at the Secret Service. His wallet, ID, money, phone…everything is gone. And no one will help him. Back home in Seattle, Ethan’s wife, Theresa, gets a call from Ethan’s boss at the Secret Service, Adam Hassler. Ethan is missing. No other information is available until early testing shows that Ethan was never in his car that was recovered on the side of the road outside of Wayward Pines. They’re still investigating. This isn’t enough for Theresa. Along with their teenage son, Ben, Theresa sets out on her own search for Ethan. The mystery only deepens as Ethan employs his intelligence and tireless determination to solve the mystery of this unsettling town. Challenged at every turn by the town’s die-hard residents, Ethan’s investigation only turns up more questions, the most important of which is: What’s wrong with Wayward Pines? Wayward Pines is a production of FX Productions. The series is created and written by Chad Hodge (The Playboy Club, Runaway) and executive-produced by Shyamalan, Hodge, Donald De Line (Green Lantern, The Italian Job) and Ashwin Rajan (After Earth).

2013 Fall Schedule: NBC

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:02:00 +0000

And we're off! My favorite time of the year officially kicks off with NBC's announcement of its 2013 fall schedule. There are some surprises, but not many; compared to last year's schedule, this is downright boring. But it will be interesting to see what they do at midseason with their remaining dramas and comedies, of which there are many.

Monday

8:00 - The Voice
10:00 - The Blacklist (NEW)

I called this one. NBC's biggest pilot, The Blacklist, gets the slot after The Voice. No surprise, really.

Tuesday

8:00 - The Biggest Loser (New Timeslot)
9:00 - The Voice (New Timeslot)
10:00 - Chicago Fire (New Timeslot)

This is one of the more confusing nights on the schedule, for me. The Biggest Loser is cut down to one hour on the fall schedule (likely to make way for the return of The Sing Off in winter), followed by The Voice. Then Chicago Fire will get a big boost when it moves to Tuesdays; what's strange is that its spin-off, Chicago PD, hasn't been slotted yet. I would think NBC would rather give the new show the strong lead-in, but I suppose they're hoping for a double-down effect: more viewers to Chicago Fire will equal more viewers for Chicago PD at midseason. Plus, the spin-off can then benefit from a possible marketing push during the Olympics.

Wednesday

8:00 - Revolution (New Timeslot)
9:00 - Law & Order: SVU
10:00 - Ironside (NEW)

I was close with my prediction for Revolution (I had it at 9:00), and I suppose 8:00 is as good a time as any to move the show to. The X Factor is all but a bomb, so it won't be much competition; plus the earlier hour may help in getting new eyes on the series. Ironside just feels like a big old bomb to me, but perhaps I'll be wrong. I just don't see there being much of an audience for a remake of a 1960s cop drama, especially one starring Blair Underwood, who has yet to star in a successful series (and never as the lead).

Thursday

8:00 - Parks & Recreation (New Timeslot)
8:30 - Welcome to the Family (NEW)
9:00 - Sean Saves the World (NEW)
9:30 - The Michael J. Fox Show (NEW)
10:00 - Parenthood (New Timeslot)

I think this announcement is the beginning of the end for Parks & Recreation. In all likelihood (though pending their respective networks' fall schedules, of course), it will be up against The Big Bang Theory and possibly Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. But it will also get the opportunity to prove itself if it can retain its current numbers against such competition. Still, it won't provide much of a lead-in for Welcome to the Family. I'm kind of shocked The Michael J. Fox Show isn't anchoring the night at 9:00, though being the only new comedy with a full-season order so far, there will be plenty of opportunity to move it around if this slot doesn't work. I'm worried for Sean Saves the World and the pressure on it to perform at 9:00; I found it to have the funniest preview of the bunch, so hopefully that will translate to a wide audience. Parenthood also gets a chance at bat by moving to a higher profile night; if it can retain its Tuesday night ratings (around 1.6-2.0), it will have more than earned its full season order and time shift.

Friday

8:00 - Dateline (New Timeslot)
9:00 - Grimm
10:00 - Dracula (NEW)

I'm only surprised that NBC doesn't want Dracula to potentially give Grimm a boost by airing it at 8:00, but it's probably a bit too dark for the earlier hour. Either way, I'm excited for it, and I'm glad NBC is introducing more scripted programming to the evening.

Sunday

Football

Midseason

As expected, Crossbones will occupy the 10:00 hour on Fridays in the spring, just in time to compete with another pirate drama: Black Sails on Starz. NBC announced a Sunday night lineup for the spring, but that is rarely (never?) followed when the time comes. Regardless, they have slotted a new reality series, American Dream Builders starring Nate Berkus, at 8:00; Believe at 9:00; and Crisis at 10:00. If this does come to fruition, it will be a great step forward for NBC, as they typically only air reality fare on Sunday nights. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if this is actually broken up (especially if The Celebrity Apprentice gets renewed, as Donald Trump has just tweeted it has) and these shows fill in holes left by failed freshmen or anything which may have its season shortened. Also, on Tuesdays at midseason, The Voice will move back to 8:00, followed by About a Boy at 9:00 and The Family Guide at 9:30.

Not on the schedule or planned in any way were new dramas Chicago PD and The Night Shift; new comedy Undateable; and returning comedy Community. All will air sometime in the spring

Also for midseason, NBC has The Sing Off (which will almost certainly air over the holidays, as it did for its first two season), The Million Second Quiz and Food Fighters, and possibly The Celebrity Apprentice.

This is, surprisingly, not horrible. The only real problem I see is that Welcome to the Family will almost certainly drown at 8:30 on Thursday with a totally incompatible lead-in. I still think Michael J. Fox should have anchored the 9:00 hour as well. But other than that, this is solid. I applaud NBC for making some tough decisions and for finally (mostly) going by ratings to justify renewal decisions rather politics. And hopefully they'll see a nice midseason boost from the Winter Olympics.

Read after the jump for descriptions of NBC's new series.

The Blacklist (Mondays at 10:00) - For decades, ex-government agent Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader) has been one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives. Brokering shadowy deals for criminals across the globe, Red was known by many as "The Concierge of Crime." Now, he's mysteriously surrendered to the FBI with an explosive offer: he will help catch a long-thought-dead terrorist, Ranko Zamani, under the condition that he speaks only to Elizabeth "Liz" Keen (Megan Boone), an FBI proﬁler fresh out of Quantico. For Liz, it's going to be one hell of a ﬁrst day on the job. What follows is a twisting series of events as the race to stop a terrorist begins. What are Red's true intentions? Why has he chosen Liz, a woman with whom he seemingly has no connection? Does Liz have secrets of her own? Zamani, we come to ﬁnd out, is only the ﬁrst of many on a list that Red has compiled over the years: a "blacklist" of politicians, mobsters, spies and international terrorists. He will help catch them all... with the caveat that Liz continues to work as his partner. Red will teach Liz to think like a criminal and "see the bigger picture"... whether she wants to or not.

From writer/executive producer Jon Bokenkamp (Taking Lives) and executive producers John Eisendrath (Alias, My Own Worst Enemy) and John Davis (Gulliver's Travels, Predator) comes a global thriller that will become more mysterious with each name on the list.

Ironside (Wednesdays at 10:00) - In the gritty world of the NYPD, no one's tougher than Detective Robert Ironside. He's a fearless cop who won't stop until the guilty are brought to justice. He and his trusted, handpicked team of specialists will do whatever it takes to solve New York's most difficult and notorious crimes - even if it means breaking the rules. Tough, sexy and acerbic, Ironside's never been afraid to call it like he sees it. As a detective, his instincts are second to none, and those around him have to stay on their toes if they want to keep up... because when his spine was shattered by a bullet two years ago, Ironside swore he'd never let a damn wheelchair slow him down. Justice. Nothing gets in his way. Blair Underwood stars in a bold new drama about a different kind of cop.

Welcome to the Family (Thursdays at 8:30) - After four years of barely getting by in school, Dan and Katrina Yoder are thrilled when their daughter Molly is handed her high school diploma. Now it's off to Arizona State for Molly, and a mid-life renaissance for the Yoders (which includes turning Molly's room into their dream fitness center). At the same time in East LA, Junior Hernandez is delivering his valedictorian address. As the first of his family to go to college (Stanford!), Junior's the pride and joy of parents Miguel and Lisette. But Junior's barely into his speech before he gets an unexpected text: "i'm pregnant." The sender? Miss Molly Yoder. OMG/Dios Mio! What follows is the ultimate culture crash as Molly and Junior decide to get hitched, bringing two very different families together in a way they never imagined. Dan and Miguel, who already have a history, do NOT see eye to eye. But more importantly, what about Stanford? Arizona State? Who's going to raise the baby? And oh no - what about the fitness center?! For the sake of their kids (and the one on the way) they'll have to somehow make it all work... like it or not.

From writer and executive producer Mike Sikowitz (Rules of Engagement), comes a comedy that proves: Life is full of unexpected little bumps.

Sean Saves the World (Thursdays at 9:00) -Sean's a divorced gay dad who's trying to juggle it all. From his overbearing boss and offbeat employees at work - to his pushy mom and weekends with his teenage daughter at home - handling it all is no easy task. So when Ellie, his 14-year-old bundle of joy, moves in full-time, it's a whole new challenge. Never one to do anything halfway, Sean's intent on being the best dad ever - so he loads up on parenting how-to books and plans Pinterest-worthy family dinners. But it seems his company's new owner has decided Sean and his team should work longer hours, throwing a kink in his perfectly constructed homemaking plans. Ellie, a normal girl who wants to hang with her friends and eat on the run, sees this development as a plus. She loves her dad, but he's clearly going overboard. From keeping his boss happy, his employees motivated and enduring his mother's tactless "advice" to raising a smart, grounded and healthy kid, it's going to be a growing experience, to say the least. But if anyone can swing it, it's Sean.

Sean Hayes (Will & Grace, Hot in Cleveland) returns to NBC in a new comedy from executive writer/producer Victor Fresco (Better Off Ted, Andy Richter Controls the Universe) about work and family... the ultimate balancing act!

The Michael J. Fox Show (Thursdays at 9:30) - Look who's making the news again. One of New York's most beloved news anchors, Mike Henry (Michael J. Fox), put his career on hold to spend more time with his family and focus on his health after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. But now five years later, with the kids busy growing up and Mike growing restless, it just might be time for him to get back to work. Having never wanted Mike to leave in the first place, his old boss Harris Green jumped at the chance to get him back on TV. The trick, as it's always been, was to make Mike think it was his idea. After several - okay, many - failed attempts, Mike's family, anxious to see him out of the house, finally succeeded in getting him to "run into" Green. Now their plan is in motion. He'll be back to juggling home, family and career, just like the old days - only better.

Still got it... Michael J. Fox returns to NBC in a new comedy from writer and executive producer Sam Laybourne (Cougar Town) and executive producer Will Gluck (Easy A).

Dracula (Fridays at 10:00) - Golden Globe winner Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) stars in this provocative new drama as one of the world's most iconic characters.

It's the late 19th century, and the mysterious Dracula has arrived in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. He's especially interested in the new technology of electricity, which promises to brighten the night - useful for someone who avoids the sun. But he has another reason for his travels: he hopes to take revenge on those who cursed him with immortality centuries earlier. Everything seems to be going according to plan... until he becomes infatuated with a woman who appears to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.

From the producers of the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning hit Downton Abbey comes Dracula, a twisted, sophisticated and sexy take on Bram Stoker's classic novel, proving that some stories never die.

About a Boy (Midseason) - After writing a hit song, Will Freeman was granted a life of free time, free love and freedom from ﬁnancial woes. Now he's single, unemployed and loving it. So when Marcus (the oddly charming 11-year-old next door neighbor) stops by, Will's not so sure about being a kid's new best friend... until Will discovers that women ﬁnd single dads hot. Well, that changes everything. A deal is struck: Marcus will pretend to be Will's son, and in return Marcus is allowed to chill at Will's house, playing ping-pong and gorging on steaks - something Marcus' single, needy (and very vegan) mother would never allow. Before he realizes it, Will starts to enjoy Marcus' visits and even ﬁnds himself looking out for the kid. Could it be that maybe there's something to be said for being a (sort of) responsible adult - at least in a young boy's eyes?

Starring Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting) and David Walton (Bent), based on the best-selling book by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, An Education) and written/produced by Jason Katims (Parenthood, Friday Night Lights) comes a different kind of coming-of-age story.

Believe (Midseason) - Levitation, telekinesis, the ability to control nature, even predict the future... since she was two years old, Bo has had gifts she could neither fully understand nor control. Raised by a small group known as the "True Believers," the orphaned girl has been safeguarded from harmful outsiders who would use her forces for personal gain. But now that she is 10, her powers have become stronger, and the threat has grown more dangerous. With her life and future now in jeopardy, the "Believers" turn to the only person they see fit to be her full-time protector. That is, once they break him out of jail. Tate, a wrongfully imprisoned death row inmate who's lost his will, is initially reluctant - until he witnesses one of her extraordinary abilities. Bo sees people for who they truly are... and who they may become. Tate and Bo begin their journey, one in which trust must be earned. Traveling from city to city, every place they stop and everyone they meet will be changed forever. But they'll have to keep going to stay one step ahead of the sinister forces after Bo's power... because it will take a miracle to keep them safe forever.

The powers of a young girl may hold the fate of our world in Believe, from executive producer J.J. Abrams (Revolution, Star Trek: Into Darkness) and executive producer/writer/director Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men).

Chicago PD (Midseason) - District 21 of the Chicago Police Department is made up of two distinctly different groups. There are the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city's street crimes. And there's the Intelligence Unit, the team that combats the city's major offenses - organized crime, drug trafficking, high profile murders and beyond. Leading the Intelligence team is Sergeant Hank Voight, a man not against skirting the law in the pursuit of justice. Demanding and tough, only those who can take the heat survive under Voight's command. Take Detective Antonio Dawson - despite his troubled history with his boss, Dawson has ambitions of running the unit... so if that means facing off against Voight every day, he'll persevere. From the street cops with dreams of moving up to the elite crew who are already in, "life on the job" is a daily challenge. The enormous responsibilities that come with the territory take an emotional toll, as we'll find when we follow the personal lives of our characters outside the walls of District 21.

From Emmy-winning producer Dick Wolf and the team behind Chicago Fire comes Chicago PD, a gripping, character-driven new police drama about those who put it all on the line to serve and protect.

Crisis (Midseason) - To bring the most powerful people in the world to their knees... threaten what they hold most dear. It's ﬁeld trip day for the students of Ballard High, a school that educates the children of DC's elite, top-of-their-industry CEOs, international diplomats, political power players, even the President's son. But when their bus is ambushed on a secluded rural road, the teenagers and their chaperones are taken, igniting a national crisis. Now, with some of the country's most powerful parents at the mercy of one vengeful mastermind, the question arises: how far would you go and what would you become to ensure your child's safe return? With so many parents and dignitaries put into play with nowhere to turn and no one to trust, the unthinkable grows from the select families at risk to an entire nation at stake.

From executive producer/writer Rand Ravich, and starring Gillian Anderson, Dermot Mulroney, Lance Gross and Rachael Taylor comes the most emotionally charged action thriller of the season.

Crossbones (Midseason) - It's 1715 on the Bahamian island of New Providence, the ﬁrst functioning democracy in the Americas, where the diabolical pirate Edward Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard (John Malkovich), reigns over a rogue nation of thieves, outlaws and miscreant sailors. Part shantytown and part marauder's paradise, this is a place like no other on Earth - and a mounting threat to international commerce. To gain control of this fearsome society, Tom Lowe, a highly skilled undercover assassin, is sent to the buccaneers' haven to take down the brilliant and charismatic Blackbeard. But the closer Lowe gets, the more he ﬁnds that his quest is not so simple. Lowe can't help but admire the political ideals of Blackbeard, whose thirst for knowledge knows no bounds - and no law. But Lowe is not the only danger to Blackbeard's rule. He is a man with many villainous rivals and one great weakness - a passionately driven woman whom he cannot deny.

From the award-winning creator of Luther, Neil Cross, and award-winning executive producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald (Gladiator, Men in Black) comes an extraordinary action adventure with an unexpected moral center where one can't be sure whether the pirates or the British crown are the villains.

The Family Guide (Midseason) - It's not every family that's brought closer together by divorce... but then again, the Fishers aren't exactly typical. Take Mel Fisher, for example. Whether it's chopping down trees, showing his daughter how to drive or playing football with his son, he's never let the fact that he's blind slow him down. Then there's Joyce Fisher, possibly the only mom in Pasadena to smoke a pipe. For her, divorce is like a second coming of age, a chance to be the teen she never was. Just ask her '80s-obsessed teenage daughter Katie, whose clothes she's always borrowing (that is, when Mom's not tagging along with Katie to the mall). At the center of all this is Henry, the Fishers' 11-year-old son. Having always been his dad's eyes, ears and wingman, Henry's less than thrilled when Mel shows up with Elvis, a guide dog... which is also how Henry learns about the pending divorce. Awkward. While reluctant to the changes this "big ball of fur" would bring, it's through an Adult Henry's voice-over (Jason Bateman) that we ﬁnd out his parents' split would "allow all of us to ﬁnally discover... who we needed to be."

Starring J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man, Law & Order) and from executive producer/writer DJ Nash (Guys with Kids, Up All Night) comes a comedy about a family in transition, and the love that guides them forward.

The Night Shift (Midseason) - At San Antonio Memorial, those who work the 7pm – 7am shift are a special breed. Welcome to the night shift, where every day is a fight between the heroic efforts of saving lives and the hard truths of running a hospital. After a grueling tour of duty in Afghanistan, adrenaline junkie TC Callahan became accustomed to combat, but he could have never guessed that his toughest battles would be fought right here at home. TC and his irreverent team of late night docs know how to let off steam with the casual prank or two, but when lives are at stake, they are all business. Unfortunately, the night shift is now under new management, and boss Michael Ragosa is more interested in cutting costs than helping people. But TC has never met a rule he couldn't break, or a person he won't stand up to. And it's clear that not even Jordan, TC's ex-girlfriend and now Ragosa's second in charge, has a chance at keeping him in line. If Ragosa wants a war... he'll get one.

From executive producers/writers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) comes a fresh new take on the fight to save lives.

Undateable (Midseason) - When confident slacker Danny Beeman (Whitney's Chris D'Elia) takes Justin on as a roommate, Danny unwittingly inherits Justin's group of romantically challenged friends. Seeing himself as the ultimate player, Danny decides to teach the crew (whom he dubs "The Undateables") everything he knows about "the game of love." For their first lesson, Danny takes the guys to an event hosted by his sister, Leslie, who is a single mom with dating difficulties of her own. At first, Danny's advice seems to pay off big-time: the shy guy talks to a girl, the no-filter dude learns it's never okay to ask a woman when she's due(!) and his nebbish roommate, Justin, goes home with a mystery woman. It's not until the next day that they figure out it was Danny's sister, Leslie! Talk about a bunch who just can't get lucky!

From executive producer Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Cougar Town) comes a hilarious new comedy about the "do's," "don'ts" and "duhs" of dating.

The Million Second Quiz (Midseason) - The Million Second Quiz is a state-of-the-art, electrifying new live competition where contestants test the limits of their knowledge, endurance and will to win, as they battle each other in intense bouts of trivia for 12 consecutive days and nights. The competition, where time equals money, will air in primetime, LIVE from a gigantic hourglass-shaped structure in the heart of Manhattan. This hourglass will also serve as the living quarters of the reigning champions - the four players who have remained in the game the longest. They will have the opportunity to play along with the game for up to two weeks as other contestants attempt to unseat them during the primetime show.

The show will be the first fully convergent television experience, where viewers from all across America will be able to play along at home in sync with the live primetime broadcast and get the chance to appear on the show. When the million seconds draw to a close, the champions will battle it out and the ultimate winner could claim an unprecedented cash prize of up to $10 million. For 12 days, 24/7, contestants will be pushed to the limits of their knowledge and the breaking point of endurance. Live, interactive, intense and unlike any other game show in history, you truly won’t want to miss a single second!

Food Fighters (Midseason) - The table is set for the ultimate culinary clash in Food Fighters, one part cooking competition, one part game show. In a delicious twist, host Adam Richman (Man v. Food) will give homegrown amateur cooks the chance to test their skills against professional chefs. Every down-home cook has that one "signature dish" or "secret family recipe" that always gains favor with friends and family. Now, imagine going head-to-head in the kitchen against five professional chefs, who try to cook your specialty dish even better than you - in the hopes of winning over a dinner party made up of the American public. Talk about pressure! With each savored victory, the cash prize gets bigger and bigger as the home cooks rise to every challenge and out cook the professional chefs. Think you've got what it takes to serve up the competition?

From creator Tim Puntillo (Minute to Win It, Baggage) comes Food Fighters, the competition that proves it's not about the size of your kitchen, it's how you use it!

American Dream Builders (Midseason) - Competition is in the house! America's top designers, builders, architects and landscapers go head-to-head each week, putting their talents to the test on extreme home renovations. They'll tackle spaces that are architecturally diverse, resulting in epic transformations with impeccable design. These incredible transformations will be judged by host Nate Berkus and a panel of experts to determine which team achieved the best results. The losing team will then be forced to send one team member home - talk about building pressure! In the LIVE finale, the two remaining competitors will each design and renovate a home on their own, bringing their unique visions to life. America will then vote and crown one contestant the winner. Finally, in an exciting twist, the two spectacular homes will be given away - LIVE - to two lucky viewers!

Hosted by Nate Berkus and executive produced by Craig Plestis (Minute to Win It) and Tom Shelly (Survivor) comes the event that will transform America, one dream home at a time.

For trailers and more information, visit http://www.nbc.com/upcoming-shows/

2013 Fantasy Schedule: CBS

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:41:00 +0000

With so many new shows and so little schedule time, CBS's lineup will be harder to predict than ever.

Monday

8:00 - How I Met Your Mother
8:30 - The Millers (NEW)
9:00 - 2 Broke Girls
9:30 - Mike & Molly
10:00 - Person of Interest

How I Met Your Mother enters its final season this fall; the boost from that will likely provide a great lead-in for a new comedy, and I think it could be The Millers, the new pilot starring Will Arnett. The only question here is if CBS drops one of its two single-cam comedies into the Monday or Thursday block, or start a new block elsewhere, or take both and put them on Friday or something like that. Since I'm predicting a comedy expansion on Thursday night, Person of Interest will have to move; rather than pushing it back an hour on Thursday, I'm moving it here.

Tuesday

8:00 - NCIS
9:00 - NCIS: LA
10:00 - Intelligence (NEW)

I'm not sure if the new NCIS: LA spin-off will go forward (response to the backdoor pilot was negative, and it was not part of the early pickups this past week), but even if it does, I think it will be at midseason. So I have Intelligence, the new Josh Holloway procedural, trying to find success in a seemingly doomed timeslot.

Wednesday

8:00 - Survivor
9:00 - Criminal Minds
10:00 - CSI

It's very possible that CSI moves to Friday and a new drama takes its slot, but CBS made a big deal a couple months ago about the strength of its lineup when it renewed almost all of its dramas. In that respect, I think they will try to make as few moves as possible; so CSI, the last one left now that CSI: NY has been canned, stays where it is.

Thursday

8:00 - The Big Bang Theory
8:30 - Mom (NEW)
9:00 - Two and a Half Men
9:30 - Crazy Ones (NEW)
10:00 - Elementary

As much as I would like to see an entirely Chuck Lorre night with Mike & Molly moving here, I just don't think it will happen. Crazy Ones, the new Robin Williams/Sarah Michelle Gellar single-cam, will likely get better exposure from and be more compatible, audience-wise, with Two and a Half Men. CBS's Monday lineup is beginning to crumble a bit, so it may be safer to put it here. Because Elementary is the only freshman show CBS can call a "hit" or anything near it, I think it will stay put.

Friday

8:00 - Reckless (NEW)
9:00 - Hawaii Five-0
10:00 - Blue Bloods

I think, rather than send an expensive veteran like CSI to Friday night, CBS will try another new show here. They successfully launched Blue Bloods in this slot in 2010, so there's no reason they can't keep trying. Hawaii Five-0 has taken a serious hit this season, and it does not warrant any Monday-Thursday slot anymore. However, it still does better than the Sunday night dramas, so I think it will end up here.

Sunday

8:00 - The Amazing Race
9:00 - The Good Wife
10:00 - The Mentalist

If it were up to me, The Mentalist would be gone. With all the late starts CBS's primetime lineup frequently receives in the fall thanks to football overrun, it ended up running outside of primetime quite a few times. Then when it did air in primetime, its numbers were horrible. Same for The Good Wife, though that actually does better at 10:00 than it does at 9:00; if it weren't for the damage running past 11:00 in the fall would do to its serialized aspect, I would be predicting The Good Wife at 10:00 instead of the The Mentalist.

Midseason

I think CBS will use the final episodes of How I Met Your Mother to promote a new show, and I'm predicting that show to be Friends with Better Lives, which seems like the perfect show to takeover for HIMYM. Hostages has already been picked up, and I think its premise is ideal for a limited, midseason run. CBS will likely also have Undercover Boss on the bend to fill in for any failed series, and this also leaves We Are Men, another single-cam comedy, to be slotted in sometime next spring.

Bottom Line Predictions

New Series - Hostages, Intelligence, Reckless, Crazy Ones, Friends with Better Lives, The Millers, Mom, We Are Men

Canceled Series - CSI: NY, Golden Boy, Made in Jersey, Vegas, Partners, Rules of Engagement

2013 Fantasy Schedule: ABC

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:01:00 +0000

ABC didn't have any runaway hits this season (though sophomore Scandal grew into something of a pop culture phenomenon and ended its run last week as the network's highest-rated drama), so they will be doing some extensive housecleaning and reworking. Prior to Friday's spree of renewals and pickups, this schedule would have looked much different. But working with what they have, my best shot is below.

Monday

8:00 - Dancing with the Stars
10:00 - Castle

I really do think ABC needs to consider cutting Dancing with the Stars down to one cycle per season. It's getting very tired, and the ratings are pretty much in the toilet. I think it will remain on the fall schedule, but at midseason I hope they will consider new options.

Tuesday

8:00 - Dancing with the Stars - Results
9:00 - Super Fun Night (NEW)
9:30 - Mixology (NEW)
10:00 - Nashville

Despite bad early reviews, Super Fun Night received a series order (after being passed over by CBS last season) because its star, Rebel Wilson, is enjoying a moment in the sun thanks to the success of the film Pitch Perfect. It's a youth-oriented show, and I think it would pair nicely with Mixology, a comedy about ten single people who meet and form bonds at their local bar. Rebel Wilson could be the kind of up-and-comer ABC needs to get eyes on a new comedy block, which failed miserably last season with two series that just couldn't find an audience without an appropriate lead-in. The 10:00 slot also gave ABC trouble this season, with two shows (Private Practice and Body of Proof) airing there and eventually being canceled. Nashville is the only returning freshman drama, and this would be a safe place to put it without there being much pressure (unlike, say, Sundays at 10:00).

Wednesday

8:00 - The Middle
8:30 - The Goldbergs (NEW)
9:00 - Modern Family
9:30 - Back in the Game (NEW)
10:00 - Resurrection (NEW)

The Wednesday night comedy block has given ABC more trouble than it should have lately. Suburgatory just couldn't retain its Modern Family lead-in in the fall, and then it couldn't retain The Middle's lead-in at midseason. Both it and The Neighbors were renewed, but I don't see either of them returning to this block. ABC needs to find its next comedy hit this year, because every new show launched at 9:30 has failed. So I think they will stick two new comedies in there, likely The Goldbergs, a 1980s-set family sitcom starring another Bridesmaids cast member, Wendi McLendon-Covey; and Back in the Game, a James Caan led baseball-themed sitcom. The latter has the potential to appeal to a wide audience (read: males), so I think it'l be the ideal candidate for the post-Modern Family slot. Resurrection has a supernatural element as well as a soap element, and that seems to be the kind of show ABC has been trying in the 10:00 slot. It's also a respectable slot for a show with a huge ensemble cast, including familiar faces like Omar Epps and Frances Fisher, and Brad Pitt as producer.

Thursday

8:00 - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (NEW)
9:00 - Grey's Anatomy
10:00 - Scandal

I don't see ABC breaking up the Shonda Rhimes shows at 9:00 and 10:00, and I also was originally thinking that they wouldn't try another new drama at 8:00 after having nearly everything in recent memory fail there. But if anything is going to succeed in this slot, it's the new Marvel pilot. This show should draw in a huge male audience, and I think that if it's scheduled in this slot, it will likely give The Big Bang Theory's demo a sizable hit. And if it fails, the show can be moved; I don't see ABC giving up on it.

Friday

8:00 - Last Man Standing
8:30 - The Neighbors
9:00 - Shark Tank
10:00 - 20/20

Since ABC canceled Malibu Country and didn't pick up a new multi-camera pilot, Last Man Standing will have to be paired with a single-camera. The Neighbors got a full season order this week, as did Suburgatory. I think the former will being its run on Fridays with Last Man Standing, and the latter will be saved in case any other comedy bombs immediately. Shark Tank could easily be moved to another night, but since it's usually the highest-rated show on Fridays, I left it where it is.

Sunday

8:00 - Once Upon a Time
9:00 - Revenge
10:00 - Betrayal (NEW)

Despite both Once Upon a Time and Revenge plummeting in the ratings this season, particularly this spring, I don't see the pair being broken up, especially if Revenge goes through a revamp now that creator/showrunner Mike Kelley has departed. Betrayal, a soapy murder mystery, is a perfect fit with Revenge.

Midseason

The spin-off Once Upon a Time in Wonderland is scheduled to be a limited run during its parent series' winter hiatus. Lucky 7, an ensemble drama about how winning the lottery affects a group of people, screams for a limited run as well, kind of in the vein of 2012's The River, perhaps between cycles of Dancing with the Stars, if indeed there are two cycles next season. They also have two other dramas, Killer Women (which I really hope gets a new title) and Mind Games, to fit in, plus the new sitcom Trophy Wife and veteran series Suburgatory. I think the former will be inserted into the Wednesday block, if needed, at midseason and the latter will be saved if something fails horribly either on Tuesday or Wednesday; if not, I expect it to finish a run after Last Man Standing when The Neighbors completes its season.

Bottom Line Predictions

New Series - Betrayal, Killer Women, Lucky 7, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, Mind Games, Resurrection, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Back in the Game, The Goldbergs, Mixology, Super Fun Night, Trophy Wife

Canceled Series - 666 Park Avenue, Body of Proof, Last Resort, Private Practice, Red Widow, Zero Hour, Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, Family Tools, Happy Endings, How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life), Malibu Country

Since ABC has ordered and renewed/canceled all their shows already, these aren't really predictions, but still...

2013 Fantasy Schedule: Fox

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Sat, 11 May 2013 05:03:00 +0000

This will be both the easiest and the hardest schedule to predict. Fox has already ordered and renewed all its scripted programming for next season, so there's no predictions for which pilots will go to series. However, they picked up more than twice the number of pilots I (and many others on the internet) expected. So this should be fun.

Monday

8:00 - Bones
9:00 - Rake (NEW)

Rake seems like the ideal candidate to keep this slot warm until The Following returns at midseason: both have short orders and both have movie stars transitioning to TV (Rake stars Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear). Plus this is House's old slot, and Rake seems like the lawyer version of House.

Tuesday

8:00 - Dads (NEW)
8:30 - Surviving Jack (NEW)
9:00 - New Girl
9:30 - Us & Them (NEW)

Okay, so... I know this looks crazy: three new shows with New Girl right in the middle. But with Fox ordering so many damn comedies, not to mention renewing The Mindy Project for whatever reason (it sure isn't a ratings success), they have to all go somewhere. Dads seems most compatible with Surviving Jack, the new comedy based on the other book by Sh*t My Dad Says author Justin Halpern and starring Christopher Meloni, but I could also see it being worked into the Sunday night lineup since it's produced by Seth MacFarlane. For now, I'm putting it here, and when you see my Friday night schedule, it should make more sense. Us & Them is the perfect show to try to launch out of New Girl: it's got two female-drawing leads (Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel), and it's about the trials of a young couple. It's the ideal female-centric lead-out for New Girl.

Wednesday

8:00 - The X Factor

It's possible that The X Factor gets cut down by an hour or a half hour later in the fall to accommodate a new series, but for now I'll leave this night as is.

Thursday

8:00 - The X Factor
9:00 - Glee

Glee isn't doing terribly well, even if it's still one of Fox's better-performing series. But the only other option besides Thursday is to put it on Friday, and Fox would be completely idiotic if they did that, for the simple fact that Glee's target audience will not be in front of the TV on Friday nights. So I'm leaving it where it is.

Friday

8:00 - Raising Hope
8:30 - The Mindy Project
9:00 - Sleepy Hollow (NEW)

Ok, so here goes. I don't know if this will actually happen. Both Raising Hope and The Mindy Project are low-rated sitcoms, yet both received orders for new seasons. It's entirely possible, even, that these shows are announced as airing on Friday and then get pulled to fill in for failed new shows, etc. But even if this block does air, I think it would be the wisest use of these comedies, neither of which can really pull in an audience. Sleepy Hollow is the kind of fantasy show Fox loves to pick up and then dump on Fridays, so I think that's what will happen here. But with Friday now something of a destination night for fantasy/sci-fi (Grimm, Fringe, Nikita), it might not even be a death sentence for Sleepy Hollow. There are also rumors that it will be a limited series, so Friday might be an ideal place for it.

Sunday

8:00 - The Simpsons
8:30 - Bob's Burgers
9:00 - Family Guy
9:30 - American Dad

I don't think there will be any changes here for the fall. I wouldn't be shocked if one or more of Fox's male-centric comedies ended up in the middle of this lineup at some point midseason, though. I think The Cleveland Show will be canceled, but it will probably air any remaining episodes (since animated shows produce so far in advance) at 7:30, if there are any to air.

Midseason

Fox has the Super Bowl this year, so predicting which show gets the post-game slot will be fun. They have a lot of options, considering they picked up two other new dramas (Gang Related and Almost Human, yet another J.J. Abrams series) and two other new comedies (Enlisted and Brooklyn Nine Nine). The Following will also return at midseason. I'll go out on an early limb and say Almost Human gets the post-Super Bowl slot. Other than that, I've got nothing.

Bottom Line Predictions

New Series - Gang Related, Rake, Almost Human, Sleepy Hollow, Dads, Surviving Jack, Enlisted, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Us & Them

Canceled Series - The Mob Doctor, Fringe, Touch, Ben & Kate, The Cleveland Show

2013 Fantasy Schedule: NBC

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:12:00 +0000

ETA: In light of the fact that I posted this about an hour before NBC made further decisions, I've redone the schedule to reflect the most up-to-date cancellations and pickups.

It's that time of year again! NBC will officially announce its fall schedule on Monday, May 13 (though it will likely be released a day earlier), but for now it's time for TV bloggers to have fun making up schedules.

Monday

8:00 - The Voice
10:00 - The Blacklist (NEW)

Revolution is still a hit by NBC standards, but it's nowhere near where it was in September or even November. Now that NBC knows the potential the post-The Voice slot truly holds, they should be trying a new pilot at 10:00. Judging by early word, Blacklist is their best pilot and the most deserving of the coveted timeslot.

Tuesday

8:00 - The Voice
9:00 - Crisis (NEW)
10:00 - Parenthood

NBC has already ordered two new high-concept dramas which could feasibly go in the coveted post-The Voice slot: Believe and Crisis. I think that because Believe is a J.J. Abrams production, it will be saved for midseason to get a push from the Winter Olympics (plus they still have the Abrams-produced Revolution on air). Parenthood is a remarkably consistent performer, so I don't see it moving.

Wednesday

8:00 - Night Shift (NEW)
9:00 - Revolution
10:00 - Chicago Fire

NBC hasn't had much luck with its Wednesday night comedy block, so I'm not sure they will keep trying to make it work, especially since they have so many new dramas on the bench. NBC previously had a medical drama in this slot a few years ago (Mercy), but that doesn't mean they can't give it another shot with Night Shift. Moving Revolution could help revitalize the night (or it could crash and burn without The Voice as a lead-in), and Chicago Fire does well enough to warrant keeping its timeslot.

Thursday

8:00 - About a Boy (NEW)
8:30 - Welcome to the Family (NEW)
9:00 - MJF (NEW)
9:30 - Parks & Recreation
10:00 - Law & Order: SVU

Now that only Parks & Recreation survives from the "workplace" comedy block, NBC will have to move in a new direction. I don't see that show moving, but it'll stick out like a sore thumb now surrounded by a bunch of family comedies. I think they will lead-off the night with two pilots starring recognizable faces (About a Boy has Minnie Driver, Welcome to the Family has Mike O'Malley). However, it is MJF that is the possible saving grace of NBC at this point, marking Michael J. Fox's return to television. I think the network will put more behind this series than any other, and giving it the tent pole 9:00 slot seems likely. Law & Order: SVU just has to be entering its final season at this point; it's limping along in the mid-to-low 1's in the 18-49 demo. Putting it in this slot likely wouldn't change much of its ratings, and it's a respectable slot for a show at the end of its run. It would also almost certainly be an improvement over the past few shows to occupy the slot.

Friday

8:00 - Dracula (NEW)
9:00 - Grimm
10:00 - Dateline

NBC ordered Dracula over a year ago, and it's just now filming. It has a 10-episode order, and they would be crazy not to air it next to Grimm, which is routinely still the highest-rated scripted show on Fridays. This past fall's Mockingbird Lane experiment proved that with a decent lead-in, Grimm can do even better.

Sunday

Football

Midseason

NBC will have quite a few holes to fill at midseason, most notably Sunday night. I sincerely hope The Apprentice does not return; this season has been an exceptional bore, and the ratings reflect that. If it does return, I suspect it will be for one hour, especially since then other shows can be inserted. They'll have Crossbones ready by spring, the pirate drama with a 10-episode commitment starring John Malkovich, which I think will take over Dracula's timeslot. Then they have comedies Sean Saves the World and Undateable (both multi-cams, so likely to air as a block), plus The Family Guide (a single-cam), and dramas Believe, Chicago PD (a Chicago Fire spin-off), and Ironside to slot in, in addition to any other shows (reality, competition, etc) they may order. I think Community, the only returning comedy other than Parks & Rec, will again return at midseason to air its ordered 13 episodes.

Bottom Line Predictions

New Series - Dracula, Crossbones (both previously ordered to series), Believe, Crisis, The Blacklist, Ironside, Night Shift, Chicago PD, Sean Saves the World, About a Boy, The Family Guide, Undateable, Welcome to the Family

Canceled Series - Do No Harm, Deception, Smash, Hannibal, Up All Night, 30 Rock, The Office, 1600 Penn, Guys with Kids, Whitney, Next Caller, The New Normal, Go On

Pilot Review: Red Widow

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 18:03:00 +0000

Red Widow (Sundays at 10:00 on ABC; Premieres March 3)

Never has anyone said, "You know who would make a great TV series about a strong bad-ass woman standing up for herself and her family? The lady who wrote the Twilight films." But for some reason, that's exactly what ABC did: they gave creative control of their new series Red Widow, based on the Dutch show Penoza, to Melissa Rosenberg. It's true that in recent years she has somewhat redeemed her laughable film career, which also includes a screenplay credit for the 2006 dance film Step Up, as an Emmy-nominated writer on Dexter. Unfortunately she still doesn't do female protagonists (or sophisticated storytelling) very well, so Red Widow is a big step backward for her and a total misstep, in general, for ABC.

Red Widow is about a seemingly perfect mafia-connected family in San Francisco. Marta (Radha Mitchell) is just trying to raise her three kids without the influence of her mobster father, despite the fact that her husband (Anson Mount) is a drug smuggler and her brother has done time. So when a notorious drug lord (Goran Visnjic) comes a-calling because one of his "shipments" has gone missing, the only surprise is that Marta is surprised when her husband ends up dead. You're so deeply engrained in mob culture, not to mention the fact that your husband is a dealer working alongside your convicted felon of a brother, and you really never prepared for this day when it all might come to bite your family in the ass?

I don't even want to waste anyone's time with this one: don't watch Red Widow. It's utterly ridiculous. It's poorly written, poorly directly, poorly acted, and poorly paced. Seriously, the introduction takes up more than half of the pilot; we know the husband is going to die: the show has "widow" in the title. Kill him already! It's one in a long line of annoying choices made here. The color red appears so often (as does the Golden Gate Bridge, which I wanted to jump off of by the end of the episode), particularly in Marta's wardrobe, that you could create a drinking game around it and be wasted by the end of the first hour of the two-hour premiere (and probably would have a better time than I did if you were). And in the pilot's most ridiculous and infuriating plot point, the family's youngest son is being bullied at his fancy private school; the youngster's solution? He brings his father's gun to school and points it at his bully. The ramifications from his parents? Nada. There isn't even a conversation with him. Marta shoulders the blame for the part her family's "lifestyle" plays, but she doesn't even reprimand the kid. With all the hubbub surrounding gun violence, particularly when it comes to children in elementary school as this character is, the scene seems totally irresponsible... plus, it's unrealistic in general. What mother wouldn't rip her kid a new asshole for bringing a gun to school?! Then again, Marta isn't exactly in the running for Mother of the Year as it is: she hides her family's mob connections and doesn't tell her kids what their father does for a living. So basically, she lies to them 24/7, and we're supposed to feel sorry for her? Or identify with her? I find it hard to sympathize with Marta's plight when her husband has had nearly two decades to get out of the business, yet it takes her kid waving a gun around to finally tell him to give it up.

Red Widow is just so stupid. Even the cast is confusing. Radha Mitchell isn't a terrible choice for the lead, but she doesn't exactly have an illustrious film career (Silent Hill, The Crazies, Surrogates). Her husband is played by the guy who was Britney Spears's love interest in Crossroads. Lee Tergesen is one of his business partners, and he hasn't done anything of note since Oz ended ten years ago. Clifton Collins, Jr. plays an FBI agent or a detective or something; you'd recognize him as "that guy" from a bunch of movies and TV shows, but he mumbles his way through the script so much that he might as well not even be speaking. I think the only decent casting decision is E.R. veteran Goran Visnjic as Schiller, an infamous drug lord whose presence looms over the entire first hour despite his not appearing until the last few minutes. Were he to appear earlier (cutting that damn intro down would have helped facilitate this), Red Widow might have been a little more fun. He chews the scenery like a champ, realizing full well how ludicrous this show is. Unfortunately, everyone else plays the melodramatic script too seriously, so he looks kind of like a cartoon character next to them. So even his presence is wasted because it's so out of place.

Anyway, this was all just a long-winded way of reiterating what I said before: don't watch Red Widow.

Pilot Review: Golden Boy

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:56:00 +0000

Golden Boy (Fridays at 9:00 on CBS; Premieres Tuesday, February 26 at 10:00)

Welcome to the schedule, Golden Boy, yet another police procedural from CBS. It's an example of the tried-and-true formula CBS has perfected over the years: a show about a policeman solving a crime each week, with a slight twist in the design. Blue Bloods has the family dynamic, Elementary has Holmes's deductive skills, The Mentalist has the "psychic" (or whatever) angle, Criminal Minds focuses on the profiling rather than the crime itself, and the list goes on. Golden Boy's angle is that the lead is the youngest member of the homicide squad, and via flash forwards, we know that he eventually becomes the youngest police commissioner as well. The pilot is about as one-note as that description makes it sound.

In a dizzying opening sequence, we are introduced to Walter William Clark, Jr. (Theo James), a beat cop who saves another officer's life. When he is offered a reward for his bravery, he requests to be put in the homicide division. Flash forward to seven years later and Walter is now the youngest police commissioner New York has ever had. He is being interviewed for a retrospective on his meteoric rise through the ranks... which brings us back to seven years ago and his first day working homicide. His new partner is Detective Don Owen (Chi McBride), a wise mentor for the young sensei; the other members of the division aren't quite as keen on having the new NYPD whiz kid join their ranks, among them Detectives Arroyo (Kevin Alejandro) and Diaco (Holt McCallany).

Golden Boy isn't bad; it's just boring. First-time creator Nicholas Wootton (an Emmy winning producer for NYPD Blue) just doesn't have anything new to say. He may have a "new" way to say it (I use quotes there because it's not exactly a revolutionary idea, just something CBS doesn't currently have on tap), but the story is the same thing we've all seen a hundred times: ambitious rookie, enlightened mentor, hardened detective, etc. There are a multitude of familiar tropes in cop dramas at play here. There are some interesting directorial choices from Richard Shepard (Ringer, Ugly Betty), both successful and not so much, that give the tired story some flair, but they ultimately can't elevate the material. The flashing back and forward is an interesting way to approach the story, but it gets really old by the pilot's end; I can't imagine how tedious it will become down the road. The script is heavy-handed as well. It's pretty obvious what the show's themes are when you're beat over the head (more than once) with the story that all men have two dogs living inside them, one good and one evil, and the one that survives is the one you feed the most. Considering how often we see Walter manipulate people to get where he wants to be, it's not exactly a subtle suggestion that it's also how he ended up becoming commissioner.

The performances aren't anything to get too excited about either. Theo James, making his US television debut, can brood with the best of them, but he's just not interesting enough to carry the show. With a script so uninteresting, a charismatic leading man is a must (the role was originally given to Ryan Phillippe, a much more inspired choice). Chi McBride is as reliable as always, delivering the pilot's only truly funny line (it's the Driving Miss Daisy reference you've seen in the commercials) and bringing his trademark gruffness mixed with that teddy bear quality he has. His character is the one I actually cared about. Alejandro and McCallany are better than their throwaway roles suggest, despite getting the brunt of the bad dialogue ("It's colder than an Eskimo's nuts.") and almost no characterization.

Once it's all over, I had a hard time feeling anything for Golden Boy. It's typical and expected in every way. In fact, this same episode could have aired as an installment of CSI, CSI: NY, Blue Bloods or any of the other police procedurals on CBS, and it wouldn't have felt any different. It's unremarkable, with only a slightly intriguing "twist" on the cop formula that plays itself out in the first hour.

Pilot Review: Cult

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:04:00 +0000

Cult (Tuesdays at 9:00 on The CW; Premieres February 19)

Even though Cult is better in concept than in execution, it's the kind of show you can't help but root for. It's so self-aware, so meta, so clever that you have to appreciate it just as much as (or more than) you enjoy it; Cult is the kind of show that should be done all the time on television, and I applaud the CW for taking the risk of putting it on the air. Whether or not is is entirely successful is another story, but it's such a valiant effort to do something new and different that I love Cult regardless.

The pilot begins with what is actually a show-within-a-show called Cult, airing on The CW. It involves a detective/former cult member who is searching for her missing sister and niece, and all signs point to charismatic cult leader Billy Grimm (Robert Knepper, Heroes). The show has developed a rabid fan base who gather at underground internet cafes to watch, discuss, role play, and look for clues to a bigger mystery they believe is contained within the show's framework. One such fan is Nate (James Pizzinato, Alcatraz), who believes someone is trying to stop him from discovering a secret within the show. He tells his disgraced former reporter brother Jeff (Matt Davis, The Vampire Diaries) this shortly before he goes missing, leaving behind a trail of clues from his favorite TV show and a huge bloodstain. Jeff goes looking for answers at the Cult set and joins forces with Skye (Jessica Lucas, Melrose Place), one of the show's researchers, who has stumbled across some disturbing fan interactions on the internet and believes Nate's story. Together they start following the clues Nate left behind, realizing they may be in a little over their heads with the extreme and unpredictable fandom Cult inspires.

From the get go, the editing and direction are confusing. I was not very familiar with the concept of the show before I began watching (The CW has been especially tight-lipped about this production, and I can only assume it's because the confusion part of the fun of watching), so it took me quite a few, minutes to figure out what was going on. Those were some painful few minutes, because the acting in the show-within-a-show is so terrible, so amateurish, so purposefully melodramatic that I thought I was just watching a really bad primetime soap. Once the real show kicked in, it was much easier to follow along; but after seeing some of the scenes from Cult, it's hard to believe that anyone would be inspired to fandom mega-heights by such an awful show. Perhaps that will be elaborated upon in subsequent episodes, because despite the show-within-a-show's shortcomings, it's easy to understand the allure of Billy Grimm (seriously, how amazing is that name), as played by Knepper. It may not be realistic that he constantly addresses the audience, speaking directly into the camera, but when he does it's chilling. He's the only interesting thing about the fake show for now. It's made out to be something larger than life, as if the fandoms of Firefly, Buffy, Battlestar Galactica, Fringe and The X-Files combined to create the super-fandom of Cult. But those shows were all really well done, and the fake on here just isn't.

The rest of Cult, the real show, is a fun but uneven ride. The transitions between scenes from the fake show to the main storyline are not always smooth and always jarring (thanks mostly to the bad acting mentioned above). As a concept, this is totally fascinating. It's a TV show about how obsessed we all are with TV shows; and here I am dissecting it, just like the people on screen. But the cleverness often gets away from creator Rockne S. O'Bannon (Farscape) and director Jason Ensler (Franklin & Bash). Often Cult gets too "wink-wink" for its own good and makes itself look dumb as a result. For example, Jeff is given a pair of 3-D glasses early in the episode but disregards them until he sees a character on Cult using them to search for clues; so he does the same and makes a breakthrough. The obvious parallels between the show and those investigating it are blatant and uncreative. The script seemed to get all of its good ideas out of the way early, leaving two concurrent storylines that are actually telling the same story. Ensler's direction doesn't do much to clarify or intensify things either. By the time the show's "disciples" are revealed, it's already been obvious who they are: the ones who are constantly scowling and following Jeff and Skye around. The direction is lazy at times, wanting the audience so badly to connect the dots that they've already been highlighted and drawn in pencil for you.

However, the saving grace of Cult is that it knows everything it is. It knows it's a little campy, a lot melodramatic, and entirely meta. Davis and Lucas are likeable leading players, so it's appropriate that they lead us through this world of over-the-top fan obsession. They, and Knepper as well, play the whole thing with a nod to the audience, knowing full well that they're setting out do the very thing the show-with-the-show has done: grab viewers by the throat and drag them along for the ride. This leads to some really cool moments, such as picking out the boxy Cult logo in random places throughout the pilot and quick, almost unrecognizable jumps that read "Do Not Watch This." And despite how poorly done the episode may be at times, I found myself fully immersed in Cult. I have a feeling there will be some unpredictable twists and turns ahead, and coupling that with how fresh the whole conceit is, I don't really care that the pilot could and should have been better. Because in this case, I care more about the story and the mystery than I do about the presentation.

Pilot Review: Zero Hour

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 18:16:00 +0000

Zero Hour (Thursdays at 8:00 on ABC; Premieres February 14)

Zero Hour is the latest attempt by one of the broadcast networks to create a deeply mythologized, supernatural hyper-serialized series a la Lost. The more they try, the more convinced I become that Lost was a success that never should have been, because all the subsequent attempts at capturing its lighting in a bottle have been lackluster at best. Zero Hour has a bit more promise, but it has a long way to go to fulfill that promise.

There's so much going on in Zero Hour's first pilot that I'm not entirely sure how arrange the events into a coherent storyline; even the episode itself doesn't try to make complete sense. I know that the episode opens in a Catholic church pre-WWII, in which a secret order of mystics, the Rosicrucians, are making clocks. Suddenly Nazis invade, and the clockmakers (there are twelve, obviously) drag something up from the sewers beneath the church which holds the power to stop the end of days... or something like that. Meanwhile, nearby a baby with whited-out demon eyes is born. Cut to the present, where Hank Galliston (Anthony Edwards, ER) and his wife Laila (Jacinda Barrett, The Real World) are flea market shopping. Laila repairs clocks (what are the odds?!) and finds an old one she wants to work on. Hank returns to the office of his magazine, Modern Skeptic (what are the odds?!), and soon learns his wife has been kidnapped. He soon figures out that it's because of the clock she bought, which houses a diamond etched with a map. Once the FBI gets involved, since apparently Laila's kidnapper is the notorious White Vincent (Michael Nyqvist, star of the Swedish films based on the Millennium trilogy of novels), Hank, the world's worst Fed (Carmen Ejogo, Kidnapped) and his office assistants are off on an international quest to follow the map and get back his wife.

It's a breakneck race against time and logic with Zero Hour. There are so many disparate elements which come together in the central conspiracy, which has something to do with the Rosicrucians hiding twelve clocks all over the globe, the Holy Apostles, Nazis, and the Apocalypse. It sounds utterly ridiculous, and it kind of is, but it's strangely engrossing. Somewhere between the white-eyed baby and the pilot's final reveal, I found myself genuinely interested in what was coming next. This probably has more to do with my wanting to make sense of a nonsensical plot, but it's interest nonetheless. However, I can't get past how silly the whole thing is. Zero Hour comes across like a desperate hodgepodge of National Treasure, The Da Vinci Code, and FlashForward. The mystery of the conspiracy is stupid when you break it down to its different elements, and the fact that within its first hour the story has already spanned four countries is exhausting. Creator Paul Scheuring (Prison Break) has taken a page from Dan Brown's book by keeping the story constantly and rapidly moving in different directions, to the point where it becomes disorienting. That type of manic storytelling is going to get old before the series has run its thirteen-episode course.

Then there's the problem of laziness. Scheuring has gone for the obvious in almost every case. Hank is the one who must solve the mystery and confront a past he seemingly doesn't know he had, but of course he's a skeptic. You can tell where the white-eyed baby storyline is going when we learn the kidnapper's name is White Vincent. The FBI agent's personal story is nearly identical to Hank's, so despite the fact that he is not an investigator, policeman, or agent, she allows him to investigate a case of international kidnapping. It's clear that the Nazi-clock conspiracy was dreamt up first, and the rest of the pieces were filled in later. Zero Hour doesn't have a sense of cohesion that would suggest anything different. That lack of cohesion extends to the cast; Anthony Edwards is, expectedly, an authoritative and sympathetic lead, but his supporting cast is weak. Ejogo is laughably bad, Nyqvist is imposing but not menacing, and Scott Michael Foster (Greek) and Addison Timlin (Californication) are strangely cartoonish as Hank's assistants, kind of like live action versions of Fred and Daphne from Scooby Doo. Actually, that's a really good way to think of Zero Hour, with White Vincent as the monster who will inevitably unmasked and stopped by the bumbling but somehow genius Mystery Squad... just on a much bigger scale than Scooby ever had. But that mix of camp and coolness is what defines Zero Hour, so make of that what you will in deciding if it's a show for you.

But it's up against The Big Bang Theory and American Idol, so just don't expect it to be around for too long.

Pilot Review: Immortalized

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 05:16:00 +0000

Immortalized (Thursdays at 10:00 on AMC; Premieres February 14)

I honestly can't even explain how silly Immortalized is. One of the taglines from the opening monologue by host Zach Selwyn, whose incredible achievements include the modern classics Punkin Chunkin and the recently debuted Guinness World Records Gone Wild, is, "Get ready to watch art and animals collide." And it's delivered with a straight face while a string quartet crescendos in the background. Did no one tell the creators that they were making a comedy? Or is this actually supposed to be taken seriously?

Immortalized is a truly stupid re-staging of Iron Chef, but instead of cooking animals, the contestants stuff and mount them. Yes, really. This is a show, and it's on the air. We did it to ourselves, America. We proved with such crap as Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Ridiculousness, Big Rich Atlanta and a thousand other pointless, terrible shows that we would watch anything. And AMC has truly scraped the bottom of the barrel to bring us Immortalized, a competition series based around the "art" of taxidermy. Featuring taxidermy in a reality television series isn't even an entirely new idea; there's already a bad show about taxidermists on the History channel called Mounted in Alaska. This series just adds the twist of it being a taxidermy competition, stealing its entire format from Iron Chef: there are four master taxidermists, and someone comes in to challenge one master (called an "Immortalizer") to stuff an animal and present it to the most confusing panel of judges ever: the former taxidermist for the Smithsonian, a current taxidermy artist (and a woman, at that), and comedian Brian Posehn. One of these things is not like the other.

Anyway, there is just so much stupidity happening here that it's hard to pin it all down. To start with, the "Immortalizer" enters while "Dies Irae" (yes, from Mozart's Requiem) plays above them. Then they are given the theme: Armageddon. The way this theme is interpreted is as dumb as the theme itself. Page, the "Immortalizer" (I laugh to myself every time I type that), mounts a cat with a bird in its mouth... because it's the "end of the world" for that bird. You can't argue with that; the man's a genius. He even finds a way to work in the Bible when he presents his piece to the judges: "I'm sure your first thought was Biblical: Revelations, the end of mankind. But we're not dealing with men. We're dealing with wildlife." Oy.

The challenger, CJ, makes a bunch of animals jumping off a smoking rock, with a bunch of fireballs painted on the base. It's overdone and really, really stupid. Seriously? It's a bunch of animals jumping; just because you had to tell us that the rock they're standing on is about to explode doesn't make the damn thing apocalyptic... but at least he stays away from scripture.

Now, I've been known to enjoy a redneck reality show every once in a while. Despite my complete aversion to guns, Top Shot was one of my favorite competition shows. I've watched Mounted in Alaska, Billy the Exterminator, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and a slew of other podunk, brainless series when nothing better is on. But Immortalized just takes it to another level of crap. It has all the makings of those cheesy, annoying, mind-numbing Southern-fried reality shows, but it is taken way too seriously. The host is a sketch comic, but he plays everything straight. The music and idea are stolen from Iron Chef, but without the campy wink of The Chairman. I mean, how do you take a show about making a dead, skinned animal look most beautiful seriously? Look at that poster up there. Consider the fact that the soundtrack contains the most fire-and-brimstone section of Mozart's requiem. Note that they call the competitors freaking Immortalizers. And that the show is premiering on Valentine's Day. How can you have all of these elements of camp, but your show comes off straight as an arrow? It kind of feels like AMC tried everything they could in post-production to make Immortalized a silly, campy, fun half hour, but the people on set didn't get the memo and played the whole thing with deadly seriousness. I just don't get it. But more importantly, I don't like it.

Pilot Review: Do No Harm

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:48:00 +0000

Do No Harm (Thursdays at 10:00 on NBC; Premieres January 31)

The similarities between NBC's new drama Do No Harm and last season's Awake are abundant. Both have featured promo photos with the lead actors' faces split down the middle; both aired in the same timeslot; both feature split personalities; both are/were in some way a procedural; and both had or have plots better suited to a shorter format like film.

Do No Harm plops us right down in the middle of a crisis when Dr. Jason Cole (Steven Pasquale, Rescue Me) wakes up at 8:25am. We quickly learn that he has been drugging himself every night for the past two years to suppress his alter ego, the deranged Ian Price, with the help of a pharmaceutical tech (Lin Manuel Miranda, House). Price is the epitome of evil, having at some point in the past ruined Cole's personal life and nearly ruined his career as a surgeon. But Cole discovers that Price has built up a resistance to the drug, and he will now take over Cole's body everyday for twelve hours, beginning at 8:25pm, and there's nothing Cole can do to stop or control him.

The plot is a modernization of the classic The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and it hits upon most of the important points of that story early on. Cole is obviously Jekyll, and Price is Hyde; there's the aspect of medical experimentation; there are two women, one mirroring Lucy (Alan de la Garza as Dr. Solis) and one mirroring Emma (Ruta Gedmintas as Olivia). The pilot of Do No Harm closely adheres to Robert Louis Stevenson's original story, just bringing into more modern times with Cole being a surgeon and the drug deactivating Price (whereas in the story it makes Hyde manifest himself). There isn't much more to say about that; if you're a fan of the story, you'll likely be amused by the many nods to it thrown in by creator David Schulner (The Event). But otherwise it's a fairly standard retread of a well-known story. And where it does stray from the source material is in the medical procedural moments, and those are by far the weakest. The case-of-the-week here is a man who undergoes brain surgery and then can't recognize faces. That alone isn't all that interesting, and the way it is tied into Dr. Cole's story (the man can't recognize anyone anymore, but Cole can't even recognize himself anymore now that Price has resurfaced) is really cheesy. Director Michael Mayer (Smash) gives the script some visual interest and moves everything along at a speedy clip, forcing the plot along so quickly that there's barely room to think (a blessing considering the show's familiarity).

The cast is fine. Pasquale is a decent leading man, if not the commanding presence a dual role like Cole/Price requires. I wouldn't go so far as to call him "dull," but he's not all that exciting either. The supporting ensemble was full of fresh faces, mostly New York stage actors (Mayer is a Tony-winning Broadway director, so no real surprise there), and they're all getting the job done without setting the screen on fire. Phylicia Rashad is the biggest name here, and she's hardly in the episode at all; I imagine she'll play a larger role in the future if she is supposed to be the equivalent of the original story's character I think she is (Utterson). Michael Esper is the only weak link as Dr. Cole's work nemesis, playing his character like a combination of Snidely Whiplash and Regina George.

But the biggest question I have for the show is, where do you go from here? How do you stretch this story into a full-fledged series? Stevenson's story isn't even full-length; it's a novella. This isn't a story that needs 12 hours or more to be told, so what's next? Do we have to see Cole's internal struggle in every subsequent episode against the possibility that Price will go apeshit? Are we going to get 11 more ways for Cole to outsmart his alter ego once he does appear? Price is the more interesting character, so I want to see him emerge more often. How Cole deals with the consequences of Price's emergence would be more interesting than Cole just knocking himself unconscious for twelve hours everyday. If that's the story Do No Harm will tell going forward, then they should be in good shape to improve upon the pilot... even if the producers will have to stuff a bunch of filler into the next 11 episodes to arrive at a conclusion.

All in all, Do No Harm is totally fine, even good at times, but it suffers from a big case of the "mehs." How's the story? Meh. How's the acting? Meh. How's the script? Meh. Did we really need another updating of Jekyll & Hyde? Meh. Nothing about it makes you stop and say "wow" because it's so great, or "ew" because it's so bad. Do No Harm is totally middle of the road entertainment.

Pilot Review: The Following

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 03:20:00 +0000

The Following (Mondays at 9:00 on Fox)

Fox has floundered in the ratings this year. The X Factor underperformed for the second year in a row, Glee tumbled on its new night following some major changes, and all of the new fall shows bombed. They went from first place to neck-and-neck for last place in the span of just a few months, so they're aching for a hit. The Following may be just what they need to get back on track.

From the writer of the Scream franchise, Kevin Williamson, comes the story of one of the most notorious serial killers America has ever seen: Joe Carroll (James Purefoy, Rome). He figures himself a modern-day Edgar Allen Poe, a lover of romanticism and the Gothic. Carroll was a college literature professor when he killed fourteen young women, gouging their eyes out and removing their hearts. Ten years later, he's about to be executed when he escapes from prison. Enter Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon), the former FBI agent who was nearly killed capturing Carroll all those years ago. He literally wrote the book on catching this guy, and though the event scarred him forever (literally and figuratively) he cannot rest knowing Carroll is out there looking to finish what he started: by going after the one who got away, Sarah (Maggie Grace, Lost). The problem this time around is that Carroll has help from the outside, a web of disciples and helpers who are not only aiding in his mission but training to carry on his work once he's gone.

The Following is the scariest show on television. Horror shows have become very popular in the past few years, led by record-breaking hits like The Walking Dead and American Horror Story. But The Following is terrifying on a level those shows can't reach because of their subject matter. Whereas The Walking Dead is scary because it's about paranoia and plague and physical monstrosity, and American Horror Story is scary because of it plays on the basic human fears of "the other" and of death, The Following is scary because it's about the human psyche. Anyone we know could be Joe Carroll or one of his followers. There's no rhyme or reason to mass violence these days, as can be evidenced in the recent influx of shootings like those in Colorado and Connecticut. Some people are just mentally unsound; how they manipulate others, how they put on a charming exterior while seething inside are just some of the questions raised by Williamson's new show. It's about the nature and psychology of violence, making it a weirdly topical series. Is it too violent? No. Most of the violence occurs off-screen, and there's no more gore than on any given episode of Grey's Anatomy (probably less, actually). But The Following is unsettling because it hits a nerve in its audience; it's not about zombies or possessed nuns or ghosts... it's about disturbed people. And that can be a little too real at times.

However, it's not just that The Following is tackling a trope of the horror genre which has previously been unexplored on TV that makes it interesting. The caliber of the show is unmatched by broadcast standards. There's a reason Kevin Bacon, whom I maintain is one of the most underrated actors working today, chose Williamson's script to be his first regular series gig: it's smart. Like he did with the Scream movies, Williamson plays upon our expectations as an audience; in the films, he deconstructed the "rules" of horror movies, subverted them, and then ultimately subscribed to them. He's doing kind of the same thing here, but using the police procedural as his starting point. No one is safe in Williamson's version of the familiar cop show, and few are who we think they are. There are twists at every commercial break, ending with an unexpected jolt and the question of how far Carroll's influence stretches and who else will be revealed to be leading a double life. All of this is led by Bacon in a flawless performance as Hardy. He's damaged goods, only making it through the day by filling his water bottle with vodka, haunted by his memories of Carroll and the wasted life he led after catching the killer. He's perfectly world-weary yet determined. Purefoy is oddly jubilant as Carroll; he's such a commanding presence, and in his little screen time in the pilot we get the impression that it wouldn't be difficult for him to persuade impressionable minds to follow him to the ends of the Earth. He's all smiles and soft speech, a terrifying blend of charm and insidiousness. The ensemble cast is great all around, particularly Shawn Ashmore (X-Men) as a young agent who idolizes Hardy and Natalie Zea (Justified) as Carroll's ex-wife, who also shares a past with Hardy. Everyone is elevating the already-strong source material to soaring heights. Topped off by some slick, well-paced, even direction from Marcos Siega (The Vampire Diaries), The Following comes about as close to physical perfection as a pilot can get. It's an intense, taut, full-throttle thrill ride into the mind of a murderer and the dangers of media and lives lived online. It may be ill-timed with the political blitz against violence as entertainment, but it's damn good TV regardless.

Pilot Review: The Carrie Diaries

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 03:52:00 +0000

The Carrie Diaries (Mondays at 8:00 on The CW)

Let's get one thing straight: I never understood Sex and the City; I never saw Sex and the City; I don't give a fuck about Sex and the City. But then again, anyone who did probably isn't the target audience of the CW's tween prequel to the HBO megaseries, The Carrie Diaries. You're not going to find any nudity, any frank discussions about sexual positions, or anything close to the production values of the pay cable parent series. This is the CW, where even ABC Family shows scoff at how desensitized everything is.

The Carrie Diaries attempts to rewrite the history of Carrie Bradshaw (AnnaSophia Robb, Soul Surfer), a woman who defined at least two generations of females on Sex and the City. Here she is 16, starting her junior year of high school on the heels of her mother's death. After a summer dealing with her pot-smoking kleptomaniac sister Dorrit (Stefania LaVie Owen, Running Wilde), she begins anew with a brand new internship in Manhattan. On her first day she serendipitously meets Larissa (Freema Agyeman, Doctor Who), a magazine editor who wants to introduce Carrie to the big city. The problem? Larissa doesn't know she's a typical teen with a complicated web of friends, enemies, and love interests back in suburban Connecticut. That, plus she has a curfew... which kind of puts a damper on all the night life fun to be had in New York.

It's a totally ridiculous and wholly unbelievable story, but it's not like that really matters. This is 1984, and anyone who's watched a John Hughes movie knows that anything can happen in the 1980s: people with nothing in common can become best friends in the course of a single day, you can take miles off a car by driving it in reverse, or whatever. And that's exactly what The Carrie Diaries seems to be attempting. It's John Hughes by way of Ambien, a pedestrian attempt at recreating the dialogue and just-unbelievable-enough-without-being-ridiculous situations of his classic films. Unfortunately for everyone involved, his movies are so ingrained in our collective conscience that any attempt to be like them immediately pisses us off. You can reinvent the type of film Hughes did for the new generation (Easy A would be a good example of this), but you can't try to recreate it. The Carrie Diaries is too much like Ferris Bueller's Day Off whenever Carrie is in New York and too much like The Breakfast Club whenever she's dealing with her extended group of friends' problems in Connecticut.

Speaking of the latter, everything about Carrie's home life screams "after school special." Her sister is spiraling out of control, sneaking out of the house and coming back the next day drunk, smoking pot, and stealing (and I would too if my name was Dorrit... I mean, seriously); her father doesn't want to to clean out his dead wife's closet or let anyone touch anything inside; Jill (Ellen Wong, Combat Hospital), one of her best friends, is dealing with relationship problems; Maggie (Katie Findlay, The Killing), her other best friend, is cheating on her boyfriend; that boyfriend, Walt (Brendan Dooling), is struggling with his sexuality; and the list goes on. The 1980s setting allows for a kind of judgment-free exploration of such issues, but piling them all into the pilot is groan-worthy. It reduces every character to a stock type, and it makes their future stories painfully obvious: Jill will deal with the repercussions of losing her virginity to the first guy who showed interest; Maggie will deal with the repercussions of her illicit, secret relationship; Walt will have a slow, agonizing journey toward self acceptance (one that will inevitably lead him to the freedom of New York, natch); Dorrit will continue her spiral until she hits rock bottom and then reform; Carrie's love interest and arch rival will become an item, and Carrie will retreat into the world of Manhattan's night life... you get the picture. What I'm trying to say it, The Carrie Diaries is completely unoriginal and predictable. Everything is so tame, the issues all beaten to death in the nearly thirty years since 1984, that it doesn't feel edgy or responsible or anything of the sort... it's very "been there, done that."

And it's not even like there are good performances or writing to elevate the stale material. AnnaSophia Robb is far too pretty to end up looking like Sarah Jessica Parker (sorry, it's true), and such a cliche character could have been played by any young blonde. There's nothing about Robb that makes you think she is Carrie Bradshaw, or that she will become a powerful woman in fifteen years. The supporting cast is likewise dull, and that can be directly attributed to Amy B. Harris's (whose only other major writing credits are one episode each of Gossip Girl and The Comeback, and the Lindsay Lohan film Just My Luck) terrible script. There is a painfully slow scene early in the pilot in which Carrie and her girl friends discuss how it feels to lose their virginity, and the phrase, "It was like fitting a hot dog in a keyhole" is repeated throughout. It's enough to make you want to cover your ears and shake your head, blessing the poor soul who thought of such a comparison. And even the 1980s setting isn't used to full effect. The fashion is understated, the colors are muted, and all in all it feels like an afterthought. Even the music doesn't really fit. We hear snippets of "Footloose," "Let the Music Play, "Somebody's Watchin' Me," and even a really bad cover of "Material Girl," though that song technically wasn't released until two months after the time of the pilot (don't fuck with me when it comes to Madonna), but because these songs are such a part of pop culture as a whole it feels somehow false. The Carrie Diaries hits you over the head with the time period, like a bad theme party. But I feel like it shouldn't be imitating 1984, it should be placing the audience in the middle of it. Unfortunately it's just another misstep, of which there are too many for the show to overcome.

Pilot Review: Deception

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:26:00 +0000

Deception (Mondays at 10:00 on NBC; Premieres January 7)

On the one hand, I'm already totally hooked on Deception. It's a melting pot of a lot of successful, enjoyable shows (mostly Revenge and Law & Order: SVU) but with its own feeling. On the other hand, it's ham-fisted and predictable.

Vivian Bowers (Bree Williamson, One Life to Live) is dead from an apparent drug overdose. But during the investigation, it becomes obvious that a lot of people had a lot of reasons for wanting her dead; the FBI has been investigating the Bowers family, particularly patriarch Robert (Victor Garber, Alias), and their lucrative pharmaceutical company for years. To get to the bottom of what really happened to Vivian, as well as to expose the Bowers' fraudulence, they send in San Francisco police officer Joanna (Meagan Good, Eve's Bayou, D.E.B.S.) undercover. Joanna grew up with the Bowers family and was Vivian's best friend until one night when a teenage Vivian tries to run away and Joanna stops her. Set up with her old partner and lover (Laz Alonso, Breakout Kings), Joanna falls easily back into her role as the Bowers' charity case, reigniting a long-lost spark with Vivian's brother Julian (Wes Brown, True Blood) and the anger of her brother Edward (Tate Donovan, Argo). As the case gets more complicated and more family secrets are exposed, Joanna's job of finding Vivian's murderer becomes more dangerous.

The whole thing begins almost identically to Revenge with a curious stranger following Vivian to her car, her recognizing him and inviting him to climb in, then smash cutting to her dead in a motel. Then the primary plotline is put in motion, but everything is actually moving backward to figure out how we got to this point. It's nowhere near as salacious as Revenge, but it's handled decently and manages to be entertaining in its own right. I'm fascinated by the fact that Joanna is black, and I don't know why; perhaps because it's so rare to see strong women on TV, let alone strong, single black women. According to information released by NBC, Joanna is the daughter of the Bowers' maid but from what I can remember that's never mentioned. There's actually a lot of withheld information, and it's kind of obnoxious in the way that you know there's something missing but can tell they're not telling you what it is because it's going to be a "revel" somewhere down the line. There is such a moment in the pilot, and I saw it coming a mile away because this tactic is used. We see Joanna and Vivian as teenagers, the latter talking about escape, intercut with conversations with the youngest Bowers, Mia (Ella Rae Peck, Gossip Girl). The creators make it obvious, at least to me, where it's going.

Creator Liz Heldens (Friday Night Lights) wrote a well-paced and pretty engrossing pilot, but it's things like this that hold Deception (formerly Infamous and Notorious at various stages of development) back a bit. The timeline also doesn't really match up. Meagan Good is decent as Joanna, but she does not look old enough to fit into the story... I did the math once and came up with her age being somewhere around 33-35, but because ages and time aren't really a concern in the pilot, I suppose she could be even five years younger than that. And that's a problem, considering the logic of a lot of the show lies in the history of this character. It's really a shame because Deception is really easy to get into, and it moves quickly enough with enough revelations and questions that I want to continue watching. But as a show, it's not terribly strong. Victor Garber is, predictably, the best part of the supporting ensemble, though it's not hard to be considering how weak many of the players are. Ella Rae Peck and Wes Brown are veterans of primetime soap operas, and they're bringing that campy melodrama style to a show that is otherwise taken seriously, (at least in the pilot). Upcoming episodes look increasingly more soapy, so that issue may resolve itself.

I'm so torn on Deception. I enjoyed myself, but I find that I've already forgotten most of what happened only two days after watching. Nothing all that special or great sticks out in my mind about it, but I have no doubt that I'll watch subsequent episodes when they air next month. It's a really fun way to spend an hour, even if it's not all that challenging or inventive. Sometimes that's what you need.

Pilot Review: Beauty and the Beast

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 01:59:00 +0000

Beauty and the Beast (Thursdays at 9:00 on The CW)

It took me over a week to get to this review, mostly because I care so little about it.. The CW's Beauty and the Beast is terrible, and if it weren't for the insipid The Mob Doctor on Fox, it would be the worst new show of the season.

Like Emily Owens, M.D. is the network's first medical procedural, this is their first police procedural (or at least the first since Dawn Ostroff took over, I think there may have been one before her). You read that right: Beauty and the Beast is a police show. The even more ridiculous part? The police are played by two attractive women who are hardly 30 and manage to only solve crimes involving the beautiful elite: the first episode a beauty magazine editor, the second a ballerina. It's stupid.

There's also the matter of the "beast" of the title, who happens to be a presumed-dead soldier left "horribly" scarred (it's a line on one side of his face; Google images of wounded vets if you wanna see what war scars really look like... but don't do it if you want to sleep tonight) and with superpowers that make him a killing machine. It seems he saved Beauty, whose name is actually Catherine and played stoically and boringly by Smallville's Kristin Kreuk, from attackers ten years ago, while her mother was murdered. This crime is the reason Cat became a police officer, and she has spent the remaining years searching for her savior, whom she called a "beast" at the time. When a crime is committed and a partially human hair matching one found at Cat's long-ago crime scene is recovered, she goes searching for the Beast, actually named Vincent and played with ho-hum seriousness by Australian actor Jay Ryan. Conveniently, he has the same newspaper clipping Cat has looked at everyday for 10 years lying around his house, so she knows it's him.

See? Stupid. And the fact that this is even called Beauty and the Beast is ludicrous. It's apparently loosely based on the 1980s CBS series of the same name that starred Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman, but it lacks all of that show's magic and sense of mythology. In that series, the Beast was an animal. Here, he's a pretty boy with an "ugly" scar on his face... which actually kind of makes him even more attractive, and even more human because it's a flaw. "The World Below" does not yet exist in this incarnation, and considering that was the heart of the 1987 show... I don't really understand how this can be considered a remake. Just because Kreuk and Hamilton played characters with the same name?

It's all nonsensical anyway, so it doesn't really matter. From little things like how Catherine could be tending bar underage to how she attended an Ivy League school and ended up a cop, to big things like discrepancies in the time frame and the total inappropriateness of the title, nothing about Beauty and the Beast makes sense. But it doesn't seem like creators Sherri Cooper & Jennifer Levin (Brothers & Sisters) are interested in doing anything but displaying a distorted and ridiculous world where everyone and everything is inconceivably beautiful, even when it's dangerous and dark. I mean, Cat spends the pilot investigating a murder at a beauty magazine, for sobbing out loud. Everything is about physical perfection, from the lighting in the mother's murder scene to Kreuk's perfectly brushed and never out-of-place hair. No wonder a beautiful guy with a scar is considered beastly in this world; it's the only flaw on display.

And that's what makes Beauty and the Beast ultimately so preposterous and unable to be enjoyed. It's bringing nothing new to the table, and what it's redoing it is redoing poorly. No one on the show can act worth a lick, at least not in these roles; the script is predictable and painfully slow; the direction is slick but expected and never creative; the story goes nowhere, and the crime isn't engrossing; and it claims to be something that it's not by using the title of a very well-known fairy tale (and better done TV series). It's a quick way for the CW to cash in on the fairy tale series craze that turned Once Upon a Time and Grimm into hits last season. But both of those shows are infinitely more entertaining and better put together than this piece of crap.

Checking In: American Horror Story Asylum Premiere

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:14:00 +0000

SPOILERS AHEAD

American Horror Story: Asylum (Wednesdays at 10:00 on FX)

I wasn't the biggest fan of the first season of FX's series American Horror Story. I found it busy, contrived, overrated, bloated, and pompous. But it did have some clever moments and some great performances, so I watched the whole season. I, like everyone else, was shocked by the finale when the entire Harmon family bit the dust and the cycle of Murder House started all over again. Where does one go from there? Creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk decided to completely reboot the series and tell an entirely new story rather than continue in the same haunted house genre, and now we have American Horror Story: Asylum.

Just for how gutsy a move it was to totally shift gears and tell a brand new story with brand new characters and only some of the same actors, I give the series a lot of credit. That's a brave, totally unheard of move that has the possibility of paying off in spades. The horror genre contains many types of films, so there's a lot of material out there to touch upon; where season one focused mostly on the haunted house and ghost horror stories, both timeless and enduring tales, season two is a period piece focusing on religious, medical and extraterrestrial horror stories popular in the 1960s and 1970s. It's a stark contrast to the accessibility of the first season, but there are many things the two seasons have in common, chief among which is the creators' tendency to throw every idea they have into one episode and see what works.

At American Horror Story's core, that's what has always been the main problem: it does too much. There are too many characters, too many plot twists, too many random jump scares, too many film references, too many social issues being addressed, etc. That theme has carried over into Asylum, which has all the same problems as the first season. The premiere works so hard to introduce so many characters and plots in such a short amount of time that my head was spinning twenty minutes in. It doesn't help that we're watching events unfold in two different timelines either. In the present we meet a horndog couple known only as the Lovers, one a photographer (Adam Levine of Maroon 5) and one a horror freak (Jenna Dewan Tatum, Step Up), who get off by having sex in haunted placed. They end up at Briarcliff, a sanitarium for the criminally insane. Levine's character ends up biting off a little more than he can chew, and we are drawn back into the past (1964, to be exact) to learn the history of Briarcliff. It's run by Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), under the eye of a hot Monsignor (Joseph Fiennes) whom Sr. Jude often sexually fantasizes about. Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) tricks her way into Briarcliff to get a story on the newest inmate: Kit Walker (Evan Peters), AKA Bloody Face, a man accused of skinning women alive.

There are a ton of other characters introduced, including a large group of inmates and their staff, from a nymphomaniac (Chloe Sevigny) to the introduction of yet another "special needs" character in Pepper, a woman suffering from microcephaly (you'll recall last season featured a major arc for a character with down syndrome). There's the sadistic Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) and Sr. Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe), who is playing both sides of the faith/science debate by catering to both the doctor and Sr. Jude.

Subtlety has never been one of Murphy's strong suits, and that remains an issue in Asylum. So much happens in this short introduction that it's hard to actually recount everything. There's Levine's dismemberment in the first five or so minutes, Kit's alien encounter, the monsters in the woods created by Dr. Arden, Lana's commitment to the asylum, Sr. Jude's sexual fantasies, the Lovers' attack by a present-day Bloody Face, and so much more. That's not even counting the social issues Murphy and his team, led by this episode's writer Tim Minear, tries to throw at the audience: interracial marriage, homosexuality, and the coexistence of science and religion. It's a jumbled mess of ideas, scattered images, crazy editing, a loud score, and a myriad of characters. The audience is bashed over the head with all of these elements relentlessly. The sad thing is, I would still be mostly on board if it weren't for the introduction of the alien subplot, in which Kit was abducted and implanted with some type of chip (which Dr. Arden later removes, and it sprouts legs and runs away... yes, really), while his wife and a number of other women were killed. This happens fairly early in the episode and sets a tone of ridiculousness for the remainder of the hour; it's so out of place that it feels like a joke. And perhaps it is. Perhaps the whole alien abduction is in Kit's mind, but in that case then it feels like an unnecessary way of confusing and annoying the audience. But it's the prime example in "Welcome to Briarcliff" of the staff's inability to edit themselves or be anything less than over-the-top and in-your-face.

Another problem Asylum has is that it borrows very heavily from itself, giving it a sense of pomposity. They are separate stories in separate locations and times, but so many elements carry over that at times it feels like we're seeing the same thing happen again: Pepper = Addie; Bloody Face = Rubber Man; Sr. Jude's fantasies recall Alexandra Breckenridge's Moira (and so does Chloe Sevigny's character); Sr. Mary Eunice = Vivien; etc. I know this was likely intentional, to tie the second season to the first so as not to imply that Asylum is a wholly new show, especially since so many actors returned to the series in new roles. But it gives everything a sense of deja-vu, and a feeling that the creators are smirking and saying, "See how clever we are?" And unlike its predecessor and despite having so many elements, Asylum moves terribly slowly. I just kept waiting for the next shoe to drop, because you know there's a twist coming. And in this case, the twist wasn't all that hard to see coming: Lana's institutionalization was a given from the moment she crossed Sr. Jude in her first scene.

On the flip side, the strength of Asylum is in its performances, much like it was in season one. Jessica Lange is still the best thing about the show, though she's playing a more forward version of the same character she played last season: a huge bitch with power. She's wonderful, playing up the good/evil contradiction of her character and letting it slide into camp on occasion, which is great considering how campy horror movies typically are. Evan Peters is shockingly good as Kit, after a rather strained performance from him as Tate last season. Sarah Paulson already has more to do in this one episode than she did in the entirety of season one, and she's the anchor of the show so far: the character who is innocent and part of both worlds (the asylum and the outside). Clea Duvall does strong work as her romantic partner, especially when she goes toe-to-toe with Jessica Lange at the episode's end. I was looking forward to seeing Zachary Quinto, one of the best parts of last season, but his character will not be introduced until next week. But all around, everyone did an admirable job, even Adam Levine in his acting debut. Granted, he's probably played characters with a bigger range in his music videos, but he doesn't embarrass himself so that's good.

By the time the premiere of Asylum ended, I realized I was having a really strong negative reaction. This season was an opportunity to fix the problems of season one, namely the abundance of ideas that don't always work. But Murphy and Falchuk didn't do that. In fact, they made themselves more problems by introducing such a huge cast of characters right off the bat. The strengths of the previous season are still the strengths of the current one: the genuine creepiness of the cinematography and art direction, and the wonderful cast led by Lange. But it looks to be more of the same, only messier and less focused if the staff doesn't get their act together and start letting the audience think for themselves.

Pilot Review: Arrow

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 03:57:00 +0000

Arrow (Wednesdays at 8:00 on The CW)

The CW is in dire straights and needs a lifeline, ASAP. New President Mark Pedowitz took a step in the right direction with his schedule overhaul in May, and Arrow is the crown jewel of that schedule. It's a return to the CW of yore, when Smallville garnered some of the network's highest ratings (on Friday nights, no less), and not every show was geared toward teenage girls. And it's debuting without much real competition (opposite reality and sitcoms, no other dramas) in front of Supernatural, one of the only reliable performers left on the network. Based on the strength of the pilot, it deserves to succeed and help lead the CW out of the darkness.

Billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Steven Amell) went missing five years ago when his father's ship sank, and he was presumed dead, along with all the other passengers. But he is discovered by a fishing boat and returned home to Starling City, a town his father practically built. Oliver has changed over the years, surviving savagely on a deserted island. Now that he's home, he's determined to right the wrongs he committed as a carefree and spoiled brat, beginning with an overdue apology to former girlfriend Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy, Melrose Place). Laurel isn't in the mood to forgive Oliver, however, since when the boat went down he was sleeping with Laurel's sister, and she didn't survive the wreck. Soon after his return, however, Oliver is targeted by one of his father's enemies. Using the survival skills he picked up on the island, Oliver escapes and vows to right the injustice in his city as the Green Arrow.

Right off the bat, the parallels between Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman, are obvious. Neither has superpowers, both have tons of money; then there's the aspects of vengeance for the death of a parent, the urban decay, etc. Keeping all that in mind, it makes sense that Greg Berlanti (Green Lantern), Marc Guggenheim (Eli Stone), and Andrew Kreisberg (Fringe) would then develop the character into a television presence similar to the film version of Batman in the recent Christoper Nolan Dark Knight trilogy; the tone of Arrow is the same as those films, and it borrows many elements of the first chapter, Batman Begins, for its pilot. It never feels like a copycat or anything like that, and it's actually a decent attempt to serialize and adapt that type of storytelling for the small screen. The script is standard superhero fare, not exactly subtle in its delivery and impact, but then again that's not exactly what a comic book audience expects. So for what it is, Arrow is about as well done as one would anticipate.

On other levels, it's just not up to snuff. The performances are pretty weak all around. Amell is a great presence, and he has an incredible physique, but there's no depth to his portrayal of Oliver Queen. Right now, he's just a quiet guy with an anger problem; there's no hint of what's bubbling underneath in his performance. Katie Cassidy is fine as Laurel, if a bit one-dimensional in a role which doesn't yet have many angles. Her chemistry with Amell is the weakest part of the pilot. She has been waiting five years to rip into Oliver, yet she addresses him like all he did was forget to call her before bed the night before. The rest of the supporting actors are getting the job done without much effort. But then again, a show like this isn't always about depth or making good choices as an actor... it's about the action.

And the action is great. Anytime Oliver is flipping through the air, sending arrows sailing, or beating the hell out of someone, Arrow is amazing entertainment. The fight choreography is animalistic and savage, wholly appropriate for Oliver's character, and always spectacular. The montage of Oliver training himself to become the Green Arrow, though pretty cliche for superhero stories, is just as awesome as it is in every comic book adaptation you've ever seen; it's been done to death, but we all love it. Director David Nutter (Smallville) keeps things moving at a smooth, brisk pace until the pilot's final shocking reveal, setting some high stakes for the remainder of the season. It's dark and aesthetically beautiful, an attractive but still entertaining hour.

There's something here for everyone: politics, romance, action, mystery. There's a whole lot of potential in Arrow, proving the CW is still capable of developing mature shows with a sense of direction, rather than just showcases for good-looking guys and girls... though the show certainly has that going for it as well.

Pilot Review: Nashville

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 18:06:00 +0000

Nashville (Wednesdays at 10:00 on ABC; Premieres October 10)

Now having seen the Nashville pilot, it's safe to say that it's the perfect successor to the timeslot reinvigorated last season by Revenge. It's similarly an overly dramatic soap opera centered around the rivalry between two strong, beautiful women, each possessing their own kind of power. It has all the trappings of a guilty pleasure, and I loved every moment of it.

Rayna James (Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights, American Horror Story) is the reigning queen of country music, an artist on top of her game for over two decades. But the country scene is changing, and Rayna just doesn't have the crossover appeal necessary to be a contemporary success: her latest album is failing, and her tour isn't selling. Her record company's solution? Send Rayna out on tour with Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere, Heroes), the hottest thing in the country world. If Rayna declines, the label will pull all promotions of her album and turn their backs on her. It's a tough decision for Rayna, who also faces discord at home from her unhappy marriage and a broken relationship with her power-hungry father (Powers Boothe, Deadwood). When Juliette bursts on the scene and tries to steal Rayna's longtime lead guitarist (and ex-lover) as well as her producer, the stage is set for a showdown between the reigning queen and the rising princess of country music.

I can't say enough good things about Nashville. It's well-written by Oscar winner Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise), full of witty banter and well-placed bits of backstory, without ever seeming campy. The rivalry between Rayna and Juliette could have easily devolved into Dynasty territory, but the strength of the writing and performances from Britton and Panettiere ensure that these girls feel real. Speaking of which, it is Connie Britton's performance as Rayna that truly sells the show. She plays all the contradictions and confusions of the aging star so perfectly, from her diva outbursts at sound check to scenes driving her kids to school in a minivan like any regular mom. Rayna is a simple woman for whom things got (or are getting complicated), and Britton plays up every second of that humanity without sacrificing that certain something that makes Rayna so magnetic to millions of music fans. Without Britton, Nashville would be a lesser show. She is supported amply by Panettiere, who is giving a delicious villain performance that isn't at all melodramatic. She is the ideal foil to Britton's groundedness, though she gets a hefty moment of her own late in the episode. As broken as Rayna's personal life seems, we get the sense that there's something much darker happening in Juliette's... we just don't get to see it yet.

The supporting cast is full of strong performances, particularly from Powers Boothe as Rayna's tycoon father; he's the J.R. of Nashville except more forward. Newcomer Clare Bowen is also a standout in the ensemble as a waitress/songwriter looking for her voice. The best supporting performance, however, is from the music. A show like Nashville wouldn't survive without strong music in its catalogue, and the show has it down. The original songs are produced by Oscar winner T-Bone Burnett (Crazy Heart) and written by several up-and-comers, including John Paul White of the Grammy winning duo The Civil Wars. The pilot's final torch song, "If I Didn't Know Better," is a thing of beauty as performed by Bowen and Sam Palladio (Episodes). Accompanied by images of Rayna's acquiescence and Juliette's seduction, it's a clear view of where these characters have been and where they're going. It's a great way to cap a very strong episode.

In addition to being well done, Nashville is just a really good time. It's got a bit of Dallas's Southern-fried melodrama coupled with the backstage rivalry of Smash. There's political intrigue, sexual seduction, broken hearts, domestic unrest, and good music. There's quite a bit of commentary about the state of the music industry and where actual talent will get you (Rayna is a true singer, Juliette is an auto-tuned puppoet of her label), not to mention the effects the current economy and technologies have had on artists. So whether you're looking strictly for an entertaining soap opera, or for something with a bit of an agenda, you're likely to find it in Nashville. It's well-rounded and well-done in just about every aspect.

Pilot Review: Chicago Fire

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:29:00 +0000

Chicago Fire (Wednesdays at 10:00 on NBC; Premieres October 10)

There really isn't much to say about a show like Chicago Fire. Its pilot was thrilling and action-packed, but it's not the kind of show you watch for depth or intrigue. You watch it to see hot guys without shirts and stuff exploding.

The barebones plot of the new series produced by Law & Order creator Dick Wolf centers around the tense relationship between a group of firefighters and a rescue squad, both of whom operate out of the same firehouse in Chicago. The rift is widened in the first few minutes by the loss of a fireman and friend to both squads; now the leader of the firefighters, Lt. Casey (Jesse Spencer, House), and the leader of the rescue squad, Lt. Severide (Taylor Kinney, The Vampire Diaries), are at each other's throats constantly.

That's it. It's more of a cast of characters than a show with a story to follow. There are two female ambulance drivers to balance out the testosterone, but the rest of the cast is comprised of firefighters and rescue team workers, each with the slightest of backstories: one lost his house (Sex and the City's David Eigenberg), one is engaged but moved into his own house, one is hiding a medical issue, one is the rookie, etc. The whole thing is kind of a rehash of Third Watch, minus the police officers, with a dash of Rescue Me, minus the artistry.

The visuals of Chicago Fire are why anyone is going to tune in. There are two scenes which take place inside burning buildings, and both are thrillingly shot. The climactic scene in which Casey and Severide find themselves helping each other out of a helpless situation is everything a viewer could ask of a firefighting show: emotional, tense and exciting. Another scene in which a young girl is pulled from a crumpled car is similarly engrossing. The direction under Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Homeland) is tight, and the editing is especially good; the close-ups and quick cuts add to the tension and suspense, much more so than the standard script and performances. Speaking of which, there are no standouts here, and there don't really need to be. Everyone is pulling his or her weight equally; no one is running ahead of the pack, but no one is lagging behind either. As the characters, of which there are many, become more flesh-and-bone, I would expect that to change.

And that's about it. Chicago Fire isn't breaking new ground or anything, but it's an adrenaline-fueld hour. There's a lot to enjoy, if not to love, about it. What it comes down to is how you feel about the claim I made above. If you want to watch a show with a bunch of buff-yet-sensitive guys working out, fighting, and putting out fires, then Chicago Fire is for you.

Pilot Review: Emily Owens, M.D.

noreply@blogger.com ([Insert Clever Name Here]) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:19:00 +0000

Emily Owens, M.D. (Tuesdays at 9:00 on The CW; Premieres October 16)

What would happen if you tried to set Grey's Anatomy in high school? That seems to be the question first-time creator Jennie Snyder Urman (formerly a writer on 90210) tried to answer with The CW's first foray into medical procedural territory, Emily Owens, M.D. Well, the answer is exactly what you'd expect: nothing good would happen.

It's the first day as a doctor at Denver Memorial Hospital for Emily Owens (Mamie Gummer, Off the Map) and a host of other recent med school graduates. Among her new colleagues are Emily's crush Will Collins (Justin Hartley, Smallville); her high school tormentor Cassandra (Aja Naomi King); kindhearted senior doctor Micah (Michael Rady, Melrose Place); and her new mentor, a goddess in the medical field, Gina Beckett (Necar Zadegan, 24), among many others. It's lot long before Emily learns that working in a hospital is a lot like being back in high school: the doctors form cliques, she must deal with her unrequited emotions, help her friends get dates... the only difference being now things really are a matter of life and death.

As far as an introduction for The CW into the world of medical shows, Emily Owens could have been much worse. The concept of "hospitals are just like high school" is cute, and it's a good jumping off point for the youthful network. It makes the characters a bit more relatable for the young audience the network attracts. But it also trivializes the entire concept of medical shows as well. The writing is so immature, the situations so childish, that Emily Owens plays more like a parody of Grey's Anatomy than anything else. There's a scene in the pilot directly lifted from Mean Girls, where seemingly the only kind female other than Emily, a hospital bigwig's daughter named Tyra (Kelly McCreary), introduces her to the different cliques: The Jocks (podiatrists), The Plastics (plastic surgeons), The Stoners (anestheseologists), The Geeks (neurologists), etc. It's cute, in concept, but to see it played out makes it all seem really, really silly. And from there on out it's hard to take the rest of the show seriously.

Not that theyr'e trying very hard to be serious. The medical cases in the pilot are so standard that it's laughable. Emily relates to a young pre-teen who faints when her crush walks by, only to learn she has a heart condition; an old woman with Alzheimer's goes missing; a man and his brother are in a drunken car accident, with the golden boy being the one who ends up seriously injured. Nothing at all interesting happening there. And the way Snyder relates her doctor characters to the patients is lowest-denominator. Emily convinces her young patient to tell her crush how she feels, just as she realizes that she must do the same with Will; Cassandra turns out to be such a bitch because her home life was so awful in high school; etc. It's all very basic and immature. There's even a scene where Twilight is used as an example of how to live one's life, and I swear I'm not making that up.... it happened. The dialogue is pretty bad, but it's the structure that is truly terrible. Snyder Urman uses far too much unnecessary voice-over for Emily, again recalling Mean Girls, and she treats everything going on in the hospital with deadly seriousness. Every few seconds (much like the other awful medical drama of the season, The Mob Doctor) all the doctors are receiving emergency calls on their beepers (yes, BEEPERS!) and running off to some other area of the hosptial, yelling about syringes or broken arteries or some such medical nonsense. It's enough to make you roll your eyes and groan, "Come on."

With only so much to work with in a very weak script, it's no surprise that not even the excellent Mamie Gummer, who looks and sounds so much like her mother, Meryl Streep, at times that it's uncanny, can elevate the material above mediocrity. She has very few dramatic moments to play; instead she's standing around making googly eyes at Will or fretting over what happened to her in high school to make everyone hate her. Emily is a sympathetic character if you're a teenage girl, but an annoying one if you're anyone else. Still, Gummer is the only actor who doesn't succumb to the script's more ridiculous moments and characterizations. Aja Naomi King is doing her best Regina George impersonation, but nothing doing; she is so stereotypically bitchy that she might as well be a cardboard cutout with a pre-recorded bitchy voicebox. Justin Harltey just needs to look adorable; ditto for Michael Rady, who's just as shallow an actor as he was on the aborted CW remake of Melrose Place.

I can imagine a show like Emily Owens, M.D. (which should have stuck with its original title, First Cut) finding an audience of young people and women who are invested in its melodramatic love stories and tales of redemption after high school, but for anyone who prefers a bit of meat on their shows, it falls incredibly short. It's Grey's Anatmoy without the gravitas, Scrubs without the humor, and Mean Girls without the bite.