Limitless, Limitless, Limitless. What
to say about this show. So much potential but it moves so slowly that
it's hard to figure out where it's going or if it'll ever have
something to draw me in week after week. Before we dive full-on into
the show, let me remind as always why I originally anticipated this
show (and for those that want a little more in-depth look, click that
#Premiere Week up top and scroll down to CBS which should be the
first network covered).
A quick refresher, Limitless
(#Limitless) was originally a film starring Bradley Cooper that came
out a few years back. In it, some guy stumbles onto a drug called NZT
that enhances the brain's conscious activity, giving the taker of the
drug superhuman intelligence and processing skills equivalent to a
computer. Essentially, you take it you become "the smartest man
alive" as is stated on the show. The show is produced by Bradley
Cooper who briefly appeared on the pilot. And that was pretty much
all this show needed to draw me in.
OK, so what do we get with Limitless?
Well, in the movie Cooper's character had to stay on the run and
intelligently fight off bad guys who manufactured the pill and who
wanted their money, as well as the person whose pills he had. He was
not supposed to have the pills and certainly wasn't supposed to have
such intellect. Well, the series starts in much the same manner. We
pick up with our main character Brian Finch, a 28-year-old burnout
musician who sees his life passing by while everyone around him
succeeds (I'm sure that hit home for more than a few Millennials). No
girlfriend, no job, no real prospects of anything in life, he learns
his father is sick from a mystery illness that has pulled him closer
to death. Fearing that his father will not see him accomplish
anything great, good or even decent in his life before the man passes
away, Brian decides to finally forego his dreams of being a rocker
and gets another temp job he hopes will this time turn into something
worth while. There, he runs into an old friend/rocker buddy who has
absolutely stormed the finance world of NY and is doing great. His
friend hips him to this drug he's taking on the hush that helps him
focus his mind as Brian is having trouble doing anything. And thus we
have our inciting incident.
NZT is the mind-altering drug that
allows a person conscious access to 100% of their brain. I say
conscious access because while I know about the geeks who took
offense with Luc Besson's film Lucy starring Scarlet Johansson saying
that we only use 10% of the brain, we do only use about 15% of it
consciously. The other 85% is subconscious or accessed at different
points during the day for different activities. The drug makes it so
that he can do everything. He can remember things that he saw at a
glance 20 years ago while zooming by it in the back seat of a car. He
can complete complex mathematical equations at the drop of a hat. He
can learn languages in a day and even solve the mystery behind his
father's disease. Apparently his dad had a genetic disorder that
caused him to need a new kidney or liver (he talked kind of fast so I
didn't quite get what he said even though he said it a few times and
I got too lazy to rewind my DVR). Think Batman level smart, add
Sherlock Holmes level smart and multiple it all by Spider-man level
genius. Yeah, the kids wicked smart (where's Ben Affleck when you
need him? Oh right, playing Batman).
And then the drug wears off and it's
back to normal loser Brian, which he totally doesn't want to be
because super genius Brian is way better. To add to the misery of
coming down from NZT, like any other drug it has horrid withdrawal
symptoms. He feels sick, sweats a lot and looks like his heart and
brain are simultaneously about to explode within him. Though he
learns that those feelings are nearly exactly what will happen
sooner or later, I'm getting ahead of myself by telling you that.
In any case, he wants more of the drug.
So, he ventures off to find his old friend again and ask him for
another pill. Just loser Brian's luck, he arrives to his friend's
apartment to find him dead. While he procures one pill from the man,
he doesn't have much time to think as the cops and FBI are suddenly
at his dead friend's apartment door. To the surprise of no one, he
takes off running in a daring escape that sees him parkour-leaping
down a fire escape, sprinting through traffic on a precisely
calculated line better than Frogger ever could and hopping in front
of a stopping subway train at just the right distance for it to come
to a halt in front of him before escaping through a grate. Daring?
Yes. Stupid? Oh yeah! Me likey? Me likey a lot. Was that weird? Did I
just make this review weird. Sorry. I'll dial it back.
Anyway, he pieces together who did it
by mentally re-running the company records that he had to file away
while on his temp job. He discovers that his friend as well as
another guy were both killed by a third guy who also took the drug
and felt he needed the pills, so he'd kill his partners and take
their supply. Though they're both super smart for the time, Brian
manages to outwit the guy with the help of the same FBI agent who
chased him. Why does he receive this help? Because they discover his
little secret (he helps them with that too) and have secrets of their
own.
See, the drug was apparently
manufactured by a company that the government was working closely
with. The drug's original clients were to be soldiers, FBI agents,
law enforcement, etc., because it would enhance their ability to stop
crime. Unfortunately, the company and the drug testing were both
scuttled after tests revealed those horrific side effects I mentioned
up top: the nausea, the sweating, the brain and heart explosion. The
test subjects would get sick, degrade over time and would be dead in
a year, often covered in sores and other hideous marks. They warn
Brian that if he doesn't come in and either take another pill or gets
completely clean from the drug, the same will happen to him.
And in steps Bradley Cooper. Nearly
dying during a come-down from his latest high, Brian slips into an
unconscious state and awakes in a large room with little furniture
save for a hospital bed, some medical equipment and two chairs for
him and Bradley's character. Cooper plays the same character from the
film (making this one of those series-sequel hybrids like Minority
Report) and has been on the drug for five years. How has he survived?
During all that time he came up with an inhibitor of some sort that
works on a cellular level to stop the drug from degrading the body's
cells. One shot a month and Brian can take as much NZT as he wants
without the horrible side effects. Cooper will supply him this new
drug but in return he will ask for a series of favors as he knows
Brian will soon be working for the FBI. Cooper's own station in life
has led him to become Senator and possibly the next president. What
he wants from Brian, is the show's threading mystery that is supposed
to keep viewers returning weekly. The interesting thing about this is
that though Cooper played the protagonist in the film, he wasn't
fully a Leave It To Beaver good guy. Sure, he used his powers for
some good, but he wasn't always looking to do right every time. And
though I can't see the series making him any kind of a bad guy, who
knows the depths that the people he employs will sink to for him.
Correct in every assessment, Brian does
end up solving the mystery, the FBI bring the murderer to justice and
figure out he was on NZT. Instead of arresting him, they turn him
into their latest guinea pig as they want to know what makes him
immune to the drug's side effects. They will supply him with the drug
every day and study him to see if his lifestyle is conducive to such
immunity and use his improved mental capacity to their advantage on
different cases. He, in turn, gets not only a new kidney for his
father but something he's wanted all his life: real purpose. And that
turns this into yet another procedural case-of-the-week drama--my
third new one on Monday alone. I promise you I don't usually go for
this many buddy cop shows but at least they are all different and
have their own hook outside of crimes that need solving. Minority
Report has the flashy future tech and Blindspot has the tattooed
mystery that is Jane Doe. Limitless, however, has the weakest get
of the bunch if you ask me.
What's a get? Simple, that thing
that will get you to watch week after week, appointment viewing. At
first I thought Minority Report had the weakest get as Agatha's
vision does not readily cause me to care from one week to the next.
But on second thought, Limitless is the show that has the least
weekly attraction. For one, the cases are good and I would rate them
better than Minority Report's which don't push the mind and only have
the draw of the future and Dash's visions to wow the viewer. But
Limitless flounders solely on the concept in the digital age.
To explain, each season we are hit with
at least half a dozen to a dozen new procedural shows each with their
own detective that is so well-versed and knowledgeable in his or her
field that you know the writers just spent half of their day looking
up bizarre and out of the box factoids that have no other use except
as cocktail conversation at a dinner party where you're trying to
look sophisticated and intelligent (funny side note: I actually knew
about the Genghis Khan gene indicator used in the second episode to
create a personalized viral strain). Geniuses populate our airwaves.
In order to not seem so pedestrian in the midst of shows like
Sherlock Holmes, The Mentalist, Blindspot, Scorpion, Minority Report,
Sleepy Hollow, Bones and a few others, many of these shows have to
adopt a specialized trait. Limitless has no real trait.
This is his FBI partner by the way.
What? But what about the NZT thing?
First off, some fans might have objection to the fact that the show
is tacitly making taking drugs and getting high cool, and that the
only way to not die from that drug is to take another drug. I'm sure
somebody over at CBS thought of this faux pas which is why it ended
up on CBS at 10pm on Tuesdays as opposed to 9 or even 8 because it
has no graphic gore, sexual activity or crude language to garner such
a late time-slot (though that could change). But also, the fact that
the pill makes him the genius is the crux of the show. In all the
other shows, the character already possesses such mental ability but
has some other unique trait about them that acts as the draw. Ichabod
is a man out of time in Sleepy Hollow. Jane Doe is a girl who can't
remember her life in Blindspot. A group of socially inept nerds are
smashed together in Scorpion. Take NZT away and Brian is nothing.
Sure that can be the draw but there is
a stated contract with the viewers that he will receive the pill at
least the majority of the show's run, making him nothing special if
he doesn't have to solve crimes without his aid. Even superheroes
have more complications in life than this. He gets his brains handed
to him on a daily basis--nothing special.
What's my grade? Unfortunately, I have
to give it a C. It's average. I'll probably keep watching it but by
the time the sixth episode rolls around I won't be surprised if I've
forgotten to record it once or twice and shrugged it off. Some shows
I have to see every week. And despite Jake McDorman reconnecting with
his Manhattan Love Story costar from ABC's failed rom-com series last
year, Analeigh Tipton, I could only halfway care about the third
episode (and isn't that some kind of bad juju to have a costar from a
show that lasted only 3 episodes appear on your new show?). That's
also taking into account the fact that they have two black guys--one
from the first Resident Evil film and one from last year's
Constantine--that I thought truly were the same guy both on the show.
Blew my mind; yes, they're black; yes, I felt ashamed of myself.
Should you be watching it? If you are
just looking for another crime show now that the original CSI is
done, and you want something a little more sophisticated than the
NYPD, and you don't mind a few laughs or a few missed jokes like on
the TV show Castle, then go for it. For everyone else, I'd say no. I
wish it was more special.
What do you think? Am I wrong and this
show is the most intelligent crime show on TV right now? Are you on
the edge of your seat thinking about what might next happen to Brian
if he doesn't get the NZT or the shot? Have you even watched the show
yet? If so, what do you think Bradley Cooper's character's motives
are? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments
button to comment).
As
always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for
Halloween scares
check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen).
For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check
out #TheWriter.
The final episode of season one of The Writer is OUT NOW. Ahh! That’s
right, all 15 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon.
Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and
follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “you're on the verge
of living a life most people could only dream of.”
P.S. Bradley Cooper in his most
Morpheus-like role he's ever played and I don't even know if I'll
continue watching it. I really like the music thought. I'll keep
thinking of a good universal sign-off.
The Leaves Are About To Turn Any Day,
The Weather Is Getting Cooler And Hipsters Are Explaining Their
Thesis On Why They Cut The Cord. Brace Yourselves People, It’s Fall
Premiere Week! #PremiereWeek
Picture courtesy of the 2015 Emmys
Ahhh! I am so excited! As I said in an
earlier post, I am back after my summer hiatus to blog and chat with
you about TV with a few movies, books, cooking recipes and pop
culture chat sprinkled in, and did I mention the season 1 finale of my
episodic novella series The Writer (#TheWriter) will be releasing
this Friday? Check it out and catch up on the entire season over at
Amazon. So, with the season premiering, we have a lot to discuss on
TV concerning shows both old and new. Let’s begin, shall we.
Dang it! What should I do first,
people: the old school returnees or the new class of shows? Since
you’re already familiar with the old school, let’s go over the new class (at least the one’s I’m interested in watching).
Out of the over 100 new shows slated
for the 2015-2016 season, CBS seems to have the fewest among the
major channels. This probably stems from the fact that they rarely
seem to cancel anything and still have the blob/goo monster that is
the CSI franchise dominating their network. Speaking of which, it is
slated to have a full season of CSI: Cyber which premiered back in
March. I am not interested in that show unfortunately (or maybe it is
fortunate. Frees up time). The two CBS shows I am interested in are:
Limitless and Supergirl.
Since Supergirl won’t be premiering
until October 28th (what? First they make us wait a year
for Batman v. Superman, then they push Supergirl back to 3 days
before Halloween? Not cool, Warner Bros.), I’ll focus currently on
Limitless.
Picture courtesy of CBS and IGN
Based on the film starring Bradley Cooper, Limitless
follows Brian Sinclair, an average Joe who, like Cooper’s
character, winds up with a super pill that makes him a genius while
he’s on it (think Meth except... well, nothing like Meth. Never
mind). The question for the show, just like for the movie, will be:
what will he do with this power? Do I feel an Uncle Ben reference
coming on? Huh? Is he going to turn into Spider-man? Hey, don’t
criticize my humor and wild assumptions. If you’ve seen the trailer
for the show, you’d know that he has a little fire escape stunt
that seems very familiar to a certain web slinger.
Why I’m Interested:
A sequel of sorts to the movie, Bradley
Cooper’s character will appear in the show from time to time I
guess as a sort of Mr. Miyagi to Brian. In a dual role, he’ll also
serve as a producer to help this thing succeed. As a huge Alias fan
back in the day, I am excited to finally see his return to TV even if
it is only a pop-in every so often.
Aside from that, I find the premise
enticing in that its not your typical genius or typical everyman but
a hybrid mixture of both, whose “powers” fluctuate in and out
depending on how often he takes the pill. Also, in the movie there
was a big deal made about how he’d have to keep taking the pills or
possibly die, so... that’s always fun. And it’s got Jennifer
Carpenter in it whom I have secretly crushed on since she played
Emily Rose during that exorcism movie—not the really famous one,
but the other lesser famous one. No, not that one either, but the
other one. I ain’t got time, look it up.
Hopefully, this can take the procedural
buddy cop show love affair that TV has enjoyed since Moonlighting
(and even earlier), and add a new flair to the case of the week
premise.
Moving ON!
FOX
Speaking of TV series serving as
sequels to films, Fox has Minority Report premiering this week.
“What? But wait, what about the rest of the shows on CBS?” Sadly,
I’ve never been a big fan of most CBS shows, therefore, I’m not
interested in watching Angel From Hell, Code Black or Life In Pieces.
Check back in January for my decision on Rush Hour.
Back to Fox. With a plethora of new
shows, Minority Report looks to be an interesting sci-fi addition to
the network. After quick cancellations of shows like Almost Human,
and the horrific failure that was Utopia, along with a slew of other
bad comedies and some not oft-watched comedies (I’m lookin’ at
you Mindy Project), Fox wants to invest in some of the bigger names
this season.
Starting with Minority Report, they’ll
feed off the fact that it was a Spielberg-directed Tom Cruise-starrer
that drew enough of a fanbase to earn a 7.7 IMDb rating even 14 years
after its release. Spielberg is back, though only as an executive
producer.
Starring Meagan Good as Lara Vega and
Stark Sands as Dash, these two team together to fight crime as Dash,
a pre-cog who can see crimes before they happen seeks to fit into
society as a normal person. If you know anything from the movie,
apparently Dash is the weakest pre-cog of the three used and is now
an adult living in an era where what he used to do as a child is now
illegal. Pre-crime, or arresting someone on a crime they haven’t
yet, but will in the future commit is his everyday reality. Where as
Brian is Spider-man, Dash is Kitty Pryde or Jean Grey from X-Men. You
sneaky shows you, having superheroes without capes and cowls.
Why I’m Interested?
OK, there’s a lot here. To begin, the
movie focused a bright light on not just the imperfect system of the
pre-cogs and what they see, but also on the questionable morality of
this new way of stopping crime. Now that it’s illegal or at least
frowned upon, will that give this show an outlaw/vigilantism feel a
la Batman? Will we want to root for Dash and his female cop friend
for stopping the crimes even if people aren’t given the opportunity
to change their mind and not commit the crime? Or will the show gloss
over those things in favor of buddy cop shenanigans similar to Castle
(I love Castle)?
Admittedly, fans should be leery as Fox
has a habit of quickly axing sci-fi or anything they feel will push
their budget to capacity. On the bright side, they’ve put this in a
prime spot on Mondays paired with the strong Gotham returning for its
second season. We’ll see how much of the futuristic technology they
can incorporate.
Staying on Fox, Tuesdays will be packed
with new shows to fill the slot left by the annexing of the Mindy
Project. They’ll start with Grandfathered, headlined by Uncle
Jesse—uh, I mean, John Stamos, and that fat kid that turned out to
be Hollywood heartthrob hot (so I’ve been told by women), Josh
Peck. Basically, a guy’s life is flipped upside-down when an
illegitimate son shows up and tells him that he is also a
grandfather. I am only hot and cold on this show as I haven’t seen
enough advertisements about it, but I’ll tune in for the first
three episodes when they premiere next week.
After that, they have the Grinder,
starring Ben Savage and Rob Lowe, a show I know even less about
outside of the fact that they’re lawyers in a small town. Someone
mentioned a big fish in a small pond thing and it got me thinking
about Robert Downey Jr.’s The Judge—probably not a good
comparison. I feel the same about it as I do about Grandfathered.
I’ll give it the first three episodes, but I can’t say I don’t
see my interest already fizzling.
But then we go from the “eh!”
category back to, “I’ve got to see this!” Filling out the rest
of Tuesday is Scream Queens (not to be confused with the VH1 reality
series from near a decade ago). You want young starlets? They got
Emma Roberts, Keke Palmer (#Keeks), Lea Michele and Abigail Breslin.
You want older stars? They got Jamie Lee Curtis and Niecy Nash. You
want blood, guts, mayhem and all-around bitchiness? Who-hoooo-hooa!
They got that. Scream Queens is set to follow a new year at Wallace
University’s most popular Sorority house. After an unfortunate
death rocked the campus 20 years ago, a sudden and new string of
murders has come to grip the campus again.
Why I’m Interested?
From Ryan Murphy, creator of Amerian
Horror Story (a favorite) and Glee (never quite got into it) and
Nip/Tuck (loved the first two seasons then it fizzled), comes this
little comedy horror gem (fingers crossed, here’s hopin’!) that,
from what I’ve read will be another anthology series such as AHS
but highly toned down in gore for network TV. I’m also excited to
see it because I recently released my own horror revolving around
sorority house horror entitled DARKER (#DARKER) currently out on
Amazon. Much less humor, I’d like to see what commonalities we’ll
have. And I’m always up for a good scare.
Next, we have Rosewood on Wednesdays
which will have Empire as the follow-up in its sophomore season. More
on that later. What about Rosewood? Well, I’m not really that
jazzed about this show. Starring Morris Chestnut, who I highly enjoy
in many of his movies, it’s a show about a pathologist who works
with the police a lot. The crux or draw to get you to watch: he’s
extremely close to death because of a rare birth defect with his
heart. To that, I react with this:
Yeah, it seems just like another
run-of-the-mill procedural cop show and with Minority Report and
Limitless already on my new show card, not to mention the returning
favorites, I’m not that excited about another case-of-the-week
drama. While I’d love to support more minorities in good roles, I
don’t see myself tuning into this until my mid-season slump/hunt to
see if I missed something good.
Moving on!
Fox Thursdays is pretty much old hat,
bringing back two old favorites in Bones and Sleepy Hollow. While I
completely hate the move of Sleepy to Thursdays (yes, put all the
black shows/female dominated shows on Thursdays as if Grey’s,
Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder and The Blacklist weren’t
already enough), I do thank God and the creator of DVR almost
everyday.
Fox Fridays will be a sort of shuffle
day. They will start with returning shows Master Chef and World’s
Funniest and throw whatever reruns tickle their fancy into those
slots whenever desired. And, of course, Saturday is sports and Sunday
is Animation Domination (yes, I still call it that even though Last
Man on Earth is coming back along with Brooklyn-9-9). Unfortunately,
I stopped watching most of that stuff long ago and only tune into
Bob’s Burgers occasionally because I love the awkwardness of that
family.
To sum up Fox, they seem to be playing
fairly safe with their new shows banking on the cache of certain
names or certain races of people (hint, hint every night has black
people). However, it should be of note that Fox has always skewed
both younger and/or more ethnically diverse ever since the days of In
Living Color, so not much surprise there.
CW
Speaking of younger skewing, next up is
the CW—the dreaded Marcia of the Network TV Brady Bunch. Awkward
and gawkish, the CW will continue to stay true to itself and see many
returning shows including, The Flash, iZombie, Jane the Virgin,
Arrow, Supernatural and a slew of others. Note that I only actually
watch one show on CW which is The Flash—I came into Arrow too late
for me to really enjoy it and don’t have time to catch up with it.
The good news about the CW is that just about all of its shows are
returning, so congratulations to the shows that got viewers to
believe in them. The bad news is that because of all the returns of
hour-long dramas and comedies, most of their new shows won’t
premiere until mid-season or as a replacement of something that gets
unexpectedly canceled. The even worse news is that the only show they
do have coming out new is the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend which I will
have to do a completely separate post on. Why? Because from the
trailers and commercials I’ve seen of the show, it sounds a lot
like my new book, “Yep, I’m Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend”
slated to come out in early October. I don’t know if I’ll watch
this show yet but wait for a post maybe in a week or two talking
about it more in depth as well as my book and why it matters that
they look so similar.
As for the mid-season shows, again,
wait until January.
Pasar!
NBC
Next, we have NBC. Where to begin with
NBC? They have a slew of shows which are new and look good/are
possible rip-offs of other things, and I cannot wait to see all the
knock-off glory.
They start their Mondays with an old
stand-by, The Voice. You know, that’s the one where the people sing
and there’s the chairs and, uh... like... some other stuff.
Competition! They move into their new show Blindspot at 10pm.
Starring Jaimie Alexander—the
non-Wonder Woman, who should have been Wonder Woman who, instead,
played Lady Sif in Thor—as a tatted-up Jane Doe found in a bag in
the middle of Times Squares (Fabo from D4L would be proud; it’s an
obscure rap reference. I ain’t got time, look it up!). She doesn’t
know who she is or why she’s there but the tattoos are not just
clues to crimes, but tell a story of who she is and her connection to
the FBI agent who has been put in charge of her mystery. A lady
Bourne Identity which was just a more specialized version of Dominic
Purcell’s 2002 show John Doe, this will see the lovely Ms.
Alexander as a kick-butt enigma knowing stuff but not knowing why. A
mystery wrapped in a mystery, topped with a bubbling layer of
cheese... and more mystery, this is sure to keep me guessing for at
least as long as Red’s real identity on The Blacklist did.
Why I’m interested?
Oh! I guess I already explained that,
didn’t I? Did I say that Jaimie Alexander is one of the 252
Hollywood women that I have a crush on and wouldn’t mind having
babies with? I did say that? When? Just now? Gotcha! You readers are
tricky.
Passer!
Tuesdays will see more of The Voice
followed by new shows Chicago Med and Best Time Ever with the
returning Chicago Fire coming back in November to replace the latter
show. While I am highly interested in the city of Chicago right now
(“Yep, I’m totally stalking my Ex-Boyfriend” is set there), I
haven’t watched any of the Chicago shows and am just not that
interested in another medical show. Sorry, Chicago Med, I’m
probably not going to watch you.
Best Time ever will also most likely
get the cold shoulder as variety shows of this nature seem more
YouTube clip-worthy than having me devote a full hour to view it.
Wednesdays will also be filled with
returning shows, including a second season for the Mysteries of
Laura, which I will be watching, and Law and Order SVU which I dabble
in. Chicago P.D. Will end the night.
Then on Thursday is when things get
interesting with two new shows sandwiching The Blacklist into the 9pm
time slot (still don’t like it because it’s against Scandal, but
it did alright there last year and my DVR came in handy). Up first,
they’ll start the night with Heroes Reborn.
To start, I am surprised that NBC
didn’t go for the kill ABC trifecta and switch Heroes Reborn to 9pm
on Tuesday to go against Agents of SHIELD or move it all the way to
Mondays at 10 (the first incarnations original slot) to go against
CBS’s Supergirl come late October. If they had moved it to Tuesdays
against SHIELD and moved Chicago Med to Thursdays, they could have an
almost exact copycat night with ABC.
I digress. Heroes Reborn brings a
renewed spin to the original show in which people were given
superpowers because of some moon/sun eclipse thingy. As with most
things involving superpowered people, it will be dealing with those
who have the powers and those who want to destroy them, or capture
them or do other such terrible things with them. The thing working
against it is that, unlike Marvel’s shows, CW’s superhero
universe, and even DC shows on Fox and CBS, Heroes Reborn neither has
anything to connect it to something else nor does it really have a
rich and long-standing source material. This may have been one of the
reasons it originally got canceled. With the influx of superheroes
now, it is hard to say whether this can stand above the rest of the
crowd.
Why I’m Interested?
OK, by now fans of the original Heroes
show can probably tell I wasn’t much of a fan the first time around
(moon/sun eclipse thingy? Come on, Michael, do your research). You
have to remember that the first one came out back before comic book
adaptation hysteria kicked into overdrive. If felt too much like
X-Men and I was never fully into X-Men. This time, I’m giving it a
chance simply based off the fact that there was such fan support for
it that NBC saw fit to bring it back. That doesn’t happen often,
which means (it better mean!) that there was something good I just
missed the first time around. We’ll see.
As said, The Blacklist follows that,
but then another new show entitled The Player will air. Probably my
most intriguing show of the fall, The Player looks similar to a TV
idea I had way back in the 90s (maybe one day I’ll get to make it)
entitled The Game. This rendition sees Wesley Snipes in all his
Wesley Snipes-black glory returning to someplace other than prison
for IRS and tax fraud. Ha ha ha! #TheShadeIsReal! But seriously, he
doesn’t stray too far from the criminal element as he plays a
broker/game executor who oversees a high-stakes gambling arena where
the super wealthy gamble on crime. Yeah! Crazy, right? It totally
just blew your mind and then you shrugged and said, “eh! I could
actually see that happening.” Now you’re thinkin’, “holy
crap! How is he readin’ my mind?” Hey, it’s just how I roll.
Philip Winchester will play the titular
character who will be forced to complete complex tasks and stop
crimes, while people bet on his ability to accomplish such charges.
Forget figuring out How To Get Away With Murder, he’ll have to
figure out how to save a life, who shot the sheriff, and who’s that
lady week after week. It’s... just... a lot.
Why I’m interested?
Well, I finally get to see Wesley
Snipes on TV—always been a very specific dream of mine. I also like
the concept of the show as it will surely be challenging morally and
seems to have a very Liam Neeson’s Taken kind of feel to it. If it
can keep the intensity and pace each week while building up to a
climax that would see the Player confronting this group of super
wealthy people, I’m all in.
Then, in a strange and unconventional
twist, NBC has decided to put two comedies on Friday after having
abandoned their Must See Thursdays TV slogan they had back since
Seinfeld first premiered, maybe longer than that. To add to the
weirdness, their first comedy will be the returning Undateable, which
I never watched but heard great stuff about. But, in a Drew Carey
late 90s early 2000s spin on things, Undateable will be live... all
season. Teh! Yeah, take that in for a moment. Not that live
television is anything new, but the insignia of “live” is usually
saved these days for award shows and reality competitions, or at the
very least variety shows where flubs and mistakes from the script can
actually endear us to an actor more (Hi, Jimmy Fallon!). Doing this
with a scripted sitcom for longer than two episodes is a big risk,
which could either pay off in massive dividends or crash and burn the
sophomore comedy. Either way, well played Undateable. I am now
intrigued to see where this is going.
The same can’t be said about the one
new show on Fridays, Truth Be Told. Starring Saved By The Bell blonde
kid not playing Saved By The Bell blonde kid (Mark Paul Gosselaar for
you lames) and black bailiff from the highly underrated and even more
under-watched Bad Judge, this show is about... uh... Well, there’s
these two married guys and they... um... I’m sorry, is this a new
age version of Seinfeld? I can’t for the life of me figure out what
the hell this show is really about. It’s not about people falling
in love. It’s not about a modern family. It’s not really about a
group of friends struggling to be single in the big city either. So
what the heck are they doing? A tee-hee, I don’t know but Vanessa
Lachey is on it, so... that’s somethin’.
NBC rounds out the night with Grimm (my
fave) and their usual Dateline which then oozes over into both
Saturday’s and Sunday’s schedule when football isn’t on. From
the list of shows, it seems like NBC is trying to at least appeal to
the current trend of superheroes, as well as inject some more
minorities into their line-up with The Player, Truth Be Told and
Chicago Med. Baby steps.
ABC
And Finally, we have ABC. Oh, ABC, my
beloved. What shows shall you enamor me with this season only to
cancel them before I’ve had time to truly enjoy the bounty of their
stories and the richness of their characters? Why do I return to you,
my love, when ill-will and scars remaining from shows taken before
their time are fated between us? What new heights shall I soar to on
the back of twisty, turning good shows? What unforeseen and
unmitigated depths shall I sink when a show I’ve long anticipated
turns out to be terrible and bland? Only time shall tell, I suppose.
We begin with Mondays slate of shows.
Two old familiars return with Dancing With The Stars #DWTS already
started and Castle (#Castle) premiering tonight. For what it’s
worth I so enjoy both shows but can see how some fans have tired on
both of them. I mean, how long can people make the life of a writer
interesting, am I right? Oh, wait...
Tuesday is where we see our first drop
of new blood, though, technically its just old blood but with a new
and tighter face. The Muppets, after making their movie return a few
years back, return to the small screen and boy is it looking to be
controversial for the first few episodes as news broke earlier this
summer about Kermit and Ms. Piggy breaking up. OK, honestly I am
probably not going to watch the show but, come on, who didn’t see
the two of them breaking up? It’s been how many years he’s been
hoppin’ on that and he hasn’t put a ring on it yet to make her a
Mrs. (that was a little dirty wasn’t it)? With all joking aside,
it’ll be in the half hour time slot right before sophomore comedy
Fresh Off The Boat. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD is holding steady in
its third season at 9pm as mentioned before while ABC will slot a new
show at 10pm. The new show, Wicked City won’t start until October
after a few weeks of Beyond The Tank, but I’ll talk about it here
as it is supposed to start soon enough.
Admittedly, I haven’t seen or read
much about Wicked City. It doesn’t seem to be that hyped of a show
by the network which is generally a bad sign, but I’ll tune in for
the first three anyway. What’s looking like it could be an
anthology series in the vein of American Crime, it is a modern period
piece set in 1982 LA where music and hard drugs mingle into murder
and mystery. It has a few recognizable names to it if you watch
enough TV/Film like Ed Westwick and Taissa Farmiga, but other than
that it seems to be a big mystery.
Why I’m Interested?
Again, I’m not stoked to see
it but I will tune in as it promises to be a harder, darker-toned
look at crime that will break from the normal cop procedural symptoms
and look at the crimes from all sides like American Crime did. That
is not to say I was enthralled with American Crime but found it
decent for network TV.
Bewegen auf!
Wednesday stays completely the same for
now with every single sitcom coming back and the night ending with
Nashville. Of course, viewers will look forward to ABC’s click and
news-cycle baiting Black-ish premiere that will highlight the use of
the dreaded N-word. To that I say, I enjoy watching Nashville.
Onward to Thursday, which also will see
a seismic shift in absolutely none of its programming. The same
line-up of Grey’s (I wrote something up on that, concerning Ellen
Pompeo’s comments earlier this summer), Scandal (prepare thyself
#gladiators #Scandal) and How To Get Away With Murder. With the
latter going into its second season, each show has proven to be a
ratings juggernaut on Thursdays as compared against NFL numbers.
We’ll see how viewers and Grey’s core fans respond to the
aftermath of the whole Derek fiasco.
Friday also doesn’t show much new
programming as ABC is still trying to rebuild its TGIF of the 90s
with Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing starting the night. While I
thought Reba McEntire’s Malibu Country from, like, two years ago
was a worthy coupling to Tim’s zany aging white man troupe, the
network has decided to add a middle-aged Asian man and his family to
the mix.
Coming to 8:30pm ABC Fridays is Dr.
Ken, replacing last season’s Cristela which felt like it would have
gone great with CW’s Jane the Virgin if made into a one-camera
format. Dr. Ken will follow popular “that one Asian guy in that
funny movie” actor Ken Jeong as he brings a funnier, fantasized
version of his real life before fame when he was just a lowly
super-educated doctor. A “what could have been” look at his life,
it’ll be your standard family sitcom focused on upwardly mobile
Americans.
Why I’m Interested?
Well, out of all the new shows coming
out, I am probably the most mixed about this one. From one vantage
point, I really want to see this to see if Ken Jeong’s humor not
only translates well back to TV (he’s been a little dirtier in the
films and was only a tertiary character on Community) but also to see
if he’ll be able to adequately play both the straight man and the
set-up guy as is generally required in sitcoms. On the other hand, I
feel this show doesn’t have the full network backing as it is being
placed in a black hole of a slot. See, I feel like if ABC is going to
bring back TGIF—as they already have TGIT—then go all out with
it. Move one of the successful Wednesday sitcoms to Friday after Tim,
move Fresh Off The Boat and The Muppets also so that you can then
have Shark Tank earlier in the week. By toe-dipping, they make me
think they don’t have faith in the property.
Saturdays will stay open for films,
sports and specials as usual, but Sundays will see the rise of two
new shows. Just like Last Man Standing, ABC execs have been looking
for something to compliment Once Upon A Time (#OUAT) and Revenge. Now
that Revenge has been served... its walking papers, only OUAT remains
with America’s Funniest Home Videos still in the 7pm spot for those
that watch it. While AFV will have new host Alfonso Ribeiro, he will
not be the only new, black addition.
That’s right, they’re adding black
gold, oil to be precise. At 9pm will follow probably my third most
anticipated show of the fall, Blood and Oil. Centered around a young
couple that travel to North Dakota to strike it rich in oil, and the
preying family they intersect with on their search for riches, this
is bound to be a twisty, turny, backstabbing soap drama that has been
missing since the first season of Revenge (though I enjoyed all 4
seasons). With Don Johnson attached as the baron, rich guy standing
in the way of the young couple’s hustle, I am highly intrigued.
Why I’m Interested?
For the past few years, I have been
watching Dynasty on DVD. One of the two shows to drive the 80s wild
with its opulence, high fashion and over-the-top catfights—sorry,
lady quarrels—it showed that rich people could be just as
deceptive, mean, conniving and cutthroat as the people at the bottom,
they just look better doing it. That, coupled with Dallas, ignited a
need for the nighttime soap outside of procedurals and doctor shows.
If Blood and Oil can channel even a hint of those shows or the modern
day Dynasty (Empire), I’m in for at least half a season. It’s
lily whiteness will not be a problem for me.
Speaking of the whitest show we know,
ABC made an interesting choice following Blood and Oil up with
Quantico. Let me just get my TV exec playing hat out for a second and
say that from everything I’ve seen so far of Quantico, it feels
more like a Tuesday at 10pm show to me for ABC. Listen, if you watch
enough TV and tune yourself into the mood of networks and of the
viewing people, you can tell that some shows should air on certain
days of the week. Quantico finishing off the Sunday schedule doesn’t
seem like a brilliant choice as it looks a little too involved
plot-wise for viewers winding down their weekend and looking to focus
on work the next day. Then again, AMC had Breaking Bad and HBO has
Game of Thrones and True Detectives but it should be noted that those
shows were either in the summer or had far shorter seasons than what
is expected of Quantico. The only way I see this being a good day for
it is if it brings back memories of Alias. But again, I digress.
Quantico, led by the gorgeous Priyanka
Chopra, will follow a new class of recruits to the FBI’s famed
Quantico training facility. You’ll see them grow and becoming the
agents they will be in the future. Then (and this is where a full
season of this might make some viewers weary on Sunday nights), the
show will hit us with a dual narrative as we jump forward in time to
see that one of the recruits has pulled off “the biggest terrorist
attack on US soil since 9/11.” Gasp! Yeah, I know. Similar to
HTGAWM, you’ll spend much of the season trying to figure out who it
is while also getting wrapped up in the romance drama.
Why I’m Interested?
For one, it shows that the networks are
reaching out so far into diversity now that they’ve actually put an
Indian woman as the lead on a show. For that, I applaud them,
especially knowing that at some point a great deal of viewers will
mistake her for Middle-Eastern. I am also interested in the whodunnit
aspect of the show as this will cause me to hate everybody and nobody
at the same time. Paradoxical! And if it does end up having parallels
with Alias, I’m all for that as well. The one thing I don’t want
is for it to become another FlashForward in which the action slows
down to such a crawl mid-season when things are supposed to be
getting more intense that the writers suddenly have no plans for
season two and leave everything too tidy while not solving the main
mystery. Solve the main mystery of who did it, but in doing that,
present us with a secondary mystery for next season.
Well, there it is. There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. A very long post, for a very long season ahead
of us beginning later on tonight. So, what new shows are you eager to
see? What old shows are you going to tune in for? Are there some old
shows that you’ve finally given up on in favor of that new hussy?
Or are you upset that your new show isn’t listed and isn’t coming
on until later in the season? Don't be afraid to include any new cable shows you think are going to be amazing. I need to know your thoughts. I need to know them now! Questions, comments and, more comments
down below.
As always, check out my books on Amazon
(if you’re looking for Halloween scares check A Furious Wind, DARKER,
Brand New Home or The Power of TEN. For those interested in something a little more
dramatic, check out The Writer. The final episode of season one of
The Writer is coming this Friday. All other 14 episodes are out now
available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about
books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.
Until next time, “I watched every
show! Every single episode. I’m all caught up and I feel superb! I
watched every show.”
P.S. Sure, my sign off just happened to
be lines from Andy Samberg’s Emmys opening last night. So! It still
applies to me. Come on ask me anything? Actually, don’t ask me
about The Walking Dead... or Fear The Walking Dead... or True
Detective... or what happened on Big Brother. Crap! I gotta go see if
Mr. Samberg has room in his Under The Dome/Lost dungeon hatch.
