Part 1
Part 2
Today, I'm review two sitcoms based off annoying premises and one show based off a superhero. So that's apparently not a great start. However, the superhero show is genuinely good and the annoying premise pilots aren't as bad as you'd expect!
The Flash
Well, this show is fun. I'll admit I'm kind of burned out on the superheroes, a trend that doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. But The Flash has a different tone than the other superhero shows. Besides Nolan's films and The Avengers, the films are at best mediocre and worst boring. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is simply uninteresting. Gotham doesn't really know what it's doing. (I have not seen Arrow, which may be the exception and I've in fact heard it is)
Welcome to The Flash. This show is immediately good. The pilot gives us the origin story plus a villain plus introduces us to all the characters so obviously this episode is rushed. But it sure as hell acknowledges how fun being The Flash would be. Grant Gustin is well-cast as the lead playing The Flash in a "Wow is this really happening to me? Awesome" way. Which not enough superhero projects do because the seems like the natural response.
The early returns on the supporting cast are promising. Law and Order vet Jesse L. Martin has something not many actors can claim about their roles and that is 10 years experience of being a cop on TV. Tom Cavanagh is good as the genius scientist who probably is hiding something. And I already like both Danielle Panabaker and Carlos Valdes as the scientists who presumably will help Flash along the way.
Another cool thing is that the origin story seems to be directly tied to how exactly so many supernatural villains will pop up in the future. He got struck by lightning, but other people were also affected including the villain this week. Overall, I'd highly recommend this show even to anybody feeling burnt out by superhero shows.
Verdict: Absolutely watch
Grade: A-
Marry Me
Unfortunately, a sitcom nowadays a sitcom needs to have some sort of hook to its pilot to distinguish itself from every other sitcom. This one, for mostly worse, is that the two leads cannot seem to get engaged to each other. Like both want to get married, but hey something keeps getting in the way! Because that's how life works I guess. (To be fair, it's based on creator David Caspe and Casey Wilson's attempts in real life so I guess it does work like that).
With that said, I really liked this show. Casey Wilson is the star of the pilot making a character who demands to be married now likable. She basically screams at Jake (Ken Marino) for a solid three minutes while he's down on one knee trying to propose to her. She's screaming about how she can't believed he hasn't proposed yet. So you can see the challenge, but Wilson somehow pulls it off.
Ken Marino isn't playing a Ken Marino character, which is strange. I'm sure he'll get crazier as the show goes on, but in this first episode he's normal. There's also Tim Meadows in this as Wilson's gay dad (she has two gay dads). Meadows doesn't get anything to do in the pilot, but he's IN this show so there's a reason worth watching in the future. The show looks promising.
Grade - B+
Verdict: Watch
Selfie
I did not expect to be reviewing this show, but next thing I know I'm watching an episode of Selfie. I mistakenly watched the third episode of this show instead of the pilot. I really don't think that makes much of a difference, and in fact could help a show with a premise like this.
I'm not sure I can get into this show. For one, I just don't find it all that funny. Then there's the obvious fact that this show will be sooo dated in 10 years. I suppose that's an invalid criticism of a show in the present, but it's always in the back of my mind with most of the jokes. The show almost survives solely on the acting ability of Karen Gillan and John Cho, but I'll be cautiously waiting for this show to get good - if that ever happens - instead of watching it while it airs.
But this show is nowhere near as bad as you would expect gathering from the title so there's that.
Grade - C+
Verdict: Safely skip
Playlist
1. "Forgive & Forget" - The Kooks
2. "Fame" - David Bowie
3. "Run the Jewels" - Run the Jewels
4. "A Hard Day's Night" - The Beatles
5. "Fantasy" - Breakbot feat. Ruckazoid
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Rewind: The West Wing S1
I'll start this review with a necessary disclaimer: I don't like Aaron Sorkin dialogue all that much. I'm not really a fan of the style personally. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it is that annoys me: the overly fast talking, the constant repeating of words, and the nearly always moving camera. I guess I don't mind the fast talking really: I mean I've never seen people talk so fast in my life, but given the setting I can accept that. The camera usually works and is creative, although sometimes I consider it a bit of a distraction.
There's something about how he constantly has characters saying something, the opposing character repeating that line, and then the original character repeating it back and so on in some cases. Who does that? It probably wouldn't bother me as much if he didn't use it - oh - every single episode. I'm not even sure I'm exaggerating. So anyway, I felt it necessary to point out that I'm not really an Aaron Sorkin fan.
I feel the same way about The West Wing's first season as I did about Sports Night: a weird state of neither disliking a show or really liking it that much. Both shows had great casts and good writing that I nonetheless had to struggle to watch. It's not that I disliked the episodes - I just had very little desire to watch a new episode. At the end of the episode, I'd leave pleased, but not overly so and with little desire to watch the next one.
Even as I say that, I can also say there is not a single bad episode in the first season. I would argue the show didn't really surpass it's B+ to B range - and I'm positive people would disagree with me on this - until the latter half of the season. On episode nineteen, I was slightly converted to this show and every successive episode seem to build on that. The finale had a hell of a twist and I could leave the first season optimistic as I've ever been about the show.
The West Wing is both made for me and not made for me at all. In terms of politics, I probably hold every viewpoint that the Bartlett administration does. However, I'm also not into politics. I'm not apathetic, but averse to politics in general. I can't honestly follow along if I don't believe a word anybody is trying to sell me. So what I'm saying is that I'm not passionate about politics which seems to be helpful in loving this show.
You're probably wondering why I kept watching the show if I couldn't muster up any feelings about it for the longest time. The answer is simple: the cast is phenomenal. It's difficult to single out any one performer as pretty much all of them are fantastic. Bradley Whitford is probably the break-out star of the first season. But that's being a little unfair to Rob Lowe, who basically reinvented his career with The West Wing... but that's being unfair to Martin Sheen and well you get the idea.
Don't think I forgot about John Spencer or Allison Janney, who both create fully-formed sympathetic character. Richard Schiff is sort of underrated among this cast as his character first appears one-note, but soon becomes an actual character. Lest I forget, Dule Hill is extremely underutilized, but when he does get a noteworthy scene, he knocks it out of the park. (I'm a Psych fan so perhaps I'm biased on this one)
The one exception to this wonderful cast is Moira Kelly, who I'm not sure is to blame. She's poorly written at first, then underwritten, and by the end basically disappears. Sorkin has a lot of strengths as a writer, but writing women is not one of them. Speaking of which, by far my least favorite part of this show is the potential, hinted, or actual romances. Sorkin is TERRIBLE at writing those scenes. I'm probably alone on this, but I don't like the hinting of a potential relationship between Josh and Donna. But since it's really obvious it's going to happen, I guess I better just deal with it or hope it gets better.
Lastly, for those of you wondering, I did happen to continue onto the next season for just the two-parter and if that episode is any indication, the second season will get a way better outlook from myself. Because that episode is the best in the show's run so far in my viewing.
I'll preemptively explain my grade and say that my feelings toward the first eighteen episodes would warrant a C+, but I'd push that up to a B purely because of the acting and writing. The last four episodes naturally elevated that grade. Which is to say that this was an above average season of television that took a little longer than normal to click for me.
Grade - B+
Playlist
1. "14th of July" - Shout Out Louds
2. "Hunger of the Pine" - alt-J
3. "Get Me Golden" - Terraplane Sun
4. "Astronomy (8th Light)" - Black Star
5. "She Bad" - Bad Rabbits
There's something about how he constantly has characters saying something, the opposing character repeating that line, and then the original character repeating it back and so on in some cases. Who does that? It probably wouldn't bother me as much if he didn't use it - oh - every single episode. I'm not even sure I'm exaggerating. So anyway, I felt it necessary to point out that I'm not really an Aaron Sorkin fan.
I feel the same way about The West Wing's first season as I did about Sports Night: a weird state of neither disliking a show or really liking it that much. Both shows had great casts and good writing that I nonetheless had to struggle to watch. It's not that I disliked the episodes - I just had very little desire to watch a new episode. At the end of the episode, I'd leave pleased, but not overly so and with little desire to watch the next one.
Even as I say that, I can also say there is not a single bad episode in the first season. I would argue the show didn't really surpass it's B+ to B range - and I'm positive people would disagree with me on this - until the latter half of the season. On episode nineteen, I was slightly converted to this show and every successive episode seem to build on that. The finale had a hell of a twist and I could leave the first season optimistic as I've ever been about the show.
The West Wing is both made for me and not made for me at all. In terms of politics, I probably hold every viewpoint that the Bartlett administration does. However, I'm also not into politics. I'm not apathetic, but averse to politics in general. I can't honestly follow along if I don't believe a word anybody is trying to sell me. So what I'm saying is that I'm not passionate about politics which seems to be helpful in loving this show.
You're probably wondering why I kept watching the show if I couldn't muster up any feelings about it for the longest time. The answer is simple: the cast is phenomenal. It's difficult to single out any one performer as pretty much all of them are fantastic. Bradley Whitford is probably the break-out star of the first season. But that's being a little unfair to Rob Lowe, who basically reinvented his career with The West Wing... but that's being unfair to Martin Sheen and well you get the idea.
Don't think I forgot about John Spencer or Allison Janney, who both create fully-formed sympathetic character. Richard Schiff is sort of underrated among this cast as his character first appears one-note, but soon becomes an actual character. Lest I forget, Dule Hill is extremely underutilized, but when he does get a noteworthy scene, he knocks it out of the park. (I'm a Psych fan so perhaps I'm biased on this one)
The one exception to this wonderful cast is Moira Kelly, who I'm not sure is to blame. She's poorly written at first, then underwritten, and by the end basically disappears. Sorkin has a lot of strengths as a writer, but writing women is not one of them. Speaking of which, by far my least favorite part of this show is the potential, hinted, or actual romances. Sorkin is TERRIBLE at writing those scenes. I'm probably alone on this, but I don't like the hinting of a potential relationship between Josh and Donna. But since it's really obvious it's going to happen, I guess I better just deal with it or hope it gets better.
Lastly, for those of you wondering, I did happen to continue onto the next season for just the two-parter and if that episode is any indication, the second season will get a way better outlook from myself. Because that episode is the best in the show's run so far in my viewing.
I'll preemptively explain my grade and say that my feelings toward the first eighteen episodes would warrant a C+, but I'd push that up to a B purely because of the acting and writing. The last four episodes naturally elevated that grade. Which is to say that this was an above average season of television that took a little longer than normal to click for me.
Grade - B+
Playlist
1. "14th of July" - Shout Out Louds
2. "Hunger of the Pine" - alt-J
3. "Get Me Golden" - Terraplane Sun
4. "Astronomy (8th Light)" - Black Star
5. "She Bad" - Bad Rabbits
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Rewind: Star Trek: Next Generation S1
Before I begin this review, I have been - let's say warned - to not watch this show until Season 3. I obviously didn't listen, not because I didn't believe the warnings, but because I am a person who likes to watch things from the beginning. However, I didn't completely ignore the advice - my viewing schedule of the first two seasons is somewhat sporadic and I skip many episodes.
For instance, for this season, I picked out only the episodes that weren't terrible. My standard for watching an episode was not high and yet I ended up skipping about eight episodes. You're probably wondering how exactly I decided what was and what was not terrible without watching them. It's actually pretty easy to find people's opinion's on episodes online. That combined with looking at their IMDB scores gave me a pretty clear picture of what to avoid, such as "Angel One."
You may ask why I'm writing a review with such an incomplete viewing schedule and I'd answer there's very little chance my opinion on this season will change. I watched the best of the best and while I won't quibble with a few of these episodes I skipped possibly being worth watching, they most likely weren't good enough to drastically make this season seem better. The results were not pretty. And these were the best the series had to offer. If anything, watching more episodes could only make my reaction worse so I'm doing the season a favor.
I won't share every episode I watched, but "Conspiracy" is pretty much the only great episode. Not all of them were bad episodes, but all of them had a significant problem holding the show back. For instance, "Encounter at Fairpoint" is way too long and boring to justify its length. I'm being a little unfair as I also really enjoyed "The Big Goodbye" and "11001001." "Datalore" and "Home Soil" do an effective job at creating backstories of Data and Worf, the former much better, while also introducing me to a recurring villain (I'm guessing by the way). "We'll Always Have Paris" is also a good episode, almost solely due to the acting ability of Patrick Stewart with a weak romantic backstory and a bland female weighing the story down.
Those episodes aside, this season has a lot of episodes as mediocre or worse. It actually reminds me quite a bit of the original Star Trek. Somehow, the original has aged better than the first season of Next Generation. I don't know how that is possible, but it holds true for me. And trust me, that's not a compliment to the original series, which I find has aged as bad as any show I've ever seen.
So why exactly should you watch the first season of Next Generation? Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner are the reasons. These two men carry the show with a helpful assist from Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher. Stewart lends a dignity to the show's proceeding it so clearly has not earned yet. Spiner is so good it confuses me that I've never seen him in anything else.
The rest of the cast is either expositional dialogue or downright awful. Denise Crosby is quite awful as Tasha Yar, though she got better as the season went along and I could see a scenario where she became a decent character. That said, I'm not sorry she exited the show. Marina Sirtis is not necessarily the problem, but her character is so poorly written she doesn't stand a chance. And I probably skipped the worst Wesley episodes, but Wil Wheaton is not a great actor. (I don't hate him, but I can easily see how people did.)
Basically, The Star Trek: Next Generation has a first season that leaves no indication it will find future greatness. The only potential greatness is Patrick Stewart. I've read that Gene Rodenberry had a large creative voice in the first two seasons and is partially, if not totally, to blame. I'm not sure if that's true, but it would make sense. The Next Generation aired 20 years after the original Star Trek, but the show regressed rather than improved upon. I'm certainly intrigued to see how exactly the show turns that around.
Grade: C-
Playlist
1. "Retro [ROUGH]" - Childish Gambino
2. "Jazz (We've Got)" - Tribe Called Quest
3. "Never Catch Me" - Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar
4. "Rebirth of Slick (Cool like Dat)" - Digitable Planets
5. "Summersong" - The Decemberists
For instance, for this season, I picked out only the episodes that weren't terrible. My standard for watching an episode was not high and yet I ended up skipping about eight episodes. You're probably wondering how exactly I decided what was and what was not terrible without watching them. It's actually pretty easy to find people's opinion's on episodes online. That combined with looking at their IMDB scores gave me a pretty clear picture of what to avoid, such as "Angel One."
You may ask why I'm writing a review with such an incomplete viewing schedule and I'd answer there's very little chance my opinion on this season will change. I watched the best of the best and while I won't quibble with a few of these episodes I skipped possibly being worth watching, they most likely weren't good enough to drastically make this season seem better. The results were not pretty. And these were the best the series had to offer. If anything, watching more episodes could only make my reaction worse so I'm doing the season a favor.
I won't share every episode I watched, but "Conspiracy" is pretty much the only great episode. Not all of them were bad episodes, but all of them had a significant problem holding the show back. For instance, "Encounter at Fairpoint" is way too long and boring to justify its length. I'm being a little unfair as I also really enjoyed "The Big Goodbye" and "11001001." "Datalore" and "Home Soil" do an effective job at creating backstories of Data and Worf, the former much better, while also introducing me to a recurring villain (I'm guessing by the way). "We'll Always Have Paris" is also a good episode, almost solely due to the acting ability of Patrick Stewart with a weak romantic backstory and a bland female weighing the story down.
Those episodes aside, this season has a lot of episodes as mediocre or worse. It actually reminds me quite a bit of the original Star Trek. Somehow, the original has aged better than the first season of Next Generation. I don't know how that is possible, but it holds true for me. And trust me, that's not a compliment to the original series, which I find has aged as bad as any show I've ever seen.
So why exactly should you watch the first season of Next Generation? Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner are the reasons. These two men carry the show with a helpful assist from Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher. Stewart lends a dignity to the show's proceeding it so clearly has not earned yet. Spiner is so good it confuses me that I've never seen him in anything else.
The rest of the cast is either expositional dialogue or downright awful. Denise Crosby is quite awful as Tasha Yar, though she got better as the season went along and I could see a scenario where she became a decent character. That said, I'm not sorry she exited the show. Marina Sirtis is not necessarily the problem, but her character is so poorly written she doesn't stand a chance. And I probably skipped the worst Wesley episodes, but Wil Wheaton is not a great actor. (I don't hate him, but I can easily see how people did.)
Basically, The Star Trek: Next Generation has a first season that leaves no indication it will find future greatness. The only potential greatness is Patrick Stewart. I've read that Gene Rodenberry had a large creative voice in the first two seasons and is partially, if not totally, to blame. I'm not sure if that's true, but it would make sense. The Next Generation aired 20 years after the original Star Trek, but the show regressed rather than improved upon. I'm certainly intrigued to see how exactly the show turns that around.
Grade: C-
Playlist
1. "Retro [ROUGH]" - Childish Gambino
2. "Jazz (We've Got)" - Tribe Called Quest
3. "Never Catch Me" - Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar
4. "Rebirth of Slick (Cool like Dat)" - Digitable Planets
5. "Summersong" - The Decemberists
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Fall Pilots Part 2
Part 1
I was perhaps a bit presumptuous in my last post when I said that these new shows left me with a shrug. Today's a bit more promising with one exception. Of course, I'm not watching shows I am pretty sure will be terrible, such as Selfie or Mysteries of Laura. I don't hate myself so I only watch the shows I'm interested in. Today, I bring you two dramas and a comedy. The dramas fair a whole hell of a lot better than the comedy.
I was perhaps a bit presumptuous in my last post when I said that these new shows left me with a shrug. Today's a bit more promising with one exception. Of course, I'm not watching shows I am pretty sure will be terrible, such as Selfie or Mysteries of Laura. I don't hate myself so I only watch the shows I'm interested in. Today, I bring you two dramas and a comedy. The dramas fair a whole hell of a lot better than the comedy.
Mulaney
What the hell happened to this show? This pilot is absolutely dreadful. This so badly wants to be a new version of Seinfeld and it fails so badly at it. There may not be one single thing I liked about the pilot. I like that Nasim Pedrad is getting employed. That's it. That's the only thing I liked about the pilot.
John Mulaney, a former writer for SNL, is a comedian I have not really seen all that much. Apparently, he's one of the best stand-up comedians there is today. That is not reflected here at all. There was nothing funny about this episode, including his stand-up. His delivery is painfully stiff and I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea that he'd be good in a sitcom. I won't judge his stand-up material based on this episode, which seems to have infected everything in this episode with poison. But there are good stand-up comedians who really wouldn't fit as a sitcom star. Mulaney may just fit into that category.
Anyway, this is a pretty outdated format. In case you didn't know, there is a laugh track. Well it's filmed in front of a live studio audience, who I can't imagined laughed at any of this under their own free will. I've been watching The Andy Griffith Show and all the actors might as well be in a theatrical setting the way they act. That's exactly how the characters on this show act. It's like they are overacting so that everybody in the theater can see it - except this is a television show and you can tone it down. Despite liking three of the actors, none of the performances were good.
I'm giving this show four episodes based upon Mulaney's reputation, Nasim Pedrad, and Elliot Gould. (Well that's my plan. There's somewhat decent chance I can't bring myself to watch any more episodes.) And really I'm just looking for potential because sitcoms traditionally struggle immediately. Think Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock. But I want to be clear that me viewing the next three episodes has absolutely nothing to do with the pilot. The pilot is an irredeemable turd.
Grade: F
Verdict: Might want to wait for someone to tell you the show's turned a corner
How to Get Away with Murder
Oddly enough this is my first exposure to a Shonda Rimes television show. Technically this wasn't created by her, but she's an executive producer and it's similar in style to her previous shows from what I've read. I'm not sure How to Get Away with Murder is a good reflection on whether to watch Scandal, but it doesn't exactly scare me away either.
There are things I liked about it and things I didn't like about it. Let's start with the obvious: Viola Davis. I'd go as far as to say she's the only reason this show even works. The character of Annalise Keatings is a person who will be highly unethical, highly abrasive, and highly manipulative. In the wrong hands, Keatings would not be someone you'd want to watch everyday. Davis makes her click. She makes her an awesome character.
The rest of the cast is less memorable. Wes Gibbons, played by Alfred Enoch (best known for Dean Thomas in Harry Potter movies), is about the only character who sticks out, but he also gets by far the most screen time. How to Get Away with Murder will probably function similar to "House" - Davis teaches Gibbons and four other students how to evade a guilty verdict. What makes it different is two different mysteries that I won't reveal, but they seem likely to have something to do with Keatings.
To say this show seems unrealistic would be an understatement. I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty positive the representation of how the legal system works is laughable. Also, no teacher like Keatings could possibly exist in any sort of real life, giving her students full access to an ongoing trial that she's defending. The class is also called Criminal Law 1000 and as a person who's taken many 1000 classes, it's hilarious how much work the students do. No, that's not how a 1000 level class works TV show. Anyway, as a viewer, I'll be juggling a somewhat entertaining show with these problems. But I care much less about the realism than I do about the non-Keatings characters, who I couldn't place out of a lineup (except for two: Gibbons and the guy from Orange is the New Black)
Grade: B
Verdict: Tentatively Watching
Gotham
I was not expecting much from this show, but I enjoyed it. The show both takes itself too seriously AND is way too campy at time, but I don't mind the mishmash of tones. I think there's real material to be mined from a corrupt Gotham police force, although the level to which it is corrupt is almost absurd. So Jim Gordon is literally the only good policeman?
The other problem is that the show is relying to heavily on iconic villains of the franchise. A little restraint goes a long way. The pilot itself includes the Riddler (who for some reason is working for the police?), Penguin, Catwoman, a young Poison Ivy, and possibly the Joker. It's also the way they introduce them: here's the Catwoman, who nicknames her self cat and her every move is catlike in a literal sense. The other villains are much the same in their bluntness.
However, there's hope in a new character created just for this series - Fish Mooney - who is played by Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith is having a whole lot of fun with the role and she's definitely one of the more intriguing villains despite the fact that she's got no history - or possibly because of it. I really like the two leads of the show - Donal Logue and Ben McKenzie. This show has potential as long as it figures out what it's doing.
Grade: B
Verdict: Safe to watch
Playlist
1. "Tongues" - Joywave
2. "Operate" - ASTR
3. "Eleven: 11" - Pell
4. "It's My Part" - Jonquil
5. "I Can't Live Without My Radio" - LL Cool J
There are things I liked about it and things I didn't like about it. Let's start with the obvious: Viola Davis. I'd go as far as to say she's the only reason this show even works. The character of Annalise Keatings is a person who will be highly unethical, highly abrasive, and highly manipulative. In the wrong hands, Keatings would not be someone you'd want to watch everyday. Davis makes her click. She makes her an awesome character.
The rest of the cast is less memorable. Wes Gibbons, played by Alfred Enoch (best known for Dean Thomas in Harry Potter movies), is about the only character who sticks out, but he also gets by far the most screen time. How to Get Away with Murder will probably function similar to "House" - Davis teaches Gibbons and four other students how to evade a guilty verdict. What makes it different is two different mysteries that I won't reveal, but they seem likely to have something to do with Keatings.
To say this show seems unrealistic would be an understatement. I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty positive the representation of how the legal system works is laughable. Also, no teacher like Keatings could possibly exist in any sort of real life, giving her students full access to an ongoing trial that she's defending. The class is also called Criminal Law 1000 and as a person who's taken many 1000 classes, it's hilarious how much work the students do. No, that's not how a 1000 level class works TV show. Anyway, as a viewer, I'll be juggling a somewhat entertaining show with these problems. But I care much less about the realism than I do about the non-Keatings characters, who I couldn't place out of a lineup (except for two: Gibbons and the guy from Orange is the New Black)
Grade: B
Verdict: Tentatively Watching
Gotham
I was not expecting much from this show, but I enjoyed it. The show both takes itself too seriously AND is way too campy at time, but I don't mind the mishmash of tones. I think there's real material to be mined from a corrupt Gotham police force, although the level to which it is corrupt is almost absurd. So Jim Gordon is literally the only good policeman?
The other problem is that the show is relying to heavily on iconic villains of the franchise. A little restraint goes a long way. The pilot itself includes the Riddler (who for some reason is working for the police?), Penguin, Catwoman, a young Poison Ivy, and possibly the Joker. It's also the way they introduce them: here's the Catwoman, who nicknames her self cat and her every move is catlike in a literal sense. The other villains are much the same in their bluntness.
However, there's hope in a new character created just for this series - Fish Mooney - who is played by Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith is having a whole lot of fun with the role and she's definitely one of the more intriguing villains despite the fact that she's got no history - or possibly because of it. I really like the two leads of the show - Donal Logue and Ben McKenzie. This show has potential as long as it figures out what it's doing.
Grade: B
Verdict: Safe to watch
Playlist
1. "Tongues" - Joywave
2. "Operate" - ASTR
3. "Eleven: 11" - Pell
4. "It's My Part" - Jonquil
5. "I Can't Live Without My Radio" - LL Cool J
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Fall Pilots Part 1
As a person with a crazy high number of television shows on my plate, I'm always simultaneously excited and terrified when the new batch of shows comes out. Maybe my reaction should be a shrug instead. Last year, out of all the pilots I watched, I only still watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine and have regrettably not been able to keep watching Sleepy Hollow (though I may get back into it). Sleepy Hollow is a really fun, entertaining show, but it's sort of hard to believe that's the best of TV's new shows in any given year.
This year does not appear to be a whole lot different. I still have at least three other shows I'm planning to watch after these three, but these three did not impress a whole lot. Today I bring you two dramas and a comedy.
Red Band Society
I can't say I liked this show all that much. It has a very talented cast so the acting is not the problem. I've seen many reviewers claim its closest comparison is Glee - which I've never seen - and that could explain why it doesn't appeal to me. However, they also mostly mention that it fails at doing it successfully like Glee did.
The show very clearly wants to tug at your heart strings, but the problem is that it's done in such a way to where it feels manipulative. I'm not saying the show isn't at times touching. But the setting is a hospital ward for kids with diseases that require you to live in a hospital. Of course it's touching.
Oh yeah speaking of which, the impracticality and improbability of the setting is hard to ignore. The hospital is apparently some kind of hotel for these kids - who seem good enough to sneak out for a party and therefore don't really need to live in a hospital. One of the kids has an eating disorder so I can't see why she needs to live in a hospital. They have elaborately decorated and expansive rooms. The show's blatant disregard for any sense of realism is jarring.
Anyway, Red Band Society looks like it has some potential, but the high school drama portion of it will prevent me from seeing if it ever does reach it. I also didn't like the constant reliance on the narrator. Let the audience figure some things out for itself please. There's an audience for this show and it's probably the opposite of me. (Or not... the ratings for this show are dangerously low)
Grade - C-
Verdict: Skip
Gracepoint
The existence of this show is a mystery. Well, not really, the existence of this show is basically "money." But still, there's a British version called Broadchurch and this is evidently going to be mostly the same exact show but with two extra episodes tacked on. I've never seen the British version, which is probably a positive because it apparently pales in comparison.
Something I've also never heard was the original voice of David Tenant. I thought his American accent was fairly good personally. I don't really care about accents though. It also features Anna Gunn, Skylar from Breaking Bad. I'm wondering if I can separate her from that character. So far so good as she might be the best part about the show.
Gracepoint is a fairly bleak show that could benefit from some humor. The score of the first episode is too heavy-handed and too prominent. There was only one intriguing part of the pilot and the rest was kind of boring. The original, Broadchurch, was apparently a huge mystery and that was part of the allure. There's no sense of that mystery in Gracepoint. It's clear that anybody could be the killer, but I don't know any of the characters and I also don't really care yet.
Either way, I'm being a bit unfair as I overall enjoyed it. I didn't love it. But I'll keep watching.
Grade - B-
Verdict: Tentatively watching
Black-ish
Yeesh. What an awful title. The ABC department really needs to learn how to make titles, because they are dreadful at it. I think Trophy Wife was cancelled because of its title and I'm sticking to that. (Oh yeah you can add Trophy Wife as a show I would have kept watching, but it's no longer airing)
Blackish is actually pretty good and a ton of fun to watch. I love it. Anthony Anderson is great, if a bit over-the-top as the lead. All the child actors are actually pretty good and not unbearable. (The standard for a child actor is: don't be unwatchable bad). The show addresses race head-on, but in an extremely entertaining way.
The show isn't without its faults: I kind of wish they'd tone down some of the fantastical elements going forward. And I'm not sure Anderson's "HA!" is as funny as the writers seem to think it is. (It's actually not funny at all by the end). But I'm nitpicking and this is the pilot episode. These things tend to get worked out over the course of a season. I can't remember the last time a pilot episode made me laugh this much and was as much fun as this was.
Grade - B+
Verdict: You should watch this
Playlist
1. "Mardy Bum" - Arctic Monkeys
2. "White Room" - Cream
3. "The Heartbeat the Soul" - Dark Waves
4. "Cool Kids" - Echosmith
5. "Push it Along" - A Tribe Called Quest
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