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1. It's never wise to ship character relationships in serials, but we do it any way. I'm not sure why? Masochism? Why do human beings do things that they know will cause them abject misery? Example? Why would you ship a romantic pairing between any two characters in a Whedon tv series? You've got to know that if the pairing is happy at all, Whedon will kill one off to develop the character of the other, right? Yet, I did it anyway. And I come from a long and horrific background of comic book and daytime soap opera serials, which are, suffice it to say, much worse in this regard. Anyone out there who has read the X-Men knows of whereof I speak. Heck, you don't have to have been into the Marvel comics, the DC comics are equally bad - they actually had Superman ditch Lois Lane and hook up with his One True Luv - Wonder Woman, so they can have space-sex. Apparently DC got jealous of the publicity Whedon got over the Brad Metlzer's Spacefrakking? And decided to do their own version? So, this is true in all mediums.
I'm reminded of this from scanning reviews of Buffy episodes online - where in both cases, the reviewer is commenting on how insane shipping romantic pairings is.
2. Of the new TV shows advertised in next week's EW (it's available on ipad and Kindle fire now for subscribers) - the best bets or the most innovative appear to be:
* Nashville - which has the creative and married team of Callie Khouri (screenwriter -Thelma and Louise) and T Bone Burnette (award winning record producer, guitarist, song-writer and music producer), the stars - Connie Britton (American Horror Story and Friday Night Lights) as Rayna, a Reba McIntire esque fading Country Western Singer, Hayden Pantierre (Heroes) as the up-and-coming country/pop superstar, Eric Close as Rayna's hubby, Powers Booth as her Daddy, and various others in supporting roles. Khouri is basing it on her own experiences in Nashville underground club scene, and showing both sides of the industry, those who have talent and make it and those who have talent and don't. It sounds like the musical series that SMASH should have been.
Is premiering on Oct 10th on ABC.
* Last Resort is the new Shawn Ryan (The Shield) tv series. It concerns a nuclear submarine crew that decides to question the order to nuke Pakistan and goes rogue. They set up shop on an island. This stars Andre Braughner and Scott Spedman. Looks promising.
The first hour apparently is a gut-wrenching debate on whether they should follow that order and what happens when they choose not to.
It's on Thursdays at 8pm (odd time) and unfortunately opposite Vamp Diaries and Big Bang Theory. I'll probably ditch Big Bang and try it. Because you can always catch sitcoms in reruns - BBT is re-runned to death.
* Arrow could be interesting, except after Political Animals, I'm wary of Greg B's writing. It does have John Borrowman in a mysterious recurring role. Also has potential for a crime-fighting duo in Black Canary ( a public interest attorney and Oliver Queen's ex) and Arrow (Oliver Queen - billionaire playboy, crime-fighter). Could be interesting.
I'm admittedly burned out on this genre though. But it is on Wed (which is pretty much dead) and starts Oct 10 on CW (before Supernatural).
*Vegas - Dennis Quaid (of all people) and Michael Chiklis (The Sheild) go head to head as a lawman and a mob boss trying to build Vegas in the 1960s. This has potential.
And I'm admittedly a die-hard Dennis Quaid fan. I've watched him in more bad movies.
(My favorite Quaid film is The Big Easy with Ellen Barkin, it's also my favorite Ellen Barkin film). But like all tv series - it will depend on the writing.
* Revolution - is the Eric Kripke (Supernatural), JJ Abrhams (LOST/Alias/Felicity), and Jon Favreau's (Iron Man) new baby. All three of these guys do not necessarily spell great tv...although they can provide fun pulpy cult tv on occasion. I'm admittedly wary. But it does have a decent cast here and there - Elizabeth Mitchell, Morgan Kinkleman, and Giancarlo Esposito in supporting roles. A lot depends on how interesting Tracy Spiridakos is as the lead. They've decided to go with a Katniss like heroine who weilds a bow and arrow and lives in a future dystopian world (albeit a fairly clean and neat one considering there's no power). The set-up? 15 years after an inexplicable catastrophe saps the planet of all forms of power, Charlie (Katniss like teen raised in the surburban wilds of post-blackout America) searches for kidnapped brother Danny. Danny was kidnapped by an oppressive militia group led by Giancarlo Esposito, shortly after they killed her father. She goes to gone-to-seed Chicago to seek out her disillusioned and dangerous uncle, Miles. Charlie apparently is modeled after Katniss and Luke Skywalker, while Miles is modeled after Haymitch and Han Solo. In classic Lost tradition - there will be flashbacks on what happened and why the characters are the way they are. It's a character driven drama and more interested in the quest to turn the power back on and whether it should be turned back on. Although there is a side mystery as to how and why it got turned off. They are basically trying to do a Game of Thrones against an American back-drop.
(Except by way of Supernatural's Kripike and Lost's Abhrams and without George RR Martin.)
Could be great fun, or quite horrible. If you aren't a fan of any of these writers? Not sure you'll like it. I'll try it. It's different.
Airs September 17, at 10-11pm on NBC. (IT's on Monday, there's zip on Monday, well unless you are into Castle or Hawaii 5-0, I'm not. So no problem.)
* 666 Park Avenue - Not sure what to make of this one. It has a great lead in Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams (who play devilish owners of an evil hotel.) And Dave Annable is interesting. Rachael Taylor looks sort of boring in the previews. They play the new managers. Very little has been written about it. IT appears to be a mix of the Shining/ Rosemary's Baby, and the Devil's Advocate - a sort of horror anthology series revolving around a haunted/evil apartment building. Again - it all depends on the writing.
Poor O'Quinn has had the worst luck in tv shows. This always happens to actors I find interesting. The boring meat boy or buff boy actors get all the good tv roles - it's annoying. (Sigh, less Nathan Fillion/David Boreanze and more Terry O'Quinn, Alan Tydke, the guy who played Ben, James Marsters, and Anthony Stewart Head please? The world of entertainment seldom awards the talented, but often the boringly pretty.)
This is unfortunately on crowded Sundays, at 10 pm after Revenge.
*Call the Midwife - BBC America series from the BBC about a nurse thrown into the harrowing world of midwifery in 1950s East London. Looks rather interesting but is unfortunately on the over-crowded Sunday night, premiering on Sept 30 and most likely up against The Good Wife and Revenge.
Dang it. They put all my must-watch favorites on Sunday nights. Once Upon a Time is on at 8pm, Revenge and The Good Wife are opposite each other at 9pm, Walking Dead is opposite both at 9pm (but it is on AMC so repeated and I can tape it at 11 or 12 if I wish, gotta love cable), and then there's PBS's Masterpiece Theater and Mystery airing stuff from 9 to 11. It's annoying.
And of the returning series? Once looks really good. Once Upon a Time's 2nd season is going to be a lot better than the first season. The first season was just the prologue.
Also anticipating:
( Returning Series )
In comedies? I'm curious about Mindy Kalling Project, the New Normal (because of Ellen Barkin who is in it), but nothing else is really grabbing me. Lots of family dramas and whiny singles. I've become incredibly picky in sitcoms. I prefer workplace sitcoms, and three-camera ones, with a live audience. Shows like WKRP, News Radio, Cheers, Fraiser.
OR Barney Miller and MASH. The 21st Century's brand of sitcom grates on my nerves. That said, I admittedly liked and appreciated Girls (at times, when the heroine wasn't mainlining my ex-best friend), Louis (at times, again a bit too close to home), Community (when it doesn't just become a parody of a parody of a parody), and Big Bang (when it doesn't go insane on the dumb sex jokes). Where's Monty Python when you need them?
Will most likely check out Elementary which debuts on Thursdays (another crowded night) on Sept 27 at 10 pm. But not a huge fan of procedurals and the Sherlock bit has been done to death by now. That said, found the preview trailer to be interesting and the choice to not make Dr. Watson female and a platonic relationship was intriguing particularly since Holmes dislikes women. Plus Lucy Liu's character sounds interesting - she's a fragile but stoic ex-surgeon who Holmes father requested aid Holmes in his recuperation from rehab and re-entry into society.
Another possibility is Chicago Fire which is by Dick Wolf (Law and Order fame) - it's basically Law & Order except with Firefighters and more character driven.
I'm reminded of this from scanning reviews of Buffy episodes online - where in both cases, the reviewer is commenting on how insane shipping romantic pairings is.
2. Of the new TV shows advertised in next week's EW (it's available on ipad and Kindle fire now for subscribers) - the best bets or the most innovative appear to be:
* Nashville - which has the creative and married team of Callie Khouri (screenwriter -Thelma and Louise) and T Bone Burnette (award winning record producer, guitarist, song-writer and music producer), the stars - Connie Britton (American Horror Story and Friday Night Lights) as Rayna, a Reba McIntire esque fading Country Western Singer, Hayden Pantierre (Heroes) as the up-and-coming country/pop superstar, Eric Close as Rayna's hubby, Powers Booth as her Daddy, and various others in supporting roles. Khouri is basing it on her own experiences in Nashville underground club scene, and showing both sides of the industry, those who have talent and make it and those who have talent and don't. It sounds like the musical series that SMASH should have been.
Is premiering on Oct 10th on ABC.
* Last Resort is the new Shawn Ryan (The Shield) tv series. It concerns a nuclear submarine crew that decides to question the order to nuke Pakistan and goes rogue. They set up shop on an island. This stars Andre Braughner and Scott Spedman. Looks promising.
The first hour apparently is a gut-wrenching debate on whether they should follow that order and what happens when they choose not to.
It's on Thursdays at 8pm (odd time) and unfortunately opposite Vamp Diaries and Big Bang Theory. I'll probably ditch Big Bang and try it. Because you can always catch sitcoms in reruns - BBT is re-runned to death.
* Arrow could be interesting, except after Political Animals, I'm wary of Greg B's writing. It does have John Borrowman in a mysterious recurring role. Also has potential for a crime-fighting duo in Black Canary ( a public interest attorney and Oliver Queen's ex) and Arrow (Oliver Queen - billionaire playboy, crime-fighter). Could be interesting.
I'm admittedly burned out on this genre though. But it is on Wed (which is pretty much dead) and starts Oct 10 on CW (before Supernatural).
*Vegas - Dennis Quaid (of all people) and Michael Chiklis (The Sheild) go head to head as a lawman and a mob boss trying to build Vegas in the 1960s. This has potential.
And I'm admittedly a die-hard Dennis Quaid fan. I've watched him in more bad movies.
(My favorite Quaid film is The Big Easy with Ellen Barkin, it's also my favorite Ellen Barkin film). But like all tv series - it will depend on the writing.
* Revolution - is the Eric Kripke (Supernatural), JJ Abrhams (LOST/Alias/Felicity), and Jon Favreau's (Iron Man) new baby. All three of these guys do not necessarily spell great tv...although they can provide fun pulpy cult tv on occasion. I'm admittedly wary. But it does have a decent cast here and there - Elizabeth Mitchell, Morgan Kinkleman, and Giancarlo Esposito in supporting roles. A lot depends on how interesting Tracy Spiridakos is as the lead. They've decided to go with a Katniss like heroine who weilds a bow and arrow and lives in a future dystopian world (albeit a fairly clean and neat one considering there's no power). The set-up? 15 years after an inexplicable catastrophe saps the planet of all forms of power, Charlie (Katniss like teen raised in the surburban wilds of post-blackout America) searches for kidnapped brother Danny. Danny was kidnapped by an oppressive militia group led by Giancarlo Esposito, shortly after they killed her father. She goes to gone-to-seed Chicago to seek out her disillusioned and dangerous uncle, Miles. Charlie apparently is modeled after Katniss and Luke Skywalker, while Miles is modeled after Haymitch and Han Solo. In classic Lost tradition - there will be flashbacks on what happened and why the characters are the way they are. It's a character driven drama and more interested in the quest to turn the power back on and whether it should be turned back on. Although there is a side mystery as to how and why it got turned off. They are basically trying to do a Game of Thrones against an American back-drop.
(Except by way of Supernatural's Kripike and Lost's Abhrams and without George RR Martin.)
Could be great fun, or quite horrible. If you aren't a fan of any of these writers? Not sure you'll like it. I'll try it. It's different.
Airs September 17, at 10-11pm on NBC. (IT's on Monday, there's zip on Monday, well unless you are into Castle or Hawaii 5-0, I'm not. So no problem.)
* 666 Park Avenue - Not sure what to make of this one. It has a great lead in Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams (who play devilish owners of an evil hotel.) And Dave Annable is interesting. Rachael Taylor looks sort of boring in the previews. They play the new managers. Very little has been written about it. IT appears to be a mix of the Shining/ Rosemary's Baby, and the Devil's Advocate - a sort of horror anthology series revolving around a haunted/evil apartment building. Again - it all depends on the writing.
Poor O'Quinn has had the worst luck in tv shows. This always happens to actors I find interesting. The boring meat boy or buff boy actors get all the good tv roles - it's annoying. (Sigh, less Nathan Fillion/David Boreanze and more Terry O'Quinn, Alan Tydke, the guy who played Ben, James Marsters, and Anthony Stewart Head please? The world of entertainment seldom awards the talented, but often the boringly pretty.)
This is unfortunately on crowded Sundays, at 10 pm after Revenge.
*Call the Midwife - BBC America series from the BBC about a nurse thrown into the harrowing world of midwifery in 1950s East London. Looks rather interesting but is unfortunately on the over-crowded Sunday night, premiering on Sept 30 and most likely up against The Good Wife and Revenge.
Dang it. They put all my must-watch favorites on Sunday nights. Once Upon a Time is on at 8pm, Revenge and The Good Wife are opposite each other at 9pm, Walking Dead is opposite both at 9pm (but it is on AMC so repeated and I can tape it at 11 or 12 if I wish, gotta love cable), and then there's PBS's Masterpiece Theater and Mystery airing stuff from 9 to 11. It's annoying.
And of the returning series? Once looks really good. Once Upon a Time's 2nd season is going to be a lot better than the first season. The first season was just the prologue.
Also anticipating:
( Returning Series )
In comedies? I'm curious about Mindy Kalling Project, the New Normal (because of Ellen Barkin who is in it), but nothing else is really grabbing me. Lots of family dramas and whiny singles. I've become incredibly picky in sitcoms. I prefer workplace sitcoms, and three-camera ones, with a live audience. Shows like WKRP, News Radio, Cheers, Fraiser.
OR Barney Miller and MASH. The 21st Century's brand of sitcom grates on my nerves. That said, I admittedly liked and appreciated Girls (at times, when the heroine wasn't mainlining my ex-best friend), Louis (at times, again a bit too close to home), Community (when it doesn't just become a parody of a parody of a parody), and Big Bang (when it doesn't go insane on the dumb sex jokes). Where's Monty Python when you need them?
Will most likely check out Elementary which debuts on Thursdays (another crowded night) on Sept 27 at 10 pm. But not a huge fan of procedurals and the Sherlock bit has been done to death by now. That said, found the preview trailer to be interesting and the choice to not make Dr. Watson female and a platonic relationship was intriguing particularly since Holmes dislikes women. Plus Lucy Liu's character sounds interesting - she's a fragile but stoic ex-surgeon who Holmes father requested aid Holmes in his recuperation from rehab and re-entry into society.
Another possibility is Chicago Fire which is by Dick Wolf (Law and Order fame) - it's basically Law & Order except with Firefighters and more character driven.