NBC's posted clips from a few of its Fall season series to its web site today. Now, if they're like any other NBC video, UK residents won't be able to watch them (I won't be able to check until Thursday, for obvious reasons, but give it a whirl and see if it works for you, gentle reader.) but US denizens should have no problem. The videos are quite extensive, so worth looking in on if you're curious.
UPDATE: Mark says they work for him in Wigan.
However, forward thinking old NBC has also posted a few of them to YouTube so the rest of the world can sample the goodies. Of most interest to UK viewers, in all likelihood, is the remake of The Bionic Woman starring 'Enders' Michelle Ryan and putting in a surprisingly good turn.
Much of the focus is on how the show is going to be a metaphor about modern women needing to be superhuman to balance all the different aspects of their lives. But in keeping with the fact that BSG producer David Eick is behind the remake, it looks like they're going back to the original for inspiration as well: not only are the physics of the bionic ladette's powers completely screwed, if you'll recall, Oscar Goldman was originally a bit of a bastard in the first two Six Million Dollar Man movies (and, indeed, Michael Caidin's original book, Cyborg) and it looks like new Oscar, Miguel Ferrer, is going to follow in his footsteps. Still it makes you wonder just how many times he's going to have to develop a Robocop before he realises it's a bad idea.
Here are two clips: one of Ryan getting her bionic bits and another of her giving first gen bionic woman Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck in BSG) a good slapping. It's worth mentioning that you don't get to see some of the worst bits from the full NBC trailer, including Ryan's relationship with her deaf sister.
But there are other shows on the way. Journeyman is an obvious remake, too, only this time of Quantum Leap but with a slightly different set-up to avoid copyright infringement. Here the protagonist does travel in time; he does put right things that once went wrong; he does have no control over where he ends up. But, the crucial difference is, he returns to the present after he's time travelled. Ooh. It'll probably turn out to be quite good, but get cancelled after three to five episodes.
Life initially looked quite promising: cop gets framed and is sent to jail for 12 years before getting his name cleared and returning to duty. Trouble is, it's a comedy drama by the looks of it since he gets a whacking great big cash settlement to play with for his troubles. Maybe it'll be good though. Not convinced by anything I've seen so far, though.
Lastly, Chuck sounds like a comedy from the outset - computer geek gets spy secrets stuck in his brain so has to become a secret agent to evade the bad guys - even if it also sounds like Joe 90 and Jake 2.0 as well. But it does look quite funny, particularly if slapstick's your thing.
Enjoy!
Related entries
- May 16, 2007: Clips from ABC's new pilots
ABC has posted clips from its pilots.
May 15, 2007 | Reply
Ah, shaky-cam fighting, the QUICKEST way for me to lose all interest.
May 15, 2007 | Reply
They played for me (Wigan).
Hmm, three of these pilots star someone from the UK, playing American. Have they run out of talent over there? Or is this a new trend, post House MD?
May 15, 2007 | Reply
Not that newish. I gassed on about it in reference to last year's set of new shows. Good news on the playability of the vids in the UK.
Not sure how shaky Bionic Woman is: might just be YouTube. But I agree: I liked The Bourne Identity's use of nice steady cameras for fights. Buffy was quite good for that, too. Steadycam is now cliched and makes me feel a little sick sometimes (cf Bourne Supremacy)
May 15, 2007 | Reply
I'm sort of excited at both Kevin McKidd and Damian Lewis. WOOT. I really love both of them, but I'm not sure that any of these clips do any of these up-and-coming shows any justice.
May 15, 2007 | Reply
Others have noticed the trend, too.
May 16, 2007 | Reply
I can't work up any real enthusiasm for this Jaime Sommers redo (the British interest angle doesn't work with me) - is it blasphemous to say that I'm more interested in Josh Schwartz's Chuck and Bryan Fuller's new show Pushing Daisies?
May 16, 2007 | Reply
No. I'm interested in it purely to see what it's like as a remake. But none of the details have really grabbed me. One of the things that's good about BSG is that it tries to be as 'realistic' as possible within the confines of a sci-fi programme set on board an inter-stellar aircraft carrier. But I'm not getting a whole load of realism vibes from this show, right down to the secret underground spy lair that appears to be Miguel Ferrer's home base.
Pushing Daisies I've not seen anything of, but it's been getting the most critical buzz, so I'm interested in seeing it. Journey Man might be interesting in a sort of Butterfly Effect way.
While Chuck made me laugh, I'm not getting a desperately large sense of originality from it. Could be fun though.