US TV

An archive of articles about US television programmes and production.

Question of the week: what fall shows float your boat the most?

9 November 2011 Rob Buckley 12 Comments

So, all the new fall dramas and comedies have pretty much debuted now. I haven’t yet reviewed Hell on Wheels, but fingers-crossed I will do sometime in the next couple of days, but with that exception and with the exception of some The CW and MTV shows clearly intended for a younger audience and animated shows, I reviewed everything, I think.

Some of the shows have now died; some have been acquired by UK TV. But of them all, which has floated your boat the most, either from watching them or from having heard about them? Which would you now cancel and which would you have spared the sword? Which would you like the UK to acquire and which do you think were a waste of money (cough, cough, Pan Am, cough, cough). Let everyone know below or on your own blog.

In the list below, if it’s been cancelled, it’ll be crossed out. If there’s a channel next to it in brackets, that’s which UK channel has acquired it. And if it says SAFE next to it, that means it’s been given a full season or even renewed for a second season already.

Bloody hell. Written down in a list, I’ve watched an awful lot, haven’t I?

Wednesday’s “Indian 24” news

9 November 2011 Rob Buckley Post a comment

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The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 3

Third-episode verdict: Once Upon A Time (ABC)

8 November 2011 Rob Buckley Post a comment

In the US: Sundays, 8/7c, ABC
in the UK: Not yet acquired

Not that it’s statistically significant, but it’s worth noting that a lot of shows this fall season have proven to be better with their third episode – which is also their first episode written by someone who isn’t their showrunner. We’ve had a look at Boss today and American Horror Story also took a slight turn for the better with its third episode. I hear Whitney‘s picked up now Whitney isn’t writing it and much can be said for 2 Broke Girls, now Whitney and Michael Patrick King have handed over writing duties to the staff.

Of course, Suburgatory‘s only good when showrunner Emily Kapnek (or other women) are writing it so it’s not a golden rule. Interesting, all the same, though, given the recent ‘cult of the showrunner;.

But Once Upon A Time is definitely following this new trend. After the dull first episode, Once Upon A Time followed up with a very dull second episode that suffered from all the same problems as the first episode. But Sunday’s third episode did some interesting things. Rather than giving the baddies all the fun, we got signs of Snow White not being all that uninteresting, Prince Charming turned up and did something heroic, Jennifer Morrison got to make wise-cracks, and there was daring-do and excitement. That’s all new.

Unfortunately, by providing an improved script, a dull plot could no longer distract from the show’s other flaws also exposed a lot of the show’s weaknesses. Jennifer Morrison is quite dreadful as the heroine; Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White is only marginally better; the PG rating (if that) on the show means there’s no chance for bloodshed, even when swords are scythed at people’s legs.

The show’s problems are essentially that it falls between two stools: it’s a little too adult and concerned with adult themes to work for kids but at the same time it’s too childish and lacking in grit to appeal to adults either. If we could have a full-blooded adult show that exploited the psycho-sexual nature of fairy tales, for example, or that really turned fairy tale characters into real-world people, rather than ciphers with single character traits, that would be a show worth watching. A TV version of Enchanted would be equally good. But this fails to be either so instead, while it does have some qualities that are relatively engaging (Lana Parrilla, Robert Carlyle and the original fairy tales), it’s ultimately a weak, watered down concept that fails to really doing anything remarkable.

Might watch just to see what happens with Cinderella and Rumplestiltskin next week though.

Carusometer rating: 3
Rob’s prediction: Might last a season at best

The CarusometerA Carusometer rating of 2

Third-episode verdict: Boss (Starz)

8 November 2011 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

In the US: Fridays, 10pm ET/PT, Starz

Not much to add on the subject of Boss since the first episode. Boss has been very consistent in being very well-made and in being hard to watch. I don’t mean hard to watch in just the metaphorical sense that it deals with tough issues and is quite unrelenting. I mean literally it’s hard to watch thanks to the shaky cam and general direction, which made the first episode in particular hard to follow.

It has settled down now and while Gus van Sant was the director de jour for the first episode (and executive producer for the whole series), Mario van Peebles himself turned up to do the duties for episode three, producing something that while still riddled with shaky cam and visual metaphor, still managed to have a coherent narrative and a sense that there was a story that needed to be serviced.

I think there are a few things things that need mentioning here:

  1. Kelsey Grammer is absolutely phenomenal in this. It now fills me with rage that he’s been slumming on shows like Hank and Back To You for the last few years, when he could have been acting his socks off in proper drama. What a waste.
  2. The show has now largely settled down on two storylines: Grammer’s dementia and its effects on his job, his relationships and, well, almost everyone in fact; and Jeff Hephner’s bid for governorship. The two intermingle as well, which is a good thing, given how bitty the first episode was.
  3. Women apparently don’t need foreplay any more. And about a minute’s enough for y’all. Homeland appears to have come to the same conclusion as well. One more and it’s official. At least in America.

Episode three has definitely been the best of the episodes, despite The Carusometer’s suggestions to the contrary, and that might well be because Farhad Safinia didn’t write it. However, despite the slight uptick, it’s still not enough to qualify it for a "1" rating for the simple reason that there aren’t any characters you can really root for. Everyone is just a vile and nasty politician or the kind of person who hangs out with vile and nasty politicians, and while there might some enjoyment in watching their downfall say, the show really isn’t focused on that angle. It just wants us to know that law-making is a dirty business and politicians can be pretty dirty, too. Well, duh.

So while this is a well-made, quality product with Grammer doing some of the best acting on TV at the moment, can I really tell you all to run off an watch this immediately, you going off with the expectation you’ll be having an enjoyable hour of TV viewing? No. But if you don’t mind something that’s quality, that’s about something a bit more real than air hostess fantasies and fairy tales, and both metaphorically and literally hard to watch, then go off and watch Boss.

Carusometer rating: 2
Rob’s prediction: Already picked up for a second season, but I’m not predicting a third.

Tuesday’s “Pushing Cannibals” news

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