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| US television's fall lineup: the best and worst from the 2013 previews | US television's fall lineup: the best and worst from the 2013 previews |
| (4 months later) | |
| This past week was the television upfronts in New York, when the networks (and the ascendant cable networks) present their new fall show to advertisers at lavish, star-studded parties hoping that someone, anyone, will pay for the dozens of pilots that are ordered every season. Of course there are trailers of all these shows that are made available not only to ad buyers from Kraft and McDonalds, but also the general public (who gobble up not just television content, but all that mac 'n' cheese and chicken nuggets they're trying to sell us). | This past week was the television upfronts in New York, when the networks (and the ascendant cable networks) present their new fall show to advertisers at lavish, star-studded parties hoping that someone, anyone, will pay for the dozens of pilots that are ordered every season. Of course there are trailers of all these shows that are made available not only to ad buyers from Kraft and McDonalds, but also the general public (who gobble up not just television content, but all that mac 'n' cheese and chicken nuggets they're trying to sell us). |
| Here's a look at the best and the worst that the five major networks had to offer this year. | Here's a look at the best and the worst that the five major networks had to offer this year. |
| The best | The best |
| ABC | ABC |
| Super Fun Night: Rebel Wilson was a breakout star in 2012 thanks to Pitch Perfect, and it looks like she can turn her wild persona into sitcom gold for this series about three nerdy female friends who try to make every weekend into the best social occasion of their lives. Their perpetual antics (and Wilson's American accent) may wear thin, however. | Super Fun Night: Rebel Wilson was a breakout star in 2012 thanks to Pitch Perfect, and it looks like she can turn her wild persona into sitcom gold for this series about three nerdy female friends who try to make every weekend into the best social occasion of their lives. Their perpetual antics (and Wilson's American accent) may wear thin, however. |
| Runner Up: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. looks to be a glossy combination of procedural and superhero drama from the team behind The Avengers movie. | Runner Up: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. looks to be a glossy combination of procedural and superhero drama from the team behind The Avengers movie. |
| CBS | CBS |
| Hostages: Sure Jerry Bruckheimer doesn't make Oscar-winners, but he sure knows how to create a fun movie. This show is about a surgeon (Toni Collette) whose family is held hostage by a mysterious lawman (Dylan McDermott) who wants her to kill the president. Hopefully this will be as twisty as Homeland and break away from CBS's tired but winning procedural format. The all-star cast doesn't hurt either. | Hostages: Sure Jerry Bruckheimer doesn't make Oscar-winners, but he sure knows how to create a fun movie. This show is about a surgeon (Toni Collette) whose family is held hostage by a mysterious lawman (Dylan McDermott) who wants her to kill the president. Hopefully this will be as twisty as Homeland and break away from CBS's tired but winning procedural format. The all-star cast doesn't hurt either. |
| Runner Up: Anna Faris and Allison Janney as a hilarious messed up mother daughter team on Mom. | Runner Up: Anna Faris and Allison Janney as a hilarious messed up mother daughter team on Mom. |
| Fox | Fox |
| Brooklyn Nine Nine: There are more cop shows on television than there are bed bugs in New York, but this keen comedy starring Andy Samberg as your classic ne'er-do-well detective seems like it's going to take the piss out of most of them. A rag-tag group (a trend this year more than ever) of detectives has to deal with their uptight new boss and each other while solving crimes and single-handedly subverting a whole genre. | Brooklyn Nine Nine: There are more cop shows on television than there are bed bugs in New York, but this keen comedy starring Andy Samberg as your classic ne'er-do-well detective seems like it's going to take the piss out of most of them. A rag-tag group (a trend this year more than ever) of detectives has to deal with their uptight new boss and each other while solving crimes and single-handedly subverting a whole genre. |
| Runner Up: JJ Abrams' Almost Human, about (yet another) cop and his robot partner in the future could have, well, a bright future. | Runner Up: JJ Abrams' Almost Human, about (yet another) cop and his robot partner in the future could have, well, a bright future. |
| NBC | NBC |
| Blacklist: Plagued NBC is shedding chunks of its schedule like a leper in a wind tunnel and most of the replacements are the most broad sorts of treacle you could imagine. The only outlier is this show where James Spader plays a master criminal helping the government track down others like him to settle a score. While it seems like a host of other "masters help the police" shows out there (Castle, The Mentalist, Sherlock) this one seems to have a dark edge that is strangely appealing. | Blacklist: Plagued NBC is shedding chunks of its schedule like a leper in a wind tunnel and most of the replacements are the most broad sorts of treacle you could imagine. The only outlier is this show where James Spader plays a master criminal helping the government track down others like him to settle a score. While it seems like a host of other "masters help the police" shows out there (Castle, The Mentalist, Sherlock) this one seems to have a dark edge that is strangely appealing. |
| Runner Up: The Michael J Fox show, a sitcom based on the star's life with Parkinson's disease, doesn't look like the "best" but you better embrace it because NBC is going to start jamming it down all of our throats. | Runner Up: The Michael J Fox show, a sitcom based on the star's life with Parkinson's disease, doesn't look like the "best" but you better embrace it because NBC is going to start jamming it down all of our throats. |
| The CW | The CW |
| Reign: Most of this network's young female audience probably doesn't now Mary Queen of Scots from the Mary who had a little lamb, but this very loose dramatisation of the wannabe monarch's life could prove for the lusty soaps their audience craves. Think a PG-13 version of The Tudors. | Reign: Most of this network's young female audience probably doesn't now Mary Queen of Scots from the Mary who had a little lamb, but this very loose dramatisation of the wannabe monarch's life could prove for the lusty soaps their audience craves. Think a PG-13 version of The Tudors. |
| Runner Up: X-Men and Misfits rip-off Tomorrow People, about teen outlaws with super powers. | Runner Up: X-Men and Misfits rip-off Tomorrow People, about teen outlaws with super powers. |
| The worst | The worst |
| ABC | ABC |
| Betrayal: I saw Unfaithful. I liked Unfaithful. I don't think I want to see it as a television series. This drama about a woman having an affair doesn't only look far too dour and slow-moving for its own good, but it doesn't seem to have much of a future or an original point of view. | Betrayal: I saw Unfaithful. I liked Unfaithful. I don't think I want to see it as a television series. This drama about a woman having an affair doesn't only look far too dour and slow-moving for its own good, but it doesn't seem to have much of a future or an original point of view. |
| Runner Up: Ludicrous drama Lucky 7 about a group of coworkers who win the lotto. We didn't like this back in 2006 when it was called Windfall either. | Runner Up: Ludicrous drama Lucky 7 about a group of coworkers who win the lotto. We didn't like this back in 2006 when it was called Windfall either. |
| CBS | CBS |
| The Crazy Ones: Robin Williams' non-stop, rubber-lipped shenanigans are a love-it or hate-it prospect. I definitely fall in the later camp. Here he motormouths and ad libs his way through a show about a father-daughter advertising team. It's just such a shame that this is Sarah Michelle Gellar's second turkey in so many seasons. | The Crazy Ones: Robin Williams' non-stop, rubber-lipped shenanigans are a love-it or hate-it prospect. I definitely fall in the later camp. Here he motormouths and ad libs his way through a show about a father-daughter advertising team. It's just such a shame that this is Sarah Michelle Gellar's second turkey in so many seasons. |
| Runner Up: We Are Men. More like We Are A Bunch Of Tired Divorced Dad Comedy Cliches. | Runner Up: We Are Men. More like We Are A Bunch Of Tired Divorced Dad Comedy Cliches. |
| Fox | Fox |
| Sleepy Hollow: There is high concept and then there were concepts that were created when everyone was high. This is one of those. Ichabod Crane comes back from the dead into modern day where he teams up with (even more) cops to stop the Headless Horseman who is actually one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. I'll have what they're having, but I won't be having this show. | Sleepy Hollow: There is high concept and then there were concepts that were created when everyone was high. This is one of those. Ichabod Crane comes back from the dead into modern day where he teams up with (even more) cops to stop the Headless Horseman who is actually one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. I'll have what they're having, but I won't be having this show. |
| Runner Up: Seth McFarlane puts his usual litany of poop jokes and racist humor on parade in Seth Green's comedy Dads. | Runner Up: Seth McFarlane puts his usual litany of poop jokes and racist humor on parade in Seth Green's comedy Dads. |
| NBC | NBC |
| Sean Saves the World: NBC, the former home of Seinfeld, Friends, and 30 Rock, has decided that the reason no one watches their comedies is because they are too smart. The solution: dumb it down. While this Sean Hayes sitcom about a gay dad dealing with a teen daughter and a nagging mom might seem edgy, it's as classic as the Dick Van Dyke Show, except without being funny. | Sean Saves the World: NBC, the former home of Seinfeld, Friends, and 30 Rock, has decided that the reason no one watches their comedies is because they are too smart. The solution: dumb it down. While this Sean Hayes sitcom about a gay dad dealing with a teen daughter and a nagging mom might seem edgy, it's as classic as the Dick Van Dyke Show, except without being funny. |
| Runner Up: A remake of Ironside, the detective in a wheelchair, starring Blair Underwood. If NBC is trying to lure new viewers, it's not going to do it with left overs. | Runner Up: A remake of Ironside, the detective in a wheelchair, starring Blair Underwood. If NBC is trying to lure new viewers, it's not going to do it with left overs. |
| The CW | The CW |
| Star Crossed: It's bad enough that the allegorical parallels between this alien and human integrated high-school drama and the civil rights movement are more obvious than a giant zit on a teen's forehead. Even worse this is 30-year-old star Matt Lanter's fourth time playing a high school student on network TV (following, Heroes, Commander in Chief, and 90210). Isn't it time he acted his age? | Star Crossed: It's bad enough that the allegorical parallels between this alien and human integrated high-school drama and the civil rights movement are more obvious than a giant zit on a teen's forehead. Even worse this is 30-year-old star Matt Lanter's fourth time playing a high school student on network TV (following, Heroes, Commander in Chief, and 90210). Isn't it time he acted his age? |
| Runner Up: Blatant Hunger Games meets Terra Nova knock of The 100. | Runner Up: Blatant Hunger Games meets Terra Nova knock of The 100. |
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