COMEDIES FALL & MIDSEASON 2014-2015

There was a time when I almost exclusively watched comedy series on TV, so it is now painful to watch what the major networks have prepared for this Fall.

First of all, it is surprising to me that multi-cam sitcoms with the laughing track are not dead yet. I thought the finale of HIMYM meant the end of this type of comedy, but I stand corrected. I'll be shocked, if any of the next three shows below will get a second season.

1. The McCarthys (CBS, written by Brian Gallivan) is about an Irish sports-obsessed family, all members of which live in the same place, basically (like they always do in this type of series). In the center of narration is one of the sons who also happens to be gay. Sheldon's mom Laurie Metclaf is playing the mother of the family, that's the only semi good thing I can say about this sitcom after having watched the trailers. 

2. Stand-up comedian with the Mexican roots Cristela Alonzo got her own show on ABC (a channel that seems to focus on minorities this year), ingeniously titled as Cristela, about a woman that wasted six years on studying law without any productive results. The series focuses on how she still lives with her relatives and whatever that implies.

3. Alonzo's colleague and the SNL star John Mulaney also got a semi-autobiographical sitcom on Fox titled with his last name, about what it means to live your life as a comedian. This is what people must have expected from Louie before they watched the trailer or the first episode.

Then we have a bunch of romantic comedies.

4. NBCs A to Z is the classic sentimental comedy with Mad Men's Ben Feldman and HIMYM's Cristin Milioti about two people looking for "the one" and falling for each other in spite of their personal traits.

5. Another NBC show, slightly more bitter, with Ken Marino and Casey Wilson, created by David Caspe (Happy Endings) and Seth Gordon, is called Marry Me. After six years of going out, a couple struggles to pop the question so that it would feel right.



6. Manhattan Love Story (ABC) is somewhat innovative: it's gonna reveal what people think when on a date. The show would have been tolerable if there were any particularly smart lines and the characters wouldn't be such complete idiots, which the workers of television evidently think "normal" people are.  As of now it looks like MLS is based on a number of horrible stereotypes.



7. The modern version of My Fair Lady called Selfie is coming to ABC. It is about an Instagram star who asks a marketing guru to rebrand her in order to get real friends instead of people who just friended her webpage. Features John Cho from Go On.



8. Jealous of the CBS series Bad Teacher, NBC have developed Bad Judge with Fargo's Mrs. Hess -  Kate Walsh, who's playing a reckless individual that discredits yet another noble profession by drinking and screwing around.

The rest of the shows fall under the category that I'd call "WTF".

9. Let's start with CW's creation for the teens Jane the Virgin, which raises questions about the quality of medical help one can get in the US. The person obsessed with her own virginity - courtesy of her neurotic mother, gets accidentally impregnated by her gynecologist. Tam tam tam!

10. Next one is ABC's black-ish with Anthony Anderson and Hannibal's Laurence Fishburne 'bout a black family living in the suburbia and hence losing some of its "blackness".

11. And finally in the nomination "WTF of the year" wins a weird fairytale musical Galavant with Joshua Sasse as the lead (ABC). 

NEW SERIES IN MAY

Fox doesn't seem to be able to let go of Kiefer Sutherland's superhero Jack Bauer, so on the 5th of May he returns with the mini-series 24: Live Another Day (a clear reference to Die Another Day). I absolutely hated the original 24 series, seriously, I can't think of any other show what annoyed me that much, but I'm sure there are many people who can't wait to see it.

Penny Dreadful, which airs on the 11th of May on Showtime seems a bit more interesting. Basically, they take a bunch characters from various spooky novels (e.g. Dorian Gray and Dr. Frankenstein) and put them to Victorian London. The show is created by John Logan, whose writing credits include Skyfall and The Aviator, and features Bond girl Eva Green, who plays one of the main characters.

 

On the 22nd of May a new action drama Gang Related premieres on Fox. The series is created by Chris Morgan (Fast and Furious) and it is about L.A. Police Department's special Gang Task Force and its war on gangs. Latinos will hate it, I'm afraid.

Then we have three new series from NBC. On the 27th of May they release The Night Shift about the night shift ER doctors from San Antonio Medical Center.

Two days later NBC introduce a sitcom Undateable by Adam Sztykiel, which is based on the book Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won't Be Dating Or Having Sex. It's about a bunch of guys and their unfortunate lack of dating skills. The first look promo is here.

Finally, a new show about pirates with John Malkovich as Blackbeard, Crossbones, debuts on the 30th of May. The show was created by Neil Cross (Luther). At first there were rumors that Hugh Laurie would take the main part, but I guess, that wasn't meant to be. Unfortunately, I could not find any promotional video, so here's a poster instead:

NEW TV SERIES IN APRIL

Tonight, on the 6th of April, we've got two new shows on HBO and AMC.

Silicon Valley is a new HBO comedy, created by Mike Judge. He actually used to work for a video card start up company in the past, and as far as I understand, he did not really enjoy it. This makes it interesting, 'cause if you’re not an IT enthusiast, it should be easier for you to look critically at the environment and make fun of it.

The first teaser was rather disappointing, but the second one and the sneak peeks look very promising. The series is rather short, only 8 episodes, so It’s better be good.

Turn airs tonight on AMC (a.k.a. the Breaking Bad channel). This series is based on a book named Washington Spies. It is a period drama set in the 18^th century during American Revolutionary War. The creators promise all the spy movie fun with guns and chases etc. Quite honestly, it seems like there is a little too much testosterone in this show for me to enjoy it.

On the 15^th of april FX releases Fargo with the Coens as executive producers. This is an anthology, so expect a different story every season. The first one is based on a 1996 film with the same name that  has altogether earned seven Oscars. There already was an attempt to create a spin-off, Kathy Bates even directed the pilot back in 1997, but that wasn't meant to be. The new version involves brilliant martin freeman (he’s everywhere now) and Billie Bob Thornton as the leads.

FX has already revealed the first 7 minutes of the pilot, and it looks great. Dark, funny, with exceptional acting – I have a feeling it will be the best new mini series of the year. So yeah, I’m looking forward to all the ten episodes.

Another period drama slash supernatural witch show called Salem is coming out on the 20^th of April on WGN. It is created by Brannon Braga, who has been previously working on Terra Nova, and Start Track franchise, and Adam Simon, the guy who wrote for a number of horror movies, including a trashy one named Bones, with Snoop Dogg (which earned less than half of its budget).

The show is set in the 17^th century, and the witches are real and running the witch trials. How about that?

For the teenagers and those that are young at heart, MTV has created a new show called Faking It, which will air on the 22^nd of April. It’s about two girls that pretend to be a lesbian couple just to fit and become popular in High School. Enough said.

  

A new mini series named Black Box is set to debut on the 24^th of April. The show is about Catherine Black, who is a secretly  bipolar neuroscientist. So, in essence, it’s like if instead of a leg/Vicodin problem Gregory House had the mental stability of Carrie from Homeland.  I doubt it’d be any good.



CBS took a movie Bad Teacher and turned it into a series, which will premiere on the 24^th of April. Frankly, I haven’t fully recovered from the loss of the money I paid to see the movie, so I have mixed feelings about it. The only thing that I can mark as interesting in the show’s trailers, is that Juanita from Desperate Housewives still looks as a kid.

Finally, on the 29^th of April, USA Network releases a new comedy about the female friendship called Playing House. The show is based on the real life friendship between Lennon Parham andJessica St. Clair and they also play the leading parts.

UPCOMING PREMIERES

The midseason has been quite a disappointment so far, there's only one gem plus two somewhat watchable shows  in the pile of new TV series. What''s ahead doesn't excite me either; anyway, here's a summary of what's coming.

Netflix's own series House of Cards, featuring Kevin Spacey, Kate Mara, Sandrine Holt and Robin Wright premieres today, February 1st. It's a political drama about Frank Underwood, a ruthless Republican Democrat in Washington plotting against the president. I don't believe it's going to be better than Boss, but who knows.



Monday Mornings, a medical drama created by David E. Kelley (The Practice, Ally McBeal), premieres on Monday (obviously), February 4, on TNT. I don't think I'll watch it, I doubt there's any angle to the usual blood, death and "we're saving lives here" sort of thing.



Conspiracy lovers might find Zero Hour (released on February 14) interesting, although to me the trailer seems a little (?) dull. The series was created by Paul Scheuring (Prison Break), Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott and it features Scott Michael Foster, Addison Timlin and Anthony Edwards. The plot doesn't strike as original, man's wife is abducted, so he has to decrypt a treasure map to save her and humanity (bleugh).



The first episode of Cult airs on February 19 on CW. Investigative journalist Jeff Sefton (Matt Davis, “The Vampire Diaries”) has learned to live with his younger brother Nate’s relentless string of obsessions, especially his latest rant that a hit TV show intends to harm him. However, when his brother mysteriously disappears, Jeff takes Nate’s paranoia seriously, and in the process uncovers the dark underworld of the TV show “Cult” and its rabid fans. Okay.



Golden Boy (debuts on February 26 on CBS) is about how a young cop managed to become a police commissioner in no time and what was the price he paid for this. Frankly, it's hard to imagine why would anyone want to watch that. Underachievers must resent this.



I already wrote about Red Widow and its premiere date is practically a month away (March 3). It's about a woman who gets deeply involved with organized crime after her husband is murdered in front of her eyes.

SERIES TO WATCH IN JANUARY

On December 30 the first episode of a new British mini series, Ripper Street, is released on BBC 1 (BBC America will air it on the 19th of January). It's a period drama/procedural about a bunch of detectives who have to keep a district inhabited with very low class citizens, Whitechapel, within the law, in other words, solve crimes. The story happens in 1889, after the notorious Jack The Ripper murders took place, hence the title. It's very likely to turn out boring, but then it's only eight episodes, so it doesn't hurt to check it out.


FX managed to produce the two shows that I'm crazy about (AHS and Archer), so I'll definitely watch The Americans, a new series about Russian spies in the eighties, which premiers on January 30th. Let's hope it's better than Homeland.


Banshee will premiere on Cinemax on the 11th of January and the promo looks fine. I understand that it's "Dexter style" action series, about an ex-convict who becomes a Sheriff of a small town, and who'll fight the crime his own way.

CITIES OF MUSIC AND SIN

Vegas or Nashville? A cowboy or a country music star? Murders, fights and tough guys or intrigues, betrayal and tough girls?We can now have both.

Vegas, a new drama on CBS, is said to be based on the true story of a Las Vegas Sheriff in the1960's. I believe the show is following a declining now trend, set by Mad Men, a trend of portraying America's recent past (others of the same sort are Pan Am, Magic City, The Playboy Club).

The story rolls around an antagonism between a rancher Ralph Lamb (Dennis Quaid, The Day after Tomorrow) and a Chicago gangster Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis, The Shield). If you missed a direct, honest old guy with big fists, this series might be just what you want. Though I'll watch it for lulz.

Dennis Quaid as Ralph Lamb

Geeks might also be excited to see how Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) is playing Assistant District Attorney, Katherine O'Connell.

The show was written by Nicholas Pileggi (Casino, City Hall) and Greg Walker (The X-Files, Smallville), and directed by James Mangold (Knight and Day, NYC 22). It premiers on the 28th of September.

The story of Nashville (ABC) is happening in our time and it's about a fading star of country music, Rayna James (Connie Britton, American Horror Story) and a young and ambitious singer Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere, Heroes). Naturally, Juliette will try to overthrow Rayna from her Olympus, and Rayna will do what she can to hold her reign. Must be a good soap, unless they fill it with clichés up to the point when every turn is predictable.

Connie Britton as Rayna James

The show was created by Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise), who actually lived in Nashville for some time. Besides Khouri, executive producers of the show are R.J. Cutler (also directed the pilot), James D. Parriott (Sons of Anarchy, Grey’s Anatomy) and Steve Buchanan (was involved in production of various country music specials and TV movies).

666 DEVIL DOCTORS

The one that I'm actually waiting for is 666 Park Avenue (released on the 30th of September on ABC), a horror soap about a young couple that moves to a fancy house in NY, just to find out that the place is filled with horror when it's too late. The creator of the show named as the source of inspiration, apart from the novel by Gabriella Pierce the series was based on, Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock and horror movies Rosemary's Baby, The Shining and Jacob's Ladder. As you watch the trailer or look at the promo poster, the ladder is everywhere, so here's a motive from Jacob's Ladder. Does it mean that the couple is dead and has to pass tests by facing all sorts of seductions before they get to the afterlife? No idea. But there's one thing I know: there's already one particular show that already used Rosemary's Baby and The Shining in its plot. I'm talking about the American Horror Story (FX), of course.

Jane and Henry

I don't know if Murphy and Falchuk have consciously come to a conclusion that after all the vampire stories the female audience was ready for something scary, and pumped a soap story of a dysfunctional family with blood, monsters and countless murders. In any case we now see that this turned out great, as there's at least one follower of the genre.

The stars of the show are Terry O'Quinn (Lost), Vanessa Williams (Desperate Housewives), Rachael Taylor (Transformers) and Dave Annable (Brothers and Sisters).

So, House is gone, and he will be missed. Who'll now make cynical comments about dying patients and treat them with contempt and disrespect? Well, Fox has an answer for you: meet Dr. Grace Devlin (Devlin, huh?), a new character from The Mob Doctor, a doctor from, naturally, Chicago who's task is to treat, as the title suggests, mafia guys (at least we know those won't be having lupus), so her brother does not get killed because of his gambling debt. From watching the trailer I assume it will be a combination of House (medicine + cynical comments), Dexter (double life), Sopranos (the mob stuff) and possibly CSI (hi-tech tools).

Grace Devlin

The main part is played by Jordana Spiro (My Boys, last season of Dexter), other actors I'm interested to see are William Forsythe (Broadwalk Empire) and Michael Rapoport (Prison Break, I remember him well from Friends).

The creators of the show, Josh Berman and Rob Wright previously worked together on Drop Dead Diva, which I did not even bothered to watch, so I don't expect anything extraordinary.

FALL 2012 PREVIEW PART 1

So now that's the weather in my God forgotten country has totally turned to a lovely combination of rain, shower and drizzle, it's time to take a look at what's gonna be new on TV this fall. I've created this video of me speculating over which of the shows I could like based on trailers, descriptions, cast and production.