Monthly Archives: September 2019

Series premiere: Bluff City Law

The PolyBlog
September 25 2019

I want to see the words “Jimmy Smits” and “successful show” in the same sentence, and not have it be historical flashback. I really do. I like him. I would love for him to find a show where he is actually fighting for something without seeming like a patronizing, sanctimonious do-gooder. I want to see some edge and maybe a little bit of hunger in his character.  And when I saw that he was going to be in a law show, I had hopes, but no, he’s the successful boss and it is about him convincing his daughter to come back to the firm and work with him again, three years after she left. My reaction was the same one I’ve had to most of his outings — I predicted cancellation.

Then the hype machine broke in. NBC has been hyping this show out the wazoo. Bluff City Law. Jimmy’s a lawyer! Wow! And he has a lawyer daughter! Wow! And they’re going to fight for their clients against big companies! Wow! Umm, no. In fact, I have often somewhat cynically predicted and been proven right that the more the show is hyped, the worse it is. Bluff City Law doesn’t break that trend.

Seven minutes. Seven whole minutes, with credits, for the show to start, introduce the daughter as a successful defender of corporate America, show she’s ruthless, show she doesn’t get along with her father, kill off the mother to a stroke, reunite the family for a house wake/eulogy, and convince the daughter to rejoin the firm. SEVEN MINUTES. And it wasn’t even a GOOD seven minutes. It pretty much sucked eggs. Every cliché in the book. I swear someone said “make sure the cast is diverse” and they went to town on it like there’s no tomorrow. Somewhere in minute 9 they introduced a woman who works at the law firm and then subtly (i.e., like a sledgehammer) asked her a bad segue question about her AND HER WIFE. Yep, we GET IT. You have a diverse cast to make up for a lead actress who looks like a pale daughter of Casper the Friendly Ghost, not a former Latino hunk du jour. And let’s just skip over the HUGE RIFT between daughter and father that has kept them separated for a whopping THREE YEARS. That’s not a rift, it’s like they’re on a break. 

So let’s break it down. The three options to make this show work are:

A. Interesting cases — the first case is about a chemical company selling a product that causes cancer. Wow, that’s literally the case of the week on 100s of shows. And they LEAD with that? Okaaaay. Let’s see, where’s the “hidden scientist”? Oh, there they are. Right on cue. The only thing that was interesting was the question in the court room when the hidden scientist testified. It was pretty good. One line in 42 minutes.

B. Tension — Dad and Daughter? Can barely see it. It certainly isn’t believable, mostly because the daughter isn’t believable. Add in tension with coworkers that GOES nowhere, including other lawyers who are displaced by the daughter’s arrival, and you still have nothing. Ex-husband is around too. Yawn. The ONLY thing that works is a sub-plot where another lawyer is delving into a criminal case that seems to have some interesting bits to it. But there’s no tension with it.

C. Acting — Jimmy’s good, but he’s playing the same character he’s tried repeatedly before with little success. There’s no hunger in his character. The last time he delivered a punchy performance was in the last season of West Wing where he was broke, the campaign was faltering, and he went to a TV station to record an advertising spot, which he did off the cuff, and it was raw, and intense, and powerful. I didn’t think Jimmy had it in him, but he did. Nothing even close to that here.

Caitlin McGee plays the daughter, and while I’ve seen her in some small roles, I mostly have seen her in ADs this summer for the show. And there is no fire within. I was bored the whole time.

Hard to know which of the other characters are going to be worth knowing, except the one lawyer, played by Barry Sloane. I kept wondering where I had seen him before, and I *never* would have come up with Revenge. I don’t know if his character will go anywhere.

But it all doesn’t matter because I won’t be watching. And I’m betting nobody else will be either. CANCELLATION, joining all the other shows about lawyers coming back to their hometown to fight for the little guy.

Series premiere: Pennyworth

The PolyBlog
September 23 2019

The various Batman series, film or TV, have rarely given his butler, Alfred Pennyworth much to do. He occasionally has a fun presence, but rarely do you see him in any action role. The series Gotham changed that considerably, with the character helping teach Bruce to fight as well as getting in numerous scraps and fisticuffs himself, building up his backstory of being a former soldier, etc. So it was perhaps almost inevitable that someone would eventually want to build that story up even more.

And yet would anyone really care? The backstory for someone destined to be a secondary or tertiary character in a larger story arc? When I saw the premise for the show, my thought was “pffft” and I predicted cancellation. Now that I’ve seen the opening episode, I am not so sure. 

The premise is that Alfred Pennyworth, former SAS officer who is newly released from service to the Queen, has started his own security company, wanting to be his own man. It’s “early days” in his business so far, so he’s working as a bouncer at a club that looks a lot like an old-fashioned speak-easy. He intervenes to help a patron one night, and it turns out the patron is one Thomas Wayne. Yep, Bruce’s father, long before Bruce is a gleam in the eye. Thomas is working as a supposed forensic accountant, but it’s more light cover than convincing. Apparently, something is happening in British politics, someone told Thomas, and the people involved want to stop Thomas from stopping them. They attempt to kill Wayne, and in the surviving wreckage, they find Pennyworth’s business card. One thing leads to another, and several kidnappings later, Pennyworth is set on a collision course with the Raven Society who are trying to overthrow the government in the name of the Queen, whether she agrees or not.

Jack Bannon plays Pennyworth, and while I haven’t seen him in anything before, he has really strong presence. Despite the fact that he looks like he should be in a boy band. There are two or three scenes where you see his body and face shift from normal mode to action, and it is fascinating to see it click in. One scene in particular, he’s talking to a couple of guys in a club, one is being a bit rude and insulting, and Pennyworth switches to action mode. His line is simple, “Don’t do that”, but it drops like ice. Awesome job, and gave me real love for the episode. I don’t know that the character has anything to do with Batman’s Alfred, but if you just took him as a soldier newly released, the story works fine.

Ben Aldridge plays Thomas Wayne, and I haven’t seen him in much before. He was in Stan Lee’s Lucky Man but not a role I particularly remember. But he has a lively spirit that is fun to see. Youthful, softer than Alfred, seems almost naive at times. Good balance between the two.

Pennyworth starts dating a woman named Esme from the club, and he’s definitely smitten. Esme is played by Emma Corrin, and while a relatively new face, she is going to break big this year. She has amazing presence in the pilot…she reminds me a bit of Jodie Foster in some ways, and even Franka Potente, which is a weird mix, I assure you. Definite presence, far more so in a couple of early scenes and then at the end. She’s also set to play Princess Diana in The Crown, and I think she’s going to rock it.

After those three, there are various sundry characters — two soldier mates of Alfred’s, his parents, miscellaneous bad guys, but it is those three that will make or break the series.

It has a bit of James Bond qualities in it, maybe a touch of Kingsman. But does it have enough to keep it alive? I’m going to keep the same prediction — cancellation. Which is unfortunate for me, as I really liked the premiere.

Preview of new TV shows for 2019-20

The PolyBlog
September 15 2019

It’s time for the new TV season, and so it’s time for my annual fall preview and predictions.

September:

  • ADDED: 04: Pennyworth (Showcase) — Backstory for Alfred the butler from Batman. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 12: The I-Land (Netflix) — Lost wannabe. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 13: Unbelievable (Netflix) — Rape victim recants after repeatedly telling her story. PREDICTION: n/a, mini-series, will likely win awards but unclear if it will bring anything new to well-trod tale;
  • 13: Undone (Amazon) — Trippy animation. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • ADDED: 18: Northern Rescue (CBC) — Family loses mother, returns to dad`s home life and takes over search and rescue. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 19: First Wives Club (BET+) — Same premise, but with black women. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 19: Bigger (BET+) — Is there more to life. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • ADDED: 19: The Family Man (Amazon) – NIA worker deals with home life. PREDICTION: Cancellation.
  • 23: Bob (Hearts) Abishola (CBS) — White patient falls for Nigerian nurse. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 23: Prodigal Son (Fox) — Profiler helping solve cases. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 23: All Rise (CBS) — Sounds like Judging Amy. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 23: Bluff City Law (NBC) — Hyped out the wazoo, Jimmy Smits and a law firm with his daughter. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 24: Mixed-ish (ABC) — Ex-cult members start school. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 24: Emergence (ABC) — Mysterious event, amnesiac child. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 24: Bless This Mess (ABC) — Simplicity in Nebraska. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 25: Stumptown (ABC) — Cobie Smulders as a PI. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 26: The Unicorn (CBS) — Father starting to date. Yawn. Except it’s Walter Goggins. Hmm. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 26: Evil (CBS) — Supernatural or psychological explanations for evil. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 26: Carol’s Second Act (CBS) — New divorcee in medicine. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 26: Sunnyside (NBC) — New councilman, new immigrants. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • EDIT: 26: Poldark (PBS) — 1700s soldier returns to British home and tries to reintegrate. PREDICTION: Renewal; Not a new show;
  • 26: Perfect Harmony (NBC) — Choir comedy, small town. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 27: The Politician (Netflix) — Each season will follow an election, starting with high-school. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 29: Godfather of Harlem (EPIX) — Crime boss returns to old neighborhood, which has new gangs running it. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 29: Bless The Harts (Fox) — Animated Southern family and Jesus. PREDICTION: Cancellation.

October:

  • 01: Sorry For Your Loss (FB) — Wife after sudden death of husband. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 02: Almost Family (Fox) — Father used own sperm at fertility clinic, now 100 siblings. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 04: Raising Dion (Netflix) — Son has superpowers. PREDICTION: n/a, mini-series;
  • 06: Batwoman (CW) — Bruce has a cousin. PREDICTION: Renewal;
  • EDIT: 06: Get Shorty (EPIX) — TV version of gangster becoming producer. PREDICTION: Cancellation;  Not a new show;
  • 09: Nancy Drew (CW) — New sleuth, new cases. PREDICTION: Renewal;
  • 09: The Oval (BET+) — West Wing-ish. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 11: Modern Love (Amazon) — Anthology about various forms of love. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 15: Treadstone (USA) — Every year, someone wants to tell a story of a one-man super soldier, and every year, they fail. This one at least comes in with the Bourne legacy. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 16: Limetown (FB) — Missing neuroscience community members. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 18: Looking for Alaska (Hulu) — Eight episodes at a boarding school, falling in love, and dealing with loss. PREDICTION: n/a, seems like a mini-series, not sure it’ll be worth watching;
  • 18: Living With Yourself (Netflix) — Paul Rudd in comedy about becoming a better version of yourself through some sort of cloning procedure. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 20: Watchmen (HBO) — Future with outlawed super heroes. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 24: Daybreak (Netflix) — Dystopian high school? Gangs of 4Hers? Really? PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 27: Mrs. Fletcher (HBO) — Empty nester single mom…sounds like Gilmore Girls, except she had a son. PREDICTION: Cancellation;

November:

  • 01: The Morning Show (Apple) — Anchor women fight for top spot. PREDICTION: Cancellation;
  • 04: His Dark Materials (HBO) — Fantasy world of daemons, polar bears, and witches. PREDICTION: Renewal.
  • 12: The Mandalorian (Disney+) — Series set in the Star Wars universe post-Return of the Jedi (i.e., between episodes 6 and 7) and while I am not certain huge numbers will tune in for a weekly show, they have the canon from the SW universe that is pretty rich and easy to build upon. And if from time to time they need to drop in a Jedi or two, far be it from me to doubt the ways of the Force. PREDICTION: Renewal for at least a second season;
  • 15: Dollface (Hulu) — Post-break-up, woman tries to get back together with her friends. PREDICTION: Cancellation;

December:

  • 06: Reprisal (Hulu) — Woman left for dead wants revenge. PREDICTION: Cancellation.

Other shows I’ll be watching from returns:

  • Sept 6, Titans (DC Universe);
  • Sept 23, Bull (CBS);
  • Sept 24, NCIS (CBS);
  • Sept 24, New Amsterdam (NBC);
  • Sept 26, A Million Little Things (ABC);
  • Sept 27, Blue Bloods (CBS);
  • Sept 27, Magnum P.I. (CBS);
  • Sept 27, God Friended Me (CBS);
  • Sept 29, The Rookie (ABC);
  • Oct 2, SWAT (CBS);
  • Oct 2, The Blacklist (NBC);
  • Oct 6, Supergirl (CW);
  • Oct 7, Black Lightning (CW);
  • Oct 7, All American (CW);
  • Oct 8, The Flash (CW);
  • Oct 10, Legacies (CW);
  • Oct 15, Arrow (CW);
  • Nov 1, Jack Ryan (Amazon);

So, looks like 42 new shows to consider, of which I’m predicting only 5 renewals. That is too much of a bloodbath though, curious to see which ones actually make it. I’m only really interested in Prodigal Son (profiler), Emergence (supernatural), Poldark (1700s), Batwoman, Nancy Drew, Treadstone, The Mandalorian, and Reprisal.

♫ I saw the sign ♫

The PolyBlog
September 2 2019

I have the song, “I saw the sign”, by Ace of Base, going through my head (and it’s probably going through yours now too, sorry about that!). If I was being honest with this post, it should be titled “I missed the sign” because I did. I missed a sign that was staring me in the face for over a week because I was focused on the day-to-day detritus of daily life, not the broader world. Let me explain.

I posted earlier this year that I was facing depression and had to choose amongst three options (My seven ways to respond to depression // Choosing between three depressions // Deciding on my way forward). I ended up opting for a very aggressive “F*** the Universe” approach, which was not about saying “screw everyone”, although at least one person thought that’s what it meant. No, I meant that the universe seemed to be sending me signals about certain things, and rather than listening to them, I chose to give the universe the middle finger and pretend everything was a raging success. Literally telling the universe itself to go screw itself, not the people in the universe. Astronomy was one of the areas where the universe was messing with me, but there were others (FtU Update – 30 days in). But regardless of what method I use, the depression still sits there. Maybe mitigated, maybe not, but it’s there until it’s not. The only way out is through.

I’ve been on holidays the last two weeks, which has been good for my mental and physical health, and I have detached so much that I’ve actually forgotten my password for my work phone. Either that or it’s just futzed on me and won’t accept my password. I’ve got one more day and then I’ll be back at it on Wednesday, so the IT people there can figure it out for me.

But just over a week ago, I was back at home after a busy couple of nights doing star gazing, I was doing some planning for a few things in the next six weeks, and I was feeling overhwhelmed. Stressed even. And I missed the sign.

Oh, sure, I saw that I was stressed. That was easy. I could even articulate some of it. But I missed the sign.

I was stressed. STRESSED. Something I can’t feel when I’m depressed because it dampens everything down. I’d broken through the depression (some areas of progress that will likely be part of future posts, perhaps) and I hadn’t even noticed my emergence, partly because I was ignoring any signals from the universe. I was feeling better, more upbeat, more optimistic about my ability to do certain things, and I was slowly starting to ratchet back up my planning for various events and habits. Of course, I’m still physically depleted energy-wise, and so I was feeling overwhelmed quicker than usual, but I missed the sign that feeling ANYTHING, even STRESS, was a sign.

♫ Life is demanding, without understanding.

I missed the sign, and it opened up my eyes, I missed the sign. ♫

A weird form of progress, to be sure, but progress never the less.