Category Archives: Television

TV shows that have been dropped or are in freefall

The PolyBlog
November 19 2015

I was reading TVByTheNumbers, but switched over to reading the Grim Reaper (who has bounced around a bit and now does his own thing on his own site). A little more snark, but the analysis is a bit better.

At ABC:

  • Wicked City is cancelled — This “1982 serial killer” show wasn’t exactly a huge draw, but surprised it didn’t get a couple more shows in before a decision was made;
  • Castle and the Muppets are toss-ups to be cancelled by end of year, but I think the Muppets will leave before then and Castle is a definite lock to be the last season;
  • Quantico is on the list for “likely renewal”, but I think it is way too early to decide that, unless someone has a REALLY compelling storyline for Season 2 already in the works; and,
  • SHIELD is on the list for definite renewal, must be something I don’t see, as it’s a watch or not toss up for me.

At CBS:

  • Elementary is a toss-up, but again, I think way too early to decide;
  • NCIS: LA and Blue Bloods are likely to be renewed, but I’d put them in the same category as Elementary;
  • Newbies Limitless and Supergirl are also listed as likely to be renewed, but I would downgrade Limitless to a toss-up and upgrade Supergirl to “definite” as a Berlanti-diamond-that-needs-polishing; and,
  • NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion and Big Bang Theory are all expecting renewals, but I’m not sure why for any of them.

At NBC:

  • The Player has been cancelled, which saddens me…there is a plot line here for a weekly action show, one man with some skills against the world, and nobody has cracked it in the last five seasons, wonder who will try next year;
  • Undateable is likely to be cancelled, and I gave up on it some time ago;
  • Heroes: Reborn is rated as a toss-up, but I think they have too much chaff and not enough wheat in their lineup, so might upgrade that one, depends on what happens with the plot going forward, if it will hook people or lose them;
  • Grimm is down as likely to be renewed, and there may be some syndication money at play there (they’ve reached their 100th episode), but I would list that one down a bit unless they can pump up the storyline a bit; and,
  • The Blacklist is predicted as guaranteed to be renewed and Blindspot is already renewed, and I’d be interested to see what the writers for Blindspot have pitched for mythology creep in Season 2, as at least one of the major pieces has to drop this year or people will cry foul.

At Fox:

  • Minority Report is already cancelled, which is a shame, I think it had potential just needed a bit more spark outside of the police department;
  • Sleepy Hollow is predicted as likely to be cancelled, and can’t disagree with that, the storylines have been pretty flat this year;
  • Gotham is predicted as guaranteed to be renewed, which I don’t disagree with; and,
  • Rosewood is listed as guaranteed to be renewed, which seems like a giant odd-man-out, and worries me for recent retooling to make both Rosewood and Villa single and available for each other, leaving little tension, they’re almost happy together.

At CW:

The hybrid of CBS and WB, TV Grim Reaper suggests treating them like two “sources” of shows since they seem to be almost managed as two pools (often the top CBS shows get renewed, even though they’re worse than some of the bottom WB ones):

  • Crazy Ex-GF for CBS is on life support, and TV Grim Reaper thinks they already pulled the plug without telling anyone;
  • Arrow is guaranteed to be renewed, and like The Flash, I think it’s a no brainer, partly as I think Berlanti is achieving some economies of scale between multiple productions and makes up for it volume (Arrow, Flash, SuperGirl, DC Legends of Tomorrow, etc.).

That’s it for now, will probably recap in about a month when the first “season” ends (the networks now treat it as the “fall season” for 10-13 episodes and the “winter season” for 10-13 more, plus replacements).

Season premiere: Elementary

The PolyBlog
November 9 2015

At the end of last season, Holmes was having a horrible, no good, very bad day:

  • Antonio had been kidnapped and he was being forced to solve clues around the city;
  • the baddie of the episode was trying to seduce him into using heroin to rescue Antonio;
  • Holmes beat the crap out of the baddie, near killing him; and,
  • he went off with the drugs at the episode to presumably shoot up.

I was worried that the season would start up with a revelation that he hadn’t actually used. That, somehow, at the last minute, he thrown off his demons, and had walked the righteous path. Instead, the reality was actually worse.

I don’t mean that he used, although that did indeed happen. I mean that the show starts only a few days after the incident and Holmes is back to his regretful self. No withdrawal, no cravings, oops, I used. All better now, let’s go to meetings. No darkness. No despair. No wallowing. Not even Holmes turning his cruel observations inward to self-immolate his failure. Honestly, it’s like he made a resolution to work out every day and to eat healthy, and all he did was eat a chocolate bar and skip the gym. He is back on the wagon so fast, with no emotional or intellectual fall-out whatsoever, I have no idea what the writers were thinking. I feel ripped off. The equivalent of him saying, “oops, my bad”, and moving on.

Which isn’t to say there isn’t fall-out — the DA is deciding if they will charge him with attempted murder or not, and the NYPD has cut all ties with their consultants, including Watson. That actually registers with Holmes in the episode…not his personal failure, but that it has impacted Watson. Who last year went her own way, wants to still work with him but with distance, but also wants to do stuff on her own too, and yet when it is revealed to her that she’s out too, she’s all “well, I only work with you, so if you’re out, I’d be out anyway”. Sure she would. Like last year when he left and she kept working with them. WTF?

Their NYPD partners said goodbye, and I don’t know if that is the plan for the season that they will work with others or not. Holmes hit up the NSA who basically told them all the agencies will consider them radioactive too.

The only real upside to the episode was the end of episode twist of having Holmes’ father, Morland, arrive to “fix everything”, with his reputed harsh assessment of Holmes, etc. Very priggish. I love the actor, John Noble, who plays Morland and I loved him on both Fringe and to a slightly lesser extent on Sleepy Hollow. But the reality is that he is least enjoyable when he’s trying to play a prig, so not sure how well that will play out. Instead of seeming “nasty”, he comes off more immature / childishly evil. Draco Malfoy was more sinister, and he sucked most of the time. Sigh.

Season premiere: Grimm

The PolyBlog
November 9 2015

At the end of last season, Nick was having a horrible, no good, very bad day:

  • He found his dead mother’s head in a box on his dining room table;
  • Juliette had gone full-on Hexenbeist, burned down his trailer of Grimm artifacts, and tried to kill him, embracing the feud with all Grimms;
  • Trubel shot Juliette with a crossbow to save Nick; and,
  • Nick held Juliette in his arms as she died.

The first episode picks up from that point, and I wanted to scream foul. As Juliette lies dying, the secret wesen FBI taskforce breaks in, steals Juliet’s body / kidnaps Trubel / removes the mother’s head. Sooo, chances are that Mom isn’t actually dead. There was a twist in the last episode where it never actually showed it was indeed his mother before she died, and she didn’t fight very well for a Grimm. With the head gone, no way to be certain. Same for Juliette’s body, I’m sure she isn’t dead. As for Trubel, two episodes in and she hasn’t reappeared, but although they’re looking for her, nobody’s very worried.

If things weren’t bad enough, the FBI agent (secretly a wesen) turns out to be not so bad before she gets killed, although she does have time to warn Nick “they’re coming” and it means war. But oh, look, Nick’s a daddy with the hexenbeist that tricked him into impregnating her.

I can’t believe I’ve written the words above. It sounds so outlandish, it’s hard to believe it makes sense for the show. As I said, I’m really disappointed in the Trubel / mom’s head / Juliette’s body thing. Very cheap plot devices. But I’m hoping the battle that is coming is worth the setup and it doesn’t end up being something they resolve in a single episode after all the build-up.

TV shows on the bubble at 25% of the way through the season

The PolyBlog
November 3 2015

I like reading the website TVByTheNumbers (zaptoit.com) as they pull together some of the hits and duds each week to see how they’re doing based on ratings and whether networks are likely to keep them. They adjust for things like demographics, whether the network owns the show or it’s produced outside the fold, etc. It’s a fun read, and their prediction rate isn’t bad. Mostly I just like to check in from time to time for my shows and see how they’re doing…

ABC:

  • Blood and Oil — The “Dallas” remake, more or less, it held no interest for me and is on fumes;
  • Wicked City — The premiere was last week, this is the 1982 serial killer show, pretty low on predictions but only just started, hard to tell;
  • Nashville — Why is this show still on?
  • Castle — I watch, but I’m not sure why anymore. They should have had a better ending for last season, bigger, badder, etc., and just ended it instead of separating Castle and Beckett this year for ridiculous reasons;
  • Last Man Standing — Haven’t watched since the beginning, let it die;
  • Muppets — I had initially hoped this would be kid-friendly, but most of the pilot was more for adults, more so than the previous version, fine to let it die;

CBS:

  • CSI: Cyber — this should have died the first week;
  • Hawaii Five-O — this should have died two years ago;
  • Code Black — St. Elsewhere with updated DRAMA! ACTION! ROMANCE!…yawn;
  • The Good Wife — has probably run its course, don’t have strong views, it never hooked me;
  • NCIS: LA — I was watching regularly, but lately, it is definitely third on my list of NCIS shows, and happy to see it go;
  • Madam Secretary — yawn, never hooked me, fine to see it die;

CW:

  • Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — I can’t figure out how this was greenlit…confused mess;
  • Reign — never watched it;
  • iZombie — haven’t watched it through an episode, but some friends like it, no real view on this one;

FOX:

  • Minority Report — I think there’s a show buried in there somewhere, not sure where, but won’t be surprised to see it die;
  • Sleepy Hollow — I would miss this one…it’s like X-Files with things actually appearing rather than just hinted at;
  • The Grinder — Rob Lowe, yes…this show, hell no;
  • Grandfathered — premise bored me before I finished reading it;
  • Bones — I should love this show, as I like procedurals, I like the stars, I like forensics…but I don’t, the chemistry was never, and I mean NEVER, there for me;
  • The Last Man on Earth — no interest;

NBC:

  • Truth Be Told — no interest in this from the beginning;
  • The Player — each week, save the victim…there have been a lot of these action shows in recent years, and if there was no secret identity, super power, or cape, they`ve all failed…this one is no better or worse then most of them, and Wesley Snipes isn’t enough to save it;
  • The Mysteries of Laura — I have no idea how this one survived the pilot;
  • Undateable — I don`t know where this show went, it started off with “let the dating guru give lessons to the nerds” and it was great, funny, watchable…then it became, let the nerd reclaim the gigolo, and the show tanked…now it’s *gasp* live (!)…or not;
  • Heroes Reborn — I hope this one grows legs (and not in the evil grow-your-own-clone way), as I’m actually enjoying it again. Save the past, save the future isn’t as compelling as save the cheerleader, but they also haven’t introduced a really bad super villain yet (honestly, Erika is a bureaucratic joke);

The rest of the big shows that I watch are likely to be renewed. And if I had the power to save a show of the 8 that I actually watch, it would be Heroes Reborn, with The Player and Sleepy Hollow fighting it out for a distant second place.

Super hero shows

The PolyBlog
November 3 2015

Anyone who reads my blog or follows me on Twitter knows I watch a lot of TV. I love serialized story-telling, sue me. But within my watching schedule are the increasing number of superhero shows. There’s actual academic research out there about storylines and market share correlating with people’s level of optimism — i.e. when things are bleak, they often look to archetype-style storylines where good triumphs over evil, and one person can make a difference — but mostly they’re just plain fun. And while lots of people think they’re all the same, far from it.

Back in the early 80s, I watched reruns of Batman (bif! pow!), for the campy fun. Plus the anti-super-hero story, Greatest American Hero…a suit with special powers given by aliens no less, but the hero couldn’t fly straight, lost the manual, etc. Not exactly a man of steel. Oh, and he was a high school teacher with The Breakfast Club set in tow occasionally. About the only thing going for him was a hot girlfriend (Connie Selleca, rar!).

Later I graduated to other shows. Lois and Clark had potential when it stayed out of the romance realm, but wasn’t a mainstay. The Superman movies were decent (well, except for the Richard Pryor one, blech). Spiderman was awesome, but again, on the big screen.

Then Smallville changed everything. When it debuted, everybody said, “What? An origin story? Who wants that?”. Turns out, a LOT of people. Hugely popular, hugely successful. And while not every storyline was a home run, most were solid singles. Some, particularly in the last season, were stand-up triples. All leading over the 7 years to him becoming Superman. The origin story of how he learned to become Superman. Lots of other franchises were thinking big screen, but not all.

Arrow is into its fourth season, probably one of the natural successors to Smallville for many viewers. With the notable exception that it starts with the Arrow’s first day on the job, the rest of the show deals with how the Scoobie team builds, Arrow goes from “the Hood” to “Arrow” to “Green Arrow”, and if you want backstory, lots of flashbacks to Oliver Queen’s missing five years. Plus, no need to worry about paying the rent when you’re a billionaire. Yet, it is very dark. More “Dark Knight” than “Smallville” (which had a lot of sunlight). The physical mood is quite different, the dark seedy underbelly of life.

Gotham started last year, and I honestly thought it was off the rails. Another origin story, like Smallville, but the focus isn’t on Bruce Wayne becoming Batman but on Jim Gordon trying to clean up the streets of Gotham. It is very dark. Oddly lit. Sometimes it looks like a 70s style cop show more so than the present day. But here’s the problem. Batman emerges because he is needed…to use the mythology, maybe not the hero the city deserves, but the one it needs. Dark. Vigilante justice. Lone wolf fighting back because the criminals are in control. Someone who will break the law because it is the only way to save the city from anarchy. This means, over about 7 seasons, Jim Gordon has to consistently lose battles. The city has to continue to descend into darkness, and conditions have to continue to get worse in order for the Batman role to be born in Bruce Wayne’s heart. Seven years of seeing Gotham sink under the weight of criminals and villainy. This season is even dubbed “Rise of the Villains”. It is way darker than Arrow, and it can only get worse. Yet, for all of that, it’s really compelling watching Gordon. He is a great character to focus on. We’re even seeing other characters like the Riddler, Penguin, Falcone, etc. become the nutbar super villains that Batman must face later on. Love the show.

Marvel Agents of SHIELD is the campy, slightly poke-in-the-ribs superhero show. The clean-up crew deals with the fights that Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, and others can’t get to, the smaller battles. Fighting the humans who want to find alien technology and dominate Earth. Very few people die, lots of bullets get fired, and there is a lot of bright light areas. Hints of darkness, but rare to actually deal with the seedy underbelly. Again, a totally different mood. They had a related “Agent Carter” series, and it didn’t interest me much.

Last year, the Flash came on the scene, courtesy of Arrow’s spinoff/kickstart. Barry Allen, the fastest man alive, is young, idealistic, and haunted by his father’s false imprisonment for the murder of Barry’s mother. Bright, happy, but realistic. Barry has seen the darkness, it’s touched his life, but he doesn’t want to live there.

This season, they released Supergirl. Forget the darkness of Gotham and Arrow. Forget the human downside of fighting evil of SHIELD. Forget even the schoolboy seriousness of hiding his secret as Clarke became Superman on Smallville.

Supergirl is brightly lit, saccharine sweet, with rainbows and unicorn-positivity. Kara is thrilled to be a superhero. She can fly, she can help people, she wants to be “strong together”, working with a team of friends and her military agent sister to bring down the bad guys while maintaining a cover as a slightly ditsy assistant to the editor of a magazine. Sure, there are big baddies lurking in the shadows, including her evil aunt, but hey, let’s take a break to pick up a car with her boss in it and carry her off to do an interview atop a hill.

Clarke Kent was super serious for his young age; Oliver Queen has seen the darkness and now lives there, at whatever cost it takes to save his city; Jim Gordon is worn down by the corruption and Gotham’s descent, but he’s a soldier in the battle and will keep fighting on for his principles; Coulson and his team on SHIELD are amazed at the weird crap that keeps coming their way, but are willing to face it head on, hopefully with some wry humour to help them cope; the Flash has his little band of humans to help him take on everyday criminals turned meta-humans. Kara El, of the house of El? She’s a sunshine yellow superhero and pep rally cheerleader all rolled into one.

All very different shows, but the themes are consistent. Rebirth. New beginnings. Power, responsibility. Duty. Honour. Fighting the good fight. And, if possible, looking really handsome or beautiful doing it.

More of the shows are coming, and I’ll likely tune in for most of them.