Category Archives: Television

Show cancellations, on the bubble etc…

The PolyBlog
January 24 2013

As I’ve mentioned a few times, I love serialised story-telling whether in book form or television or movies. I like to see characters develop, and to visit them in different scenarios. Which is a rationalization perhaps of why I like to watch TV, other than the fact I just enjoy it. But, as the year passes the mid-way point, the pundits start guessing who’s going to get cancelled (boo! hiss!) or renewed (yay!). Usually, I’m in agreement with most of the cancellations for new comedies, most of which I gave up on after one or two episodes. Dramas I’m more hit and miss on as networks often don’t let them last enough for me to decide if I’m in or out — my “on the bubble” period is a lot longer than networks who are paying for them.

Today, I wandered by the TvByTheNumbers site to check out how my shows are doing…and was pleasantly surprised!

I had very little interest after episode 1 in 666 Park Avenue, Last Resort, Made In Jersey (lasted ten minutes), or Partners, all of which were cancelled. I think there was something “there” for The Mob Doctor but not enough to keep watching it. I tuned in, I tuned out, I tuned in, I tuned out.

Today, Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 and Ben and Kate seem to be as close to formally cancelled as you can get without a press release containing the words cancelled, and I never liked either one. Happy Endings, Guys With Kids, and Up All Night are all listed as Likely to be Cancelled, and I couldn’t agree more. CSI: NY is a bit long in the tooth, and while I liked Gary Sinise, I can’t take him every week. I didn’t get excited about Vegas, but not surprised it’s not likely to continue.

The “on the bubble” list has almost nothing I care about — Last Man Standing, Malibu Country, Cleveland Show, the Good Wife, 90210, the new Carrie Diaries, Hart of Dixie, Mindy Project, Beauty and the Beast, 1600 Penn (please kill this!), the New Normal, and Whitney (whose acting reminds me of The Nanny without the voice). I kind of fell out of routine with Nikita and it started back up without me even noticing it in the PVR guide, too confused storylines now. Deception lasted one episode for me, although I liked the premise. My only concern is The Mentalist, and while other sites suggest it is near certain for renewal, the series could close soon without a great loss, they just need to wrap up the Red John story (and a lot of those final pieces are already in place, if needed).

Some of the shows I like that are expected to be renewed are Castle, Revenge (no, I don’t know why I’m still watching some parts of it), Elementary (loving it!), Once Upon A Time, Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, Arrow, Grimm and Revolution (a nice surprise!). The Big Bang Theory is a no-brainer for renewal (already renewed!), but I’m surprised NCIS and NCIS: LA are still listed as certain renewal, given that NCIS has some pieces in place that would allow them to wrap and NCIS: LA has been a bit stale of late.

I won’t miss Fringe as I didn’t even watch this season…I watched up until the end of last year, but the parallel work together was a step too far for me, and when they went to Watchers controlling the future, I was lost.

Way too soon for some other shows, but I’m loving Showcase for a lot of short-season shows (Continuum, Suits, Rizzoli, Lost Girl, Covert Affairs, etc.).

Series premiere: The Following

The PolyBlog
January 24 2013

Kevin Bacon plays a retired/disgraced FBI agent in the new series “The Following” about a vicious serial Killer that Bacon’s character caught years before and who escapes from prison one month before he’s set to be executed.

You find out early on that, like most protagonists on TV, they have to have flaws that tell you how much they have paid for their devotion to justice. Dead spouses, divorced spouses, mental disease, or in this case, alcoholism. But when the serial killer starts his rampage again, the FBI brings back the agent that caught him. Purely as a consultant of course.

I’ve read a bunch of the experts’ reviews on line, and while I don’t disagree with them that many of the elements of the pilot are a bit cliche, there are still some shining moments that will bring me back for weeks 2-8 before the network decides to continue or not. First, the cliches.

I’ve already mentioned the agent is retired and disgraced. Plus he’s an alcoholic. Not too long in, we also find out that he was a lone wolf, little evidence, just a gut feeling about someone that led him to save the day. A tortured soul who stared into the mental abyss of the serial killer and didn’t come back entirely complete. He even has physical scars, gasp!

At a second level down, there are some glaring neon signs that are not quite cliches, but certainly bad writing. Over-exposition to explain how the serial killer likes Edgar Allan Poe — not the deep analysis that would go with a full psych profile, but rather a basic overview of pop culture’s understanding of serial killers. There are also giant CLUES that show up — tertiary characters that have way too much dialogue or screen time (which makes them future victims or future bad guys to justify why they got the time in the first place). I met the first one and thought, “Yep, she’s dead soon” — less than two minutes later. Second one, “Yep, she’s not making it through the episode”, and she didn’t. Third time, they introduce a supposed gay couple who are so innocuous you know they are going to be part of the cult (non-spoiler — they are!).

But, there are the bright spots. Natalie Zea plays a strong-willed ex-wife of the serial killer who had an affair with the agent after the arrest of her husband, so there is some fodder there for both sparks and history. Jimmy Olsen from Smallville plays a techno/psych/jack of all trades for the police, and is the only one to spot that the ex-agent is drinking on the job, even offering him a breath mint to help cover it up. The serial killer isn’t as deviously chilling as Heath Ledger’s The Joker, but the final speech by the serial killer to the agent is quite strong acting.

Lots of plot holes for the future…for example, Bacon is expert but sees the word “Nevermore” written on a wall and takes several scenes before he reveals its from The Raven (like that was news? the most well-known Poe verse ever?). The serial killer now has a following, cult members ready to do his bidding, yet his recruitment of them was all supposedly online, which seems a pretty strong hold over someone without more personal / face-to-face contact, so I’m interested to see what comes later in terms of more depth.

Finally, while I hate to say this, there is a scene where one of the followers kills themself, and it is very well done. Graphic without being over the top, and very startling. A good way to show that the serial killer is truly evil — she dies for no real benefit.

I’m seriously hoping they start to just focus on the charisma of the cult leader (which the ex-wife is strangely immune to?) vs. the re-emergence of Kevin Bacon as agent-extraordinaire.

I’ll give it a few more weeks and then decide. If it goes only into clichés, pass.

Series premiere: Cracked

The PolyBlog
January 11 2013

The new trend in series is to have whack-a-doodles helping others think outside the box. Damaged somehow, if not full on mental disorders. Perception has a delusional psych professor helping the FBI; the Mentalist uses someone whose family was murdered by a serial killer to track the serial killer; House and Monk were, to some at least, just plain nuts.

The latest incarnation is Cracked, a Canadian production just starting on its first season on CBC. The main character is a top cop, who has done great stints you learn in the elite units of the department — homicide, even tactical. After a tense situation, he’s trying to get some coffee and an irate citizen starts ranting, etc. Enough to set him off on a small psychotic-like break — he starts bawking like a chicken, while in full uniform, in front of a whole coffee shop. Awkward, right? Anyway, he gets reassigned to be a lead detective in a new unit that deals with psych-crimes — anything with a psychological dimension (like a deranged or disturbed person) and they get the case. Not exactly a winning strategy with homicide, but them’s the breaks. His boss is happy with him generally, and he’s there ostensibly to take a break from his high-pressure previous job. Not to mention, as he does, that if you’re looking for someone who’s a bit bananas, it doesn’t hurt to have the lead detective be half-way up a banana tree himself.

The case was relatively linear, and it was interesting to see what was essentially deductive reasoning following the clues. It felt very much like a low-budget Law and Order: SVU, maybe L&O: Psych Crimes would be more accurate.

There are five main actors/characters in the show so far — Aidan, played by hunky David Sutcliffe who looks very familiar but none of his resume items leap out at me … he was big on Gilmore Girls, but I never watched it; Daniella, his forensic psychiatrist partner who refuses to carry a gun, played by Stefanie von Pfetten (lots of little credits, nothing big); Poppy as another member of the team, played by Luisa D’Oliveira (small credits); Leo as a psychiatric nurse, played by Dayo Ade from old Degrassi Junior High fame or more recently, the L.A. Complex show on Muchmusic; and Diana, their boss. Diana is played by Karen LeBlanc, and while I’m happy to see her here, I’d be much happier if they put her back on Defying Gravity — I’m still bitter they didn’t finish that show. Sigh.

Not the best, not the worst. But it was interesting at the end of the show to see Aidan really open up with a suspect, talking about the darkness that is inside himself, showing that the chicken imitation was not a simple “trauma” reaction, but linked to something much darker inside of him. One of the few redeeming qualities and I’ll give it a couple of episodes probably.

Watching Castle – "Significant Others" (S05E10)

The PolyBlog
January 10 2013

I know the ‘shippers love the idea of Castle and Beckett working out on the show, dating, etc. But it is really starting to overwhelm the episodes. Earlier this season it was their parents meeting; this week’s episode involves Alexis being sick and her mom (i.e., Richard’s ex) coming to stay with her while she’s sick. All at Castle’s apartment, all while Beckett is staying there cuz her place is being fumigated. Most of it is just a waste, except for a scene where you see the ex-wife running around in skimpy clothing, making Beckett all insecure about her intentions.

However, what really annoys me is that the big “change” in the episode (small spoiler alert!) is when Beckett and the ex go out for dinner together, kiss and make up, everything’s great, etc. Except the VIEWER DOESN’T SEE ANY OF IT. It all happens off-stage. So, the writers tell me this relationship and how it impacts on others is super important but then resolves it off-screen? Whose idea was that???? The intern’s????

For the mystery of the week, I have to say it was incredibly weak. Divorce attorney killed, whole situation smacks of revenge, let’s look at the suspects, etc. Yet, and I will throw out a big spoiler alert here, the motive for the murder is almost non-existent. It is painfully obvious in about scene 2 that the wife who went missing-and-presumed-dead years before is still alive and that she will pop up again near the end. It’s a slim thread that gets hammered on three times in about five minutes so the audience doesn’t miss the significance, so the fact that it will be relevant to the resolution is too obvious. Except the wife didn’t do much wrong — she faked her own death, sure, but she didn’t profit by it, she did it to escape an abusive husband. She’s got a new husband, lives in area (really? they would stick around???), but are the legal hassles she’ll have when the truth comes out enough to cause her to switch to murder? After all, this is the woman who had a drunk abusive husband in front of her on a boat in the middle of nowhere and left him alone. But the divorce attorney who might reveal her secret should get murdered. Sorry, that one was way too hard to swallow.

The only two gems in the entire episode were Lainey advising Beckett to “mark her territory” at Castle’s and a final conversation between Castle’s ex-wife and Beckett where the ex says one of the reasons they broke up was that Castle was too private a person, i.e. sharing was too one-way, a point that resonates with Beckett on a deep level.

Season premiere – Rizzoli & Isles

The PolyBlog
January 10 2013

Showcase just kicked off the second season of Rizzoli & Isles (originally aired in 2011), and it has a very slow start. At the end of Season 1, Rizzoli was being held hostage, various people had been shot at the station, she was asking people to shoot the bad guy holding her, etc. When they didn’t, she turned the gun in his hand and shot him through her, taking him out. Of course, she’s in a bit of pain even three months later when the episode starts, as she’s being awarded a medal for being a hero. At the same ceremony (why would it be the same ceremony? It wouldn’t, but let’s go with it), a female military officer named Abby is getting an award for her work overseas. Just after the ceremony, a car bomb takes out the other officer. The episode is pretty good overall, just a slow start with getting Rizzoli up and around, back to work, etc.

The mystery part is not very good though — it is painfully clear really really really early that it is not a terrorist attack but rather a personal hit on Abby, and since one of the few things we know about Abby is that she was wounded in battle and she used to date one of her fellow soldiers, it isn’t that big a stretch to figure out one or both of those issues are the cause (actually it turns out one is a clue, the other is the cause). Yawn. On the personal front, I was excited that Rizzoli has a new beau, and they even end up in bed together but apparently do not have full sex (not sure why, they just don’t, even though they used to date and are clearly adults now who want each other). I was initially REALLY excited that Rizzoli’s mom and dad split up cuz I hate the Mom and I hoped this would reduce her role — unfortunately, quite the opposite. Mom now pops over to Rizzoli’s house cuz she’s bored. Maybe it’ll improve, but at least the interactions between Rizzoli and Isles are fun. Would be more fun if THEY were dating each other, but alas, apparently prime time is either not ready for that or felt that it would undermine their characters (“strong powerful, oh, they must be lesbians” would indeed be a bit of a cliche, I suppose).