There is a bit of confusion about the show When Heroes Fly, at least in terms of how it made it to my premiere list to try. The show is originally a hit Israeli TV show that was flagged as worthy of an US re-development deal for American TV. When the show hit Netflix, it seemed like the American version. It isn’t. It’s the original Israeli version. However, despite being in Hebrew and some Spanish, I found a version online to watch for the first episode called Resurrection.

The premise is a group of five men in the same unit in the war with Lebanon. They are on their last mission, and are marching five kilometres to their exit point, and in 24 hours they are all going to be back home. Their tour is done. And like every cliché ever written or produced about last missions, it goes to hell. En route, they are supposed to meet up with a larger company, but the company has been re-routed to retrieve some radio equipment. Which leaves them relatively alone. They’re about to dig in to wait, when they notice one of their tanks sitting by itself. They radio it in, discover it’s about to be destroyed to eliminate all the intel in it, and then suddenly see that the gun turret is moving — someone is still inside. They call off the air strike, get the guys from the tank out, and then the enemy attacks in force. It’s a giant shit-storm firefight, and the air strike to take out the tank is back on. The guy in charge, Azoulay (Dan Mor) is mortally wounded but still alive, unable to be transported away but the air strike is coming. So the rest of the squad has to retreat, leaving him behind. There’s an enquiry, the guy who made the decision to leave is trashed, but they are back home and messed up. But that’s not what the story is about, not really.

One of the guys is dating the sister of one of the other men, but since he comes back messed up, the relationship fails, and she takes off for South America on a trip. There’s a giant accident, and she’s killed. Fast-forward 9 more years, and one of the guys is living in Bogota. In the paper, he sees a ghost — there is a picture of the girl. Still alive. He emails back home, and the ex-boyfriend starts freaking out. Is she alive? Did her brother see a body? It looks like her in the photo, and so the guy in Bogota gets another photo from the photographer to confirm…it is clearly her. What the hell is going on? The guys have to band together and go to Bogota to find out.

I was watching with English subtitles, so it drags in a couple of places, but it is flat out awesome. I’m tempted to keep watching it with the subtitles version, it is THAT good. I know some of the future story from reading about it, and it might end up going sideways into tripe later on, or in an American version that might act more like Chuck Norris remakes than Band of Brothers, but I’m hopeful. I saw a reference to some online dubbing versions possibly, but that doesn’t really interest me. The subtitled version is awesome for the intensity of the original actors.

Fantastic show, already renewed. Not really part of my predictions though because it is the foreign version, not the Americanized version I was expecting. I’ll save my predictions if it ever makes it off the ground (still listed as “in development” on IMDB).

I knew nothing about Weird City other than the fact it was premiering, which is partly because it is from YouTube Originals. Usually, if I’m in that situation, I bop between thinking I’ll look at IMDB for a basic description first or alternatively, preferring to be surprised. Tonight I went for surprise, and well, yep, it was a surprise.

The show’s premise is somewhat allegorical satire, set in the future, where the Haves and the Have Nots are separated by a border. Episode 1 deals with a young guy who grew up as a Have Not, his mother got rich, he’s now a Have, and struggling with dating because all the Haves follow a regimen of mandated dating, casual sex and then assigned marriages, leaving unassigned people floundering a bit. A matchmaking site that guarantees the use of science to find “the one” for everyone hooks him up with his “the one”, except his match is a dude but he’s not gay. They intend to blow off the date, but end up hanging out and really getting along, like they are in fact each other’s “one” except for the whole not being gay thing. Long story short, they’re not gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but they end up following the science, it’s a match made in heaven, and 1 year later they’re married and completely happy until the company comes back, says “oops” they weren’t a match (since they wanted women) and their two real matches are still available. They’re not interested, since they’re happy, but the company lawyers insist. Instant unassignment. It goes on a little longer, and I won’t spoil things, but it’s a decent ending.

The whole Ep is done a bit in soft satire, or allegory as I said, like Erewhon by Samuel Butler, except dumbed down for easy consumption. The great part is that while there is a hint of fish out of water juxtaposition, everyone stays in complete character. They don’t know that it’s really weird, just seems normal to them. Lightly touched, almost like a really long SNL skit not played for giggles. And it more or less works.

The problem is that anthology series are challenging. Twilight Zone had a hook; this one doesn’t really. Future City isn’t really very meaty. And while the actors in the first episode do a great job — Dylan O’Brien and Ed O’Neill — they’re not in Episode 2. Their story is done. No hook, and no recurring characters? Not sure there’s enough there to recommend it. Or to think it will get renewed.

I’m going to predict CANCELLATION.

When I heard about Turn Up Charlie, I have to confess it sounded like some form of Charles in Charge or Who’s the Boss? Basically, a down-to-earth DJ turning into a nanny for a celebrity family. Maybe even a bit of Fresh Prince thrown in there. CANCELLATION written all over it, in my view.

Except the DJ is played by the creator of the show, and it is, wait for it…Idris Elba. WTF? On that basis alone, I would have to up the prediction to RENEWED. Luther, Avengers, Dark Tower, The Wire, take your pick of shows where he had definite presence. Here he is a bit of a fish out of water…he is struggling to make ends meet, and ends up looking after his rich friend’s kid for a day when Dad has to dash off while shopping. He bonds with the kid who is difficult with nannies, and a plan is hatched. Hire DJ Charlie, and get the kid squared away while Mom and Dad struggle with work/life balance. Elba is good, but you knew that already.

Piper Perabo plays the mom, and while I loved her in Covert Affairs and Coyote Ugly, I was a pass for Notorious. I don’t know if she’ll have a big role here, but it wasn’t promising in Ep1. JJ Feild plays Dad, and he’s okay, nothing exciting to see. Two supporting roles of wacky locals are played by Guz Khan (best friend and mooch, Del) and Jocelyn Jee Esien (landlady Auntie Lydia who’s a caricature, not a character). Meh.

Which leaves a lot of the attraction of the show to rest on the shoulders of the kid, aka Gabrielle. She’s nervous about starting a real school for the first time, plus she’s left alone too much so she acts out for attention. Nothing too serious, but well, it wouldn’t be funny if she didn’t have hijinks. Frankie Hervey is the actress, and it’s her first role. She is a bit uneven, but watchable.

In the end, I would predict RENEWAL on Elba alone, and the rest of the cast is different enough not to fall into Silver Spoon territory. But it wasn’t interesting enough to me to keep watching. Okay, nothing special.