season – Page 15 – The PolyBlog

Season premiere: Blindspot 2016/17

September 18 2016

Blindspot was one of my favorite new shows from last year, partly as the premise was so solid. Jane Doe, an attractive young woman, late 20s, early 30s, is found in Times Square. In a bag. Naked. Covered in tattoos. She has no idea who she is or why she’s in the bag, but one of her tattoos is pretty easy to understand — she has the name of an FBI agent tattooed prominently on her back. Fast-forward a few plot developments and she is now on the FBI team trying to decipher her tattoos as a couple of them lead to anti-terrorist takedowns.

The rest of the season was wheels within wheels within wheels. She was contacted by an outside group who told her they put her there, and via a video recording of herself, she learns it was her idea. They’re trying to stop a corrupt government conspiracy within the U.S. and to bring to justice those who operate above the law in the name of the law. Part-Jason Bourne, part Snowden, part Tom-Clancy-style conspiracy behind every cubicle wall.

By the end of the season though, everything was going to hell in a handbasket. Jane was revealed NOT to be a long-lost child (the child’s body was found), even though Jane had claimed to remember something earlier. She was arrested and taken away, but not before the head of the task team had been killed by the group behind Jane’s infiltration. Jane was trying to play both sides and it blew up for everyone.

The season reboots with Jane in a black site being interrogated aggressively by government types who turn out to be the CIA. Apparently when the FBI arrested her, the CIA snatched her and took her to the black site to be tortured for 3 months. She escapes, is on the run, and so with the CIA half out of the picture, time to enter an agent of a secret group within the NSA that knows all about Jane and the group that was running her as an operative. She wants payback for a lost partner that the group killed, but most importantly, she wants Jane back running operations with the same group as if she was never blown. It’s a weak premise — it was the FBI who arrested her after all, not the CIA — but she is supposed to claim that a renegade member of the group kidnapped her and tortured her for the three months, not the CIA or the FBI. Ignore the fact that they already have inside knowledge of what is going on most of the time anyway, Jane goes back “undercover” as a double or triple (or is it quadruple?) agent.

All of last year was around “who is Jane?”. That’s revealed this episode, although no way to know if actually true. She’s a former child of South Africa trained as an assassin and adopted by a military woman from the U.S. who raided the orphanage. Code-named Shepherd, she introduces herself as Jane’s mother, and another operative as her brother. Jane is in like Flynn. Which is good cuz she’s on the outs with the FBI team (one of whom willingly shoots her at Jane’s request to prove her cover story). The episode ends with the big reveal…the group is indeed planning something big — they have a full sized ICBM rocket stashed somewhere in the countryside.

I am not completely sold on the reboot approach. I loved last year, but the pieces came fast and furious in this episode, almost like an exposition dump. I would have thought a bit more should be teased out, but presumably the show-runner has a full schedule of reveals for the year. Let’s hope Season 2 runs as well as Season 1.

TV predictions for the new season: 44 new shows (2016-17)

September 6 2016

As regular readers will likely remember, I watch a lot of TV series. I can wax and wane on the merits of serialized story-telling in movies and books too, but each fall I look over the news of upcoming TV shows like fantasy football players scout rosters, looking for the hidden gems. The Carson Palmer who breaks out in their rookie season to dominate over many otherwise-average veterans. Mostly I know the likelihood of finding that gem, having it garner enough ratings to make it full season, or even the holy grail, to garner enough for renewal, is a fairly low percentage. But I like to predict anyway. This year I am going all-in on my analysis of the new shows…I’m predicting their outcome before they have even aired an episode, just based on past shows that were similar, who the stars are, and whether the premise is something that seems like it will catch on or is just some weird network president throwing anything at the wall to see if it will stick.

SHOW	NETWORK	DESCRIPTION	WILL I WATCH	LENGTH PREDICTION	RENEWAL PREDICTION
24: Legacy	FOX	I expect it to easily survive the 12 episode run that it has been approved for, and go beyond. It’s a proven franchise, and the Live Another Day short-run series had good enough ratings to green-light this one without Jack Bauer.	No	Full	Renewal
American Housewife	ABC	A brash mother of three, doing something or other with richer folk. I fell asleep reading the description. Wasn’t it called Grace Under Fire the last time it was tried?	No	4 episodes	Early cancellation
APB	FOX	A mid-season replacement with a tech billionaire running Chicago PD. Could be Person of Interest, could be RoboCop, could be Minority Report.	Will try 1 EP	Half	No renewal
Blacklist: Redemption	NBC	The show has a great pedigree in the original show, if it sticks more to season 1 than the last one. I like the characters individually as secondary characters, but making them the main characters and as mother/son is hard to predict. Father/daughter works for Red/Lizzie but only because his “evil” is matched by her “goodness”. These two are more “bad cop, worse cop”.	Yes	Half	No renewal
Bull	CBS	Michael Weatherly exited NCIS and has his own show! How exciting! He’s “smart” in this one…which I know as he’s wearing glasses! And he’s a trial consultant. Sounds good…wait, he’s Dr. Phil? Umm…	Will try 1 EP	Half	No renewal
Chicago Justice	NBC	Dick Wolf adds a fourth series inside the State’s Attorney’s office. Slam dunk, and not interested. Particularly with Carl Weathers as a “star”.	No	Half	Renewal
Conviction	ABC	A conviction integrity unit in NY looking for wrongful convictions? An interesting yet bizarre premise that will be hard to sell in ongoing investigations — either they show incompetence or malice in how the cops and lawyers got convictions. Neither sounds watchable.	Will try 1 EP	Half	No renewal
Designated Survivor	ABC	Jack Ryan becomes President when everyone else is killed and they have to rebuild the Cabinet, House and Senate. Oh, wait, it isn’t the Tom Clancy book, so not Jack Ryan. “Tom Kirkman” played by Jack Bauer. Err, I mean Kiefer Sutherland. But they promise it will be a balanced West Wing with both sides of an argument being presented…zzzz.	Will try 1 EP	4 EPs	Early cancellation
Doubt	CBS	A defense attorney falling for her client. I want to call it quits, but after miss-predicting Madam Secretary, this one likely has some legs. Katherine Heigl’s in fact. Sounds like it will be How to Get Away With Romance but someone watches it.	Will try 1 EP	Half	Renewal
Downward Dog	ABC	Show told from PoV of the star’s dog. Umm…	No	2 EPs	Early cancellation
Emerald City	NBC	Land of Oz, but dark and edgy. Oh, look, someone found a way to copy Once Upon A Time. And if it goes horrible, Shaun Cassidy can show up and sing.	Will try 1 EP	Half	Renewal
The Exorcist	Fox	Horror remake, with two priests. It has Geena Davis? What?	No	4 EPs	Early cancellation
Frequency	CW	Two detectives separated in time, communicate by ham radio. If they can make it like Cold Case or something, might have something interesting to watch. Or it could be like Minority Report’s precog knowledge except post-cog.	Will try 1 EP	Half	No renewal
The Good Place	NBC	Redemption in the afterlife. Been there, skipped that.	No	4 EPs	Early cancellation
The Great Indoors	CBS	Reporter managing millennials. Pass	No	4 EPs	Early cancellation
Great News	NBC	News producer with Mom intern. Andrea Martin? Good god, no. But somebody watches this crap.	No	Half	Renewal
Imaginary Mary	ABC	Jenna Elfman’s back? Dating guy and 3 kids, seeing imaginary friend. Riiighht. Cuz that won’t get old or stupid.	No	4 EPs	Early cancellation
Kevin Can Wait	CBS	Retired cop, facing home life. But it’s Kevin James, so a safe bet.	No	Full	Renewal
Lethal Weapon	FOX	Okay, so I’m not someone who thinks that trying to adapt a movie to a TV series is automatically going to suck. Sure, just about every attempt has sucked, but it isn’t guaranteed. But when you take Riggs and Murtaugh, and you make Damon Wayans Murtaugh? That’s just flat out ridiculous. And not in a good way	Will try 1 EP	4 EPs	Early cancellation
MacGyver	CBS	Reboot OF MacGyver, Hard to avoid a cheese factor, but then Scorpion keeps getting renewed somehow too.	Will try 1 EP	Half	No renewal
Making History	FOX	Three friends who travel through time.	Yes	4 EPs	Early cancellation
Man With A Plan	CBS	Matt Leblanc as stay at home dad. No, no, no, no and oh, yeah, no again.	No	4 EPs	Early cancellation
Marlon	CBS	Marlon Wayans pretending to be Chris Rock, I guess. Based on Marlon’s life.	No	Half	No renewal
The Mick	FOX	Hustler inherits nieces and nephews. It entirely hangs on Olson as the star, and how annoying the nieces and nephews are. Plus whether it becomes a Wilford Brimley G-rating or goes edgy. She’s a hustler, there has to be some edge right?	Will try 1 EP	4 EPs	Early cancellation
Midnight, Texas	NBC	With a bunch of supernatural shows biting the dust, this one might succeed. Depends on if they go for True Blood-style graphic content, or go for broader stream “bump in the night”.	Will try 1 EP	Half	Renewal
No Tomorrow	CW	“Brazilian format”? Ticking off bucket lists for two. Either REALLY annoying or could be fun.	Will try 1 EP	Half	No renewal
Notorious	ABC	Piper Perabo plays Annie Walker, a new recruit to the CIA.. .oh, wait, no, it’s WENDY Walker, a cable news producer. With a criminal defense attorney, high media blitz, etc.	Yes	Full	No renewal
Pitch	FOX	First woman to play in MLB. The Bad News Bears turn pro?	No	4 EPs	Early cancellation
Powerless	NBC	Comedy about insurance adjusters dealing with damage caused by superheroes? Sounds quirky, just don’t know if it will be funny enough.	Yes	Half	Renewal
Prison Break	FOX	Reboot / continuance. Cuz that went SO WELL for Heroes. Pass	No	Half	No renewal
Pure Genius	CBS	Millionaire plays God with hospital that will do risky procedures. Pass for me, but always room at the table for a medical drama if the stars are palatable.	No	Full	No renewal
Riverdale	CW	The Archie comics. I have absolutely no clue if this is even remotely got a shot. But it’s Greg Berlanti as a producer, so I’ll give it a go.	Yes	Half	Renewal
Shots Fired	FOX	The show lists Helen Hunt and Richard Dreyfuss as being in the cast, which seems just wacky when the main “investigators” are two others. The premise is basically “Black Lives Matter” in Tennessee. But it would seem more like a movie of the week than ready for season 2?	No	Half	No renewal
Son of Zorn	FOX	Perhaps the weirdest show of the fall, we have an animated He-man-like character trying to connect with his human son and ex-wife.	Will try 1 EP	4 EPs	Early cancellation
Speechless	ABC	Minnie Driver, mother of three, one who is special needs. Zzzzzzzzzzz.	No	2 EPs	Early cancellation
Star	FOX	Three young singers trying to make it big. Not for me, but Empire is hugely popular with some demographics, so might work.	No	Half	No renewal
Still Star-crossed	ABC	Romeo and Juliet part two. Doesn’t interest me, but if they give it a bit of a Game of Thrones intrigue factor, could have a hit.	No	Half	Renewal
Taken	NBC	A young ass-kicking Liam Neeson…err, young version of Neeson’s character. Right. With Jennifer Beals. Ever since Castle, I won’t trust her in the CIA, but a one man team show that isn’t MacGyver? Sure, count me in. Just like last year with The Player.	Yes	Half	No renewal
This Is Us	NBC	Ensemble dramedy with group who share same birthday and life intersections.	Will try 1 EP	Half	No renewal
Time After Time	ABC	H.G. Wells vs. Jack the Ripper and time travel. Hell yes. No chance at renewal but I’ll watch while it’s on.	Yes	Half	No renewal
Timeless	NBC	A team travels through time to defeat Vandal Savage…err, wait, no that’s the other time-traveling criminal show. This one has a team of three chasing somebody else. No matter, it’s time travel! I’m in!	Yes	Half	No renewal
Training Day	CBS	Bill Paxton as a morally questionable detective. Umm. Sorry, can’t see it. I’m out.	No	Half	No renewal
Trial and Error	NBC	New York lawyer goes to Southern town for murder case. With Lithgow. If Lithgow was the lawyer, I’d think, “Great! Give it a go!”. I wouldn’t watch, but I could see it. Instead, they have the lawyer being the young Michael J. Fox type role from Doc Hollywood or something. I don’t see it gelling.	No	4 EPs	Early cancellation

Here’s a summary of my predictions by network:

Network	Total	Won’t watch	Try 1 EP	Will watch	4 EPs	Half-season	Full season	Early cancel	No renewal	Renewal
FOX	11	5	4	2	6	4	1	6	4	1
ABC	10	6	2	2	5	4	1	5	3	2
NBC	11	4	3	4	2	9	0	2	4	5
CBS	9	6	3	0	2	5	2	2	5	2
CW	3	0	2	1	0	3	0	0	2	1
Total	44	21	14	9	15	25	4	15	18	11

Looks like I’m going to give Fox and NBC a try this year. Although with estimating five renewals, I am sure I am giving NBC way too much credit to stick with shows long enough to do that.

TV series bloodbath

May 18 2016

ABC

Most show decisions are now made for renewals vs. cancellation, and ABC is done. Here’s my take:

Shows cancelled that I won’t miss: The Family, Galavant, Agent Carter, The Muppets, Nashville, Wicked City, Of Kings and Prophets, Blood & Oil;
Shows cancelled that I watched but won’t miss: Castle;
Shows renewed that I don’t care about: American Crime, Dr. Ken, Last Man Standing, Once Upon a Time, Fresh Off the Boat, How to Get Away With Murder, Scandal, black-ish, The Middle, The Goldbergs, Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family;
Shows renewed that I might consider: The Catch, The Real O’Neals;
Shows renewed that I am sort of happy are renewed: SHIELD, Quantico;

End result: 1 show out of 25 that I sort of care about (Quantico) and 1 more that I’ll watch as binge…not a network aimed at my viewing tastes 🙂

CBS

Here’s my take:

Shows cancelled that I won’t miss: CSI: Cyber, Rush Hour, The Good Wife, Mike & Molly, Angel from Hell;
Shows cancelled that I watched but won’t miss: Person of Interest;
Shows renewed that I don’t care about: Code Black, The Odd Couple, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Life in Pieces; Madam Secretary, Hawaii Five-O, 2 Broke Girls, Mom, Criminal Minds;
Shows renewed that I might consider: none;
Shows renewed that I am happy or sort of happy are renewed: Supergirl, Elementary; Blue Bloods, NCIS: LA, NCIS: NO, NCIS, Scorpion, The Big Bang Theory;

End result: 8/23 that I watch. That could go to 9/24 or 8/24, depending on what happens with Limitless. Rumour is it was being shopped around to other networks and thus cancelled, but I never saw a final “call”. Either way, thank you CBS!

CW

The CW was a basket case this year as they renewed EVERYTHING. Sounds like CBS and Warner Bros couldn’t be bothered to argue. Here’s my take:

Shows cancelled that I won’t miss: Containment;
Shows cancelled that I watched but won’t miss: none;
Shows renewed that I don’t care about: Reign, the Originals, Jane the Virgin, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, the 100, Crazy Ex-GF, iZombie;
Shows renewed that I might consider: ;
Shows renewed that I am happy are renewed: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, The Flash;

End result: 3/12 that I like, two of which are almost “must watch”…thanks CW for the superhero fix!

Fox

Here’s my take:

Shows cancelled that I won’t miss: Bordertown, The Grinder, Grandfathered, Cooper Barrett, ;
Shows cancelled that I watched but won’t miss: Second Chance, Minority Report;
Shows renewed that I don’t care about: Family Guy, Simpsons, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, Scream Queens, Empire, Bob’s Burgers, Last Man on Earth, Bones;
Shows renewed that I might consider: Sleepy Hollow;
Shows renewed that I am happy are renewed: Rosewood, Gotham, Lucifer ;

End result: Three out of 19 are being renewed that I like, but I like two of them a lot (Gotham, Lucifer), so thank you Fox. I think X-Files is basically “done”, but they were left out of formal announcements.

NBC

Here’s my take:

Shows cancelled that I won’t miss: Game of Silence, Heartbeat, Mysteries of Laura, Telenovela, Crowded, Truth Be Told, You Me and the Apocalypse;
Shows cancelled that I watched but won’t miss: Undateable, The Player, Heroes Reborn, ;
Shows renewed that I don’t care about: Carmichael Show, Superstore, Chicago Med / P.D. / Fire, Law & Order: SVU;
Shows renewed that I might consider: Shades of Blue;
Shows renewed that I am happy are renewed: Grimm, Blacklist, Blindspot;

End result: Three out of 20 renewed that I like, one that I was watching but not surprised it was cancelled (Player).

Overall, nothing cancelled that I am particularly going to miss, and almost all the shows I really like were renewed.

My show watching the past year…

May 18 2016

Let’s see how I did back at the start of the season in terms of new shows I would/might like:

Full season subscriptions that panned out for me — Blindspot, DC Legends of Tomorrow, Limitless, Quantico and Supergirl;
Full season subscriptions that the networks didn’t agree with — Minority Report, The Player;
Full season subscriptions I switched to binge watch and the network dumped — Heroes Reborn, The X-Files;

So 5/9 survived, 4/9 had short seasons and are not coming back.

For the try one-episode batch:

Ones I grabbed on to: Rosewood;
Ones I binge-watch: Into the Badlands;
Ones that one EP was enough: Benders, Crazy Ex-GF, Grinder, Hand of God, The Muppets, Public Morals, and Wicked City, all of which I think the networks have cancelled for the future.

Score: 2/9 worth watching and both are renewed for season 2

For the shows that I took a pass on, namely the 18 below, two or three made it to renewal, but not for me. Still passing.

For returning shows, there was a culling! I watched 12 Monkeys and it is finally “back” for season 2; American Ninja Warrior and the new Team Ninja Warrior; Arrow; The Blacklist; Blue Bloods; Dark Matter; Elementary; Gotham; Grimm; Killjoys; and The Flash. Eleven shows, all renewed for next season.

Castle was one I watched, but almost out of habit than desire. It should have ended last season, and this season had a few good EPs that would have fit nicely in season 2 or 3, but for the current arc, they just didn’t work. Glad to see they have killed it for next year.

I also gave up on Big Bang Theory, SHIELD, NCIS x 3, Person of Interest, Scorpion and Sleepy Hollow in the sense that I moved them to binge watch status only. I just don’t care enough to stay “current” on them. PoI is in its last season but I’m fine with all of them ending.

Continuum and Lost Girl are short season and I let both of their final seasons go to binge-watch status. I like them, I’d rather watch them in a batch though. I’ve let Orphan Black go there too, as well as Suits, but I might pick those back up over the summer.

However, I gave up completely on Undateable, and to be honest, I can’t believe it wasn’t yanked early in the year. Maybe they were going for syndication numbers or something, don’t know, but it was deadly to watch.

Overall, nothing major is leaving that I mind, and looking forward to a few new shows next year.

Approaching the TV renewal bubble…

March 4 2016

Over at TVGrimReaper.com, the e-ink is dripping with new announcements coming regularly:

Cancelled	Wicked City Blood & Oil The Good Wife Angel From Hell Mike & Molly Truth Be Told The Player Heroes Reborn Minority Report	Wicked City, Blood & Oil, Angel from Hell, Truth be Told are no surprise. Mike and Molly and The Good Wife are ends of long runs (arguable in some cases that it was TOO long a run). And while I was watching Heroes Reborn, it wasn’t gelling; The Player wasn’t that compelling; and The Minority Report was too diffuse in its focus.
On fumes	CSI: Cyber Code: Black Person of Interest Mysteries of Laura The Grinder Second Chance Crazy Ex-GF iZombie	This is an oddly satisfying category — I tried 6 / 8 of them, and passed on all of them except 1 in the first episode, and the one that I’m still watching (Second Chance) has no redeeming value other than the one actor I like. A friend watches iZombie and likes it, and I thought I would try it on binge, but maybe not now.
Likely to be cancelled	Galavant The Muppets Agent Carter Nashville Undateable Telenovela Sleepy Hollow Bordertown Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life Last Man On Earth	I gave almost all of these a pass early on, with exception of 4, and only 1 am I still watching (Sleepy Hollow) but don’t disagree with plan to cancel, it has really deteriorated.
Toss-up	American Crime Castle Quantico You, Me and the Apocalypse Grimm Grandfathered The Vampire Diaries The 100	This is where the pain starts, but not that much. Castle should have died last season, and based on what they have had left in the tank, it did die, just nobody told them. Quantico started out strong, but it’s been slipping in quality steadily for me. Grimm is a show I really like, but the plot with the Black Claw this season has been slow and monotonous. Finally they have gotten to the keys and the map and Eve, and if they did that in Episode 2 or 3, it could have been rocking.
Likely to be renewed – no idea why	Dr. Ken Fresh off the Boat Last Man Standing Grey’s Anatomy Once Upon A Time Hawaii Five-O Madam Secretary 2 Broke Girls Mom Criminal Minds Brooklyn Nine-Nine New Girl Reign Jane the Virgin	Fourteen shows in this category, and basically I can say “I don’t understand the attraction of these shows”, or more pointedly, “I don’t get them.” Sure, some of them are not for my demographic, sure. I only ever had even basic attraction to Once Upon A Time, Hawaii Five-O, Madam Secretary, and Mom, and that interest left REALLY quick for the last two.
Likely to be renewed	Elementary Limitless Blue Bloods NCIS: LA Lucifer X-Files DCs Legends of Tomorrow	I separated these ones out as I am watching them. I am shocked though that Lucifer is in this category, as I see almost no redeeming quality to it at all. I love the premise, but the acting is questionable, the writing needs a lot of work, the visuals and plots aren’t compelling. Happy to keep watching for now, but surprised. Also, same for Limitless and Blue Bloods — I like them, but not sure why they are ranked this high. Rest have obvious fandoms.
Waiting for notification of renewal	How To Get Away With Murder Black-ish Scandal The Middle The Goldbergs Modern Family Life in Pieces Family Guy The Originals Supernatural Ones I watch Agents of SHIELD Supergirl Scorpion NCIS: NO Gotham Rosewood Arrow The Flash	There’s nothing particularly surprising to me in the first group. I don’t “get” these ones, but I see the attraction. For me, the WTF moment came for the shows I do watch…why is Scorpion consistenly ranked so high? Incredibly cheesy and makes MacGyver seem realistic. NCIS: NO is also this high? And Rosewood? Who is watching these crappy shows besides me?
Renewed	Shades of Blue Superstore Chicago Med Chicago Fire Chicago P.D. Law & Order: SVU Scream Queens Bob’s Burgers The Simpsons Bones Empire Blacklist NCIS Big Bang Theory Blindspot	Hard to believe SoB is renewed already — it just premiered, I haven’t even tried to catch up on it yet. And reviews aren’t that solid. Somebody has a good contract. Superstore has buzz, maybe that’s enough these days. Chicago x 3 is a good budget decision. SVU is still on? I guess if you rip from the headlines, there are always more headlines. Bones? I have never gotten the appeal of this show. I like both the main actors, love forensics, hate the show. They even did a cross-over to Sleepy Hollow and I thought they pulled that mediocre show down further. Blacklist is uneven, but renewal makes sense. NCIS is the cash cow, okay. Big Bang Theory is the same. But Blindspot has been popular yet so uneven, I hope they gave a really good pitch for where the storyline goes from here.

Overall, they’re not cutting anything I want to keep, and none of them are head-scratchers to me. I get a bit more cheese than anyone needs in their diet, and we haven’t seen the new stuff yet, but overall, I can live with a high dairy content from time to time.

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Tag Archives: season

Season premiere: Blindspot 2016/17

TV predictions for the new season: 44 new shows (2016-17)

TV series bloodbath

ABC

CBS

CW

Fox

NBC

My show watching the past year…

Approaching the TV renewal bubble…