"Perfection doesn't happen right away."

I have only a few more shows to report to you and I found this batch of new shows to be particularly disappointing.

Kirby Buckets (Disney)-

Disney’s newest offering follows 13-year-old Kirby Buckets, an aspiring animator whose drawings are so real they seem to come to life around him. The pilot of this series was cute, but did not stand out in comparison to other recent series like I Didn’t Do It and Disney XD’s Mighty Med and Lab Rats. There’s a little bit of Diary of a Wimpy Kid in here, with the Dawnzilla of a sister (real name Dawn, personality Godzilla-like), and the weirdly quirky best friends. None of the characters particularly stood out, but it has been some time since Disney has had a truly boy-led series on its main network. (And this one doesn’t even have a girl in the main trio.) The series has a way to go before it distinguishes itself, but the live action-animation mix has potential.

Verdict: Needs to better develop its characters to stand out.

Jane the Virgin (CW)-

This series has been something of a critical darling but I’d be lying if I said I knew why. Following Jane, a virgin who is accidentally artificially inseminated, the series was something of an over -the-top circus. Which makes sense, since it was adapted from a Venezuelan telenovela. While I get soapy chaos during the day, I don’t want it in my nighttime schedule. The premise is an interesting one, and if it had been explored in a more serious, emotional way, I’d have likely felt more drawn in. But Jane’s mother and grandmother are pretty over the top and the rich couple who were expecting to have a baby seem like they come from an entirely different story. Learn something from shows like Parenthood, which covers serious, crazy hijinks, but does not lose itself in the shenanigans.

Verdict: Too much soap, not enough solid storytelling.

The McCarthys (CBS)-

The series follows a Boston family that is too close for comfort (they literally all live on the same block). The family is largely athletic, save for Ronny, the gay, athletically challenged son. In the pilot, Ronny tells the family he plans to move to another state to take a job, only to decide to stay near home after finding out that his sister is pregnant. His father also convinces him to be assistant coach at the local high school, despite his utter lack of skills. Even though I went to college in Boston, the Boston accent has never really grown on me, so listening to the overly loud, Bostonian clan was difficult at the best of times. At the worst of times, the series felt mostly stereotypical (of course the one gay is the only unathletic one, but at least the family accepts him for who he is).