We’re nowhere the end of premiere season and I’ve had the chance to check out a handful of new shows. My TV schedule has already gotten incredibly crowded (at this very moment I have 17 new episodes loaded and waiting to be watched) and it’s only going to get more crowded before I manage to wade through everything.
How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)-
Setting aside all of the controversy from the NY Times article reviewing Shonda Rimes’s work, I found this to be great fun, like the rest of the unceasingly addictive shows that make up ABC’s Thursday night lineup. There are so many elements to the show with the plot and backstories, but no section of the show seems less important and less interesting than any other. (OK, maybe the husband is a bit dull, but even he is involved in something big picture that could make him interesting.) At this point I haven’t even been able to pick out a favorite character (rare for me, I usually have that decided almost immediately). I’m excited to dig deeper into the mysteries presented, perhaps more so than following Scandal‘s newest mysteries this season. (Also, it has Paris from Gilmore Girls! Just as that beloved show becomes available on Netflix too.)
Verdict: I’ll be watching
Gotham (Fox)-
For the casual observer, Gotham is your average detective show that even the most comic-illiterate viewer could enjoy. Buried inside the framework are hints of something bigger: the origins of Batman and the many villains he will eventually grow up to fight. The show pretends to be about James Gordon, but in truth this is a very narrow view of the series. Gordon helps frame the stories and introduces us to the corruption of the city, but the series is really the origin stories of characters like Catwoman and the Penguin that has viewers truly engrossed. The show has done a pretty good job of mixing the bits we know with new takes and new details to fill in the blanks. It hasn’t blown me away as of yet, but it is definitely fun. (Fun might not be the right word, but engrossing at least.) I’m curious to see where the series takes things.
Verdict: It touches on the comics just enough to pull me in.
Scorpion (CBS)-
Walter O’Brien gathers a team of geniuses with their own unique skillsets (human behavior, computers, mechanics, etc) to help solve crimes. That’s the main story. Then there’s a sort of sub-plot that involves a kid and his devoted mother who doesn’t quite understand him. After what turned out to be something of a disastrous turn on Smash, Katharine McPhee returns to TV as the mother of a child genius. She works at a diner but for no discernible reason is involved in the crime-solving. (I think she’s supposed to provide the “human” aspect of the series, but it just doesn’t work.) The characters are likeable enough, yet it seems like a poor man’s version of Leverage, which had all the quirkiness of a bunch of geniuses but a lot more heart. In Leverage, the most normal character was Nathan Ford, though he is the most well-adjusted of the crew, he still had issues that helped him fit in the group. McPhee, on the other hand, is much like she was as Karen Cartwright on Smash–essentially perfect and generally always right. Boring.
Verdict: Not bad, but nothing special.
Happyland (MTV)-
MTV has been on a roll lately with its sitcoms (despite some misses, I think the network has more strong new comedies than pretty much any other network right now). I’ve been greatly enjoying Awkward and Faking It and I’m hopeful that Happyland will join their ranks in terms of quality and entertainment (though it is not certain by any means). The story is fairly typical: poor girl meets a rich, arrogant boy who turns out to have a heart of gold. Naturally they fall for each other. (Not quite love at first sight but relatively close.) As with any MTV shows, there’s a twist. Awkward was introduced as a show about an attempted suicide that wasn’t an attempted suicide. Faking It is about a lesbian couple where only one of them is gay. Happyland is a romance where the romantic interests (SPOILER ALERT) turn out to be siblings. Whoops. Also, it’s set at an amusement park, so that can only mean fun.
Verdict: Shows promise.
Bad Judge (NBC)-
Judge by day, party girl by night. At least, that is what the main character in this series is supposed to be. I just don’t buy this show. I don’t buy Kate Walsh as a party girl, I don’t buy Rebecca Wright ever becoming a judge (who would nominate or elect her?), I just don’t buy any of the premise. (And I generally find it easy to suspend my disbelief and go with a show.) The pilot also did a poor job of establishing Wright’s life, social circles, family situation. There isn’t a clear sense of where the show is going, what the drama is, why we should care. So there’s some semi-orphaned kid who guilts the judge into doing things for him, but because he blames her for putting his father behind bars. That’s just not enough to matter. For a half hour sitcom, nothing was very funny. I didn’t particularly care for Walsh in Grey’s Anatomy, she grew on me in Private Practice, but Bad Judge is not the right vehicle for her talents.
Verdict: Skip it.
Mulaney (Fox)-
John Mulaney is yet another stand up comic to bring his comedy routine to scripted comedies and like most of the others (think Whitney), I was not impressed. Mulaney’s delivery feels like he is always talking to an audience from on stage, setting everything up for his next punchline. The fact that he is supposed to be a comedian by career helps sell this, (and in fact the bits where we see him doing standup are the strongest in the episode). Even so it doesn’t feel natural. I’m not sure why networks have been struggling to develop quality sitcoms lately, (beyond Brooklyn Nine-Nine did anything stand out last season?) but this show is not the answer. It might develop over time and John Mulaney might become more natural as he gets used to acting as a character and not just performing on stage, but I don’t really have the time to stick around.
Verdict: Watch his standup acts instead.
What did you think of these shows?
Did anything stand out to you?
Are there any new shows that have yet to premiere that you’re particularly excited about?
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