2014 Fall TV Preview: Fox

It seems that this year many of the networks are not going all out for the Fall season. I guess you can understand how a mini-network like The CW is barely offering anything new. But even the big boys who have been producing and broadcasting new shows for decades are seeming to skimp a bit for the end of 2014. And maybe that is a reflection of the shift toward an emphasis on new shows in Winter and even in Summer. The new show budget is being spread more and more across the year, rather than being concentrated in a big launch of new shows at the Fall only. And maybe this is a reflection of the simple fact that broadcast TV sucks and Cable is totally eating Mainstream's lunch.

But . . . even with all that said, Fox is out there putting out some fun shows. And it started LAST year with Sleepy Hollow. It was a bananas concept and it did well. I mean, just look at this promotional image for the start of season 2.

credit: fox.com

You've got Ichabod trying to grab hold of his fellow "Witness"Abbie as she is getting sucked into the netherworld. (Just trust me that this is what is being represented here.) Add the weird vines pulling at them and the echoes of the Sistine Chapel and you get the beginnings of what makes this show so insane.

And so, even though Sleepy Hollow (premieres 9/22) is not a NEW show, I had to start my Fox coverage with it. Any show that makes the Headless Horseman seem anticlimactic is fully committed to its own level of weirdness.

As for new shows? The most high profile is definitely Gotham (premieres 9/22). It is set in Batman's city and is set during his childhood. We don't really get to see how Bruce Wayne trains to take on the cowl, but rather we get lots of focus on the backstory behind the greatest armada of villains in the business: Catwoman, the Riddler, the Penguin, and others. Plus policeman Jim Gordan. The critical buzz for this show has been pretty high so I'm definitely planning to tune in tomorrow night and see how this show does. (Heck, I watched every single minute of Smallville back in the day, so there is no doubt that I'll be tuning into this show for a while.)

 Gracepoint (premieres Oct. 2): If you are a fan of BBC America, you may have already watched this show. But it was called Broadchurch then. And it still starred David Tennant. But watching this show is probably a better use of your time than trying to reconnect with The Following, so I'm recommending it.

Mulaney (premieres Oct. 5): This is a show about an up-and-coming star trying to make it work on his developing talk show. There promises to be behind-the-scenes jokes, a cast of quirky characters, and . . . gulp . . . Martin Short. I'm no fan of Martin Short, so that won't be helping me watch. And this seems like Larry Sanders did this show so much better over a decade ago.

Red Band Society (premiered Sept. 24--last week): This drama (and probably sometimes comedy) takes place in a cancer ward of a hospital. The cast is full of patients struggling with disease and terminal diagnoses. It is also featuring doctors who struggle to maintain their optimism and bring the kids to accept their lot in life. As with many hospital shows, lessons will be learned and Very Special Episodes will be experienced. (NOTE: This all sounds very cynical and the show is probably pretty good. So, if this show is your thing, you'll probably like it.)

As for shows that have to be "that sort of thing" then there is Utopia (already airing). This is very much a reality show and so it is definitely NOT my sort of show. But it is pretty aggressive in its concept--putting people together in a compound and filming them as they try to organize and run a "society".  And it adds a social component by swapping out cast members once a month (if the show lasts that long) and bringing in new people that apply from the viewership. But someone over on Grantland has already said quite enough about this show, so I'll just link you over there. (Hint: They are NOT fans.)

Shows I'm not certain about?

Backstrom (coming soon?) and starring Rainn Wilson. It is a police procedural with a comic element and set in the Pacific Northwest. I think the comedy comes from Wilson's oddities and so it makes me think a bit of Monk or maybe a bit of Columbo? Maybe we'll see?

The Last Man on Earth (coming soon?): This is from the writing of and stars SNL alumni Will Forte. So it has the potential to be funny. But the gag of him being the last person alive can't last long, right? And if it tries to last any amount of time, then the hard cold reality of trying to keep the modern world running with (literally) NO ONE to help you is so unrealistic that it seems a HUGE stumbling block to overcome. And how funny can the show be if there aren't any other people? I'm tentative on this one.

Wayward Pines (coming soon?): I was interested in this show and its Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet vibe. And then I read in the description that it is connected to M. Night Shyamalan. Oof. This show may NOT be coming soon to my television.

So . . . that is a quick look at Fox's slate of new shows. And while not all of them are getting ready to launch this Fall, at least this network is thinking and trying to do something new. (Except for Utopia, I guess.) I'll be giving Gotham a try for sure and hoping that Sleepy Hollow maintains its insane edge for its second season. And I might give Gracepoint a try as well.

What Fox shows are you interested in? Anything that you are looking forward to? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Football Counter-Programming #4

Credit: www.nerdbaseball.com

The last few weeks, I've been re-examining my (slight) collection of comic books--ahem, GRAPHIC NOVELS. I've got all the one's you would expect a dilettante to have: The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Batman: Year One, The Killing Joke, and a few others that I won't bore you with.

They are all Batman titles (well, except for Watchmen). When I collected these stories, back in the 1990s during my college years, I was much more interested in Batman than I was any other comic book hero. He had been getting all the movie-related press back in those days (the days before Marvel's series of tentpole movies and fifteen year to colonize Hollywood had not yet begun). I had been an unabashed fan of the original Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman movie and experienced a steady decline in satisfaction as the subsequent sequels came out.

But I watched Batman The Animated Series on television and I watched its cousin spinoff about Superman. And later, Lynda and I even watched Batman Beyond and found that pretty good as well.

But I really enjoyed The Dark Knight Returns for all the same reasons that everyone else did. It helped revive the idea of Batman and re-established his hard-boiled credentials in the time that many people just enjoyed the campiness of Adam West. (Oddly enough, in the on-going "New 52" reboot of DC Comics, the "Batman 66" comic title that is heavily influenced by that Adam West television style is enjoying a lot of popularity, I think.)

Anyway, I'm no expert, so don't expect lots of insight from me. I'm just a fan that has been dabbling here and there.

And my latest dabbling is centered around the new "Batgirl" comic title that I think is launching next month. The new creators of the title have generated tons of interest in the work (as is evidenced by ME getting involved) because of the style they bring both to the character of Barbara Gordon and how that style is reflected in the book itself. Outwardly, there is a great deal of fan love for the new costume design--which is almost always the first and most polarizing part of any fan argument about a superhero. You start with the outward appearance and begin tunneling inward IF you remain interested.

So far as I can tell, fans are responding to the DIY-nature of Gordon's new Batgirl outfit, which gives the impression that you could knock it together in a weekend of careful shopping and a bit of home-ec driven customization. (Leather jacket, sewn on bat symbol, snap-on cape, Doc Marten boots, etc.) And the fact that this version of Barbara Gordon's outfit is still tied into the history of the character--both in other "Batgirl" books as well as in the 1966 Adam West show . . . well, these are all good things.

So . . . the interest generated is also driven by the obvious modern-ness of this twenty-something Barbara Gordon. And, since the new title has yet begun it's publishing run, it is almost ENTIRELY centered on the first promotional image of Batgirl, in new costume, taking a selfie with her camera phone while involved in her derring-do. (Check out that first Comics Alliance link again and you'll see what I mean.)

The selfie image also inspired a bit of time-travelling weirdness that I ran across recently as well. And that is just fun.

What will it all mean? Does this start me down a path of comics purchasing and reading that I never would have guessed? And what does it say that I'm starting this road with Batgirl? Is that wrong? (And there are so many things wrong with women depicted in comics. I GET that. The costuming is RIDICULOUS for sure and insane in most cases.)

So, I guess I'm opening myself up for TONS of criticism here. Let me have it. What are your thoughts?

2014 Fall TV Preview: Dean's Cable Essay

It’s been a running tradition for David to write up a Fall preview for the various broadcast shows. In the last few years, I've provided a corresponding preview for cable (and streaming, but henceforth I’ll just say cable)[1], because I watch too much TV, and want all of you out there to watch what I watch.  But this year, I must do something different.

In part because cable doesn't respect the traditional Fall/Spring release date of the broadcast networks, and in part because the Fall shows I’ve either pitched to you before look kind of terrible. So instead, I will give a general overview of the state of cable television today, which will surely go on too long and represent way more thought than anyone should give to something that appears on a glowing screen in your living room.[2]

I’ve divided my thoughts up into Drama, Comedy, and Animation, so you know, skip whatever doesn't interest you. Or skip the whole thing, it’s not my blog. I won’t be offended. I won’t even know.[3]

DRAMA

credit: media2.onsugar.com

Cable drama is in trouble, mostly. Its critical darlings are winding down or gone (Breaking Bad, Mad Men) and those that are rising up to replace them (True Detective, Fargo, the Leftovers), I find tiring. These shows all revel in being grim and mostly humorless. This holds true for the less critically acclaimed series as well [Sons of Anarchy has mistaken shock value for solid storytelling for at least 3 seasons. It learned the wrong lessons from The Shield, which was never shy about going for shock value, but always (well, OK, mostly) in the service of a larger story. Game of Thrones, a show I unabashedly love, has never met a situation that couldn’t get worse.  There is not a single happy character on Masters of Sex. I’m told the funniest parts of The Walking Dead tend to be unintentional (but that it’s gotten better?  I don’t watch it, so take my grumbling here with at least a grain of salt.)][4]

It’s not that I need or want happy, happy, happy all the time, but there needs to be some light in the darkness. Some reason to hope things will get better, rather than progressively worse until everything breaks. I’d love to see a drama on one of the bigger cable networks with a sense of fun and humor. Something like what Leverage used to do, or Castle (if I may intrude on David’s turf for a moment[5]) does now (maybe Monk is the originator of this specific style?). Even then the creators often forget what makes their shows tick and turn down the farce and up the grim.

These episodes are always the worst. I know I could turn on TNT or USA for an episode of Suits or something, but I’m not even sure if I have that programmed into my cable box. (Someone somewhere is yelling at me that I only have myself to blame for not tuning into these shows, but I also blame the AV Club. I set my schedule by their “What’s on Tonight,” and if it’s not there I won’t remember to DVR it.)

Of course this all ignores the glorious exception to the above: Orange is the New Black. How is a show about people with the least amount of control over their lives and the fewest options  the most optimistic, the most likely to find an unexpected laugh instead of finding another way to punch you in the gut (although it’s certainly not going to pull a punch if it comes to it)? Rectify is another show that breaks this pattern to an extent. It’s not going to make you laugh…ever. But its characters at least act human, and although their circumstances aren’t pleasant, they’re all working toward making what they’ve got better instead of tearing everything around them down (except in the episode Daniel tears down his mother’s kitchen, but that is not the point and stop pointing out flaws in my arguments).[6]

Another show that is good at mixing jokes with the more serious business is Justified (Just watch it David. It’s the final season. It won’t hurt you.) If you don’t believe me, tell anyone who watches it that Dewey Crowe has four kidneys and see how they react.[7] Also it managed to make Patton Oswalt hilarious and believably badass. (There is no way to describe his character without using that word, all other synonyms are inapt.)

And no essay would be complete without a final reversal. Sometimes adding lightness can go wrong. Levity is good, silliness is not. Which is why I finish this segment of the essay with Doctor Who. Steven Moffet is a very funny man. He brought the world the sock gap and the giggle loop. But the weakest parts of these shows are when they go too broad and veer into the silly (I’m looking at you first half hour of Capaladi’s premiere).[8] I could also throw in True Blood into this, but that’s maybe not silly so much as dumb. So in summation: Lighten up cable dramas, just, you know, not too much.

COMEDY

credit: popsugar.com

Whereas I’m down on cable when it comes to the overall state of its dramas, I have no such hesitation when it comes to the comedies. In fact I’m just going to list all the comedies I can think of that I’ve watched this year (that haven’t been canceled, although for some of them there is no news about yet) and then tell you something good about them, with one (quite notable) exception.

Archer: “This is how you get ants. “
Broad City: [Ed. note: Click this link to learn whatever it is Dean wants you to learn. And no, I haven't previewed it.]
Children’s Hospital: Clowns are a race on this show. So if you find them unsettling that makes you a racist.
Community: It’s on cable now! It’s been fixed from season 4! Donald Glover is gone! (Wait, that last one is bad. Come back Donald Glover, we love you!)
Cougar Town: RIP Big Carl
Girls: The latest season of Girls fixed some of the issues of the previous season, and also made me laugh.
Ground Floor: I think this one might be dead, but Briga Heelan is an absolute delight and John C. McGinley is an absolute pro when it comes to yelling at people.
Inside Amy Schumer: I find Amy’s willingness to make herself the butt of every joke endearing, especially since the jokes are so funny.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Dee looks like a bird.
Key and Peele: I hope they don’t bring back Luther the Anger Translator. I do hope they bring back A-a-ron.
Kroll Show: Nick Kroll specializes in parodying the exact type of show I do not watch. I still find his parodies to be hilarious.
Louie: I might be done with Louie. As it’s gone on it’s gone from side splitting comedy with occasional dramatic moments to a drama with all too fleeting comedic moments. I might quit this show and it makes me sad.[9]
The League: Batman Chalupa
Nathan For You: Dumb Starbucks: it’s exactly like Starbucks, but everything has dumb in front of it so parody law protects it.
NTSF:SD:SUV: I love that we got to see under Kove’s eye patch.   
Portlandia: Portland is a city ripe for gentle, loving, skewering and this show delivers. They need to fluoridate their water though. Also, they probably don’t vaccinate their kids as much as they should there. Get your vaccinations folks. Herd immunity is important.
Red Oaks: Technically this is not a show yet, it’s only an Amazon pilot. You should watch it and rate it on Amazon. I thought it was hilarious. It’s kind of Caddyshack the TV show (plus it’s got Paul Reiser who is making a welcome comeback to our TVs. )
Review: Pancakes, Divorce, Pancakes was the funniest single episode of TV I’ve seen all year.
Rick and Morty: “Look at me, I’m Mr. Meseeks!”
Silicon Valley: While Review had my favorite overall episode, this show had the single funniest set piece I’ve seen all year. I would describe it, but it’s a) incredibly profane and b) half of the joy in it comes from the visuals. I will say a scientific paper by actual scientists was published on this scene. (Warning: Both math and profane topics at this link.)
Sirens: I couldn’t tell you why this show made me as consistently happy as it did, but I was always excited to watch an episode. It has a special sort of charm to it.
South Park: You know what you’re going to get with South Park, so I’m not going to waste my time thinking of something clever to say about it.
Veep: In Dean-runs-the-Emmy’s world, Veep won Best Comedy (Orange is the New Black was runner-up for Best Drama after Breaking Bad because it’s a dramedy, and dramadies go in the drama category under my iron-fisted rule).
You’re the Worst: “They’re everyone’s stars.” This line made me tear up a little. It was the saddest line. This show will probably not come back--no one is watching even though it’s by far the funniest thing on TV right now and it’s not even close--but its last episode is Thursday so there’s still time to catch up. It’s hilarious and also somehow makes you care about some awful people. Also there was a really emotional moment involving a food processor of all things. Really this show is the best.

ANIMATION (or rather kid-focused animation)

credit:www.outofoursystem.com

Cable is a gold mine for quality animation. Between The Legend of Korra, Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Gravity Falls there are four cartoons adults can watch with their kids and still be entertained. (Be forewarned all the shows contain scenes that may be too scary for younger viewers.)  These shows are all great and I recommend each without reservation. The only issue with cable animation is that the people who schedule these shows are some sort of madmen who schedule these shows on some sort of time table known only to them. Gravity Falls just began its season and has taken a random break after only three episodes. Nick stopped airing The Legend of Korra halfway through the season and began placing them online only.[10] You’d have to be a haruspex[11] to keep track of when new episodes air (or trust your DVR to sort new from old, which is beyond my DVR’s capabilities and wouldn’t work for Korra either way).

So, to sum up for those who saw a wall of text and just skipped to the bottom: Dramas: too dark, not enough light; Comedies: a cornucopia of riches. If you’re not watching any, pick one from my list and give it a shot; Animation: Great, but frustrating in its own right.

2014 Fall TV Preview: The CW

We're going in alphabetical order with the networks this year, so after CBS comes The CW. What shows does this mini-network have in store for the Fall TV season?

credit: www.cwtv.com; NOT A FUNCTIONING VIDEO. JUST A SCREEN CAP OF A VIDEO. DO NOT CLICK!

The Flash (premieres Oct. 7): You're probably not surprised that this is my most anticipated show of this network's new season. I've been watch Arrow for a few years now on The CW and this is a spin-off of that show from a character introduced in the course of last year's episodes. And surprise, surprise, this is one of Entertainment Weekly's best shows of the season. (But that may be due to the fact that nerds and superhero fare drives so much of mainstream programming these days?) Anyway, I'm hopeful that this can be a decent show--and importantly, a more bright and cheerful superhero story than Arrow tends to be.

Jane the Virgin (premieres Oct. 13): This show tells the tale of what happens when an "inexperienced" young lady who loves telenovellas mistakenly gets artificially inseminated during a visit with her doctor. Now her views on life are thrown out of whack and the conflicting views of her mother and grandmother pull her in different directions. I'm not sure why this show feels less racially insensitive than some of the other shows offered on other networks. Maybe this is because this is an Americanized version of a show that has already been run in another country?

And . . . can that really be all the NEW shows that The CW is launching this Fall? That seems amazingly slight, even for this networks. I mean, last year they had Reign and The Tomorrow People  and The 100 and, maybe The Carrie Diaries? Was that new last season? Ah well, I guess I shouldn't act too surprised. I tried The Tomorrow People for a while last year and just gave up. It never gained any traction with me and I just couldn't keep it going. And in the past few years, the only show that I've liked and stuck with was Arrow. (So, I guess you can now see why I'm hoping that The Flash turns out to be something to watch.)

The CW does list some show called iZombie (premiere "Coming Soon") but I shudder to even speculate what THAT show might be about and I definitely won't be watching it.

Oh . . . alright . . . I looked to see what the show was all about. And, oddly enough, it seems a bit like the premise of Jane the Virgin. Well, if you swap out the TV-show loving Latina good girl for a driven, pre-med student named Olivia Moore. (Liv Moore . . . right? OH PLEASE TELL ME YOU GET IT!!!!!) And you flip the "accidentally got impregnated through medical mistake" with "unfortunately got bitten by a zombie hoard at a med school weekend party". Well, then you can see the parallels, right?

Anyway, Zombie Liv is somehow not totes a zombie yet, so she can somehow still "pass" as a breather, so . . .  um . . . wait is THIS ANOTHER WEIRD RACIAL SHOW?!!!

No . . . calm down. I've already put WAY too much thought into this show that doesn't even have a premiere date. I just went down this road because I wanted to help fill out the post length because the number of shows to consider was so slight. (And, apparently it is based off of an existing comic book story.)

So . . . yeah. That's it for the CW. And I've already stated that the only other show I'll be tuning into on this network is Arrow, which premieres on October 8.

Football Counter-Programming #3

Credit: www.thechristiannerd.com

For week three of the Football Counter-Programming offensive, I'm going back to my roots a bit. Nothing directly new in the sense that I'm creating something off of the cuff today. But rather, I'm falling back on two common themes throughout this blog from its beginning just over ten years ago.

Anyone who takes a look at my tag cloud to the right of the screen will see that my two most written-about topics are FAMILY and TELEVISION. And that is what the source of today's post is all about.

First, we took a trip down the road to Lynd's Fruit Farm. We've gone there most falls to get some apples and spend the morning wandering around. This time Grace and I wandered around in the corn maze which was cut with an LotR theme. The map led you through various mazes paths shaped to evoke The Shire, Mordor, Lorien, Gondor, Rohan, and the rest. Grace and I were down in the maze for quite a while and didn't make it through the whole thing. But it was fun. Now we've got LOTS of Honeycrisp apples to eat and enjoy for weeks to come.

The OTHER theme for you today is that of Television. And if its Fall, that means I (and some of my willing friends) are writing posts for the Fall slate of new TV shows. In the last couple of days I've written some thoughts on ABC and CBS.  And if those items don't interest you, I've also added a new entry to my LOST Rewatch thread. (I'm still working to finish up season two. I've VERY far behind.)

So, why not ignore the football for a little while today and read about some other television programming.