Gotta give FOX credit for raising the bar on their comedies even if we still think Glee jumped the shark in season two. FOX has proven that they are a player, now, that can stand up to any of the other networks, even CBS. Both Raising Hope and New Girl are solid comedies and they deserved renewal.
Via Press Release:
“New Girl,” “Raising Hope” AND “Glee”
TO CONTINUE LAUGHS IN 2012-13 SEASON ON FOX
Spring Into Tuesdays Tomorrow with the Return of Glee,
Followed By All-New Episodes of New Girl and Raising Hope
FOX has ordered a second season of freshman breakout hit New Girl, a third installment of the irreverent family comedy Raising Hope and a fourth season of the genre-defying musical sensation Glee, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.
“Over the past season, New Girl has become the hottest new appointment series for young adults; Raising Hope has established itself as one of the smartest and most unique offbeat comedies on television; and Glee has continued its success as a genre-defying, global cultural phenomenon,” said Reilly. “All three of these comedies add a fresh and distinctive flavor to our Tuesday nights, and I’m really happy to bring them back to our air next season.”
All-new episodes of Glee return to Tuesdays (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), beginning tomorrow, April 10, with New Girl remaining at 9:00-9:31 PM ET/PT, and Raising Hope returning to its regular time slot at 9:31-10:00 PM ET/PT.
Currently in its first season, New Girl is the No. 1 new series among Adults 18-34 and the No. 2 new scripted series among Adults 18-49. The show stars Zooey Deschanel as a school teacher who moved in with three single guys, and their new friendships changed their lives in unexpected ways. The Golden Globe-nominated series also stars Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris and Hannah Simone. In the all-new “Normal” episode airing tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10 (9:00-9:31 PM ET/PT), Jess (Deschanel) invites Russell (guest star Dermot Mulroney) to spend the weekend at the loft. Created by Liz Meriwether (“No Strings Attached”), New Girl is produced by Chernin Entertainment in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Meriwether, Jake Kasdan, Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, Dave Finkel and Brett Baer are executive producers.
In the two-part season finale of Raising Hope beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10 (9:31-10:00 PM ET/PT), and concluding on Tuesday, April 17 (9:31-10:00 PM ET/PT), Nancy Grace guest-stars as the host of the newsmagazine series “Inside Probe,” which turns its focus on the Chance’s history, culminating in the family going on trial to fight for custody of baby Hope. Created by Emmy Award winner Greg Garcia, the series follows the Chance family as the unplanned addition to their family becomes a toddler. The show stars Lucas Neff, Emmy Award nominee Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt, Shannon Woodward and Cloris Leachman. Raising Hope is produced by Amigos de Garcia Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television.
Now in its third season, Glee continues to be a Top 10 comedy among Adults 18-49 and the No. 1 scripted series among Teens. The hit series returns this spring answering the dramatic cliffhangers of Quinn’s (Dianna Agron) car accident, Finn (Cory Monteith) and Rachel’s (Lea Michele) wedding and Sue’s (Jane Lynch) pregnancy, as graduation at McKinley High approaches. In the Spring Premiere “Big Brother” episode airing tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), Blaine’s (Darren Criss) big-shot Hollywood actor brother Cooper (guest star Matt Bomer, “White Collar”) comes to visit. Glee is produced by Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan and Dante Di Loreto serve as executive producers.
Before their pilot episodes will even air this Fall, two lead cast members from two of FOX’s new series are leaving their respective shows. Saffron Burrows, who played Ike on the Bones back-door pilot for the new series The Finder is exiting as producers are re-imagining the character. In related news, Damon Wayans, Jr.’s role on the Zooey Deschanel comedy, New Girl will also have to be recast as Wayans’ other show, ABC’s Happy Endings, was renewed for a second season.
Check out the FOX 2011- 2012 schedule, here, and check out the our Preview – Reviews for all of FOX’s new shows, here, along with all the new trailers.
Here it is, folks, direct from the FOX Upfront Advertising Event, FOX’s 2011 – 2012 Primetime Programming Schedule (scroll down for complete schedule). Please note, if you don’t see your favorite show from this season, recent cancellations have been covered here, however as we reported, the status of Breaking In is reported to be still up in the air.
If you have any questions about other shows, post them below.
Some programming notes:
Some solid scripted shows, however the new comedies seem weak, despite the star power behind them.
The elephant in the room that is Terra Nova: The Big Gamble. Depending on how well or poorly this does could change the direction of the entire schedule. Read why we believe TN is such a big gamble, here and here. Believe us, we’re rooting for it, we’re just nervous about it and we think FOX is too. We’re still trying to figure out if they plan to run this for an entire 22 episode run because it’s nowhere on the mid-season schedule. So it’s either going for 13 episodes (which we believe would be the smarter move) or it will have an abbreviated 19 episode season non-stop through December.
New J.J. Abrams, series Alcatraz to premiere mid-season. Perhaps the smartest move of the schedule to avoid hiatuses and loss of interest by audiences of what no doubt will be a Lost-type serial.
The Cleveland Show has swapped places with American Dad, going to the less desirable 7:30 – 8:30 PM spot on Sunday and putting AD back into its longstanding 9:30 – 10:00 PM for the first half of the season. New series Allen Gregory will be in the 8:30 – 9:30 PM slot, a slot that was filled by The Cleveland Show for the first half of the season and Bob’s Burgers for the second half. This gives credence to our suggestion that we made when the announcement for AD‘s renewal was made in which the press release claimed that an order had been placed for 22 episodes, however it contradicted itself by stating that the show was renewed through 2013. We suggested that one of the only ways this would make sense would be if AD was going to get half-season treatment, although we did find that scenario the most unlikely. This could change, however depending on the success/failure of AG and ND.
We’re not expecting a whole lot from AG and ND and we don’t think FOX is either. We explain why here. We expect these shows to both be canceled pretty quickly as the two had seven and six episodes orders, respectively. We hear that FOX has at least two more animated shows in the hopper waiting to go, though, just in case.
Finally, keep in mind that an NFL lockout is looming. This could send ripples through the entire FOX schedule.
So without further adieu:
FOX FALL 2011 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE (All Times ET/PT)
MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM Terra Nova(NEW!)
9:00-10:00 PM House
TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM Glee
9:00-9:30 PM The New Girl(NEW!)
9:30-10:00 PM Raising Hope
WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:30 PM The X-Factor(NEW!)
9:30-10:00 PM I Hate My Teenage Daughter(NEW!)
THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM The X-Factor(Results Show)(NEW!)
9:00-10:00 PM Bones
SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 PM The OT (NFL post-game show)
7:30-8:00 PM The Cleveland Show
8:00-8:30 PM The Simpsons
8:30-9:00 PM Allen Gregory(NEW!)
9:00-9:30 PM Family Guy
9:30-10:00 PM American Dad
FOX MIDSEASON 2012 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE (All Times ET/PT)
MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM House
9:00-10:00 PM Alcatraz (NEW!)
TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM Glee
9:00-9:30 PM The New Girl(NEW!)
9:30-10:00 PM Raising Hope
WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:30 PM American Idol
9:30-10:00 PM I Hate My Teenage Daughter(NEW!)
THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM American Idol (Results Show)
9:00-10:00 PM The Finder(NEW!) / Bones (Spring)
SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 PM The OT (NFL post-game)
7:30-8:00 PM The Cleveland Show
8:00-8:30 PM The Simpsons
8:30-9:00 PM Napoleon Dynamite(NEW!)
9:00-9:30 PM Family Guy
9:30-10:00 PM American Dad
I’d like to apologize right up-front for the very political nature of this post, however due to the issue being our baby, that is, television, and two boners with big audiences commenting on it, I felt it necessary to bitch-slap both of the offenders and send them back to their corners with bloody noses to expose them both for the frauds they are, pretending to be experts on a subject they really don’t know anything about: television network programming. The two offenders of course are FOX News’ Glenn Beck and The Wrap.com’s Tim Kenneally, who I probably would never have heard of had not MSN posted his piece on their site.
Glenn Beck: Because You Can Never Pitch Too Much Bullsh*t.
If you haven’t heard already, on Thursday, April 28th, Glenn Beck and his Carnival of Doom and Gloom decided to pick another inconsequential target as one of the causes for the imminent destruction of America. No, it wasn’t Van Jones or a former candidate for Cincinnati dog catcher, or the 12 year-old kids across the street from my house who leave their empty water bottles all over the place while playing basketball. It was the FOX hit TV Show, Glee (which Beck referred to as a “horror show” and “a nightmare”), due to its teenage characters’ (mostly suggested) sexual behavior and the use of propaganda in the lyrics of the musical numbers in order to indoctrinate America’s children into supporting a progressive agenda. The example he referred to was the song Sing by My Chemical Romance and as evidence for this claim he refers to these lyrics:
Cleaned up, corporation progress
Dying in the process
Children that can talk about it, live it on
The weird race
People moving sideways
Sell it till your last days
Buy yourself a motivation, generation
Nothing, nothing but a dead scene
But a type of white dream
I am not the singer that you wanted
But a dancer
Please watch the whole clip as my summation above doesn’t tell the whole story.
This of course prompted an Internet backlash and likewise, yet another professional television writer who doesn’t know anything about television, the aforementioned Tim Kenneally, had to chime in on this and inject his own personal politics into this “story.” Here’s his piece from April 29th:
Looks like Glenn Beck has hopped on the right-wing hate bandwagon that’s been roliling all over “Glee”lately.
Beck trained his laser-like focus on the musical series on his show this week, deeming it “a horror show” and “a nightmare” because “everyone is sleeping with everyone else, it’s all about self-gratification.”
Just wait until Beck finds out that his boss (for now, anyway), Fox honcho Rupert Murdoch, is responsible for putting such trash on the air. He’s gonna need a bigger blackboard to explain the complexities of that one…
Watch Beck attempt to save the world from the dangers of self-gratification in the video below.
For the record, that’s the article as written (see the link above). I intentionally did not correct the obvious grammatical errors, typos and complete lack of editing just to get the point across regarding this joker’s professionalism.
Before we go any further, it’s full-disclosure time: I’m a conservative myself and I don’t make any bones about it. I’m also intellectually honest and if you’ve read any of our pieces you’ll notice that they are all objective, apolitical and written from the perspective of TV fans and not any partisan persuasion (except we’re very partisan against bad TV). We have zero tolerance for political agendas in any scripted programming, regardless of the political agenda being advanced. That doesn’t mean that we’re bothered by the occasional swipe being taken at a party, policy or special interest group but it does mean that we have an utter distaste for scripted dramas whose entire purpose seems to be to alienate half of the viewing audience by using their entire hour as a soapbox (yes, David E. Kelley, I’m looking at you).
Kickin' it Old School with the fear-mongering...
I also was a regular listener of Beck’s radio program for several years and I was a regular viewer of his shows on CNN Headline News and then subsequently on FOX News. I officially gave up on Beck over a year ago because I realized what most of his flock hasn’t: he’s completely full of crap nine times out of ten and he uses his programs to promote conspiratorial theories using out of context evidence that he selectively strings together while ignoring evidence to the contrary that dispute his claims. How he gets people is that first, his audience is predisposed to believe him because of their own political beliefs and he uses that against them by actually presenting compelling (partial) evidence and then by challenging his audience to verify the evidence on their own, and of course they never do because, well, he has all of this evidence and if it wasn’t true, he wouldn’t tell us to look it up, would he? Heck, he’s on our side!
And, yes, people actually follow this guy's financial advice.
Folks, I’m here to tell you the truth: Glenn Beck is a snake-oil salesman and a dishonest evangelist selling a bill of goods about “the end of America as we know it” (it’s coming!) for one reason and one reason only: Glenn Beck’s bank account. Now, I certainly have no doubt that Beck is concerned about the consequences of the progressive agenda in America, but what he’s realized is that by creating an extreme caricature of himself and his principles (and the principles of his audience), he can sell a lot more books, concert tickets, premium memberships on his website, increase his radio and television audiences and of course increase Survival Seed Bank and Goldline sales that are 90% over melt value to begin with. This all means one thing: more bank for Beck. What I find hilarious, though, is that on the right hand you have the people who hang on his every word without verifying anything and on the left hand you have the crowd that actually thinks he’s dangerous to the country as if he’s going to start an armed revolution with his followers because of his fear-mongering. I’ve got news for both camps: Beck is pretty insignificant on the political landscape. Don’t hitch your wagon to him and don’t worry about him.
As far as Tim Kenneally is concerned, if he would care to reply and engage The ‘Tastic in a discussion about this, I’d be more than happy to oblige. We’re not holding our breath, though.
Artie, we couldn't have said it better oursleves.
As for Glee, I just don’t like it and it has nothing to do with the appropriateness of the content for children. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season and actually proclaimed in the Fall Preview that everyone should be watching it. Then I made it through three episodes of the second season and I had to stop watching because, whether or not the fans (and there are certainly a lot of them) have realized it, the show has jumped the shark. It’s just absolutely absurd and bears no resemblance to anything remotely believable.
So, on with the show:
Seriously, is this so flippin' hard to figure out?
First, it is my solemn belief that it is ultimately a parent’s responsibility to monitor their children’s viewing habits and determine what’s appropriate for them and what is not. And for those folks who don’t have the time, interest or inclination to actually be a proactive parent, since 1999 every television set sold in the United States has come with parental controls.
Also, all cable boxes, DVR’s, DVD players, Blu-Ray Players, video game consoles, Netflix streaming, computers, media players and digital-to-analog converter boxes feature this technology as well. Not only can you control the rating level and specifically what types of content you want your children to be exposed to, but you can also choose to block channels altogether. If parents don’t monitor their children, it’s no one’s problem but their own.
Parents: It's been 14 years, already. Maybe it's about time you learned how to read this.
Now, onto Beck’s comments and the article by the twit at The Wrap; they’re both wrong. First, although Beck is correct that Glee does certainly have some suggestive material regarding teen sexual behavior, and it’s certainly understandable that parents may find it objectionable (I wouldn’t let my kids watch this show if they were under 14), it is not nearly as bad as Beck would lead you to believe. It’s no Skins by any measure. More importantly, though, it’s a TV-14 rated show with D, L and S subcategory ratings so again, we come full-circle to the parental responsibility factor. The television ratings standard has been in existence since 1997. If you don’t understand it by now, that’s your own damned fault and of course, you have those pesky parental controls on your television and other devices that you can use that I just told you about.
...And this is Jack Bauer's brother! Imagine what he does to people who aren't family. But of course, Glenn Beck apparently thinks this is perfectly acceptable for my four year-old to see.
As a side note, though, I find it rather curious that Beck has such a problem with the implied sexual content of Glee yet has absolutely no problem with uber-graphically violent television shows such as 24, a program that he would regularly praise. Never once have I heard him criticize 24 (or its producer, Joel Surnow, who he had interviewed on his show more than once) for the graphic scenes of torture and general graphic violence that the show exposed children to for EIGHT FLIPPIN’ YEARS. Don’t get my wrong, I was a huge fan of 24 (didn’t miss an episode in eight years) and as noted I’m not a fan of Glee but this is just another example of what a complete hypocrite and huckster Beck has become.
Also, Beck is trying to push his opinion that this show’s target audience is children. I’ve got news for you, Glenn: no shows in prime-time are targeting or marketed towards children unless they are on Nickelodeon, Disney, the Cartoon Network or another children’s network. Advertisers pay for the 18 – 49 crowd… that’s it. That’s the standard and that is the only audience that any of the production studios and networks are making their shows for. But, of course, Glenn knows this because he’s doing the same thing with his media outlets. His shows aren’t about his agenda or positions, they are about getting as much money from advertisers as possible.
My Chemical Romance: "Don't f*cking call us Emo."
As for the “indoctrinating,” on Glee via pop-rock musical numbers, this is the typical caricature routine for Beck, and of course as usual, he’s taking the evidence (in this case, the lyrics) out of context to try to stir up a controversy that really doesn’t exist. I’m not a fan of My Chemical Romance, as they are little too “pop” for my tastes but they aren’t awful. I can tell you this, though: there is absolutely nothing political about their music. They are just a straight-up pop-rock band and if you read the entire lyrics for the song, Sing, you’d realize that despite Beck’s attempts at riling up the villagers to go hunt down Frankenstein with pitchforks and torches, it is nothing more than a rather vanilla rock-anthem replete with a bunch disjointed metaphors, with ZERO political messages. The line about “corporation progress” is rather amusing because you don’t get much more corporate and commercial than MCR.
Here are the full Lyrics for Sing for you to judge for yourself. And here’s the rather kick-ass little video.
But the Tinfoil Hat Award for Best Lyrics of a Song Taken Out of Context is right here:
Buy yourself a motivation, generation
Nothing, nothing but a dead scene
But a type of white dream
...And it probably makes more sense than Glenn Beck's.
Now, considering that MCR is pretty apolitical (aside from the typical teen-angst crap), and as I just explained, this song is merely a collection of disjointed metaphors, if you actually read the entire lyrics, there’s nothing to indicate any kind of racial reference from the phrase “white dream” (because that’s of course, what Beck wants you to focus on… which would be kind of strange anyways, considering MCR is a bunch of white guys from Jersey). Also, I would think that if you were pushing something as divisive as an anti-Caucasian agenda in one of your hit songs, you’d want to have that particular lyric discernible for your audience and if you bother to listen to the original song, it’s not.
Based on the fact that I really didn’t understand most of the ramblings of this song and the fact that I know the Beck game, I decided to look up the phrase “white dream” just to see what MCR possibly could have been talking about and lo and behold this is what I came up with from Dream Moods. com:
White represents purity, perfection, peace, innocence, dignity, cleanliness, awareness, and new beginnings. You may be experiencing a reawakening or have a fresh outlook on life. Alternatively, white refers to a clean, blank slate. Or it may refer to a cover-up. In Eastern cultures, white is associated with death and mourning.
Not for nothing, but considering all of the information I’ve provided you about MCR, the song in question, the music video and in particular the two lyrics preceding the “white dream” lyric, isn’t it far more likely that they are talking about an actual white dream as noted in the example I just cited than it is likely that the lyric is anti-Caucasian propaganda? Again, all you have to do is what Beck doesn’t like to do and that’s present all of the evidence in context.
Now, as for Mr. Kenneally, the problem I have with him over this simple-minded piece that he wrote is two-fold; first, he doesn’t even pretend to be objective by attempting to hide his disdain for Beck (“the right-wing hate bandwagon…” really? That’s some fantastic journalistic integrity on display there, Tim.) and he completely dismisses Beck’s concerns about the sexual content on the show which, albeit, exaggerated by Beck, is certainly a legitimate concern for parents and they should know what’s on their televisions at 8:00 p.m. Worse, though he intentionally completely neglects to point out that in the video, Beck legitimately praises the show as well.
My biggest problem with Mr. Kenneally, however, is because of the fact that he allegedly writes about television professionally yet he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I have an amateur television blog and I know more about television than he does:
Just wait until Beck finds out that his boss (for now, anyway), Fox honcho Rupert Murdoch, is responsible for putting such trash on the air. He’s gonna need a bigger blackboard to explain the complexities of that one…
Rupert Murdoch: Pirate? Yes. Human Resources Manager? No.
Well, maybe that’s because there are no complexities to explain, you big dope. Note to Tim Kenneally: Rupert Murdoch has ZERO input on the programming and scheduling decisions at FOX Broadcasting nor does he have any input on hiring and firing decisions. Kevin Reilly, head of scheduling at FOX, is primarily responsible for Glee being on the air to begin with having actually helped to develop and launch the show and as far as Murdoch being Beck’s boss… I’m curious, Tim: do you think that the CEO of Newscorp is also the H.R. Manager for all of the subsidiaries as well? Do you think he’s sending out memos reminding people to not forget to submit their time cards? Do you think he’s briefing new employees on the 401K plan or making flyers on the copier about the upcoming company picnic and with a sign-up sheet for who’s going to bring the potato salad? This is the equivalent to the kid at the Apple store referring to Steve Jobs as his boss.
The piece was unprofessional enough to begin with but when I read that last snide comment, I was embarrassed for him and everyone who had to read it. It literally looks as though it was written by a 14 year-old.
Hi, folks. Thanks for coming back for part two of this very special feature on FOX where Blossom ponders losing her virginity, yet again. No, no, no, obviously we’re going to talk about FOX’s recent surprising schedule moves and what we think is going on over there. Yesterday, of course, we reported on the renewal of Bob’s Burgers for a second season and left our readers with a cliffhanger as to the significance of this renewal for the network as a whole and why we are actually pleased about the renewal despite that we don’t like the show. So now it’s time to explain why and we’ll bring you back to when we fist heard about FOX moving Fringe to Friday nights.
It Took Five Years For "The Show About Nothing" to Become a Hit.
As noted by our two pieces on Fringe‘s move to Friday (here and here) we’ve been very critical of FOX’s history of jumping ship on shows (especially new shows) that have had a run of, not even horrible, but average to mediocre ratings. Seriously, c’mon, FOX… Seinfeld wasn’t immediately a hit. It wasn’t even in the top 30 for its first three seasons and in its fourth season it was #25.
Fringe... Cooler Than You and Back in Fall 2011 For Season 4.
Anyway, in these pieces, we also expressed our skepticism with FOX’s stated commitment in the past to fan-favorite shows and of course this directly related to their campaign in January expressing the same commitment to Fringe. But, then, a few weeks ago, Virginia found out that there is indeed a Santa Claus and the announcement was made that Fringe not only had been renewed for a fourth season, but it was given a full season order… in March. We speculated as to why this occurred as EVERYONE, including us, assumed that after the ratings decline, the move to Friday and of course, FOX’s history, this show was destined for Cancellationville.
And of course, there is American Dad, a show that FOX execs have not historically supported and have been trying to replace for years and it got renewed for a seventh season… in February, again with a full season order of 22 episodes, no less.
Yes, Indeed... NBC May Be Very Happy, Very Soon.
When we heard the announcement about Fringe, we speculated as to the many reasons it may have been spared cancellation but came to the conclusion that we really didn’t care, we were just happy that the show was saved. But now, we’re hearing that FOX is on the verge of losing House, as well.
The network remains in last-minute negotiations with Universal Media Studios, which owns the series, in hopes of signing a new deal for an eighth season. The two sides are far apart in determining the percentage each will pay for the show’s costs.
UMS, owned by NBCUniversal, has given Fox an extension on the window of negotiation exclusivity. That ends Friday. If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, UMS will offer the show to competing networks including, of course, the Peacock, which would likely be more than happy to take the series away from Fox.
So thanks to all of these developments, we’ve been dragged into the speculation game and we’re guessing that there are several issues at play here:
This Never Happened
First, FOX has some serious issues with original scripted program scheduling coming this Fall and this is just based on what we know. Four new shows from 2010 – 2011 have already been canceled (Running Wilde, The Good Guys, Sons of Tuscon and Lone Star) and Traffic Light is certain to be canceled by May 16th. So, that’s five down right there (and chances for The Chicago Code being renewed for a second season seem to be getting slimmer by the day) and Human Target and Lie To Me are more likely to be cancelled than not. Add to that the fact that as of this posting FOX hasn’t been able to come to a deal to keep the perennial hits Bones and (as earlier noted) House (the deadline for a deal for House was last Friday), the network faces potentially being down nine scripted programs from 2010 – 2011 (Even though we are still trying to forget about Sons of Tuscon as if it never existed, and of course we aren’t counting 24 which was at the end of its run).
"Holy sh*t! How the f**k are we still on the air???"
And here’s the thing about House: Universal may not come to a deal intentionally and may just turn House over to NBC who is desperate for a strong scripted drama, or strong scripted anything at this point. Whereas FOX axed four of their new shows (with a fifth coming for sure), NBC has axed five of their new shows with at least a sixth certain to be on the way out the door (Sorry, but as much as The Event has improved by following what we suggested it needed to do, it was too little, too late…so, adiós!). Let’s also not forget Chuck, which is on its way out the door as well. It’s so bad at NBC that less-than-positive performers such as Law & Order: Los Angelesand Harry’s Laware almost guaranteed to be renewed because, well, frankly, theyz gots nothin’ else and they certainly don’t have American Idol or Simon Cowell’s new series, The X-Factor, that is destined to be a ratings juggernaut, so at the end of the day, NBC is in way worse shape than FOX. So, here’s our bold prediction: House will be on NBC come Fall 2011 and a deal with Bones (in desperation) will be made and it will return to FOX.
"Oh look. We're still on FOX."
But the effects of losing House on FOX will be devastating and even if they keep Bones, that show has seen a sharp decline in ratings over the past two season which means there will be only one truly strong live-action veteran scripted show and that would be Glee. Can FOX really be comfortable going into the new Fall season with the The Animation Domination Block, Glee, The X-Factor and American Idol being the only programming that is guaranteed to be stable? We don’t think they possibly could be satisfied with that situation.
So taking this a step further, based on what we know for sure about the Fall schedule and the three shows that were renewed – not only unexpectedly but early, as well – (Fringe, American Dad and now Bob’s Burgers), here’s what we think is going on and it crossed our minds when we first heard about Fringe‘s renewal: FOX is not just uncomfortable with the new scripted programing they have ordered for Fall 2011, they’re downright nervous and they expected to have had more success with their new shows from 2010 – 2011. They also certainly didn’t expect the possibility of looking at Fall 2011 with no House and to a lesser extent no Bones.
Terra Nova: Allegedly to debut in Fall 2011... Hmmmm.
This brings us to the Stephen Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment produced, epic Sci-Fi series, Terra Nova, which as we noted when we reported Fringe‘s renewal, has been delayed yet again and is set to debut in Fall 2011. There are some serious issues with Terra Nova that we think FOX is starting to get as concerned about as we are. First, the delays are insane and we are not confident at all that it will debut in the Fall as promised. Second, Terra Nova may be the most expensive show in history with the first two episodes alone costing $16 million and whereas the average episode of scripted drama costs $2.5 million, Terra Nova per episode cost will come in at $4 million and the show is rife with rumors of cost overruns although the producers deny this.
Terra Nova: This Is NOT a Sci-Fi Show And That Is Not A Time Portal!
Third, this is the biggest risk that FOX has ever taken on any series, nevertheless a Sci-Fi series, in an era where epic Sci-Fi is DEAD on network television. And we’re sure that it doesn’t help when veteran television Sci-Fi writer and producer Brannon Braga (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise) who is exec. producing/writing Terra Nova is doing the “pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behind-the-curtain” Great and Powerful Oz routine denying the fact that it is indeed a Sci-Fi series when you’d have to be blind not to see it:
Terra Nova, according to Brannon Braga.
But it’s not a sci-fi show.
“It’s really about this frontier family trying to survive,”
Centers on the Shannons, an ordinary family from 2149 when the planet is dying who are transported back 85 million years to prehistoric Earth where they join Terra Nova, a colony of humans with a second chance to build a civilization.
Still Not a Sci-Fi Show.
No, there’s absolutely nothing Sci-Fi about that premise at all. It’s just like Little House on the Prairie… but with time travel… and dinosaurs… and automatic weapons… with lasers.
So, if we go with the premise that FOX isn’t really sure whether or not Terra Nova is going to actually debut on the Fall 2011 schedule as planned and it finally occurred to them that this kind of Sci-Fi is highly questionable for network television and of course there’s the issue of the costs involved, we can come to only one conclusion: FOX is worried that they aren’t going to have much going on this Fall, Monday through Friday, other than Glee and The X-Factor and they’ve decided that keeping some of these shows that have established, stabilized audiences even though they’ve seen ratings drops, may be their only option. For goodness’ sake, and we cannot stress this enough, they saved three shows that everyone expected to be canceled, and again, this is FOX we’re talking about.
We alluded to this theory yesterday, in part one, our commentary on the Bob’s Burgers renewal:
We think FOX is starting to realize that it may be better for them to deal with the devil that they know as opposed to the one they don’t…
FOXs Money Printing Presses That May Keep Your Favorite Shows On The Air
So, that’s where we think all of this is going and in our opinion, this is nothing but a positive turn of events. FOX has lived very well over the past decade with their scripted programming, reality program and sports. If new show, “A” didn’t work out as well or as quickly as they had hoped, they’d just dump it and replace it with new show “B” and if that didn’t work out they’d replace it with show “C” and so on and they’d usually find gold eventually. But let’s be honest about this; the crop of decent scripted shows out there over the past couple of years on ALL of the networks has been thin to say the least. So considering the lack of quality, sustainable shows, all the losses in shows that they’ve had in the past year, the possible losses of their perennial hits to other networks, and a questionable Fall 2011 lineup, it appears that FOX execs have been forced to put on the big boy pants and change their strategy so that they have something that’s at least slightly stable in their lineup, and will actually work to build up those shows by subsidizing them with their juggernauts, particularly American Idol and The X-Factor.
If Only It Had Debuted In Fall 2009!
Now, although FOX may not be particularly happy about taking this approach (because of course, everyone likes the quick and easy buck), all of these developments and this new approach is nothing but positive for viewers and fans of the many quality scripted programs that FOX does have to offer, but probably wouldn’t have been given an opportunity like this if this was, oh, say, two or three years ago. Heck, we suspect that if Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles were in its second season in 2011 instead of in 2009, it already would have been renewed for a third season by now.
This...
And this is EXACTLY why we are so happy about Bob’s Burgers being picked up for a second season (as much as we dislike it) because it’s show number four that was not only renewed by FOX but picked up early when no one expected it to be. This in turn gives up hope for the remaining three likely to be canceled shows, Lie to Me, Human Target and The Chicago Code. We can almost guarantee that FOX will not cancel all three of these shows, in fact, they may only cancel one of them but we are going to go with the premise, based on everything we’ve laid out over the past two days that they will keep at least one of them and we think it will be a toss-up between Lie to Me and Human Target.
... Or This?
Don’t get us wrong, we love The Chicago Codeand we don’t particularly like the clichéd and predictable Lie to Me but we have to be objective about this. If FOX or any other network is going to pick up an underperforming show to keep for another season, they are going to pick one that has an established audience for at least a couple of seasons over a mid-season replacement that hasn’t been able to find any stability with their audience. The fact that The Chicago Code is a serial doesn’t help its chances of gaining a stable audience a season later, either. Now, obviously, Bob’s Burgers doesn’t have a multiple-season established audience BUT it did have the highest ratings of any new show premiere of the season and its audience numbers, though not great, have stabilized and it does have very strong lead-ins and lead-outs with The Simpsons and Family Guy, respectively, whereas The Chicago Code dos not.
So there you have it. Our wild speculation on why the big change in strategy at FOX. You can take it for what it’s worth, and call us crazy but do the research for yourself and see if you come to any other conclusions because we’d love to hear your take. Remember folks, May 16th is the big day for FOX. That’s when we find out who’s going and who’s staying.
Welcome to part four of the mid-season 2010 – 2011 review. In this post we’ll be discussing Thursday’s programming.
8:30 p.m.
CBS – $#’! My Dad Says
Well, it certainly is $#’!-ty. After watching one episode of $#’! My Dad Says we determined that not only is the worst show of the new season, the worst sitcom we’ve ever seen but perhaps even the worst show in television history. Just to show that we were fair and objective, we endured three more episodes of this awfulness… our opinion has not changed.
It’s currently a bubble show right now which makes us lose all faith in humanity that anyone is watching it but CBS did cut short the episodes it ordered for the Spring so hopefully this will go away by May.
If you haven’t read our review of $#’! My Dad Says we highly recommend it as we consider it more of a community service than a review… like an intervention for people addicted to bad TV. Read it here.
NBC – Community
Community is still one of the better sitcoms on television (there are only a handful) and currently it’s a toss-up between whether or not NBC will renew it for a third season. In our estimation, it should be renewed if for only the reason that it’s been relatively consistent on Thursday nights and there’s nothing on the sitcom horizon for NBC in the near future. We hope so. It’s the type of show you can turn on and just laugh at because of its ridiculousness. It’s one of our two Thursday Night guilty-pleasure. The second one is, of course…
9:00 p.m.
The CW – Nikita
We love Nikita and we really shouldn’t because it’s a mediocre bordering on terrible show. But it’s over-the-top campy goodness is something that keeps us coming back for more every week. The premise is beyond ridiculous and the performances are almost silly but there’s so much “pew, pew, pew” that we can’t stay away from it.
There’s another reason why we have a soft spot for this puppy and it’s not because Maggie Q (Live Free or Die Hard) looks incredibly hot in a bikini. It’s because we heart The CW. A show like this could never survive on major prime-time network but The CW and it hearkens back to the late 90’s with UPN when they would take chances on shows like The Sentinel,Nowhere Man and our personal favorite 7 Days.
These shows, like the shows on The CW can thrive on very small audience numbers compared to the other major networks. There is no chance that camp like Nikita could ever survive anywhere but The CW and for that we are thankful for The CW. There is only ONE show that will not be renewed (that isn’t in its planned final season) on The CW next year (Life Unexpected). That’s just awesome.
NBC – The Office
Well, we’ve been concerned about this for a longtime but it’s official: The Office just isn’t as funny as it used to be and it has run out of steam. It’s still enjoyable but it’s not nearly as funny as it used to be. It’s really jumped the shark as evidenced by the fact they are resorting to revolving around another sitcom (the Glee viewing party episode). C’mon, now.
We’re still watching because it certainly has its moments, and actually, the aforementioned Glee episode was pretty funny although we cringe at the concept in principle. That being said, no one has anything to be concerned about because it’s certain to be renewed for next Fall.
9:30 p.m.
NBC – Outsourced
Outsourced is one of the most disappointing shows this season but it’s not because it’s a bad show. It’s cute and it’s clever but it’s a sitcom trying to be funny and it’s really not. We pointed out in our review that the problem is that the novelty of the culture clashes and funny accents only works for about ten minutes, yet Outsourced is an entire series that revolves around those gimmicks.
A couple of months ago we saw the 2006 film of the same name and we realized that there’s a reason why the film doesn’t translate to a sitcom: the film wasn’t a comedy to begin with. Yes, there was humor to it but he film was really a character driven story about how despite different cultures may be, we’re really not all that different after all. Sitcoms don’t work with the touchy-feely any more like they did in the 1980’s where there were a bunch corny jokes and Alex P. Keaton and Vanessa Huxtable learned a valuable lesson at the end of every episode. Audiences today want their sitcoms to have the most laughs possible during the course of 21 minutes and that’s really what it’s about it. Whatever lessons are to be learned are secondary. Outsourced the series, like the film, is focusing more on the valuable lessons with the comedy as an afterthought.
If we’re going to watch a sitcom, we want it to be funny. Outsourced unfortunately is not. It’s currently leaning toward “the-more-likely-to-be-renewed-than-not” category but we doubt audiences are going to continue to tolerate it until May.
Welcome to part three of the mid-season 2010 – 2011 review. In this post we’ll be discussing Tuesday’s programming.
8:00 p.m.
ABC – No Ordinary Family
We’re sad to say that as much as we were excited after the pilot of No Ordinary Family, the show has turned out to be, well, pretty ordinary and it’s suffering in the ratings because of it. In our review, we noted that one of No Ordinary Family’s greatest assets was the focus on the Powells as a family. Well it’s turned out that this aspect of the show is becoming its greatest liability. This is supposed to be a live-action Incredibles which means at the heart of the series, it should be a superhero show first. It hasn’t worked out that way. This show is far more focused on the dysfunctional nature of the family and each character’s individual neurosis than it is in crime-fighting.
To make matters worse, they go through this charade every week about how “it’s too dangerous to use these new powers so we won’t use them” and then they go ahead and use them. That’s getting pretty stale and it’s frustrating for audiences because it’s like they haven’t come up with a premise for the show, yet. Are they crime fighting superheroes or what?
The next problem is Michael Chiklis and not him per se, but the casting of him in this role of police sketch artist, Jim Powell. In the beginning we felt that his talent and presence would carry this show, but again it’s not working out that way because of how the character is written. To put it bluntly, we don’t mind sensitivity in a male character, but Mrs. Powell has more balls than Jim. We can’t remember the last time we saw a protagonist as completely emasculated as Jim Powell and it’s even more striking considering Chiklis’ last lead role on The Shield. Quite simply, Vic Mackey needs to grow a pair.
It’s not looking good for No Ordinary Family in the ratings and based on that alone it would be unlikely that it would be picked up for a second season, however, No Ordinary Family is no ordinary show. It’s an ABC Studios production and is the personal pet-project of Disney. Despite the low ratings, it is entirely conceivable that No Ordinary Family may get at least a second season to sort out its issues.
We still like the show and because it hasn’t had any kind of real serial arc, it is much easier to fix the problems in the show going forward and save it than it is to save a show, for example, like The Event without a massive overhaul.
CBS – NCIS
In its eighth season, NCIS is as good now as it has been in the past several years and it is still one of the highest ranked dramatic series on television for that reason. Not much more to say than that.
FOX – Glee
*Sigh* It pains us to say this, but Glee has become a victim of its own hype. The musical numbers are still wonderful but the show itself has become so exaggerated and unbelievable that we aren’t even watching any more. Prime example: we tuned in on a whim the other night to watch the Christmas episode and here is the premise that we were supposed to buy:
Exceptionally nerdy kid in a wheelchair is dating cute blonde cheerleader, Brittany… who (and I’m not kidding) still believes in Santa. So, the Glee Club takes her to the mall – together… because they can’t take a dump without each other – to sit on black Santa’s lap (and mind you, a black Santa who was wearing his beard off of his face) and Brittany comments on how tan he is and asks him for her boyfriend to be able to walk for Christmas. Santa says, “OK.” Meanwhile, at the Batcave, Sue has rigged the “Secret Santa” event and put her name on every slip of paper in the empty protein shake container. It gets better: We are also treated to an ever-so- slightly creepy rendition of Baby, it’s Cold Outside by the gay kid and another gay kid he’s pining for that is sure to be a hit with the NAMBLA crowd and to top things off, at the end of the episode the aforementioned nerdy kid has a pair of robot legs from Israel waiting under his tree and nobody knows where they came from! Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!
So basically, the show has gotten ridiculous but it doesn’t seem to care because they are walking on water right now after their breakout surprise success last year and can pretty much do what they want. We believe that they have jumped the proverbial shark but via stealth and no one has noticed yet. Although the show is incredibly popular right now (it is FOX’s highest rated scripted show) and will certainly be renewed for a third season, we believe that when it crashes it will crash hard and suddenly because audiences are going realize that they’ve been watching a, if not horrible, at least very silly show for a while.
Glee completely lacks the heart it was known for in its first season and the only really positive aspect of the show in its sophomore season was the GQ photo spread the cast appeared in.
The ‘Tastic would like to say to all of our male readers in advance, “You’re welcome.”
SyFy – Caprica
The Battlestar Galactica prequel failed miserably during the second half of its first season for many reasons and was cancelled with five episodes remaining. It was certainly a show we liked, but we get why it failed. We did an analysis of its demise, here.
9:00 p.m.
CBS – NCIS: Los Angeles
When we’re wrong, we admit it. We started watching NCIS: Los Angeles this season because we promised we would. We’ve watched the first three episodes in the last week and I have the rest on DVR and we are impressed. It’s a lot more compelling and complex than it was in the beginning of last season (when we stopped watching) and the characters have actually become likable. This is good for this franchise because it’s using all of the elements that have made the original NCIS so successful. The audience numbers for this show are phenomenal so you can be sure that there will be a season three.
FOX – Raising Hope
Another case of admitting when we were wrong with this one. As noted in our preview and subsequent review, Raising Hope is a surprisingly funny and charming show. It’s officially a bubble-show at this point so it could go either way for a second season.
SyFy – Stargate Universe
The watered-down version of Battlestar Galactica meets Star Trek: Voyager has also been canceled. SGU wasn’t a particularly bad show, it just wasn’t a particularly good show and it wasn’t nearly as good as the other series in the franchise. Sorry, SGU, but you really won’t be missed.
10:00 p.m.
ABC – Detroit 1-8-7
In yet another example of we here at The ‘Tastic admitting when we were wrong, as noted in our review, Detroit 1-8-7 has been a pleasant, if not completely original, surprise. Yes, it’s a formulaic cop show that rips off its style from every cop procedural that’s aired in the last 20 years and yes there are a handful of cringe-worthy, eye-rolling clichéd moments in every episode but overall, the stories are compelling and the characters are pretty well-written if not all fleshed out yet.
We are particularly impressed with Michael Imperioli (Life On Mars, The Sopranos) as Detective Louis Fitch and although this is an ensemble cast, Imperioli steals the show. We couldn’t be happier as Imperioli is an excellent actor and it’s not only nice to see him in a lead role but it’s particularly nice to see him as something more than a foul-mouthed gangster. Nothing against The Sopranos, but we feel that it’s pigeon-holed a lot of fine actors who have found little success since the series ended in 2007.
Unfortunately, though, Detroit 1-8-7 is on the ropes right now and will probably not be renewed for a second season.
ABC: No Ordinary Family – September 28, 2010 (NEW SERIES!)(Full Review Here!)
ABC Studios brings to life “The Incredibles”, the story of the Powells, an every day american family, who are too busy to spend time together. So they decide to take a trip as family as a way to reconnect, but on the way, their plane crashes. Now there’re back to their normal lives, but something seems to be happening to each one of them… they have superpowers. – ABC
Shawn: First, let’s give credit to ABC for not only acknowledging right off-the-bat the most obvious criticism of this show – that being that it looks like Disney-Pixar’s The Incredibles – but outright OWNING it. That’s the way to beat them at their own game! And why wouldn’t Disney try to capitalize on their property in a prime time, live-action drama (for those of you that are unaware, Disney owns ABC)? Screw the nay-sayers, this show looks like a lot of fun and is my choice for sleeper hit of the season. The concept is great and it’s not just a show for the family but it’s a show focused on the family as much as it is on their super powers. Casting always tells me a lot about a show and No Ordinary Family is no different. You’ve got Michael Chiklis as the dad (The Shield), Julie Benz as the mom (Dexter), Romany Malco (The 40 Year-Old Virgin) as the best friend and sidekick and lo and behold, Stephen Collins (7th Heaven) who appears to be our Lex Luthor-type. I don’t care if I sound like a 10 year-old fanboy, I can’t wait to watch No Ordinary Family and apparently based on the amount of merchandising I saw over at the official site, ABC is pretty confident that they have a hit on their hands as well.
CBS: NCIS – September 21, 2010
Shawn: NCIS enters its eighth season and is still one of the most watched shows on television and the highest rated drama. I’ve been there from the beginning since it was a spinoff of J.A.G. and the show has gotten increasingly better each season and I don’t see any signs of it jumping the shark any time soon. At first glance, NCIS would appear to be your standard fare, formulaic cop show that I regularly rail against and during the first couple of seasons, that’s exactly what it was. But, the cast and the characters were compelling enough to keep me around until season 4 when it really came into its own with multi-episode, cloak and dagger story arcs and complex character development. You simply can’t go wrong with NCIS.
(Sorry, but no video on this one. I was completely unable to find any trailers for season 8 on YouTube or anywhere else)
FOX: Glee – September 21, 2010
Shawn: Glee is great. Everyone should be watching this. It is funnier than any other sitcom on TV with the exception of Modern Family, has wonderfully heartwarming drama and the musical numbers are creative and fantastic. I challenge you not become moved during the musical numbers on Glee.
9:00 p.m.
CBS: NCIS Los Angeles* – September 21, 2010
Shawn: The only reason I’m putting NCIS Los Angeles (now in its second season) in this preview is to clarify why I recommend NCIS but not its spinoff. Simply put: I just don’t like it. I was very excited last year about the possibility of an NCIS spinoff but I only lasted six episodes into the first season. The show makes no sense at all. The premise is unbelieveable, the plotlines are boring and formulaic, and the characters are clichéd and have absolutely zero chemistry. I like Chris O’Donnell a lot. He’s very talented and I appreciate the fact that he dropped out of the business to raise a family and be a father to his 103 children. There’s nothing more noble than being a father and a husband. Unfortunately, his talents are being wasted on this safe, simplistic and dry show. On principle, I don’t recommend this show, but I may watch the season premiere just to see if they’ve fixed any of the mess that is NCIS Los Angeles. I’m always willing to give a show a season to work out the bugs and if they do, I’ll report back with the good news.
(Again, no trailer for this show either… blame CBS)
FOX: Raising Hope – September 21, 2010 (NEW SERIES!)
Raising Hope is a new single-camera family comedy from Emmy Award winner Greg Garcia that follows the Chance family as they find themselves adding an unexpected new member into their household. At 23 years old, JIMMY CHANCE (Lucas Neff) is going nowhere in life. He skims pools for a living, parties every night and still lives at home with his family, including his MAW MAW (Cloris Leachman); his mother, VIRGINIA (Martha Plimpton) and his father, BURT (Garret Dillahunt). Jimmy’s life takes a drastic turn when a chance romantic encounter with LUCY (guest star Bijou Phillips) goes awry once he discovers she is a wanted felon. Months later, when Jimmy pays a visit to the local prison, he learns Lucy is pregnant with their baby, and after she gives birth, he is charged with raising their daughter. – FOX
Shawn: I didn’t think it was possible but Rasing Hope has given me whole new reason to hate sitcoms. You see, what’s pissed me off thoroughly is the lie perpetuated on show’s Official Page that I posted above. It’s leaving out a crucial detail and the omission is by design. The little baby’s mother, isn’t just a wanted felon, she’s a serial killer and her big joke in the trailer is that they would never execute a mother of a seven month-old baby. Then, they cut to a scene with Jimmy sitting on the other side of the glass with the baby on his lap watching her get electrocuted and about halfway through the process he covers the baby’s eyes. I’m sorry, and you can call me old-fashioned, but a baby being separated from its mother and then forced to watch her get executed in an electric chair is not exactly what I would call charming or endearing. FOX has been doing a very good job of hiding that little piece of information on their website and their regular TV spots for this show. Gee, I wonder why? What I saw is not nearly as bad as the fact that they are trying to hide it.
The latest series for the Stargate franchise has Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) as part of a group that is transported to Destiny, a self-guided spaceship used to place stargates around the universe.
Shawn: SGU starts its second season and I am loathed to admit it, but I like this show and I really shouldn’t. It is a complete rip-off of Star Trek: Voyager and Battlestar Galactica with the quest to get home and the incessant, holy-crap-we’re all-going-to-die-by-the-end-of-the-episode-but-somehow-we-are-miraculously-saved-at-the-last-minute crisis of the week, but still, somehow, it manages to work. The characters are OK and are becoming more developed every episode and the special effects and action do work well. SGU also succeeds because you don’t get the feeling that you have to know the entire Stargate Anthology in order to get the show. If you like space-based Sci-Fi, this show is definitely for you, if it’s not your thing, you can pass on this and your life won’t be any less fulfilled.
9:30
FOX: Running Wilde – September 21, 2010 (NEW SERIES!)
Will Arnett stars as a Beverly Hills jackass who ends up falling in love with Emmy Kadubic (played by Keri Russell), a charitable tree hugger, who hates his lifestyle and moral code.
Shawn: “What… the… fudge… was that?” You see, those are the words that came to mine when I watched the extended trailer for this show, except for the fact that just like Ralphie from a Christmas Story I didn’t use the word fudge. Unlike Ralphie, however, I didn’t have a bar of Palmolive handy to cleanse my soul from what I had just seen. Obviously, the geniuses at television development at FOX are the same people in charge of player development for the New York Mets. I have it on good authority that the roundtable discussion for filling the 9:30 hole on FOX went something like this:
Writer 1: OK, we want to go with something recycled along the lines of The Nanny and Dharma & Greg and every couple-based sitcom from the last twenty years that involves two people from extremely different worlds.
Writer 2: Well, I brought a hat full of a bunch of paper slips with different subjects on them. Let’s shake it up and pull out the first ten and apply it to your lame-o premise.
Writer 3: Um… I brought pot.
OK, so I completely made that up, but seriously, after watching the trailer below, does it not seem like that’s exactly how they came up with this show? It’s typical FOX suckitude for sit-coms. Running Wilde is a perfect bookend to Raising Hope. Both these shows look awful individually but together they qualify for “making-me-puke-in-my-mouth” status. But, fear not. TV-Tastic predicts that both of these shows will be cancelled before Thanksgiving replaced with re-runs of Bones or House.
10:00 p.m.
ABC: Detroit 1-8-7 – September 21, 2010 (NEW SERIES!)
In this ABC crime drama project, a fictional documentary filmmaking crew goes inside Detroit’s homicide division. – ABC
Shawn: “Once in a generation, a cop show comes along that re-writes the rules.”
That is seriously said in the voice-over at the beginning of this trailer. It may be true, but that show was The Shield, not Detroit 1-8-7 (which sounds more like a the title of an N.W.A. album than it does a dramatic television series). Sorry, but this show re-writes nothing. It’s the epitome of why I don’t watch formulaic cop shows anymore. It’s all the same thing but this one is trying to be clever by combining the rawness and the grittiness of The Wire and to an extent Homicide: Life on the Street and the pseudo-documentary style of… The Office. That’s right, The Office. The difference is that The Office actually is consistently shot like a documentary. The style of this show is all over the place. I’m sorry, but if you want to convince us that the show is being shot by a documentary camera crew, your shots cannot include shots only possible if filmed while a cameraman is sitting on the hood of a moving car (that’s in the trailer).
Beyond, that, though Detroit 1-8-7 doesn’t look awful, it just looks ordinary and typical. I’ve seen this cop show before, and I can tell I’m not alone in thinking this way.
“The detectives are well-developed and easy to follow… There are relationships worth investing in.”
– Mekeisha Madden Toby, Detroit News
“…promises to be a mighty fine ride…smartly cast urban crime drama’s gutsy, gritty allure.”
– Matt Roush, TV Guide
First, notice the ellipses that permeate both quotes like bullet-holes, indicating that ABC cut a lot out. Second, knowing that, this is really the best ABC could come up with to promote critical acclaim for the show? Seriously, that Matt Roush quote is just embarrassing, but honestly, I really don’t expect much from him anymore. I think he just has too much on his plate so unless he really likes something a lot, he just whips out the TV reviewer’s thesaurus and gives us “mighty fine ride,” “smartly cast (which is kind of like sensible shoes),” “gutsy” and “gritty.” As far as Makeisha Madden Toby is concerned, I think she got the memo that if you write for a Detroit Newspaper and live in L.A., it’s in your better interest to be pleasant when discussing a drama set in the city you don’t live in but is responsible for your paychecks. I’m sorry, but, “The detectives are well-developed and easy to follow…” and “There are relationships worth investing in,” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.
I’m sorry but there’s just too much good TV this Fall for me to waste my time with this. I may catch the pilot or an occasional episode, but this isn’t appointment television by an 8-mile.
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