Interesting – the four USA shows on the bubble or unlikely to return (Common Law, Political Animals, Necessary Roughness, and Fairly Legal) are four of which I’ve never seen an episode. In fact, the only other recently-airing original scripted USA Network show that I’ve never seen an episode of is In Plain Sight, which ended this spring.
Report: Common Law Unlikely to Return, Political Animals and Two Other USA Shows on Bubble – TVLine.
IMDb presents a list of their picks for the top ten new shows – and I agree with just about the entire thing! Each show has a photo and a brief description, followed by thoughts from the site’s editors. I enjoy that they push past all of the hype and nitpicking to give an honest look at how well the pilot episodes work and where they see shows going from there, both good and bad.
#1 Last Resort
My favorite of the pilots I’ve seen so far (admittedly mostly comedy). Great suspense, great characters, awesome possibilities for future stories. I just hope it’s not handicapped by a competitive time slot. Full pilot review here.
#2 Arrow
Dark Knight, archery division. While I haven’t seen the pilot yet, IMDb puts Stephen Amell’s acting somewhere between Tom Welling’s Superman and Christian Bale’s Batman, which is good enough for me! An awesome superhero show for the fall is needed after enjoying superhero movies and Alphas all summer.
#3 The Mindy Project
This was a “see if the pilot’s any good” show for me, but since episode one had an unexpected quirky rom-com charm, I plan to stick around for several more episodes. Pairing this with New Girl is brilliant. Here’s my review of the first episode.
#4 Nashville
One of the few shows I disagree with on this list, mostly since I hate country music and don’t usually like shows that run solely on relational drama (give me murders, spies, bombs, crimes, aliens, cool powers, and other worlds for my drama fix). But if it’s your cup of tea, enjoy away!
#5 Elementary
The third in my trifecta of most-anticipated new dramas this fall (for the others, see #1 and 2 above). I have a feeling the pilot will be a bit spoiled by the promos, so I’m more looking forward to the second episode. And since Sherlock is already reimagining the traditional Holmes stories, I’m glad this show will focus on new stories. Update: my review of the pilot is here.
#6 Ben and Kate
A heartwarming little gem that I look forward to seeing more of. See my full review of the pilot here.
#7 Hunted
I don’t follow many cable shows unless they air on USA, Syfy, or TNT, so I had no idea this cool-looking spy drama from Cinemax even existed. If the pilot shows up online I may have to try it out.
#8 Go On
The pilot was great, the second episode a little less so, but I’m definitely giving this show a few more episodes to find its stride. I think the main thing is that the characters don’t feel like family yet, but that usually requires several episodes for most shows. I just hope the writers will be able to find the right balance between humor and pathos as most of the characters deal with pretty significant losses.
#9 Vegas
One of the other exceptions I’d take off this list – not that it isn’t well made, it’s just not a show I care to watch. I don’t watch many historical shows, unless they’re set in a time and place I love (looking at my list of tags, that’s pretty much medieval England, but there are others). Las Vegas doesn’t interest me at all. Neither does the 60s. I don’t really care about the conflict between a sheriff and a mob boss, and the main cast doesn’t feature any actors of whom I’m a huge fan. So even though I have no other broadcast shows to watch at 10pm on Tuesdays, I won’t be watching (at least this sounds better than Unforgettable, though).
#10 Revolution
This, along with Beauty and the Beast, was in my second tier of new dramas to try out, so my anticipation level wasn’t as high, but I was still hoping to be pleasantly surprised. I wasn’t. While the pilot had some great moments, very little about it pushes me to watch the next episode. Since it conflicts with Castle, I’ll probably save it to watch online, but I have a feeling this is one of those shows that’ll get put off until I’m so far behind I stop watching. I do plan to watch at least the second episode, to see if it gets better.
For pics, plot descriptions, and IMDb editors’ thoughts on these 10 shows, visit the link below.
IMDb: Fall TV: Top Ten New Shows – a list by IMDb-Editors.
Canadian medical drama Saving Hope will have its final two episodes of the season airing only online in the US (I wonder, how much money do they save rights-wise by not airing an episode on TV? NBC seems to do that a lot). The Canadian channel CTV will, however, air those episodes and has renewed the show for a second season.
Also in NBC schedule changes, the September 10th episode of Grimm has been postponed to September 28, delaying the show’s return to Friday nights to a week later than planned (perhaps NBC is concerned about having enough original episodes of the show for the season, considering Grimm’s early start?). Instead, a preview premiere of The New Normal will air in the plum 10pm spot following The Voice premiere, as well as another preview showing of the Go On pilot. Given that The New Normal starts out heartwarming but quickly becomes humorless and agenda-driven, I’m not sure it will be helped by this additional preview.
NBC Yanks ‘Saving Hope’ Off Its Schedule – Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.
The passing of Michael Clarke Duncan put to rest my last hopes for The Finder somehow making it back on the air (the show wouldn’t be the same without Leo!), but I’m glad to see star Geoff Stults returning to TV. Not only will he play a reoccurring role on Ben and Kate, he’s developing his own multi-camera comedy.
With Mercedes Masöhn cast in ABC’s 666 Park Avenue, the other remaining cast member from The Finder who needs a show is Maddie Hasson, who played Willa. She did recently appear on a episode of Grimm, as a teenage coyotl who’s also the daughter of one of Hank’s good friends.
Ben and Kate Casts Geoff Stults in Season 1 – TVLine.
Michael Clarke Duncan, who recently starred in The Finder, passed away Monday morning. He was still in the hospital seven weeks after suffering a heart attack.
Click the link below for heartfelt sentiments from fellow actors.
Michael Clarke Duncan Dead at 54; Oscar Nominee Appeared on TV’s The Finder, Chuck – TVLine.
More awesome news about the Avengers-related TV show! ABC has ordered the pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D., which will be co-written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen. (Which of course will make it pretty amazing!) Schedule permitting, Joss will also direct the pilot.
Since bringing his brother and sister-in-law already makes this a family project, what actors from Whedonverse family would you like to see cast in the show? And before you can say “all of them” or “everyone from Firefly,” let’s try to narrow things down by only casting actors who aren’t already a regular on another show (like Nathan Fillion) or have a busy movie career (aka most of the main actors in The Avengers – I can see some of them guest-starring, but not playing major cast).
This means that TWO of my thoughts for what would make a great Avengers TV show have been implemented, Joss Whedon and S.H.I.E.L.D!
ABC Marvel ‘SHIELD’ Pilot — Joss Whedon To Co-Write, May Direct.
Sasha Roiz, Grimm’s Captain Renard, talks about Monday’s episode “The Kiss” and the jaw-dropping reveal about his character. He confirms exactly what he is (I thought it was pretty clear from the episode, but I’ve seen comments from people who had other theories) and hints at future episodes.
‘Grimm’: Sasha Roiz talks latest episode, what’s next for Renard | Inside TV | EW.com.
After several episodes of last year’s under-appreciated comedy Suburgatory hinted that Tessa wasn’t quite as cool with this “not knowing her mother” thing as she professed, it’s no surprise that the show is bringing in her estranged mom for its sophomore season. Malin Akerman will play the role as Alex stops by for this year’s Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes.
Suburgatory Casts Malin Akerman as Tessa’s Mother — Season 2 – TVLine.
My experience with comic books is pretty limited (I usually read ones based on TV shows and web series, not the other way around), so I have little knowledge of the Huntress’ role in the Green Arrow comics. It is kind of nice not to have to compare movies and TV shows to their respective comic canons, though.
I’m also not familiar with Australia actress Jessica De Gouw, but her role as the daughter of crime boss trying to destroy her father’s empire sounds interesting.
Arrow Casts Jessica De Gouw as Huntress in Season 1 – TVLine.
Next Monday’s Warehouse 13 episode (8/27) will feature two returning characters – Dr. Vanessa Calder (Lindsay Wagner), Warehouse 13’s official doctor (who Artie’s sweet on), and one of the creepiest villains the show has produced, Lewis Carroll’s Alice.
Also, H.G. Wells (Jaime Murray) will return for this season’s 7th episode, due to air 9/3.
Warehouse 13 Casting News — Lindsay Wagner, Jaime Murray – TVLine.
Well, it’s official – this coming season of The Office will be its last. I’d pretty much given up on the show, but since I’ve stuck around this long, I may see it through to the end. Making the character of Nellie Bertram (who I hated) a regular on the show made me write the show off, but I hear that next season Andy will be tormenting her for what she put him through last season, and be trying to get her to quit. It might be okay if she’s sort of the villain of the office instead of the show trying to get us to feel sympathy for such an unlikeable character.
The final season will bring back some familiar faces (Roy is already scheduled to appear early in the season) and offer a look into the documentary crew who’s been filming all these years. We may not say goodbye to all the characters, though, as the Dwight spin-off The Farm is still very much a possibility.
The Office’s Last Season — Ending After Season 9, All Questions Answered – TVLine.
I’ve started reviewing Grimm over on the TV show review site Billie Doux. I’m working on the current second season right now, though I do plan to go back and review season one, too.
Does anyone else absolutely hate the new intro for Grimm? It has a cool visual look, but the voiceover (both content and tone) and music is terrible. It’s a good idea to give new viewers a quick idea of what they’re in for, but did they have to make it sound so 90s?
Monroe: Cats don’t play possum, do they?
Full episode review: Billie Doux: Grimm: Bad Teeth.
Continue reading Grimm – Bad Teeth
Good news for Perception fans! The freshman drama has been renewed by TNT for a second 13-episode season.
No news on what that means for other TNT shows that are yet to be renewed – most notably Franklin & Bash and Leverage.
Are you a fan of Perception? Do you think the show deserves this renewal?
‘Perception’ Renewed by TNT – Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.
The previous owner of the Millennium Falcon will be guest-starring on NCIS! Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian in the original Star Wars trilogy, will appear on the show as WWII vet LJ, a close friend of the Gibbs family. The fun part? LJ stands for Leroy Jethro, making the Gibbs we know and love his namesake.
Keck’s Exclusives: NCIS Casts Star Wars Veteran – Today’s News: Our Take | TVGuide.com.
The premise for this show sounds so cool! From TVLine:
The ambitious project, from Joe Weisberg (Falling Skies) and Graham Yost (Justified), is set in the early ’80s and centers on two KGB spies, Phillip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth (Keri Russell), posing as married Americans in suburban DC. Despite their arranged union, the couple’s bond grows more passionate and genuine by the day, but is constantly tested by the escalation of the Cold War. Tensions also heighten upon the arrival of a new neighbor, Stan (Noah Emmerich), an FBI agent working in counter intelligence.
I barely knew what FX was before hearing about this show, and it will be the first show ever that I’ll check out on Fox’s cable network.
FX Picks Up Keri Russell Drama The Americans – TVLine.
