Aside from Hannibal, ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and the CW have made their decisions about which shows are returning next season. How did I do this year on picking which new shows to watch?
ABC
Canceled: 666 Park Avenue, The Family Tools, How to Live with Your Parents, Last Resort, Malibu Country, Red Widow, Zero Hour
Renewed: The Neighbors
I watched more of ABC’s pilots than I typically would for a network since their media site allowed me to preview several shows weeks or even months before they aired. I didn’t like 666 Park Avenue. I thought The Family Tools and How to Live with Your Parents were decent, but by the time they finally started airing I didn’t have time to watch. I loved the pilot of Last Resort, but subsequent episodes lacked the same polish, so I bailed after episode 3, always saying I’d get back to the show, but never actually doing so. The Neighbors was far better than I was expecting, and I watched through the mid-season break, and plan to catch up this summer.
Grade: A+
CBS
Canceled: Golden Boy, Made in Jersey, Partners, Vegas
Renewed: Elementary
I watched not a single full episode of any of the canceled shows, and I loved Elementary right from the start, and it remains one of my favorite new shows.
Grade: A+
Fox
Canceled: Ben & Kate, The Mob Doctor
Renewed: The Following, The Mindy Project
I watched the two new comedies on Fox with a nervous eye toward the ratings. While Ben & Kate was cute, The Mindy Project was far more funny. The drama premises interested me not at all.
Grade: C+
NBC
Canceled: 1600 Penn, Animal Practice, Deception, Do No Harm, Go On, Guys With Kids, The New Normal
Renewed: Chicago Fire, Revolution
I passed on all of NBC’s new dramas, though I did give Revolution two episodes to convince me it was must-see-TV (it failed to), but I was far more willing to try out comedies. The New Normal proved its awfulness in one episode, and I moderately enjoyed Animal Practice while it lasted. I enjoyed 1600 Penn, Go On, and Guys With Kids, but fell multiple episodes behind with each of them quite frequently.
Grade: D
The CW
Canceled: Cult, Emily Owens, MD
Renewed: Arrow, Beauty and the Beast, The Carrie Diaries
I was going to give Cult a chance because of Matt Davis, but the previews turned me off, and I never planned to watch Emily Owens. Arrow is tied with Elementary for my favorite new drama of the year, and I enjoyed Beauty and the Beast but fell behind because of my new job. Initially I didn’t like the idea of The Carrie Diaries at all, but cute promos and a Doctor Who alum has pushed the show into “maybe I’ll check it out someday” territory.
Grade: A
In all, I give myself a B+ for show selection this year – beating my score for last year.
The CW has officially canceled Emily Owens, MD – the freshman show will air all of its 13-episode initial order. The Mob Doctor has also coded, but less officially – Fox declined to order additional episodes for the show, and is burning off the final four episodes around New Year’s. Both shows had terrible ratings, so their demise was expected. With Private Practice ending as well, these season has not been kind to medical dramas. The CW will still have Hart of Dixie in the genre, but The Mob Doctor did a poor job at trying to fill the Monday void left by House.
Speaking of House, Hugh Laurie is close to a deal to play Blackbeard in NBC’s 10-episode pirate drama Crossbones. Yes, I could totally see him as a pirate! NBC has also ordered a period pilot, The Gilded Age, from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.
Last Resort and 666 Park Avenue have enough time to tweak their final episodes, so fans of the shows will get some closure when the two shows end.
ABC’s two November-debut comedies (sophomore Last Man Standing and freshman Malibu Country) have been picked up for their back five episodes (instead of nine, due to their late starts). Also, Fox’s Touch has been moved to Fridays and will air a two-hour debut February 8th.
Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D. has cast the role of Agent Grant Ward, giving it to newbie Brett Dalton. While I’m still hoping some Whedonverse vets make it into the show, I think it’s quite interesting that this guy looks like a combination of Angel (top half of his face) and Spike (bottom half). Am I the only one seeing this?
British historical fantasy show Merlin will come to a close after its currently airing 5th season, with a special 2-hour episode to wrap things up.
And I think that catches me up with at least the most important news (in my mind) that’s cropped up over the past week. What news items have YOU talking?
Lots of TV news today! After airing only two episodes, Arrow has been picked up for a full season (additional “back nine” episodes ordered). Fellow CW newbies Beauty and the Beast and Emily Owens, MD have been given three additional script orders.
Fox has given two additional episode orders to both New Girl and Raising Hope, bringing their totals to 24. This could be a likely indication that Ben and Kate, which has a shortened full season order of 19 episodes, could be replaced by fellow sibling comedy The Goodwin Games at midseason (probably late winter or spring).
In cable news, Homeland has been renewed for a third season, and BBC America’s Copper has been picked up for season two. Titus Welliver has dropped out of the TNT pilot The Last Ship, and Adam Baldwin (Chuck, Firefly) has been tapped to replace him. Baldwin will play second-in-command to Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy). The Last Ship features the crew of a naval destroyer after most of the earth’s population has been destroyed by a global catastrophe.
Just about all of broadcast TV’s new fall shows have aired at least two episodes now, so I think it’s time for a look at which ones soared, which ones got off to a rough start, and which ones nosedived. I’m dividing this list up into several groups so you can get an idea of what my preferences and interest levels were going in.
Shows I Haven’t Seen and Never Plan To:
Out of the 20 new shows that have debuted so far, the list of those I haven’t seen is pretty small: 7. I hate country music, so Nashville was out. The rest (Made In Jersey, The Mob Doctor, Partners, Emily Owens MD, Chicago Fire, and Vegas) I wasn’t interested in for one reason or another. One is already canceled, two more aren’t far behind, and none of the seven shows has been a breakout hit. I feel pretty happy with my choice not to watch them, and expect maybe 1-2 to reach a second season (not holding my breath, though).
Shows I Never Planned to Watch but Did See the Pilot:
For two shows, I checked out the pilots knowing I’d never commit to watching the show. It was easy to tell from the previews that 666 Park Avenue wasn’t my type of show, but I had a chance to watch the pilot early as a TV blogger, so I tried it out. It seemed well done, but I didn’t enjoy it. The New Normal I watched out of a morbid curiosity to see how awful it would be, and aside from one or two heartfelt moments, it was utterly terrible. I didn’t laugh once.
Comedies I Thought Would Be Awful but Didn’t Mind:
Another show I got a chance to watch early was The Neighbors, which wasn’t as terrible as the previews made it out to be. I’ve seen the first two episodes, and might watch more if I’m caught up on most of my other shows and in the mood for a comedy. Guys With Kids I didn’t intend to see, by my siblings said it was pretty good, so I watched a few episodes. Both shows are more family-oriented comedies, which usually bore me, and I don’t really laugh during them, but I like having extra comedy shows to watch on dreary days.
Comedies I Like but Wouldn’t Cry Over Their Cancellation:
Every new comedy not in the above lists fits in this section. Many of them are great, but I haven’t gotten attached to any comedies so far this season. That’s probably a good thing, as Animal Practice has already been canceled. Go On is probably the best of the lot, and I expect it will return for a second season, but The Mindy Project (my pilot review here) and Ben and Kate (pilot review here) are far from out of danger despite their full-season orders. These shows are heartwarming and humorous, but they’re not laugh out loud funny. Plus, none of the characters grip me in that “I would hate to see them go” way. It could come with time, and I’ll keep watching these shows until they get terrible or get canceled.
Dramas That Didn’t Wow Me In Their First Two Episodes:
Revolution was hyped to be awesome, Beauty and the Beast was critiqued to be terrible. I was disappointed by Revolution’s pilot, but enough was done right that I gave the show another episode. When Miles was still the only character I enjoyed watching, and the rest of the show failed to interest me, I decided to stop watching. It’s too bad, because from the premise it seemed like exactly the type of show I would enjoy.
I just watched the second episode of Beauty and the Beast, and really noticed the terrible, terrible dialogue people were complaining about in the pilot (my review of it here). I so want to love this show, but the writers are making it very hard. I’m still not sure if I’ll watch a third episode. I want it to pull a Vampire Diaries and start getting really good after a few episodes, but I don’t know if there is enough backstory for the mythology of the show to grow. Also, in the second episode, several procedural issues bugged me (Don’t uniforms clear buildings? Are detectives allowed to be present during the autopsy of someone they killed?), and Cat had a sister appear out of nowhere. The first episode got good ratings for the CW, but the second quickly dropped, so it might not get time to improve. Might be better to replace it with the midseason Cult, to bring over Matt Davis (Alaric) fans from The Vampire Diaries. (I know I had no plans to watch the show, but after marathoning through The Vampire Diaries, Matt Davis has become one of my favorite actors, so I definitely plan to give Cult a few episodes to impress me.)
As I was writing this, I kept thinking, I wonder what Revolution and Beauty and the Beast would have been like with Joss Whedon in charge? Can’t wait for S.H.I.E.L.D.!
Dramas I Love:
The three drama shows I was most looking forward to turned out to be the ones I loved most this season. My favorite pilot episode, Last Resort (my review here), hasn’t quite lived up to its potential in subsequent episodes, but it still keeps me glued to the screen almost every minute. Its low ratings don’t signal much hope for renewal, but ABC shows regularly do poorly in that timeslot. ABC did order 2 more scripts for the show, so it’s unlikely to get pulled from the schedule immediately (I was starting to worry about that), but that may be just to give the show some sort of resolution. All the same, I’ve tried to temper my attachment to the show and just enjoy it while it lasts.
Elementary (my review of the pilot here) has been just as awesome as I hoped. I’ve been completely won over to the idea of a female Watson, and it’s been nice watching their friendship slowly grow over the past few episodes. Both annoy each other like crazy, yet their respect and admiration for each other is beginning to build. The cases seem to have an extra twist compared to most crime drama shows, which fits well with the need to bring in a consultant. I’m really sorry for the people who have a hard time understanding Jonny Lee Miller’s brisk British accent, but I feel the speed helps convey Sherlock’s fast mental process. Oh, and the opening credits are amazing:
Last but not least, Arrow has been amazing so far. While the pilot (my review here) had a good deal of the plot revealed in preview clips and therefore wasn’t quite as engaging, the second episode (my review here) had everything I was looking for: great action sequences, insightful character moments, and hints at series-long mythology-building. The second episode got the exact same excellent rating as the first (double that of typical CW “steady performers”), so I’m looking forward to this show being around for a while.
Conclusion:
Three great dramas. Three good comedies. That’s my haul from broadcast TV’s new fall shows, and I managed to find a show I liked on every single network. I think 3, maybe 4, will stick around for a second season.
Thanks to sneak peaks and early releases, the fall broadcast TV season is well underway, even if most shows don’t premiere until next week (or later). Into the bunch are thrown 21 new scripted shows – which of these do you intend to check out?
Please vote in the poll for all the shows for which you plan to see (or have already seen) the pilot episode. Then leave a comment and let me know which shows you’re most excited about!
The CW has finally corrected its too-short preview clips of new fall shows Arrow and Emily Owens, MD by releasing extended trailers!
Emily Owens, MD will air Tuesdays at 9, following fellow medical drama, Hart of Dixie. The show stars Mamie Gummer, Justin Hartley (who played the Green Arrow on Smallville), Kelly McCreary, and Michael Rady (who I’m most familiar with as Kostos in the Sisterhood movies; he’s also been reoccurring on The Mentalist and House of Lies recently). WARNING: This preview seems to give away the entire plot of the pilot, so if you’re already eager to watch it, I’d skip the trailer.
Arrow will air Wednesdays at 8, and will be followed by Supernatural. From this trailer, Arrow looks dark, intriguing, and awesome! This isn’t No Ordinary Family, or even The Cape – bad guys aren’t likely to be tied up and left for the police. And from The Hunger Games to The Avengers, archers are “in” right now. I’d describe this show as Hawkeye meets Batman meets The Count of Monte Cristo (only with an island instead of a prison). Arrow stars Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy (Monte Carlo, Melrose Place), Susanna Thompson (Kings, NCIS), Willa Holland, and Paul Blackthorne (The River).
The CW is the last of the broadcast networks to announce their fall schedule, with some major changes.
90210 moves to Mondays at 8, followed by a shortened finale season for Gossip Girl, and in midseason, The Carrie Diaries.
As I predicted, the CW’s two medical shows are on the same night, with Hart of Dixie on at 8 on Tuesdays, and Emily Owens, MD (formerly First Cut) at 9. A great slot, as the only similar show they’re competing against would be The Mindy Project at 9:30.
Wednesdays, new show Arrow will lead off the night, followed by “finally out of the Friday death slot” Supernatural.
The Vampire Diaries remains on Thursdays at 8, while Beauty and the Beast gets the plum slot following it.
Nikita moves to 9 following America’s Next Top Model, which means competition with Grimm and Fringe, but Supernatural didn’t do too bad in that slot, so there’s hope.
All in all, it seems like a very solid schedule for the CW, and I hope the network’s ratings next fall will reflect that. Cult will be a midseason show as well. For clips of the fall CW shows, click below.
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