Fri, Sat. and Sunday Fall '15 Premiere Reviews Part Two

ABC - Grade 6/10

Ken Jeong is back in television and is now in a staring role showing off his past profession in a comedic way.  He does have a very funny supporting cast including Dave Foley (Kids in the Hall and News Radio), Suzy Nakamura (Curb Your Enthusiasm and Ten Things I The About You), Albert Tsai (Trophy Wife and Fresh of the Boat) and Tisha Campbell-Martin (Martin & House Party).  This show is a nice watered down comedy show that ABC produces with a slight edge without offending anyone (kind of).  It's is worth checking out.




NBC - Grade: 8/10

The folks are back and they are ready to mess with and offend.  The premiere season host was Miley Cyrus and I must say that I am still curious on why there is so much extreme hatred for this woman.  She is being herself.  This pattern of her becoming the person she is now is not that shocking.  At least not to me.  Now is she really pushing it too far?  Probably, but that is a matter of perspective.  Like I said, this now that shocking, I kind saw this transition happening since Hanna Montana.  You people need to change your focus.  Moving on.  I felt Miley did great, the skit Hillary Clinton was in was fun, Weekend Update was, as usual, a blast to see and the rest of the cast did a great job in this premiere.  I look forward to a great season.




CBS - Grade: 8.5/10

Patricia Arquette is kicking it strong like she did on the past hit NBC show, Medium.  The last remaining Crime Scene Investigation show enters it's second season.  Now this is the first CSI show that I actually started on season one.  Correction, the second CSI show.  I also tried out CSI NY starring Gary Sinise, but tapered off after season two because of interest and mostly time.  I am enjoying Cyber though I find the cast kind of questionable, including Shad Moss (formerly rapper Bow Wow) and new member, Ted Danson (Cheers and the original CSI series).  I don't think transistioning Danson from CSI: Las Vegas to Cyber in D.C. was a bad idea, just unsure how it will turn out.  We shall see I guess.  I must also add that I am not happy that Peter MacNicol is no longer on the show.  Not sure why he is gone.  They used the story of him being promoted, so maybe he will have a re-occurring role?  Who knows?  He might have a new big project on the horizon.  That's usually how it works.  I like him on Cyber although I rather see him in comedic roles like in Ally McBeal (BTW, curious about Calista Flockhart in Supergirl).  Last, but not least, Mr. James Van Der Beek  I have enjoyed a lot of his work since Dawson's Creek, which I have never seen, but was curious how he would be after that and he (along with Joshua Jackson) are doing great!!!  The ladies  of the Creek, Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams, not so much, but I love you guys, too.  Van Der Beek turns into an ultimate bad ass character both in braun and brain as now only does he shows his awesome skills as a detective/investigator he also shows the techs in the show what he knows in their field as well.   Very impressive, Elijah!  If you haven't checked out this series, try it out.  If you were a fan of the CSIs you may also like this one.  This show can turn into the long survivor for the CSI franchise like Special Victims Unit is for Law & Order.

Thursday Fall '15 Premiere Reviews Part Two

FOX

So after taking out Molock and Henry (Horseman of War) and the loss of Katrina and Irving, Ichabod and Abby separate and reunite after 9 months.  Even though they have removed a powerful foe and new one has emerged with her box.  This new being is so powerful that she took out Abraham (Horseman of Death).  Ichabod and Abby along with sister, Jenny jump into a new mission as the new enemy had unleashed a familiar creature from Crane's past.  I was happily surprised to see Shannyn Sossamon (Wayward Pines, Sinister 2 and Mistresses) has joined the cast.
Status: Keep     Grade: 8/10






NBC

So Elizabeth and Raymond are on the run after assassinating the Attorney General of the United States.  The FBI is have a difficult time finding them, but is Reddington and Keen as almost every ally they have starts to screw them.  Keen makes one desperate more to help herself, but now is it going to actually help her or make thing more rough?  Sorry that is all I have for this premiere episode because it was all chasing activity.  Should turn out to be a great episode.
Status: Keep     Grade: 8/10

Thursday Fall '15 Premieres Part One

NBC

I will admit I started this show with major reservations.  The previews about the show weren't completely selling to me, even though one of my favorite celebrities, Wesley Snipes, is in it.  Ok.  A former FBI agent turn security consultant is placed on assignment to do his job when he realized there was way more going on than he first though including a new faction that new everything that was going on and when the next thing was going to happen.  Now I know, "If they are so powerful and resourceful , why don't they just handle it themselves?".  Well they needed one more factor that will help them achieve their goals, the player.  So this faction, called The House, so far only has 2 people; The Pit Boss (Wesley Snipes) and the Dealer (Charity Wakefield).  They only need one key person to handle the field called The Player.  Alex Kane (Philip Winchester) is the former agent who ends up forcibly auditioning for the role by doing everything The House tells him.  While he is doing that, bets are made by whales (Rich Gamblers) around the world bet on the outcome.  The action ensues and things get very dicey.  Not is he working hard to solve or prevent a crime, he has to deal with the local police.  In my opinion, this show turned out to be very entertaining and keep me glued to the screen.  I was worried it was going to turn out like Fastlane (Bill Bellamy, Peter Facinelli and Tiffany Thiessen), which turn into trying to be more sexy than interesting.  No, it turn out to be interesting for sure.  I am not sure how far it will go, but I will keep watching until then.  Update on this by the end of fall season.
Status: Keep     Grade: 6.5/10



NBC
So it is back.  Like The Player, I have major reservations about this show, especially it's return.  Before it was a major phenomenon, but like most phenomenon (Lost, Alias, X-Files, etc.) they tend to fade out quickly because they start to run out of story to keep it going or interesting.  The premiere episode was good.  Noah Bennett (Jack Coleman), of course, is the major force in the storyline, trying to find and figure out everything that is going on.  More of what they call, evos are springing up everywhere and as usual, they are being hunted.  Like the previous show, there are a few that are being showcased and we, for sure, will be following their stories.  It is slow at times with some action here and there and the vagueness is still running strong.  I am a little worried, but hopeful.  I loved this series before and hope they do better to keep it running longer than before.  If you have reservations, just check out the premiere and them make your decision there.  Enjoy.
Status: Keep     Grade 7/10

 And

 

Will Be On A Late Review Blog Entry.

Gangs Shifting Bridges

So it has been a while since I have done one of these, but I have been watching a lot of TV during my treatment for this cancer.  I am checking out a few shows, some are new others I am binging on.

First show is called Gang Related by Fox.  It stars Ramon Rodriguez (The Wire & Charlie's Angels), RZA (Wu Tang Clan) and Terry O'Quinn (Lost & Hawaii 5-0).  Pretty much a gang task force who works hard to eliminate as much gang activity as possible.  It seems pretty ok, but I am not sure if the show will last past one season.  If it does survive, it would probably be because it was released in the summer.

Next is The Night Shift on NBC.  Stars Jill Flint (Royal Pains), Daniella Alonso (Revolution) and Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under & Chaos).  Shows the days of night shift doctors at San Antonio Memorial who were formerly military medics.  I think this show is good, but like Gang Related, I am not sure it will  not make it past one season.  Also, like Gang Related, if it does survive, it would be because it is a summer show. 

My final show for this blog is called, The Bridge on FX.  This one I am binging the first season (season 2 starts in July) and just a after one episode, I really like it.  Starring Diane Kruger (National Treasure 1 & 2) and Demian Bichir (Weeds & Che).  This show looks really great as expected from FX.  I look forward to finishing the first season with my wife and be ready for Season 2 coming this summer.

So, check these shows out if you haven't already.

Later.........

October Cancellations

So 4 shows have gotten the axe; Lucky 7, We Are Men, Ironside and Welcome to the Family.

I never really checked out Lucky 7 so I can't tell you much about it.  I was going to check it out on Hulu and may still will, but I can probably see why it became a victim.

We Are Men starred an unkown actor with three veteran stars including, Jerry O'Connell, Kal Penn and Tony Shalhoub.  This show was pretty funny with some dumb antics that single guys who think they are still young do.  There were a lot of very good comedies that it was up against and it was eventually going to be dropped regardless of the cast.  The premise was too weak.  Sorry Tony.

Ironside stars Pablo Schrieber and the great Blair Underwood.  I hate to say it, but I did kind of call this one.  As I said before Remakes usually do not survive; Knight Rider and Bionic Woman were recent others.  Hawaii 5-0 is the only one that I know of that is still running strong, but now I think it may be in trouble.  I hope not.   I know they were trying to keep the Ironside remake similar to the original with a modern twist, but it had a hard time keeping my attention, even though I have not missed an episode.  Oh well.  Best of luck to Blair, Pablo and the rest of the cast.  They will have new projects very soon.  They are too good of actors not to.

I was pretty shocked by Welcome to the Family.  I thought Fox's Dads with Green and Ribisi would be cancelled before this one, but I was wrong.  I really like this show.  I was very funny and even the young, soon to be parents, teenagers kept me interested.  Chavira and O'Malley really sold the show in my opinion and McCormick was just as funny as she was in USA's In Plain Sight.  I think they were dropped because NBC is still more strict on their Thursday comedies than anything else.  Parks and Recreations are the new veterans and going very strong.  The other new comedies on Thursdays for NBC are Sean Saves the World (Stupid Title) starring Sean Hayes and The Michael J. Fox Show (Again stupid title).  I think NBC held on to those two shows (for now) simply because of who is in them.  I never had any interest in them.  I may check out an episode of each to see, but I doubt I will stay with them.  I feel that canceling this show was a bad idea, but I am not in the show business.

I predict the next possible cancellations; Dads (Fox), Betrayal (ABC), Michael J. Fox Show (NBC) and Back In The Game (ABC).

Later..........

TV Review: Ironside Rebirth

Blair Underwood stars in the rebirth of Ironside, which origonally starred Raymond Burr (1967).  For those who don't know, Robert Ironside is a rough, experienced detective who is restricted to a wheelchair after a shooting accident on the job.  I worry about remakes like these because they usually do not survive long, but it could be possible with another rebirth that is one of my current favorites, Hawaii 5-0.  NBC needs another crime drama to work along side of Law & Order: SVU.  This show could do it.  Crossing fingers for this one.

Underwood is joined by Pablo Schreiber (The Wire, Weeds & Orange is the New Black), Spencer Grammer (As The World Turns & Greek) and Brent Sexton (Deadwood, Life & The Killing).

TV Review: NBC's Welcome to the Family

Welcome to the Family is a new NBC comedy that stars, Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives), Justina Machado (Six Feet Under & Three Rivers), Mary McCormack (The West Wing & In Plain Sight) and Mike O'Malley (Yes, Dear & Glee).  Two newly high school graduates got a new surprise when they  discover that they are pregnant.  It throws the parents plan completely out the window, but they try to make it work.

This show look very funny and given that it stars actors from previous successful show, I see a promising future for it.  It has some serious shoes to fill.

Premieres Thursday, October 3rd.