Same Old Same Old

With the end of this summer's "Big Brother," featuring the dumbest cast of housemates in over a decade, it's time for the return of both "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race." The latter I can take or leave, mostly because I don't know the players. I will tag along watching for a few weeks and see if there's anyone I like, and then decide if I'll keep watching, based on whether there are teams I want to root for, or teams I want to see crash like train wrecks. That's how these types of competitive reality TV shows work for me.

This particular season of "Survivor" has cut out the middleman, so I'm all in. Everyone who is on this season is someone who has been on the show before, thus the subtitle "Second Chance." I already know the players, know who I want to win, and who I want to hiss. I'm in, and I'm enjoying it. This has been a great season of "Survivor" so far.

Some shows come back with the same old same old, and it works, and some it just doesn't. I watched, or tried to watch, the season five premiere of Showtime's "Homeland." I had the same reaction, although much stronger, that I have had in previous seasons. I wanted to shake 'crazy eyes' until she agreed to leave the show. Much like Damian Lewis finally left, it's time for Claire Danes to take off. Her time is done. Give Rupert Friend's Peter Quinn a chance to shine and make the show about action and espionage instead of mental illness and bad decisions.

Which brings us to "Heroes Reborn." We're getting the same old same old again, and again I suspect, there will be no pay off. In the first season of "Heroes," we were introduced to a cast of interesting characters all on a collision course. The final conflict featured them all together, and we all wanted to see them all together again. Seasons after that, until its first death, never delivered that again.

We're here again, with the same formula. We have interesting characters seemingly on a collision course, but I can feel the same tricks and traps happening. The show will fall in love with villains and give them too much screen time, and the heroes the viewers fall in love with will go through hell and lose time to these villains. It's never enough of what we want. We want the wonder of Hiro, not another season of Sylar.

As far as the rest of the offerings this new season go, here's a quick rundown. I like "South Park" better without an inner continuity. "Moonbeam City" is just one joke, and it real old in the first ten minutes. "Fresh Off the Boat" and "The Goldbergs" are still going strong and very funny. I just can't get into "Empire," it feels like a "Power" wannabe that never delivers. As far as the music business goes, I'll wait for HBO's "Vinyl." "Sleepy Hollow," really? They still make that?

"Scorpion," which I do like, despite its wide avoidance of the true story source material it's based on, has gotten both better, and worse. While the stakes are heightened and the action has been turned up, both good things, it has fallen into that relationship hell that killed "Moonlighting," "Lois and Clark," and "Cheers." Yeah, will they or won't they? And if they do, it's just about over.

And if anyone that mentions "Gotham" to me gets a slap. Oh, the potential. The producers should write a book about how to ruin a great show. How do you let a brilliant idea like a police procedural with Batman references fall apart?? It could have been so good…

Sampling the Season

"The Muppets" - I have to admit I wasn't expecting much from this after hearing the premise. The idea of an environment like "The Office" behind the scenes of a Muppet show didn't do much for me, especially with the reality television one-on-one diary room moments with the cast. I would rather see a Muppet show than behind the scenes with a Muppet show.

I needn't have worried. Sure, if still like to see the real "Up Late with Miss Piggy" show, but this was still darned good. We got to see deeper into the characters of some of the Muppets. The bits with Kermit and Miss Piggy were very funny and quite insightful despite the horror they appeared to be in the pre-show hype. And the Fozzie bear jokes in the first episode were hilarious. Thumbs up, I really enjoyed this and can't wait for more.

"Limitless" - This series, like a couple others this season, is based on a movie, in this case one by the same name from 2011 with Bradley Cooper, which in turn was based on the novel "The Dark Fields" by Alan Glynn. Basically there's a smart pill called NZT that does a Lucy on its user, 100% of their brain cells and all that nonsense, only a bit more believable. Oh and unlike most movie to TV products, this isn't a retelling or reimagining, this is a sequel to the film. Bradley Cooper is even in the first episode.


Now, much like "The Muppets," the hype for "Limitless" was more than a bit misleading. The ads made it seem a lot like the Golden Age superhero Hourman, one of my favorites, who gained enhanced speed, strength, and endurance on one hour after taking a pill he called Miraclo. What makes this sadder is the implied potential promise of an "Hourman" show on the CW spinning out of "Arrow" where super-soldiers were created by a drug called Mirakuru. That's not "Limitless," sad face.

That said, it wasn't bad, but it did have the same stink of things like "Journeyman," "Revolution," and sadly, the new series "Blindspot," from the folks who brought us "Arrow," "The Flash," and "Supergirl." While it may be temporarily good, there is an underlying overarcing story that will probably never be resolved. I can't invest that kind of time, so unfortunately "Limitless" and "Blindspot" may be on the losing end of this stick. If they're that good, maybe I'll binge later, but for now, no.

Slow Sad Season Start

The new season so far hasn't been all that great, at least as far as the major traditional networks go. Things like "Doctor Who" on BBC America and "The Bastard Executioner" on FX being on basic cable don't really count. The things I'm really waiting for - "The Flash," "Supergirl," even "Arrow," and even last night's "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." really haven't started yet. And I haven't yet seen the one I'm dreading, "Heroes Reborn."

The other night I had the misfortune of seeing the season premieres of both "The Big Bang Theory" and "Castle," as well as a bit of "Dancing with the Stars." All three shows have seemingly been on forever and are feeling and showing their age. And I think they may have definitely overstayed their welcome.

"The Big Bang Theory" is one of those shows that skates the edge between laughing with a section of society and deliberately laughing at them. In this case it's 'nerds' like me. On many, many occasions I have felt attacked by this show, almost like getting stuffed in a locker in junior high school. Make no mistake, for every cool reference in this show there are three wedgies lying in wait. And based on all the fat jokes on "Mike & Molly," another show from Chuck Lorre, I consider the man an equal opportunity bully.

And all of the above is on a good day for "The Big Bang Theory." The past two seasons and this week's season premiere have been plagued by ridiculous (even for a sitcom) soap opera antics with characters I really don't care about. Add in the show's prerequisite attack jokes, and it's just damned unpleasant to watch. If I'm being honest, the best part of the episode this week was spotting a "Doctor Who" lunchbox in the background.

Being a writer, "Castle" was a series I loved when it first started, no matter how implausible the premise. The light comedic approach to the drama and danger always kept the show within reach as fun entertainment. Then it got dark and serious, and obsessed with a lead character's mother murder. Follow this with the disappearance of the titular writer, and this season's similar plot with his now wife... well, as far as I'm concerned, "Castle" should have ended two seasons ago with the wedding of the two leads. As it stands now, we're in "Brady Bunch Variety Hour" territory. Kill it now.

"Dancing with the Stars" is an entirely different animal. Yeah, you can watch it for the dancing and the spectacle, or for the stars and how cool it is that they're not just learning to dance, but sometimes doing it spectacularly. That alone would be a terrific show, not necessarily in my wheelhouse, but a terrific show. But. They also have to have the freak show. What else would you call the inclusion of stars like Gary Busey and Paula Deen? That unclean feeling is both why I like "Big Brother" and don't watch "Dancing with the Stars." If we're going to do schadenfreude, go all in.

Those are some preliminary thoughts on the new season so far, more to come.

Scratching the Surface of the New Season

This is just a taste, not intensive reviews, of my impressions of some of what the new television season has to offer.

"Selfie" - Against all my better judgment, I kinda dig this one. The premise, a modern updating of "Pygmalion," only holds so much water and can only last as long as the story does, is just not the usual fodder for a sitcom. Sitcoms like status quo, and by its nature, this is not. Fan fave Karen Gillan ("Doctor Who," Guardians of the Galaxy) is a social media obsessed woman whose straight laced co-worker, the criminally underused John Cho (Star Trek, the Harold & Kumar movies), tries to help her to better herself. This was fun, I don't know how long it will, or can, last, but it was fun.

"Scorpion" - While some folks have laid into this series for its casting, I think I will stick with other critics and trash the series as a whole. I could not stand this thing. Its good points are that it is as manipulative and predictable as a 1980s popcorn flick. Its bad points are that anyone with common sense or has been on the internet at all will be bleeding from the eyes ten minutes in. CBS, what used to be called the old people network, is trying to get its title back. Because, 'inspired by true events' or not, the only people who believe this 'high tech' hokum are folks who think a pager is cutting edge and are still living in the 1990s where hacking is magic. This made my head hurt.

"Castle" - The more I think about this one, the more I think this series has outstayed its welcome. I loved it so much when it first appeared. What was not to like? An old school TV mystery series with a writer at its center? I'm sold. I loved the poker games with real writers from the first season, too bad they vanished. Last season, the stories seemed to suffer from faulty logic that wasn't there the first few seasons. I loved the characters so I hung in there. Then, as a cliffhanger, they had the main character kidnapped just before the wedding. Yeah, a bit cliché, but I remained a loyal viewer. With the new season premiere, we have entered bad soap opera territory with amnesia. I am sure that this show has worn out its welcome and should have ending with a happy ending wedding last season.

"American Horror Story: Freak Show" - I tried this anthology series in its first season, was bored to tears, and fell away rather quickly. Since then it's gotten a lot of hype. When this season's 'freak show' theme was announced, being a fan of Tod Browning's Freaks and HBO's "Carnivale," I had to give it another chance. I was pleasantly surprised. This hot mess is a campy concoction of many genres thrown into a bloody food processor, including "True Blood," "Dark Shadows," Stephen King, John Waters, and Brian DePalma. Love it, so far at least. You can check out my friend and fellow writer Marie Gilbert's reviews of the series here at Biff Bam Pop!.

Speaking of Biff Bam Pop!, you can read my review of the pilot episode of "The Flash" here, my ongoing reviews of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." here, my review of "Gotham" here at Welcome to Hell, and my thoughts on the new season of "Arrow" begin right here on this blog starting tomorrow.

Gotham

Folks who are regular listeners to The GAR! Podcast already know some of my feelings on Fox's new pre-Batman series "Gotham," or at least the first episode, and if you haven't heard, you check it out here. I hate to say it, but after viewing the second episode, my feelings haven't changed much.

"Gotham" tells the tale of Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) joining the Gotham City police force and finding every bit of the department, as well as the city, completely corrupt. Partnered with Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), he weaves his way through early versions of Batman's rogues gallery as he tries to solve the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents. So it's a lofty goal we know our hero will never obtain. Batman finds the Waynes' killer, every comics fan knows this, so we know from the get-go that the hero of this piece can not even win.

The worst part of "Gotham" is the part that one might think all of the fanboys and fangirls want - the winks and nudges from the comics. Oh, look, it's Catwoman, and Penguin, and Riddler, oh and that must be the Joker. The problem is they beat these references like a dead horse and they take away from the parts of the show that actually are good. "Gotham" is a pretty good police drama, and I said it on the podcast, and I'll say it again here, it would be a great police drama without all the Batman stuff.

This is a new production, and yes, I should look at it as completely new, but it's hard when I already know all the players. The creators of "Gotham" have played with the timelines so that chronology is off. Montoya and Allen, as well as Bullock, are contemporaries of Gordon as opposed to younger employees of the older Gordon. And then of course there's the concept that all of Batman's enemies are at least a decade older than he is. It's a hard concept to get one's head around after reading thousands of comics.

The casting is wonderful. I love Donal Logue, no matter what he's in, and the casting of the various Bat-villains is inspired. Robin Lord Taylor is a perfect Penguin, if not in shape, in performance, mannerisms, and behavior. Camren Bicondova is almost a young Michelle Pfeiffer stunt and face double. Cory Michael Smith is the perfect Riddler in the same way Taylor is to Penguin.

Standing head and shoulders above the rest of the cast is Jada Pinkett-Smith as Fish Mooney, the one character who has no counterpart in the comics. Every other character when you meet them, as a comics reader, you already now what to expect. You have some idea of what they are like before they open their mouth or do anything. Fish Mooney is the wild card, the unpredictable element that makes "Gotham" fun. The show needs more of those, and less of the Batman stuff.

I may hang in for a few more episodes, but I can't see myself, or the series itself, holding on much longer.

Arrow: Year One

Last night the CW aired an intriguing hour of television called "Arrow: Year One." Narrated by Stephen Amell, the actor who portrays Oliver Queen, it tells the tale of the first season of "Arrow" somewhat chronologically, by storyline, by character, and by episode.

When I say intriguing, I mean odd for the medium. What we saw is essentially a clip show, with a voiceover telling us exactly what we're seeing. Anything that wasn't clear in viewing the last season, we're told outright. For instance, things we viewers may have assumed, like names, are verified in this 'special episode.'

We get to the end of the tale, and our season one cliffhanger. The Undertaking ultimately involved destroying The Glades with an earthquake device, and succeeded. Of course it all ends with a two-minute preview of season two. Here, however, is a juicy clip from season two they didn't show. Don't say I never gave you anything.



Yeah, baby. Be here next week for a review of the first new episode of "Arrow."

Take the Poll

I keep forgetting that Blogger has a polling system. As long as we have it, we might as well use it, right?

As you can see by looking to the immediate right, the question up for polling right now is: What is your favorite new or returning TV series this season?

Your choices include, in no particular order or preference: The Waking Dead, Dexter, Homeland, Treme, Elementary, The Big Bang Theory, American Horror Story, Sons of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Revolution, Castle, Glee, Person of Interest, Survivor, Fringe, Vegas, Arrow, Copper, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, or 666 Park Avenue. And if your choice isn't reflected there, please click on Other? and let me know what you think, deal?

Revolution

I recently had the chance to view the pilot episode of "Revolution" via OnDemand. Apparently it's also on Hulu and NBC.com, so I have to wonder if anyone will watch this when it airs Monday night. After the last few television projects from J.J. Abrams, I was prepared to be unimpressed, but I gotta say, I might give this a shot. It actually seems like it might be fun, conditionally, that is.

The concept of "Revolution" is a world where all the power has gone off. Logic dictates some sort of electromagnetic pulse possibly, but who knows really what it could be in a J.J. Abrams show? Didn't he make up that island you could drive on "Lost"? So the power goes off, and our story begins fifteen years later. America has devolved into small villages of folks living off the land and warring militia states. Still, nobody has gotten the power back on, or even had the know-how to build a simple generator. Did no one pay attention in high school science class?

Logic aside, it does have its moments that set it slightly above other scifi fare currently on TV. I like our reluctant hero Miles, played by Billy Burke, who is like a mild-mannered badass with a sword. I also like our middle management villain Neville, played by Giancarlo Esposito, Fring from "Breaking Bad." He plays the baddie with the same quiet deadly charisma of The Operative in Serenity.

"Revolution," created by Abrams, and with this pilot episode directed by Jon Favreau, also depends a lot on its potential genre nerd cred. One of the best moments in the pilot is when Charlie, played by Tracy Spiridakos, and someone who has lived most of her life without power, reveals her secret stash - in an Empire Strikes Back lunchbox, and we hear a few notes of John Williams movie score. Moments like that elevate this show, and make me want to keep watching.

The only thing that would keep me from watching, and it's the condition I spoke up at the beginning of this review, is that plot device that the show revolves around. What caused the black out? If that will be the carrot on a stick, that keeps viewers watching, yet never gets revealed, I think I'm out. I don't want another "Lost," and I certainly don't want another "Flash Forward" or "Journeyman" where we never find out what happened.

Now watch the following preview at your own risk. It's one of those that pretty much tells you everything that happens in the pilot, right in the preview. Stupid television executives…

New Season Fail?

I hate to say it, but other than the "Wonder Woman" pilot from David E. Kelley that NBC did not buy, I haven't really seen anything from this newest TV season that has impressed me, nothing.

I love Zooey Dechandel, so I checked out her sitcom, "New Girl," on Fox. First I was curious what someone like her who has been so successful in movies would want with television. I mean, this had to either be a great show, or a lot of money, right? Well, it turns out it might just be money. She's fun and hilarious, but her three male co-stars were unwatchable. The problem - there's three of them and just one of her. Awful.

Also on Fox, I tried the much anticipated "X-Factor" from Simon Cowell, and again, I was unimpressed. For someone who wanted to make a show that wasn't like "American Idol," it sure seemed a lot like "American Idol," and not in a good way. Here's hoping that Simon, along with Paula Abdul, return to "AI" next season. It will be better for everyone.

As long as we're beating dead horses, the show I most was interested in this new season was "Terra Nova," which at first glance kinda looked like an American version of "Primeval." If only it was. I'd take another rip-off of a mediocre British scifi series over this dreck any day. Where were the freaking dinosaurs? Damn tease.

Look, don't show dinosaurs in your thirty-second previews of the show for the last four months and not put any damn dinosaurs in the pilot for over an hour. To quote Millhouse in one of my favorite "Simpsons" episodes - When are they gonna get to the fireworks factory?"

There were other series that were disappointments. "Unforgettable," "A Gifted Man" and "Person of Interest" all had intriguing concepts, and quickly displayed with second episodes that they were all three simply formula shows. I don't think we will ever see any progress on the main plot that got us hooked on the show, but will just be case of the week series. Damn shame too.

I was even disappointed by "Homeland." It reeked of predictability for me. Again, a fine concept that just didn't do it for me on the screen. Wow. When the pay cable shows aren't good, you know it's a bad season.

"Pan Am" was a pilot that has to be seen to be believed, so if you didn't catch it, check OnDemand and see it. Not just for the now anorexic Christina Ricci, you need to see this decidedly confused show. First it's kinda "Mad Men," then it wants to be a comedy, then it's an Airport movie and finally at the end it's a spy thriller. See it while it lasts, it could be the quirky fun hit of the bunch, so bad, it's good.

The only show I thought had promise, was canceled before I actually got to see it, which shows you just how on the mark I am with these things. Like "Pan Am," it's a period piece, same time frame, but this one's deadly serious. "The Playboy Club" is/was about a mob murder in, you guessed it, a Playboy club. It had much promise, but, unfortunately, dead on arrival.

It looks like we'll have new replacement shows coming up quickly as I think many of these are headed to the same fate as "The Playboy Club." Hmmm... maybe NBC should take another look at "Wonder Woman"...

Wonder Woman 2011

When this was being made, there was a lot of negative buzz about David E. Kelley's pilot for a new "Wonder Woman" TV series. Much of the controversy came from absurd things like Kelley (of "Ally McBeal" and "Harry's Law" fame, among others) calling it an 'office romance and drama,' not words usually associated with the Amazon Princess. And then there was the costume controversy - she was wearing long pants instead of her decades traditional star-spangled hot pants. I don't like any of the new variations on Diana's costume personally, but let's face it, that's not that much of a big deal.

As things turned out, NBC (or any of the other networks either) did not pick up the pilot and there won't be a "Wonder Woman" TV series, at least not this year, and not by David E. Kelley. But I did get the chance to take a look at this notorious pilot recently, and I have to tell you - it wasn't half bad, and what was wrong with it, really really wrong with it - had nothing to do with costumes or office romance drama. It was just stupid.

The things that I thought I would have a problem with - the office setting, actress Adrienne Palicki as Wonder Woman, and yes, to an extent, the costume(s) - were all very good. She was terrific, and she, and writer Kelley, actually do get the character. I didn't mind the office stuff, it's actually quite good and mirrors the Wonder Woman Foundation from the George Perez era of the comics. In fact, one scene, in which Diana says the T word which probably put off the networks who wanted to run this in the family hour as a kids show, is one of the best written in the pilot.

The costumes, and there are more than a few, look good, and that's all on Adrienne Palicki who looks darn good as the Amazon Princess, and unlike many recent superhero film incarnations, the colors are bright primary colors that stand out, the way superhero colors are supposed to. I like the costumes, I like the variations, and I like Palicki. She did, and would have made a terrific Wonder Woman.

The special effects, while incomplete in the pilot copy I saw, were very good. I like the jets, even though they were not invisible. I like the action scenes, Palicki can kick serious ass! And the thing I liked most, effects-wise, was the way Diana would whip out her lasso at super speed. It almost seems to fly from her wrists a la Spider-Man, and it looks great. And the bullets and bracelets trick is the best I've seen live action.

And there are many things to like here. Cary Elwes is as good as he's been in years, this could have been his comeback. Elizabeth Hurley works well with what she has to work with in cardboard villain Veronica Cale, too bad they didn't use the VC from the comics who has a bit more personality. The Dr. Phil and Nancy Grace cameos are fun too. Even the parts I had heard about like frumpy Diana Prince, old maid and cat lady, were nowhere near as bad as I thought they would be. That actually works.

The stupid that ruins this pilot is in the writing. David E. Kelley is a veteran of legal TV series, with stuff like "Boston Legal," "L.A. Law," "The Practice" and the film From the Hip, as well as the aforementioned "Ally McBeal" and "Harry's Law" under his belt, I am astounded how he can produce a script with so many holes in it when it comes to simple procedure.

Sure, Veronica is a super-villain and an evil drug dealer, but she could have easily had Wonder Woman up as many charges if not more that she herself was arrested for. Wonder Woman violated civil rights, committed slander, and even murdered one or two people. She'd better have some good lawyers, because if there are any other superheroes in this world, they're coming after her.

It's even worse because Diana is surrounded by people who are paid to counsel her on such matters, and none of them seem to have any problems with her behavior. For example, you do not call a press conference and call someone a drug dealer with no evidence whatsoever. That's just one of the stupidities that ruined this for me. I wanted to like it, I really did, but the script made it impossible.



Above, a fan made opening for the pilot, using actual footage and the 1970s theme, from YouTube.

Mike and Molly

The Bride and I watched quite a few of the new series that debuted these new Fall TV season. We watched episode after episode, unsure if we really liked what we saw or not, and asking each other, sometimes comically, after each one - "Did we like this?" and deciding sometimes hesitantly - "We'll give it another episode."

One of these shows was "Mike and Molly." Being proud geeks and nerds with no shame, we both like Chuck Lorre's "The Big Bang Theory" quite a bit and were saturated with promotion for "Mike and Molly" during that program. It seemed like worth a look, so we gave it a shot. The series follows a couple, both quite overweight, a cop, Mike, and a teacher, Molly, as their relationship slowly evolves from dating to serious. As far as a relationship show, it's successful, but the humor often flows from their size and weight.

We were not fans of "The Big Bang Theory" at first. We eventually caught up with it after a few seasons. The reason we didn't dig it at first was that most of the humor was based on nerdiness, and was more of the laughing-at-us type rather than the laughing-with-us stuff. We tired quickly of being made fun of. Now, the show is more edgy and in sync with the subculture, and for us, funnier.

"Mike and Molly" operates on much the same formula, only against bigger people instead of nerds. I might be making much of this as fat people have always been made fun of, but really, isn't this just lazy writing? Taking the cheapest shot possible. Racial humor is only a step below. It's all discrimination.

All that said, "Mike and Molly" has a lot going for it. Their romance is heartwarming and awkward and real. Other than fat jokes, a lot of the more recent humor has been sexual in nature, much of it coming from the comic genius of Swoosie Kurtz. And the wonderfully talented Nyambi Nyambi as the coffee shop owner is the highlight of every episode. We'll stay with this a while, and hopefully it can mature past the fat jokes.

The Event

Seems like since the success (and fall) of "Lost," the various television networks have been searching for the next quirky overly hyped blockbuster. There have been a lot of attempts. "Fringe" has been, at times, interesting. "Flash Forward," also on the ABC network came the closest in my opinion, but unfortunately it was canceled before it could really start rolling.

The newest contender, and the one that wins hands down in the overly hyped category at least is "The Event." A lot of folks tuned in for that first episode just because they had been hammered for months with constant advertising by NBC of "What is The Event?" with the weird stylized backwards 'E.' When the pilot aired, it was bad, except for the last two minutes.

As a matter of fact, I thought it was so bad that it was almost unintentionally funny. The flips back and forth between scenes and time frames got to be monotonous after a short while. It became a joke. If the producers were planning to do an outright parody of shows like "24" or other such one hour drama thrillers, they succeeded too well.

The hook, that last two minutes of the pilot, that dramatic special effect that comprised the cliffhanger rocked the house. It was reminiscent of the final moment of the first episode of "Heroes," shock and awe. Two problems with that - following episodes got weaker and weaker with their cliffhangers, and much like "Heroes," it could not top that moment. That NBC used that moment to hype the next episodes didn't help either, especially in a world of Tivo and DVR, where that commercial spoiled it for most of the nation.

"The Event" in the weeks that followed lost much of its audience. It might be an interesting concept, but unless they keep our attention on a regular basis, I see it as the next "Heroes," and not in a good way.

Venture Bros. Season 4

Season 4 of "The Venture Bros." begins Sunday night on Cartoon Network.

The Show that Wouldn't Die

Since its debut on Fox in March of 1999, "Futurama" has had a rocky existence on television. The animated series, revolving around an inept pizza delivery guy frozen and released on the unsuspecting 31st century, has been canceled and un-canceled more times that I want to count. The warmness toward the program is probably due to its creators, David X. Cohen and Matt Groening, the latter being the creator of "The Simpsons." Fox wouldn't do anything to tick off the creator of their continuous cash cow, not if they were smart, but eventually dwindling ratings held sway.

After being syndicated on both Cartoon Network and significantly Comedy Central after (and during) its cancellation(s), "Futurama" proved successful enough to have four direct-to-DVD movies made, essentially a 'fifth season.' Ironically enough, these movies separated by months in between was really no more erratic that the schedule Fox was airing the series anyway when it was officially a Fox program. These DVDs were equally successful to merit the return of "Futurama" as a regular series on Comedy Central with twenty-six new episodes for mid-2010. I wonder how hard Fox is kicking themselves now?


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V Returns

The re-imagining of the 1980s scifi TV series "V" - coming to ABC in the fall.


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Human Target - Sneak Peek

"Human Target" will be opening for "Dollhouse" Fridays nights next season on Fox. It's loosely based on the DC Comics character Christopher Chance, the Human Target. This isn't the first TV shot for the character, Rick Springfield tried it for seven episodes back in 1992. And yes, that is Chi McBride from "Pushing Daisies" and Jackie Earle Haley from Watchmen.


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Chuck Found

Sorry for the scare, folks. For those who read my last entry and were as upset as I was regarding the status of NBC's "Chuck," no worries.

"Chuck" will be back. We'll just have to wait until January for it. NBC will be using the Winter Olympics to relaunch the series for a thirteen episode run. I would have rather had twenty-two, but I'm just happy we have "Chuck" back.

Check out the extremely cool Alan Sepinwall's interview with "Chuck" co-creator Chuck Fedak here.


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NBC's Short List

NBC announced today their surprising new schedule for the fall, one that includes not only the new nightly primetime Jay Leno show but also their Sunday Night Football. Here it is:

Monday

8 p.m. — "Heroes"
9 p.m. — "Trauma"
10 p.m. — "The Jay Leno Show"

Tuesday

8 p.m. — "The Biggest Loser"
10 p.m. — "The Jay Leno Show"

Wednesday

8 p.m. — "Parenthood"
9 p.m. — "Law & Order: SVU"
10 p.m. — "The Jay Leno Show"

Thursday

8 p.m. — "SNL Weekend Update Thursday"
8:30 p.m. — "Parks & Recreation"
9 p.m. — "The Office"
9:30 p.m. — "Community"
10 p.m. — "The Jay Leno Show"

Friday

8 p.m. — "Law & Order"
9 p.m. — "Southland"
10 p.m. — "The Jay Leno Show"

Saturday

8 p.m. — "Dateline NBC"
9 p.m. — "Trauma" rerun
10 p.m. — "Law & Order: SVU" rerun

Sunday

7 p.m. — "Football Night in America"
8:20 p.m. — "NBC Sunday Night Football"

This rather sparse schedule, pared down by one night of football and a hour every weeknight ruled over by Leno, also includes a half-hour of "Saturday Night Live" on primetime Thursday and only one version of "Law and Order." Noticeably missing from the schedule are shows like "Medium," "30 Rock" and "Chuck." I know Twitter was able to save "Heroes," but I thought we were also able to save "Chuck" as well...

Where's Chuck???


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Dollhouse Saved

After a couple tense weeks, the news is out that Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" has been renewed for a second season on Fox.

Now there are folks who live and die by the word of Whedon, while a fan, I'm not one of them. I will be the first to say that "Dollhouse" is not one of his best productions. It's no "Firefly," (another Fox show by Whedon that was killed by the Friday night scifi death slot) and it certainly isn't "Buffy," but it did have its moments. Unfortunately those moments were few and far between. And I'm not just talking about Eliza Dushku.

We've seen twelve episodes so far, excluding the unaired pilot and the episode featuring Dr. Horrible star Felicia Day, and not many of them could keep my attention. I liked the one that riffed on "The Most Dangerous Game" and the ones that concerned Alpha, but that's about it.

And I think the problem is that all the episodes should have been about Alpha and the workings of the Dollhouse specifically. I found the episodes about the actives' missions to be boring standard TV fare but I was spellbound by the Alpha subplot, and the episodes that focused on that. Give us the good stuff, Joss, not the fluff we can get anywhere. Congrats and here's to better second season.


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