1) No Ordinary Family is, without a doubt, the show I'm most looking forward to.
2) I'm already feeling a little burned out by The Event and it hasn't even started yet. So far it's been all hype and no substance. Other than that the story involves a disappearance and a U.S. President, I don't know a thing about the story. It better have a dynamite first episode or we're not sticking around.
Last night, against my will, I saw the premiere of Outlaw. (The Lovely and Talented claimed squatter's rights on the remote.)
For the record, I like Jimmy Smits. I even liked him in this show.
But a finer example of Why I Hate Lawyer Shows would be hard to imagine. This thing couldn't have been more ludicrous if it had actually contained scenes of Former Mr. Justice Garza debating legal ethics with the ghost of his sainted father. (I am honestly surprised the showrunner restrained himself from that.)
Surprisingly -- or perhaps not -- the most eye-rolling, guffaw-inducing scene was NOT the one in which (1) the former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, now representing the defendant whose case he had not only previously heard on appeal, but actually wrote the majority opinion on (2) asks an appellate court judge to (2) immediately release from custody a convicted murderer and order the arrest of a man in the courtroom on the basis of (3) testimony from a surprise witness and (4) a pair of eyeglasses he just pulled out of a Zip-Lock bag from his briefcase, both of which were (5) just introduced into evidence about 30 seconds earlier. Oh no, no, no! That honor goes to Quick Cut Next Scene, showing said convicted man walking out of the courthouse a free man, while the alleged true murderer is pushed, in handcuffs, into the back of a cop car -- all, apparently, on the same day.
I understand the use of dramatic license and time compression in TV, but seriously -- Has anybody on this writing staff ever had any exposure to the U.S. legal system other than watching old Perry Mason reruns?
Don't even get me started on ancillary issues. Does Garza's Road to Damascus conversion make sense? Has he changed his core beliefs -- and if not, how does he justify the rampant lawbreaking by his team? Is his new firm OK with that? How did they prove the temperature of the crack house basement ten years ago? (I think the answer to that question may have been buried in the midst of what passes for sexy reparte between Clerk Harvard and P.I. Tease.)
The end of the first episode of Nikita showed promise...but we'll see.
I'm looking forward to Walking Dead, Hawaii Five-O and Undercovers. Very glad that Glee, Modern Family, Human Target, Community, 30 Rock, and The Amazing Race are coming back next week. Smallville sucked me in again last year with expanded roles for Lois and Ollie, but that over the top Zod thing forced me away again...I skipped the final couple of episodes. The introduction of Darkseid and the blue suit this year may bring me back to try one last time. I have no interest in Ordinary Family, as I didn't in Heroes, because I feel that 30 years of superhero comic reading has pretty much covered every aspect of "discovering and learning to deal with your powers" storylines for me.
Kathy & I watched the premieres of Nikita and Terriers last night.
Nikita is a pretty standard sexy spy show, with a real love of tank tops, and on that level it does just fine. The premise is that Nikita has been out of her organization for three years, and has finally come out of hiding and is actively trying to bring it down. Maggie Q is great to watch during the action sequences, but it'll take some strong stories to get me interested long-term.
Nikita spoilers for this next paragraph.
The show has already had one opportunity to hook me as a devoted viewer. There's a scene in the pilot where Nikita has been cornered by an old teammate, and the dialogue reveals that (surprise!) they have a history together -- he was in love with her way back when -- and he's going to let her get away -- but next time, he won't be able to -- essentially telling her to go back into hiding. Nikita shoots him. It's in the shoulder, to give him a wound that would "look good" and explain her escape. We've seen this scene a hundred times before -- it's so cliche that I don't really think I'm spoiling anything. But for a moment, I thought she'd really shot him in the head. And in *that* moment, I saw a remorseless, driven character I could love. As it is, Nikita looks like nicely done same-old, same-old.
Terriers, on the other hand, I have much higher hopes for. Two down and out unlicensed P.I.s -- one's an ex-drunk ex-cop, the other's an ex-crook -- get embroiled in a crime that's much bigger than them. They have great, funny, unpredictable dialogue -- with each other and with their supporting cast -- but when the show veers into drama, the actors handle that, too. I'm saying a lot less about the plot here, because the show *is* capable of surprise. Which is why I'll be back every week.
I saw the first episode of Terriers last week, and have this week's recorded. I mainly watched it as I like Donal Logue. I thought the first episode was merely okay, but once I saw what was essentially a trailer for the rest of the season, I am sticking around for now.
I am kind of with, Doc on No Ordinary Family, but I like Chiklis so I still might check it out.
The only show I would say I am really looking forward to is Walking Dead. The rest I will just see how it pans out, but I'm not actively looking for more TV to watch anyways.
You're right, Doc -- the last moments of Nikita did surprise me, and I appreciated that. It's a "premise-of-the-show" surprise -- and a good one! -- but for some reason -- and maybe it's that cliched confrontation I mentioned -- I just don't trust the show to surprise me again.
Really? No one's watching Hellcats, the most-likely-to-be-the-first-cancellation-of-the-season show? :P
I've got Nikita and Terriers recorded, but haven't gotten around to watching them yet. Beyond that...
The DVR is giving The Event, Hawaii Five-O, Running Wilde, Undercovers, S#*! My Dad Says, No Ordinary Family and (eventually) Walking Dead a shot. Of those, based on advanced buzz from the critics, I'm expecting Walking Dead and maaaaaybe The Event to actually hold my attention. I'm also going to try The Good Wife this season, because I've heard such good things about it. (Season one is currently on hold for me at the library, so I may even be able to catch up.)
Other returning shows: The Monday 7p trifecta of How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, and House; Glee; Modern Family; Big Bang Theory; Community; 30 Rock; The Office; and Parks and Recreation (whenever that winds up coming back).
I was interested in watching Outlaw but got tied up with stuff and didn't get to my TV set. Now I'm curious, in a "Could it really be THAT bad?" sense.
Not that I doubt anything you said, Doctor Hmmm? I have a hard enough time with the notion that a Supreme Court justice would give up the bench for private practice -- someone who would do something like that, to my mind, doesn't belong there in the first place -- but then, we're told this Supreme Court justice is a gambler? Who goes to casinos in public? And gets thrown out for counting cards? And has leg breakers chasing him for unpaid debts?
Are they trying to set a record for how many impossible things they can cram into one story?
Replies
1) No Ordinary Family is, without a doubt, the show I'm most looking forward to.
2) I'm already feeling a little burned out by The Event and it hasn't even started yet. So far it's been all hype and no substance. Other than that the story involves a disappearance and a U.S. President, I don't know a thing about the story. It better have a dynamite first episode or we're not sticking around.
For the record, I like Jimmy Smits. I even liked him in this show.
But a finer example of Why I Hate Lawyer Shows would be hard to imagine. This thing couldn't have been more ludicrous if it had actually contained scenes of Former Mr. Justice Garza debating legal ethics with the ghost of his sainted father. (I am honestly surprised the showrunner restrained himself from that.)
Surprisingly -- or perhaps not -- the most eye-rolling, guffaw-inducing scene was NOT the one in which (1) the former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, now representing the defendant whose case he had not only previously heard on appeal, but actually wrote the majority opinion on (2) asks an appellate court judge to (2) immediately release from custody a convicted murderer and order the arrest of a man in the courtroom on the basis of (3) testimony from a surprise witness and (4) a pair of eyeglasses he just pulled out of a Zip-Lock bag from his briefcase, both of which were (5) just introduced into evidence about 30 seconds earlier. Oh no, no, no! That honor goes to Quick Cut Next Scene, showing said convicted man walking out of the courthouse a free man, while the alleged true murderer is pushed, in handcuffs, into the back of a cop car -- all, apparently, on the same day.
I understand the use of dramatic license and time compression in TV, but seriously -- Has anybody on this writing staff ever had any exposure to the U.S. legal system other than watching old Perry Mason reruns?
Don't even get me started on ancillary issues. Does Garza's Road to Damascus conversion make sense? Has he changed his core beliefs -- and if not, how does he justify the rampant lawbreaking by his team? Is his new firm OK with that? How did they prove the temperature of the crack house basement ten years ago? (I think the answer to that question may have been buried in the midst of what passes for sexy reparte between Clerk Harvard and P.I. Tease.)
I'm looking forward to Walking Dead, Hawaii Five-O and Undercovers. Very glad that Glee, Modern Family, Human Target, Community, 30 Rock, and The Amazing Race are coming back next week. Smallville sucked me in again last year with expanded roles for Lois and Ollie, but that over the top Zod thing forced me away again...I skipped the final couple of episodes. The introduction of Darkseid and the blue suit this year may bring me back to try one last time. I have no interest in Ordinary Family, as I didn't in Heroes, because I feel that 30 years of superhero comic reading has pretty much covered every aspect of "discovering and learning to deal with your powers" storylines for me.
Nikita is a pretty standard sexy spy show, with a real love of tank tops, and on that level it does just fine. The premise is that Nikita has been out of her organization for three years, and has finally come out of hiding and is actively trying to bring it down. Maggie Q is great to watch during the action sequences, but it'll take some strong stories to get me interested long-term.
Nikita spoilers for this next paragraph.
The show has already had one opportunity to hook me as a devoted viewer. There's a scene in the pilot where Nikita has been cornered by an old teammate, and the dialogue reveals that (surprise!) they have a history together -- he was in love with her way back when -- and he's going to let her get away -- but next time, he won't be able to -- essentially telling her to go back into hiding. Nikita shoots him. It's in the shoulder, to give him a wound that would "look good" and explain her escape. We've seen this scene a hundred times before -- it's so cliche that I don't really think I'm spoiling anything. But for a moment, I thought she'd really shot him in the head. And in *that* moment, I saw a remorseless, driven character I could love. As it is, Nikita looks like nicely done same-old, same-old.
Terriers, on the other hand, I have much higher hopes for. Two down and out unlicensed P.I.s -- one's an ex-drunk ex-cop, the other's an ex-crook -- get embroiled in a crime that's much bigger than them. They have great, funny, unpredictable dialogue -- with each other and with their supporting cast -- but when the show veers into drama, the actors handle that, too. I'm saying a lot less about the plot here, because the show *is* capable of surprise. Which is why I'll be back every week.
I am kind of with, Doc on No Ordinary Family, but I like Chiklis so I still might check it out.
The only show I would say I am really looking forward to is Walking Dead. The rest I will just see how it pans out, but I'm not actively looking for more TV to watch anyways.
Yeah, but isn't that what she said about you, Doc? ;)
I've got Nikita and Terriers recorded, but haven't gotten around to watching them yet. Beyond that...
The DVR is giving The Event, Hawaii Five-O, Running Wilde, Undercovers, S#*! My Dad Says, No Ordinary Family and (eventually) Walking Dead a shot. Of those, based on advanced buzz from the critics, I'm expecting Walking Dead and maaaaaybe The Event to actually hold my attention. I'm also going to try The Good Wife this season, because I've heard such good things about it. (Season one is currently on hold for me at the library, so I may even be able to catch up.)
Other returning shows: The Monday 7p trifecta of How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, and House; Glee; Modern Family; Big Bang Theory; Community; 30 Rock; The Office; and Parks and Recreation (whenever that winds up coming back).
Not that I doubt anything you said, Doctor Hmmm? I have a hard enough time with the notion that a Supreme Court justice would give up the bench for private practice -- someone who would do something like that, to my mind, doesn't belong there in the first place -- but then, we're told this Supreme Court justice is a gambler? Who goes to casinos in public? And gets thrown out for counting cards? And has leg breakers chasing him for unpaid debts?
Are they trying to set a record for how many impossible things they can cram into one story?
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