The New Season (2016)

[ClarkKent_DC]

It's that time of year again!

We've done this before (here, here, here, here, and here), but now it's time for this year! This is a place for comments about any and all shows, but especially for shows that don't generate their own threads.

I'm remiss in starting this thread so late this time around, as we're about a month into the new season. We've already seen the return of The Flash (see "Flash Season 3 -- SPOILERS"), Gotham (see "GOTHAM SEASON 3 !!SPOILERS!!"), and the welcome debut of Luke Cage (see "Luke Cage Season 1 (Spoilers)" ). We're also looking forward to the return of Supergirl at its new home on the CW (see SUPERGIRL SEASON 2 !!SPOILERS!!)

For my part, I was glad to have Suits over the summer to tide me over until Chicago Fire, Empire, and Grey's Anatomy came back.

I'm still following The Big Bang Theory, which started off pretty well -- Leonard and Penny had a renewal of the vows ceremony so their families could attend, which meant we met Leonard's dad and Penny's mother, father and brother. Apparently, they forgot that Leonard also has a brother and sister, who went completely unmentioned in the episode.

I've become a belated convert to New Girl and to Superstore, which is a lot like The Office, but in a more downscale setting -- a big-box store much like Wal-Mart or Kmart or Target. The manager and assistant manager are direct clones of those characters from The Office, but I don't mind.

I gave a try to The Good Place, but it didn't bowl me over.

[Richard Willis]

We have continued to watch Bull, and it has won us over. It's not the cynical concept that I thought it was, and Michael Weatherly and his supporting class make it work well.

Richard Willis said:

The only one of the eight shows we are watching is Bull. It's OK. Michael Weatherly does a good job but his character's line of work is somewhat distasteful, and the Dr Phil connection doesn't make it better.

[Richard Willis]

A new X-Men-related series, Legion, starts on the FX network on Wednesday, February 8, 2017

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5114356/?ref_=nv_sr_1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_(TV_series)

A new Batman/DCU-related comedy series, Powerless, starts on NBC on Thursday, February 2, 2017

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5083928/?ref_=nv_sr_1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerless_(TV_series)

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Very glad to hear that The Good Place has been renewed!

[Doctor Hmmm?]

Terrific.  A very fun show.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

I liked the first episode of Legion. Never been an X-Men fan, but this seems like a fresh look at the mutant thing.

One show I don't remember us discussing is Colony, the USA Network show about an occupied Earth after a successful alien invasion. It's in the tradition of V, but it's different, and better. The first season started in media res, with the occupation in place and not much explanation of how it happened. In the recently started 2nd season they are going back and starting to fill in more details about the back story--most especially from the perspectives of the lead characters. I only caught up with it recently--the first season is on Netflix--and it's now one of my favorite TV shows.

I also like Taboo, another new FX series. To quote Wikipedia: "The eight-part series, set in 1814, begins with James Delaney (Tom Hardy) returning to Britain after twelve years in Africa with fourteen stolen diamonds, following the death of his father and as the war with the United States is nearing its end." He has inherited some land in America, which is valuable to the Crown, the East India Company, and the Americans. It's very dark, both thematically and visually (lots of action at night or by candlelight). And violent: Delaney encounters violent resistance to his plans, and returns in kind.

[Detective 445]

Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod) said:

One show I don't remember us discussing is Colony...

I really enjoyed the first season. I've been DVRing season 2 but haven't started watching yet.  Same with Taboo. I've set to record but haven't sat down to watch yet.

Also really looking forward to season 2 of The Expanse on Syfy. I've never read the James Corey novels so I don't know how it stacks up to them, but it's easily the best thing Syfy has put out since Battlestar Galactica.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Sad news, at least in my household: Fox didn't see fit to renew Pitch. From The Hollywood Reporter: "'Pitch' Canceled After One Season at Fox"

Pitch was the drama our family turned to after The Good Wife went off the air. However, the youngster in the house didn't take to it; he saw the pilot and didn't like it. He saw a hole in the premise that he just couldn't accept: that our lead, Ginny Baker, was The First Woman Pitcher in Major League Baseball, but can't throw heat.

The show reminded us, over and over, that her fastball tops out at 87 mph, so Ginny throws screwballs and changeups. Our in-house expert -- he played baseball in middle school and high school, and was a junior-league umpire -- says someone like that wouldn't be a starter. She'd be a reliever, or, most likely, a closer. 

No matter. The rest of us liked it anyway. Unfortunately, the season ender was a cliffhanger: Ginny had a blowout argument with her agent and fired her for interfering in her personal life, particularly in stopping Ginny's shady brother from stealing money from her to launch a chain of restaurants. Then Ginny had a blowout argument with her shady brother for stealing the money. Then she had a start, and was pitching a no-hitter -- and being a gamer, shook off those who were concerned that her pitch count was getting too high and she should come out of the game, lest she risk damage to her arm.

Well, she didn't come out of the game, and she did hurt her arm. The last scene has Ginny in an MRI machine wondering what comes next.

ClarkKent_DC said:

One new show I'm liking a lot: Pitch. It's a drama about The First Woman Major League Baseball Player, starring Kylie Bunbury as Ginny Baker, rookie starting pitcher for the San Diego Padres. The story is that her dad was a career minor-league player so he wanted to push his son to make it to the bigs ... except his son wasn't interested and his daughter was. Oh, well.

They don't pretend Ginny can throw heat -- her fastball tops out at 87 mph -- but Dad taught her a screwball and a curveball, and she makes it work.

The show's done a good job with all the conflicting elements of this situation: Ginny's instant fame, jitters at living up to Dad's expectations, people cheering for her and against her, little girls seeing her as a role model, etc. The manager's an old dinosaur who doesn't know what to make of it, and an old TV interview he gave resurfaces and gives everybody heartburn -- and puts his job at risk. Ginny does have one friend in the clubhouse, and he encourages the catcher, who is the team captain, to mentor Ginny. The catcher is a journeyman player hoping to get a World Series ring before he retires, and thinks the hoopla over Ginny doesn't help.

Major League Baseball is fully behind this project -- the show is allowed to use real team names and logos, and it appears to film in real ballparks. It's a good ride, well told.

[Richard Willis]

I understand that batters hate off-speed pitches. They're so used to fastballs. Even a pitcher throwing heat will do better when new to the majors. Pretty soon they figure out all pitchers.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Richard Willis said:

I understand that batters hate off-speed pitches. They're so used to fastballs. Even a pitcher throwing heat will do better when new to the majors. Pretty soon they figure out all pitchers.

That might have been a plot point in Season 2. When Ginny joins the San Diego Padres, it's because she was called up to fill in for another starter on the disabled list. When he came back, he told her the other teams would figure out her screwball and she would be back in the minors.

He didn't say it out of love; the show was pretty honest that the First Female Major League Baseball Player would face a certain amount of derision, resentment and hazing. This being TV, they didn't make it as bad as it often is here on Earth Prime (witness the ongoing situation with the fans at Fenway Park cursing at Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles).