The New Season (2021)

[ClarkKent_DC]

It's that time of year again!

Continuing the tradition started by Doctor Hmmm? back in 2010, and followed inconsistently since (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020), here's a catchall thread about any and all shows debuting or returning this fall, with an emphasis on the shows that don't generate their own threads.

[ClarkKent_DC]

From TVLine: "Midseason Ratings Report Card: CBS' Best and Worst Performing Shows"

It looks like all the tinkering with BPositive didn't help; it's at the bottom of the list with The United States of Al, and that has the handicap of the real-world situation in Afghanistan reminding people even more than before of just how unfunny that show's premise is.

[ClarkKent_DC]

From TVLine: "Midseason Ratings Report Card: NBC's Best and Worst Performing Shows"

Of NBC's top 10, One Chicago takes up the second, third and fourth spots, and Law & Order takes two more. And Ordinary Joe falls near the bottom of the list.

[ClarkKent_DC]

From TV Line: "Midseason Ratings Report Card: ABC's Best and Worst Performing Shows"

Eighteen years on the air, and Grey's Anatomy is still ABC's number one show!

[ClarkKent_DC]

From TV Line: "Midseason Ratings Report Card: Fox's Best and Worst Performing Shows"

Amazingly*, 9-1-1 is called "Broadcast's top-rated entertainment program."

* At least, I'm amazed; I can't imagine such an awful show is such a hit.

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

That is very impressive. I think I've seen one episode...

ClarkKent_DC said:

From TV Line: "Midseason Ratings Report Card: Fox's Best and Worst Performing Shows"

Amazingly*, 9-1-1 is called "Broadcast's top-rated entertainment program."

* At least, I'm amazed; I can't imagine such an awful show is such a hit.

[ClarkKent_DC]

From TVLine: "Midseason Ratings Report: The CW's Best and Worst Performing Shows"

The Flash, which is my favorite of the Arrowverse shows, is still the top-rated superhero show on the network. Interestingly, Legends of Tomorrow is up 4 percent; the inspired goofiness in the current crop of stories is working for them.

[ClarkKent_DC]

ClarkKent_DC said:

After several false starts and years in development hell, the TV adaptation of Y, The Last Man finally sees the light of day. 

I've read the entire run of the Vertigo series, and mostly liked it for the concept; I most definitely did not like the lead character Yorick, for whom the phrase "whiny, useless slacker" was coined. Early reviews of the limited series are mixed, per Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe I'll give it a chance, although I don't have Hulu and it's not clear if it will run on FX.

ClarkKent_DC said:

Well, that was quick.

From Variety: "‘Y: The Last Man’ Canceled by FX"

And it's totally over. From Collider: "'Y: The Last Man' Season 2 Is Not Happening"

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Well, crap.

ClarkKent_DC said:

ClarkKent_DC said:

After several false starts and years in development hell, the TV adaptation of Y, The Last Man finally sees the light of day. 

I've read the entire run of the Vertigo series, and mostly liked it for the concept; I most definitely did not like the lead character Yorick, for whom the phrase "whiny, useless slacker" was coined. Early reviews of the limited series are mixed, per Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe I'll give it a chance, although I don't have Hulu and it's not clear if it will run on FX.

ClarkKent_DC said:

Well, that was quick.

From Variety: "‘Y: The Last Man’ Canceled by FX"

And it's totally over. From Collider: "'Y: The Last Man' Season 2 Is Not Happening"

[ClarkKent_DC]

From Variety: "‘Bull’ to End After Six Seasons on CBS"

I've watched this show a few times and never really warmed to it. A courtroom drama built around the kind of douchebags rich enough to hire a "jury consultant" to get them off -- the kind of rich, arrogant, elite, upper crust bastards Columbo would lock up each time out -- just didn't appeal. And every other episode I watched, they seemed to do what they did pro bono, which strained credulity even more, because such outfits aren't altruistic.*

Plus, the behind-the-scenes drama couldn't help but bleed onto what we saw on screen. A few seasons ago, the show hired Eliza Dushku for a recurring role, but the workplace proved so toxic, she quit and sued, alleging sexual harassment, and the show paid her NINE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS to settle. Last season, the show runner and one original cast member got pushed out after a "workplace investigation," although nobody would talk about the conduct that led to it being launched, nor what the findings were.

*Now, if somebody was to make a TV series based on the work of The Innocence Project, that I could get behind. 

[ClarkKent_DC]

I'm really liking Abbott Elementary, a mid-season replacement show on ABC. It features Quinta Brunson (who also is the creator and a producer) as a rookie teacher in a rundown Philadelphia elementary school.

Janine Teagues is a plucky, earnest, well-meaning do-gooder in a place that doesn't reward those qualities. Two senior teachers, Melissa Schemmenti and Barbara Howard, have been there forever and have learned to survive by not expecting any support or resources, which Janine and fellow rookie Jacob Hill don't understand. Support is most definitely not coming from principal Ava Coleman, who cares only about what makes her look good. 

Tyler James Williams is around as Gregory Eddie, a substitute teacher with aspirations of becoming a principal. (Too bad for him Ava Coleman got the job because the hiring manager for the school system goes to her church, and she caught him stepping out on his wife.)

It's one of those workplace comedies where the truth it tells about the real world hit a little close to the bone, but there's a spirit of hopefulness and heart that makes you want to keep coming back. The standout is Sheryl Lee Ralph as Mrs. Howard, who is sage and really runs the place. Janine is desperate for her approval (at one point, she even slips up and calls her "Mom") and it comes ... eventually. Janine doesn't know that all her efforts to fix things and make things better are battles Mrs. Howard has fought innumerable times in her years. It's not that Mrs. Howard has given up; it's that she's focused on the things she can control -- teaching the children -- and the battles with bureaucracy just get in the way. 

Four stars. Tuesdays at 9 on ABC. 

[ClarkKent_DC]

Ghosts, The Neighborhood and Bob Hearts Abishola are coming back next season.

From TVLine: "CBS Issues Early Renewals to 3 Series, Including Freshman Hit Ghosts"

[ClarkKent_DC]

ClarkKent_DC said:

After several false starts and years in development hell, the TV adaptation of Y, The Last Man finally sees the light of day. 

I've read the entire run of the Vertigo series, and mostly liked it for the concept; I most definitely did not like the lead character Yorick, for whom the phrase "whiny, useless slacker" was coined. Early reviews of the limited series are mixed, per Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe I'll give it a chance, although I don't have Hulu and it's not clear if it will run on FX.

ClarkKent_DC said:

Well, that was quick.

From Variety: "‘Y: The Last Man’ Canceled by FX"

ClarkKent_DC said:

And it's totally over. From Collider: "'Y: The Last Man' Season 2 Is Not Happening"

And they really, really, really mean it's over. From TheWrap: "FX Boss Says He Canceled ‘Y: The Last Man’ Because Audience Decline Was ‘Really, Really, Really Steep’"