R.I.P. Shows : The death of human and alien suburbanites
So I guess ABC didn’t piss me off this year. I
am even glad about some of the shows they cancelled (The Neighbors e.g.). I am going to miss Suburgatory, but I am not devastated to see it go either… It kind
of lost its quirky magic lately [still think it was better than a lot of
comedies on TV right now].
ABC may not be the No. 1 network, but they
always seem to have at least a couple of exciting shows on their line-up [Let’s
not forget ABC was home of Lost and Alias]. As of last season, I felt they
were keeping true to their brand of “sexy-female-oriented” programs [not quite
sure where they are going next year]. They may not have the “best” shows on TV,
but I absolutely enjoy watching Scandal,
Revenge, Grey’s Anatomy, Nashville and OUAT…
And Rookie Blue! Let’s not forget
about that one! [Guilty pleasures? Maybe,
but that’s an argument for another post].
In fact, most ABC shows I love are hits… which
is rare. ABC is clearly doing something right; they seem to be reaching their
target audience pretty well… I need to study this further.
Expectations vs. Reality: Not a Happy Ending for Alice
My ABC pick lastyear was Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, which
was a failure of epic proportions. I did not see it happening. I thought that
show was going to be a hit for sure! I actually liked it well enough, but I may
be the only one because even hard-core OUAT
fans hated it.
In my opinion, OUATIW had many many flaws but wasn’t all bad either. I think the
cast was great and the writing was pretty good, it had a nice flow and the
storylines seemed well planned. It was clearly toned down and very family
oriented [airing at 8PM on Sundays and all], and that was one of my biggest
issues. It could [and should] have been edgier and darker.
In the end, I think OUATIW was a failure because they tried to do too much on a TV
budget. The result was awful CGI sequences [and characters] that ended up
taking center stage. I could have continued watching, but I actually forgot it
even existed until I saw the cancellation/renewal list… So I am clearly not
heart-broken about its cancellation either…
2014-15 Season: Shonda by the numbers
One thing is clear… ABC is one step away from
becoming TSN (The Shonda Network). Gotta give it to the woman, she knows what she
is doing… Although calling her “the Charles Dickens of this century” (as ABC’s
programming chief did) was a little much…
So… Shonda is taking up a whole night. Grey’s is moving to 8PM Scandal at 9PM and her new show How to get Away with Murder at 10PM. Now…
moving Grey’s to 8 caused a bit of a
panic last week. ABC’s programming chief reassured advertisers that there is
nothing to worry about because they have a great S&P department which will
keep everything clean. Eh… good for the advertisers I guess… but as a viewer I
am not interested in them keeping Grey’s clean
and PG! That show became a hit
because it was a sexy show! Well… let’s hope they don’t go crazy with the
censorship. HTGAWM [I hate long names
for shows] looks promising and I plan
to watch it. But not even Shonda is failure proof… remember Off the Map? Yeah, me neither.
Now,
for the rest of the shows… I’ve seen all the trailers for NBC and FOX so far
and, in comparison, ABC’s new shows didn’t excite me much. The comedies look
awful, although I must admit… the trailer for Fresh of the Boat made
me laugh. But it is a touchy subject, way too easy for the jokes to become
racist. We’ll see. I may check out Selfie… but…
I don’t know, I think it will probably be bad.
The Whispers will probably
appeal to the fans of Resurrection, but I won’t be watching it. Kids +
supernatural themes really freak me out (perhaps because I am scared of both). American
Crime looks good, like REALLY good… Perhaps too good for network
television. I wonder if they will be able to realize all its gritty potential
and accomplish the social critique it promises. Also excited about Agent
Carter [no trailer yet] and Secrets & Lies [top
notch cast].
Based
on the concept, Agent Carter is probably the show I am looking
forward to the most. But for now, I’ll pick a show that actually has a video to
post.
My ABC pick of 2014-15 is: Forever
Why?
No particular reason. The sneak peek was tiny, so who knows if it will be a good
show. I find the premise intriguing [Dashing English dude who never dies? Yeah,
count me in… Hey, it’s totally working on Sleepy
Hollow]. Mostly, Forever is my
pick because none of the other trailers excited me that much. But… let’s be
clear… Much like Hieroglyphic [with Max Brown on Fox] I
will watch Forever solely for Ioan Gruffudd’s
charming looks and awesome accent.
Finally,
let’s talk about Galavant. WTH? A fairy-tale comedy musical?
They were surely on drugs when they wrote [and ordered] this, right? OK, the
ridiculous premise cooould work. But… the trailer doesn’t look like something
that is working. It looks campy and not in the good way. There is always the
chance that I am totally misjudging the trailer and that this actually ends up
being awesome [or SO RIDICULOUS it is funny], but… I am going to bet on disaster for now.
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