THE TV SEASON IN REVIEW (2014-15): ABC

Don’t judge a book by its cover and don’t judge a show by its pilot

[Updated 05/12/2015]

First impressions are overrated.

At least that’s what I’ve concluded when it comes to TV. Once upon a time I believed that I could either hate or love a show after seeing the pilot. However, with life comes wisdom and, after years of being an avid TV watcher, I’ve concluded that you cannot judge a show by its pilot.

I was famously unimpressed with the pilot of Beauty and the Beast and ended up loving the show. On the other hand, I thought Smash had the greatest pilot ever but lost interest somewhere around the end of season 1. [Of course there are exceptions like Breaking Bad and Alias which had incredible pilots and turned out to be incredible shows. But that’s a subject for another blogpost]

Bearing this in mind, I decided to look back at my previous “first impressions” posts and see how much I have changed my mind.

ABC

I don’t think I had any radical changes of heart with ABC shows. Initially I “wasn’t wowed” with How to get Away with Murder, but I guess it was easier for Shonda to ‘wow’ us when we weren’t expecting the world from her [back when Grey’s Anatomy premiered and she was an unknown writer e.g.]. In any case, I am a bit behind on HTGAWM but I am thoroughly enjoying it so far and I think it is a great addition to the Shonda-ABC-domination. Do I like it more than Scandal? I don’t think so, but I may like it more than Grey’s Anatomy and definitely more than Private Practice [or Off the Map… remember that one?].

Forever was “a lot better than I anticipated” and I don’t think it is re-inventing TV or anything, but I am still quite charmed by it [and by Ioan]  I also realized one of the producers worked on Chuck, so I feel more validated on my love for this little procedural. I really hope it doesn’t get cancelled, but things are not looking good. [Update: Sadly forever was cancelled].

It doesn’t really matter how I ended up feeling about Selfie and Manhattan Love Story because they have already been cancelled. I watched about 5-6 eps of each. I still don’t know why, but I really liked MLS! [Update: I actually finished watching all the episodes. It got a little weird at points but for unkown reasons I still found it cute] On the other hand, Selfie… I wanted to like it, but kept getting bored during the eps. I never got around to watching Cristela [I’ll try to squeeze it in this weekend just so I can say a few words], but I got the feeling I am not really missing out. 

I am still trying to catch up with the midseason/winter shows. But here is what I thought so far: Agent Carter has an old-school spy feel that I appreciate. Enough to keep my attention. Galavant is just NOT my thing. It has a very old-fashioned sense of humor, almost feels like a half-an-hour sketch… I am sure there is an audience for that, but I am definitely not one of them [I also hated Dan Fogelman’s other show The Neighbors, so that should have tipped me off].

And you can read my Fresh off the boat first impressions HERE

You can find all the "New Fall TV 1st impression" posts HERE

THE TV SEASON IN REVIEW: CBS, THE CW

More networks coming soon… and yes, I plan to break my silence regarding Jane the Virgin…