Category Archives: Fall 2014

Scorpion

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I am new to programming code, but I am pretty sure </ goes at the end of a line of code and not the beginning as the title of </Scorpion> suggests.  That set aside this show was surprisingly good.  It starts with lead character Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel) hacking NASA as a kid and getting escorted away by homeland security. It is now present day and he a herd of genius’ have started a company with good intentions just not with the business acumen needed.

The government heeds their help in stopping a terrorist attempt in bringing down 52 planes heading for LAX.  They end up at a diner with Paige Dineen (Katherine McPhee) who has a young son that appears to be on the autism spectrum and is clearly a genius.  The team and McPhee save the day and are hired by the government to continue to save the day.

I enjoy nerdy humor and nerds in action and this show has a lot of that.  Putting characters in harms way that you expect not to succeed is always fun to watch.

Grade: B+

Gotham

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What defines us?  What turns us into what we become?  Fox’s Gotham is a show to answer these question for the Detective Comic’s most famous dark knight’s town.  Gotham is the origin story of Batman seen through the eyes of new detective James Gordon(Ben McKenzie).  If you are in the know of Batman lore, Gordon becomes the commissioner of Gotham and Batman’s biggest allie.  I am a big Batman fan since the mid 80’s having read many of the comics growing up and keeping up from time to time as an adult.  I know the origins of most of the character’s from all of the Batman comics and variations from each as well.  I think it will be fun to see it from this vantage point so young in Batman’s life.

The show’s pilot starts with the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents after attending a movie.  The director of the pilot episode, Danny Cannon, captured many iconic images straight from the comics.  For example the pearls that fall to the ground during the death and robbery of the Waynes along with the image of Bruce kneeling in the middle of his fallen parents are classic to the comics and were almost identical in the pilot episode of Gotham.

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I am excited to see where all this leads and the routes that each character takes to become who they become.  I will not miss an episode of this fantastic show.

Grade: A+

Madam Secretary

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Tea Leoni stars as the new Secretary of State for the USA after the old Secretary was killed in a plane crash.  She comes from a life as a history professor and before that a CIA agent where she was trained by the now president.  She is married and has 3 kids.  Can she balance her new life and family?

This episode deals with her first few months in office and the capture of two American students in Syria and how she plans on getting them back.  Will the President see it her way?  Will she be able to get passed the Chief of Staff?

I think Leoni can do well in this role especially with a strong supporting cast with actors such as Tim Daly and Bebe Neuwirth. The first episode was reminiscent of The West Wing which is among my all time favorites.  I look foward to seeing where this government drama goes.

Grade: A-

New Girl

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In the season four opener four months have passed for the New Girl roomies.  Everyone is single and have attended troves of weddings this summer.  Jessica Biel guest stars in this season four first episode, as a wedding guest at yet another wedding and poses as competition for Jessica’s(Zooey Deschanel) prey, the best man.  This season has been lauded as the return to the energy and fun of season one with everyone single and Schmidt (Max Greenfield ) going after Cece (Hannah Simone).  If this season opener is any sign of what’s to come then I am disappointed.  This show can do so much but it jumped the shark last year with Jessica and Nick (Jake Johnson) becoming a couple.  This should have been a last season situation, but now we have to live through the awkwardness of this for this season, which they will keep referencing, which dulls the comedy.

Over all the show was good though and I will continue to watch, but I do think there is room to improve.

Grade: B+

Red Oaks

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Some might compare this show to Caddyshack, I would say they are wrong.  This show is not as funny as Caddyshack, but I don’t think it is intended to be as funny as Caddyshack.  This is a jungensbild, a coming of age story.  The story of the right of passage when a boy realizes that he has worth and becomes a man.  The story centers around David, played by Craig Roberts, who has taken a job as the assistant tennis pro at the Red Oaks Country Club owned by Paul Reiser’s character, Getty.  David’s Parents parents played by Richard Kind and Jennifer Grey also add to the turmoil in his life by not having a loving relationship.

There are the pot smoking valets and the rivalry with the golf pro, but the most fun part of the show I think will be the retro feeling it has from the 80’s.  How fun to have an 80’s country club series with Jennifer Grey no less.  I do hope that Amazon does choose to continue production of this pilot, I for one want to see how David turns out.

Grade: A-

Utopia

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“You wouldn’t abandon ship in a storm just because you couldn’t control the winds.”
― Thomas More, Utopia

The idea of Utopia originally came from Thomas More’s book, Utopia.  This is a place that is the promised land, but not just the promised land for the chosen but for all.  This is the enter-speriment that FOX is conducting with Utopia.  Taking 15 people from all walks of life and putting them together for a year with limited resources to create a society that they all can thrive in that would be their Utopia.

With everyone being so diverse from a Pastor to a polygamist to a lawyer to an ex-con, I don’t see how they can resolve and become one Utopia, but it may be entertaining to watch.  It may also be an eye-opener to the public that we need to respect differences more and be more than tolerant.  I really don’t like that word, tolerant.  It means to me that you are allowing something to happen even though you don’t agree.  In my Utopia, that word is null.  If someone is different then they are different, it is not up to me to decide to let them be.  Just be.  I think with the personalities that have been chosen by the producers that there will be a lot of conflict that will make the show watchable for the masses, but it will not be a great experiment.

I will continue to watch the show to see how much of an experiment it actually is and I will stop when I decide that it is more about entertainment.

Grade: B-

Selfie

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660.16x9(SUNG TO THE TUNE OF MY FAIR LADY’S “WOULDN’T IT BE LOVERLY”)

All I want is a show that’s good

With characters that can be understood

With no pretentious plot

Oh wouldn’t that be watchable

Lots of jokes to make me laugh

Lots of action and those who can act

Act Stan, Act San, Act Uta—

Oh wouldn’t that be watchable

…..I would go on but I think I would put more into writing this parody than the writers of Selfie did on the entire pilot episode.

The concept is taken from Shaw’s Pygmalion or for you musical theatre buffs My Fair Lady.  It is an attempt to modernize the story.  Girl, Eliza, is stuck in a social media rut with tons of likes but no real friends in comes Boy, Henry…no they did not change the first names from the original…some might think that is clever…I think it is lazy….  Boy helps girl to be the life of the party.  That’s it.

The only saving grace of this show is Karen Gillan who plays Eliza.  You may recognize her from Doctor Who and most recently The Guardians of the Galaxy (where she is really unrecognizable).  I will watch this show one more time if it doesn’t improve I will stop. If it does I will let you know.  You can watch it on Hulu or watch the premiere on ABC TUE SEPT 30 8|7c.

Grade: C-

Forever

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240.16x9What if you were immortal?  Would it matter to you if those around were not?  Dr. Henry Morgan
played by Ioan Gruffudd is indeed immortal and has been around for 300 or so years and has seen and has gone through death a lot.  Every time he dies he wakes up in a body of water…naked.

Judd Hirsh back from the days of Taxi plays his sidekick Abe and when I learned what their relationship in the show is(you’re going to have to watch it…I will not give it away here) that is when I said this is a show I am going to watch.  I love smart writing and interesting character relationships.  Gruffudd’s character is a coroner or some sort of post mortem body examiner.  He meets detective Jo Martinez
played by Alana De La Garza when he is involved in a case where a subway train conductor dies. He is treated as a suspect and proves much like Sherlock Holmes that he is not the murderer.

Throughout the pilot we learned a little about the character’s life and lost love.  It plays with the idea of immortality being so great but you still feel pain both physical and emotional.  I cannot wait for this show to officially premiere and other episodes to come out.  You can watch it on Hulu or you can wait and with it on ABC on TUE SEPT 23 10|9c.  I will be watching it again, and if you know me you know I never watch anything twice.

Grade: A+

A to Z

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On October 2nd NBC will air A to Z.  This is the complete story of Andrew and Zelda’s dating history.  I caught the pilot episode online.  Overall the show was good.  Andrew (Ben Feldman) works for a online dating company who’s boss cares more about monthly subscriptions than people finding their true love.  Andrew believes in destiny and meets Zelda (Cristin Milioti) when she comes to his office which just happens to be across the office park from her office.  He friends her on Facebook and uses his social connection to ask her out.  He realizes during the date that Zelda was the destiny girl that got away at a concert.  She tells him it wasn’t her when it was….mayhem ensues.

Feldman (a young Scott Baio) and Milioti have great chemistry.  I’m not sure if I have enough patience though to stick with this show for their 8 month courtship though.  The script is good, though not great, needs to be beefed up a bit.  A cubicle worker and a lawyer show is not that creative.  I need to know what makes them both special.  I’ll give it a few episodes before I tune out.

Grade: B-

Red Band Society

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Another Hospital Drama……  That’s what I thought going into this.  Do we need yet another McDoctor going into the on call room and getting it on with an intern show?  Then I watched the pilot episode and to my ecstatic surprise the show was about the patients in the pediatrics ward.  I wonder though how long I can root for a protagonist who is in the hospital?  Won’t they inevitably get better or unbetter and die?  Does FOX really want to put their audience through that?  They’re kids.  I’m glad I am not making those choices. I was, though, happy I made the choice to watch The Red Band Society.  The writing was fresh and it is always good to see young people as the leads in shows instead of those you see in every new drama that gets canned every season(I’m talking to you Christian Slater).  The story is told by a kid who is in a coma, this is a neat device in my opinion.  But how does he know what is going on outside of his room??….suspension of disbelief…ok.  The kids are all kinds…one that needs a heart, needs lungs, has cancer, an eating disorder, and one who needs courage.. Wait no.. that last one was The Wizard of Oz….different kid story.  The first episode was mostly exposition.  Now that we know the characters, I am excited to see what the next few episode have in store.  It officially premiers on September 17, 2014, but you can see it on Hulu until then.

Grade: B+