Fall Premieres of 2016

Fall TV 2016

Hey everyone, it has been awhile since I have offered my opinion on anything really. Life seemed to keep me more occupied than I would have liked, but you know how it is. On my first review back I would just like to make a few mini-reviews about some new fall pilots that I have watched over the last couple weeks and I am here to tell ya, it was a mixed bag. Some I thought were going to be horrible and some that were much better than I would like to admit. So let us get right to it…

Lethal Weapon

So I am going to start with the two shows I thought were going to be the worst things to hit TV since Barney started terrorizing young, unsuspecting parents. In 1987 director Richard Donner (Superman) redefined the buddy cop genre by placing a borderline psychopathic Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and a play-it-safe, on the verge of retiring Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) together to solve a murder of a young girl that leads them to drug dealing. The pairing of Gibson and Glover is still considered the best ‘bromance’ on screen and has been almost impossible to reproduce in likeminded films. So when I heard someone in FOX TV greenlit a TV series based about the Lethal Weapon franchise, I almost vomited. This idea to me was preposterous and just another one of those things you should just leave alone, lightning in a bottle type stuff. But no one listens to me and so we were blessed with the pilot episode of the new Lethal Weapon starring Clayne Crawford (A Walk to Remember) as Riggs and Damon Wayens (My Wife and Kids) as Murtaugh. So maybe it was my extremely low expectations, but I can say with some confidence that I was wrong and this show isn’t half bad. The show just seems to amplify everything that we knew from the first film. We get a graphic representation of how Riggs loses his family and which essentially sends him over the edge. Crawford personifies this very well and is able to tread that line of insanity and sanity with little problem. Wayens is not horrible, but you can tell he is still trying to figure out his character. This is what will be the downfall of the show if they can’t balance these two men out in their personal lives. The pilot revolves around Riggs and his struggles beautifully, but with Wayens’ Murtaugh we just get a very basic idea of his life. The action scenes were well balanced and exciting, so no problems there. Wayens and Crawford’s chemistry seems like it is a work in progress but with this first episode you get the sense that it will bloom very nicely. After viewing this pilot, all I could really think is of what the awesome possibilities this show could have if it was on a cable network. The grittiness of the earlier films could be showcased much better if it was on like FX or one of the premium channels. Oh well, at the end of the day Lethal Weapon is a decent show that has some promise, but with the network that it is on expect a watered down version of the films.

The Exorcist  

So this is what I like to call ‘Dumb Idea Part 2’. Hey look another classic film turned TV show on network TV. The 1973 horror film is arguably the scariest film and is a classic to watch around this time of the year. Now we have a serialized version of the film on FOX. I think the smartest thing that the creators and writers did was separate this from the film. The show was supposed to be a sequel/reboot of the horror masterpiece, however they felt the story would work better as a TV series. The pilot makes references to the film, but nothing more. The show follows the same premise of the film, but it takes place in Chicago and has a bit of a twist at the end that I would spoil. Starring Alfonso Herrera (Sense8) and Ben Daniels (House of Cards) as Father Tomas Ortega and Father Marcus Keane, respectively, these two priests take on the forces of evil. After watching this pilot, I don’t know if it was because it was directed by Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) or if it was actually that good, but the pilot was very engaging and tense. The show does a great job of setting the tone very early and doesn’t falter. I also give kudos to the network for pushing the boundaries with this pilot as well because there are a few scenes that could have been in a PG-13 horror film. The leads are good, but this is where the show mirrors the film. We have the young idealistic priest that seeks out help to the grizzled, more experience priest to take on the Devil. Like the previous show, I think this would work better on a cable network, but if FOX can push the limits like Hannibal did on NBC and not falter with the tone, I think the show will last at least a season and work better as an anthology series or follow Ortega to different parts of the world dealing with different families.

The Good Place

This is the one pilot that I was more surprised about than any of the ones I reviewed. The Good Place is sitcom about what happens in the afterlife, but one of the residents of the Good Place doesn’t belong. The show stars Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) and Ted Danson (Cheers) and Bell’s character is a morally corrupt person that has somehow slipped into paradise. Bell’s Eleanor Shellstrop has been placed in a ‘neighborhood’ filled with people that should have been her perfect match and her soulmate, Chidi (William Jackson Harper True Story) who happens to be a professor of Ethics. Eleanor enlists the help of Chidi to make her a better person so she can stay in paradise. I have always professed that Kristen Bell is an underrate actress and I have happy to see that she is finally in the big leagues. She has done wonderful things on Veronica Mars and House of Lies, but here she is front in center on a network sitcom and she knocks it out of the park. The pilot is actually two episodes and the episodes are really funny. I can safely say that this is one of my favorite shows now and is hilarious. I highly recommend this to anyone that loved shows like the U.S The Office and even Modern Family.

This Is Us

Let me start this by saying that you are getting a real treat with this review. I have an aversion to family drama TV shows like Brothers and Sisters, Parenthood, and Gilmore Girls. I just can’t seem to keep my attention on the characters for a full 22 episode season. However, with all of the buzz around This Is Us, I felt that I should give it a shot. Like The Good Place, this show really surprised me. This is a family drama that somehow connects four groups of people in their journey through life. The show stars Mandy Moore (Entourage), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), and Sterling K. Brown (American Crime Story: The People v. O.J Simpson). I won’t give away the connection, but I can say that this show is gorgeously acted and so touching that I actually found myself deeply caring for these characters in just the first episode. I wish I could talk more about the episode but the twists are most of the charm of the show, so I highly recommend this show.

Predictions:

This is going to be my predictions on how long these shows will actually last.

Lethal Weapon: I give it at least two seasons. One to flesh out Riggs and build chemistry, the second for people to realize that this is like every other cop show on TV and that the nostalgia is best quelled by watching the movies.

The Exorcist: I give it one season. I don’t think that people will keep up with another supernatural show that can’t be as scary or even gory as the original film. They will get bored with the premise being stretched over a 18-22 episode season and the show will die.

The Good Place: If this show can find a way to incorporate more to the story like other ‘neighborhoods’ or something, the show will be a huge hit. However, with the way it is panning now I don’t see it lasting.

This Is Us: After watching the first couple episodes I can say that this show will be around for at least 4 or 5 seasons.  With NBC already picking it up for an 18 episode season, NBC is banking on this show and it better not let the network down.