Fall 2017 TV Review
CBS:
Kevin Can Wait:
The show has its usual physical humor to it like most shows with the main
character being a big guy (Kevin James). It had all the similarities of the old
show with having a wife wanting him to lose weight and do more things around
the house. It also had his group of friends and a relative in the mix. The
differences are he is a retired cop not a delivery guy and he is married but
with three kids and one is engaged to a British guy he isn’t the biggest fan
of. It had a great first season with the usual laughs and things he would get
himself into but the decision for season 2 to have his wife dead and Leah
Remini be apart of main cast isn’t the best. The plot for season 2 is his owning
a security company with Remini since they are both retired cops and are
eventually going to make them love interests. The way it is going it will
probably turn off most people with it being a copy of The King of Queens. It will
still have Kevin James who makes us laugh so even if the show goes south people
will still watch it.
9JKL:
Newly divorced Josh is an actor between projects who moves home to New York to
regroup and into an apartment sandwiched between his parents and his brother's
family. As he gets back on his feet, he's faced with his most challenging role
yet: being a good son and brother while keeping his relatives at bay. As they
literally come at him from both sides, he realizes he desperately needs to establish
some ground rules, because his loving family is always going to be there for
him. The show started off bad and has no real over story arch for the season.
It’s in a long line of CBS sitcoms that are still on the air and you question
why this show is on still (or the others that lasted five years or more) but
others aren’t on the air anymore or were cancelled after one year. It is an
acquired taste since the main character is grounded-normal with everyone else
being crazy. CBS waited for the show to get better over time since it added a
full season order of 16 episodes a few months into the show but didn’t give it
many episodes to being win since they weren’t that confident of where it was
going. If you waited for it to get better you got rewarded with better episodes.
It is also filled with lots of Jewish humor that not everyone understands.
Verdict: Cancelled but since they gave
it a full season order and didn’t stay with original number that’s a positive
sign for the show to stay on the air.
Bull:
It isn’t your typical court room drama since it’s not about a lawyer. He isn’t a lawyer but you see him in court
rooms apart of the defendant or prosecutor’s team. He is a psychologist and
trial science expert who can help you pick the perfect jury depending on what
you need to win the case/to
help his clients' lawyers decide which type of argument will win over jurors
best. He has a whole team
with their own expertise. One in fashion/how you appear, a former district
attorney so if someone needs a lawyer you have one, a former FBI agent to
investigate things, a computer expert who can find out everything online about
someone, and another psychologist/neurolinguistics
who has built an algorithm to help find mirror jurors to help Dr. Jason Bull
practice beforehand/get a judge of how the jury is actually feeling. It has a
good combination of light humor but also can be very serious when the case is
very serious plus the characters are all interesting and important to the
story.
Verdict: Should be renewed
and stay on the air for 5-7 years.
MacGyver:
You are going to say another reboot come on be original! I can say I have seen
both and both are different premises despite the character basically being the
same except when they learned their abilities (Vietnam War and Iraq/Iran war/what
year of college). They have the same expertise and a Swiss army knife. The
current trend of superhero/law enforcement shows of some type is all about
teams not just about one man doing it alone. That is the strength of this show is yes MacGyver doing it on his own is but what the show is about is having a team to
back him up is great. Maybe because his two best friends are a major part of
the show; one is his roommate/childhood best friend who joins the Phoenix
Foundation later on based on his talents, and his army best friend Jack Dalton
who always has his back. The show has changed who’s his boss and who is
computer tech person to help him but outside of the actress playing leader #2
being a little person that just throws off the scene because that’s all you can
think about. The character arch of tech person #2 has made the show better
since her addition has a back-story with Jack Dalton from her past.
Plus they added another female character who’s a secret agent that makes the
show better with the skills she brings to the team. Just don’t think of it as a
reboot but as a completely different premise and show just with updated
technology for current times compared to the 1980's.
Verdict: Should be renewed and could be on the air for 3-5 seasons.
Me Myself and I:
This show was a very creative idea and can be considered one of the most
appropriate shows for a family to watch with their kids. It takes place during
three times periods of Bobby Moynihan’s (formally of SNL) life. One as 14 year
old living with a single mother flight attendant who uproots his life to LA
during the height of the Chicago Bulls championship run with Michael Jordan to
live with a step dad and a brother in Lakers town after his mother marries a
pilot. This is the part of his life he has to navigate a new school, new city
and new a family. Then in present day it is Bobby playing a divorced single dad
living in his best friend/business partner’s garage as a struggling inventor
(something he had been doing since he was a kid). He is trying to be a good
father but also trying to become that rich and famous inventor he knows he can
be/navigate the dating scene being recently divorced. The last part is in the
future when he is 65 years old in 2042 and a retired, rich, inventor and
company owner who is struggling with retired life.
Man with a Plan:
This is Matt LeBlanc’s third sitcom since his days as Joey on “Friends”. It is
another family sitcom really about the parent’s life as parents, their jobs and
their semi social life. LeBlanc plays a dad who has to be more of a stay at
home dad since his wife decided she would go back to work after their daughter
started kindergarten. He is a father of three and has to balance his job as
contractor with his brother (Kevin Nealon) and being the parent who does all
the little things his wife used to like pick the kids up from school or make
their lunches Etc. He realizes it’s harder than it looks and some of the humor
is how he thinks he knows what he is doing but really doesn’t/his kids
outsmarting him. If you’re a fan of his or another cute/safe family sitcom that
kids can watch you will enjoy this show about raising kids/how not to raise
your kids unless it’s his wife doing the parenting.
Seal Team:
This show can be viewed as its all predicable or not real in the minds of
current soldiers or veterans who watch the show but if you not in the service/a
veteran you will enjoy this action-drama. You know the code about Navy Seals:
They are a United States Naval
Special Warfare Development Group, the most elite unite
of the Navy Seals that do missions other soldiers can’t do/the government can’t
acknowledge they sent them on the mission at all. They don’t get any notice if
they succeed like if they don’t get the mission done they get disavowed by the
government as collateral damage. David Boreanaz from Bones and Buffy the
Vampire Slayer produces so it’s natural he is the leader of his Seal team-Bravo
team. The difference between this show and NBC’s the Brave is his unit works
with other forms of government like the CIA or FBI Etc to coordinate the plan
like the CIA liaison and logistics specialist they have to help them. It also
sometimes has too much off the battlefield drama that you hope they cut back
once we have fully developed the characters on the show in the future.
S.W.A.T.:
In a long line of remakes/reboots here is another one based off a show that
only lasted two seasons and was a spinoff to begin with. The major difference
between both is more characters but that the lead Hondo is played by Shemar
Moore who is black unlike the original played by Steve Forrest who is white.
The premise is the commissioner appoints Hondo to lead the team based on the
color of his skin to try to die down racial tensions between cops and African
Americans in LA. Also since the original leader Buck was suspended and then
quits after he mistakes a perp for a black kid and shoots him. The show is like
another cop show they take down the bad guy/solve the crime. There are lots of
action and some unneeded drama between Hondo and his female captain but outside
of that Justin Lin’s impact is a good one since he is known for the Fast and
Furious franchise. You definitely want it to be on for more than a year to get
to know the characters more than just what their best at in the field. One great thing is they actually have a theme
song unlike most shows nowadays.
Young Sheldon:
CBS is full of remakes/reboots and spinoffs but this one is actually worthwhile
to watch and to watch with your kids. Think the Wonder Years with Fred Savage
and the Big Bang Theory writing put together. For those who watch BBT and
wondered about how Sheldon grew up this is a good way to see the child prodigy
grow up in Texas with his typical Texan family. The show is how he handles
being this prodigy living with his not so smart/not well financially able
family and attending high school at age 9 instead of a private school(to get a
real life experience) with his older not so smart brother and dad who is the
football coach. His stay at home religious bible mother trying to protect her
kid at all costs, and his twin sister who’s a trouble maker and his
Mema(grandmother) who he talks about so fondly in the BBT. Even if you are the
smartest it is hard to navigate high school at age 9. Also has a great theme
song like BBT.
Wisdom of the Crowd:
One of the most creative/original ideas ever for a TV with a good cast lead by
Jeremy Piven. A Silicon Valley tech innovator who has a big time social media
site like Facebook and Mark Zuckerburg finds out his daughter has been murdered
and after the trial thinks they had the wrong guy. It eats at him for awhile
until he steps down from his company and sells his share to start up a new
site. The site is called Sophie that takes crowd sourcing to a new level,
creating a digital platform for people around the world to publicly share and
evaluate evidence for criminal investigations. What starts as a mission to find
the real murder of his daughter by osmosis becomes the go to site to solve
crimes in SF with the help of the detective who originally worked on his
daughter’s murder case. With his dedicated staff of computer geniuses/hackers
with his girl friend they create this amazing site to help solve crimes with the
help of the people AKA you. The SF police only use it initially since it is
good PR for the commissioner’s office but becomes the only way the detective
can solve all of these cases.
NBC:
The Brave:
A similar show to CBS’s Seal Team about an elite unit of special operators with
specific set of skills for each member who go places and do the missions others
can’t or are unwilling to do. One of the differences is they work for one
government agency the Defense Intelligence Agency and report to one person
Deputy Director Patricia Campbell. They also aren’t’ based here in USA but in a
remote neutral site in Europe/Asia border. The show does a better job with the team and liking the whole
team and its leader. All of the members of the team are likeable and you root
for them unlike the other show where maybe you only like or a get a sense from
a few of the members of the team or just the lead. The annoying thing is
Campbell every time puts on her glasses to only take them off a few seconds
later. They also have two agents helping them in DC with Campbell who are also experts
at what they do.
Taken:
This is a prequel to the movie franchise Taken, and it is a good idea since we
all want to know how Brian Mills became the man with the very particular set of
skills. He is a former Green Beret and CIA operative which is how he got his
training and combat skills. He has left that life behind and while on vacation
with his sister a man from his past, a very bad man who Brian took down the
man’s illegal operations sends a hit man to kill Brian but they kills his
sister instead. From that day he vowed to avenge his sister’s death and to not
let anyone else lose a loved one nor himself again. On his quest for revenge he
is on the same trail as the DNI who happen to be looking to take down the same
bad guy too. The leader sees his potential for greater things than just revenge
like his need to save everyone who is in danger at all costs. She wants to hewn
his skills he has already with his passion to save others to be on her team that already does missions
others will not do and lots of rescue missions of people left behind. He agrees
to join as long as they take down the guy responsible for his sister’s death.
Verdict:
Should be renewed for a season 3 but it’s on Friday nights which is a tough
time slot but it was renewed for season 2 despite it's struggles in season 1. Season 1 was hard to figure out with him being
put into a team when he is not a team man. It was also all over the place hoping they
fix it for this season and if they do it can be on for 4 or 5 seasons.
The Good Place:
From the creator of the American Office, Brooklyn 99 and Parks and Recreation
comes a unique comedy no one could have thought off besides Michael Schur. It
is a sitcom but with some sense of Sci-Fi to it where the premise for season 1
felt like it could be the premise for many seasons. Schur then threw us a
curveball and changed the premise of season 1 towards that bleeds into current
season 2 where we still don’t know where it is going to go and what they can do
in season three. The show has suspense that makes you want to tune in every
week to see what’s going to happen/how they are going to get out of this
situation. The premise is Kristen Bell’s dies and wakes up to find out she is
not in hell or heaven but in the good place. That this Michael guy played by
Ted Danson is the architect of this good place where he made the choices for
what shops are there and what other things are put into this particular good
place. She soon meets her three other residents who have all joined her on the
same day. However, she quickly realizes that she was sent there by mistake, and
must hide her morally imperfect behavior, and try to be a better person. She
asks for the help of her “Soul mate” Chidi an ethics professor who bound by his
morals to help her and Jason another person who feels like he doesn’t belong
there. The point of the season is to blend in and be good but oh does Schur
throw a wrench in the premise to start the season as it has changed a few times
since the original idea.
This is Us:
This is one unique drama where you want to have the “feels” of happiness,
sadness/crying and the feeling of wanting to be close to your family. It stars
Milo Ventimigila and Mandy Moore as the parents and Sterling K Brown, Justin
Harley and Chrissy Metz as the kids. It is a unique idea of a family drama that
takes places over time but mostly in the present with flashbacks to the “Big 3”
the main characters during their youth as babies-high school. Those flashbacks
help shape who they are today. A hardworking dedicated blue collar middle man
marries the woman of his dreams and finds out she is having triplets not just
one kid. He gets this idea of a “Big 3” since he is having three kids, but
unfortunately one of the triplets dies on the day of the delivery, leading him
to still have a “Big 3” still. By miracle the hospital is left with a baby born
on the same day and he tells his wife he has to adopt the baby (even though
back then having a black kid being adopted by a white family wasn’t common
practice). He adopts a black baby boy that becomes his son even though is
adopted/black and you would never know it from how he raised him equal to the
rest. They are all raised as the “Big 3” during the late 70s-early 80s as the
show takes places in present day as they are in their 30s each with their own
lives and struggles. Child one is an actor, child two is basically her
brother’s assistant and child three is a weather trader with a family of his
own. As the show goes on it gets better and better that t makes you grow along
with them as they struggle with their issues and try to overcome them.
ABC:
The Good Doctor:
This isn’t Grey’s Anatomy or ER which are/were long running medical dramas or a
sitcom like Scrubs it is actually a show with good merit even if it’s a drama.
Dr. Shaun Murphy has a savant syndrome with near-photographic recall and the
ability to note minute details and changes. He is a surgical intern at a
hospital in San Jose who has never left the small town he is from but leaves to
venture out of his comfort zone. The only issue with Shaun is he is autistic
and suffered a troubling childhood beforehand and is alone in the world and
unable to personally connect with those around him. The advice of mentor Dr.
Aaron Glassman(who has been like his dad for years) convinced him to use his
extraordinary medical skill and intuition to save lives and challenge the
skepticism of his colleagues who don’t think someone who is autistic can make
it as a doctor.
Verdict: Should be renewed.
I don’t watch many medical shows besides one that are a hybrid of
cops/firefighters/paramedics or the sitcom Scrubs. It is the number one new
show on tv and the main actor was nominated for best actor in a TV series for
his great work. It could be on for 5 seasons.
Designated Survivor: When the president
gives the state of union or they have important government meetings where all
the senators, governors, congress and the whole white house staff (VP,
Secretary of State, many of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all nine of
the Supreme Court Justices) is one in building
what happens if its blown up in a terrorist attack? Well each party sets a
designated survivor in a separate well guarded secret location in case this
happens. That person then becomes the leader of country, he becomes the
president.
Kiefer Sutherland stars as
Tom Kirkman a low level cabinet member who is Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development and
was chosen to be the designated survivor. He becomes president at the hardest
time after a terrorist attack wipes out all of the government officials and he
has to rebuild the government with new senators, governors and congress. He has
to also figure who blew up the Capital building and decide about who he might
have to go war with. He also has to do this without the help of a vice
president and forms his own white house staff from his staff being a cabinet
member and lots of junior senators/other positions ones with no real experience
either at the job like the white house press secretary played by Kal Pen(Harold
and Kumar). The show is about him rebuilding America piece by piece in each
episode but the show also has the plot line of FBI Agent Hannah Wells
investigating the terrorist attack so it’s not just about Kirkman.
Verdict: Should be renewed since even
in season two there is so much still that has to be done to fix America and put
it back together to how it once was. Plus he has to serve his full term before
we end the show so it could be a four-five year show. Probably has 4 seasons at
most in it.
Speechless:
This isn’t your typical family drama that ABC has on its airwaves it isn’t
about a white collared family like in Modern Family or Blackish etc its even
below blue collar, since the show starts off with them moving into the
poorest/cheapest dilapidated home in the town. The show is centered around a
family that moves quite a lot to find the best situation for their oldest son
JJ who has cerebral palsy. The mother who is British
no-holds-barred attitude mother who does whatever it takes to find ways to help
her kid have the same resources and experiences all kids have no matter the
disability. They pick this school because it prides itself on being inclusive
and where JJ will have an aide to speak for him. The rest of show is about the
other kids growing up knowing all the attention will go to JJ while each kid
has their own problems like the middle kid who is the moral compass/voice of
reasoning to counteract the over the top mother. The youngest kid is the one
who is the athlete and goes with the flow kid like the father who just lets his
wife do whatever needs to be done and doesn’t care what other people think
about him. They find the right person to be their son’s voice and he becomes
more than just an aid he becomes a part of the family as well.
American Housewife:
In a world where being skinny as a rail, rich, doing yoga or working out,
eating healthy and letting your kids run free/do whatever they want or have
your maids raise them there is one family/wife who isn’t in the norm in the
northeast. She is the kind who doesn’t care what you eat, if you’re not super
skinny who actually raises her own kids. She only lives in this town to support
husband’s career as college professor and her daughter going to the best
special needs program for her youngest daughter. She does have to deal with her son turning
into one of the rich arrogant men in this town and corporate America that he
loses values and morals while her oldest daughter could be turning into one of
those skinny blonde robots who is all about looks, dieting/yoga or money. She
isn’t your typical housewife but she gets it all done by herself like most blue
collar middle class families.
Inhumans:
For those who don’t read Marvel Comics and just watch the TV shows or movies
you would be lost watching this show like I was over its eight episode arch.
You have no idea who to root for and who is what unless you Google the comic
book story. The show’s premise is two brothers fight over the right to be the
king of Attilan, the ruler of the all the Inhumans who are super powered humans
who live on the moon. Blackbolt one of the brother’s has all of the non
inhumans working in the mines. While his
brother Maximus doesn’t have any powers and hates that he is not leader because
he doesn’t have powers and how people with powers are treated on Attilan. The
ones with powers are in the armies and have special places in the kingdom.
Maximus devises a coup to take over the throne and succeeds by sending his
brother, his sister in law, her sister and some of the most power/trusted people
working for Blackbolt to earth. The
premise of the season is the Inhumas trying to get back home while being
scattered on earth and trying to stop Maximus who has taken over the kingdom.
Do you root for the non powered humans on Attlian or do you root for Blackbolt
and his crew to take back the throne and kingdom. I certainly didn’t know who
to root for so that was challenging not knowing who the bad guy is really.
Riverdale:
For those who read Archie Comics as a kid or saw the many animated TV shows he
had like weird mysteries this is a combination of the comics and animated shows
but in particular the weird mysteries. The series follows Archie Andrews'
life in the small town of Riverdale and explores the
darkness hidden behind its seemingly perfect image. Archie and friends solve mysteries in both seasons by getting
closer and closer to the truth in each and every suspenseful episode. Archie is
still going to the lead character, the cool guy who is on the football team, a
musician and girls find him attractive. While Betty is still this next door
neighbor who is usually a goodie-two-shoes with the perfect grades, running the
school newspaper and trying to be the perfect daughter. Veronica is the girl
with a bad past that moves into town and wants to start over and of course
befriends Betty and they each rub off of each other. Jughead in this one is the
narrator; he is actually very smart and gifted as a writer. His dad is head of
the motorcycle gang the Southside Serpents. His only friends are Archie and
Betty who help him deal with his dad being in a gang and mom moving away with
his sister. The major difference from the comics is how PC friendly the show
is. Kevin is a main character and not Reggie. Kevin is their token gay friend
whose father is the sheriff. Reggie is in the show but he is Asian and the all
of the Josie and pussy cats are black (Josie’s mom is the mayor) and so is Pop
Tate the owner of the Dinner; while Veronica and her family is Hispanic. The
main four try to solve the murder of Jason Blossom the twin brother of Cheryl
Blossom, the richest family in Riverdale with all the power. They do so behind
their parents and the sheriff’s back despite the danger.
Fox:
The Gifted:
There is no X-Men or the Brotherhood of Evil to protect mutants anymore after
the government law prohibits using your powers and they can arrest you for
using it. The underground is the only thing projecting mutants and their
families from prisons cells or from being tested. The show centers on the
Strucker family whose lives change course forever when they discover by
accident their children have developed mutant powers. The father is a lawyer
who tries mutants to their prison sentences but soon realizes he has to protect
his and see how he was in the wrong with his job. When the threat of a hostile
government forces the family to go on the run and they join the ranks of an
underground network of mutants who have their own leaders and plans on
surviving which sometime differ from the Strucker family. Together they fight
to save other mutants and survive without being caught by Sentinel Services.
Lethal Weapon:
This reboot is based off the movie franchise of the same name but does it even
better since there is time to build story plots and character arches. We all know about Roger Murtaugh’s life story
already: Married to a successful lawyer, has a big home, has three kids but one
was added later late in life by accident, has a heart condition and is thinking
about retirement. We saw his whole life story in all four movies what we didn’t
see is any sort of real story arch of Martin Riggs just where he is from and
that he used to be in army/little crazy/likes to be in danger/people think he
wants to kill himself. Say what you want about Mel Gibson but he didn’t do that
much for the character this new actor bringing life to the character that we
didn’t see before. We actually care what happens to him in this show. We learn
more about his back-story, more about his current life and what motivates him
every day. He is actually growing as a person in this show over two seasons
almost. I can’t give away the things we learn in this show but only say what we
do know the former navy seal turned cop from Texas who is married with a kid on
the way but his wife tragically dies in a car accident killing the baby too.
Grief-stricken he moves to LA to become a detective is paired with Murtuagh.
There a few different support characters but that is only some of the
differences.
The Orville:
Think Star Wars, Star Trek and Galaxy Quest morphed into a one hour show that
is mostly about Sci-Fi and a great blend of comedy. Say what you want about
Seth McFarlane and his Family Guy humor but he is a great writer of drama and
comedy. The premise is he been an officer for the planetary union for years
never getting that captaincy until now. He picks his best friend, who is the best
helmsman in the fleet but has issues with authority, Bortus an
alien from a single gender planet as his second in command, Isaac, an
artificial life-form from a machine society to be his chief science officer,
navigator John Lamarr; Alara Kitan, a young, inexperienced security officer to
be head of security and highly regarded physician of exceptional
credentials Dr Claire Finn as chief medical officer. The only problem is he has no first officer. The issue that
arises is there is only one available and it’s his ex wife who cheated on him a
few years back. He has to learn how to be a captain for the first time with a qualified
but eccentric crew and to work side by side with his wife as they embark
on various diplomatic and exploratory missions.
Ghosted:
In a long line of half hour sitcoms on Fox to be put during the Animation
Domination block on Sunday nights comes an original idea. It is about a secret
government agency called the Underground Bureau who investigates paranormal
cases. Think of a sitcom version of X-Files but not anywhere close to the level
of a show with that magnitude but not a copy cat either since the
characters/plot is different. It stars comedy actors Craig Robinson (From the
Office and many movies) and Adam Scott(From Parks and Recreation and many
movies). Scott plays a Stanford professor with a PHD who wrote a book about the
multiverse and who also believes in all of the paranormal things after his wife
was abducted by aliens. While Robinson is a former missing person’s detective
who doesn’t believe that aliens could be real and abducting humans. This agency
turns to Scott and Robinson who are both at low points in their life and are
asked to work together to save one of the agents that have gone missing. The
head of agency asks them to join permanently and since they both don’t have
jobs (both fired from their jobs) they agree to save Earth and investigate all
of the unexplained paranormal activity.
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