On the Radar : February 2022

CBS:

Good Sam: Heart surgeon Dr. Samantha Griffith (played by Sophia Bush of One Tree Hill & Chicago PD) becomes the chief of surgery at Lakeshore Sentinel Hospital after her boss and father, Dr. Rob Griffith (played by Jason Isaacs of Star Trek: Discovery & Harry Potter franchise) falls into a coma. Her life becomes complicated when he awakens and wants to resume his duties. Samantha is now tasked to be supervising him but the fact is her dad has never acknowledged her talents as a doctor. Her father begins to defy Sam's authority and challenges her medical expertise, the big question becomes whether this father and daughter will ever be able to mend their own relationship as expertly as they heal the hearts of their patients.

Verdict: Cancelled. The music in the background is very distracting and it seems very blah the storytelling in each episode. The supporting cast is also blah even if they have previous acting work as they have no depth to them , and who needs five people working on one case at a time with a sixth person as the supervisor. I am a huge fan of Isaacs from his huge catalogue of work but if he is going to keep playing the arrogant men in power who doesn’t realize they are not the main character or the smartest person in the room he is going to not be likable. In Star Trek he was the captain but not the main character thinking he was the savior, and in this show even though he is the co-star he cannot seem to get out of his way of always undermining his daughter. If they are going to keep arguing over every patient every week it is going to get stale quickly. Fans of Bush do not get why she left her previous show for this because as good as she and Isaacs are they can’t save a bad show. Then you throw in that the mom is the chief medical officer, who again is too many family members in one hospital and how she has been both of their bosses isn’t realistic. You also have one of the other doctors who are her best friend, were having an affair with her dad back when he was the boss and the only other male white doctor is her ex boyfriend. PC police will be happy to know that one doctor is a black female, a Middle Eastern doctor, a Hispanic doctor and supposedly the only nurse with speaking lines is lesbian. Her new love interest has father issues too so that is again wasting time in the show. None of the show is realistic when the characters don’t even look or act like doctors when they act like immature adults. There is a reason why CBS does not have a medical drama because it looks like they do not know what they are doing. If you want to watch a good medical drama tune into ABC (Grey’s Anatomy & The Good Doctor), NBC (New Amsterdam & Chicago Med) and FOX (The Resident).

How we roll: When Tom(played by standup comedian Pete Holmes) a Midwest father/husband gets laid off from his job at on a car assembly line he decides to give another shot being a professional bowler with the support of his wife and his mentor Archie who happens to own the bowling alley. This series is based on the life of professional bowler Tom Smallwood.

Verdict: Canceled. CBS has a tendency to green light shows that should be a TV-movie or a regular movie not a full length series. This show has a nice, sweet warm feeling to it and is appropriate for children to watch with their family. Holmes has a nice quirky feel to him and you do want to root for him as it is based on a true story plus it has to do with sports in a way. One of the issues is the laugh track not helping when to laugh and some of the writing is stale. There is a lot of awkwardness between the characters as the writing doesn’t seem to flow during some scenes so the conversations seem to be unneeded or forced. The supporting cast has a vast experience of acting like his mentor played by Chi Martin(of Human Target & Hawaii five-o) who is eccentric but funny, the mom played by Julie White(of Grace Under Fire & Transformers), his wife played by Katie Lowes(of Scandal & Easy Money) and Tahj Mowry(of Smart Guy & Kim Possible) who works at the bowling alley. It is nice to see him as it has been awhile since he was on a successful TV show but they are giving weird/odd lines to say as they are making him the odd person in the main cast and it is seems very forced. The real weird guy in the bowling alley seems to be the biggest waste because the interactions with him to seem be a huge loss and the wife’s boss/coworkers don’t offer much. Like B Positive, Bob Hearts Abishola and United States of Al the supporting cast seem to be the funnier cast members than the main characters which is a flawed way to make a TV show, as two of those look like they will be cancelled soon, plus the whole TV movie vibe not being a full length series issue. It might also be because I am not familiar with his comedy routine as it may take time to warm up to his comedic chops, but until the writing getting fixed which could happen over time this show should and will be cancelled. Also we get it he is a bowler- stop with all the bowling puns, jokes and transitions between scenes- it’s annoying.

NBC:

Grand Crew: A show about young Black professionals in LA. The crew consists of Noah (played by Echo Kellum of Arrow & Ben and Kate), a hopeless romantic in too much of a hurry to settle down; his sister Nicky(played by Nicole Byer of Brooklyn 99 & Nailed it), who lives her life to the fullest; Sherm, an unexpected genius who plays the dating odds; Anthony, a finance guy who's all about his career; and Wyatt, who's happy to be married and out of the dating scene. No matter how chaotic life gets, they always make time to hang out at their favorite bar for good laughs and great wine.

Verdict: Cancelled. I want to get behind this show because of two of the leads (Kellum & Byer) but the writing seems a little bit stale and staged/set up. They are trying to show people that black men are not what the media/news portrays them to be which has been mostly negative. I think the world knows the race isn’t what people are defined as because it doesn’t matter the race to be a bad person or good person or to being a deep person with feelings or layers. They are showing one man can be successful in business, one in his marriage, or one that just because you didn’t go to college you can still be smart. I can see myself in Noah and so can many others being a hopeless romantic but they have done this before like in Man Seeking Woman to name one. Byer is hilarious as a game show host, voice actress and appearing on sitcoms as a guest/reoccurring characters but she doesn’t give off lead vibes and she doesn’t look or seem like she can be Noah’s sister. They also have her single like Noah in the show going on countless dates with men who wouldn’t actually go out with her, I could be accused of fat shaming but it is not realistic for the character to actually do this. The cast of mostly unknowns have good chemistry and could be a good a friend group sitcom but they only seem to explore the story of the siblings not so much the rest maybe over time they will fix that. They also had a narrator in the pilot realized that was dumb but all of sudden in episode three added a new girl to the group which seems forced because they spent time introducing all the other people but haven’t really explored the non siblings yet. Plus I think it’s now unrealistic that they only are friends with other black people but I guess the point of the show is about black friends only. You can only hope Dan Goor of Brooklyn 99 success can fix the writing and comedic aspects of the show or this will get certainly get cancelled, but what do I know when “Young Rock” has not been remotely funny but got renewed. I am pleased that NBC realized going without any sitcoms in the fall is a mistake, that there should be more than two sitcoms at a time on the network (which they have been doing for a few years) and that this show actually has a theme song (every episode title has wine in it).

American Auto: Payne Motors an auto motive company out of Detroit hires a new CEO in Katherine Hastings(played by Anna Gasteyer of SNL) who has bold leadership and business savvy so she can help steer the company in a new direction if they want to keep up the times while also dealing with all the issue of a modern workplace, but the problem is she knows nothing about cars as she worked in pharmaceutics. From the corporate offices to the factory floor, they'll pull out all the stops to make it work, if they can get out of their own way.

Verdict: Cancelled. The writing seems stale, the acting seems stale and it has bored me throughout maybe once or twice something has been funny. That is an issue when it is supposed to be a sitcom not a drama. Gastyer is more of the “straight man” as others are playing the funny ones despite her being the lead and Harriet Dyer’s(the PR/CCO) acting is horrible she wasn’t great in her last show which was also on NBC(the Inbetween). Then you drag her sex life into it as she slept with someone off the assembly line and make him a main character when he isn’t interesting or good at acting. Then the fat black lady who is the assistant cannot act, isn’t funny and her name in real life X Mayo plus the nerdy black guy(product designer) is giving off way over the top gay guy vibes but they haven’t stated he is gay but dresses like it. They also for some reason have a British guy as the legal guy but also chief sales officer he has some funny lines but doesn’t seem to be needed. The only funny person on the show is Jon Barinholtz(of Superstore) playing the nepotistic grandson of the former CEO whose family has been running for 100 years. He is playing the typical dumb guy who gets everything handed to him like a cushy job because of who is family is which he does perfectly, but he wasn’t even a main character on “Superstore” so he cannot carry a show being the only funny one. It also looks like who ever shot the scenes did not know what he was doing or when the final editing happened they went “guess it’s good enough”. I give it credit for having a theme song and to NBC for bringing back sitcoms as none were on in the fall and the previous TV year, they only showed two at a time which was a mistake but I am sorry Justin Spitzer(creator of Superstore) even if NBC renewed some bad sitcoms recently, you can’t always make a good TV show every time out.

Endgame: A recently incarcerated criminal mastermind begins to plan a string of bank heists throughout New York for an unknown purpose; but a relentless and principled FBI agent follows her every move in an effort to stop her for good.

Verdict: Cancelled. I do not understand why NBC cancelled four other shows for this to be on the air instead. It is hard to hear what the lead is saying with her horrible Russian accent. I give credit to Morena Baccarin(of Stargate SG1 & Gotham) she is really convincing in this role because you either hater or love her when she plays villains in other roles but she cannot save a bad show. This show is very cheesy and cliché in terms of its writing and the supporting actors, plus you can predict things way too early before they happen, seems like a cheesy 80s cop show sometimes with how unbelievably stupid it is. The other lead in FBI agent Val Turner(played by Ryan Michelle Bathe of All Rise & Empire) is supposedly the smartest FBI agent but none of her superiors trust her or believe her when she has leads. Most of her acting credits are dramas/soap operas outside of one season on a procedural that is hard to take her seriously or have confidence in her as a lead. Her weird hairstyle also is very distracting and the bad guys are wearing face mask but no eye holes seems like a mistake. The premise of cat & mouse game between criminal and law enforcement is an interesting idea as they both supposedly know each other so well they can predict the other one’s moves ahead of time. This time it is between two women one foreign and one black plus uncovering secrets within the government/the citizens of the country is interesting. Then they lose me with her husband being a criminal/former FBI agent and her being under suspicion but letting her still be an active agent and that her husband is supposedly working with the bad guy in some way is too dumb and too coincidental. The people in charge of the operation/interrogating the bad guy seem dumb and clueless with no real point in their characters or their development. The FBI assistant director in charge seems to not trust her with him sidelining her but is a good actor (Noah Bean of Damages & 12 Monkeys) as he is believable, and agent Flowers(played by Jordan Jonathan Hinds of Blindspot & Nurses) is the only redeemable character in the show as he is there for her and is helping when no one else does. He was unjustly killed in the previous NBC FBI show he was in so it is nice to see him get another role. If you want to watch a worthwhile show about the FBI tune into CBS on Tuesday nights for their three hour block of FBI shows. This is a show I would cancel quickly and pull from the air. The only reason to keep it on the air for a full season is to see how far the bad guy will go and how they will stop her.

ABC:

Abbott Elementary: A group of dedicated, passionate teachers and a slightly tone-deaf principal find themselves thrown together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do even if they don't love the school district's less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.

Verdict: Renewed. I like how clever and original this idea is plus it has made me laugh a few times already. The ensemble cast is good too with Sheryl Lee Ralph(of Broadway & Moesha) and Lisa Ann Walter(of Life’s Work & Breaking News) as the veteran teachers as they provide good supporting roles. It also is great to see Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris & The Walking Dead) in another show as his last show was cancelled too early. Plus the unknown actors playing the dumb principal and teacher who are friends with the lead are good in their roles. The lead actress(Quinta Brunson of Single Parents & Big Mouth) is doing her best but she doesn’t really give off leading a sitcom vibes and you wonder how she got this role, well she created the show so that’s how but also it is good because it is her idea and she can guide it in the comedic direction she wants it go. If you like mocumentry shows like “The Office”, “Parks & Recs” and “What we do in the shadows” you will like this type of sitcom but even if you don’t this show actually clever and funny. Having a mom who was a principal/teacher, it is nice to see them showing off how hard it is to be a teacher in this world and how they need more help, because they are providing an essential gift to the world educating the youth. ABC does have room in their sitcom lineup as “Blackish” is ending and looks like “The Goldbergs” are going in that direction, plus two of the other three shows are remakes or spinoffs hence original ideas deserve to be on TV.

Promised Land: Joe Sandoval(played by John Ortiz of Fast & Furious & Silver Linings Playbook), patriarch of two blended Latino families who run a successful Sonoma County, California vineyard is preparing to hand the vineyard's management to one of his children but has to deal with a hotel owner, his ex wife(played by Bellamy Young of Scandal & Prodigal Son) who blames Sandoval (who bought the vineyard from her father) for her father's death and the challenges of undocumented immigrants from Mexico who come to work at the vineyard.

Verdict: Canceled. It feels like Déjà-Vu with this show as it has been done before or it is something familiar in the most recent additions to the TV schedule. It is very much like Fox’s “Our Kind of People” where you have a successful minority male lead with a shady past on how he rose to prominence, the rags to riches success story. You have family secrets that the lead is keeping from everyone, his wife or ex wife is keeping or even the kids that all have different kinds of secrets that will eventually come out and will tear the family apart. That despite how perfect their lives may be nothing is as it seems with everyone looking out for themselves or for the company they run. This is just the Hispanic version of that Fox show or of a Dynasty/Dallas/Filthy Rich soap opera of a rich family with secrets this time it is showcasing the Hispanic side. It shows the struggles of immigrants who cross the border looking to reinvent themselves and make it in the America/The American Dream. The music in the background doesn’t help the dialogue as it distracts from the content the actors are saying and it has a little bit too much Spanish going on that you have to read so many subtitles. They keep revealing things in like every scene which takes away from the suspense that you need to buildup to tell a good story. The show is also confusing with how they throw you right into the fire of the show with so many angles and characters without introducing them properly. I am confused on which kid is who, what their role in the show/company is and if they are the lead’s kids or step kids. The flashbacks do give some context on who the parents are in this show but it distracts from the story and it was confusing as to if they were flashbacks or if it is just a side story. They also seem to be making a political statement on undocumented workers/getting fake papers their struggle in making it to America and how hard it is. None of the characters really seem likeable or someone you can root for with no redeeming qualities and none of it seems realistic. For a story that promised to bring the lives of marginalized Latinos to the forefront it is very disappointing as there are many shows about unlikeable people in soap opera land/reality TV you can watch instead. There's a huge difference between having something to say to contribute to the ongoing discourse and selfishly trying to capitalize on it without having something meaningful to add. Without a doubt, this show does the latter. Not even Ortiz who is playing the lead can save a bad show, as not every soap- opera-ish show can be like Fox’s “Empire”.

CW:

Naomi: Naomi McDuffie is a comic book-loving teenager and the host of a Superman fan website. After a supernatural event occurs in Port Oswego, Oregon, Naomi sets out to determine its origins and about her newfound powers with help from her best friend, her supporting adoptive parents, and a tattoo shop owner with a secret origin.

Verdict: Renewed. No matter how bad or good a show is the CW renews everything 99.9% of the time. They also put a lot of effort into promoting a black teenage superhero show on their network since they already have “All American”, “Batwoman” and the “4400” which is all about having black leads/all black casts center stage on their network. I also do not understand why they skipped over 70 years worth of DC comics and many characters to make a show based on a comic book from only a few years ago. The whole show is odd that she obsesses over Superman/other comic book heroes and solving the potential of a Superman sighting but then the possibility that aliens/superheroes exist like her being an alien. The show is also copying “Nancy Drew” with teens/young adults solving unexplained mysteries around the town with a diverse group of friends. They got the whole teen romance with her having an ex-boyfriend, another guy who likes her and a girl who likes her so it’s totally 2022 having her interested in both genders. She is one of few blacks in town/military brat so she should have a problem fitting but it seems everyone loves her as her life seem to be perfect for her to have struggles to overcome as she is not relatable to anyone. The writing seems to be stale and forced between the characters. They do make fun of the whole glasses thing that Superman/Supergirl have whether they really do not need it. I do like them portraying a “Hawkman” in the show as her mentor in showing her how to deal with her powers because he is rarely represented in TV/movies as his last appearance was in “Smallville”. The whole adopted thing like “Superman” is also too much as her father happens to be in the military and be tasked with uncovering mysteries in the paranormal while unknowingly adopting an alien. They also have parents trope of being famous from something else is also happening again. Plus her mom is supposedly the top linguist and she is Indian decent. It is cool to see potentially other DC comic book characters like Captain Comet, Commander Steel and this villain who has powers are being shown. It will be interesting to see the journey she goes on to uncovering the secrets about her life and that superheroes/aliens could be real and the story about the villain too. But unless they fix the script this show is going to be stale and bogged down by unneeded issues, but it’s the CW so it will be on the air for years and you will go say “wait- is this still on the air?

All American: Homecoming: Set at Bringston University an HBCU this show tells the story about two tennis players, two baseball players and other college students’ experiences at a HBCU as students and athletes. Tennis player Simone from Beverly Hills who is trying to fight her way back after some time off, Thea the queen bee of the tennis team who is super competitive, baseball player Damon an elite prospect from Chicago who turned down an offer from MLB to go to college instead to play for the coach he likes and JR his best friend/teammate. Simone will get help from her aunt who is a journalism professor there and her friend Kiesha the unofficial mayor of the college.

Verdict: Renewed. This show has the same quality writing, storytelling, character development and quality acting like its predecessor that is why I have confidence it will remain good over the course of a season and a series run. You also can sell me on any show that involves sports but you really sell me on it being about a baseball team that has to succeed in order to stay being a program and the star player is from Chicago. If you like All-American you will like this as this is the grownup version of the show that instead of high school student athletes, it is about young adults who are student athletes. My only takeaway is that no offense to Simone but she was not a main character in the other show until she started dating one of the two main characters and usually spinoffs are about pretty important characters where they become the main character in their own show. This spinoff will be one of the most successful spinoffs because of how much the show resembles the other show with interesting characters and good story telling that really shows the struggles of student athletes. This show is also on the CW where they rarely cancel anything as well and loves spinoffs too.

FOX:

Pivoting: Three close knit female childhood friends cope with the death of the fourth member of their group. They are faced with the reality that life is short so these women pivot and alter their current paths by a way of serious impulsive, ill-advised, and self-indulgent decisions. These pivots strengthen their bond and prove it's never too late to screw up one's life in the pursuit of happiness as the heartbreaking death of their friend was the wake-up call they didn't know they needed, but it might just be the thing that helps them live their best lives. Maggie Q (of Designated Survivor & Nikita) stars as Sarah a surgeon who gives up her stressful job to be a cashier, Ginnifer Goodwin (of Once upon a time & Big Love) who plays Jodie a mother of three who tries to achieve her lifelong fitness goal, and Elize Coupe (of Scrubs & Happy Endings) who plays Amy a radio talk show producer, a workaholic who commits to spending more time with her family.

Verdict: Cancelled. I don’t understand how these networks keep trying to pass off these dramas or stale boring shows as sitcoms. The positive thing is that Fox learned from their mistake with “Almost Family” that taking something serious (like a fertility doctor using his own material/finding out you have many siblings) but putting it into a comedic element doesn’t need to be a full hour. These women are grieving the loss off their close friend who by all accounts was healthy until she died/had her life together and they realize their lives are not by any account together. We call can relate to losing a friend and their lives not being what they thought it should be or that life can be short and we need to live in the moment; But so far the show has so boring or over dramatic. It hasn’t gotten my attention often despite the show having talented actors, so it has to be the writing that is horrible. Plus they do a bad job at introducing the husbands as they have no real impact to show in the long run. It is actually so dumb and bad it might be good enough to get a second season as last year’s “Call me Kat”, which I didn’t think would be renewed because it was average-got renewed. Fox’s recent track record with live action sitcoms hasn’t been great as most have been cancelled mid run or after one or two seasons that is hard to predict anymore. It is nice to see Q in another show because she’s either killed off or the show gets cancelled after one year, but maybe she needs to talk to her agent because of her bad luck with shows or bad movies as this one should be cancelled and pulled from the airwaves.

The Cleaning Lady: Cambodian doctor Thony De La Rosa(played by Elodie Yung of Daredevil) comes to America for the live-saving treatment for her ill son that happens to only be in Las Vegas. It is cutting edge bone marrow treatment which is obviously expensive so she joins her sister in law as a cleaning lady. While on the job she witnesses a murder and forced into a position with a crime syndicate as an undocumented doctor and working cleanup after dubious incidents as it is becomes the only way to pay for her son’s treatment.

Verdict: Cancelled. Despite how well it is written with deep storytelling and layered characters too much of this show is unrealistic when watching it. It seems a little bit overproduced with the music that is constantly in the background. The whole show could have been over since most people who witness crime bosses and gangs commit murder usually end up dead not being used to clean up the mess. She also barely survives another escape with death in the first episode, and mark my words the first episode was action packed no wasted scenes very well put together like a mini movie. It is nice to see Oliver Hudson in another TV show as his last show was an ill-conceived sitcom that got renewed but then cancelled the following year, but I cannot take him seriously as an FBI agent since he is more of a comedic actor. Adan Canto does a good job as an employee of the criminal cartel he is very believable but why does he convince them to save her life countless times when there is no reason to. If they are setting up for the two of them together when he has a wife and she has a husband back home it will be really dumb. I give credit to the main actress she really embodies a mother who will do anything for her son and it is a good immigrant story as well trying to make ends meet which are things people can relate to/get behind, but it is not believable as a former doctor turned cleaning lady being so capable and unfazed in any situation. Unlike a sitcom on CBS not hiring someone from same country this woman is half Cambodian but her sister in law is not and her story/kids seem to waste scenes too. This plot is well thought out and put together but it seems better suited as a movie then a TV show maybe even a mini-series; because at some point the FBI will catch her or the cartel will be done with her services and her son might die anyways so she will have nothing left to lose. I commend Fox for going back to their roots of actually green lighting an original concept that has been fully thought out which can give fans hope they will keep coming out with fresh ideas not old contrived ideas. If they can cancel “Prodigal Son” which was a top quality show and a few solid shows in recent years then nothing is safe on this network despite how fresh this idea can be for a remake of Argentinean soap opera.

Welcome to Flatch: A mockuementy about the small Midwest town of Flatch and its eccentric residents. It centers on cousins/best friends Kelly and Lloyd Mallet, Father Joe the local minister who just moved there with his girlfriend, the local newspaper editor of the Flatch Patriot and other residents like the woman who runs the historical society.

Verdict: Cancelled. I do not know who this is made for? Is it made for people with a low IQ? It is very stupid the dialogue between the characters and the characters sound like the dumbest of Americans on this planet. The two cousins are white trash to the core and so is the rest of the city besides the woman in charge of the historical society. Fox/the show is trying way too hard to make it look a documentary when it would be best if it flows naturally if it was about a small town in Ohio. The characters are trying way too hard to be weird in front of the camera because if it’s a documentary about their town they want to stand out we get it it’s a mockumentry ok. Sean William Scott(of Dude where is my car? & Lethal Weapon) playing a buttoned up minister is very far off from his previous roles of bad boys/immature guys in crude movies so I think he wasted his time with this show. You then find out it is a remake of a British show called “This Country” that was on the air from 2017-2020, why then go try to remake a successful show if it is going to fall flat on their face with this attempt. If you want to watch a properly made mockumentry that came out this year try ABC’s Abbot Elementary or “What We do in the Shadows on FX, or watch reruns of Parks & Rec, or the Office.

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