Daniel's TV Blog

Better Off Ted
It's too bad, I really liked this show. I'm not a big fan of narrated shows, but this worked much like Malcolm In The Middle did. Ted was the only sane person in a really crazy corporate environment. The episode where they had to all swear at each other because of a memo typo was brilliant.


Scrubs
I think this is the third time this show was canceled. Maybe this time it will stay dead.

Ugly Betty
Flashforward didn't just kill my hopes for a great new TV show, it also killed Ugly Betty by taking its time slot. I think this show should have had one more season.

Cold Case
The only thing I know about this show is the MadTV skit:

CBS has a knack for having shows on for 7 seasons and still nobody I know has ever seen one episode.

Gary Unmarried
I never really watched this.

The New Adventures of Old Christine
I watched the first season until TiVo conflicts forced me to drop it. I think it is most successful post-Seinfled show. Let's see how The Marriage Ref does. I still can't believe it was renewed

Numb3rs
It looks like they knew this was going to be the last season since the cast already had new shows lined up before the official annoucement.

Ghost Whisperer
It's her cursed-blessing:

ABC is in talks this week to pick it up mid-season so it may not be all that dead. I can hear it whispering to me

Dollhouse
Like any Joss Wedin show is going to make it these days.

24
I stopped watching it this season because it was too violent.

Heroes
The first season was the best but then they just never built on the character strengths since then. The final season with the movable carnival was rather confusing.

Law & Order
Canceled after 20 seasons was quite a surprise. SVU continues on in its 12 season and Criminal Intent in its 9th. Then there were Crime & Punishment and Trial By Jury which have since gone away. It will be replaced with Law & Order: LA which is their first location based show taking a page from CSI and NCIS.

Labels: Better Off Ted, The Ghost Whisperer, Ugly Betty

Eastwick
This surprised me. I thought the show started really strong, I don't know why it didn't build a great following. They effed up the ending and didn't air one episode. That didn't make sense to me.

FlashForward
I was looking forward to this show more than any one this season. However, by about the fourth episode something didn't seem right. When Charlie showed up things started falling apart even faster. Friend of DTVB Matt stopped watching it a few episodes before me. When Charlie and the guy who was sleeping with Penny chose to decide whether to come public with the experiment that cause the blackout over a poker game, I turned off the episode half way through and deleted it from my season pass. I watched the special catch-up episode and it only got worse.

The Deep End
Another awful lawyer show. I never watched this.

The Forgotten
Another forgettable procedural. Don't care. Never watched.

Hank
Now that Kelly Grammar is a out Tea-Bagger, I'm not watching any of his failed shows any more. Not that I watched this or his last failed show.

Accidentally On Purpose
This show turned my stomach. I'm so glad it was canceled.

Three Rivers
I've never been a fan of medical dramas. Unlike cop or lawyer shows, there's only enough room for a few of these on TV and Grey's Anatomy and spin off have those covered.

Mercy
See Three Rivers

Trauma
Have paramedic shows ever been successful? There was Emergency and Third Watch...

Melrose Place
I think Ashley Simpson doomed this show. Ever since her SNL failure, I've boycotted everything she does and you should to.

The Beautiful Life
This show was canceled after only two episodes.

Brothers
I think this show might have been on before The Simpsons but I couldn't tell you much more about it.

Jay Leno Show
NBC really failed this season and the well publicized Leno vs. O'Brian show down was the main reason. They failed to develop any new show other than Community. Parenthood became a hit after Jay's cock-blocking five hours a week went away. Now they lost Law & Order. WTF? Hopefully they can pull things around next season.

Labels: Eastwick, Fall 2009, upfronts

NBC
Outsourced
NBC has been batting 1000 with comedies lately. I'm really hoping this isn't another "Single Guy".

The Event
The Event is described as a "high octane conspiracy thriller". It looks like a good successor to 24 with the converging storyline aspect of Heroes first season. It will probably be at least 13 episodes in before we know what The Event is.

Chase
About US Marshalls chasing down bad guys. Is this a new bad guy each week or one bad guy over the course of many episodes? Probably a new serial killer each week. I hate shows about serial killers.

Undercovers
One word: Sexspionage. Husband and wife spies from JJ Abrams. It's like Alias meets Hart to Hart. Hopefully there will be room in my schedule for this one.

Law & Order: Los Angeles
Same show, new city. I guess after 20 years you gotta do something different.

Love Bites
I can't remember the last time there was an anthology show on TV. This one promises different stars each week like Jennifer Love Hewett. No way this will survive.

Outlaw
Jimmy Smits as a retired supreme court justice taking on cases himself. This will never survive.

Fox
Lonestar
A con man with a million dollar smile falls in love with his mark of a wife and considers going legit. He also has a girlfriend. Love ruins everything.

Raising Hope
A family comedy about a unexpected new baby arrival in a very dysfunctional home. With guest star Cloris Leachman. Fox comedies always fail so don't get too attached.

Running Wilde
Anything Will Arnett does I will watch. His character doesn't look too far off from GOB as the rich kid who never amounted to anything.

The Good Guys
They had me at action comedy. And its the one show they chose to preview this year like they did Glee last year.

ABC
No Ordinary Family
After surviving a plane crash in Brazil, the entire family starts to develop super powers. It's great to see a real good family show again. I probably won't watch it though.

Detroit 1-8-7
Homicide detectives in the most dangerous city in America. Staring that guy from the Tequilla commercials.

My Generation
A docu-series (reality show) about a group of class of 2000 high school students and where are they now. Don't kid yourself into thinking this isn't a reality show because it is.

Body of Proof
Dana Delany and Seven of Nine in a procedural about a medical examiner. Sounds like a good show, too bad they are burying it on Friday nights.

CBS
Mike and Molly
A couple of fatties meet and fall in love at an Overeaters Annoymous group. Get this cancelled already and bring Big Bang Theory back to Monday.

Hawaii Five-O
Super hot and sexy cast include Jin from LOST and Sharon from Battlestar Gallactica shot on location in Hawaii. With Jean smart as the governor of Hawaii! I so super excited!


The Defenders
Jerry O'Connel as a lawyer who fights for the little guy. I'm so sick of those kind of shows.

Shit My Dad Says
Technically called $#*! My Dad Says (and pronounced Bleep My Dad Says), this is the first show based on a Twitter account. Irregardless of the origin, it looks like a solid father-son comedy with Captain Kirk/TJ Hooker/Denny Crane as the dad. I love it!

Blue Bloods
New York cop family with Magnum PI, blah, blah, blah.

CW
Hellcats
Its about time they made a show completely about a cheer squad. Perfect for the CW but not for me.

Nikita
A sexy spy thriller with Nikita being hunted by her former agency. Sexy but no.

Labels: Fall 2010, Hawaii Five-O, upfronts

Hey look, I'm blogging again!

The upfronts were this week so I have several posts planned about the new fall season. First up, shows that were new last fall that got a second season pickup. This list does not include mid-season shows.

Parenthood
What I said last May: Since ABC is making Eastwick, NBC is resurrecting an old 80s movie into TV form. That movie was great because of the cast, who knows if this will capture the magic.
What I said last September: The movie was great and like 20 years old but I look forward to the very few episodes I expect out of this.
What I say Now: The show was moved to mid-season because NBC had a retarded season with the Jay Leno failure. The biggest surprise was that this is a drama, not a half hour comedy. I'm really enjoying this and it makes me super happy I don't have kids.

Community
May: A comedy about a study group at a community college. With the Soup and Seattle native Joel McHale and the awesome Chevy Chase this show is sure to be a hit. It looks like the funniest show of the fall. I always say the funniest shows come from NBC. Expect Arrested Development.
September: Joel McHale from The Soup is the star of this new sitcom about a bunch of characters at a community college. It looks like the best new comedy of the season.
Now: It's hard to pick a second favorite comedy after 30 Rock but this one is up there. The paintball armageddon episode was one of the funniest episodes of any show ever. I look forward to more zaniness from a great collection of characters

Glee
May: OMGYG! I'm so pissed that the pilot last week is all we get until the fall. This show was so good I was so expecting at least seven episodes this summer. I guess being pissed they produced an awesome show isn't too bad.
September: This premiered back in May and I love this show. Love it. Love it!
Now: One of the most inconsistent shows I can't stop loving. The writing can at times be the sloppiest on television but as the only successful musical television show in modern times (Cop Rock? Viva Laughlin?) and a great cast I can't stop loving it. Can't wait for the regionals in June!

Cleveland Show
September: This was initially a mid-season replacement from last season. Cleveland from The Family Guy moves to Virginia and marries his high school sweetheart. Looks awesome.
Now: Seth McFarlin has made another entertaining show which is essentially the same formula with different character. Still, this show pushes the limits with Cleveland being a pimp and the leader of a teen drug ring. Plus the bears are funny.

Cougar Town
May: Monica from Friends plays a older women trying to date younger men. Didn't Courtney Cox marry a much younger man?
September: I love Courtney Cox Arquette although I don't think this show will be success. Maybe 6 episodes I guess.
Now: From the first episode I loved this show. The characters coalesced throughout the season and now they are kind of the fantasy neighbors one dreams of. I wished I lived on their cul-du-sac.


Modern Family
May: Another family comedy about an over scheduled modern family. The online clip was all about scheduling a time to administer corporal punishment to the son. "It's on the calendar now, you can't complain about it." Maybe, I don't know.
September: Why watch Parenthood, which was about family life in the late 80s, when you can watch a total new and original show about three different families. One of them is a gay couple with an adopted baby
Now: The pilot had a huge surprise when it was revealed the three families were all related. Initially there was going to be another character who was a Swedish foreign exchange student who lived with the family as kids and returned to make a documentary about them. The character was cut (for now?) but the documentary style remained. This show is so consistently funny I want to watch it right away.

The Middle
May: The Janitor from Scrubs plays a dad with a middle class family in the middle of America (Indiana). I can't think of the last successful family comedy so I'm hope this makes it.
September: I can't watch every new comedy, sorry.
Now: Good for them for being renewed.

Shark Tank
September: A new reality show where inventors and innovators bring their ideas to a group of five real life investors. This looks like could be quite interesting but filled with lots of super embarrassing situations. For that reason I won't be watching it.
Now: I've caught glimpses of this show and it is the worst. I hate reality shows that take themselves way too seriously

NCIS: LA
May: Well it's NCIS but in L.A. Is there a lot of naval investigations to be had in L.A.?
September: What is NCIS? There's a spin-off now? Who watches this?
Now: This is kinda a huge hit but I have not and will not ever watch an episode.

The Good Wife
May: The wife of a scandal deposed Senator goes back to work at a law firm after her husband goes to jail. I like lawyer shows but this just looks boring. Why would she go work at such a cut throat firm? There are lots of smaller single-mom friendly places she should go work for especially with the connections she has as a Senator's wife. Fake office tension is one thing I cannot suspend my disbelief for.
September: I find the concept good but the execution awful. So a disgraced politician's wife must go back to work after her husband is put in jail. Sounds good. But she chooses a cut-throat trial law firm with lots of hungry 20-somethings. It would make a lot more sense and be a lot more original if she became a lobbyist. Lame, don't watch.
Now: A few weeks back I got a TV guide and I stared at the cover for several minutes before realizing this cast was on the cover. I can't understand why anyone would watch this show, it looks so painfully awful.

Vampire Diaries
May: Really? Do we need a new vampire show every year? Moonlight then True Blood. Now a teen romance vampire show on the CW. I can't stand it.
September: I will not be watching it. And it's not because the vampire landscape is totally over full with True Blood and Twilight. It's because I refuse to accept that this love triangle with two vampires and a human could ever exist. I'm 38 and I would probably take the opportunity to have sex with an 18 year old. But I could never have a relationship with him. So these vampire brothers are like 80 years old or what ever? How could they possible want to have more than a brief affair with this teenage girl? It's just weird. At least Sookie is in her 20s on True Blood. Other than the love triangle, there's also Buffy elements of demons and supernatural stuff. Hasn't this all been done to death, so to speak. One good thing is has Boone from Lost.
Now: I've heard almost nothing about this show since it had been on. I have no new opinions on it.

V
September: We have to wait until November but we get: Inara/Adria, Agent Baldwin, and Juliet all in the same series! I'm happy they are remaking this classic show from my childhood. I just hope they don't do the whole stealing-the-water story. There's so much water in the galaxy, there's no need to pull it out of our gravity well. Go gerbils!
Now: Originally this was a mid-season but they pushed the first four episode to November. I'm not sure if that was the best decision. Irregardless, the show is starting to develop its own really good mythology. The friendship between Anna and Erica was completely unexpected. It's funny, as soon as I found out it was filmed in Vancouver instead of NYC, I suddenly gave the show so much more slack. All SciFi shows are produced in Vancouver so I had higher expectations of one made in New York. I only caught that one iconic Vancouver building in one shot so far. I like how the aliens get "infected" with human emotions and that is becoming their downfall.

Labels: Fall 2010, Modern Family, Parenthood, upfronts, V