It seems a little weird to be talking about the new Fall TV schedule when it’s not even officially summer yet. But this time of year is when the major networks tell everyone what their preliminary schedule is going to be. Then they wait all summer to see how good or bad their shows are and then go through and change everything again. And then a few shows bomb out of the gate and they change everything again. I guess what I’m saying is don’t get too excited about the new shows or upset that you want to watch three things in a timeslot and your DVR only records two. So, let’s check out a few interesting new shows for next season after the jump.
Category Archives: TV
Joss Whedon GQ Interview
Joss Whedon is kinda busy right now. He just had a horror film (The Cabin in the Woods) released and is premiering (today in the US) THE tent pole movie of 2012, The Avengers. To go along with all his work, there is a bunch of media about him, the best of which is this GQ article. It goes into detail about his career. From Buffy (the movie) to script doctor to Buffy (the show) and Angel. Then two canceled Fox shows and a web success and a well-received (but mediocre box office) movie. This doesn’t exactly look like the profile of someone that would be handed the reins to The Avengers. But the article talks about this in detail. Go read it.
New Syfy shows
Just a few weeks ago, I was wondering if The Science Channel was better for science fiction than Syfy. Well, it looks like Syfy is striking back with a huge slate of new shows (official presentation will be next week) which include aliens, time travel, space ships as well as a few ghost shows. So, let’s look at a couple of the highlights.
Game of Thrones Season 2 Premiere review
Game of Thrones is back and bloody as ever. The first episode seemed to serve more as a re-introduction to the viewers without a lot of plot heavy elements. But for a second season premiere, this seems to be what is needed. We get re-introduced to most of our main characters and locations, so that the show can start running forward next episode. Let’s check out what happened.
Canceled Too Soon: Drive
Every season there are some good show that, for whatever reason, just never find an audience and are canceled fairly early on. I’ve had that happen to a number of shows, but one of the prematurely canceled shows that caught my attention before it’s early demise was the Tim Minear show Drive. Many of you know who Tim Minear is, he was the Executive Producer for Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls, Terriers, Dollhouse and The Chicago Code, among others. So you can see that he has a reputation for working on quirky, high quality TV. But, except for Angel, all of his shows are short-lived.So, what exactly was Drive?
Is the Science Channel Better Than SyFy?
The Science Channel recently concluded the re-running of Stephen Hawking’s Sci Fi Masters and this week it will finish the its home grown Prophets of Science Fiction. This has made me realize that over the last year or so, I’ve watched Science Channel a lot more than I’ve watched Syfy. And this makes me curious as to why? Is Science Channel a better TV network for science fiction than SyFy right now?
Why I Stopped Watching Once Upon A Time
Back when it started, I reviewed ABC’s Once Upon a Time (review). I loved the mythology and the way the show just jumped into it. I enjoyed the interplay with Henry and his two moms: biological (Emma) and adoptive (Mayor Regina). And the intercutting of the fantasy/fairytale world and reality was interesting. But, recently I’ve given up on the show. Read on to find out why.
Awake Pilot review
It’s been available On Demand and online for a couple weeks now, but, due to some family issues, I didn’t actually get to see the pilot for the new show Awake until last night. And I’m not sure if I’m going to keep watching. One of the problems with interesting premise shows on network TV is that they have to fill 22 episodes with interesting stuff and that often leads to significant fluff being introduced or for long term plots to proceed at a snail’s pace. On cable or premium channels, with only 10-12 episodes needed, the shows move much faster. So, I have some concerns about the science-fiction parts of Awake (namely the multiple universes) actually meaning something or just being a background piece that gets some play in once or twice a season. So, let’s check out Awake.
The Finder on Fox
One of the advantages of being sick and not being able to get back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night is that you have an opportunity to catch up on some TV that you’ve missed. In my case, it was the new Fox show The Finder. The show is a spin-off of Bones (as there was an episode that featured two of our main characters last season) and created by the same team. The series is based on The Locator series by Richard Greener, which I might have to check out now. So, let’s check out the series.
Stephen Hawking’s Sci-Fi Masters
Browsing the channel guide, I happened upon a Science Channel show titled Stephen Hawking’s Sci-Fi Masters. I thought that this was a cool new series featuring introductions by Stephen Hawking and adaptations of classic short stories by science fiction masters such as Robert Sheckley, Harlan Ellison, Robert Heinlein and others. Imagine my surprise to discover that this series originally ran on ABC in 2007 with only 4 of the 6 episodes shown. A science fiction anthology on a major American broadcast network only 4 years ago and I never heard of it. I’m guessing that there wasn’t a lot of promotion for it.