Part I covered the new cable shows I tried out. Click here to read it.
Now, on to the new shows from the big four broadcasting networks. (I don't count The CW; I usually forget it even exists, and I don't think I've watched a new show on that network since The Search For the Next Doll.) (Yes, I watched that show. I watch a lot of TV. And Melissa Smith was robbed.)
As with Part I, I'll start with the worst show I watched and work my way up the list. Here we go.
Episodes Watched: 5 of 7
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Southern accents, regardless of how inane the words are that are spoken with said accent
Comments: I seem to have already blocked out what makes this show awful. I don't really have anything to say about it. Just don't bother watching it.
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Southern accents, regardless of how inane the words are that are spoken with said accent
Comments: I seem to have already blocked out what makes this show awful. I don't really have anything to say about it. Just don't bother watching it.
Free Agents, NBC
Episodes Watched: 4 of 8 (only 4 were broadcast, but the others were made available online)
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Herman's Head
Comments: Like Herman's Head, Agents is a show featuring Hank Azaria (who does Apu, Moe, Wiggum, and dozens of other voices on The Simpsons) about a bunch of single coworkers who are obsessed with sex. Unlike the underrated Head, Free Agents doesn't have a single likeable character, and the jokes are pretty weak too.
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Herman's Head
Comments: Like Herman's Head, Agents is a show featuring Hank Azaria (who does Apu, Moe, Wiggum, and dozens of other voices on The Simpsons) about a bunch of single coworkers who are obsessed with sex. Unlike the underrated Head, Free Agents doesn't have a single likeable character, and the jokes are pretty weak too.
Charlie's Angels, ABC
Episodes Watched: 1 of 8 (only 7 episodes were broadcast)
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Female spy shows, but think VIP was a better take on the genre than the original Angels
Comments: I have never watched Friday Night Lights (clearly, I'm too busy watching inferior shows), so while I had seen Minka Kelly before, and liked what I saw, I had never heard her speak. I should've quit while I was ahead, and left this show as unseen as the titular Charlie.
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Female spy shows, but think VIP was a better take on the genre than the original Angels
Comments: I have never watched Friday Night Lights (clearly, I'm too busy watching inferior shows), so while I had seen Minka Kelly before, and liked what I saw, I had never heard her speak. I should've quit while I was ahead, and left this show as unseen as the titular Charlie.
Allen Gregory, FOX
Episodes Watched: 7 of 7
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Family Guy, but wish it was less funny and more mean-spirited
Comments: The less said about this Jonah Hill-produced animated stinker the better. Let's move along.
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Family Guy, but wish it was less funny and more mean-spirited
Comments: The less said about this Jonah Hill-produced animated stinker the better. Let's move along.
Whitney, NBC
Episodes Watched: 7 of 22
Status for 2012-2013: Renewed for a second season
For those who like: Sitcoms about three young, hip guys and three young, hip women who are friends, regardless if the show is funny or not
Comments: I enjoy the standup of the two leads, but they're not funny on this show. The lack of humor is exacerbated by the incessant laugh track. I don't watch the CBS sitcoms, so I'm unused to laugh tracks (besides Seinfeld reruns, but my brain seems to know it's an old show so it seems appropriate to have the background LOLs); it was jarring to hear, especially since nearly all the jokes fell flat.
Status for 2012-2013: Renewed for a second season
For those who like: Sitcoms about three young, hip guys and three young, hip women who are friends, regardless if the show is funny or not
Comments: I enjoy the standup of the two leads, but they're not funny on this show. The lack of humor is exacerbated by the incessant laugh track. I don't watch the CBS sitcoms, so I'm unused to laugh tracks (besides Seinfeld reruns, but my brain seems to know it's an old show so it seems appropriate to have the background LOLs); it was jarring to hear, especially since nearly all the jokes fell flat.
Touch, FOX
Episodes Watched: 3 of 13
Status for 2012-2013: Renewed for a second season
For those who like: Rain Man; in fact, they like it so much they wish someone made a humorless prequel
Comments: It's bad enough that this show is boring. But it also made Jack Bauer into a powerless figure, and I won't stand for that.
Status for 2012-2013: Renewed for a second season
For those who like: Rain Man; in fact, they like it so much they wish someone made a humorless prequel
Comments: It's bad enough that this show is boring. But it also made Jack Bauer into a powerless figure, and I won't stand for that.
Playboy Club, NBC
Episodes Watched: 3 of 3
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Mad Men, but get distracted by things like good acting and interesting storylines
Comments: Yeah, I watched this show. The word "Playboy" gave this show an undeserved stigma (well, maybe semi-deserved), but it shouldn't have been as controversial as it was. KSL, Utah's NBC affiliate refused to air it, even though it's not any more immoral then sitcoms like Whitney or any more violent than shows like Law & Order, which KSL has aired without any problems. Not that Playboy Club is a family-friendly show by any stretch (I watch a lot of shows that are at least a little "inappropriate," but that's a topic for another day)--it's just not any more family-unfriendly than many other shows, and I think it's a bit hypocritical to ban it.
That being said, the show itself wasn't very good. They definitely tried to recreate the cool nostalgia of Mad Men, but the characters and plots just weren't interesting. Despite its short run, it was still able to produce the second-most cringeworthy line of the 2011-2012 TV season: Hugh Hefner's original PC was in Chicago, and that's where the show is set. Only club members with keys were granted access. In one episode, a character says they got into the club by borrowing a key from Abe Vroman. Yes, THAT Abe Froman from Chicago. Blech.
Status for 2012-2013: Canceled
For those who like: Mad Men, but get distracted by things like good acting and interesting storylines
Comments: Yeah, I watched this show. The word "Playboy" gave this show an undeserved stigma (well, maybe semi-deserved), but it shouldn't have been as controversial as it was. KSL, Utah's NBC affiliate refused to air it, even though it's not any more immoral then sitcoms like Whitney or any more violent than shows like Law & Order, which KSL has aired without any problems. Not that Playboy Club is a family-friendly show by any stretch (I watch a lot of shows that are at least a little "inappropriate," but that's a topic for another day)--it's just not any more family-unfriendly than many other shows, and I think it's a bit hypocritical to ban it.
That being said, the show itself wasn't very good. They definitely tried to recreate the cool nostalgia of Mad Men, but the characters and plots just weren't interesting. Despite its short run, it was still able to produce the second-most cringeworthy line of the 2011-2012 TV season: Hugh Hefner's original PC was in Chicago, and that's where the show is set. Only club members with keys were granted access. In one episode, a character says they got into the club by borrowing a key from Abe Vroman. Yes, THAT Abe Froman from Chicago. Blech.
Last Man Standing, ABC
Episodes Watched: 2 of 24
Status for 2012-2013: Renewed for a second season
For those who like: Home Improvement (duh)
Comments: And the most cringeworthy line of the season? In the opening scene of the Last Man Standing pilot, Tim Allen walks in the door and shouts "I'm back!" His character had just come back from a long work trip, but the implication was obvious--Tim Allen had returned to conquer TV again! So annoying. It tainted my view of the show (which is quite accurately described as Home Improvement but with daughters instead of sons, and no Wilson) so much that I never went back to it after the first day (when they aired back-to-back episodes). Which is a shame, because I always like Nancy Travis.
That's good for now. Back soon for Part III!
Status for 2012-2013: Renewed for a second season
For those who like: Home Improvement (duh)
Comments: And the most cringeworthy line of the season? In the opening scene of the Last Man Standing pilot, Tim Allen walks in the door and shouts "I'm back!" His character had just come back from a long work trip, but the implication was obvious--Tim Allen had returned to conquer TV again! So annoying. It tainted my view of the show (which is quite accurately described as Home Improvement but with daughters instead of sons, and no Wilson) so much that I never went back to it after the first day (when they aired back-to-back episodes). Which is a shame, because I always like Nancy Travis.
That's good for now. Back soon for Part III!
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