fall 2010 tv premiere week: monday
Premiere week is underway, which means the fall TV season has officially begun. Since I've got some free time to spare, I've decided to try my hand at giving quick reviews of some of the introductory episodes of this season's shows. First up is the Monday line-up, which is a pretty hefty one on my TV schedule with a slew of new shows and a couple of returning ones padding the list.
I'll try to remain as unspecific as possible, but obviously, spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't watched them yet.
Chuck (NBC)
The season 4 premiere pretty much picks up where the season 3 finale left off, with Chuck promising his sister that he would leave the spy world behind, yet being lured into attempting to uncover the secret behind his mother's apparent disappearance without anyone knowing. A couple of months pass quickly after that, before the episode storyline really starts to get going. Overall, it's pretty much what you would expect from a typical episode of Chuck -- intimidating "foreign" baddies with bad accents, gratuitous slo-mo Sarah Walker camera once-overs, Morgan being a creeper, weakly constructed government mission storylines that you only vaguely care about until guns are being fired and people are getting beat up, and sneaky product placement in the background of various scenes (I spy a new Chase ATM!). Some things are new -- the Buy More has been revamped, Chuck seems to have gotten an even snazzier new haircut, Olivia Munn guest stars while the old Buy More crew is, for now, MIA (no complaints here). The most noticeable difference, though, is the development of Chuck and Sarah's relationship. For as much as the will-they-or-won't-they tension drove me crazy, the quick turnaround into the sugary, "normal" couple they are now just doesn't make sense. Perhaps it's all part of plot development for them to figure out that they are, in fact, not a normal couple, but some of the things that made them an intriguing match to begin with seem to have been forgotten. For example, as emotionally stunted and guarded as Sarah was before, she's now spitting out lines of cheese like "nothing is going to keep me from coming back to you". It's nice to see her softening up a bit (as she's gradually been doing over the seasons), but it seems weird to have her just jump right into the sappy girlfriend role. The rest of the episode pretty much just sets up the big mom mystery and a new personal dilemma between Chuck and Ellie. I don't think any season is going to be as strong as the first, especially now that Chuck is a full blown non-awkward spy, but it's not like this season didn't show any signs of promise. Beckman is as crafty and awesome as ever, we're not on Jeffster overload (not saying I think they should be off the show, but a lot of the time they only serve as a distraction to the rest of the story), and Linda Hamilton is a great fit as Mama Bartowski. Overall: B. Nothing attention grabbing to start with, but a solid foundation was set.
House (FOX)
Now, if you want a better example of what to do when finally putting together a longtime coming couple, House did it pretty flawlessly. Just like Chuck, the season 7 premiere was all about the beginning of "Huddy". Yes, they're giving it a shot, but House is still House and whatever problems that were hindering them before are still there. It's not all angsty, though. They're totally cute together, but still damaged and tentative like a new relationship, especially between these two, should be. Since that pretty much covered the whole episode, there's not much else to mention. The team takes on an in-house case in an attempt to keep the hospital open. The "Thirteen has Huntington's" storyline is still dragging on. She's also the only available girl left on the show, so naturally there's also a bit of a romantic triangle storyline going on. The other guys on House's team are still just as lackluster as ever. Same 'ol, same 'ol. Overall: A-. Not as good as last season's premiere with House in Crazy Town, but it was a very compelling, yet surprisingly subtle start.
The Event (NBC)
Admittedly, NBC hooked me into checking this out with their vague ads and promises of a water-cooler worthy cliffhanger ending. I'm also wary of all these mystery dramas that have popped up in the wake of Lost. I was disappointed by last season's FlashForward so I definitely went into this show with some reservations. The pros -- I liked the format of the show. The show runs on a mixture of flashbacks/alternate perspective scenes that set up the back-story of the characters and shows how their lives intertwine with one another. Jason Ritter turns in the standout performance of the cast as an unsuspecting, everyday guy who gets roped into the conspiracy out of desperation when his romantic vacation goes awry and ends up with his girlfriend missing. The ads are correct in saying it's a bit of a mix between Lost and 24, crazy airplane problems and all, but unfortunately, combining two good things does not always create an even better thing. Instead, NBC ended up with a limp knockoff that's clearly trying too hard to capitalize on the hole created by Lost's vacancy. As for the supposed don't-miss ending, all the hype kind of kills the element of surprise when you've had 45 minutes prior to figure out what crazy, out of this world "event" could possibly happen. I'm willing to give it a couple more episodes to try to distinguish itself as something new and different, but I'm definitely not getting my hopes up. Overall: C. You can only bank on intrigue so much without delivering. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a huge ratings drop in this show next week.
Lone Star (FOX)
Out of all the new shows that premiered tonight, and maybe even for the season, this was probably the one I was anticipating the most. Critics seemed to be praising it ahead of time and FOX did a pretty good job of shoving it down people's throats over the summer. The pros -- the lead character, played by newcomer James Wolk, is extremely charming and charismatic and definitely strong enough to carry the show. The soundtrack was also contemporary and folky enough to befit a show set in Texas, yet not too hokey as to make you feel like you're at the rodeo (highlights include two Mumford & Sons songs, "The Cave" and "Awake My Soul", and Jose Gonzalez's cover of "Heartbeats"). The plot is also engaging enough to build a good season around, but I wonder how long the whole double-life storyline can last and what the show will become after that (if it lasts that long). If I had to compare this show to something else, oddly enough it reminds me a lot of Friday Night Lights without the shaky hand-held cams and with oil instead of football. But one area where FNL soars and Lone Star flails is in it's supporting cast. Despite having FNL alum Adrianne Palicki and Oscar-winner Jon Voight, everyone outside of Wolk falls pretty flat and are pretty one-dimensional, at the moment. If they are developed and a little more suspense is injected into the show, I think they may be able to garner enough support to get themselves out of the ratings hole they stumbled into. Overall: B+. A lot of potential, but it's going to have to pick up the pace quickly in order to stick around.
Castle (ABC)
Surprisingly, Castle is one of the few shows recently that has steadily improved since it's initial debut, which is a little weird since it hasn't really done anything to change it's formula. I guess it's mostly due to character development and a stronger cast chemistry. The premiere gets season 3 off to a good start, pitting Castle against his NYPD buddies after being found in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was definitely an inventive way to bring the characters back together after their summer apart and reignite the tension between Castle and Beckett. The episode's murder of the week was also slightly more interesting than usual (sorry, but I've become a bit jaded toward the weekly crimes after watching so many procedurals over the years). Overall: B. Pretty consistent with how the show's been going, but with the ratings as strong as they are, there's not really any point in fixing what ain't broke.
Chase (NBC)
I didn't actually know about this show until last week, so I went into it without any expectations. I was a little excited since the show is set in Houston, but other than giving the characters an excuse to use awful fake Texas accents, wear garish belt buckles, and love Waylon Jennings, it's pretty indistinguishable from every other cop show. To be honest, I kind of ended up only half watching the show after the first five minutes. Cop shows are pretty formulaic, and this one is not necessarily bad, but it takes more than just decent for me to pay attention (like the grit and realism of Southland). I usually never turn down shows led by female BAMFs, but this show seems more suited for a cable network like TNT, where it could take over for Saving Grace alongside The Closer. Overall: C+. I'd probably only watch this show if it was live and already on and given that it's competing in Castle's timeslot, that probably means I won't see another episode of this show again.
Hawaii Five-O (CBS)
I've never even seen an episode of the original, so I can't make any comparisons to the remake. Just like Chase, it's another formulaic cop show, but with prettier scenery. And again, I didn't pay full attention to the show after the first couple of minutes. I honestly couldn't tell you what happened other than the lead character was trying to get vengeance for his father's death. Or maybe that was the whole episode. Who knows. Alex O'Loughlin does well enough in the lead role, but there's not really a lot to screw up there. At least he looks pretty doing it. Scott Caan brings a little humor and complexity to the show with his "just trying to do right by my daughter" dadditude. Daniel Dae Kim gets to speak in full and proper English, which must be a nice change of pace for him. And of course, Grace Park is there to look hot in minimal clothing and to punch the occasional dude that outweighs her by 100 lbs. Overall: C+. It'll probably garner enough attention to stick around just off the name alone, but right now, it's only DVR level in quality.
I'll try to remain as unspecific as possible, but obviously, spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't watched them yet.
Chuck (NBC)
The season 4 premiere pretty much picks up where the season 3 finale left off, with Chuck promising his sister that he would leave the spy world behind, yet being lured into attempting to uncover the secret behind his mother's apparent disappearance without anyone knowing. A couple of months pass quickly after that, before the episode storyline really starts to get going. Overall, it's pretty much what you would expect from a typical episode of Chuck -- intimidating "foreign" baddies with bad accents, gratuitous slo-mo Sarah Walker camera once-overs, Morgan being a creeper, weakly constructed government mission storylines that you only vaguely care about until guns are being fired and people are getting beat up, and sneaky product placement in the background of various scenes (I spy a new Chase ATM!). Some things are new -- the Buy More has been revamped, Chuck seems to have gotten an even snazzier new haircut, Olivia Munn guest stars while the old Buy More crew is, for now, MIA (no complaints here). The most noticeable difference, though, is the development of Chuck and Sarah's relationship. For as much as the will-they-or-won't-they tension drove me crazy, the quick turnaround into the sugary, "normal" couple they are now just doesn't make sense. Perhaps it's all part of plot development for them to figure out that they are, in fact, not a normal couple, but some of the things that made them an intriguing match to begin with seem to have been forgotten. For example, as emotionally stunted and guarded as Sarah was before, she's now spitting out lines of cheese like "nothing is going to keep me from coming back to you". It's nice to see her softening up a bit (as she's gradually been doing over the seasons), but it seems weird to have her just jump right into the sappy girlfriend role. The rest of the episode pretty much just sets up the big mom mystery and a new personal dilemma between Chuck and Ellie. I don't think any season is going to be as strong as the first, especially now that Chuck is a full blown non-awkward spy, but it's not like this season didn't show any signs of promise. Beckman is as crafty and awesome as ever, we're not on Jeffster overload (not saying I think they should be off the show, but a lot of the time they only serve as a distraction to the rest of the story), and Linda Hamilton is a great fit as Mama Bartowski. Overall: B. Nothing attention grabbing to start with, but a solid foundation was set.
House (FOX)
Now, if you want a better example of what to do when finally putting together a longtime coming couple, House did it pretty flawlessly. Just like Chuck, the season 7 premiere was all about the beginning of "Huddy". Yes, they're giving it a shot, but House is still House and whatever problems that were hindering them before are still there. It's not all angsty, though. They're totally cute together, but still damaged and tentative like a new relationship, especially between these two, should be. Since that pretty much covered the whole episode, there's not much else to mention. The team takes on an in-house case in an attempt to keep the hospital open. The "Thirteen has Huntington's" storyline is still dragging on. She's also the only available girl left on the show, so naturally there's also a bit of a romantic triangle storyline going on. The other guys on House's team are still just as lackluster as ever. Same 'ol, same 'ol. Overall: A-. Not as good as last season's premiere with House in Crazy Town, but it was a very compelling, yet surprisingly subtle start.
The Event (NBC)
Admittedly, NBC hooked me into checking this out with their vague ads and promises of a water-cooler worthy cliffhanger ending. I'm also wary of all these mystery dramas that have popped up in the wake of Lost. I was disappointed by last season's FlashForward so I definitely went into this show with some reservations. The pros -- I liked the format of the show. The show runs on a mixture of flashbacks/alternate perspective scenes that set up the back-story of the characters and shows how their lives intertwine with one another. Jason Ritter turns in the standout performance of the cast as an unsuspecting, everyday guy who gets roped into the conspiracy out of desperation when his romantic vacation goes awry and ends up with his girlfriend missing. The ads are correct in saying it's a bit of a mix between Lost and 24, crazy airplane problems and all, but unfortunately, combining two good things does not always create an even better thing. Instead, NBC ended up with a limp knockoff that's clearly trying too hard to capitalize on the hole created by Lost's vacancy. As for the supposed don't-miss ending, all the hype kind of kills the element of surprise when you've had 45 minutes prior to figure out what crazy, out of this world "event" could possibly happen. I'm willing to give it a couple more episodes to try to distinguish itself as something new and different, but I'm definitely not getting my hopes up. Overall: C. You can only bank on intrigue so much without delivering. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a huge ratings drop in this show next week.
Lone Star (FOX)
Out of all the new shows that premiered tonight, and maybe even for the season, this was probably the one I was anticipating the most. Critics seemed to be praising it ahead of time and FOX did a pretty good job of shoving it down people's throats over the summer. The pros -- the lead character, played by newcomer James Wolk, is extremely charming and charismatic and definitely strong enough to carry the show. The soundtrack was also contemporary and folky enough to befit a show set in Texas, yet not too hokey as to make you feel like you're at the rodeo (highlights include two Mumford & Sons songs, "The Cave" and "Awake My Soul", and Jose Gonzalez's cover of "Heartbeats"). The plot is also engaging enough to build a good season around, but I wonder how long the whole double-life storyline can last and what the show will become after that (if it lasts that long). If I had to compare this show to something else, oddly enough it reminds me a lot of Friday Night Lights without the shaky hand-held cams and with oil instead of football. But one area where FNL soars and Lone Star flails is in it's supporting cast. Despite having FNL alum Adrianne Palicki and Oscar-winner Jon Voight, everyone outside of Wolk falls pretty flat and are pretty one-dimensional, at the moment. If they are developed and a little more suspense is injected into the show, I think they may be able to garner enough support to get themselves out of the ratings hole they stumbled into. Overall: B+. A lot of potential, but it's going to have to pick up the pace quickly in order to stick around.
Castle (ABC)
Surprisingly, Castle is one of the few shows recently that has steadily improved since it's initial debut, which is a little weird since it hasn't really done anything to change it's formula. I guess it's mostly due to character development and a stronger cast chemistry. The premiere gets season 3 off to a good start, pitting Castle against his NYPD buddies after being found in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was definitely an inventive way to bring the characters back together after their summer apart and reignite the tension between Castle and Beckett. The episode's murder of the week was also slightly more interesting than usual (sorry, but I've become a bit jaded toward the weekly crimes after watching so many procedurals over the years). Overall: B. Pretty consistent with how the show's been going, but with the ratings as strong as they are, there's not really any point in fixing what ain't broke.
Chase (NBC)
I didn't actually know about this show until last week, so I went into it without any expectations. I was a little excited since the show is set in Houston, but other than giving the characters an excuse to use awful fake Texas accents, wear garish belt buckles, and love Waylon Jennings, it's pretty indistinguishable from every other cop show. To be honest, I kind of ended up only half watching the show after the first five minutes. Cop shows are pretty formulaic, and this one is not necessarily bad, but it takes more than just decent for me to pay attention (like the grit and realism of Southland). I usually never turn down shows led by female BAMFs, but this show seems more suited for a cable network like TNT, where it could take over for Saving Grace alongside The Closer. Overall: C+. I'd probably only watch this show if it was live and already on and given that it's competing in Castle's timeslot, that probably means I won't see another episode of this show again.
Hawaii Five-O (CBS)
I've never even seen an episode of the original, so I can't make any comparisons to the remake. Just like Chase, it's another formulaic cop show, but with prettier scenery. And again, I didn't pay full attention to the show after the first couple of minutes. I honestly couldn't tell you what happened other than the lead character was trying to get vengeance for his father's death. Or maybe that was the whole episode. Who knows. Alex O'Loughlin does well enough in the lead role, but there's not really a lot to screw up there. At least he looks pretty doing it. Scott Caan brings a little humor and complexity to the show with his "just trying to do right by my daughter" dadditude. Daniel Dae Kim gets to speak in full and proper English, which must be a nice change of pace for him. And of course, Grace Park is there to look hot in minimal clothing and to punch the occasional dude that outweighs her by 100 lbs. Overall: C+. It'll probably garner enough attention to stick around just off the name alone, but right now, it's only DVR level in quality.