Based on James Ellroy’s noir classic novel and executive produced by Arnon Milchan, L.A. Confidential is heading to the small screen, which will be a tonally modern version of Ellroy’s source material and subsequent 1997 feature film from director Curtis Hanson.
Continue reading L.A. Confidential TV Series In The Works At CBS
The question has been raised since the last series, Star Trek Enterprise, ended its run in 2005 after four seasons. And the question not only gets raised each time the movies hit the big screen, but when that other space opera continues to Force its way into households, first through the Clone Wars animated series and currently via Rebels.
Continue reading New Star Trek Series to Stream in January 2017
CBS just released a lengthy first look trailer for their upcoming DC Comics series, Supergirl.
Continue reading Supergirl Trailer: CBS Offers Extended First Look
I come to you today a conflicted woman. Those pilots I so looked forward to and thought would find legs? Well it turns out there’s a reason I’m not a network executive. That reason being I don’t think like a network executive as evidenced by the fact that so few of those pilots I predicted would make it to air actually will. On one hand, I’m disappointed because there were some great ideas that are no longer and on the other hand there are some trailers for these new shoes that look very promising. See? Conflict. But enough chit chat – let’s watch some trailers for all the new TV shows…
**note: I did not include all mid-season shows. There will be plenty of time to look at those, these are mainly the fall premieres.**
[tabgroup][tab title=”NBC”]
NBC cleaned house. Especially when it comes to their sitcoms. The only ones that were renewed were Parks and Recreation and (somewhat amazing) Community. The rest of them, including every new show they premiered this year? Gone. Sadly there have been murmurings that NBC is purposefully abandoning the style of shows they used to air, like 30 Rock and the freshman now canceled sitcom Go On, and are instead looking for things more broad reaching, family oriented, even going so far as to say they want shows more like those on CBS. That’s right folks… NBC is courting the lowest common denominator. Oh joy.
[toggle_simple title=” The Blacklist” width=”600″]
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36728
Former government agent, current FBI Most Wanted, Raymond “Red” Reddington has been on the run for years but now is coming to the FBI with a proposition; he wants to help them hunt down another of their Most Wanted, terrorist Ranko Zamani. Of course, as the name implies, Zamani is not the only person on Red’s list.
Meh, I suppose it has potential but it seems a little like a combination between Law and Order and Fox’s The Following.
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[toggle_simple title=”Dracula” width=”600″]
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36763
Johnathan Rhys Meyers is discarding period garb to have sex with beautiful women. It seems as if we’ve seen this before. Oh, yea. At least this time he’s doing it as a vampire instead of as King. I’ll admit, this looks promising especially with the people involved behind the camera, and Meyers isn’t really a schlub, so things are in Dracula‘s favor.
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[toggle_simple title=”Sean Saves the World” width=”600″]
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36743
I do believe I said I’d eat my hat if this show made it to series so if someone really wants to see me do that I shall. This is exactly the type of show one might expect to see on CBS so congrats NBC!, you did exactly what you set out to.
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[toggle_simple title=”The Michael J. Fox Show” width=”600″]
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36745
Before seeing this trailer I thought it was going to be crappy. I have since changed my tune. Out of all of NBC’s new shows, this looks to be the most intriguing. I’m hoping that the trailer isn’t hiding the triteness that so many family sitcoms fall victims to because it looks pretty decent based off this small glimpse.
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[toggle_simple title=”Ironsides” width=”600″]
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36744
Not even the beautiful Blair Underwood can make me watch this. Sorry.
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[toggle_simple title=”Welcome to the Family” width=”600″]
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36742
I’ll admit, I liked Yes, Dear for a mindless afternoon of sitcom viewing. There is on way on earth I’m going to make sure I watch this drivel. I mean really NBC? This? I’m insulted. You are better than this. Come on.
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So yea, NBC? Not really hitting it out of the park this year. Of course in addition to these gems is the Chicago Fire spin-off Chicago PD. Are there more depressing words than “Chicago Fire spin-off”? I don’t think so. I’d love to come back to this in a year and be completely wrong about these shows but I think we all know, I won’t be.
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[tab title=”ABC”]
If you haven’t been to our site before you might not have heard, but we are really excited for ABC’s new show, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. We aren’t overly thrilled with having to type that out each time, but for the show itself there is definite excitement. You can catch up on all S.H.I.E.L.D. news here, here, here, here, and here but for right now let’s look at what else ABC has in store for this coming TV year.
[toggle_simple title=”Super Fun Night” width=”600″]
I want to like this. I want this to be good. I fear neither of those things will happen. This saddens me. Oh well, maybe I’ll be proven wrong.
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[toggle_simple title=”Mixology” width=”600″]
While this does look promising, how long can the premise last? It takes place in one night. 11 hours of one night in a bar? I don’t even want to be in a real bar in my real life for 11 hours in one night, much less in a TV bar for an entire television season. This just seems like it would get really old, really quick.
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[toggle_simple title=”Resurrection” width=”600″]
Now we’re talking. I can actually see myself watching this and enjoying it. Granted much like Mixology, I do wonder how long they can keep the show going before telling us how exactly the kid is back from the dead, but that’s part of the fun with shows like this so I’m thinking it will be good.
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[toggle_simple title=”Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” width=”600″]
So, ummmm, I like it? I am a huge fan of Once Upon a Time and even though the Wonderland version doesn’t look quite as good, mainly because it’s just the one character, I’ll probably still watch it. I mean it’s got the same people behind it (Adam Horowitz especially) as OUAT and I imagine they won’t deviate too far from what makes that show successful so I’m guessing Wonderland will be around awhile.
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[toggle_simple title=”Mind Games” width=”600″]
I’m can’t tell you how happy I am that this made it to series! Finally a show that I was looking forward to before series orders were announced that has help up to my expectations. You know how I feel about sibling relationships! And if you don’t… I like them!
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[toggle_simple title=”Trophy Wife” width=”600″]
No.
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[toggle_simple title=”The Goldbergs” width=”600″]
Extremely underwhelmed. Do we really want to relive to 80’s so soon? Nope.
However, I will have to resist the urge to burst into song each time REO Speedwagon comes on. It’s an impulse I just can’t control.
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[toggle_simple title=”Killer Women” width=”600″]
This is a good example of a promising (if formulaic) premise that seemingly gets lost when making the jump from paper to screen. One can hope that it’s just one of those shows that has a crappy trailer but ends up being a good show.
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[toggle_simple title=”Back in the Game” width=”600″]
This was a better idea when it was called Bad News Bears or Little Giants. Enough said.
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[toggle_simple title=”Betrayal” width=”600″]
I imagine if you watch and like Revenge, you will watch and like Betrayal. I won’t but I guess there are people out there that will.
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[toggle_simple title=”Lucky 7″ width=”600″]
I’m going to hold out judgement on this one until it airs because it could go either way. My gut feeling is it’s going to go bad but my gut has been wrong before so who knows.
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An interesting group of pilots. ABC seems to be a fan of large ensemble cast shows this year. Combined with the “we are a dysfunctional family” sitcoms, well we’ll just have to wait and see who ends up still breathing come next May.
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[tab title=”CBS”]
It is no secret, I hate CBS. There have been very few shows on CBS in recent memory that I’ve watched and enjoyed but each year I think to myself, “this is it, this is the year I will be a CBS fan!” and not surprisingly that lasts only about a week. This year doesn’t seem like that will change, with the exception of maybe one show.
[toggle_simple title=”The Millers” width=”600″]
Will Arnett, Margo Martindale, and Beau Bridges – what’s not to like? Well so far it looks like The Millers. I really expected more from those three fabulous actors signing on to something together but sadly this just does not look that good.
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[toggle_simple title=”Hostages” width=”600″]
In what seems like a common theme this year, I just can’t see this show having any longevity. Unless they are only giving us a glimpse of the first two episodes, I can’t imagine there is much of a story that can be told while the President is waiting for surgery. It’s a shame because Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott would be nice to watch together.
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[toggle_simple title=”Intelligence” width=”600″]
I loved this show back when it was called Chuck. Yea, yea it’s a drama and it’s nothing like Chuck because that was a comedy and this is serious business but I think we can all agree, it’s Chuck. I’ll probably give it a shot because it’s Sawyer but that’s about it.
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[toggle_simple title=”Mom” width=”600″]
Allison Janney does not need a laugh track. It is a crime that Allison Janney has a laugh track. Have I mentioned that Allison Janney is on a show with a laugh track? This saddens me. Add in Anna Faris and make this a Chuck Lorre show which means it will be very predictable and pedantic and this is probably one of the most depressing series orders of the year. So much wasted talent in yet another Chuck Lorre show on crappy CBS.
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[toggle_simple title=”We Are Men” width=”600″]
I think it would be best if people don’t get attached to this one because I can’t even fathom it lasting more than a year if even that long.
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[toggle_simple title=”The Crazy Ones” width=”600″]
This is the only CBS show that I’m actually looking forward to and it has everything to do with Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. I mean it’s Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar! The ad agency aspect seems a bit overplayed these days but I’ll still give it a shot.
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Outside of The Crazy Ones, I imagine my streak of hating CBS will not be threatened. It’s nice to know that there are some thing in life that remain constant. Thank you CBS.
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[tab title=”FOX”]
Fox has the distinction of having both the worst new show and, in my opinion, two of the best new shows of the year in their ranks. Way to go Fox, covering all the bases. I’m impressed.
[toggle_simple title=”Enlisted” width=”600″]
This show should never have made it this far, plain and simple. Sgt. Bilko was a great movie with a similar premise but Enlisted? Well it looks like that puppy that Bilko wanted to make him feel better just took a dump on the TV screen and called it a sitcom.
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[toggle_simple title=”Sleepy Hollow” width=”600″]
I am the one person in the world that loved Kate & Leopold. The idea of a person from one time long ago somehow finding his way to modern day is one that I enjoy watching. I also really like treasure hunt/mystery types of things like National Treasure. It appears as if Sleepy Hollow has both of these elements so it’s not hard to imagine that I’ll be making sure I catch this show.
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[toggle_simple title=”Almost Human” width=”600″]
I’m almost afraid to say this too loud in fear that an executive will hear it and retaliate with cancellation but, I like it. A lot. Very interested in seeing how this one plays out.
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[toggle_simple title=”Surviving Jack” width=”600″]
I really expected more out of Christopher Meloni. Not only that but is there really a market for shows based in the 90’s? I feel like the first time I heard Prince on an “oldies” station. At least The Goldbergs is the 80’s which you can recognize by the clothes and decor right away.
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[toggle_simple title=”Rake” width=”600″]
This is pretty much my middle of the road show of the year. If it makes it, that’s great; if it doesn’t, meh no big deal. Although I did really enjoy the moment where he tells the room full of people eating lunch that people really do taste like chicken. An entire show of moments like that? Yea, I’ll watch.
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[toggle_simple title=”Dads” width=”600″]
How on earth does an actor like Giovanni Ribisi end up in crap like this? Seth Green I can see because he’s an odd duck that we all love and adore the more for it but Ribisi? Just doesn’t seem right.
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[toggle_simple title=”Gang Related” width=”600″]
Very intriguing. I’ve watched every episode of Gangland so I consider myself somewhat of an expert on gang relations and this show looks like it captures them quite well. Must remember to set the dvr for this one.
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[toggle_simple title=”Us and Them” width=”600″]
These next words are not ones you will see very often: This looks like someone has done a good job at remaking a British show. If you haven’t seen Gavin & Stacey, find a way to remedy that because it is a great show. When I first saw that they were remaking it I cringed because let’s be honest with ourselves here, as a rule Hollywood sucks at remakes. Yes, I know there are obvious exceptions to that rule but it doesn’t change the rule. We suck. With any luck, it appears as if Us and Them does not. Finger crossed!
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[toggle_simple title=”Brooklyn Nine-Nine” width=”600″]
It should come as no surprise that just from trailers, my favorite new show is Andy Samberg’s really talented ensemble comedy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Andre Braugher in a comedy? Can not wait. Terry Crews, Joe Lo Truglio, and Chelsea Perretti? Seriously, I can’t wait for this show. Seems almost cruel to throw out a trailer and then be like, oh yea but you won’t see any more of this for another five months, hahahaha sucks to be you!
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Out of all the networks, I think Fox actually has the strongest prospects out of Us and Them and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Now it’s just the awful waiting game to see if the powers that be let the shows find their audience or if they act like whiny brats and cancel at the first sign of trouble. Here’s hoping for the former.
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[tab title=”The CW”]
Outside of a few exceptions, obviously one of those being Arrow, there isn’t much on The CW that I watch mainly because I’m almost 35 years old and don’t spend a lot of time writing fanfic on my favorite OTP ship of Dean and Castiel. That being said, some of these shows don’t look all that bad if you don’t expect them to be more than the angst filled pretty people vehicles that they are.
[toggle_simple title=”Star Crossed” width=”600″]
This was actually one of the pilots I was hoping would get picked up because the whole idea of aliens being integrated into a “suburban high school” was so odd that I just had to see it. Of course as soon as I say I don’t watch CW shows because I’m ancient compared to their intended audience… well Star Crossed star Matt Lanter (also the voice of Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars) just turned 30 so perhaps the CW is aging? Or not – he plays a high schooler. One way to prolong your Hollywood career I suppose.
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[toggle_simple title=”The Tomorrow People” width=”600″]
Mark Pelligrino – that’s all the reason you need to watch. Oh and Oliver Queen/Stephen Amell’s cousin, Robbie Amell, is the lead but really, Mark Pelligrino.
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[toggle_simple title=”The Originals” width=”600″]
Vampires. If you like vampires, I’m sure you’d like this. If you don’t, then don’t even bother.
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[toggle_simple title=”The 100″ width=”600″]
I imagine this is not at all what the people behind The 100 were going for but with this clip all I could think of was the YouTube video that made the internet rounds awhile back of the chimps who were used for testing purposes and then released outdoors for the first time after they were “retired”. I’d rather watch that video (through the tears because that shit is sad) on repeat than watch this show.
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[toggle_simple title=”Reign” width=”600″]
You know? It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be that bad and like I said when looking at the pilot orders, it’s got Anthony Head and anything with Anthony Head is something I’m going to watch.
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Nothing really that surprising or out of the ordinary for The CW but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as they have rabid fans and whenever you can successfully create fandoms, you just keep doing what you’re doing.
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So there you have it! A look at the new shows coming up this year. Some, like Brooklyn Nine-Nine have definite promise while others, Back in the Game, really should have just sat this one out, but overall, not a bad… nope, that’s a lie. For the most part, these are some crappy shows. A few bright spots but as a whole this is a bad year for new shows. Back to the drawing board network execs! There’s always next year.
Taken 2 is exactly what one should expect. It’s a simple action movie that defies logic and reasoning, but shows the gravitas of newly minted action star Liam Neeson as he dominates the screen with scowls and promises to take out anyone that crosses him or his family. This would be a great and fun movie – if we hadn’t seen it four years ago. Now it just comes off like another episode to an action television show and we’re just wondering what shenanigans the Mills family can get out of this time.
It’s now two years after the events of the first movie, where Bryan Mills (Neeson) is making efforts to be more involved in his daughter Kim’s life (Maggie Grace). His ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) has separated from her previous husband and ever the observant one, Mills offers them a trip to Istanbul, Turkey to get their minds off of things and bond as a family.
However, there are some pissed off people in Eastern Europe that want some revenge, led by Murad (the always stereotyped Eastern European baddie Rade Serbedzija). You see kids, his son was the one that was electrocuted at the hands of Mills in the last movie and Murad thought that was a bit of a dick move. So he comes up with the plan: you take my family, I’m going go after yours. Obviously, if your son is selling sex slaves and kidnapping daughters, it’s really a circle of going after people’s families. It’s the vicious cycle people!
Let’s start with the positives. Liam Neeson is a badass. He always brings a dimension of depth to his projects where he can harness his scowling and anger and make it seem like he’s always on a mission. It could be saving his daughter, teaching her to parallel park, or buying a gallon of milk – believe me, he’s going to do it and kick ass while finishing the task. He could have easily of collected his paycheck on this movie, but knowing the movie centers on his emotion (or lack of), he carries the movie on his back in order to keep us interested in what’s happening next. Unfortunately, the film’s script and action betray him throughout this 90 minute mess.
The rest of the cast is serviceable, but it doesn’t allow anyone to shine outside of what the one-note characters are in the script. I will say that Maggie Grace is better in this movie than the last. I only say that because she’s my age, and in the last one, she played it way too young and it was distracting. Granted, she’s taking a driving test (which I guess comes in handy later) in the beginning of this movie, but at least she doesn’t make it too cute and is more subtle in her delivery. Janssen is fine but again, the character does not allow her for much to work with other than be frightened and bleed. This is supposed to just be a fast action movie dammit, we ain’t got time to bleed!
Here’s the main problem with the movie: it’s boring and outdated. The action is shot with a Bourne-like style of shaky cam, but the cuts are too frequent where we don’t even see the action and choreography. It’s the same exact story too, only it defies even more logic than the previous one. At least the last one was a slow burn into the conclusion. This is just plain action sequences on the screen, get from point A to point B. The timeline is so quick that instead of getting the feeling of non-stop action, you end up questioning why this is happening at all. Kim is instructed by Bryan to find him using grenades to track distance and rescue him. Why would a father who stopped at nothing to keep his daughter safe, and a few years later after that traumatic event, go ahead and tell his daughter to put her own life into danger by going straight into the fray?
The appeal of the last movie was a father who would stop at nothing to keep his baby girl safe, and this just flies in the face of that. Again, I’m normally not one to use logic in trying to enjoy an action movie but if it’s the overriding ideal of the movie franchise, to ignore it just shows this movie isn’t meant to provide the same intrinsic impact the previous film had on the audience.
At the end of the movie, there were people clapping when the credits stopped rolling. I said out loud to anyone that could hear me to stop clapping. The movie doesn’t deserve the applause for the laziness that was just shown. I kept waiting for something to carry the same spark the last movie had, but it never happened. Most of all, it just wasn’t fun at all. I honestly felt I was watching a mediocre CBS weekly show where we find out what shenanigans the Mills family got into this week. I wonder what illogical mess they will get into the next movie…
1.5/5 Grizzlies
As you may recall, back at the start of the year we reported that CBS announced that it was to make a modern-day telling of Sherlock Holmes (after the BBC refused them the right to make a version of their show, Sherlock) to be called Elementary. It is to star Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as Watson (!) and be set in New York – because the thing Sherlock Holmes stories always lacked was a female Watson and American accents…
Well now star of Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch, has had his say in an interview with Short List Magazine (via Uproxx):
What do you make of the new US modern Sherlock Holmes adaptation, Elementary?
Jonny [Lee Miller] asked me if I was all right with him doing it. I said, “What are the similarities?” And he went, “Well it’s modern…” I went, “Oh.” Then he said, “Lucy Liu’s going to play Joan Watson…” And I went, “Oh.” I got hold of the pilot script just to check it out. I don’t know, we’ll see. I think there’s room for us both to coexist. I don’t feel threatened by it and I wish him the best, which is as diplomatic as I can be.
It’s a strange position to be in…
It’s very odd. I did say, “Well, I’d prefer you didn’t do it but you’ve got a kid to feed, a nice house in LA and a wife to keep in good clothes.” When you get used to a certain standard of living and they waft a pay cheque at you, what are you going to do? I think Jonny was like, “Mate, I’ve got the f*cking mountain to climb here [to reach the acclaim of Sherlock], you’ve got nothing to fear.” I wish him the best of luck, but I’m a bit cynical about why they’ve chosen to do it and why they cast him.
And that is a polite way of saying that it’s a really bad idea and they’re all just doing it for the money.
This can only be a colossal bad idea. It’s just going to be another dumb TV detective show – which we need like we need syphilis. So, we can now only wait for this inevitable train wreck to happen and hope that it’s death is swift and painless.
Grizzly Bomb 