Critic's
Notebook: The Network Upfronts
(By Matt Roush, TV Guide, May 16, 2014)
A curious
rite of mid-May: Even as the broadcast networks are wrapping their regular
seasons with a flurry of cliffhangers and finale events — farewell, Cristina
Yang, and a toast to those soon-to-be-newlyweds Mitch and Cam — all eyes in the
industry are already looking to the future, with a just-concluded Upfront Week
of noisy presentations in New York in which new series and schedules are
announced with a fanfare that probably beats the alternative: blowing taps for
all the failed series announced last year at this time. Superheroes are hot. So, refreshingly, is
diversity, with more minority leads and casts than any time in recent memory.
And now that we have a clear picture of how the nets, and the nights, are
lining up, here are some very preliminary first impressions from having seen
clips and sifting through the hype. How did the networks rate (in order of
presentation)? NBC:
Most derivative. Fox:
Most unusual. ABC:
Most daring. CBS:
Most consistent. The CW:
Most surprising. Let's take it night by
night:
MONDAY
When you've
got it, flaunt it. Or clone it. NBC is back with another cycle of The Voice — not yet diminished by
overexposure, but how long before the clock begins ticking? — featuring new
coaches Pharrell
Williams and Gwen Stefani
in the revolving chairs (replacing Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera). For
the first two months of the season, breakout hit The Blacklist
will be back, soaking up that powerful Voice lead-in. The success of The
Blacklist (and to varying degrees Scandal and pay-cable's Homeland)
has inspired NBC to order a number of series involving international intrigue,
espionage and conspiracy. Diminishing returns may set in soon, because the show
replacing The Blacklist in November, State of Affairs,
seems a blah fill-in, asking us to accept Katherine
Heigl (dressed as if she's going to a cocktail soiree) as the top CIA
analyst who prepares the daily briefing book for the president (the more
intriguingly cast Alfre Woodard).
After a
season of free fall on Mondays, CBS makes a bit of history by reducing its
two-hour comedy block to a single hour for the first time since the mid-'80s.
With Thursday Night Football taking up CBS's top-rated real estate on
that night, The Big Bang
Theory moves in to give the underrated Mom a powerful boost
for eight weeks. That's going to take a bite out of The Voice (and Dancing
With the Stars) at least through October. A new procedural, Scorpion, looks
like a promising mix of humor and action, as a team of brilliant misfits unites
to help Homeland Security (in the form of Robert Patrick)
tackle high-tech security threats. Perfectly suited for CBS. And filling the
recent ratings abyss of 10/9c, a transplanted NCIS: Los Angeles,
which finally makes CBS competitive with Castle and Blacklist.
Adding to the competitive swirl, Fox hopes to capitalize on the surprise breakthrough of last season's wildly entertaining supernatural fantasy Sleepy Hollow by pairing it with Gotham. This dark and deluxe Batman prequel focuses on pre-Commissioner James Gordon (Ben McKenzie, resurfacing from the acclaimed Southland), back in his detective days, coping with the festering corruption and crime of Gotham City (which claims the life of young Bruce Wayne's parents), while providing origin stories of many of the Batman franchise's most memorable super-villains. This looks stunning. And here's a surprise: The other new Monday show I'm most excited to see is from The CW: Jane the Virgin, a telenovela-inspired hourlong comedy in the Ugly Betty vein, about a virtuous girl from a strict Latino family whose chastity is besmirched when she is accidentally artificially inseminated. It's funnier than it sounds. In fact, it's kind of adorable.
TUESDAY
CBS will
once again dominate with viewers in a procedural three-for-all led by the
undying NCIS,
its latest spin-off (NCIS: New Orleans)
and the marvelously unconventional Person of
Interest. NBC stresses stability with The Voice and Chicago Fire
bookending the night, and pairing returning midseason charmer About a Boy
with one of this season's way-too-many wacky yet generic rom-coms: Marry Me, from
the creator of Happy Endings, featuring the appealing Casey Wilson
and Ken Marino
as a longtime couple with incredibly bad timing when it comes to big gestures
like proposals. Not an exciting premise, but not nearly as annoying as ABC's Manhattan
Love Story, a gimmicky misfire that lets us hear (through voice-over)
every unguarded thought of a newly dating couple. You can't even tell them to
shut up. They'd just think louder. Next!
Would you
believe a modern-day twist on My Fair Lady, reinvented for the age of
social media? ABC's Selfie
sitcom stars Karen
Gillan (best known as Doctor Who's beloved Amy Pond) as narcissist
Eliza Dooley, in need of a makeover after a viral Epic Fail, with marketing
expert Henry Higgins (John Cho) to the
rescue. Cute, different, but is it a self-starter on a tough night? Avoiding a
superhero showdown, ABC shifts Marvel's
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which enjoyed a late-season creative surge, to
the 9/8c hour, opening the field at 8/7c for The CW's spectacular looking The Flash,
starring the likably boyish Grant Gustin
as "meta human" speed freak Barry Allen, who stole Felicity's (and
more than a few viewers') heart in several Arrow episodes this season.
The Flash trailer is as impressive as Gotham's, and that's saying
something. Fox will likely struggle to
keep its strange new reality concept, Utopia, from ratings limbo, as it
follows a group of castaways building a civilization from scratch. Imagine the
whiplash as the network shifts gears to its perilously low-rated quirk-coms New Girl and The Mindy Project.
As a lead-in, Utopia
could prove hellish. This is what we get for cheering when Fox canned The X
Factor.
WEDNESDAY
I still
wish ABC had tried airing Trophy Wife a few times on this night, but
having failed that, it makes sense for The Goldbergs
to take up residence between durable comedy tentpoles The Middle and Modern Family.
The new Wednesday comedy, Black-ish, is
one of ABC's bolder strokes, a family comedy about racial identity starring Anthony
Anderson as an affluent dad who despairs when his kids refuse to embrace
their heritage. The night's riskiest new
show? Unquestionably Fox's Red Band Society,
a dramedy set in a hospital's pediatric ward, where a group of kids bond
forever as patients, tended by nurse Octavia
Spencer and doctor Dave Annable.
(Not to mention executive producer Steven
Spielberg.) Narrated by a boy in a coma, this could be either a maudlin
train wreck or the next Party of Five feel-good tearjerker. At least
it's different.
Which is
more than you can say for NBC's The
Mysteries of Laura, starring Debra Messing
as a homicide cop who's better at nabbing criminals than wrangling her
obnoxious twin boys and estranged husband on the home front. If Laura is
too cute a procedural, CBS's Stalker (designed
as a companion piece to the repulsive Criminal Minds) is too much, a
weekly wallow in deranged voyeurism, with Nikita's Maggie Q and a
cocky Dylan
McDermott leading the charge against deadly stalkers. Clips featured one
terrorized victim being torched inside her car. Made me want to attach a rape
whistle to my remote.
THURSDAY
How
Shonda-riffic! ABC goes all Shonda Rhimes
all night long, with the power producer's ever-popular duo of Grey's Anatomy
and Scandal
each bumped an hour earlier — temporarily fixing the network's pesky 8/7c pm
problem — with a new Rhimes show in the 10/9c hour, led by Oscar nominee Viola Davis as
a badass leather-wearing criminal-law professor teaching her students How to
Get Away With Murder. Sounds perfectly outrageous to me. CBS makes waves on one of TV's most combative
and lucrative nights, causing even more headaches for its rivals by scheduling
eight weeks of Thursday Night Football at the start of the season. (The
regular series lineup will resume Oct. 30 with one new addition: the Irish
family comedy The
McCarthys, which appears to be less shrill and silly than The
Millers, but give it time. Tyler Ritter, yet another charming offspring of
the late John Ritter, stars as the gay son, with Laurie Metcalf
as the loudly outspoken mom.)
Fox
counters with the nomadic, long-running Bones and what now
seems a pointless remake of the brilliant British crime drama Broadchurch,
here titled Gracepoint,
a 10-episode whodunit featuring David Tennant
(reprising his detective role from the original, albeit masking his Scottish
brogue with a flat American affect) and Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn as his
inexperienced partner. NBC more or less gives up, breaking up its comedy block
by starting the night with The Biggest
Loser, then airing two pointless new comedies: Bad Judge
starring Kate
Walsh in the self-explanatory debauched title role (no more amusing than
CBS's Bad Teacher), and another rom-com, A to Z, starring Mad
Men's Ben
Feldman and How I Met Your Mother's poorly used Cristin
Milioti as apparent soulmates. At
least NBC's Parenthood
gets a proper send-off with a shortened final season, to be replaced at
midseason by Allegiance,
a spy drama that might sound fresh if FX's brilliant The Americans
hadn't already mined this territory of deeply embedded Russian spies.
FRIDAY
ABC
continues its diversity campaign with the Latino sitcom Cristela, about
an ambitious law student living with her traditional family. Nothing
groundbreaking here, but "T.G.I.F." is all about comfort-food TV, and
the plucky star Cristela
Alonzo could develop a following. CBS
moves The
Amazing Race from Sundays, which might feel like marginalizing the
Emmy-winning franchise, but at least fans won't have to endure those
aggravating NFL overruns in much of the country. And good luck to Fox's Utopia
on this purgatorial night, airing a second weekly installment opposite Friday's
dominant reality player, ABC's Shark Tank. NBC has found a nice niche for dark fantasy
on Fridays, and may have developed a strong companion for Grimm with the DC
Comics-inspired Constantine,
based on the Hellblazer comics and starring Matt Ryan as a
wry demon hunter confronting forces of evil on a weekly basis. As one does. (Of
course, I'll be counting the weeks until the astonishing Hannibal
presumably spells it at midseason.)
SATURDAY
(Crickets)
SUNDAY
Animation
is no longer quite such a dominating factor on Fox's Sunday lineup, with the
award-winning freshman police comedy Brooklyn
Nine-Nine separating The Simpsons
and Family Guy,
and another live-action sitcom, Mulaney,
presenting affable stand-up and Saturday Night Live veteran writer John Mulaney
in a Dick Van Dyke Show-like situation as he kowtows to an egomaniacal
TV comic (Martin
Short). Fox rather wishfully describes this as "a Seinfeld for
a new generation," but I can't help but see it as more of a (Rob) Petrie
dish. CBS is
taking the most risks on its highest-quality night, bridging 60 Minutes and
the better-than-ever The Good Wife
with a new drama, Madam Secretary,
starring the alluring Téa Leoni as a
newly installed Secretary of State. Depending on how this develops — I'm hoping
the political White House skirmishes will take precedence over earnest
international trouble-shooting — she and Alicia Florrick could make a winning
combo. And the latest long-running procedural to inherit the precarious 10/9c
time period that is particularly vulnerable to sports overruns: the original CSI,
which when it finishes its 15th season will be replaced by new spinoff CSI: Cyber.
Because that's how CBS rolls.
No real
room to elaborate on the midseason offerings, but among the more intriguing teases:
CBS's character-driven crime drama-with-humor Battle Creek,
from Vince
Gilligan and David
Shore, feeling more Northern Exposure than Breaking Bad;
Fox's sexy hip-hop family saga Empire, starring Terrence
Howard and Taraji P.
Henson; NBC's Unbreakable
Kimmy Schmidt from 30 Rock's Tina Fey and Robert Carlock,
starring The Office gamine Ellie Kemper
as an innocent on the loose in the Big Apple; The CW's whimsically high-concept
iZombie,
with a touch of Pushing Daisies as the undead heroine helps solve crimes
after gaining insight from ingesting victims' brains; and a handful from ABC:
an Asian-family sitcom about culture-shock assimilation, Fresh Off the Boat;
the warped medieval musical Galavant; the
racially charged American Crime
(sending off a very cable vibe); and the creepy The Whispers,
based on a Ray Bradbury story, about aliens using children to do their sinister
bidding. Looking forward to checking out all of these.
Checking
In On Fall’s New Shows: What’s Canceled, Renewed, In Limbo As Midseason Begins
(By Emily Yahr, Washington
Post, 21 February 2014)
“Super Fun Night” came to an end Tuesday, but
it’s okay if you barely noticed — less than 3 million people watched the
freshman comedy’s finale. And to think, it was supposed to be ABC’s best hope
for a new comedy, getting the glorious post-”Modern Family” spot. (And helped
seal the fate of “Happy Endings.” No, we’re not still bitter.)
But that was last fall — a mere six months
ago, yet so far in the distant past, where Rebel Wilson leading her own comedy
series without her native Australian accent seemed like a good idea. A whopping
27
new shows premiered on the broadcast networks. How many will live to see a
second season? Now that we’re at the point where midseason is really kicking
into high gear (and serve as the fall shows’ main competition when it’s time
for execs to plan next season), here’s the slate of the 2013-2014 new broadcast
shows and where they stand.
ABC (0/8
Already Renewed, 2 Canceled, 6 Pending)
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”: Still
airing, status unknown. Seems to have the best shot at renewal.
“The Goldbergs”: Still airing, status
unknown. Critics really like this one. (Not
counting our own Hank Stuever.)
“Lucky 7”: Canceled after two episodes in
October.
“Trophy Wife”: Still airing, status unknown.
A critical favorite.
“Back in the Game”: Canceled in November,
supposed to air all 13 episodes. (Aired 10 so far.)
“Betrayal”: Ended Jan. 19, status unknown.
But people are surprised it lasted that long.
“Super Fun Night”: Ended Feb. 19, status
unknown. Not great.
“Once Upon a Time in Wonderland”: Still
airing, status unknown.
Fox (2/5
Already Renewed, 3 Pending)
“Sleepy Hollow”: Renewed for a second season.
“Dads”: Ended Feb. 11, status unknown.
Critics hated it a tiny bit less at the end of its run, but still doesn’t look
good.
“Brooklyn Nine Nine”: Still airing, status
unknown. But with two “Golden Globe” wins and a post-Super Bowl slot, it looks
all but certain to return.
“Masterchef Junior”: Renewed for a second
season.
“Almost Human”: Finale March 3, status
unknown. No one’s sure on this one.
NBC (1/6
Already Renewed, 4 Canceled, 1 Pending)
“The Blacklist”: Renewed for a second season.
“The Michael J. Fox Show”: Pulled off the
schedule this month, effectively canceled.
“Ironside”: Canceled in October after four
episodes.
“Welcome to the Family”: Canceled in October
after three episodes.
“Sean Saves the World”: Canceled, production
shut down in January.
“Dracula”: Ended Jan. 24, status unknown.
Ratings were okay and NBC may need it for next year.
CBS (0/5
Already Renewed, 1 Canceled, 4 Pending)
“Hostages”: Ended Jan. 6. This was always
billed as a “miniseries”; coupled with low ratings, this one is basically a
goner.
“Mom”: Still airing, status unknown. It’s a
Chuck Lorre show, and those never die.
“The Crazy Ones”: Still airing, status
unknown. Robin Williams > Michael J. Fox this season.
“We Are Men”: Canceled in October after two
episodes.
“The Millers”: Still airing, status unknown.
CW (2/3
Already Renewed, 1 Pending)
“The Originals”: Renewed for a second season.
“Reign”: Renewed for a second season.
“The Tomorrow People”: Still airing, status
unknown. Depends on how CW’s midseason shows do.
A Crowded Mid-Season: A Guide To
What’s On TV This Winter And Spring
(By Hank Stuever, Washington Post, 03 January
2014)
If this
year’s TV mid-season has anything going for it, it’s quantity. I’m not sure
I’ve seen a more crowded field of new series and special presentations in
January and February (and continuing on into March and April). Here’s my
attempt to at least make some sense of the coming flood, which abates a bit
during the Sochi Olympics. I’ve included
short reviews of some shows I’ve already watched (Fox’s “Rake,” starring Greg
Kinnear and the CW’s “The 100,” about post-apocalyptic teens, are among the
best so far), as well as dates for some annual events (Golden Globes, Super
Bowl, Oscar night). Click here for a list of dates and times of all your
favorite returning
shows.
Sunday,
JAN. 5
“Blood,
Sweat and Heels” (Bravo at 9 p.m.) Follows a group of black women described
as “movers and shakers” in the New York fashion, real estate and media scenes.
The usual.
Tuesday,
JAN. 7
“Intelligence”
(CBS at 9 p.m.; moves to its regular time Monday, Jan. 13, at 10 p.m.) “Lost’s”
Josh Holloway returns to series TV in this espionage drama as Gabriel, an
intelligence agent who is the first human to have a supercomputer implanted in
his brain. He can mentally sort through heaps of data with a wink-blink of his
pretty eyes. “CSI’s” Marg Helgenberger stars as his boss at a clandestine
government cybersecurity agency; Meghan Ory plays a tough Secret Service agent
assigned to protect Gabriel from an array of foreign bad guys who want the
billion-dollar science project inside his head. Complicating things is
Gabriel’s heartsick obsession with his wife, who turned out to be a terrorist.
So there you
have it. Holloway is pretty much his usual simmering self, as is Helgenberger.
The technology in the show displays the very latest in what-the-. . .?, as far
as TV’s hyperactive imagination goes. (If we’d had the Internet in 1974, this
is what “The Six Million Dollar Man” might’ve looked like.) On the whole,
“Intelligence” trafficks in the usual request to suspend your disbelief and
then some, but it’s also mildly intriguing — especially in the idea that its
macho lead character is also treated as a vulnerable prize who needs to be
protected at all costs. Grade: C+
“Killer
Women” (ABC at 10 p.m.) The show’s title and advertising seemed to suggest
something much saucier and violent, but this lady-cop drama (co-produced by
“Modern Family’s” Sofia Vergara) is a fairly straightforward and briskly
perfunctory affair about a gutsy Texas Ranger named Molly (Tricia Helfer), who
chases after criminals while trying to put her own life back together. She
wants a divorce from her politician husband and she’s having secret trysts with
a handsome DEA agent. (“Dangerously handsome,” the press release
insists. Hmm, if you say so.)
Like all
shows set in Texas, “Killer Women” is cooked through with too much yee-haw
sauce and a whole lot of urban-cowgirl chic, but Helfer (“Battlestar
Galactica”) ably carries off the assignment and keeps the momentum going.
“Killer Women” is one belt notch tighter and better than some of ABC’s
already-forgotten fall dramas. Grade: B-
“100 Days
of Summer” (Bravo at 10 p.m.) A group of self-absorbed, 30-something
Chicago strivers mate and grate during the city’s much-welcomed months of
sunshine.
“American
Experience: The Poisoner’s Handbook” (PBS, check local listings) A
documentary about Charles Norris, who in 1918 became New York’s first official
medical examiner and developed forensic techniques that sent otherwise-elusive
criminals to the electric chair.
“Being
Mary Jane” (BET at 10 p.m.) New series based on the TV movie starring
Gabrielle Union as a busy news anchor who juggles family and work.
“Escaping
the Prophet” (TLC at 10 p.m.) This six-part docu-series follows former
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints member Flora Jessop
as she helps others break away from Warren Jeffs’s strict religious community.
Wednesday,
JAN. 8
“Mind of
a Man”(GSN at 8 p.m.) It may sound like the premise for an “SNL” sketch,
but in this actual game show, two female contestants try to figure out the male
thought process, aided by a panel of celebrities.
“The 40th
Annual People’s Choice Awards” (CBS at 9 p.m.) Favorite movie, music and TV
performances, as selected by those of you who voted online.
“Chasing
Shackleton” (PBS, check local listings) Five adventure-seekers follow the
treacherous 1914 Antarctic journey of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew. A
three-part docu-series.
“Chicago
P.D.” (NBC at 10 p.m.) Creator Dick Wolf (“Law and Order”) spins off his
“Chicago Fire” into a drama about an intelligence unit that investigates the
Windy City’s biggest crimes, contrasted with the work of the uniformed beat
officers in the same precinct.
Thursday,
JAN. 9
“The Spoils
of Babylon”(IFC at 10 p.m.) Tobey Maguire stars in this comedy spoof of
those sprawling, 1970s miniseries based on tawdry bestselling novels about the
rich and powerful — in this case, “The Spoils of Babylon,” written by one Eric
Johnrosh (Will Ferrell), who exhumes the film reels of the never-aired series
(the networks deemed it “too long”) that he directed himself.
So that’s
the set-up. The cast includes a whole lot of familiar faces — Kristen Wiig,
Molly Shannon, Michael Sheen, Tim Robbins, Haley Joel Osment, Val Kilmer, David
Spade and so on. Though I admire the show’s commitment to form in satirizing an
entire genre, something about “Babylon’s” overall shtick wears immediately
thin. Part of the joke is that “The Spoils of Babylon” was utterly unwatchable,
and that’s why the network never showed it; it seems they achieved that goal a
little too well. Grade: D
Friday,
JAN. 10
“Enlisted”
(Fox at 9:30 p.m.) It’s a comedy about three Army brothers (Geoff Stults, Chris
Lowell, Parker Young) stationed at a rear-detachment base in Florida.
”Enlisted” was originally scheduled to premiere in November; in The Post’s fall
season guide, yours truly negatively compared the show to old “Beetle Bailey”
comic strips and gave it a C+. But having seen some more episodes, I think
they’ve charmed their way up to at least a Grade B-.
“$10
Million Bigfoot Bounty” (Spike at 10 p.m.) The sasquatch pursuit never
ends. Actor Dean Cain hosts this weekly competition show in which hunters must
deliver proof of the elusive creature.
“Helix”
(Syfy at 10 p.m.) A team of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention travels to the Arctic and finds something that could wipe out
all of us. Billy Campbell (“The Killing”; “Once and Again”) stars in this
drama/thriller.
Saturday,
JAN. 11
“When
Calls the Heart” (Hallmark at 9 p.m.) A new original series about a young
teacher (Erin Krakow) who leaves big-city life to teach in a small frontier
prairie town in the 19th century.
Sunday,
JAN. 12
“The 71st
Annual Golden Globe Awards” (NBC at 8 p.m.) Tina Fey and Amy Poehler return
to host this loosey-goosey night of film and TV honors.
“True
Detective” (HBO at 9 p.m.) Highly touted eight-episode crime drama stars
Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as Louisiana detectives investigating a
macabre murder that has obsessed them for nearly two decades. The narrative
hopscotches around from 2012 to 1995 to 2002.
Monday,
JAN. 13
“Chozen”
(FX at 10:30 p.m.) An animated comedy about a gay white rapper (voiced by
“SNL’s” Bobby Moynihan) who goes by the name Chozen, fresh out of prison and
now seeking another chance at fame.
“Don’t
Trust Andrew Mayne” (A&E at 10 p.m.) In this goofy reality show, a
magician uses his talent to assist people seeking revenge on others.
“Bitten” (Syfy
at 10 p.m.) Based on Kelley Armstrong’s novels, in which a young woman leaves
behind her werewolf pack (and the man who turned her into a howler) for a new
life in the big city.
Tuesday,
JAN. 14
“American
Experience: 1964” (PBS, check local listings) Documentary (based on Jon
Margolis’s book “The Last Innocent Year)” explores a pivotal 12 months in
American politics and culture.
“Friday
Night Tykes” (Esquire at 9 p.m.) A 10-part docu-series about the
super-serious world of the Texas Youth Football Association, where the players
are all 8- and 9-year-old boys.
“Building
Wild” (National Geographic Channel at 9 p.m.) Two home-building experts
tackle jobs from clients who want to build cabins in challenging locations.
“Inside
Job” (TNT at 9 p.m.) Job-seeking execs live together and vie for a
six-figure corporate position in this reality show — but one of them is a mole
who is spying on the others’ behavior.
“Save Our
Business” (TNT at 10 p.m.) Yet another show where a successful entrepreneur
administers advice and tough love to struggling business owners.
WEDNESDAY,
JAN. 15
“Crazy
Hearts: Nashville” (A&E at 11 p.m. ) Reality series follows a group of
musicians trying to make it in country music. Moves to its regular slot at 10
p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 16.
THURSDAY,
JAN. 16
“Under
the Gunn” (Lifetime at 9 p.m. ) Tim Gunn calls in former “Project Runway”
winners to provide guidance to young designers in a new fashion competition.
“SWV
Reunited” (WEtv at 10 p.m.) The ’90s R&B trio get its act together
(after a tense breakup 15 years ago) in hopes of a comeback. Or maybe just
getting a reality series will suffice?
“Tabloid”
(Investigation Discovery at 10 p.m.) Jerry Springer hosts this look into some
of the wildest stories and claims found in supermarket tabloids.
FRIDAY,
JAN. 17
“The
Square” (Netflix) From the filmmaker of “StartUp.com” and “The Control
Room,” a documentary about Cairo’s Tahrir Square during the “Arab Spring”
uprising.
“The
Diamond Collar” (OWN at 10 p.m.) Reality series about James “Head”
Guiliani, a former associate of Mafia man John Gotti who now runs a
dog-grooming parlor in Brooklyn.
SATURDAY,
JAN. 18
“June in
January” (Hallmark at 7 p.m.) In this new movie, a busy bride-to-be (Brooke
D’Orsay) has her ideal June wedding all planned out, but her husband is
transferred and she has to move her special day to January.
“Flowers
in the Attic” (Lifetime at 8 p.m.) A new movie version of V.C. Andrews’s
popular mystery/horror novel, starring Heather Graham, Ellen Burstyn and
Kiernan Shipka (“Mad Men’s” Sally Draper).
“My Gal
Sunday” (Hallmark Movie Channel at 9 p.m.) Adventures of husband-wife crime
solvers (Rachel Blanchard and Cameron Mathison), based on short stories by Mary
Higgins Clark.
“HitRECord
on TV” (Pivot at 10 p.m.) Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings his online
project to TV, in which Web users collaborate on short films and videos around
an assigned theme.
“Mom’s
Got Game” (OWN at 10 p.m.) Reality series follows former WNBA basketball
star Pamela McGee and her 25-year-old son, JaVale McGee, a center for the
Denver Nuggets.
SUNDAY,
JAN. 19
“#RichKids
of Beverly Hills”(E! at 10 p.m.) This docu-series follows a clique of fancy
kids who gain Internet notoriety by promoting their every action and thought on
social media. You can only hope one of them is named Ja’mie, but probably not.
“Looking”
(HBO at 10:30 p.m.) A new dramedy about three gay men in San Francisco who are
at different stages of life and emotional issues.
MONDAY,
JAN. 20
“The
Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed” (Cartoon Network at 7:30 p.m.) Fifteen
years after their debut, the heroic Powerpuff Girls return with a new special
and a new computer-generated animation style. Original characters/voices return
to do battle with Mojo Jojo; Ringo Starr provides the voice of Townsville’s
“flamboyant mathematician.”
“Klondike”
(Discovery at 9 p.m.) Richard Madden (Robb Stark from “Game of Thrones”) stars
as one of two adventurers who head for the Yukon in 1890 during the gold rush.
It’s Discovery’s first original miniseries drama.
TUESDAY,
JAN. 21
“American
Masters: Salinger” (PBS, check local listings) Television premiere of Shane
Salerno’s 2013 documentary about the reclusive author, with 15 minutes of new
material included. (That might not be such great news: “While some of the
stories are interesting, the film is much longer than it needs to be,” The
Post’s Stephanie Merry said in her review when the film played in theaters
last fall.)
WEDNESDAY,
JAN. 22
“Broad
City” (Comedy Central at 10:30 p.m.) Upright Citizens Brigade alums Abbi
Jacobson and Ilana Glazer bring their critically acclaimed online series to
Comedy Central.
“The
Wahlburgers” (A&E at 10:30 p.m. ) Brothers Mark and Donnie Wahlberg
head back to Boston to join forces with their brother Paul and open a hamburger
restaurant.
“Treasure
King” (Reelz at 10 p.m.) Accompanied by his comely “Gallery Girls,”
globe-trotting collector Richie Marcello seeks to buy and sell pop-culture
treasures and memorabilia that were thought to be lost.
THURSDAY,
JAN. 23
“Rake” (Fox
at 9 p.m.) Greg Kinnear happily and believably sinks his pearly whites into
this amiably sharp drama (based on a hit Australian series) about a criminal
defense attorney who finds trouble everywhere: He’s up to his ears in gambling
and IRS debts, drinks way too much, lives in a ratty apartment above a
restaurant and is hopelessly in love with the prostitute he pays for
conversation and backgammon games. His therapist is also his ex-wife.
“House”
comparisons will surely abound, but “Rake” is easily one of the more confident
network dramas to come our way of late. It’s a procedural (in an episode shared
with critics last year, Kinnear’s character — Keegan Deane — defends a cannibal
against murder charges), but it’s just unorthodox enough to make me eager to
see more. Grade: B+
FRIDAY,
JAN. 24
“Mitt”
(Netflix) Straight off the bill at the Sundance Film Festival, this documentary
follows the unsuccessful Romney presidential campaign of 2012 and tries to get
into the mind and personality of the man himself.
SATURDAY,
JAN. 25
“Black
Sails” (Starz at 9 p.m.) At first glance, this is a sprawling, big-budget
pirate drama series that somehow manages to feel too cheap. “Black Sails”
follows several bands of Caribbean-based pirates in 1715, “the golden age of
pirating.” When the British Navy starts to crack down on these legendary
criminals, the pirate Capt. Flint (Toby Stephens) allies with the daughter of
New Providence Island’s crime kingpin to chase after the ultimate treasure.
There’s a
whole lot else going on in just the first episode, with too many
indistinguishable characters; at times “Black Sails” feels like it wants to be
taken seriously as a complicated, premium cable drama (a la “Game of Thrones”).
At other times, it feels more like cheesier, more niche material (a la
“Spartacus”). I’ll watch a few more episodes, but walking the plank seems more
tempting. Grade: C-
“Lizzie
Borden Took an Ax” (Lifetime at 8 p.m.) Christina Ricci stars in this
made-for-TV movie as the infamous woman charged with ax-murdering her parents
in 1892.
SUNDAY, JAN.
26
“The 56th
Annual Grammy Awards” (CBS at 8 p.m.) LL Cool J returns to host the music
industry’s biggest awards night.
MONDAY,
JAN. 27
“Herblock:
The Black and the White” (HBO at 9 p.m.) Documentary about the prolific
Washington Post editorial cartoonist.
“The 2014
Breakthrough Prizes” (Science Channel at 9 p.m.) An awards show for
scientists in which six researchers each get $3 million grants as prizes.
Hosted by Kevin Spacey.
TUESDAY,
JAN. 28
“The
Capones” (Reelz at 10 p.m. ) Docu-series about a “larger-than-life” family
(translation: yells and fights with one another a lot) who run a pizzeria and
claim to be distantly related to the famous mobster.
WEDNESDAY,
JAN. 29
“Hawking”
(PBS, check local listings) A new one-hour documentary about the famed
physicist.
“Fleming:
The Man Who Would Be Bond” (BBC America at 10 p.m.) Four-part miniseries
drama about the real-life inspiration for the 007 character — a sophisticated
maverick whose life was upended by World War II.
SATURDAY,
FEB. 1
“Oscar”
(TCM at 8 p.m.) A documentary about the history of the Academy Awards.
SUNDAY,
FEB. 2
“Super
Bowl LXVIII” (Fox) Lots of Roman numerals, a Bruno Mars halftime show, the
spendy Madison Avenue commercials and — oh, right —a professional football
championship game. And don’t forget “Puppy Bowl” (Animal Planet at 3
p.m.) and, for some reason, “Kitten Bowl” (Hallmark at noon).
TUESDAY,
FEB. 4
“American
Experience: The Amish — Shunned” (PBS, check local listings): Documentary
explores the worlds of women and men who found themselves banished from their
Amish communities.
THURSDAY,
FEB. 6
“The
Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (NBC at 11:35) Jay says goodbye. (For the
second time.)
FRIDAY,
FEB. 7- SUNDAY, FEB. 23
“XXII
Olympic Winter Games” (NBC) From Sochi, Russia. Will it be as grim as some
people expect it to be?
SUNDAY,
FEB. 9
“The
Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles” (CBS at 8 p.m.)
All-star concert will commemorate 50 years (exactly) since the Fab Four
appeared on Ed Sullivan’s show.
MONDAY,
FEB. 17
“Star
Crossed” (CW at 8 p.m.) Two Baton Rouge teens experience some angsty,
sci-fi themed “Romeo and Juliet”-type issues because the boy (Matt Lanter)
belongs to an alien race of refugees called the Atrians and the girl (Aimee
Teegarden) is the daughter of the commander tasked with keeping the aliens in
line.
As part of
an integration effort, the gorgeous Atrian teens (who come with their own
natural neck and face tattoos) are bused in every day to a local high school,
where they try to fit in. “Star Crossed” hews hard to outsider themes and a
nominally relevant exploration of civil rights history — amped up in CW’s
instinctive flair for stylish (and predictable) teen melodrama. One imagines
the screenplay being written in purple ink and very loopy handwriting,
intercepted by the English teacher wearing the “Battlestar Galactica” T-shirt. Grade:
C+
“The
Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC at 11:35) The affable host reboots
his late-night talk show, now from New York instead of Burbank, Calif. (And the
Roots are sticking with him.)
MONDAY,
FEB. 24
“Late
Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC at 12:35) The “Saturday Night Live” writer and
“Weekend Update” anchor takes over Fallon’s old spot.
WEDNESDAY,
FEB. 26
“Mixology”
(ABC at 9:30 p.m.) This new comedy is set in a bar called the Mix, where 10
single people have random encounters and conversations in their unending quest
for love. If I understand the concept correctly, the entire season (however
long it lasts) takes place on a single night.
THURSDAY,
FEB. 27
“Review”
(Comedy Central at 10 p.m.): Andy Daly stars as a “life critic,” who reviews
experiences instead of arts and culture.
SATURDAY,
MARCH 1
“The 2014
Independent Spirit Awards” (IFC at 10 p.m.): The casual, Oscar-eve awards
show for the cool movies that cool people liked. Hosted by Patton Oswalt.
SUNDAY,
MARCH 2
“The 86th
Annual Academy Awards” (ABC at 8 p.m.) It’s Oscar night! Get ahold of
yourselves!
THURSDAY,
MARCH 6
“Sirens”
(USA at 10 p.m.) Denis Leary co-produces this new comedy about three EMT dudes
in Chicago.
SUNDAY,
MARCH 9
“Resurrection”
(ABC at 9 p.m.) The residents of Arcadia, Mo., react to the fact that a young
boy who died 32 years ago has returned — unchanged — from the dead. (Not to be
confused with the excellent French miniseries “The Returned,” but it looks a
little bit like it.)
TUESDAY,
MARCH 11
“Mind
Games” (ABC at 10 p.m.) Steve Zahn and Christian Slater star as Clark and
Ross Edwards, two brothers who run an agency that helps clients fix their
problems through psychological manipulation and influence. (Zahn plays the goofy,
genius one.)
WEDNESDAY,
MARCH 19
“The 100”
(CW at 9 p.m.) A refreshingly taut and well-executed futuristic sci-fi series
about a group of 100 jailed juvenile delinquents who are banished from an
orbiting space-station colony and sent to live on Earth — 97 years after a
nuclear apocalypse.
They’ve
barely crash-landed when things get pretty “Lord of the Flies,” but a
determined young woman (Eliza Taylor) tries her best to stick to the group’s
real mission: Locate a mountain bunker and determine whether or not the rest of
the humans on the dying space station above can join them on land. What they
discover — along with mutant deer — is that Earth is not as depopulated as they
were led to believe.
I realize
that sounds like a lot to chew on, but “The 100” does an excellent job of
launching a CW-style take on bigger-budgeted adventure series like “Lost” or
“Terra Nova” or “Revolution,” with a little “Hunger Games” thrown in. But
unlike “Terra Nova” and “Revolution,” it’s got characters you can actually care
about. Maybe I’ve been too eager for an addictive sci-fi series that doesn’t
feel instantly dumb, but I raced through the first several episodes of “The
100” with pleasure. Grade: A-
TUESDAY,
MARCH 25
“Story of
the Jews” (PBS, check local listings) Author Simon Schama explores Jewish
culture and history in this five-part (two-night) documentary series.
MONDAY,
MARCH 31
“Friends
With Better Lives” (CBS at 9 p.m.) A new sitcom about six pals, premiering
after the one-hour “How I Met Your Mother” series finale. Takes over the 8:30
p.m. slot on April 7.
WEDNESDAY,
APRIL 2
“TripTank”
(Comedy Central at 10:30 p.m.) Yet another venue for edgy, animated shorts.
SUNDAY,
APRIL 6
“The 49th
Annual Academy of Country Music Awards” (CBS at 8 p.m.) Blake Shelton and
Luke Bryan will return as hosts.
TUESDAY,
APRIL 15
“The
Address” (PBS, check local listings) Ken Burns’s film about a small boys
school in Vermont where the students memorize, practice and recite the
Gettysburg Address.
WAITING
IN THE WINGS
These
shows haven’t been given an air date as of press time, but they’re expected
sometime before May . . .
“The Red
Road” (Sundance Channel) Drama series about a small-town cop who also
patrols a nearby Indian reservation.
“Game of
Arms” (AMC) Reality series about competitive arm-wrestling.
“Turn”(AMC)
Drama about spies in the Revolutionary War.
“Gang
Related” (Fox) Cop drama. An elite LAPD officer has a past with Latino
gangs.
“Surviving
Jack” (Fox) Comedy set in the 1990s about a father and his teenage son.
“Us and
Them” (Fox) Comedy starring Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel as young lovers.
“Crisis”
(NBC) Drama in which a bus carrying children of the D.C. elite — including the
president’s son — is taken hostage. Gillian Anderson stars.
“The
Night Shift” (NBC) Drama about the overnight staff at a San Antonio
hospital.
“About a
Boy” (NBC) Comedy based on Nick Hornby’s novel.
“Growing
Up Fisher” (NBC) Jenna Elfman and J.K. Simmons star in this comedy about a
family going through divorce.
“Penny
Dreadful” (Showtime) Described as a “psychosexual” horror series about the
origin of monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein) in Victorian England.
“Salem”
(WGN) More witches.
When Are Your Favorite Mid-Season
Shows Returning In 2014?
(By Hank Stuever and Emily Yahr, Washington
Post, 03 January 2014)
Premiere
dates for returning mid-season shows . . .
“@midnight”
(Comedy Central at midnight) Monday, Jan. 6
“The Americans”
(FX at 10) Wednesday, Feb. 26
“American
Idol” (Fox at 8) Wednesday, Jan. 15
“Archer” (FX
at 10) Monday, Jan. 13
“The
Bachelor” (ABC at 8) Monday, Jan. 6
“Banshee”
(Cinemax at 10) Friday, Jan. 10
“Bates
Motel” (A&E at 9) Monday, March 3
“Being Human”
(Syfy at 9) Monday, Jan. 13
“Billy on
the Street” (Fuse at 11) Wednesday, March 12
“Californication”
(Showtime) April, date to be announced
“Call the
Midwife” (PBS at 8) Sunday, March 30
“Comic
Book Men” (AMC at midnight) Sunday, Feb. 9
“Community”
(NBC at 8) returned Jan. 2
“Cougar
Town” (TBS at 10) Tuesday, Jan. 7
“Dallas”
(TNT at 9) Monday, Feb. 24
“Downton
Abbey” (PBS at 9) Sunday, Jan. 5
“Episodes”
(Showtime at 10:30) Sunday, Jan. 12
“Face
Off” (Syfy at 9) Tuesday, Jan. 14
“The
Following” (Fox at 9) Sunday, Jan. 19
“Game of
Thrones” (HBO) April, date to be announced
“Girls” (HBO
at 10) Sunday, Jan. 12
“Hannibal”
(NBC at 10) Friday, Feb. 28
“The
Haves and the Have Nots” (OWN at 9) Tuesday, Jan. 7
“Here
Comes Honey Boo Boo” (TLC at 9) Thursday, Jan. 16
“House of
Cards” (Netflix, all episodes) Friday, Feb. 14
“House of
Lies” (Showtime at 10) Sunday, Jan. 12
“Inside
Amy Schumer” (Comedy Central at 10:30) Tuesday, April 1
“Inside
Comedy” (Showtime at 11) Monday, Feb. 3
“Justified”
(FX at 10) Tuesday, Jan. 7
“Kroll
Show” (Comedy Central at 10:30) Tuesday, Jan. 14
“Lost
Girl” (Syfy at 8) Monday, Jan. 13
“Love Thy
Neighbor” (OWN at 9) Wednesday, Jan. 8
“Mad Men”
(AMC) Scheduled for spring, date to be announced
“Men at
Work” (TBS at 10) Wednesday, Jan. 15
“Nurse
Jackie” (Showtime) April, date to be announced
“Mr.
Selfridge” (PBS at 9) Sunday, March 30
“Orphan
Black” (BBC America at 9) Saturday, April 19
“Perception”
(TNT at 10) Tuesday, Feb. 25
“Portlandia”
(IFC at 10) Thursday, Feb. 27
“Rectify”
(Sundance Channel) Scheduled for spring, date to be announced
“Rizzoli
and Isles” (TNT at 9) Tuesday, Feb. 25
“Shameless”
(Showtime at 9) Sunday, Jan. 12
“Sherlock”
(PBS at 10) Sunday, Jan. 19
“Suburgatory”
(ABC at 8:30) Wednesday, Jan. 15
“Suits”
(USA at 9): Thursday, March 6
“The
Taste” (ABC at 8): returned Jan.2
“Teen Mom
2” (MTV at 10) Tuesday, Jan. 21
“Teen
Wolf” (MTV at 10) Monday, Jan. 6
“Tosh.0” (Comedy
Central at 10) Tuesday, Feb. 18
“Trailer
Park: Welcome to Myrtle Manor” (TLC at 10) Thursday, Jan. 16
“Veep”
(HBO) April, date to be announced
“Vikings”
(History at 10) Thursday, Feb. 27
“The
Walking Dead” (AMC at 9) Sunday, Feb. 9
“Workaholics”
(Comedy Central at 10), Wednesday, Jan. 22
