Pop Culture Podcast
Popspotting #132: “New Fall TV Shows” (Sept. 20, 2011)
The new fall television season is upon us! And from Daniel B. in Boston comes the suggestion to take a day-by-day look at what’s coming up on the tube. Today we run through the Fall 2011 TV programming grid and make snap judgments about brand new shows on the major networks.
Some, like “Terra Nova” and “Person of Interest,” we saw at Comic-Con in July. Most we only know through press releases and great websites like TheFutonCritic.com” and EPGuides.com.” With little more than a one-line setup and the names of the leading cast, we weigh in on whether we’re likely to tune in.
Next week we’ll start to cover returning shows and share our first impressions on some new stuff. But we really want to talk about the shows you want to talk about, so be sure to let us know what you’re watching this fall!
Ryan/Jen,
I just listened to Popspotting #132 and wanted to offer a few comments and clarifications.
NBC’s “The Playboy Club” did not premiere over the past weekend. In fact, it first aired last night (Monday). I agree with you that of the two “Mad Men” wannabes on the broadcast networks, I’m more interested in “Pan Am.”The memory retention abilities of Poppy Montgomery’s character in “Unforgettable” are based in part on those of Marilu Henner – whom you probably remember from the old sitcom “Taxi.” Henner was featured in a “60 Minutes” interview last year, in which it was revealed that she has the ability to remember every day of her life. More at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/20/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main7167813 .When you mentioned both “Unforgettable” and “New Girl,” you referred to the premieres of each as having occurred “yesterday.” Given that this podcast is dated Tuesday, September 20, the actual date of each of each show’s first airing, I’m afraid that may confuse your listeners and lead them to miss tonight’s premieres.I watched the premiere of “Ringer” last week, which you can still catch on The CW’s website (http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/ringer/?tab=2). It was okay – not great – but I’m willing to give it a couple of episodes before I make a final decision about the show. The pilot for “2 Broke Girls” was pretty bad – until the last two minutes, when the two main characters stopped being sitcom cliches and began interacting more like real people. Both leads are very appealing, and I’m going to keep watching this one.Like you, I’m also very intrigued by “Once Upon a Time,” the trailers for it are incredibly compelling.Thanks!
D’oh! Thanks, David. The perils of recording in advance, AND of being generally ignorant of premiere dates since we just let our TiVos find everything!
Thanks for the ‘2 Broke Girls” take and the link to “Ringer” (which we missed). A pity we have to wait for October for some of the most interesting stuff!
Person of Interest was okay. The method of solving the case was kinda big brother creepy. Much prefered Cavaziel when he interacted with people but what is up with naming his character John? And I’ll need more background on Emerson’s character and the Cop lady before I can relate. The producers have said this will be a less mythology based show but it sure could use a dose more.
Watching Fringe premiere tonight!
Well, I managed to happen on premieres of Prime Suspect, Revenge and A Gifted Man.
“From the Makers of Medium” is not an endorsement in my book, but the pilot of A Gifted Man directed by Jonathan Demme really got me interested in how the rest of the story plays out. Also, Mike Doyle from Law & Order SVU is supposed to play a recurring character on the show, so I must, MUST tune in for that.
Revenge strikes me as rather sudsy, something more akin for the CW than for ABC. But I may stick with it for a few more episodes. It has the potential to turn really dark.
Prime Suspect — I never watched the original with Helen Mirren, but judging from what I’ve seen of the US pilot, Maria Bello’s character is no supercop (see Rizolli and Isles, Castle.) First episode, and she gets her butt kicked.
I have TiVo grabbing a repeat airing of Person of Interest. We’ll see how that goes.
I think the Big Brother aspect is part of the hook. Emerson appears to be alturistic; but is obviously avoiding any kind of oversight. Think of Gates hiring an assassin to do good works and you’ll get the general idea and its dark side. I can’t see JJ and Nolan passing up those story opportunities – I hope its less episodic than the pilot makes it look. I’m in for at least a half season just on the names of the producers and two leads.