With the advent of winter premieres, the start of the premium cable network shows, and with February sweeps around the corner, it’s time to revisit my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Sunday nights.
7:00
Once Upon A Time – Season 2 of the show about fairy tale characters in the real world started to go off the rails a little as new characters showed up and the plot expanded. This season promises a more focused plot, which will hopefully result in the show becoming more enjoyable again.
Well, the first half of the season mostly jettisoned most of the characters and focused on a small group fighting Peter Pan in Neverland. While things were more focused, they may have been too focused. The show returns in the spring with (another) new status quo, so we’ll see where it goes from here.
8:00
The Good Wife – Last season, the show moved from solid to really good. With Alicia and Cary planning on leaving the firm, the season ended on a cliffhanger that will hopefully continue to carry it to new heights this year. The big problem once again will be catching the entire episode when football runs long, as it always does.
This show has become crazy good. The slow burn of when will Alicia pull the trigger and leave and then the explosion of what happens once she (and the others) do was tremendously done. The one complaint, and it is a small one, is that every case since has been the new firm versus Lockhart Gardner. It would be nice to see them do battle against some other law firms as well.
Revenge – Another ABC show that became much more convoluted in its second season. This went from one of the better shows of the previous season to one that, more often than not, was a chore to get through. Hopefully a new show runner will get things back on track this year. Otherwise, it might be time to say goodbye to the Hamptons.
Things did get back on track somewhat, but the soapier elements are starting to seep through. I’ll be sticking with the show for now, but I can’t say for how much longer.
The Walking Dead – Now here’s a show that keeps building and building. Following last season’s story with the Governor, things get shaken up at the prison this year. I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
The first part of the season ended with the Governor dead, but Rick and the rest of the survivors forced to separate and go their own ways. Things should pick up again next month when the show returns.
Homeland – Last season ended with the CIA getting blown up and Damian Lewis’ character on the run, accused of the terrorist act he didn’t commit. I’m not sure how much more there is to get out of the story of Nicholas Brody, but I’m willing to see where it goes next.
Well, there wasn’t much left in the Nicholas Brody story. I certainly understand why they tried to keep Damian Lewis around, given his overall acting skills and the chemistry he shared with Claire Danes, but the show has suffered for it. We’ll have to see next fall if the show can recover without having him around.
9:00
The Mentalist – Entering its sixth season, this is a show that is getting extremely tired. The producers are promising to finally reveal who Red John is and rumor has it that two cast members will be leaving sometime this season. Maybe these moves will give the show a second breath, but I’m not convinced at this point.
So what happens once the series-long mystery of Red John gets wrapped up? Well, two actors get kicked off the show, the rest of the team moves to the FBI, and the scope of the show’s cases moves from California to the entire country. Woo hoo.
Masters Of Sex – Showtime’s latest looks back at pioneering sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson. The promise of nudity from Lizzy Caplan does not factor into my decision to give the show a shot. At all.
Well, I certainly meant to watch this. I even recorded the first few episodes. Sadly, I needed the room and decided I would catch up later via OnDemand. Which, to date, I have not done.
So that’s where the shows I planned to watch in the fall stand. Let’s take a look at new shows starting this spring.
Shameless – The Gallagher clan returned to Showtime’s Sunday night lineup earlier this month. I am looking forward to seeing where everybody winds up following the end of last season.
True Detective – Planned as an anthology series where each season has a different premise and cast. The debut season kicked off last week, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.
Girls – Lena Dunham and friends return for their latest look at hipster girls trying to make their way in today’s scary world.
Episodes – Matt LeBlanc returns as Matt LeBlanc, in a show that might be nearing it’s end of usefulness.
House of Lies – After the end of last season, Marty and his team are broken up and spread across 3 different companies. We’ll have to see how the new players fit in and if they upset the chemistry.
Sherlock – Over the Christmas break, I caught up on the first 2 seasons of the BBC show bringing Sherlock Holmes to 21st century London. The third season kicked off in the UK on New Year’s Day, but doesn’t air in America until tonight on PBS. I think the last thing I watched regularly on PBS was Sesame Street, so hopefully I can figure out their schedule.