Category / Television

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Beverly Hills, 9021Oh No

After a years long battle with cancer, Shannen Doherty, the former Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed star, passed away yesterday at the age of 53.  Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and suffered a recurrence in 2019, which had spread to her brain and her bones.

Doherty rose to fame starring as Brenda Walsh on the first four seasons of Beverly Hills 90210.  She would then later star as Prue Halliwell, the oldest sister on Charmed.  She left that gig after the third season.  On the big screen, she was known for her supporting roles in Heathers and Mallrats.

Doherty is now the second cast member from the 90s teen soap to prematurely shuttle off this mortal coil.  Luke Perry, who played Doherty’s dangerous boyfriend Dylan McKay, suffered a massive stroke in 2019, dying a week later after being taken off life support.  He was 52.

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Post Mortem – Perry Mason

HBO started developing a new version of Perry Mason, based on the character from the series of novels written by Erle Stanley Gardner, moving the setting from the 1950s of the classic Raymond Burr-led series back to the Great Depression-era of the earliest books.  With Matthew Rhys on board to play the title character, the show premiered in June of 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic.

A much grittier presentation than the classic show, it was quickly renewed for a second season.  Delays, due to behind-the-scenes reshuffling and the ongoing pandemic, pushed the second season to March of 2023.  Despite mostly positive reviews, the delay may have taken away any steam the show had built up in its first season and, in June of 2023, HBO pulled the plug.

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Post Mortem – Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

NBA legend Jerry West, who passed away earlier this week at age 86, objected to his portrayal in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, saying it was “cruel” and “deliberately false.”  Which is totally how the Jerry West played by Jason Clarke in the show would have reacted.

The Showtime era of Lakers basketball, led by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and coach Pat Riley, featured an up-tempo offense and resulted in five NBA championships and four additional Finals appearances.  Winning Time, with a changed name because its home network of HBO competed against Showtime, dramatized the early days of the era, starting with the drafting of Johnson and the first championship won during his rookie season of 1979-1980.  A second season, covering the next four NBA campaigns, aired starting in August of 2023.

With Kareem retiring in 1989 and Pat Riley stepping down as coach the following year, the Showtime era came to a close in 1991, following a Finals loss to Michael Jordan and the Bulls and Magic Johnson retiring after testing positive for HIV later that year.  Winning Time came to an end in September of 2023, when HBO announced it was cancelling the series after just two seasons.

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Post Mortem – The Blacklist

The tenth and final season of The Blacklist aired last spring and summer, wrapping up in July on NBC.  The original storyline, revolving around FBI agent Elizabeth Keen and her mysterious relationship to criminal mastermind Red Reddington, wrapped up after season eight when Megan Boone, who played Keen, left the show.  A revamped plot, with many new characters, was implemented for the final two seasons.  The main mystery behind the show, what is the relationship between Keen and Reddington, was never definitely answered.

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Post Mortem – Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso, the football comedy that put Apple TV+ on the map when it premiered in 2020, wrapped up its run with the release of its third and final season last spring.  Based on a character created for promoting NBC’s coverage of the Premier League, the show starred Jason Sudeikis as an American football coach hired to coach an English soccer team and who brings a folksy, down-to-earth approach that overcomes his lack of knowledge of the game.

While there has been talk of spin-offs or other continuations, nothing has been announced as of yet.  Sudeikis seemed ready to move on, but the rest of the cast seemed ready to continue in some shape or form.  Time will tell, but I hope to revisit AFC Richmond and its cast of characters again in the future.

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Post Mortem – Never Have I Ever

Created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, Never Have I Ever premiered on Netflix in 2020 during the early months of the pandemic.  While I enjoyed the show, I lost track of it and didn’t realize additional seasons were released until 2022, when I caught up on seasons two and three.  The fourth and final season was released last June.

Loosely based on Kaling’s childhood experiences in the Boston area as the child of Indian immigrants, the show centered around a teen girl trying to balance her life in high school with a more traditional experience at home, with her widowed mother and a grandmother over from the home country.  Series star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan has what it takes to build a sustainable career, so I’ll be interested to see what she has coming out next.

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Post Mortem – How I Met Your Father

As How I Met Your Mother was wrapping up its final season in late 2013 and early 2014, its creators, Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, teamed with Emily Spivey for a spinoff titled How I Met Your Dad, featuring the same basic premise as HIMYM but from a woman’s perspective.  After disagreements arose with CBS over the pilot, CBS declined to pick up the show to series and, after being shopped around to other networks and streamers, the show was declared dead.

The project, retitled How I Met Your Father, was resurrected in 2016, with new producers on board, but quickly fizzled out.  A third attempt started the next year, which gained traction and was eventually picked up by Hulu, debuting in 2022.  Starring Hilary Duff, Francia Raisa, and Chris Lowell, the first season debuted in January of 2022.  It returned for a 20-episode second season in 2023, but Hulu pulled the plug in September, announcing the show was cancelled.

Despite what I’m sure were the best efforts of all involved, the show lacked the charm of its predecessor.  It also seemed to lose focus in the second season, where the lead character, Sophie, stopped looking for the father of her future child and instead was focused on finding her own father.  Seeing as the show was cancelled following the second season, the mystery, such as it was, probably wasn’t resolved.

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CBS Upfronts

We wrap up our looks at the network upfronts with CBS, who released their entire 2024-2025 plans.  The week starts with Monday’s familiar comedy block, starting with The Neighborhood followed by Poppa’s House, a new comedy starring Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr.  That is followed by two entries in the NCIS franchise: the OG and the new NCIS: Origins, a prequel narrated by Mark Harmon.  Tuesday remains the same, with different iterations of Dick Wolf’s FBI running all night.

Wednesday continues as all reality, with extra-long episodes of Survivor followed by The Summit, a new show featuring a team of strangers trying to climb a remote mountain in New Zealand.  Thursday has another hour-long comedy block, with Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage taking over for its parent series Young Sheldon, followed by the returning Ghosts.  A new version of Matlock, starring Kathy Bates, follows, and the night finishes with a second installment of Elsbeth.  Friday remains the same, starting with S.W.A.T., followed by Fire Country and the final season of Blue Bloods.  Sunday kicks off with 60 Minutes, followed by Tracker, The Equalizer, and re-runs to protect against football overruns.

On tap for midseason on Wednesdays are game shows The Price is Right At Night, Raid the Cage, and an updated version of Hollywood Squares, featuring Drew Barrymore as the iconic middle square. NCIS: Sydney is on tap to replace Blue Bloods after it wraps up its run in the fall.  Once football is over, Sunday re-runs will be replaced by Watson, a present day take on the literary character who returns to his medical career following the death of his partner Sherlock Holmes.  Not slotted, but still planned for midseason, is the latest installment of The Amazing Race.

Gone and never to be seen again are Bob Hearts Abishola, CSI: Vegas, NCIS: Hawaii, So Help Me Todd, and Young Sheldon.

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FOX Upfronts

For the first time in three years, FOX has released a fall schedule during their upfront presentation.  The week starts with procedural dramas on Monday, with the returning 9-1-1: Lone Star followed by Rescue: HI-Surf, a lifeguard drama from ER and The West Wing producer John Wells.  Tuesday is mystery night, with anthology series Accused followed by Murder in a Small Town, a foreign production starring Kristin Kreuk and based on the Karl Alberg series of books by L.R. Wright.

Family-friendly competitions are the order of the day on Wednesday, with the latest installment of The Masked Singer followed by The Floor.  Thursdays focus on reality competitions, with new editions of Hell’s Kitchen and Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.  Sports is taking over Friday, with college football and basketball filling the night.  Sunday, as always, is Animation Domination, with The Simpsons, Universal Basic Guys, Bob’s Burgers, and Krapopolis wrapping things up following football.

On tap for midseason in the drama realm is a third season of Alert: Missing Persons Unit, a fourth season of The Cleaning Lady, Doc, a new medical drama based of an Italian series and starring Molly Parker.  Comedies waiting for a spot include Animal Control, Family Guy, Going Dutch, a new military series starring Denis Leary, The Great North, and Grimsburg.  Reality planned for the winter/spring includes Crime Scene Kitchen, Extracted, Lego Masters, MasterChef, Name That Tune, and Next Level Chef.

Gone and mostly forgotten is Housebroken.

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NBC Upfronts

NBC announced their new fall schedule last week, one in which they add three new shows to the lineup.  The week gets off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by Brilliant Minds, a new medical drama starring Zachary Quinto.  Tuesday starts with new mockumentary-style comedy St. Denis Medical, starring Wendi McLendon-Covey and David Alan Grier, followed by a third season of the new Night Court.  A second installment of The Voice followed by season two of The Irrational, closes out the night.

Wednesday and Thursday continue to be dominated by Dick Wolf franchises, with his three Chicago series running back-to-back-to-back on Wednesday and the two original entries in his Law & Order franchise the following night.  Thursday wraps up with a second season of Found.  A second comedy block leads off Friday night, with Happy’s Place, led by Reba McEntire, followed by Lopez vs. Lopez.  Two hours of Dateline NBC wrap up the night.  Sunday remains filled with the NFL.

For midseason, NBC has The Americas, a ten-part nature series narrated by Tom Hanks which has been in the works since 2020.  Also waiting in reserve are The Hunting Party, a crime drama starring Melisssa Roxborough, the returning Deal or No Deal Island, and a new competition series titled Destination X.  Still under consideration are Suits: LA, a spinoff to the old USA show which has become a streaming juggernaut, and Grosse Point Garden Society, from the producers of Good Girls.

Shows gone from our sets include Extended Family, La Brea, Magnum P.I., and Quantum Leap.  Law & Order: Organized Crime moves to Peacock.