2019 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the half way point of our look at the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays have on tap for the fall.

7:00

Riverdale – The show will address the death of star Luke Perry last spring, and his former 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty will make an appearance to pay tribute to Perry.  Of, course, this is assuming I ever catch up on the last season and a half of the show.

8:00

Modern Family – Season 11 will be its last, which seems about right.

SEAL Team – David Boreanaz returns for a third season of the military procedural.

Nancy Drew – Building on the success of Riverdale, the CW takes another beloved property from the early-to-mid 20th century and ramps up the sex appeal for a 21st century audience.

8:30

Single Parents – After a surprisingly entertaining first season, the group of single parents returns for another go around.

9:00

Stumptown – Cobie Smulders returns to the small screen in this adaptation of the graphic novels of the same name from Oni Press.

2018 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the half way point of our look at the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays have on tap for the fall.

7:00

Riverdale – The sexy version of the Archie comics returns for its third season, assuming I ever catch up on the end of the second.

8:00

Modern Family – The comedy, entering its tenth season, is really starting to show its age.  It’s still fun, but the plots are starting to get a little out there.

SEAL Team – David Boreanaz returns for a second season of the procedural, after their deployment to the Middle East.

9:00

Criminal Minds – Season 14 of the show picks up where last season ended, with Reid and Penelope captured.

Midseason Review – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the half way point of our look back at the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s my thoughts on what Wednesdays had on tap.

7:00

Riverdale – The sexy version of the Archie comics returns for its second season.

I mean, there’s really no particular reason for this show to exist, but it is a decent way to pass the time.

The Blacklist – Now that the mystery of Red’s relationship to Liz has been cleared up, things promise to take a lighter tone in season 5.

I have a feeling we may be seeing the end for The Blacklist sooner rather than later.

8:00

Modern Family – The comedy, entering its ninth season, is really starting to show its age.  It’s still fun, but the plots are starting to get a little out there.

Ridiculous is still the name of the game, but there is still entertainment to be had.

SEAL Team – David Boreanaz returns to television mere months after the end of Bones in what is likely to be another CBS procedural.

If it weren’t for Boreanaz, I wouldn’t bother.

9:00

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2017 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the half way point of our look at the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays have on tap for the fall.

7:00

Riverdale – The sexy version of the Archie comics returns for its second season.

The Blacklist – Now that the mystery of Red’s relationship to Liz has been cleared up, things promise to take a lighter tone in season 5.

8:00

Modern Family – The comedy, entering its ninth season, is really starting to show its age.  It’s still fun, but the plots are starting to get a little out there.

SEAL Team – David Boreanaz returns to television mere months after the end of Bones in what is likely to be another CBS procedural.

9:00

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Post Mortem – Bones

When Bones debuted on FOX on September 13, 2005, the White Sox were still a month and a half from breaking their 88 year World Series drought and the Cubs drought had not even hit 100 years.  12 years later, the wacky procedural had aired in at least one timeslot on every weeknight, giving FOX a steady, if unspectacular, performer.

Fresh from Angel, David Boreanaz signed on as Agent Seeley Booth, followed quickly by Emily Deschanel as Temperance Brennan.  Their chemistry helped to elevate the show above a typical procedural, useful for a 12 season, 246 episode run.

While it was certainly time for the show to move on, I can’t say that I won’t miss having it on the schedule.  Even at the end, when the cracks were starting to show, it was an enjoyable way to spend an hour with a group of old friends who had been together for so long.

CBS Upfronts

With very few holes to fill in their lineup, CBS presents easily the least changed lineup for the fall.  With the network again airing football on Thursday nights for the first 2 months of the season, there will be much juggling going on, starting on Monday, where The Big Bang Theory returns until football ends.  It will be followed by 9JKL, a new show starring Mark Feuerstein, Linda Lavin, and Elliott Gould.  New comedy Me, Myself & I, with Bobby Moynihan about the defining moments in one man’s life over three distinct periods, is sandwiched between the returning Kevin Can Wait and Scorpion.  Once football ends, Kevin moves up to lead off the night and Superior Donuts moves in.

Tuesday stays exactly the same.  Wednesday night sees Criminal Minds move back an hour for its 13th season, with its old time slot given to Seal Team, starring David Boreanaz in a military drama that follows the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALs.  Thursday, starting in November, starts with The Big Bang Theory, followed by the spin-off Young Sheldon, about, well, a young Sheldon Cooper.  The night finishes with S.W.A.T., a new drama based on the old series and film remake starring former Criminal Minds star Shemar Moore.

Friday stays exactly the same.  Sunday adds Wisdom of the Crowd, starring Jeremy Piven as a visionary tech innovator who creates a cutting-edge crowdsourcing app to solve his daughter’s murder, and revolutionizes crime solving in the process, which will in no way be the similar to last year’s APB, which bombed on FOX.

On tap for midseason, along side returning favorite Elementary, are Instinct, which stars Alan Cumming as a former CIA operative who is lured back to his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer, and By The Book, a comedy about a modern day man at a crossroads in his life who decides to live strictly in accordance with the Bible.

Gone and never to be seen again are The Great Indoors, 2 Broke Girls, The Odd Couple, Pure Genius, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Doubt, Training Day, and Ransom.

Disturbing TV Tidbits

old-tv-set1Two bits of strange news came out of FOX’s presentation yesterday at the TCA press tour.  First, coming in October, is the crossover event that absolutely nobody was looking for: Bones and Sleepy Hollow.  From the press release:

On BONES, the grisly discovery of human remains lead Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) on a hunt for clues, during which they encounter Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), searching for answers of their own. Realizing that they are after the same evidence, they team up to solve the mystery. Then, immediately following on SLEEPY HOLLOW, the intrigue continues as Ichabod’s old nemesis is back from the dead. Ichabod and Abbie need advanced forensic help and expertise to stop him and turn to Brennan and Booth to unlock 18th century secrets using 21st century science.

If this sounds ridiculous to you, well let’s just say you are not alone.  Sleepy Hollow’s second season was a mess, and I gave up on the show some time along the way, realizing that I wasn’t so much watching it as I was letting it play while I was doing something else.  This does not speak well to the creative strength of either show.

In other news, FOX announced that they are moving forward with a reboot of 24, without Jack Bauer.  While this means Kiefer Sutherland will not be involved, there’s no word yet on whether other old favorites will show up.  Can 24 be something worthwhile without its signature star?  Honestly, I doubt it.  But time (no pun intended) will tell.

2012 New Fall Season – Mondays

Day 2 of our look at the new fall television season brings us to Mondays.

7:00

How I Met Your Mother – Entering its 8th, and possibly last, season, this is a show in desperate need of a change.  I’ve never been one of those people who felt that the show needed to introduce the title mother in order to make the show worth while, it has started to feel that the writers and producers are treading water while waiting to bring the mother on board.  That could give the show enough juice to energize not just this season, but any possible future ones as well.

Bones – Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz returned last week for the 8th season with a move to Mondays, taking over the House timeslot.

8:00

2 Broke Girls – In some ways, this was one of the more disappointing series to debut last season.  Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs are both talented actresses who could use better material.  Hopefully the writers and producers spent the summer focusing on what worked last year and got rid of the base racial stereotypes that tended to drag things down.

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