Tag / House

by admin

2017 New Fall Season – Mondays

old-tv-set1We continue our annual look at the new fall season with Monday night’s offerings, which features some returning favorites and a few new shows with some potential.

7:00

The Big Bang Theory – Once again, The Big Bang Theory moves back to Mondays until late October to accommodate the NFL.  With Sheldon’s proposal to Amy at the end of last season, this year looks to be shaking things up a bit.

Supergirl – With her boyfriend banished from Earth, Supergirl decides to focus on being a hero and push aside her “human” side.

8:00

The Gifted – FOX brings a new entry in the superhero fold, this time in the world of the X-Men.

9:00 Continue reading →

by admin

Midseason Review – Thursdays

old-tv-set1Thursday night is traditionally the busiest night of the television week. Here’s our look back at my pre-season thoughts on what’s on the slate for this season.

7:00

The Big Bang Theory – Entering its 7th season, the show’s ratings continue to grow.  Everyone is in a relationship now, so we’ll see how the show handles that.

The continues to be a ratings juggernaut while still being a good comedy.

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland – Originally conceived as a mini-series to air while Once Upon A Time was in hiatus, ABC execs were so enamored with this spinoff show that they moved it to the fall and gave it its own timeslot.  Will 2 hours of weekly fairy tales prove to be too much?  Only time will tell.

I made it through about 2 episodes of this train wreck before I had to drop out.  Turns out there is a limit to the amount of fairy tales I can handle in a week.

8:00

The Crazy Ones – Robin Williams returns to television for the first time since Mork & Mindy, which is not something I would ordinarily be interested in.  Add in David E. Kelley, who has been more miss than hit lately, and this would likely get a pass from me.  However, the inclusion of one Sarah Michelle Gellar has guaranteed that I will at least check it out.

The show has done a tremendous job of toning down the Robin Williams factor to a reasonable level and has been one of the surprises of the new season.

Grey’s Anatomy – Back for a 10th season, the show was revitalized a bit last season with the addition of a new group of interns.  Hopefully they can keep it up this year.

The show continues to entertain, even if it isn’t the ratings hit it was in its earlier days. Continue reading →

by jim

Post Mortem – Body Of Proof

BOD_Twitter_Profile-1With tonight’s series finale of Body of Proof on tap, it seems like as good a place as any to kick off our annual look back at the shows I watched that came to an end this past season.  Body of Proof debuted on ABC in March of 2011 and took the House formula and slapped a new, female coat of paint on it, with Dana Delaney in the driver’s seat.  Rather than surround her with doctors to question her, she had police officers who didn’t trust her until they did.

To me, Body of Proof never really clicked.  That’s not to say that it was a bad show, but it never had that transcendent moment where it became a really good show.  The crew of the medical examiner’s office, including Delaney and Jeri Ryan, were not the real problem with the show.  The police side of things were where the show needed some work, and that was addressed somewhat in this third season with the addition of Mark Valley.  I fear that it was too little, too late, though.

by jim

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.

Continue reading →

by jim

Post Mortem – House

After 8 seasons, Hugh Laurie and the folks at Fox and Universal decided that the time had come for the adventures of Dr. Gregory House to come to an end.  And, frankly, it was about time, as the show, which had been a favorite and a ratings hit, had started to become a bit stale.

There were numerous times over the course of the series where House was changed, and any one of them could have given the show more to work with.  Instead, all of them were discarded over the course of a few episodes, putting House right back where he started.  As the seasons wore on, the charms of the original premise started to wear a little thin.  Bringing in a new team of doctors had given the show a creative boost in the fourth season, but doing so again this past season did not, despite the best efforts of Odette Annable and Charlyne Yi.

At the end, House went out the way he spent the entire run of the show, by breaking the rules to get what he wanted. In his wake, he left behind a legacy of 8 mostly strong seasons.

by jim

Post Mortem – Breaking In

FOX originally cancelled Breaking In, a decent comedy starring Christian Slater and Bret Harrison, following the 2010-2011 season, but then decided to bring it back at the last minute.  Due to the timing of the renewal, some changes had to be made, and none of them were for the better.  Michael Rosenbaum was out completely and Odette Annable, who had snagged a role on House, only came back for two episodes before being written out.  In their place, the always annoying Megan Mullally was brought in, which totally changed the tone of the show, again not for the better. The one good addition for season 2 was Erin Richards, as Mullally’s assistant, who gave the show a brief ray of sunshine.

Only 5 of the 13 episodes filmed for season 2 have been aired to this point, and there is no word if or when the remaining 8 episodes will see the light of day.  I have no idea why FOX even bothered to bring the show back if it was going to be handled in this way.

by jim

The Doctor Is Out

There’s an old idiom in sports that it is better to let a star player leave one year early than to let him hang on for one year too many.  On Wednesday, Fox announced that House would be wrapping up its run this May after 8 seasons.  Unfortunately, it may have stuck around for one season too many.  As I mentioned last month, Odette Anabel and Charlyne Yi have injected some fresh blood into this season, but, overall, the show is tired.  Moving Omar Epps into the Lisa Edelstein role hasn’t really panned out.

That being said, the show was a strong performer for many years, and introduced us to many memorable characters, including Thirteen, Cutthroat Bitch, and, of course, House himself.  I will be looking forward to whatever Hugh Laurie decides to do next.

by jim

Midseason Review – Mondays

Continuing our look back at the fall television season and what is coming up this winter.

CBS

How I Met Your Mother – Based on the season premier, we are no closer to meeting the titular mother, and the surprise reappearance of VIctoria will likely kill some time.  By adding another tease (who will Barney marry?), the show seems intent on giving its critics more ammunition, but could avoid it if they start paying off on some of these “mysteries”.  Meanwhile, after a season that stretched his dramatic acting skills, the first two episodes of the season gave Jason Segel more comedic moments.

I still enjoy the show and am not one of those people who think they absolutley need to get the whole mother meeting out of the way, but the writers do seem to be treading water somewhat, almost as if they are deliberately not introducing the mother, but they don’t know what else to do at this point.

2 Broke Girls – The first episode started off kind of weak, but it got better later in the half hour.  I’ve been a big fan of Kat Dennings dating back to The 40 Year Old Virgin and Beth Behrs seemed to have some chops as well.  I’ll give it a chance.

The show has gotten better, but it still seems to be missing something.  I do think Behrs has been one of the shining stars of the new season. 

Hawaii Five-O – After a mostly popcorn-fun first season, the show returns with a new recurring guest star in Terry O’Quinn.  That in and of itself would be a reason to turn in.

 Continues to be a fun show that doesn’t take itself too seriously.  O’Quinn has been entertaining in his occassional appearances.

NBC Continue reading →

by jim

2011 New Fall Season – Mondays

CBS

How I Met Your Mother – Based on the season premier, we are no closer to meeting the titular mother, and the surprise reappearance of VIctoria will likely kill some time.  By adding another tease (who will Barney marry?), the show seems intent on giving its critics more ammunition, but could avoid it if they start paying off on some of these “mysteries”.  Meanwhile, after a season that stretched his dramatic acting skills, the first two episodes of the season gave Jason Segel more comedic moments.

2 Broke Girls – The first episode started off kind of weak, but it got better later in the half hour.  I’ve been a big fan of Kat Dennings dating back to The 40 Year Old Virgin and Beth Behrs seemed to have some chops as well.  I’ll give it a chance.

Hawaii Five-O – After a mostly popcorn-fun first season, the show returns with a new recurring guest star in Terry O’Quinn.  That in and of itself would be a reason to turn in.

Continue reading →

by jim

Midseason Review – Mondays

As we start to gear up for midseason premieres and February sweeps, let’s take a look back at what I said and thought back in September.

7:00

How I Met Your Mother – It looks like we (and Ted) are finally going to meet the long-teased titular mother this season, which could be just what the show needs.  It started to drag a bit last season, but the premiere seemed like they were back to form.  At its worst, it is worth watching for Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris, who always bring their A-game.

Well, despite a tease here and there, we aren’t really any closer to meeting the titular mother.  But, the season has been good so far, and the last new episode had Jason Segal show just how much range he actually has.

Chuck – The spy comedy enters its fourth season with a new season, a new Buy More, and, finally, Chuck and Sarah together for reals.  One of the better shows on TV at bringing out nerd-culture without talking down to it. 

The introduction of Chuck’s mother has been a godsend for the show, if only for the occasional guest spot from the surprisingly funny Timothy Dalton.  Beyond that, the show has been up to its usual snuff.

  Continue reading →