Tag / Once Upon A Time

by admin

Midseason Review – Sundays

old-tv-set1With 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 – The fairy tale show is back for season 4, after an uptick in quality during the past season.  With little else in competition, I see no reason not to continue turning in.

The first half of the season was a shameless attempt at cashing in on the Frozen phenomenon.  We shall see what the producers have up their sleeve for the spring.

7:30

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – FOX has moved its breakout comedy hit from Tuesday nights, where it was ill-matched with New Girl and The Mindy Project.  Now it will compete along side more like minded, if animated, comedies.

The show still has a tendency to treat Andy Samberg’s character as too much of a simpleton to be taken seriously as a successful detective, but, beyond that, it is still bringing the funny.

8:00

Resurrection – ABC’s tale of what happens when the dead start to return, as though nothing had happened, became the surprise hit of the spring.  The mystery of why seems to be a big part of the show, so I imagine they will need to tackle that sooner rather than later, and I can’t imagine how they can come up with something reasonable.

The show is burning through its cast of characters, and hasn’t really addressed much of the mythology behind the how and why the dead have returned.  I still think they will need to do so soon.

The Good Wife – More like the Great Wife, if you catch my drift.  Rarely do you see a show hit a creative high point in season 5, but that is exactly what The Good Wife did last season.  The status quo was upset once again in the season finale, so it will be interesting to see things play out once again.

Interesting point about the show: Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi have not shared a scene together since episode 14 of season 4, which aired on February 17, 2013.

The Newsroom – HBO’s and Aaron Sorkin’s take on 24 hour cable news returns for a third and final season, dealing with the fallout of last season’s faked story storyline.

The show, and possibly Aaron Sorkin’s television career, wrapped up in December after a final season dealing with a fake Edward Snowden and the real Edward Snowden.

Homeland – The fourth season gives the show a fresh start, with Brody finally dead.  Time will tell if they are able to pull out of the talespin that overextending the Brody story put them in to.

When dealing with CIA spy stuff in Islamabad, the show was as good as its ever been.  When dealing with Carrie’s personal life, opinions diverged.

Continue reading →

by admin

2014 New Fall Season – Sundays

old-tv-set1It is time once again to dive in to the new fall lineups for the television season that kicks into gear tonight. We start, once again, with the Sunday night offerings, which features some returning favorites, but nothing new to watch, except on cable.

7:00

Once Upon A Time – The fairy tale show is back for season 4, after an uptick in quality during the past season.  With little else in competition, I see no reason not to continue turning in.

7:30

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – FOX has moved its breakout comedy hit from Tuesday nights, where it was ill-matched with New Girl and The Mindy Project.  Now it will compete along side more like minded, if animated, comedies.

8:00

Resurrection – ABC’s tale of what happens when the dead start to return, as though nothing had happened, became the surprise hit of the spring.  The mystery of why seems to be a big part of the show, so I imagine they will need to tackle that sooner rather than later, and I can’t imagine how they can come up with something reasonable.

The Good Wife – More like the Great Wife, if you catch my drift.  Rarely do you see a show hit a creative high point in season 5, but that is exactly what The Good Wife did last season.  The status quo was upset once again in the season finale, so it will be interesting to see things play out once again.

The Newsroom – HBO’s and Aaron Sorkin’s take on 24 hour cable news returns for a third and final season, dealing with the fallout of last season’s faked story storyline.

Homeland – The fourth season gives the show a fresh start, with Brody finally dead.  Time will tell if they are able to pull out of the talespin that overextending the Brody story put them in to. Continue reading →

by jim

Post Mortem – Intelligence

intelligence-cbsIf you were looking for a completely serious take on the Chuck premise, a super agent with computer-aided abilities, that was devoid of any and all humor, Intelligence was the show for you.  Based on the ratings, however, not many people were looking for such a show.  What should have been a no-brainer, with Josh Holloway in his first post-Lost starring role and Once Upon A Time‘s Meghan Ory teaming up as the microchipped agent and his handler, the show failed quickly.  I bailed after 4 episodes and with no sign of improvement on the horizon.  CBS aired the full 13 episode order before pulling the plug.

by jim

Post Mortem – Once Upon A Time In Wonderland

ouat-wonderlandABC originally intended for Once Upon A Time In Wonderland to have a limited run in the winter when its parent program, Once Upon A Time, went on hiatus.  However, when it came time to introduce their fall schedule at the upfronts, the network had placed the spin-off on Thursday nights.  “We really want to tell the story without having to worry about how to stretch it for five years,” said creator Edward Kitsis.

Turns out, they ended up getting less than one.  ABC announced in March that the show would end after its initial 13 episode order, and the final episode aired in April.  While I remain a fan of the original, this show didn’t work for me at all, even with former Lost star Naveen Andrews on-board as the series’ main villain.  I made it through 2 episodes before deleting the rest from the DVR and dropping the show back in the fall.  It seems like I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t enthralled.

by admin

ABC Upfronts

agents_of_shield_bannerABC, which finds itself in fourth place as this season winds down, has provided a fall schedule that is relatively stable.  Mondays, Saturdays, and Sundays will return in the fall exactly as they wrapped up this spring.  Tuesday sees Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. move back an hour, with the new Pygmalion update Selfie, starring former Doctor Who star Karen Gillan, leading off the night.

Wednesday stays mostly the same, with The Goldbergs and new comedy Black-ish filling in the holes left by Suburgatory and Mixology.  After years of trying, and failing, to find something on Thursdays that could lead in to Grey’s Anatomy, the folks at ABC have given up, instead moving both Greys and Scandal up an hour, leaving the 9:00 hour to the latest from Shonda Grimes.

In the winter, Agent Carter, a spin-off from the first Captain America film following Hayley Atwell’s character in the post-war years, will take over for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. while Galavant, a musical fairy tale comedy, does the same for Once Upon A Time.

by admin

Midseason Review – Sundays

old-tv-set1With 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. Continue reading →

by admin

2013 New Fall Season – Thursdays

old-tv-set1Thursday night is traditionally the busiest night of the week.  Here’s 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.

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.

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.

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.

Continue reading →

by admin

2013 New Fall Season – Sundays

old-tv-set1It is time once again to dive in to the new fall lineups for the television season that kicks into gear tonight.  We start, once again, with the Sunday night offerings, which features some returning favorites, but nothing new to watch, except on cable.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Continue reading →

by jim

Midseason Review – Sundays

With the advent of winter premieres 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 – ABC found themselves a winner last year with this series about fairy tale characters who have been forced to live in the real world thanks to the evil Queen.  Last season ended with the characters remembering their true selves, which promises a new status quo for season 2.

 

Snow White and Prince Charming were split apart for most of the first half of the season, but were reunited in the midseason finale.  Now that the evil Queen’s eviler mother has come to Storybrook, it might allow Regina to be softened somewhat.

8:00

The Good Wife – Thanks to the great DVR crash of 2012, I missed the last few episodes of last season.  While never flashy, this show is always solid.  The big problem in the fall will be catching the entire episode when football runs long.

For the most part, The Good Wife continued to be its strong self, but it did have a slight misstep with the story surrounding Kalinda and her ex.  Fortunately, following fan backlash, that storyline was wrapped up quickly, hopefully to never be seen or heard from again.

Revenge – ABC’s other breakout hit of last season moves from Wednesday to Sunday as Emily VanCamp continues her secret rampage through the Hamptonites that ruined her father’s life.  This was a surprisingly good soap that delivered the goods last season.

The second season of Revenge has been more of the same, but seems to be lacking some of the excitement of the first season due to familiarity.  I am enjoying the show, but I can see myself burning out on it at some point.

Dexter – Speaking of shaking up the status quo, last season ended with Jennifer Carpenter’s Deb walking in on Dexter mid-murder.  To make things more interesting, former Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski joins the crew at Miami Metro.

Dexter wrapped up its season in December with another shocker, Dexter under suspicion for being the Bay Harbor Butcher and Deb murdering LaGuerta to cover his tracks.

Continue reading →

by jim

2012 New Fall Season – Sundays

It’s that time of year again.  The new fall season is upon us.  Time to delve into the offerings that will clog up the DVR every Sunday night.

7:00

Once Upon A Time – ABC found themselves a winner last year with this series about fairy tale characters who have been forced to live in the real world thanks to the evil Queen.  Last season ended with the characters remembering their true selves, which promises a new status quo for season 2.

8:00

The Good Wife – Thanks to the great DVR crash of 2012, I missed the last few episodes of last season.  While never flashy, this show is always solid.  The big problem in the fall will be catching the entire episode when football runs long.

Revenge – ABC’s other breakout hit of last season moves from Wednesday to Sunday as Emily VanCamp continues her secret rampage through the Hamptonites that ruined her father’s life.  This was a surprisingly good soap that delivered the goods last season.

Dexter – Speaking of shaking up the status quo, last season ended with Jennifer Carpenter’s Deb walking in on Dexter mid-murder.  To make things more interesting, former Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski joins the crew at Miami Metro.

Continue reading →