Tag / Raising Hope

by jim

Post Mortem – Raising Hope

raising-hopeFOX announced back on March 10th that Raising Hope would be ending its run after 4 low rated but highly enjoyable seasons, with the last episode airing on April 4.  The only surprise, really, was that it lasted this long.  The show seemed destined for cancellation many times over its run and had, in fact, planned for season finales to serve as series finales at least once before.

There’s really not much to say about the show.  You can’t complain that it didn’t get a fair shake when it probably would have been cancelled after 1 season on any other network.  I’ll be interested to see where the cast lands next.

by jim

FOX Upfronts

24

The big news coming out of FOX’s upfront presentation wasn’t what would be airing in the fall, but next summer.  24 is coming back as a 12-episode mini-series, with Kiefer Sutherland back on board as Jack Bauer.  Will a new series work after a 4 year hiatus?  Will any other former cast members be back?  There’s lots of questions surrounding this announcement, with little in the way of answers this far in advance.

Beyond that, I don’t know how much stock to put in the announced schedules.  As usual, FOX has announced three different schedules, one for September, one for November once the World Series concludes, and one for January.  And, if the past is any indicator, all of the plans will go out the window once fall finally comes around. Bones gets moved to Friday for at least the fourth time, despite never actually airing a new episode on a Friday.  Raising Hope is also expected to move to Fridays come November.  Beyond that, there is not much movement for existing shows.  Did I mention 24 is coming back?

by jim

Midseason Review – Tuesdays

We continue our look back at my expectations for the fall television season, and today we are focusing on Tuesdays.

7:00

Raising Hope – The quirky Fox drama returns for its third season with more of the same hilarity.

Nothing new to report on the Raising Hope front.  You know what you are going to get: no more, no less.

7:30

Ben and Kate – The premiere episode wasn’t bad, and I was pretty impressed with Dakota Johnson as Kate, but I could feel Nat Faxon’s Ben starting to grate during the first half hour.  I’m not sure how much more of him I am willing to take.

As it turns out, I wasn’t willing to take any more, since I never went back to watch any subsequent episodes.

8:00

Go On – Matthew Perry’s latest attempt to escape the shadow of Chandler Bing has aired three episodes already and it isn’t bad.  Perry plays a sports radio host who joins a support group after his wife died.

Like most of Perry’s post-Friends output, a lot of the heavy lifting is left to his charm.  There are flashes of something here, though, and if the writers can figure out how to consistently offer something beyond Perry’s innate likability, they will be on to something.

New Girl – Zooey Deschanel returns in one of last season’s break out comedy hits.  The show got stronger as the season went on and the writers found their footing, and I’m looking forward to its return.

New Girl continues to impress, and has even started to find interesting things to do with Winston this year.

Happy Endings – This went from a late season replacement to one of the most consistently funny comedies on TV last season.  The ensemble group plays well off of each other and the writers bring the funny every week.

Still funny, but it seems that hardly anyone is watching.  With ABC burning off episodes by airing them on both Tuesdays and Sundays, I fear we may be looking at the unhappy end of Happy Endings.

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by jim

2012 New Fall Season – Tuesdays

It’s time to take a look at the Tuesday night offerings for this season.

7:00

Raising Hope – The quirky Fox drama returns for its third season with more of the same hilarity.

7:30

Ben and Kate – The premiere episode wasn’t bad, and I was pretty impressed with Dakota Johnson as Kate, but I could feel Nat Faxon’s Ben starting to grate during the first half hour.  I’m not sure how much more of him I am willing to take.

8:00

Go On – Matthew Perry’s latest attempt to escape the shadow of Chandler Bing has aired three episodes already and it isn’t bad.  Perry plays a sports radio host who joins a support group after his wife died.

New Girl – Zooey Deschanel returns in one of last season’s break out comedy hits.  The show got stronger as the season went on and the writers found their footing, and I’m looking forward to its return.

Happy Endings – This went from a late season replacement to one of the most consistently funny comedies on TV last season.  The ensemble group plays well off of each other and the writers bring the funny every week.

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by admin

Midseason Review – Tuesdays

Once again, we continue our look back at my expectations for the fall television season, and today we are focusing on Tuesdays.

CBS

Unforgettable – This may end up being utterly forgettable, but I’m going to give it a shot.  The main hook, that Poppy Montgomery’s character has total recall of her memories, was played off in the pilot where she was witness to a crime.  As she re-joins the police force, it may be interesting to see how they use this ability without her being personally involved in every case.

This is by no means a good show.  I really should stop watching it.

NBC

Parenthood – Nothing really new to say here.  It is what it is.  Never great, but usually good enough.

I think this show works better in bunches than in week to week doses.  I caught up on the latest 6 episodes during the December vacation and enjoyed it.  But, I hadn’t enjoyed it enough previously to not let the 6 episodes pile up.

FOX

New Girl – The one pilot I saw early, thanks to the magic of OnDemand.  I find Zooey Deschanel to be very charming, and would likely watch her reading the phone book for a hour.  Thankfully, this seems to be much more impressive than that.

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by jim

2011 New Fall Season – Tuesdays

CBS

Unforgettable – This may end up being utterly forgettable, but I’m going to give it a shot.  The main hook, that Poppy Montgomery’s character has total recall of her memories, was played off in the pilot where she was witness to a crime.  As she re-joins the police force, it may be interesting to see how they use this ability without her being personally involved in every case.

NBC

Parenthood – Nothing really new to say here.  It is what it is.  Never great, but usually good enough.

Continue reading →

by jim

Midseason Review – Tuesdays

Continuing our look back my thoughts of the new television season from September.

7:00

No Ordinary Family – While I’m sure this Fantastic Four/The Incredibles ripoff will be horrible (based solely on the incessant advertising at MLB stadiums), I will give it a shot for Julie Benz.

It isn’t great, but it is better than I feared.  Autumn Reeser has been a surprise wellspring of hot geekiness.

8:00

Life Unexpected – This little show surprised me last year when it was much better than it should have been.  Season 2 promises that the love triangle between Cate, Baze, and Ryan will come to an end, which was an overused plot in season 1. 

The second season, which comes to an end tonight, has been somewhat disappointing.  It isn’t bad, and they have stayed away from the big triangle, but they have replaced it by giving Lux more typical teen-soap drama and copying the sleeping-with-your-teacher plot from Pretty Little Liars. Continue reading →

by admin

2010 New Fall Season – Tuesdays

Continuing our look at the new television season.

7:00

No Ordinary Family – While I’m sure this Fantastic Four/The Incredibles ripoff will be horrible (based solely on the incessant advertising at MLB stadiums), I will give it a shot for Julie Benz.

8:00

Life Unexpected – This little show surprised me last year when it was much better than it should have been.  Season 2 promises that the love triangle between Cate, Baze, and Ryan will come to an end, which was an overused plot in season 1. 

Raising Hope – What happens if you take the white trash elements from My Name Is Earl but without the natural warmth that was Jason Lee?  You get this show.  It wasn’t a total loss, but it is on a short leash.

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