Tag / AMC

by admin

The CW Upfronts

It’s another year of change at The CW, which was sold to Nexstar and is cutting programming costs in a bid for more profitability.  Monday starts off with All American, the only returning scripted show, followed by 61st Street., starring Courtney B. Vance and previously airing on AMC.  Tuesday is all “new” comedy night, with three imported Canadian series, Son of a Critch, Run the Burbs, and Children Ruin Everything, followed by Everyone Else Burns, a British comedy.

Canada provides more content for Wednesday night, with Sullivan’s Crossing, starring Chad Michael Murray, followed by The Spencer Sisters, starring Lea Thompson.  Thursdays goes all-reality, with two episodes of the Nikki Glaser-helmed FBoy Island, recently dumped by HBO Max.  Friday remains the same, with Penn & Teller: Fool Us followed by an hour of Whose Line Is It Anyway?  Saturday goes back-to-back with two episodes each of Masters of Illusion and World’s Funniest Animals.  The Sunday night offering is I Am, a collection of documentary features.

Waiting in the wings for midseason are the fourth season of Walker and FGirl Island, which, ok.  Whatever.

Lost to the sands of time are DC’s Stargirl, The Flash, Kung Fu, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, Walker Independence, and The Winchesters.  The fates of Superman & Lois and Gotham Knights are undecided at this point.

by jim

Book 4 (of 52) – The Revolution Was Televised

The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers And Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever - Alan Sepinwall

The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers And Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever – Alan Sepinwall

Starting in the late 1990s, as cable networks started to look to provide more viewing options than reruns of Benson and The Rockford Files and struggling netlets looked to find an identity in order to challenge the big 4, television entered what can only be described as a golden age of quality programming.  TV critic Alan Sepinwall looks at the 12 shows that blazed this new trail, garnering hundreds of Emmy nominations in their wake.

The main leader of this revolution was HBO, which aired 4 of the 12 series Sepinwall profiled.  Whether it was the goings on in Emerald City in the prison drama Oz or the dirty dealings of the western Deadwood or the drug-fueled and gang-infested streets of Baltimore in The Wire or the family run New Jersey business on The Sopranos, HBO showed that their “It’s not TV, it’s HBO” promos were more than just a slogan.

Seeing the success that HBO had with their scripted dramas, other cable networks looked to change their fortunes by following the same path.  FX was looking to reinvent itself and succeeded with The Shield.  AMC broke through in a big way with two hits, Mad Men and Breaking Bad, the only two shows in the book that are still on the air.  Even the channel formerly known as SciFi managed to find themselves a hit with the remake of Battlestar Galactica.

The one place it is much harder to be revolutionary is on network TV, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible.  Against all odds, ABC took a germ of an idea from an outgoing network chief and somehow ended up with Lost.  The WB, trying to find something to air besides “ethnic” sitcoms, turned to a re-imagined Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  NBC also looked to the cineplex for inspiration and found themselves with Friday Night Lights.  Not to be outdone, FOX managed to turn what could have become a tiring gimmick into the long running 24.

Sepinwall goes back and interviews most of the power-brokers behind the scenes of these revolutionary shows and provides an in-depth look at how they came to be and the struggles it took to get them on the air.  If I wasn’t already reading Sepinwall’s reviews, I would certainly start after finishing this book.

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.

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