Tag / Once Upon A Time

by jim

Post Mortem – Once Upon A Time

After 6 seasons, and with most of the main cast announcing that they were leaving the show, Once Upon A Time wrapped up its story and looked like it was ready to call it a day.  Unfortunately, ABC wasn’t quite ready to let it go just yet, so it was brought back for a 7th season, with a time jump, a new storyline, a new curse, and a move to Seattle.  In February, ABC announced that this would be the final season of the show.

While never a great show, Once Upon A Time was usually a reliable way to spend an hour, up until the last season, despite basically being a way for Disney to re-use its existing intellectual property.

by admin

ABC Upfronts

ABC is shaking up their lineup this fall, with changes on every night save Monday and Thursday.  The week gets off to a familiar start with Dancing With The Stars, followed by The Good Doctor.  Roseanne returns for another season to kick off Tuesday nights, followed by The Kids Are Alright, about a traditional Irish-Catholic family navigating the turbulent 70s, then black-ish and Splitting Up Together staying put.  The night ends with The Rookie, bringing Nathan Fillion back to the network in a familiar setting.

Wednesday starts the same, with The Goldbergs, American Housewife, and Modern Family starting the night, followed by Single Parents, a comedy about, well, single parents starring Taran Killam and Leighton Meester.  The night is capped off by A Million Little Things, about a group of Boston friends who re-examine their lives when one of them dies.  Thursdays stay exactly the same, with the three Shondaland shows remaining in place.  A revamped Friday kicks off with the re-located Fresh Off The Boat and Speechless, followed by Child Support and 20/20.  Sunday goes all reality, with a junior edition of DWTS sandwiched between America’s Funniest Home Videos and Shark Tank.  The night ends with The Alec Baldwin Show, the first prime time talk show since the unfortunate attempt to keep Jay Leno happy while Conan O’Brien hosted The Tonight Show.

Agents of SHIELD will return in summer of 2019, and American Idol and For The People will return at some point.  Also on the bench for mid-season are The Fix, a legal drama from Marcia Clark starring Robin Tunney, Grand Hotel, from executive producer Eva Longoria, and Whiskey Cavalier, about a partnership of FBI and CIA agents played by Scott Foley and Lauren Cohan.  The one comedy is Schooled, a spin-off of The Goldbergs.

Cancelled shows never to be seen again are Alex Inc., The Crossing, Deception, Designated Survivor, Downward Dog, The Great American Baking Show, Kevin (Probably) Saves The World, Inhumans, The Mayor, The Middle, Once Upon A Time, Quantico, Scandal, Somewhere Between, Still Star-Crossed, and Ten Days In The Valley.

by admin

Midseason Review – Fridays

old-tv-set1We finish up our look back at the fall season with Friday’s amazing slate of shows.

7:00

Blindspot – A 2 year time jump gives the third year show a soft reboot as it moves to the deadzone of Friday nights.

I don’t know how much of a future this show has.

Once Upon A Time – For some unknown reason, the show returns for its 7th season minus 6 cast members.

I still don’t understand the rationale for continuing the show.

8:00

Hawaii Five-0 – An eighth season of the show that doesn’t really impress, but doesn’t really disappoint, loses Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park from the main cast.

More of the same.

Jane The Virgin – The telenovela returns for its fourth season with a surprising move to Friday nights.

The quality is still there.

The Exorcist – FOX’s reboot of the movie franchise was surprisingly entertaining in its first season.  We shall see if they can keep it up for another year.

I didn’t make it back for this season.

Marvel’s Inhumans – With the rights to the X-Men tied up by FOX, Marvel has tried to make the Inhumans their new go-to team, both in the comics and now on television.  Early reviews show that this will not be a winning formula.

I made it through one painful episode.

9:00

Blue Bloods – The first family of the NYPD returns for an eighth season.

More of the same again.

by admin

2017 New Fall Season – Fridays

old-tv-set1Our final look at the new fall season gives us Friday’s amazing slate of shows.

7:00

Blindspot – A 2 year time jump gives the third year show a soft reboot as it moves to the deadzone of Friday nights.

Once Upon A Time – For some unknown reason, the show returns for its 7th season minus 6 cast members.

8:00

Hawaii Five-0 – An eighth season of the show that doesn’t really impress, but doesn’t really disappoint, loses Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park from the main cast.

Jane The Virgin – The telenovela returns for its fourth season with a surprising move to Friday nights.

The Exorcist – FOX’s reboot of the movie franchise was surprisingly entertaining in its first season.  We shall see if they can keep it up for another year.

Marvel’s Inhumans – With the rights to the X-Men tied up by FOX, Marvel has tried to make the Inhumans their new go-to team, both in the comics and now on television.  Early reviews show that this will not be a winning formula.

9:00

Blue Bloods – The first family of the NYPD returns for an eighth season.

by admin

ABC Upfronts

ABC is shaking up their lineup this fall, with changes on every night save Thursday.  The week gets off to a familiar start with Dancing With The Stars, followed by The Good Doctor, a new medical drama about an autistic country doctor who moves to the big city.  Seriously.  The Tuesday night comedies get switched around somewhat, with black-ish moving over from Wednesdays, followed by The Mayor, about a young wrapper looking for his big break.  The night ends with The Gospel of Kevin, starring Jason Ritter, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, and J. August Richards.

Wednesday stays mostly the same, with American Housewife moving over from Tuesdays to take black-ish‘s place.  Thursdays stay exactly the same, with the three Shondaland shows remaining in place.  A revamped Friday kicks off with Once Upon A Time, which will be losing most of its main cast, followed by Marvel’s Inhumans, the most recent attempt to make the Inhumans happen.  Sunday goes mostly reality, with To Tell The Truth and Shark Tank moving over.  The night ends with Ten Days In The Valley, a new drama about a producer whose daughter goes missing.

Agents of SHIELD will take over for The Inhumans on Fridays after 8 weeks and Quantico will return at some point for an abbreviated 3rd season.  Also on the bench for mid-season are The Crossing, a drama about war refugees from America, Deception, about a magician who turns to the FBI which is in no way similar to The Mentalist, and For The People, about a set of new lawyers trying to find their way.  Comedies include Alex Inc, based on a podcast, and Splitting Up Together, starring Jenna Fischer.

Cancelled shows never to be seen again are The Real O’Neals, Imaginary Mary, The Catch, Dr. Ken, Last Man Standing, American Crime, Secrets and Lies, Time After Time, Notorious, and Conviction.

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 6, with a refocusing on life in Storybrooke.  With little else in competition, I see no reason not to continue turning in.

Nothing really to say about the show.  I’m still watching, but not really enthused.

8:00

Shameless – Season 7 of the show finds Fiona running the diner and on her own as the fallout from last season’s finale.

The season wrapped up in December with things starting to look up for most members of the Gallagher clan.  Which can only mean that season 8 will tear them all down again.

The Walking Dead – After a disappointing season finale where producers failed to deliver on the long-promised plot point of who would be killed by the new character Negan, the show has some work to do to regain the trust of the audience.

To be honest, the big reveal of who Negan killed at the end of last season was so anti-climatic, that I kind of loss interest in the whole thing.  I have 6 episodes sitting on the DVR waiting to be watched.  I can’t say right now if I ever will.

9:00

Quantico – After a strong first season that started to fizzle towards the end, the show gets rebooted somewhat with the CIA replacing the FBI and a promised reduction in the soapy elements that plagued season 1.

I must admit, a bit of the magic from season 1 has been lost.  I let a number of episodes pile up and, when I did binge through them, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy them.  But watching week to week leaves a little to be desired.  The show is moving to Mondays starting tomorrow.

Elementary – Sherlock and Watson return for their 5th season of crime solving alongside the NYPD.

Nothing too exceptional here.  The show is enjoyable, but not extraordinary. Continue reading →

by admin

2016 New Fall Season – Sundays

old-tv-set1We finish up our yearly look at the new fall lineups 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 6, with a refocusing on life in Storybrooke.  With little else in competition, I see no reason not to continue turning in.

8:00

Shameless – Season 7 of the show finds Fiona running the diner and on her own as the fallout from last season’s finale.

The Walking Dead – After a disappointing season finale where producers failed to deliver on the long-promised plot point of who would be killed by the new character Negan, the show has some work to do to regain the trust of the audience.

9:00

Quantico – After a strong first season that started to fizzle towards the end, the show gets rebooted somewhat with the CIA replacing the FBI and a promised reduction in the soapy elements that plagued season 1.

Elementary – Sherlock and Watson return for their 5th season of crime solving alongside the NYPD. Continue reading →

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 5, after an uptick in quality during the past season.  With little else in competition, I see no reason not to continue turning in.

I must say, I wasn’t hugely enamored with the first half of the season, thanks to the “Emma is the Dark One” storyline.  With that wrapped up, hopefully the back half is more to my liking.

7:30

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – FOX’s comedy hit returns for its 3rd season amid little like-minded competition.

Still funny, but now airing on Tuesdays in a revamped comedy block from FOX.

8:00

The Good Wife – After a so-so season that saw Alicia running for states attorney and mostly separated from the rest of the cast, the 7th season finds Julianna Marguiles surrounding herself with a whole new crew.

The signs of aging are starting to show, but it is still one of the more enjoyable hours of my week.  With the Peter running for President storyline having wrapped up, the show faces a fresh path forward, though rumors do persist that this will be the last season.

The Leftovers – After burning through the original source material in season 1, Damon Lindelof and crew have a whole new location for season 2, as the survivors move on to a town where nobody departed.

Season 2, which can only be described as brilliantly absurd, ended in December.  The show was renewed for a brief 3rd season to wrap things up.

Homeland – The fifth season starts with Carrie Mathison having left the CIA behind, but I’m sure she will be pulled back in to the fold relatively quickly.  Last season proved the show could continue without Damian Lewis on board as Brody, but I think they’ll want Claire Danes back in the middle of things sooner rather than later.

It was a bit of a down season for Homeland, which wrapped up last month.  Hopefully, it can find its footing moving forward.

Continue reading →

by admin

2015 New Fall Season – Sundays

old-tv-set1We finish up our yearly look at the new fall lineups 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 5, 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’s comedy hit returns for its 3rd season amid little like-minded competition.

8:00

The Good Wife – After a so-so season that saw Alicia running for states attorney and mostly separated from the rest of the cast, the 7th season finds Julianna Marguiles surrounding herself with a whole new crew.

The Leftovers – After burning through the original source material in season 1, Damon Lindelof and crew have a whole new location for season 2, as the survivors move on to a town where nobody departed.

Homeland – The fifth season starts with Carrie Mathison having left the CIA behind, but I’m sure she will be pulled back in to the fold relatively quickly.  Last season proved the show could continue without Damian Lewis on board as Brody, but I think they’ll want Claire Danes back in the middle of things sooner rather than later. Continue reading →

by admin

ABC Upfronts

agentcarterThe biggest surprise about ABC’s schedule for this fall’s television season is how stable it is from this spring.  4 out of the 7 nights remain untouched, and only one returning show is moving to a new time slot.  In case you are wondering, this is relatively unheard of here in the 20th century.

Monday remains the same as it has been for years, with Castle following the latest installment of Dancing With The Stars.  Tuesdays start off with the return of the Muppets starring in The Muppets.  Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD returns at its current time slot, followed by the new FBI drama Quantico.

Wednesday nights also remain unchanged, with Modern Family continuing to anchor the night.  Thursdays will continue to belong to Shonda Rhimes, thanks to Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How To Get Away With Murder.  Former Community and The Hangover star Ken Jeong gets his own sitcom, Dr. Ken, which will air on Fridays.  Sundays will air 2 new dramas following the returning Once Upon A Time.

Agent Carter will return at mid-season, once again filling in for her present day SHIELD contemporaries.

Obviously, The Muppets are the most exciting of the new shows.  I’m also likely to give Dr. Ken a shot.  Beyond that, nothing here seems too spectacular.