Tag / Scandal

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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.

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ABC Upfronts

agents_of_shield_bannerLots of changes coming this fall on ABC, as the network announced their upcoming schedule this week.  4 shows that I’ve been watching, Castle, The Muppets, Agent Carter, and the summer series Rookie Blue, were given the heave ho, leaving lots of holes in their, and my, schedule.

Conviction, a new legal drama starring Agent Carter star Hayley Atwell, moves in to the post-Dancing With The Stars slot on Monday vacated by Castle.  Tuesday sees the network expand their comedy block to two hours, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. moving back to the 9pm hour.  Minnie Driver stars in the new comedy Speechless, airing before Modern Family on Wednesday.  Following Black-ish comes Designated Survivor, a new drama starring Kiefer Sutherland as the new President after a devastating attack on Washington DC.

Thursday gets some new blood, thanks to Scandal star Kerry Washington’s pregnancy, in the form of Notorious, a sexy legal drama starring Piper Perabo and breaking Shonda Rhimes stranglehold on the night, at least until the spring.  Friday nights stay exactly the same, as do Sundays.  Saturday is still left for college football.

The mid-season slate, aside from the returning Scandal, looks uneventful.

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2015 Emmy Awards – Drama

Emmy_statueTonight’s the night for the Emmy Awards, so it’s time to finish off my predictions for the awards.  Today, we’re focusing on the awards for Dramas.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Drama

Better Call Saul

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

Homeland

House of Cards

Mad Men

Orange Is The New Black

Now that Breaking Bad has moved on, I’m assuming that Game of Thrones will take its place.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Taraji P. Henson, Empire

Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

Viola Davis, How To Get Away With Murder

Claire Danes, Homeland

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Robin Wright, House of Cards

I was pleasantly surprised to see Tatiana Maslany finally recognized for her excellent work in Orphan Black, but I assume that Taraji P. Henson will take home the prize.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Kyle Chandler, Bloodline

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

With the final season of Mad Men in the books, I assume that Jon Hamm will take home the trophy for his overall work on the series.

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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.

by jim

Moving Down The Dial

ABC_7_Chicago_2013_logoIn a shocking development, the Cubs reached an agreement today with the local ABC station to air 25 games per season through the 2019 season.  The deal should net the Cubs nearly $19 million per season.  The Cubs are still looking for a broadcast partner for 45 games that had previously aired on WGN.

The move comes out of left field, as most teams games are moving away from over-the-air channels in general, let along network owned and operated stations like WLS.  The deal will likely cause pre-emptions of popular syndicated programs like Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune or network programming.

To be honest, this move doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.  The plusses of being associated with a hopefully improved Cubs team would seem to be outweighed by complaints from viewers of Dancing With The Stars or Scandal when their shows are delayed.  I guess time will tell if the deal works out for all involved.

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2014 Emmy Awards – Drama

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Monday night, it’s time for day three of my predictions for the awards.  Today, we’re focusing on the awards for Dramas.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Drama

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Mad Men

True Detective

Well, so much for having seen most of these.  True Detective was the only one of these nominees that I’ve seen.  This is a tough call, but I imagine that the final season of Breaking Bad takes home the prize.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex

Claire Danes, Homeland

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Julianne Margulies, The Good Wife

Kerry Washington, Scandal

Robin Wright, House of Cards

This past season of The Good Wife was spectacular, and a lot of that was due to Julianne Margulies.  She should definitely take home the trophy, especially since Tatiana Maslany was overlooked again for her work in Orphan Black.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Woody Harrelson, True Detective

Matthew McConaughey, True Detective

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

My guess is that this is a person race, between Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey and Bryan Cranston.  I think this will be Breaking Bad‘s night once again, which means that Bryan Cranston will have another trophy to lord over the Adam Carollas of the world.

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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 jim

2013 Emmy Awards – Drama

With the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, it’s time for day three of my predictions for the awards, today focusing on Drama shows.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Drama

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Homeland

Mad Men

This is a tough one, as I can see either Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, or Game of Thrones taking home the prize.  Given the amount of press it is getting in its now airing final season, my guess is that Breaking Bad takes home the prize.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Connie Britton, Nashville

Claire Danes, Homeland

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Kerry Washington, Scandal

Robin Wright, House of Cards

I think Claire Danes will take this for the second year in a row.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Damian Lewis, Homeland

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Damian Lewis took this award last year, but I think this will be Breaking Bad‘s night, which means that Bryan Cranston will have another trophy to lord over the Adam Carollas of the world.

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