What I’ll be Watching This TV Season…
I love September; it’s a beautiful time of the year. All the networks spend months conspiring all of their ideas, producing pilots and running them past test audiences to bring us a beautiful pack of new shows that attempt to fill the holes of all of the cancelled shows in our hearts and more importantly in their schedules.
It’s a great time for a list – what to watch, what not to watch and what I’ll hem and haw over until more trailers and reviews come out or I’m finally bored enough (often in despite of bad reviews, boredom and curiosity take over. I maintain this is how Hellcats happened). This year’s list of new shows is impressively long. And without further ado…
Hell to the Yes! To watch while being aired…
Gotham, Mondays at 8pm on Fox
One of the first things to make my list. We are in the age of the superhero my friends and it brings us several exciting prospects this season. Set in the dark and crime ridden streets of Gotham pre-Batman, which is an edgy choice for Fox and DC. Instead of following a young Bruce Wayne a-la Smallville, Gotham’s protagonist is a younger pre-commissioner Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) as we learn the origin stories of Catwoman, the Riddler, the Penguin and new original character mob boss lady Fish Mooney (played by Jada Pinkett Smith). It’s pitched as dark and gritty – much in the vein of Dark Knight, and may just be too cool not to watch. Kudos to a good schedule spot too – hopefully a sign that Fox is feeling gutsy.
Galavant, mid-season, on ABC
For everyone who loved Mel Brook’s ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’, one of my favourite movies, here comes Galavant. A run down drunk of a knight (Joshua Sasse) who lost the love of his life to the bad guy is called up to fight for valour and good stuff again by a smart mouthed peasant woman (Karen David). As you can see I’m very up on the plot, but here’s where I got on board: like Robin Hood, there will be singing! And unlike Glee, it will not be pop songs but actual original silly ridiculous songs written by Alan Menken (who won 8 Oscars and did music for Tangled, Enchanted, Hercules and a ton of other Disney films). I was sold on that factor alone personally, but the humor appears to be very Mel Brooks-esque as well. Guest stars lined up include John Stamos, Anthony Stewart Head, Ricky Gervais and Weird Al Yankovic. Delightful silliness is bound to happen. Sadly, it’s been bumped to be a mid-season fill in show, replacing Once Upon a Time reruns. I intend to make everyone I know watch it.
The McCarthys, Thursdays at 9:30pm on CBS starts October 30th
I know a lot of people have already written this off but I think it’s got some fresh aspects and some great potential. An extremely close knit Boston family are shocked when the gay son announces that he wants to leave Boston and get away from his family. The family who gets together every night, all live in a two block radius, and even go so far as to follow guy around on his dates. They’re fine with the gay thing – it’s the spending less time with the family that they have issue with. So the father asks his gay son to be his assistant basketball coach? Sure that sounds like a solution. Actress, who is delightful as Sheldon’s mother on Big Bang Theory, is a big decision in why to watch this. But seriously…the Boston accents and family date night sounds like some serious comedy to me.
The Odd Couple, sometime in 2015, hopefully early
I’m a big fan of Matthew Perry – between Friends, the West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Go On, I’ve been totally charmed by him. Pairing him up with Thomas Lennon (the guy Matt Perry is best friends with in 17 Again) to remake the Odd Couple has me filled with excitement. When I was younger, I got extremely upset when Jack Lennon died because it meant that he and Walter Matthau couldn’t make films together anymore. I’m more than happy with the cast – and the Odd Couple was hilarious the first time around. As a bonus, it’s even been a suitable amount of time to make the remake (unlike the horror of Death at a Funeral) which should make everyone pleased.
How to Get Away with Murder, Thursdays at 10pm on ABC
Viola Davis is back on tv! Yay! As a kicking ass and taking names law professor who teaches a course that she likes to call ‘how to get away with murder’. The students who are accepted as associates to work on her current case with her get heavily involved. Liza Weil, Paris Gellar of Gilmore Girls is also a regular cast member. It looks like there will be sex, drugs, rock and roll, evidence tampering and possibly even murder to win the case and get top grades. It should be delicious. I have yet to seen a ‘what to watch list’ for this season that doesn’t have this show on it. It’s from the mind that brought you Scandal, so just watch it.
Red Band Society, Wednesdays at 9pm on FOX
A kid in a coma narrates a show focusing on the children’s ward of a hospital and the kids who band together in efforts to cope with their illnesses. Alongside coma kid, we have boy missing legs, boy about to lose his legs, eating disorder lying girl, and Octavia Spencer as a sassy nurse who clearly loves these kids and Mandy Moore as a doctor.
State of Affairs, Mondays at 10pm on NBC – stars November 17
Kathryn Heigl stars as the Secretary of Defense to the United States under a female president played by Alfre Woodard (Lafeyette’s mentally ill mother Ruby on True Blood) who have more of a personal history: until he was killed in action, Heigl’s Charlie Tucker was engaged to the president’s son. To combat with his loss and the stress of her job, she is a perfectionist at work who parties, drinks and sleeps around off the clock. I’m expecting gender roles and the need for vengeance to be prevalent themes.
Gracepoint, Thursdays on Fox – starts October 2, 10 episodes only
A small town is rocked by the murder of a twelve year old boy. As the detectives (David Tennant of Doctor Who and Anna Gun of Breaking Bad) investigate further, the town is ripped apart by the secrets that are revealed. Michael Pena (End of Watch) and Virginia Kull (Boardwalk Empire) play the dead boy’s parents trying to deal with this horrible tragedy and the fact that all of their friends are now suspects. This looks incredibly dramatic and full of tension with suspects abounding and a lot of tension between the detectives.
Stay tuned for more lists: what I’ll watch in the off season, what I’ll watch if I get bored enough, and what I”m going to pass on (unless something majorly changes).
tvaddictress 