Living on a Winger and a prayer

Speaking of midseason returns, Community is back (somehow). The promise of "six seasons and a movie" is becoming closer to actually being a reality. In the meantime, here's a trailer for the upcoming fifth season of the show.

New Fall TV Review: The Blacklist

After his disastrous run on The Office, I wasn't sure I was ready to see James Spader on TV again, but he is singlehandedly making this new spy drama must-see. He plays mastermind criminal Raymond Reddington who has willingly turned himself in to the F.B.I. with the promise of sharing information on all the criminals he has worked with over the years. He also requests that he work exclusively with a young female agent. The show has procedural elements as each week deals with Reddington and the female agent working on capturing a criminal on Reddington's "blacklist" each week. However, there are also some perplexing mythological questions that have been established already. One is why Reddington chose to specifically work with this young agent. The one that interests me more is what is going on with the agent's husband who may not be all that he seems. There are some Jason Bourne elements to his storyline that certainly has me intrigued. Right now it is balancing that line to appease fans of both types of shows. But as I mentioned at the top, Spader is the reason to watch. His smarmy, sneaky Reddington captures your interest every time he is on the screen. Even when the "case of the week" doesn't provide something of interest, he keeps you invested in watching. I look forward to seeing how each of these storylines play out as the season unfolds. Verdict: Earns a season pass on the DVR

Inner Office workings

Audiences said goodbye to The Office this past May and now that it's over we're starting to get a look at what might have been. Here's an interesting video that will be included in the DVD/Blu-Ray of the final season that shows some famous actors originally auditions for the roles of Michael, Jim, Pam and the rest of the Dunder Mifflin crew. Watching it, it seems as if they made the right choices to go with the people that they did, but it's still funny to think of how different the show would have been had say Seth Rogen gotten the role of Dwight.

Night cap

For one reason or another, certain sketches on Saturday Night Live are created and rehearsed, but ultimately never make it onto the live broadcast. Here are a pair of sketches cut after dress rehearsal that I felt deserved a look thanks to NBC actually posting them on their website. The first was cut from when Zach Galifianakis hosted. I'll have to assume it was timing reasons because this seems to be too funny not to have included in the show.




The second is even more fascinating. It comes from the Justin Bieber episode. Instead of trying to explain why this didn't work, I'll let Bill Hader and a pair of SNL writers do it as they commentate on the sketch and explain why it became the "greatest trainwreck" ever.

Fall harvest

This past week I've been posting the announcements for the fall schedules of television's networks. From a scheduling perspective, there was not a lot of shakeup, particularly regarding shows that affect me so there's not much to discuss. Along with the schedule announcements, the networks have posted trailers promoting their brand new shows. I've watched them all and I can't say that I'm overly optimistic. Most of the shows fell into one of two common traps: 1)the show has an interesting premise that feels extremely limited; you wonder how the show can sustain 22 episodes, let alone multiple seasons or 2) the show feels like a complete retread of tired setups and tropes that just make you yearn for older shows that have done the same thing much better in the past. With that said, there are a few shows that do show some promise so I'll be posting the trailer for each of them below along with links to a few others that might be decent as well.

CBS
They probably had the weakest crop of previews, but they also have the strongest crop of existing shows, so they probably don't have to worry if none of these pan out. The one that interested me the most was Hostages about a female doctor who is set to operate of the President of the United States when her family is taken hostage. She's told that she must let the President die during the operation or else her family will die. Again, I don't see how they can stretch this out into a full series, but the cast is strong and the preview suggests that there's more to the story than they're letting on here, so perhaps this could work.



Honorable mention: A new comedy called The Crazy Ones starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. The premise here seems solid enough. The big question is how well the show can keep Robin reined in. If it's just his grating schtick constantly, it won't keep me as a viewer. If the focus is on the storytelling with his humor peppered throughout, then you might have a winner. Here's the trailer.


ABC
There's a clear winner here and it's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Even better is that they've scheduled it for Tuesdays, where there is not a lot of quality TV competition, so hopefully it has a chance of succeeding. I posted a quick trailer earlier this week, but here's a nearly 3 minute trailer that will give you a much better idea of what to expect from the show.



Honorable mention: While not everything worked in the preview for The Goldbergs, there's enough to make me think it could have a chance if it finds the right tone and voice. There's no denying it has a strong comedic cast (the older brother sticks out as a weak link). If it can tap into that Freaks and Geeks or Wonder Years vein, then this might work. Here's the trailer.


FOX
Of the previews they released, FOX probably had the best average. More than a few of their shows seemed to have promise, but on the other hand none really stood out as a sure thing. It was tough for me to pick just one as their best bet. I went with Sleepy Hollow - a new twist on the story of Ichibod Crane. From a writer/producer perspective, the show has a good pedigree. I also liked how it blended a lot of genres. The show seems to be part cop drama, part horror, part historical mystery, and part science fiction. It's tough to say right now whether this will work or not, but I'm hopeful it will.



Honorable Mention: I probably would have given it to Us & Them, a remake of the critically acclaimed British show Gavin and Stacey, but since it's not scheduled to air until "midseason", which could whenever, I decided to give the nod to Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I can't say that I always liked Andy Samberg during his tenure on SNL, but the preview for this new cop comedy made me laugh more than any other trailer. That's due largely to a seemingly solid supporting cast. If it's not surrounded by other decent shows, this may struggle to find an audience, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Here's the trailer.


NBC
Of the new dramas, The Blacklist, had the premise that intrigued me the most. James Spader is a criminal mastermind on the FBI's Top Ten list who turns himself in with the promise of helping them capture other highly sought criminals that he's worked with. No matter the role, Spader is always compelling, so it's likely most will get sucked in to the first episode based on his presence alone. Whether the show can sustain an audience, as well as a compelling narrative remains to be seen.



Honorable mention: I gotta say, there was a huge drop-off in terms of interesting previews after The Blacklist. It's so bad, that I almost don't want to mention anything else. The comedies, especially, looked rather uninteresting, which is a shame that Parks and Recreation is left to pick up their slack. If I had to point one out that might have a chance, it's The Michael J. Fox Show. The setup doesn't really hook me, but Fox is such a likable presence, that it's hard not to root for him. Here's the trailer.

2013 Fall Television Schedule Announcement (NBC)

NBC has announced a new lineup of primetime shows for the 2013-14 season that includes popular returning series, fresh new comedies, compelling new dramas and the latest season of "The Voice."

Highlights of the year-round schedule - which will be bolstered in February on the heels of the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia - include "Believe," a new drama from J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron; the return of three-time Emmy winner James Spader in action thriller "The Blacklist"; and a comedy lineup that includes new series from "Friday Night Lights" and "Parenthood" executive producer Jason Katims, Will Ferrell, Bill Lawrence, Sean P. Hayes, and a return to NBC of one of the biggest TV stars of any generation, Michael J. Fox.

The new comedy additions are "Welcome to the Family," "Sean Saves the World," and "The Michael J. Fox Show" as well as midseason comedies "The Family Guide," and "About A Boy."

The new dramas are "The Blacklist," "Ironside," and "Dracula," plus mid-season dramas "Believe," "Crisis" and "Crossbones."

NBC has also ordered dramas "Chicago PD" and "The Night Shift" and comedy "Undateable" as unscheduled midseason series.

New alternative series premiering during the 2013-14 season include "The Million Second Quiz" and "American Dream Builders." Returning to the schedule are "The Biggest Loser" and "The Sing-Off." "Food Fighters" has been ordered as an unscheduled midseason show.

Scripted series returning include "Grimm," "Parenthood," "Law & Order: SVU," "Revolution," "Chicago Fire," "Parks and Recreation" and "Community."

Pick-up decisions on "Celebrity Apprentice" and "Hannibal" are still to be made in the next few weeks.

"The Voice" will kick off its fifth season in September on Mondays (8-10 pm. ET). The current cycle of "The Voice" has been primetime's #1 show of the week on the Big Four networks, excluding sports, for four of six weeks thus far in adults 18-49.

The announcements were made by Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment.

"The overriding strategy this year was to develop enough strong comedies and dramas to take advantage of the promotional heft of the Winter Olympics and devise two schedules for the upcoming season: one for fall and a slightly different one for midseason. I'm pleased to say that our development groups - headed by Jennifer Salke (scripted) and Paul Telegdy (alternative/reality) - really delivered," Greenblatt said. "This is the most robust and highest-testing slate of new shows we have had in years."

Greenblatt continued, "And aside from our Olympics planning, we also wanted to create better flow and compatibility on each night, and deploy our strongest lead-in ('The Voice') to maximum effect.

"Sunday in the fall remains the night to beat with 'Sunday Night Football.' After football and the Olympics are over, we will launch two classy, attention-getting dramas in February: 'Believe' from J.J. Abrams, and 'Crisis' starring Dermot Mulroney and Gillian Anderson. We think it's time for big dramas again on Sunday nights. And leading into these dramas at 8 p.m. will be an exciting home renovation competition hosted by Nate Berkus called 'American Dream Builders.'

"Monday and Tuesday will again dominate with 'The Voice.' Our highly anticipated new James Spader drama 'The Blacklist' deserves to go into the 10 p.m. slot on Monday, and we're moving 'Chicago Fire,' a show we really believe in, to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays to benefit from 'The Voice' lead-in that will be at 9 p.m. in the fall. "

After the Olympics, however, 'The Voice' moves back to 8 p.m. on Tuesday so that we can launch two of our strongest new family comedies in the 9 p.m. hour: 'About a Boy' and 'The Family Guide.' Landing more comedy on the schedule is important and using 'The Voice' as a lead-in after the Olympics is the strongest way to do that.

"I believe we'll have a more compatible Wednesday line-up with three dramas: 'Revolution,' 'Law & Order: SVU' and 'Ironside,' starring Blair Underwood, which is another new show we've very high on.

"Thursday will have a family theme, starting with a two-hour comedy block from 8-10 p.m. anchored by strong stars: Amy Poehler in 'Parks and Recreation,' Mike O'Malley in 'Welcome to the Family,' Sean Hayes in 'Sean Saves the World' and the new 'Michael J. Fox Show.' Then at 10 p.m. 'Parenthood' moves in to top off the night with what I know is the best family drama on television.

"On Fridays, anchored by 'Grimm' at 9 p.m., we will have a more fun genre night with the limited-series 'Dracula,' starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers at 10 p.m. In the spring, 'Crossbones' - with John Malkovich as the infamous pirate Blackbeard - replaces 'Dracula,'" said Greenblatt.

Jordan Wertlieb, President of Hearst Television and Chair of the NBC Affiliate Board, commented, "This schedule is another example of NBC's continued commitment to restoring prime time to its traditional leadership position. I am sure the investment in partnering with some of the most recognizable names in television will be obvious and exciting to the affiliates."

NBC Fall 2013-14 schedule (New shows in ALL CAPS)

MONDAY
8-10 p.m. - "The Voice"
10-11 p.m. - "THE BLACKLIST"

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. - "The Biggest Loser" (New Day and Time)
9-10 p.m. - "The Voice" (New time)
10-11 p.m. - "Chicago Fire" (New Day and Time)

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. - "Revolution" (New Day and Time)
9-10 p.m. - "Law & Order: SVU"
10-11 p.m. - "IRONSIDE"

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. - "Parks and Recreation" (New time)
8:30-9 p.m. - "WELCOME TO THE FAMILY"
9-9:30 p.m. - "SEAN SAVES THE WORLD"
9:30-10 p.m. - "THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW"
10-11 p.m. - "Parenthood" (New Day and Time)

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. - "Dateline NBC"
9-10 p.m. - "Grimm"
10-11 p.m. - "DRACULA"

SATURDAY
Encore programming

SUNDAY
7:00-8:15 p.m. - "Football Night in America"
8:15-11:30 p.m. - "NBC Sunday Night Football"

NBC MIDSEASON 2013-14 SCHEDULE (New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET)

MONDAY
8-10 p.m. - "The Voice"
10-11 p.m. - "THE BLACKLIST"

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. - "The Voice"
9-9:30 p.m. - "THE FAMILY GUIDE"
9:30-10 p.m. - "ABOUT A BOY"
10-11 p.m. - "Chicago Fire"

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. - "Revolution"
9-10 p.m. - "Law & Order: SVU"
10-11 p.m. - "IRONSIDE"

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. - "Parks and Recreation"
8:30-9 p.m. - "WELCOME TO THE FAMILY"
9-9:30 p.m. - "SEAN SAVES THE WORLD"
9:30-10 p.m. - "THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW"
10-11 p.m. - "Parenthood"

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. - "Dateline NBC"
9-10 p.m. - "Grimm"
10-11 p.m. - "CROSSBONES"

SATURDAY
8-10 p.m. - Encore and specials programming
10-11 p.m. - "Saturday Night Live" (Encore)

SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. - "Dateline NBC"
8-9 p.m. - "AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS"
9-10 p.m. - "BELIEVE"
10-11 p.m. - "CRISIS"

For information on NBC new shows, click here.

Patton's speech

Hopefully you saw last week's episode of Parks and Recreation, which featured guest star Patton Oswalt playing a concerned Pawnee citizen who decides to filibuster the city council in an effort to stop certain charter laws from being changed. The focus of his filibuster was his proposed script for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII movie. If you missed it, you should certainly check out the episode, since it was fantastic. In the meantime, you can watch below the equally amazing uncut version of the entire filibuster that was done in one take. It's a thing of pure nerd awesomeness.

Rescuing Heroes?

Could Heroes actually be getting a relaunch just three years after its cancellation? If reports are true, it sounds like this show, like so many comic book superheroes, may be coming back from the dead. Here's the report from TVLine:

Save the cheerleader, launch a new programming initiative?

MSN, which is making a big push into original programming via Xbox, is in talks to revive NBC’s superhero drama Heroes, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Details remain sketchy, but sources confirm that MSN is interested in relaunching the once red-hot NBC Universal franchise with new stories and heroes, while mixing in cameos from the original series’ cast (schedules and interest permitting). The talks are said to be in the preliminary stages.

In February, MSN hired former NBC development executive Jada Miranda to oversee production of its fledgling Xbox entertainment studio under ex-CBS president Nancy Tellem (who came on board last fall).

Heroes‘ four-season run on NBC ended in February 2010.

Chevy bolt

From EW.com

Community will be losing a cast member, and it’s… the one that you were thinking: Chevy Chase. The 69-year-old actor, who stars as the wealthy, grumpy and bigoted Pierce Hawthorne, is exiting the NBC ensemble comedy by mutual agreement, sources close to the show confirm. (Deadline first reported the news.)

It’s not exactly shocking news, as Chase has endured a rocky relationship with the series that he does not always speak warmly about. He engaged in a feud with series creator Dan Harmon that went public last year over an expletive-laced voicemail message that Chase left Harmon. (Harmon was dismissed from the show last spring.) Last month, production was interrupted when Chase, reportedly unhappy with the material he was shooting, used the N-word in an outburst while trying to make a point about the direction of his racist character.

After having its Oct. 19 premiere date postponed, Community finally returns to the air on Feb. 7 to kick off its fourth and possibly final season with 13 new episodes. Chase will appear in all but two of them — which have yet to be filmed — and he will be seen in the season finale, which has already been shot.

The new showrunners, David Guarascio and Moses Port, had sounded optimistic when talking about Chase earlier this fall. “The truth is we’ve had a very easy working relationship with Chevy, maybe just because it was so volatile before, there’s no fight left,” Guarascio told EW with a laugh. “We sat down, had a real nice lunch… And so it’s been really easy for us. He also says what he wants to say and does what he wants to do, and you just can’t control any of that aspect of it.”

Stand up guy

One of my favorite comics right now, Louis CK, hosted Saturday Night Live. As usual, the show was a mixed bag of duds and highspots. But the clear winner of the night was the parody of Louie, CK's hilarious show on FX, with the comic playing Abraham Lincoln instead of himself. If you didn't see it, check it out below and if you did see it last night, still watch the video because this is the special director's cut version of the skit.

Fall TV Report: Freshman shows

I am WAY behind on a lot of my blogging. There's several things I could post, but I'll begin with a discussion of the few new shows that have caught my eye.

Elementary - I'm a big mystery fan and there's no greater sleuth than Sherlock. He's very hot right now with the Robert Downey Jr. film franchise and a successful BBC series as well. This latest entry, starring Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as a female Watson has not been the slam dunk that I had hoped for and I think part of the problem is the network its on. CBS has a slew of succesful shows, but they are all very familiar and routine. In the first few episodes, the stories told haven't been anything that couldn't have been used on CSI, or NCIS, or The Mentalist, or... shall I go on? I want more brain-testing mysteries and more idiosyncrasies on display by Holmes. I do have some hope that things can improve as this past week's episode was the first one that felt like Holmes and Watson were an actual team instead of making Liu completely superfluous to the story. True Holmes fans will likely be disappointed, but for everyone looking for another solid crime series, this will do just fine. It's been picked up for a full season so look for this to stick around for a while.

Go On - It's the lone new sitcom that has appealed to me in the least and had any success (moderate though it may be) in the ratings. The premise for the show (Matthew Perry attends weekly group therapy sessions to deal with the death of his wife) is relatively fresh and unique. It's also has an amazingly talented cast of comedic actors including Julie White, Brett Gelman, John Cho, Bill Cobbs, and a few others who you'd likely recognize if you saw them. But for all that this show has going for it, I feel like it really hasn't maximized its potential. Some shows struggle initially until it finally finds its voice. I'm hoping that's the case here. I enjoy seeing these characters, I just don't laugh as much as with some of my other favorite sitcoms. Given the lack of other options, I'll stick with this one for now.

Revolution - I had some serious reservations about this one. I've been burned by one too many Lost clones in recent years and feared I would do the same with this one. Shows like this have great setups and no follow through. Then the audience erodes and the series gets cancelled before the viewers who stuck around can get any answers. Well I'm happy to report that thus far this show has bucked that trend. From a viewer standpoint, it's been a huge hit for NBC and has already received a full season order. From my perspective, the show is far from perfect, but solid enough to have captured my interest. Instead of having everything hinge on one singular mystery, the writers have created a lot of different stories that are each intriguing. I'm also pleased that I don't really hate any of the characters to the degree that I want them killed off each episode. The show has so far also done a decent job of keeping the story moving so that you feel like you learn or accomplish something new each episode. I think the success this show has seen will allow the people behind this show to have the confidence to continue to move forward at an appropriate pace and deliver quality entertainment that can last beyond just one season.

Those are the only new shows that I'm regularly watching. Last Resort is one that I still hope to catch, but I'll have to do so through On Demand because I have too many other things airing at the same time that it does. I watched the premiere of Animal Practice and it is disappointingly awful. Everyone else seemed to agree because NBC has already cancelled it. I've seen parts of The Mindy Project and Ben and Kate, but neither of those seemed to be targeted for me. If you've seen any other new show, feel free to chime in and offer your thoughts.

Fall TV Report Card (Thursdays Part 1)

Some of my favorite shows on Thursday got a jump start and premiered last week, so I'll review those now and the ones that debut tonight will be recapped later on.

The Office - After struggling to deal with the loss of Steve Carrell last season, this show promises a renewed sense of focus as it heads into its final season. This first episode nicely sowed some seeds for the end game of several of the key characters like Jim and Dwight, which I appreciated. The humor in the episode though was a mixed bag with a handful of decent lines but still too much wacky, physical humor that has weakened some of the characters (Kevin should be dim, but not THAT dim). This show can never recapture the glory of its early days, but it appears that they are going to do their best to give this cast a proper sendoff that will allow us to still think fondly of the show even after it is gone. Grade: B

Parks and Recreation - Last season ended with Leslie's big victory, winning the race for councilman. So in typical mockumentary fashion, we can't let the characters' wins last for too long as we saw here in the opener. Leslie got a wake up call while visiting Ben in Washington about how much she's been a big fish in a small pond for a long time. The storyline was well done, but didn't produce enough big laughs for me. Meanwhile Ron's attempt at throwing a barbeque went in typical fashion. Oddly enough, Rob Lowe's Chris brought the biggest laughs for me from this subplot. It's so nice to see him really integrate into the world and return to his happy self after being depressed for most of last season. Though their time was brief, April and Andy always bring the laughs and I wish we could have seen more from their time together in the nation's capital. I'm not sure if this worked well as a season premiere, but given the Washington bigwigs that had cameos in the episode, I can see why they went with it. I'll definitely be anxious to see everyone back in Pawnee sooner rather than later. Grade: A-

Win Lose or Draw director's cut

Here's an extended version of the fantastic season finale of Parks and Recreation

2012 Fall Television Schedule Announcements (NBC)

I could post all of the news here if I wanted the post to take up the entire length of the blog, so I'll instead make it easy for you guys and direct you to all of the information in the link below from Comingsoon.net:

2012 NBC Fall Lineup

I'll instead spend this space giving my thoughts on NBC's moves. Of all the major networks, I probably watch the most shows on NBC, yet for the past several years they have languished near the bottom of the ratings. I commend them for saving some of the shows that they did, despite less than stellar ratings. Namely keeping Community and Parks and Recreation Parks was given a full season pickup and remains on Thursdays, while Community gets a 13-episode order and gets shunted to Fridays. The Friday move is fine, but I question why they paired it up with Whitney. Those two shows seemingly have nothing in common other than they were both lucky to get renewals. In fact, that was a trend throughout most of NBC's schedule. They slotted several sitcoms, but I thought some of their pairings were odd. For instance, I felt they should have paired Up All Night, which focuses on being young parents with the new sitcom Guys With Kids, which also deals with parenthood. Meanwhile the show that they did pair it up with, Animal Kingdom seems better suited with the single-camera, laugh track free comedies on Thursday nights.

On the drama side of things, the only new show that caught my eye was Revolution, a drama dealing with people living on Earth 15 years after a blackout hit the entire planet. While the premise was intriguing, I feel like we've seen this type of 'event' drama over and over again ever since the success of Lost and none of them have been successful. I've become jaded, but I feel like this one may suffer the same fate: sizable audience for its premiere that vanishes in the subsequent weeks when impatient fans get frustrated when the show doesn't give them answers to the central mythology quickly enough.

Finally, with their reality slate, the biggest news is that NBC's one new hit The Voice will already be returning in the fall. I personally don't watch the show, but I don't blame NBC for wanting to schedule another season so soon given that it's about the only thing in their schedule that consistantly pulls in viewers. Let's just hope that they don't create an overkill backlash like they've done with some of their other hits like Deal or No Deal. If it can remain a hit, hopefully viewers will be willing to stick around and watch some of their other shows as well.

Bus Tour Producer's Cut

Here's another episode of Parks and Recreation to receive the supersize treatment. Enjoy this week's episode with three minutes worth of new content.

The Debate director's cut

Here's an extended version of last week's new Parks and Recreation episode.

Live Ammo deleted scenes

Lucky deleted scenes

School's back in session

After a bit of a hiatus, Community finally returns this Thursday for the rest of its 3rd season. Here's a trailer promoting the return:

Campaign Shake-Up deleted scenes