Okay, kids, it's that time of year again. Time to select the first new series of the Fall to get cancelled. Leave your entry in the comments section. I have not seen most of the new shows so your guess is as good as mine.
But from what I hear, these are a few strong possibilities:
THE NEIGHBORS -- Jami Gertz and family move into a neighborhood inhabited completely by aliens from outer space. This is why I don't have a show on this year. I would never in a billion years walk into a network and pitch that.
THE FAMILY TOOLS -- hijinks when a doofus son tries to run the family's fix-it business. He literally shoots himself in the foot in the pilot. Hi-larious!
There seem to be a lot of ABC comedies that might qualify.
PARTNERS -- Recycled, retro, multi-cam comedy. You could say it would be good if it were 1995 but there was a show in 1995 called PARTNERS and it was supposedly way better. This show steals everything from that show except the bumper music.
GUYS WITH KIDS -- Five Morons & a Baby.
CHICAGO FIRE -- Drama about firefighters from Dick Wolf. It's got to be hard to hate a show about firefighters yet the critics did. So it must be considered a serious candidate.
EMILY OWENS, M.D. -- Lots of negative buzz for this CW show. I dunno why. No aliens in the trailer.
And I'm sure there are others equally bad or worse. Not to mention there's always the chance that one of these turns out to be good. I'm not holding my breath but ya never know.
I'm going to take the safe pick and go with THE NEIGHBORS. I have seen that pilot and it's right there with CAVEMEN and LIFE WITH LUCY.
What's your pick?
Wow. They all sound awful. I'd guess The Neighbors. I'd like to see Elementary be on this list. It looks like a terrible reboot.
ReplyDeleteI think The New Normal should be on the list. I was expecting something similar to Modern Family, but none of the characters are even likeable.
ReplyDeleteI have seen Partners and it has to GO.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with Tracy. The negative stereotype of Christianity is offensive and typical. For that reason alone it will probably be featured on the TV Land Award next year for Instant Classic.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to have neighbors like that
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ReplyDeleteMy vote is for "The Revolution". Though because it's on NBC it might skate by with abysmal ratings. The target demographic for "The Revolution" seems to be those who have no idea how electronics and the internal combustion engine actually work. I'm not talking knowing advanced principles, but most of what I've seen in trailers and interviews makes me roll my eyes.
ReplyDeleteIf Ryan Murphy wasn't behind it, The New Normal would be the first to go. It's nothing more than a bunch of mean spirited insults being thrown around by one-dimensional, highly unlikeable characters. I wish they'd dump (the woefully over-the-top) Ellen Barkin, Andrew Rannells, and Nene Lekes, then do some sort of gay twist on The Goodbye Girl with Justin Bartha, Georgia King, and Bebe Wood. Those three together, with intelligent writing, might have something.
ReplyDeleteForgot to add "Elementary", I despise it so much I guess I blocked it out of my memory for a bit. The version over in the U.K. by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss is far superior and the one being put on CBS seems to be a dumbed-down and less faithful version of the characters.
ReplyDeleteWith the geniuses that run NBC, it'll probably be Community.
ReplyDeleteLet me put it this way... Thursday you wrote, "Today I don’t even bother to watch premieres. Most are so dreadful anyway. Jami Gertz moves into a neighborhood of space aliens." I laughed because I thought you did well coming up with the worst premise ever - complete with an '80s B-lister. Apparently the joke's on me.
ReplyDeletevery good post
ReplyDeleteGuys With Kids... This concept was old and tired 50 years ago. Plus it's already premiered, so it has a leg up in the race.
ReplyDeleteHmmm! Judging by the titles alone, I'd say it's a tie.
ReplyDeleteI am voting for animal practice. Even the cast seems unenthused.
ReplyDeleteI vote for The Mindy Project. The pilot was unwatchable.
ReplyDeleteI'd say 'Animal Practice', but it's on the same network that gave 'Whitney' and 'Up All Night' a second season.
ReplyDeleteBarkin's character has never mentioned Christianity, but it's nice that Christians can identify their own so well.
ReplyDeleteThe premise of The Neighbors (aliens in the suburbs) was funnier 35 years ago as the Coneheads on SNL.
ReplyDelete@Bill McCloskey - I disagree, I thought The Mindy Project pilot was adorable, if imperfect. I'm a twenty-something lady, though, so I'm sure I'm the right demographic!
ReplyDeleteI also vote for Animal Practice. After that trouble with the Olympics - yikes.
Animal Practice. Seems the monkey is getting the most industry buzz.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteCan you block an entire channel from your remote? I don't want to take the chance of landing on "Guys With Kids" even for a minute.
"Guys With Kids" - Jesse Bradford hasn't had a good role since he was 14 in the movie "King of the Hill".
ReplyDeleteJeremiah,
ReplyDeleteI was wondering the same thing about Revolution. If chemical reactions still work, why doesn't everyone arm themselves with guns? And if it doesn't, why isn't everyone dead?
Partners.
ReplyDeleteI think Partners and The Neighbors will both last two weeks, but Partners premieres on a Monday rather than a Wednesday so it gets the edge.
Guys With Kids is a close third (gone after week 3, replaced with Whitney).
The wildcard is Mob Doctor, which premieres a week before the others. I can also see Ben & Kate being an early casualty, as the promos are awful (despite the positive critical buzz).
The Family Tools doesn't premiere until mid-season.
I hope everyone criticising the premise of Revolution is equally scathing about the biology of The Walking Dead.
ReplyDeleteThe pilot is supposed to be crap, but a sound show could be built around the premise.
Maybe it's wishful thinking, but Animal Practice is my pick.
ReplyDeleteEver since Johnny Carson brought up the title in a 1970s Tonight Show monologue, I've been hankering for a TV drama to be called FRONTIER PROCTOLOGIST.
ReplyDeletePartners
ReplyDelete@Rob:
ReplyDeleteJesse Bradford was excellent in Don Roos's fine movie 'Happy Endings' (2005) -- so you lose out on that one at least.
I'm surprised everybody is so down on 'Guys With Kids'. The exact same premise is already a hit on ABC Family with 'Baby Daddy'. And as we know, nothing succeeds in TV like imitation.
It's too bad that the excellent and versatile actor J. K. Simmons will likely go down with "The Family Tools". He was outstanding in the Starz show "Party Down" and deserves a well-written comedy.
ReplyDeleteAs a side bet, I'm guessing that Next Caller with Dane Cook will never air - it is supposedly on the NBC midseason schedule.
ReplyDeleteANIMAL PRACTICE, like "Springtime for Hitler" should have been cancelled on page 7. Moreover, the producers, writers and actors should have a compulsory time-out and not permitted to make TV shows for a few years.
ReplyDelete"Mob Doctor" can't possibly last more than two weeks!
ReplyDeleteWhat if they made Emily Owens, M.D. a vampire and one of the few women doctors in the Old West? And that's just off the top of my head!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping for "The New Normal" (AKA "When Is A Comedy Not A Comedy? When It's Written By Ryan Murphy"), but I think smart money has to be on "Guys With Kids."
ReplyDeleteLet's resurrect Mister Ed with Brad Garrett as the voice of the horse and Jason Alexander as the nebbishy architect and Courtney Cox as his wife. Rounding out the cast Kelsey Grammer as Addison.
ReplyDeleteTell me that wouldn't stand a better chance than the drivel you'll just been sifting through.
I was surveyed a while back about the show that is THE FAMILY TOOLS. I know I mentioned I was shown the pilot for the Reba McIntire sitcom MALIBU COUNTRY, which ABC is scheduled to debut in November.
ReplyDeleteI think the Mindy Project is going to do great in its time slot. I'm thinking The Neighbors and Animal Practice are going to sink fast.
ReplyDelete"The New Normal"
ReplyDeleteIt's basically Triumph the insult comic dog without the puppet and "for me to poop on". So basically all that is funny (if at all) left out with the insults left in.
I watched the pilot for "Revolution" on Hulu, and, it's going to have to re-boot itself to keep going.
ReplyDeleteWhile some ado was made about why the power went out, the driving force of the pilot (and therefore setting the series up) was about getting back the main character's kidnapped brother. Which could easily be resolved in episode two if they so chose.
Plus, the finale scene in which the "mythology" really seemed to be interesting, involved a character who was no longer involved in the story in any way, shape, or form.
It had wooden acting, cliches a mile long, and whatever the drama equivalent of clams are, it was full of that. Being a JJ Abrams show, they thought flashbacks would add a lot... they did not add anything worthwhile to anybody's development. Even Mr. Espesito playing the bad guy, seemed to convey his was a ridiculous character on a ridiculous show.
Not to mention: the action scenes were laughable. Not just bad, or, "oh, it's a shoestring budget I understand." No. It was laugh-out-loud terrible. One guy takes down a small militia. The bad guys TAKE TURNS attacking the male lead. Like it's some sort of video game.
So based on quality alone, "Revolution" deserves a cancellation. But this is NBC. So we'll probably get a "Revolution"-"Whitney" crossover event.
The Mindy project, animal practice and Go On - we lasted about ten minutes with each. All were painfully unfunny. Mindy has possible potential but it tries way way way too hard. Revolution - I liked the guy with the beard who used to own google ( or part of it) I'll give it one more ep. And the last scene could be introducing a new character. Who knows if her story line is done. Action scenes did make us laugh with the line of people waiting to attack. :)
ReplyDelete"Emily Owens, M.D." sounds like it combines the worst excesses of "Gray's Anatomy" and "Ally McBeal." (She's a supposedly great doctor, but she can't get her life together! Um, no offense, but I'd like to see a doctor who's not obsessed with her love life, please.) "The Mindy Project" is basically the same concept, but at least it sounds funny.
ReplyDeleteThe original "Beauty and the Beast" show co-starred a young Linda Hamilton. This version has Kristen Kreuk, who was dull as rocks on "Smallville" and seems to get hired whenever they need someone who's already in Canada. If this show were on the CW it would probably last a decade, but I wouldn't give it a year on ABC.
"The New Normal" has an many ethnic and gender slurs per episode as a Mel Gibson garden party, so it's kind of amazing that this is supposedly the socially forward show. But the cast is actually appealing, and star Georgia King may be the most beautiful woman on TV right now, so there's that.
In the end, I'm voting for "Guys with Kids." It's offensive to men, unappealing to women and probably downright scary for kids.
Well, if I was going by Billboards alone, I'd say "Beauty and the Beast", simply because the producers declare someone a "beast" because he has a minor (yet sexy) scar, and (judging by the eyes) a touch of jaundice.
ReplyDeleteGoing by "what were you thinking, pitching something like this?!" My vote goes for "The Neighbors".
Oh! Before I forget, "Mob Doctor" also gets my vote, because the billboard shows the "Mob Doctor" with bloodied gloves on, and yet, she's got her hands on her mouth. EW.
It's got to be Animal Practice.
ReplyDeletePlease let it be Animal Practice!!
Sophia Bush is on Partners, so I hope that lasts. She is hot. And Christian, so something for everyone.
ReplyDelete"Animal Practice" looks bad. SNL was already making fun of it, and it hasn't officially debuted yet.
ReplyDeleteIf it's not "The Neighbors" there is no justice. But then, we're talking network TV so when has justice ever entered into it. The trailer alone - which supposedly included some of the better "jokes" from the pilot - was like nails chewing aluminum on a chalkboard accompanied by a Yoko Ono song. yikes.
ReplyDelete""The Revolution" seems to be those who have no idea how electronics and the internal combustion engine actually work."
ReplyDeleteI'm remembering a sci-fi story where some kind of unfilterable substance got into the air which caused metal parts to bind together, causing society to break down when all the machines seized up. It appears the creators of show missed that one.
Mike
I think "Community," without the sideshow insanity of Dan Harmon, will just be... very depressing.
ReplyDeleteAs a viewer, I feel like I'm being asked to be the best man at my ex-wife's second wedding.
My participation would violate any functional value system known in the western world. However, being somewhat perverse, I wouldn't mind seeing an episode or two, just to get gut-churning confirmation.
"Community! Two episodes and a Cancellation!"
Just saw a promo for Mindy. What a piece of steaming excrement.
ReplyDeleteWhite Collar is really going off the rails. In the last episode, they go after a guy who does insider trading. They get Neal hired by showing that he is very good at getting scoops for investment. Then Neal is trying to get that guy to give him scoops. Huh?
ReplyDeleteI also think Revolution is going to be cancelled early. I love Giancarlo Esposito in Breaking Bad, and Community, but how can a society without power not build Industrial Revolution-era equipment. And how are there still guns that work if the mechanical power and potato clocks don't work?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that "Two Broke Girls" is still on the air disqualifies me from any further predictions as to what show will be cancelled early on.
ReplyDeleteIf I had my way they'd cancel Steve Harvey's talk show and Katie Couric's new talk show. I don't intend to watch any of the evening shows so I have no dog in that fight.
ReplyDeleteFrom Jan:
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for cable.
At first I thought you made "The Neighbors" up. You know, just to start the post with a joke but I went on to the IMDd and wow! It's a real show! Did I just time travel back to 1993?
ReplyDeleteThe Mindy Project has major potential based on her delivery and comic timing alone. To even lump that in with some of these shows is not even close to fair.
ReplyDeleteI vote for The New Normal. How lazy. Each character is so fake. A masculine one, a feminine one, a bigot, a wise child, a sassy black woman & an ingenue.
Boring.
"The Mindy Project has major potential based on her delivery and comic timing alone. To even lump that in with some of these shows is not even close to fair."
ReplyDeleteShe's not a particularly funny performer, and worse, she's almost clinically obese, and seems to insist on wearing short skirts. That shows zero respect for her viewers. You rarely saw Rosanne wearing skirts exposing her massive curdled ham hocks, because she knew better.
Most viewers would rather watch Whitney in slacks, than Mindy in shorts. There's no good reason to be that rotund. The network should be ashamed of themselves for this tasteless stunt. If the average American man wanted to stare at a fat chick, they'd turn off their TV, and stare at their wife.
Becky says: I think you are being too hard on The Neighbors. Yes, the premise is a little (pardon the pun) far out. However, the writing is snappy and the actors are quite good. One of my favorite parts of the show is that while the actors are relatively attractive they're nowhere near Hollywood standards. They look like normal people. I think they take what could be very cliche material and make it fresh. Give it a shot, it's pretty good. I mean it's no Aftermash, but still... Love your blog!
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