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to not be the ideal year for a television show’s debut. The always looming writer’s strike caused many to fold under early and others to wrap up stories on bad nights with bad ratings in order to somewhat satisfy the fans as their demise was all but certain. Stations needed to start picking and choosing what shows to push and put their money behind for commercials and advertisements, hoping to at least save a couple in order to serve them full seasons next year. Some of the ones I found myself enjoying didn’t make the cut, but the tears have ceased and I’ve decided to look to the future with those that will continue on and not wallow in the past. With that said, I say my prayers are with you “October Road,” “New Amsterdam,” and “Journeyman,” you all died too young. Don’t be too jealous for those that live to fight another year (at least).
“Pushing Daisies” (ABC)
By far my favorite new show from 2007, “Pushing Daisies” and all its cutesy quirks will be thankfully returning in the Fall. From the mind of Bryan Fuller, he of “Dead Like Me” fame, this show tells about a pie-maker named Ned who has the ability to touch the dead and bring them to life. This power comes with a consequence as something must replace that which does not die before a minute’s time is up (upon which he must touch the body again to kill it forever). After bringing his grade school love back to life—making him unable to ever touch her again—the two team up with a private investigator to revive corpses and find out who killed them so they may collect the reward.
The cast is fantastic, the voice-over/storybook narration lends a perfect bedtime story aesthetic, and the humor is unparalleled. Rhymes abound, puns fly free, colors are vibrant, and sometimes we even get a song break. Way too much fun for an hour of television, what may first appear as a gimmicky sentimental mess becomes so endearing that you will chastise yourself if you ever miss an episode. Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, and Kristin Chenoweth deserve all the success this little show seems to be starting to give them.
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (FOX)
“The Sarah Connor Chronicles” had the potential to be very bad for a series of stories that I really enjoyed. Even the third Terminator movie kept the mood and intellect of the first couple entries to round out the trilogy very nicely. Having this series take place after the second film, however, might have been a huge misstep, as they would need to keep the future coming up intact without plot holes. Fortunately, the writers realized this and actually came up with a way to jump over the third installment and not have to worry about continuity in a somewhat ingenious move.
As for the story, it is quite top-notch. Playing with the idea of bouncing back and forth from present day to future, characters interweaving through both and telling their tales and missions, we were treated to some emotional moments as well as action packed sequences. Lena Headey brings the badass attitude that Linda Hamilton pulled off so well; Thomas Dekker is the geeky, future savior John Connor with all the brains and naïveté a high-school kid should have; Summer Glau has perfect un-timing comedically as the machine; and totally surprising, Brian Austin Green is very good as Derek Reese, young John’s uncle. With a finale that amazed from start to finish, I can’t wait to see whether they can keep the quality up in season two, especially with the new trilogy of films (starring Christian Bale of all people) beginning preproduction in Hollywood.
“Life” (NBC)
When I first saw the commercials for “Life” I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It appeared to be just your run-of-mill cop drama—a new case everyday solved neatly before the credits rolled—with a “House”-like eccentric at the lead. Seeing that the quirky hero was being played by a favorite of mine, Damian Lewis, is why I decided to tune in the first week. While starting slow for a few weeks, once it settled into the larger story arc of finding out who it was that framed him for murder, the show picked up speed. Having that plotline ride the background beneath everything else going on allows the humor and rapport between the characters to enhance rather than overpower. Lewis is absolutely fantastic, Sarah Shahi is beautiful and talented as his partner, and Adam Arkin plays the friend and confidant with a mess of nerves. Shows like this usually become more assured in year two as the fanbase is together and the one-off stories are needed less in order to put people in the seats that don’t want a serial drama (the only type worth watching).
“Reaper” (CW)
The fact that Kevin Smith’s name was all over “Reaper” made me sit down and see what might happen in a CW show with a premise a bit too close to “Dead Like Me” to scream originality. With a lot of laughs and some likeable characters, the plot structure left a little to be desired and after a few weeks, the show started to get into a rut of Devil’s bounty hunter finds an escaped soul, shenanigans ensue, group stumbles into a perfect position to capture the soul, Ben gets hurt, soul is sent back to Hell, stir and repeat. The fact of the matter was, although it was clichéd and obvious, the laughs were big enough to keep me watching with a cursory interest. However, that all changed with the writer’s strike. Whether the hiatus allowed the creators to rework plotlines and speed up the proceedings or not, when it returned for a final eight episodes, this thing was a brand new creature.
Sure a soul needed to be captured each week, but now we had stakes as well. Sam, our bounty hunter played by Bret Harrison, finds himself embroiled in a love triangle with the girl of his dreams and another, possibly Satan’s spawn; a fight to try whatever he can to break his parents’ contract binding his own soul to hell; and helping a couple friendly demons attempt to overthrow Lucifer himself. Everything begins to mesh; the trio of heroes, (rounded out by Rick Gonzalez’s Ben and Tyler Labine’s hysterical Sock), truly become best friends onscreen; and Ray Wise’s Devil transforms into possibly the best character on television right now. On the edge of being cancelled before the final eight episodes were ordered, this show was resuscitated and quickly became one I made sure to watch every week.
Complete with new seasons from “Lost,” “Heroes,” “Prison Break,” “24,” “Weeds,” “The Shield,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Entourage,” and the final half session of “Battlestar Galactica,” 2008 is shaping up to be one that destroys any social life I have, chaining me to the TV each week. Last Updated ( Thursday, 12 June 2008 )
“Pushing Daisies” (ABC)
By far my favorite new show from 2007, “Pushing Daisies” and all its cutesy quirks will be thankfully returning in the Fall. From the mind of Bryan Fuller, he of “Dead Like Me” fame, this show tells about a pie-maker named Ned who has the ability to touch the dead and bring them to life. This power comes with a consequence as something must replace that which does not die before a minute’s time is up (upon which he must touch the body again to kill it forever). After bringing his grade school love back to life—making him unable to ever touch her again—the two team up with a private investigator to revive corpses and find out who killed them so they may collect the reward.
The cast is fantastic, the voice-over/storybook narration lends a perfect bedtime story aesthetic, and the humor is unparalleled. Rhymes abound, puns fly free, colors are vibrant, and sometimes we even get a song break. Way too much fun for an hour of television, what may first appear as a gimmicky sentimental mess becomes so endearing that you will chastise yourself if you ever miss an episode. Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, and Kristin Chenoweth deserve all the success this little show seems to be starting to give them.
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (FOX)
“The Sarah Connor Chronicles” had the potential to be very bad for a series of stories that I really enjoyed. Even the third Terminator movie kept the mood and intellect of the first couple entries to round out the trilogy very nicely. Having this series take place after the second film, however, might have been a huge misstep, as they would need to keep the future coming up intact without plot holes. Fortunately, the writers realized this and actually came up with a way to jump over the third installment and not have to worry about continuity in a somewhat ingenious move.
As for the story, it is quite top-notch. Playing with the idea of bouncing back and forth from present day to future, characters interweaving through both and telling their tales and missions, we were treated to some emotional moments as well as action packed sequences. Lena Headey brings the badass attitude that Linda Hamilton pulled off so well; Thomas Dekker is the geeky, future savior John Connor with all the brains and naïveté a high-school kid should have; Summer Glau has perfect un-timing comedically as the machine; and totally surprising, Brian Austin Green is very good as Derek Reese, young John’s uncle. With a finale that amazed from start to finish, I can’t wait to see whether they can keep the quality up in season two, especially with the new trilogy of films (starring Christian Bale of all people) beginning preproduction in Hollywood.
“Life” (NBC)
When I first saw the commercials for “Life” I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It appeared to be just your run-of-mill cop drama—a new case everyday solved neatly before the credits rolled—with a “House”-like eccentric at the lead. Seeing that the quirky hero was being played by a favorite of mine, Damian Lewis, is why I decided to tune in the first week. While starting slow for a few weeks, once it settled into the larger story arc of finding out who it was that framed him for murder, the show picked up speed. Having that plotline ride the background beneath everything else going on allows the humor and rapport between the characters to enhance rather than overpower. Lewis is absolutely fantastic, Sarah Shahi is beautiful and talented as his partner, and Adam Arkin plays the friend and confidant with a mess of nerves. Shows like this usually become more assured in year two as the fanbase is together and the one-off stories are needed less in order to put people in the seats that don’t want a serial drama (the only type worth watching).
“Reaper” (CW)
The fact that Kevin Smith’s name was all over “Reaper” made me sit down and see what might happen in a CW show with a premise a bit too close to “Dead Like Me” to scream originality. With a lot of laughs and some likeable characters, the plot structure left a little to be desired and after a few weeks, the show started to get into a rut of Devil’s bounty hunter finds an escaped soul, shenanigans ensue, group stumbles into a perfect position to capture the soul, Ben gets hurt, soul is sent back to Hell, stir and repeat. The fact of the matter was, although it was clichéd and obvious, the laughs were big enough to keep me watching with a cursory interest. However, that all changed with the writer’s strike. Whether the hiatus allowed the creators to rework plotlines and speed up the proceedings or not, when it returned for a final eight episodes, this thing was a brand new creature.
Sure a soul needed to be captured each week, but now we had stakes as well. Sam, our bounty hunter played by Bret Harrison, finds himself embroiled in a love triangle with the girl of his dreams and another, possibly Satan’s spawn; a fight to try whatever he can to break his parents’ contract binding his own soul to hell; and helping a couple friendly demons attempt to overthrow Lucifer himself. Everything begins to mesh; the trio of heroes, (rounded out by Rick Gonzalez’s Ben and Tyler Labine’s hysterical Sock), truly become best friends onscreen; and Ray Wise’s Devil transforms into possibly the best character on television right now. On the edge of being cancelled before the final eight episodes were ordered, this show was resuscitated and quickly became one I made sure to watch every week.
Complete with new seasons from “Lost,” “Heroes,” “Prison Break,” “24,” “Weeds,” “The Shield,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Entourage,” and the final half session of “Battlestar Galactica,” 2008 is shaping up to be one that destroys any social life I have, chaining me to the TV each week. Last Updated ( Thursday, 12 June 2008 )
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JaaJoe.com/Entertainment - Movie reviews, book reviews, and more.
JaaJoe.com/Entertainment - Movie reviews, book reviews, and more.
