New TV Show Reviews Part 2

ABC's BETRAYAL - Funny watching talented actors try to make limp material breathe.  The likes of James Cromwell and Henry Thomas are in supporting roles, but a series centered on adultery isn't really going to go far if it's in that Castle/Nashville sheen that ABC uses on all their dramas.  In fact, I've been noticing more and more that network shows look like they belong on the networks they're on. All the CBS dramas look the same, the ACS dramas look the same, the NBC dramas look the same.  Grade: D

CBS's THE CRAZY ONES - Robin Williams is back, and he's in predictably precious form. He's an ad man, and wouldn't you know it, Mad Men's James Wolk works there too. The first episode was a giant McDonald's commercial. (You know, Mad Men uses real brands too, but I never felt like they were blatant commercials for Jaguar or Kodak.)  There's no laugh-track but several times it'll have a co-worker crack up at whatever Williams is doing.  Grade: C

ABC's BACK IN THE GAME - James Caan is all crust and grumpiness, in a funny way, as an old man who takes baseball waaaay too seriously but is now helping his daughter coach her son's baseball team, and those boys are the ones who couldn't make the other teams they tried out for. Grade: B-

ABC's SUPER FUN NIGHT - Why have Rebel Wilson have an American accent but still have a British guy in the cast?  I kept wondering why they didn't let let Rebel be Australian.  I'll say this. I liked it a lot more than Girls.  Grade: C+

Fall TV Preview 2013

James Spader will star in NBC's The Blacklist

Last year the networks debuted 19 new shows. 7 of those shows have made it to a second season. None of the new mid-season replacement series were renewed.

This year there are 25 new shows.  The networks seem to be putting more new stuff in fall and holding back established series (like Mike & Molly and Suburgatory) to replace what doesn't work down the road.

Let's say 9 of them survive.  I will guess Mom, Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, The Goldbergs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Originals, The Michael J. Fox Show and Reign.


=SUNDAY=

ABC
Once Upon A Time
Revenge
Betrayal

CBS
The Amazing Race
The Good Wife
The Mentalist

FOX
The Simpsons
Bob's Burgers
Family Guy
American Dad

NBC
Sunday Night Football

New Shows:

Betrayal (ABC) - The dully-titled soap is about a married lawyer (Stuart Townsend) who begins an affair with a married woman (Boss's Hannah Ware) only to learn afterward her husband in opposing counsel in a high-profile trial he's working.  Sounds like an ideal sudser to follow Revenge, but reviews have been poor.

=MONDAY=

ABC
Dancing with the Stars
Castle

CBS
How I Met Your Mother
We Are Men
2 Broke Girls
Mom
Hostages

FOX
Bones
Sleepy Hollow

NBC
The Voice
The Blacklist

THE CW
Hart of Dixie
Beauty & the Beast

New Shows:

We Are Men (CBS) - Another fall, another Jerry O'Connell series that will likely die an ignominious death.  This co-stars Kal Penn and Tony Shalhoub as a bunch of idiotic stereotypes of "men."  This is getting worse reviews than Partners.

Mom (CBS) - Chuck Lorre is one of the last living kings of the multi-camera sitcom, and here he's provided a vehicle for Anna Faris as a woefully irresponsible mother trying to put her life back together when her that-much-more-irresponsible mother (Allison Janney) re-enters her life. Buzz has been positive.

Hostages (CBS) - CBS may rule the procedural, but with Under the Dome, they showed they're still willing to try cliffhanger dramas.  Hostages will have a limited 15-episode run, and it's about a surgeon (Toni Collette) whose family is being held hostage by a rogue FBI agent (Dylan McDermott) who wants her to kill the US President, on whom she's scheduled to operate. Jerry Bruckheimer (24) will executive-produce.  Sounds more like a cable show, which is a compliment.

Sleepy Hollow (Fox) - Supernatural elements have been trending lately, so Fox tries to get into the Grimm business with this update on Ichabod Crane. He and the Headless Horseman show up in modern times. Could be goofy fun. It scored 10 million viewers on its debut.

The Blacklist (NBC) - James Spader is suddenly using his real hairline and chewing the scenery as  a career criminal who turns himself in in order to help the FBI hunt down his enemies. NBC really needs a success on its scripted slate.

=TUESDAY=

ABC
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
The Goldbergs
Trophy Wife
Lucky 7

CBS
NCIS
NCIS: Los Angeles
Person of Interest

FOX
Dads
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
New Girl
The Mindy Project

NBC
The Biggest Loser
The Voice
Chicago Fire

THE CW
The Originals
Supernatural

New Shows:

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC) - Agent Coulson lives! And rumor has it they'll explain how in one of the episodes down the road. Expectations are high for this series about the regular non-superhero people who keep SHIELD running.

The Goldbergs (ABC) - 1980's nostalgia for this sitcom that makes Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids) as the parents. Sounds like it would've fit in perfectly on Wednesdays. Oh well.

Trophy Wife (ABC) - Malin Akerman is the young third wife to West Wing's Bradley Whitford, and she has to juggle stepkids and her husband's two ex-wives (Marcia Gay Harden, Michaela Watkins). Interesting cast, but reviews have been meh.

Lucky 7 (ABC) - Seven people win the lottery. This very special dramedy follows their stories, and I don't see this lasting longer than Six Degrees.

Dads (FOX) - "From the creator of Family Guy" comes a likeable cast (Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi, Peter Reigert, Martin Mull) dealing with father-son issues, but reviews have been dreadful (apparently there's a lot of racist Asian jokes.)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX) - If it can survive its lead-in, Andy Samberg tries for the Barney Miller route in this comedy set at a police station. Andre Braugher, that gravitas-filled actor who can't seem to find a series that'll stay on the air, arrives as the new no-nonsense chief. Hijinks ensue. I'm actually good things about this.

The Originals (CW) - Vampire Diaries spinoff. I don't watch CW. Best of luck, folks.

=WEDNESDAY=

ABC
The Middle
Back in the Game
Modern Family
Super Fun Night
Nashville

CBS
Survivor: Blood & Water
Criminal Minds
CSI

FOX
The X Factor

NBC
Revolution
Law & Order: SVU
Ironside

CW
Arrow
The Tomorrow People

New Shows:

Back in the Game (ABC) - James Caan is a grumpy ex-baseball player who helps his estranged daughter coach a Little League team. Should be a Bad News Bears mix.

Super Fun Night (ABC) - Aussie comedienne Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) plays an awkward lawyer with an American accent.

Ironside (NBC) - Blair Underwood mans the wheelchair in this update of the Raymond Burr classic. I expect it will suffer the same fate as Prime Suspect.

The Tomorrow People (CW) - Young pretty people with superpowers.

=THURSDAY=

ABC
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
Grey's Anatomy
Scandal

CBS
The Big Bang Theory
The Millers
The Crazy Ones
Two and a Half Men
Elementary

FOX
The X Factor results
Glee

NBC
Parks & Recreation
Welcome to the Family
Sean Saves the World
The Michael J. Fox Show
Parenthood

THE CW
The Vampire Diaries
Reign

New Shows:

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC) - This spinoff of Once Upon A Time will spend its time in Wonderland, where John Lithgow plays the White Rabbit.  Hard to say if this franchise is strong enough to already support a spin-off.

The Millers (CBS) - Will Arnett (Arrested Development) is a man dealing with the divorce of his parents (Margo Martindale, Beau Bridges) in the first episode. The laughs look broad (it's from Raising Hope's Greg Garcia) but that might mean it fits right in behind Big Bang Theory.

The Crazy Ones (CBS) - Robin Williams returns to TV, and CBS is treating it like Richard Dreyfuss in The Education of Max Bickford. Remember that show? Exactly.

Welcome to the Family (NBC) - Mike O'Malley (Glee, Justified) plays a guy who learns his wife is pregnant AND so is his teenage daughter. Said daughter is impregnated by her Latino boyfriend so some culture-clash comedy will probably be in there too.

Sean Saves the World (NBC) - Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) is a bachelor who came out to his wife a few years ago, but now he gets custody of his 14-year-old daughter. Linda Lavin (Alice) plays his mom. It's been getting reviews on par with Nathan Lane's Encore Encore.

The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC) - Mike finally gets his own show again! I wouldn't have been disappointed if he became a full-timer on The Good Wife, but hey, here he is to try to help the network that originally made him a star. He plays a once star reporter who semi-retired due to his Parkinson's, but he decides to get back in the game. Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad's Marie) plays his wife. I'm looking forward to this.

Reign (CW) - Mary Queen of Scots gets the CW treatment. Torrance Coombs (The Tudors) plays one of her suitors.

=FRIDAY=

ABC
Last Man Standing
The Neighbors
Shark Tank
20/20

CBS
Undercover Boss
Hawaii Five-0
Blue Bloods

FOX
MasterChef Junior
(encores)

NBC
Dateline NBC
Grimm
Dracula

THE CW
The Carrie Diaries
America's Next Top Model

New Shows:

Dracula (NBC) - It might benefit from following Grimm but I haven't heard much good about it, and Friday is still Friday. It stars Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (The Tudors).

Lee Daniels' The Butler - Movie Review

Starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, James Marsden, Robin Williams, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, John Cusack, Liev Schreiber, Lenny Kravitz, Vanessa Redgrave, Clarence Williams III, Alex Pettyfer, Elijah Kelley, Minka Kelly, David Banner and Mariah Carey.
Directed by Lee Daniels.

★★½

An impressive all-star cast gathers for this Forrest Gump journey through the civil rights movement.  It's inspired by a true story but they change so much of it, it might as well not be.

Forest Whitaker is great as Cecil Gaines, a humble man who becomes a butler in the White House during the Eisenhower administration and works there through the Reagan years. We see the changes in the country through his eyes, but also through the eyes of his older son Louis (David Oyelowo), a civil rights activist who happens to be there for pretty much every milestone event.  He's there for the lunch-counter protests where they're assaulted by patrons, for the bombing of the freedom bus, best friends with Martin Luther King, the rise of the Black Panther party. I'm surprised he didn't happen to be on the very bus where Rosa Parks refused to move.

A parade of stars wander through to play the presidents.  Robin Williams is gone before you have time to think if he's convincing as Ike or not.  James Marsden is all boyish sincerity as JFK.  Liev Schreiber's pretty funny as LBJ.  John Cusack is John Cusack as Nixon.  Alan Rickman and Jane Fonda got the mannerisms right as Ronald and Nancy Reagan, but the way the movie craps all over Ronald yanked me out of the movie.

Then I remember the movie was written by Danny Strong, an actor who's quickly made a name for himself demonizing Republicans with his scripts for HBO's Recount, about the Bush-Gore 2000 election told through Gore-colored glasses, and HBO's Game Change, where he cut out all the parts of the book on Hillary, Obama, John Edwards, so he could just focus on Manchurian candidate Sarah Palin, who was about 1/5 of the book.

The movie's over two hours and it's overstuffed with melodramatic coincidences, subplots that meander, and it culminates with angelic voices swelling at the election of Obama.  It's also always watchable.  Not only is Whitaker mesmerizing as Gaines, but Winfrey, Oyelowo, Gooding and Howard all give stand-out performances too.

Random Movie Stuff - 7/18/12

- Fresh off his expensive flop John Carter, director Andrew Stanton is returning to animation with a sequel to his own Finding Nemo.  It's set for a 2016 release date.  Pixar has Monsters University set for 2013, The Good Dinosaur for 2014, and Inside the Mind and Dia de Los Muertos for 2015.

- Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) is in talks to play the Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, starring Chris Evans.  The Falcon helps the Captain fight crime via a special suit that helps him fly and enhances his strength.  He can also communicate telepathically with birds.

- Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction) has joined the cast of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as Wiress, a veteran tribute from the Games.  Her character is nicknamed "Nuts."

- Johnny Depp will next star in The Grand Budapest Hotel for director Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, The Royal Tenenbaums).  With his Thin Man reboot on hold, it'll be his next movie after The Lone Ranger.

- Robin Williams will play Dwight D. Eisenhower in The Butler, based on the true story of Eugene Allen, who served as butler in the White House from the administrations of Harry Truman through Ronald Reagan.  Alan Rickman will play Reagan, James Marsden will play JFK, and John Cusack will play Richard Nixon.  The cast also includes Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Nicole Kidman, Melissa Leo, Jane Fonda, Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alex Pettyfer and Zac Efron.  Lee Daniels (Precious) will direct.

- Kevin Kline is joining Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas and Morgan Freeman in Last Vegas, about four old friends who decide to have a bachelor party in Vegas for the one of them who's always remained single.  Jon Turtletaub (National Treasure) will direct.

- Vince Vaughn will produce and star in Gunslingers, about some iconic Wild West heroes who find themselves in modern-day Los Angeles.

- And here's a viral video for After Earth.  Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, it's a futuristic actioner where Earth has been abandoned and humanity has moved to a new planet, Nova Prime.  Will Smith and Jaden Smith play a father and son who go back to visit the now unknown, dangerous Earth.

Random Movie News 9/15/11

- Robert DeNiro and Diane Keaton will star in The Big Wedding, about a long-divorced couple who are forced to pretend they're still happily married at their son's wedding. It co-stars Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Ben Barnes, Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams. It's slated to open October 19, 2012.

- Hugh Grant has joined the ensemble Cloud Atlas, starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw and Bae Doona. It's about people from different time periods, narrators that "hear each other's echoes down the corridor of history."

- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) will join Jessica Chastain (The Help, The Debt) in Mama, a horror movie from producer Guillermo Del Toro.

- Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) is close to signing on for the remake of Highlander.

- Seth Rogen will co-write, co-producer, co-direct The Apocalypse with longtime partner Evan Goldberg. It'll star Rogen as well as James Franco, Jonah Hill and Jay Baruchel, playing themselves locked in a house while the apocalypse happens outside, but the longer they're holed up, the more they get on each other's nerves.