THE POPFILTER FALL TEEVEE PREVEE
The PopFilter Fall TeeVee PreVee
NBC
A TO Z
PREMIERES OCTOBER 2ND
WHAT IT BE:
Cristin Miloti follows up her run on the much-heralded, not-at-all-maligned final season of How I Met Your Mother with a titular role in which she’ll probably get some actual screen time. At least I assume it’s a titular role, as her character’s name is Zelda, and the boy in the show is named Andrew. Ka-ching. In other shit that might remind you of HIMYM, the episodes seem center around a gimmick (the letters of the alphabet), and the show is narrated by television royalty (in this case it’s PFHOFer Katey Segal, as opposed to future PFHOFer Bob Saget).
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
The lead couple might actually have the stuff to pull through what otherwise seems like basic NBC dreck. The boy that will fall for Miloti’s Girl is none other than Michael Ginsberg himself, Ben Feldman.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
There’s not a lot of clout here, aside from the leads, which already isn’t a ton of clout. Executive Producer Rashida Jones did get a big TV deal, and remains one of the most likeable actors on the planet, but this will be the first thing we’re seeing from her.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
Let’s say 2.
ALLEGIANCE
WHAT IT BE:
The Americans plus Homeland divided by 100 (NBC).
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
This is a tough one. The biggest name behind the scenes is executive producer George Nolfi, who wrote and directed The Adjustment Bureau, a movie that some people like. It’s hard to imagine NBC letting him flaunt his style too much, however.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
To put it bluntly, this is the kind of thing that the five major networks suck at. With the exception of Hannibal, networks struggle doing anything that isn’t “case of the week,” and even Hannibal is more “one and done” than your average cable drama. Allegiance will most likely either struggle trying to tell a long form story, or shoehorn in “case of the week” plots to keep their viewers interested in their more serialized tale. Either way: barf.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
12. Just kidding. 1.
AQUARIUS
WHAT IT BE:
Old-man-detective David Duchovny and hippy-freak-detective Grey Damon are just your average mis-matched partners in 1967 L.A. Nothing to see here. No big deal. Keep walking…OH MY GOD CHARLES MANSON!
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
David Duchovny has proved himself to be a pretty reliable TV star, going from hit show to hit show, and only sprinkling in a couple of terrible movies along the way. The time period it takes place in, not to mention it’s main villain, is also going to help. People seem to not be able to get enough of it.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
This is what NBC is calling an Event Series, one of three that they are premiering in the 2014-2015 season. This could mean it’s taking the True Detective/Fargo route, and telling one complete story, but I can’t imagine NBC just letting something that’s good just go away. Which means it will either be bad, or NBC will notice that it’s good, and ruin it.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
I can’t find anyone behind the scenes I’m interested in, but I’m actually, stupidly holding out some hope for this. Three!
BAD JUDGE
PREMIERES OCTOBER 2ND
WHAT IT BE:
Kate Walsh stars as the titular judge, who slams a hammer by day and gets hammered at night. (That is not part of the show’s official press release. I just made that shit up). Fourth in the Bad series, following Bad Santa, Bad Teacher, and Bad Grandpa, about people who are supposed to be good but are bad.
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
Some of those things that start with Bad are actually good, or “bad,” as good things were called when I was a kid.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
It’s difficult to balance two sides of a shithead, making them endearing and horrible. This show seems to have figured it out, by having Bad Judge ADOPT A LITTLE BLACK KID. The smell of schmaltz is making me nauseous.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
Just a couple. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are producers, but based on the trailer, there’s no way this is going to have enough laughs to make up for everything else around it.
CONSTANTINE
PREMIERES OCTOBER 24TH
WHAT IT BE:
Learning from the Keanu Reeves movie, this iteration comes complete with John Constantine’s famous jacket and accent. This is one of SEVEN new shows this fall based on comic books.
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
Because Hannibal was? I’m still trying to get over how much I liked an NBC drama. Could something in this article do that again? I’m making Constantine the early favorite to repeat the quality. Think about it: beloved source material, asshole titular character, “case of the weeks” mixed in with an overarching story. Throw in Dark Knight writer David Goyer, and maybe it’s time to start wondering what it would be like to like in a world where Constantine is a good show.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
Because of course it will. I just heard Goyer in an interview mention how hard it is for him to stay within the six act structure of network shows. Maybe it’ll start strong, but fall apart when Goyer gets tired of NBC’s shit.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
There’s a new PopFilter Podcast coming out next month that focuses strictly on superhero TV, so my guess is all of them.
EMERALD CITY
WHAT IT BE:
A modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz, despite the greatest movie of all time, Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return stealing America’s heart just a few months ago.
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
Not much is known about this, which seems to be one of those Event Dramas, like Aquarius. The biggest name behind it is Josh Friedman, who gave us the Terminator show from a couple of years back, and people seemed to like that, right?
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
It really all depends on how NBC is going to handle this whole “event” thing. What if NBC made a commitment to garbage with their regular old 22-episodes-a-season shows, but with these Event Dramas, where there’s less on the line, they allowed creators to create? It’s interesting but until we know more we’re just going to have to assume it’ll suck butt.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
I probably won’t even start this one unless I hear it’s great, so my guess is zero.
HAPPY ENDINGS SIGHTING!!!
MARRY ME
PREMIERES OCTOBER 14TH
WHAT IT BE:
Marry Me has Casey Wilson re-teaming with Happy Endings co-creator/husband David Caspe. Wilson and Ken Marino play a couple who keeps fucking up their marriage proposals.
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
Ahem…Happy Endings.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
The premise is odd, and the trailer doesn’t make it seem like something that could carry a show. Maybe they’ll figure out a way to expand on it later, or maybe the “premise” is actually just the plot of the pilot.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
Never!
MISSION CONTROL
WHAT IT BE:
Another NBC comedy produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, and another NBC show set in the sixties, Mission Control is one of those “men vs women” workplace comedies, with the workplace being NASA.
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
Two of the employees are Malcolm Barrett and Jonathon Slavin, AKA Phil and Lem from Better Off Ted. So did they just come as a package deal? Or did they get hired separately only to be furious when seeing each other on the first day of filming? Just when they thought they were away from each other, they’re pulled back in.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
Outside of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, David “Rickety Cricket” Hornsby doesn’t have the best track record as a show runner. He’s responsible for the animated turd Unsupervised, along with the notorious How to Be a Gentlemen.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
It’ll be nice to have Krysten Ritter back on TV, but there’s too much going against this to have high hopes.
MR. ROBINSON
WHAT IT BE:
School of (Craig) Rock(inson)
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
Who doesn’t love a little Craig Robinson?
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
Little might be the operative word there. We’ve only seen him as part of a large ensemble and it would be terrible to find out that he can’t handle the lead. Apart from that, this will hinge on how it can balance the comedy with the schmaltz. Luckily, the show isn’t called Bad Music Teacher, so it doesn’t have to spend the whole time convincing us that this person is bad but good but bad but good, but it still seems like it could be in danger in trying to hard for those “awwwwww” moments.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
4, but I’ll want it to be three.
THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA
PREMIERES SEPTEMBER 24TH
WHAT IT BE:
If you’re a naughty little boy, or a naughty criminal, then you don’t know who you’re messing with…Debra Messing with.
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
The only way this one is decent is if someone yells “cut”, and it turns out Debra Messing is actually playing Debra Messing, in a show about what it’s like when the roles dry up for middle-aged women, and you have to star in shit like this.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
Because it won’t be a show about a show, as stated above. It’ll just be the show it claims to be.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
I’m going to attempt to try and write my first review without watching an entire episode. Stay tuned for my new article, “The First Half of Some of the Pilots of Fall TV.”
ODYSSEY
WHAT IT BE:
The press release uses the term “Traffic-like drama.” Why would I feel the need to be more clever than them?
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
It co-stars Simon Adebisi and Roland “Prez” Pryzbylewski? That’s all I’ve got.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
This is another show that sounds like it has a long story to tell instead of just “cases of the week.” I’m all for this sea change on network television, but we have nothing to prove NBC is capable of it. If just one of these shows hits this season – which is a lot to ask for – it will go a long way in building up trust in the audience. And I’d pick this one over Allegiance.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
Just the 1.
HAPPY ENDINGS SIGHTING!!!
ONE BIG HAPPY
WHAT IT BE:
After the failure of The New Normal, NBC tries again to get their own sitcom version of a modern family (family with gay people). Gay Elisha Cuthbert and straight Nick Zano are best friends who decide to get pregnant. And then Nick Zano gets married, and now the wackiness may ensue.
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
One Big Happy actually has two Happy Endings vets, as Nick Zano is Pete, Penny’s only long term relationship. So…that’s good then.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
First of all, Elisha Cuthbert’s gay character’s name is Lizzie. Lizzie!?! Really? I’m impressed at how far television has come with gay characters. But I don’t think it’s so far that we should have leading lesbians named Lizzie. The show comes from a writer named Lizzie, so it’s probably not a coincidence, but still…
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
A more proven ensemble cast or show runner would make me feel a lot better, but I’ll say three.
STATE OF AFFAIRS
PREMIERES NOVEMBER 17TH
WHAT IT BE:
Katherine Heigl stars as a White House something or other, in a world where someone would hire a Katherine Heigl type person to work in the White House. This is opposed to our world, where someone would continue to hire Katherine Heigl to act in things.
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
Another example of the networks chasing prestige-lite dramas, State of Affairs might be the one that proves to the world that they are capable…
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
…unless you watch that there trailer. Yikes. At one point, Katherine Heigl says “I’m a slob in my home life, but a sniper in my work life,” or some bullshit like that. This is from a trailer that NBC made, picking things from the show that they wanted to make sure we saw. Until they start programming for adults, prestige-lite dramas are going to elude them.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
1.
UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT
The guy in the middle is Robert Carlock
WHAT IT BE:
Ellie Kemper plays Kimmy Schmidt, a woman who escapes the cult she’s been a member of for the last 15 years. After becoming a media sensation, she has to figure out how to put her life together.
WHY IT MIGHT BE DECENT:
Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, David Miner, and Jeff Richmond are four of the people most responsible for 30 Rock, and they are all responsible for this.
WHY IT MIGHT SUCK BUTT:
I have no idea. Outside of NBC tinkering, there’s no reason for this to be anything other than the most exciting new NBC show.
HOW MANY EPISODES BEFORE I QUIT IT:
Never!