Fall TV Scorecard: Highs, lows, and in-betweens

Pic from CBS.com

For the last few years, sometime during the summer, I painstakingly survey each network’s fall tv schedule, choosing which new shows I’m going to try and updating my last schedule for day/time changes and/or cancellations amongst shows I’m already watching. I then create an Excel spreadsheet for myself that has a color-coded (by network) daily schedule as well as statistics regarding how many shows per network there are, how many shows total, how many hours total, etc. I’m a little bit OCD about my television viewing. Hey, some people juggle geese.

This fall, I had eleven new shows on my list to try: 666 Park Avenue (ABC), The Mob Doctor (FOX), Revolution (NBC), The Mindy Project (FOX), Vegas (CBS), Emily Owens MD (CW), Arrow (CW), Nashville (ABC), Chicago Fire (NBC), Elementary (CBS), and Beauty and the Beast (CW).

I wrote about my impressions of the Elementary pilot here, and of the Arrow and Beauty and the Beast pilots here. I’ll get to my updated impressions of those shows later in this post.

So far, the only show that I’ve actually stopped watching is Glee – I was already hate-watching it as opposed to watching it because I enjoyed it, and when I ended up with five shows in one timeslot, Glee was the obvious choice to get rid of in order to solve the problem. Glee was a concept that had a lot of potential, but unfortunately the show rarely lived up to that potential, particularly after the first season.

As for my opinions about my eleven new shows, none of which I’ve completely quit, here they are:

The Lows

These are shows I’m watching but I’m not super excited about/shows I won’t be surprised if they get cancelled sometime soon.

666 Park Avenue (ABC) – I would have put this show in this category anyway, because although I don’t think it’s bad I do think it’s uneven and although it scares me, I’m a weenie, so that doesn’t say much for it. Then I did a little googling and came across an article on EW.com just published a few hours ago that says ABC is in fact cancelling this show (along with another of their new shows that I didn’t even bother to try because I was about 75% sure it wouldn’t last long). However, ABC is retaining the option to renew the show next season, so if their midseason starters under-perform and/or they don’t end up with a decent crop of pilots for next fall, 666PA might get a second chance to build an audience. I think conceptually there’s potential, but the writers seem to be having a little trouble following through.

The Mob Doctor (FOX) – Again, I wouldn’t say the show is bad, it’s just not particularly great either. The concept is interesting – a doctor agrees to do medical favors for a mob boss in order to work off a debt of her brother’s – but there’s just something missing. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I just don’t get excited for new episodes every week. I don’t think FOX will quit running the episodes that are already in the can, but I also don’t particularly expect them to get a back nine (for those of you who don’t know the lingo, when a network decides to turn a pilot into a series, they usually order just 13 episodes, which is nine short of the 22-episode usual US network TV season length; those additional nine episodes are referred to as the “back nine” and are ordered if the show seems to be doing well) or a second season. Which is too bad, because it’s nice having Matt Saracen on my TV again.

Emily Owens MD (CW) – I am actually REALLY SAD that I have to put this show in this category. It’s like… everything I wanted Grey’s Anatomy to be and none of the things I ended up hating about Grey’s. It’s like… if you took Scrubs and crossed it with Grey’s. It’s cute, and although I am not a doctor, Emily’s inner monologue is SO MUCH LIKE MINE, and I already have a lot of feelings about several characters/relationships, and basically I’d really love it if you would watch this show and tell all of your friends to watch this show and tell their friends to watch it, because I want to take this show off the danger list! Damn you, low ratings!

The In-Betweens

These are shows that I like just fine, and will almost definitely keep watching (and will most likely be able to because they’ll most likely stay on the air), but am not super-excited or filled with feelings over.

Revolution (NBC) – I’m definitely enjoying Billy Burke’s portrayal of the gruff and embittered Miles Matheson, and the TV audience in general seems to be pretty excited about the who-turned-out-the-lights mystery-adventure show. I do also enjoy having Elizabeth Mitchell on my TV, because I loved her as Juliet on Lost. That being said, I don’t find myself counting the days waiting for a new episode to arrive. I like this show, and I’d probably recommend it to people who I thought might be interested, but I’m not jumping into the fandom and hunting down fanfic or anything. Ratings have dipped somewhat, but are still holding pretty high, so it seems like NBC didn’t jump the gun when they ordered the back nine after just three episodes had aired.

The Mindy Project (FOX) - This was another show that got an early full-season pickup, and I don’t argue with FOX’s reasoning there. Ratings have been excellent, and Mindy Kaling is a funny lady who has demonstrated throughout her tenure at The Office that she is eminently capable of both being funny and writing funny stuff. There are a few things about this show that keep me from getting super-excited about it, most of which are just personal preferences and personal soapboxes (ugh stop the body shaming!). I did laugh out loud for several minutes and rewatch the final scene of the last episode a couple times before moving on to my next show this week, though, so that’s something.

Vegas (CBS) – I actually do rather enjoy this show – it’s difficult not to enjoy Dennis Quaid and Jason O’Mara, to be honest – I’m just notsuper ridiculously excited, so I’m sticking it here. CBS has already ordered a full season, and I’m not surprised. The writing is good, the cast is superb, and it pairs well with the NCIS/NCIS:LA duo on Tuesday nights.

Nashville (ABC) - This show had a strong pilot and then sort of foundered for a bit before coming back strong in the last few weeks. I do enjoy watching it week by week, and I’m not at all surprised that ABC picked up the back nine last week. Connie Britton is (unsurprisingly) fabulous, as is her hair (I’m so jealous). I kind of love to hate Hayden Panettiere’s character, but I also kind of want to take her aside and say “honey, I totally understand why you are the way you are, but you really ought to rethink some of your decisions.” Nashville is slightly soapy and definitely dramatic, but it also does a pretty good job of integrating the music into the show in an organic way, which can be a difficult proposition. (See also: Glee, which sometimes does but often doesn’t even try.)

Chicago Fire (NBC) – Another show that already has a full-season pickup, and another show that I think deserved it. I like the characters and I like watching them interact, and the writers have done a good job so far of balancing multi-episode story arcs with single-episode plots. Unless things take a decided turn for the worse, I’ll be surprised if Chicago Fire isn’t still on the schedule next fall.

The Highs

These are my favorite new shows of the season (or at least, the ones that don’t look doomed… please watch Emily Owens MD I don’t want it to gooooooooo…).

Beauty and the Beast (CW) – Okay, I am not arguing that this is award-worthy, super-high-quality television. What I am arguing is that I am having a damn good time watching it, and I look forward to new episodes, and I yell things at the screen like “kiss him already!” or “why aren’t you making out right now?!” (You stop judging me right now!) This is not high art, but it’s sure as hell fun. And it’s populated with pretty people who look pretty standing next to each other, and there are ladies being awesome, and it comes on after The Vampire Diaries so I don’t even have to change the channel! (No really, stop judging me.) Luckily for my TV Guilty Pleasures list, although the ratings aren’t stellar, they’re good enough that I think there’s a decent chance the show will at least get a full season. A second season, well, that’s a different story. But I can hope!

Arrow (CW) – I won’t even be embarassed about this one. I said in my assessment of the Arrow and BatB pilots that I thought Arrow had more potential to be a genuinely good show, and so far I think it’s living up to that. I look forward to new episodes every week, and I yell all sorts of things at the screen while I watch (like, not just when I think someone should be kissing someone else!). I’m invested in the characters and I want to know more about the backstory and John Barrowman joined the cast and look this show is just actually good, okay. And Stephen Amell is really pretty. I can be shallow and actually think the show is quality! I can! You may recall that Arrow had the most-watched CW premiere since The Vampire Diaries, and ratings have continued to be good for a CW show, so it’s unlikely that Arrow won’t get a full season. And I’m hoping that it’ll stay strong and get a second season as well.

Elementary (CBS) – Probably the most controversial thing I will say on this blog: I like this show just as much as I like Sherlock. Possibly even a little bit more. Okay, before you string me up, hear me out. Jonny Lee Miller’s Sherlock Holmes is flawless. I love the way that Elementary’s Sherlock has a touch more humanity than Sherlock’s, and I think both interpretations are valid extrapolations from the source material. I think JLM does fantastic things with the material he’s given, and I think he’s being given excellent material. Lucy Liu as Joan Watson… just fabulous. FABULOUS. I love her, I love the relationship between Joan and Sherlock. I also enjoy the relationship between Sherlock and Detective Gregson (the Lestrade character). Plus we just got our first mentions of Irene Adler, and my curiosity has been thoroughly piqued. The cinematography continues to be exemplary, the music continues to ably supplement the action, and the credits are quite possibly my favorite credits sequence on the air today. This is a quality show, and if you’ve been letting your love for Sherlock (or the original Holmes stories for that matter) keep you from giving it a try, I suggest you rethink that policy. Not only did it get a full season pickup, it also received the coveted post-Superbowl spot, which speaks to how much faith CBS has in it. It’s probably my favorite new show of the season.