TV: Fall 2012 Teaser

The networks announced their new shows. Some look like hits, most look like misses. I looked over what I predicted last year at this time and was surprised. For dramas, one got cancelled immediately (Playboy Club), three I gave up on part way through (Person of Interest, Ringer, Grimm), and the one I watched didn’t get a second season (Terra Nova). For comedies, two of them got canned very quickly (How to be a Gentleman, Free Agents) and I still watch the other three that all got picked up for next year (Up All Night, New Girl & Suburgatory). For midseason, I still watch two (Smash, Apt. 23), one didn’t get its seconds season (Alcatraz) and two lost my interest right off the bat (Napoleon Dynamite & Are You there Vodka). I’m hoping to watch less television this upcoming year, so I’m only picking two from each category that stood out for me. Again, what interests me are the premise and people involved. Again, I have not seen any full episode and I’m just basing this on snap judgements so things can definitely change come fall. But until then here is what looked interesting:

Dramas
Revolution (NBC) Mondays at 10pm
Premise: All forms of technology die, a group of survivors try to adapt
Names: Giabcarlo Esposito (Gus on Breaking Bad),
JJ Abrams (Lost creator), Eric Kripke (Supernatural creator)
Why: Premise looks interesting, I love Gus and Abrams is producing

Elementary (CBS) Thursdays at 10pm
Premise: Modern day Sherlock Holmes with a female Watson that takes place in New York City.
Names: Jonny Lee Miller (Eli on Eli Stone),
Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels movies)
Why: I like how eccentric Miller can be and the premise intrigues me.

Comedies
Go On (NBC) Tuesdays at 9pm
Premise: A depressed sportscaster in therapy
Names: Matthew Perry (Chandler on Friends),
Scott Silveri (Friends producer)
Why: Love seeing Matthew Perry on screen again.

The Mindy Project (FOX) Tuesdays at 9:30pm
Premise: An OB/GYN tries to go for the perfect life
Names: Mindy Kaling (Kelly on The Office),
BJ Novak (Ryan on The Office) produces
Why: Kaling alone makes this comedy worth watching.

Midseason
1600 Penn (FOX) Comedy
Premise: The presidential family has to deal with their eldest idiot son
Names: Josh Gad (Book of Mormon),
Jason Winer (Modern Family producer)
Why: Loved Gad on Back to You a few years ago.

Hannibal (NBC) Drama
Premise: a profiler has a killer new partner, a pre-film Hannibal Lecter.
Names: Bryall Fuller (Pushing Daisies producer)
Why: Fuller can do no wrong, premise looks tight.

There you go. I’ll try and have a TV show wrap up out soon.

TV: House

GENRE: Medical Drama
DAY&TIME: Monday 9pm
NETWORK: FOX
SEASONS: Eight
STARRING: Hugh Laurie (Blackadder, Stuart Little),
Robert Sean Leonard (Dead Poets Society, Swing Kids)
SHOW RUNNER: David Shore (Law & Order)
PLOT: A jerk of a diagnostic doctor with zero bedside manner takes on hard to solve cases with his team of doctors.
GENERAL THOUGHTS: This show is ending tonight. It may have been a bit formulaic but it was always full of compelling drama with some well-earned laughs thrown in.

THE 10 BEST HOUSE EPISODES (IN AIRING ORDER):
1 Three Stories (S01E21)
House gives a lecture about three cases involving legs. Carmen Electra makes a fun cameo appearance.
2 Euphoria, Parts I & II (S02E20&21)
A police officer is shot and starts laughing uncontrollably. Then Foreman gets the same symptoms and must be quarantined.
3 Airborne (S03E18)
House and Cuddy are on a flight when a passenger becomes ill and Cuddy fears an epidemic.
4 House’s Head/Wilson’s Heart (S04E15&16)
House comes to after a bus accident and tries to piece together who was riding with him in a series of flashbacks.
5 Last Resort (S05E09)
A man takes Cuddy & House hostage and has Thirteen act as a guinea pig for treatments with dangerous results.
6 Locked In (S05E19)
House treats a paralyzed patient after a motorcycle accident. Most of the episode is shot from the patient’s point of view.
7 Private Lives (S06E15)
A blogger has her treatment put online while House and Wilson discover secrets about each other. Chase goes speed-dating.
8 Bombshells (S07E15)
Cuddy has a series of dreams about her relationship with House as she is about to go in for surgery.
9 Nobody’s Fault (S08E11)
When one of House’s team in injured by a violent patient, the team must be reviewed and retell the story.
10 Post Mortem (S08E20)
Wilson decides to go on a road trip with House to live dangerously. Chase treats a man who only wants House.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: TV Season Wrap-Up, MIB3

Film: The Avengers

GENRE: Action/Sci-Fi
RATING: PG-13 for intense action violence
RUNTIME: 2 hour and 22 minutes
STARRING: Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, Shelock Holmes)
Chris Evans (Captain America), Tom Hiddleston (Thor)
DIRECTOR: Joss Whedon (Serenity, Dr. Horrible)
WRITERS: Joss Whedon (Cabin in the Woods, Toy Story, Buffy)
Zak Penn (X-Men 2 & 3, The Incredible Hulk)
PLOT: The Avengers assemble to take on Loki and his army who are threatening the Earth but end up fighting each other as well.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 That was fun! That’s what a super hero movie should look like. Even with a large cast of egos, everyone gets an equal share of camera time. That’s pretty impressive. Joss Whedon is simply amazing. My wish is that with the success of this film, Whedon will get enough money and Hollywood clout to do whatever the hell he wants to do from now on. I’m sure those studio heads that passed on Whedon’s Wonder Woman are kicking themselves right now.
2 The climactic battle scene was truly a sight to behold: a perfect blend of explosions, dramatic moments and hilarious one-liners. Even though there was a sense of chaos all around, I was able to follow everything that was going on. Michael Bay should be forced to watch this scene and take notes.
3 I would have never thought that The Hulk would turn out to be the funniest character in this film. His actions in the climactic fight scenes had me laughing so hard I literally had tears coming out of my eyes. Now that’s a Hulk I can get behind.
4 Tom Hiddleston plays a perfect bad guy. 90% of it is in his grin.
5 I was looking for an actor from the Whedonverse to make an appearance somewhere in the background. Maybe Xander as a Bridge Tech or something but they got by me. I missed Enver Gjorkaj (Victor on Dollhouse) as a young cop. And I didn’t even recognize the very made-up Alexis Denisof (Wesley on Angel) as Thanos – the next big baddie shown after the initial (very cool) ending credits. (If you stay to the very end you are treated with a very fun tag to the story). Maybe it was Denisof who suggested his How I Met Your Mother co-anchor Cobie Smulders (Robin) as Agent Maria who was welcome sight amongst these superstar actors. I think I may need to watch this film again to fully appreciate these Whedonverse thespians . . . like I need a reason to watch this movie again.

RECOMMENDATION: Watch it in theatres now!
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Dark Shadows

Film: American Reunion

GENRE: Comedy
RATING: R for nudity, language, crude & sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 53 minutes
STARRING: Jason Biggs (Saving Silverman, Loser)
Seann William Scott (Road Trip, Role Models, Goon)
DIRECTORS: Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay)
WRITERS: Hurwitz & Schlossberg (All the Harold & Kumar films)
PLOT: The gang reunites for their high school reunion and end up getting into similar hijinks as the first three films.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 I admit that I have seen the other American Pie movies (theatrical not direct-to-video). While there is definitely a bunch of raunchy guy stuff, not too far removed from Judd Apatow fare, I still find humour in the innocence of Jim and the predicaments he finds himself in. I almost felt nostalgic watching this, especially all the nineties music piped into the reunion scenes. Kudos to the producers for getting pretty much every cast member (big and small) to return for this installment. I’m sure some needed the paycheck, but still.
2 While Oz, Kevin and Finch are given some sub-par storylines this film is definitely the Jim & Stifler show (Biggs & Scott are also exec producers). Jim continues to be a stand-up guy trying to do the right thing to great comic effect. Stifler is not only the same outrageous jerk but also shows the most need for redemption. They play well off each other and get most of the laughs.
3 The rest of the laughs go to Eugene Levy this time around as Jim’s dad. While he usually gives awkwardly hilarious advice, he gets to party and let loose in this installment. He almost steals the show from the younger ones.
4 Jason Biggs doesn’t age. He looks just as young as he was in the first film thirteen years ago. His kitchen conversation with his dad looks almost identical to the post-pie talk in the first installment. I also like the Adam Sandler look-alike comments.
5 There’s a fun cameo in Oz’s Celebrity Dance Off footage.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for the DVD or TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Avengers

Film: The Cabin in the Woods

GENRE: Horror 

RATING: R for horror violence, gore and some nudity 

RUNTIME: 1 hour and 35 minutes 

STARRING: Kristen Connolly (As the World Turns) Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Fran Kranz (Dollhouse) 

DIRECTOR: Drew Goddard (newcomer) 

WRITERS: Drew Goddard (Buffy, Alias, Lost, Cloverfield) Joss Whedon (Avengers, Buffy, Firefly, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible) 

PLOT: The classic horror with five friends in an old cabin, but there is a lot more going on.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS: 
1 Got to hand it to Goddard and Whedon, they produced a horror that is full of fun and intentional laughs. This meta-horror goes so much further than Scream as only Whedon can. There are many fun twists and turns and I’m nervous to write any more in fear of ruining it for other viewers. You'll just have to trust me that it's pretty cool. 
2 Bradley Whitford (West Wing) and Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) are hilarious. They make this film the joyride it is. Them and Kranz who plays a convincing stoner with conspiracy theories. 
3 The bear-trapish weapon used to terrorize the kids looked pretty painful. Ouch! I would prefer a knife. 
4 An elevator opens and things come out. Can’t say more but it was truly a sight to behold. 
5 Three words: Angry molesting tree.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for the DVD
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Avengers