Thursday 11 October 2012

More New Shows

2 Updates in 2 weeks ...wow.aren't you lot lucky ?

as promised more new show reviews for ya and we got 3 new shows to look at this week, a superhero show, firefighter drama and a ...country and western themed show? ...yeah you read that right..but lets get started


Arrow a show based on the DC comics character has an intriguing pilot episode which succeeds on many levels, it successfully introduces all the characters, doesn't skimp on the action and sets up the premise nicely.

those are the plus points, there are a couple of minus ones but at this point I'm nitpicking, so here goes .. the main character is OK to good in his regular persona, Stephen Amell is pretty to look at for the ladies and has that brooding intensity that a tortured superhero requires. as an aside why are superheroes always tortured, or have a mission passed down from Father/Uncle/insert dead character here, could it be lazy writing on the part of the original comic book creators?

my main nitpick is the costume, how does a hood and some green eyeliner disguise your identity even in the dark ?...  Where did he acquire said get-up?  maybe these questions will be addressed in the following episodes (one can hope)

Now don't get me wrong this is not a bad pilot, it just carries the baggage of all the superhero shows that came before it and that it will inevitably be compared to, it shows promise and the action is handled nicely and just enough of the main plot is revealed to make you want to check out more episodes.

in conclusion ... shows promise and is light years better than some of the offerings this year (Last Resort anyone still watching that shite?)    a solid 7/10 lets hope they can keep the quality or even improve on it.



Chicago Fire a series based on ... do I even need to explain the premise, its Hill Street Blues/Chicago Hope/The West Wing in a fire station...

Before. I start on a review..here's a quick idea for Hollywood screenwriters, when you are gonna kill off  #expendable character 1# in order to further the plot why do it in the pilot after only a few set up scenes?  The audience would relate better to the characters sense of loss if we had a chance to get to know the "red shirt" first before you kill them off so give them a few episodes then kill them, it would have far more impact and we the audience would feel a part of the loss and grieving the characters are going through... just a thought :)

 ("RED SHIRT" - Star Trek parlance - the red shirts were the expendable security officers who you just knew were gonna die in that episode)

Anyway on with the review, as you can tell the old maguffin of killing off a expendable character to introduce the characters and some conflict is dragged out again ..lazy screenwriting 101 but I'll overlook it for now, Jesse Spencer attempting to break away from his House character does a reasonable job of setting his character and the others are more than acceptable in their intros.

This is another promising series which if it can get over the lazy screenwriting shown in the pilot has potential and given the photogenic properties of it leads should have legs.

Above Average 6/10


Now onto the biggest surprise of the season so far ...

this is a series I downloaded for the wife as shes a big fan of Dolly and Shania, and the premise for this series showed it may be treading the same ground.

and boy is the pilot good .....

Britton and  Panettiere are excellent in their respective roles as fading older star and up and coming manipulative teen starlet. Britton gets to enjoy herself in a more glamourous role than her FNL mom figure and Panettiere is a revelation stretching her acting chops away from her usual fluff fare.

The initial meeting of the 2 stars backstage before the titles even role is laden with undercurrents and nuance and you immediately relate to both characters and the fun and manipulations that follow as the rest of the cast  are introduced just flesh out the promising storyline.

The sequence when Panettiere's character Juliet Barnes is cutting a song in the studic and the comment about "auto-tune" ring true in todays "X-pop stars got talent" culture and the loyalty that Brittons character Reyna James shows to her band and crew also ring true, and as we learn more about both of them as the pilot runs its course you find yourself drawn in, this is acting of the highest calibre and the screenwriters have done a good job.

Very good , engaging leads and great supporting cast this show will go far if the quality is kept up to the high standard they set in the pilot.

Excellent Show so far 9/10 ... oh and I predict it will be one of the first cancelled as all quality shows seems to be nowadays ....I hope I'm wrong

JD :)

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