ABC FAMILY
SWITCHED AT BIRTH
Created By Lizzy Weiss
What Season? 2nd Half of season 2
Premiere Date: Monday, January 7 at 8PM
Thoughts: Switched At Birth is described as a charming series that harkens back to a dearer era in the late 90s when The WB and the mascot frog existed. ABC Family loves to premiere a season, run episodes for two months, break for three, air a holiday special no one asked for, and return with the second half of the season. Also, every returning ABC Family show returns explosively. Anybody that watches Boy Meets World in the early A.M. knows about the channel's obsession with 'explosive.' It's like the text is written by a NFL broadcaster.
BUNHEADS
Created By Amy Sherman-Palladino
What Season? 2nd Half of season 1
Premiere Date: Monday, January 7 at 9PM
Thoughts: I included Bunheads' "Pilot" in my Best Episodes series last week. I stopped watching the show after "For Fanny." I got a headache from the overwhelmingly quirky characters and never wanted to hang out with the characters again. Bunheads had poor ratings, but it's back for the second half of season two. I assume Boo is still derided by her bunhead friends for not looking like a stick and dancing like an angel. Sutton Foster has terrific presence on the screen. Palladino's dialogue is still sharp and cool to listen to. She's one of the rarer writers with a distinctive voice on television
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS
Created By I. Marlene King
What Season? 2nd Half of season 3
Premiere Date: Tuesday, January 8 at 8PM
Thoughts: I asked a girl I know if I'd be able to write about one episode of the series during my popular "Random Guy watches your show and breaks down the musical cues" thing in the summer, because she likes Pretty Little Liars. She said no. Well, then. Have the PLL discovered A's identity yet? Every PLL preview includes teases about the shocking revelation regarding A. A's still out there, doing stuff and getting the girls to react wildly with surprise.
THE LYING GAME
Created By Charles Pratt, Jr.
What Season? 2nd Half of Season 2
Premiere Date: Tuesday, January 8 at 9PM
Thoughts: I like watching The Lying Game randomly because of Alexandria Chandro. I don't follow the story. The twin drama eludes me. Again, the ABC Family trailer fails to help uninformed viewers become informed--shots of anguished teenagers as loud noises play and the narrator makes bad puns on the title when explicating plot, which he does poorly--is as useful as a boat on a frozen pond.
AMC
THE WALKING DEAD
Created By Robert Kirkman; Developed for the Screen by Frank Daranbont
What Season? 2nd half of Season 3
Premiere Date: Sunday, February 10 at 9PM
Thoughts: The first half of season three ended on a cliff-hanger. Daryl and Merle were surrounded by the angry folk of Woodbury as the Governor accused Merle of being a betrayer and a terrorist. Rick's group were labeled terrorists. The Governor lost an eye, his daughter, and more of his mind. Meanwhile, Carl welcomed a new group into the prison, led by the popular character from the comics, Tyrese. Rick's arc in which he slowly loses his mind is fascinating to watch. The highlight of Rick's arc through eight episodes of season isn't heroic displays at Woodbury, but, rather, his dark day in the isolated hallways of the prison as he mourned the death of his wife.
BBC AMERICA
RIPPER STREET
Created By Richard Warlow
Premiere Date: Saturday, January 19 at 9PM
Premise: (from BBC America's press release, November 2012) In the aftermath of the Jack the Ripper murders, can anyone keep order in the blood stained London Streets?
Thoughts: The mystery of Jack The Ripper will continue to be fictionalized 100 years from now by writers because it's endlessly interesting. Ripper Street should have the high production values typical of BBC America. Ripper Street follows detectives trying to solve the Ripper murders. The premise, as you've seen, is short and yields little. The trailer is similar. Ripper Street has gotten better reviews than BBC America's other period piece about crime that aired in the summer.
Chance of Weekly Review: 0%
SPIES OF WARSAW
Created By Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais
Premiere Date: Wednesday, February 6 at 9PM
Premise: (from BBC America's press release, November 2012) David Tennant (Single Father, Doctor Who, Hamlet) and Janet Montgomery (Made in Jersey, Black Swan, Entourage) star in the new Dramaville miniseries, Spies of Warsaw, based on the New York Times bestselling author Alan Furst's acclaimed spy novel.
Thoughts: The BBC loves period piece about spies. The Hour combined BBC nostalgia with espionage intrigue in its first season. Now, Spies of Warsaw combines the second world war with espionage intrigue. David Tennant and Janet Montgomery. Montgomery was introduced to American audiences in her short-lived series Made In Jersey.
Chance of Weekly Review: 0%
ORPHAN BLACK
Created By Graeme Manson & John Fawcett
Premiere Date: Saturday, March 30 at 9PM
Premise: (from BBC America's press release, October 2012) The enthralling new (10 x 60) drama from Temple Street Productions stars previously announced Tatiana Maslany (Cas & Dylan, Picture Day) in the lead role of Sarah, an outsider and orphan whose life changes dramatically after witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks just like her.
Thoughts: Sarah's life changes dramatically after witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks just like her, but the dead woman isn't the only woman who looks just like her. It's a great hook for the show. The trailer lasts 31 seconds and darts between Sarah and the women who look like her. What's it all about? Tune in the 30th of March to find out.
Chance of Weekly Review: 81%
CINEMAX
BANSHEE
Created By David Schickler & Jonathan Trooper
Premiere Date: Friday, January 8, 10PM
Premise: (from Cinemax's press release, October 2012) Executive produced by Alan Ball, Greg Yaitanes, Peter Macdissi, Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler, the primetime action series stars Antony Starr ("Rush") as Lucas Hood, an ex-con and master thief who assumes the identity of the sheriff of Banshee, Pa., where he continues his criminal activities, even as he's hunted by the shadowy gangsters he betrayed years earlier.
Thoughts: Alan Ball, in a Behind the Scenes featurette, opines on his theory that every small town, no matter how idyllic, has darkness. Banshee is a bad town with bad people. Actors claim none of the characters are likable. A producer explained the complexity of the characters wherein the villains may become sympathetic later in the series. Alan Ball's an executive producer. Besides American Beauty, Ball's fictional work, whether other movies or an adaptation of the Sookie Stackhouse stories, is awful. True Blood's one of the worst TV shows ever. Banshee seems worth watching until Alan Ball appears and you think, "Oh yeah, you hated True Blood."
Chance of Weekly Review: 0%
COMEDY CENTRAL
WORKAHOLICS
Created By Adam DeVine, Ander Holms, Blake Anderson, Connor Pritchard, Dominic Russo & Kyle Newacheck
What Season? 3
Premiere Date: Wednesday, January 16 at 10PM
KROLL SHOW
Created By John Levenstein, Jonathan Krisel & Nick Kroll
Premiere Date: Wednesday, January 16 at 10:30PM
Premise: (from Comedy Central's press release, December 2012) Nick Kroll comes to COMEDY CENTRAL in several forms! From an inappropriate basketball ref to a renowned canine plastic surgeon and the fabulous " Fabrice Fabrice ," Kroll weaves his extensive cast of characters into the new sketch, pop culture weekly series "Kroll Show."
Thoughts: I'm not interested in Nick Kroll's sketch comedy. The promos airing on Comedy Central decreases my interest in the program.
Chance of Weekly Review: 0%
THE BEN SHOW
Created By Ben Hoffman
Premiere Date: Thursday, February 28 at 10PM
Premise: (from Comedy Central's press release, December 2012) "The Ben Show" is a sketch show/man-on-the-street hybrid starring comedian Ben Hoffman. Between sketches, Hoffman works towards a personal goal, like forming a band, going on a blind date, buying a gun or returning to his home town in Kentucky.
Thoughts: The Ben Show mixes sketch comedy and docu-reality. I included it for the sketch comedy element. The premise of The Ben Show would attract an audience on MTV, too, what with the emphasis on blind dates, forming a band, and returning home to Kentucky.
Chance of Weekly Review:
SOUTH PARK RETURNS SPRING 2013
FX
JUSTIFIED
Created By Graham Yost
What Season? 4
Premiere Date: Tuesday, January 8 at 10PM
Thoughts: Critics think Justified's second season may've been an abberation. Season 3 wasn't strong, from what I read. Oh, well. I don't watch Justified. I read/heard about it during its second season, but I heard way less about it last season. Critics grumbled about it when it got discussed. I've no idea what's in store for season four.
ANGER MANAGEMENT
What Season? 2
Premiere Date: Thursday, January 17 at 9:30PM
ARCHER
Created By Adam Reed
What Season? 4
Premiere Date: Thursday, January 17 at 10PM
LEGIT
Created By Jim Jeffries & Peter O'Fallon
Premiere Date: Thursday, January 17 at 10:30PM
Premise: (from FX's press release, November 2012) In Legit, Jim Jefferies is an edgy, foul-mouthed stand-up comedian from Australia, in his mid-30s and living in LA, struggling to make his life and career more "legit," only to find it a difficult, uncomfortable uphill struggle every step of the way.
Thoughts: I didn't find any more information about the series besides the premise. I suppose Jim Jeffries will play a fictionalized version of himself. DJ Qualls plays a friend of his. For years I thought Qualls was a DJ, because he rose to fame in the late 90s during the boom of MTV DJs. The last TV show I saw Qualls in was a season two episode of LOST.
Chance of Weekly Review: 0%
THE AMERICANS
Created By Joe Weisburg
Premiere Date: Wednesday, January 30 at 10PM
Premise: (from FX's press release, December 2012) The Americans is a period drama about the complex marriage of two KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban Washington D.C. shortly after Ronald Reagan is elected President.
Thoughts: FX's trailer doesn't reveal a thing about the plot. The final frame of the trailer reveals the Soviet symbol painted across houses, an image which suggests Soviet era KGB drama in the United States of America. FX is the cable home to consistent dramas. I don't doubt The Americans will be a provocative work of drama.
Chance of Weekly Review: 0%
HBO
GIRLS
Created By Lena Dunham
What Season? 2
Premiere Date: Sunday, January 13 at 9PM
Thoughts: Girls ranked among many critics' Top Ten list. Lena Dunham sold a book for over 7 figures, and she's either young or older than me by a couple of months. Judd Apatow stops by to co-write Girls episodes whenever he wants. Meanwhile, I'm lucky if DISH bots comment on the blog's posts. I'd like to watch Girls. I watch way too much lousy shows and write about them, though.
ENLIGHTENED
Created By Mike White
What Season? 2
Premiere Date: Sunday, January 13 at 9:30PM
GAME OF THRONES
Created By David Benioff & D.B. Weiss (George R.R. Martin authored A Song of Ice and Fire)
What Season? 3
Premiere Date: Sunday, March 31 at 9PM
Thoughts: Once again, Game Of Thrones is part of HBO's spring schedule. I don't write about spring
launches because two previews in twelve months is already a bit of an overkill let's be honest. Game Of Thrones added so many new actors for so many new characters in season three. A Storm of Swords is the best novel of the series so far. I won't tease what's to come--just know that awesome stuff is going to happen in the third season. Catch up on the first two seasons of the show because you won't want to miss season three.
NETFLIX
HOUSE OF CARDS
Created By Beau Willimon
Premiere Date: Friday, February 1
Premise: (From Netflix's press release, October 2012) "House of Cards" is based on the BBC miniseries of the same name. This wicked political drama slithers beneath the curtain and through the back halls of greed, sex, love and corruption in modern Washington D.C.
Thoughts: Netflix knows they made it as a company when they're written about in TV With The Foot. Oh, what's that? They know they've made it when they launch an original series starring Kevin Spacey? Yeah, that makes more sense actually. Political dramas don't appeal to me. I watched Boss in Fall '11 and didn't remember anything seconds after each scene. Similarly, Spacey's threatening tone of voice and odd inflections lost me seconds into a scene. Netflix will make all 12 episodes available on February 1. I don't subscribe to Netflix.
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
Created By Mitchell Hurwitz
What Season? 4
Premiere: April 2013
Thoughts: I will subscribe to Netflix for Arrested Development's, perhaps, unnecessary return. Mitch Hurwitz created a horrible comedy starring Will Arnett and Keri Russell in 2010 that really made me second guess the decision to bring back AD. What if whatever worked no longer works? What if the fourth season is the equivalent of the Star Wars prequels to the die-hard Star Wars fans? I couldn't confirm an April launch for the season. I'm hoping for the best.
SHOWTIME
SHAMELESS
What Season? 3
Premiere Date: Sunday, January 13 at 9PM
Thoughts: I watch Shameless mostly as I write reviews for OUAT. I like what I watch. It's humorous. Emmy Rossum is a terrific lead. I never thought I'd enjoy a William H. Macy role, but his Shameless character is fun to watch. Shameless has batshit crazy plot movement and then it has heartfelt moving scenes about family and love. I think the show's better when the humor is dialed up instead of the drama. What I do know, thought? I'm busy writing about the nonsense on ABC's fairy tale show during Shameless.
HOUSE OF LIES
Created By Matt Carnahan
What Season? 2
Premiere Date: Sunday, January 13 at 10PM
CALIFORNICATION
Created By Tom Kapinos
What Season? 6
Premiere Date: Sunday, January 13 at 10:30PM
Thoughts: I mentioned the fact about Tom Kapinos running Dawson's Creek into hell its last two seasons, right? I also mentioned that Kapinos admitted he used Dawson's Creek to learn how to run a show, right? Kapinos made so many mistakes and bad judgment calls on The WB's melodramatic teen drama, but he learned from the experience. Californication goes on.
STARZ
SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND
Created By Steven S. DeKnight
What Season? 3rd and Final
Premiere Date: Friday, January 25 at 9PM
Thoughts: The final season of Spartacus is welcomed by me because I haven't watched the series, and I'm looking forward to DeKnight's next series. DeKnight is an all-time great TV writer-director in The Foot. I'm going to watch Spartacus because I owe it to Mr. DeKnight. If you follow DeKnight on Twitter, you know the final season teases are worthy of an abundance of exclamation marks.
SYFY
MERLIN
Created By Julian Jones
What Season? 5
Premiere Date: Friday, January 4 at 10PM
CONTINUUM
Created By Simon Barry
Premiere Date: Monday, January 14 at 8PM
Premise: (from Syfy's press release, December 2012) The time-traveling police drama Continuum stars Rachel Nichols (Star Trek, Criminal Minds) as Kiera Cameron, a cop from the future who finds herself trapped in the present day.
Thoughts: SyFy Original Movies are the joke of television. SyFy Original TV Shows should help improve their reputation. I have a soft spot for SyFy TV shows. They're different, insightful, and surprising. Alphas is one of my favorite shows. Eureka's final season inspired a blog post that inspired the most passionate response I've gotten in the few years this blog's been running. Genre TV is simply more interesting to me than the best cable shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Girls, etc. I'll try to watch Continuum, but a man has a finite amount of shows he's able to watch before he feels like quitting TV watching forever.
Chance of Weekly Review: 0%
BEING HUMAN
Created By Anna Fricke & Jeremy Carver; Toby Whithouse created the U.K. series
What Season? 3
Premiere Date: Monday, January 14 at 9PM
LOST GIRL
Created By Michelle Lovretta
What Season? 3
Premiere Date: Monday, January 14 at 10PM
Thoughts: SyFy ran Lost Girl for nine months. I wrote about season one and loved a great deal of it. Season two was a mess. I wrote about the premiere, the magic lantern episode, and the finale. Season 3 will explore the darker side of Bo's succubus nature. Hopefully the writers delve into Bo's roots. Lost Girl can't execute big arcs. The series succeeds when Bo and Kenzi, and their friends, fight evil and hang out at Trick's bar afterwards. Lost Girl's an example of a genre show I'd like to be less focused on arcs centered on saving the world.
BATTLESTAR GALATICA: BLOOD & CHROME
Created By Bradley Thompson, David Eick, David Weddle & Michael Taylor
Premiere Date: Sunday, February 10 at 9PM
Premise: (from SyFy's Press Release, November 2012) This highly anticipated chapter in the Battlestar Galactica saga takes place in the midst of the first Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, the sentient robotic Cylons, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, gifted fighter pilot, William Adama (Luke Pasqualino, The Borgias), finds himself assigned to one of the most powerful battlestars in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and hungry for action, Adama quickly finds himself at odds with his co-pilot, the battle-weary officer Coker (Ben Cotton, Alcatraz). With only 47 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle as much as Adama craves its onset.
TBS
COUGAR TOWN
Created By Bill Lawrence
What Season? 4
Premiere Date: Tuesday, January 8 at 10PM
Thoughts: ABC cancelled Cougar Town and TBS saved it. TBS will air fifteen episodes of one of America's underrated sitcoms. Let's hope that Community continued the Cougar Town jokes without Dan Harmon.
TNT
MONDAY MORNINGS
Created By David E. Kelley
Premiere Date: Monday, February 4 at 10PM
Premise: (from TNT's press release, October 2012) This powerful new series comes to TNT from award-winning producer David E. Kelley and practicing neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, M.D., on whose book the series is based. Set at the fictional Chelsea General Hospital in Portland, Ore., Monday Mornings follows the lives of doctors as they push the limits of their abilities and confront their personal and professional failings.
Thoughts: Hospital dramas are less appealing than political dramas. Monday Mornings is different from other hospital dramas. I did not know about Monday morning meets to talk about what went wrong. This allows the characters to be flawed and imperfect from the beginning. The best doctor characters, e.g. Jack Shepherd, are compelling because they fix things at work but they can't fix anything in their personal life. If anything, Monday Mornings makes me want to watch every Jack episode of LOST.
Chance of Weekly Review: 0%
DALLAS
Created By Cynthia Cidre (David Jacobs created original Dallas series)
What Season? 2
Premiere Date: Monday, January 28 at 9PM
SOUTHLAND
Created By Ann Biderman
What Season? 5
Premiere Date: Wednesday, February 13 at 10PM
Thoughts: Good for Southland--still on the air a couple of years after a network cancelled them. Police dramas are between medical and political dramas for me.
USA
OVER UNDER
Created By Sheila Callaghan
Premiere Date: Friday, January 4 at 10PM
Premise: (from USA's press release, November 2010) OVER/UNDER comes from Fox Television Studios in association with Universal Cable Productions. It is written by Sheila Callaghan ("United States of Tara") and executive produced by Dan Halsted ("Garden State," "Witchblade"). A day trader with a massive gambling problem is fired from his job six months after a bad trade costs his firm millions. Shut out of the job market, he and his beautiful, photographer wife retreat to a neighborhood on the cusp of gentrification. He finds an unlikely partner and starts to turn his life around in an unexpected way.
Thoughts: Gambling dramas are slightly above police, medical and political dramas--to continue the theme of the latter half of this preview.
SUITS
Created By Aaron Korsh
What Season? 2nd half of Season 2
Premiere Date: Thursday, January 17 at 10PM
WHITE COLLAR
Created By Jeff Eastin
What Season? 4
Premiere Date: Tuesday, January 22 at 10PM
NECESSARY ROUGHNESS
Created By Craig Shapiro & Liz Kruger
What Season? 2
Premiere Date: Wednesday, January 23 at 10PM
PSYCH
Created By Steve Franks
What Season? 7
Premiere Date: Wednesday, February 27 at 10PM
Friday: FOX & CBS!
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