Will the 2011-12 television season be a winner or another dud? Jace Lacob and Maria Elena Fernandez offer their first impressions of more than 30 network pilots—from Awake and Ringer to Alcatraz and Work It—coming to TV next season.
Will the 2011-12 television season be a winner or another dud? Jace Lacob and Maria Elena Fernandez offer their first impressions of more than 30 network pilots—from Awake and Ringer to Alcatraz and Work It—coming to TV next season.
You’re spending your summer reading great books, sipping sweet cocktails, and catching some rays. What have we been up to? We’ve been on the couch, wading through pilots for 33 of the more than 40 new scripted series that likely will be on the air next TV season. (Sometimes networks do change their minds, as well they should.)
Some made us cheer, others made us groan, but we steeled ourselves to make it through the pile of screeners to offer our first takes on the dramas and comedies that are headed to the fall and midseason schedules of ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and the CW.
While every season the networks present their latest iterations on the doctor-lawyer-cop tropes, this year the broadcasters took a few more risks than usual, issuing green lights to such concepts as a police detective existing in parallel realities, 1960s Pan Am flight attendants, dead ringer twin sisters exchanging identities, Broadway musical producers launching a new production, multiple fairytale-based plots, and cutthroat Washington D.C. fixers.
It’s all very exciting, we know. But first a few (boring) caveats: 1) These should be considered “first impressions” of the pilots that were made available by the broadcast networks and not reviews. 2) All pilots—from music and dialogue to casting, etc.—are subject to change, so what airs next season may, in fact, be drastically different than what was seen here. (The middling pilot for Parks and Recreation—which didn't nail its tone, sense of humor, or comedic potential—bears no relationship to the sharp comedy it is today.) 3) We reserve the right to change our initial opinions upon seeing final review copies of these pilots—not to mention a few more episodes: 30 Rock had a bad pilot that soon turned into a great show. 4) Not all of the midseason pilots were sent out by the networks; the unscripted pilots and Fox's new animated comedies will become available later.
ABC
Apartment 23 (Midseason; Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m.)
Logline: A naïve Midwesterner’s life turns upside down when she moves to New York and moves in with the roommate from hell.
Cast: Dreama Walker, Krysten Ritter, James van der Beek
He Said: Were it not for the chemistry between the amazing Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad) and Dreama Walker (The Good Wife), this could be a run-of-the-mill sitcom. The James van der Beek stuff feels a bit old hat (foreign TV ads, really?), but there’s a caustic edge to this single-camera comedy that could elevate it from the pack.
She Said: What goes on in Apartment 23, should stay in Apartment 23. I loved Krysten Ritter in Breaking Bad and Dreama Walker is fine, too. But not together. These girls should not live together and they should definitely not live inside my TV.
Verdict: This may be one apartment worth checking out. Or we may need to sever our lease.
Charlie’s Angels (Thursdays at 8 p.m.)
Logline: An update of the 1970s action series featuring three beautiful “angels” who fight crime and look fabulous doing it.
Cast: Minka Kelly, Rachael Taylor, Annie Ilonzeh, Ramon Rodriguez, Robert Wagner
He Said: ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee described this as “pure candy” in May, and he wasn’t wrong. It is definitely bubblegum, set in sizzling Miami, and it’s entirely mindless, and middling; don’t go in expecting it to be anything it’s not and (maybe?) you’ll be entertained. Desperately needs an intelligence boost.
She Said: Oh, angels, how you break my heart. I was so excited about this re-make, but nothing has really been re-made here because the angels have no chemistry, the writing is weak, and it’s all trying too hard.
Verdict: These angels are no good.
Good Christian Belles (Midseason TBA)
Logline: A former mean girl returns to her Dallas hometown after a family scandal and encounters the women whose lives she made hell in high school.
Cast: Leslie Bibb, Annie Potts, David James Elliott, Jennifer Aspen, Kristin Chenoweth, Marisol Nichols, Mark Deklin, Miriam Shor, Brad Beyer
He Said: No offense intended, but there’s no way that Chenoweth and Bibb were in the same high school class. While the script was razor-sharp, GCB’s pilot has lost some of its edge during production; it’s not quite as mean-spirited or as brutal as it should be. Some tweaking required to make this a must-see.
She Said: Terrific cast plus soapy goodness made me think I’d just love this. I didn’t. But I liked it enough that I’d give it a shot. The cast makes it fun to watch but there were no surprises.
Verdict: These belles need some fine-tuning.
