Pilot Thoughts: Blood and Oil, Quantico, Heroes Reborn

Last week I wrote about four new pilots I watched this fall. Here are three more though technically two pilots and a reboot.

Blood and Oil (ABC)

As a previous fan of Revenge and current fan of Empire and How to Get Away with Murder, my love for trashy prime-time soaps is clear. My hope was Blood and Oil would follow suit. Unfortunately its biggest sin in the pilot is just how shrug-worthy it all feels. The lead couple played by Chace Crawford and Rebecca Rittenhouse are blander than milk though I can see the show writing them this way for now to show how quickly they're corrupted by all the sex/money/murder happening in this North Dakotan oil town. But all of that sex/money/murder were just too far and few in the pilot with even Don Johnson and Amber Valletta looking bored. The one teeny tiny highlight was Scott Michael Foster playing the entitled bad boy rich kid. More him and more sex. Less everything else. C

Quantico (ABC)

This show was ABC trying to do a Shonda Rhimes show without Shonda Rhimes. It's literally a mash-up of Grey's Anatomy (hot coeds living and learning together), Scandal (amidst political and dangerous situations), and How to Get Away with Murder (plus a whodunit with a flashback structure). So on the one hand, hats off for doing all of that and still delivering a relatively fun and intriguing pilot. But then it also falls a bit under all of the weighty comparisons and expectations. The characters right now, as uniformly hot as they are, are not specially drawn out, but that's to be expected on a show with this large of an ensemble. Lead Priyanka Chopra seems more than capable though so I'll be interested in seeing what more she can do. B

Heroes Reborn (NBC)

This isn't technically a pilot, but I still wanted to chime in with my thoughts. So, I loved the original Heroes and while I agree that they went off the rails in later seasons, I was still interested in this world, these characters. With that said, I'm predisposed to like this continuation reboot. And here's the thing, this show is exactly what you expect. If you liked Heroes Original Flavor, you will like this. If you didn't, then this new show isn't for you as well. I believe they achieved a nice balance of addressing what happened in the earlier series while being free to continue with a new-ish story. I personally can't wait to spend some time with some old and new characters alike. Is it perfect? It's not at all and many of its flaws (confusing timeline, awkward dialogue) are still present but I'm a sucker for people with super powers so I'll be here every week. B

There was a brief moment last week when I considered watching the pilots for The Grinder and Grandfathered, two shows that I kept mistaking for one another all summer. Both have actually gotten mildly positive notices, but in the era of Peak TV I think I'll do myself a solid and try to limit my TV watching a bit more. In fact, I've already given up on one new show this fall: Scream Queens. I just didn't feel the need to watch another episode after its two-hour premiere episode.

TV Meme: Day 11

"30 Days TV Meme"


Day 11 | A show that disappointed you

This is easy. I declared Heroes as my favorite new show of the season during its debut. Three seasons after that, the show has been canceled, and all I feel is relief that it's been put out of its misery. Sad isn't it?

God only knows where it went wrong. It may have started as early as the S1 finale where all the build-up led to a severely anti-climactic showdown between two of its powerful characters, Peter and Sylar. The show would've recovered quickly except they followed it up with a tepid sophomore season that, among other unwelcome developments, saw the slow character assassination of Hiro as well as the introduction of eye-roll-inducing characters of Maya and her brother Alejandro.

The Writer's Strike affected a lot of shows, but since Heroes was already bleeding viewers, the strike did it no favors and while the latter half of the third season was up a bit creatively, at that point no one cared. The fourth season wasn't bad and in fact is probably the show's best season since its first. Unfortunately for them, no one was watching it anymore.

Even now as I write this, you can tell the lack of passion I have for this show. Tim Kring, creator of Heroes, vows to work out a deal with NBC to deliver a 2-hour epilogue of sorts. As a former fan and a hopeless optimist, I'm hoping it works out and that they can recapture some of the magic the show had during its first season.

Lost Finds New Day

Everyone was a-twitter when ABC announced today that Lost will premiere on February 2nd (Groundhog Day!) for an all-night event starting with a recap special and then followed by the two-hour season premiere. The show will then settle into its new day of Tuesdays at 9PM for the duration of its final season.

This is not the first time the show has changed day/timeslot. It started out on Wednesday at 8PM before stabilizing in its regular Wednesday at 9PM timeslot. It was also temporarily moved to Thursdays at 10PM. With devoted fans and the relative safety of knowing this is the final season, ABC is hedging its bet that the show will hold its own against the NBC's coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics and most especially against the onslaught of ratings-hog American Idol on FOX.

Freshman show V is rumored to take up residence after Lost on Tuesdays at 10PM when it comes back from its extended hiatus through March. We might even get two hours of Elizabeth Mitchell during certain weeks!

In other network news, NBC also announced today that Chuck will premiere Sunday, January 10th and then air another new episode the next day eventually settling in its regular timeslot of Mondays at 8PM. What does this mean for Heroes? NBC will air a special two-hour Heroes event January 4th before moving the struggling show in its new timeslot of Mondays at 9PM following Chuck.

TV Roundup

Comedies Still Rule

It began with an insta-classic episode of How I Met Your Mother full of bagpiping and its usual affinity to play fun with how to tell a story. On the same night, Big Bang Theory had Sheldon teaching Leonard about the finer points of football and really that's all that needs to said.

Modern Family and Cougar Town shined this week taking advantage of Glee taking a week off due to the World Series. The former delivered another A+ episode about parents finding pride in what their children do while the latter had its first episode not entirely focused on how old Courtney Cox's character is.

Finally, this past Thursday chaos ruled as Jeff was thrown out of his posh condo in Community and Liz had to navigate a hectic audition for a new cast member in 30 Rock. The robot? Really? Can't wait to see how messed up that becomes.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy Shows Display Spark

Genre TV woke up this week a bit as not only did we get an above average episode of Heroes, but the much anticipated V premiered on ABC with blockbuster ratings. Talking about the latter first, headlined by veteran sci-fi/fantasy actors such as Morenna Baccarin and Alan Tudyk (Firefly), Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), and Joel Grethsch (The 4400) the show became the second most watched premiere this fall and was the best 8pm drama to premiere on ABC since Lost. Reviews of the show was mixed with mostly negative from those who have seen the original and mostly positive from those who have not. With only three more episodes set to air, it will need to make a lasting impression if it hopes to not be forgotten by the time it comes back in March.

Heroes hasn't been bad this season, but Hiro's time travelling adventure to save Charlie and "help" Sylar brought the really first good storyline for the character since season one. FlashForward meanwhile delivered a fairly uninteresting episode until the last 11 minutes or so when the episode quickly became a game-changer with a death of a main character. The repercussions will be fun to see next week.

Recapping Reality Results

Tonight's episode of Amazing Race sees the return of an infamous roadblock that will hopefully cause much turmoil to the remaining teams. It's already been a harsh season with teams being eliminated for other reasons than coming in last highlighted by last week's elimination of the Poker Girls who were physically unable to complete the roadblock.

Project Runway is heading into its final episodes this season after a double elimination this week giving us the final three designers: Irina, Althea, and Carol-Hannah. If you've been watching the past season, this result shouldn't be too much of a surprise especially considering how Gordana and Christopher has done all season. Talent-wise Irina should win, but the fact that she feels SO entitled has been a big turn-off and therefore I'm hoping for one of the other two designers to win it all. Moment of silence for Matar, my favorite model, who didn't make it into Bryant Park.

Finally, as both of those shows are winding down, So You Think You Can Dance is just ramping up. Due to the World Series, the public had been unable to vote for the dancers. Instead the judges picked the people to go and unfortunately one of my favorites, Bianca, was one of the casualties. As expected, I already have favorites namely Peter, Nathan, and Karen. I'm hoping they all reach the Top 10.

Quick Word About Everything Else

I've really been enjoying Grey's Anatomy the past few weeks which is a lot since I HATED last season. I don't know if it's solely because of Izzie not being there, but it can't be a coincidence.

It's good to see Tommy again in Brothers & Sisters. I can't believe Greek is done until January. I can't wait that long! And finally, I miss Dollhouse and Glee.

Heigl In, Knight Out

As Grey's Anatomy ended last season, fans saw George O'Malley played by T.R. Knight and Izzie Stevens played by Katherine Heigl in a sort of limbo afterlife as both of their characters were in the brink of death. It was also fitting since the two actors have had persisting rumors of wanting out of their contracts and/or not being satisfied with the show.

This past Wednesday, EW.com broke the news that at least one character will die and thus the actor will not come back to the show next season. That character was Dr. O'Malley and so goodbye to T.R. Knight. Click on that link to EW.com for more information, but he pretty much got what he wanted by being released from his contract.

And now comes word from Hollywood Reporter that Katherine Heigl's option has been picked up for next season so it seems that Dr. Stevens will be back after all. Sadly, I think this will make me less inclined to watch next season. I never liked the Izzie character so I would've been happy to see her leave the show, but more than that, her character surviving pretty much cheapens her entire journey with cancer. Now I bet she'll have memory loss. Joy.

Granted, I know I'm still going to watch it, but like Heroes this show is just freefalling right before my eyes. How sad.

Blunders From the 2008-2009 TV Season

With America crowning their new Idol and the networks giving their upfronts two weeks ago, I just wanted to reflect on the past TV season. More specifically I want to list the things about the past TV season that disappointed me the most. In no particular order...


FOX (and fans) for declaring Dollhouse dead-on-arrival even before it premiered. Friday timeslot? Are you kidding me? Then there are the fans giving up after 2-3 episodes and thereby missing out on the ming-blowingly good last half of the season. Ugh. It's a miracle that FOX actually renewed the show for next season. Can it recover from a bumpy start?

The cancellation of Pushing Daisies. It's not ABC's fault per se. Audiences initially responded to it and the critics raved about it. It even got lots of Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. But then the Writer's Strike happened and the show was unable to recover its original audience and initial buzz after a 10-month break.

NBC not fully supporting Kings. Why they thought having a two-hour mid-season premiere would actually grab increasingly ADD audiences who's TV schedule were pretty much already set is beyond me. The show wasn't flawless, but it really should've been platformed as a fall show.

Grey's Anatomy drama with Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight. Yes, the final scenes of the season were breathtaking, but that doesn't excuse the off-camera drama affecting the show. Because of it George had a reduced role throughout the season while Heigl was mired with a ludicrous brain tumor plot that let her have sex with her dead fiance. You can't make this stuff up.

Heroes for not improving and/or continuing to suck. When seemingly everyone was calling for the death knell of the show as early as season 2, I remained its defender. But this past season, the shows flaws have become greater than even I could stomach.

Saying goodbye to Battlestar Galactica. Was it the right time to end it? Maybe, but I feel they could've churned out a season and a half more. Not that the ending wasn't satisfying, because for me, it was, but I feel there were still a lot of stuff they needed to do. But really I'm just going to really miss the show.

Kris Allen winning American Idol and everyone bitching about it. I get it. Adam Lambert was the "true star" and is "way more talented" than Kris. Blah blah blah. Can we move on now? Forget the fact that both are friends and probably want nothing else but success for one another. Just remember that Kris also had his fans and they're vote is just as valid. Oh yes, and they are all not homophobics. Yes, I voted for Kris. There.

Desperate Housewives afraid of really shaking things up. The season started out wonderfully with the five year jump giving the show much needed life. But by the end of the season, everyone seems to be back to square one. And Susan and her demon spawn someone made it out alive. Not fair.

Too many things on Monday. Big Bang Theory. How I Met Your Mother. Gossip Girl. Chuck. Greek. And that was just the 8:00 hour! Maybe it means I should just watch less TV. Then again that would mean I can't make lists like this, right?