Radar on :
What's wrong with The Odd Couple?
Tuesday, September 13. 2011Television, 2011
Yep, it's that time of year again - the time when I mount my annual pre-snark of all the new shows starting this year, instead of renewing anything I'd actually like to watch.
2 Broke Girls (CBS):
Max (Kat Dennings) is a bitter Brooklyn waitress. Caroline (Beth Behrs), is a recently-fallen heiress who must now make her own living. Hilarity ensues, one would presume...because there's nothing funnier than watching a rich girl get served a bit of humble pie with a side of Brooklyn street justice. Allen Gregory (Fox): It's a weird cartoon. Hilarity ensues, one would presume...because there's nothing funnier than poorly drawn cartoons of an awkward kid raised by a couple of gay men. Charlie's Angels (ABC): It's Charlie's Angels. If I have to describe this one to you, see me after class. Starring Minka Kelly, Rachael Taylor and Annie Ilonzeh as the eponymous "angels". Free Agents (NBC): Starring Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn as Alex and Helen, it's an office romance gone horribly wrong...each of them newly single, they have a drunken one night stand, and things just get awkwarder from there. Hilarity ensues, one would presume...because there's nothing funnier than...wait, "The Office" actually made this idea work. Hm. A Gifted Man (CBS): Michael Holt (Patrick Wilson) is a hot-shot, arrogant surgeon whose life gets thrown for a loop when his recently deceased ex-wife, Anna (Jennifer Ehle), starts appearing to him to teach him about life from the hereafter. Says the studio: "Think House meets Eli Stone meets Ghost Whisperer." I can't make up anything that would possibly make it sound worse, so we'll leave it at that. How to Be a Gentleman (CBS): Andrew, an uptight, sophisticated writer who pens a column for a men's magazine - in an effort to keep his job when the magazine goes "edgier" - strikes up an unlikely friendship with his old classmate, Bert. Says the studio: "the 21st-century Odd Couple." I can't make up anything funnier than that. Do these guys understand they're supposed to be PROMOTING the show? H8R (CW): Host Mario Lopez will bring "celebrities" such as "Snooki" (whoever the *$!@# THAT is) and Kim Kardashian together with normal people who "hate" them. The fact that this is going on the air makes me want to deploy tactical nukes. Hart of Dixie (CW): Big-city doc Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson), heads to tiny Bluebell, Ala., when she inherits a practice. Expect culture clashes galore and Zoe to stay put after coming through in a medical emergency and discovering an old secret. Says the studio: "Call it Southern Exposure." Seriously - it's like these people wanted to beat me to the punch of mocking their shows... Grimm (NBC): Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) is a detective who discovers his destiny is to protect humans from the storybook baddies that have invaded our real world. This was actually ground I wanted to cover in my entry to the Birdwood, NE shared universe. I'm interested to see how they manage it. I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Fox): Annie (My Name is Earl's super-funny Jaime Pressly) and Nikki (Katie Finneran) are single moms, who discover that spoiling their daughters has turned them into the same type of mean girls who tormented them in high school. Hilarity ensues, one would presume...because there's nothing funnier than bad parenting. Last Man Standing (ABC): Mike Baxter (a super-old looking Tim Allen) is a stay-at-home Dad trying to support his career-bound wife and their three daughters. Hilarity ensues, one would presume...because there's nothing funnier than Mr. Mom. Man Up! (ABC): Three best friends "explore the emasculation of the modern man in an increasingly estrogen-dominated universe." Hilarity ensues, one would presume...because there's nothing funnier than a bunch of 40 year old men behaving like 14 year olds. New Girl (Fox): Zooey Deschanel (yes, please!) stars as a socially awkward gal who moves in with three bachelors after getting dumped by her boyfriend. They "put up with her" to get in good with her friend Cece (Hannah Simone). How they imagine the audince will be willing to suspend disbelief at the idea that Hannah Simone is more attractive than Zooey Deschanel, I have no idea. Once Upon a Time (ABC): Storybrooke, Maine; a town frozen in time with fairy-tale figures who have no recollection of their real identities. Leave it to 10-year-old Henry (Jared Gilmore) to try to set things right when he tracks down his birth mom, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a bail bonds collector who is the daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Joshua Dallas). Pan Am (ABC): Set in the '60s, the drama centers on the loves and lives of stewardesses on the Pan Am airline. Basically, "as much of Mad Men as we can get away with on Broadcast television." Person of Interest (CBS): Minority Report, the TV series. The Playboy Club (NBC): Set in the '60s, the drama centers on the loves and lives of Bunnies in the eponymous "men's club". Basically, "as much of Mad Men as we can get away with on Broadcast television, but we already have Pan Am beat - it's PLAYBOY!" Prime Suspect (NBC): Maria Bello fills in for Helen Mirren as a New York City cop trying to prove herself in a male-dominated precinct. Revenge (ABC): Emily Thorne (Everwood's sugary-sweet Emily VanCamp) is a mysterious woman who heads to the Hamptons to exact revenge on the people who destroyed her family. The Count of Monte Cristo, but with a dame and the Hamptons instead of Dauntess and the Château d'If. Ringer (CW): Sarah Michelle Gellar plays twins Bridget and Siobhan - both of whom are in a spot of trouble. The Secret Circle (CW): Based on a young adult fantasy romance series written by L. J. Smith (of The Vampire Diaries), Britt Robertson is Cassie Blake, a California teen who moves to Chance Harbor, Wash., where she discovers she's a witch and joins a secret coven. Suburgatory (ABC): Tessa (Jane Levy), a native New Yorker, is abruptly uprooted to the 'burbs after her single dad finds a box of condoms in her drawer and decides she needs to be in a more wholesome environment. Hilarity ensues, one would presume...because there's nothing funnier than bad parenting - unless it's mixing the worst parts of ideas from CBS' "2 Broke Girls" with the worst ideas of Fox's "I Hate My Teenage Daughter". Terra Nova (Fox): A long discussed Steven Spielberg-produced drama about a family that goes back to prehistoric Earth to save the human race, where they have to fight for their lives against the dinosaurs. I'm pretty sure I saw this show on Saturdays as a kid. Unforgettable (CBS): Carrie Wells (Poppy Montgomery) is a New York City detective who has the rare ability to remember everything (this is a real thing, called "Hyperthymesia":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia - unless you're trying to sell the show to your average American, which I guess means you need to relabel it "Superior autobiographical memory".) Cool thing is, they actually HAVE someone with this condition serving as a consultant on the show. Up All Night (NBC): Christina Applegate and Will Arnett star as new parents who are trying desperately to balance work, romance, and their newborn daughter without giving up any of their old habits of partying all night long. Hilarity ensues, one would presume...because there's nothing funnier than bad parenting. (Wait...I'm sensing a theme...) Whitney (NBC): Whitney Cummings (who also co-created the aforemntioned stinkbomb "2 Broke Girls") tries to create the female version of "Sienfeld". The X Factor (Fox): Supposedly different than "American Idol", but they look exactly the same to me... Trackbacks
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Radar on :
What's wrong with The Odd Couple?
AoD on :
Nothing, Felix. Nothing at all.
The problem is simply that when a show doesn't have its own identity, and gets described as "It's like ." This is almost always a sign that the show is doomed before it ever airs. |
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