It’s my favourite time of the year and if you are a TV-watching couch potato like I am, September might as well be our collective Super Bowl.
This year, I decided to wait and really digest a couple of episodes of each new series so that I could really get a gauge for what works and what doesn’t.
As usual, CTV and Bell Media are at the top of the pack in terms of the programs that they selected to fill out the primetime line-up. Each year, I am always interested to see what CTV adds to their returning line-up and like a baseball playoff team that contends every year, because their returning programs are already superstars, they usually only have a couple of utility positions to fill.
While I was shocked that CTV basically decided to swap Nashville out for Person Of Interest with City, perhaps they felt that it was a better fit for their line-up which certainly is more guy and action based than being campy female oriented as it has been in the past.
Let’s get right to it.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
In all the years that I have been covering television, I have never seen more hype for new show than this one. Kept under literal lock and key at the LA screenings, there wasn’t much known about Joss Whedon’s new project. Apparently Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) from The Avengers, returns and leads an elite group of agents who investigate the unknown. It is like The X Files meets Superman meets Men In Black. If ratings were based simply on pre-show hype, S.H.I.E.L.D. would be the valedictorian of the class of 2013. After screening the couple of episodes, I certainly found the show to be a tad more complicated than necessary, but assuming the plot gets easier to follow, this one is a winner based simply on the spectacular special effects used. ABC has already renewed the show for a second season and while I didn’t think that the show would have a mainstream appeal given its niche comic-book overtures, it certainly has show that it can be watched and enjoyed by all ages. And seriously, how can you beat a show that has a cameo by Samuel L. Jackson? It makes comic books cool again (without having to actually read them).
Hostages
I am a sucker for Dylan McDermott and have followed his work from The Practice to American Horror Story to The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. I unfortunately even subjected myself to the terrible Big Shots back in 2007 based simply on the fact that he was in it. For that reason alone, I was interested in Hostages where McDermott plays rogue agent, Duncan Carlisle who wants the President of the United States killed. In order to accomplish this, Carlisle takes the family of surgeon Ellen Sanders (Toni Collette) hostage, in order to force her into botching the procedure she has scheduled for the President. While the plotline seems somewhat farfetched and not able to be stretched out over the course of a full season, the true appeal of the series is that there is more to the good doctor’s family then initially meets the eye. At the CTV Upfront presentation in June, Tate Donovan admitted that each member of Sanders’ family is holding onto a secret. He is involved in an affair. Their daughter is pregnant. And the son is selling drugs. The show had one of the best pilot episodes of the new season. It is a fast-paced thrill ride that never slows and one of my top picks of 2013-14. The only issue is that it is in a highly competitive timeslot on Mondays at 10 p.m. and faces stiff competition from Global’s The Blacklist, widely regarded as the top dog of the Fall. While somewhat unbelievable, the show is a lot of fun and ultimately that is what television is supposed to be. It features a great cast and the action doesn’t stop. Totally the dark horse of the new Fall class.
Intelligence
What is Lost will always be found. After seeing many of his Lost castmates flourish in new roles, Josh Holloway finally has his first post-Sawyer role as he plays Gabriel Black, a rough and tough intelligence officer who has a super-computer microchip embedded into his brain. While he is in charge of an elite cyber-security agency managed by the government, because of the relative uncertainty of the chip, he is assigned his own Secret Service agent, Riley O’Neil (played by Meghan Ory from Once Upon A Time) to protect him from people who want to get their hands on the technology he has been affixed with. At the CTV Upfronts, Ory teased that romance is on the table between Gabriel and Riley, but guaranteed that her co-star’s shirt would come off. Guess not much has changed for Sawyer huh?
The Goldbergs
We are constantly slammed with new comedies in every Fall season, and while this year is no different, I certainly have higher hopes for this year’s crop than I have in the past. The Goldbergs is a show that CTV seems to have a lot of faith. Best described as The Wonder Years meets Modern Family, the show is about a Jewish family in the 80’s. While the entire cast is quite good, the standout is Sean Giambrone who plays Adam and whose character is based on the show’s creator and executive producer Adam F. Goldberg. While the concept of doing a comedy based around the exploits of a nuclear family isn’t new, if it is pulled off correctly, the formula can’t really fail. The Goldbergs mixes everything we love about the 80’s with the smart writing of today, making it among the best of this year’s new comedy programs.
The Tomorrow People
With the success of last year’s Arrow, CTV doubled up on the Amell goodness by picking up The CW’s The Tomorrow People, which stars Stephen Amell’s cousin, Robbie Amell. The younger cousin plays Stephen Jameson who first starts hearing voices when he sleeps and then begins to teleport, never knowing where he will wake up. While he initially attempts to push the voices out, when he finally starts to listen to one, he meets The Tomorrow People, a genetically advanced race who are blessed with the abilities of telekinesis, teleportation, telepathic communication and total awesomeness. The show completely falls into the same style of the others that CTV picked up, focusing on a comic-style narrative while emphasizing down and dirty action. The show is also paired quite perfectly with Arrow and not just because of the Amell connection but because the storylines also almost work symbiotically, even if the two shows are not crossovers. Just like Oliver Queen in Arrow, Stephen Jameson is trying to uncover the truth about his father and address his unknown future. While I am not as convinced that this one will resonate with audiences, it certainly won’t be because of scheduling as I like where it fits on the sked. I am just not sure if audiences will buy into the story.
Trophy Wife
As its title suggests, this show is about a younger knockout marrying a successful older man and adopting his family as her own. Malin Akerman plays Kate, a reformed party girl who becomes the third wife of Brad (played by Bradley Whitford). The couple met at a karaoke bar and one year later, Kate finds herself with an insta-family complete with three stepchildren and two ex-wives. While I like both leads from their previous work, this one seems destined to go the route of GCB and that means an early cancellation.
CTV
MONDAYS
8 p.m. The Voice
10 p.m. Hostages
TUESDAYS
8 p.m. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
9 p.m. The Goldbergs
9:30 p.m. Trophy Wife
10 p.m. Person of Interest
WEDNESDAYS
7 p.m. The Tomorrow People
8 p.m. Arrow
9 p.m. Criminal Minds
10 p.m. CSI
THURSDAYS
8 p.m. The Big Bang Theory
8:30 p.m. Two and a Half Men
9 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy
10 p.m. Played
FRIDAYS
8 p.m. Junior Masterchef
9 p.m. Grimm
10 p.m. Blue Bloods
SATURDAYS
7 p.m. W5
8 p.m. Comedy Night on CTV
10 p.m. Crime Time
SUNDAYS
7 p.m. Once Upon a Time
8 p.m. The Amazing Race
9 p.m. Law & Order: SVU
10 p.m. The Mentalist
CTV TWO
MONDAYS
8 p.m. Dancing With the Stars
10 p.m. Castle
TUESDAYS
8 p.m. Anger Management
8:30 p.m. Hot in Cleveland
9 p.m. The Voice
10 p.m. Mike & Molly
10:30 p.m. Hot in Cleveland
WEDNESDAYS
8 p.m. The X Factor
10 p.m. Mike & Molly
10:30 p.m. Hot in Cleveland
THURSDAYS
8 p.m. The X Factor
9 p.m. Reign
10 p.m. Mike & Molly
10:30 p.m. Hot in Cleveland
FRIDAYS
8 p.m. Undercover Boss
9 p.m. Shark Tank
10 p.m. Mike & Molly
10:30 p.m. Hot in Cleveland
SATURDAYS
9 p.m. W5
10 p.m. Mike & Molly
10:30 p.m. Hot in Cleveland
SUNDAYS
7 p.m. The Big Bang Theory
7:30 p.m. Satisfaction
8 p.m. The Vampire Diaries
9 p.m. Castle
10 p.m. Mike & Molly
10:30 p.m. Hot in Cleveland
