2010 Fall TV Premieres: What's good and what's not so good?

Someone mentioned starting a thread like this in the 30 Rock thread, so here it is. We'll figure out which shows are worth watching and which aren't (and maybe which shows to start individual threads for). Hooray TV!

So far, I've watched The Event which seems all kinds of corny in the same way that 24 was, but I'll stick around until the mystery gets a little more explanation.

Also, just watched FOX-coms Raising Hope and Running Wilde on hulu. Both are far better than I expected they might be, but especially Raising Hope. Martha Plimpton has been preparing for this role her whole life. SO GOOD.

Terriers' 3rd episode was pretty amazing, hopefully F/X is gonna keep this one going because it has major promise.

I liked the Lone Star premiere a lot but that show is clearly fucking doomed.

I need to catch up on Terriers. I love Donal Logue.

Holy shit, Terriers is GREAT. The pilot's the only thing up on hulu, but I'm going to torrent the ones since then.

Anyone seen anything else good?

I enjoyed "The Event" a lot. "Chase"... not so much.

I have "The Undercovers" saved on DV-R to view at some point.

Terriers is really good. Raising Hope is ok, not great. I'll give it another chance. Don't think I'll check out a second episode of Running Wilde though. It was not very good at all.

Undercovers was terrible. Aside from a few seconds where the girl loses her dress

Watched the "Hawaii 5-0" pilot last night. Not bad, gotta give 'em credit for using the original theme song with no modernization, and essentially duplicating the original opening credits -- zoom in to McGarrett on the roof of a high-rise, all the same landmarks, etc. Scott Caan turning into his dad circa "The Godfather," and Grace Park in a bikini and also naked, well worth watching.

I watched the opening few minutes of Hawaii 5-0 before going back to the football game. Seemed alright, but until the season's over I'd probably rather watch MNF than H5-0.

not sure if they deserve credit
Hawaii Five-0 will use the original show's theme song as composed by Morton Stevens. Critics received an early copy of the pilot with a synthesizer and guitar-based version of the theme. After negative reaction to the reworked song spread quickly online, Kurtzman said he and others realized that changing the music that much was a mistake, and arranged for studio musicians,[9] including three who had worked on the original from 1968,[10] to rerecord the theme "exactly as it was".

Terriers is great. Digging new seasons of The League + It's Always Sunny. Thought Glee season premiere was good-Glee (totally surreal insane disturbing) and not bad-Glee (sappy melodramatic heavy-handed). Haven't yet seen Running Wilde, HIMYM Premiere, Boardwalk Empire or Lone Star, but they're all on my list. Venture Bros is back and great as usual. Modern Family was decent (some lulz, nothing mind-blowing), Cougar Town was cute (still way better than its name). NBC Thursday night starts tonight and I'm psyched. And uh -- I think those are the only shows on my radar atm. Oh, House season premiere was TERRIBLE worst House episode ever. Caught like 10 minutes of Undercovers -- boring.

Modern Family is too genial for my liking.

I don't think the geniality is what bugs me about it, but it does seem to be pandering somehow to me and the joeks aren't always there. "WTF - Why the face" still makes me lol tho, + considering some of the crap I'm willing to watch (will pontificate ab/ King of Queens every now + then) it's definitely one of the better sitcoms out there. Shocked it won the Emmy tho when it was up against (imo) superior shows.

Oh, House season premiere was TERRIBLE worst House episode ever.

I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would, considering I was not looking forward to House and Cuddy EVER getting together. The scene with Wilson climbing in through the window in the kitchen was v. funny.

the scene where cuddy is SPOILERALERT kissing House's leg was the most melodramatic creepy shit that show has ever done

The Middle's premiere was funny as usual, but there's still something about that show that seems "off". Can't put my finger on it, because I like all the characters and there are plenty of gags and jokes, but it's still too slight to call it a favorite.

I guess I'm the only person who liked Undercovers. It was breezy and sexy. It wasn't smart but wasn't pretending to be.

Terriers is great.

The Event was pretty bad.

Running Wilde is good but has room for improvement.

Hawaii 5-0 is something I will happily watch with my parents but never on my own.

Lone Star seems like a good show but I just didn't care about it enough to finish the episode.

Still can't get into any of the ABC comedies but they do seem to have improved.

re: The Middle, every time I've watched it it feels like the characters are all underdeveloped + shallow. that's not such a problem for a show like 30 Rock where broad characterization is really funny, but in The Middle where it's trying to be Malcolm in the Middle (or even Roseanne) style typical family dramedy that's half funny and half poignant it kills the show that none of the characters are particularly likable. the little kid is weird, the oldest son is lazy, the mother is stress and overworked and the father is quiet and trying-his hardest. the only really interesting character imo is the chronically-failing but still chipper daughter, but the show is barely about her at all.

I'll say it again because it needs saying. Don't listen to righteousmaelstrom up there. Raising Hope really is fantastic. Far superior to Running Wilde. If one of the new Fox sitcoms goes anywhere good, it will be the former and not the latter.

Is it really? It doesn't look like the kind of thing that will appeal to me (and for some reason I get the same vibe off it as I did off sons of tuscon), from the commercials at least. Might be more interested tho if people are digging it.

I didn't see Raising Hope, but am intrigued by it because I love Garret Dillahunt.

Garret's part is still really background so far, but he's definitely a presence. It's really a showcase for Martha Plimpton, though. And also the girl who works at the supermarket (I don't know her name, but I recognize her from a few things).

the only really interesting character imo is the chronically-failing but still chipper daughter, but the show is barely about her at all.

Sometimes I think the show might be better if it were told from Sue's POV, but that would probably just make it way too bizarre. At least through mom's POV it seems to be grounded in some relatable way to normal people.

Like I said upthread, I'll give Raising Hope another chance and hope it get its sea legs. I was just underwhelmed by it is all.

Lone Star was pretty good -- could've done with fewer shitty Rogue Wave songs. My wife was all "where's the country music?!" However the ratings don't make it seem like it's going to make it more than another week.

I heard about Lone Star having one more week before being cancelled. That sounds pretty extreme -- I don't remember a (somewhat well reviewed) show getting cancelled so quickly in a season in a while. But maybe it's happening all the time and I'm just not generally noticing it.

I feel bad for Adrienne Palicki being out of a job again so soon if Lone Star gets canceled, but it seemed like an iffy prospect in the first place. If Fox rebroadcast a PG version of Terriers after House on Monday nights, I'd be glued to my tv (because, honestly, saying "shit" about 10 times per episode doesn't really make Terriers a better show than it would be otherwise).

The ratings were really THAT bad.

So pilots I have seen:

Terriers: Good-to-Great so far, with the third being the strongest. Don't think it has the chops to become an all-time classic, but look forward to watching.

Running Wilde: Absolutely atrocious. Will need a massive retooling/jump in quality to be worth watching.

The Event: non-Event, morelike. zzzzz

Hawaii 5-0: Said on other thread, but it was Big Dumb Fun that will likely fall away when they get to their normal budget.

Undercovers: Liked the DV look, but the writing is nothing interesting and it needs to get considerably better if it wants to make up for the clichés and the confused role of the male lead.

Lone Star: The best of the network premieres that I've seen by quite some distance. It has the potential to be a properly good show, but will likely not get the chance.

Nikita: Much better in its second week, it's actually pretty okay once you accept the Danny Cannon element.

Hellcats: WTF lol only made it thru half.

Reviews are so terrible I think I might have to DVR My Generation tonight.

Running Wilde better or worse than the Arnett flick Brothers Solomon?

I actually like Brothers Solomon! Had it been released a year or two later I doubt the reception would have been so vicious/indifferent.

Wow, you guys. Outsourced is probably one of the clumsiest, flattest, most in-poor-taste comedy pilots ever made.

yeah i'm gonna have to catch that on hulu

outsourced is really something

Outsourced is probably one of the clumsiest, flattest, most in-poor-taste comedy pilots ever made.

i've kinda wondered how that would be ... it has the potential to be REALLY bad (b/w the possibility of nasty ethnic stereotyping and that offshoring is kind of a touchy subject in a "whistling past a graveyard" way these days).

Nikita: Much better in its second week, it's actually pretty okay once you accept the Danny Cannon element.

i've liked this so far (haven't seen the third one yet), even if suddenly figuring that nikita is probably the one who shot her protege's parents (i mean, who knows, but that's just the kind of thing one would set up as a major plot point) was kind of disappointing, since i don't normally give much thought to where the plot on a tv show will go and like it better that way. i like the lead. but it seems like it might suffer, eventually, from having an overly small core cast like lots of shows. 'foiled again! by you! again!' there's been a bit of a class-warfare note, it would be nice if they hit it more.

the Boardwalk Empire pilot was kind of a pile of gangster movie/show cliches, but it was very entertaining and the reviews seem to indicate that it does get really good. if you have HBO, would say get on it.

I was really impressed by how gross Outsourced made me feel.

Terriers is pretty good, I'm happy with it so far. I do indeed like Donal Logue.

Running Wilde is pretty bad. I will give it an obligatory residual AD-love few weeks of hope, but it seems really miscast and they need to fix the pacing and all sorts of things.

I gotta disagree with all the critics about Lone Star, thought it was pretty bad. I liked some of the actors, but the dialogue and exposition was just PAINFUL to listen to, just so obvious, on-the-nose - for a second I thought Flash Forward had been renewed. And it already from the getgo seems like one of those serial shows people complain about that dangle impossible plotlines forever, I mean, this is about a guy running two ridiculous cons. Seriously, I am baffled that every critic went nuts over this show - maybe it just speaks to the low quality of pilots this year.

Outsourced is pretty awful. Don't even bother with it.

Raising Hope is another one of those sitcoms trying to grab a Malcolm in the Middle vibe - most of the characters aren't very likeable - though this one borrows a lot from My Name is Earl too. It's just okay. I'm tempted to give it a shot since, like polyphonic, I love Garret Dillahunt (and man is it fucking bizarre to see him as a slacker idiot after being EVIL PERSONIFIED AS A RECURRING GUEST STAR in like every show in the last three years!). Martha Plimpton's pretty good too, but her part could grate soon much like the wife on Earl. I might give it another chance later.

Overall, feels like a better crop than last year, at least.

Terriers: Good-to-Great so far, with the third being the strongest. Don't think it has the chops to become an all-time classic, but look forward to watching.

i liked this too. it looks good and the pacing is leisurely. donal logue and the cajun dude (he mumbles so much he should just always use his 'true blood' voice) seem to have good chemistry, a nicely not-explicit relationship to each other. maybe it's just because i wasn't paying very close attention, but i liked how it wasn't that clear, in the pilot, what exactly their… profession was from scene to scene until it was established as generally part of their prevaricating, odd-job detective deals. i hope the pilot isn't the last time rachel miner's on.

Undercovers: Liked the DV look, but the writing is nothing interesting and it needs to get considerably better if it wants to make up for the clichés and the confused role of the male lead.

boring and misconceived. so it's a remarriage comedy with a spy premise—why didn't they lead the establishing how the spy couple don't really know each other that well (despite having quit the spy game to have a better marriage) so that their new spy partnership comes in at the end to initiate their attempt to get to actually know each other? but that would require actual characters and sharp dialogue and acting and some writing. plus, maybe this is just a taste thing, but spy-comedy stuff generally seems sub-optimal at both the spy stuff and the comedy stuff. at least the green-recruit-navigates-a-treacherous-professional-life-and-complicated-love-life comedy on the piper perabo spy show on USA sort of doesn't exclude a little life-or-death seriousness in the spy parts.

'detroit 187', the michael imperioli police procedural vehicle (with james mcdaniel in it), seems rote and hurried, not much sign of substance. and way too much music.

and way too much music.

Is it up to Cold Case levels in music overuse? I could never fully embrace that show because half of it was just slow montages with music laid on top.

I watched the first Terriers and half of the second and gave up. The show looks great (no small achievement when most of the shows on Showtime and FX look like shit) and Donal Logue is in his element, but the writing just isn't witty enough and his partner on the show is boring as fuck. I could see coming back in 10 episodes and discovering it's awesome though.

Is it up to Cold Case levels in music overuse? I could never fully embrace that show because half of it was just slow montages with music laid on top.

not that bad, no, just your usual scene-filler. people running! people driving somewhere! music you may associate with detroit and feel good about hearing again! (although, at least it wasn't as bad in that regard as 'memphis beat' playing 'green onions' like three times in every single episode.)

omg I forgot about HELLCATS

that show is a neverending cycle of WTF that hits all of the same pleasure centers as America's Next Top Model for me (look! pretty women acting ludicrous!)

shameful admission: I kind of want to hear what Aly and AJ sound like after seeing AJ on "Hellcats"

you really don't.

Ratings wise My Generation didn't do so well but Outsourced did respectable, better-than-Community numbers.

xpost RE: Hellcats. That was the kind of show I was hoping it would be, but that pilot was too much. I think I'll try it again though.

I have Outsourced on the DVR. Kinda scared to watch it now.

I mean don't get me wrong, Hellcats is balls-out stupid. Don't expect great television at all. Both AJ and Ashley Tisdale seem to be embracing the fact that they are in the world's dumbest show and are having a ball, which I am finding incredibly compelling to watch. Although I missed it this week.

Also Aly & AJ suck. ;_;

you really don't.

Seriously. I love pop music so this isn't coming from a rockist pov, they are just that terrible.

I am listening to "Potential Breakup Song" right now and basically imagining the bright, happy wonderful world I lived in before I subjected myself to it.

You guys are such haters! Aly + AJ are great. (Well, maybe not great. But not terrible!)

basically from this point onwards assume I have written every post while rocking back and forth shivering and muttering "make it stop, make it stop" under my breath

haha wait did I confuse them upthread, is Aly the one on HELLCATS

and AJ is in Secretariat I think? singing a terrible song that they played a video for after the first episode of HELLCATS

Ha for a minute there I misread that as AJ is Secretariat.

and AJ is in Secretariat I think?

aj is in a horse?

Well, this is slightly positive: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/zucker-announces-departure-from-nbc/

Comcast might be a mediocre cable company, but they've got the good sense to push Zucker out. Can't get worse, right?

Unless in the shake-up they cancel all the poorly-rated shows I like.

Loved Lone Star and thought it was miles better than Boardwalk Empire.

streets ahead?

Ugh.

http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/09/another-twitter-feed-gets-cbs-comedy-deal.html

cbs and its viewers deserve each other

That Community joke is just getting more and more relevant.

I actually suffered through the Shit My Dad Says pilot* over the weekend and I was amazed at just how horrible it was. I mean, these guys deserve some sort of award for managing to turn a (very very nearly) original premise for a show into a by-the-book generic CBS sitcom, "wacky" drops in and all. Absolutely awful.

* - Full disclosure, we made it 12 minutes through before shutting it off. Maybe it got better? Very doubtful though.

so far I like Terriers, although I'm getting really impatient with my cable provider (Kabletown, er, Comcast, er, Xfinity) for taking forever to put it OnDemand, so I still haven't seen the 3rd episodes of that or Sons Of Anarchy. I also like Mike & Molly, which as with most Chuck Lorre sitcoms won't get much love on ILX but is pretty funny and kind of weirdly sweet. all the network dramas I've watched so far (Outlaw, Detroit 1-8-7, The Event, Undercovers, etc) have been dullsville. I want to give Raising Hope and Running Wilde a chance but I hate “(verb)ing (name that doubles as a pun)” titles so much that I feel like Fox is taunting me.

ending of 3rd ep of Terriers is wild

Hawaii 5-0 has been pretty great so far. The Event is basically rote Abrams weirdness, but fortunately for me I like rote Abrams weirdness. Undercovers is actually kind of terrible but the lead actress is superhumanly pretty so I don't actually care. Watched one episode of Chase and really, REALLY would like that hour of my life back.

Hawaii 5-0 is hilarious. Even though I would not call it objectively good it is probably the most enjoyable of the new shows.

yep hawaii 5-0

i also liked detroit 1-8-7

Hawaii 5-0 has been pretty great so far. The Event is basically rote Abrams weirdness, but fortunately for me I like rote Abrams weirdness. Undercovers is actually kind of terrible but the lead actress is superhumanly pretty so I don't actually care. Watched one episode of Chase and really, REALLY would like that hour of my life back.

― Monkeys? Um, no. (HI DERE), Tuesday, September 28, 2010 10:42 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

otm about Undercovers, but i think the problem with The Event is that there is no weirdness, other than a vague air of sci-fi mystery, but not actual WTF factor.

I'm really feeling lone star - nhex is usu. on point w/telly but he does get some things wrong (he hates mad men iirc). I'll be pretty annoyed if it gets axed. how were the 2nd week numbers?

I can't believe I watched a second episode of The Event, and I am definitely not watching another one. So boring.

The second week numbers of Lone Star were even worse. It is doomed.

That's too bad, I feel like it should have been on cable -- it seems more of a natural home for it.

what a generic title... "the event."

it's a pretty generic show but I am still enjoying it

it's ~event TV~ gettit

if you were sick of Outsourced because of stereotypes you would have definitely loved some of the stereotypes that popped up in Mike and Molly. stereotypes don't usually bug me (nor does Two and a Half Men).. I'll continue giving both new shows a try

The Whole Truth had a good enough first episode - it's an ABC drama that shows both sides of a court case

I want to see Running Wilde some more to find out what kind of comedy develops

Raising hope, Undercovers and The Event are on tape. I still need to see them. I may not have time

Terriers and Nikita are two shows I should of known about earlier judging by reviews. I'll have to try to watch the first episodes online if I have the time

I'm most looking forward to The Walking Dead when it premieres on AMC on Halloween. It appears to be a tv series that is more like a drawn out zombie movie! (it is based on a comic book or something -long trailer)

-----

I'm currently enjoying the return of Community, House, HIMYMother, Fringe, and I'm looking forward to The Good Wife tonight. 30 Rock, The Office, The Modern Family, The Middle, and The Big Bang Theory are varying degrees of meh-okay-good

TOO MUCH TV but at least I'm not reading books or playing video games (much)

I feel like a lot of the long jokes (often situational humor) on The Modern Family are too predictable to be funny

...I'm looking forward to The Good Wife tonight.

Me too! I feel like no one ever talks about this show, and if pressed I wouldn't really have much to say about it, but I love it anyway.

Lone Star officially cancelled.

FX should pick it up imo

shameful admission: I kind of want to hear what Aly and AJ sound like after seeing AJ on "Hellcats"

― bang (HI DERE), Friday, September 24, 2010 3:03 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

they've got some awesome songs.

Hellcats is pretty awesome at what it sets out to do IMO.

xps Fox cancels shows way too quickly, don't they? Well, that and they leave some shows on the air way too long.

The ratings were so low I really don't think Fox had a choice. I'm sure they would have liked to give it more time, but the cable model of allowing a show to build up a reputation and an audience just can't work on broadcast.

Supertrain got 10 episodes though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUERtAe73NI

Yeah, extremely quick cancellations are a relatively recent trend. I'm sure there are some examples in the '70s and '80s of shows only airing for 2-4 episodes before getting yanked, but most often they at least played out for the first half of the season.

Aly & AJ? I think you guys mean "78violet," the new name of their duo that they chose last year and have failed to release any new songs under.

I like the second Aly & AJ album, even its Radio Disney production style delights me. But I don't like it or Ashley Tisdale enough to watch Hellcats tbh.

i think the problem with The Event is that there is no weirdness, other than a vague air of sci-fi mystery, but not actual WTF factor.

― some dude, Tuesday, September 28, 2010 10:04 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark

was thinking last night as the fbi agents were driving the handsome computer science guy that Lost woulda pushed it more. lying roadside cop woulda been bypassed or trumped somehow.

No Ordinary Family isn't very good, fyi.

2nd ep of Running Wilde a definite improvement. Not great or anything, but an improvement.

Yeah, 2nd ep of Raising Hope was a slight step down, 2nd ep of Running Wilde was better.

...I'm looking forward to The Good Wife tonight.

Me too! I feel like no one ever talks about this show, and if pressed I wouldn't really have much to say about it, but I love it anyway.

this show is dope.

anyone watching blue bloods?

also i heard l&o LA was pretty good, gonna find it

I watched the first 15 or minutes of it the other night. I realize that's not a fair way to judge a show, but the dialogue was so hammy and the cast were a bunch of stiffs (Selleck included).

I missed L&O:LA last night. Terriers was on. I'll catch it on demand.

i'm really liking this Terriers show for the most part

Didn't watch last night's ep yet, but Terriers is getting better and better.

Undercovers continues to be nonsensical eye candy

the sycophantic sidekick is kind of hilarious though

No Ordinary Family isn't very good, fyi.

i liked No Ordinary Family more than i expected to, or probably should admit. also almost kinda got into the 2nd episode of The Event. probably both just beneficiaries of plummeting expectations, though.

Finally saw Boardwalk Empire. Liked it more than I thought I would actually.

last night's ep of Terriers wasnt quite as intensely great but it seemed to have a lot to do with previous eps that i have not seen so maybe thats why it left me a little cold...

Yeah, it's the first episode that hasn't been standalone.

L&O LA was exactly what it is titled: Law & Order, Los Angeles.

Same basic manner of cutting between scenes, same basic plot structure. If you dig it there, you'll dig it here.

I will note that the producers have made it known they intend to get out and see more of LA and all the various ethnic enclaves and neighborhoods, to show that there's more to LA than vatos, surfers, and braindead celebutantes. The premiere did not encourage me plot-wise (celebutante-heavy), but I dig the leads. Skeet Ulrich!!!

And dude, Grace Park is so damn hot, its amazing. Holy bejeezus.

yeah basically I have been watching H50 going "okay NOW I understand why everyone watched Battlestar: Galactica"

like when I tuned back into Voyager after the introduction of 7 of 9

i tried to watch Hawaii 5-0 on the airplane back from Honolulu last month and it was really dull.

also tried to watch the maura tierny show last night, it was awful

Some pretty LOL bits in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.

Yes! The pilot for that was pretty funny. Btw... anyone else feeling like the time has come for a Terriers thread?

Renewal looks like a stretch at the moment, and I'm not sure there's a lot of talk about it, but go for it.

Hard to imagine FX would kill Terriers, especially considering the kind of critical response it's getting. Don't they like to let their new series breath for a few seasons before canceling them?

"L&O LA was exactly what it is titled: Law & Order, Los Angeles."

CO-SIGN

Not that anyone here cared, but 'My Generation': RIP.

Ratings are particularly bad, even for FX. It might not make financial sense to do renew.

xposts

I do hope Terriers gets renewed because it keeps getting better.

Terriers is actually a show I've been going out of my way to tell people about, and I don't that a lot. Not sure it would do any good, because I don't know anyone with a Nielsen box, and I'm probably not the viewer they want because I don't buy anything because of advertising, but whatever...

don't do that a lot.

The trick is to not tell the FX execs in your weekly meeting with them that you don't listen to advertising.

All the hilarious o_O moments that were in the pilot for Raising Hope have disappeared in the two episodes since. Very disappointing!

heard it got worse and Running Wilde got better.

Running Wilde has gotten better!

Agreed. I'm starting to really like it, which no doubt means it won't last a whole season.

Yep, gotta agree. Raising Hope has dropped a little, but it's still about the level I expected to it to be and gently amusing. Running Wilde got noticeably better even from the second episode on. The dialogue's a lot snappier, Russell's character is shaping up a little, and they trimmed down the overuse of the little girl's narration (also making it more believably appropriate and less like snarky Ron Howard - "We learned a new word today in class!").

"Forget juice" was the funniest bit in Running Wilde. The KFC bit with the commercial though? Ugh.

Reminded me of AD and the Burger King plug, and how that was really funny.

Running Wilde should ditch the narration and focus on Arnett and Serafinowicz.

Really good interview with Mitch Hurwitz. Kind of depressing, really, but refreshing to see someone talking honestly about a show that's on the air (for now).

that is a really good interview!

Outlaw halting production. Sorry Smits fans.

So look if there's one new show I should see, what is it?

Terriers or Boardwalk Empire.

Agreed.

New episode of Terriers was really good.

I really like the theme song!

I think we're back to standalone fun times next week. I'm kind of glad they didn't stretch that arc across a whole season.

Obviously the arc isn't over, but the immediate threat is gone, is what I meant to say.

This episode was directed by Rian Johnson (of Brick fame), who played it much more straight than that Breaking Bad episode "The Fly".

Terriers is shaping up to have just as awesome a first season as Louie and Justified...hopefully we'll hear about its fate soon.

is boardwalk empire getting good cuz honestly im having a HARD time getting to ep 2

I was waiting until there were a few BE episodes before downloading and watching them in succession, but people keep saying (not just here) that it might not even be worth the trouble.

BE is just okay. Lush but v. simplistic.

but is it fun to watch

Not consistently, at least not so far. I find it worth watching for the incredible supporting cast, but it's a bit of a slog to be honest.

it's maybe the sixth- or seventh- most enjoyable thing going right now tbh

Still only three episodes in, and while I have problems with it, BE has a lot of potential. Not to be one of the greats, but to be very good at least. After trying out most of the network pilots (and a few second episodes to make sure) it looks a hell of a lot better, but still the weakest of the Sunday Night dramas.

talk about damning with faint praise. i'll pass.

Didn't mean to damn with faint praise. There are only 3 or 4 better dramas in production at the moment.

I count three better dramas and several more engaging comedies.

life's too short imo

yeah you're not missing out on anything. i should probably get on terriers instead.

that hurwitz interview is super depressing but i guess it puts running wilde into perspective. at least they're really working on an AD movie.

is Louis still on?

The season is finished but it's been renewed.

Raising Hope was just given a full season order. That's good. Running Wilde is on the bubble. That's not good.

Looks like Undercovers is a goner.

I'm giving Boardwalk a chance. It's not as good as Terriers though.

Terriers is getting terrible numbers, even for cable. I read they filmed 11 episodes, but it's far from guaranteed that there will be any more after that. :(

Yeah, a second season doesn't look likely at the moment. It's why BE is the safer bet.

I've been avoiding the BE thread because until recently I was about a week behind, but I'm surprised to see how little people think of it in this thread. I think its a really fun show. Not the most groundbreaking, but pretty to look at pretty engaging. Then, I am a huge Buscemi stan and I love his tossed-off one liners ("Thought? Fuckin' Aristotle, that's your problem."). Plus the girl that plays Jimmy's wife is pretty stunning to look at.

Yeah, it's a shame that Terriers isn't getting better numbers. BE is not bad but it seems a bit of a trifle.

Even though it has its own thread and technically was a Summer premiere, Rubicon is getting really good.

I'm really thinking about getting into Rubicon...if I start now, am I gonna get lost?

...be lost? should I bother jumping in midseason or just wait for the DVD to come out?

Start at the beginning. There's no point otherwise.

By the way, a reminder that The Walking Dead's 6 episode season starts in a few weeks, so if folks are not interested in BE or Terriers that might be worth something. It has it's own thread.

I don't think I can start watching BE (as excited as I was/am for it) until Mad Men season ends. I can't really handle two sophisticated hour long cable dramas at one time. It's hard enough trying to stay up to date on Mad Men (currently two eps behind).

i really like boardwalk empire but, like the sopranos, for some reason I tend to have some kind of mental block when it comes to following the intricate plot machinations of organized crime. there is always something happening that is just ? to me.

u cant handle it

Just don't have the time (or the patience to sit down for an hour when Running Wilde is only 20 minutes and makes a much smaller claim on my attention).

do u like it? running wilde? that interview with hurwitz was so depressing, it makes me kind of afraid to watch

It's getting better, but it's still not very good.

I hated the most recent episode of Running Wilde. Giving up on it.

Its prognosis isn't good anyway, so if you're already on the fence about it there's really no reason to get invested any further.

I think it's pretty funny, and I liked the digs at the Office last ep.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I think it's actually gotten better over three weeks. But people aren't watching.

if Terriers gets canned this will be the most depressing fall season in recent memory.

The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War (Polish: Kampania wrześniowa or Wojna obronna 1939 roku) in Poland and the Poland Campaign (German: Polenfeldzug) in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II. The invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and ended 6 October 1939 with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland.

^ worse than

People just aren't watching tv anymore. Ratings are down all across the board, both network and cable. I think a lot of it has to do with several years of scripted tv being passed over for cheap reality and competition shows, fostering no loyalty on the part of viewers. So when scripted tv tries to make a comeback, people gravitate toward the dumbed-down stuff and don't tune into anything that's mentally stimulating.

FX has been pretty good about letting shows stick around to find their audience. I bet they'll give it a second season.

I hasn't even broken a million viewers yet. More people than that wanted to see Betty White on SNL.

yeah but that was a big deal dude

i was under the impression that neilsens are bullshit anyway, i remember reading something about a trial they did with a different viewer counting system that like actually counted viewers instead of having people submit ~~diaries~~ of their tv watching, and it turned out that wayayyyayayayay more people watched cable and other stuff

Oh, I have no doubt that the Nielsen system is antiquated. I just think networks (both broadcast and cable) still gauge success on viewer patterns of 10 years ago instead of viewer patterns now, and axe shows accordingly. People might dvr shows for three weeks and sit down and burn through all of them some Friday night when nothing else is on. I realize it's hard to present anything good to advertisers that way, but that's the way it is now.

yeah, ad prices still rely on Nielsen data, so even if it isn't accurate, it affects the bottom line.

no i know, im just... saying, i guess.

fight the future

Yeah there def. needs to be a new model for them to work with - can they factor in TIVO'ing?

There's some kind of math now that factors it in (air +7 or something), but I no confidence that it's actually accurate.

Yeah, that isn't particularly accurate and it also doesn't mean a lot for ads since people can just skip them.

Not that it's new, but Sons of Anarchy just got picked up for another season. Now if FX will just extend the same courtesy to Terriers.

SoA is a ratings hit, though, it's been growing over the last season or so. Justified also did decently well, I remember it getting renewed right after the premiere.

http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/all-your-favorite-shows-will-be-cancelled-except-raising-hope-a-television-ratings-update.php

Wow, Shit My Dad Says is not only doing really well but doing BETTER than Big Bang Theory?!?

is there a "damn you america" gif someone could bring out for me

(i don't even want to talk about Outsourced)

http://wonkette.com/images/thumbs/a8c99884d43723a8c9e36a9d0d261828.jpg

The only people I know of who have gone on record saying that they are watching Outsourced are former coworkers who were born and raised in India. Given the first half of the first episode, which made me cringe harder than almost anything I've ever seen on television, I have to assume it either got a lot better or there is a shift of context that needs to be made on the viewer's part in order to appreciate the show.

thx johnny

They are still in the introducing characters phase for outsourced (at least after the 2 episodes I saw). I'm not guaranteeing it will ever get as good as The Office was but I'm still letting it pan out (and it probably won't) but it's still a better use of my time than watching Lonestar (gone), My Generation (gone) and Undercovers (going). Unfortunately I started watching The Whole Truth (going).

If Community dies before Outsourced, god help us all.

I don't even want to think about it.

Raising Hope is roaring back to the bonkers crazy form of the pilot episode tonight.

Tonight's episode is the first I've seen, but based on this alone it seems like a really funny show

Finally caught up on Terriers in time for tomorrow night's episode. Holy shit, that show got really awesome, really fast - I liked the pilot, and it's been getting better every week. The only new show this season that's far exceeded my expectations. Praying that FX gives it a chance!

Caught last week's Outsourced - holy shit is it ever unfunny and awful.

Outlaw officially cancelled.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/nbc-officially-cancels-outlaw,46259/

i never saw lone star but what a generic name, i didnt know it was about con men. same with outlaw. outlaw??

im starting to get bored with Boardwalk...looking forward to final season of FNL.

Yeah, FNL is only a week away, right? Or maybe it's two weeks.

27th

I saw another episode of Chase. It was still terrible but had the added bonus of a batshit crazy fugitive who kept killing people for telling her that her fake daughter wasn't real, including her boyfriend, her former fiance and several others. It culminated in her kidnapping a little girl, killing a trucker and stealing his 18-wheeler, eventually spinning out on a bridge while the main character hangs from the passenger window. The truck eventually fell off the edge of the bridge but not before they got the little girl out of the cab; no attempt was made to save the crazy fugitive and the show didn't even make it seem like saving her was something a US Marshall would even consider attempting.

Really terrible show.

they didn't cancel that shit burger of a show yet?

It's next in line, apparently.

Also the crazy fugitive was so crazy that apparently she didn't realize she was in the cab of an 18-wheeler hanging over the edge of a bridge and about to die, because still had her seat belt on when the truck fell over.

This season it seems more interesting to pick out which shows will actually survive.

was this the one with TEABAG.

I don't know what will happen when NBC is absorbed by Comcast, but it's certainly in chaos now and has been for several years. The thing that bugs me, though, is that I know they're capable of developing and greenlighting good shows (Journeyman, Southland). But they're just as likely to develop and greenlight absolute garbage (Outsourced, Chase), even with Zucker on the way out.

outsourced is a complete turd.

was this the one with TEABAG.

I don't think so? I was too busy predicting the plot to really pay attention to what was actually happening (I called that the daughter was imaginary within the first 5 minutes of the show).

Chase would have been much more interesting had the chases lasted more than one episode; at least then it would seem like something different.

btw Undercovers is still terrible but the hotness of the female lead basically is encouraging me to watch it

or maybe that was the preview i saw. anyways, i've never watched it.

I don't think they have any real understanding of what makes a hit, but they think they might. So you get Chase (Bruckheimer, cop show with a twist, The Fugitive), The Event (Lost is gone, conspiracy thrillers are gone, Heroes was serialized and people loved that for a little bit but then it got shit and we overdid the marketing), Outsourced (It's like the Office meets Slumdog Millionaire!), Outlaw (He's like the House of Lawyers). And then Undercovers (whatever you say, JJ).

NBC, obv.

no love for Detroit 1-8-7 on here eh? Maybe its because im a Imperioli fan

apparently it was better with the mockumentary aspect, but i've not seen it.

Bingo. They're behind the curve on pretty much every drama, and at least one of their comedies (though they've demonstrated that have no idea when to let The Office die). xps

I don't blame them for holding onto The Office. It's basically their only scripted hit, and that's not even that huge of a hit. They try to launch new shows with it but they never quite take off.

doesnt nbc also have community, parks and rec and 30 rock? as in the best comedies on tv?

Oh, yeah, the continuation of The Office makes sense from a business standpoint, because more people watch and like it now that it's shitty.

Their continued failure to come up with enough hits has given us 5 seasons of FNL when it shouldn't have finished its 1st, so I'm not complaining.

slocks, yes, NBC does, but nobody watches them.

but again, they're only on the air because they haven't come up with a hit to replace them.

xp Yeah, they do. That's about the only area where they deserve credit. Even more, because they've let those shows live on even with dismal ratings. xps

seriously though, these women are playing sisters on Undercovers:

http://tvmedia.ign.com/tv/image/article/109/1098259/undercovers-20100615031443627-000.jpghttp://www.nbc.com/undercovers/images/bios/gugu-mbatha-raw.jpg

and there is plenty of guy candy as well, if that's more your thing:

http://jimhalterman.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/BorisKodjoe.jpghttp://www.nbc.com/undercovers/images/bios/carter-macintyre.jpg

Undercovers hotties couldn't take me through the third episode, unfortunately.

no one watches 30 rock? really?

tbh, I am kind of sick of beautiful people on television.

When they figure out how to write the guy on Undercovers, let me know. xposts

My wife and I decided that if the leads on Undercovers ever had a baby, just looking at it would cause your face to melt because it would be so overpoweringly pretty.

30 Rock is NBC's second-most successful Thursday night show, but it gets trounced by 3 and sometimes 4 other networks.

chris: it does better than Community and Parks and Rec, but no, 30 Rock doesn't have great ratings. It's a lot better after the Sarah Palin thing, but that juice is fading. It does decent in the key demo though, so that's why I think it's pretty safe.

When they figure out how to write the guy on Undercovers, let me know.

I think they've settled on "incoherent bubble-brain"

although to be fair that is essentially 70% of the characters on the show

I hope it spikes this week with the live episode. Even if I didn't watch it regularly, I'd tune in for that.

never realized no one watched it. I remember hating it at first. Although I only really like it for Baldwin.

I was hesitant to watch 30 Rock at first (well, for the first 2 or 3 weeks) because I figured it would just be SNL in primetime. It's SO much better, more clever, funnier, faster paced...it's like the ANTI-SNL, really.

"and that is the art of camouflage"
"this is how you make love to a woman"

In the worst economy in almost a century, NBC comes across a brilliant idea -- mock the millions of American workers who lost their jobs to low-wage scabs from India!

Let NBC know that displacing American workers is not funny, and has contributed to the destruction of our economy. Millions of Americans are unemployed, many after being forced to train their foreign replacements in the Indian outsourcing industry.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ProtestOutsourced/

That's free advertising for Outsourced. The only way NBC will cancel the show is if people just stop watching it.

lol @ people thinking the reason to be offended by that show is that it's mocking American workers

I they cancel Community and keep Outsourced I will burn Utica NBC to the ground.

Is anyone else still watching Running Wilde? Peter Serafinowicz's Alan Alda impression last night killed me. Easily the best episode yet.

That was a highlight, but it wasn't as good as last week's. In fact, it's still not very good. I probably wouldn't persist if I wasn't so sure it is going to be cancelled.

Yeah, that was close to amazing. Agreed too on it being the best episode yet.

Enjoy it while you can, though. It's going to take a miracle for there to be more than 13 eps.

Not to be "that guy," but I really noticed last night that Keri Russell wears clothes well.

that guy that likes really attractive actresses?

I just watched the last 3 episodes back to back after reading this thread. I paid attention to the Keri Russell wears clothes well comment. I think Johnny Fever is saying that the clothes do a good job hiding her skinny frame but maybe he is just saying that she is hot :]

I was probably somewhere in the middle. It was just something that stood out to me in this week's episode. When she was on the hood of the car. When she was outside the tennis courts. At the dance. Wardrobe gave her some things not just anyone could pull off, and she did.

Yeah she's one of those actresses that I'm kind of just very happy gazing at and it's not totally a lust thing, she's just very appealing on a lot of levels. Not super into that show (and was never a big Arrested Development fan), but Raising Hope is growing on me in a big way so I'll probably watch both for as long as they're on the same night.

Ok im probably alone in this, but I am pretty much on board for the increasingly poor decisions of todd margaret. however, if you are one of those people that dislikes seeing people in terribly uncomfortable situations of their own making, it is def not the show for you.

best new show so far this year imo was "Warren the Ape" which I just assume was taken quietly behind the barn and shot at some point since it has vanished from on demand entirely.

another bonus for Todd Margaret is that its on IFC so i am sure it will get its full run even if no one is watching it.

well the run is only 6 episodes and they've all been filmed so it's pretty much a no-brainer. Americans won't get the Steve Davis thing AT ALL, which I guess is probably the point.

I'm mad because IFC used to be included in my cable package gratis, but now it's a premium channel (that I don't have).

yeah i pay for the stupid next tier just to get IFC which is prob a good candidate for the innocuous things that make you irrationally angry. Like every time I flip through the speed channel I get all "ARGHHGHH I AM PAYING FOR THIS".

stop fronting, you've got NASCAR all over your DVR

i tell you one thing, im getting sick of seeing charlie hunnam nude in every episode of SOA. My wife is not.

The only thing I watch on the Speed channel is the Barrett-Jackson auto auctions, which, ironically, consist mostly of cars sitting absolutely still.

not from an ownership point of view!

Speed Channel is a godsend for this F1 fan. IFC is mostly kind of shit, save for Freaks and Geeks, AD, and I guess Todd Margaret. Sundance is where it's at.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z41LZcrlUYY&feature=player_embedded

bwahahaha

lol

best thing about running wilde -> reminding me of the awesomeness of "Look Around You"

hah, that was great

Am I the only one watching Top Chef: Just Desserts with any enthusiasm?

Contestants are pretty unstable on that show even by reality television standards.

I mean crazy for Top Chef. Not like Brett Michael's Get on the Fuck Bus crazy.

I'm watching it but not with much enthusiasm.

Seth could give some of the contestants on Bret's show a run for their money. Dude was scary batshit crazy.

I hated him but he was the only one on the show who was in any way compelling.

sadly otm

also, Johnny Iuzzini has the charisma of dish rag

yet I watch this show

I'm watching it too. Such drama queens!

I watched episodes 2 and 3 tonight. The first time Seth broke down I was sympathetic towards him. But seeing him not being able to cool his head as he lashed out 3 times after that is unfortunate and I wouldn't want to work with him. The preview for episode 4 shows the ambulance come... I'll have to watch that tonight after I watch Project Runway

Johnny Iuzzini reminds me of a slick ol' Icecream Johnny character but really he's just Garth with a greasy Elvis poof. No offense to the guy (he seems nice) but he must be nervous because I don't see him bringing much character to the show. He is really good in the judge position though

Peter Serafinowitz New York Gangster accent as taught by Alan Alda brought the first genuine LOLs in Running Wilde.

Heh, I just found out that the girl playing "Steph" on Terriers is actually Donal Logue's real-life sister Karina. Probably would've come to me sooner if I'd looked for her name in the credits.

the Alan Alda thing was definitely the biggest lol on Running Wilde so far, i'm laughing so hard right now that my baby is laughing with me.

it's a shame that Terriers' ratings are low but i can't say i don't understand it -- vaguely misleading title, really generic ads, much less of a conceptual 'hook' than other FX dramas, I only checked it out because I'd been enjoying almost every other show on FX this year

ya

i've watched 1.5 eps of terriers. its... ok i guess. does it get really awesome or something?

3rd ep is where it starts to really perk up IMO

I liked it from the beginning, didn't notice improvement.

Same here.

It finds it's rhythm in the second episode. The stand-alones get better as it goes along (the episode with Olivia Williams was great), and the larger arc is well done.

They do a really good job with the characters. There's something light and mischievous about the tone, and while some people blame that on it's failure (the FX brand tends to be darker and grittier, to it's detriment imo), I don't see how it's that much different than Justified. Also, it doesn't rely on telegraphing cheap character traits (Logue's alcoholism never feels like it defines him, Raymond-James' past a thief informs his present without ever feeling like he struggles to stay on the straight despite how bad things seem [though admittedly that might change]).

like simon said, third episode is where it really starts to pick up

I watched Outsourced last night because I am in your lovely country and was at a loose end. I will not be watching it again. Comedy Indian names ahoy! One that sounds like Manmeat! And one that sounds a bit like Horseshit! And jokes of that quality just kept on coming. Jesus.

The only people I've seen yet to speak favorably of Outsourced are some bozos on twitter who also love The Office and S&%t My Dad Says.

I said this upthread, but the only pp; I've seen speak favorably of Outsourced are Indian former coworkers on Facebook, in reference to the movie that is its inspiration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourced_%28film%29

I could see potential in the couple of bits that Rizwan Manji got to do, like inventing a fake holiday so that he could get American bloke to go home so he could pretend to be the manager of the team, thus impressing his potential father in law, and he had a couple of other reasonably interesting satirical lines about U.S. attitudes towards India, but the show backs away from this stuff too quickly in order to get back to its funny names and funny accents stuff.

Rebecca Hazlewood pretty much the only thing that keeps from immediately changing the channel after The Office (though it only works for about two minutes of bad jokes before I can't take it anymore)

Terriers is very cool & easygoing about how smart it is: this last episode wz a great example of that. Doesn't telegraph its twists at all; they seem very natural, in both the main detective story and the subplot about Raymond-James' girlfriend. It also ended on an interestingly bleak note. A lot of these episodes are great.

is it wrong that i pronounced it like its PERRIERS

Breaking: NBC gives full-season pickups to THE EVENT, OUTSOURCED, and LAW & ORDER: LA.

just watched the 4th episode of The Event and was almost catatonic for most of it, it getting picked up may be what i need to finally quit this habit

Rebecca Hazlewood pretty much the only thing that keeps from immediately changing the channel after The Office (though it only works for about two minutes of bad jokes before I can't take it anymore)

― Nhex, Friday, October 15, 2010 5:43 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

and yeah this is why I probably won't be able to stop watching Outsourced

L&O:LA was a given, and so was The Event, probably, but Outsourced braek my hart.

It makes me nervous about Thursday night scheduling. Where will Parks and Rec fit in upon return? Does this mean Community will get the axe?

They should just make the whole night sitcoms. Bring back P&R, and add a sixth.

I mean, NO ONE is watching The Apprentice.

Law & Order: Wackytown

Chuck apparently on the verge of a full-season pick-up as well, btw.

YAY

oh god and Chase on the verge and Undercovers getting more script orders.

RIP NBC

wait waht

Chase on the verge of full season pickup and Undercovers got an order for 6 more scripts.

Holy hell, if they're keeping Chase and Undercovers, and then see fit to axe Community, I will set shit on fire.

I mean, woo hoo I get to watch one of the most beautiful women currently on television but her show is kind of terrible aside from the mancrushing sidekick

The Event is really dumb and amazingly shameless about its Lost ripoffs, but just barely entertaining enough, I can see it getting a chance

Outsourced though... just.. god no

it kind of enrages me that Manimal got canceled after 6 episodes and Outsourced is getting picked up

I think a good 75% of Outsourced's viewers are just people who leave the tv on after The Office while they're doing laundry and shit.

-ting.

lol. would be a gross abuse of the Nielsen diary system tho.

Holy hell, if they're keeping Chase and Undercovers, and then see fit to axe Community, I will set shit on fire.

Seriously. NBC will burn to the ground.

i'm kind of hoping that since all the Community cast and crew are on twitter, they'd say something if things were looking dire and they needed fan/media support. all the Running Wilde dudes have been talking about potential cancellation for the past couple of weeks.

Dan Harmon's been threatening to kill himself it he ratings to go up to 2.0, so I think they know the outlook is not good.

Some of that Dan Harmon stuff was funny, but other times I was really starting to worry.

Chuck full season (11! additional episodes) and Chase full season pick-ups confirmed. Undercovers gets 4 additional scripts.

I read in the TVBTN comments that Dan Harmon is currently behind on scripts, and some of the production staff has left Community to work on other shows. Maybe he really is some kind of perfectionist mad genius that will bring about the downfall of his own show.

These were just comments, though. No verification at all.

Outsourced. Biggest problem is that it is dreadfully unfunny. Also, making the company a seller of novelty items doesn't help.

I still haven't watched it since the first episode.

Ugh, Terriers fell below 500K viewers last night (based on Nielsen). I'm just going to make the most of the five episodes left and then pour one out.

it LOST viewers? I give up.

Nooooo!

I haven't watched L&O:LA yet, but I just found out they've done away with the "dunh dunh" sound between scenes. FUCK THAT! Why even call it Law & Order?

They were there in the first episode (which I didn't like). They ditched them?

I guess so? Two people have told me that today.

Just saw this on Shawn Ryan's twitter feed re last night's episode: "#Terriers episode tonight was directed by Michael Zinberg who also directed the all-time classic "Turkeys Away" ep of WKRP in Cincinnati."

+1 for Terriers

sorta surprised no one has mentioned The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret yet. So far, I think it is pretty hilarious (even tho the premise seems confined to a one-off sort of thing - hopefully they realize this & will not try to push the show to far).

*too

There was a little bit of talk about it upthread somewhere, but I don't have IFC anymore and haven't had time to torrent it yet.

Call center employees love Outsourced!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/business/media/25outsource.html

Gunfight Epiphany (Theme from Terriers) - Rob Duncan

YES!

no itunes account or money :( :(

I buy about one thing off iTunes per couple of years. It's a testament to my mental health that I even remember my password.

haha, same

Raising Hope is getting better and better. I'm finally enjoying it. Garrett Dillahunt is great in it.

"Jimmy, I been eggin' houses with 12-year-olds all night. You think there's any possible way I'm sober?"

I have given up on 'Running Wilde.' I really wanted to like it and kept watching but last week I just had to change the channel.

Aw, give it a break - that was a shitty second episode they pushed back. It obviously took place right after the pilot and had all the weird problems it had, like overuse of the girl's narration, the rival relationship between faad and wilde, etc. The episodes after it were a lot better!

Undercovers is cancelled. RIP hotties.

It was inevitable. I suspect they're clearing room on the schedule for an hour of comedy on NBC (as in P&R comes back and, perhaps, 30 Rock makes a move to join it).

i have given up on running wilde unless someone tells me the last two episodes have been some kind of incredible improvement.

It hasn't even aired in three weeks, has it?

well, at least this solves my dilemma of even bothering to catch up with the last 4 episodes of Undercovers

someone in another thread compared Terriers to Veronica Mars, and I'm seeing that more and more (gawd if VM had been on FX it might still be on now), anyways I think in both shows they sometimes try to keep their edge & push the envelope in a way that seems a bit contrived, and I think that was the case w/ this week's episode...I thought the Hank arc was a little predictable but very well done, but the Britt arc with the TS prostitute didn't quite work as well...

for instance, the prostitute's friend was a post-op murdered by a violent john, but my impression is pre-op hookers don't really stay in the business after the operation...but maybe I'm wrong about this...?

Apparently before it landed on the WB, the VMars people were aiming for someplace a little edgier.

Last week's Terriers was awesome, this week's wasn't quite as good but the bookending scenes were pretty brutal. The season's overall pacing has been outstanding.

i haven't watched the latest Terriers yet but i'm watching last week's right now and so far i just love this show to fuckin' death

well, at least this solves my dilemma of even bothering to catch up with the last 4 episodes of Undercovers

― Nhex, Thursday, November 4, 2010 6:36 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

ditto

Me too! Has it been renewed yet? Feels like a show that could grow. (Maybe time for a thread?) xp

although honestly as unremarkable as "Outlaw" and "Undercovers" are they're still better than that "The Event" horseshit NBC apparently still hasn't given up on

No word on a renewal yet, no, though one-season wonders on FX are pretty rare. xp

i don't know if it would make a lot of sense to start a "Terriers" thread with 3 weeks left in the season and not a whole lot of confidence around that it'll get renewed, but there's been some discussion of it here: FX Network hourlong dramas xpost

FX told Shawn Ryan about a month ago that if the numbers can't even make it past 500,000 there's no hope it will get renewed. If they renew it, it will be based on the quality but I honestly don't see it happening. Would absolutely love to be wrong though, because it's probably the show I look forward to most every week at the moment.

oh dude Terriers is an integral part of my week...

I'm just drinking it in while it lasts, as I have almost no expectation that we'll ever hear from it again. WHICH IS A CRIME!

Also, I thought the easiness of the relationship b/w Britt and the tg hooker was fascinating, even if their storyline was kind of quaint.

They're the most inviting and watchable characters on TV at the moment imo.

Idk with low-level buzz like this floating around the interwebs perhaps FX will decide to keep it going...

or maybe they're just keeping the time slot warm for Two and a Half Men reruns...

i hope they do more with the lawyer in some of the later episodes, i love her

imo FX should know that they shit the bed by a) not running many good promos for it in advance (I had no idea what it was about until I saw the pilot, whereas I'm already sick of ads for that boring looking boxing show Lights Out) and b) not putting it on the same night as Sons of Anarchy.

I keep hoping they're gonna bring back Olivia Williams...(xpost)

btw they usually rerun last week's episode after SoA

I think it's down to simple cost. I don't think they can justify spending the money if the ratings remain this low.

Terriers ratings last night (above 500K!)

Terriers (61 minutes)
- 0.667 million viewers
- 0.4/1 HH
- 0.3/1 A18-49

I'm feeling reasonably positive about its chances. Rubicon, on the other hand, I'm guessing is fucked...

imo FX should know that they shit the bed by a) not running many good promos for it in advance (I had no idea what it was about until I saw the pilot, whereas I'm already sick of ads for that boring looking boxing show Lights Out) and b) not putting it on the same night as Sons of Anarchy.

I gotta say i think the title of the show has to shoulder some of the blame too.

yeah...i think i mentioned in a previous post that the ambiguous name doesn't help. the earliest promos just had Hank and Britt sitting around while actual terriers ran by.

I'm glad I didn't view or get emotionally invested in any of the TV shows this season, the majority of the new ones have been canceled. Then again I didn't want to get caught up in the weirdness that gets attached to one season wonders (Firefly, I'mma lookin your way!).

gosh guys if Terriers gets cancelled I might cry

the majority of new shows always get cancelled. using that as an excuse to not check them out is, to use a dramatic analogy, like never dating because you hate breaking up.

Actually very few shows have been cancelled compared to those that have been given full season orders. Not that those shows are worth watching, just saying.

Of course, Lone Star, probably Rubicon, and probably Terriers, will all be cancelled. So you were probably right to ignore them, though the latter two are good enough that they're worth watching anyway.

plus with cable shows i usually don't feel as bad because they usually get to shoot a whole season, and then if they're not picked up at least they're not just kinda left hanging with unresolved plot threads or not having a chance to kinda hit their stride.

I got the feeling from a Donal Logue interview that Terriers ends, if not on a cliffhanger, with a lot of character threads left to be resolved.

RIP nonsensical pretty spy lady

http://s4.daemonstv.com/tv/up/2010/11/UNDERCOVERS-Crashed-550x366.jpg

;_; miss u

She is gorgeous. The plus? You may get to see her on another show sooner or later. The minus? It might be another NBC show.

I'm guessing both Terriers and Rubicon get another season given how FX and AMC have treated other shows in the past. They're both good about giving shows time to find an audience.

Also (and I remember someone saying this on ILX, but don't remember who/where) Terriers feels like the kind of show that could do amazing syndication on network. The profanities + any nudity are really non essential to getting the show and it's really high quality writing.

Man, Paula Malcolmson is in like everything I've been watching this year - Caprica, Sons of Anarchy, and now she just popped up in The Event (with Hal Holbrook!).

i'm not sure what "syndication on network" means. like do syndicated reruns on broadcast affiliates, or first run episodes like on the Baywatch/Xena syndicated lowbrow drama circuit?

I guess either/or, tho I think a show needs 3 seasons or something to ink a syndicated reruns deal? So I guess what I had in mind was more like first run episodes running later -- tho really my model for cable programming getting network versions is Sex in the City on My9 (which is obviously more of the rerun deal).

well...yeah shows usually need to get to about 60 episodes to get a traditional syndication deal, but nowadays with a thousand cable channels all looking for cheap content to fill up the broadcast day, a lot of short-lived shows are getting picked up and rerun, usually stuff with a big cult or a "brilliant but cancelled" rep, like IFC playing Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared lately. when NBC canceled Southland, TNT bought the episodes they'd run plus the unaired episodes, but a cable channel like that can't afford to produce a show like the way NBC did, so when they make new episodes there'll be a smaller budget, smaller cast. when FX canceled Damages a few months ago, DirecTV decided to get into producing shows and pick it up, but that was a show that won Emmys and had a movie stars in the cast, Terriers isn't gonna get a deal like that.

It used to be you needed a minimum of 100 aired episodes to get a syndication package on local stations, but that's changed a lot in recent years, especially with cable networks not caring about that number anymore and picking up lots of network shows mid-run, like TBS and The Office. You still notice flagging shows still get really good prospects for renewal with season 5/6, even if it's not doing that well, since they'll hit #100 with it. The New Adventures of Old Christine was one of those ones that almost made it w/5 seasons and 88 episodes.

sadly i agree with some dude about Terriers, I mean, if even Veronica Mars couldn't make it on UPN/WB, and this show can't make it on FX... chances are quite slim

well, shows going into syndication mid-run isn't new, the Simpsons has been on 5 days a week everywhere since the mid-90s.

yeah, but that was well after it had 100 episodes (I think). it stills feel weird to me for shows like The Office or My Name is Earl to go to cable when it's been on network for only two or three seasons

I laughed a few times during Running Wilde last night, but it is pretty poor. It's 1.3 rating in the demo doesn't bode well for it's survival, and I'm okay with that.

Terriers is really great. Only three episodes left. ;_;

Terriers was CRAZY GOOD tonight. I honestly might go into a brief depression if/when I find out it's not coming back.

same here :(

I feel reasonably certain that we'll get a conclusion to the real estate conspiracy plot by the end of the season, as they've left themselves the next three episodes to resolve it. Not that it's my favourite part of the show, but at least whatever cliffhangers there might be, it won't be that.

xxp otm - this show just keeps getting better. tonight's ep was SUSPENSEFUL & HEARTBREAKING. if this gets canceled, it will be the the biggest waste of a good thing I've witnessed in a long time - well, since Party Down got the axe, I guess.

yeah it outdoes itself every episode

I was impressed that it was a great ep despite having almost no laughs.

Also: crap.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/amc-cancels-rubicon,47570/

While I enjoyed Rubicon, I kind of saw that coming.

Hang in there, Terriers!

I've noticed a few more articles recently with critics/writers/other actors pleading with the public at large to watch Terriers. Donal Logue was on Carson Daly last night doing the same, though he seemed like he'd be satisfied with the 13 episodes they've done if there are no more to be made. He called it the greatest job as an actor he's ever had.

I think he's basically accepted that it won't be renewed.

Not that many would care but Top Chef: Just Desserts started out as meh and is winding up as fucking terrible.

I've only seen a couple of episodes but the competing heels (shrill campy dude and his sullen nemesis) gave me many lols

Desserts are my least favourite thing both in Top Chef and in actual meals.

One of my friends is a pastry chef, so I've had enough fancy dessert to last me a lifetime.

Let this be a lesson to fox the next time they try to promote a really good show with a dumb fucking billboard with a little dog biting a business card

While I could understand the reason why Just Desserts came about (in Top Chef barely anyone can make a dessert and when they do, they are usually sent home as a result), I can't see how they could have justified a whole season. I mean celebrity couple tea cookies. Are you fucking kidding me? "This is the Oprah and this is the Steadman."

I have seen literally every episode of Top Chef regular and Masters, and will continue to watch them, and despite that I have only watched a few episodes of Just Desserts. Awful cast.

the shrill campy dude is obviously one of the worst people to ever walk this earth but I enjoyed laughing at him not realizing how unbearable he was to everyone else

Comcast's potential hiring of CBS veteran Nancy "Soulja Boy" Tellem suggests that The Peacock may dump the "modern urbanite" stuff in favor of the broad, CBS-like shows that bring in the masses.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=147015

do networks ever change their whole style overnight because of executive turnover? i mean the big 4 have basically worked the same respective niches for decades now with small gradual changes.

NBC is in such a bad position that I don't think it would be much of a loss for them to change overnight. Well, "overnight" in TV terms. When is pilot season finished? Because that would be the time. The worry is that the pet shows like Community that have been kept around would probably get axed pretty quickly. Parks and Recreation is already in that mess.

Yeah... my big fear is that even though they have the best sitcoms on TV, more or less, NBC'd be financially justified to cancel them all.

are people still pretending P&R wasn't on the fall schedule because of the network/ratings and not because the lead actress was having a baby while other shows were shooting new episodes?

They shot the first six episodes of Season 3 in the spring just so that they could air in time for the fall! (which must've made the midseason move incredibly annoying to the cast and crew)

yeah i dunno, not knowing all the ins and outs of production schedules, but i still imagine that'd leave them with a lull where they wouldn't have episodes ready to run the whole season and NBC probably made a pretty rational choice. i am glad that they're finally putting comedies on another night for mid-season instead of putting all their eggs in the Thursday basket.

Turnaround on sitcoms, even single-camera ones, isn't that long.

Like, the episodes we were watching tonight were probably shot about 3-4 weeks ago.

It wasn't an issue of having the episodes. P&R was the previous regime's show, and the new one wasn't sure how to deal with it. Outsourced is basically them trying to break in a new hit comedy and, if I can be so cynical, to get rid of P&R.

xxp fair enough, it may be a valid reason. it just stings in the gut that the other excuse was they wanted to put on Outsourced, for which there can be no moral justification. well ok no.

wait, are they moving P&R to another night? it seems more likely that they'll just kick P&R or Community off the schedule (since Outsourced does better than both). maybe they'll put it in the Undercovers Wednesday slot.

yeah...which means Poehler's maternity leave would've been a few weeks instead of a few months? good deal for her imo. (xpost)

They've also been filming episodes as normal.

It wasn't an issue of having the episodes. P&R was the previous regime's show, and the new one wasn't sure how to deal with it. Outsourced is basically them trying to break in a new hit comedy and, if I can be so cynical, to get rid of P&R.

― Gukbe, Thursday, November 11, 2010 10:35 PM (52 seconds ago) Bookmark

did you seriously just begrudge a network for trying out new shows in the fall? i mean they didn't cancel ANY of the comedies from last season and you're mad at them because you figure they thought about it?

mad? I'm just saying that with regime change the programming sometimes changes. I have issues with the way NBC has dealt with P&R, but don't try to paint me as some raving super-fan who is FUCKING OUTRAGED that the network isn't throwing everything they've got at the shows I like and damn the ratings.

I've been sad all season that P&R isn't being aired, but I'm also happy that I no longer have to do something for half an hour while I wait for 30 Rock. They were nice enough to put the two funny shows they have left in one convenient 8pm-9pm block for me.

yeah...i am glad that i can just tune out after 9 now (although i usually end up watching Big Bang Theory since i can watch Community on demand later).

sorry gukbe i just like giving the P&R fans shit tbh, i enjoy the show but the attachment people have to it mystifies me

speaking of on demand, Kabletown takes a week longer to make FX shows available for some reason so i've been watching Terriers on a lag and get so impatient every time i hear about how great the episode i'll get to see next week is.

wait, what did they do to p&r?

P&R was surprisingly good last season, but I won't weep if it gets cancelled after this one (The Office probably should have been canned after season 3, despite some brilliant stuff in 4).

Thinking about it, I only watch three comedies, Parenthood, and Chuck as far as NBC goes. And Chuck I'm on the verge of quitting on every week. I'd like to see them completely rejig the network, although hopefully not modelled after CBS.

held new episodes back for mid-season instead of bringing it back in the fall (xpost)

ah.

I still tune in for L&O:SVU aside from the Thursday comedies (well, the good ones), but that's about the extent of my relationship with NBC at this point. I started The Event, but I'm two episodes behind now and haven't noticed any nagging desire catch up.

The Event is awful, though I only made it through one and a half episodes. I'm not sure how much the cornball ads play into it, but NBC still feels to me like most of it's schedule is them trying to approximate what's popular but failing miserably. It's basically the network version of Steve Martin in Bringing Down the House.

yeah...i probably watch NBC more than any other network but, again, that's because i watch a lot of stuff OnDemand and they have the most shows available. Outlaw was kinda growing on me and i was listlessly sticking with Undercovers, but they'll be over soon. i dropped out of The Event just a little later than Gukbe, really dire.

i have no idea what's on what anymore

spoken like a true t0rrenter/Canadian

best new fall show that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is probably Better With You, which is not great and i won't mind terribly if it doesn't survive, but it always seems to get a few belly laughs out of me.

I'm at the point with the broadcast networks that I give their shows 1, maybe 2, episodes before I give up. Not to be a cable snob, but ya know, time. I wasn't that impressed with Better With You but maybe I'll give it another shot.

it's def gotten better since the pilot.

I watch Better With You because I'm already watching The Middle and I'm too lazy to get up. I can verify that it has improved, but it's still no better than the majority of '90s sitcom bombs that it reminds me of. (Joanna Garcia deserves better. Reba was such a great show and she was a great part of it, and now she's just sleepwalking through this.)

(Likewise with Debra Jo Rupp.)

yeah the women definitely don't get many of the laugh lines, but the dudes are funny imo. The Middle is kind of a void to me, every time i try to watch it it's like i'm watching dead air.

Buncha news:

http://www.movieline.com/2010/11/nbc-sked-shakeup-parenthood-to-mondays-parks-and-rec-returns-and-more.php

I still don't understand why Parenthood is running at 10pm. It's light family drama that would probably do better earlier in the evening.

A full 3-hour comedy block. That's...quite a move. Also, it'll be interesting to see how well Outsourced holds up without the Office lead-in.

Actually, has there ever been a 3 hour comedy block?

I can't imagine 30 Rock and Outsourced share much of an audience.

3-hour comedy block. ABC did it in the early 90s, but I don't think it's been done since.

Definitely surprising. I guess this means they have a ton of confidence in 30 Rock, or are admitting they're just not gonna cancel it ever (well, until Alec Baldwin gets tired of it). Very happy both Community and Parks & Rec are safe.

30 Rock does well enough as well as having a lot of cultural caché. It would be a bold move to not renew it. I think if it was going to be cancelled it would have been during or just after the first season. It was also helped by the strike in its second.

Yeah, the only time 30 Rock was up in the air was after S1. Then it won some awards and, since NBC doesn't really have a lot to hang its hat on these days, they kept bringing it back year after year.

I like that they're shoving Outsourced to the very end of the lineup, making it much easier to avoid. I'll give Perfect Couples a try, but I would've preferred they move The Office to 8, tail it with Perfect Couples, and then move Community to 9, tailed with P&R and 30 Rock so I could just watch 90 minutes straight of the funny shows.

You're right, Gukbe, but putting it at 10 (in addition to the renewal) is almost an admission that they don't care how many people are watching the show at this point. I'll still be enjoying it, fortunately It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's season should be over by the time 30 Rock moves this season.

I was thinking about why they wouldn't pair Perfect Couples after the Office (like they did w/Outsourced, to give it a bump) and I only have two guesses: 1) they remembered that it makes sense to pair Office and P&R and 2)Perfect Couples is a dog and they don't care if it gets a shit lead-in from Community.

move Community to 9, tailed with P&R and 30 Rock so I could just watch 90 minutes straight of the funny shows

I would have liked that as well; now I will probably just tivo these three because there's no way I'm sitting through the rest of that lineup.

We've overlooked the most important thing here, though.

RON FUCKING SWANSON IS BACK ON TV!

Parks and Rec always should have been paired with The Office but never was. I think they're giving it one last shot.

Also, putting 30 Rock at 10 is probably because they know the core audience will follow it, and that core audience is much larger than what The Apprentice has been getting. Outsourced move is interesting, but I really think they just don't know where else to put it.

The likelihood that Outsourced's audience follows it to 10:30 is slim. CANCELLATION AHOY!

Weinman pretty much nailed my thoughts - though I love Community and his endless support of studio audience sitcoms gets a bit tiresome.

That's my thinking. Also, if Parks' numbers drop significantly from Outsourced's numbers in that timeslot, RIP Swanson

Weinman pretty much nailed my thoughts - though I love Community and his endless support of studio audience sitcoms gets a bit tiresome.

― Nhex, Monday, November 15, 2010 9:46 PM (7 seconds ago) Bookmark

lol him and his damn multi-cams

This person should go marry Perpetua.

Definitely surprising. I guess this means they have a ton of confidence in 30 Rock, or are admitting they're just not gonna cancel it ever (well, until Alec Baldwin gets tired of it).

Lorne Michaels knows where all of the bodies are buried.

Even though he has some weird opinions, I totally love Weinman.

heh, me too, essentially

Raising Hope would be greatly improved without Kate Micucci in it

yeah, it would be so much better if she was only a guest actor on 2 episodes. oh wait...

two too many!

Another really great Terriers tonight.

Same old conjecture on why it failed, but still worth a read unless you don't want to get too hyped for the last two episodes.

I agree that the marketing was wrong, and I think there's something to the class thing, and possibly the tone thing (though I don't see how this show started any tonally different than Justified). I don't really give much credence to the title issue everyone else does, and I'm also not sure that the serialization thing was a problem.

Not just great. I thought tonight's episode was just shy of brilliant.

Sepinwall's piece yesterday on the show was the kind of urgent writing that, in volume, may actually earn the show a second season...if FX has their ear to the ground. http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/why-you-should-be-watching-terriers-and-why-fx-should-save-it

Mo Ryan also put up a defense, I'm guessing these guys had some kind of sit-down: http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/11/17/terriers/

I have to agree that the first two episodes were decent, but don't show the promise the show has (unlike say, the third episode and pretty much every episode afterward). There was a ton of backstory to unpack for the season, though, so I'm not sure what else they could've done besides put the first two eps on the premiere night.

Loved the bit where Britt asked the guy to smile.

If they'd better planned it (which they obviously didn't), they'd have the dvd set ready to release within two weeks of the finale. Give or take, a half a million people are watching each week. At least some percentage of those people would run out and buy it immediately. Friends would be able to sit down and watch it from E1 to E13 and then be ready to pick it up in S2 where S1 left off. Profits from dvd sales would be channeled back into production costs. There's definitely a mounting buzz out there as the end draws close. FX missed a chance to make right what they made very wrong from the beginning.

well, the pattern with TV shows these days, especially cable shows and especially FX shows, is to hold off on releasing a season on DVD until right before the next season starts broadcasting, so they can advertise and stir up publicity for both at once. they probably won't release Terriers on DVD in less than 9 months unless they've already canceled it right away and kinda just want to get all of their obligations regarding the show out of the way ASAP.

'that long and that ugly, huh?'

I loved the cigarette. I guess it was probably luck that they gave the ex-partner the nicotine inhaler/whatever you call it in the first episode, but it was a minor detail that became a great orientation tool.

did my part and sent out a quick email to FX begging them not to cancel the show

Me too, and it's the first time I've ever done that.

me three, also first time.

4

5

I have to say that I didn't really care for the major plot twist in this week's episode. challopy I guess.

6!

We should all remember that this show gets 1/6 of the audience of Sons of Anarchy. It could double its current numbers and still not be enough to get a second season.

7

I take comfort in a couple of those columns mentioning that the season/series finale is a satisfying conclusion. I really hope that's true.

8, btw.

Hmm....

RT @ShawnRyanTV: Great #Terriers ratings news. Last night was up more than 50% in demo from last week. Up more than 30% in Total Viewers!

9 here

I also said "P.S. Louie is amazing"

We should all remember that this show gets 1/6 of the audience of Sons of Anarchy. It could double its current numbers and still not be enough to get a second season.

― Gukbe, Thursday, November 18, 2010 4:42 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the most frustrating thing, which that listicle linked upthread about reasons the show was low rated didn't even mention, is it probably would've instantly gotten a much bigger amount of SOA's audience if they just put both shows on the same night. both shows seasons started and ended the same time, but different nights? just dumb.

I would have watched Terriers if it started when all the other new shows started. Because it started early I didn't bother to play catchup.

i think the cable tradition of running/starting shows in the summer so they don't have to compete with the networks' fall schedule is a good one, generally speaking.

yeah but wasn't Terriers only a month ahead oh fall's schedule?

both shows seasons started and ended the same time, but different nights? just dumb.

Because of the TV-MA content they can't really air it before 10. If you try a 10pm lead-in then you're taking a huge risk in viewer drop-off at 11. That's pretty late to commit to a new hour long for a lot of people. They also repeat Terriers after SoA every week so I'm not sure the lead-in is all that important.

Gukbe is right, except it's a fake reason because there are technically no restrictions for cable like that. It's dumb.

Just saw that the title for the Terriers finale is titled "Hail Mary". Clever.

good point, Gukbe, hadn't thought about that. i always forget that there are things 10pm shows can do that 9pm shows can't, which seems like such an arbitrary cutoff point (and i say that as someone who understands when people complain if an 8pm show goes a little far).

also I suspect that like AMC, FX's main revenue stream is still airing movies in prime-time. this could be a total lie.

Both are far better than I expected they might be, but especially Raising Hope. Martha Plimpton has been preparing for this role her whole life. SO GOOD.

i think for most basic cable channels rerunning movies is a big part of what they do, but FX has way more original programming than AMC

it took Raising Hope for me to realize how many things I've seen Plimpton in over the years and how good she is

hah, i had a similar realization

re: FX, i just can't help but notice how weird it is that they'll lead-in to a show like Damages with Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. also, putting on very old reruns of Rescue Me at like 3 am Saturday night

for example, tonight's prime-time lineup: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, followed by My Super Ex-Girlfriend, and then a repeat of this week's Sons of Anarchy

Even outside of my own (considerable) personal bias, I agree with Sepinwall + others that the show should be salvaged from cancellation, retitled & remarketed, not just to appease the critics/cultists, but b/c it is actually a show that could potentially have a very broad appeal if, you know, people were aware of its existence.

what's raising hope all about?

the title was so generic i never peeped it

Kid hooks up with a girl in the pilot who, as it turns out, is a serial killer. She gets sent to prison, where she has a baby, and he gets custody after she's executed (much funnier than it sounds). Now the kid and baby are living in a house with his offbeat parents and senile great grandmother. He befriends the hip snarky girl who works at the supermarket and kind of falls in love with her, despite her having a boyfriend who's off at school somewhere.

Those are the basics. The funny is in the details.

i went to grade school with the lead guy on that show and i feel like a character on a tv show that's doing a sitcom-within-a-sitcom storyline whenever i catch an ad

i am forcing these inanities on you guys so that i can stop myself from starting a blog that does really long "community" recaps read by no-one, sorry

Haha, please bring them here! Or to the Community thread.

yeah for serious, i spend most of my friday lunch hour reading what people are saying about community, if you do start the blog make sure to link it here.

i have been using ILX in lieu of hosting a worthless blog for years, join the party bro

have we lolled at The Cape yet? because we should really do that.

Yeah, wtg NBC. Because Heroes wasn't ridiculous enough, and didn't tank fast enough, we bring you THE CAPE! Guaranteed to be a footnote in tv lore before Spring 2011.

not that they haven't failed enough, but it feels like they suddenly had to rush out a bunch of crap shows onto the air oh wait

three now! she's been in three of these fucking episodes!

(this has been a message from the 'keep that annoying actress off raising hope' committee)

I like Kate Micucci :(

lol i just thought of you when she popped up. and it looks like they're also rerunning the first episode she was in tonight. Micucci The Human Furby is definitely a bit much sometimes, but when she pops up on kind of cutesy wacky shows like Scrubs or Raising Hope i can't say she sticks out like a sore thumb or throws off the level the show's operating on or anything.

(xpost)

i'll admit it... i like her

though that moment from last week's episode where she discusses how they dropped the dead tooth angle because It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia already used it totally killed me

I missed it last week, but they just came out and said that?

well she did it in character like "i thought this made me unique but this TV show is doing it" but still, yeah

Britt! What are you doing?! (playing an angle, I presume.) #terriers

::shakes fist at anyone who uses twitter hashtags on ilx::

otm! #ilx #internetiquette

OH FUCK #ohfuck

OTM!! #mumford

haha i love that the dude from Mumford is on the show AND changed his name and has a dark past like his character in Mumford

If only FX had promoted the winks and nods to Mumford this show might have had a bigger audience.

lol

some unsettling stuff going on in this Terriers ep. of course it all wraps up next week...

the only thing i like about being a week behind on episodes of Terriers because i watch it OnDemand is that i always have one more episode left to watch than everybody else.

"the world can't end today, bcz it is already tomorrow in Australia"

last Terriers tnite. i finally saw the penultimate episode. is this show so good or what?

You guys, this is going to play out either really sad or really awesome and I have no idea what or how! (Terriers, that is.)

Holy shit, I can't believe I'm watching something this good. Like, how does this show even exist?!!

a tad anticlimatic, but still pretty awesome. I also love it when shows do a final episode and basically sum up the show's personality/mission statement in the last scene

I was figuratively breathless until about the last ten minutes, but I realize they had to semi-wrap it up in positive way...so it was a comedown. But up to that point, WOW.

A really enjoyable ending, I thought. It turned quickly for them, as these things are bound to do when you have that much to wrap up, but by they did a pretty nice job of tying it into the beginning so everything came full circle. The last scene really got to me. They do (did) the relaxed, witty-but-not-TOO-witty banter better than anyone else on TV right now.

Really great stuff all season though. Extra impressive when you think that they wrangled all of that out of the simple and rather slight concept of a buddy PI show.

Terriers not renewed.

:(

Brutal. :(

FX has officially canceled Terriers, its critically beloved yet criminally ignored neo-noir about private eyes. According to Deadline, the show—which just wrapped its first season last week—was the lowest-rated freshman drama series in the history of the network, with an average of 970,000 viewers per episode, only half of which were in the coveted 18-49 demographic. (If it’s any consolation, it got one good season, which is more than a lot of potentially great shows get these days.) Angry fans are urged to start bombarding FX offices with cute and cuddly dogs.

heartbreaking news :(

That is fucking sad, esp in light of how badly the much-better-rated Walking Dead shit the bed last night.

I don't mind talking about this in two different threads, because it DOES suck. See also here: DONAL LOGUE POLL

Def one of the best one-season wonders ever, in a year that had two good ones (this and Rubicon).

Terriers way better than Rubicon imo but this is no time to be mean when we can all mourn together RIP Terriers u were teh greatest

no I can agree with that - Rubicon took a while to get in gear, but Terriers didn't have one bad episode, which is sort of miraculous for a 13-ep first season. Also, Rubicon ends on a huge cliffhanger, and Terriers ends with a lot of loose ends taken care of.

did rubicon get renewed?

No.

sadness. yeah, it's up there with the great one-season wonders...

Guys, guys, don't worry. Britt and Hank are sitting on a beach somewhere in Mexico drinking margaritas. That's gotta be the case.

Actually, they went straight (last line of this).

That's what I was hoping.

interesting article, nice to hear that the president of FX is that up front and honest about things. i still think that he's wrong that the marketing was just fine, though, the ads really should have had more going on than just a bunch of quick cuts of action and guns and one character saying "god I hope you have a plan," something that put across a little more of the show's essence

I agree that they handled the ad campaign wrong, but I honestly have no idea how it could've been done right. The show's both incredibly easy to settle into and incredibly hard to distill in just 15 or 30 seconds of footage.

I just hope that all those involved get a chunk of money from dvd sales. I'll be buying it on release day.

So people who otherwise share similar tastes to mine (I'm looking at you Johnny Fever), should I be watching The Walking Dead?

imo it's kind of underwhelming and wouldn't recommend it as a must-see, but on the other hand 6 episodes isn't a big investment of your time and if you think you'd enjoy a show about zombies regardless of quality you probably will

i was kinda excited for it but then i started hearing really mixed things. maybe when the whole season is done airing i'll check it out (maybe it'll be a summer catchup thing)

the finale ran yesterday, so you can do that now fyi

I didn't watch, so I have no idea.

It would have been interesting to see where the second season of Terriers would have picked up if it had been renewed.

At first, I thought it was nice to see the president of FX conducting a conference call to talk about the cancellation of the show but in the end, he fell right back in line with what you would expect a network exec to say: FX Marketing did adequately promote the show, and the ratings were way too low for it to continue. I finished the article thinking, why did you even bother to conduct a call?

Re: The Walking Dead, I think the show started strong but ham-handed acting, some not very good writing, and plot twists veering away from the comic (and not in a good way) made me come away with the fact that I may not bother to watch the second season.

Landgraf is STILL talking...

http://www.avclub.com/articles/exclusive-fx-president-explains-terriers-cancellat,48758/

So a very good old friend and former acting partner of mine had her first of (at least) 4 episodes as a guest star on Detroit 187 tonight. The show is not so good, but hey, legit acting work! Go friends!

thanks for reminding me that detroit 187 is still on (and terriers is not).

i'm sorry i got terriers cancelled, everybody.

FYI, Outsourced is still on too

Yeah, but it moves to 10:30 in a few weeks...hopefully meeting a quick death.

S#*! My Dad Says appears to be going strong as well

With the BBT lead-in, it really can't do worse.

I also stumbled across a website predicting renewal for Mike & Molly, which I haven't watched but am just blanket-assuming is terrible.

I'm sure it is, but CBS is hypnotoad right now.

I'm still trying to figure out what exactly changed about my brain chemistry that made me go from thinking 2 and a Half Men was surprisingly funny to thinking it is a crime against all things good and right in our world.

it's called "growing up," dan, and it happens to all of us.

maybe that explains why I suddenly started getting hairy... THERE

I'm still trying to figure out what exactly changed about my brain chemistry that made me go from thinking 2 and a Half Men was surprisingly funny to thinking it is a crime against all things good and right in our world.

for me it was the time between being charmed by charlie sheen to noticing the huge trainwreck surrounding him (about a couple episodes basically)

you sound like denise richards over here

... Mordy or me?

mordy

aw

here's my usual capn save-a-CBS post: How I Met Your Mother is still the best non-NBC sitcom on TV and Mike & Molly is easily in my top 5 favorite new shows this fall, 2 1/2 and Big Bang have seen better days though and Rules of Engagement is just kind of filler. haven't seen Shat My Ner Says.

did anyone read that profile on chuck lorre in the nyer? never realised he wrote the theme song to teenage mutant ninja turtles

Is Big Bang less popular? I'd love to see Community last forever is all...

BBT still kills in the ratings, i just meant it's been funnier than it is lately

it's still pretty funny, tho

or at least a good bit more consistent than stuff like Outsourced, which can actually be hilarious but oftentimes is just cringe-inducing

well yeah, "broad but often clueless jokes about nerds" tends to go down a little better than "broad but often clueless jokes about India"

well the other thing too is that BBT does the jokes about India better than Outsourced, which generally succeeds/fails based on how much of the episode is dedicated to making Todd look like a moron

heh yeah true

I keep watching Running Wilde. I like every scene with Will Arnett in it

i skipped a few of those but watched last night and it was better than the earlier episodes; or, my expectations had just dropped and it was acceptable to me now.

also, that raising hope show is pretty funny, in a My Name Is Earle kind of way.

Martha Plympton OWNS Raising Hope

did anyone read that profile on chuck lorre in the nyer? never realised he wrote the theme song to teenage mutant ninja turtles

― just sayin, Wednesday, December 8, 2010 2:26 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

also, that raising hope show is pretty funny, in a My Name Is Earle kind of way.

― akm, Wednesday, December 8, 2010 5:08 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

same creator as My Name Is Earl, which makes me kind of u_u since i've always been comfortable in my dislike of that show and don't want my enjoyment of Raising Hope to make me reconsider it

Earl crapped out pretty early even for those of us who liked it, like by the end of season 2. it's undoubted that Raising Hope is very similar, but without being locked into that redemption episode formula and with MUCH better actors

Yeah, wtg NBC. Because Heroes wasn't ridiculous enough, and didn't tank fast enough, we bring you THE CAPE! Guaranteed to be a footnote in tv lore before Spring 2011.

Since I've now seen promos for this featuring Summer Glau, I nave no choice but to watch this when it starts up. Excuse me while I go wipe up my fanboy drool.

i wonder if pitches for sci-fi/fantasy shows now include the words "and we'll have someone from Firefly in it, the nerds will eat that shit up"

Raising Hope has been picked up for next season.

Now, if I could just remember to watch it when it's on.

i like this show, too

good news!

btw i should probably put a link to my new TV thread here: 2011 winter/spring TV thread: mid-season replacements, returning favorites, etc.