Archive for the ‘2010s’ Category
The Booth at the End
Posted on: May 9, 2013
- In: 2010s | Dramas | Web Shows
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There isn’t much to explain about the premise of The Booth at the End. A weird, nameless dude sits in a booth — at the end — in a diner and gives people cryptic assignments to complete in order to obtain things they want. It’s like The Wizard telling Dorothy to kill the witch, whom she’s never met and has no beef with, in order to go home.
Booth is a Hulu original series, but the episodes run the length of an ordinary televised show. That’s probably a bit long for a series of basically all bottle episodes. Read the rest of this entry »
Pilot Titles, Round 2
Posted on: April 17, 2013
- In: 1960s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | About Pilots
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I did an earlier post of match-the-pilot title-to-the show, but here’s a fresh batch. Some are obvious, so are not. See if you can guess which shows’ pilots these are:
2. Serenity
3. The Beginning
4. Boardwalk Empire
6. We Just Decided To
7. The Man Trap
8. Movin’ In
9. Death Has a Shadow
10. Help Wanted
Answers after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
The Americans
Posted on: April 12, 2013
- In: 2010s | Dramas
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Elizabeth and Phillip as they look in their “everyday” life.
Sex on TV can be a cheap way to get attention, whether it’s in advertising or entertainment, shorthand for “look at this!” And a pilot is where, above all else, a show needs to grab attention. It’s the rare cable drama of the past ten years that doesn’t feature at least one sex scene in its premiere episode. The pilot of The Americans, which premiered on FX several weeks ago, features not one, but three of them.
It’s easy to view the ubiquitous romp in the sheets (or airport supply closet, or… wherever) with cynicism. In this case, however, the sex serves the story brilliantly, and I’ll get to why. Read the rest of this entry »
Cougar Town, revisited
Posted on: January 9, 2013
- In: 2010s | Comedies
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Last night, TBS premiered Cougar Town to much ballyhoo. This wasn’t a pilot; Cougar Town lived on network TV for three seasons, much of that time perched atop the bubble. (You can check out my impressions of the pilot here.)
I didn’t stick with the show for very long. I know there’s wine. I know there’s a cul-de-sac. And I’ve heard that Jules and Grayson got together — hardly a surprise, based on the pilot alone. Even from the beginning the title didn’t make a hell of a lot of sense, and from what I’ve heard, made less so over the years. I honestly didn’t think the show would last long. (After all, how many Tom Petty songs are there?) Read the rest of this entry »
Bomb Girls
Posted on: November 20, 2012
Reelz Channel bills Bomb Girls as an original series, much as Soap Net took credit for the originality of Being Erica. Both are actually Canadian shows, lacking some of the sheen of more mainstream fare but with their own charm nonetheless.
The Bomb Girls pilot introduces us to a group of women working in a Canadian bomb factory during World War II. It opens with a series of very short scenes, quick brushstrokes that show us three women each under the thumb of a man. One expressing a desire to “go a little further” with her fiance is told to cool it. The next one is chastised by her husband for serving pot roast, a luxury he claims they can’t afford. The third is singing in a street choir and has the audacity to notice a passing man. Her preacher tells her with a firm hand squeeze to stay focused. Read the rest of this entry »
Saving Hope
Posted on: September 13, 2012
As Saving Hope heads toward the light, not a lot of people will mourn its passing, according to the ratings. It did so poorly this summer that NBC isn’t airing the final two episodes of the lone season. Viewers have had to watch online to find out if Charlie, a charismatic surgeon, wakes up from his coma. The finale goes online Sunday.
Saving Hope is a kind of Dead Like Me meets Grey’s Anatomy — and those two show probably don’t have a ton of audience overlap. Read the rest of this entry »
Untitled Web Series About a Space Traveler Who Can Also Travel Through Time
Posted on: September 11, 2012
“This is the best show I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” is what Abed said when he saw his first thirty seconds of Inspector Spacetime. If he was impressed with that, he should see Travis Richey’s Untitled Web Series About a Space Traveler Who Can Also Travel Through Time. For starters, the production values are much better. And if you think that the low production values are what gives Inspector Spacetime its charm, don’t worry — you won’t be starved for camp. Read the rest of this entry »
Five Ways to Ruin Your Pilot
Posted on: September 1, 2012
- In: 2010s | About Pilots | Comedies
- 1 Comment
I’ve been trying to think of a good reason to write a post on this topic for a long time. The Mindy Project is as good a reason as any.
The Mindy Project has everything going for it, with Mindy Kaling having amused us for years as both an actress and writer on The Office. She plays a doctor; we haven’t had a good doctor comedy since Scrubs. As much as I hate the term “adorkable,” she is that, a point not unnoticed by executives who scheduled her show back-to-back with New Girl. She’s got B.J. Novak on board as a producer and a director (Charles McDougall) with The Office and Parks and Recreation cred.
The pilot was released a month early, along with those of some other Fox shows, on Hulu. Some people like it. I do not. Here’s why. It commits a number of sins that are sure to damn a pilot straight to hell. Read the rest of this entry »
Pramface
Posted on: August 27, 2012
- In: 2010s | Comedies
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With a title like Pramface, a show has to draw at least a little curiosity. Add to that a pilot titled ”Like Narnia but Sexy,” and I’m in. I didn’t recognize any of the actors and had no pre-existing knowledge of this show, so titles were all I had on which to build expectations.
Now, in case you’re not up on your British, a “pram” is what we Yanks would call a “stroller.” It’s no spoiler that, by the end of this pilot populated with teenagers, somebody’s gonna wind up pregnant. (The concept holds promise for lots of other fun British slang, too, like “nappie” and “dummy.”) Read the rest of this entry »
Can you tell from the pilot?
Posted on: August 25, 2012
- In: 2010s | About Pilots
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Can you tell if a TV show is going to be any good based on its pilot? io9′s Charlie Jane Anders recently posted How to Tell from a Pilot if a TV Show is Going to be Any Good and offered some insightful tips on how to tell. She makes some great points, like how writing oneself into a hole or having a boring “thing of the week” is a recipe for failure. But quite simply, the answer to the question above is “no.” Read the rest of this entry »
