Category Archives: Dramas

The West Wing

Posted on by meekthegeek
Reply

This show definitely needs to go on my list of Top Character Introductions in Pilots. While the whole episode is about the main character, the President of the United States (Martin Sheen), we only meet him in the last five minutes. His entrance is unforgettable; and his character is classic Aaron Sorkin.

When you’ve seen one or two pieces of Aaron Sorkin’s work, it’s easy to spot another one. Unless The West Wing is your first introduction to the genius behind A Few Good Men, The Social Network, Sports Night and yes, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, this pilot screams “Sorkin wrote me” the whole time. Continue reading →

Wonder Woman

Posted on by meekthegeek
2

The Wonder Woman series had a few false starts before the 1975 TV movie, which spawned the well-remembered Lynda Carter series. Even when it finally got off the ground, the show — full title, The New Adventures of Wonder Woman — only lasted one season before it was retooled and moved to another network (CBS).

In recent years, other attempts at bringing the DC Comics property to the small screen have failed, including one led by Joss Whedon. You could hardly escape last year’s debate about Adrianne Palicki’s pants. Why is bringing the Amazonian princess to life such a challenge? And what did the 1970s series get right that others missed? Continue reading →

A Few Recent Pilots

Posted on by meekthegeek
Reply

I haven’t been blogging much these past few weeks, but there has been plenty to watch. Here’s just a quick look at a few pilots I’ve caught recently.

Alcatraz

In case you haven’t heard, this is the latest J.J. Abrams tale of alternate realities. It tells the story of what really happened to all of the prisoners who were in Alcatraz when it was closed down.  The pilot came with a bonus second episode on the same night. Two episodes were enough to worry me that show is just another procedural. If it’s just going to be about searching out the murderer of the week, we don’t care. Even if said murderers haven’t aged since 1960-whatever. Basically, it’s a cop-with-an-unlikely-partner show. The partner in this case is a comic book store owner (Jorge Garcia), so there’s tons of potential for geek jokes. Continue reading →

The Good Wife

Posted on by meekthegeek
Reply

The central character in The Good Wife, Alicia Florrick (Juliana Marguiles), doesn’t speak a word for the first three minutes she is on screen, but we learn a great deal about her. The first thing we see is her hand, clasped in that of a man. The two people walk to a podium in front of a sea of faces and cameras. It takes only seconds to paint the picture: Alicia, pale and drawn in a conservative grey suit, is the husband of a disgraced public figure. Her husband, Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), the State’s Attorney of Illinois, has been caught up in a sex scandal and resigned. Alicia stands dutifully beside him, the “good wife” the title has promised us. Continue reading →

The Finder, or Sneaking in the Back

Posted on by meekthegeek
5

Let’s talk backdoor pilots for a moment, shall we?

When you think spinoff, you usually to think of a story that follows an existing character to a new setting (think Frasier, A Different World, or *shudder* Joey). Spinoffs that originate with backdoor pilots are generally just new shows from the existing show’s creators. The characters get introduced in an episode of original show — and episode that appears to have very little if anything to do with… well, anything. Continue reading →

One Tree Hill

Posted on by meekthegeek
Reply

Since the Socs rumbled with the Greasers–and probably before that–storytellers have posited the kids who have against the kids who have not. One Tree Hill tells the story of two half brothers from opposite sides of the tracks. Since then, it has told the stories of marriages, pregnancies and a high school shooting, but the brotherly duo is at its core. The pilot centers around their relationship. Continue reading →

Grimm

Posted on by meekthegeek
1

One could dismiss Grimm as just another police procedural with a sheen of fantasy painted over it. Fans of the show, which is on a lot of “best of” lists as 2011 draws to a close, will insist it is anything but. By all accounts it is a highly original show that puts a bona fide twist on the mystery-of-the-week formula. I, for one, have only seen the pilot. And based on this first episode, Grimm appears to be just another cop drama. It’s very possible that was the intention, seeing as NBC is the network that gave us the Law & Order franchise and has failed miserably in recent years with sci-fi and fantasy. So maybe creators Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt needed to present a first episode that felt tried-and-true. Their gambit worked. The show has now been picked up for a full season. Continue reading →

American Gothic

Posted on by meekthegeek
1

Okay, it’s compare-and-contrast time. American Horror Story fans, meet American Gothic. I’ve been thinking there is a resemblance there, beyond just the title, and the recent addition of enigmatic Sarah Paulson to the cast of the former prompted me to finally write this.

Let’s start with the subject matter. Subverting the archetype of the happy American family has been done in practically every genre of entertainment, but works especially well for horror. The idea of evil lurking beneath the facade of normalcy may be what scares us more than anything. Continue reading →

21 Jump Street

Posted on by meekthegeek
1

Even for the ’80s the 21 Jump Street theme song is cheesy. Its peppy, synthesized beat puts one more in the frame of mind to watch teenagers dance on cafeteria tables than to witness the solving of gritty, hard core crimes. Most of Part 1 of this 2-part pilot, however, sets the tone for a run-of-the-mill procedural. A young, hot-headed new cop (Johnny Depp) is out to prove himself as worthy as his dead cop father and is paired with a cranky old partner (Barney Martin), months from retirement.

“It seems you like to roll in hot and kick tails,” the older cop barks. “…’Cause with that baby face you got everybody’s been kicking yours since the seventh grade.” Continue reading →

American Horror Story

Posted on by meekthegeek
5

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a pilot that convinced me that the ensuing show was going to be something different. American Horror Story employs a lot of conventions we’ve seen before, yet this episode completely held my attention. I can’t exactly say I loved it–it’s no The Walking Dead, the brilliance of which I will never shut up about–but it has that thing. I can’t help but compare it to Locke & Key, which was screened at Comic-Con this year but never actually made it TV. The powerful aesthetic of American Horror Story (on FX) further convinced me that Locke & Key failed only because it was shopped to the wrong network, but I digress… Continue reading →