Back again with the second installment of our Fall TV review. This review details shows that debuted between October 1st and the 14th. Without further ado…
Stalker – (CBS) Wednesday’s-10PM
Photo Credit: SpoilerTV
Starring: Dylan McDermott, Maggie Q
The Skinny: Crime show detailing the cases of the T.A.U (Threat Assessment Unit) in Hollywood. This crew tracks stalkers and I have to say this is easily the creepiest show I watched this fall. Dylan McDermott is a transfer from New York with a sketchy past, and it seems to me that everyone in the show is doing a bit of stalking themselves. It’s dark (extremely), it’s suspensful, and maybe a bit too real in some parts.
Rating: B
Follow Or Forget It: I have to admit, I almost stopped watching after the first few minutes. (Spoiler Alert) A woman is burned alive in the first 5 minutes of the show. Yeah I contemplated just stopping because to me that’s a bit intense and something you might actually see on the news one night but I toughed it out. Story telling was good, and the characters are so multi-layered you want to come back for more. I’d say follow it, but maybe on the DVR so you don’t have to watch it at night right before bed.
Bad Judge – (NBC) Thursday’s 9PM
Photo Credit: NBC
Starring: Kate Walsh, Ryan Hansen, John Ducey
The Skinny: Kate Walsh plays Judge Rebecca Wright and man is she bad. In the previews I saw, I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the jokes. Like “I had wine for breakfast”. Oh man, that’s bad. Judge Wright likes to drink, have casual sex, and dole out outrageoues punishments for her defendants. Honestly I found myself wondering what makes her so bad? I guess NBC is saying that because a woman likes to drink and have casual sex that’s a bad thing. I don’t get it. Was it funny? I’d say the title is appropriate. Kate Walsh was the highlight, so that should tell you something.
Rating: C
Follow Or Forget It: The show’s got some heart as you can see Judge Badass does care about some of her clients, but at the end of the day I was bored, not laughing and couldn’t figure out when the “bad” stuff was going to start happening. Forget it.
A to Z – (NBC) Thursday’s 9:30PM
Photo Credit: Media Confidential
Starring: Ben Feldman, Cristin Milioti
The Skinny: Oh man, not another he loves her/she hates him RomCom. Oh god please make it stop. Aww, that’s cute he’s named Andrew and she’s named Zelda…get it A to Z. Seriously, why? I thought I was watching an episode of Sons of Anarchy because Katey Sagal narrates it but then I got depressed because a motorcycle gang didn’t show up and put this show out of its misery. That’s another thing. I guess with the success of How I Met Your Mother, everybody thinks you have to have a narrator telling you the story, or putting up the character bylines on the screen like bio clips. It’s lazy and I don’t like it. Anyway, two characters that fate has brought together…eh I’m too tired. Refer to my Manhattan Love Story review in Volume 1, that’ll be easier.
Rating: D+
Follow Or Forget It: This show will not make it to 6 episodes, forget it.
Gracepoint – (FOX) Thursday’s 9PM
Photo Credit: Seriable
Starring: Anna Gunn, David Tennant
The Skinny: A murder of a 12 year old boy in a tight knit coastal community turns this small town upside down. Of course in true TV fashion, Emmett Carver is a new detective in town who has usurped a job away from detective Ellie Miller. Decent drama, good character development. It’s a who dunnit where everyone is a suspect.
Rating: B-
Follow Or Forget It: While watching it I kept thinking it’s a poor mans True Detective, (but not as skillful as that). It’s only a 10 episode mini-series so I’d say it’ll stick around, and I’ll follow it.
Mulaney – (FOX) Sunday’s 9PM
Photo Credit: Fox Spokane
Starring: John Mulaney, Nasim Pedrad, Martin Short, Elliott Gould
The Skinny: I’ve been looking forward to writing this review the most. My god this show sucked. I could honestly leave it at that, but I won’t. John Mulaney has said several times this is a rip-off of Seinfeld, except John you missed one important aspect of Seinfeld, Seinfeld was funny. At one point I thought, “oh the main character is a robot and he’s trying to find his way in the world”. The acting was stiff in some parts, and way too over the top in others. The premise is Mulaney becomes a writer for a gameshow? Yeah I was confused. Also, in the first 5 minutes guess what, the old fall back joke for bad TV shows, a prostate exam joke. Oh man, that’s funny, he got a finger up his butt. Classic.
Rating: E
Follow Or Forget It: I’m getting really tired of these shows (especially on FOX) that try their hardest at the whole awkward, hipster comedy. It’s not funny. I’ve heard from TV insiders that the episodes get funnier as the show progresses, but I don’t think we’ll get much deeper into the season as it was watched by hardly anyone. Forget it.
The Flash – (CW) Tuesday’s 8PM
Photo Credit: Charles Floate
Starring: Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin
The Skinny: Forensic analyst Barry Allen is struck by lightning and becomes “the fastest man alive”. He then is thrust into Central City to find other “meta-humans” and stop them from bringing about destruction and chaos to his city. It’s hard for me, a comic nerd to give this a fair review since I love comic book characters and DC characters to boot. I will say, this story is a bit nerdier than the CW’s other superhero “Green Arrow“. My wife, who loves watching Arrow, told me after The Flash premiere that she lost interest because it was a little too comic booky for her likes. So take that with a grain of salt.
Rating: B+
Follow Or Forget It: Again, this is a comic book show that truly follows the comic book tie-ins and so it comes across a little unbelievable. I’ll follow it, but could totally understand if it was a bit too nerdy for some people.
Cristela – (ABC) Friday’s 8PM
Photo Credit: DigitalSpy
Starring: Cristela Alonzo, María Canals Barrera, Carlos Ponce, Gabriel Iglesias
The Skinny: Cristela is a law student putting herself through school and up for a big internship at a law firm in Dallas. Along the way, you meet the characters in her crazy Latino family. Wait, are these people Latino? Much like ABC’s other show ‘blackish, I felt hit over the head with the fact that these characters were Latino. Acting was shaky, and the comedy felt forced. I kept track of how many “Latino’s are service workers” jokes and I had 6 but I feel I lost count.
Rating: C-
Follow Or Forget It: George Lopez had a show on TV for 6 seasons and this felt like George Lopez: Part 2 so this show could last. To me, it’s not funny so I’d say forget it.
Jane The Virgin – (CW) Mondays’ 9PM
Photo Credit: Novela Lounge
Starring: Gina Rodriguez, Justin Baldoni, Andrea Navedo
The Skinny: This show is based on the Venezuelan telenovela Juana la Virgen and believe me it plays like a telenovela. I’m going to write the plot and this is not fake or embellished. Jane is a virgin who is saving herself for marriage, but gets accidentally inseminated at her gynecologist with the “sample” of a former crush, now her boss, because her former crushes now wife wants to have a baby to get her husbands fortune. All the while Jane’s now fiance (a detective) is investigating the former crush on some charges. The wife of the former lover is scheming for money, all the while cheating on her husband with his best friend, and the whole thing started because the husbands sister was distracted at the gynecologist office because her wife (not a typo) was cheating on her. Yeah, you follow that?
Rating: C+
Follow Or Forget It: Honestly, the show is done in a way that somewhat pokes fun at the soap opera story-lines and goes from cheesy drama to laughable points. I probably won’t watch it because it’s not my thing, but I can see this becoming a cult hit and people having telenovela parties and it lasting a while.
Marry Me – (NBC) Tuesday’s 9PM
Photo Credit: Cinema Blend
Starring: Casey Wilson, Ken Marino
The Skinny: A couple dating for 6 years gets back from vacation and get in an argument because the woman feels they should be married already. Unbeknownst to her, he is behind her on bended knee. But before she turns around she lays into all his friends, his family and then realizes they are all there to celebrate the engagement. They do eventually get engaged, but not after a few more missteps.
Rating: B-
Follow Or Forget It: I liked that the woman made all the mistakes in this show, it was a nice change of pace from the typical guy is a buffoon sitcoms we are force fed. My wife and I were laughing during the show, so I’d say follow it.
That’s it, only one more volume to go. What show are you currently hooked on? Tweet or comment us!