GRANDFATHERED:  Tuesday 8PM on FOX – If Nothing Else is On… GRANDFATHERED wins the fall’s Exactly What You Think It Is prize, awarded annually to the show that has absolutely no interest in surprising its audience or even momentarily giving it pause.  (The award is a statuette in the form of a viewer half-asleep […]

  COOPER BARRETT’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING LIFE:  Sundays 8:30PM on FOX – Change the Channel The first network TV premiere of 2016 is FOX’s COOPER BARRETT’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING LIFE on Sunday (already available on various on-demand and streaming platforms)… and, well, it’s good that there’s still plenty of year yet to come. Cooper Barrett‘s […]

  THE NEVERS:  Sunday 9PM on HBO The arrival of HBO’s THE NEVERS introduces a continuing series that’s also, in a sense, a limited one.  It was initially meant to be the latest original franchise from creator/auteur/showrunner Joss Whedon, the inventor of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer universe and director of the first two Avengers […]

  GETTING ON:  Sunday 10PM on HBO – Worth A Look It’s probably safe to assume that when a network launches a short run of a new series to air only during the holiday season, and that show isn’t at all holiday-related, the show isn’t prominent in the network’s long-term plans.  HBO is turning its […]

  LUCKY 7:  Tuesday 10PM on ABC Previously… on LUCKY 7:  In a Queens, NY auto shop, (almost) all the employees have just hit a $45M lottery jackpot.  However, that hasn’t made their problems go away.  Brothers Matt (Matt Long) and Nicky (Stephen Louis Grush), both in need of money before their win was announced […]

> HOUSE OF LIES – Sundays 10PM on Showtime – If Nothing Else Is On… Showtime took a major step forward this season with its gripping new drama series Homeland, a show worthy of being mentioned with anything on TV.  The network’s new comedy HOUSE OF LIES, though, is considerably less of an event. The […]

> A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover) give plenty of notes, helpful and otherwise, and critics begin to […]

  Read All Our Fall Pilot Reports here. HOSTAGES:  Monday 10PM on CBS starting September 23 – Potential DVR Alert HOSTAGES, like this summer’s Under the Dome, finds CBS stretching its legs, expanding its brand into new areas.  The serialized drama will have a limited run of 15 episodes this fall, sharing its timeslot with […]