Fall Pilots

THE SKED Fall Pilot Report: NBC’s “A to Z”

Posted July 22, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  A TO Z:  Thursday 9:30PM on NBC starting October 2 – If Nothing Else is On… PLAYERS:  Series creator Ben Queen (he wrote the script for Cars 2).  Non-writing producers Rashida Jones and Will McCormick.  Stars Cristin Milioti and Ben Feldman.  Supporting performers Henry Zebrowski, Lenora Crichlow and the voice of Katey Sagal.  Pilot director […]

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Fall Pilots

PREMIERING TONIGHT: THE SKED Pilot Report – NBC’s “Ironside”

Posted October 2, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  IRONSIDE:  Wednesday 10PM on NBC – Change the Channel “There are rules, dammit, and they need to be followed!”  That actual line is spoken, with a completely straight face, about four minutes into the pilot for NBC’s reboot of IRONSIDE, and it may rightly make your heart sink.  We know we’re in 2013, because […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Barry”

Posted March 26, 2018 by Mitch Salem

  BARRY:  Sunday 10:30PM on HBO – Potential DVR Alert The buzz is that HBO’s BARRY is a series that changes quite a bit from its pilot, so we’ll keep this short and return to the series later in its 8-episode run.  Co-created by star Bill Hader (who also directed the opening three episodes) and […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “American Gothic”

Posted June 23, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  AMERICAN GOTHIC:  Wednesday 10PM on CBS – Change the Channel Since even ABC is having trouble these days with its trademark soaps about melodrama, dark reveals and violence among close relations (The Family, Blood & Oil, the exhausted cancellation of Revenge), it’s not much of a surprise that CBS is completely out of its […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Killing Eve”

Posted April 9, 2018 by Mitch Salem

  KILLING EVE:  Sunday 8PM on BBCAmerica – DVR Alert Transposing an artistic concern to a familiar pop culture genre can make the artist’s work much more accessible.  When John Krasinski made The Hollars, a sensitive story about a strained family, no one bought any tickets, but when he added monsters to the mix, the […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Claws”

Posted June 12, 2017 by Mitch Salem

  CLAWS:  Sunday 9PM on TNT – If Nothing Else Is On… There’s a reason that CLAWS,  TNT’s latest foray into original programming, feels like the offspring of a multi-camera sitcom, a paycable hour and Orange Is the New Black.  The project, created by Eliot Laurence, was originally developed as a HBO half-hour, and then taken […]

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Pilot + 1

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Beyond”

Posted January 1, 2017 by Mitch Salem

  BEYOND:  Monday 9PM on Freeform (Preview Tonight at 9PM), also available on VOD/streaming – Change the Channel Add BEYOND to the growing pile of genre shows that have failed at Freeform since Pretty Little Liars became the network’s signature series, joining Guilty, Twisted and Dead of Summer.  (Shadowhunters returns on Monday but with new […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Charmed”

Posted October 15, 2018 by Mitch Salem

  CHARMED:  Sunday 9PM on CW CW’s reboot of CHARMED wants to be a lighthearted supernatural romp, but it also seeks to push as many topical buttons as it possibly can.  So while the basic story of a trio of young women witches provides a built-in tale of female empowerment, the new pilot also comes […]

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