FOREVER:  Tuesday 10PM on ABC starting September 23 – If Nothing Else is On… PLAYERS:  Series creator Matthew Miller, an experienced writer/producer on shows like Chuck, 666 Park Avenue and The 100, but who hasn’t had a show that he created on the air in 15 years.  Stars Ioan Gruffudd and Alana de la […]

  BELIEVE:  Sunday 9PM on NBC (Premiere Monday 10PM on March 10) – If Nothing Else Is On… Movie wizard and newly-minted Best Director Oscar winner Alfonso Cuaron is the co-creator of BELIEVE (although it was never intended that he would stay with the show on a day-to-day basis once it went to series) and […]

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques shouldn’t be taken as full TV pilot reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content […]

  PROOF:  Tuesday 10PM on TNT – Change the Channel Is there life after pilot?  TNT’s new PROOF doesn’t make much of a first impression.  It’s a squishy attempt to fuse a medical setting with the come-into-the-light spirituality that’s made inspirational hits out of stories like Heaven Is For Real–except in this case, stripped of […]

  BENCHED:  Tuesday 10:30PM on USA – If Nothing Else Is On… BENCHED, USA Network’s latest attempt to broaden its repertoire beyond its core of light-hearted procedurals, doesn’t have much of a pilot, but there’s some potential for growth.  The pilot, written by series co-creators Michaela Watkins (better known as an actress–she was the dippy […]

  DATES:  Thursday 9PM on CW – If Nothing Else Is On… CW is barely promoting its run of the 2013 British series DATES, which the network is using (presumably for a negligible fee) to fill a few hours of its summer schedule.  It’s an oddity, the kind of show you might expect to find […]

  AGENTS OF SHIELD:  Tuesday 8PM on ABC – Potential DVR Alert Even without any connection to the multi-billion-dollar entertainment monolith that is Marvel (and behind it, Disney), the arrival of a new TV series from Joss Whedon would be an event.  Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a bedrock not just of the TV […]

  STATE OF AFFAIRS:  Monday 10PM on NBC starting November 17 – If Nothing Else Is On… PLAYERS:  Star and Executive Producer Katherine Heigl, who developed the series for herself and pitched it to all the networks, hoping to spark a bidding war (which never really happened).  Series creator and pilot director Joe Carnahan, a […]