Dumb New Shows: Dallas

I cannot say I was a Dallas (1978) fan years back, but I understood it was part of a trend of evening soap operas, including Falcon's Crest (1981).   Of course, my favorite was Carol Burnett's spoof of the entire genre Fresno (1986). 

But 34 years later do we really want to see these same old stars back on our TV sets, even if they surround themselves with pretty little things?  With all the new shows coming to television, and hundreds of past shows to select from, is this really where TV needs to be?

On June 13th, TNT will see if they old codgers still have some life in them.  If so, I would love to see the demographics of the viewers.  I tried to get a quick peak on the TNT site, but the clip did not work - it was all commercials and scenes for another dumb show The Great Escape.  Here is a clip from YouTube.  Will nostalgia overwhelm common sense?  We shall see.

By the way, according to the Hollywood Reporter, we should not call it a primetime soap, but rather an "epic family drama."  I have other names for it as well.

Note:  Here is a good summary of Fresno, which is how I recall it as well:

A mini-series spoof of various TV primetime sopa operas set in Fresno, America's 64th largest city and showing the raisin production family of the Kensingtons centering on the matriarch Charlotte's feud with the family's arch rival Tyler Cane, the head of a powerful raisin conglomerate. Among the players are Charlotte's son, the vile, power-mad Cane Kensington; his voluptious nympho wife Talon; and a shirtless stranger, named Torch, who gets hired as a Kensington ranch hand and captures the attentions of all women he comes into contact with.

Update:  TVLine reports that Dallas has been renewed for a second season.  Oh well, I guess there is something for everyone.  Heck, even Survivor survives (I just wish they would drop them on the moon with no provisions and we can have a little bit of fun).

Civil War Era Shows Coming to TV

If you liked Hell on Wheels, the drama set in post Civil War America, then you may want to try two new series coming from the History Channel and BBC America.  

The History Channel's Hatfields & McCoys is no play on word but rather the real deal.  Broadcast over three nights, starting Memorial Day, and including stars such as Kevin Costner (William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield) and Bill Paxton (Randall “Old Ranel” McCoy), we get to learn much more about two families that have always been a throw-away term rather than a piece of history.  The History Channel sets up the story this way:

It’s the true American story of a legendary family feud—one that spanned decades and nearly launched a war between Kentucky and West Virginia...It chronicles a clash of clans that inspired passion, vengeance, courage, sacrifice, crimes and accusations, while forever transforming the two families and the region they lived in.  The Hatfield-McCoy saga begins with Devil Anse Hatfield (Costner) and Randall McCoy (Paxton). Close friends and comrades until near the end of the Civil War, they return to their neighboring homes—Hatfield in West Virginia, McCoy just across the Tug River border in Kentucky—to increasing tensions, misunderstandings and resentments that soon explode into all-out warfare between their families. As hostilities grow, friends, neighbors and outside forces join the fight, bringing the two states to the brink of another civil war.

The trailer for the show is what you would expect, with gunfire, scalping, burning homes, women with shotguns, and more.  Oddly enough, due to budget issues, the setting in Romania rather than Kentucky and West Virginia.  Costner was ready for a solid American tale, bloody or not, as retold by The Hollywood Reporter: 

From the first page I started reading and understanding and I got lodged completely in the story," he said. "I was thrilled with the history of our country. Even when it borders on being embarrassing or violent or shameful, I'm still thrilled with the story of our country and the Hatfields and McCoys are part of that DNA."

We shall see if we are similarly thrilled.

The second program from BBC America, Copper, does not premiere until August 19th.  Set in 1860s New York City, it tells the story of Kevin Corcoran and two other veterans from the Civil War as they solve crimes together in the famous Five Points neighborhood.  This British program is being filmed in a Toronto former auto parts factory rather than NYC or even the good ole USA.  What's up with all this filming outside the states?  This is BBC America's first original program and could be the start of many more should it do well. Show creator Tom Fantana provided more information in a LA Times interview: 

"Despite the fact that the show takes place in the 1860s," says show runner Tom Fontana, "it will have a very contemporary feel. We are still dealing with the same issues they were then — everything from racism to poverty, immigration, love, death, insanity,post-traumatic stress disorder." Clothes and accents are different, he says, but we're still blessed and cursed with human nature.

I just hope this is not another set up for a cop show with a different spin.  We have seen enough of this with Awake and other recent shows.  Stay tuned.

British TV: Black Mirror

If you missed last year's new show in the UK, Black Mirror, I highly recommend checking it out.  It consists of only three episodes, but each one leaves you scratching your head and wanting more.  Here is a quick primer on each:

-- National Anthem:  This episode involves the kidnapping of a princess and the outrageous demands of the terrorists that puts the prime minister in a very compromising position while showing the shallowness of the electorate.  (For a write-up from the British press go here.)

  --15 Million Merits:  Here you have a society that seems to be a gym membership run wild.  Young people continually exercise to generate credits that can be used primarily for video programs.  And as you might expect, it has an odd twist at the end.  Let's hope the gym and cable companies never watch this show together.  (For a write-up from the British press go here.)

-- The Entire History of You:  This one is a real party killer - the ability to replay via your eyeballs every episode in your life.  Not sure if you made a good impression on someone?  Well, now you can replay the event in your head forever and become really neurotic.  That tells you all you need to know about this storyline, which doesn't end well for anyone.  (For a write-up from the British press go here.)

 You may recognize a few faces in these episodes, including Allen Leech from Downton Abbey as a medic in episode one; Jessica Brown Findlay, also from Downton Abbey, as Abi in the second episode;  and Daniel Kaluuya from Fades as Bing in episode two.

I cannot find any evidence that a second season is in the works, but I am hopeful that the positive press leads to more.  Currently, the DVD is available on the UK version of Amazon, but it has yet to be sold in the United States.  This type of TV should be more readily available to all. 

Renewals, Rejections, and Redemption at ABC

ABC had some good programs this past season, and I am glad to see Once Upon a Time and Revenge have both been renewed for a second season.  For those of you who have missed these programs, the first is a creative retelling of childhood fairy tales while the latter is a suspenseful drama primarily aimed at the wealthy one percent, or at least this is the Guardian's take on the matter:

The ABC series, which began in the autumn, has won an audience of millions with a story that is aimed at bringing down at least one family of "one percenters". They are the Graysons, embodied by the evil matriarch of the clan, Victoria, played by the actress Madeleine Stowe. They live an exalted life of wealth and snobbery in the Hamptons area of Long Island, which has long been the playground for New York's elite. Victoria's husband, Conrad, is chief executive of the distinctly capitalist-sounding Grayson Global...But, in a time of hesitant recovery from the Great Recession, many are seeing the story as a 99% versus 1% narrative. "The Graysons themselves do stand in for the 1%. They are so extremely venal," said Jace Lacob, a television columnist for Newsweek.

However, ABC has had a few stinkers along the way.  Remember Work It, cancelled after two viewings?  And The River took us nowhere, whereas Missing went missing. And let's not forget Charlie's Angels and Pan Am, though I think Pan Am would have had more of a chance if it was not continually compared to Mad Men.  I could go on, but every network has its problems. 

So what else does ABC have up its sleeves.  Well, here are a few upcoming shows that might be worth monitoring:

-- Last Resort:  Certainly an interesting premise about a runaway nuclear submarine crew on a deserted island - hopefully more Lost than Gilligan's Island.

500 feet beneath the ocean’s surface, the U.S. ballistic missile submarine Colorado receive their orders. Over a radio channel, designed only to be used if their homeland has been wiped out, they’re told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan.  Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) demands confirmation of the orders only to be unceremoniously relieved of duty by the White House. XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) finds himself suddenly in charge of the submarine and facing the same difficult decision. When he also refuses to fire without confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is targeted, fired upon, and hit. The submarine and its crew find themselves crippled on the ocean floor, declared rogue enemies of their own country. Now, with nowhere left to turn, Chaplin and Kendal take the sub on the run and bring the men and women of the Colorado to an exotic island. Here they will find refuge, romance and a chance at a new life, even as they try to clear their names and get home. 

-- 666 Park Avenue:  Speaking of Lost, you can see Terry O'Quinn demonstrate his dark powers again in this new show about a hotel from hell.

At the ominous address of 666 Park Avenue, anything you desire can be yours. Everyone has needs, desires and ambition. For the residents of The Drake, these will all be met, courtesy of the building’s mysterious owner, Gavin Doran (Terry O’Quinn). But every Faustian contract comes with a price. When Jane Van Veen (Rachael Taylor) and Henry Martin (Dave Annable), an idealistic young couple from the Midwest, are offered the opportunity to manage the historic building, they not only fall prey to the machinations of Doran and his mysterious wife, Olivia (Vanessa Williams), but unwittingly begin to experience the shadowy, supernatural forces within the building that imprison and endanger the lives of the residents inside. Sexy, seductive and inviting, The Drake maintains a dark hold over all of its residents, tempting them through their ambitions and desires, in this chilling new drama that’s home to an epic struggle of good versus evil.

-- Zero Hour:  This new series sounds a little bit like National Treasure as the cast follow a treasure map while being followed. 

As the publisher of a paranormal enthusiast magazine, Modern Skeptic, Hank Galliston has spent his career following clues, debunking myths and solving conspiracies. A confessed paranormal junkie, his motto is logic is the compass. But when his beautiful wife, Laila (Jacinda Barrett), is abducted from her antique clock shop, Hank gets pulled into one of the most compelling mysteries in human history, stretching around the world and back centuries.  Contained in one of his wife’s clocks is a treasure map, and what it leads to could be cataclysmic. Now it’s up to Hank to decipher the symbols and unlock the secrets of the map, while ensuring the answers don’t fall into the wrong hands – a man they call White Vincent (Michael Nyqvist). With his two young associates, Rachel (Addison Timlin) and Arron (Scott Michael Foster), in tow, along with Becca Riley, a sexy FBI agent (Carmen Ejogo), Hank will lead them on a breathless race against the clock to find his wife and save humanity.

 -- The Neighbors:  This comedy is all about aliens in your neighborhood, but this is not likely to excite the political parties.  Instead, you basically get Mork & Mindy on steroids.

How well do you know your neighbors?  Meet the Weavers, Debbie (Jami Gertz) and Marty (Lenny Venito). Marty, in hopes of providing a better life for his wife and three kids, recently bought a home in Hidden Hills, a gated New Jersey townhome community with its own golf course. Hidden Hills is so exclusive that a house hasn't come on the market in 10 years. But one finally did and the Weavers got it!
It's clear from day one that the residents of Hidden Hills are a little different. For starters, their new neighbors all have pro-athlete names like Reggie Jackson (Tim Jo), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Toks Olagundoye), Dick Butkis (Ian Patrick) and Larry Bird (Simon Templeman). Over dinner, Marty and his family discover that their neighbors receive nourishment through their eyes by reading books, rather than eating. The Weavers soon learn that the entire community is comprised of aliens from Zabvron, where the men bear children and everyone cries green goo from their ears. The Zabvronians have been stationed on Earth for the past 10 years, disguised as humans, awaiting instructions from home, and the Weavers are the first humans they've had the opportunity to know. As it turns out, the pressures of marriage and parenthood are not exclusive to planet Earth. Two worlds will collide with hilarious consequences as everyone discovers they can "totally relate" and learn a lot from each other.

Online Piracy and The Game of Thrones

HBO's ever popular The Game of Thrones, recently renewed for a third season, seems to have a viewership far beyond HBO subscribers in season two.  Forbes magazine recently reported that season two has been downloaded illegally more than 25 million times since April, making it the second most popular piloted program, with Dexter leading the race.  

If we can use piracy as another indicator of popularity, then The Game of Thrones is a great success.  If we look at it in terms of lost revenue, HBO cannot be happy.  And if we look at it as the continued balkanization of Internet TV viewing in this age of proprietary viewing, then it shows we have a long way to go.  The Oatmeal has a great cartoon that summarizes this frustration.  

Forbes continues to note

For the millions of Americans who don’t subscribe to HBO, or who may not even watch shows on a television, this means there is no legal way to watch Game of Thrones. If you only watch TV on your laptop, there’s no way you’re going to pay $50/month for cable and another $15/month for HBO...HBO is missing out on a huge potential audience by limiting themselves to cable TV subscribers. I don’t blame the company for keeping their shows off of Hulu or Netflix, but offering HBO GO as a stand-alone service could put a serious dent in these piracy numbers, and bring in a lot more legitimate viewers to shows like Game of Thrones.

The fenced-in cable programs may be able to hold out for some time, but I expect the model will collapse with time.  In the meantime, audiences will make do and find ways to view these programs. 

New Programs at Yahoo

Earlier this year there was a lot of talk about the new Yahoo Originals "TV" programs Yahoo was adding to its site.  So I decided to check some of them out and I cannot say I was impressed with the content or quality of most of them.  Here are a few of them and my initial reaction:

- Sketchy:  These amateurish skits are not very different than what I would expect from homemade clips on Yahoo. Okay, the play on Kickstarter was a fun piece, but I cannot see a need to revisit this site.

- 7 Minutes in Heaven:  A very strange interview format since it takes place in a closet, which is the point.  Yet why is the show only 4 minutes?  I am surprised Elijah Wood and others would play along.  I think I will stick with Letterman.

- Broken News Daily and Odd News:  New parodies that are both broken and odd, but not in a good way.  If this is what you want then you are better off with The Onion.

- First Dates with Toby Harris:  This was the only program that was unique and interesting.  Toby's luck with women reminded me of a young Larry David in terms of his lousy attitude and luck in general.  And like Larry, Toby has something to say about society at a few levels.  I will stay tuned to this program.  

Another program yet to start is Burning Love. The press has made a lot of noise about this new show from Ben Stiller.  It portrays a clueless fireman who finds himself in a Bachelor-like situation.  The cast is pretty good for an unknown show.  In addition to Ken Marino, playing a slap stick role very similar to his role in Adult Swim's Children's Hospital, I was surprised to see Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation) appearing in the previews.  The new series premieres on June 4th.  I expect that should it do well it will graduate to real television.  

Update:  Businessweek has a good story on events at YouTube in a piece titled Must-See YouTube.  It  highlights others that are betting on the success of the new programs: 

Advertisers such as Toyota (T), AT&T (T), and General Motors (GM) have already pledged up to $10 million apiece to advertise alongside YouTube’s new content. Google’s challenge will be to make sure they stick around.

New Mysteries with Sherlock

Season two of PBS Masterpiece's Sherlock started last night and will only run through the month of May (repeats from last night will be broadcast this week), so you may want to set the recorder and enjoy this fast-paced show.  And I say fast-paced because you have to keep up with Sherlock as his mind clicks on the latest crime, something that other around his on the series also struggle to do.  You really need to watch the show twice to take it all in. 

As expected, Moriarty is back and stirring up a bit of trouble in the latest episode A Scandal in Belgravia. I am just happy that Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and Martin Freeman (Dr. John Watson) are back on television as the ornery pair that solve some pretty insane puzzles.  The three 90-minute programs will not last, so check them out (okay, maybe they will on iTunes and DVD, but you can see them while they are free on PBS).

Update:  Check out Maureen Ryan's interview with Sherlock executive producer Steven Moffat.