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.
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