A New Family Drama: The McCarthys

Tonight is the premiere of CBS' new show The McCarthy's.  And don't worry, this is not about zombies, superheroes or any other of the current themes filling the airwaves. This is simply a family drama. 

Here is the story:

Based on writer Brian Gallivan's real life, a family comedy about a loud, sports-crazed Boston clan. The series centers on the youngest and somewhat sports-challenged gay son, Ronny, who decides to take a job in Rhode Island in an attempt to extract himself from his overly-involved family. His mother, Marjorie, is devastated that her "favorite son" might move away, until Ronny's father, Arthur, stuns everyone and asks Ronny, the least qualified sibling, to be his assistant High School basketball coach.

Sounds pretty straightforward. With Modern Family and The Middle doing well, not to mention Shameless, there is a demand for good family shows.  And one more is always welcome.

Update:  The series kicked off with a strong pilot episode.  I found the who family likeable, including the dopey dad (aren't they all nowadays on these series?), the manipulative mom, and the hair-brained siblings, one of whom is Boston-native Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block.  Tyler Ritter, son of the late actor John Ritter, demonstrated he has the right stuff to carry this show along as the gay brother.  And while the show deals with his sexuality to a degree, it is clearly going to be only one of multiple story lines in this new series.  Speaking of his gay character in a recent interview, Ritter stated:

The show starts out with him already having come out a few years before, and the family is totally OK and accepting of him. Aside from the fact that he's in the dating world and meeting new guys, it really isn't that big of a plot, because these guys could easily be girls.

Between Two Ferns: Brad Pitt

There is nothing like a Zach Galifianakis interview. Just ask President Obama who underwent his schizophrenic questioning earlier this year. 

Well, he is back with Brad Pitt on the most recent episode of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. I expected Brad to take a swing at him, but Brad was a perfect gentleman (mostly, that is). 

And how Louis CK fits into this is anyone's guess. It all seems like a bad dream after a good taco.

Should Toys Come with a Meth Bag?

I do not generally agree with parent groups when they take on television stations or companies to keep ideas and images away from kids since they tend to go overboard.  However, I can understand the recent campaign by a woman in Florida to drop an action figure from Toys R Us.  In her petition on change.org, Ms. Myers wrote:

Toys R Us is well known around the world for their vast selection of toys for children of all ages. However their decision to sell a Breaking Bad doll, complete with a detachable sack of cash and a bag of meth, alongside children’s toys is a dangerous deviation from their family friendly values. That’s why I’m calling on Toys R Us to immediately stop selling the Breaking Bad doll collection in their stores and on their website. 

I don't think your average little kid needs to have his very own meth bag.  And while these types of figure should not be banned, maybe more careful placement is appropriate.  I can picture someone getting this as a gag at Urban Outfitters, for example. 
 
All that said, removing this one action figure from one website is like taking a glass of water away from Niagara Falls.  No one will really notice with all the other venues for selling the action figure and similar products.  For instance, what about the bloodied, weapon carrying action figures from The Walking Dead, including one fighter with a stump where the hand should be and a corpse next to a gasoline can?  

We have come a long way from GI Joe and Star Wars action figures.

Constantine: Yes, Another Superhero

You cannot be surprised that another superhero television series is appearing.  At a time when Russia invades its neighbor with impunity, genocide is underway in the Middle East, and Ebola is jumping borders, what we really need is a show proving that one man can make it all go away.  Okay, maybe this is tough on all of the entertainment business, but I would not mind a drama series based on a medical teams traveling the world to fight disease or something similar.  But here we are.

So tonight NBC is introducing the "superhero" Constantine.  From what I remember of the movie, I was not impressed, though short memories might help this show.  You can see the trailer here and get what you need to know from NBC:

Based on the wildly popular comic book series "Hellblazer" from DC Comics, seasoned demon hunter and master of the occult John Constantine (Matt Ryan, "Criminal Minds") is armed with a ferocious knowledge of the dark arts and a wickedly naughty wit. He fights the good fight - or at least he did. With his soul already damned to hell, he's decided to abandon his campaign against evil until a series of events thrusts him back into the fray, and he'll do whatever it takes to protect the innocent. With the balance of good and evil on the line, Constantine will use his skills to travel the country, find the supernatural terrors that threaten our world and send them back where they belong. After that, who knows... maybe there's hope for him and his soul after all.

The good part is that Constantine does not need a cape to do his magic. The scenes remind me more of Supernatural and Dominion than The Flash.  And maybe if it had a bit of Sleepy Hollow's dry humor it could work.  However, The Washington Post isn't buying any of it, stating: 

"Constantine” thrusts us into an all-too-familiar milieu of meaningless symbols, old leather-bound books, sudden power outages, gathering storm clouds, garbled Latin and the Beast within. All that nonsense makes it hard to see any hope for redemption.

I think my DVR is full.

Amazon Television: Alpha House and More

Of the first Amazon proposed season of homemade shows for adults, only Alpha House made it to a second season.  It returns to Amazon tomorrow (October 24), and it has been missed.  And from the second season of approved shows, only Transparent has made it to the television screen so far (but three more shows are to follow), and it has already been granted a second season.

So what about the third season of shows? I saw promise in only one show, Red Oaks about a teenager in the 1980s finding his way as a summer hire among "successful" people at a ritzy country club, whereas the remaining group were either depressing (Hand of God, Hysteria, and Really) or did not really work as a television series (The Cosmopolitans). And it was a nice change seeing Paul Reiser play a wealthy racket-swinging monster in Red Oaks.  It is strange that I liked four out of five last year and only one out of five this year.  Either the Amazon pilots have changed or I have.  Maybe all the great new shows over the last year make me less likely to settle for an okay show.

Fortunately, Amazon picked up Red Oaks, while it also found merit in Hand of God and picked it up as well. Here is Amazon's full story on both shows if you are interested:

Red Oaks
 
Directed by Sundance award-winner David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Eastbound and Down) and executive produced by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh (Behind the Candelabra, Traffic, Ocean’s Eleven), Red Oaks stars Craig Roberts (Submarine) as David Myers, an assistant tennis pro at the Red Oaks Country Club in suburban New Jersey in 1985. David is both reeling from his father’s heart attack and conflicted about what college major to declare in the fall; his father Sam Myers is played by Richard Kind (Luck). While there, David meets a colorful cast of misfit co-workers and wealthy club members including an alluring art student named Skye, played by Alexandra Socha, and her corporate raider father Getty played by Paul Reiser (Mad About You) and Ennis Esmer as Nash. A coming-of-age comedy set in the “go-go” 80s that is equal parts hijinks and heartfelt, Red Oaks is about enjoying a last hurrah before summer comes to an end—and the future begins. Red Oaks also stars Jennifer Grey (It’s Like, You Know) as Judy Myers, Oliver Cooper (Californication) as Wheeler and Gage Golightly as Karen. Red Oaks is written by Gregory Jacobs (The Knick) and Joe Gangemi (Eliza Graves). Soderbergh, Green, Jacobs, and Gangemi are Executive Producers. 

Hand of God
 
Created and written by Ben Watkins, and marking the television debut of renowned filmmaker Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, World War Z), Hand of God stars Golden Globe winner Ron Perlman in his first lead television role since Sons of Anarchy as the honorable justice Pernell Harris. The show centers on Judge Harris, a hard-living, law-bending married man with a high-end call girl on the side, who suffers a mental breakdown and goes on a vigilante quest to find the rapist who tore his family apart. With no real evidence to go on, Pernell begins to rely on “visions” and “messages” he believes are being sent by God through Pernell’s ventilator-bound son. Hand of God also stars Dana Delany as the Judge’s protective wife Crystal Harris, Garret Dillahunt as KD, the born-again sociopath whose violent tendencies are exploited by Pernell, Andre Royo as the slick, smart, gregarious, and greedy mayor Robert ‘Bobo’ Boston, Alona Tal as Pernell’s grieving daughter-in-law Jocelyn Harris, Julian Morris as the questionable preacher Paul Curtis, Elizabeth McLaughlin as the preacher’s sultry girlfriend Alicia, and Emayatzy Corinealdi as Pernell’s call girl and confidante Tessie. Forster, Watkins, Perlman, Brian Wilkins and Jeff King are Executive Producers, and Jillian Kugler is co-Executive Producer.

Season Two of The 100

Tomorrow (October 22) is the premiere of the second season of The CW's The 100.  The story of the return of mankind to an abandoned Earth after a apocalyptic war sounded pretty straight-forward until you learned the new settlers had to contend with those who never left.  With a story set in two locations in the first season - kids on the surface and adults in orbit - you had plenty of political intrigue for all ages.  

I look forward to learning more about Mount Weather this season (without giving anything away).  The show has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing about what lies over the next hill, or mountain.   It is half Battlestar Galactica, half Hunger Games.

And if you want to read ahead, you can always pick up The 100 book series by Kass Morgan.  Here is one reader's review of the book (TeamBellamy, who gave it 5 stars):

WOW! I was skeptical of reading this because I have started watching the tv version of the 100( a must see, but you have to go into it with an open mind because the two versions are COMPLETELY different), but I am sooo glad that I did. The author chose to show the thoughts and feelings of the characters from each point of view,which I thought was very unique and indepth. The whole story is about a group of teenage convicts who are chosed to go down to Earth to test and see if it is habitable( they are the test trials in a desperate attempt to save the human race). Once they land they have to fave their fears of the unknown, and they have to struggle to survive. The whole story is a tornado of emotions with a certain love triangle that will leave you wanting more. . .

HBO by Subscription: It's About Time

HBO has announced that it plans to provide customers with a stand-alone product similar to HBO GO no longer linked to cable access.  That is great news for people who have cut the cord with cable yet cannot get access to great shows such as Game of Thrones and True Detective while they are still being broadcast.  HBO already offers such access to overseas customers, but it was reluctant to rock the boat with cable companies in the US.  It seems the rocking is no longer a concern.

So how much should we expect to pay for this new service?  Business Insider reported the cost will be about $15 per month, or twice that of Netflix and Hulu.  And other networks are going the same route as HBO, with CBS and Starz also planning to provide a cable-free streaming service for a fee to interested customers (though Starz is only doing this for non-US customers as this point).  

So is this good news, or does it mean we will now need to go to 25 different locations to find our favorite shows if we are not will to pay $200 per month for our cable fix?  It is unclear, but the recent drop in Netflix's stock may indicate that the heyday of TV show aggregators such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu may be coming to an end.  Content may want to be free, but companies want to be paid.  And the bills may start to pile up again.