Get Ready for the Dead of Summer

It would not be summer without a camping series, and Freeform's Dead of Summer hopes to fill this need tonight. Amber Coney, one if the show's stars stated:

Dead of Summer is about Camp Stillwater and the ominous things that start to manifest...It’s about the dark mythology that awakens to all of our surprise. We think it’s just going to be a summer of fun.

I am just fine with the sun and the beach, but maybe you need more. If so, you should curl up on the couch (or find a nice log) and indulge yourself. 

More Amazon Pilots

Amazon had fewer non-animated pilots on display this year, yet I enjoyed both of them and hope to see full series in the future. 

The first pilot, The Last Tycoon, is based F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished last novel.  The pilot involves 1930s Hollywood dandy Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer from White Collar) who, also being Jewish, faces antisemitism as the Germans start to decide which of his productions can be shown their country.  The head of the studio, Pat Brady (Kelsey Grammer from Boss), is more willing to compromise with the Germans to keep his business running during the Great Depression. Throw in a few woman flinging themselves at Monroe as he continues to mourn his dead wife and you have quite a period piece as well as an intriguing series. 

The second pilot,The Interestings, is based on a more recent novel by Meg Waltzer. The series follows a group of teens who meet at camp in the mid-1970s and shows how their lives unfold over the next 20 years. If you did not already know this, the dreams of teenagers are often poor forecasts of the future. Oh, and old flings stay with you. A better name for the series, muttered by one of the teens, would have been "Great Expectations Suck."

I was recently watching Red Oaks and Bosch, two earlier pilots that made it into full series, and thought that we are fortunate Amazon is producing some great shows. These new pilots show that Amazon aims to maintain this trend. 

Get Ready for Roadies

Showtime's new series Roadies premieres tonight, and it is just what it sounds like - a story about rock band roadies. Showtime notes:

...ROADIES is an insider’s look at the reckless, romantic, funny and often poignant lives of a committed group of “roadies,” who live for music and the de facto family they’ve formed along the way. The music-infused ensemble comedy series chronicles the rock world through the eyes of music’s unsung heroes and puts the spotlight on the backstage workers who put the show on the road while touring the United States for a successful arena-level band.

Starring Luke Wilson and created by Cameron Crowe, who also gave us Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Say Anything, we should have high hopes. Yet not everyone is hopeful. 

After viewing the first three episodes, Tim Goodman in The Hollywood Reporter wrote:

All three episodes of Roadies feel, astonishingly, like they were written by someone who has never been connected to music or real people. No matter how many hip band shirts you toss on these characters or how many references there are to The Replacements or Pearl Jam, it feels inauthentic — like actual roadies would never live this life. "How is this a Cameron Crowe series?" is a question that kept popping up with alarming frequency.

And don't forget HBO's Vinyl, another new television series based on the music industry, was recently canceled after one season. So this new series may need hope and a prayer. 

Match Game Returns

Tomorrow night on ABC we get the treat of watching Alec Baldwin host a new Match Game. I remember the original version, which was zany at times and often adult-only in its content (though most the comments were crafty enough to zip over the kids' heads). 

I expect Mr. Baldwin will keep the six celebrities on track as they attempt to fill in the blanks on various sentences. Yes, the premise is simple, but with the right host and celebrities it was a great show years ago and should be again. 

Mr. Baldwin has 10 episodes to show it can work. After that? Who knows?

What is BBC's Thirteen?

BBC America's five-part series Thirteen is about a girl taken as a child and returning to her family 13 years later. Does it sound familiar? Of course, if you have been watching television. For example, ABC premiered The Family in March about an abducted boy who returns home. I should add it has already been canceled.

And need I mention the many other series about abducted children, returning children, and even ghostly children who disappear for years yet return at the same age?

So tonight's premiere of Thirteen is not all that new.  So is it worth a peek? Take a look at this trailer and decide for yourself.

Here is more about the story from BBC:

The BBC AMERICA co-production follows Ivy Moxam (Jodie Comer, Doctor Foster) on the day she escapes from the cellar that has been her prison for the last 13 years. It’s the day she’ll return to her home, to her family, to her life – but that day is only the beginning…The Moxam family had given up all hope when suddenly their loved one was thrust back into their lives – now the family struggles to piece back together the version of their lives that existed before Ivy disappeared. Mother Christina (Natasha Little, The Night Manager) insists husband Angus (Stuart Graham, The Fall) leave his girlfriend and return to the family home – never to breathe a word to Ivy of their separation, his breakdown, and all that has passed. Their other daughter, Emma (Katherine Rose Morley, Last Tango in Halifax), isn’t even consulted about this and feels disgusted by it. Once again the focus shifts from her, and her imminent wedding to Craig Watts (Joe Layton, Tatau), to her sister.

For Ivy, even after escaping her kidnapper and returning to her family, she still can’t seem to find peace or a sense of safety; the police inform her that her captor evaded arrest and is on the run. Assigned to the case and tasked with protecting Ivy are Detective Inspector (DI) Elliott Carne (Richard Rankin, The Crimson Field) and Detective Sergeant (DS) Lisa Merchant (Valene Kane, The Fall). The duo is sharp-tongued and shares a close relationship that occasionally crosses over the line of friendship, which DS Merchant enjoys far more than DI Carne. Their relationship is tested as DI Carne becomes consumed with protecting Ivy.

Ivy is the only one who knows her kidnapper, who understands him and who can help DI Carne and DS Merchant snare him. As leads run cold, the police begin to suspect Ivy isn’t telling them the whole truth. As she fights to retain her sanity, the doubts about her begin to form – the anomalies of her statement, the errors, and her outright lies. What happened in that cellar? Where is her kidnapper? Can Ivy really be trusted? Everyone wants to untangle the mystery that is Ivy Moxam, but where narrators are unreliable, truths are withheld, and when everyone has an agenda, it is no easy task.

As you can see, this may not be a straight forward narrative. Yet that keeps it interesting given the common theme.

I'm not sure what to make if a culture that needs such shows as it obsesses over and warps its children. How about a show where parents are taken, trained to be better adults and disciplinarians, and then returned to their kids while no time has actually passed? I would pay to see that series. 

American Gothic Tonight

Should you be looking for another murder mystery, CBS's American Gothic may suit your needs. Premiering tonight, this series is about a Boston family that learns its departed patriarch may have been involved in a series of murders. And more to the point, one of the remaining family members may have been involved as well. 

The 13-episode series stars Juliet Rylance, Virginia Madsen, Antony Starr, Justin Chatwin, Stephanie Leonidas, Megan Ketch, and Elliot Knight. I haven't seen Justin Chatwin in a series since Shameless, where his lovable yet criminal  character helped to center the show. 

I'm not looking for new shows, but this is one I might check out. 

New Shows: Tunnels and Churches

This week you can watch a number of new summer shows, including PBS's The Tunnel and OWN's Greenleaf.

Let's start with this past Sunday's (June19) premiere of The Tunnel. Yes, you may have seen the Dutch program The Bridge, a murder mystery on a bridge between Denmark and Sweden, or the American remake set between the United States and Mexico.  But now you can see the BBC remake involving murder in a tunnel between England and France. It has already run for two seasons in England and now PBS brings it to us.

Here is what you need to know:

The Tunnel is set against the backdrop of Europe in crisis. When a prominent French politician is found dead on the border between the U.K. and France, detectives Karl Roebuck (Stephen Dillane, "Game of Thrones") and Elise Wassermann (Clémence Poésy, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II") are sent to investigate on behalf of their respective countries.

The case takes a surreal turn when a shocking discovery is made at the crime scene, forcing the French and British police into an uneasy partnership. As the serial killer uses ever more elaborate and ingenious methods to highlight the moral bankruptcy of modern society, Karl and Elise are drawn deeper into his increasingly personal agenda.

And should you prefer something else and a little more original, how about tuning into the to Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) for Greenleaf, starting tonight?  What could be better than greed and conflict at a mega church? 

According to OWN, the new series

...takes viewers into the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family and their sprawling Memphis megachurch, where scandalous secrets and lies are as numerous as the faithful. Born of the church, the Greenleaf family love and care for each other, but beneath the surface lies a den of iniquity—greed, adultery, sibling rivalry and conflicting values—that threatens to tear apart the very core of their faith that holds them together.

And don't worry - more new shows will premiere this week. You don't have to commit to anything at this point.