National Geographic: Breakthrough

Tonight on the National Geographic channel you can see the premiere of the new series Breakthrough, focusing on "cutting-edge" scientific discoveries.  The first episode, "Fighting Pandemics," covers what we learned from the Ebola breakout in Africa last year.  

The series is funded by General Electric, which has some interest in continuing innovation, and executive produced by Ron Howard.  Each hour-long episode will be directed by a different person, such as Howard and Paul Giamatti, and tackle a new topic, as follows:

Episode 2: "More Than Human" about enhancing the human body

Episode 3: "Decoding the Brain" about mental disorders

Episode 4: "The Age of Aging" about expanding human lifespan

Episode 5: "Energy on the Edge" about clean, safe energy 

Episode 6: "Water Apocalypse" about  preventing a water crisis
  

The series covers a lot of territory. Addressing this variety, Ron Howard stated

While Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison seem odd bedfellows, their infamous enmity actually benefited their inventiveness as each man sought to outdo the other. It seems fitting that their legacies will come together to celebrate and foster the creativity of other inventors and innovators who astound us every day with their ideas.

Clean water and solar power may not be as sexy as the light bulb or phonograph, yet they are more critical to our continued presence on this globe. 

Smart Move: Longmire Renewed

Three cheers for Netflix as they renew Longmire for a fifth season after first reviving it for a fourth season. As you may recall, A&E abandoned the series because it had "older" viewers. I hope A&E is kicking itself. I'm just glad the sheriff is sticking around for viewers of any age.

HBO Rethinks The Brink

Now that was odd.  Regarding the second season of The Brink, this week HBO stated:

After evaluating our schedule and our programming needs, we unfortunely decided we cannot give The Brink the attention it deserves for a second season. We are proud of the first season and wish everyone involved in this show the very best.

Scheduling? You don't line up this kind of talent and then drop it like this. I wonder what really happened. Did a major star such as Tim Robbins drop out? Did a major Middle Eastern country say "Cut it out!"? Maybe this was part of President Obsma's Iran deal. I am sure we will learn more shortly. 

ABC's Wicked Little City

If you miss the music from the 1980s, ABC's Wicked City may be for you. Tonight's new series is set in LA bars in 1982. Of course, you also need to throw in a serial killer (Ed Westwick from Gossip Girl) and you have the makings of a evening thriller. I think I will turn to Amazon's Red Oaks for my 80s fix, but you decide. 

I like Westwick as an actor, and he can play a bad boy, but why this? The English actor would have been better off teaming up with Chace Crawford on Blood & Oil or anything else. Michael C. Hall took a similar route on Dexter, and while it was more creative it was less than his prior work with Six Feet Under. 

I suppose you take what you can get, but I'm always happy when young stars can continue to get good roles as they age. For example, Joshua Jackson went on from Dawson's Creek to do better series like Fringe and The Affair. 

I hope Ed Westwick finds his own Fringe, and soon.

Update: Mr. Westwick is back on the market now that Wicked has been cancelled after only three episodes. 

A Supergirl Endorsement?

This Monday (October 27) CBS will premiere one more superhero series - Supergirl.  And if you don't know how she fits into the whole genre, here is the story from CBS (and an extensive trailer):

SUPERGIRL is an action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Kara Zor-El, Superman’s (Kal-El) cousin who, after 12 years of keeping her powers a secret on Earth, decides to finally embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be. Twelve-year-old Kara escaped the doomed planet Krypton with her parents’ help at the same time as the infant Kal-El. Protected and raised on Earth by her foster family, the Danvers, Kara grew up in the shadow of her foster sister, Alex, and learned to conceal the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin in order to keep her identity a secret. Years later at 24, Kara lives in National City assisting media mogul and fierce taskmaster Cat Grant. She works alongside her friend and IT technician Winn Schott and famous photographer James Olsen, who Grant just hired away from the Daily Planet to serve as her new art director. However, Kara’s days of keeping her talents a secret are over when Hank Henshaw, head of a super-secret agency where her sister also works, enlists her to help them protect the citizens of National City from sinister threats. Though Kara will need to find a way to manage her newfound empowerment with her very human relationships, her heart soars as she takes to the skies as Supergirl to fight crime. 

So if that is clear, you might be ready for one more hero in a television land of too many heroes.  I think Supermasion is the more interesting recent breakout in this genre, but you decide.

By the way, here is presidential candidate Jeb Bush's endorsement of the new show: 

I saw it when I was working out this morning. She looked kinda ... she looked pretty hot. I don't know which channel it's on, but I'm looking forward to that.

If that doesn't scare you away, enjoy the show.

Last Season of Da Vinci's Demons and Others

On October 24th you can see the last season of Da Vinci's Demons on Starz. This time Da Vinci faces invading Turks who seem to be equipped with his weapons.  Like other shows, it ran its course, though there is some talk about reviving it at a later time.  I stopped watching it some time ago in part because there were too many more interesting new shows.  Many years ago in a less busy television landscape I would have stayed with it. 

What other shows have adventure shows have ended?  Well, Falling Skies ended earlier this year, Defiance was cut after three seasons (but not the video game), Dominion lasted only two seasons, and Minority Report is not expected to last past one season.  As with Da Vinci's Demons, there is a lot of carnage on the battlefield of television viewers.  But at least we see new banners in the distance belonging to new series that are sure to keep us entertained. 

Just Crazy Enough to Work

While I was not so cheery about new comedies, I completely missed last week's premiere of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on The CW.  I skipped over a great new show and I will not miss another episode. 

The new series was created by Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna.  Bloom plays the main character, Rebecca Bunch, who harbors a 10-year crush for Josh, a summer camp "boyfriend."  Now a successful NYC attorney, she bumps into Josh again only to learn he is leaving NYC to go home to West Covina, CA. And we are off...

Rebecca tossed her career, heads to CA (singing all the way), and begins her hot pursuit of the old flame. Yes, crazy. 

The series was slated for Showtime but after being dropped it was revived and rewritten for The CW.  If you like a light comedy as well as your characters to break into dance and song on occasion, then this series is for you.  I can only think of Galavant in terms of singing series, and I prefer the crazy ex over singing Knights. 

At one hour, it is longer than I expected for a comedy, but it moves along. And unlike the characters in the droll Girls, you actually like Rebecca. The CW has already ordered more episodes, so things are looking up for the crazy ex.