Pilot Season

While sports fans have their fantasy leagues, TV buffs are placing bets on which pilots will actually make it through a season. In a mix of comical book adaptations, spinoffs, and a few original programs, the Network's have chosen who will stay, who will get a chance to premiere more episodes, and who is already kicked to the curb. This year adds in more competition with Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon creating their own scripted programming. Out of ABC's 14 comedies that were pitched, four were chosen to continue. Surprisingly, not on the list of picked up pilots was Chevy Chases' comedy (called Chevy) about grandparents who suddenly have to raise their grandkids alone. In addition, ABC saved 7 of 12 pilots in the drama category, with an equal mix of political and social plot conflicts. 

In the other neck of the woods, CBS only secured 2 out of 9 comedy projects, while 4 are still being reworked in order to see another day. CBS had 9 drama as well, and gave 5 of them a series order. FOX only had 8 comedies to show, giving half of them a chance to premiere their seasons. And with only 7 dramas, FOX decided to order seasons for 5 of them, and have yet to cancel the other two.  Meanwhile, NBC came out hot with 14 comedies, 6 have ordered more episodes and 5 are stilling fighting to stay alive. With 10 dramas, NBC has decided to continue 6 of them, leaving two on the bubble. 

Last but not least, the CW produced 5 drama pilots, and only 2 made the cut. 

If you're looking for your next new favorite show, some to look out for include Dr. Ken (ABC comedy with Ken Jeong), Angel From Hell (CBS comedy with Jane Lynch), Minority Report (FOX drama), and The Player (NBC drama). 

Click here if you want your complete guide to the 2015 pilot season.

Gossip Girl

One show I have recently begun binge watching on Netflix is Gossip Girl. The story focuses on a group of privileged teens, Blair Waldorf, Serena van der Woodsen, Nate Archibald, Chuck Bass and Dan Humphrey, living on the Upper Eastside of New York City. The show is narrated by Gossip Girl, a ruthless and mysterious blogger who reveals the teen's deepest secrets. The television series is based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar.

The series began with the return of Upper East Side "It Girl" Serena van der Woodsen, after a long, mysterious stay at a boarding school in Cornwall, Connecticut. It is revealed that she has had a scandalous past that continues to haunt her throughout the show and she is notorious for her many on-again, off-again relationships with countless male characters as well as for her rebellious drive-outs. Blair Waldorf, who is described as the queen at the center of the chess game, is a longtime friend and occasional rival of Serena's, and the queen bee of Constance Billard School's social scene. The story also follows Chuck Bass, who serves as the show's antihero, being a womanizer and party lover with a troubled life and past that provide a hidden vulnerable side, and “Golden Boy" Nate Archibald, always being fought over by the prominent female characters, and deals with a lot of issues that compromise his "perfect" life. Gossip Girl ran for 6 seasons before they producers decided to end the show with the reveal of who Gossip Girl really was.

One of the things I found most interesting about the show was their advertising methods. The show was notorious for it's mixed reviews, but after receiving horrible criticism from a couple different sources for it's risqué content, they decided to take those reviews and use them as part of an advertising campaign. I found this entirely innovative and to be an interesting twist on typical advertising methods.

Another Promising Season?

A couple years back, around in 08, vampires were becoming popular once again. For some they thought it was just a quick fad, but for others, they believed it was an idea that never got old. Although the hype about supernatural creatures has died down somewhat, there are still some good films/ TV shows involving them that do a great job of presenting them.

 One show that many people tune into is known as The Vampire Diaries. And yes I have written about this before, but this show has been my favorite for years now. The Vampire Diaries show is based off of the series by L.J. Smith. Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, executive producers of the show, premiered it on September in 2009 on The CW television network. Within that first episode, it received the highest ratings for a television premiere on any network. The amount of viewers live was 4.91 million and it did not stop there. Including DVR viewings, the ratings went up all the way to 5.7 million! And as each episode premiered every week, the ratings continue to stay strong at 4.5 million or higher. Many people were impressed with the first season, saying that it looked very promising and was done very well for a supernatural series.

 

Seasons two and three, continue to follow the success of season one’s ratings. However once season 4 approached and ratings dropped from 3-4 million to 2-3 million. And it continued to drop as season 5 came along. Many people lost interest in the show in season five because of too many storylines. As well as the fact that after season four, the Originals’ characters were no longer on the show. The characters were put into a spinoff show called The Originals. Many viewers were upset about this, however then started to watch The Originals. Although the show has lost viewers, it still is rated as one of the most viewed television series on The CW’s network, and right under it is The Originals. So obviously people are still interested in the show, however how much longer until the show comes to an end?

I know watching it myself I did see a change in the series once the Originals left. I found myself getting bored, and seeing the writers just scratching for any material they could use to get audiences back into it, as much as they were when season one premiered. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the show, but it still is definitely not the same. Before season five, the biggest threat in the show was the Originals.  In the storyline they were the biggest and baddest creatures out there. However, I now realize that towards the end of season four it just seemed like they were looking for something worse, mainly because they knew the Originals were heading off into a new direction.  This is when they introduced Silas. Silas was now seen as the most terrifying creature. And for a while I was confused because I thought the Originals were the first vampires to ever exist on earth, but then somehow the writers made it seem like Silas was. They began to mix plot lines and it was confusing me as a viewer. Now after so much time has past since that point in the series, I now understand that Silas was originally a witch, belonging to the Travelers. However, after many events he eventually became immortal and trapped. So technically he is the longest living vampire.

 But still it was plot changes like these that confused me and turned me off from the show.

In season five, everyone was wondering what was Silas going to do. And we all found out that he was Stefan’s doppelganger. His character only lasted for seven episodes in season five. And the worst part of it was that this big bad character they made was being this malicious for love. When I found out that was the reason why Silas was such an asshole, it made me upset. No one that is fighting for love would ever act so cruelly. I feel like the writers needed a new villain to replace Klaus, which obviously they did, however they did not do it the right way. The plot did not make sense with the character, and maybe I’m wrong and someone probably disagrees with me on this, but I truly believe it did not match up. And finally when he died I was relieved. His character was just annoying and there were no redeeming qualities about him, or any reasons that justified his cruel actions.

After Silas died, there was what I’m going to call a ‘dry period’ in the show. The show brought up a new enemy that was human. Of all things to fear, they picked a stupid HUMAN scientist. Really? Come on. This show that I had loved went from a show about supernatural beings and how they can still fall in love or feel hurt, to science trying to dissect supernatural beings and make their lives a living hell. This just made me mad, it was boring, and it was like the writers simply did not know what to write for months. And then somehow they morphed that plotline to connect with the witch travelers. Season five started off with about 2.6 million viewers, and ended in 1.6 million viewers. And to top that off they killed off their best character! Damon Salvatore, the impulsive, selfish, sarcastic, charismatic guy that everyone loved, was killed off.

I remember going on their Facebook page and seeing millions of comments saying, “He is the only reason I have continued to watch this show,” or “If you don’t bring him back I’m going to stop watching this show altogether”. And I mean I don’t blame these people, he was and is my favorite too.

 But not only that he really had a huge impact on the show. He was the underdog, the person people could relate to because he was realistic. He was selfish and took what he wanted. He loved to drink alcohol all the time. He rather save the girl he’s in love with from dying, than her best friend. And even while he faced death, he always had some sarcastic comment ready to go.  Everyone was mad that they picked him. So being that he was my favorite character I did research to see if he was contracted for the next season, and low and behold he was.

Season six premiered October 2^nd, 2014. And so far it has NOT been a disappointment. Surprise, surprise, Damon is actually still alive…Just not on earth. And the show has stopped the plotline with the human scientist evil doctor and is back to focusing on super naturals. I don’t know if there will be a season seven as of right now, however, season six looks very promising to me. It reminds me of the early TVD and although there are still many plot lines, they are not nearly as confusing as they once were in season five.  It’s hard to say if the show will continue or not because well look at season five, it was one of the worst, but it still got signed for a sixth season. Clearly people still really care about this show and the evolving characters,  so hopefully the writers continue this good streak and help finish the stories of the characters in the right way.

Tip of the Arrow

As a huge DC Comics fan, I am surprised that it took me so long to at least give the CW's Arrow a shot, pardon the pun. Perhaps I was worried about being disappointed. Either way, I finally gave the show a watch and my thoughts are conflicted.



Bullseye
Let me get this out of the way first: the action sequences in the first episode were absolutely top notch. Featuring some incredible camera angles (such as what looked like a shoulder mounted GoPro while parkour-ing) and some unrelentingly fast-paced choreography and stunts, these sequences by far supplied the flashiness that a show needs in its pilot.

I don't know if this will remain this away over the course of the rest of the season or if it is only because they needed said flashiness in their pilot, but the production value was very high. From a massive rave party in the city's event center to a chase sequence spanning multiple industrial locations, every scene is something visually fresh and new.

One particular flashback scene literally elicited a "WOAH!" reaction from me, and for the sake of avoiding spoilers, I will not say what happens. If they have a scene like that every episode, this show will have the dark edge it needs to avoid straying into the teeny bopper drama genre like Smallville did.

Missed the mark
Some of the visual effects did not sell, especially on the island. Some very 2006-ish matte painting, ala Lost, and some obviously composited explosion effects unfortunately lowered the bar and detracted from our hero's origin story.

Just like the visual effects, some of the actors did not sell as well as I'm sure the producers would have hoped. Our protagonist, Oliver's sister, whose name escapes me, provides a very two-dimensional conflict within the episode. Similarly, the character Laurel's plot line fell flat, leaving me to wonder whether these actresses were chosen simply because of their undeniable good looks.

Arrow is a drama on the CW and it shows in the writing. Featuring some glaringly obvious lines that can only be explained by the network asking the writers to dumb the script down for the lowest common denominator, this show lacks the intellectual edge found in Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones (I understand that it is airing on a broadcast network. For example, in one scene, Laurel tells Oliver that she wish he would have died in the boat accident five years ago. Two scenes later, when she apologizes, she delivers the awkwardly stilted line of "I'm sorry about what I said... that you should have died in that boat accident five years ago". Yuck.

Fortunately, the pros by far outweigh the cons, and the interesting flashback-based means of storytelling and adrenaline-pumping action sequences will keep me returning for the next few episodes, at least until I get a better grasp on the direction in which Arrow is heading.

Arrow pilot

On October 10, 2012, the world premiere of the new show Arrow was aired on the CW.  Arrow is a new tv show about a superhero, and is based off of the fictional character "Green Arrow" from DC Comics.

There has only been one episode released so far, but I feel like I already know the storyline for the rest of the season, or maybe even seasons.  The main character, Oliver Queen, played by Stephen Arnell, is a found billionaire playboy.  He is found on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean after his yacht was shipwrecked.  He returns home and you find out he has developed almost superhuman capabilities on the island.  I have never read the comic, so whether there is more to the story (which there probably is) I am unaware of it at this point.  He plans to use these abilities to become a Bruce Wayne/Batman-esk vigilante.  He sets up his "bat cave" or headquarters in an abandoned warehouse and proceeds to start his take-down of what seems to be a corrupt corporate world in his city.

The story also has many sub-plots as well.  There is the typical romance with the woman who cant get to close because he is dangerous and has broke her heart and all that.  There are also obvious family issues that he must resolve and survive.

Overall I thought it was pretty good.  Executive producers and developers are Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg.  I would recommend you watch the pilot because it would help explain pretty much everything even though you could probably grasp it if you decided to jump in.  It aires Wednesday nights on the CW.