Pilot guide!

So, it’s coming up to the start of the new TV season in the States. But some of the pilot episodes of the new shows have been leaked to the intertubes. And I’ve got ’em.

So here is Will’s guide to new shows!

(The list is in no particular order then alphabetical. After the show name will be the network the show is on then the start date.)

Bionic Woman, NBC, Sept 26th

Reimagining of, well, The Bionic Woman. The person behind this is David Eick, one of the Executive Prodicers responsible for Battlestar Galactica’s reboot. Jamie Summers (Michelle Ryan) is a 24 year old bar tender who is involved in a serious car crash with her boyfriend. He saves her life by getting bionic parts attached to replace those ruined. She discovers this and the fact that they want to use her for military purposes. There’s also the matter of the first bionic woman (Katee Sackhoff).

The good:
As you would expect from one of the guys behind BSG, the action is amazing (particularly the big fight scene at the end between Sackoff and Ryan. It’s better than a lot of film fight scenes) and there is just enough intrigue to keep people interested. And Ryan proves that she actually can act with a nuanced performance.

The bad:
Sackhoff’s character is basically Starbuck with some modifications. And the pilot has been refilmed so that the sister of Jamie is a) older, b) a computer geek and c) no longer deaf, changes which I don’t think are needed as the character was different to so many seen on TV. Also, Jamie adjusts too well to having her new powers for my liking.

So, how’ll it do?:
Well, there’ll be a fair amount of crossover BSG fans, if not for Eick then for Sackhoff. I can’t imagine there’ll be many fans of the original tuning in (though I may be wrong). Wednesday night aren’t the worst of nights however I think that NBC might be missing a trick not broadcasting it after Heroes on a Monday night.

Chuck, NBC, Sept 24th

Co-created by Josh Shwartz (creator of the OC) and directed by McG (who inflicted Charlies Angels 1 and 2 on the world). Don’t let that put you off however. Chuck (Zachary Levi) is a twentysomething who opens an email attachment from his old college roommate, only to have a load of CIA and NSA images downloaded into his mind, encrypted into pictures. An agent from both agencies (Yvonne Strzechowski and Adam baldwin respectively) is sent to retrieve the information and end up being Chuck’s bodyguards.

The good:
Chuck is a likeable enough character (the scene where he helps someone who forgot to tape his daughters ballet recital is incredibly sweet) and there’s a refreshing lack of technobabble. There’s also a fair amount of comedy and Adam Baldwin can actually bring the funny.

The bad:
I know the main character is a geek (he works for the Nerd Herd, the destruction of a Mac is treated like a serious death) but, for the love of Bob, does he have to be shy around women? Cos we haven’t seen that before. And I’m wondering how long they can keep the randomly imagining thing going as well.

So, how’ll it do?:
It has the chance to do really well. The main problem it has is that it is going to be the lead in for Heroes, which’ll put a lot of pressure on it, ratings wise.

Pushing Daisies, ABC, Oct 3rd

Created by Bryan Fuller (who gave us Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies) and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (the second big name director to direct a pilot) the show centers around Ned (Lee Pace), a pie maker with a remarkable gift. He can bring people back to life. But there are a couple of rules. If he touches the person again, they die, this time for good. And if he doesn’t do so within a minute, someone else dies. He teams up with a private detective called Emerson (Chi McBride) figuring it’s easy to collect the reward on murders if the victim can name them. One such victim is Chuck (Anna Friel) who was Ned’s first love. But he can’t bring himself to kill her again.

The good:
This is the show that everyone is raving about, and with good reason. Funny (the conversation about what to call the recently returned is genius), and smart. Ned is infused with an inherant sweetness as someone who shuns human contact due to his powers. And the relationship between him and Chuck is incredibly tender (I defy you not to be moved with their gesture at the end of the episode). An amazing show.

The bad:
The only thing I can think of is the narrator (Jim Dale, who does the American Harry Potter audiobooks) gives peoples ages down to the second, which could get very annoying very quickly.

So, how’ll it do?:
As you can imagine, a show like this is quirky. So it may be a bit too quirky for a lot of peoples tastes. Thankfully this is on ABC, which gives shows a chance and not Fox. Deserves to be a huge hit, but may well end up as a cult classic.

Reaper, The CW, Sept 25th

The pilot is directed by Kevin Smith (yes, that one). Sam Bret Harrison) Turns 21. All his life he wonders why his parents gave him an easy ride. Then he finds out that his parents sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise) before he was born. Sam has to help the devil out by finding escaped souls and sending them back to Hell.

The good:
Sam is an engaging enough character, but the standout is his best friend Sock (Taylor Labine) who is very much like Randall from the Clerks films. Much like the fact that the Devil gets the best tunes, he also gets the best lines (“Drop of your fugative, renew your licence. I’m all about the perks.”) and Wise is amazing in the role. And, it’s genuinely funny, which doesn’t hurt.

The bad:
Like Chuck, it’s easy to see how this one could run out of steam, both with the capturing the demons bit and the method of capturing them. The slacker with a mission thing could get quite old fast as well.

So, how’ll it do?
It’s a lot like Clerks, if Cerks featured escaped demons (probably why Snith agreed to direct the pilot in the first place) so it should attract a lot of those fans. The fact that it’s on the CW may or may not hurt it. And the Supernatural fans were talking about boycotting it (cos thats should be the only demon hunting show on TV damnit!) but I don’t think that’ll make a huge impact.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles Fox, Sometime early 2008

Slotting in between Terminators 2 and 3, this show features Sarah Connors (Lena Headey) and her son John (Thomas Dekker) still running from terminators. After one tracks them down they escape with the help of Cameron (Summer Glau), a terminator sent to help them, into the year 2007.

The good:
Headle is good as Sarah and Dekker follows his amazing performance in Heroes (he played Zach, Claires gay friend) with another fantastic performance. The effects are, as one would expect, good and the idea of moving to a different year is surprisingly original.

The bad:
While Summer Glau is a good actress, her character is not too far removed from River in Firefly/Serenity and can be distracting if you’re a fan of that show/film, like I am. Some of the dialogue is cheesy. And they are reshooting part of this to take out a school shooting. Problem is, that scene is integral to introducing Connor (yes, the name is an homage to James Cameron) and I’m left wondering how thry’re going to pull it off.

So, how’ll it do?:
Obviously, this is the one with the biggest franchise name. But, are there enough Terminator fans to keep it going? Personally, I’m not sure, so the biggest challenge for it is to win over people who aren’t fans of the films. I’m one of those and I enjoyed it so it may have a chance. The fact that it was supposed to start soon and was moved to midseason isn’t the best sign in the world. Oh, and it’s on Fox. Which means that if it doen’t do as well as thy would like straight off the blocks it’ll get cancelled (see Drive). And with it having such a huge franchise name, expectations for this will likely be higher than other shows.

So, there you have it. My look at new shows that, *ahem* fell off the back of a server.

Will

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