Fall Entertainment!

This fall is gearing up to be a sweet time for those of us interested in movies and TV! 

TV First.

I had a lot of fun writing my The Walking Dead reviews last year and based on the traffic, they were my most popular posts!  I will definitely reboot that series again.  The show is fantastic.  I have yet to even flip through one of the comics. This is important because I love to break down the TV series, and attempt to interpret and predict the plot.  Last year I nearly nailed it when I called Rick's Son shooting Shane early in the season. My miss was calling the shot during an argument between Rick and Shane, not Rick and ZOMBIE Shane!  That bit of fun would have been lost had I read the comics.  So for this year, we know that There are two new characters, The Governor and Michone, and two new settings, a prison and a town. But that is it!  I look forward to breaking down what I think is going to happen and having fun discussions.  

One of the best TV moments of last season. Period.


But there is more to the fall TV lineup than that!  A couple of interesting shows caught my eye. Revolution, a post apocalyptic drama, and one about a submarine that appears to have gone rogue both look good.  And there is a new comedy called Guys with Kids coming out that might appeal to dudes like me. But looking briefly, that is about it. The networks spit out a butt load of new stuff every year, and a third of it is cancelled weeks into the season, and another third never returns for a second run. A surprise hit was the new Hawaii Five O which caught on and I think is starting it's third season. I watched the first several episodes and enjoyed it, but just couldnt get into it. Then there are shows that just linger on like CSI. I think the only original character left is Nick.  And some shows that don't know when to quit, like The Office. 

It is sad that a world exists where shows like Survivor run for over a decade and shows that are superior in every way, like Firefly are cut during the first season. Oh if only Sci-Fi picked up that one.

Frankly, the best shows on TV are on Cable. AMC has figured out how the formula. Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and now Hell on Wheels are all better than any thing on Network TV.  You would think that the Networks, and the guys who run the rigged ratings system would take note.  Hell on Wheels is quickly earning a spot right next to BB and TWD. It is gripping and gritty. No one in the show is a hero, or a villain. Sure you find your self rooting for Bohanen who is obviously the written protagonist, but sometimes you find yourself getting behind any one of the secondary characters. It's a great show. Give it a look.  

One of my favorite TV Characters.


Back to the ratings thing. It all comes down to money. This is why we don't have our long awaited Star Wars live action show yet. I think it was first announced ten years ago, and has close to 100 finished scripts, yet languishes on the back burner at Skywalker Ranch due to budget constraints.  The issues is that George and Rick (Lucas/McCallum) wont allow the show to run the risk of going the way of Firefly. They don't want to subject it to the reign of a jittery network exec who could pull the plug on it in the face of not as good as expected ratings. But that is just it. How accurate are those ratings? Who the hell watches Survivor? How the hell do the Kardashians get three TV series? Who says who is watching what? Aside from my own guilty pleasure indulging in American Idol with the wife the last two years, (and her secret fascination with the Kardashians) I don't know any one who watches reality TV shows like Survivor or any number of their imitators. They are cheap to produce and air to be sure, but how can they be ratings hogs? 

My point here is that the boys behind the Star Wars show wont invest the huge pricetag into a show that may be cut before it is realized. They need to make back that money. They won't put it on a pay service, which is sad, because networks like HBO demand too much control over the content. That leaves AMC. Why not? They have proven that they can find success with an expensive show. And that the prized market of 18-34 year old males will tune in to watch it. Why not because the ad revenue simply isn't there. 

But what kills me is that the suits in charge fail to see that it would be if they did it. If they build it, we will come!  Just do it Lucas! Make the show. We will watch! I simply cannot imagine a Star Wars TV show not being the top watched show in it's time slot on any given night. Unless of course it sucks ass. Which is a strong possibility with Lucas in charge. But that's just it. It doesn't have to suck. Just give to to AMC, hire some of the writers who work on their fantastic shows, and make it happen.

Please no!


I guess I had a lot more to say than I thought. This always happens, but now I am out of time. I will discuss movies next time. :)

Jawaballs

13 comments:

Unknown said...

you should give Strike Back a go

Unknown said...

been enjoying the TWD reviews, you should give Strike Back a go

Gonewild40k said...

I can't wait for the next season of Walking Dead. Darryl is my favorite character, and it looks like his brother is going to return to this season- interesting.

My current TV line up is Person of Interest (Jim C and Michael E have good chemistry), Walking Dead, and Falling Skies.

I watch a few shows with my wife including Modern Family, Up All Night, and anything with Gordon Ramsay.

Jawaballs said...

I will check that out Michael. And no need to post twice, I have comment moderation up. :) Gonewild, Daryl seems to be every one favorite, mine too. I think that says a lot for AMC since I believe he was the only character created for the show and not in the comic? He seems to be the most flushed out. I tried to get into Falling Skies this season, but could have left it. I loved it last year, but they sorta got lazy. I liked that they got rid of the religious preaching overtones, but I just didn't find the show that interesting this season. The writing was flat and the drama was forced and lacked the thought provoking punch that lingers on after the credits of shows like TWD and Hell on Wheels. Know what I mean?

Modern Family is decent sitcom veg out stuff. I also like Raising Hope.

TheRhino said...

I don't think your non-reading of the Walking Dead comics is an issue any more. The producers seem to have deviated significantly from the books on purpose, so readers won't know every episode's result before watching it.
Hell On Wheels is indeed awesome. I have the first few epis fromt his season stored on my DVR, and am waiting for time to actually watch them. Sometime after I watch the entire second seasn of Falling Skies. :P
I'm a little leery of Falling Skies, because I actually shouted at the TV screen when I watched the end of Season One. I felt it was a lame, carboard ending and I was M-A-D that I'd spent a whole season tuning in for it to end like that.

witeout69 said...

I heard talks of Jericho comming back, one of the coolest shows I've seen.

Gonewild40k said...

That happens sometimes- writers/producers take a show in a different direction that cools interest.

I forgot to add Grimm to my list, JB. I watched the first couple of episodes to mock the show. Now, a season later I'm hooked. Monroe is my favorite character.

Jawaballs said...

Jericho coming back would be great, however, that last mini season pretty much killed the show. I don't think they could have done worse. It was beyond bad. Sad way to end what started out great.

Falling skies too. Season one was pretty good. Except that Noah Wiley shot an alien ship with a vietnam era RPG, hit it on the fly, and blew up an alien command center. I'm pretty sure that rocket launcher has no guidance, and I'm even more pretty sure that a Social Studies teacher would not have had the proper training with it to hit a flying alien ship. Last years ending was laughable, and this years... were those drop pods? Was that a smiling Grek from Mass Effect? I think I will pass on season 3. Bad enough this season conflicted with Breaking Bad. I missed most of it, or caught it in 2 minute intervals between commercials of BB.

Grimm looks cool, I need to DVR it I guess. The only problem is I cant pick up a series mid run... I have to see from the beginning.

Nice conversation!

Unknown said...

You should also give Justified on FX a run, it ranks right up there with TWD for my wife and I.

Kevin said...

I'm as excited as you are for the Fall lineup of shows.
I've missed out on some of Hell on Wheels, I should probably catch up.
Looking forward to your episode by episode breakdown of Walking Dead!

Unknown said...

First time poster on your Blog (Love it!) I wanted to chime in that Dish network has dropped AMC, so no more walking dead, breaking bad, or Mad men for me :( I'll have to wait until they come to dvd bundles. Not happy about that at all.

Jawaballs said...

Sorry man! There has been strife between Dish and AMC for years. This was bound to happen... and this is reason enough for me to switch to cable. Because guess what, they might have dropped AMC, but you are still paying for a service that includes it.

Chad said...

One show I've been looking forward to almost as much as TWD is Game of Thrones. If you haven't watched it you should give it a go. As a huge fantasy fan I couldn't get enough. At first I thought it was going to be more of a historical drama, but it's far more fantasy that history. I LOVE TWD, but GoT is definitely up there as one of my favourites, and last season almost took the top spot away from TWD in my house!!!

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