It used to be that I’d catch at least one episode of every new drama series on television. That day has passed. There are just too many networks — broadcast, cable, and subscription — for me to keep up. I’m setting my Tivo to catch as many new falls shows as I can…but I know I will fail. And if I, a TV-junkie and professional TV writer, can’t find the time to sample everything, how can we expect the average viewer to do it?
Here are some of the shows I’ve missed: TRU CALLING, KEVIN HILL, THE INSIDE, ONE TREE HILL, SUMMERLAND, TARZAN, CARNIVALE, ROSWELL, CLUBHOUSE, THE MOUNTAIN, JACK AND BOBBY, NORTH SHORE, MISS MATCH, THE LYON’S DEN, THE BROTHERHOOD OF POLAND N.H., JUST CAUSE, DINOTOPIA, GIRLS CLUB, HAUNTED, PRESIDIO MED, and MDs.
Granted, most of America missed those shows, too, since the majority of them didn’t survive a season. But that never used to stop me before. I saw everything.
There are a few series, like WANTED and THE 4400, that I haven’t seen yet and could still catch. And some of those old shows, like CARNIVALE, ROSWELL and TRU CALLING, I could always catch up with if I wanted to — I’ve got Emmy cassettes or DVDs for them somewhere and many of them are also out in boxed sets at Best Buy. But with so much to catch up on that’s new, I can’t really bring myself to go back…
Don’t worry, Lee, you can always buy them all on DVD in a couple months!
Never heard of any of those.
THE 4400 is uneven, but I’ve caught a few very good episodes.
You didnt miss much… Most of those were cancelled.
I liked Carnivale a lot, but it didn’t really kick in until Season 2.
So you don’t get the many references to PRESIDIO MED salted into popular culture? You can’t partake of the spontaneous arguments that erupt over the deeper meaning of THE BROTHERHOOD OF POLAND, N.H.? Frankly, Lee, I don’t know if I could live like that.
I agree with Scott on Carnivale, it didn’t do much for me in the first season but the second season was good enough that I was sad to see it get axed. I even bought season one at costco last weekend so I would have the full set when season two comes out… I didn’t see any of the other shows except for Kevin Hill and I hated that one.
You haven’t missed much. Although, the one episode of WANTED I saw was very good.
The only new TV show I’m interested in catching this season is the outer space sea monster show Surface, which arises on Sept. 19th on NBC. Other than that it is Sci-Fi’s new and improved Battlestar Galactica, which I still have managed to miss more second season shows than I have seen. Most shows hit DVD these days faster than they hit syndication, so I will just snag them there. I am happy that I can upgrade my Kolchak the Night Stalker series collection from the Columbia House VHS tapes to a nice DVD set this October. Now if the old ABC series Darkroom, a few choice seasons of Diagnosis Murder, and the Doctor Who serial The Horror of Fang Rock is released on this side of the pond, I will consider my TV collection complete.
Tru Calling got much better in the second season when they brought on Jane Espenson and Jason Priestly. Unfortunately, the DVD set for the aborted second season is way over priced. The same goes for Carnivale. But I guess they’d be worth renting.
Wanted is a solid 80s cop show in the vein of L.A. Takedown (aka Heat aka Robbery Homicide Division) and Nasty Boys. And you can really feel the Trek influence of Echevarria, Behr and Wolfe in The 4400 (which makes me worry for Brannon Braga’s Threshold).
As noted in the Tim Minear interview–thanks much for linking to that, BTW–once The Inside found itself–Jane Espenson again?–it rocked! Of course, anytime FOX has a show that rocks they find a way to kill it. (From Tru Calling above, through Firefly, all the way back to Harsh Realm.) Which makes me worry for Reunion. But I guess I should be happy that Alias will now be able to continue ripping off La Femme Nikita after Benifer serves out her contract.
Something weird happened to David E. Kelly during the third season of Ally McBoring when he fired Rob Thomas from Snoops. (But at least we eventually got Veronica Mars out of that snafu.) So you didn’t miss much in the girl’s club [lower case – sic] of Poland, N.H., not to mention his reality show that got shuffled off to… I think… Bravo.
And I still don’t know what TPTB@TheWB were thinking when they picked The Mountain over Global Frequency. At least Summerland has Lori Loughlin in a bikini.
Not that I’m a TV junkie or anything – Mark
P.S. Chadwick, I have a sinking feeling about Surface; everything I’ve heard, especially the inane title change, screams disaster on the scale of the Titanic. Which is sad, since I thought GvsE was cool. Plus, there’s the similarly themed Invasion–although Katrina may have just killed this show–and the aforementioned Threshold.
I saw two episodes of HARSH REALM, but I never saw THE LONE GUNMEN. And yet, I saw an episode of BYRDS OF PARADISE, so go figure.
(I managed to miss both BLIND JUSTICE and EYES last season)
I have to say that EYES was one you might have enjoyed, Lee. A sharp, funny P.I. series updated to the corporate era. John McNamara (PROFIT, VENGEANCE UNLIMITED) won’t steer you wrong. I’m still hoping ABC will air the last few episodes.
You didn’t miss a thing with EYES. Boring characters and a very hard to follow story. It was still in development. 🙂
Different Strokes and all that, I guess.
Mark
I have a sinking feeling about Surface; everything I’ve heard, especially the inane title change, screams disaster on the scale of the Titanic.
Exactly the reason I’m looking forward to it. Come on a sea monster from outer space and its impact on humanity? It’s The Abyss, The BlobJaws all rolled into one! I give it three episodes, tops.
BLIND JUSTICE and EYES were both strong shows, and both cancelled. BLIND JUSTICE bordered on brilliance, I thought. Executive scum.
I never bothered with Blind Justice because, like this season’s Prison Break, the premise strains credibility beyond the breaking point. Not to mention that I didn’t want to get into the show, only to have the lead actor bail after a year and kill it. Not that a man like him has ever behaved that badly.
But at least Blind Justice had a franchise. Don’t know how they plan on doing that when Prison Break turns into The Fugitive.
Oh, and did anyone else notice that both Wanted and The 4400 went from four acts to five recently?
Again, not that I’m a TV junkie or anything – Mark