FOX's Fall Schedule 2012-2013

NBC was the first of the major networks to unveil their Fall and mid season television shows.  Now its FOX's turn.  FOX cancelled a slew of shows from their 2011-2012 including Alacatraz, Allen Gregory, Breaking In, The Finder, I Hate my Teenage Daughter, House, Terra Nova, and Napoleon Dynamite.  The biggest change to the networks line-up is FOX has moved Glee to Thursday at 9 pm which sets it up to follow X-Factor.  While I think this is a smart pairing I think the show will lose a lot of viewers on a Thursday night (I could be wrong) but I think this may not be stupid move.


FOX has unveiled three new series for the fall and they are, The Mob Doctor, Ben and Kate, and The Mindy Project.


The Mob Doctor comes the mind of Kevin Williamson who brought us the great teen drama Dawson's Creek and penned the Scream films.  The plot centers around a woman named Grace Devlin who works for a prominent Chicago hospital who moonlights as a doctor for the mafia because she owes them a debt. Starring Jordana Spiro (My Boys), Zach Gilford (Friday Night Lights), and Williams Forsythe (Boardwalk Empire).


Ben and Kate is about an uptight single mom and her aimless brother helping to raise her daughter.  This sounds as boring and formulaic as the description.  Starring Nat Faxon (The Cleveland Show), Dakota Johnson (The Social Network). 


The Mindy Project is from Mindy Kailing herself; she is leaving The Office (smart move) and has created her own television show.  The series centers on her as the central character; she is an OB/GYN and we get to see her balance her personal and professional life.  Starring Mindy Kailing (The Office), Bill Hader (SNL), Richard Schiff (The West Wing), and Anna Camp (True Blood/The Good Wife).


Here is the FOX fall schedule


Monday 
8 pm Bones
9 pm The Mob Doctor


Tuesday
8 pm Raising Hope
8:30 pm Ben and Kate
9 pm New Girl
9:30 pm The Mindy Project


Wednesday
8 pm X Factor


Thursday 
8 pm X Factor
9 pm Glee


Friday 
8 pm Touch
9 pm Fringe 


Saturday 
FOX Sports Saturday


Sunday
8 pm The Simpsons 
8:30 pm Bob's Burgers
9 pm Family Guy
9:30 pm American Dad


FOX is of course saving American Idol for the spring as it usually does, Kitchen Nightmares, The Cleveland Show and Cops will also come back for the Spring cycle.  FOX has two new series scheduled for the spring one drama and one comedy.  The drama series is entitled The Following and centers on serial killer, this thriller stars Kevin Bacon as the good guy nonetheless.  The comedy is entitled The Goodwin Games and follows three siblings who must reconnect to claim their dead parents fortune (yea....) this show stars Scott Foley, and Becki Newton.


Listed below is a link from tvline.com with all five of FOX's new shows for the 2012-2013 season


http://tvline.com/2012/05/14/fox-fall-2012-video-the-mindy-project-the-following/#more-329928

Desperate Housewives Ends with Wit, and a Touch of Darkness

Eight years ago the women of Wisteria Lanes landed in the lives of television audiences everywhere.  Throughout the years the show centered on four different housewives who came together in friendship to trade recipes, play poker, gossip, and deal with dark reality of everyday life.  The four women were Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria) and Susan Mayer (Terri Hatcher).  

The characters on this show were created by Marc Cherry who has done work on shows like The Golden Girls.  Cherry created and often wrote for this show, and he set the tone, making this one witty and dark television series.  This show began with a bang literally!  Cherry killed a housewife in the first episode.  Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) was harboring a terrible secret and one of her neighbors blackmailed her, and with that back mail Mary Alice decided to take her own life and killed herself.  Cherry made this moment, and the eternal "desperate" act.  Mary Alice's four friends made it their pledge to figure out what happened to their friend, while living their own lives, and feeling helpless.  Mary Alice also became the narrator and voice behind the dark and eerie tone that made the show brilliant.  When you hear Brenda Strong speak you know she is pointing out the lessons learned, and the darkness of the those people failed to learn.

After watching Mary Alice take her life we watched all of the other women deal with their own baggage. Susan was clumsily falling for one of the suspects in a murder investigation her eventual husband Mike Delfino (James Denton).  Lynette was grappling with her four children, and a husband Tom (Doug Savant) who was never home to help.  Gabby was mistreated by her husband Carlos (Ricardo Chivara) and decided to sleep with her gardener.  This became a laughable talk of conversation for women all over the place.  Then there is the ever perfect housewife Bree whose husband was cheating on her with the neighborhood madam, and her son was gay. There was of course the neighborhood single housewife Edie Britt (Nicollete Sheridan) who sadly did not end up in the finale, because of her suing Cherry (but that's neither here nor there for the moment). This is all just the drama from season one!

Throughout the first year of this show there was a re-imagining of the way we looked at suburban mom.  There had been films like American Beauty and Stepford Wives which challenge the sensibility of the suburbs, but Cherry took the bull by the horns and create an incredibly fun show that had an incredible impact on the landscape of television.  The show was set up to poke fun at the day to day of the modern housewife, but it also shine a light on the darker edge within this world.  People go to the suburbs to escape, and hide (often) and they feel as though this place will keep them protected from all the bad in the the world, but boy are they wrong.

Throughout the years this show pushed the envelope and show reality, often in a sometimes campy way, but made the world of Wisteria Lane fun and exciting.  Beyond the four main women their was of course the other neighbors who made this street an unforgettable place.  Mrs. McCluskey (Kathryn Joosten) was one of the highlights of this show; she was the "mean old lady" on the block but there was a heart of gold.  Then Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delaney) came back to Wisteria Lane with her own dark secrets; she was also competition for Bree in the homemake department.  Renee Perry (Vanessa Williams) was an old college friend of Lynette and took up residence on the street causing her own drama for the four ladies. These were just three of the neighbors in the shows long history.  they represent only a glimpse into the side lives on this street, and they played a significant roles.

People were not the only thing to have a huge impact on the main four woman, disasters also seemed to take their toll on the women.  There were a lot guns, a tornado, a plane crash, fire, and a riot.  Each of these dark major moments brought the women to the brink incorporating those surrounding them and how people all around them felt moments of chaos explode on them.

The show imploded on itself as the years passed, they tackled some solid material, but also sometimes relied too much on cheap tricks, and pointless mysteries that took away the focus of the show.  Cherry loved this tactic so much he used it as a central focal point of most of the seasons, and it did not always work, especially in season two with the Applewhites.  Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard) moved her family to town, and they had a big secret, but there was no connection to the show, and Desperate Houseives looked, well desperate.  I gave up on the show after the season where the show used another cheap ploy, fast forwarding five years.  I gave up in the middle of the sixth season, but decided to tune in and watch these women say goodbye to Wisteria Lane.

The first hour tied up the story lines from the year with Bree on trial for killing Gabby's step dad.  While I did not watch I was pretty up to date with the major moments of what happened in the show.  Katherine Joosten's Mrs. McCluskey had many of my favorite moments during the night; she was a bigger part of this show, and her character's "mean old lady" turned into an incredibly deep love able character.

There were a lot of great homages to the first episode and the first season. I liked watching how Mary Alice's black mailer and neighbor Martha got obsessed with finding out her secret.  Lynette running into the same women she did in the first episode where her children were going crazy in the grocery store, love watching this interaction.  My other favorite moment was watching Gabby become like Carlos from season one, and having Carlos hire a hot female gardener, this made me chuckle.  The flash forward was nice, but the real moment that tied everything so nicely together was Susan greeting the woman who bought her house, and watching Susan drive around the street, and seeing the ghosts who "watch over" the street, boy did they kill off a lot of people on this show!  The last person was Mary Alice and her voice soon turned to the dark and ominous tone as the camera went to the women who bought Susan's house having a dark secret, then black.  Well done.  While the show had many ups and down (more downs) it ended well, and kept the tone of series mixing wonderful with and a touch of darkness.

NBCs Fall Schedule 2012-2013

NBC is the first major network to announce their fall schedule.  With this announcement NBC unveils some renewals/cancellations, and what their mid season replacement shows will look like.  The Office, The Voice, The Biggest Loser. and the Celebrity Apprentice were renewed while Harry's Law was cancelled.  Two of NBC's returning shows Whitney and Community have moved and were given one of the least coveted time slots on Friday.   There were seven new series picked up for the fall, and the details on each show is listed below:

Revolution comes from the mind of J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke.  The show is a science fiction series about a group of survivors who come together when all of the world forms of energy have "mysteriously disappeared."  Starring Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Billy Burke (Twilight), and Andrea Roth (Rescue Me)


Go On comes the Friends and Joey writer Scott Silveri and is about a sports caster who tries to move on from a loss and finds friendship from his mandatory group therapy.  Starring Matthew Perry (Friends), Julie White (Transformers), and Suzy Nakamura.


The New Normal comes from Ryan Murphy who has had the magic touch with Nip/Tuck, Glee, and American Horror Story. Murphy is changing it up here and has created a sitcom about a gay couple and their surrogate.  Starring Justin Bartha (The Hangover), Ellen Barkin ( ), and Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon).


Animal Practice has a title that makes you want to give up, but the show comes from the genius minds of Anthony and Joe Russo who created Arrested Development. The show centers around a veterinarian who hates the pets owners. Starring Tyler Labine (Reaper) and Justin Kirk (Weeds).

Guys with Kids comes from writer Charlie Grandy who has written for The Daily Show and The Office.  The show centers around dad's in their 30s who are trying to raise kids, while they are still kids themselves.  Starring Sara Rue (Less than Perfect), Anthony Anderson (Law and Order), Tempest Bledsoe ( The Cosby Show), Jamie Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos), and Jesse Bradford (Bring it On).

Chicago Fire is an action driven drama that explores the worlds surrounding a fire department. Starring Taylor Kinney (Vampire Diaries), Jesse Spencer (House)

Do No Harm centers around a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type situation for a doctor, this situation ends up effecting his personal and work life. Starring: Stevem Pasquale (Rescue Me) Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show).


NBC has also announced that Smash will return for another 13 episode arc, but will it will return in the spring like it started this past year.  The Biggest Loser and Betty White's Off Their Rockers will also not be around for the fall, and will just have a spring cycle, while Celebrity Apprentice  and Fashion Star will both have a fall and spring cycle. NBCs new spring comedies include the following:

http://tvline.com/2012/05/14/revolution-new-normal-videos-fall-preview/#more-329920

Comedies

Save Me stars Anne Heche as a woman has a near death experience and starts to think she is channeling God.

Next Caller which is about an alpha male radio host (Dane Cook) and his new feminist co-host Collete Wolf (Cougartown), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) also co-stars.  I can see why they waited on this.

1600 Penn A comedy about a family in the White House and their screwball oldest son starring Bill Pullman (Independence Day) Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg) and Josh Gad (The Book of Mormon).

Drama

Hannibal is modern take on the Thomas Harris novels and the relationship between FBI Agent Will Graham and Hannibal Lector.  Starring Hugh Dancy and the role of Hannibal is still up for grabs.

Infamous-I am actually not going to write about this show because I can describe simply as a rip off of Revenge, look it up.

I think NBC has a solid schedule, but I have not seen most of the new pilots.  I am hoping some of them are as good as they sound.

Monday
8/7 c: The Voice
10 pm: Revolution (new show)

Tuesday
8 pm: The Voice
9 pm: Go On (new show)
9:30 pm: The New Normal (new show)
10 pm: Parenthood

Wednesday
8 pm: Animal Practice (new show)
8:30 pm: Guys with Kids (new show)
9 pm: Law and Order: SVU
10 pm: Chicago Fire (new show)

Thursday
8 pm: 30 Rock
8:30 pm: Up All Night
9 pm: The Office
9:30 pm: Parks and Recreation
10 pm: Rock Center with Brian Williams

Friday
8 pm: Whitney
8:30 pm: Community
9 pm: Grimm
10 pm: Dateline NBC

Saturday
Encore Programming

Sunday
7 pm: Dateline NBC
8 pm: Fashion Star
9 pm: The Celebrity Apprentice
10 pm: Do No Harm (new show)

What is Renewed and What is Not (So Far)

My favorite TV blogger Michael Ausiello does this, and I am going to pay homage to him and help my loyal readers know what is renewed and what is cancelled.  I will take you network by network and also try and share the number of episodes (if it's not the typical 22 or 23 with network TV).

ABC

Renewed 
The Bachelor/The Bachelorette 
Body Of Proof
Castle
Cougartown (Moving to TBS for 13 episodes)
Dancing with the Stars
Don't Trust the B___ in Apt 23
Grey's Anatomy
Happy Endings
Last Man Standing
The Middle
Modern Family
Once Upon a Time
Private Practice
Revenge
Scandal
Shark Tank
Suburgatory

Cancelled

Desperate Housewives 

Extreme Makeover Home Edition
GCB

Missing
The River

Overall ABC made smart decisions this year with their line-up.  It was time for DH, and Extreme Makeover to go.  I think they should either lose The Bachelor or re-vamp it (but that's personal).  The stupidest move was losing Cougartown, but the show will get treated better on TBS. How will the shows on the bubble do.

Updated 5/13

9:30 pm: GCB was sadly cancelled, I wonder if another network will pick up the show.  I was hard on the first episode, but the show grew on me. As predicted Missing and The River are gone!  Sadly Shondra Rhimes adds another show to this network's line-up, her overwrought schlock owns ABC.

10:42: Body of Proof, Private Practice, and Don't Trust the B___ in Apt 23 are all renewed

CBS

Renewed
2 Broke Girls
The Amazing Race
The Big Bang Theory
Blue Bloods
Criminal Minds
CSI
CSI NY
Hawaii 5-0
The Good Wife
How I Met Your Mother
The Mentalist
Mike and Molly
NCIS
NCIS: LA
Person of Interest
Survivor
Two and Half Men
Undercover Boss

Cancelled
CSI Miami
A Gifted Man
Unforgettable

On the Bubble/Not Renewed Yet
Rob
Rules of Engagement

CBS's line-up is a mix of bland/with a few drops of excitement.  Two and a Half Men is getting renewed (but it should end).  In order to add to the excitement A Gifted Man, Rob, and Rules of Engagement will have to go.  CSI: NY is going to be cancelled, but Miami is up in the air.  I think both will go.  Unforgettable is safe.

FOX

Renewed
American Dad

American Idol
Bob's Burgers

Bones
The Cleveland Show
Family Guy
Fringe
Glee
Kitchen Nightmares
New Girl
Raising Hope
The Simpsons
Touch
The X-Factor

Cancelled
Alacatraz
Allen Gregory
Breaking In
The Finder
I Hate my Teenage Daughter
House
Napoleon Dynamite
Terra Nova

FOX was not messing around, they made clear cut decisions quickly about most of their shows, mainly because most of their pilots were not that great.  American Idol will get renwed and the hosts will get their giant paychecks they do not deserve.  Howard Stern was on The View the other day and talked about shows that make it about the judges, this show and The Voice have done that far too much lately.  I think animation domination is going to have two less shows.

NBC

Renewed
Community (13 Episodes)
30 Rock (13 episodes)

The Biggest Loser

Celebrity Apprentice
Fashion Star
Grimm
Law & Order: SVU
Parenthood (13 Episodes)
Parks and Recreation

The Office

Up All Night (13 Episodes)
The Voice
Smash
Whitney

Cancelled
Are You There Chelsea?
Awake
Bent
Best Friends Forever
The Firm
Harry's Law
Prime Suspect

All of these shows except Harry's Law are safe bets to be renewed.  Harry's Law has a slim chance of returning.

Did everyone make a smart choice, yes.  Most of the cancelled shows had been past their prime or just were not good.  I am hoping next seasons pilots are better than this year's.  I was disappointed with most of the new network shows.  When the networks stop stick to formulas they will do better with their pilots.

Daytime Emmy Nominees Announced-General Hospital leads with 23 Nominations

As the years pass the attention this award show gets becomes smaller and smaller.  This year the Daytime Drama General Hospital had the most nominations 23, while The Young and the Restless received 16, Days of Our Lives 15, and the two cancelled shows All My Children and One Life to Live garnered 11 nominations.  Listed below is a full list of the nominees.  General Hospital was also in danger of cancellation, but hopefully this helps save the show.

Best Drama Series
All My Children
Days of Our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless


Best Actor 
Maurice Bernad as Sonny Corinthos-General Hospital 
Tony Geary as Luke Spencer-General Hospital
John McCook as Eric Forrester-The Bold and the Beautiful
Darnell Williams as Jesse Hubbard-All My Children
Robert S. Woods as Bo Buchannon-One Life to Live 


Best Actress
Crystal Chappelle as Dr. Carly Manning-Days of Our Lives
Debbie Morgan as Dr. Angie Martin-All My Children
Erika Slezak as Victoria Lord- One Life to Live
Heather Tom as Katie Logan Spencer-The Bold and the Beautiful
Laura Wright as Carly Corinthos Jax-General Hospital


Best Supporting Actor 
Bradford Anderson as Damien Spinelli, "General Hospital 
Matthew Ashford as Jack Deveraux, "Days of Our Lives
Sean Blakemore as Shawn Butler General Hospital
Jonathan Jackson as Lucky Spencer, "General Hospital
Jason Thompson as Patrick Drake, "General Hospital


Best Supporting Actress
Melissa Claire Egan as Annie Chandler-All My Children
Genie Francis as Genevieve Atkinson-The Young and the Restless
Nancy Lee Grahn as Alexis Davis-General Hospital
Elizabeth Henderickson as Chloe Mitchell-The Young and the Restless
Rebecca Herbst as Elizabeth Webber-General Hospital


Best Younger Actor 
Eddie Alderson as Matthew Buchanan-One Life To Live
Chad Duell as Michael Corinthos-General Hospital
Chandler Massey as Will Horton-Days of Our Lives
Nathan Parsons as Ethan Lovett-General Hospital


Best Younger Actress
Molly Burnett as Melanie Layton-Days of Our Lives
Shelley Hennig as Stephanie Johnson-Days of Our Lives
Christel Khalil as Lily Winters-The Young and the Restless
Jacque Macinnes Wood as Steffy Forrester-The Bold and the Beautiful


Best Directing Team
The Bold and the Beautiful
General Hospital
One Life to Live
The Young and the Restless


Best Writing Team
All My Children
Days of Our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless 


Best Talk Show (Entertainment)
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Live with Regis and Kelly
The Talk
The View


Best Talk Show (Informative)
Anderson
The Dr. Oz Show
The Doctors


Best Talk Show Host
Anderson Cooper-Anderson
Dr. Mehmet Oz,-The Dr. Oz Show
Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa-Live with Regis and Kelly
Rachael Ray-Rachael Ray
Dr. Lisa Masterson, Jillian Michaels, Dr. Andrew Ordon, Dr. Jim Sears, Dr. Travis Stork, Wendy Walsh, The Doctors

Complex Pop Culture's List of the Top Ten Actors who Always Play the Same Character, and the Danger of Lists

10-Zooey Deschanel "Cute quirky chick"

9-Adam Sandler "lewd man-child"

8-Loretta Devine "matronly den mother"

7-Steven Seagal"zen bad ass occasional mumbler"

6-Helena Bonham Carter "eccentric if not bat shit crazy woman"

5-Jason Stratham "good at killing and or driving stoic British"

4-Johnny Depp "eccentric hero"

3-Leslie Mann "suburban MILF"

2-Michael Cera "awkward yet affable teenage geek"

1-Paul Walker "bland action hero"

Lists can be dangerous, many journalists, pop culture outlets, and fans, and myself create lists of the best worst or something out there.  This is one of those lists that's out there, and while I found it on Perez Hilton's website it's not going to be a list many are talking about.  The reason too many inane lists, from too many sources.  Lists like these put the concept of "listing" out of style.  The fact that I am re-posting this list does give the list a little more traction, but not enough to make this a viable hot topic.

This is a pretty solid list. 9 out of these ten actors work regularly these days (except Seagal), and they do play to these types more likely than not. I might also take away Paul Walker although he does represent the bland pretty boy who does not have the acting chops, and is forced into the "bland action hero" role.

I might rearrange the list as well placing Paul Walker and Leslie Mann closer to the bottom, and moving Adam Sandler and Johnny to the front of the class.  Yet this is my opinion, and proves the problem with lists, they are opinion based.  Yet lists can be fun.  This one is fun mainly because it points out the generic roles people play and how they tend to not break their traditional form.

The Avengers Assemble to Create One of the Most Entertaining Comic Book Films

The Avengers (4 out of 5 Stars)

Directed and Written by Joss Whedon (Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Starring: Robert Downey Jr.,  Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johannson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Colbie Smulders and Samuel L. Jackson

At the end of every Marvel film seeing Samuel L. Jackson show up as Nick Fury to recruit for "Avengers Initiative" made me an incredibly giddy fanboy.  I have read comic  books since as long I can remember.  I primarily used to read the X-Men titles, but ever since Avengers Disassembled  (2004), I have been hooked on this super team.   As a little kid I used to play with the action figures, and played the video games, so for me there was a lot of pressure for this film to live up to my childhood hopes.  It did.

Without giving too much of the film away, the film starts with the evacuation of a SHIELD base.  Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is racing to the base with his second in command Agent Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders) tells him the Tesseract, an energy source of unknown potential, has activated and opened a portal through space.  Loki steps out of the portal takes the Tesseract and escapes.  Fury has a bunch of hologram screens with government officials telling him he should not go forward with the Avengers Initiative it was disbanded, but of course they need "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" to save the planet, and the story takes off.

Director/Writer Joss Whedon who is best known for his TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel was the perfect choice to direct this film.  Whedon is the eternal fanboy in the director's chair, and perfect person to pen this screenplay.  Whedon knows the comic book world well; he has continued to write the Buff, and Angel comics, he has also created a series entitled "Fray"which takes place in the future of the Buffy world.  Whedon has done writing for Marvel comics as well.  In 2006 Whedon helped relaunch the title series "The Astonishing X-Men" and under his writing it received numerous honors and was one of the best written 24 issue arc of the decade.  I had walked away from comics for a few years, but I credit Whedon's writing on this X-Men series to be the reason I returned to comic books.

Fans have been clamoring for Whedon to step behind the camera for years, with a variety of different comic book films, but he waited for the perfect moment.  Whedon's only other film credit is Serenity, but boy does he know what he is doing.  Whedon makes you feel as though he is one of the fans; he knows the comic book crowd and how to make them happy with both his direction and writing.  As a comic book fan he made the film speak to me, and put into full realization everything I had always imagined this experience to be, and he is especially good at bringing the different cast members together.

From Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr's) one-liners, to the Hulk smash the cast meshed well together.  The core four Avengers (Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, and Hulk) were the best part.  I read Whedon wants to shrink his cast down in the next film and I have a feeling it will involve these four and maybe one more new cast member.  I enjoyed Hawkeye; he was cool, but without his own film you lose the characterization.  The Black Widow kicks ass and Johansson was better in this than in Iron Man 2, but I still  did not care about her character's development because of the lack of depth behind her.  Other than that I may have given a few fan boy shrieks, but this movie was just great.