Predictions for the 2014-2015 TV Season

I doff my cap to Vidiot for starting one of my favorite threads of the last year which speculated on the 2013-2014 season (I still can't believe "The Goldbergs" got renewed!) Anyone care to share any thoughts or predictions?

I'll go first- the Batman-less "Gotham" will start strong but quickly go downhill in the ratings.

 

I have to say, it looks like one of the weakest seasons for the networks I have seen in a long time.

 

there is another thread on it but "Mulaney" looks absolutely awful and desperate. Elliot Gould and Martin Short playing characters that would have seemed dated and clichéd 25 years ago.

 

I used to work at FOX and saw episodes of this. POS!!!

 

Doh, Entertainment Weakly has a pretty sad list:

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/09/18/fall-tv-hits-flops/?hq_e=el&hq_m=2949408&hq_l=18&hq_v=0bcce9fd1b

Hits:
Gotham
NCIS: New Orleans
The Flash
How to Get Away with Murder

Maybes:
Constantine
Forever
Stalker
Black-ish
Red Band Society

Flops
Jane the Virgin
Mulaney
Mysteries of Laura
Selfie
Manhattan Love Story

The reviews on Red Band Society were pretty much what I expected: a group of attractive teenagers are in a sick ward of a large city hospital and have romantic adventures and escapades. The problem is... if they get too healthy, they have to leave the hospital (and we don't care about them), and if they get too sick, the show becomes tragic and depressing. I can't see how this can work.

Here's what the Hollywood Reporter said:

"Red Band Society, an American version of a Catalan seriesadapted by Margaret Nagle, takes life in a children's hospital to a new and unhealthy level of schmaltz. It's an absolutely unbelievable fantasy of health care in America for starters and a cynical attempt to mesh The Breakfast Club and like-minded stories with the unique type of camaraderie that arises among sufferers of serious illnesses. It's an attempt at taking a YA book and stripping out the dystopian fantasy of being able to survive anything together and gluing it with sap to a teen soap.

"That, people, is manipulation at its cynical worst. And if you're thinking, "Wow, the only thing that could make this soul-suckingly vile attempt to wring emotions from impressionable demo-friendly young people worse would be the presence of Coldplay," well, guess what?"



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/fox-red-band-society-octavia-spencer-733574

 

I thought the pilot of "Selfie" was amusing enough that I'll give it a few more episodes. But the major networks produce very little worth watching, imo. Cable is where its at.

 

Forever isn't bad, watched the pilot on Hulu and was entertained.

Selfie has an undeniably magnetic lead in Karen Gillan, whether they can get the writing up to her level is what remains to be seen. The pilot has some groan-inducing scenes near the beginning, but starts to get legs about halfway through and the chemistry between Gillan and Cho shows promise. It's the same writer as Suburgatory...which is both good/bad news, the first season of that show was fun, but it fell completely apart in season 2.

I tried to watch the pilot of A To Z but it was so unappealing I bailed after 1o minutes.

Red Band Society wasn't nearly as bad as that blurb from The Hollywood Reporter seems to indicate. No, it's not "believable" in the slightest but the young cast is appealing and Octavia Spencer is always worth watching.

 

Yeah, none of those grab me off the get go. I'll keep an eye out over time to see if anything hits the mark and starts to get a buzz. Until then...pass.

Agree, that was my take as well. They should have done a Patch Adams type show instead, where if a kid does go downhill, the situation could be saved with comical empathy (which admittedly, could also go wrong if it's done in a tone deaf way). Either way, a show about badly sick kids is a sure turnoff!

 

I would be very surprised if that patient lasts more than 6 weeks.

 

what about Mysteries of Laura ? you think that will be cancelled first ? just wondering because it has been awhile since Debra Messing was in anything decent!

does anybody know if UNFORGETTABLE will get another season?

 

The only new show I plan on giving a shot is Constantine because it airs after Grimm.

Returning shows that I am watching:
Haven
Grimm
Sleepy Hollow
Castle

 

Whether it lasts or not isn't going to have any impact on me, I'm not planning on watching it, I just checked out the advance pilot on Hulu yesterday because I was bored. I do think that Hollywood Reporter blurb was over-the-top cynical though, but I've come to expect that these days from the industry rags.

 

I forgot!

 

I did not see it myself but found myself amused by this article on how bad "The Mysteries Of Laura" was:
https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/the-mysteries-of-laura-worst-moments-debra-messing-032431079.html

 

The title itself is awful.

 

Good to know. I will try it out on Monday. As I said in another thread, I like the leads but I'm worried it will get buried by the competition.

 

The only new series I am excited for is The Flash. His failed show on CBS years ago never had a chance but this iteration should have a real shot, the CW is heavily banking on its success.

We are entering a new era in television with the changing generational shift. Most under a certain age aren't consuming television like their parents once did, viewing the content through lower-revenue outlets. I expect to see a lot more gimmicky shows in the next few years that break a lot of the traditional rules and formats, in a desperate attempt to hook younger viewers. It's only a matter of time until full-frontal nudity becomes common on basic cable.

 

Full frontal nudity is preferable to violence any day of the week. I'd happily trade some of the torture, rape, sadism and killing seen on shows like Criminal Minds, Scandal, etc for a less repressed view of human sexuality.

 

"Selfie" is sooo gonna be this year's "**** My Dad Says"

 

I am astounded how grim and depressing these modern crime shows are- when I catch a few minutes of one of these shows (always by accident) it almost always involves the leads looking at some horribly mutilated corpse of a seedy crime victim.

 

There's a piece on Yahoo about the banal silliness of Debra Messing's new series. I didn't watch (after seeing how anorexic she got on that last show, I got creeped out), but this sure looks like one of the first-canceled shows of the season.

 

Hey, Debra was in that great, classic, big hit show Smash! Oh, wait...

 

The commercials for Mysteries of Laura got me really excited, but the first episode wasn't interesting, at all. I was/am really disappointed. Now I'm afraid Bad Judge is going to leave me similarly cold.

 

Doh, it looks like the Fox reality show Utopia will be the first new show to be cancelled, with a .5 rating:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(U.S._reality_TV_series)

To put this in perspective: there are infomercials that get better than a .5 rating.