Benjamonster's TV

Here's a look at Week #2 of the 2019-20 season! ABC ABC heads into week two in a similar situation as all the networks: declining veterans and unimpressive newbies. The Conners seemed disappointing on Tuesday but as the week went on, its performance looked better comparatively. ABC does have one new series premiering this week with the reboot of Kids Say the Darndest Things on Sunday night, which seems like it might be a good fit out of America's Funniest Home Videos . MONDAY 8:00 Dancing with the Stars 10:00 The Good Doctor TUESDAY 8:00 The Conners 8:30 Bless This Mess 9:00 Mixed-ish 9:30 Black-ish 10:00 Emergence WEDNESDAY 8:00 The Goldbergs 8:30 Schooled 9:00 Modern Family 9:30 Single Parents 10:00 Emergence THURSDAY 8:00 Grey's Anatomy 9:00 A Million Little Things 10:00 How to Get Away with Murder FRIDAY 8:00 American Housewife 8:30 Fresh Off the Boat 9:00 20/20 SATURDAY 8:00 College Football SUNDAY 7:00 America's Funniest Home V...

BLESS THE HARTS Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jillian Bell, Ike Barinholtz Created by Emily Spivey Written by Erin Wagoner, Directed by Pete Michels I haven't had to review many cartoons in my near decade of doing this blog and I'll give a full disclosure - I'm not a fan of animated shows in general. I haven't really liked one since Doug. I've never seen a full episode of The Simpsons or Family Guy . So, I will fully admit that I had a bad attitude going into FOX's newest entry in the Animation Domination lineup, Bless the Harts . Bless the Harts seems to be trying to exist in the same type of world where shows like Parks and Recreation have thrived: small town USA. Filled with eccentric personalities and some oddball local politics, I can see what they're going for here. The problem is, it is not executed well. Instead, we have a bunch of cheap laughs and some recurring jokes that land incredibly flat (don't even get me st...

EVIL Starring: Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Kurt Fuller, Marti Matulis, Brooklyn Shuck, Skyler Grey, Maddy Crocco, Dalya Kanpp, with Christine Lahti and Michael Emerson Created by Robert King and Michelle King Written by Robert King & Michelle King,  Directed by Robert King In spring, I finally started to watch The Good Wife , which had been on my list for years. I knew I would probably like it and am loving it (I'm currently in season four). So I had a level of excitement about Evil , because I like scary shows and I now know that I like Robert and Michelle King, creator of The Good Wife and Evil . This was a real slow burn though and I wanted it to get going much sooner than it did. I read that Robert and Michelle King were inspired to do this show partly because Robert is spiritual and a believer, but Michelle is a skeptic. Although I like scary things, I'm not always a fan of supernatural or horror shows, so this isn't really the ty...

SUNNYSIDE Starring: Kal Penn, Kiran Deol, Moses Storm, Diana Maria Riva, Samba Schutte, Poppy Liu, Joel Kim Booster Created by Matt Murray and Kal Penn Written by Michael Murray & Kal Penn, Directed by Oz Rodriguez Sunnyside is a new sitcom that comes from the Michael Schur world. He didn't create it, but is a pretty involved executive producer. Yes, this is the same Michael Schur who is well known for The Office, Parks and Recreation and The Good Place . But I guess everyone is allowed a miss sometimes and this is certainly a miss for Schur. Though, again, he didn't write it himself so maybe that's the problem. It's too bad because I think Sunnyside has a great premise, centered on a disgraced ex-congressman (Kal Penn) who is trying some get rich quick schemes, but ends up finding a worthy cause by helping a group of immigrants become citizens. It's a very timely premise for the world we live in and it's something that hasn't real...

PERFECT HARMONY Starring: Bradley Whitford, Anna Camp, Rizwan Manji, Tymberlee Hill, Will Greenberg, Geno Segers, Spencer Allport Created by Lesley Wake Webster Written by Lesley Wake Webster,  Directed by Jason Winer The first TV sitcom ever about a church choir, Perfect Harmony , is an interesting entry into the sitcom world. I will admit I'm taking this from a podcast I listened to recently but I think it's a very apt description. There was a season's worth of plot in the pilot episode. It almost felt like a movie (specifically, the movie Pitch Perfect . Hi Anna Camp!) Bradley Whitford makes his return to NBC as Arthur Cochran, a former music professor and now a widower about to commit suicide when he hears a terrible church choir and needs to go fix them before he can end his life. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Cochran obviously doesn't kill himself and you can probably imagine if he ends up enjoying becoming a part of this ...

CAROL'S SECOND ACT Starring: Patricia Heaton, Igo Aghayere, Lucas Neff, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Sabrina Jalees, with Ashley Tisdale and Kyle MacLachlan Created by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins Written by Emily Halpern & Sarah Haskins,  Directed by Pamela Fryman Patricia Heaton has had quite a career over more than two decades. She went from an Emmy winning role as Debra on Everybody Loves Raymond  for nine years to frazzled mom Frankie Heck for another nine years. In between, she even starred in a short-lived sitcom that certainly had its supporters, Back to You with Kelsey Grammar. Now she's back again in another network sitcom and there's something comforting and appealing about a beloved star in the medium they do best in. Heaton stars as Carol Kenney, a woman beginning a second career as a doctor in her 50s. She is grouped up with a bunch of millennial interns (Lucas Neff, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Sabrina Jalees) at Loyola Memorial Hospital in Southern...

THE UNICORN Starring: Walton Goggins, Rob Corddry, Omar Miller, Mara Lynne Robinson, Ruby Jay, Makenzie Moss, Devin Bright and Michaela Watkins Created by Bill Martin, Mike Schiff & Grady Cooper Teleplay by Bill Martin & Mike Schiff, Story by Bill Martin, Mike Schiff & Grady Cooper, Directed by John Hamburg I will be honest, when this show was announced I wasn't super interested in it because I didn't know what a unicorn was (aside from the mythical animal). Is it really that common of a term? Enough to title a show after it? I'm not so sure. However, I'm happy to report that its title is the worst thing about an otherwise very charming sitcom with a super strong ensemble filling out the cast. Centered around widower Wade (Walton Goggins) and his attempts to re-enter the dating world more than a year after his wife's death, this show benefits tremendously from every member of the ensemble pulling their weight. Wade's daughters, G...

STUMPTOWN Starring: Cobie Smulders, Jake Johnson, Tantoo Cardinal, Cole Sibus, Adrian Martinez, with Camryn Manheim and Michael Ealy Based on Graphic Novels by Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth & Justin Greenwood Created for Television by Jason Richman Written by Jason Richman, Directed by James Griffiths For the first time this past spring, I had the opportunity to read some of the pilot scripts. I had a grand plan to read all of them and I started with ABC but I only ever made it through the ABC scripts (it was a lot to read!) There were some scripts I liked and I was excited to see what ABC ended up picking up. That excitement turned to sadness when they ended up picking up very few shows and one they did pick up, Stumptown , was my least favorite drama pilot I read. In practice, I would say it is only slightly better. The story of Portland private investigator, Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders) only worked to some extent thanks to a strong performance by Cobie Sm...

EMERGENCE Starring: Allison Tolman, Alexa Swinton, Owain Yeoman, Ashley Aufderheide, Robert Bailey Jr., Zabryna Guevara, with Donald Faison and Clancy Brown Created by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters Written by Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters, Directed by Paul McGuigan A few weeks ago, ABC released the first nine minutes of Emergence . I chose not to watch it at the time and to instead just wait until I could watch the whole pilot. After watching the entire pilot, I have to say I wish I had only watched the first nine minutes. Those nine minutes were at least a little bit intriguing. The rest of the pilot was a bore. Emergence is the latest attempt to recreate the magic of Lost with a high concept show that is part sci-fi, part conspiracy thriller, part emotional drama. Most recently seen with Manifest , the TV landscape is littered with shows like this since the 2004 launch of Lost : Invasion, The Event, The Nine, The River. Just to name a few. A few of them h...

MIXED-ISH Starring: Tika Sumpter, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Christina Anthony, Arica Himmel, Ethan William Childress, Myka-Michelle, Tracee Ellis Ross and Gary Cole Created by Kenya Barris, Peter Saji & Tracee Ellis Ross Teleplay by Kenya Barris & Peter Saji, Story by Kenya Barris, Peter Saji & Tracee Ellis Ross, Directed by Anton L. Cropper There are only a couple sitcoms in history that can boast that they have had multiple spinoffs. The ones that come to mind are The Andy Griffith Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, All in the Family  and Happy Days . That's a pretty iconic list of shows and not a list that I am convinced Black-ish deserves to be a part of. But here we are and Black-ish has spun-off a second show. This time, it's a prequel set in the 1980s and starring Young Bow (Arica Himmel). The episode started with a longer than necessary scene featuring the characters from Black-ish. I know it's purpose was to connect the two shows...

BLUFF CITY LAW Starring: Jimmy Smits, Caitlin McGee, Barry Sloane, Michael Luwoye, MaameYaa Boafo, Stony Blyden with Jayne Atkinson and Scott Shepherd Created by Michael Aguilar & Dean Georgaris Teleplay by Dean Georgaris, Story by  Michael Aguilar & Dean Georgaris, Directed by Jessica Yu Did you know Memphis was called Bluff City? I did not. In fact, I realized as I started to watch this pilot that I know almost nothing about Memphis (aside from the one great This is Us episode set there). It's fun to have a drama set in a city like that instead of usual New York, Chicago or LA. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any TV show ever set permanently in Memphis before this one. Unfortunately, the setting for Bluff City Law is the most interesting part of it and they don't even do enough with that fun element. Aside from a few mood-setting shots at the beginning, there's nothing that really sets this show in Memphis and that's really a mis...

ALL RISE Starring: Simone Missick, Wilson Bethel, Jessica Camacho, J. Alex Brinson, Ruthie Ann Miles, Lindsay Mendez and Marg Helgenberger Developed by Greg Spottiswood Written for Television by Greg Spottiswood, Directed by Michael M. Robin I read an article about ER recently (celebrating its 25th anniversary). It talked abut how revolutionary it was for a show to just throw the audience down in the middle of a busy hospital with a diverse group of patients and doctors. It's amazing how something that can seem so revolutionary in 1994 can seem old-hat now. All Rise , CBS's newest legal drama, has a very intense start and a diverse cast, but there's nothing at all that feels groundbreaking. That's not to say that there's nothing to like in All Rise , a drama about the judges, prosecutors and public defenders in a Los Angeles County courthouse. There is a pretty strong cast here and it starts with Simone Missick. She seems very capable of carryi...

PRODIGAL SON Starring: Tom Payne, Lou Diamond Phillips, Halston Sage, Aurora Perrineau, Frank Harts, Keiko Agena, with Bellamy Young and Michael Sheen Created by Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver Written by Chris Fedak & Sam Sklaver, Directed by Lee Toland Krieger There's a mostly forgotten movie I like called Mr. Brooks starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore and (!) Dane Cook. It is about a well to do and respected business man who is a serial killer by night. FOX's new Prodigal Son reminds me a lot of that movie in a bit of a spiritual successor way. It is centered on the son, Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne) of a notorious serial killer, "The Surgeon" Dr. Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen). Whitly was caught when Malcolm was just a boy and even as he's entered the world of crime-solving, he has a lot of psychological issues from growing up with a serial killer who's a father - and one who insists they're "the same person" at that. There a...

BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA Starring: Billy Gardell, Folake Olowofoyeku, Christine Ebersole, Matt Jones, Maribeth Monroe, Shola Adewusi, Barry Shabaka Henley, Travis Wolfe Jr., Vernee Watson Created by Chuck Lorre, Al Higgins, Gina Yashere & Eddie Gorodetsky Written by Chuck Lorre, Al Higgins, Gina Yashere & Eddie Gorodetsky, Directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller One of the very first shows I ever reviewed on this blog was Mike & Molly almost exactly nine years ago. I didn't know who Billy Gardell was then and to be honest, I don't know that much more about him now because I only watched one season of Mike & Molly . Well, he's back and this time he's living out a little bit of a middle-age white guy fantasy where he falls in love with his nurse, Abishola (newcomer Folake Olowofoyeku). To enjoy Bob Hearts Abishola , you kind of have to look past the creepiness of it all (especially when Bob goes to find Abishola at her apartment and when you con...

Welcome to Premiere Week! Here's a look at this week on TV, a week where the big four are premiering almost everything. It's less staggered than it is some other years, we'll see how that works out for them. ABC ABC's lineup is fully premiering this week except for Sunday 8pm where the season finale of Celebrity Family Feud will air ahead of next week's premiere of Kids Say the Darndest Things . Most interesting to watch ill be how the two new dramas, Emergence and Stumptown , do in difficult slots as well as how things go for the return of A Million Little Things , which had a little momentum but ended its first season way back in February. MONDAY 8:00 Dancing with the Stars 10:00 The Good Doctor (Season Premiere) TUESDAY 8:00 The Conners (Season Premiere) 8:30 Bless This Mess (Season Premiere) 9:00 Mixed-ish (SERIES PREMIERE) 9:30 Black-ish (Season Premiere) 10:00 Emergence (SERIES PREMIERE) WEDNESDAY 8:00 The Goldbergs (Season Premiere) 8:30 Sch...

Here is my summary of the Fall Preview! Check back all week for pilot reviews of the many shows premiering this week! First up, my predictions. Last year, I correctly predicted The Conners, The Rookie, Single Parents, A Million Little Things, The Neighborhood, Magnum P.I., F.B.I., Manifest, All American and Charmed would survive. I wrongly believed that The Kids are Alright and Murphy Brown would join the list. I correctly predicted cancellations for Dancing with the Stars Junior, The Alec Baldwin Show, Happy Together, I Feel Bad, The Cool Kids, and Rel but wrongly thought God Friended Me, New Amsterdam, and Legacies would get the boot. A pretty good year of guessing overall! Here's this year's predictions. Shows I Think Will Make it to Season 2 Mixed-ish (ABC) Stumptown (ABC) Kids Say the Darndest Things (ABC) Bob Hearts Abishola  (CBS) The Unicorn (CBS) Carol's Second Act (CBS) Evil (CBS) Perfect Harmony (NBC) Almost Family (FOX) Bless the Harts (FOX) Batwo...

Here is my Fall Preview for Sunday. Check back later for my summary of the Fall Preview and all this week for pilot reviews of the new shows! ABC 7:00 America's Funniest Home Videos (30th season) 8:00 KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS 9:00 Shark Tank (11th season) 10:00 The Rookie (2nd season) ABC is going mostly unscripted on Sunday night again but they seem to have a better plan. The ageless America's Funniest Home Videos continues to hold down the 7pm hour and it's followed by something that seems more compatible than last year's Dancing with the Stars Junior, . A reboot of Kids Say the Darndest Things hosted by Tiffany Haddish seems like a good fit on paper and Kids Say has had a couple successful versions over the years.  Shark Tank returns to 9pm after spending the spring at 10pm while The Rookie  takes over the Sunday 10pm slot. The Rookie is in an exceedingly difficult position as a weak scripted drama airing after a bunch of unscripted shows in a very diffi...

Here is my Fall Preview for Friday, a night with absolutely no new shows. ABC 8:00 American Housewife (4th season) 8:30 Fresh Off the Boat (6th season) 9:00 20/20 (43rd season) ABC is sticking with a comedy hour at 8pm but it will be tweaked from last year. American Housewife moves on to the night and it's already on its third night and fifth timeslot since it debuted in 2016. It has clearly become ABC's utility player and now will try to do acceptable enough ratings for a Friday night. It is followed by Fresh Off the Boat , which slides back half an hour and could be in its final season (most certainly it will be a final season for disgruntled star Constance Wu assuming her contract is up after a typical six years). Instead of trying a show at 9pm, ABC is opting to go with two hours of 20/20 , which will go head to head with two hours of Dateline NBC . CBS 8:00 Hawaii Five-0 (10th season) 9:00 Magnum P.I. (2nd season) 10:00 Blue Bloods (10th season) CBS continu...

Here is my Fall Preview for Thursday, a night with big chances on NBC and CBS and no changes on the other three networks. There are also three shows with announced final seasons. ABC 8:00 Grey's Anatomy (16th season) 9:00 A Million Little Things (2nd season) 10:00 How to Get Away with Murder (6th season) ABC still is airing juicy dramas on Thursday nights but the TGIT moniker is gone. What's not gone is Grey's Anatomy as the ever-popular medical drama remains one of ABC's top shows heading into Season 16. Its run has been so impressive and it's not done yet. A Million Little Things returns at 9pm for season two. It moved to this slot in January and saw growth from its low rated Wednesday airings in the fall. We'll see if it can keep the momentum up after being off the air since February. At 10pm is How to Get Away with Murder entering its sixth and final season. Once a buzzy water cooler show, it has become one of ABC's lowest rated dramas so the fin...