Fall TV is your average tuber's favorite time of the year,
with the promise of returning series delivering on their season finale
mysteries and a slew of brand spanking new series hitting the airwaves! Amidst all the crazed excitement of Fall
TV, we might overlook some of the bigger bombs and more groan-worthy premises. After all, we're only human, right?
Have you ever tuned in to an
inescapably hyped and buzz worthy fall TV series, only to find your brain in
need of a good scrambling by the time the credits roll? What happened? Was it the casting, the writing, or something
in the on-set catering? We've never felt
more trolled than when the best Fall TV bombs right before our very eyes.
But that certainly won't happen in 2011! Or will it? We've got plenty of original and adapted series alike to play the field
with, including ABC's re-make of Charlie's Angels and CBS's crop of new
three-camera sitcoms. Fall TV has never
looked more expensive either, with the pilot episode of Terra Nova alone costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million. More money means higher quality,
right?
So what Fall TV shows are worth your attention, and which
are most likely to bomb? Let us clear
the air for you as we run down the new TV series premiering this fall that you'll
want to avoid like the plague! Got your own opinion on potential fall TV bombs?
Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!
Fall TV's Bombs
Fall TV is bound to have some major bombs, so we've got your handy guide to which fall premieres you won't be watching and why.
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By Kevin Fitzpatrick September 12, 2011 |
The Secret Circle |
On the surface, The Secret Circle seems like a no-brainer for The CW, especially with its lead-in, The Vampire Diaries. Both share Kevin Williamson as executive producer, and draw their material from a series of young adult novels from author L.J. Smith. Toss in a few teenage heartthrobs with magical abilities and you're golden, right?
Maybe. Landing behind The Vampire Diaries certainly helps its initial numbers, but this potential fall TV bomb faces stiff competition from series like Grey's Anatomy and Bones. Who ever said more of the same was best?
A Gifted Man |
In A Gifted Man, a brilliant and successful surgeon runs into his ex-wife one night, then attempts to contact her only to learn she died two weeks prior to their meeting! What a twist! Now she appears him in order to take care of her unfinished business, and gain a new spiritual lease on life! And also, Julie Benz is involved somehow.
As a general rule, you probably don't want your premise to sound like it works equally well as an hour-long drama, and a laugh-tracked sitcom. Click.
Revenge |
Think of Batman's iconically tragic origins as a young boy having his family destroyed in front of his very eyes. Think of the slow burn of The Count of Monte Cristo. Perhaps even better, think of The Princess Bride's Inigo Montoya, setting out to brutally avenge his father's death.
Now take that, switch the gender, and set it among socialites in the lavish Hamptons. Except Revenge won't utilize any cut-throat violence or incredible gadgets to have Emily Van Camp's Emily Thorne take her revenge. No, she's going to get her revenge with social stigma. That will be her revenge. She keeps using that word. I do not think it means what she thinks it means.
How To Be A Gentleman |
Call us old fashioned, but something seems amiss in placing the stars responsible for two very downtrodden characters (Johnny Drama of Entourage and Cricket of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) in their own sitcom and expecting to find breakaway success. That formula doesn't prevent a fall TV bomb.
Now don't get us wrong, we've always laughed at the performances of Kevin Dillon and David Hornsby, but among CBS's new crop of three-camera sitcoms this fall, How to Be a Gentleman seems the weakest, with its fairly tired "odd couple" of masculinity vibe. We'll maybe watch an episode, but cave to that increasing impulse of needing a shower afterward.
Last Man Standing |
Remember Home Improvement? Tim Allen sure does. That's why he's made zero effort to hide the transparent premise of ABC's Last Man Standing as an inverted version of his former ABC series.
In an interview with TVLine, Allen said about his new show: “It’s not rocket science what I’m doing here. What I really wanted to do with Last Man was flip-flop Home Improvement in order to investigate what it’d be like to be a man operating around four women who are intelligent, fun-loving, and strong.”
That's fair, but at least he won't be overly macho and working with manly equipment this time, right?
"Instead of tools, it’s sporting goods, guns, ATVs and boats — and I come home to four women. I just love to be able to be in that world, and I thought it would be fun,” said Allen.
We think you need a little more power in that pitch, Tim. Oh, ho ho.
