cdsmusicchart

One of Fall 2014's best new shows! "How To Get Away With Murder" had an action packed premiere that kept me guessing the entire way through. As for the courtroom scenes, while they were a tad ridiculous, I could actually see something like this happening in real life. I'll be tuning in for the rest of the season.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This show isn't actually racist. It's about an African American family living in a predominately white community and struggles that occur with in. What's wrong with that? Around the country, all types of different people have situations similar to this. If it was an Asian family or a Mexican family would you be less upset? If it would make you less upset, then you clearly don't understand ANYTHING about racism. It's original, funny, and emulates real life. It's one of ABC's (and TVs) best sitcoms in quite a while (since Modern Family launched 5 years ago), and hopefully the show's supposedly "racist" comments won't tank it. Just give it a try before you judge it for no reason. The only thing I would change is the title ("black-ish"), because that alone is making people upset.

This is absolutely hideous and terrible. I guess I really shouldn't have even tried to like this series because almost all reality TV shows are completely worthless.

Not only has the original "NCIS" series over stayed its welcome, its getting to the point where TV fans are getting tired of seeing 3 hours worth of "NCIS" franchise incarnations every week. "NCIS" used to be a decent series (though over 10 years on the air has made its plot line severely weakened), and "NCIS: Los Angeles" was just another waste of a solid primetime hour when it premiered. "NCIS: New Orleans" is just another waste (that will likely last 10 years), even worse than the two original versions (it makes fun of the city and categorizes lots of stereotypes). Soon enough, CBS will have all three current incarnations as well as "NCIS: Dallas", "NCIS: Seattle", "NCIS: Miami", which will end up taking up at least two full nights of air space. Predicting that by 2020, CBS will be ready to launch their own NCIS network with all primetime hours devoted to original "NCIS" related program. I mean come on, this is just ridiculous.

Update: Rewatched the premiere and I have decided to change my score from 7 to 8 A little bit iffy upon first screening, but I can easily imagine this becoming one of the season's more enticing note. On a similar note, it could easily end up bombing for two reasons: A) Familiarity/Differences to Shows & Complexity The premise is similar to "Body of Proof" (a good, well loved show that fell apart thanks to an odd schedule and lack of episodes per season) with a hint of "Sleepy Hollow" (about a man who comes back to life after 200 years). It's a medical drama and a future/past drama combined (a bit too complex for one show); interesting and decently fresh, but will it connect with audiences? 2) Poor Timeslot If I had to pick one time period in ABC's weekly primetime line up that is sure to bomb, I'd pick Tuesdays at 10/9c. Why? Since the 2012-2013 television season, every show to air in the timeslot was removed from the line up after runs of 13 episodes or shorter (after 5 or less in multiple cases). "Private Practice" (a show that had decent, yet diminishing ratings ended in January 2013 after a 13 episode 6th and final season), "Body of Proof" (one of my personal favorite shows, and one of the most watched shows of the year, was canned in May 2013 after wrapping a 13 episode 3rd and final season), were the two shows with higher ratings that folded (both in the same season). On the low viewership scale, "Lucky 7", "Killer Women" and "Mind Games" were cancelled after 2, 2 and 5 episodes respectively (all in 2013-2014 in the Tuesday at 10/9c timeslot). Unless "Forever" hits it out of the park with its first two telecasts (two night premiere that started 9/22), its a goner. The only thing that could save it is the fact that "Agents of ****." will move from 8/7c to 9/8c (as a direct lead in). In turn, "Selfie" and "Manhattan Love Story" (which lead the night) could sink the whole night. Hopefully it won't have the same fate as other shows that came before it.

I thought that a lack of the Bruce Wayne/Batman character would ruin it, but "Gotham" proved me wrong thanks to its interesting prequel events, slew of well known actors and pot of memorable characters.

This is basically trash. Almost all of the actors are well known yet unrecognizable (except Robert Patrick), though they've pretty much all done some project that we remember; Elyes Gabel was on "GOT" and "Body of Proof" for one season each, Katherine McPhee had a once successful career as a singer (until 2010) and eventually starred in the now cancelled NBC series "Smash". The others, while having more minor roles are vaguely familiar. Other than that, the on screen chemistry between Elyes Gabel and Katherine McPhee is nonexistent, while the addition of Robert Patrick's character is basically worthless. This was over promoted and while it might survive for a full season, thanks to a boost from "The Big Bang Theory" for its first few airings, (or perhaps live to see a second season), I'm pretty sure that viewers will realize that this is a waste of an hour sooner rather than later.

The series has stayed consistently decent for its entire run, and while season 5 will cap the show, its bound to be a fan favorite for many years to come.

"Welcome to Sweden" is lovable, smart, funny, dark and one of the most deserving shows of any recent summer seasons (thankfully it was renewed for another, cheap to make season). It's premise is a little bizarre, but you'll instantly get hooked into this. Only negatives/complaints would have to be the portrayal of the lead character and the stereotypes shown throughout the series.

"Red Band Society" is one of Fall 2014's most diverse shows. I'm giving it a 10/10 because Octavia Spencer is easily one of the most intriguing actresses out there and also because I feel that it has potential to become a big hit. With that being said, regular competition with "Modern Family", "Criminal Minds" and "Law & Order: SVU" will likely cause it to move to a less desirable time slot, or worse, be the death of it.

"Extant" is mildly addicting (which made me watch episodes back to back on Wednesdays from 9-11), but the fact that it has an extremely hard to follow storyline made me skip out on the series before the finale. It was a nice affair while it lasted, but I don't see it coming back next year. Bottom-Line: Missing one episode will confuse you as to what's going on -- watching all episodes will still confuse you.

"The Good Wife" is unbelievably fantastic. It's sharp, smart and most importantly, it has stayed stable for most of its run. While ratings have been borderline acceptable (by CBS' standards), this Emmy Award winning series is bound to continue on for at least 1-2 more years (7th or 8th season) thanks to its wit and charm. Highly recommended and addicting.

"The Mysteries of Laura" is a dramatic police procedural with a hint of "comedy" -- an intriguing recipe that is better left untouched. Characters are terribly bland, premise is completely cliche. It's surprising that this thing isn't already cancelled based on critical reception alone (it received a respectable 10.2 million viewers thanks to it airing after the season finale of AGT) -- if its second episode posts a substantial drop in viewership, it will be pulled. To summarize: skip it. There are plenty of other shows that are much better (like the actually funny "Brooklyn Nine Nine").