Fall 2015/Spring & Summer 2016 TV Catch-All

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It's time to think about the Fall TV ine-up. To be honest, the last couple of years have had enough good shows, that I'm not really craving new stuff. I'm pretty excited to dive back into Gotham, The Blacklist (might have jumped the ol' shark, though), Survivor, Madame Secretary, and The Walking Dead. How many more shows do we need?

Well, Ash vs. Evil Dead, Minority Report, Limitless, and yes, even Heroes Reborn are on my list of new shows to check out. And if you throw in Fear the Walking Dead, that's a lot of TV based on other movies and shows. But hey, I have to admit that it worked, because I'm checking the shows out, while original stuff like Quantico and Code Black have little to no interest for me.

I'll update the list, as some stuff does seem to be missing. I'm looking forward to The 100, but I don't remember it being a later release show before.

Season Premiere Dates

August 16
Show Me A Hero (HBO)

August 22
Blunt Talk (Starz)
Survivor's Remorse (Starz)

August 23
Fear The Walking Dead (AMC)

August 25
Public Morals (TNT)

September 11
Z Nation (Syfy)

September 15
Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris (NBC)

September 19
Doctor Who (BBC America)

September 21
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Gotham (Fox)
The Voice (NBC)
Life in Pieces (CBS)
Scorpion (CBS)
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
Castle (ABC)
Blindspot (NBC)
Minority Report (Fox)

September 22
NCIS  (CBS)
Scream Queens (Fox)
Fresh Off The Boat (ABC)
Dancing With the Stars: Results Show (ABC)
NCIS: New Orleans (CBS)
Limitless (CBS)
The Muppets (ABC)

September 23
The Middle (ABC)
Survivor (CBS)
Rosewood (Fox)
The Mysteries of Laura (NBC)
The Goldbergs (ABC)
Modern Family (ABC)
Empire (Fox)
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Black-ish (ABC)
Nashville (ABC)

September 24
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Scandal (ABC)
The Blacklist (NBC)
How to Get Away With Murder (ABC)
The Player (NBC)
Heroes Reborn (NBC)

September 25
Last Man Standing (ABC)
The Amazing Race (CBS)
Shark Tank (ABC)
Hawaii Five-0 (CBS)
Blue Bloods (CBS)

September 26
48 Hours (CBS)

September 27
60 Minutes (CBS)
Bob's Burgers (Fox)
Once Upon A Time (ABC)
The Simpsons (Fox)
Brooklyn-Nine-Nine (Fox)
Blood & Oil (ABC)
CSI (CBS)
Family Guy (Fox)
The Last Man on Earth (Fox)
Quantico (ABC)

September 29
Grandfathered (Fox)
The Grinder (Fox)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC)
Beyond the Tank (ABC)

September 30
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Code Black (CBS)
Chicago P.D. (NBC)

October 1
Bones  (Fox)
Sleepy Hollow (Fox)

October 2
Dr. Ken (ABC)

October 4
Madame Secretary (CBS)
The Good Wife (CBS)
CSI: Cyber (CBS)
The Leftovers (HBO)
The Affair (Showtime)

October 6
The Flash (The CW)
iZombie (The CW)

October 7
Arrow (The CW)
Supernatural (The CW)

October 8
The Vampire Diaries (The CW)
The Originals (The CW)
Haven (Syfy)

October 9
Undateable (NBC)
Reign (The CW)

October 10
The Last Kingdom (BBC America)

October 11
The Walking Dead (AMC)

October 13
Chicago Fire  (NBC)
Manhattan (WGN)

October 16
People Are Talking (NBC)

October 19
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW)
Jane the Virgin (The CW)

October 24
DaVinci's Demons (Starz)

October 26
Supergirl (CBS) 

October 27
Wicked City (ABC)

October 30
Grimm (NBC)

October 31
Ash vs. Evil Dead (Starz)

I'm probably dropping a chunk of the shows I was keeping up with last season, or at least will not be keeping up with them regularly. The Flash is the only returning one I'm really excited for, since Arrow was not nearly as enjoyable in a post-Daredevil binge.

I have been wondering where I can discuss the latest season of Inkmaster, though, as the new season began a few weeks ago (so technically summer, though it continues into the autumn?) and is focused on Master/Apprentice this time, though those rivalries are not nearly so dramatic or flammable as the ones from last season. Much more even-tempered personalities on the whole.

My TV habits have changed over the last few years. The only show on that list that I will watch on a weekly basis is The Walking Dead. I will probably wait until the end of the season run for the other shows I am interested in and binge watch them over a couple of days. Currently my "must watch weekly" show is Mr. Robot.

The Flash (which I watch a week behind during my lunch break on Hulu)
The Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead
I would watch Ash Vs. The Evil Dead, but alas, no Starz
Arrow
Bob's Burgers
Brooklyn 99
I am actually surprised that Scorpions is still going!

I really regret falling behind on Arrow, because it is obvious that the series developed really well. At some point I need to binge it and The Flash.

Heck, there is another DC superhero show coming mid-season. I'm also going to give Supergirl a chance. It looks rough, but I really want to be surprised. Plus, I'm a Calista Flockhart fan.

As for Starz, I don't have that either. It makes me wish even more that Starz and Netflix would have expanded their relationship instead of ending it. Starz has had some interesting stuff, so I may buy in for Ash, and hopefully get some of their other stuff.

Anyone catch Show Me a Hero on HBO last night other than myself and Prederick? Riveting stuff and well acted, and I say that knowing full well Jim Belushi's in it.

Thanks for the list Jayhawker. The only new shows I'm looking forward to is (kinda) Heroes Reborn and (of course!) The Muppets!!!

We still watch Survivor, Amazing Race and Sleepy Hollow. The DC shows never did it for me (blame Smallville back in the day) and Supergirl looks horrible. Love Rebels and the Marvel shows too.

I'm somewhat intrigued by Minority Report, but I generally don't watch first seasons of network shows that I think may get cancelled.

Plenty to watch online though. Maybe Mrs Paladin will let me cut the cord this year.

I was going to skip Fear TWD, but then I heard it starts with a male-gazed-up zombie, and can't even make it through the pilot without ensuring there's only one black man in the cast. In between I was amused to find the creators had said "Everyone loves Carl, I'm sorry, I mean Koooorl. So what if our prequel had, say, 5 Koooorls?"

It's only eight episodes, which after the first strikes me as a good thing.

Don't forget, the new season of American Horror Story: Hotel starts on October 7th on FX.

I skipped Freakshow, but I might jump back in for this.

We started watching Blunt Talk and have enjoyed the first two episodes so far. It is fun seeing Patrick Stewart be a dirty old man.

I'm looking forward to getting more Castle, and hoping for the first unequivocally good season of SHIELD. Person of Interest may only be getting a half season and then done, and they haven't set the premiere date yet. This show must be criminally underwatched. SO GOOD.

I'd also love to watch Evil Dead but no Starz. I will try Minority Report, but if Fox can't hang in there with a great sci-fi show like Almost Human, I'm not optimistic about this one, nor anything they do.

I mentioned elsewhere that my wife and I finished binging Fringe, and I soloed The Wire. Both were fabulous. We've been getting into Mr Robot and Humans, but have just taken a detour to focus on the Amazon Original romcom Catastrophe. Wonderful, wonderful show to watch as a couple.

Don't know the entire status of PoI, but it is actually a dominant force in ratings. It seems like the kind of show that would lost, but year after year it is among the most watched shows on TV.

If anything is going to kill it, it's that it has a lot of major players, including creator and producer Jonathon Nolan, that may be ready to move on to other stuff.

Nevin73 wrote:

We started watching Blunt Talk and have enjoyed the first two episodes so far. It is fun seeing Patrick Stewart be a dirty old man.

Patrick Stewart's criminally underappreciated for his comedic talent, particularly as the straight man. If people haven't seen his original appearance on SNL, try and track down a copy.

I've watched a few trailers for new shows, and here are my thoughts:

Ash vs Evil Dead: Looks good, and it would be hard to screw up. The trailer gives me the impression that they're neither screwing it up nor blowing our expectations out of the water. But I don't get Starz.

Blunt Talk: Looks great, and I'm surprised no one has cast Patrick Stewart to carry a show since TNG (which was more of an ensemble). I still don't get Starz.

Minority Report: I am much less excited for this series after watching the trailer. The precog they're using, now a functional human being, is apparently being played as a doofus. It seems like they're injecting a lot more of a humor element than was present in the film. The show appears to be a direct sequel to the film, with a pretty cool development of the story.

The Grinder: Not on my radar at all until I watched the trailer just now, but this appears to be the best Rob Lowe vehicle possible. It's a comedy where, after finishing an eight-year stint playing a TV lawyer, his character tries to go into practicing actual law. Fred Savage co-stars. Watch the trailer!

A few more:

Quantico: Looks pretty good. Any show/movie that has a big training sequence always looks good to me for some reason, but it looks like that aspect might not last more than one episode? I'm confused about how they'll make it back to that.

Dr Ken: Ooh, Ken Jeong! Unfortunately, the trailer looks like a parody trailer making fun of bad shows. Meaning this looks like a bad show.

The Catch: New crime drama from Shondaland, featuring a female forensic accountant who gets conned out of her life's savings, and her attempts to catch the guy who did it. Looks ok, but probably not for me.

The Family: Lots of "The _______" this year! This one features a family where the mother is Mayor and decides to run for Governor against the others' wishes. They lost a child ten years ago, who was suspected kidnapped and murdered. Now he's turned up again...or has he? This is definitely intriguing, but I don't know if I can stick with it.

Several of these shows don't seem to have premises that could possibly last longer than a year. The forensic accountant is going to chase the thief for seven seasons? The Family is going to have a mystery about whether this is their son or not for years? Seems like some of them would be much better as miniseries.

Season 4 of Elementary will premiere on Thursday, November 5th. Stupid Thursday Night Football....

Another good place to get new season info: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/tv-premiere-dates

My interest list seems much shorter this season:

- The Bastard Executioner
- The Last Kingdom
- Into The Badlands
- Man In The High Castle
- The Expanse
- Heroes (maybe)
- Limitless (maybe)
- Agent X (maybe)

Granted, I have lost all patience for the procedural show - aka monster/case/crisis/joke-of-the-week.

I'm pretty excited for Man in the High Castle. I thought the pilot was really good.

The Bastard Executioner looks like a port man's, and I mean really poor, Game of Thrones. I suppose it will get a look, but my hopes aren't high.

Anyone catch the debut of Bastard Executioner last night? How was it?

I forgot to record it, but wasn't expecting much. According to Michael Calia over at the wall Street Journal's Speakeasy, it really is a poor man's GoT.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/...

Within its first two hours, the grim medieval drama “The Bastard Executioner” features the graphic murders of children and adults, including a pregnant woman; two sex scenes; a conversation that takes place while one of the characters uses a toilet; countless bearded and dangerous men sporting swords; a nude scene; and some mystical mumbo jumbo about fate.

And his Facebook comment:

If Game of Thrones is early Iron Maiden by way of Mastodon, The Bastard Executioner is Music From The Elder (by) Kiss by way of Disturbed.

Yeah, I'm halfway through watching The Bastard Executioner. It is all over the place. But it doesn't shy away from touching on pretty much everything horrible.

An hour in, we see:
Spousal abuse, child abuse, gratuitous nudity, graphic violence (on women and children to boot), one of the "good" characters has sex with his sheep (though that is not shown, thankfully), and graphic torture. Did I miss anything?

And there are no interesting or memorable characters to make it worth watching. You have to watch with sub-titles to understand half the people because of their accents or mumbling.

I'm going to finish the pilot out of spite, but I think I'm done with it.

Horrible things are not what I read Game of Thrones for; I deal with them because of the excellent story. If I don't hear someone saying this is a great show soon, I'll probably just delete without watching.

I watched most of the first episode but wasn't impressed either. One off the list already...

I'm super excited for Castle tomorrow, and also to check out Blindspot.

I liked The Bastard Executioner. I thought story was pretty interesting but the first episode was slow.

I really like the twist that I suspected

Spoiler:

The witch playing Little Finger pulling the strings without anyone suspecting what she is doing.

I didn't mind the violence but wish it was done better. I think they made a mistake in one scene where they had a obvious fake belly on a guy. Also the fights were kind of poor. The overall camera work wasn't that good either. Given the title and these two episodes I think the violence isn't going away. Although I liked the story it wasn't on par to something like games of thrones, vikings, or outlander.

For the story the thing I like best is that there are five groups in on the ruse but all for different reasons. Also the show kind of reminded me of berserk.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

I liked The Bastard Executioner. I thought story was pretty interesting but the first episode was slow.

I really like the twist that I suspected

Spoiler:

The witch playing Little Finger pulling the strings without anyone suspecting what she is doing.

I didn't mind the violence but wish it was done better. I think they made a mistake in one scene where they had a obvious fake belly on a guy. Also the fights were kind of poor. The overall camera work wasn't that good either. Given the title and these two episodes I think the violence isn't going away. Although I liked the story it wasn't on par to something like games of thrones, vikings, or outlander.

For the story the thing I like best is that there are five groups in on the ruse but all for different reasons. Also the show kind of reminded me of berserk.

It felt very Stutter like in the way he handled SoA in the last 2 seasons. Very hamfisted. It's like he's been told yea you can tell a story but if you're not going to be able to finish it in a season it's not being told.

Lest we forget:

September 28
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

It's nice to see the Strike Back guys getting work.

This looks.....well, uhhh.....it looks....sorta....

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