View from the Cheap Seats is an extension of the newsroom, which is frequently a site of heated debate on topics ranging from the extremely serious to the utterly ridiculous. This web edition features the views of print edition columnists Thom Barker (Wednesday) and Calvin Daniels (Friday), as well as web exclusive content by Devin Wilger (Thursday).
This week: What are you looking forward to watching in the Fall television season.
Meh
When this topic came up, I was certain my top pick for fall TV was going to be Blue Jays post-season baseball. They were up two games on Boston and three on Baltimore in the American League East. And everything was clicking. Even a meltdown, it seemed at the time, would still get them comfortably into a wildcard spot.
But, baseball is a cruel mistress and now all bets are off. Still hoping, though, that I will be able to spend most of October cheering on the Jays.
That being said, there really is nothing I am looking forward to with anticipation. I don’t watch much of anything but sports anymore and if I do get interested in a TV series, it is usually a couple (or more) years after its premiere when I can watch it on-demand a season at a time.
I also hate the fact that most series these days require a full-season commitment because of long story lines. Even series with standalone episodes, have secondary and overarching plots. If a series like that is compelling enough to hold my interest I will record it and watch at my leisure.
There are some ongoing shows I will tune in for the season premiere such as Murdoch Mysteries, Big Bang Theory and Hell’s Kitchen. I may watch the premiere of Lethal Weapon, just because of nostalgia, but I do not hold out much hope for it long-term. In fact, it is kind of grating, simply on principle, that the industry keeps rolling out movie spinoffs and series remakes rather than taking a chance on original content. Fortunately non-traditional sources (Netflix etc.) are picking up the slack.
If I had to sum up my sentiment regarding the upcoming TV season in one word, it would be ‘meh’.
-Thom Barker
Not much this fall
The only upcoming television show I have much interest in is Star Trek Discovery, and that’s not out until May of next year, so it misses the fall deadline completely. Star Trek has always worked best as a TV show and Next Generation has long been my comfort food whenever I get sick. While the series has had its ups and downs, it’s new Trek, of course I’m going to watch it. But I’ll have to watch it next spring, which is not this year and thus not answering the question.
So what television am I going to be watching this fall? It’s a short list, consisting mostly of Drunk History. The show features willing and talented actors perform and lip sync to an extremely drunken narrator’s rendition of history. Any show that can have Laura Dern bark like a dog while also presenting a mostly accurate story of Nellie Bly’s expose about mental institutions is something that is worth watching. Plus you often learn something about history. Some of the most interesting stories you might want follow up by reading information by more sober scholars, but the drunk comedians offer a fun gateway into the past.
There’s a chance something this year could capture people’s attention and I could feel inclined to give it a chance, I wasn’t expecting to get into Netflix’s Stranger Things this year either until that caught on and people began declaring it a must watch. But this year’s slate of fall programming – which includes a Lethal Weapon series, an Exorcist series, and a show about President Kiefer Sutherland – has not inspired me to get excited about television again.
- Devin Wilger
But are they DVR worthy?
While some of those around me in the office shun television for loftier pursuits of dog walking and Trump anger sessions, I happily admit to being at least something of a TV junkie.
I suspect that was born out of the fact growing up on a Saskatchewan farm the one channel (CBC) was a window on a much bigger world.
Saturday evenings were Hockey Night in Canada with dad.
Sundays the worlds of Disney was a treat, and when a bit older the Beverly Hillbillies and finally I grew old enough to stay up to watch Bonanza.
So TV runs rather deep for me as an avenue to escapism and joy.
Many look at TV today and cringe. There are so many horrible shows; Duck Dynasty, Survivor, American Idol and a list of their ilk that could fill this page.
But like farmers harvesting a crop, you have to sift through the chaff to find the kernels, or in this case the best of TV; the recently ended Hell on Wheels, Elementary, The Americans, Blacklist, Expanse, 12 Monkeys, and solid efforts such as Killjoys, Dark Matter, NCIS and a number of others.
So with that each fall I admit I hit series record (DVRs are the greatest invention in ages), for new series. A few won’t make it past two or three episodes before being dumped, some I will suffer through in hopes they get better (Gotham) and then dump, and a few might become regular fare.
This fall there will be a couple of dozen new shows launching, most now, a few dribbling out in January, but which ones will I give a try?
I was a fan of Richard Dean Anderson’s MacGyver in the late 1980s, so with trepidation I will give the relaunch on CBS a look.
Lethal Weapon with the usually annoying Damon Wayans, but Clayne Crawford as Martin Riggs might be special, so mark that one to take a look at.
As a lover of scifi HBO’s Westworld looks great, Timeless (NBC), American Gods based on the wonderful novel by Neil Gaiman, are on list, and the new Star Trek Discovery looms large.
A few more to seek out; Frequency, Fleabag (BBC), Conviction are also at least on the radar.
How many survive until season end? Ah, therein lies the big question indeed?
- Calvin Daniels
