Pilot Not-Watch: Various Suspects

No, I didn't not-watch a show called Various Suspects.  I'm just being silly. 

Every pilot season, I worry that I'll miss out on something great.  Like Scandal.  I watched the first episode and liked it well enough, but not enough to keep watching.  But then everyone was like "eeeeeeeeee Scandal is the best LOLOLOLOL" and I was annoyed I'd stopped watching.  HOWEVER.  Netflix put up the first season on streaming and then Hulu had the second season up, and I caught up and didn't even get spoiled on any major plot points.  So now, I'm feeling less anxious.  If I miss something and it starts getting a lot of buzz, I can catch up.

But even knowing that, I still DVR'd a lot of new shows.  Some, like the Avengers Variety Hour, were a given.  Whedon?  IN.  Others were not, but I thought I'd give them a try.  So here are the shows: Mom (Anna Faris!!  Alison Janney!!!), Trophy Wife (Josh Lyman!!), The Michael J Fox Show (BUNK!!), Hostages (Toni Collette!!!), and The Blacklist (UH, Spader?).  So, I actually watched some of the first three shows.

Mom is on CBS and has a studio audience.  Something has to be really, really good for me to put up with that.  And it was .... bad.  I didn't even make it to Alison Janney.  Maybe it'll get better and I can catch up later.  Or it'll get cancelled and I'll be happy I didn't bother.  Trophy Wife had a lot of positive buzz, and it was okay, it was just ... a family show.  I don't really watch family shows.  I might watch genre shows that have good family stuff, but just straight family shows just aren't my thing.  I don't have kids and don't really like them, so there's just so much I can't relate to.  I mean, I love Josh Lyman, but even if we fell madly in Love?  He's got like three kids and two ex-wives and I'M OUT.  So, even though it had potential, it just wasn't the kind of show I'd be likely to watch.  And the Michael J Fox Show?  Similar stuff.  Mostly a family show.  Just not my thing.

Now, Hostages and The Blacklist are kinda more up my alley.  Thrillers.  However, neither really looked very good, and I just decided not to take the time to watch them.  They are the ones that I'd be most likely to get spoiled on plot points, but eh.  I'll live.  I watch a LOT of teevee and there are other shows I'm more likely to get into.  And other shows that haven't even come back yet!  I just don't have to record everything.

Pilot Watch: The Crazy Ones

Hubbie made me DVR the new Robin Williams show, so I did.  Well, he didn't make me.  Like he has that power!!  I was vaguely interested cuz Buffy is in it and so is "Not so great" Bob Benson from Mad Men.  So I recorded it and we watched it and we laughed, but yeah.  It was funny in that "oh, I have 30 minutes to kill, I could watch this" kind of way, but not in a "I must DVR this and watch it every week or I will DIE" kind of way. 

I suppose if I were actually a TV critic, I'd actually give a synopsis of the show.  It's basically a half-hour sitcom about an ad agency.  Robin Williams is the head of the agency, and Buffy plays his daughter.  And I like them both, and I definitely like "not so great" Bob Benson, but I dunno.  I have a feeling it will be frequently shmoopy and that is intolerable to me.  Hubbie decided he liked it enough that I feel obligated to give it a series recording, but I'll probably make him watch it by himself.

Books I wish my liberry didn't own, pt. 2

UGH:

 

The ultimate Obama survival guide: how to survive, thrive, and prosper during Obamageddon, by Wayne Allyn Root.

 

The summary of this gem:

"In this book, you'll learn how to use your personal Obama defense shield (as designed by Root) to protect yourself and your family, how you can create a precious metals defense system to preserve your assets, how you must educate your children to prepare them for the Depression to come, how to protect your family and turn your home into a fortress in Obama's second term."

 

Yeah.  Right.  Uh-huh.  Liz Lemon, take it away:

 

 

Pilot Watch: Marvelous Avengers Variety Hour

Yeah, I know.  The show in question is called Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  I don't care, I'm never calling it that.  It's going to be "that Avengers show" or "Shield" to me. 

Anyway, I don't have much to say about it yet.  It needs a little time to cook before I'll know if it's actually good.  It had a lot of good elements in it, and I liked most of the people.  It was just kinda generic in some ways.  But it's Whedon and I'm legally bound to give it time to get better.  I wasn't so sure about Dollhouse at first, either, and it turned out to be a pretty decent show. 

Pilot Watch: Brooklyn Nine-Nine

I'm not ashamed to admit I love Andy Samberg.  Tall, goofy and doesn't mind looking like a damn fool.  I may go on and on about the hotness of the Idris or the Tatum or the Statham, but what really gets my motor running is a tall, goofy-looking dude with brown hair.  Maybe it's the sense that if I met him in real life, there might actually be a chance he'd talk to me.  Anyway, I love Samberg.  I loved Hot Rod, which basically means I am actually a 14-year old boy.  So be it.

All of that is to say I was pre-disposed to like Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  The presence of Samberg guaranteed I would at least watch one episode.  The presence of Andre Braugher meant that it might actually be a quality show.  And guess what?  I liked it quite it a bit.  It was funny, it had Samberg being goofy, Andre Braugher said "meep morp," and I am so in.  It's also kind of nice to watch a cop show that's not heavy.

Pilot Watch: Sleepy Hollow

When I first saw the trailer for Sleepy Hollow a few months ago, I figured it was too good to be true.  It looked silly and crazy and just up my alley, but so did other shows like The Cape (which I bailed on 30 minutes in).  I'm happy to report that the show was definitely silly and crazy, and it might actually be good. 

The pilot wasn't perfect by any means.  A little too on-the-nose cheesy at times and a little too much character shorthand.  But it was fun and it was never boring.  And come on.  Mother-fucking SATAN shows up at the end.  I saw that and said, "I'm IN."  I don't really see how it can work as a show long-term, but I'm willing to watch for a while and see.  I didn't think Grimm was going to be much good in the long run, but it turned out to be a fairly decent little show.  And hot British guy alert!  Hot and funny.  Like I said, I'm in.