Snap decisions on fall’s shows
Networks have released trailers of new series for us to watch and judge Another fall, another crop of lawyers, doctors and sitcom families fighting for your attention.
The broadcast networks presented their new fall shows last week at their annual presentations to advertisers in New York and now trailers for many of fall’s new series are available to peruse and judge.
In fairness, we can’t really evaluate a TV series based on a quick trailer, but we can tell a few things: Does the cast have instant chemistry? Is the concept novel or tired? Are there any funny jokes in the comedies? Is the trailer going to make anyone tune in? And so we present some quick, honest and sometimes brutal assessments of the fall shows based on early peeks at new fall series.
A Million Little Things
This This Is Us copycat follows a group in their 30s reeling from the suicide of a friend. The trailer is all tragedy and drama with absolutely no levity, despite trying for a semi-inspirational tone. I’m wary of the darkness and of using a comedic actor such as James Roday ( Psych) in something so dour.
The Rookie
Never count out the allure of Nathan Fillion, master of charm. Like this season’s hit The Good Doctor, The Rookie feels like a standard procedural with just enough of a hook to make things more interesting. Fillion stars as a middle-aged divorcé who, after surviving a bank robbery, decides to join the LAPD as its oldest new cop. He retains some of that Castle snark but is self-effacing and humble enough to not make fun of the job he’s decided to pursue. It just might work.
Single Parents
Of all the sitcom trailers for this fall, I enjoyed this one the most. From New Girl producers J.J. Philbin and Liz Meriwether, the comedy follows a group of, well, single parents leaning on each other for support. Taran Killam is the new guy in town, the way-too-involved parent whom other singles need to help chill out. It’s a deep ensemble, including Leighton Meester ( Gossip Girl) and Brad Garrett ( Everybody Loves Raymond) and, at least in the trailer, the jokes are there.
God Friended Me
A Touched by an Angel and Joan of Arcadia- style series about a man who has lost faith only to be seemingly friended by God on Facebook. God then suggests other people for him to friend and his interactions with them help him do good. The hokey title and concept initially turned me off, but the trailer plants the seeds of something interesting, especially with Brandon Micheal Hall (star of last season’s tragically cancelled The Mayor) at the helm.
Happy Together
Damon Wayans, Jr. ( Happy Endings) and Amber Stevens West ( The Carmichael Show) anchor this sitcom about a boring suburban couple who are given a jolt of carefree youth when a famous pop singer crashes on their couch. Based on this trailer it looks fun and sweet, and Wayans and West are sitcom alums that know how to sell their jokes.
All American
Building off the success of Riverdale, CW is grabbing another high school soap that examines race and class in All American. Based on the life of pro football player Spencer Paysinger, the drama follows a Black teenager (Daniel Ezra) who’s recruited by a coach (Taye Diggs) to leave a South L.A. high school and play at Beverly Hills High. The promising trailer shows an appealing lead in Ezra and maybe some Friday Night Lights vibes.
Rel
Get Out breakout Lil Rel Howery gets his own sitcom and, in the trailer, he’s just as delightful on the small screen. Howery plays Rel, a recently divorced man struggling to carve out his new identity on Chicago’s South Side. Not exactly a groundbreaking concept, but Howery is such an appealing guy, and the setting is different enough, that it seems fresh.