Tag Archives: Hart of Dixie

Fall 2011 New TV Show Predictions Reviewed, Part 2

26 Dec

A couple of months ago, I made predictions about how long new shows on CBS, NBC and The CW would last.  As all the shows have aired for a few weeks, it’s time for an evaluation of my predictions, although for some shows, the final word is not in yet.  Such an evaluation follows:

CBS

2 Broke Girls

Predicted:  13+

What happened:  Picked up with high likelihood of renewal.  I knew it was likely to get renewed, but I still tried to vote with my heart by hoping it at least wouldn’t last multiple seasons.  Now, we could be looking at the next Two and a Half Men (shivers).

How To Be A Gentleman

Predicted:  12-

What happened:  Cancelled.  Fourth on my top five easiest cancellation decisions.  Sad, because there’s a few people I like in the show, but not really sad.

Person of Interest

Predicted:  Renewal

What happened:  Picked up for a full season, likely to be renewed.  I was worried when the show didn’t start as strong as expected, but it would be a surprise, albeit not a huge one, at this point if the show wasn’t brought back.

A Gifted Man

Predicted:  13+

What happened:  Picked up for three more episodes, totally 16, leaning towards cancelled, but undecided.  Probably my best 13+ pick of the year, it meets all the middle of the road commercially and critically criteria to need an extended look but ultimately be cancelled.

Unforgettable

Predicted:  13+

What happened:  Picked up for a full season.  Along with Terra Nova, the most borderline of the borderline.  No idea which way it will go, may come down to the last minute.

NBC

Up All Night

Predicted:  13+

What happened:  Picked up for a full season, still up in the air for next year.  Neither a huge success nor a bust, on ratings-strapped NBC, executives are looking to grab on to anything with a chance of success (though not Community, unfortunately).  It’s moving to Thursday, and how it fairs there will determine its fate.  I’d lean towards renewal though.

Free Agents

Predicted:  12-

What happened:  Cancelled.  Number five in my most obvious cancellations of the year.  There wasn’t much press, and though this was likely the best of the comedies cancelled quickly this year, that’s not saying a whole lot.

The Playboy Club

Predicted:  12-

What happened:  Cancelled.  I’m out of my five obvious cancellation choices, but this would be number six if I had one.  It never really had a chance and it shouldn’t have.

Whitney

Predicted:  13+

What happened:  Picked up for a full season, awaiting ratings on a new night.  It will switch time periods with Up All Night, making much more sense for both shows.  It never belonged on Thursday night, and hopefully will be put to bed by the end of the year, but it could go either way.

Prime Suspect

Predicted:  Renewal

What happened:  Probably cancelled, but not officially yet.  I was just straight out wrong about this one.  It got generally well reviewed and with NBC as ailing as it is, I thought even with middling ratings, they’d keep it around.

Grimm

Predicted:  13+

What happened:  Picked up for a full season and leaning toward a renewal.  I went back and forth on this show as more news and previews emerged and I’m still not sure how I feel.  I think it will probably get renewed, but it’s not over yet.

CW

 

Ringer

Predicted:  Renewal

What Happened:  Picked up for full season, likely to be renewed, but not assured yet by any means.  It doesn’t take too much for the WB to renew, so I think Ringer will be in.

The Secret Circle

Predicted:  Renewal

What Happened:  Picked up for a full season and seems most likely of all the WB shows to merit a renewal.  I felt good about this choice partnered up with successful The Vampire Diaries and this just confirms it.

Hart of Dixie

Predicted:  13+

What Happened:  Picked up for a full season.  It’s likely to be renwed, though less likely right now than Ringer and definitely less likely than The Secret Circle.  Still, I feel good about my prediction even if it comes out wrong.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fall 2011 Review: Hart of Dixie

13 Oct

Unforgettable was exactly what I thought it would be, and so is Hart of Dixie, but as a very different type of show.  I’ll talk about the premise in more detail below, but I can pretty much sum it up like this:  big-city-super-educated-doctor-girl moves into small-hick-southern town, learns that the people there aren’t so bad after all.

That’s basically all I need to get across the main gist of the show.  That said, here’s a little bit of a longer version.  Rachel Bilson portrays Dr. Zoe Hart (yes, let’s spend a second on the literalness of the pun in the title, Saving Grace and others like it have a successor), a high-powered doctor whose had her whole life planned out since she was a kid. She wanted to be like her dad and become a Cardio-thoracic surgeon, working with him in his practice.  She is shocked when she doesn’t get the fellowship she needs because, as she learns, she doesn’t have the people skills needed to be a top doctor.  The person who grants the fellowships tells her to get some practice as a general practitioner, and then come back and reapply.  Meanwhile, she has had a strange outstanding offer from a general practitioner in a small Alabama town, a Harvey Wilkes, to come down to his practice and help out.  She takes him up on the offer, only to find out when she gets there that he died recently, but left his half of his practice to her.  She then has a number of City Slickers moments, meeting the (main) characters of the town and not fitting in everywhere, and she feels alienated.  Her mother comes down begging her to leave, and she is planning on it, until she is forced to help deliver a pregnancy at a wedding, and also finds out that Harvey Wilkes was her true biological father.  She then decides to stay and learn about her biological father and about being a general practitioner and about growing as a person.

Okay, so the simple explanation was probably just as useful as the long one in determining what kind of show it is, but that doesn’t say whether or not it’s good.  Like Unforgettable, I think part of it is just whether the type of show appeals to you, in particular because I think the show was nothing notably good or notably bad.  I liked Rachel Bilson more than I thought I would, and I do think she has the charm and likeability to carry a show, and I enjoyed Scott Porter (Jason Street from Friday Night Lights) speaking with a southern accent.  If you like the actors, and you like a little fluffy drama with some probable light soapiness,  you’ll probably like the show.  It’s not close to can’t miss television though.

Will I watch it again?  No, I won’t.  There just isn’t enough going on.  There’s nothing wrong with it, per se; it’s not bad.  It’s just not that interesting either.  It’s cute and it’s light and I appreciate the draw of shows like that but I already watch a couple that satisfy that sector for me.

Tags: , ,

Fall 2011 Preview and Predictions: The CW

13 Sep

For most people, it’s spring that breaks the long winter, but even though television has become much more of an every season affair than ever before, it’s still fall that is the most exciting time for hardcore TV fans.  As the temperatures drop to cool and comfortable levels, all throughout New York City (and across America, I assume) posters advertising new series adorn every bus, bus stop, and subway interior.  We are excited as anyone else and will start our Fall 2011 festivities with an overview of all the new network shows debuting this fall.

In order to meld the spirit of futile sports predictions with the high stakes world of the who-will-be-cancelled-first fall television season, I’ve set up a very simple system of predictions for how long new shows will last.  Each day, I’ll (I’m aware I switched between we and I) lay out a network’s new shows scheduled to debut in the fall (reality shows not included – I’m already going to fail miserably on scripted shows, I don’t need to tackle a whole other animal) with my prediction of which of three categories it will fall into.

These categories are:

1.  Renewal – show gets renewed

2.  13+ – the show gets thirteen or more episodes, but not renewed

3.  12- – the show is cancelled before 13

CW is one of two networks debuting shows this week, and has the first debut with Ringer tonight (The Secret Circle debuts on Thursday as well) so we’ll start with them.  It’s just those two shows and Hart of Dixie which debuts on Monday in a couple of weeks.

Ringer – 9/13

 

Sarah Michelle Gellar plays twin sisters, one of whom is on the run from the mob in this mysterious drama, which I think may actually my most anticipated new show of the season.  The sisters have been out of each other’s lives for years, but as the one is on the run their lives become entwined again.  It sounds convoluted, but hopefully convoluted in a good way – TV has dropped the bomb on most of the big attempts at convoluted mystery series in recent years, spawned by Lost, including The Event and Flashforward amongst others.  I’ve missed Gellar since the days of Buffy, and I’ve read  a fair amount of good buzz, so I’m cautiously optimistic.

Verdict:  Renewal – I may be being hopeful, but I feel like CW doesn’t expect the type of ratings other networks do and might give the show some leeway, that is if the plot and ratings don’t both spiral out of control.

The Secret Circle – 9/15

 

Based on a series of books by the same author as the Vampire Diaries, the series sounds pretty much Vampire Diaries for witches (Witch Diaries?).  A teenager learns that she is from a family of witches, unraveling lots of family secrets along the way, some good, and some bad, and some helping her solve the mystery of her mother’s recent death.  She joins the title circle at some point, a group of six family witches.

Verdict:  Renewal – the perfect show on the right network for the right time slot, unless it’s out and out terrible, it’s been set up to succeed.

Hart of Dixie – 9/26

From the Saving Grace school of title creation, Hart is Dr. Zoe Hart, portrayed by Rachel Bilson, a big New York doctor who moves down to small-town Alabama for a job.  Co-created by Josh Schwartz, of The O.C. and Gossip Girl fame (who made Bilson a star to begin with in The O.C.), the show has some pedigree and will be getting the solid Gossip Girl lead in, creating a Josh Schwartz block.  The show also co-stars Scott Porter, best known as Jason Street in Friday Night Lighs which gives it some points.  That said, it really doesn’t sound incredibly appealing.

Verdict:  13+ – I think it’s more likely to get renewed than to get cancelled fast, but not everything can make it, and I’m not sure if it will be able to generate an audience.  It just seems so bland.

Tags: , , , ,