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The sincerest form of flattery
May. 20th, 2011 07:41 pmI don't know what to make of the fact that NBC's new Fall schedule includes a show named Grimm, described as "a dark but fantastical cop drama about a world in which characters inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales exist"...and they'll be airing it on Fridays at 9:00.
You can watch a preview of Grimm here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/05/16/136365928/nbcs-fall-schedule-the-dramas.
Watch that and tell me it doesn't look and feel like Supernatural. It even has the whole family-business angle, since the title character is supposed to be descended from the actual Brothers Grimm, who apparently were...hunters.
Could Supernatural possibly have enough clout that one of the Big Three networks ordered a show with almost the same premise to run in the exact same timeslot? If I were Eric Kripke, I'd be both flattered and pissed off. I'd also be thinking that it was time for SPN to shape up. I hope the new head of the CW feels the same way. All in all, I find myself strangely enthused about Season 7. Sera Gamble's got some supervision, the CW has a brand-new chief executive with serious network chops (he was running ABC when they were flying high with "water-cooler" shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives), and now one of the biggest networks has scheduled a copycat show against them. They'd better be bringing their A-game.
Also in the unoriginal ideas department, another NBC show is The Playboy Club, which I can only imagine aspires to duplicate some of Mad Men's glamour with its setting in early 1960s New York. Prime Suspect is an Americanized version of the great British crime drama, but of course this being America, they weren't bold enough to cast a woman of Helen Mirren's age in the lead role and instead went with ER's Maria Bello. Perhaps it's sort of like "dog years" -- in American TV years, Maria Bello actually is Helen Mirren's age. Rounding out the lineup, Smash just sounds like its trying to ride Glee's coattails.
Boy, I know there are no new ideas under the sun, but it sounds to me like the NBC executives just went channel surfing and built a schedule based on what everyone else was doing. I do have to admit I'm a little proud of Supernatural for inspiring what sounds (and looks) like such an obvious ripoff. If the show has a classic rock soundtrack and Det. Grimm drives a muscle car, I will laugh my ass off.
You can watch a preview of Grimm here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/05/16/136365928/nbcs-fall-schedule-the-dramas.
Watch that and tell me it doesn't look and feel like Supernatural. It even has the whole family-business angle, since the title character is supposed to be descended from the actual Brothers Grimm, who apparently were...hunters.
Could Supernatural possibly have enough clout that one of the Big Three networks ordered a show with almost the same premise to run in the exact same timeslot? If I were Eric Kripke, I'd be both flattered and pissed off. I'd also be thinking that it was time for SPN to shape up. I hope the new head of the CW feels the same way. All in all, I find myself strangely enthused about Season 7. Sera Gamble's got some supervision, the CW has a brand-new chief executive with serious network chops (he was running ABC when they were flying high with "water-cooler" shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives), and now one of the biggest networks has scheduled a copycat show against them. They'd better be bringing their A-game.
Also in the unoriginal ideas department, another NBC show is The Playboy Club, which I can only imagine aspires to duplicate some of Mad Men's glamour with its setting in early 1960s New York. Prime Suspect is an Americanized version of the great British crime drama, but of course this being America, they weren't bold enough to cast a woman of Helen Mirren's age in the lead role and instead went with ER's Maria Bello. Perhaps it's sort of like "dog years" -- in American TV years, Maria Bello actually is Helen Mirren's age. Rounding out the lineup, Smash just sounds like its trying to ride Glee's coattails.
Boy, I know there are no new ideas under the sun, but it sounds to me like the NBC executives just went channel surfing and built a schedule based on what everyone else was doing. I do have to admit I'm a little proud of Supernatural for inspiring what sounds (and looks) like such an obvious ripoff. If the show has a classic rock soundtrack and Det. Grimm drives a muscle car, I will laugh my ass off.
Late review because I spent the entire weekend at an agonizing workshop on space clearing and do me a favor, people? If you ever hear me say I'm attending any sort of New Agey self-help workshop or seminar (not including yoga, which actually yields some immediate, tangible benefits) please, please, PLEASE just say "Oselle, May 1st, 2011," and I will immediately come to my senses. Remember that fairy episode of SPN when Sam and Dean went to visit the fairy-expert lady and afterward Dean said, "I feel like I've got the crazy ON me?" Well that's how I felt all weekend. And now I'm going to go and take a very hot and very long shower to get the crazy OFF me. But before I go...
( SPN 6:19: Mommy Dearest )
( SPN 6:19: Mommy Dearest )
The TV people are my only friends
Apr. 27th, 2011 08:53 pmI got to work this morning and there was the Media Life Daily newsletter in my email inbox and the first story was about the shows the CW had renewed. The first paragraph of the blurb ended with "Supernatural" and the next sentence began: "Not on the schedule..." but when I first read it I was sure it said, "Supernatural is not on the schedule" and my heart just dropped into my guts for one horrible split second before I realized I'd read it wrong.
Supernatural really is the weird, fucked-up relationship I never had in real life. The one that you hate and that alternately bores you and angers you and makes you feel stupid and used and cheap but that you don't know how you'd live without. After recovering from the shock of thinking it had been canceled, I sat there filled with stupid-chick thoughts about how I really need to start being nicer to Show because we've had so many good times together and I still love him. I need to stop being so judgmental and accept Show for who he is. Because Show is still very special and...I love Show! Don't ever leave me! Shoooooooow!
( I blame all of this on Mary Tyler Moore... )
Supernatural really is the weird, fucked-up relationship I never had in real life. The one that you hate and that alternately bores you and angers you and makes you feel stupid and used and cheap but that you don't know how you'd live without. After recovering from the shock of thinking it had been canceled, I sat there filled with stupid-chick thoughts about how I really need to start being nicer to Show because we've had so many good times together and I still love him. I need to stop being so judgmental and accept Show for who he is. Because Show is still very special and...I love Show! Don't ever leave me! Shoooooooow!
( I blame all of this on Mary Tyler Moore... )
The Life of Magical Thinking
Mar. 1st, 2011 10:18 pmDo you ever reach the point where everything has gone so wrong for so long that you begin to believe that it all means that something very good is bound to happen very soon? I think that's what they call "magical thinking," isn't it? And magical thinking never works out, does it?
On a completely unrelated note, I have, incredibly, only just now noticed how much Sera Gamble looks like all of those identical brunettes that have populated the SPN universe, especially the ones who wound up sleeping with Sam. Of course all of those women were actresses so they were all "professionally pretty" but Gamble is definitely in their mold if not in their league. It's like, if you were going to cast an actress to play "Sera Gamble," you could have picked any of those women. Including Genevieve Padalecki (nee Cortese). And to think, all these years I thought Kripke was responsible for the parade of lookalikes. Huh.
On a completely unrelated note, I have, incredibly, only just now noticed how much Sera Gamble looks like all of those identical brunettes that have populated the SPN universe, especially the ones who wound up sleeping with Sam. Of course all of those women were actresses so they were all "professionally pretty" but Gamble is definitely in their mold if not in their league. It's like, if you were going to cast an actress to play "Sera Gamble," you could have picked any of those women. Including Genevieve Padalecki (nee Cortese). And to think, all these years I thought Kripke was responsible for the parade of lookalikes. Huh.
The CW is a stupid network. I mean it. There's a reason they're known in the industry as a "netlet" instead of a real network. They clearly have no confidence in their own programming if they think they have to re-broadcast two shows (Vampire Diaries and Nikita) that just aired last night because American Idol also aired on Thursday. I don't know about Nikita but VD has a solid following and I'm sure that show's fans tuned in to it regardless of American Idol. Additionally, no one at the CW seems to be aware of the phenomenon of TiVo and DVR and even the hoary old VCR, which (hold onto your hats!) magically allow viewers to record one show and then watch another! What astounding wonders of the modern age!
In addition to proving that they have no faith in their own lineup, they also confuse and frustrate viewers by shuffling shows around, and especially by cancelling the premieres of two of their lone flagship shows in order to air repeats of episodes that, again, just aired last night. Plus, they're giving genre-TV fans (like me) yet another chance to check out Fringe on FOX at 9:00, and quite possibly decide that's more worth watching on Friday nights than SPN.
On top of it, I'm sure that everyone at the CW knows that even their most popular shows ALWAYS land at the bottom of the overnight ratings, not only being trounced by "the big four" (NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX), but often coming in behind even the Spanish telenovelas on Univision. So I fail to see why American Idol on Thursday night suddenly became such a panic-inducing game changer to them. They are going to be dead last no matter what.
If this was Dawn Ostroff's decision then I hope it's her last one before she leaves the network. I am not so much annoyed at SPN not being on tonight, as I am really amazed by such embarrassing decision making. I'm not aware that any other network felt the need to immediately reshuffle its lineup because of FOX's programming. The CW might as well put out a press release that says, "Our shows suck and they can't hold their own."
How do these people get their jobs? I really wonder.
In addition to proving that they have no faith in their own lineup, they also confuse and frustrate viewers by shuffling shows around, and especially by cancelling the premieres of two of their lone flagship shows in order to air repeats of episodes that, again, just aired last night. Plus, they're giving genre-TV fans (like me) yet another chance to check out Fringe on FOX at 9:00, and quite possibly decide that's more worth watching on Friday nights than SPN.
On top of it, I'm sure that everyone at the CW knows that even their most popular shows ALWAYS land at the bottom of the overnight ratings, not only being trounced by "the big four" (NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX), but often coming in behind even the Spanish telenovelas on Univision. So I fail to see why American Idol on Thursday night suddenly became such a panic-inducing game changer to them. They are going to be dead last no matter what.
If this was Dawn Ostroff's decision then I hope it's her last one before she leaves the network. I am not so much annoyed at SPN not being on tonight, as I am really amazed by such embarrassing decision making. I'm not aware that any other network felt the need to immediately reshuffle its lineup because of FOX's programming. The CW might as well put out a press release that says, "Our shows suck and they can't hold their own."
How do these people get their jobs? I really wonder.
