I've watched a few new American pilot shows and have generally been impressed. When you look back at how ropey first seasons are for great shows like the Simpsons and Seinfeld it's amazing how the new ones manage to hit the ground running. Most of these are available on Mininova and the like and given they've been up for a while I think the producers are happy for a bit of advanced word of mouth publicity.
FLASH GORDON : I didn't really like this one which sees Flash as a student looking for his Dad who fell into a dimentional rift that opens into Mongo. The pilot was too long at 90 minutes and to have Ming as a blonde white guy seemed a bit too PC. Some decent FX but I doubt I'll be back.
CALIFORNICATION : This show follows a burned out writer played by David Duchovny who shags loads of burds and er that's it. Five naked women in 30 minutes shows you its target audience but I enjoyed the laughs too. Didn't seem a lot to drive the show forward but I'm happy with the nakedness!
TERMINATOR : THE SARAH CONNORS CHRONICLES Discussed in more detail in another thread but I really enjoyed this. No known faces but when a big guy appears with sunglasses on you know who's who. Good SFX and a plot that bypasses T3 altogether.
THE BIONIC WOMAN Didn't take to this one at all. The pilot sees her mangled and getting fitted out with all the gadgets. There is aggro from an old mark 1 and shady government types. Some decent action but I was pretty bored throughout.
REAPER This one was good fun. A teenager finds his soul was sold to the devil by his parents and he shows up to collect. Luckily the devil is that nice Ray Wise out of Twin Peaks and he sets him to work collecting the souls of those who have escaped Hell. The first episode had a good baddie in the form of an arsonist fireman. The plot device of the devil giving out a custom soul catcher each week seems a touch, well weak.
Some hit and some misses but cracking production values throughout. How people watch soaps and Big Brother is beyond me - you could piss your life away in a far more varied fashion!
David Duchovny who shags loads of burds
So basically it's just Red Shoe Diaries 2k7?
I missing all those new show cause we don't get the Sci//Fi channel anymore.
I wonder if the Red Hot Chilli Peppers do the them tune for 'Californication'
Link: Californication
I enjoyed the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Reaper and Bionic Woman.
Californication still has to win me over.
Flash Gordon has lost me already. Go to the Sci-Fi Channel official forum for the show, when I last looked the longest thread there was titled CANCEL THIS NOW - PLEASE!!
One pilot you would probably enjoy is Chuck. A nerd gets all the information of all the intelligence agencies in his head and ends up working with spies.
Funny, very well cast and a hilarious moment with some heroic music right at the end. Plus, the female lead is very hot.
I enjoyed the Sarah Connor Chronicles pilot but the Bionic Woman pre-air pilot sucked donkeys. Apparently they are re-doing/re-did it so that her sister isnt deaf etc, can't see that saving it.
Apparently the sister will have not be disabled, instead becoming a computer hacker sidekick. Erk.
Pushing Daisies is another pilot doing the rounds that'll hit US TV soon. Quirky but cute. More voiceover and flashbacks than you can shake a stick at. Created by Wonderfalls and Heroes bloke.
I watched the Sarah Connor chronicles, pleased to say it was actually really good. I like the way it was a lot more tied into the first two films than T3 was (things like Miles Dyson's murder investigation, etc.)
Sarah Conner Chronicles was competent, but unexceptional. In the context of the low bar set for modern sci-fi shows, that practically makes it brilliant. The Terminator dialogue was uniformly embarrassing, and I thought it was odd that her out of Firefly was better at acting like a human than a robot, but I'll probably watch more.
Flash Gordon's real name in the show is Steve, he's a marathon runner, hence the nickname 'Flash' (no, I don't understand either), he travels through the Sliders wormhole to Mongo and meets the Sheriff of Nottingham from the recent BBC series, who's now calling himself Ming, and that's pretty much it. Some professional reviewers have mounted a defence of this show that runs thus: "It's fucking awful and doesn't try to be good - how refreshing is that?" I admit this arguement has sort of won me over, but I'm not sure it'll be the same for others who thought BSG was the way forward for tv sci-fi.
Bionic Woman was alright, I thought - very reminiscent of the Nikita tv series from a few years back. I've read a story that a production memo about the pilot from an incoming producer on the show ended "and maybe drop the spastic", and I think that bodes well for the show.
Reaper is just a redressed tv show from a couple of years ago called Brimstone, which was fun while it lasted because John Glover was such a twisted shit as the devil, making the main character jump through hoops each week in a way identical to Reaper's Ray Wise. File this alongside Steve Gordon in terms of quality.
Does Steve Gordon drive throught the stargate in a muscle car? Thats what I heard off somebody.
I was actually looking forward to this for a while too :)
Nothing so 'flash' - it's more of a wibbly wobbly dimension rift thing.
Sadly, Steve did not drive a muscle car AT ANY POINT during the show, which disappointed me no end, as it seemed like the kind of thing you really need in these shows so that someone turns on the radio and generic guitar-rawk shit comes out (Nickleback) and the main character says "On my planet this is called 'Rock and Roll'" And then (hopefully) shoots someone in the face.
I faintly suspect they couldn't afford the car. you need more than one car, see - one with the engine ripped out and replaced by the stunt crew for long shots where the car's speeding about, one for close-ups, and another one for reasons I can't remember, but the production guy on the Starsky and Hutch movie was quite adamant about as being quite important - and if anyone should know, it's the production guy on the Starsky and Hutch movie.
There is a monster-truck at one point near the end of Steve gordon, driven by the bird from Adventure Inc (who usually gets 'em off in most of the shows she's been in), which is enough for some people, I suppose.
Oh well, a monster truck is something at least :)
Maybe Prince Barin will turn up in a mustang or on a harley at some point. Now called Dave Barin though.
It really sounds like the worst programme ever, I'm off to download it right now!
You'll enjoy the low speed camper van chase if nothing else.
If the Bionic woman has a deaf sister, then why can't she be given bionic hearing.
Did they like, run out of money.
Saw the second episode of Californication and although the knockers quotent was down to two (three if you count the recap) it was pretty funny and outragous. Surprised to see Dawn Tinsley out of the Office showing up doing an exaggerated English accent.
Nearly downloaded Flash eps. 2 but thought better of it.
You still haven't answered my question about this show. ;) (or something).
Surprised to see Dawn Tinsley out of the Office showing up
Any chance any of the knockers on show were hers?
It's a bit better than (the admitedly great) Red Shoe Diaries. It doesn't have the angst or stylised shaggin with open French windows and flowing drapes but it does have Mulder throwing up and boning anything that moves.
Alas Dawn isn't among them as although she fancies Dave, (who doesn't?) she is in a relationship. She looks to be a returning character so hope springs eternal!
I was going to warn you off ANCHORWOMAN which is a faux reality show about a busty model taking over as anchor on a Texan TV station, but after consulting Wikipedia I see it was cancelled after one episode.
Ron Burgandy must have struck it down with Odin's raven.