"Blindspot," "Empire," "Murder" and More: The Fall TV Season, Part 2

Continuing with my random reflections on broadcast televisionamp8217s comparatively lifeless fall season which began with my thoughts about amp8220Supergirlamp8221 amp8220Limitlessamp8221 and amp8220Scream Queensamp8221 among others there isn39t as much good news as there should beBest Time Ever with Neil Patrick HarrisNBCamp8217s bold adventure in live primetime variety programming has completed its initial run Iamp8217d call this one the most disappointing new series of the season so far If it returns it needs to feature more music and comedy performances and less of the rest of the timefilling junk that weighed it down Over on BBC America Graham Norton gets more mileage out of placing two or three members of his audience in an overstuffed red chair and threatening to eject them if they donamp8217t tell funny stories than most of what NPH gave us during the last two months Maybe amp8220Best Time Everamp8221 would be best served as a series of live specials something NBC does better than any other networkTruth Be ToldAs expected the worst new sitcom of the fall turned out to be NBCamp8217s amp8220Truth Be Toldamp8221 which by its third episode could do no better that to give us a story about a little girl accidentally seeing a grown manamp8217s penis and everyone freaking out about it except the little girl No wonder this flaccid comedy it had its episode order cutBlindspotThe very wellproduced womanwithtattoos mystery amp8220Blindspotamp8221 has turned out to be a much needed success for NBCSeries star Jaimie Alexander is pictured at topamp160It is no surprise that nudity and teases of such sells especially on broadcast television where it is still generally taboo unless the bodies involved have been beaten burned or tattooed I canamp8217t help but think how much better this show would be if its writers had worked harder to fully develop its characters during the first few episodes Does anyone actually care about any of them Or the increasingly complex and improbable mythology that keeps them all running around amp8211 a story that is destined to expand for as many seasons as the show is renewed likely losing focus as all such mythology driven series do Examples amp8220Lostamp8221 amp8220Fringeamp8221 amp8220The XFilesamp8221 Like I said itamp8217s got to be the skinThe MuppetsOver at ABC amp8220The Muppetsamp8221 hasnamp8217t turned out to be the smash hit that so many critics myself included expected it would be Did we all overreact to the extended clip ABC made available last May during the Upfront which would be just another reason to call for the end of that annual marathon of tireless selfpromotion and promises about programming that go largely unkempt or has the show truly failed in its ambitious effort to add edge to a longrunning and muchloved family franchise Maybe folks donamp8217t want their Muppets with doses of doubleentendre and modern mischief For me the best moment of the season to date was the very nostalgic end of this weekamp8217s episode when Kermit pictured above sang his alwaysmoving classic amp8220The Rainbow Connectionamp8221 Gets me every timeWicked CityI take it as a good sign that the audience has stayed away from this soulless exercise in misogyny I knew there would be a problem when ABC chose as its scintillating preview clip for this show a scene in which the male serial killer around whom much of the drama revolves received oral sex from an eager young woman whom he then stabbed to death The real problems with shows of this kind as we learned from Foxamp8217s amp8220The Followingamp8221 is that they donamp8217t work if the good guys ie the detectives on the case arenamp8217t as smart as the bad guys the psycho killers All griping aside I think series lead Ed Westwick has been mesmerizing When will a smart television or movie producer come up with the perfect role for this distinctive young actor It could take a while In the meantime he ought to find himself a powerful OffBroadway dramaBlood ampamp OilI think Iamp8217m the only person outside of this showamp8217s cast and crew who was saddened by the news that this primetime soap just had its order cut By episode five amp8220Bloodamp8221 had finally found its footing finally putting more emphasis on its female characters a crucial part of the formula for success in this genre Also it took entirely too long to turn Don Johnsonamp8217s character into anything resembling a new JR Ewing or Alexis Carrington Colby Being scheduled on Sunday at 9 pm amp8211 without question one of the toughest time periods of the week amp8211 didnamp8217t help Maybe amp8220Bloodamp8221 would have worked if Ed Westwick had been brought in to spar with his old amp8220Gossip Girlamp8221 costar Chace CrawfordHow to Get Away with MurderI never thought this fiendishly entertaining melodrama would suffer so egregious a sophomore slump but that seems to have happened The problems are many There are entirely too many killers scampering about everyone is a liar the remains of the season one storyline have overshadowed the new mystery of season two there have been entirely too many scenes of Annalise Keating crying at exboyfriend Nate Laheyamp8217s door and her murderous acolyte Bonnie Winterbottom weeping about anything and everything Also was it wise to inundate season two with more flashbacks of the Keating Kids scampering about in the dark of night after being somehow involved with yet another violent crime Who shot Annalise Who cares It does not please me to write that Good thing the cast pictured above is so cool and the sex so hotEmpireThe sophomore season of this show hasnamp8217t been nearly as disappointing as amp8220HTGAWMamp8221 but it hasnamp8217t held up as well as it should have either I think the big problem was splitting apart the Lyon family so early in the showamp8217s run theyamp8217re so much more fun when they are all together fighting tooth and nail in the grand tradition of the Ewings and the Carringtons Dysfunctional relationships in primetime serials are always much more effective when those relationships however fractious are in some way intact like nasty JR Ewing and his longsuffering wife Sue Ellen Fortunately many of the characters on amp8220Empireamp8221 are still among the most interesting on television and the music is second to noneThe Good WifeLastly hereamp8217s another formerly great show that suddenly seems to be betraying itself Just as amp8220Empireamp8221 is stronger when its central family is together so too is amp8220The Good Wifeamp8221 even if the family in that show is of the professional variety Iamp8217m much happier when Alicia Florrick Diane Lockhart Cary Agos and even Eli Gold are working together against outside threats even if that involves inside confrontations And it is wholly unbelievable that Peter Florrick would suddenly choose to run for President On what grounds and off what reputation Thatamp8217s too big and cumbersome a story for even this sterling show to support Nothing has upset me more this television season so far than the great amp8220Wifeamp8221 becoming simply the good amp8220Wifeamp8221The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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"Blindspot," "Empire," "Murder" and More: The Fall TV Season, Part 2

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Ed Martin

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

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"Blindspot," "Empire," "Murder" and More: The Fall TV Season, Part 2

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