Best & Worst of New Fall TV Series
Alex McCormick ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Editor
BEST
Stars: Johnny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, Jon Michael Hill, Aidan Quinn
Why you should watch: Not only is Elementary a completely different show from many of it’s Holmes-based predecessors, but it gives a completely new spin on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes in the form of his first ever female partner in crime, played by Lucy Liu.
Stars: Matthew Perry, Laura Benanti, John Cho, Julie White
Why you should watch: Go on has the perfect balance between incredibly weird characters and surprisingly deep content. Matthew Perry and the rest of the group have great chemistry and do a great job with the characters they play.
Stars: Mindy Kaling, Chris Messina, Ed Weeks
Why you should watch: Mindy Kaling is one of the best young female writers active today, paralleled only by Lena Dunham. The show is very reflective of Kaling’s personality and is one of the funniest new shows.
Photo Credit: ABC/KATHERINE BOMBOY-THORNTON
Stars: Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere, Clare Bowen, Eric Close
Why you should watch: Nashville is one of the most universally lauded new series. The show has a pretty big budget and a really solid cast, and is sure to become a staple for ABC.
Stars: Justin Bartha, Andrew Rannells, Georgia King
Why you should watch: The New Normal is incredibly funny, it is one of the most well casted new shows, and it creates a wonderful commentary on gay marriage and rights. Despite a Utah affiliate refusing to air the show, claiming “[The New Normal is] inappropriate for broadcast during the family hour,” the series has been picked up for a full twenty-two episode order.
WORST
Photo: Ben Mark Holzberg/The CW. © 2012 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
Stars: Kristin Kreuk, Jay Ryan, Max Brown
Why you shouldn’t watch it: The CW is trying to capitalize on the success of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, and is failing miserably. It’s hard to tell which is worse: the acting or the writing. While this show will probably get a full season order, it certainly won’t be around come next year.
Stars: Dakota Johnson, Nat Faxon, Lucy Punch
Why you shouldn’t watch it: Ben and Kate tries incredibly hard to have the depth of Parenthood and the comedy of New Girl, but it fails miserably. This show has the most potential to move out of the “Worst” category, but it is unlikely that we will see it on the 2013-2014 roster.
Photo Credit: David Lee/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Right Reserved.
Stars: Janet Montgomery, Pablo Schreiber, Kyle MacLachlan
Why you shouldn’t watch it: CBS is apparently late to the Jersey Shore party. Perhaps this show would have done well a few years ago, but the novelty of Guidos and Guidettes has worn off. Made in Jersey was actually the first casualty of the season; it was canceled on October 10th, after two episodes aired.
Photo Credit: Nathaniel Bell/FOX
Stars: Jordana Spiro, William Forsythe, Floriana Lima
Why you shouldn’t watch: There are no redeeming qualities to The Mob Doctor. Even the show’s name is ridiculous. It would be like changing the name of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit to Sex Crimes!.
Stars: Jami Gertz, Simon Templeman, Lenny Venito
Why you shouldn’t watch: It’s just weird. Weird for the sake of being weird. There’s very little depth to it, and the few laughs it receives don’t make up for it being a terribly acted show.