Winter Premiers Roundup


With the dawn of a New Year have come a handful of new shows. Here's a look at a couple of the new shows that have debuted this month.

Alcatraz — Mondays at 9 p.m. on FOX
About: This show has a nice pedigree — coming from executive producer J.J. Abrams. The show is building a solid mythology and takes on an interesting premise — that the prisoners, guards, and employees at the famous prison disappeared just before the facility closed. Now, those that disappeared are reemerging for some as yet unknown purpose. The cast is fairly solid, led by Sam Neill, Jorge Garcia, Parminder Nagra, and Sarah Jones. The episodes are a mix of the present and flashback origin stories for the "returnee" of the week. This does create a "Lost"-like storytelling structure, but this material seems a bit more accessible at this point. The show is well crafted and there is a certain potential for this to develop into a solid, serialized hit.
Grade: B+

Luck — Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO
About: When Dustin Hoffman comes to TV, you know it's got to be something fascinating. There has been an ongoing discussion for about five years that pay cable and cable have displaced cinema as the place where the best original stories are being told. That's why we see actors like Hoffman and director/producers like Michael Mann coming to HBO. Both are featured in "Luck," a show that takes place in and around a horse racing track. The key players are trainers, jockeys, owners, and the gamblers that call the track home. The pilot had a lot of fun elements and you can see this show shaping up into something compelling from week-to-week. It has attracted a strong cast — including Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina, John Ortiz, and Michael Gambon. HBO has long been a destination for creative, quality entertainment and this show looks like it's grounded in a little more realism than some of their recent fare.
Grade: B

Touch — Preview available online, show premiers March 19 on FOX
About: On Wednesday FOX offered a preview of its new series, "Touch." The show comes from "Heroes" creator Tim Kring and features Kiefer Sutherland in the lead role. The show appears to have a certain degree of similarity to the storytelling style of "Heroes." The pilot was engaging, and the concept was fascinating, but I couldn't help but think that it's material better suited to a feature film of a mini-series than a traditional weekly drama. We'll have to see how the show develops in subsequent episodes, but based on the pilot I am certainly intrigued.
Grade: B

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