Summer TV Roundup, Week 9

We're in the midst of summer, and the swell of summer shows is starting to take off. This week we got a trio of new entries all hoping to make a connection with viewers this summer. In these weekly posts I take a look at the pilot and second episode of new scripted series. Don't see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks!

Tuesday Nights:
Love Is____?, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on OWN Network (Premiered June 19)
About: This latest series for OWN comes from creator Mara Brock Akil, and is based on her real life romance with husband and producing partner Sam. The series takes place in two time frames. In one we see Nuri (Wendy Davis) and Yassir (Clarke Peters), who are celebrating 30 years of marriage in 2027 by remembering how their journey began. So we go back to 1997 to see how Nuri (Michele Weaver) and Yassir (William Catlett) first met and fell in love. The pilot was just a cursory look at their initial meeting and relationship, and interviews in the future that help paint the picture of how in love they still are and how they've grown together. The series will, presumably, be a celebration of love. But the pilot was a little slow, spending time establishing the characters and the arc of the stories in two different time periods.
Pilot Grade: C

Wednesday Nights:
Yellowstone, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Paramount Network (Premiered June 20)
About: This is the latest series from Taylor Sheridan, the screen writer responsible for "Sicario" and  "Wind River." It's a splashy drama for Paramount (formerly SPIKE), starring Kevin Costner in an ensemble piece about a wealthy ranching family trying to hold on to their kingdom in Montana. They face challenges of progress among those who want to bring people and city living into the equation and a new new tribal chief (Gil Bermingham) who wants to change the narrative regarding his people. The pilot, which was two hours, had a very cinematic quality as it set up the story of John Dutton (Costner) and his four children (Dave Annable, Wes Bently, Kelly Reilly and Luke Grimes). I liked the shots and pacing of the pilot, and the performances were strong. I thought there were some interesting stories and plenty of room for the plot to develop. Some have accused the pilot of being a little too predictable and a little too familiar in terms of character. Perhaps that's true, but it worked for me. I liked the pilot and the cast, and I'm interested to see where it's going.
Pilot Grade: B-

Thursday Nights:
Take Two, Thursdays at 10 p.m. on ABC (Premiered June 21)
About: Once upon a time Andrew Marlowe created a little series for ABC called "Castle" which was about a crime novelist who paired with an NYPD detective seeking a little inspiration. It was a modest hit that ran for many seasons on ABC. Now a few years after "Castle" ended, Marlowe is back with something similar in "Take Two," a series about an actress (Rachel Bilson) who has bottomed out and needs to research a role so she pairs with a private detective (Eddie Cibrian) who needs the money. And suddenly, a new calling and partnership is born. This feels in part like "Castle," in terms of the opposites coming together at least initially for research. And in part it feels like "The Grinder," which was about an actor who played a lawyer for years and felt like that qualified him to join his family's law practice. Bilson's Sam Swift played a cop for 200 episodes, and it's helped her learn a thing or two about investigations. After a successful case in the pilot, it seems their destined to partner up. We're in the season where, for networks, we're getting shows they picked up that no longer fit the in-season vision. This show has a pedigree and some leads, and likely they originally thought it could be another "Castle." But it's not quite that good, at least the pilot wasn't. It started quite a bit slower than I'd expected, but it sort of came together by the end. Pilots often have some tough work to do because they have to introduce characters, the world and build the ongoing plot moving forward. So even if it doesn't totally pop, the question you have to ask is how you feel about the potential of the characters and story moving forward. I like Cibrian and Bilson, and I think there's enough potential here that I'd like to see if it picks up a bit in the second episode. The pilot was flawed, but the basic concept is light and easy and might be an ideal series for this summer.
Pilot Grade: C+