Winter TV Roundup, Week 1

We've reached January, and are now in Winter. In past eras, this was a quieter time for new shows. But in our current Peak TV era, it's an explosive time for new shows. In these weekly posts I review the pilot and second episode of new scripted series this Winter. (And the occasional unscripted series.)

Tuesday Nights:
Good Trouble, Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Freeform (Premiers January 8)
About: A few of these winter shows have offered early pilots, so I'll be reviewing them ahead of their official premier. Such is the case with "Good Trouble," which officially premiers tonight. This one is a spin-off of "The Fosters," the successful family drama that ran for a number of years. It centers on two of the characters from that show, Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) as they move to Los Angeles to begin their careers. (This one jumps ahead a few years from where "The Fosters" ended.) Callie is a lawyer, and is now clerking for a Federal Judge. Mariana graduated MIT and is now working as a low-level computer engineer. So, yeah, it feels totally grounded and believable. They are also living in an intentional community, meeting a new group of potential friends. The pilot was beautifully shot and flowed at a good pace, likely owing to director Jon M. Chu, and there will be plenty of drama and intrigue that will appeal to the Freeform audience. I like Mitchell, who was my favorite on "The Fosters," and there's plenty of potential here for this to grab that audience. It wasn't perfect and it wasn't great, but it was entertaining for a pilot.
Pilot: C

Wednesday Nights:
The Masked Singer, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on FOX (Premiered January 2)
About: You're probably thinking, this isn't a scripted show. And that's true. But sometimes there is something that grabs me, and this was one that caught my attention. And I think FOX was wise to launch it last week when nothing much was on, because that was enough for me to give it a try. Basically the show has 12 celebrities in costume. You get clues as to who they are, but their voices are masked. Except when they sing. The first six performed on January 2, with the other six performing this week. The bottom performer is out each week, and gets unmasked. The pilot saw that as Antonio Brown, wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Some of these are real musicians, while others as just famous for other reasons (like Brown). There is also a panel of judges, which includes Jenny McCarthy and Ken Jeong, who make guesses each week. I have to say, I had a lot of fun watching the premier and I kind of enjoyed the premise. This ended up being more fun than I expected, and I'm curious to see how it all plays out.
Pilot: B

Deadly Class, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on SyFy (Premiers January 16)
About: This new series from SyFy, based on the comic book from Rick Remender, officially premiers on January 16. But SyFy aired the pilot on December 20 in a special preview, and has it available online to stream on its site right now. The story centers on a special school in San Francisco in the late 1980s that caters to students training to become professional killers. Some are the off-spring of violent criminals, but the newest recruit, Marcus Lopez Arguello (Benjamin Wadsworth), is a street kid and a psychopath. At the school, Master Lin (Benedict Wong) helps teach these kids to master their skills to achieve success as vicious adults. The idea here is a bit off-putting to me, and though the pilot was well put together this just isn't something that I find appealing. It's hard to see this as a series, but then again I am not familiar with the source material. So maybe fans of the comic will be happy here. As for me, the pilot didn't really grab me.
Pilot Grade: C-

Sunday Nights:
Black Monday, Sundays at 10 p.m. on Showtime (Premiers January 20)
About: This is another new series that is getting an early premier online. It's also another story set in the 1980s. This one begins with the darkest day in the history of the Stock Market, the great crash of 1987, then jumps back in time a year to allegedly tell us how it happened. The series focuses on Maurice Monroe (Don Cheadle), a brash trader who is a bit of an outsider. He begins by clashing with a wannabe trader, Blair (Andrew Rannells), who he later recruits. This half hour is a mixture of comedy and drama with an edge, like many of the Showtime shows of this sort. And, in fact, it reminds me a lot of the style and pacing of Cheadle's other Showtime show, "House of Lies." That wasn't my favorite show, and I feel like this might be going the same way. Showtime has a brand for its comedies, and you either go for it or you don't. In the past, it hasn't worked for me and there's little about this pilot that makes me think that's going to change.
Pilot Grade: C-