Winter TV Roundup, Week 7

We're in the heart of winter, having just past President's Day Weekend. In fact, this Tuesday morning much of America is still mired in the midst of a deep freeze. Here in CO, it's about nine degrees with four inches of snow on the ground. That means more time gathered around our TVs and heaters to keep warm. And this last week, we got a group of new shows, with more coming in the following weeks. We're in the Peak TV Era, and nothing stays slow for long. In these weekly posts I look at the pilot and second episode of new scripted series. Don't see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.

Tuesday Nights:
Boomerang, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on BET (Premiered February 12)
About: This is not a re-make so much as a continuation of existing IP. The existing part is the 1992 movie starring Eddie Murphy and Halle Berry (who is a producer on this new series). The TV show, which is from Ben Cory Jones and Lena Waithe, follows the adult children of the main characters from the film as they work for their parents advertising company. The series is led by Tetona Jackson and Tequan Richmond, and it really wants to look at what it means to be young, black and single in this day and age. The pilot was more of a workplace episode, while the second episode (the first two aired back-to-back on Tuesday) took place at a game night and was meant to give folks more of a sense of the characters. What's being done here is fine, and likely works for a target audience that isn't me. It doesn't feel much like the title from which is borrows its name, but that's not really a huge problem. Sometimes in the Peak TV Era you just need a familiar name to get eyeballs on you, then you can do your own thing. I didn't take to either episode, or the characters, but others might feel differently.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C-

Miracle Workers, Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. on TBS (Premiered February 12)
About: This latest comedy is set in Heaven and focuses on the workers that make the world work. Specifically a pair that work in the department of answered prayer, Craig (Daniel Radcliffe) and Eliza (Geraldine Viswanathan). God (Steve Buscemi) isn't too pleased with how the Earth is turning out and decides it's time to scrap the project and do something else. This upsets many, including Eliza who feels the world is worthy of more time and effort. So she makes a bet with God that she can answer an "impossible" prayer in two weeks, and if she does God promises to spare the world. Eliza and Craig pick a couple who both seem to want to be together. God agrees, but as soon as the bet is sealed lets them know how challenging it will be. This limited series (seven episodes total) will feature this process of trying to save the world by helping two crazy kids fall in love. The three leads are strong, as are the rest of the characters, like God's assistant Sanjay (Karan Soni) and the head of Heaven's HR (Angela Kinsey). The work done by Simon Rich, who created the series, is strong. This is the kind of idea that could burn brightly and burn out quickly, but with just a seven episode season I have high hopes. I really liked what Buscemi did in the role, and Radcliffe has some great comedic timing, too. This might not be the most reverent series, but it could be a lot of fun.
Pilot Grade: B-

Friday Nights:
Proven Innocent, Fridays at 9 p.m. on FOX (Premiered February 15)
About: When I show premiers on Friday night of a holiday weekend with little fanfare, it's not a great sign for the future. And the ratings for this one weren't great. However, there's some potential in the concept. Madeline (Rachelle Lefevre) was falsely convicted of murdering her best friend and once she was set free, she teamed with her partner Ezekiel (Russell Hornsby) to help others in a similar situation gain their freedom. That means many clashes with the lead prosecutor for the area (Kelsey Grammer), the man who put her away. She also spends her free time trying to solve what really happened to her friend. The pilot episode set up the characters and the conflict, and there were some interesting moments and decent performances. There's some potential in the format, too, as wrongful convictions are a real problem in our justice system. But the pilot was dry at times, and there was a lot going on. If it gets a bit more focused and pulls in interesting cases, it could work as a decent series. I'm curious to see where it goes for hour two.
Pilot Grade: C

Streaming Series:
The Umbrella Academy, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered February 15)
About: This new series, based on the graphic novel about a team of unlikely heroes, was one of the hotly anticipated titles of the winter. It boasts a decent cast, decent budget and a source material with a cult following. All 10 episodes of season one dropped Friday, and I was curious as to what to expect. With Netflix dropping out of the Marvel business with the announcement that it's last two titles (The Punisher and Jessica Jones) have been cancelled, they could use fresh blood in the genre. And this has some interesting potential, which was on display in the first two episodes. They have a good cast and some strong visual flare at times. But there's also some problems, namely that this one felt a little slow to really flesh out what was going on in the pilot (I didn't get a sense of the point of the story until the final minutes) and it didn't make a lot of headway toward that end in the second episode, either. There is enough that I'm curious so far, but not enough that I'm hooked. That could end up being a problem, particularly for those who aren't invested in the story already thanks to the source material.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C

Weird City, Now Streaming on YouTube Red (Premiered February 13)
About: In just over a month Jordan Peele will be bringing "The Twilight Zone" back to CBS All Access. Until then, he's plying his talents to this anthology series that aims for something decidedly weirder. This six-episode comedy, co-created by Peele and Charlie Sanders, takes place in a fictional future and fictional city, one divided by the wealthy living above the line and the poor living below the line. Each of the episodes features a different cast and story. The pilot featured Dylan O'Brien and Ed O'Neill as a pair of men who get matched by a dating service and form an unlikely connection that is tested by the conventions of the society. The second featured Michael Cera as somewhat of a loser who finds his purpose at a local gym and morphs into something unsettling. Both episodes are meant to make some observations about class and society. Both are weird and darkly comedic at times. They were well crafted and acted, but it wasn't something that hooked me, at least not enough to pay to see the rest of the episodes. But YouTube continues to take big creative swings and is setting itself up as a worthy entry into the streaming wars.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C