Summer TV Roundup, Week 13

Summer is nearing an end. In fact, here where I live in Colorado Springs, some folks head back to school on Thursday. And yet we're still getting a few new summer series. In these weekly posts I look at the pilot and second episode of new scripted series (and the occasional unscripted series) released this summer. Don't see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.

Tuesday Nights:
Pandora, Tuesday at 9 p.m. on The CW (Premiered July 16)
About: The CW has experimented with different original summer offerings the past few years. Some of have found an audience and been OK. Some have landed with a thud. As mentioned last week, "Pandora" falls into the latter category. That thud you hear is the show landing flat on the ground. The pilot was weird (in a bad way) and slow. The second episode was arguably worse. And worse yet, I'm still not totally sure what the show is about and what the point of the show is. The acting is flat, the storytelling is worse and it's dry. This is one of the worst of the new offerings I've seen this summer.
Pilot Grade: D
Second Episode: D-

Wednesday Nights:
Pearson, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on USA (Premiered July 17)
About: This spin-off of "Suits" gets a plum launch behind the original on Wednesday nights. It centers on Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), who is now a disbarred former lawyer working as a fixer for the Mayor in her home town of Chicago. There was a back door pilot last year on "Suits," but in the first official episode the characters and the world were more specifically laid out. In the second episode, we started to settle into more of a routine. I think there is some potential here, but the characters and situation doesn't pop the same way "Suits" did. And I'm not sure in this era we need another show about down and dirty politics, especially one that conforms to the USA audience. This is OK, but not great yet. Given the lack of summer options, it might be worth a bit more runway to see where it starts to move.
Pilot Grade: C+
Second Episode: C

South Side, Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central (Premiered July 24)
About: This latest comedy from Comedy Central is set on the South Side of Chicago, and follows the lives of residents and cops as they try to navigate a difficult world. There were some amusing moments in the first episode, but it was also a little dry. I'll be curious to see where it goes in future episodes as it was somewhat hard to tell if the pilot was a template or a jumping off point. Comedy Central has developed a lot of smaller sitcoms in recent years, and this one feels about on par. Many of those didn't last and failed to find an audience, it remains to be seen if this one goes the same route.
Pilot Grade: C

Sunday Nights:
Pennyworth, Sundays at 10 p.m. on Epix (Premiered July 28)
About: Does the world need a prequel to a prequel? That's a fair question to ask when considering "Pennyworth," a new series from the creators of "Gotham" that is a prequel to that series, which was itself a prequel to Batman. This time there is no Bruce Wayne, no titular city, and no infamous villains to muddy the waters. This is 1960s England, and Alfred Pennyworth (Jack Bannon) is a soldier trying to deal with the mental fatigue of service, find a girl and find a path forward in creating a security business. It doesn't take long for him to cross paths with Thomas Wayne (Ben Aldridge) and we're off to the races. Bannon is quite good, and there were elements of the pilot that I liked quite a bit. If it was more of a straightforward 1960s spy show, I think it could be quite compelling. However, the trouble with a prequel against existing IP is that you know how it all ends. Will Alfred get the girl and live happily ever after? No, he clearly won't. Will Thomas Wayne and Alfred become lifelong friend? Sort of, but there's no happy ending there. That ended up being the trouble with "Gotham," too, in that you knew where it was all headed and no amount of potential twists could really change the inevitable. So while the pilot was a bit interesting, I don't know how much of a shelf life this will have. But for now, as with the early season of "Gotham," it feels like there is some fun in the ride.
Pilot Grade: C

Streaming Series:
Another Life, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered July 25)
About: This sci-fi series is set in a world where aliens have landed on Earth, but their purpose and their plan is unclear. So a group is sent into space to get those answers. Katee Sackhoff plays the reluctant captain of the mission, while Justin Chatwin is the scientist husband she left behind on Earth who is investigating the site. Selma Blair plays a gossip reporter on Earth, and the crew of mission includes familiar faces like Tyler Hoechiln and Jessica Camacho. The pilot was weird, the second episode was weirder. There is talent in the production, but the story was strange and not at all compelling. This feels like a big swing and a big miss.
Pilot Grade: D
Second Episode: D

The Boys, Now Streaming on Amazon Prime (Premiered July 26)
About: This new series, based on the comic book of the same name. It's set in a world where Superheroes have become a business, and there's not a lot of nobility in their work. This isn't the first property to imagine a world where superheroes aren't exactly the heroes we all thought they were. In fact, that's much the premise of "Watchmen," which is on the list of the greatest novels of all time, led to a feature film and now is being spun off into a new HBO series. I had hoped to see something similar here, but I didn't get that from the two episodes I watched. The first season is only eight episodes, all around an hour. There is plenty of violence and adult content, and a dim view of heroes as we've seen before. I wasn't familiar with the source material, so I didn't come into it bought in. And little of what I experienced in the first two episodes gave me any interest in following up. The characters and story didn't grab me, and there was nothing about this world that made me want to keep visiting. It's a big swing for Amazon, looking to hook new audiences, but for me "The Boys" didn't deliver.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C-