Summer TV Roundup, Week 16
We've reached the dregs of summer, where it's hot, school is in various states of getting ready to begin and football is on the horizon. But the streaming services are still coming hot-and-heavy with some new shows, and even some of the networks are trotting out options to carry through the Fall. In these weekly posts I look at the pilot and second episode of new scripted (and some unscripted) series this Summer. Don't see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.
Wednesday Nights:
Coroner, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW (Premiered August 5)
About: This new series is new to America but aired in 2019 in Canada. It centers on Jenny (Serinda Swan), a recently widowed mother to a teen, who is appointed Coroner in Toronto and dives headlong into a set of cases and her new career. She makes a fast ally in detective Donovan McAvoy (Roger Cross), but her brash hunt for the truth rubs some the wrong way. Or at least it did in the pilot. Still, Swan brings a strength to the role and the mysteries here work pretty well. I thought the pilot presentation was solid and while it's a different kind of show for The CW, which makes most of its brand on teen soaps and superhero stories, I thought this worked.
Pilot Grade: C+
Coroner, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW (Premiered August 5)
About: This new series is new to America but aired in 2019 in Canada. It centers on Jenny (Serinda Swan), a recently widowed mother to a teen, who is appointed Coroner in Toronto and dives headlong into a set of cases and her new career. She makes a fast ally in detective Donovan McAvoy (Roger Cross), but her brash hunt for the truth rubs some the wrong way. Or at least it did in the pilot. Still, Swan brings a strength to the role and the mysteries here work pretty well. I thought the pilot presentation was solid and while it's a different kind of show for The CW, which makes most of its brand on teen soaps and superhero stories, I thought this worked.
Pilot Grade: C+
Sunday Nights:
We Hunt Together, Sundays at 10 p.m. on Showtime (Premiered August 9)
About: This latest drama is a six-episode series that previously aired in England. It's about a pair of unlikely lovers that meet when one (Dipo Ola) saves the other (Hermione Corfield) from being assaulted by a boyfriend. Their relationship blossoms and eventually they take revenge for the attack. In a parallel timeline, a pair of new detectives (Babou Ceesay and Eve Myles) are investigating the crimes. The pilot unfolded the stories about the two pairs and their new relationships over different timelines, setting up this duel story and what will be the focus of the narrative moving forward. I thought the pilot moved at a good pace and I enjoyed some of the performances, particularly Ceesay as an interesting and different kind of cop. I'm curious to see where this moves going forward.
Pilot Grade: C+
We Hunt Together, Sundays at 10 p.m. on Showtime (Premiered August 9)
About: This latest drama is a six-episode series that previously aired in England. It's about a pair of unlikely lovers that meet when one (Dipo Ola) saves the other (Hermione Corfield) from being assaulted by a boyfriend. Their relationship blossoms and eventually they take revenge for the attack. In a parallel timeline, a pair of new detectives (Babou Ceesay and Eve Myles) are investigating the crimes. The pilot unfolded the stories about the two pairs and their new relationships over different timelines, setting up this duel story and what will be the focus of the narrative moving forward. I thought the pilot moved at a good pace and I enjoyed some of the performances, particularly Ceesay as an interesting and different kind of cop. I'm curious to see where this moves going forward.
Pilot Grade: C+
Streaming Series:
Star Trek: Lower Decks, Now Streaming on CBS All Access (Premiered August 6)
About: This latest "Star Trek" series is a different kind of story. It focuses on the lesser officers, a quartet of ensigns, who help fill the missions and make the ship go. It's also animated and irreverent. That makes it markedly different that other entries in the "Star Trek" universe. The primary voice cast is Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noel Wells and Eugene Cordero, and all do a nice job. I thought the pilot was quirky, but at times amusing. There seems to be all kinds of different stories you can tell through this lens, and I hope the filmmakers find a way to do that well as this continues.
Pilot Grade: C
Star Trek: Lower Decks, Now Streaming on CBS All Access (Premiered August 6)
About: This latest "Star Trek" series is a different kind of story. It focuses on the lesser officers, a quartet of ensigns, who help fill the missions and make the ship go. It's also animated and irreverent. That makes it markedly different that other entries in the "Star Trek" universe. The primary voice cast is Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noel Wells and Eugene Cordero, and all do a nice job. I thought the pilot was quirky, but at times amusing. There seems to be all kinds of different stories you can tell through this lens, and I hope the filmmakers find a way to do that well as this continues.
Pilot Grade: C
Muppets Now, Now Streaming on Disney+ (Premiered July 31)
About: Look, I love the Muppets. I wanted to like this series. I tried hard to get into it. This definitely feels more like classic Muppets and not the off-kilter take that ABC tried a few years ago. It features performers like Taye Diggs and Linda Cardellini, and there are some fun things in this. It's probably better suited to younger viewers, but I found it a little too dry in terms of sketches and hooking viewers.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C-
About: Look, I love the Muppets. I wanted to like this series. I tried hard to get into it. This definitely feels more like classic Muppets and not the off-kilter take that ABC tried a few years ago. It features performers like Taye Diggs and Linda Cardellini, and there are some fun things in this. It's probably better suited to younger viewers, but I found it a little too dry in terms of sketches and hooking viewers.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C-
Hitmen, Now Streaming on Peacock (Premiered August 7)
About: This latest series for Peacock is another show pulled from overseas. So far, since launching mid-July, Peacock's original offerings have almost exclusively been foreign offerings that are being aired for the first time in the United States. This one is a comedy, of sorts, that runs about 25 minutes each episode. If focuses on a pair of female hitmen (Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins) working for a local boss carrying out jobs. Each episode seemingly focuses on one of those jobs, and the ladies' lives. The first two episodes were OK, but like most of the original content released so far by Peacock there was little compelling enough to connect you to the rest of the season.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C
About: This latest series for Peacock is another show pulled from overseas. So far, since launching mid-July, Peacock's original offerings have almost exclusively been foreign offerings that are being aired for the first time in the United States. This one is a comedy, of sorts, that runs about 25 minutes each episode. If focuses on a pair of female hitmen (Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins) working for a local boss carrying out jobs. Each episode seemingly focuses on one of those jobs, and the ladies' lives. The first two episodes were OK, but like most of the original content released so far by Peacock there was little compelling enough to connect you to the rest of the season.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C
Game On: A Comedy Crossover Special, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered August 10)
About: This comedy crossover event features a quartet of Netflix comedies, each with an episode that incorporates some kind of Olympics or competition and features guest stars from the other shows. It's a one-time, four-episode special event. Likely it was supposed to be ideally timed with the Olypmics, which were delayed a year due to the pandemic. The first episode was "The Big Show Show" while the second was "Mr. Iglesias." It's an OK idea and novel concept to build the brand, but it didn't quite work. Perhaps if we were all in the midst of Olympic Fever it would go down better.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: B-
About: This comedy crossover event features a quartet of Netflix comedies, each with an episode that incorporates some kind of Olympics or competition and features guest stars from the other shows. It's a one-time, four-episode special event. Likely it was supposed to be ideally timed with the Olypmics, which were delayed a year due to the pandemic. The first episode was "The Big Show Show" while the second was "Mr. Iglesias." It's an OK idea and novel concept to build the brand, but it didn't quite work. Perhaps if we were all in the midst of Olympic Fever it would go down better.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: B-
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