Fall TV Roundup, Week 16

 

We're at Christmas week, and even with the late start Networks and Cable channels are taking a holiday pause. But streaming services still have a few more offerings to chuck out before the year ends. In these weekly posts, I guide you through new scripted series, reviewing the pilot and second episode. Don't see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.

Streaming Series:
Adult Material, Now Streaming on HBO Max (Premiered December 10)
About: This import from England centers on Hayley Squires as a wife and mother trying to make it through her life as an Adult Film star. It focuses on her work, her challenges and everything she faces in her life. There is A LOT of adult content here, as the show doesn't shy away from the industry and all that entails. I thought, at first, it was meant to have something of a comedic tone, but the two episodes I sampled, each around an hour, had a much darker and more somber tone than that. This is a slog of a watch, and even at four episodes it's sort of hard to imagine this is a show you're going to want to commit to seeing.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: D

The Stand, Now Streaming on CBS All Access (Premiered December 17)
About: This is one of the most anticipated originals of the year, as Stephen King's classic novel comes to life as a 10-episode limited series. This has been in the offing for more than a year, and isn't the first time that this story has been told on film. In 1994, ABC offered a four-part, eight-hour mini-series that tried to capture the giant book. But a 10-hour limited series could potentially offer an even deeper exploration of the material. As a fan, and someone who has taught the material, I was excited to see what this would do. But the pilot left me cold. It starts in the middle and jumps around, showing parts of the run up to arriving with Mother Abigail in Hemmingsford Home, then going to Boulder, Colorado. Can this work? It could. It has a good cast and I still love the basic story. But this pilot was not good and not easy to follow, stripping King's story of some of its most powerful elements. I wanted the slow build and more of the character development shed to fit the story into six hours for ABC. This feels like less, and feels like a loss. But we shall see, as episodes drop weekly.
Pilot Grade: C-