Fall TV Roundup, Week 6

We are deep into the new fall season now, and most every new show has hit the air. We've even had our first cancellation, "Made in Jersey." (I saw the pilot and gave it a D. For more on that, see Wednesdays post). As such, this weekly listing is getting a bit smaller, but we still have some fun new entries this week.

In these posts I review each new show's pilot and second episode. If you don't see a new show listed in this post, check previous weeks. Only new shows with a first or second episode airing in selected week are listed in the new posts.

Shows are listed by night of the week and air time. All times are Mountain Daylight Time.

Sundays:
666 Park Avenue — 9 p.m. on ABC
ABC was looking for something that would be a good companion with last year's top two new shows, "Once Upon a Time" and "Revenge." This isn't that show. ABC has had horrendous luck at 10 p.m. on Sunday nights ever since it moved "Grey's Anatomy." Last year alone saw two high-profile flops in "Pan Am" and "GCB." Both were poor, but had big ideas and strong casts. The same could be said of
"Park Avenue," which has lofty ambitions and a good cast. It just has no compelling characters or story. The first episode was weak and the second episode was a chore. As I said last week, given the crowded and competitive Sunday night landscape, it's no surprise that the show is floundering in the ratings. This show doesn't seem long for the world...
Pilot Grade: C-; Second Episode: D

Wednesdays:
Arrow — 7 p.m. on the CW
"Arrow" represents the biggest hope for the oft forgotten CW. It's based on a DC Comics property and is supposed to be heir to the network's greatest hit, "Smallville." The pilot was OK. The voice overs are WAY too hammy, but some of the action was interesting. Watching the show with my wife, who's not a comic book fan, it was interesting to see that she actually wanted to see the second episode. That's a good sign the show plays decently well with women. The cast is OK, and there seems to be a number of possibilities for how the show could go. It wasn't an excellent pilot, but it was decent. This could be a new hit for the CW, a network in desperate need of the next big thing.
Pilot Grade: C+

Chicago Fire — 9 p.m. on NBC
I saw an early preview of the pilot and won't re-hash that here. If you want the full review, check last week's post. However, the show officially premiered on Wednesday to mixed reviews and middling numbers. Hardly surprising. As I said, this show is serviceable, but there is little about it that stands out. Hard to see NBC rebuilding its network on the back of shows like this.
Pilot Grade: C

Nashville — 9 p.m. on ABC
Many critics have hailed this as the best new show of the season. There are reasons why. This show has a strong cast, an interesting premise, and had a very polished, professional pilot. All those things bode well. However, this is a prime time soap opera in the music world. It combines plenty of country music with bitchiness and back-stabbing. That can be fun, or it can descend into camp. Most critics are betting on the former. I really wanted to like the pilot, and I thought it was decent, but I'd be hard pressed to call this the best new show of the season. It was well made and has some promise, but it may have been over-hyped. The premier numbers certainly bear that out as well, with the show drawing a weaker than expected opening number, and shedding a fair percentage of its audience in the second half hour. That is never a hopeful sign, especially for a show that's as complex, lavish, and expensive as this. It was a decent start, but I'm not sold yet.
Pilot Grade: B