Fall TV Roundup, Week 6

Here's a look at this week's New Shows. We are rounding through the fall, with four shows ("Welcome to the Family," "Ironside," "Lucky 7," and "We Are Men") having already shuffled off this televised coil. As always I review the first two episodes of new shows. If you don't see a show you're looking for listed here, please check previous weeks. I will have a full round up and recap of all the new fall shows in a couple week. By then half of them might have been cancelled.

Wednesday Nights:
Tomorrow People, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on the CW (Premiered October 9)
This is a sci-fi drama on the CW that's a re-make of a British show of the same name. I haven't seen the original — which is from the 1970s — but I feel like this current show fits into a lot of the superhero stuff we see in movies, and now on TV with "Marvel's Agents of Shield." It has an affable enough cast, but I just don't feel a bit connection to the series. With the CW, the target audience is 18-24, so I'm not in that target. That being said, I could see this being a decent hit for the CW (which has low thresholds for ratings) and with that target audience.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C-

American Horror Story Coven, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on F/X (Premiered October 9)
I wasn't in love with the premier of the third volume of this anthology horror series. It was pretty grim and pretty graphic. I wondered how sustainable that was, and if it would work with the target audience. But I still had hope based on the people in it — Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Angela Bassett, among them. I really liked what the second episode did. This episode toned down the graphic nature of the plot a bit, built the characters more, and had a bit more snarky humor. It's still not a show for the faint of heart, and I'm not sold that it will be worthwhile long term, but there is potential here. For me, episode two was a big improvement.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C+

Thursday Nights:
Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC (Premiered October 10)
This "Once Upon A Time" spin off feels like a money-making venture proposed by Disney. It's a combination of characters from "Alice in Wonderland" and "Aladdin." There are some talented people in the show, but it doesn't work for me. I don't feel any connection to the characters, the special effects really don't blend very well. It looks fake, and the performances feel fake. The stakes feel kind of low and I don't care about any of the back story. I think this is a big miss.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: D

Reign, Thursdays at 9 p.m. on the CW (Premiered October 17)
Ugh. I will admit that I'm not the target demographic for this show or the CW — which is 18-24-year-olds. That being said, I don't know what they're trying to do with this show. Worse, I think this is the kind of thing that distorts history for an audience that isn't inclined to seek the truth. If you have a story about a Scottish queen going to the French court, couldn't they at least have accents? I understand not wanting to do subtitles, but seriously? This felt like a poor man's "Gossip Girl" set on some left over sets from "The Tudors." It was all strange teen angst and pining, then some sexual situations (including a much-publicized scene of masturbation) and a beheading thrown in. I don't know what they were going for, but it didn't work for me at all.
Pilot Grade: C-