Fall TV Roundup, Week 3

Here's a look at the new shows I saw this week. In these weekly posts I review the pilot and second episode of new shows. If you don't see a new show below, check previous weeks.

Monday Nights:
Gotham, Mondays at 8 p.m. on FOX (Premiered September 22)
About: This was the show I was most excited to see. I'm a huge fan of Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy, and Batman is my favorite superhero. I realize this show is not about Batman, but I felt like there was a great opportunity to make a fascinating crime drama — which is essentially what the Nolan films were. The pilot for "Gotham" was moody and populated by good actors — many of whom were playing familiar characters. There were moments of it that I liked, but the pilot episode as a whole was a disappointment. It left me wondering if this show can really work long term. The whole time you're waiting for Batman, but he's a small child who has some interesting ideas about life. I like Ben McKenzie, and I think he makes a good Jim Gordon. Donal Logue, who plays Gordon's partner, is also good. The rest of the series, it seems, will be about how the villains we know and love develop, and how a young Bruce Wayne is shaped by what happened in his life. As for this show, it remains to be seen. I thought the pilot was boring and a little grim. It could improve, but I'm not sure how this will shake out. This was always going to be a tough proposition, but I had high hopes for this show that weren't met by the pilot. FOX has put a lot into marketing this, so I hope to see something better in the second week. For now, I'm not sold.
Pilot Grade: C-

Scorpion, Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBS (Premiered September 22)
About: On paper, it's hard to see how this is going to be a great show. It's from the procedural factory of CBS, and it looks like a bit of a stretch. A team of geniuses help Homeland Security save the world. How does that work? Well, the pilot on Monday answered some of those questions. Yes, this is a familiar procedural structure. And yes, there are parts that seem implausible. But the pilot moved along at a good clip and was actually entertaining. This is a show that, on paper, didn't seem to have a lot of promise, but it was well executed. It also had some interesting characters and some interesting potential. Whereas "Gotham" felt like a big swing that didn't connect, "Scorpion" feels like a safe swing that landed on base. I don't know if this will ever be a great show, but the pilot was light and fun. It was better than I expected, and I could see this developing into an interesting watch each week.
Pilot Grade: C+

Tuesday Nights:
Forever, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC (Premiered September 22)
About: I did a full review of this pilot in week one, so I won't rehash that here. The show officially premiered last night, and its second episode will air tonight. I saw the pilot as attempting to be "Castle" light with a bit of a sci-fi twist, but it didn't work for me. I thought it was boring, and didn't have much of a future. Tonight we'll find out for sure.
Pilot Grade: C-

Wednesday Nights:
The Mysteries of Laura, Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC (Premiered September 17)
About: The mystery here is how this show got on the air. There is nothing original here. It feels like a pretty stock formula that's trying to be a cross between something clever and "Law & Order." It fails on both accounts. NBC had an edgy, female-led cop drama a few years ago in the failed re-make of "Prime Suspect." While that show had an edge and some interesting characters, this show feels like a hot mess. The pilot was grating at best. The case was ridiculous and the best actor in the pilot — Enrico Colantoni — was merely a plot device. Debra Messing is fine as an actress, but her character isn't great. She's not that fascinating as a detective, and I'd say she's borderline terrible as a mother. I'm not sure what they're going for here, but it didn't work. Worse yet is the complete lack of chemistry with Josh Lucas, who plays her almost ex-husband. In fact, I didn't even realize the show was trying to play up their bond until John Legend's "All of Me" started blaring in the pilot, and by then I was completely put off by the whole thing. This was the worst of the pilots I've seen on the major networks so far, and I wouldn't be surprised to see this show flatline quickly.
Pilot Grade: D

Red Band Society, Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on FOX (Premiered September 17)
About: I had high hopes for this series about kids at a hospital — something FOX touted as a cross between "Glee" and "The Fault in Our Stars." The pilot, however, was wildly uneven. The first half got off to a rough start. The show required some leaps in logic, struggled to establish characters, and had some of the worst dialogue in a pilot this week. It felt like an out-of-touch adult attempting to guess how teens talk to one another. About halfway through I had a bad feeling about the show. Then a funny thing happened, the pilot settled into its story, relaxed some of the uptight dialogue, and gave in to the emotional moments. There were some powerful moments in the second half of the episode — moments that made it one of the better pilots I saw. So what to make of this show? Well, the question is which of these shows will we get. I am hoping for what we saw in the latter half of the pilot, the part that was what I want and hoped for from this show. But we'll have to see. For now, this remains a bit of a toss up.
Pilot Grade: C

Friday Nights:
Z-Nation, Fridays at 10 p.m. on SyFy (Premiered September 12)
About: SyFy touted this as its answer to "The Walking Dead." It comes from the producers of "Sharknado," you can expect that it's not going to be grounded or epic in its construction. Still, I didn't expect it to be this bad. This feels like a parody of zombie shows, not something I'm expected to take seriously. I thought the pilot was awful, and the second episode pretty much followed that up. If you were hoping for "The Walking Dead," or even "The Strain," you'll be disappointed about this show. It's not good, or interesting. And it's certainly not well made.
Pilot Grade: D
Second Episode: D-

Transparent, 10 episodes available Friday on Amazon (Premiers September 26)
About: This show was part of Amazon's second set of pilots made available in February. "Transparent" earned enough positive reviews to get picked up to series. I didn't care for the pilot when I watched it then. Here's what I said then: "The most honest moment in the pilot comes when patriarch Mort (Jeffrey Tambor), a transvestite who hasn't been able to come clean with his three kids, laments that he's raised three incredibly self-absorbed and selfish children. That much is true. The revelation comes about 22 minutes into the pilot, and by then you've been pretty well turned off of the main characters, his aforementioned children. This pilot comes from Jill Soloway, a writer for "Six Feet Under" and "The United States of Tara." In the pilot, each of the central characters has a sex and/or nude scene. This show is in your face from the word go. All the characters have major flaws, and it's hard to tell how those would be worked out. It is incredibly edgy, but without a clear purpose — at least to me. There might be potential here, but I was turned off by the characters, story, and presentation in the pilot. It's hard to imagine what this would look like as a series."
Grade: C-

Sunday Nights:
Madame Secretary, Sundays at 8 p.m. on CBS (Premiered on September 21)
About: CBS has put a lot of energy and effort into this pilot. It feels like a cross between "The West Wing" and "The Good Wife," which is the show CBS has paired this with on Sunday night. The set up is simple — Tea Leoni is a former CIA operative who's tapped by the President of the United States to take over as Secretary of State after the sitting secretary is killed in a plane crash. Leoni isn't a political operative, but she's passionate so she is trying to get things done for the good of the country. This show has a good cast, and I thought the first episode did a good job of establishing the world and premise of the show. I see some potential here. The pilot episode even offered a glimpse at an ongoing conspiracy plot that could be part of the season. This was a good pilot and could be a strong addition to CBS' new Sunday night lineup.
Pilot Grade: B-