Summer TV Roundup, Week 14
We're nearly to August and the summer is fading. So, too, is the flood of content. This is something I think is going to get worse as we careen toward the Fall. It's been months since production halted, and even if it begins in late August there will be a dead period. But this isn't a space to decry what we don't have but rather to consider what we do have. In these weekly posts I review 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:
United We Fall, Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC (Premiered July 15)
About: True confession, I forgot about this show last week. I blame the travel, because I actually enjoyed this one. It's a new comedy about exhausted parents (Will Sasso and Lisa Vidal) trying to make their way through the day-to-day grind with two kids. Some familiar faces join the supporting cast as Jane Curtin plays the live-in mother and Guillermo Díaz plays the know-it-all brother. There are some decent laughs here and Sasso and Vidal play well off each other. The first two episodes aired back-to-back on the first night, and a third aired July 22. I've seen all three, and I think this is a nice summer watch. It's more of a traditional network sitcom and not particularly deep, but it's a nice distraction during this long, hot, strange summer.
Pilot Grade: C+
Second Episode: B-
United We Fall, Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC (Premiered July 15)
About: True confession, I forgot about this show last week. I blame the travel, because I actually enjoyed this one. It's a new comedy about exhausted parents (Will Sasso and Lisa Vidal) trying to make their way through the day-to-day grind with two kids. Some familiar faces join the supporting cast as Jane Curtin plays the live-in mother and Guillermo Díaz plays the know-it-all brother. There are some decent laughs here and Sasso and Vidal play well off each other. The first two episodes aired back-to-back on the first night, and a third aired July 22. I've seen all three, and I think this is a nice summer watch. It's more of a traditional network sitcom and not particularly deep, but it's a nice distraction during this long, hot, strange summer.
Pilot Grade: C+
Second Episode: B-
Streaming Series:
Fear City: New York v the Mafia, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered July 24)
About: This limited docuseries, which runs just three episodes, takes things back to a more difficult era of crime in New York City in the 1970s and early 1980s. It's about the work of law enforcement and the Justice Department to bring down the major players in organized crime and change the face of America's most famous city. This is somewhat interesting, but I thought it was a little more dry than expected. The episodes are around a hour, but sometimes they feel a touch longer. In a time with not a lot of options, this is there. But it wasn't as compelling or edgy as I'd expected.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C
Fear City: New York v the Mafia, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered July 24)
About: This limited docuseries, which runs just three episodes, takes things back to a more difficult era of crime in New York City in the 1970s and early 1980s. It's about the work of law enforcement and the Justice Department to bring down the major players in organized crime and change the face of America's most famous city. This is somewhat interesting, but I thought it was a little more dry than expected. The episodes are around a hour, but sometimes they feel a touch longer. In a time with not a lot of options, this is there. But it wasn't as compelling or edgy as I'd expected.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C
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