Spring TV Roundup, Week 7

We’re making our way through May and, as we do, the Broadcast season is winding down. We’re also approaching the Emmy consideration window. All that means the flow of new shows is slowing down. But what of these new shows is worth your time? Let this weekly post be your guide as I review the pilot and second episode of new scripted series this Spring. Don’t see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.

Sundays:
Miss Austen, Sundays at 10 p.m. on PBS (Premiered May 4)
About: This new series for Masterpiece is a limited series based on the novel of the same name from Gil Hornby. It follows an adult Cassandra Austen (Keeley Hawes), sister of author Jane Austen, as she discovers a trove of letters after an old friend dies. The letters let her into the past as she relives some key moments between herself and her more famous sister, much of which plays out like the plot to one of Jane Austen’s novels. The second episode is more of the same. I like the cast. I like the potential and premise. But the execution is a bit dry. I still can’t tell where we’re going or why it’s going to matter. That makes it a tough commitment. Episodes are about an hour, with a four-episode series, each airing Sundays on PBS.
Pilot Grade: C+
Second Episode: C

Streaming Series:
Forever, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered May 8)
About: Not many people look at a Judy Blume book from the 1970s and see it as the inspiration for a teen romance set in modern times. But that’s what happened for Mara Brock Akil. She turned Blume’s novel Forever into a modern update, set among black teens in 2018. We follow Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper, Jr. as two teens who cross paths and form a relationship. The drama here is fairly standard teen series stuff. Having not read the book it’s hard to say how much of the story follows that outline, but what we get is decent enough if you appreciate the genre. The season is eight episodes, all between 50 minutes and an hour. It’s a decent enough binge that will likely appeal most to the target audience for the genre. Otherwise, you might be a little bored. The first couple episodes take a while to get going and don’t do enough to build investment in these protagonists and their journey.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C