Fall TV Roundup, Week 8

We’re nearing the end of October, which means the Network season is in full bloom. We’re also getting some high-profile streaming and cable offerings. But what of these new shows is worth your time to check out? Let this weekly post be your guide as I review the pilot and second episode of new shows this Fall. Don’t see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.

Mondays:
DMV, Mondays at 8:30 p.m. on CBS (Premiered October 13)
About: Most people don’t get excited about visiting the DMV. It’s a place where people have had plenty of difficult experiences, which is what makes it rife for comedy. This new half hour for CBS is set at a Hollywood DMV branch that faces potential closure. It centers, mostly, on a trio of driving test instructors (Harriet Dyer, Tony Cavalero, and Tim Meadows) and their daily foibles. I really enjoyed the pilot, which was funny and well-paced. The second episode was a great follow-up. There is plenty of comedy to be mined from the set up and the cast is solid. I think this will be a great addition to the Fall lineup.
Pilot Grade: B-
Second Episode: B-

Fridays:
Sheriff’s Country, Fridays at 9 p.m. on CBS (Premiered October 17)
About: This is the spin-off of Fire Country. It’s set in the same world and focuses on Sheriff Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin) and her officers. The first two episodes indicate that in addition to a case-of-the-week format there will be some serialized aspects surrounding the characters in the world and Mickey’s family in particular. If you’re a fan of Fire Country, you’re probably all in for this Friday double-dip. Making spin-offs of popular series has been a staple of the CBS approach to Prime Time for years, and this fits that mold. I wasn’t taken by the first two episodes or the format. Others might feel different.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C-

Boston Blue, Fridays at 10 p.m. on CBS (Premiered October 17)
About: This is another spin-off, in this case for the now-cancelled Blue Bloods series. This one finds Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) drawn to Boston to help son Sean (Mika Amonsen), now a beat cop. There, he teams with another law enforcement family, the Silver Family, who call Boston home. This is a clever way to keep the idea of the original series going, with Danny the only series regular to make the transition. (Sean was re-cast for this). It also adds a strong cast that includes Ernie Hudson, Sonequa Martin-Green, Gloria Reuben, and Maggie Lawson. I like the set up and the potential. And if you were a fan of the long-running original, this will be a welcome addition to the Friday night landscape. It’s not incredibly original, but it’s good comfort TV.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C

Sundays:
IT: Welcome to Derry, Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO (Premiered October 26)
About: Andy Muschetti, who directed the two feature films, is back working on this new prequel series. It will eventually have Bill Skarsgard back as Pennywise—though he’s not in the hour-long pilot. It’s an eight-episode exploration that goes back to Derry in 1962 and another set of mysterious deaths and disappearances. The pilot introduces a group of new kids and adults, including a soldier played by Jovan Adepo. It’s very stylish and sets a mood, but it was overall a little dull. There are creepy and graphic sequences to open and close the episode, but most of the hour is filler, introductions, and connective tissue. Can it get better? I hope so. But I’m not sold we needed an expansion of this story. The second episode gets an early release for Halloween and will likely draw horror fans.
Pilot Grade: C

The Guest, Sundays at 9 p.m. on Showtime (Premiered October 17)
About: This new series for Showtime is a limited series from England that is airing domestically on Showtime—with episodes dropping on Paramount+ two days earlier. The series stars Eve Myles as a wealthy woman with secrets and Gabrielle Creevey as a troubled younger woman who becomes her housekeeper and pseudo-friend. The episodes each run an hour, with just four episodes in the limited series. Through two weeks we’re halfway through and I don’t really understand what it’s going for in terms of narrative. That’s part of the problem. It’s a strange production and it’s unclear what we’re supposed to take from the narrative. I like the cast, but the story is just too dull.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C

Streaming Series:
Lazarus, Now Streaming on Prime Video (Premiered October 22)
About: Harlan Coben is a prolific crime writer whose books have served as the basis for countless limited series. This time he’s involved in a series that is based on an original idea, timed for the spooky season. It focuses on Joel (Sam Claflin), a psychologist who is dealing with the death of his father (Bill Nighy). Unfortunately, he starts seeing dead former clients of his father who were murdered. This includes seeing his father at times. The goal is that these meetings will help him uncover the truth, but they also threaten to drive him mad. And it all might be tied to the murder of his sister from years earlier. It’s a good set up for a series, and with episodes running about 45 minutes and all now available to stream, it’s a quick binge. The whole series is just six episodes. Likely it will appeal to fans of Coben’s work and those looking for something spooky for the season. It didn’t totally work for me, but I like the way the series is put together.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C