Jasmine Sahu is well suited with this new American drama exclusive to Dave.
Lois Cameron explains why this series is much more than your average cosy period drama.
The last episode of this series sees Sherlock and Moriarty attempt to solve the final problem with devastating consequences.
With major cast changes afoot, Jacob Martin ponders whether Being Human can live up to its own scarily high standard.
Last week, we took a look at new US TV shows on the horizon under the genres legal, comedy and sci-fi. This week, we conclude with drama, action and a rather unusual TV show category – romance!
A potential triumph lies in Lonestar (left) about a conman living a double life in Texas and appearing to gain a conscience in the process. Call me crazy, but its trailer gives me The Good Wife success vibes. There’s also mockumentary dramedy My Generation following the lives of high school graduates ten years on – an original concept, although there’s very little buzz about it at the moment. One more that caught my eye was Body of Proof (see main picture) – it may have stolen our beloved Dana Delany as Katherine on Desperate Housewives, but the drama about a neurosurgeon-turned-medical examiner had me captivated with its less than three minutes of footage – it could be a hit. Watch this space... Aiming for a more teenage audience, Hellcats is all about competitive college cheerleading and stars High School Musical’s Ashley Tisdale. Something tells me though that anyone not already involved in that world won’t enjoy it, and it needs to include more depth than just cheerleading (as in its preview) to have any sense of a future – otherwise, expect it to be this year’s TBL: The Beautiful Life (Never heard of it? Exactly).
Now that Lost is over, J.J. Abrams needs something else to occupy his time – hence the launch of Undercovers, about former CIA agents who are husband and wife getting back into the business. It may sound a little Mr. and Mrs. Smith rehashed, but the sizzling chemistry between the leads and light-heartedness could make it a hit with viewers (although they should stop trying to make the word ‘sexspionage’ happen. We don’t want another ‘smize’ on our hands). The Cape could succeed at filling a hole in the market – a non sci-fi superhero TV show. This features a cop-turned-runaway being trained by the circus to carry out his duties. OK, it’s a little far-fetched, but it does star the lovely Summer Glau (Firefly). Finally, there’s Nikita about a hot, rogue spy. It certainly breaks up The CW’s standard line-up of teen dramas (One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, 90210 etc), and seeing as there’s not that many pure action shows at the moment, it could work.
There’s a bit of an abundance of shows about young people and love; these include Perfect Couples, Friends with Benefits, Mixed Signals (with My Family’s Kris Marshall), Better Together and Love Bites, and, since they all blend together in my memory, the likely scenario will be one or two crowding out the rest. The most potential probably lies in Love Actually concept show Love Bites; its promise for rotating high-profile guest stars and a charming sister duo (including Ugly Betty’s Becki Newton) could make it attract ratings, as long as the storylines aren’t stale. Otherwise, a strong cast and consistent script (particularly from the first two as indicated in their previews; less so with the other two) could win us over instead.
For more information on these shows and those mentioned last week including trailers, click on the links for the following websites:
ABC – including The Whole Truth, No Ordinary Family, Body of Proof, My Generation and Better Together
NBC – including The Event, Undercovers, The Cape, Harry's Law, Perfect Couples, Outsourced, Friends with Benefits and Love Bites
CBS – including Mike and Molly, Hawaii Five-O and The Defenders
Fox – including Lonestar, Running Wilde, Mixed Signals and Terra Nova
The CW – Hellcats and Nikita
You must log in to submit a comment.
