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Nov. 7th, 2012 09:50 pmJust got caught up on some PVR watching and I am now officially ready to do a ranking of the new shows I am (still) watching.
Unfortunately it looks like Made in Jersey is cancelled or at least dead in the water, after only 2 episodes (2 are scheduled to air in a couple of weeks but who knows if that will happen and whether we'll see more) so it is officially out of contention. I am sad though because I quite liked it.
Anyway, without further ado, here is what I think!
1. 666 Park Avenue
This is easily the best show quality-wise of the new stuff. Having Terry O'Quinn of course is a big reason for this because I could watch him and his smile any day - and he is particularly delightful as a villain. But the rest of the cast is great, the characters are amazing, the chemistry between our two leads is some of the best I've seen, the Drake itself IS a character and just ... wow. Even the one-off characters are pretty damn awesome. It definitely is the bold choices in characterization that make this show work, since the premise itself is, admittedly, not super original (evil dude with evil house).
The only really not glowing thing I can say about this one is that it gets off to a fairly sedate start, with only small hints about the bigger plot, which has meant that I don't yet have a driving OMG MUST WATCH IT NOW feeling for this one. But it's getting there and I look forward to seeing where it goes next!
2. Hot Set
I've always loved reality shows that look at a specific industry and gives a truncated idea of how things are done, so it's pretty natural that I love this show. It's amazing to see how a concept is created and then brought to life. I probably like Face Off a bit better but I think that's mainly because it has a regular cast, whereas Hot Set has a different pair of competitors each week. But they are both great fun and I enjoy them (and I love that Nicole won, I was a bit sad for Laura until I finally saw the last two make-ups they did and saw that Nicole really hit it out of the park).
3. Underemployed
I really wasn't sure if I was going to like this one or not but I really adore the cast. Even in episodes like the most current which I just watched, that tread some very familiar ground, the characters were so much fun to watch. I utterly adore Daphne and Sophia, especially the former because she really is unlike any other character I've seen on television before. All and all, it's surprisingly edgy at times which I didn't really expect from MTV, who are better known these days (at least to me) for shows that exploit teen mothers (admittedly I sort of love Teen Mom but that's another story).
4. The Mindy Project (mistakenly called The Mindy Report previously)
I haven't seen this one for a bit because of weeks without episodes and the PVR missing the Halloween episode, but it's another I didn't know if I would like but I find fun. Maybe it fills a bit of the hole left in my heart by Grey's, which I haven't watched in years. Plus it, and Underemployed, have some actual diversity in their cast which is always nice. So yeah, enjoying it so far and it was one that I would watch first if I had to choose, though that could be because it was only half an hour and so less of a time commitment.
5. Revolution
Ah, Revolution. Why do you have such a good supporting cast that keeps me coming back for more?
I think Revolution's biggest problem is that pretty much everything is stuff we've seen from JJ Abrams before, most notably the character I call replacement!Hurley but the other stuff too. But there are these character moments and little storytelling twists that hint at something more, something better, and it's just enough to keep me watching for now, though it is definitely one of the more likely to be cut if things don't pick up for the better and soon.
6. The Mob Doctor
I think the quality of this show is probably higher than a 6 out of 6 ranking suggests but so far I haven't found anyone to really connect with. I do enjoy the story and I think the chemistry is good, especially between Grace and her mother, but I can't say I have a favourite character and I can do that for all the others, Hot Set excluded for obvious reasons. So I feel like I may stop it sometime soon but I'll give it a little more time.
Unfortunately it looks like Made in Jersey is cancelled or at least dead in the water, after only 2 episodes (2 are scheduled to air in a couple of weeks but who knows if that will happen and whether we'll see more) so it is officially out of contention. I am sad though because I quite liked it.
Anyway, without further ado, here is what I think!
1. 666 Park Avenue
This is easily the best show quality-wise of the new stuff. Having Terry O'Quinn of course is a big reason for this because I could watch him and his smile any day - and he is particularly delightful as a villain. But the rest of the cast is great, the characters are amazing, the chemistry between our two leads is some of the best I've seen, the Drake itself IS a character and just ... wow. Even the one-off characters are pretty damn awesome. It definitely is the bold choices in characterization that make this show work, since the premise itself is, admittedly, not super original (evil dude with evil house).
The only really not glowing thing I can say about this one is that it gets off to a fairly sedate start, with only small hints about the bigger plot, which has meant that I don't yet have a driving OMG MUST WATCH IT NOW feeling for this one. But it's getting there and I look forward to seeing where it goes next!
2. Hot Set
I've always loved reality shows that look at a specific industry and gives a truncated idea of how things are done, so it's pretty natural that I love this show. It's amazing to see how a concept is created and then brought to life. I probably like Face Off a bit better but I think that's mainly because it has a regular cast, whereas Hot Set has a different pair of competitors each week. But they are both great fun and I enjoy them (and I love that Nicole won, I was a bit sad for Laura until I finally saw the last two make-ups they did and saw that Nicole really hit it out of the park).
3. Underemployed
I really wasn't sure if I was going to like this one or not but I really adore the cast. Even in episodes like the most current which I just watched, that tread some very familiar ground, the characters were so much fun to watch. I utterly adore Daphne and Sophia, especially the former because she really is unlike any other character I've seen on television before. All and all, it's surprisingly edgy at times which I didn't really expect from MTV, who are better known these days (at least to me) for shows that exploit teen mothers (admittedly I sort of love Teen Mom but that's another story).
4. The Mindy Project (mistakenly called The Mindy Report previously)
I haven't seen this one for a bit because of weeks without episodes and the PVR missing the Halloween episode, but it's another I didn't know if I would like but I find fun. Maybe it fills a bit of the hole left in my heart by Grey's, which I haven't watched in years. Plus it, and Underemployed, have some actual diversity in their cast which is always nice. So yeah, enjoying it so far and it was one that I would watch first if I had to choose, though that could be because it was only half an hour and so less of a time commitment.
5. Revolution
Ah, Revolution. Why do you have such a good supporting cast that keeps me coming back for more?
I think Revolution's biggest problem is that pretty much everything is stuff we've seen from JJ Abrams before, most notably the character I call replacement!Hurley but the other stuff too. But there are these character moments and little storytelling twists that hint at something more, something better, and it's just enough to keep me watching for now, though it is definitely one of the more likely to be cut if things don't pick up for the better and soon.
6. The Mob Doctor
I think the quality of this show is probably higher than a 6 out of 6 ranking suggests but so far I haven't found anyone to really connect with. I do enjoy the story and I think the chemistry is good, especially between Grace and her mother, but I can't say I have a favourite character and I can do that for all the others, Hot Set excluded for obvious reasons. So I feel like I may stop it sometime soon but I'll give it a little more time.
