Results tagged “fringe” from Access Hollywood
The writer's strike threw a monkey wrench into the network's fall schedules. No true pilot season meant very few new shows. When you consider how many shows typically get the ax though, less shows might not be a bad thing. I certainly feel like we have a few winners out there. Of course, I haven't actually seen many of the pilots/premiere episodes because some networks chose not send them out this year. Instead, I'm going on clips I have seen and interviews Access Hollywood has done. Here are a few of my fall TV favorites:
"Kath and Kim" - Based on a wildly popular Australian comedy, NBC takes a stab at their version of the show starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. Molly is Kath Day a forty-something divorcee who loves her life, with a new boyfriend and a new body (after turning her adult daughter's room into a home gym). Then her self-absorbed daughter, Kim, returns home after leaving her husband. While I haven't seen a finished episode the clips are hysterical. I also spent some time on the set and Selma Blair had me cracking up. My favorite clip is when she announces to her mom, "I'm getting a divorce. It's over. O-V-U-R." With a lead-in to "The Office" I think this is a "can't miss" show for those fans and "30 Rock" fanatics. Thursdays at 8:30 PM, NBC. Beginning 10/9.
"The Ex List" - I will admit this quirky comedy is not going to be everybody's cup of tea. It's essentially a "chick flick" for TV. "Grey's Anatomy's" Jane Doe, Elizabeth Reaser, gets a stab here at her own show. She plays a thirty-something woman who learns via a psychic that she must marry within one year or she will never get married. To top that off, she is told that she has already met and dated her future husband - hence the "ex list." Back in May, Reaser described the show to us like this: "It's a woman in her thirties who is sort of boy crazy and sort of ambivalent at the same time, who is really fun and really cool." So, basically it's my life story! I watched the pilot and loved it. The time slot, not so much. I'll most likely be out on a Friday night being boy crazy and ambivalent but I will set the DVR. Fridays at 9 PM, on CBS. Beginning 10/3.
By Alex Cook"Fringe," the latest offering from J.J. Abrams and the writers of "Transformers," promises to blur the lines between science and entertainment. The 81 minute and 30 second premiere offers up a few chills, an intriguing hook, and more laughs then one would expect from a show about a group of misfits -- including an FBI agent searching for answers, an estranged son running from questions, and a mad scientist too busy to play 'Dad,' While the premiere had a few rough spots, things get quite interesting around the halfway point when a VP for Massive Dynamics, a company positioned to play the villain in the show, hints at something called the 'Pattern,' a string connecting a myriad of strange cases together.
Half "X-Files" and half "Buffy," "Fringe" has the makings of an intriguing series, but one has to wonder if the similarities between it and other genre shows will draw viewers. Hopefully, future episodes will forge some new ground and cut out a niche for itself.
I give it three and a half (out of four) stars.
