Alrighty.
Some updates: Wynonna Earp has been renewed for a fourth season on August 21st, and has two more episodes to air of the current season. Game of Thrones had a season 8 premiere set for April 21th, 2019 (I believe that's what it was) but now they are back to saying early 2019. Killjoys just concluded it's fourth season Friday, and will be airing it's series finale season 5 next summer.
Tomorrow, September 24th, sees the return of Fox Network show The Resident which I'm excited for, as well as NBC newbie Manifest (I've also seen it titled as The Manifest but the commercials for it say Manifest).
Onto the Word Vomit, A Redux.
So I've mentioned it here very briefly about shows that have gone on for a while and are losing their potency, in passing about certain shows and how I feel about them. I'm going to expand on that idea a little further before I start doing the thingy I talked about in my last post.
So... Some of the longest running tv shows are as follows (I'm counting ones that have aired during my lifetime, just an FYI):
The Simpsons, Fox Network has aired for 30 seasons, starting in 1989 and still currently airing. I almost didn't include this one because it's an animated show, but it's a good grounding point.
Law & Order (the original one!) started airing in 1990 and ran for 20 seasons, ending in 2010 on NBC.
It's spin-off, Law & Order: SVU (also NBC) has been airing for 20 seasons, starting in 1999 and the 20th season is actually to air soon.
NCIS (CBS) has technically been on the air since 2002, with a two episode back door pilot on the 10 season JAG (CBS), but began officially airing in 2003. Season 16 is set to air soon.
Criminal Minds (CBS) has been on the air since 2005 and will be airing it's 14th season this week, I believe (I'm behind on this show so I haven't been paying attention to air dates, I just started season 9 a few weeks back)
Supernatural, a show I currently watch (CW Network), has also been on the air since 2005 and the 14th season is set to air October 12th.
Why did I feel it necessary to mention those?
1. I have watched a least a few episodes of each of those shows (with the exception of The Simpsons)
2. So I have some points of reference when I continue the line of thought for this post
3. Yeah, that's all I got.
Crime dramas, like both Law & Order series, Criminal Minds, NCIS and it's two spin-offs, they have a longevity due to the nature of the show. Crime is something that will probably go on until the end of the world. Therefore it can be replicated into a tv show super easy, and therefore they will always have new material to work with. Plus as there are real life developments in science and forensics, those shows can adapt and boom, more new material.
However, supernatural element shows, like Supernatural, Charmed (both the original and the reboot), any show that can be classified as Science Fiction (SciFi), they have a more limited pool to pull ideas from. It will get to the point where there is overlap between shows and you'll find they pull mythologies in different directions.
Let's take vampire folklore for example. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vampires can not stand direct sunlight (although they can be outside in shade and not be affected, but certain times they show them being exhausted by it), but in The Vampire Diaries they have something called Daylight rings that allows them to walk in the sunlight. In True Blood, they don't have Daylight rings, but if they drink Faerie blood they are able to walk in sunlight as long as that blood is in their system. In all three of these, vampires are not seen as brainless beings, like in Van Helsing, but intelligent beings capable of human interaction. In some vampires are known to the public (True Blood), while in others they hide their existence (Buffy and The Vampire Diaries). In The Vampire Diaries as long as the vampire has blood in their system they can stomach human food, in True Blood it will make them violently sick, and in Buffy it just isn't a thing; they avoid situations that would cause the fact that they don't eat to be noticed (although smoking is apparently a different thing).
And that's just with one mythical creature. Fairies (also Faerie, Fae), werewolves, wendigos, witches, zombies, demons, for every mythology that there is out there, there are versions for the creatures that the show can utilize how they see fit. It creates a lot of confusion when you watch multiple shows and have to keep straight how one reacts in each scenario. In one, werewolves may have sensitivity to silver, in others nothing.
But it's not even just the ones that rely on supernatural elements for the story. Superhero shows also have a limited pool to pull their storylines from.
So. Reason I'm bringing up this very long winded post:
Supernatural, Arrow, and The Flash (all CW shows) I feel have long past stayed their welcome. For Supernatural, after fourteen seasons, they just can't keep coming up with a bigger bad that is worse than the previous season big bad. I'll be honest, after the devil, who in most theologies is the worse being to walk the earth, there shouldn't be a bigger bad guy than Lucifer himself! Yet that was the big bad in season 5! The writers have managed to go around that a bit by having a world ending crisis in loo of a big bad, but they are still trying to one-up previous seasons. I honestly feel (and I've mentioned this previously) that they are grasping for straws so the network can milk the show for all it can before they cancel it. There will get to a point where they either contradiction previous season so horribly, or they will have to kill off the main characters (FOR GOOD THIS TIME) and do a soft reboot like ABC's Once Upon a Time did and hope it holds. I'm not holding out for the second because they tried to do a spin-off (Wayward Sisters) that held no traction.
In Arrow, like I mentioned previously, they wrapped up the Lian Yu storyline which was a major factor in the first four seasons. They did flashbacks to show the "missing" time for Oliver before his return to Starling City (later Star City) and as explanations for why this playboy who had no sense of responsibility suddenly can shoot a bow and arrow, can disarm bombs (I think he disarms a bomb at one point...) and fight like a master. But then they stopped doing flashbacks (because you can only stretch 5 years so far and make it realistic) and started focusing on the next step, but there is only so far you can go beyond that with something of this nature.
In The Flash, there is just a remarkable about of "Rinse, Repeat". The first season: Barry Allen is the fastest man alive, but wait a minute! No he isn't. He works on it, reclaims that title and beats the bad guy for the season. Season two: Barry Allen is the fastest man alive, but gotcha! No he isn't . He works on it, reclaims that title and beats the bad guy for the season. Season three: Barry Allen is the fastest man alive, but hold on! No he isn't. He.................do I really have to continue? They have followed the same story line for the past four seasons. Season 5 is set to air October 9th and I have my fingers crossed that they don't repeat the same thing, again. Yes, Barry Allen learns new things about his powers in the process, they do have some plot points for "secondary, supporting characters" but again, there is only so much you can do with this. Because at some point the character is going to deal with shit that causes them not to be able to continue down the path they are: a life-threatening illness or injury, no one being stupid enough to go up against some one who has saved the city countless times (regardless of how long it took them to defeat the bad guy). I read somewhere for starting writers that the main character shouldn't always be able to defeat the bad guy, that they should struggle and have things that they can't come back from. And The Flash writers are not following that advice. I would, personally, also like to see more from Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon. The writers kinda shot Iris West-Allen (she marries Barry in the fourth season) in the foot by making her very unlikable.
So very long story short (and also not what I wanted to talk about but I got sidetracked and ranted): is that sometimes long running shows don't deserve the long running status. They should be allowed to live a short life and be cancelled before large portions of the fans start to detest the show. The fans should be able to say that they were happy with where the story went and how it ended, not that it should have ended at this point and not five, six, seven seasons later.
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Plan of Attack....
So. Because I really have nothing better to do, this fall I plan on (and will attempt to follow through with, we'll see how this goes) writing a weekly post about the shows that I watch and a reaction to the episode, without giving any spoilers. I may do it differently, but I will attempt to at least post once a week (if I follow that idea it will be on Saturdays).
To give you an idea of what I will be posting about (and so you don't have to look at my older posts (not that there are many at this point) I will list for you the ones that will be airing during the Fall 2018 season, many of which will be continuing through to what is considered the Winter 2019 season (usually April or May 2019). I already know that some are going to have shorter seasons and therefore most likely will not continue past December, and I have two shows in particular that won't start until the New Year, but I will make a note of those when appropriate.
Without further ado, the Fall 2018 season shows that I will be watching.
Sunday
Staying at the 8 o'clock hour but moving to Sundays, Supergirl (CW network) makes it's season four debut October 14th. I felt that this show held it's own for it's third season, but like the other shows that air on the CW, it may tank this season or may be stronger than previous.
Monday
Since Supergirl moved to Sunday, the CW show Arrow will be taking the 8 o'clock spot. The season seven debut is October 15th. I felt that this show was losing it's potential, and pretty quickly. The writers wrapped up the whole Lian Yu story line a few seasons ago, and the story to me just fell flat. It has gotten to be repetitive and quite frankly: boring. I will try to stick with this one, but this show may just join a short list of shows that I've abandoned because it just wasn't enjoyable any more.
Airing concurrently to that, on the Fox network is returning show The Resident. While the first season was short--only 13 episodes-- I have not seen how many this second season, set to debut September 24th, is expected to have. All I know is that they have a lot of potential coming off a strong first season, this medical drama has amazing actors in the spotlight and a lot of room for growth.
In the 9pm slot is another CW hit Legends of Tomorrow. Season four debuts October 22nd, so quite a bit later than the other CW shows, this show is expected to only have 16 episodes, dropping 2 from last season. It could be an indication of a couple of things (in my opinion): a) that the show isn't going to be around much longer or b)that they are keeping the seasons short so they have more flexibility with the story writing. Or c) they just like making this short so they have more air time for other shows.
New to air in the 10pm slot on NBC is Manifest. Set to debut also on September 24th, this new drama is about a flight that disappeared, only to reappear five years later to everyone but those on the plane. To those on the flight, it was only the time of the flight. It is bringing Josh Dallas from Once Upon a Time (ABC, which ended it's final season back in April), so I'm pretty excited about that, but also the premise behind it just sounds interesting. We'll see on this one!
(In case you haven't noticed, Monday is going to be pretty packed.)
Tuesday
Airing at 8pm is the CW show The Flash. Returning for its season five on October 9th, I'm not really sure that this will be one that I continue. Much like Arrow, which this show is a branch off of, I just feel like the story line is repetitive and that there is not much that they can do differently. It's gotten to the point were you can easily guess what is going to happen. And to a degree that's a good thing. But when you can guess pretty much what is going to happen when you weren't really paying attention.... yeah.
Also airing at 8pm, but not until sometime in 2019, is the Freeform supershow Shadowhunters. Which sadly will be airing the final 12 episodes of the third season, which was deemed the final season because Netflix pulled it's funding of the show (which I am still very bitter about). They released sometime in the past two days the titles for the final two episodes, which are "Alliance" and "All Good Things..." and I may have teared up a bit upon reading that. Freeform however, has not released exact dates for when the final episodes will air, but I will update that info when I happen upon it. I also fully expect to cry when the finale actually airs.
Wednesday
I do have one show airing at 9pm on Wednesday, The Magicians on the SyFy network, but again this one will not air until sometime in 2019. If it follows suit with the third season, it will air from January to April with 13 episodes, but even the number of episodes hasn't been confirmed to the public yet (at least that I've seen). So more on that when I have more information.
Thursday
Airing at 8pm on the CW, is returning Supernatural. Once my favorite show, this milk cow of a show is airing its fourteenth (FOURTEENTH) season starting October 11th. Recapping previous posts of mine, this show has been airing since 2005, and I feel like they've done all they can with the show, but because they can market the crap out of it, they keep renewing the show even though the initial brain behind the story felt the natural end to it was season 5. This one may also join the short list of shows that I've stopped watching if they continue on the way they have.
Airing at 9pm on the SyFy network is returning show Van Helsing. However, this show does not have a definitive start date as of the time I'm writing this (which is 11pm on Sept. 2nd). It was confirmed however, that the third season will contain 13 episodes. I will keep you updated as I find out more.
Friday
Airing at 8pm on NBC is returning champ Blindspot. Its fourth season debut is scheduled for October 12th, but they haven't released much information about it that I can find (not that I'm looking very hard but still...). I felt that the third season had a bit of a rocky start, but they recovered well and I look forward to the upcoming season.
Airing at 9pm also on NBC is sophomore show Midnight, Texas. Based on a book series by Charlaine Harris (the brain behind the Sookie Stackhouse novels, which HBO's True Blood was based on), this show originally aired during the Summer of 2017 but was moved to the Fall schedule with a debut of October 26th. So I'm hoping that means the season will be longer than the 10 episode first season, but I haven't found anything that gives an expected episode count for the second season.
That is it for those types of shows. If you recall from earlier posts, there were two more shows that I was on the lookout for, TNT drama Good Behavior and WGN's Bellevue. Both of which were neither confirmed for a renewal or for cancellation. However, unless I hear something about either one, they are most likely going to be swept under the rug by their respective networks.
I do have two Netflix shows that I will be looking out for, Marvel's Jessica Jones and A Series of Unfortunate Events. However both of those will most likely not be out until sometime next year.
ABC's Marvel's Agents of SHIELD will not return until July 2019 for a shorter season, but I will update on that as I learn more about it.
So until then, TA!
Edit on 9/16/18:
The SyFy network finally announced that Van Helsing will air on Friday nights at 10pm starting October 5th. However, they have not released the episode title or anything else as of 9/16.
To give you an idea of what I will be posting about (and so you don't have to look at my older posts (not that there are many at this point) I will list for you the ones that will be airing during the Fall 2018 season, many of which will be continuing through to what is considered the Winter 2019 season (usually April or May 2019). I already know that some are going to have shorter seasons and therefore most likely will not continue past December, and I have two shows in particular that won't start until the New Year, but I will make a note of those when appropriate.
Without further ado, the Fall 2018 season shows that I will be watching.
Sunday
Staying at the 8 o'clock hour but moving to Sundays, Supergirl (CW network) makes it's season four debut October 14th. I felt that this show held it's own for it's third season, but like the other shows that air on the CW, it may tank this season or may be stronger than previous.
Monday
Since Supergirl moved to Sunday, the CW show Arrow will be taking the 8 o'clock spot. The season seven debut is October 15th. I felt that this show was losing it's potential, and pretty quickly. The writers wrapped up the whole Lian Yu story line a few seasons ago, and the story to me just fell flat. It has gotten to be repetitive and quite frankly: boring. I will try to stick with this one, but this show may just join a short list of shows that I've abandoned because it just wasn't enjoyable any more.
Airing concurrently to that, on the Fox network is returning show The Resident. While the first season was short--only 13 episodes-- I have not seen how many this second season, set to debut September 24th, is expected to have. All I know is that they have a lot of potential coming off a strong first season, this medical drama has amazing actors in the spotlight and a lot of room for growth.
In the 9pm slot is another CW hit Legends of Tomorrow. Season four debuts October 22nd, so quite a bit later than the other CW shows, this show is expected to only have 16 episodes, dropping 2 from last season. It could be an indication of a couple of things (in my opinion): a) that the show isn't going to be around much longer or b)that they are keeping the seasons short so they have more flexibility with the story writing. Or c) they just like making this short so they have more air time for other shows.
New to air in the 10pm slot on NBC is Manifest. Set to debut also on September 24th, this new drama is about a flight that disappeared, only to reappear five years later to everyone but those on the plane. To those on the flight, it was only the time of the flight. It is bringing Josh Dallas from Once Upon a Time (ABC, which ended it's final season back in April), so I'm pretty excited about that, but also the premise behind it just sounds interesting. We'll see on this one!
(In case you haven't noticed, Monday is going to be pretty packed.)
Tuesday
Airing at 8pm is the CW show The Flash. Returning for its season five on October 9th, I'm not really sure that this will be one that I continue. Much like Arrow, which this show is a branch off of, I just feel like the story line is repetitive and that there is not much that they can do differently. It's gotten to the point were you can easily guess what is going to happen. And to a degree that's a good thing. But when you can guess pretty much what is going to happen when you weren't really paying attention.... yeah.
Also airing at 8pm, but not until sometime in 2019, is the Freeform supershow Shadowhunters. Which sadly will be airing the final 12 episodes of the third season, which was deemed the final season because Netflix pulled it's funding of the show (which I am still very bitter about). They released sometime in the past two days the titles for the final two episodes, which are "Alliance" and "All Good Things..." and I may have teared up a bit upon reading that. Freeform however, has not released exact dates for when the final episodes will air, but I will update that info when I happen upon it. I also fully expect to cry when the finale actually airs.
Wednesday
I do have one show airing at 9pm on Wednesday, The Magicians on the SyFy network, but again this one will not air until sometime in 2019. If it follows suit with the third season, it will air from January to April with 13 episodes, but even the number of episodes hasn't been confirmed to the public yet (at least that I've seen). So more on that when I have more information.
Thursday
Airing at 8pm on the CW, is returning Supernatural. Once my favorite show, this milk cow of a show is airing its fourteenth (FOURTEENTH) season starting October 11th. Recapping previous posts of mine, this show has been airing since 2005, and I feel like they've done all they can with the show, but because they can market the crap out of it, they keep renewing the show even though the initial brain behind the story felt the natural end to it was season 5. This one may also join the short list of shows that I've stopped watching if they continue on the way they have.
Airing at 9pm on the SyFy network is returning show Van Helsing. However, this show does not have a definitive start date as of the time I'm writing this (which is 11pm on Sept. 2nd). It was confirmed however, that the third season will contain 13 episodes. I will keep you updated as I find out more.
Friday
Airing at 8pm on NBC is returning champ Blindspot. Its fourth season debut is scheduled for October 12th, but they haven't released much information about it that I can find (not that I'm looking very hard but still...). I felt that the third season had a bit of a rocky start, but they recovered well and I look forward to the upcoming season.
Airing at 9pm also on NBC is sophomore show Midnight, Texas. Based on a book series by Charlaine Harris (the brain behind the Sookie Stackhouse novels, which HBO's True Blood was based on), this show originally aired during the Summer of 2017 but was moved to the Fall schedule with a debut of October 26th. So I'm hoping that means the season will be longer than the 10 episode first season, but I haven't found anything that gives an expected episode count for the second season.
That is it for those types of shows. If you recall from earlier posts, there were two more shows that I was on the lookout for, TNT drama Good Behavior and WGN's Bellevue. Both of which were neither confirmed for a renewal or for cancellation. However, unless I hear something about either one, they are most likely going to be swept under the rug by their respective networks.
I do have two Netflix shows that I will be looking out for, Marvel's Jessica Jones and A Series of Unfortunate Events. However both of those will most likely not be out until sometime next year.
ABC's Marvel's Agents of SHIELD will not return until July 2019 for a shorter season, but I will update on that as I learn more about it.
So until then, TA!
Edit on 9/16/18:
The SyFy network finally announced that Van Helsing will air on Friday nights at 10pm starting October 5th. However, they have not released the episode title or anything else as of 9/16.
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