An early premiere of a wheelchair-bound detective, a season finale of a sunny camp dramedy, and a limited event game show that hopes to be the next Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Three very different vehicles, but all of them on NBC. Is the peacock taking chances in this early Fall deadzone? Not quite…
Ironside…This show won’t premiere until early October, but the first episode has been made available for our viewing pleasure, and I’m sorry to say that the pleasure is NOT all mine. Blair Underwood plays the wheelchair-confined detective in a decidely dark and “gritty” procedural show that is trying just a little too hard to be edgy but ultimately comes off looking unintentionally funny. Broadcast networks don’t really let their characters break-bad so we know that Underwood and co. are never going to get up to anything too questionable. As is, Ironside and his crew mostly just smack suspects around and deny them their basic rights (like the right NOT to be held off the roof of a building), which comes off looking more fascist than the show seems to realize. It’s also trying too hard to make Blair Underwood’s character look “handi-cap able” and like his disability doesn’t slow him down in the slightest. He seems more like Iron-Man than Ironside, and there are too many scenes where he’s painted as uber-macho, a ladies man, or the baddest motherfucker in the room. Also, the case of the week plot lines (at least judging by the pilot) won’t break any new ground whatsoever. Grade for Premiere: C-
Camp…I might be the last person actually watching NBC’s summer-camp set dramedy series. The show is mostly buzz-free and I doubt anyone was really out last night, checking their watch with baited breath thinking “Oh man, I have to get home to watch the season finale of Camp!” I doubt there will be a second season, and I really doubt many people will watch it, but last night served as an okay (series?) finale. I’ve never cared much about any of the young couples (it’s disappointing to see Zoey with Greg instead of the nerdy Buzz, who got paired up with the more “appropriate” Grace), and I actively don’t like Sarah/Robbie together—–something about Robbie just seems like he would beat Sarah in the real-world—–but that doesn’t stop the final summer Olympics between Richfield/Camp Little Otter from being fun in an “I can’t believe I’m liking this” kind-of end-of-summer cheesiness. So long Camp Little Otter, and even if it wasn’t “the best summer of our lives” (as Kip told his dad in a nicely touching final scene), I don’t hate myself for watching your antics. Grade for finale: B-
Million Second Quiz…I would have never believed that a vaguely-generic gameshow hosted by Ryan Seacrest would be more addictive than two dramas, but that’s exactly what’s happened on NBC. Million Second Quiz has some fun interactive elements by flying people across the country to compete (one woman was goofing around the Utah suburbs, one guy was eating pizza in Atlanta), and the showdowns between challengers are (shockingly) tense. These people are strangers to us, and we know only the bare minimums about them, but that doesn’t stop us from rooting for some and against others. The guy we watched play all during the first episode is still in the lead…for now, so it’s fun to think we’re going on his journey with him, even though, of course, none of us are really earning any money. Although, the way this game is set up, almost no one who’s playing is winning any money either. Grade for the design of the game: A- (although it would be nice if more people got to keep their winnings)…Grade for show: B+
I will have to check out the on demand for Ironsides. I watched that when I was younger. Great reviews!
Camp is a really funny show. More people should watch this one.
Good reviews. I always like to read yours because we must have the same taste in tv shows.