FOX Pilots: NEW GIRL and TERRA NOVA

I got to check out the pilot episodes for NEW GIRL and TERRA NOVA. Here are my quick impressions.

NEW GIRL - Starring Zooey Deschanel and three dudes
I watched this one first just to get it out of the way and was shocked to find myself enjoying it a lot. I am not a fan of the lead actor (though, I have no problem with her at all) but found myself totally in love with her character. She is silly, quirky, nutty, loopy, geeky, and adorable! The guys who eventually play her roommates (SPOILER!) also work well. Sometimes you watch a cast in their pilot and realize their chemistry just isn't natural and that they will have to work on it. Most of those shows get cancelled. This one doesn't suffer from that problem. But is a network audience ready for this cute, geeky comedy? We shall see. The first episode has a lot of fun dialogue and I could see it fitting in well following GLEE.
GRADE: A-

TERRA NOVA - Starring 20 people
Is a network audience ready for a hokey sci-fantasy show about people living on prehistoric Earth? It certainly looks expensive and that makes me wonder just how long can they keep that production level going? I think people will stick with it purely out of fascination with the aesthetics. But once cost-cutting starts showing itself, will the stories hold people for long? I will at least check out part 2 to see if there is a payoff to the first half of the premiere. But I fear the focus on one family will drag it down to the point where people won't care for long.

Last thoughts: is Jason O’Mara's character supposed to be American? I can't tell. Though, the dude playing his son has the thickest Canadian accent this side of some hicky part of Alberta. Thankfully, Stephen Lang is awesome and makes up some for the horrendous accents. Granted, most Americans couldn't tell a good accent from a bad one so... oh and there is a visual effects moment near the end of episode 1 that I sure hope isn't final.
GRADE: C-

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TERRA NOVA SDCC Reaction

Writer: MediaSavant

The first half of what I heard is a 2-hour pilot was screened at Comic-con. This completes my pilot reactions even if it wasn’t the entire thing. I’ve read others say they saw changes compared to an earlier version. Pilots can be always be modified before their real debut. This is why these are “reactions” and shouldn’t be construed as full reviews.

Terra Nova
Chance of watching 2nd half of the episode—100%

It’s a mixed bag. If you don’t know anything about it, it’s about humans being transported back to the dinosaur days to start a new civilization because the environment in the future is collapsing.

The production values and visual design is outstanding. There are some action sequences that are quite good. But, some of the dialogue made me cringe and there is some clunky exposition stuck in to explain the science of it all that they could have done without.

The teenage son will remind many of the unpopular Tyler of V.

Why will I watch? For the same reason I kept with V and Fastforward and The Event—loyalty to the genre and a patience to see if they can work out the kinks. Plus, Jason O’Mara looks pretty good with his shirt off. They could do more of that.
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Watch or Skip? Next Season in Geek Pilots

Writer: MediaSavant

It took me a while, but I’ve seen most of the geek-oriented pilots for the next broadcast season. When it comes to watching shows in the sci-fi or fantasy genres, I usually try to give them all a chance. Unless it really turns me off, I also try to watch more than one episode because sometimes these kinds of shows don’t their real legs until halfway through the first season.

But, those are best intentions. Limited time and competition from returning series favorites often leads me to having to prioritize and not get around to watching everything.

I’m not a reviewer and I can only give my general reactions to the pilots I’ve seen. I decided to estimate the probability I’ll actually watch the 2nd episode of any of these shows.

Awake (NBC mid-season)
Chance of watching 2nd episode—100%

Very different. It’s about a guy who survived a car accident and is living in two realities. In one, his wife died, but his son survived. In the other, his son died, but his wife survived. This is very psychological, but I found myself very intrigued by the dilemma he’s in.

Alcatraz (Fox mid-season)
Chance of watching 2nd episode—100%

Cast includes Lost’s Jorge Garcia and comes from the JJ Abrams company. It isn’t perfect, but I’m interested in the mystery they’ve set up regarding why a group of prisoners disappeared from Alcatraz and why they are coming back.

The River (ABC mid-season)
Chance of watching 2nd episode—95%

This one comes from the same team that did Paranormal Activity. It uses a documentary filming technique and is scary at times. It concerns a group of filmmakers and a family looking for a missing explorer somewhere in South America. I wonder if is sustainable as a series. But, I’ll probably watch the next few episodes.

Grimm (NBC)
Chance of watching 2nd episode—50%

At this point, my interest in the new series drops. The premise of this series is that all the Grimm Fairy Tales were real and a modern cop discovers his legacy is to battle various baddies. The pilot was merely okay. It struck me as something the Syfy Channel might do. It will be up against Fringe. The casting of the lead isn’t that great.

Person of Interest (CBS)
Chance of watching 2nd episode—40%

This is the other JJ Abrams' show with a former Lost actor (Michael Emerson). The reason this one lost my interest is that it also stars Jim Caviezel, who I find very low on charisma. The fancy set-up about a machine that spies on everyone and spits out social security numbers of people who may be in trouble only leads us to what will be really another CBS procedural.

Ringer (CW)
Chance of watching 2nd episode—37%

The only reason I’ve listed this here is that it stars Sarah Michele Gellar and is generating some interest for their panel at San Diego Comic-con. It’s not really science fiction or fantasy. SMG plays twins. One twin takes over the other twin’s life after that twin's death so that she can run away from the mob (or something). SMG is miscast in both roles. I found the techniques used to get them in the same scenes together distracting. I only MAY watch the 2nd episode just to see if it gets any better.

Once Upon a Time (ABC)
Chance of watching 2nd episode—35%

What’s with the fascination with Fairy Tales this year? It’s similar to Grimm in that the main character is also in law enforcement (loosely) and discovers they are someone they didn’t know they were. I just didn’t get into it much.

The Secret Circle (CW)
Chance of watching 2nd episode—0%

Teenage witches based on books by the same author as Vampire Diaries. If you watch Vampire Diaries, you may like this. I don’t watch Vampire Diaries.

A Gifted Man
Chance of watching 2nd episode—0%

A gifted man played by an actor who specializes in playing good-looking bland people (Patrick Wilson). I got very distracted watching it. It’s on at 8PM ET Friday. Watch Chuck instead.

Terra Nova (Fox)
Chance of watching 2nd episode—TBD

The only genre pilot I didn’t receive. They are showing it at Comic-con. I’ll try to see it there.

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Ad Agencies Predict next season's ratings

Writer: MediaSavant

The June 27th, 2011 issue of Advertising Age had a chart of predictions of Household ratings for next season on the major broadcast networks.

The predictions reflect C3 ratings and were averaged from submissions by media agencies—these are agencies that plan and buy media campaigns for advertisers. A “C3” rating is the rating that programs get during commercial minutes within three days of airing. C3 ratings are the currency on which advertising costs are based. They are most similar in size to Live + SD ratings, but rarely exactly the same.

You might be interested in how several geek shows fared in these predictions.

Person of Interest: 7.09
Castle: 5.55
Glee: 4.39 (included because they are at SDCC next week)
Terra Nova: 4.11
A Gifted Man: 3.83
Alcatraz: 3.75
Family Guy: 3.73
The River (mid-season): 3.30
Grimm: 2.30
Awake (mid-season): 2.2
Fringe: 2.16
Community: 1.97
Chuck: 1.97
Vampire Diaries: 1.27
Supernatural: 1.11
The Secret Circle: 1.05
Nikita: 1.01
Ringer 0.76 (included because its Sarah Michele Gellar and at SDCC)

It should be noted that because these are household ratings, shows that tend to have older audiences usually do very well.

Chuck fans may wonder how the predicted 1.97 for Friday at 8PM compares to Monday last season. It’s quite a drop. Chuck’s season 4 finale episode scored a 2.6 Live + SD household rating. Chuck’s replacement on Monday—The Sing-Off—is predicted to get a 3.4, which is higher than Chuck got last 4th quarter (3.2 average).

The “Person of Interest” prediction appears to be quite high to me. I’ve seen that pilot and wasn’t that enamored with it. I’m just not a Jim Caviezel fan. But, CBS claims it “tested well” and it gets CSI’s old timeslot. Everything else in the timeslot skews younger. So, maybe it will do well with the older folk.

If there are any other questions about what’s listed here, please comment below.

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