Week 1 Pilots: Sleepy Hollow, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dads (Uggh)

Well, this week got a little away from me, but I’m getting back on track. Sorry for the quickie. I'm still working on getting a rhythm to watching and writing.

P.S. This post is spoiler free. In the future, I will warn for spoilers and put spoilery reviews under a cut.

Starting Monday, we had three pilots and the return of New Girl and The Mindy Project. Sleepy Hollow was a ratings monster for NBC. (Ha...see what I did there. So clever.) While Dads and Brooklyn Nine Nine were solid but not blockbuster. I suspect at least a third of the Dads viewers tuned in to see what was so offensive and were upset to find out that being boring and cliche was its main offense. (I don’t plan on spending a lot of time talking about sitcoms and I always think I don’t watch any, but I guess I watch a lot. I’m going to at least mention the new ones.)

So, lets talk about Sleepy Hollow and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I’m just going to do some quick overviews with no spoilers. Next week, I’ll get a bit more in depth for Sleepy Hollow. Both were solid pilots with small but fixable issues that most pilots have. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was filled with a wonderfully odd assortment of characters that I’ll be happy to spend more time getting to know. And it was funny, not crying tears funny, but this is a great role for Andy Samburg’s man-child and I loved Andre Braugher as the straight man. None of the jokes were mean-spirited and people didn’t yell all the time (which is more than I can say for New Girl...yeesh...so much yelling on that show!). That sentence made me feel 80 years old but seriously. Anyway, it’s a decent show. Not really appointment television, but good for a few chuckles on hulu.com while I’m eating dinner.

Sleepy Hollow, on the other hand, is one of the best genre pilots I’ve seen in a few years. I caught this one at SDCC in July and had only one real issue. On my second viewing, that issue still stands but it didn’t bother me as much.  

The show is pretty slick. We open with a bloody battle in New York of 1781 and watch as Ichabod Crane fights and then beheads and then gets shot by a behemoth of a man. We waste no time jumping to Ichabod waking in the present day and rush head on into the plot. I’m a big fan of the slow burn, but this show doesn’t really need that. The premise is what it is: Ichabod Crane fights the headless horseman in present day Sleepy Hollow. Why hold back?

On the flip side to that, my one issue, way too much season arc plot reveal. I feel like they could have stretched some of that out a bit more. But, as I said, on the second viewing it didn’t bother me as much. I hope they will squash that problem altogether by revealing a larger Big Bad as the season goes on.

The fight scenes were awesome! I loved the Horseman’s axe! I can’t wait to see this in action over the season. The back story and plot are pretty intriguing. I’m looking forward to more secrets being revealed.

So, pros? Slick fight scenes. Diverse cast. Creepy. John Cho! Orlando Jones! The bad guy doesn’t have a head! This is a must watch for the season.

As of now, I’m going with Sleepy Hollow and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as the big winner debuts. I’m leaning towards an early cancellation for Dads. That might be wishful thinking but if I was in a cancellation betting pool, I’d go with that one.

There’s no more new shows this week, but The Neighbors does return on Friday night. I know you heard this was the worst show of last year but not even. Its hilarious! Its pretty much an homage to the ridiculous premise sitcoms of early television like I Dream of Jeannie. Great cast. Great humor. Wonderfully tongue in cheek and self-aware. Plus a guest appearance form George Takei!

Next week we really get into it:

• Blacklist: I went to an off site event for this at SDCC which was unmemorable but they gave me a nice bag which has been serving nicely in my bathroom as a collector of dirty clothes and reminding me of the premiere date everytime I go in there.  Monday 23rd. 10/9 central. NBC.

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I’m going to have to create a macro for typing that.

• Michael J Fox Show: I’m not sold on this one.

• The Crazy Ones: I’m only giving this a try for Buffy.

Returning shows:

• Revolution: They’ve taken my favorite writer away from Supernatural. So, it will improve, but my heart will never be mended.

• The Middle: Another underrated sitcom you should be watching.

• Elementary: I thought this was going to be mid-season for some reason and I’m SO PSYCHED it is starting next week.

• Parks & Recreation: Perfect show. Will continue to be perfect.

Next week I will go much more into Sleepy Hollow as we see how the second episode holds up.

FIRST

Once upon several years ago I got it into my head that I was going to write about my best friend television. I started to over in Livejournal but then life got icky and this became The Blog I Started But Never Posted To Because I Had Two Jobs For A While And Was Really, Really Tired. That blog was prolific in title but lacking in content.

And then things got better. The Powers That Be gave me a raise and I quit my second job! Now this will be my second job....only without the extra pay to cover my hotel at SDCC. Anyway, whether or not anyone ever reads this doesn't matter. I mean, it would be nice, but not the point.

So, here it is. I love tv and I watch a lot of it mostly in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror area and now I'm going to write about it.

Thanks for reading if you're reading!
-Cat