Here are two clips for two interesting shows that ABC recently picked up for their fall schedule. I haven’t read the script for Happy Town yet, but I’m hoping to get that done in the next couple of days and put a review up here.
The original British cast
Written by: Drew Pearce & Jeff Greenstein
Plot/Info: Superheroes are real. They interact in society just like regular people. The show follows four friends who are B-list “capes” and frequent the only superhero bar in New York called “The Watchtower.” The show is an adaptation of a British show which aired last year on ITV2.
I’m a pretty big fan of the original British version of the show, with its dry humour and great premise, so I was quite excited to hear that the show was being adapted for the US. In my mind it was gonna be another great adaptation like The Office, but despite having the original creator Drew Pearce involved it unfortunately all seems to fall a bit flat. The great thing about the original version is that the whole point of the show is to illustrate that being a superhero isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and that there are still class divisions within that segment of society. The tone of the original show seemed to fit this much better than this script has done.
There have been changes to the characters in the adaptation, although I can’t figure out why they felt the need to do that other than to try and make the show more of their own. In the original version there was Alex who controlled heat, Sarah who controlled machines with her voice, Don who could see 60 seconds into the future, Jenny who had super-strength, and Devlin who was the alpha-male #1 superhero. The US version changes the majority of these, there’s now Pete who controls the cold, Callie who can be invisible for a limited time, Nigel who can read minds if he’s within 3 metres, Sandy who has super-strength, and Bradley who’s the alpha-male. In addition, the bouncer/doorman at the bar has been changed from Thundermonkey (who can calls his monkeys to do his bidding) to Horseforce (who does the same but with stallions).
One of the first things that struck me when I read the script was a glaring mistake. The title of the show comes from a sign on the outside of the bar which reads “”NO MASKS, NO POWERS, NO HEROICS” yet there’s this action almost directly under this:
INT. THE WATCHTOWER – MAIN ROOM – CONTINUOUS
They enter a bustling speakeasy. We catch glimpses of superpowers -- a glowing finger, someone levitating.
It seems pretty important to me that this integral element of the show should be maintained and not disregarded almost immediately. Maybe it’s just an oversight, but it’s a pretty damn big one wouldn’t you say.
The only saving grace of the script is the fact that Don/Nigel is still gay, and is British to boot, in the US version. I’m assuming they did this in order to appeal to a wider audience and to play off his accent and demeanour in combination with his sexual orientation, but the result is still not that great and the character, whilst essentially the same as the original version of the show, is not as well written. Overall he seems to lack the biting edge that he has in the British version. The other main downfall of the script is that it’s just not funny. In fact, this was the only section which I thought was any good:
EXT. SUBURBAN BACKYARD – LATER
A fairy-lit kids’ party with a makeshift stage. Pete, now in full costume, is backstage with the birthday girl’s dad. Pete peeks out at the crowd of expectant, sugar-high kids.
PETE
Are any of them biters? Because I’ve had trouble with biters before.
DAD
Not that I know of, Chillaxe.
PETE
Chillout. I mean, it’s fine if there are. But maybe we could have a little muzzle standing by? A little makeshift muzzle, just in case?
DAD
Where’s the invisible girl you promised?
PETE
What can I say? She disappeared!
Pete laughs uproariously at his joke. The dad does not.
PETE (CONT’D)
Yeah, she’s not coming.
DAD
So what am I getting for my money? You gonna do some flying?
PETE
Well, no, flying’s not really on the menu. But you can expect a cavalcade of frozen fun and sub-zero sensation!
DAD
You make crap out of ice?
PETE
I make crap out of ice.
DAD
Listen, don’t mess up my baby girl’s big day, okay? She’s got it hard enough, being in a wheelchair.
PETE
Really? Oh, man, that’s terrible.
(beat)
My three best disabled jokes just went right out the window.
Ultimately I think it was a good decision that ABC declined to pick up the show as this will leave all of us who are/were interested in the premise to seek out the superior British version when it becomes available on DVD.
Final Grade: C- (I could have rated it lower, but I still like the whole premise of the show)
Amy Acker
Nikki Finke is reporting that Fox has officially renewed Dollhouse for a second season, which confirms the report by The Hollywood Reporter that Fox “was leaning” towards renewing the show.
In other news, ABC has picked up the pilot Happy Town. The show is a small-town murder mystery from Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg. The cast includes Geoff Stults, Lauren German, Dean Winters, Amy Acker, Sam Neill, John Patrick Amedori, Sarah Gadon, Jay Paulson and Robert Wisdom.
I’m not sure what this does for Amy Acker’s inclusion in the second season of Dollhouse, and even though I’m hopeful she will be able to appear in both, chances are she will be written out of Dollhouse as a way for Fox to trim the budget of the show.
[via THR.com]
Tyler Labine
First off I have to say that I really enjoy watching Tyler Labine, even though some may say he always plays the same character, I find him funny nonetheless. He really was the only redeeming thing about both Invasion and Reaper. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I really liked the pilot script for Sons of Tucson. I have my doubts about the ability of it to succeed on Fox considering the way they treat anything which isn’t named American Idol or The Simpsons, but I think that the style of humour, and the cast which they have got for the show are all quite promising.
The pilot introduces us to Ron (Tyler Labine) who works at a sporting goods store and once again has that kind of chatty cool personality. In walks three brothers, Gary (14, the boss), Brandon (16, kinda dumb but caring), and Robby (8, ADHD pain in the ass), who proceed to enlist Ron to be their fake dad in order to enrol at the local school for the price of $200.
I was fortunate enough to get a large number of upcoming TV pilot scripts in over the last day. I’ve already reviewed Community and Happiness Isn’t Everything, and I hope to be able to review most of the others in the next week, but it depends how I progress with uni work. Anyway, here’s what came in:
BACK – Dean Widenmann
EASTWICK – Maggie Friedman
EMPIRE STATE – Michael Seitzman
THE FORGOTTEN – Gerald Di Pego, Eric Roth & Zak Penn
HAPPY TOWN – Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec & Scott Rosenberg
HOUSE RULES – Michael Seitzman
MASTERWORK – Paul T. Scheuring
SONS OF TUSCON – Greg Bratman & Tommy Dewey
THREE RIVERS – Carol Barbee
UNTITLED HEMINGSON LEGAL DRAMEDY
WASHINGTON FIELD – Jim Clemente & Tim Clemente and Edward Allen Bernero
Jason Biggs
According to Nikke Finke, this is the younger-skewing sitcom written by Mitchell Hurwitz and Jim Vallely, and starring Jason Biggs, that CBS thinks could do well paired with The Big Bang Theory. “The network is happy with the way it came in.” Good thing, too, because this is CBS’ biggest commitment and there’s a giant penalty. Five scripts are already in.
I’m not gonna bother with a full review of the script because frankly it was pretty terrible. Call me a stickler, but I think a sitcom should actually be funny, and this one isn’t.
Chevy Chase
First of all a little background. NBC’s “Must See TV” branding first entered into usage during the 1982-83 TV schedule when the programming included Fame, Cheers, Taxi and Hill Street Blues, a lineup that whilst I was not an actual viewer (I was 4 years old at the time), I would consider to be “Must See TV”. Skip forward 26 years and the lineup on Thursday nights may not necessarily have the historical significance that it did back in 1982, but save for a couple of exceptions, it certainly has an abundance of quality.
NBC’s current Thursday schedule is My Name is Earl, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, and Southland. I soured on Earl a long time ago and I’ve yet to watch Southland, but the middle pack of shows are fantastic and only promise to get better. So, whilst NBC may no longer use the “Must See TV” moniker, instead settling on “Comedy Night Done Right”, I think that the current Thursday schedule is the closest that NBC has come to “Must See TV” since 1996-97 when the schedule consisted of Friends, The Single Guy, Seinfeld, Suddenly Susan, and ER.
