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Fall TV

Fall TV Preview: Last Resort

Scott Speedman and Daisy Betts in Last Resort. (ABC)
Scott Speedman and Daisy Betts in Last Resort. (ABC)

(I’m still swamped with TIFF, so regular blogging won’t resume until the end of the week. Be sure to check out @jen_mcdonnell and MSN.ca for all my TIFF updates.

In the meantime, my BFF Nicole and I have been IM’ing about the five buzziest fall TV shows. Check out our previous posts on Elementary and The Mindy Project. Today’s target: Last Resort!)

Premieres: Sept. 27 @ 8 p.m. on ABC and Global

Up Against: The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, Vampire Diaries, X Factor, Up All Night, Two and a Half Men

Premise: Andre Braugher plays the captain of a ballistic missile submarine who gets a suspicious order to bomb Pakistan. He and his second in command (Scott Speedman) refuse to do it, and their belief that the White House has been compromised is confirmed when their sub is fired upon by a fellow US ship. They escape to neutral waters around a tropical island and warn that if their government takes further action against them, they will retaliate with a nuclear missile aimed at Washington.

Our Take:

Jen: Let’s talk about Last Resort, which is probably my favourite new show of the season.
Nicole: I don’t get it. I don’t see where they’re going to go with this show. They’re just supposed to park a submarine off a tropical island and hang out until their own government stops trying to kill them? Or maybe it’s only one season?
Jen: No, it’s supposed to be an ongoing drama. That was my only issue, too. Where do they go in episode 2, let alone episode 22?
Nicole: I’m afraid it will soon stop being realistic like Lost, which frankly, I abandoned pretty quickly. The same thing happened with Jericho, which I also stuck with for only a few episodes.
Jen: I stuck with Lost, for better or worse, but I hear what you’re saying.
Nicole: I liked the premiere and I thought the chemistry was good, but I doubt I’ll still be watching in November.
Jen: I guess the way to keep it interesting is to better explain the government conspiracy, which could get juicy (as long as the people on the sub are still engaged and in contact with the real world).
Nicole: I guess Autumn Reeser’s character in Washington can become their connection.
Jen: And some of the guys on the sub are obviously in on the conspiracy, so there’ll be that angle, too.
Nicole: Oh yes, OBVIOUSLY. (What are you talking about?)
Jen: Well, those shady guys they picked up at the beginning of the episode were clearly keeping something from the crew. And when Andre Braugher’s character refused the launch order, half of his men threatened mutiny, so there could be some possible government moles there.
Nicole: You just like it because Scott Speedman is in it.
Jen: Yeah, I fully admit my blind love for Ben Covington. I’m not going to lie: one of the reasons I like this show is that they end up on a tropical island, which must mean he’ll probably be shirtless a lot.
Nicole: Hahahaha.
Jen: This is my new fall TV criteria: hot guys in shirtless situations on islands.
Nicole: Oh geez. So then you must love Arrow, right?
Jen: Speaking of hot guys on tropical islands…
Nicole: Actually, you really just love hot CANADIAN guys in shirtless situations on islands.
Jen: I’m patriotic that way.

Fall TV Preview: The Mindy Project

Mindy Kaling, Ed Weeks and Chris Messina in The Mindy Project. (Fox)
Mindy Kaling, Ed Weeks and Chris Messina in The Mindy Project. (Fox)

(Due to TIFF, regular blogging won’t resume until the end of next week. I’ll be writing all about  my TIFF adventures at MSN.ca and tweeting from @jen_mcdonnell, so please be sure to check that out. Also, I see lots of people are searching this blog for news about Aaron Paul’s TIFF movie, Smashed. The premiere isn’t until Sept. 12. Don’t worry, I’ll be on it like a meth addict on blue crystal!

In the meantime, my BFF Nicole and I have been IM’ing about the five buzziest fall TV shows. Check out our previous post on Elementary. Today’s target: The Mindy Project!)

Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9:30 p.m. on Fox and CityTV

Up Against: The New Normal, Emily Owens, M.D., Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, NCIS: LA

Premise: Mindy Kaling plays a 30-something OB/GYN who’s doing well professionally, but her personal life is a mess (the pilot opens with her getting arrested after making a drunken speech at her last boyfriend’s wedding). She’s yearns for a romantic comedy love life, and she’s set up for just that: she’s in a friends-with-benefits relationship with a hot British doctor (Ed Weeks), and is frenemies with another hot OB/GYN (Chris Messina).

Our Take:

Jen: I love, love, love Mindy Kaling. Love her in The Office, love her book, love her! But I’m not completely in love with her show yet.
Nicole: I really liked this show. It’s bumpy for sure, but cute.
Jen: Bumpy but cute is the perfect way to describe it. I found it very charming, but very uneven. And the title? Ugh!
Nicole: They’ve done an excellent job setting up the sexual tension/triangle and the douche doctor (played by Chris Messina) is super spiteful. I hate him already.
Jen: I almost think they made him too mean. He’s obviously going to be her main love interest eventually. We should be rooting for him a bit more than the first episode lets us.
Nicole: I’m going to guess that it will take no longer than episode 3 before the British doctor punches the mean doctor over her or vice-versa.
Jen: And the fact that she’s sleeping with the uber-hot British doctor really doesn’t help her character’s whole “feel bad for me; my life’s a mess!” vibe.
Nicole: AGREED.
Jen: That storyline almost felt like wish fulfillment on Mindy Kaling’s part. “Hey, I want to make out with a hot guy so I’m going to write that into the script.”
Nicole: Fashion-wise, I thought she was really well-styled apart from that terribe Herve Leger dress she wore on her first date with Ed Helms’ character. Yuck.
Jen: Right? I mean, her first outfit choice was meant to be terrible but the supposed improvement was a bandage dress? Really?
Nicole: But I do wonder if she wanted to reshoot the final scene after this was published.
Jen: Ha!
Nicole: How embarrassing.
Jen: That being said, there were genuinely laugh-out-moments. And I adored all of the ’90s rom-com references.
Nicole: Same. Mindy Kaling is crazy pretty, too.
Jen: I didn’t love the pilot, but there is enough potential for it to become one of my faves. And it helps that Fox paired it with New Girl (which also started out rough, and then became awesome).
Nicole: New Girl + The Mindy Project: that’s a guaranteed hour of TV for me.
Jen: I hate that it’s up against Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, but that’s what PVRs are for. This show, plus New Girl, Suburgatory and Apt. 23 will make for a solid Tuesday night girl-powered comedy block.

Fall TV Preview: Elementary

Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller in Elementary, a new Sherlock Holmes drama from CBS.
Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller in Elementary, a new Sherlock Holmes drama from CBS.

(Folks, the marathon of madness that is the Toronto Film Festival begins today, so besides a few quick “OMG! Guess who I just saw?!?” posts, I’ll be taking a little break from gossip blogging for the next week or so. Between my day job, ten film premieres and the parties, I’m not exactly going to have time to keep up with the Kardashians, if you know what I mean. I’ll be writing all about  my TIFF adventures at MSN.ca, so please be sure to check that out throughout the week.

In the meantime, my BFF Nicole and I recently sat down with a pile of screeners and caught up on the new TV shows debuting this fall. We then had IM conversations about the five buzziest ones (’cause that’s how we roll). Over the next week, I’ll be posting our thoughts. First up is Elementary!)

Premieres: Thursday, Sept. 27, 10 p.m. on CBS and Global

Up Against: Scandal on ABC

Premise: In this latest iteration of Sherlock Holmes, Johnny Lee Miller plays the quirky genius as a drug addict. His father hires a recently retired doctor named Watson (Liu) to be his “sober companion” (which is a nice way to say “humourless babysitter”). He occasionally helps out the NYPD, and quickly drags Watson into his investigations.

Our take:

Jen: Ok, the drama that’s getting the most buzz is Elementary. I have to say, I don’t love procedurals so I’m probably not the best judge of this one. And this one was extra procedural-y. It feels like it will be very ‘case of the week’ centered.

Nicole: I really, really enjoyed the British Sherlock Holmes, so on the heels of that one, this feels like Sherlock Lite.

Jen: I haven’t seen the UK version, but I hear it’s brilliant.

Nicole: The UK one is great, to the point where I had an argument with my PVR because I thought it was keeping episodes from me (stupid 3-episode series). That said, I LOVE Lucy Liu in this!

Jen: Really? I was unimpressed. I did, however, really like Johnny Lee Miller.

Nicole: I was more into Lucy, less into Johnny.

Jen: Wow. I’m the opposite.

Nicole: However, I am deeply committed to procedurals and this will fit right in.

Jen: It felt too much like House with crime solving. A weird, antisocial guy who is a secret genius.

Nicole: Well, that’s why this feels relatively fresh to me. I never got into House. But it’s good timing though for those people who need to fill a hole in their TV schedule with a cranky man.

Jen: I was very, very distracted by Lucy’s styling. I spent most of the hour yelling, “WHAT is she wearing?!”

Nicole: I’m always distracted by Lucy’s styling. Cashmere Mafia? What?

Jen: She is staying true to her poor style roots.

Nicole: She doesn’t do casual very well though. I like her more polished. But I think I could add her job to my list of backup professions. Her character is basically just a bossy minder.

Jen: Also, was there supposed to be romantic tension? ‘Cause I didn’t see any.

Nicole: None. Zero. I hope they keep it that way. I’d rather see her have a boyfriend and Sherlock hate him.

Jen: You can’t make me watch a show about crimes of the week without a little bit of sexual tension! Even the Bones couple eventually ended up, um, boning.

Nicole: Well, at least this Sherlock is more like the UK version than the Robert Downey Jr. version.

Jen: Amen!