Grimm
Series premiere October 21st-9pm-NBC
Once Upon A Time
Series premiere October 23rd-8pm-ABC
Interesting that we are seeing the premiere of two fairy tale based shows this fall (also interesting that they are premiering two days apart). I love the idea of having a fairy tale themed show on the schedule. Kind of makes me think of the graphic novel series Fables, which I've been meaning to check out. One of these is definitely another route to go to fill my fairy tale fix until I finally get around to reading that series. I have to say that right now, I'm kind of partial to Once Upon A Time for a few different reasons. The preview is more visually appealing to me and seems a tad more lighthearted than the preview for Grimm, which, despite the grimness (pun intended) of many fairy tales out there I think some lightheartedness is needed in a genre like this. Grimm just feels like all gloom and doom. It also doesn't hurt to see that the crew for Once Upon A Time includes writers from Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Life Unexpected (all shows that are high on my list). And while Grimm is coming to us from the executive producers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, it's just not drawing me in. One fairy tale show is enough for me this season. I'm planning to check out Once Upon A Time, and if it doesn't live up to my expectations, I might give Grimm a shot.
Also premiering this fall are A Gifted Man, premiering September 23rd at 8pm on CBS, and Pan Am, premiering September 25th at 10pm on ABC. Neither of these shows struck a real interest in me from the previews, but they might be of interest to some of you!
Ms. Taco's Returning Weekend Favorites:
Chuck/The Amazing Race
Yeah, it's funny how a somewhat more unique idea is showing up twice this year.
ReplyDeletePan Am looks mildly interesting, mostly for the retro aspect, but I'm not sure that I would check it either. Maybe I'll wait to hear some more buzz.
Too true...much like this situation:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.libertasfilmmagazine.com/the-dueling-snow-white-movies-which-one-will-stay-true-to-the-original-classic/
Yeah, I hear you on the retro aspect, which was the only thing that was appealing to me about this and also The Playboy Club. I watch Mad Men for the retro aspect but also because I'm genuinely interested in the whole advertising thing. I'm not sure the Pan Am backdrop will grab me. But yeah, maybe I'll wait and here some more buzz as well. I was reading Entertainment Weekly today and they were saying some good things about it. I do like that Christina Ricci is in it. I've always been a fan of hers.
Yeah, those Snow White movies were actually what I was thinking about! And back a few years ago when there were two Truman Capote movies around the same time, plus I think there's supposed to be two Marilyn Monroe movies coming out and the two Poe ones. Oh, and by the way, I agree that Once Upon a Time looks like the better of the two.
ReplyDeleteI actually got the feeling that the retro-ness of Pan Am is because Mad Men did so well (and a quick search on Google indicates I am not the only one who thinks so). I first started hearing about the show as a Facebook ad with some really dumb, self-evident tagline that basically said 'in the 1960s you could either see the world or stay home.' Uh, yeah, duh, still the same choices today. Although I guess the point they were getting at was that for women the choice was be a housewife or get a career, of which they were really few options...but one of them was being a stewardess and getting to see the world. (As a side note, I'm wondering if there's going to be some travel/various locales scenes involved in the show, which could be another draw.) So I like the idea that maybe the show could focus on gender issues, but I'm not all that hopeful it will be handled well considering one of the show's actors went on record with this wonderful sentiment: "Men and women are equal in so many ways," she said, "but if there's a way that women have a bit more power over men, it's the power of their sexuality if used smartly. And I just wish more women would be OK with that." (http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=14402764) I do like Christina Ricci also, so maybe she'll help offset Ms. Sexuality-is-Power on set. (But I have to admit when I saw the thumbnails of publicity shots for the show, I thought Christina Ricci was Alexis Bleidel at first and I was, 'Rory's in a new show!!!!!!!!' Alas, no.)
I finally got to check out that article, which is no longer available at that link, but is still available here http://tweentribune.com/content/fall-tv-shows-tout-girl-power .
ReplyDeleteYeah, I could see the success of Mad Men contributing to this. One of the most interesting parts of that show and seeing the outfits, the hairstyles, etc. I'd be interested too if the show does focus on gender issues, but I'm not sure if they will handle it well either. I think it's interesting that this article talks about this show and The Playboy Club as touting "girl power" when I really wouldn't think that about either of these shows. On Mad Men there is a story line where the most powerful woman in the office gets raped by her fiance. It was sad because despite her power, she felt helpless to do anything about what happened. So despite this quote made about The Playboy Club "It comes down ultimately to choices. And just like anything else, if there are choices available and they're making the choice, they're not being exploited.", I'd argue that there weren't a lot of choices to begin with. So, to say that it was a choice, well, when you have limited choices and when your sexuality is supposedly your power over men, how much of a choice do you really have? I will say that some of your comments have me a bit more interested in the show that I may just check it out. Also, I just checked out one of the publicity shots and she does look like Alexis Bledel! That definitely would have been another draw for me and perhaps for your as well :)
Yes, I thought the "girl power" moniker wasn't such a great one for either show, but especially not for the Playboy Club. "Women's stories" is perhaps a better descriptor, although we'll see. I do appreciate that some prime-time shows will be focusing on female characters, but we both seem to agree that we're not sure how well gender issues will be presented.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the choices quote also...just because a woman chooses something doesn't mean it's not exploitative. That could be the case, or it could be that the limited choices mean any choice will be exploitative or the exploitative choice is the only way to move on to something better (and hopefully not exploitative).
And whoops, I just realized an errant "i" got into Bledel when I made my other comment.
Also, by the way, I stumbled upon this article today and thought you might be interested as it talks about working at a Playboy Club and about *just how wonderful* (and not at all exploitative!) that choice could be: http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/09/14/my_mother_and_the_playboy_club/index.html
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting article that I haven't had a chance to fully read yet:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/television/bunnies-babies-and-broads-what-is-tv-trying-to-tell-us-about-women/2011/08/31/gIQAhuzPVK_story.html
I wanted to pass it along before I forgot. It seems to be along the lines of what we've been talking about. It's funny cause when we were discussing this I was actually wondering what Gloria Steinem's thought's would be. Well, here they are!