If you follow CliqueClack on Facebook or Google+, you’ve been kept up to date on all of the networks’ axings, renewals and pickups for the coming season. It was a bloodbath for fans of some beloved shows, like ABC’s The Neighbors (which the network never properly promoted, but seems to have a huge fan base if you follow the show and the actors on Twitter) and NBC’s Community which will never live up to the hashtag #sixseasonsandamovie … unless some other network (or streaming service, ahem, Hulu Plus) steps in to save it.

On Sunday, May 11, NBC was the first of the networks to announce its fall lineup ahead of its official upfront presentation on May 12. Did your favorite shows make the cut? NBC has officially canned Community (but Sony is expected to shop it around), Revolution, Dracula (which was intended to be a limited series unless ratings dictated a second season), Believe, Crisis, Growing Up Fisher, Ironside (I believe the first cancellation of the season), Welcome to the Family, The Michael J. Fox Show (which gives him the opportunity to return to The Good Wife), Sean Saves the World, The Million Second Quiz, and Camp.

So what does the fall schedule look like? NBC has six new series premiering in the fall, has confirmed final seasons for some long-running shows, and is shifting it biggest 2013-2014 hit to a new night. On top of that, say goodbye to the Must See TV comedy block on Thursday … which honestly hasn’t had many “must see” comedies in that two hour block for years. NBC’s biggest hit, The Blacklist, will debut in its normal Monday timeslot in the fall, but will shift to Thursdays at 9:00 PM in February which NBC hopes will help to rebuild its beleaguered Thursday ratings. Of prime concern to the net’s Thursday woes is CBS’ acquisition of Thursday Night Football, which consists of sixteen games between September and December. “The multi-pronged strategy behind moving The Blacklist, which has shown enormous linear ratings and record time-shifting, is to not only enliven our Thursday night lineup but also create two desirable timeslots — lead-outs from The Voice (on Monday) and The Blacklist (on Thursday),” said NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt.

NBC is still committed to comedy though, but will be holding most of their big guns for mid-season. NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke did confirm that season seven will be the last for Parks and Recreation, and Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the Ellen DeGeneres-produced One Big Happy, Mission Control from Will Farrell and Adam McKay, and Mr. Robinson starring Craig Robinson will join the schedule in 2015. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was originally intended for the fall when the network order the initial 13 episodes. New comedy Marry Me gets the post The Voice Tuesday slot at 9:00 PM followed by returning fave About a Boy, which shifts to 9:30 PM.

NBC also has more big event series planned to debut in the second half of the season including Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s The Bible follow-up A.D. (which will launch on Easter Sunday), the Wizard of Oz event series Emerald City, David Duchovny’s Charles Manson drama Aquarius, and the Heroes revival Heroes Reborn. It looks like NBC is really banking on 2015 to reverse their fortunes by holding most of their big shows until mid-season, so it will be interesting to see what floats or sinks in the first part of the year and what makes an earlier than planned debut if something tanks early on. As of now, this is what the NBC 2014 schedule looks like:

Monday
8-10 p.m. — The Voice
10-11 p.m. — The Blacklist / State of Affairs (the Katherine Heigl drama begins Nov. 17)

Tuesday
8-9 p.m. — The Voice
9-9:30 p.m. — Marry Me
9:30-10 p.m. — About a Boy
10-11 p.m. — Chicago Fire

Wednesday
8-9 p.m. — The Mysteries of Laura (starring Debra Messing)
9-10 p.m. — Law & Order: SVU
10-11 p.m. — Chicago P.D.

Thursday
8-9 p.m. — The Biggest Loser (new night)
9-9:30 p.m. — Bad Judge (The Blacklist moves into this timeslot Feb. 5)
9:30-10 p.m. — A to Z
10-11 p.m. — Parenthood (most likely its final season)

Friday
8-9 p.m. — Dateline NBC
9-10 p.m. — Grimm
10-11 p.m. — Constantine (look for Hannibal to return here in 2015)

Saturday
8-11 p.m. — Encore programming

Sunday
7-8:20 p.m. — Football Night in America
8:20-11:30 p.m. — NBC Sunday Night Football

It will be interesting to see where NBC plugs in all of their 2015 shows. You can expect Parks & Recreation to return to the Thursday at 8:00 or 8:30 slot after The Biggest Loser ends its season, possibly followed by Tina Fey’s new series (seems a natural match). Parenthood will vacate it’s Thursday slot after (most likely) 13 episodes, and the only real wild card here is the Debra Messing drama which could open up that hour block sooner than NBC hopes.

Drama preview week at CliqueClack is finally coming to an end. Yesterday we added Fox and The CW to the list that already included our previews for ABC and CBS‘s new hour-longs. The week comes to an end with the new slate from NBC. Last year, the peacock did fairly well: three out of the five dramas that premiered (Chicago Fire, Hannibal and Revolution) all will see a second season. With this group, I wouldn’t be surprised if they see the same level of success.

The Blacklist is one of my favorite pilots of the season, breaking the mold of the traditional procedural. I think Crisis and Believe unique shows that might struggle to find an audience. Ironside will probably do well, even though there’s nothing special about it. The Night Shift, on the other hand, leaves me questioning the sanity of NBC’s development team.

Believe (Midseason)

I literally don’t know what to think about Believe. It’s got an incredible pedigree: it was created by Alfonso Cuarón and is being produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions. Believe‘s success completely depends on the acting ability of young star Johnny Sequoyah and the chemistry she shares with her character’s protector played by Jake McLaughlin. There’s enough talent surrounding them, from Delroy Lindo to Kyle MacLachlan, but from the pilot it is hard to tell how much all of the character’s stories will physically intersect.

Verdict: I’m generally a fan of high-concept stuff like this, but in a year with a lot of it, I’m not sure if shows like Believe will be able to find its niche.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: Concentrate and ask again.

The Blacklist (Mondays 10:00PM)

The Blacklist is easily one of my favorite shows of the new season. It’s so good, it overcomes my growing disdain for procedurals — though you’ve got to admit “criminal mastermind working with rookie FBI profiler to take down the world’s worst criminals” is a little off the beaten path. The first hour gets nearly everything right, from James Spader’s almost-but-not-completely creepy portrayal of Raymond Reddington to the little hints and nods to a greater mythology bubbling right behind the scenes of the story as it plays out.

Verdict: Monday nights at 10:00PM, I’ll be watching this live, baby.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: You may rely on it.

Crisis (Sundays 10:00PM)

Three straight years, Rachel Taylor has starred in a new pilot. I’m seriously hoping that Crisis does better than Charlie’s Angels or 666 Park Avenue did — else I’m going to start a letter writing campaign to Shonda Rhimes to have her brought back to Grey’s Anatomy. I liked Crisis; I liked Taylor and Gillian Anderson and the conspiracy and the way the story evolves into more than you expected it to be. But I’ve got to be honest: there was a lot going on in the first hour; people weren’t who they seemed, motivations were difficult to follow (if they were explained at all) and it is hard not to wonder how long this specific story can sustain itself without having to change significantly. Even though there’s no sci-fi connection, all I could think about while watching Crisis was The Event. While the former’s pilot wasn’t as strong as the later, I’m hoping Crisis will do a better job at evolving into something that can stay interesting week after week.

Verdict: Will audiences want to work that hard at following the story at 10:00PM on a Sunday night? I’m not so sure, but I hope it catches on.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: Reply hazy try again.

Ironside (Wednesdays 10:00PM)

Remember that disdain of procedurals I mentioned earlier? Ironside is the kind of thing I’m talking about. I like Blair Underwood, and a wheelchair bound crime fighter is an interesting twist. But as someone who doesn’t generally dislike remakes/reboots just because of what they are, but it doesn’t feel like there’s anything interesting — or anything new — going on. Even Brent Sexton shows up as the Ironside’s partner before he sued the department for his job back – which might sound familiar to fans of Life, where he also played the ex-partner of the main character who sued the department for his job back.

Verdict: I like Underwood, but I’m just not seeing this finding a place on my DVR.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: Better not tell you now.

The Night Shift (Midseason)

I’m going to be brutally honest: there’s not a lot to like about The Night Shift. There’s certainly enough talent in the cast, which includes Freddy Rodriguez, Jill Flint and Brendan Fehr, and I’ve been a fan of NBC’s previous attempts (Trauma in particular) to recapture the magic that was ER … but I’m just not seeing it here. I’d like to think that this is one of the pilots that we’d have heard was going to be reworked after being picked up, but there’s been no news of that yet. I suspect that The Night Shift won’t end up premiering until next summer, and won’t do well even then.

Verdict: Stay away; far, far away.

Eight Ball Chances of a Second Season: Don’t count on it.

NBC Pilots not yet available to press: Chicago PD (Midseason), Crossbones (Midseason), Dracula (Fridays 10:00PM)

For most people, the name Hannibal Lecter is first associated with the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs and the Academy Award winning performance by Sir Anthony Hopkins, or its source material. The character actually debuted in the 1981 novel, Red Dragon, which was also later adapted into two films. The character continued on in prequel and sequel novels and films: respectively, Hannibal Rising and Hannibal. As related to the most famous The Silence of the Lambs, NBC’s Hannibal is a prequel story, though it remains to be fully seen how faithful it will remain to the source material, and whether we’ll ever see that moment where Lecter is taken into custody.

One interesting point about the show is how Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) is so far (after the five episodes I screened) not the central character here. That honor goes to Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), a criminal profiler with the FBI who has a unique gift when it comes to getting into the mind of a killer. Graham can sort of step into the role of the killer, so to speak, by putting himself smack in the middle of the crime scene and — in his mind — replaying the events as they unfolded, from the killer’s perspective. From that description, it surely doesn’t sound completely original, but the visual effect on-screen is interesting and impressive. It’s an aspect that’s also not overdone or overused, which makes it all cooler when it does happen. Graham — in case you didn’t know — is a character from the novels as well, and has similar abilities. Similarly, in both, Graham isn’t exactly proud of these abilities and appears to detest them. He and others know their usefulness, though, when it comes to nailing down a killer.

The show is largely based on the Red Dragon novel, so what we’re seeing is a more detailed account of the cases Graham and Jack Crawford (Laurence J. Fishburne III) took on in leading up to the discovery and take-down of Lecter. The same cases are there — “The Minnesota Shrike” and “The Chesapeake Ripper” — but they don’t exactly go down as they did in the novels. For example, in “The Chesapeake Ripper” case, it was there when Graham discovered Lecter’s involvement. Instead, a new character of Agent Miriam Lass (Anna Chlumsky) gets that honor. Besides that detail, it faithfully follows much of what went down in the books. But what’s also very different from the novels is that Hannibal Lecter isn’t a passing source of information for Graham’s (or, rather, Lass’ case); he plays an active role in tagging along and assisting with several cases. What’s more, Lecter serves as a psychiatrist for not only Graham and his ongoing mental issues, but Crawford’s wife as well.

Still, Lecter’s involvement isn’t like Mentalist‘s Patrick Jane tagging along and helping with every CBI case. He’s so far little-used, especially for a show bearing his name. There’s certainly a lot more to his character than assisting the FBI and with various characters’ mental issues. Even though the show detracts a bit from the source material, there’s no doubt Lecter’s still a cold-blooded, calculating and disturbed killer. The question sometimes is who is he actually killing … and what’s he serving his guests for dinner.

With that said, I have to hit on what makes this show quite a change of pace for NBC. This show is quite brutally graphic with what it shows of the murders (and attempted murders), enough to make many squirm. And, mind you, these graphic scenes haven’t yet gotten into what the dear Dr. Lecter’s most infamously known for: eating human flesh. There are a couple of scenes, for example, where a killer slits a couple of throats. It’s pretty damned realistic looking, and it will make any blood-fearing folks pretty uncomfortable. It gets worse in subsequent episodes, but I won’t get into that, as that’s spoiler territory.

There’s been somewhat of a trend lately in shows that are sometimes going overboard with the blood and gore, and they’re rather successful ones to boot. The Walking Dead. The Following. So is this the arena NBC’s trying to get into with Hannibal? While I really like the show a lot, I fear that the violent visuals are what will throw off the usual NBC viewership and, therefore, the ratings the show needs to carry on. A show like this seems better suited for cable. I watch and love Showtime’s Dexter, and even that has less disturbing visuals than this. And, like Dexter, if you’re watching Hannibal — a show about a freakin’ cannibal — you should pretty much know what you’re in for. Hopefully, if the ratings don’t work out, NBC will consider letting it live on elsewhere. For now, though, it’ll be interesting to watch where things wind up for Lecter and if plans are to keep Hannibal on the loose for the duration.

Hannibal premieres this Thursday night at 10 PM Eastern on NBC.

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Season one of NBC’s Smash was an interesting animal. It started strong as one of the network’s most promising pilots, but like many Broadway shows, had its trials and tribulations before it got to its finale. As season two is just around the corner on February 5th, the first one is now out on DVD. The DVD set for Smash is as good as the actual season itself: it has its strengths but it, too, has some room for improvement.

If you didn’t catch the series when it aired, a quick evaluation: season one of Smash is very much a first season; you can see the cast settling into their characters and the writers trying to come up with the next idea, perhaps moreso than other TV shows. There are some things which are great, and as we know now, there were a lot of things that didn’t quite work, because the show got a new showrunner and a cast overhaul during its hiatus. (Which makes watching this DVD set a little different – you’re looking at a version of the series that doesn’t much exist anymore.)

Here are some of the things that did work: the show brought Jack Davenport back to TV, and he chews the heck out of the scenery as director Derek Wills. He’s a wonderful actor and it’s great to see him in a part that lets him play against his usual type. One can never argue with Anjelica Huston. Broadway veteran Megan Hilty brings her stage presence and great singing chops to the role of Ivy Lynn, although the material she’s given gets a little melodramatic as the season goes on. And Katharine McPhee is plenty charming as Ivy’s competition, wide-eyed newcomer Karen Cartwright, though count me in the camp of folks that don’t necessarily see Karen as the phenom the show wants us to believe she is (yet). There are some good actors here, who get to do huge musical numbers every week, and there’s something really fun about that.

The DVD version of Smash is likewise both good in places but also missing a few things that would’ve made it great. Most importantly, the transfer of the episodes is solid, in both picture and audio quality. It’s not demonstration disc-quality, but it’s a step above broadcast, and should make fans of the show very happy. (To answer the inevitable question: there is no Blu-Ray release planned.)

The selection of special features, once you remove the near-obligatory deleted/extended scenes and gag reel, is very limited. There are two featurettes: one that examines the aforementioned interesting cast, and the other which spotlights the show’s composers and choreographer. The first essentially doubles as the standard ‘making-of’ piece, as it also talks about the origins of the series. There’s actually about as much with the producers as there is with the actors in the less than eight-minute clip. The second is just over seven minutes, and it’s interesting enough, but also feels too short. There’s also an Ultraviolet digital copy of the season, if you’re into that sort of thing.

This is a set that really should have more bonuses, but is likely limited because of all the changes that must have been going on while this release was being developed. One imagines that it’s hard to wrangle cast and crew for commentaries when some are departing and new folks are coming in. As much as I’d love to hear why the writers chose to do A instead of B, or grasp what led up to some of these bigger creative decisions, this DVD set isn’t going to shed any light on that – and that’s perfectly understandable for the same reasons that it’s disappointing.

For those of you who loved season one of Smash, you’ll be content with this set, if only because the episodes are handled with care. Yet this production is definitely crying out for a showstopping number.

Disclaimer: This review is based on a complimentary copy, provided to CliqueClack, solely for the purpose of this review.

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Normally when a show reaches the midway point of its freshman season, it’s already hit its stride. It takes a while to establish the characters and get all of the necessary backstory and exposition out of the way so that the audience understands the direction the overall story is taking. The first few episodes introduce the main players, the antagonistic forces and set up the world these characters inhabit. And, typically, those first few episodes are the weakest of all the episodes of a series’ run because the writers are still finding their voices, the actors haven’t fully embodied the characters they are playing yet, and the show as a whole hasn’t found its audience.

Usually it is around the sixth or seventh episode when things start turning around … the actors are comfortable with their characters, the writers are writing for that character that the actor “created,” and we as the audience know what to expect by the rules of the world that were established in the pilot and preliminary episodes. We no longer need to be spoon fed information because we understand the characters and the stories the writers are trying to tell.

I, like probably most people reading this, am a fan of the shows and films that Joss Whedon creates. Buffy the Vampire Slayer became a cultural phenomenon. I really enjoyed the show because of the characters and clever writing, but I wasn’t an instant fan. The first few episodes were not that good. The characters were thin, the dialogue a little rough, and they introduced the idea of other monsters, not just vampires, which I found confusing given that the title clearly stated “vampire slayer,” not “equal opportunity monster slayer.” Really, who goes back and watches the episode with the giant praying mantis?

But eventually I was won over once the writers and actors got into their groove and started presenting better stories (and I realized the other monsters were a necessity since watching Buffy just dust vamps each week would get tired). The turning point was after the episodes “The Pack” and “Angel” (coincidentally, episodes 6 and 7), where the characters started feeling more real, they introduced Principal Snyder (an antagonistical force for multiple seasons) and we learn that Angel is, in fact, a vampire (sorry for the spoiler). From this point, the relationships between the characters developed, making them multidimensional, the story-line moved towards the inevitable climax with the Master and the show became much more entertaining. The writers took that time in the first few episodes to flesh out the characters, establish the rules, and set the stage for the remainder of the season and seasons to come.

But here we are at the mid-season finale and Revolution is still floundering around in that murky episode 3 zone. The characters are one dimensional, the dialogue is on-the-nose and the story-lines rarely make logical sense. You can get away with plot holes early on if you take the audience to an interesting place later, but Revolution has taken us from the Midwest all the way to Philadelphia and still managed to underwhelm almost every step of the way.

I mentioned in another post how I felt the writers missed an opportunity when they showed Miles single-handedly taking out a dozen militiamen in the pilot episode. It diffused any sense that Miles would struggle on the group’s quest to rescue Danny … and so far, they have rarely struggled. A key aspect of storytelling is conflict, and time and time again Revolution confuses sword fighting and musket fire with real conflict. Conflict and drama only exist when there’s someone or something stopping the protagonist from reaching their goal. But if the antagonist is easily defeated, then there’s no tension, no question if they’ll achieve their mission and as a result no real conflict. Each weekly “mission” involved Miles warning Charlie how the obstacle-of-the-week was insurmountable, but each week they easily defeat said obstacle and move on to the next one. The barge where they brainwashed children into joining the militia, according to Miles, was a fortress designed to be impenetrable, until they needed to penetrate it and then there were only seven guards running it and they easily kill them all and escape. Then there was Strausser, the sadistic torturer (and implied rapist), sent to track Miles and the gang and get the pendant. Not only does Miles get the upper hand over Strausser (the only reason he doesn’t kill him is because he’s out of bullets and has to flee before reinforcements show up) but later Rachel, using all 110lbs of her strength, overpowers Strausser (in a fist fight!) and stabs him in the chest. And finally the R&D facility where Monroe is building his pendant amplifier which will give him power over all the military weapons he’s been stockpiling – probably the most important aspect of his entire regime – and Miles and Nora are able to sneak in the back door. Plus the guards stationed at the facility are on the inside of the walls, not patrolling outside the perimeter (where they’d see Aaron waiting with pipe bombs) … it makes no logical sense, it’s too easy for the characters, and what it comes down to is lazy writing.

But the biggest issue, I feel, is Revolution’s inability to create a connection between the audience and its characters. We can’t empathize with these characters because there is never a sense that they are in any danger. Even in dire situations the characters never show a hint of panic. When Neville captures Charlie and the gang (sans Miles) at good ole Kip’s place, Charlie smirks and makes some witty retort in response to Neville’s threat. She’s not scared of him, so why should we (the audience) worry about her safety. We know Miles will eventually bust in, swords a-blazing, and save her because that is what the pilot episode taught us … this group is invincible. Compare this to the kidnap and interrogation of Maggie from the final episodes of The Walking Dead. In both scenarios, the writers want to show that these females characters are trying to appear strong despite their situation. But how uneasy did you feel when the Governor ordered Maggie to disrobe as he encircled her in her interrogation? She stood her ground, didn’t cower to his demands to tell him where the others are hiding, but she was definitely scared. Maggie knew at any moment the Governor could snap and kill her. As a result, we were also scared and anxious at what may happen to Maggie and as a result we felt a connection to her.

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