ABC promises a forgettable fall
I miss the ABC from the ’70s.
The one that used to broadcast
”
Happy Days,
”
”
Laverne
&
amp; Shirley,
”
”
The Love Boat,
”
”
Fantasy Island
”
and
”
Starsky and Hutch.
”
It wasn’t great television, but they were great shows. I was
looking at the upcoming fall lineup on ABC and there is not a
single show I’m interested in watching.
ABC promises a forgettable fall
I miss the ABC from the ’70s.
The one that used to broadcast “Happy Days,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island” and “Starsky and Hutch.” It wasn’t great television, but they were great shows. I was looking at the upcoming fall lineup on ABC and there is not a single show I’m interested in watching.
ABC is premiering nine shows for the fall season. To me the most promising is “Pushing Daisies” and the least promising is “Cavemen,” based on the annoying Geico commercials. Don’t trust my opinion though. Everything I like gets cancelled.
“Pushing Daisies” is about a man who has the power to bring people back to life with his touch. He uses these powers to help a private investigator solve his cases by asking the victims to name their killers.
The pilot was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, who has directed some good movies – “Men In Black” and “Get Shorty” – but hasn’t had much luck with network television. Some of the TV shows that he produced were “Maximum Bob” with Beau Bridges, the “Fantasy Island” remake and “Karen Sisco,” all of which only lasted one season.
“Pushing Daisies” stars Lee Pace, an actor I have never heard of before. I looked him up in the Internet Movie Database (www.IMDB.com) and found out that he’s from Oklahoma, stands 6-foot-3 and was in the short-lived show “Wonderfalls.” He’s never been in anything that I’ve seen.
Other cast members include Anna Friel, who is from England and has never been in anything that I’ve seen either. There is also Chi McBride, who I like. He was in “The Frighteners,” “Gone In Sixty Seconds” and the very funny “Waiting.”
Ellen Greene, who was in Oliver Stone’s excellent “Talk Radio” and the awful “Reality Bites,” stars in the show as Vivian. Swoosie Kurtz from “Sisters” and “The World According To Garp” is Lily. Kristen Chenoweth, who is good in so many bad things such as the Pink Panther remake with Steve Martin, is also listed as a cast member.
“Pushing Daisies” premieres Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m.
My vote for the worst concept for a TV show is “Cavemen.” This is the first time that I can remember a TV show coming from a commercial. Thank God no one ever had the idea to make a Spuds McKenzie show or one featuring the Budweiser frogs. ABC is scraping the bottom of the creative barrel with this show. But once again, don’t trust me. It could turn out to be the funniest show of the season.
“Cavemen” follows the adventures of three cavemen as they cope with their problems in the modern world. Bill English, Nick Kroll, and Sam Huntington play the three cavemen. I only recognized two names from the cast list: Kaitlin Doubleday who was in “Waiting” and Julie White who co-starred in “Grace Under Fire.” Most of the comments that I’ve read about this show on the Internet say that it’s horrible. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. It premieres Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 8 pm.
A lot of stars are returning to TV in the ABC fall lineup. Lucy Liu is in “Cashmere Mafia,” Angie Harmon returns in “Women’s Murder Club,” Jerry O’Connell and Faith Ford are in “Carpoolers” and Dylan McDermott along with Michael Vartan star in “Big Shots.” Christina Applegate is back in a comedy called “Samantha Who?” about a woman with amnesia.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I don’t see any future classics listed among the new shows. “Happy Days” has been off the air since 1984 and everyone still remembers the Fonz. I doubt if anyone is going to remember “Cavemen” or “Samantha Who?” even two years from now.
