FOX Upfronts II, The Clips
I found clips of some of the new shows, and I’m embedding them after the fold
First, The Cleveland Show, which promises a plot, something MacFarlane hasn’t been too keen on to date, but maybe that’s just the set-up. And yes, that talking bear is Arianna Huffington (no, really).
My initial snark about cliches holds after watching the clip for Brothers. It seems warm and fuzzy enough, but the comedy is pretty low-grade and ineffective. As you watch, too, remember that this and Til Death are going to be the intro to Dollhouse, which surely must be proof that FOX now think enough people have DVRs, since this just ain’t thematic programming.
Past Life’s clip evokes a bit more Supernatural than Ghost Whisperer per se, and is visually kind of interesting. Showing the gender-bend from the beginning also seems like a clear play for a fannish audience. But it still looks really silly.
Sons of Tucson has a relatively good clip. After Brothers‘ annoying laugh-track (why does anyone still use these? These days, it just suggests to me a profound lack of faith in one’s funniness, kind of like people who laugh at their own jokes before you can), I was welcoming this. Malcolm in the Middle parallels seem apt, and the kids made me laugh (especially the one who wants to do the stunt roll), so I’m cautiously optimistic about this one … as long as they give us more of the kids and less of Labine.
Finally, Human Target has one of those trailers that tells you the whole story, but in doing so, clearly explains that each episode will have its own story. Chi McBride revisits his same character from Pushing Daisies, so it seems, while, if this is supposed to be A-Team-like (as promised by FOX), Mark Valley invokes Faceman, Hannibal, and touches of Mad Man Murdoch, but too little BA. Indeed, I worry that this show wants to be 24 and be funny, but good humor can lighten the tension that’s often needed for suspense and “high-strung” action, so it’s gonna be a hard task ahead of them.
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