These days, everyone wants a long running series. That's
true even if you bill the program as a limited series (BIG LITTLE LIES)
and it's true even if you're a program NETFLIX airs despite their
desire for fewer and fewer seasons. Some shows deserve more than one
season, some don't. Some hang around for five seasons without ever
fixing the problems that were evident at the start. But we'll get to
DYNASTY in a moment. First up . . .
DEVIL
IN OHIO has several things going for it including Emily Deschanel in
the lead role. The thriller also has a lot going against it, including
the fact that the creators seem to be entertainment challenged.
That deficiency is clear not just in the execution but also in the premise.
Deschanel
plays a doctor, Suzanne, who takes a teenage girl into her family when
the girl shows up at the e.r. with a pentagram carved into her back.
Bit by bit, we see crows appear == overhead. We see her worship a
crow. We learn that she's praying to the crow god. And we're never,
ever supposed to be laughing at this "morning star" 'religion' the cult is practicing.
So why are we laughing?
Because,
like many people, we've seen AMERICAN DAD's season 14 episode "Julia
Rogerts." When Stan and Roger's attempts to recreate a wine for
Francine fail because Roger (dressed as Cher in her "If I Could Turn
Back Time" costume) is whisked away by a tornado, Roger pouts over
Stan's failure to save him. He bicycles into a small town, one that's a
lot like the one Julia Roberts moves to in SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY.
There he goes by the name Julia Rogerts and has several encounters with
Jessie (voiced by Dermont Mulroney who played opposite Julia Roberts in
MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING). While Jessie seems trustworthy, turns out
that he's pursuing Roger to use him as a human sacrifice to the . . .
crow god. They need someone pure -- which Roger laughs at -- just like
DEVIL IN OHIO needs someone pure to sacrifice.
The
"Julia Rogerts" episode is one of the most streamed on the TBS channel,
on YOUTUBE TV and on HULU -- one of the most streamed of season 14, one
of the most streamed of seasons ten through nineteen.
No
one connected with DEVIL IN OHIO ever noticed that? No one, including
Daria Polatin, ever said, "Could this cause some intended laughter?"
Polatin is the creator, the executive producer and wrote many of the
episodes. It never occurred to her. It really undermines NETFLIX's
limited series.
Should it
be limited. We stand by our call that ECHOES does not need a second
season. Season one covered the lives of two twin sisters from the start
to the present -- when both were presumed dead but whom the creators
and cast of the show now say are still alive. What really is left to
cover that needs a second season? They're both alive. Will there be a
national manhunt for them? Will the local sheriff claim she has
jurisdiction outside her county and outside her state?
DEVIL IN OHIO needs another season because the first one was handled so poorly.
That
includes casting. Sam Jaeger brings nothing to the role of Suzanne's
husband Peter Mathis because there's nothing to the role. It would have
made a lot more sense -- and created more suspense -- if Sam turned out
to be part of the cult. Instead, we're left with him acting weird --
for no reason other than to build suspense -- and stupid (stupid?
bringing a dying bird your daughter wants taken to the vet and 'hiding'
it in the garage -- it's just set out in the garage -- is pretty stupid
and does make him look suspicious). Sam also leaves Suzanne at the
end. He's so bothered by all that took place in the eight episodes that
he leaves her -- takes their daughters but leaves Suzanne. She'll show
up with a pie but he won't let her in his apartment or see the girls.
Huh?
The other big mistake
in casting was Gerardo Celasco. He plays Detective Lopez. He should
have been cast as Peter because he and Emily actually have chemistry.
Barring that, they should have made the detective gay. Why? The
chemistry is so obvious, you keep waiting for them to get together. If
Lopez were gay, you'd say, "Oh, they're just going to be friends." And
maybe he is gay. An old love is mentioned but that doesn't mean it has
to be a woman even though we're led to believe it was.
Besides
having chemistry with Emily, Gerardo is also just so appealing that you
want more of him. You care whether he lives or dies so when he's
investigating the cult, those scene have tension.
Besides casting, the series is also poorly plotted. This results in a lack of suspense.
It also results in Suzanne being an idiot.
The
ending? Suzanne's husbands and kids no longer live in the house with
her. She sits down to Thanksgiving Dinner with Mae only to be pulled
away by a phone call. On the call, she learns that innocent victim Mae
wasn't innocent and that she set up much of what took place.
So Suzanne stands there looking like an idiot who has lost everything to defend a victim that was not a victim.
If a season two could correct that, we'd sign off on it.
We
have no conditions when it comes to PEACOCK's QUEER AS FOLK. The
series began as a British program. It then moved to SHOWTIME with an
American cast. An all White cast. PEACOCK's version is the third one
and, fortunately, unlike HBO MAX's hideous SEX AND THE CITY reboot,
they've not adding persons of color as mascots to the former leads.
Instead, they've relocated the show and found a cast that is diverse.
And a cast that is very appealing. Brodie is played by Devin Way and
he's the lead character. Devin's wonderful in the role. When he
decides to tell Shar (CG) he loves her, it matters and has meaning. It
matters because you like Shar with Ruthie (Jessie James Kietel) even
though Ruthie does step out on her (including with Brodie's mother).
But you just want to root for Brodie.
You
want to root for Mingus (Fin Argus) as well. Especially when he
returns to the stage, following a shooting at the club, to try drag
again. You're as excited watching him as his own mother (wonderfully
portrayed by Juliette Lewis). We could write praise for every member in
the cast. They all deliver. But we want to make a point to note Kim
Cattrall. While so many actresses who find success just try to repeat
themselves (often in a sad and pathetic caricature, see AND SO IT GOES),
Kim isn't playing that game. In 2020, she was great in FILTHY RICH
(sadly, the male youths were disappointing). On HULU's HOW I MET YOUR
MOTHER, she's delivering. And she's delivering here as well The
character was overly broad -- which was in keeping with the character --
in the beginning. Later episodes have provided Kim with the space to
provide the depth that a real actress can. When her character Brenda
learns that, for example, Ruthie only wanted a one night stand, it's a
shock. Brenda, in love with Ruthie, has announced to everyone she knows
that she's now a lesbian. So it's not just losing Ruthie, it's also
losing face. Kim sketches it in lightly and a scene where she bumps
into Juliette Lewis character is so strong it should have resulted in
praise and awards for both actresses.
The
eight episodes of the series move far too quickly and leave you wanting
more -- something you can't say about many shows -- certainly THE CW's
DYNASTY earned its cancellation, for example, by padding episodes with
nonsense while forgetting it was a soap opera. Soap operas mean
continuing storylines -- or meant that before HILL STREET BLUES. Once
that MTM drama found that viewers would tune in to cop dramas if they
had continuing storylines, pretty much every drama in the world began
aping them. So how did DYNASTY forget what it was here?
With
two more Fridays to burn off two more episodes, the show is wrapping up
with a final episode that no one planned for a series ender. The
show's problems were immense. Various actresses played Crystal. Three,
in fact. The first one, we were later told, was an imposter. The
audience didn't like that Crystal. What was the excuse for firing the
second actress in the role? And then there was Alexis. She was also
played by three actresses. Sadly, that included Elizabeth Gillies who
was already playing Fallon at the time. Stunts like that were just
nonsense and garbage. So was the pacing which rushed viewers through
episodes and rarely allowed a pleasurable moment. Most of all too much
attention and time went to Fallon.
Pamela
Sue Martin, the original Fallon in the 80s and a great actress,
couldn't have had that much time onscreen and held your attention.
Until season five, every episode revolved around Fallon. It was
overdone and it was boring. Fallon never grew. (Which makes the
thought of her as a mother especially frightening.) They began to
invent nonsense for Fallon to do to keep her prominent. It wasn't a
continuing storyline, it was just make-work scenes. And they were
boring and they were often offensive. In five years, she should have
demonstrated some growth. Instead, she still came across as a spoiled
teenager.
Elizabeth has
the talent to be a lead. But she doesn't have the talent to be the sole
focus the soap wanted her to be -- no one does.
There
were strong actors in the cast who should have been brought to the
foreground. Michael Michele was first-rate as Dominique and ran with
every (underwritten) scene she was handed. A true force of nature, it
was difficult to watch someone so talented be repeatedly short changed
in episode after episode. Once you noticed that, it became even more
difficult to stomach Elizabeth's nonsense as Fallon. Oh, look, a rare
turtle that Fallon'll use to stop a construction project! Oh, look, now
Fallon wants to defeat an old school rival and the charity she heads.
Oh look, viewership is dropping off with this crap, does no one notice?
Michael
Michele was first rate. She had a number of talents trailing behind
her. Robert Christopher Riley (Michael) and Rafael de la Fuente (Sammy
Jo) were amazing on their own. When they were teamed as best friends
and business partners, the show had a dependable team that always
delivered no matter how poorly the scene was written. Sam Underwood
(Adam) and Sam Adegoke (Jeff) were very talented but repeatedly misused
and relegated to the second and third string. We have no idea if
Maddison Brown can act. She was called Kirby on the series. She seemed
to break every known rule and make it work. Whether that was acting or
just luck, a real show runner would have placed her front and center in
her first season on the show (season two) instead of keeping her buried
as a back burner character for seasons two through four. The focus on
Elizabeth's Fallon -- the incessant focus -- meant that many solid
performers were relegated to nothing like Wakeema Hollis who really
connected with the viewers as Monica. Or James Mackay who left the role
of Steven in season two -- after Adam had made him think he was crazy.
On
the original series, Steven was played to perfection by Al Corely and
then the light weight Jack Coleman took over. So viewers of the reboot
assumed this was another 'in joke' (that no one would find funny) when
Mackay left and they waited for Steven to return played by a different
actor.
Didn't happen.
That
was bad. Steven is Fallon's brother. And he is Fallon's brother who
has a score to settle with Adam -- the brother he doesn't know he has.
But
the character was left to dangle because the show runner wanted to
waste everyone's time with Fallon having a gal-pal snowing trip or even
worse nonsense.
It could
have been a great reboot. There were actors who were really something
to watch (and that may include Maddison Brown -- if she can't act, she
still grabbed you by the eye balls -- we are not picking on her or
mocking her, we are noting what she did, the choices she made, were
truly original, if that was acting, she's someone to watch). They
should have had storylines to match. Instead, every episode felt padded
and, in the end, it was the filler and the waste that killed the show
and ran off viewers.
Anthology
programs once held multiple slots on the small prime time hours that
three networks could offer. Even than, as ROBERT MONTGOMERY PRESENTS . .
. quickly found out, the viewers weren't eager for a new cast each
episode. (Elizabeth Montgomery would become part of the ensemble on her
father's show and make her television debut there.) Audiences don't
just want the same actors every week, however, they want the same
characters. It was a lesson networks still hadn't learned by 1990 when
NBC put CAROL & COMPANY on the air. No, viewers were not wanting to
see Carol Burnett and her ensemble in a different play each week. They
instead wanted her to do the characters she'd done before and create
new recurring characters. Fans so disliked CAROL & COMPANY that it
harmed Carol's career. Returning to THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW in the fall
of 1991, she saw that the fans who initially turned out for CAROL &
COMPANY were not willing to now turn out for what they wanted -- her
back in THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW. A trust had been broken and it was not
to be repaired. (Had CBS done a better promotional effort for the show,
a larger number of Carol's fans would've shown up.)
NETFLIX
vows that no show of their own will ever go as long as GRACE AND
FRANKIE did. That makes no sense. Shows like GREY'S ANATOMY are the
lifeblood of NETFLIX -- multi-episode programs that people can binge and
rebinge. They need multi-season offerings -- especially now that
they're in the process of losing every deal that they had with various
networks to stream their shows. NETFLIX once meant multiple seasons of,
for example, GREY'S, SCANDAL, FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD, NIKITA, VAMPIRE
DIARIES, THE ORIGINALS and many others. But those aren't NETFLIX
programs and soon they will be gone. They need programs with
multi-seasons if they're going to have any kind of long range future.
But, that said, every show doesn't deserve even a second season.