8 Enormous TV Reveals

My Best of the Best of Stunning TV Reveals

Plot reveals are some of the biggest weapons in a TV show's armoury. Taking something the audience knows and pulling the rug out from underneath them is probably quite good fun for the writing department. There'll be a reveal of some kind in every show; cop procedurals are a good example of a basic reveal, where at the end the killer is exposed and captured. But there are some moments that go beyond unmasking a villain, and blow our minds to pieces. I've gathered 8 such examples (mostly from TV I've seen, so don't hold that against me), so let's just jump straight in.

The season 6 cliffhanger - The Walking Dead

OK, I'm starting off with a bit of a cheat since this reveal hasn't yet been aired, but there's no doubt that when it does there will be an Internet blackout and a couple decades spent evaluating the different methods of enacting revenge upon the show's crew. There's practically been that already.

   At the end of season 6, the new villain Negan gathers together the eleven-strong motley crew of zombie apocalypse survivors led by Rick Grimes, lines them up on their knees before him and promises that one of them will be beaten to death with a barbed wire cudgel he names Lucille. (I'm right there in solidarity with those Leverage fans who know Lucille as a surveillance van. Not cool Negan. Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is.) But instead of the writers ending the season with a shocking murder, they end it with a shocking murder that no one gets to see - instead, a point of view shot from Negan's victim closes out the season. So who does Negan kill? No one knows.

   That hasn't stopped some fairly logical fan theories from appearing, and given the tenacity of the Internet age I'd be surprised if the victim's identity didn't leak before season 7 aired, but for the sheer impact this cliffhanger had on fans (and even neutrals like me, who actually found it to be a terrifically clever cliffhanger), it deserves a spot here on this list.

   (Also, since because I don't watch The Walking Dead I won't have many other opportunities to say it, props to Jeffrey Dean Morgan who played Negan. He had an unprecedented 12 minutes of dialogue to memorise for a single scene in which no one but him speaks a longer sentence than two words. That's hugely impressive.)

The skeleton - Death in Paradise

Death in Paradise is a complex British crime drama centred on the small fictional Caribbean island of Saint-Marie. In season one's third episode, Detective Inspector Richard Poole and the Saint-Marie team are drawn into the case of a woman who seemingly predicted her own murder.

   The investigation leads them to the school at which the victim, Angelique, worked, where they find two glasses of rum, one laced with cyanide - the fatal drink. The long-running theory is that the killer was Angelique's drinking partner, but only until Poole concludes that Angelique in fact laced her own rum with cyanide. Nobody murdered her, but despite failing health Poole questioned what would drive Angelique to such extreme measures? The answer: to force Saint-Marie police into investigating her daughter's murder case, which had lain dormant for years.

   While Poole clears everybody of murder, he arrests Nicholas, the science teacher/headmaster, for the murder of Angelique's daughter, Delilah. Angelique had been suspicious of Nicholas, but could never prove it. When Poole realised the quantity of lime Nicholas bought compared to the quantities of sand and cement (in order to build a new patio shortly after Delilah's death) was rather disproportionate, he knew how Nicholas disposed of Delilah.

   But did he even dispose of her? Or, as Poole reveals, was that skeleton in Nicholas's classroom - the one you typically see in all science classrooms on TV - actually Delilah?

   That moment when Poole steps forward and the skeleton comes into view lingers in my memory as one of the most unexpected reveals I've seen, and easily ranks here as one of the most shocking.

The poisoned soup - New Tricks

This one probably doesn't resonate with most people as it did me, but the revealing of the killer in season 3 episode 3 has lived with me to this day - mainly because I was much younger when I first saw it and it scared me.

   In 3x03, the Unsolved Crimes and Open Case Squad (UCOS) investigate a 30-year-old animal cruelty case when a similar case occurs in the present day. Their leads include members of long-defunct human and animal rights groups, but eventually UCOS determines the killer 30 years ago had been after the dog's vital organs. The plot thickens when UCOS Detective Inspector Brian Lane's dog dies, and Detective Inspector Jack Halford is hospitalised. But no worries - his new friend and the man who they spoke to for advice in the case, James Farlow, the animal control officer thirty years ago, has given Jack a pot of soup to help make him better, which he has obliviously enjoyed.

   UCOS work out Farlow is the culprit, but they don't know how he administered the poison. Just that moment when the UCOS team are around Jack in the hospital and their eyes settle on that pot of soup and Sandra panics (see image), has stuck with me since the episode aired nearly 11 years ago.

   Farlow was killing the dogs to harvest their livers which, in the world of New Tricks, is deadly to humans. He used it to kill his first wife, used it to kill Brian's dog, used it to hospitalise Jack and was currently using it on his second wife.

   Maniac.

   I'm a sucker for moments like this in TV, and for a standalone reveal that had no long-term bearing on the show, this one will stick with me forever.

Castle learns Beckett lied - Castle

Andrew Marlowe, creator of ABC's Castle, enjoyed playing with the will-they-won't-they aspect of lead characters Richard Castle and Detective Kate Beckett's relationship for nearly three years. When Beckett was shot in the third season finale, fearing she would die Castle announced his love for her. In the fourth season premiere, Beckett told him that due to the amnesia caused by the trauma, she couldn't remember anything past the bullet hitting her. It was an upsetting moment for Castle and fans alike who had hoped Castle's declaration would finally kick off the relationship.

   Instead, Castle gave Beckett time to get over the trauma - and eventually they both settled back into their usual flirty, neither-one-willing-to-make-the-first-move relationship. Until, that is, episode 4x19.

   While interviewing a potential bomber who claims to have amnesia and not remember what happened, Beckett screams at him that he is lying because she, who has also been through a trauma, remembers "every second of it", unaware Castle is watching from the observation deck.

   Once he realises Beckett lied, the show is changed forever. Marlowe takes us on a four-episode whirlwind of emotions as Castle, heartbroken and presuming Beckett's lie indicates she doesn't reciprocate his love, pulls away from her and declares he can work alongside her without feeling anything. But it was never going to last - their relationship was so damaged by the revelation that season 4 was either going to end with the show's cancellation and a parting of the ways, or they would get together.

   Naturally, the latter occurred.

   Most shows don't make it easy to pinpoint an exact moment that completely altered the course of their main will-they-won't-they relationship, but Castle did with one of the most resounding and memorable moments of the entire series.

Samaritan - Person of Interest

Person of Interest was a critically acclaimed CBS show that ran for five seasons from 2011-2016, and anyone who knows me or has followed these roundups knows it's my favourite TV show. It started off fairly plainly: each week the Machine would give the Social Security Number of someone who was going to be involved with a crime that our main characters would have to prevent. The first two seasons generally stuck to the tried-and-tested procedural format favoured by CBS. But everything had been building to the show-shattering revelation in 3x11 that Finch's worldwide surveillance system, The Machine, was not the only one in existence. A second Machine, Arthur Claypool's Samaritan, had lain dormant for decades.

   Suddenly the Chinese company Decima Technologies' nefarious plan became clear, with this one moment explaining why the mysterious Greer was so hellbent on locating Finch and infecting Finch's Machine with a deadly computer virus. He was going to bring online an artificial superintelligence of his own.

   Person of Interest hadn't been slumbering through the first two and a half seasons, but the awakening of Samaritan turned the entire show on its head: instead of being a slow, number-of-the-week procedural, it was now a fast-paced serial that dealt with the dangers and morality surrounding unchecked ASIs. A heavy percentage of the numbers in the fourth and fifth seasons were Samaritan-related, and our main characters were forced into hiding and cover identities.

   A rather average two-parter in the middle of season 3 jumpstarted the creators' endgame - everything after was a whirlwind of danger as Samaritan began to extend its control over the entire human race.

   Mind-blowing.

The founder of Rossum Corporation - Dollhouse

Dollhouse survived the chop after its first season by the skin of its teeth, so in the second season Joss Whedon decided to go down some of the avenues he had originally planned for later on in his original seven-season plan. That meant bringing the Rossum Corporation, the world's biggest pharmaceutical company and financiers of the Dollhouses, to the forefront in a dynamic storyline that would lead to the apocalypse.

   Our main character, Echo, was special from the very first episode, but in season two Whedon played more on the why rather than the what. It became clear that Rossum had nefarious plans for Echo, and the fate of the world was basically in her hands. If Echo and everyone in the LA Dollhouse (her Handler Boyd Langton, Sierra, Victor, boss Adelle DeWitt, technician Topher and ex-FBI-Agent-turned-Handler Paul Ballard) couldn't stop Rossum, then their eventual plans for world domination would lead to the apocalypse we saw in the season one and two finales. If they stopped Rossum - well, then everything would be fine. Echo was the key to stopping Rossum. But why?

   Because Echo's original personality, Caroline Farrell, was the only person who could identify the founder of the Rossum Corporation in time to stop him.

   When Caroline's personality is imprinted back into Echo, she revisits the time she first met the founder. Caroline had been an activist chasing Rossum for a long time, and was eventually caught sabotaging the DC Dollhouse. When brought back to LA, Caroline was sent to meet the founder - none other than Echo's handler: Boyd Langton.

Echo meets Boyd Langton, the Rossum founder

   When Boyd steps out of the shadows, we as the audience realise he has not actually been fighting Rossum from inside the LA Dollhouse as we were led to believe - he has been guiding them all towards his endgame, which is to use Echo's unique resistance to imprints to create a vaccine that will protect him and his cohorts from having their personalities remotely wiped. The other main characters will all be killed and the world basically enslaved.

   But of course, as Boyd says, he cannot be stopped since the body he inhabits - the one we've known Boyd to be - isn't even his original body. His personality is in many other bodies around the world.

   We audience knew Harry Lennix to be the character of Boyd Langton for two seasons of TV, but not only did he turn out to be the biggest, baddest villain of them all - he wasn't even real ...

Deb learns about Dexter - Dexter

For anyone who hasn't seen or heard of Dexter, it's a show about a serial killer who works for Miami Metro Homicide as a blood spatter analyst. Ohhhhhhh the irony. The only human connection Dexter has left by season six's end is his half-sister Debra, who has no idea about his true identity. But the season six finale flips that on its head.

   When Dexter kills the main villain of the season in the church where he based his operations, he has no idea that his sister Deb is coming back to check up on some lingering evidence. As he strikes the fatal blow, Deb walks into the church to see him in full serial killer mode - the villain cling-filmed to the altar, plastic sheeting all around, Dexter in his apron and gloves...

   The horror on both of their faces is unforgettable. Dexter faces exposure and Deb faces the reality of her half-brother's true identity - and it changes the course of the show forever, having opened avenues it couldn't have without this moment.

   And for that, it's deservedly here among some of these other hugely impactful TV reveals.

The death of Dr. Gant - ER

I haven't written this list in a particular order, but I saved (in my opinion) the best until last. Topping this heart-stopping moment, in my eyes, will be virtually impossible.

   In ER's third season (all the way back in 1997), Dr. John Carter successfully enters a Surgical internship, and over the course of the year he meets and works with a number of other Surgical interns, including Dr. Edson and Dr. Gant. It's the latter to whom he becomes close, their friendship growing in the early stages of the season as they work together to get through their intern year.

   However, things soon start to go wrong. The incredibly long working hours, sleep deprivation and the ill temperament of their supervisor, Dr. Benton, began to weigh on Carter and Gant. We always knew Carter would get through it, but Gant clearly struggles. Dr. Benton, from experience, believed that black doctors had to prove themselves worthy, more so than white doctors, and was therefore harder on Gant than the other interns. The draining responsibilities of being a Surgical intern, a failed relationship and the extra pressure Dr. Benton put on him led Gant to a shocking decision.

Dennis Gant (left) and John Carter (right)

   Near the end of episode 11, the ER receives just another trauma patient - this one an unidentifiable man struck by the nearby El (subway) train. Carter, Benton and the ER staff know the man's chances of survival are slim, but all that means is it's a perfect training session for interns. Naturally, they page Gant. Except it's the patient who gets the page.

   There's a moment of almost silence as Benton, Carter and the nurses realise who is on the table in front of them, before the mayhem begins. And as soon as it starts the episode ends, leaving us on a cliffhanger as to whether Gant lived or died.

   Of course, it wouldn't make this list if he lived. The next episode kicks off some time after Gant's death, but it's that split second where the penny drops - and that swoosh of music that heralds the panic - that makes this the most memorable and profound reveal I've seen on TV.

Final thoughts

Having written this long list of enormously influential TV reveals, I look at them all now and just think "wow". It doesn't matter if its 2016 or back in 1997 (and there'll have been reveals worthy of making this list even before then), TV just manages to pull out some whoppers on its audience, whoever that audience is. For almost every show on this list I was in that audience, and whether you reading this now have seen the series' that I've mentioned or not, there's no doubting that each and every one of them was able to stun its fans with these insane reveals.

Thank you everyone for reading and I'll see you all next time!

Sam

On-Season Week 1

Week One

And so, after a long summer, our on-season analysis finally begins. We start this week with just five shows (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bull, Hawaii Five-0, Lucifer and MacGyver), but gradually the others will all start to filter in and this will start to look really heavy. I'm looking forward to the new season and I hope you all are too, so please come join me as we look over the on-season's opening week!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - 4x01 "Coral Palms Pt. 1" (premiere episode)

"Jake and Captain Holt, under their aliases Larry and Greg respectively, while they hide from Mafia boss Jimmy Figgis in Florida. They've been there six months and Jake is still struggling to adapt - but is he even trying or is his secret venture threatening to expose them both?"

Drawing parallels to OITNB's Piper-centric second-season premiere, Andy Samberg (Jake) and Andre Braugher (Holt) took centre stage in an episode solely focused on their Florida exploits, but with that extra time the writers were able to play with their characters more intricately - especially Holt, whose deadpan and emotionless response to everything was thrust into being forced to play the role of a stoner searching for an assistant manager job at an arcade. That is, until, he discovers Jake is secretly trying to locate Figgis and forces him to give it up and get a job. The assistant manager job. Which increases the hilarity as Jake forces deadpan Holt to dance at a kids' party, don a hotdog outfit and clean a particularly disgusting crazy golf hole. Perfection.

   In the end, Jake and Holt rushed to retrieve a video of them getting run over by go-karts to prevent the video going viral and exposing them - only to realise it may actually be the best way of drawing Figgis out. Thus they release it themselves. (Also, Jorma Taccone, Rhea Perlman and Maya Rudolph all guest starred!)

   In every aspect the humour was brilliant, and even when not laugh-out-loud it was entertaining and (I'm going to use this phrase a lot I imagine) "comfortingly familiar". An episode of Jake and Holt that played with the characters of Jake and Holt in all the right ways.

   VIEWERS: 2.39m (A solid start taking B99's ratings above what it achieved in the back third of season 3, but I will be hoping they don't fall too far - or at all - below the 2m line)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.1 (Shot up from the back third of season 3; solid start. Needs to be held)

VERDICT: The premiere was deliberately lacking on the other main cast members but anything else would not have worked as effectively. And now the stage has been set for this seemingly three-part opening arc to continue (perhaps the next episode will conclude with Figgis's arrival in Florida and the third will conclude with his arrest). 8/10

Bull - 1x01 "The Necklace" (series premiere episode)

"Bull defends the son of a tech entrepreneur from a murder charge, after a girl he had slept with at a party washes up on a shore, strangled."

Where to start with Bull? What a fantastic pilot episode. To say it was well-written would be a gross understatement, but the plot (though it was fantastic) was not the biggest reason Bull was so brilliant. That honour goes to how all-encompassing the show is when it comes to the people in the story. Not only do we see all our main characters - Bull and his staff, the defendant, his family and his lawyers - but we are treated to close examinations of side characters too: the mock jurors, the real jurors and the victim's family, so that even when we're celebrating Bull's hard work exonerating the defendant we viewers know is innocent, we are still brought to focus upon how that decision actually affects the victim's grieving parents.

L-R: The defendant, Brandon Peters,
 Dr. Jason Bull & Chunk Palmer

   No matter how small a character is, they all are imperative to the story and the way it is being manipulated to unfold by Bull's predictive algorithm, and that provides us with a look-in to a spectrum of beliefs and personality types (of which we are told much more by Bull's hardworking team) that builds the trivia and the deep understanding of the human psyches I so enjoy in a show. Even the opening scene itself does just that, as a growing collage of videos from people about their faith (or lack thereof) in the justice system reveals from the get-go how this show is all about the differences between each and every one of us.

   The show's USP for now is its star name of Michael Weatherly, but I'd like to see more of his staff in the future: I feel particularly like the lawyer, Benny, didn't get much time in the pilot. (It's way too early, however, to criticise that too much.) And with regards to the ending: although, naturally, Bull would probably be able to work out who the real killer was, the final scene where he and the police simply show up to the killer's house was pasted onto the end of the episode with no real explanation, and that was perhaps the one fault of what was a thrilling, complex and fascinating pilot episode.

   SIDE NUGGET: Bull's stylist Chunk's surname being Palmer - well, I suppose someone being called Gibbs would have been too much of a stretch!

   VIEWERS: 15.56m (Just tens of thousands off NCIS's same-day ratings: will decline as some DiNozzo fans decide this might not be for them, but what a thundering debut)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 2.2 (Right in the 2.0-2.4 ranger I predicted; an instant hit)

VERDICT: I didn't find as many NCIS nuggets as I hoped for, but perhaps they'll come along later. Weatherly proved himself the right man for the job and the writers excelled in setting the tone and style of the show with Bull's sophisticated technological capabilities, while retaining the emotional depth that is so important. 9/10

Hawaii Five-0 - 7x01 "Makaukau 'ce e Pa'ani?/Ready to Play?" (premiere episode)

"McGarrett returns from his liver transplant early - and struggles to readjust as a new threat appears when serial killers are murdered and left at Five-0's doors."

Hawaii Five-0 returned in stonking form with an adrenaline-fuelled premiere - right after a CGI appearance from Jack Lord, the deceased actor who played McGarrett in the '68-'80 original series, in a church with the modern McGarrett, where they discussed legacy and achievements and left modern McGarrett feeling a little down. The only downside of this was because CGI standards are so high these days, the failure to replicate Groot-level realism does (irrationally) tend to rankle.

   But immediately thereafter we were thrust into a high-octane premiere, with 17 bodies dropped throughout the remaining 40 minutes: two serial killers, their total of fourteen victims and Five-0's suspect (who was a patsy set up by the real serial-killer-killing-serial-killer). The premise of this is exceptional, and that it's to span over the first four episodes and still cause problems later on in the season has me drooling. And if the upcoming chase scenes are to be anything like the incredible 7/8 minute parkour chase, then Hawaii Five-0 can count me ready for anything.

   Elsewhere, it was nice to see Julie Benz return as Abby, Chin's girlfriend, and the cliffhanger with the real serial killer leaving his calling card (centuries-old ivory chess pieces) behind at McGarrett's house refuelled the excitement right after it had tapered off; however, the single scene that conspiracy theorist Jerry appeared in to identify the type of chess pieces being left in the dead serial killers' mouths seemed forced to ensure he could get a bit of screentime.

   VIEWERS: 10.09m (Only on one other occasion between 5x16 and this premiere has H50 hit over 10m in overnight ratings, so what a start)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.3 (average statistically and about right for H50. Good start)

VERDICT: A well-balanced, high intensity episode was filled with the usual McGarrett/Danno banter and brilliantly set up an arc to span plenty of the seventh season 9/10

Lucifer - 2x01 "Everything's Coming Up Lucifer" (premiere episode)

"Lucifer's search for his mother becomes complicated by the murder of a young girl which he believes was committed to send him a message. While he tries to discover whose body his mother has inhabited since escaping from Hell, Amenadiel tries to discredit Lucifer's claims of being the Devil and Maze returns from her sabbatical to a cold reception."

Season 2's premiere is more about where our characters are starting off now than anything else, as the murder-of-the-week becomes more like today's side plot. Lucifer believes his mum, without her original body, is inhabiting the bodies of the recently deceased returned to life (which I found to be a very clever way to begin the series) and his and Amenadiel's search becomes the driving force of the episode. But when the murder itself throws Lucifer even deeper into this rabbit hole he resorts to scrabbling for allies: Chloe to believe he is actually the Devil and Maze, after she returns and convinces him she didn't help his mum escape from Hell, to provide actual answers (which she can't). In the final scene, Lucifer's search concludes as his mum, who has sought him out herself, falls into his arms holding a bloody screwdriver and begging for help.

   Meanwhile, Amenadiel convinces Chloe that Lucifer is lying about being the Devil in order to prevent humanity learning of the existence of divinity with a smartly-constructed set of lies, and Detective "Douche" Dan arrives at the crime scene to help investigate, having been released from remand and reinstated with a demotion because the police would rather not have the embarrassment of him cop to charges of improper evidence handling (after the corruption scandal of Detective Graham at the end of season one). Dan's airtime was limited today, but he'll get more of a look in as the season develops.

   VIEWERS: 4.41m (Same-day ratings bolstered from the end of season 2 with a solid start)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.3 (Roughly matches half of season 1's weekly share - season 2 is doing its job)

VERDICT: The murder was interesting enough for all of its shortness, Aimee Garcia as new forensic examiner Ella Lopez looks set to add an intriguing alternative religious standpoint and the new police set was a welcome aesthetic pleasure. But all in all this was a simple episode which positioned all the characters for their upcoming arcs - and did so with no problems at all. 7.5/10

However, Lucifer is now not back until October 3rd, in two weeks' time. Um ... why ...?

MacGyver - 1x01 "The Rising" (series premiere episode)

"MacGyver and his team work to retrieve a biological weapon, while adjusting to the new recruit."

MacGyver is definitely the weakest of the five episodes I've viewed this week. It's premiere had plenty of excellent features: the directing of the action scenes was fantastic, the cast worked perfectly in their roles, the guest cast saw Tracy Spiridakos and Vinnie Jones in villain roles, the plot (if clichéd) was interestingly resolved and the cliffhanger of Spiridakos's character Nicky escaping caught everyone brilliantly off-guard.

Lucas Till as Angus MacGyver

   However, the flash test explanations and equations to highlight Mac's intricate designs (SOOT + ADHESIVE = FINGERPRINT being one horrific example) became redundant due to the voiceovers where he explained them anyway (and the examples today were not as impressive or creative as I'd hoped); the feeling of a government-division-more-secret-than-the-CIA was never imprinted upon me and I'll admit even for me some of the lines were corny.

   But I don't want to focus on the bad - perhaps I'm seeing them more keenly because MacGyver was my least favourite pick of the new shows I'll be rounding up. In all honesty, the positives far outweigh the negatives today (George Eads as Jack Dalton stands out as the comic tough guy) and there is nothing to suggest MacGyver cannot improve and get some momentum going in the next few weeks.

   VIEWERS: 10.89 (Could have had a better start in that 8pm position, but double figures never represents a bad one)

   DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE: 1.7 (Stupendous)

VERDICT: The mythology of the show was opened with Nicky's escape and Phoenix's creation at the end of the episode, but so far MacGyver hasn't taken the world by storm. 7/10

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Lucifer: "My mum's gonna kill me."

NEXT WEEK'S ROUNDUP: On-Season Week 2

DEMOGRAPHIC SHARE EXPLAINED

Ratings are fairly simple to understand, and are show-specific, so you can tell how your show is doing based off its general average ratings figure. But demographic share is broader, and yet of bigger importance to networks and therefore success is more often gauged on this than ratings. So, if you've read this far, this article will give an overview of the importance of demographic share to broadcast networks and the survival of your favourite TV shows. However, I have quoted the explanation of demographic share below in case you didn't wish to read another article!

"(*A 1.0 in adults 18-49 equals about 1.27 million people in that age group [...] Advertisers on network primetime pay a premium to reach those viewers — and the adults 18-34 subset — which in turn drives most decisions to renew or cancel shows.)"

(And for clarification, the average demographic share across all the big four networks [ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX] last season for non-sports shows was 1.3. The article suggests an average plus 50% of 1.95 in demographic share to be a good marker of a hit TV show. While the demographic share a show gets does vary from network to network, I will generally follow that 1.95 "hit show" marker throughout this on-season roundup, and a 1.3 as an average for an averagely successful show.)

Final thoughts

I'm glad to have my TV shows back and can't wait to continue to see what these and the rest can offer in the future. Our two debuting shows in Bull and MacGyver may have fared differently but they've both got plenty to offer as their seasons progress; meanwhile, Lucifer has taken the time to position its characters more carefully than either Hawaii Five-0 or Brooklyn Nine-Nine needed to or did. While B99 chose to follow a predictable format to close out its opening arc, Hawaii Five-0 takes the award by a country mile for "Quickest Show Off The Mark".

All five shows here today except Lucifer return next week, where we'll also see premiere episodes from NCIS: Los Angeles, Quantico and Code Black. Thank you to everyone who has read this first week's roundup; I will see you all next Saturday!

Sam

Fall Schedule Preview

Where are all the shows at?

The fall schedule is quickly approaching (although not quickly enough), so before my shows start returning I think it's a great idea to just recap where they all finished last season, what I expect to come this year and predict the likelihood they will be back the year after. After that, I'll also quickly preview the new shows I intend to follow and give my thoughts on them too. NOTE: This is a long-ish roundup.

Returning Shows

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (returns for season 4, 20th September)

My favourite sitcom of them all, Andy Samberg's ever-charming Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It has a lot of making up to do after the quality drop we experienced in season 3, but I'm hoping it will be reborn this year. When we left last season, Detectives Jake Peralta (Samberg) and Amy Santiago's (Melissa Fumero) cute relationship had taken a backseat to a plotline which has encompassed the majority of the cast: Captain Holt (Andre Braugher), Santiago and Detective Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) will fight to clear the name of Adrian Pimento, an undercover cop who has gone on the run after being chased by the mafia and a corrupt FBI agent. Meanwhile, Sergeant Terence Jeffords (Terry Crews) is still trying to cope with a third child and Detective Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio) has become something of an inbetweener who connects everyone while they navigate these plots.

   I'd like to see Jamy take more space within the show, since their pairing together really only offered anything in the first half of season 3. I expect that Pimento will return given that the fight to clear his name will take up a large part of the first third of season 4, and he will hopefully become a regular. I'm hoping to see more of Holt's deadpan humour (combined with Rosa's furious demeanour, which creates some of the best punchlines the series offers), the return of the (arguably) best side character in Kyra Sedgwick's Deputy Chief Wuntch, and Gina Linetti's (Chelsea Peretti) one-liners to rise to the pre-season 3 standard - but I'm not crossing my fingers for the return of the Pontiac Bandit. (And could the Hallowe'en episodes, of which we received one per season, realistically stretch to a fourth part?)

   WHAT REPORTS SAY WILL HAPPEN: A repeat of the season 3 opening arc (the revolving door of replacement captains) will at least partially return at the beginning of season 4 while Holt is with Jake in Witness Security, (with Ken Marino dropping by in that role for two episodes]); Jorma Taccone (Samberg's buddy from The Lonely Island rap comedy group), Jim O'Heir (Parks and Recreation) and Rhea Perlman will appear also, while Maya Rudolph will recur in two episodes as Jake and Holt's WitSec officer. It is inferred all of these people will appear in the premiere episode, although that's probably not true. Finally, Eric Roberts will appear as mafia boss Jimmy Figgis.

RENEWAL LIKELIHOOD: Ratings for B99's third season were less stable than the railroads in Hell on Wheels, sinking as low as 1.85m or rising as high as 4.38, although they largely steadied after midseason in the mid- to low-2m range. The fact that it is already established on the network may help, as may the fact it's been moved to an earlier slot (8pm Tuesday), but judging by the ratings of two sitcoms FOX aired last year and cancelled after one season, if B99's ratings fall much lower it won't survive to season 5. We also ought to take note of FOX's fickleness: it's a harder network to judge than others.
   I think the new day and timeslot will help B99: it was on Tuesdays at 8.30pm for its first season, so a return should bolster its ratings. RENEWED

Code Black (returning for season 2, 25th September)

CBS's newest, hottest medical drama. Starring Marcia Gay Harden, Luis Guzmán and Raza Jaffrey, Code Black became another in a long slew of medical dramas airing currently across all the networks, although its USP, that it its setting is specifically and consistently in a state of "code black" (where it is understaffed and overcrowded) attempted to differentiate it from others such as Grey's Anatomy, The Night Shift and Chicago Med. Unfortunately, after the pilot, that "code black" feeling was completely lost and, like The Night Shift, it struggles to do more than recycle ER plotlines, including a doctor becoming addicted to narcotics following a traumatic experience, a psychotic patient killing one of the staff and a typical quarantine episode (it even stole one of ER's cast in a recurring role as a patient, who is conveniently also a doctor).
   But that's just the negative side. Because, like The Night Shift, its characters manage to make the ripped-off plots feel fresh and exciting. Fleshing out that cast is Melanie Chandra as Dr Malaya Pineda, Benjamin Hollingsworth as Dr Mario Savetti, Harry Ford as Dr Angus Leighton and William Allen Young as Dr Rollie Guthrie. Each character was creatively explored in equal amounts, so that the only dislikeable character from my perspective is Savetti (a Doug Ross/TC Callahan-type renegade who is just more annoying than either of those two were/are). And yet the strong patient focus, and the realism of the hospital set, including the dark, dirty colour choices (every other hospital drama has sets that are way too clean to be believed) are strong elements the producers included - and I expect those elements to be a large factor in season 2.

   The formula was clearly working, with ratings from 5.96m to 8.58m, but for season 2 CBS has decided to re-evaluate its target audience and try to engage younger viewers. How? By chopping two fan favourites in characters played by Raza Jaffrey and  Bonnie Summerville and replacing them with characters played by Boris Kodjoe (an even more arrogant Rocket Romano-type), Jillian Murray and the star name of Rob Lowe, in a move that CBS hopes will not be recognised for its inherent shallowness (since I imagine many would deem these three actors as more physically appealing than Jaffrey or Bonnerville).
   Expect more of the brilliant banter between Dr Rorish (Harden) and Nurse Jesse Salamander (Guzmán), Angus to grow slowly in the shadow of his older, more talented brother, Malaya to continue to struggle with her nearly being raped, Campbell (Kodjoe) to still be an arse and the love triangle between Angus, Savetti and Pinkney (Murray) to continue.

   WHAT REPORTS SAY WILL HAPPEN: Mostly the news here is guest stars and new recurring actors and actresses. Noah Grey-Cabey, Nafessa Williams and Emily Tyra have bagged roles as recurring med students while Kathleen Rose Perkins is set to appear as psychiatrist Amanda Nolan; and in an episode entitled "Life and Limb" we will see appearances from Eric Roberts (as Savetti's dad) and Camryn Manheim and Alexandra Grey as patients.

RENEWAL LIKELIHOOD: Code Black will continue in its 10pm Wednesday slot and will probably fare similarly to its debut season, ratings-wise. Kodjoe and Murray's upgrades from recurring to main cast and Rob Lowe's introduction might bolster the ratings for a while, too, and if so CBS could be tricked into lowering its guard with the show. However, a network feeling after only the first season that it needs to shake up its cast is not a good sign, especially when that shake-up heralds the sacking of two fan favourite characters. Trying to reach a new viewership isn't problematic in itself, but when the method has the potential to alienate current viewers it's easy for a show to suffer through no fault of its own, and I reckon it will. CANCELLED.

Elementary (returning for season 5, 2nd October)

I used to unfairly bash Elementary because its ratings sucked and yet Person of Interest was getting shafted by CBS - and then, once I was over POI's maltreatment, I wised up. Elementary is probably the best written cop procedural on TV right now, episodically speaking. The writers always manage to make the murders complex enough that Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) struggles to unravel them, and the eccentricities of Sherlock himself always add excitement, humour and interesting trivia. Meanwhile, JLM's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes puts Benedict Cumberbatch to shame and Lucy Liu's Joan Watson is a great moral compass for the show and all the characters. If Elementary has one pitfall, it's that it manages to criminally misuse its two side characters, Captain Gregson and Detective Bell. Come on, guys, you only have 4 mains. Be serious.

   A series-long focus is Sherlock's recovery from addiction, while season-long arcs in seasons 2 and 4 respectively shed light on his family life. We'll see more of that in season 5, because although Sherlock's father Morland won't be returning physically, the plot of Daddy Holmes assuming control of Jamie Moriarty's criminal empire won't dramatically fade. Tiny recurring characters such as the turtle Clyde, Sherlock's bees, his new girlfriend Fiona, the coroner Eugene and the hilarious hacker group Everyone add flavour and widen the show's universe.

   In season 5, I reckon we'll see Natalie Dormer appear as Moriarty once more, since Dormer is free now after Game of Thrones gave her her P45, but beyond that I can't really predict what else might be coming, although another Conan Doyle character in Shinwell Johnson will recur as a former drug addict patient of Watson's. Shinwell - what a name.

   WHAT REPORTS SAY WILL HAPPEN: There is little to find beyond what I've already said about Shinwell (played by Nelsan Ellis), but we do know that the 100th episode is based around a murder related to potential killer asteroids, and as such Sherlock will turn to a former classmate for help (rumoured to be played by Owain Yeoman, of The Mentalist.)

RENEWAL LIKELIHOOD: I would say probable. It's hard to make a show work in that deathly Sunday at 10pm slot, but Elementary, pushed there for the back third of season 4, didn't lose out on too many viewers and should maintain its position. And even four seasons on and having lost over half its viewership, it still made CBS $80m last year. Maybe this is the death knell - money-wise it certainly won't be as profitable, and that will be a worry come May next year - but I think Elementary should do well enough for a sixth season, although I would place money on that to be the final season. RENEWED.

Hawaii Five-0 (returning for season 7, 23rd September)

Hawaii Five-0, the modern-day reboot of Hawaii Five-O which ran from 1968-1980, is another of the slicker cop procedurals on my list, and a lot has gone into the growth of the show in the past 6 seasons.

   Steve McGarrett's evil half-brother Wo Fat was finally vanquished in season 5, but his imprisoned father will recur in season 7, while Steve's mother and his ex-girlfriend Catherine Rollins will make an unknown number of appearances, after Steve recovers from a liver transplant. Danny "Danno" Williams continues to raise his daughter Grace, although now realises he has a son Charlie (after the writers backtracked and decided it was his kid after all). Chin Ho Kelly's cousin Gabriel Waincroft became the big bad following Wo Fat's death, but with Gabriel's death he has left behind a daughter whom Chin must consider raising, while continuing his relationship with FBI agent Abby Dunn. Kono's husband Adam is released from prison and they have to adjust to living a normal life, Lou Grover left SWAT for Five-0 in season 4 and became integral ever since, but Jerry Ortega, conspiracy theorist and regular Five-0 collaborator, is still demanding a badge. Even side characters like Kamekona, criminal turned Five-0 confidential informant, have grown exponentially (he now owns three businesses including a helicopter company).

   That pretty much explains where everyone's headed (aside from Medical Examiner Max Bergman, but he's had little growth compared to everyone else). There's a pretty full cast list here and I couldn't ask for much more (although Rollins to return permanently would be nice). Antihero Sang Min will surely drop in sometime, and the writers have now been going long enough to have a wealth of other recurring characters to call back if they feel like it.

   WHAT REPORTS SAY WILL HAPPEN: Well, it's confirmed for 25 episodes again. It is inferred that the premiere is based around a killer killing serial killers, McGarrett's old girlfriend Lynn will return (as will his other ex Catherine Rollins) and his mother, Claire Forlani will recur as a criminal profiler, somebody's getting married (either Steve or Chin) and the overall theme of the season will be about introspection and reflecting on one's legacy.

RENEWAL LIKELIHOOD: I would say high. Unless the costs, which inflate the longer a show lasts as contracts are renegotiated and budgets widen, grow too much for CBS, I don't see Hawaii Five-0 dropping off our screens after this season. It has a strong fanbase with total average viewers across all six seasons thus far never dipping below 10m, and the executive producer has made it clear they are not treating season 7 like it will be the last. That Lenkov needed to spell that out may seem like a sign, but I don't think so at all. RENEWED.

Lucifer (returning for season 2, 19th September)

Lucifer's an interesting one. A show involving the Devil rarely lasts on TV because of the controversial nature of the character (look at Reaper [damn you, CW!]), and you definitely can't argue Lucifer is in any way groundbreaking. It sinks quickly into a simple, uninspired cop drama with the Devil just tagging along - and Lucifer has pretty much one ability: to convince people to tell them what they desire. Maybe it's just me but the Devil should be way more powerful than that.

   Filling out the cast you have Detective Chloe Decker, her ex, Detective Dan ... Decker? Psychologist Linda Martin, Chloe's daughter Trixie, Lucifer's brother Amenediel and his bartender and Hell's number one torturer Mazikeen ("Maze"). I loved Kevin Alejandro (who plays Dan Decker) as Sebastian Blood in Arrow's second season and I'll happily watch him in anything, in the same way I picked this up because I liked Lauren German (Chloe Decker). And in season 1, while Lucifer learns about human life from the psychologist and tries to recover his stolen angel wings with frenemies Amenediel and Maze, Chloe and Detective Douche (as Lucifer calls Dan) follow this superb plotline of a corrupt cop who recovers from his coma and tries to reveal Detective Douche is the bad guy. Which he is, because at the end Douche turns himself in, while Lucifer and Amenediel realise that someone is coming up from Hell: their mum.

   That will play a huge part of season 2: can Tricia Helfer, playing Lucifer's mum, convince him to give up solving crimes and return to Hell? And what will happen to Douche? Or Chloe and Trixie? Lucifer is a fun, light-hearted drama, even if its characterisation does sometimes border on the unbelievable and ridiculous.

   WHAT REPORTS SAY WILL HAPPEN: Along with the potential for season 2 to extend beyond the current 13-episode order, episode 6 (entitled "Monsters") is believed to be the first butting of heads of Lucifer and his mum, we'll see some of Maze's backstory, Chloe's father will appear in episode 7, and Aimee Garcia has been cast as a forensic scientist named Ella Lopez.

RENEWAL LIKELIHOOD: I don't think we'll see a season 3. Everything took a nose dive throughout season 1: overnight ratings, DVR ratings, demographic share ... I am in all fairness surprised it got a season 2. That, plus previous TV history re the Devil, AND the fact that the host network is FOX, makes me think we won't be seeing much more of Lucifer at all. CANCELLED.

NCIS: Los Angeles (returning for season 8, 25th September)

NCIS LA is the only one of the NCIS franchise I'll be reviewing this year because I'm not caught up on the other two (I'm currently near the end of NCIS s6 and I refuse to start NCIS: New Orleans until I've caught up to the backdoor pilot in NCIS's s11). So LA will be all.

   Well-established, light-hearted and easy to dip in and out of, NCIS LA is everything CBS could wish for in a procedural. Boasting big names among its central cast (such as LL Cool J, Linda Hunt and Chris O'Donnell), who all have great chemistry with each other, the show is able to be as earnest or playful as it likes, often interchangeably. By the conclusion of season 7, the biggest arc of the show (G. Callen learning his first name) was finally wrapped up, and Densi (Deeks and Kensi's relationship) is solid and entertaining. But beyond that, there's little else in terms of other character growth. The two techs, Eric and Nell, have a chemistry that has often been hinted at as romantic but never actually addressed and Hetty Lange (Linda Hunt), the wonderful, mysterious manager of the Office of Special Projects, is giving way to Owen Granger (Miguel Ferrer) as Hunt ages.

   It's promised that Densi will receive a good focus in season 8, and I'm sure that Hetty's airtime will continue to decrease, but beyond that I can't really take a punt at where the show will be by season 8's end. The format has been stale since season 6 but the formula still works so why change anything, especially when NCIS LA is at a critical point in its life cycle - is it nearing the end?

   WHAT REPORTS SAY WILL HAPPEN: Callen's father may return as Callen's journey into his identity continues, Deeks and Kensi are speculated to be getting engaged (but with Ruah's real-life pregnancy there will be a short storyline that separates them, similar to season 5, although she is still slated to appear in every episode), Hetty and Granger will face trouble from higher-ups after the discovery of a mole (which is the subject of the premiere and the catalyst for the action in the first 3 episodes) and Eric and Nell will also supposedly enter a relationship together. And not a "will happen", but an NCIS/NCIS LA crossover is under discussion, too.

RENEWAL LIKELIHOOD: NCIS LA drew in 16m viewers throughout its first 5 seasons, aired right after its parent show NCIS at 9pm Tuesday. Then it was moved to 10pm Mondays and the viewership decreased by half. HALF. And now it's been shunted back to 8pm Sundays, which is apparently the death slot for shows because of overrunning sports coverage. Rumours of cancellation are stronger here than anywhere else, and since CBS doesn't seem too keen on an NCIS marathon night (it slotted Bull into NCIS LA's old 9pm Tuesday slot this season and budged NO back to 10pm - more on Bull later) I reckon the network's not fussed if LA stays or goes. And at this point, neither am I. CANCELLED.

Quantico (returning for season 2, 25th September)

You'd be hard pushed to find a more complex and stunning debut season in all of TV. ABC's Quantico was big, it was bold and, although it probably wasn't anything new, it was incredible. Centred around Alex Parrish, a Quantico graduate framed for the biggest terrorist attack since 9/11, Quantico is set in two timeframes: the present, where Alex tries to clear her name; and the recruits' time at Quantico, where they learn about being an FBI agent. Each episode reveals new twists in the framing and the relationships, showing us where they were in the past compared to where they are now, which is an amazing juxtaposition. Of course, there were a number of deaths and those characters will be sorely missed, but the entire plotline was unbelievable, the characters were perfectly cast and the show is just binge-worthy.

   I'm sure the conspiracy will be addressed further in season 2 (there is at least one loose thread), but honestly I think this should have been a one-season thing. Quantico would have to do something unimaginable to even get close to matching its debut season, and I don't think that's possible. And since now the whole premise of Quantico itself is lost (Alex is going to be based at The Farm, a CIA training facility), I don't think it will have the same glow either.

   WHAT REPORTS SAY WILL HAPPEN: Alex Parrish will retrain to be a field agent, this time at the Farm, the CIA's elite training facility. Ryan, Shelby, twins Nimah and Raina will return, and Blair Underwood will co-star among a large number of other new characters.

RENEWAL LIKELIHOOD: More smartly written than Person of Interest (do you know what it takes to make me write that?), but ultimately two seasons might be one season too many. Ratings have steadied around 3-4m, so if that remains ABC might be convinced to take a punt on a season 3. I wonder. And yet, I reckon it won't live up to its glory and will be CANCELLED.

Scorpion (returning for season 3, 3rd October)

TV is doing its best to try and keep the procedural format while bringing new twists to the genre, and amid the NCIS's, CSI's and such, Scorpion's team of geniuses, overseen by Homeland Officer Cabe Gallo and the ex-waitress and emotional glue of Paige Dineen, feels fresh and exciting - and the high IQ levels of the characters make for some interesting improvisations and awesome trivia. The cast is strengthened by Elyes Gabel as lead Walter O'Brien, Eddie Kaye Thomas (of American Pie) as Toby Curtis, Jadyn Wong as Happy Quinn, Ari Stidham as Sylvester Dodd and Riley Smith as Paige's genius son Ralph.

   Arcs are used sporadically in Scorpion. Across both seasons so far we have seen the semi-regular use of a tech billionaire Richard Elia, who hires them out or supports the team's off-plot ventures, while in season 2 Kevin Weisman signed on to play a troubled fireman Walter meets at community service. Sylvester married Walter's sister, Megan, who promptly died from MS, and then went on game shows to raise money to name a hospital ward after her; meanwhile Walter and Paige's burgeoning relationship is forever complicated by Walter's failure to understand human emotions, and Toby and Happy's is complicated by Toby being too forward and Happy too closed off. But more of that will come in season 3, and it's been suggested Cabe will find a love interest too.

   CBS isn't afraid to take risks with the show either: one episode was a full 60 minutes instead of the usual 40. So it is clearly very highly rated at the network. The writing is slick, fresh and most of the great humour comes from the interaction of the characters who simply don't understand human interaction. A very watchable and cool show.

   WHAT REPORTS SAY WILL HAPPEN: There will be plenty of character twists, including Happy's previous marriage and her growing relationship with Toby, the potential for babies, the potential for a musical episode, a closer focus on Ralph's struggles with being a child genius, Walter's search for emotions and the two-hour premiere will be focused around stolen military warheads.

RENEWAL LIKELIHOOD: Although the ratings ticked downwards towards the end of season 2, they were never close to cancellation-worthy. With an average demographic share of 1.77 and the average season overnights at 9.6m, the bottom line is that in season 3 Scorpion would have to be trying to get itself cancelled to actually make that happen, because DVR recordings bump the average up to somewhere near 12m (I don't have a specific figure, I'm afraid). RENEWED

New Shows

A.P.B. (debuts on FOX, midseason)

About a tech billionaire who purchases a police precinct and modernises it with up-to-date technology. A fresh look on the police procedural, and boasts Justin Kirk, Ernie Hudson and Natalie Martinez among the core cast. I don't have a date or timeslot to use to make a better judgement on its survival, but then again with FOX it's hard to guess either way. My heart says renewed, but my head says CANCELLED.

Bull (debuts on CBS, 20th September)

The show is based on Phil McGraw's time as a trial consultant, and departing NCIS star Michael Weatherly plays the lead, Dr Jason Bull. The show has been geniusly slotted in at 9pm Tuesday - directly after NCIS, so fans of it who crave more Weatherly will therefore have only to wait until NCIS finishes to see him again. From the trailer Bull has been characterised similarly to Tony DiNozzo, so while Weatherly won't exactly be stretching his abilities, he'll play a comforting enough character that Bull will undoubtedly succeed. Any fans of The Night Shift who miss Ragosa will see Freddy Rodriguez star here alongside Weatherly, Geneva Carr, Jamie Lee Kirchner and Chris Jackson.

   An instant ratings hit, I'm going to go kamikaze and right off the bat predict Bull to be renewed three times without issue. RENEWED TO SEASON 4.

Conviction (debuts on ABC, 3rd October)

From the three-minute trailer, Conviction looks like a more than adequate replacement for Castle's 10pm Monday slot. It's based around the new "Conviction Integrity Unit", which re-investigates cases where there was legitimate reason to doubt someone's conviction and tries to prove the prisoner's innocence. Kind of the opposite of your usual police procedural - instead of putting them in, they're getting them out. As a premise, I love this, and it's come at the right time to freshen up TV.

   Plenty of big names will draw viewers in: Hayley Atwell (of Agent Carter), Eddie Cahill (CSI: NY), Merrin Dungey (Alias), Emily Kinney (The Walking Dead), Shawn Ashmore (The Following) and Manny Montana (Graceland), but it faces stiff competition from Scorpion, already well-established, and new dramas Timeless and Taken, the latter of which will serve as a prequel to the Liam Neeson films. But I expect Conviction will win out over both of these new shows and be RENEWED.

MacGyver (debuts on CBS, 23rd September)

For anyone who watched the original, you'll know MacGyver is about a scientist who works for the government and the Phoenix Foundation providing creative problem-solving. I'm not too familiar with it if I'm honest, but since I'm a sucker for the trivia and the creative problem-solving aspects in some other shows on these lists I reckon MacGyver might be a good fit for me.

   For the network, it's sure to be a hit. It's offering a number of main roles to actors and actresses with small filmographies, including lead Lucas Till, but has the attraction of CSI's George Eads to pull in some other support, and fans of the original will surely check out this reboot. It will air at 8pm Fridays, a decent early slot (although it will be tough to pull viewers away from Hell's Kitchen and The Vampire Diaries), and also has the prestige of being developed by NCIS LA's Peter Lenkov, and co-executive produced by the co-creator of the Saw franchise, James Wan, so it certainly won't struggle to succeed. RENEWED.

Making History (debuts on FOX, midseason)

The first sitcom on this list just looks great. It's about a professor who invents a time machine and accidentally alters the course of American history. Created by the powerhouse duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who've also produced hit movies such as the Jump Streets, and TV shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and How I Met Your Mother, Making History stars Adam Pally (Happy Endings), Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) and Yassir Lester. The trailer shows everything you'd expect from a FOX sitcom - humour, great casting and all-round fun.

   It may struggle given that it will air midseason in an 8.30 timeslot against Once Upon A Time and NCIS: LA, but an early timeslot is always beneficial. The main problem again is that it will air on FOX, and I hate trying to second-guess these bastards. I want to say renewed, but I'm hedging my bets because of the FOX factor and saying CANCELLED.

Powerless (debuts on NBC, midseason)

If you're a fan of everything superhero, prepare for a world that is inhabited by them, even though it will not focus on the superheroes themselves. Powerless is about the everyday citizens in a world of superheroes, and will focus on the exploits of an insurance company who have to deal with the damage the superheroes' antics cause.   Starring Vanessa Hudgens (the High School Musicals), Alan Tudyk (Firefly), Danny Pudi (Community) and Kate Micucci (of the Garfunkel and Oates comedy duo), Powerless is hopefully set to be a profitable show for the network. Without an official timeslot I can't make a proper judgement, so I'm going to go with my heart and say RENEWED.

Pure Genius (debuts on CBS, 27th October)

CBS's second airing medical drama this coming season might be moving away from the grimy colour choices of Code Black to the borderline obsessive cleanliness of most hospital dramas, but CBS has saved itself from that dishonour by aligning it with cutting-edge technology. In Pure Genius, a tech billionaire named James Bell has created a medical centre named Bunker Hill (the original working title; why the hell they went for "Pure Genius" I'll literally never understand), which aims to mesh the most modern of medical advances with technological improvements, and provide for the in need at no cost, all while Bell tries to find a cure for an aggressive variation of Lou Gehrig's Disease (a.k.a. ALS, of the recent ALS Ice Bucket Challenge), from which he suffers. I'm not familiar with any of the cast, but for those who might be it includes Dermot Mulroney, Augustus Prew, Rashma Shetty, Odette Annable, Ward Horton and Brenda Song.

   The A.P.B. of the medical world, I'm really excited for this show. I think it will depict a very modern, unique perspective on how hospitals may be in the future, and as it is on CBS I think it will stand a very good chance of renewal, especially if it decides Code Black isn't pulling its weight. With two hospital dramas to choose from, I reckon that if it comes down to it CBS can make the decision to chop one of them, and - forgive me Code Black fans - but I hope it isn't Pure Genius. RENEWED.

Westworld (debuts on HBO, 2nd October)

If there's any new show I'm excited for it's this, and not necessarily because of the premise. Of course, the premise is insane: it's about an artificial western world which is inhabited by artificial people that real people can visit to live out their fantasies. Among a stellar (and massive) ensemble cast are Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal Lector), Thandie Newton (Crash), Jimmi Simpson, and Luke Hemsworth, brother of Chris and Liam. Among a stellar crew, we have creator Jonathan Nolan (Person of Interest), executive producers Bryan Burk and JJ Abrams, Ramin Djawadi (Person of Interest, Game of Thrones) on the score and it's all based off a book by Michael Crichton, who created ER. Basically it's a mish-mash of the best TV makers and producers in America, so now you can see why I'm hyped! The stage is set for Westworld to be HBO's next circle jerk show and I simply cannot wait. RENEWED. ALL OF THE RENEWED.

Final thoughts

If anyone remembers my predictions for how Person of Interest's final season would pan out, you'll know I'm famously awful at guessing games, so it's likely all my plotline predictions and renewal scorecards will fall sour. But I hope you enjoy following me and these shows through whatever it is they offer up this season!

Lucifer gets the ball rolling tomorrow and what I will then try and ensure is that I have each week's roundup completed and published every Saturday evening, which leaves enough time, what with the time difference between here and the US, for Friday's overnights to be revealed. So I'll have my first roundup out this coming Saturday 24th, people!

Thanks for reading everyone and I'll see you all next time!

Sam

How To Be As Successful As NCIS: 101

NCIS, circa 2003-present

In the veritable quagmire that is television these days, it's hard for most shows to really get off the ground. If (hoorah!) you successfully got season 1, it's now all down to do the audience like your show enough to justify your renewal for another season? And if they don't, you get cancelled; if they do, hoorah, you have a season 2. You have some momentum - now you just have to keep it going from there.

   But often most shows still don't manage it, and even when they do it's a rare show that makes it past the golden 7-season mark - even rarer those that do make it to 10+. And given things such as Sky+, the number of online sites (reputable and otherwise) that post links to shows the hour after it concludes airing on TV, and the current balance shift from broadcast TV to online releases, overnights for broadcast shows are nothing close to what they used to be.

   That's what makes NCIS a truly exceptional exception to the rule.

   Having recently concluded its thirteenth season, and following renewals through to season fifteen, NCIS is still the biggest hitter for broadcast TV. Game of Thrones, Orange Is The New Black and The Walking Dead (and the late Breaking Bad) might be the real circle jerk shows of the modern era, but NCIS is still the king. And with the on-season about to begin and with plenty of new TV shows hoping to get a sniff at a run as long as NCIS's, perhaps it's time to see what they would need to do to achieve that.

   So how can you be as successful as NCIS?

FORMAT

The simplest part of NCIS's success is its format: it's nothing more than another glorified cop procedural. Procedurals are preferable for broadcast TV looking to attract both a hardcore fanbase and a considerable casual viewership, since for the most part they offer everyone the fair chance to dip in and out of any point in a season and not really feel like they've missed anything. It's difficult for broadcast TV to sell a serialised show that people have to focus on week-in-week-out, when that approach lowers the ratings because casual viewership is harder to obtain. No one's flicking The 100 on midway through season 2 and understanding what's going on if they haven't seen it before, but you can stick a season 6 episode of NCIS on and not really need to know much about the character growth before then to enjoy it. The format works, and it's why so many broadcast networks love it. Because we, as TV fans, eat it up.

NETWORK

A show's survival depends on not only the network it chooses, but ensuring it receives the full support of that network. NCIS was a great fit for CBS, which loves its cop procedurals like a mother loves her newborn. It's natural, then, that it nurtured the show's growth into what it is now, especially when they had to make some controversial decisions including whether to acquiesce to star Mark Harmon's demands they axe producer and co-creator Donald P. Bellisario  (which they did).

CHARACTERS

Leroy Jethro Gibbs

But for a show to be successful it has to have a slew of interesting characters, and NCIS has them in spades. There's Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the boss: he's secretive, single-minded, determined and loyal, but, in contrast to a number of lead stars these days, he's humourless, impatient and uses his own reputation and fear as motivational tools - all elements of his Marine background.

   There's Senior "Very" Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, notable A) for his quirky surname, and B) for being the handsome womaniser: he's serious when he needs to be, but even then he provides 90% of the comic relief.

   Then there's Donald "Ducky" Mallard, the well-spoken British Medical Examiner. He's old, he's eccentric (he talks to the dead), he's a friend and mentor to everyone.

   Then there's Abby Sciuto, the forensic scientist. She's a Goth, so sets herself apart immediately by style, she's every bit as eccentric as Ducky (she names her forensic equipment), she's emotional towards all the characters and she's recognisable for the Caf-Pow drink that she demands in practically every episode.

   And then there's Timothy McGee. He's DiNozzo's understudy (kind of). He's tech-savvy, more reserved than DiNozzo, chronically unlucky in love, slightly shy and eager to please - but tough enough when his field role demands it.

LEFT: Kate Todd
RIGHT: Ziva David

   Finally, we have Ducky's assistant, Jimmy Palmer. He's been present in a recurring role since the very first season, only upgraded to main cast from season 10 onwards. He's stuttery and a little socially awkward (even his glasses make him look unsuited to social situations), but he's solid people.

   The third field agent is a female, but that role has changed more often than any other: in seasons 1-2 it was Caitlin Todd, from 3-11 it was Ziva David, and from seasons 11-present it has been Eleanor Bishop. Kate was a very reserved, religious lady who pitted her wits against DiNozzo's blatant womanising; Ziva is a much tougher character comfortable with her sexuality and easily a match for the rest of the team with her advanced combat skills. I haven't seen far enough ahead to meet Bishop yet to speak to her, unfortunately.

But in these short descriptions you see a complete contrast in personality and skillset that defines each character and makes them as individually interesting as their dynamic is as a whole. So once NCIS knew its characters, CBS needed to cast them properly.

Timothy McGee

CASTING

And boy did CBS cast them well.

   I don't think I need to explain here, since I've spread pictures of all the aforementioned characters around this roundup and you'll see how each actor or actress easily meets the personality requirements for their character.

CHARACTER CONTINUITY

This section comes in two parts: personality continuity and character tenure.

Abby Sciuto

   Firstly, the latter. American shows are built around a strong core cast and survive less time than British shows when that cast is split. You have to remember, a successful show that runs for five seasons has asked its cast to devote five years of their careers to that show. Often actors or actresses prefer to diversify at some stage, and that creates voids that shows have to fill. Case in point, the original ER cast signed initial five-year contracts - George Clooney left ER midway through season five in an explosive arc, but Noah Wyle stayed until the end of season 11. Eleven years is a huge amount of time to spend in one TV role considering most shows will never get that far.

   But NCIS has kept Gibbs, DiNozzo, McGee, Abby, Ducky and Jimmy for thirteen seasons. And, DiNozzo aside (following Weatherly's departure in season 13's finale), it will probably keep them for two more seasons at least. Keeping a core cast for so long is an incredible feat, and is certainly a huge factor in the show's lengthy success. DiNozzo's departure will be keenly felt, but those who say NCIS will flounder because of it forget that every other current character (who started the show in a main or recurring cast capacity in season 1), who the fans love and cherish - and have loved and cherished for thirteen years - still remains. That loyalty from the actors has been returned with loyalty from the fans, and in any future shows that last as long as NCIS, you'll be hard-pushed to find as stable a cast as this.

Jimmy Palmer

   (On the subject of loyalty to a show, props to a number of the Law and Order: SVU cast, two of whom stayed from seasons 1-15, while Ice-T has starred from seasons 2-present [season 18 is filming now] and Mariska Hargitay from seasons 1-present.)

The second point is personality continuity, which NCIS manages to do a lot better than most shows I've seen (at least up to season 6 where I'm currently at). Small things such as Abby's reliance on Caf-Pow (and numerous failed attempts to quit caffeine), or sporadic mentions of her bowling with nuns in her free time, or McGee's sideshow as a crime novelist, his dinosaur use of a typewriter and his love for video games, or Ziva's simple cross-season misuse of American idioms (i.e. smurf war when she means turf war), or Gibbs' passion for building boats in his garage - not to mention how he headslaps DiNozzo regularly ... All quirks or passions of our characters that the fans love, which are either mentioned or depicted in scenes throughout the show that keep our characters grounded and real and separate in their likes and dislikes. That's a huge secret of success that isn't really secret, but which in plenty of long-running shows is never kept up.

TIMESLOT

8pm Tuesday. For thirteen years. Doesn't get any easier to score hordes of viewers (season 13 averaged 16.6m, or 20.2m if you listen to Wikipedia) than a nice early timeslot in the midweek, and NCIS will hold that timeslot until the very end.

RATINGS

Ratings for NCIS's first season averaged out to just under 12m. Back in 2003, that put the show 26th in the viewer rankings, but today it would be considered an exceptional return for a new show. NCIS's ratings, however, only increased over time, and from seasons 6 to the latest season 13, it's been as high as 20m and as low as 16.6m, never dropping out of the top 5 rated shows since season 6. Of course, we don't see ratings that high beyond NCIS or its spin-off shows anymore because of the shift towards online releases - the one other exception being Empire, whose USP in cameo-ing the biggest names in music help it draw in ratings that average out to roughly NCIS's starting point of 12m.

   But a key factor in this huge viewership is:

TENURE

Dr Donald "Ducky" Mallard

NCIS is the second-longest-running scripted primetime US broadcast television show currently airing, concluding its thirteenth season with 306 episodes. It is only behind Law and Order: SVU, which has so far completed seventeen seasons and 389 episodes. Part of the gloss on NCIS's name comes from the fact that it has been so long on our TV screens that it's reached a level in TV which few ever will. Shows have to be doing phenomenally to get past the seventh season stage (where contracts are renewed and shows become infinitely more expensive), and it's a testament to the fan loyalty, the actor loyalty and the clever and consistent writing that NCIS will, before its demise, at least reach the fifteen-season mark by the end of 2018.

FRESHNESS

I'm only up to the end of season 6, so I could be commenting a little too early, but so far everything still feels very fresh. Not only do characters such as Gibbs, DiNozzo and Abby (specifically these three more than the others) feel very niche in terms of how they have been written compared with most TV characters these days, but the writing always manages to lead you into a typical TV cliché (let's say a prison riot) and subvert it (see 6x12's "Caged" for a very good example of this). The side characters are more complex than in other shows (look at FBI Agent Fornell, Gibbs' mentor Mike Franks or CIA Agent Trent Kort), and character-centric episodes (such as two episodes where DiNozzo has been framed for murder) are always varied and intelligently written.

   Like I say, it could be I'm speaking too soon - I'm not even halfway caught up yet - but at least for now the characters feel so fresh that they really leave an impact on the viewer.

Final thoughts

So that is all a show really needs to be as successful as NCIS has been. My preview of the fall schedule shows that I'll be reviewing will be released Sunday, and then my posts will be switching to the TVR Roundup Facebook page, so please like so that you're able to follow my on-season roundup from the beginning.

Beyond that, thank you everyone and see you on Sunday!

Sam