The first episode of Under the Dome starts of promising enough but soon turns into a great big steaming pile of “meh.” The overall concept of a small town cut off from the outside world by a mysterious invisible dome is promising. I think this alone could have made a good story – I see that as 127 Hours but with hundreds of people. But instead we get two “mustache twirling” villains in “Big Jim” (Dean Norris) and son Junior (Alexander Koch). Big Jim sees the dome as a way to seize power in the town while Junior sees it as a way to lock away his friend with benefits Angie (Britt Robertson) in the families fall out shelter.
Will Big Jim turn the town of Chester’s Mills into a dictatorship? Will Junior get even crazier? Will I watch more than three episodes of Under the Dome before giving up on this one?
Usually, the summer TV season means lots of interesting fall shows go on break which are replaced with lots of uninteresting reality shows and other burn-off series the networks don’t have much confidence in. Last season was a bit different. Not much the networks did was successful and, other than a short lived but intense period of quality TV this spring, I didn’t find much of anything to watch last fall/winter on TV.
But this summer there are more than a few series I’m watching/planning to check out.
Under the Dome on CBS
Falling Skies, Sundays at 10 on TNT TNT’s drama about the remnants of humanity fighting back against an alien invasion sill delivers the goods. Now in its’ third season, a new alien race has been introduced that might just give what’s left of the human race the upper hand on the other alien invaders. But can these new aliens be trusted, or do they want the planet for themselves?
Family Tree, Sundays at 10 on HBO I’m digging this Christopher Guest improvised comedy about Tom Chadwick (Chris O’Dowd) who inherits a trunk of family heirlooms and decides to go on a genealogical journey to find his roots.
Under the Dome, Mondays at 10 on CBS I’m genuinely excited about this one about an otherworldly dome that suddenly covers a small town in Maine. My only caveats are; it’s on CBS and CBS isn’t exactly known for risky or innovative series, I quite liked the ending of the Under the Dome novel and CBS version of the series will be open ended with an eye to bringing the show back again next year if it’s successful. Still Under the Dome in 2014 then?
Underbelly: Badness
Underbelly: Badness Wednesdays at 9 on Audience Network (DIRECTV) I greatly enjoyed the first two seasons of this Australian series but thought the third was just alright but I didn’t care all that much for the fourth series or the three TV movies that followed. I only checked out Badness because there wasn’t much else on and I was happy to find that this series marks a return to greatness for this true-life crime drama franchise.
The Fall, Netflix Watching Hannibal the same time I started watching The Fall on Netflix almost gave me serial killer drama overload. Luckily, The Fall takes a different tact on serial killers. Here, Gillian Anderson plays Stella Gibson, a detective who’s trying to find a killer of women (Jamie Dornan) in Belfast, Ireland. In The Fall, the story plays out with Gibson searching for the killer and the killer planning his next attack. Gibson has got to be one of strongest female characters on TV, maybe ever.
Orange Is the New Black, available July 11 on Netflix This drama/comedy about life behind the bars of a women’s prison is by Jenji Kohan who also created the hit series Weeds.
The Bridge on FX
The Newsroom, Sundays beginning July 14 on HBO The second season of Aaron Sorkin’s drama about the inner-workings of Will McAvoy’s nightly new show promises to bring more intrigue and long Sorkin speeches to the cable news game.
The Bridge , Wednesdays beginning July 10 on FX Based on a Scandinavian crime drama of the same name, in The Bridge one detective from the US (Diane Kruger) and one from Mexico (Demián Bichir) must investigate the murder of a woman found literally on the border of these two countries.
Low Winter Sun 8/11, Sundays beginning August 11 on AMC This one is based on a British series. Here, a cop kills another cop but instead of getting away with murder finds himself stuck on the other side of the law.
We live in a time where there’s not ONE or TWO or even THREE post-apocalyptic TV series. There’s FIVE!
Falling Skies
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Do I watch? Yep.
The good: When the story is paced well, the stories of TWD are amazing.
The bad: When the story is paced poorly, TWD can be as slow as molasses.
Revolution (NBC)
Do I watch? I did, but I gave up on it.
The good:Revolution is a fantastical version of The Walking Dead minus the zombies that’s heavy on action and light on horror.
The bad: Ultimately, Revolution had a lot of promise but it tried to hard to sell the central plot point of why all electrical devices stopped working. Which honestly I just didn’t find all that interesting.
Falling Skies (TNT)
Do I watch? Yep.
The good: At it’s best, Falling Skies is a dark look at last remnants of humanity trying to hold on to what’s left and fight back against an alien invasion.
The bad: I didn’t think the second season of Falling Skies was as good as the first. It seemed a bit lighter in tone and this might be intentional. Regardless, I still really like this show.
Defiance (SyFy)
Do I watch? I haven’t seen this one.
The good: Anytime SyFy creates original programming other than reality series is a good thing.
The bad: So I need to play a video game in order to fully understand the Defiance TV series? C’mon!
Under the Dome (Premiers June, CBS)
Will I watch? I’m planning on it.
The good: Based on a Stephen King novel of the same name. Need I say more?
The bad: CBS isn’t exactly known for critically acclaimed series. And the vibe I’m getting from Under the Dome is more Revolution than The Walking Dead.
“This is a great novel coming to the television screen with outstanding auspices and in-season production values to create a summer programming event,” said Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment. “We’re excited to transport audiences Under the Dome and into the extraordinary world that Stephen King has imagined.”
