My Top 7 New Shows of 2016
Fall is here and you know what time it is, TV Time! Now, like I do every year, I talk about my favorite new shows of the season. Sadly, I will not include whatever new shows are premiering in the Winter. However, I am excited for the return of Prison Break and 24.
This was actually a tougher list to write. With the exception of one show, I felt as if all the shows were on relatively equal footing. Things might change on how I feel depending how the season ends. As I write this, I’m only half way through the seasons.
7. FREQUENCY
There is another show that deals with time travel that debuted this season, but that one (Timeless) is terrible. Frequency is the better one. Unfortunately, this show probably won’t get picked up by season’s end. Frequency is based on the movie of the same name. I did watch that movie, but I don’t remember it. Frequency is about a detective who’s able to communicate through her father twenty years in the past through a ham radio. She saves his life and changes history, including getting her mom killed.
Part of me likes this because of Peyton List. She was one of the best things about The Tomorrow People and she’s now stuck in CW contracts, which is OK I guess. While I like this show, I don’t love it. The entire cast does an excellent job but I wish Frequency would delve deeper into the ramifications about changing things. Despite having her mom died, Raimy nor anyone else, doesn’t make a comment that maybe the father should have died or that they shouldn’t have changed history because more people died because of it. Feels like a miss opportunity.
6. LUKE CAGE
Luke Cage is another Marvel Netflix show. The Netflix shows are starting to outshine Marvel’s big screen movies. Whereas the movies have become rather formulaic and boring, Netflix shows are more mature and do different things. Luke Cage is about a bulletproof, black man. Very topical in today’s world.
This show would have been ranked higher if it was shorter. Unfortunately, somewhere around episode six, my favorite character died and the show kinda dragged after that. It picked up again when Rosario Dawson came on board, but the presence of her kind of short changed Misty Knight. Still unlike Jessica Jones and Daredevil, Luke Cage isn’t as mopey and emo as those two. I can’t wait to see him paired with Iron Fist. It will be a Sweet Christmas when that happens.
5. DESIGNATED SURVIVOR
I miss watching Keifer Sutherland on TV. He played one of the all time, great characters in Jack Bauer. While 24 is returning, it’s sadly going to be without him. Before our elections, I honestly wouldn’t have cared if they blew up everyone in Washington DC. I feel like this country needs a fresh start and it may get one soon. Since the elections happened, I still feel the same way, although I do generally like Obama and his family and wouldn’t want them to die.
Anyways, craziness American politics aside, while this show does a good job at portraying what would most likely happen in the scenario, it’s still a little weird to watch. Mainly because it’s like watching Jack Bauer before he was Jack Bauer. Kirkman is a bit of a wimp and it’s all new to him. And while I get that Bauer was a character, Kirkman is a character, and Sutherland is a good actor, it all still feels a little too similar to 24.
Still, as much as I want to do a rewatch of 24, I am enjoying Designated Survivor. But in my mind it’ll always be a prequel to 24.
4. LETHAL WEAPON
Out of all the shows I was looking forward to, Lethal Weapon was the one I was most worried about. I still remember that terrible Rush Hour show. Luckily, this has Damon Wayans in it so I wasn’t too worried about it. If you enjoy the movies and like the buddy cop genre like I do, you’ll like this. It’s not as serious as the first two movies but it’s not as goofy as the third and fourth movies either. I think it strikes a good balance.
The one part I was curious about was Riggs. Despite how crazy Mel Gibson is now, Clayne Crawford had some big shoes to fill. But fill them he does. However, I think the most important thing they had to get right was the chemistry between the two leads. They nailed that too. I hope this show last a decent amount of time because despite all the cop shows on TV, there’s nothing on like this.
3. THE EXORCIST
Now while Lethal Weapon was a surprise of the season, the biggest surprise goes to The Exorcist. I wasn’t expecting much from this. I didn’t know if it was a remake or sequel, but as the weeks went on, I heard nothing but good things about it. So I decided to catch up on it and it’s surprisingly good!
Aside from the shitty CGI sequences that tend to briefly happen once an episode, this show is creepy on all fronts. The acting is good and the mystery is intriguing. It also expounds on the original The Exorcist in a good way unlike the crappy, forgettable sequels. The only downside is that I can’t see this lasting more than one season. Anything else and it’d basically be Supernatural. Granted, it’d be Supernatural in the good years when demons were scary, but I already watched that show, and I watch Teen Wolf so I don’t need another show like those.
Much like Revenge and Sleepy Hollow, this is probably best done as a one and done. I believe those used to be called mini-series.
2. THE GOOD PLACE
While both The Exorcist and Lethal Weapon surprised me, at least I had heard of those shows. I didn’t hear anything about The Good Place and I had no idea what it was about. I caught a commercial one day and decided to give a go. You know, because I don’t have enough shows to watch, and I do like Veronica Mars.
The Good Place is where you go after you die, if you’re good. However, Kristin Bell’s character is there by a mistake. It’s surprisingly funny and somewhat insightful. It also has the most diverse cast on television. After watching some of Kristin Bell’s bad movies, I had forgotten that I enjoy her on the small screen. She’s better too. Maybe she’s just one of those actors that should stick to TV and not movies…or get better scripts. Who knows? However, the shine of this show is Janet and even Ted Danson. If I ever ask my electronic device for things, I’m naming it Janet!
1. WESTWORLD
The months prior, I had heard of Westworld and the excitement nerds had for it. However, I still didn’t know what exactly Westworld was about until maybe a week before it aired. And while I read what it was about, I thought the premise was rather lame in that we’ve been there and done that before. Still, I gave it a shot.
In the simplest terms, Westworld has to do with the beginnings of artificial intelligence and questions our own humanity. It also feels like a video game or a more mature Holodeck episode as people live out their fantasies usually in violent, graphic, brutal and sexual ways. The acting, the writing, and the set design is top notch though. I think that’s what brings me in more than anything. And I do like the questions it brings up even if I had heard of it before. If there’s one weakness, I want to know if there are more theme parks with different time periods, and if not, why did they settle on the Old West?
Those are my top new shows of this season. Are there any I’ve missed and you would recommend?
Marc Johnson
