FOX Upfront Part II - Almost Human

How could we survive the year 2013 without a new TV series produced by J.J. Abrams? Luckily we don't have to find out. After this year's finale of "Fringe" his new sci-fi crime series "Almost Human" is set in 2048 and involves John Konnex (Karl Urban, "Star Trek"), a cop that is returning to work after a traumatizing incident where his partner was seriously injured (and most likely killed). He is emotionally unstable and refuses to partner with an android, which became a requirement at the LAPD in the 2 years he was gone. After he destroyed his first MX, he teams up with Dorian (Michael Ealy), an outdated model with several quirks and bugs that was designed to feel human emotions (what we can only suspect was eventually not a desirable feature for a robot).

I really miss Fringe and this trailer looks quite promising. I love imaginative future tech and the characters seem to be pretty well defined, too, so I'm looking forward to this one.

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FOX Upfront Part I - Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow is promising new series that will attract viewers that enjoy a little mystery and fantasy. We know the main story arc already - either from the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" or (more likely) the 1999 movie adaptation of the same name. So it's again Ichabod Crane vs the Headless Horseman. The twist (as seen many times within the last years): It's a contemporary retelling that is set in the Sleepy Hollow of the present. The show will premiere on September 16th, 2013 on FOX.

Interestingly, up until this point, the series is not yet in production. Filming will begin in July 2013 ^[1]. This means that everything that we see in the upfront trailer is taken from the pilot episode:

Sleepy Hollow is co-created by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (famous for the "Star Trek" and "Transformers" franchises). Tom Mison stars as Ichabod Crane, who teams up with a local police officer (Nicole Beharie). The rest of the cast includes Orlando Jones, Katia Winter and John Cho (Star Trek).

abc Upfront Part II - Mind Games

I think there's a new strategy on the Hollywood market to make long forgotten actors relevant again. Do you remember Kevin Bacon in "The Following"? Yeah? Me too. Well done, mate.

This year's not gonna be any less crazy. We have Karl Urban (Star Trek) in "Almost Human", Giovanni Ribisi in "Dads", Michael J. Fox in "The Michael J. Fox Show" and Robin Williams in "The Crazy Ones". TV shows today surely have a different stand than ten years ago...

Also, there's Steve Zahn and Christian Slater in "Mind Games". I always loved Slater, though in the last years it was very quiet around him with only minor parts in mediocre films.

The premise of "Mind Games" is the following: two brothers - one bipolar, the other a con man - run a problem solving firm that offers solutions based on psychological manipulation.

Bipolar disorder has been proven interesting after watching Carrie Matheson in "Homeland" suffer through all different kinds of emotional outbreaks. Judging from the trailer Zahn seems to be doing a good job as well and Slater could profit from that.

abc Upfront Part I - S.H.I.E.L.D.

It's Upfront time. Well, not just since today. Did you already pick your new might-be favorite TV show? No? Well, there's an informative listing to be found here:

www.tvtango.com

Every year TV show enthusiasts are faced with the unpleasant truth that probably at least one of their most favorite TV shows is going to be cancelled or is coming to an end story-wise. This year for me this has been the case for Fringe. Dexter is going to follow soon. That's how it is. HOWEVER, this is where you have to start talking about UPFRONTS. New discoveries can heal every wound, no? Well, nearly every wound. I'm pretty certain that a lot of people are still incensed about Firefly being cancelled after just one lousy season. Well, that's life. In return we get a new series developed by Joss Whedon.

Marvel - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Spin-Off of the 2012's Blockbuster "The Avengers". Airing on abc starting from Sept 3rd. Notably cast: Clark Gregg (Iron Man, The Avengers), Ming-Na (ER) and August J. Richards (Angel).

 

In Whedon universe a single trailer probably won't be able to show the strong suits of the whole series. Why? Well, with Joss it's all about interesting characters, witty dialogues and strong female leads. Something that you can't really show in a 3 minute trailer. I'm in for August J. Richards 'cause I liked him in Angel and because I hope that Phil Coulson (Gregg) is not just the nice loyal (*cough* boring) guy. And because I love Whedon. I love everything he puts his hands on.

What do you think, can Joss Whedon live up to his former glorious days when Buffy was still running and when he was earning so much praise for Firefly?