Holy cow folks, it’s already September! The fall TV season is nearly upon us.
Let’s bitch it out…
We begin, as always, with our ongoing coverage:
- Tuesdays:
- Scream S1 (10pm EST, MTV) – Finale airs Sept 1
- Zoo S1 (9pm EST, CBS) – Finale airs Sept 15
- Wednesdays: America’s Next Top Model S22 (8pm EST, The CW)
- Fridays: Strike Back: Legacy S4 (10pm EST, Cinemax)
- Other: Narcos S1 (Netflix, Tuesdays and Thursdays)
Now let’s examine what’s coming up:
Lost Girl S5B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp40dMFgbKw
- Where did we leave off? Bo (Anna Silk) accidentally set about the end of the world, thanks to some selective visions courtesy of bad aunt Zeus (Amanda Walsh). Also, both Tamsin (Rachel Skarsten) and Dyson’s (Kris Holden-Ried) son, Mark (Luke Bilyk) were knocking on door’s door after being struck by lightning and stabbed, respectively.
- Why should you care? We’re in the final season, so – much like Continuum (below) – this is the end of the long-running Canadian sci-fi series. Lost Girl has always struggled to stick the landing, though how things wrap up and, more importantly for some fans, who Bo ends up with, makes these back eight episodes a must-see event.
- Who’s reviewing it? cinephilactic straps in for the end of this five years journey
- Returns: Sunday, Sept 6 at 9pm EST on Showcase in Canada
Under The Dome S3 Finale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r3uyeS_8mg
- Where did we leave off? The third season has been a farce posing as an alien invasion with new cast members Marg Helgenberger and Eric LaSalle chewing as much scenery as possible in every scene. Meanwhile, Julia Shumway’s (Rachelle Lefevre) hair continues to look Pantene perfect.
- Why should you care? Because CBS finally came to their senses and canceled this mutha! The entire third season has been an epic clusterf*ck on terrible writing, terrible acting (alien slime sex!) and terrible bait and switches (exhibit A is the clip above), so don’t you want to know what happens with these idiots try and wrap everything up?
- Who’s reviewing it? cinephilactic will be gleefully watching when the Dome (hopefully) explodes
- Concludes: Thursday, Sept 10 at 10pm EST on CBS
Continuum S4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAvLopy19XY
- Where did we leave off? After basically exploding its central premise with a mind warping third season, the Canadian sci-fi show capped things off with a WTF cliffhanger. Time travelers Kiera (Rachel Nichols) and Brad Tonkins (Ryan Robbins) ended the season surrounded by armed forces, possibly from a brand new alternative future created after the dissolution of Liber8 and the elimination of one half of the Alex (Erik Knudsen) double.
- Why should you care? The show was barely renewed for this six episode final season. The question is whether creator / exec producer Simon Barry can rein in his multiple season plans into this abbreviated run and if the series can recover from its illogically plotted third season.
- Who’s reviewing it? cinephilactic steps into the future for the final run of episodes
- Returns: Friday, Sept 11 at 9pm EST on Syfy
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2015
- What is it? The Toronto International Film Festival, or TIFF for short, is Canada’s largest and most prestigious film festival. This year the festival turns 40 and celebrates with a number of high profile Oscar hopefuls, but we’re going to stick with lesser known fare in the Vanguard and Midnight Madness programmes. Expect somewhere between five to eight reviews over the ten day period.
- Why should you care? bitchstolemyremote is expanding our coverage to film festivals. We began in July/August with our coverage of Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival, so TIFF is the next logical step. Many of the smaller films at TIFF debut well in advance of any other festival and some are never released theatrically, so this is an exciting opportunity to see controversial, challenging and confronting films with an audience (aka the way they were meant to be seen).
- Who’s reviewing it? cinephilactic will brave the long lines and late nights
- Runs: Thursday, Sept 10 – Sunday, Sept 20
Fall TV Preview 2015
- What is it? This is another new coverage piece: a day by day overview of the Fall TV calendar. We’ll single out our top picks for new and returning shows, including trailers for all the newbies
- Why should you care? How else will you decide what’s worthy of your time as roughly 50 new shows debut in the span in three weeks? Trust us – you need a strategy and a plan to survive #PeakTV.
- Runs: Sunday, Sept 13 – Friday, Sept 18
Heroes Reborn S1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FLHB2zB_cA
- What is it? Our Fall TV coverage begins with the much anticipated / feared return of Tim Kring’s Heroes franchise. Five years after the original series went off the air, HRG (Jack Coleman), Hiro (Masi Oka), Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), the Haitian (Jimmy Jean-Louis) and Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) return with a bevy of newly empowered individuals, including Chuck himself, Zachary Levi, to save the world. Unfortunately this is a different world where heroes are ostracized and hunted, so expect plenty of super powered conflict over the 13 episodes.
- Why should you care? The general consensus is that Heroes peaked in its first season and then spiraled into oblivion, with each season outdoing the previous one in terms of terribleness. After several years off, has the break cratively revitalized the series or will it return with the same narrative weaknesses that doomed it in the first place? Tune in to find out.
- Who’s covering it? cinephilactic crosses his fingers and hopes for the best
- Debuts: The two hour premiere drops Thursday, Sept 24 at 8pm EST on NBC
Blood & Oil S1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dV3HaglFqg
- What is it? The latest attempt by ABC to crack the night time soap code, this is basically Dallas meets Deadwood, only soapier and sexier. Don Johnson lends the proceedings some acting cred as the family patriarch, while Gossip Girl heartthrob Chase Crawford comprises one half of the newlywed lovers trying to make their fortune in black gold.
- Why should you care? This could be the fall’s biggest guilty pleasure or it could be a massive misfire. Unlike some of the other buzzy titles, Blood & Oil feels super low-key in terms of audience awareness. If audiences find it and feel it hits the sweet spot on Mondays, the series could break out and make waves. Either that or it’ll burn fast and bright and be gone after a few episodes. Don’t you wanna find out which way it goes?
- Who’s covering it? thedude returns to soap coverage after her self-imposed Nashville exile
- Debuts: Sunday, Sept 27 at 9pm EST on ABC
That’s it for September. October continues the onslaught with a number of high profile premieres (including the entire CW slate we’re so devoted to), so expect lots more TV coverage next month. What about you? What will you be watching? Sound off below