The week-long hype train known as TV Upfronts has ended. The big networks have finished rolling out first looks at their new TV shows to impress advertisers. So what looks good, and what looks bad? Hypable’s staff watched and judged the trailers for new TV shows coming in the 2016-2017 season.
We broke these down into two categories: good previews and bad previews. We won’t truly be able to make final judgement calls on these TV shows until they begin to air (because after all, trailers can be misleading). Nonetheless, many of these trailers offer significant looks at new TV shows coming in 2016 and beyond, so we couldn’t resist sharing our thoughts.
The Bad Looking TV
ABC’s ‘Imaginary Mary’
A female version of Drop Dead Fred, there is very little to suggest this will be a good show. If the show lost the quirky side kick voiced by Rachel Dratch it might be compelling family television, but the trailer just makes it look like it is trying too hard to be… something. Alice is afraid of kids, yet chooses to date someone who has three of them — which in turn, causes her imaginary friend to reappear and make sassy comments. It might be fun to watch the pilot but I don’t see the appeal on a weekly basis. — Jen Lamoureux
CBS’ ‘The Great Indoors
Not a single “millennial” can look at the trailer for this “comedy” and possibly be attracted to it. The premise is that Jack Gordon, played by Joel McHale, comes back from an outdoors-y excursion and is introduced to the modern world, where millennials and their lingo rule. One or two jokes about millennial culture? Fine. But no less than 10 bad jokes in the first three minutes of the first look? Not fine. I don’t know who this show is for, but this millennial personally doesn’t have any interest in a show that seems to go out of its way to insult him. (A review like this is exactly what Jack Gordon would expect to read.)
The one saving grace may be Stephen Fry, who appears to have a senior role at the magazine company the show is set at. It’s hard to ever hate the legendary English actor. — Andrew Sims
CBS’ ‘Pure Genius’ and ‘Bull’
Technology. We can’t live without it, but a TV series based around cool gadgets doesn’t mean instant success. For every Person of Interest and Scorpion, there’s also a Selfie and CSI: Cyber. Both Pure Genius and Bull from CBS seem to be offering a lot of flash without any substance to back it up. Pure Genius is a medical drama where a high tech, avant garde facility, owned by a billionaire genius, offers treatment that no other place does. The billionaire genius’ real goal is to find a cure for a rare, genetic disease that he’s likely inherited. Meanwhile, Bull is about a tech company that specializes in jury evaluation and manipulation led by DiNozo, Michael Weatherly, but is there really a difference? Both series feature what are really unlikeable, smarmy, white male protagonists that are stereotypes right out of central casting. Given that CBS chose to greenlight these two series rather than the “too female” Nancy Drew, it begs the question, when does CBS think the wheels came off their bus? — Laura Byrne-Cristiano
CBS’ ‘Man With a Plan’ and ‘Kevin Can Wait’
Celebrity-led TV shows can be fun; however, with the possible exception of Newhart, once a celebrity series is over, no one wants another one. It’s a case of been there, done that, have the tee shirt. CBS seems to think that giving Matt LeBlanc another series where he once again plays what amounts to the middled-aged version of Joey Tribbiani is going to reel in viewers. This time out he’s a clueless stay-at-home dad looking to take shortcuts in Man With a Plan. Can we all say “yawn?” Boring doesn’t begin to describe the concept, or LeBlanc’s predictable and limited acting range. Speaking of clueless, stay-at-home dads, why settle for one series with this repeat celebrity trope when you can have two? CBS is also offering up a Kevin James, of King of Queens fame, series called Kevin Can Wait. This time out, James is a retired cop/stay-at-home dad who is looking to take shortcuts, and whose daughter isn’t on the life plan he expected. Do we care? The answer is not nearly enough. James, granted, is more compelling than LeBlanc, but we’re left kind of wondering where Leah Remini is. — Laura Byrne-Cristiano
The Good Looking TV
Fox’s ‘Pitch’
If you weren’t already lit on fire by the idea of a TV show about a female pitcher in the MLB, the trailer should strike the match. Pitch is clearly fluent in the language of baseball, combining the familiar visuals of light and color with the tones of famous voices to build a perfectly plausible palate for Kylie Bunburry’s Ginny to take the mound. The trailer balances Ginny’s calm, remote exterior with her turbulent emotional life, and builds a strong picture of the trials and tribulations that a woman in her position would face. Overall, Pitch looks like a terrific blend of sports entertainment and serious contemplation about a sport that greatly needs a challenge — and the type of woman who could throw the perfect curveball. — Michal Schick
NBC’s ‘This is Us’
NBC goes for the soap with the trailer for This is Us, a series that links the travails of characters who share the same birthday. The cast seems interesting enough, led by Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore as the expectant parents of triplets, with Sterling K. Brown as a man searching for his father and Chrissy Metz as a woman struggling with her weight. But though there seems to be some crossover in the stories (Metz’s character shares scenes with Justin Hartley’s unsatisfied actor), the birthday connection feels like a gimmick at this stage. Still, rumors abound about some kind of twist to the tale though, so This is Us might hold more surprises than your average slice of birthday cake. — Michal Schick
CBS All Access’ ‘Star Trek’
The trailer for the new Star Trek doesn’t have much to look at (though showrunner Bryan Fuller says there are easter eggs in the preview). Nonetheless, it’s a trailer for a new Star Trek show, so it’s hard not to get excited about it. Who are these new heroes? New villains? New worlds? We’ll just have to wait until next year (and pay an extra $5.99 per month for All Access, CBS’ version of Netflix) to find out. — Andrew Sims
ABC’s ‘Conviction’ starring Hayley Atwell
Fans of Hayley Atwell will be happy to see her on TV, even if it isn’t in her role as Peggy Carter. Atwell sheds her good girl image for an excessively bad girl who happens to be a former first daughter, with her mother now running for the Senate. But it isn’t just Atwell who makes this pilot appealing. She is joined by Eddie Cahill, Emily Kinney, Merrin Dungey, Shawn Ashmore, and Many Montana, all of whom have been on other successful shows and are enjoyable to watch. Clearly this show will have a weekly case with Atwell playing an anti-hero of sorts who needs to figure herself out. The show has appeal because of the cast and potential — if they can find a way to make the case of the week different from other shows. — Jen Lamoureux
ABC’s ‘Notorious’
While the trailer looks interesting, it also feels like we’ve seen it before. The lawyer aspect feels a little like Harvey Specter from Suits, while Piper Perabo’s character feels a lot like Quinn from UnReal. She could also be the Olivia Pope of TV producing given the way she handles a situation. This trailer makes the show seem appealing, with the snappy dialogue and best friends with shady ethics theme, but how will that stand up over time? I’m not sure it will unless the show finds some heart to inject into the plot. — Jen Lamoureux
NBC’s ‘Timeless’
Time travel is something that TV has tackled before, from Quantum Leap to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. What makes it successful is having a fresh hook, an interesting cast, and great writing. In Timeless, NBC seems to be going with “Let’s go back in time to protect history from the madman who wants to change it” trope. According to NBC, the team sent back to stop the madman includes a scientist, a soldier and a history professor. Even though the concept isn’t that original, the series does seem to have other things going for it. The cast has a bit of diversity, and they don’t appear to have gone down the helpless female path. There’s also some smart writing where a reluctant African-American scientist turned pilot talks about not wanting to go back because, “I am Black. There is literally no place in American history that would be awesome for me.” Later on, after he’s thrown in jail and experiences first-hand exactly what he was afraid of, he tells his jailer, “I hope you live long enough to see Michael Jordan dunk, Michael Jackson dance, Mike Tyson punch… really just any black guy named Michael, because the future is not on your side.” Hopefully, more writing like this will overcome the predictability of the plotline. — Laura Byrne-Cristiano
ABC’s ‘Time After Time’
ABC has its own take on time travel with Time After Time . It’s a bit of a Kate and Leopold kind of approach. Instead of going back in time, we have travelers from the 19th century coming forward in time. The show is based on the 1979 novel by Karl Alexander. It imagines a world in which H.G Wells, the author of The Time Machine, actually created a functioning time machine that his friend, who just so happens to be Jack the Ripper, uses to travel forward to present day New York. When Wells catches up with his friend in a bar, Jack gleefully tells him, “In our time I was a freak. Today I am an amateur. Violence and bloodshed, isn’t it glorious?” It seems like Wells will be attempting to deal with Jack with the help of one of Jack’s future victims as well as his own great-granddaughter, with whom he’s unknowingly communicated. Ripper tales have been done before, but this one seems to offer a fresh spin. — Laura Byrne-Cristiano
CBS’ ‘MacGyver’
Reboots on TV work if a new series manages to strike a balance of paying homage to the former series without being slavishly over-devoted to it. Battlestar Galactica, and Hawaii Five-0 navigated this dynamic well. On the other hand, Minority Report and Heroes Reborn… not so much. The MacGyver reboot on CBS has our attention. The original featured a 30-something MacGyver who was already well experienced. This time around, it’s more like MacGyver: The Hipster Years, but we mean that in the best way possible. It will be cool to see how MacGyver becomes the legend in a new mythology. He still has his confidence, but he’s not going to have all the answers and experience in his 20’s that he did in his 30’s.