Deception "Pilot" & "Nothing's Free, Little Girl": AKA: My First Impressions

Ok, I admit I'm a little slow on this one, it took me a bit of time to get on the Deception bandwagon, mostly because the show airs at 10pm on Mondays, which as we all know is Castle time so clearly that took priority. Never the less, while the boy was out last night, I came home to a glass of wine and the first two episodes of Deception. 

I fully admit that when I saw the script last pilot season, my first thought was that this was NBC trying to cash in on the success of ABC's Revenge, and maybe it is, but that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. The idea behind the show is that prominent socialite, Vivian Bowers is found dead, of an apparent accidental overdose. The FBI however, believes that she may have been murdered, by someone in her family. And so they bring in SFPD officer Joanna Locasto, who grew up in the Bowers home as her her mother worked for them, to go undercover and try and find the murderer.

The cast is a DREAM! Ok, well for me it is, as it is made up of actors who I thoroughly love and enjoy, which is the main reason I started to watch. I mean Victor Garber, come on, Titanic, Alias, the list goes on, that man radiates talent. Tate Donovan will forever be the voice of Hercules in my mind, regardless of whatever else he does.

Wes Brown. Yup that was the full sentence right there. I have such a crush on that man, I wanted to love him when he was on Hart of Dixie but lets face it, when it comes to that show, my heart belongs to Wade. Honestly though Wes Brown, is dreamy and I am already mildly in love with Julian. Even though they allude to the fact that he may have been the murderer, I am still a bit head over heels.

Ella Rae Peck as Mia is fabulously bitter and bitchy. You make recognize her from her guest stint as Lola on Gossip Girl, or from several guest spots on Tv, and a few small movie roles, but let me tell you this girl is amazingly talented. I am so happy she is now a series regular and will now be appearing weekly on my tv.

Even the smaller roles have been cast with awesome people I adore, David Gelles, Ken Leong (MILES!!!!! from Lost), Bree Williamson (best know as Jessica Brennan on One Life To Live), Mackenzie Leigh, and Jackie Stewart.

I do have to say though, with all the cast that I am in love with, I actually don't overly care for Meagan Good or Laz Alonso, which considering that they are supposed to be two MAJOR parts of the story may end up being a problem. However I don't hate them, I just am not nearly as excited by their characters as I am by some of the the others.

On a whole the first two episodes held my attention, and I am definitely looking forward to next weeks episode.

Top Five: Shows of Last Pilot Season...Sorta

Well we are in the thick of pilot season now, which accounts for my lack of updates, sorry guys.

As I wade through scripts for countless doctor/lawyer shows and the inevitable copycat shows, already looks like there is a "new" American Horror Story and a "new" Homeland, I am reminded of what the last pilot season had to offer. So I've decided to do a Top Five of my favorite shows to come out of last pilot season. Here they are in no particular order:

1) Revenge - Ok, I admit it, when I first heard about the show I really didn't understand how they were going to make this premise work as a weekly show. As a movie or mini series sure, but I couldn't see how they could continue out this story week after week without it going stale. I am beyond pleased to say how wrong I was. Revenge has become one of my favorite shows, you know one of those shows you just devour. The cast is amazing, I don't even have words to describe how amazingly talented I find Madeline Stowe. It's a show that I look forward to week after week.

2) American Horror Story - I have mixed feelings about this show, but for reasons that will soon be explained, feel it had to be included in the Top Five. The show wasn't as terrifying as I had initially been lead to believe it would be. The first episode I unnecessarily forced The Boy's Brother, who is our other roommate and 6'5 to watch with me in case I freaked. Was the show creepy? Yes. Disturbing? Often. Terrifying? Not really, well except for the underutilized "infantada". That thing was the stuff of nightmares. But I digress, despite being littered with plot bunnies, often time confusing/frustrating, American Horror Story did do one thing I loved. It got people talking, discussing, theorizing. I'm a big fan of shows that get you thinking. While it was airing, Thursdays, and Fridays too for those of us who would DVR it, meant that the office was a buzz with conversation about that week's episode.

3) Hart of Dixie - I grew up in what I like to reffer to as the "Glory Days of the WB". It was the station to watch, they had Buffy, Angel, 7th Heaven (when it was still good), Dawson's Creek, the short lived Young Americans (which had Ian Somerhalder) and Dead Last (which had Tyler Labine). Side bar if anyone remembers those last two shows we need to be friends. Anyway Hart of Dixie brings the CW back to the WB hay day, with it's cute, feel good vibe and really, it's hard not to love a show that has Scott Porter and a very often shirtless Wilson Bethel.

4) The Finder - So I know we have just recently gotten a taste of this new show but as a fan of Bones since the beginning I felt it had to be given a spot. The show, although still finding it's legs,  has made some positive changes since the backdoor pilot during an episode of Bones last year. Saffron Burrows Ike is no more, replaced, without any mention, with Mercedes Masohn's Deputy U.S. Marshal Isabel Zambada and Maddie Hasson's Willa Monday. Throw in the riddiculously awesome guest stars, Brett Davern (Awkward), John Francis Daley (Bones), Wilson Cruz (My So Called Life), my random adoration Ian Reed Kesler (guest star on EVERYTHING), with Geoff Stults and Michal Clarke Duncan and you got some serious gold.


Okay, okay so after mulling this over for two days I have only come up with four. Sure, there were other shows I like that came out of last years pilot season, The New Girl, Once Upon a Time,  2 Broke Girls, Person of Interest, but they haven't made it to my MUST view lists. Then of course there is Alcatraz, and Touch, which haven't been on long enough for me to officially proclaim them, and factor in the scores of shows I am still DYING to see, Awake (can we just please get that on the air ASAP), Apt 23, The River top that list, by the way. So there you have it my Top Four pilots of last year.

Hart Of Dixe: AKA: Time To Choose A Team

It is inevitable, in today's culture where ever a love triangle exists teams will develop. Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? Team Stefan or Team Damon? Team Matty or Team Jake? Team Daniel or Team Jack? We can't help it, we love taking sides. And Hart of Dixie provides us with love quagmire to bog through.

Today let's focus on Zoe's triangle, the hot, dirty, sexy, bad boy Wade or the hot, clean cut, sexy, good boy George. If only we all had such problems, but I digress.

First, it must be made clear that I adore Scott Porter, and his George is the sweet, caring kind of man that any girl would be lucky to have in their life. He is one of the few people to show Zoe any kind of friendliness when she arrives in Bluebell, and has come to her aid/rescue on several occasions. He is the perfect southern gentleman and even wanted to stand up to Brick, his soon to be father-in-law, in front of the whole town so that Zoe would get the credit she deserved for saving the farmer's life.

Then we have Wade, who,while a bit brash and adorably annoying at times, is actually really good for Zoe. He's the bad boy with a heart of gold. Which, honesty Ladies, isn't that what deep down, we all secretly pine for. He doesn't like admitting it, even to Lavon, but he does care for Zoe. Case in point, he made the Gumbo for her, then refused to admit to it. He didn't do it for the gratitude, he did it to help her fit in, which is what she wants more than anything.

With George its safe, and comfortable. He is able to talk about New York with her, to understand both of the worlds she's lived in. While Wade pushes her buttons, and makes her challenge herself. Which seems to be exactly what she needs.

If George is the guy every girl wants to marry, well then Wade is the guy ever girl wants to sleep with.

So I am taking a stand, and officially announcing my membership to Team Wade. Not that I don't love George, but Zoe really needs someone who's going to challenge her, and who better to do that then Bluebell's resident bad boy?

Week Four: AKA: Making Decisions

So we're into week four of the fall tv season, and decisions are being made. I've gone through several weeks of new shows and am starting to make my decisions onto which shows I am going to make the commitment to. So far here are my updated verdicts:

Sundays

Homeland (10pm Showtime)
Ok, so I've only gotten my hands on the pilot, but as I've said before I ADORE Mandy Patinkin and as I think the concept an amazing new take on a familiar fear. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more.

Pan Am (10pm ABC)
I wasn't sure I was going to continue watching this show after the pilot, but three episodes later and I find myself looking forward to each new episode. I adore Captain Dean (AKA: Mike Vogal, who will always be Dean from Grounded For Life to me), and Kate Jennings Grant has a recurring as role as Judith Cameron, Laura and Kate's mother. She just flat out rocks, and she is way prettier then they make her up to be.

Mondays

Terra Nova (8pm Fox)
I am well aware I need to be watching this show, and fully admit to it being my fault that I have yet to catch up. However due to my due to my commute anything airing before 10pm is a gamble on whether or not I make it home to watch.

Hart of Dixie (9pm CW)
It's a cute show, and three weeks in and I am still entertained. Is it a thought provoking master piece? Hardly, but it's sweet and a good way to the hour before Castle.

Playboy Club (10pm NBC)
Well the decision was made FOR me here. It wasn't the best show I had ever seen, but it was interesting enough. I was really looking forward to seeing where the storyline between Sean and Bunny Alice was headed. Homosexuality in the 1960's is not something we, the viewers, have been readily exposed to, I was really interested to see how they handled it. Unfortunately we may never know.

Tuesdays

Ringer (9pm CW)
This is one of the saddest hings I've typed. I was psyched for the premiere and raced home for the second episode, I was beyond excited to have Buffy Summers and Richard Alpert once again gracing my screen. Yet now after three episodes, I've realized I don't really care about the story. It's not a bad show, it just seems to be moving fairly slowly, and I don't really care about the characters themselves.I'm going to stick with it or awhile but sad to say when the mid season replacements start up, I'll probably end up watching something else instead.

Wednesday

Revenge (10pm ABC)
This show was honestly a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sure how they were going to sustain this as a tv show, as opposed to a movie, but, at least for now, it seems to be working quite nicely. More importantly, I actually "care" about the characters. I want to befriend Nolan, console Jack about his father, and while I'm not 100% sure how I feel about Victoria, I know that I want to know more about her.

American Horror Story (10pm FX)
We're only one episode in and honestly I am still in WTF mode. I'm not giving up on it just yet, but honestly the jury is still out on whether or not it's being added to my regular schedule. 

Thursday

Person of Interest (9pm CBS)
I still need to catch up but I'm gonna stick with it, because let's face it Ben Linus always has a plan.

Hart of Dixie: AKA: The CW Finally Gets a Feel Good Show

It's been a long time since the WB/CW had a real feel good hit. In fact although the WB thrived on them, 7th Heaven, Everwood, Gilmore Girls, to name a few, I'm not entirely sure the CW has had any.

Hart of Dixie seems to be the CW's attempt to remedy this travesty, and so far they're off to a good start. The show, which premiered last night, is the story of a young doctor, Zoe Hart, who's life suddenly isn't headed where it was supposed to anymore, she hits rock bottom & through a series of events ends up moving to Bluebell, Alabama.

It's pretty much your typical "fish out of water" story, but it's done with such charm and witt that you find yourself wishing you lived in a small southern town. Especially if the men all look like Scott Porter and Wilson Bethel. Side bar, how awesome is it to still have Scott Porter on tv? Of course my love of Mr. Porter dates back to his musical theatre days, Altar Boys anyone?

I also enjoyed that, Rachel Billson aside, everyone on the show looked like real people, not the still overly pretty versions of real people that tv seems to thrive on. It's nice to see a town where not everyone could be/is a model.

The pilot was cute and uplifting, definitely something I want to tune in for next week.