Being a midseason show has its ups and downs. On one hand, you don’t have to deal with the absolute insanity of premiere week and you get to begin airing at a time when early darkness and inclimate weather increase the time that people are inside during the evening hours. On the other, however, you premiere after some people have set their viewing habits and you simply may not get the type of marketing push that you would have gotten had you debuted in the fall.
The 2010-11 midseason (at least for me) is marked by aliens, parodies, remakes, tough Kentucky sheriffs, polygamists, drag queens, hookers, football players, boxers, cops, and more scheduling shifts than you can shake a stick at. Thanks, NBC. However, this relative grab bag subject matter also means that there are many questions that will be addressed and subsequently answered in the next 5 months. I took a gander at my midseason schedule (yes, I have one, go ahead and laugh) and came up with five that interested me, either creatively or otherwise.
How Will Big Love End?
The announcement that the HBO drama will be ending after its upcoming season was neither surprising nor saddening. After three stellar seasons, the quality slipped in season four with ludicrous subplots and a growing rift between the Henricksen clan developing. In reading interviews with the cast and creators, it seems that season five will shift the focus from eugenics and trips to Mexico to Bill’s senate win and how “coming out” as a polygamist will impact his career and the lives of the family. I may love the show and think that it can rebound creatively, but I don’t want the show to go on past its prime, so a graceful final season sounds like perfection.
But what will happen in said season? The seeds were sewn last season for the three wives to leave Bill; all three had discovered independence and a taste for the outside world, with Margene’s business, Nicki’s temporary job/haircut, and Barb’s isolation at the casino. They had all seen that there are other men out here and that they’re desirable women, which is something the ever-busy Bill has neglected for quite some time (in particular with first wife Barb who had a potential suitor for a few episodes last season). I believe there’ll be a “happy” ending with Bill “seeing the light” and scaling back his business ventures to be with his family, but I would like to see his wives all pack up and leave in order to find real happiness. Barb’s too headstrong, Nicki’s too intelligent, and Margene’s too young to be cooped up with a man who hasn’t seemed to care about any of them in a couple of seasons. To see him alone and bitter like his father would be a heart wrenching last image for the series to go out on, but it would make for powerful television and a forceful statement on remembering the important things in life.
Can Nurse Jackie Get Out of the Jam She’s In?
Jackie Peyton is getting close to Nancy Botwin/Dexter Morgan levels of being able to get off scot free. She’s had an affair with a simultaneously creepy and empathetic pharmacist while dealing with a very expensive prescription drug addiction and is falling further into the spiral of lying, using, and abusing. She’s finally been confronted on her addiction and news of her extramarital liaison may not be far from coming out. Will Jackie be able to talk her way out of this, as she has for two seasons? By the looks last season’s finale (the last look in the mirror and laugh shows that Jackie isn’t close to wanting to change), I don’t think she can fully get away; there will be no breaking her finger or faux crying spells to speak of, especially since Dr. O’Hara is now involved.
What I see is Jackie either agreeing to a stint in “rehab” where she goes through the motions to satisfy her husband and best friend (a scene of her in a NA meeting could make for great television) or the two of them helping Jackie “clean up” her life and Peyton continuing to work at the hospital while paying off her prescription bills. Either way, season three will likely be Jackie learning how to better hide her habit. The season has a chance to play up either extreme: Jackie could deal with even more ridiculous people and the show could lean toward comedy or Jackie could immerse herself into the darker side of using, potentially threatening her safety all for one fix.
Should The Game Have Been Brought Back?
While a lot of people in the television industry are skeptical about “save our show” campaigns (and I personally think a good portion are pointless but ultimately harmless), The Game is a shining example of the power of a loyal fanbase. The football dramedy, a spinoff of Girlfriends, was canceled by the CW before the 2009-10 began due to the network’s insistence on developing more dramas. Fans were outraged, there were campaigns to write the network, it all seemed so familiar, right? Well, the show had been doing wonderfully in syndication on BET, so CBS Studios saw dollar signs, as the financial benefits of a stronger syndication package trumps just about sense of pride when it comes to television. We’ll find it if it was a smart decision to come back in early January, but we don’t really know what expectations BET has for the three season old dramedy. It’s being put in a Tuesday primetime slot, so there has to be some, but the show was pulling in better numbers on the much smaller channel than it was during its original run. I’m personally thrilled it’s back, just because the third season finale didn’t have near enough closure, and hope that the now recurring status of one of the show’s central couples isn’t detrimental to the product itself.
Will Belle and Ben End Up Together?
When last we left Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Hannah/Belle’s best friend Ben had finally professed his love, but it was right as Belle was heading off on an airplane. Funny how that happens, right? In the final season of the British dramedy, we’ll be finding out if the unrequited love that has made Ben crazy with jealousy (and which Belle has been in denial over) will finally be, well, requited. In addition to questions about Belle’s career prospects, as she questions whether hooking is the right career move for her, this seems to be the central dilemma of season four. It may go against every fiber of my being, but I would adore it if the two friends decided to give it a go in the romance department. They have some of my favorite romantic chemistry to watch and they’ve not been shoved together for the sake of the show having a “‘ship”; watching the show from day one to now, you see how much their relationship has evolved and how deeply the two of them care about each other. Do I think they’ll end up together? Probably, because Call Girl is from the same television food group as Sex and the City. They may present cynical views of relationships, but at the heart of each show is a desire to be loved and just like the four women on Sex found the men for them, Belle will likely realize that Ben provides something that no other man she’s dealt with in the show has: stability.
Is There Room on Television for Two Awesome Cop Shows?
I have to admit that I’m kind of a procedural snob. I’ve tried to watch cop shows in my past, but I could never really sink my teeth into ‘em. I could recognize that they were well done or that the stories were interesting, but appointment viewing? Not so much. Well, that is, until Southland, the TNT police drama that follows officers in Los Angeles with a guerilla style of filming and gritty look at street life. It may be that it leaned more toward a character-driven procedural, but I found myself enthralled by Officer Cooper’s sexuality, Officer Sherman’s damaged childhood, and Officer Adams’s struggle to balance her personal life with her professional life.
I think I may have found my second cop show in Shawn Ryan’s The Chicago Code. First off, Jennifer Beals in general? Awesome. Throw in Matt Lauria (Friday Night Lights), some gender politics (Beals is playing the first female police chief in her department’s history), corruption, a few rough neighborhoods, and you have the makings of a solid show. Granted, it won’t be as gritty as it could be since it’s airing on network television, but it still has the potential to be a raw, emotional look at urban crime. Do I think it will be better than Southland? I really don’t know, as the previews haven’t gotten me in as much of a tizzy as I thought I’d be in over this show. I have faith, though, because the talent involved is more than solid and Fox tends to take more programming chances than its network brethren. Just please…please…please avoid beeping curse words. Because that just takes me out of the moment.
Bonus Questions:
Just how awesome will Episodes be? (By the looks of it, very. Same with Shameless.)
Can South Park update their references just a little bit? (Inception parodies in November…I can’t wait to see their Burlesque parody in April.)
Will Lights Out find an audience? (Please oh please oh pleaaassseee.)
Will the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 3 be more likable than Tyra Sanchez? (Likely, but it wouldn’t take much.)
When will CBS and ABC actually release their midseason schedules? (A quarter past How-dare-you-make-Cougar-Town-take-a-two-month-hiatus.)
All of ABCs midseason shows are scheduled except for EXTREME MAKEOVER:WEIGHT LOSS EDITION and the only timeslot that is not filled in through the end of the season in May is Thursday at 8p March-May, So I don't know what midseason schedule you expect them to release. They released it bit by bit. They didn't do it one complete swoop.
If today's USA TODAY is to be believed CBS will announced dates for CM spinoff, Mad Love this week.
Hm…random, unwarrented dig towards South Park FTW? Calling an animated show out for an "outdated" reference doesn't really hold much water. If Family Guy or the Simpsons made that episode, it'd be airing sometime in the Fall 2011 season. South Park has been critically acclaimed for their ability to push out episodes with content that references events of the last week or month or so. NO other show on TV can do this, and it isn't even possible for any other animated show out there. And really? Inception was far from outdated when the episode aired. The movie was still in theaters in November (I saw it on November 5th at a Showcase Cinemas) and was set to come out on DVD within the next 4 weeks or so. Double check the facts next time you try to randomly take an unjustified stab at a show.
Yeah but South Park is sort of known for making references that seem freakishly soon. So I kind of see Shilo's point.