Summer Show Check In...

[lostdragonfound]

There have been a lot of new shows this summer. I've featured some of them in the "new shows" tag and others I've skipped, sometimes intentionally but most of the time because I just don't have the time or energy.

I'm curious (and I'm sure others are too) if anyone is watching the new shows and what they think about them.

Some of the New Shows Still Airing now:

The Leftovers
The Last Ship
The Night Shift
Halt and Catch Fire
Girl Meets World
Taxi Brooklyn
Crossbones
Dominion
Murder in the First

Comment about any of the new shows that premiered this summer (even if they've already finished the season).
What did you think? Would you recommend them to others?
Try and stay away from spoilers please :)

Comments

[lostdragonfound]

Halt and Catch Fire - I watched a few episodes of Halt and Catch Fire, but it didn't grab me at all, even though I really like Lee Pace. I gave it up a few episodes ago I guess. I have noticed the reviews are getting better now, but at the moment I've got plenty of shows to watch and I just don't care enough to go back to it to see if it's really improved.

The Night Shift - I'm loving this show. Yeah it's nothing new. It's a hospital show and typical in a lot of ways, but I'm really loving the characters a lot and it's gotten better with every episode. It's only 8 episodes this season, but has already been renewed for a 14 episode second season! I would recommend this one for sure.

Murder in The First - I'm watching this and enjoying it. Not loving it, but liking it a lot. It's weird to hear Tom Felton do an American accent though. They're doing the thing where they follow one case for the whole season. I'd recommend this too, if you like police show type things.

The Leftovers - This is just two episodes in, but I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. Yeah, it's not a happy show at all, but that doesn't bother me. There's a lot of not knowing what the hell is going on, but then that's where the characters are too, so it fits. I'd recommend this to people who don't mind a confusing downer of a show ;)

[rheasilvia]

Same here with Murder in the First. I like the way the slower pace of following a single case through an entire season allows the characters and plotlines to be traced and unfolded slowly and (hopefully) at more depth. I'm hoping to see it turn into more of a psychological thriller as the season goes on; we're still in the into stages right now, but if done right, it could turn out suspenseful and multi-layered.

Tom Felton has turned into a surprisingly good actor; I'd like to see him play a totally different role one of these days, though.

(And I just love Taye Diggs. Ahem.)

[dreams_in_color]

New summer shows are sort of hit-or-miss with me, since I'm usually still trying to catch up with the backlog of episodes of my actual favorite shows that seem to multiply on my DVR when I'm not looking. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think the only new one from that list that I've actually picked up is Dominion, which I'm liking fairly well. It's an entertaining watch, even if I'm not totally invested in the characters. I love the supernatural elements, and find the idea of warring factions of angels intriguing. It's not an overly thinky show, which is kind of perfect for summer viewing.

[healingmirth]

I'm curious, have you seen Legion? I plan on giving at least one more episode of Dominion a shot, but I was alternately bored and confused by the pilot, and I'm sure that at least some of my frustration was from comparing a very pilot-y pilot to either a movie or a typical episode of TV.

[dreams_in_color]

Nope, never saw Legion so I really don't have much to compare it to. It's not amazing by any means (and I know what you mean about the pilot being a little convoluted/meh), but I'm not that hard to please when it comes to mindless summer entertainment. I kind of like the idea of the sinister angels vs. mankind, the action-y bits, etc., too. It's kind of wacky, you know? I do hope it improves, though...I think there's some potential there. If it pales in comparison to the source material, though, I can see how it might be disappointing.

[healingmirth]

I'm not sure that Legion is likely to be stronger than Dominion on any front other than perhaps casting (maybe special effects? I'm not that picky.)

Mostly, for me, the pilot suffered from the fact that the dude playing Michael isn't Paul Bettany, but I did like most of the rest of the TV cast. I'm pretty sure I'll forgive that as the show progresses if they keep enough focus on the political maneuvering portion of the characters.

[ninetydegrees]

Watched (well fast forwarded through) the first ep of Halt and Catch Fire and I didn't really like it. I thought it was dark and cynical and I didn't feel any empathy towards any character. Clearly not something for me.

I've watched the first two episodes of Crossbones and I think it could be a good show but some things were a deal breaker: I don't like the main character at all and he's everywhere, women didn't have a strong enough presence, the story felt pointless.

I've watched all eps of Murder in the First and I'd say it's enjoyable. There are some things I don't like but on the whole it works. The main characters are likeable enough, the bad guy's interesting, the eps are well paced and I wanna know how it's gonna end.

Fast forwarded through the first ep of Dominion and while I thought it had a lot of potential I didn't think it was well executed. Acting could have been better, the show lacked subtleness and was very predictable and I couldn't get past this to enjoy it. It was just the first ep, of course. I don't know if it got better.

I'm considering checking out the Night Shift. I haven't found a new medical drama show I liked since Noah Wyle left E.R. so this might be it.

Right now I'm excited about the upcoming Welcome to Sweden.

[healingmirth]

The Last Ship seems to be fairly typical action/epidemic fare, with fairly typical Hollywood accuracy on both fronts. The production doesn't feel as tense or urgent as I would presume the actual scenario would be, unless someone's shooting someone or something, which happened several times in the first two episodes.

I haven't watched the third episode yet, so it's hard for me to predict what else is a theme vs. a one-off event, and guess what extent the show will develop the relationships, professional and personal, that it set up in the first hour.

[alorarose]

Ooooooh, I really liked ep 3! They worked more on character development and I'm really liking it!

[healingmirth]

Excellent news!

[alorarose]

I've been watching The Last Ship and really liking it, and not just because it's got Eric Dane and Adam Baldwin. I like shows that give me characters I can like and this one is doing that.

Girl Meets World is just as silly and awesome as Boy Meets World and I squeed all through ep 1. Ep 2 this weeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gonna definitely watch The Night Shift.

[poisontaster]

The Leftovers: It's bleak and I feel really confident, given that it's by a Lost alumni, that we're never going to get any concrete answers, but it's kind of hypnotizing in its bleakness. It's one of those shows where I find the white guy lead (Justin Thereaux) the least interesting of the cast, but I'm still hooked. Very white, but with lots of interesting female roles. This is clearly going to be a slow-burn show, so that has to be your kind of thing. It's also not a happy show.

The Night Shift: It's a terrible show. But I'm still watching it. It's throwing every cliche in the book at the main characters who, again, I find terminally boring, but I'm really enjoying the story of the gay military doc, Drew, who wants to be career military and his lover, Rick is also military. The women have virtually nothing to do but act as support staff for the male characters, but I'm hoping they'll find their feet. Good diversity in the cast. It's fun but dumb.

Halt and Catch Fire: I only caught the pilot and I still am not sure what I think of it...but I'm planning to watch more. It's hard to make computing really accessible and interesting in a visual medium and I think they did pretty good with that. Lee Pace is always mesmerizing to me and, once I get over her eerie resemblance to Mary Stuart Masterson from Some Kind of Wonderful, I'm intrigued by Howe. It's very obviously a slow burn type of show, so that has to be your kind of thing.

Crossbones: I tried to watch Black Sails, which has an extremely similar premise and got bored out of my mind. This does everything Black Sails was trying to do, but MUCH BETTER. More interesting, more dynamic, just BETTER. I'm really liking this, though I'm a couple episodes behind. Very actiony, not TOO brainy, but not brainLESS.

Dominion: I really liked Legion (though it was a TERRIBLE movie) and so I was predisposed to like this. But it's the kind of show that you either buy into the concept or you don't, and if you don't, you'll hate it. I find it amusing they cast Christopher Egan from Kings, since this is basically the same kind of role and I wish they'd gotten someone with more charisma for the angel Michael, but I'm in for the duration. It's very much a SyFy show.

Murder in the First: I made it through the pilot, but I was bored and checking my phone a lot and I couldn't make it through the second ep. Has the same problem that a lot of shows that do one case across a whole season do: pacing.

[eevilalice]

I'm watching Halt and Catch Fire and Murder in the First, both of which are engaging in different ways, although I'm not in love with either. I tried The Leftovers but couldn't get through the pilot.

Looking forward to Welcome to Sweden and The Strain!

[merryghoul]

Tried The Leftovers, The Last Ship, The Night Shift, Halt and Catch Fire, Crossbones and Murder in the First. Hated them all.

I like Dominion, but I don't feel like I can participate in the post here.

I also like Taxi Brooklyn, but it airs when I watch other things on TV, and I forget to catch up on it later.

[rheasilvia]

Murder in the First is very enjoyable for me - I like the way they're developing the case and the characters slowly. I love that the main suspect is a guy you love to hate, so that the viewer's main interest in watching the case develop further isn't sympathy with the accused or the hope he didn't do it because he seems so nice - it's more subtle than that. It's about what drives him, what drives the other characters; what do they really think and feel, what are they really after.

For me, it's a show about characterization, unfolding slowly and subtly. It's not brilliant, but it's solid enough so far, and since I like the two main cop characters a lot and am interested in many of the others, I'm really enjoying it.

It's the kind of show you can really only pass judgement on once the season is done, imo. :-)

Of the others, I still plan to check out Dominion and Crossbones.

[silverr]

We stuck with Halt and Catch Fire for 3 episides, but from the first it really fell flat for us. (I note that all family members are or have been part of the software or hardware development industry.) It just seemed to be trying too hard ... and for us it suffered in comparison with Silicon Valley, which we adored. Granted, that's not a fair comparison, because F&CF is trying to be a very different type of show than SV -- but H&CF ain't no Mad Men, either.