Good news my dear TV-lovers. With all those new shows out there, I know you might feel a bit lost, a bit overwhelmed and just a tiny bit tempted to throw your homework out the window, call in sick at work, or worse – decline your friends’ calls so you have enough time to check out every. single. new. premiere.
Anti-social much?
I sympathize. How, oh how, are we supposed to see EVERYTHING? I mean, we need to sleep at some point, right?
Well, we can’t see everything. But together, we can easily narrow down what’s worth our time and what… isn’t. So let’s not waste any more time! Read ahead for some special insider analysis. A warm thank you to this week’s contributor, Katharina Kandt, for providing AntennaFree with her perspective on which shows deserve a chance.
Ready? Here are Katharina’s top 3 MUST-WATCH shows of this fall season:
Procrastination is on… again! Instead of studying, I’ll admit that I spent my whole weekend devoted to watching this fall’s TV shows for you guys. So here we go with three shows you must switch on. Right now. Trust me, I’ve seen them all!
1. How To Get Away With Murder
The first must-watch is the most highly anticipated ABC fall TV thriller, “How To Get Away With Murder.” Created by Peter Nowalk and produced by Shonda Rhimes (also the producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal). The show is aired on Thursday’s just after Scandal, at 10:00 p.m.
Absurd, jaw-dropping and stylish, HTGAWM does not disappoint. Without being as cautious as “The Good Wife,” it will instantly suck you in with Viola Davis owning the show, supported by an equally promising cast and a crazy, but great, storyline.
We begin at Philadelphia University during a bonfire. Everybody is wildly partying, except for four law students. Wes Gibbons (Hogwarts’ alumni Alfred Enoch), Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King), Laurel Castillo (Karla Souza) and Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee) are frantically trying to figuring out how to cover up a murder.
Flashback to three months earlier: The four students are meeting each other on the first day of law school. Law professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) begins her first class, bullying her students before announcing a competitive case study. The students are sharp and instinctively predatory. Even the adorably naive Wes is constantly looking for ways to get ahead.
Line up this pilot against the other newbies this fall, and HTGAWM is among the sharpest, catchiest and most fun. A jar of questions is opened and there’s plenty of room for character development. It seems that viewers will be presented weekly with fascinating courtroom drama, a weekly case headed by Viola and supported by her best students and, lastly, on top of it all: shocking murder mystery. This is a highly entertaining drama that’s all about pace and flair.
Rhimes’ characters take risks and get themselves into perfectly ridiculous scenarios. They rattle out dialogue that most of us might only think about in the aftermath when faced with such conversations. They are bold and they are savvy, and this time around… they may very well get away with murder.
So count me in for watching Annalise Keating and her students while holding my breath and clinging onto my pillow.
2. Madam Secretary
Second on my list is Madam Secretary, CBS’s new political drama. No, it’s not about Hillary Clinton, although both are blonde. But the show does makes you immediately think about “The West Wing” and “House of Cards.” And you’re right – it blends both of them with an idealistic worldview on top, which is quite unusual in our rather-pessimistic-2014 world.
Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni), a former CIA analyst, now works as a college professor who lives out in the countryside with her cute professor husband (Tim Daly) and her children, including a son who is obsessed with conspiracies to such a degree that you might start rolling your eyes. The death of the Secretary of State in a plane crash interrupts the idyll. Elizabeth’s former boss and current President of the United States, Conrad Dalton (Keith Carradine) wants her to take over the job.
Elizabeth is unconventional: she skips inter-office politics and gets down to business, which doesn’t help when making first impressions. The staff immediately hate her, the West Wing is skeptical, and something is wrong with the last secretary’s disappearance. But Elizabeth is up for the challenge.
Smartly written and with a great cast, the series offers a welcome mix of brain, heart and humor to an audience who is used to broken heroes, twisted ambitions and a sardonic view of the U.S. government. Leoni plays Elizabeth with confidence and authenticity. Unlike so many of her American female powerful leads, Elizabeth doesn’t scream, she doesn’t cry, she doesn’t take drugs or throw up her latest meal and she doesn’t have secret sex with the President. Instead she simply outsmarts all politicians and… saves the world. Not bad for a start.
Madam Secretary is a clever and enthralling D.C. drama, which is definitely on top of this fall’s dramas. I only hope to see more tension develop, when the “saving the world” mentality of Elizabeth is challenged with all sorts of real world conflicts. Regardless, this show requires our attention.
3. The Affair
Now for the third show, at first I actually didn’t even want to watch it. I found the idea of a show about an affair to be an extremely ridiculous idea. But I gave it a try and now I’m totally into it. You haven’t discovered it yet? That’s good, because it only gets better.
Each episode of Showtime’s “The Affair” is told from two perspectives: The first half belongs to New York author Noah (Dominic West), who’s visiting the Hampton’s with his wife (Maura Tierney) and kids. The second half is Alison’s time to talk (incredibly played by Ruth Wilson); she’s a married waitress who is living there and tragically lost her four-year-old son. And as if this is not intriguing enough, Noah and Alison are each telling their stories to a detective who’s probably investigating a murder (we don’t know who’s dead). Given that their memories don’t always match, it’s likely that they’re both not reliable.
It is a witty, subtle, adult drama with a fascinating cast, but what makes this story so compelling is not only that it gets so many details right about where exactly couples’ memories diverge, but also that the characters so far only exist in Noah’s and Alison’s memories. The whole story is not only built around the concept that the two lead characters are cheating on their partners, but hinting at the possibility that they’re involved in an even worse crime. A bit like “Lost,” the Hampton’s are full of mysteries created by the characters.
Is Noah’s best-selling-author father-in-law really so competitive about writing, or is Noah just jealous of his success? Is Noah’s rich wife really that rude to servers, or does that idea just come from Alison’s guilt? Is Cole (Joshua Jackson) a loving husband or an abusive one? In Noah’s part, Alison is a sundress-wearing, constantly flirting and seductive woman who invites him to see her outdoor shower after only two minutes of conversation. But half way through, perspectives shift and now Alison is a tragic figure mourning the loss of her son, who is not trusting this stranger who asks to walk her home. And her story seems much more believable. The murder mystery is compelling with its expertly timed tiny clues, but the real intrigue lies in psychoanalyzing Noah’s and Alison’s motives – as a means of believing their stories and getting to know two different tales.
All of this helps “The Affair” fulfill its original promise: to be different from what has already been done before. Many shows like to say they’re more than mysteries at their core. But “The Affair” achieves this, while also pulling viewers in deeper.
What did you think of these premieres?
Did Shonda Rhimes nail it, will “Madam Secretary” dig into Washington’s political machinery, and whom should we believe in “The Affair”?
Do these shows deserve a second glance?
Yes, yes and yes.
You heard her, check out these shows and let us know what you think below! And remember, if you ever want to contribute to AntennaFree, just inbox us and we will take a hard look at what you have to say. We love hearing your thoughts, and we want our readers to share what they’re thinking. Don’t be shy!
And happy watching!
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