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Fall TV: A guide to 2012’s new shows TV critic Hank Stuever grades 22 of fall’s pilot episodes. Some primetime winners include “Call the Midwife” and “The Mindy Project,” while others like the “The Mob Doctor” and “Made in Jersey” tank.
"Go On" — Grade: B-
Matthew Perry’s new NBC comedy “Go On,” in which he plays a man who joins a grief support group, got a whole helium tank of hype during the Olympics in August — and some inflated ratings to match — but the initial episode was, you know, just okay. Perry seems older yet sharper and more at home here in this role as Ryan King, a hotheaded sports-radio host whose wife died in a car crash while attempting to text him a reminder to pick up coffee at the store. The dark humor here isn’t terribly dark — and occasionally just cloudy gray.
Jordin Althaus
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NBC
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"The Mindy Project" — Grade: A-
From left: Mindy Kaling, Ed Weeks and Chris Messina. Everything about Fox's “The Mindy Project” is so very Kaling and happily spot-on, starting with the strength of the whip-smart jokes and dialogue. Drawing a bit from the tales she shared in her best-selling memoir, the fictional Mindy is a self-aware but also neurotic central character — a good Indian daughter who went to medical school and became an OB-GYN, even though all she ever really wanted to do was splay on the couch and watch Nora Ephron-style rom-com movies from the 1990s. In a moment of self-loathing, she resolves to undertake a “Mindy project” of renewed discipline, revamping her social life and choices in men. It’s a losing proposition, but a winning show.
Beth Dubber
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Fox
"Revolution" — Grade: B
From left: Tracy Spiridakos, Anna Lise Phillips, Zak Orth. NBC throws in with J.J. Abrams (of “Lost” and so much else) for this adventure-drama set 15 years after all the lights, engines and electronics have gone out and life went medieval. Notions of world dystopia continue to strike a nerve. We see chaos, violence, government collapse — but also community gardens in cul-de-sacs. It can’t help but be interesting. After a militia troop kills her father and kidnaps her brother, a young woman (Spiridakos) with oh-so-trendy archery skills sets off for a kudzu-covered Chicago in search of her uncle, who might help her and her friends unlock the secret of the power outage and perhaps fix it.
Bob Mahoney
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NBC
"Guys with Kids" — Grade: C
From left: Anthony Anderson, Jesse Bradford and Zach Cregger. Executive-produced by Jimmy Fallon, the NBC sitcom introduces us to the travails of three buddies in “Guys with Kids.” It’s precisely what the title says, just new iterations of the same spit-up and teething jokes. I still don’t understand how comedies about baby hassles count as quality TV time for people seeking a diversion from everyday life, but something about married men with cute babies strapped to their chests continues to get network executive juices flowing.
Vivian Zink
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NBC
"The New Normal" — Grade: B+
From left: Bebe Wood, Andrew Rannells, Justin Bartha and Georgia King. Ryan Murphy’s “The New Normal” is an NBC ensemble comedy about a male couple who hire a down-on-her-luck, single-mom surrogate to carry their baby. Bartha and Rannells’s characters display yin/yang neuroses that keep their characters interesting, but King’s Goldie, the would-be surrogate, is unfortunately bland. Ellen Barkin saves the day with a deliciously acid standout performance as Goldie’s disapproving grandmother, Jane.
Trae Patton
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NBC
"Ben and Kate" — Grade: C
Comic actor Nat Faxon, left, plays Ben Fox, a good-for-nothing brother who has a habit of dropping in on his younger sister, Kate, right, whenever he needs something. This time, he shows up and helps Kate, played by Dakota Johnson, raise her daughter, Maddie, played by Maggie Elizabeth Jones. Faxon’s antics lean too heavily on the Will Ferrell/Jack Black/Zach Galifianakis school of oddballery, in which an irritatingly latent man-boy is in fact meant to come across as irresistible and even paternally heroic.
Beth Dubber
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Fox
"666 Park Avenue" — Grade: B
The potential for haunted-house fun abounds in the Drake, a luxury Upper East Side pre-war apartment building that’s owned by a Mephistopheles type Terry O’Quinn, left, who claims the souls of unlucky tenants whose terms of lease come due. An ambitious (but broke) young couple answer Gavin Doran’s want ad for new live-in managers, and they’re instantly thrilled with the square footage, original moldings and free rent. Doran and his mysterious wife (Vanessa Williams, right) make it seem like life is heavenly — but the vanishing and otherwise desperate pallor of some of the residents would suggest otherwise. It’s worth waiting for another few episodes to see if the story clicks.
Patrick Harbron
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ABC
"Arrow" — Grade: B-
The Green Arrow, a bit player in the DC Comics universe, gets a sleek revamp in this CW action-adventure adaptation. Stephen Amell plays Oliver, a party-boy heir whose yacht sinks and leaves him stranded on an island, where he picks up archery, martial arts, parkour, fantastic abs and a wicked “Dark Knight” complex. There is absolutely nothing new about anything seen here, yet “Arrow” has nice aim.
Kharen Hill
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The CW
"Call the Midwife" — Grade: A Laurence Cendrowicz
From left: Bryony Hannah, Jessica Raine and Helen George. A huge hit in Britain, this absorbing and inspiring six-episode miniseries about young nurses in London’s East End deserves top priority on your crowded Sunday-night schedule. Based on the late Jennifer Worth’s memoirs, “Call the Midwife” follows Jenny Lee as she begins work as a midwife in the late 1950s. The cast is marvelous, the gritty, post-war set pieces are meticulously recreated and, even with all the warm-water enemas and splattered afterbirth, the story always has its eye on uplift and good cheer.
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Neal Street Productions 2011
"Last Resort" — Grade: B-
From left: Scott Speedman and Andre Braugher. From “The Shield” creator Shawn Ryan comes this complicated and frankly outrageous saga of a U.S. nuclear sub at the helm. “Last Resort” is a real stretch for those of us Cold War babies who were raised on horrifying doomsday dramas, where the prospect of one bomb launch meant instant annihilation and permanent winter. It’s an adrenaline-doused premise that is handsomely executed, but it feels like we get to DEFCON 2 way too fast. It already feels like the writers are also locked in an unwinnable standoff.
Mario Perez
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ABC
"Vegas" — Grade: B-
From left: Michael Chiklis, Kai Lennox, James Russo, Dennis Quaid and Jason O’Mara. CBS once again dials back to 1960 with this attractive effort at a crime drama set in Las Vegas’s emerging years as a glittering metropolis of sin. Based on the real-life stories of lawman Ralph Lamb’s efforts to preserve order amidst the city’s growth and the encroaching mob rule, “Vegas” appears to be compelling and classy. And then CBS lapses into its old habit, as Lamb and company squander all this intriguing potential trying to solve their first of many cases: The governor’s niece has turned up murdered in a ditch near the nuclear proving grounds. I say nuke the sleuthing and find the courage to focus more on the characters and drama.
Lorey Sebastian
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CBS
"The Mob Doctor" — Grade: F
It’s never good news when you start to watch a new show and can’t get past quibbling with the whole concept, which, in this case, is that the various goons and thugs who people the Chicago (it’s always Chicago) mafia are so active (and accident prone) that they need their very own primary-care physician on the QT, to remove bullets and suture wounds and whatever else they compel her to do by threatening her family. The comely doctor, Jordana Spiro, can perform all the life-saving measures she wants; I’m signing the DNR papers right now.
Nathaniel Bell
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Fox
"Beauty and the Beast" — Grade: C-
In a new but forgettable TV treatment for an old story, Vincent the beast, Jay Ryan, left, is an E.R. doctor who joined the military after the Sept. 11 attacks and became an unwitting lab rat for a vaccine that turned soldiers into hyper-aggressive killing machines. Kristin Kreuk, right, co-stars as Catherine, a sexy homicide detective who might hold the key to his cure. The rest is sweeping nighttime views of Manhattan and alt-rock ballads.
Frank Ockenfels
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The CW
"Malibu Country" — Grade: F
Reba McEntire, left, stars in the unfortunately joyless "Malibu Country." The ABC sitcom is about a woman who moves her family from Nashville to a Malibu beach house after her husband cheats on her, with a laugh track that guffaws too hard. Adding to the tragedy is the sight of Lily Tomlin, right, in a gray wig playing Reba’s cranky-cuss Southern mom. I wouldn’t have wished a show like this on either of these nice gals, and I certainly wouldn’t wish it on viewers.
Nicole Wilder
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ABC
"The Neighbors" — Grade: B
While this ABC comedy about aliens is nothing new, what redeems “The Neighbors” is that it’s not confused about what it wants to be — or the sort of fun it wants to have. The Weavers move to New Jersey, and it turns out all their neighbors are part of a marooned alien colony. Once the Weavers get over their initial shock, the lazy metaphor can do its thing, letting us know that we’re all a little bit weird when viewed from the other side of the fence.
Karen Neal
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ABC
"Partners" — Grade: C+
From left: Brandon Routh, Michael Urie, David Krumholtz and Sophia Bush. “Will & Grace” makers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick return to lighthearted, quasi-socially-progressive sitcom familiarity with a story loosely based on their own lifelong bromance — where one man is straight and the other’s gay. The message here — after a trip through CBS’s rinse cycle — is that such friendships are possible. The tepid laughs here are already in need of a jolt, as “Partners” cries out for its Karen.
Matt Kennedy
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CBS
"Nashville" — Grade: A+
“Nashville” has the potential to be the perfect drama, even for people who don’t give a spit about country music. The reliable Connie Britton (“American Horror Story,” “Friday Night Lights”) plays a chart-topping country music queen who’s hitting a dry spell, hitwise. Her record company strong-arms her into touring with Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), a conniving up-and-comer.
Katherine Bomboy-Thornton
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ABC
"Elementary" — Grade: B+
Sherlock Holmes gets his zillionth update, this time with Jonny Lee Miller, bottom, playing Arthur Conan Doyle’s timeless sleuth as a recovering addict. Lucy Liu, top, plays Dr. Joan Watson, a disgraced former surgeon who’s been hired to act as Sherlock’s 24-hour sober-living companion. In a way, CBS is honoring its present-day success as crime-procedural central with this twist on the daddy of all detective serials.
Nino Munoz
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CBS
"Made in Jersey" — Grade: F
The concept of CBS’ “Made in Jersey” is that this bawdy Joisey girl, Janet Montgomery, will show stuffy Manhattan lawyers how the real world works. She’s all pluck and stilettos, and when the day is done, she returns to her typical big Italian family — who might as well be cardboard cutouts eating Ragu out of the jar.
Heather Wines
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CBS
"Emily Owns, MD" — Grade: D
The CW’s “Emily Owens, MD” follows its skittish and permanently insecure protagonist, Mamie Gummer, through her new job as a surgical resident at a big-city hospital. There’s something demeaning about the whole set-up, which tells us that all women, even surgeons, are just conniving glamour-seekers. Whatever I might have liked about Emily and her vulnerability at the start faded away by the end of the first episode.
Michael Courtney
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The CW
"Chicago Fire" — Grade: C+
NBC’s latest drama, executive-produced by Dick “Law and Order” Wolf, is about the brave men and women who save urban dwellers from infernos. The fairly taut pilot episode establishes the characters who work at a firehouse. Everyone here is working from the same medium-grim setting and dialogue, which quickly drags the story and action into the still-smoldering ruins of other fire-and-rescue dramas.
Sandro
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NBC
"Animal Practice" - Grade: D
Olympics closing-ceremony viewers got an unwelcome taste of the tepid pilot episode in August. The favored fix — put supporting player Crystal the capuchin monkey in every scene — probably isn’t a welcome suggestion. But unless the writers have seriously amped up the second episode, it will be awfully easy to opt for euthanizing the show.
Neil Jacobs
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AP
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