If I could watch television 24 hours a day, I'd give it serious thought. TV is on a creative streak that I've never seen in my lifetime. Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Justified, Homeland, Suits, Sons of Anarchy, Revenge, Eastbound & Down and on and on. There's a surplus of the deep & heavy to the fun & entertaining (Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is a national treasure). Channels that years ago were licensing also-rans like AMC, USA, FX and others are now putting out huge amounts of awesomeness.
I just happened to come across two early contenders for this season. Both from same network, ABC. For all the talk about cable channels (and many deserve the praise all the way up and down the guide), the network that brought us LOST has two promising new series debuting this fall and winter. LAST RESORT and RED WIDOW. A friend at ABC (who knows I'm a TV fiend) graciously hooked me up with the pilots, both of which I just finished.
LAST RESORT
Description from the ABC site:
500 feet beneath the ocean's surface, the U.S. ballistic missile submarine Colorado receives their orders. Over a radio channel, designed only to be used if their homeland has been wiped out, they're told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan.
Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) demands confirmation of the orders only to be unceremoniously relieved of duty by the White House. XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) finds himself suddenly in charge of the submarine and facing the same difficult decision. When he also refuses to fire without confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is targeted, fired upon, and hit. The submarine and its crew find themselves crippled on the ocean floor, declared rogue enemies of their own country. Now, with nowhere left to turn, Chaplin and Kendal take the sub on the run and bring the men and women of the Colorado to an exotic island. Here they will find refuge, romance and a chance at a new life, even as they try to clear their names and get home.
Loved it. Andre Braugher is a rock star in the first episode. Hoping for big things from this one. A little war, conspiracy, cover-up and more.
RED WIDOW
Description from the ABC site:
When Marta Walraven's (Radha Mitchell) husband is brutally murdered, her first instinct is to protect her three young children. Her husband's business partners - Irwin Petrova (Wil Traval), Marta's scheming and untrustworthy brother, and Mike Tomlin (Lee Tergesen) -- were involved in an illegal drug business deal with rival gangsters, and Marta's husband paid the ultimate price. She already knows the violent world of organized crime; her father, Andrei Petrova (Rade Sherbedzija), and loyal bodyguard Luther (Luke Goss) are gangsters too. She and her sister Kat (Jaime Ray Newman) had always wished for a safer life without bloodshed and fear. For a while Marta lived happily as a stay at home housewife in San Marta's cooperation, FBI Agent James Ramos (Mido Hamada) now promises justice.
Marta discovers a tenacity she never knew she had, and takes on the gangsters and the FBI to unveil the truth about her husband's death. As she digs into this dark underworld, she'll test her own strength, relying on her resourcefulness, determination and family ties like never before. To get out of this mob, she needs to beat the bad guys at their own deadly game.
Based on the Dutch series Penoza...
I'll watch anything about the mob at least once. "Mob" and "Mafia" are my saved Tivo keyword searches. Dug it, great set-up. Radha Mitchell is going to turn into a shrewd bad-ass, I can feel it.
Now, I can never tell why a show makes it or not. Plenty of awesome shows don't make it past the first season. But these play to my tastes and I'm rooting for them.
Stack Revenge and Scandal with these two and ABC is the big net to watch.
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