If you’re like me — a poor cable-less student — there’s a chance you’re feeling very left out of the exciting inaugural episodes of the fall TV season right now.
But if you’re also like me in that you have a huge internet streaming capacity, there are a few shows that are definitely worth the broadband.
There are also a few that aren’t worth you popping your last bag of popcorn for. Here’s the rundown on what to watch.
How to Get Away with Murder
Without a doubt, this is this fall’s buzziest show. So what’s the buzz about?
It’s about a group of law students and their hurricane of a professor, played by the immeasurably talented Viola Davis, who gets entangled in a murder.
The show is from Scandal producer Shonda Rhimes, and has been lauded for Davis’ performance.
It’s edgy, dark and keeps with television’s current obsession with the anti-hero, while simultaneously providing a gentler protagonist in Wes Gibbins, played by Harry Potter’s Alfred Enoch.
A to Z
If you were a fan of the first four seasons of How I Met Your Mother, A to Z is most definitely for you.
Ben Feldman and Cristin Miloti have great chemistry, and the show has a lovely aesthetic, full of natural light and colour.
And though some of the characters are rather two-dimensional and stock (the zany best friend, the omnipresent bro/wing-man), the show has a sparkle to it that feels promising.
It’s the concept of the show that’s the hook: a couple meets and dates for eight months and then breaks up.
Knowing the ending is intriguing, which makes you wonder how they’ll take us there and how they’ll surprise us along the way.
Red Band Society
Remember how good the Glee pilot was? The pilot for this show felt similarly impressive. A few hopeful renovations to character dimensionality indicate that FOX may have learned a few things from the crash and burn of its once delightful flagship.
Red Band Society is based on a popular Spanish television show of the same name about a group of ill teens living in a hospital’s children’s ward. The characters, like their situations, are complicated and interesting. The show is very John Green-esque, with startlingly emotionally intelligent, sick teens.
The wonderful Octavia Spencer leads the adult portion of the cast as Nurse Jackson with her usual charm, with Dave Annable playing the devilishly handsome Dr. Jack McAndrew.
With Steven Spielberg as executive producer, the show’s guaranteed at least a season, but critics aren’t convinced audiences will tune in to confront kids struggling with cancer, anorexia and life-threatening heart conditions.
Selfie
I lasted all of about 10 minutes on this one. I tried, I really did, but the show is obnoxious and its satire isn’t quite on point.
I like John Cho, but I really don’t like Karen Gillan’s American accent, and the faint whiff of sexism coming off of this show was a turn-off as well.
It’s high-school hyperbole in an adult world — a guilty pleasure at best.
Other noteworthy shows include Gotham, which follows James “Jim” Gordon, before he’s Police Commissioner and before Bruce Wayne is Batman.
The show promises to be gritty and a thrill for DC fans tired of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Other shows with promise include the doubtlessly future Emmy contenders The Affair and Madam Secretary.
Tags
A to Z, Column, How to Get Away with Murder, QJ Pop, Red Band Society, Selfie
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.
