CBS:
Tracker: Lone-wolf survivalist Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley of Smallville & This is Us) roams the country as a reward seeker, using his expert tracking skills he learned from his dad to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family. It is based off the novel “Never Game” by Jeffrey Deaver.
Verdict: Renewed. It might be his charming or charismatic demeanor but Hartley is always putting on a great act in every role as a co-lead or this time lead. It is nice the show starts right off with him saving someone and we are shown that he is in the midst of this profession not wasting time with the start of how he got into it. He isn’t playing a private investigator or is a former special ops/military he is just your average guy who has a certain set of skills he is putting to good use. Like a lot of shows he has to have a team to help him with things he cannot do or have time to do. He has a tech guy but no word on how he got into helping him, they just show him with fake legs. The only issue is they kind of forced in a woke-thing where his handlers, the people who get him the jobs and help him with research, are a lesbian couple. Nothing wrong with it, just an odd set up like do they not have a job or why did they get into this job with him answers hopefully coming this season but the good thing is sometimes he stumbles upon his own cases. They have done a good job of melding flashbacks when necessary so far about his upbringing and only showed his mom quickly as he is passing by. It will be interesting to see how far he goes for the reward money for helping putting his life in danger to do it. There is also a good amount of ideas of things or people he can track for the reward money so it should last for a while and it is different from the other shows on TV. Most shows take place in a specific city here he roams town to town mostly in the Pacific Northwest. With Blue Bloods, Swat, Young Sheldon and Bob Hearts Abishola ending there is definitely room in the schedule for this quality show going forward. He does not charge any fees or asks for any money for expenses. The contract is only good if he is successful in tracking said person or item in order to get paid and CBS has a good one here.
Elsbeth: The series focuses on the offbeat Elsbeth Tascioni(played by Carrie Preston of True Blood & The Good Wife), an unconventional but astute attorney who, after a successful career in Chicago, utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations, and corner criminals alongside the NYPD. She is assigned to oversee a monitorship or consent decree after some controversial arrests. The show is usually a “howcatchem” TV mystery show as opposed to the traditional “whodunit”, showing the audience from the start who the killer is, how and why they commit the crime and how they are caught. It is a spinoff of the series “The Good Wife”.
Verdict: Cancelled. Normally spinoffs are not something I review personally but this character is a reoccurring in both shows that came before this but they are not going to adhere strictly to the Good’ shared universe making it its own show. Her character comes off super annoying, cringe, and sometimes ditzy/dumb but just super quirky. When the main character is hard to get yourself behind then the rest of the show is as well. It is nice Wendell Pierce (of the Wire & Third Watch) who is a wonderful character actor gets to be in another show which he is always great in law enforcement or courtroom dramas but he isn’t in every scene to carry the show. Also the guest stars have been great but again guest stars do not carry a flawed show. The show seems like it needs to add wasted scenes or fluff to make a full hour of television. It seems boring and dragged on most of the episodes so far. Plus they think they are different because she’s a lawyer overseeing cops/cases as a unique partnership with law enforcement. It has been done many times with different civilians like magicians, actors, profilers, writers, the devil himself, a car and criminals and have done much better than this attempt. The structure as mentioned in the description is also not the easiest to follow or enjoy. As most people prefer trying to figure out who did it then how they did it because you find out both when they catch the person responsible most times. CBS had to push some shows to the Fall due the strike but did
also cancel some shows which is why they renewed this show after four episodes to get ahead of the upfronts. It is a mistake to renew so early and not see where the show goes as season one ends but they want “new and original” concepts going forward which this is not.
NBC:
Extended Family: Jim and his ex-wife, Julia, describe the day they got divorced as the happiest day of their lives, as they are still close friends and committed co-parents to their two children. Then, Julia’s job as a public relations expert introduces her to Trey, who not only becomes her fiancé but also happens to be the wealthy owner of Jim’s favorite basketball team, The Boston Celtics. As their unconventional family continues to evolve, Jim, Julia and Trey learn to navigate life, love, parenting and every awkward situation in between.
Verdict: Cancelled. It is very stale when it comes to humor and dialogue. The laugh track never helps when it forces you to laugh because they think certain lines are funny. Humor is subjective, not forced. The main place in the sitcom is the three bedroom apartment in Boston which I am no expert on but seems unrealistic. They also seem to keep breaking the fourth wall with narration or talking to the audience like a confessional about things. It does not help the show or make comedic sense in each episode. Yes you need to recap for people how you get to be divorced but the way they went about it looks dumb. It is nice Jon Cryer (of Two & Half Men; Supergirl) gets a second comedic vehicle to star in but he isn’t good enough for a leading role nor does Donald Fasion (of Scrubs; The Exes) as well. They are best at supporting or ensemble roles while Abigail Spencer (of Timeless; Grey’s Anatomy) does not seem skilled enough to do comedy as most of her credits are dramas. The grandfather sometimes delivers the funniest lines but with his heavy accent he doesn’t sound or look like he could be Cryer’s dad in the show and just shows up randomly like he lives too close by unless he lives with his son. They also have this weird family constitution they keep having to worry about which seems dumb as well. Lastly this show sounds so much like ABC’s Splitting up Together (which starred Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson) whereparents get divorced and want things to be the same for their kids so they take turns living in the home and taking care of the kids while the other lives elsewhere that week. So this has been done poorly for two seasons. The only positive is they have a theme song that rocks out which has been a dying art in television. Hopefully NBC cancels now that both strikes are over and they are making new things.
FOX:
Grimsburg: Marvin Flute(played by Jon Hamm of Madman & Baby Driver) may be the greatest detective ever to catch a cannibal clown or correctly identify a mid-century modern armoire. But there’s one mystery he still can’t crack which his family. Now that he’s back in Grimsburg, a town where everyone has a secret or three, Flute follows every lead he’s got to redeem himself with the ex-wife he never stopped loving, even if it means hanging out with the son he never bothered to get to know.
Verdict: Cancelled. Fox already has four good animated sitcoms in The Simpsons, Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers and the Great North plus people are stuck with Krapolis. There is no room for it as it pushed Family Guy to Wednesday which is a weird block of TV with The Masked Singer and a live action sitcom in Animal Control which is more on Fox for not having other live action sitcoms also. It is definitely funnier than Krapolis where there a good amount of moments to laugh at and a good mount of references or them poking fun at pop culture. It has a very eccentric group of characters like his son(voiced by Rachel Dratch of SNL & 30 Rock) having an imaginary friend who is an evil skeleton(voiced by Alan Tudyk of Resident Alien & Firefly) or his ex wife was raised by bears and is the local news anchor. The other people he works with like his cyborg partner (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson of The Simpsons & Family Guy), his direct boss who wears a huge coat as his uniform, his actual boss is part Sasquatch and the pathologist who seems to be the most normal. The premise of him being the best detective who doesn’t follow the rules and does his own thing with his so called “crime mind” is an interesting take. What doesn’t make is his arch nemesis is his former music teacher(also voiced by Tudyk) who is on house arrest at the school still teaching kids and then roams around free on ankle monitor and all the times Flute breaks the 4th wall. It is definitely full of crude humor, gore and some nudity in a way it’s pixilated which fits adult cartoons on Fox. It has a great voice cast and an interesting premise with a sign gag every episode changing on the town sign like “Bloody cursed or If you lived here you are dead now” is also a clever premise too. In the end it has its moments of being funny but also has its moments of being cringe that the hope is Fox just says never mind to it even though it was supposed to be on years ago but like Krapolis it was renewed before it aired.
