Winter 2012 New TV Shows
Five 2012 TV Dramas worth the suspense
I was about to write about all the worthy 2012 new shows, though most coming later in the year, when I realized I was looking forward to dramas much more than comedy. There are so many comedy series that pop in each season, with expectedly fake laugh-tracks, short time spans, and forgettable plots and characters. There are many exceptions, like the brilliant Modern Family or Parks & Recreation, but still I am putting more hopes on the promising new dramas. HBO, Fox and NBC seem to have the most enticing pilots, but you will be the judge. Here are my top 5 drama picks for the Winter 2012 TV season.
The Firm
NBC, Sundays, 9/8c. Premieres Jan 8.
It's interesting to see this show premiere right after Tom Cruise's latest Mission Impossible. After all, he created the original character for John Grisham's hotshot lawyer in The Firm. Made into a TV drama, this is a sequel, with new characters but same swiftness and adrenalin-induced sequences. Josh Lucas is promising as a lead, Mitchell McDeere. Having been in seclusion (witness protection) for 10 years after exposing his former firm as a front for the Chicago mob, he tries to get back into law and reclaim his life. Since the crime boss he helped put in jail is now dead, he feels it's safe enough to re-start his career. Plus, the family needs the money, so when a new firm offers him a job, he takes it as a godsend. Things are not that simple. As you get more into the dirt surrounding the new firm, you will naturally root for this straight-shooting lawyer. Molly Parker (the wife, Abby McDeere) and Juliette Lewis (Tammy) are two other strong characters. I promise this will be one of the strongest shows of the winter season.
Alcatraz
FOX, Mondays, 8/7c. Premieres Jan 16.
All you need to hear is that the new show Alcatraz was created by J.J.Abrams. This new TV drama has got the same eerie quality that both Lost and Fringe possessed (both created by Abrams). The plot revolves around the mysterious disappearance of 50 inmates from the infamous now closed Alcatraz prison and their reappearance some 50 years later. "The show to me feels like the place", says J.J.Abrams. The subdued tones, the fog, the mystery - it all seems to encapsulate some sort of creepiness emanating from the place. The team of detectives on the tracks of these mysterious prisoners is an odd mix but the team somehow works, with Sarah Jones as detective Rebecca Madsen and Jorge Garcia (Lost's Hugo) as Dr. Diego Soto. They will have their hands full with a new prisoner reappearing from the dead each week. I like the thrilling pace and premise of the story, as well as the time travel aspect, but what I find most interesting is the history behind the place. The show will take you back in time with flashbacks to prisoners' time at Alcatraz. Some of the best dramas seem to have a back story in addition to the main line of events, and Alcatraz is a great example of this. I think I will be glued to this one.
Luck
HBO, Sundays, 8/7c. Premieres Jan 29.
I am betting on this new HBO drama to take the lead this winter - even the pilot is full of suspense, action and immediately gets you hooked. Did I mention it's a star-studded cast led by Dustin Hoffman, and including Dennis Farina, Nick Nolte, John Ortiz, Jill Hennessy, Richard Kind, to name a few. The pilot is directed by Michael Mann, known to have reinvented the early seasons of Miami Vice. Luck starts with a plot for revenge when Dustin Hoffman's character, Chester Bernstein gets out of jail. And from then on it's a roller-coaster of emotions. I've never seen Dustin Hoffman play such a vicious character. The show is based at the racetrack and paints a very graphic picture of what goes on at the track and people that live and breathe it - trainers, jockeys, owners, gamblers, people that live in the back stretch. There is a lot of backstabbing, but as only HBO can do it right, you get to dive into the world of racing. What part of it is luck? What part of it is human nature? Judge for yourself, as you will definitely feel like you a part of this set.
The River
ABC, Tuesdays, 9/8c. Premieres Feb 7.
Combine the wild Amazon, history and mystery and you've got a great hook. The river follows the real life story of the nature show host, Doctor Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood) who is exploring the Amazon with his family when he suddenly disappears. Then, the search efforts begin, led by his son, Lincoln (Joe Anderson), who is still mystified by his late father. Lincoln and his mother start the search and agree to film it in a documentary style. This is not exactly biographical, but this is not a documentary after all, and the fictional part may appeal to those who like Lost or X-Files. There is something enigmatic about this new drama that I think fans of the super-natural will enjoy.
Awake
NBC, Tuesdays, 8/7c. Premiere TBD.
I have to admit, this is my kind of show. Parallel reality, cosmic meanings and the idea is that life isn't always about choices we make. The show catches the main character - Jason Isaacs as Detective Michael Britten, whose wife and son died in a car crash - caught between two realities. One, where his wife survives the crash, and the other, where his son gets to live instead. All along, as a detective, he works on real-life crimes. Interestingly, clues from his other realities help him solve some of these. The cases and the partners are different, depending on which reality Detective Britten is in. His brain is basically never resting, always living in a detailed illusion. But he is not willing to look for sanity, and you will go along for the ride.
