The Grinder
Rob Lowe returns to TV in what is one of the funniest pilots of the year. The Grinder is a fictional lawyer played by Dean Sanderson (Rob Lowe). His successful career has come to an end after portraying a hot shot TV lawyer for 8 seasons and now he has decided to move back to his small town to reconnect with his brother Stewart (played by Wonder Years Fred Savage) and father who have their own small law firm.
While Dean does know that he is not a real lawyer he just can't help to insert himself into the family business losing all control of reality as "The Grinder" takes over.
The real story here is about two brothers, from different worlds trying to reconnect. Its smart, funny and not afraid to make fun of itself.
THE GRINDER is a new comedy about a famous TV lawyer who decides to move back home and join his family's real law firm - despite having no formal education, no bar certification, no license to practice and no experience in an actual courtroom. Coming to FOX in Fall 2015!
Blindspot
Its that time of year again where I get to journey over to each studio and screen almost all the upcoming TV Shows for the 2015/2016 Season. Here I will give you the first look at what I have screened and what to look out for on your TV, Computer, Mobile Device, etc. This year I'm going to mix it up a bit and reveal a show a day in the order of screening.
My first visit was to the Warner Brother lot, early Monday May 10th where we were presented with the high octane thriller Blindspot.
Blindspot
Image from NBC Universal and Warner Brother International Television
From Warner Brothers come a very original and thrilling procedural FBI drama with some likeness taken from the movie Momento (however you don't have to watch it backwards).
The opening scene is set in New York City's Times Square where a security guard clears out a busy crowd near an unidentified bag. The bomb squad is dispatched to examine it, only to find inside an unidentified woman with no memory and covered in freshly inked tattoos from her neck down.
FBI Agent Kurt Weller is assigned to the case because of his link to Jane Doe, being that his name is tattoo'd on her back. This is the first piece in a complex puzzle which he and his team is tasked to figure out the meaning of each drawing, which uncovers a web of conspiracy that might change the world as they know it.
Airing on NBC, Monday's at 10pm
Jaimie Alexander (Thor) stars in the new NBC drama about a woman with amnesia - and a mysterious array of tattoos all across her body.
Stay tuned for my next review, Lucifer.
HBO's The Leftovers - REVIEW
The Leftovers
Premier Date: June 29th 2014
Time Slot: 10pm ET
Network: HBO
Damon Lindelof (LOST) and Tom Perrotta have created a masterpiece for HBO. The premise is that in one day (October 14th), 2% of the worlds population disappears without a trace. What is "leftover" is a world in chaos with nothing more than unanswered questions and a rise in cult activity.
The story really starts off 3 years after the event from the perspective of a small town. How do they go on with their lives without having any answers to where their husbands, wives, and children have gone? Its a story of living without any closure.
The lead character Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) plays a police chief who's wife has left him for a local cult, a son who has left to follow and protect a "profit", a troubled daughter in high school who can barely keep it together and a father who is in a psych ward.
Because there is a 3 year gap from the event to present day, where the story takes place, you are always left with questions in the same vein as Lost. You want to know how each character has turned out the way they do. Each episode unveils a new puzzle piece while moving the story forward.
The direction for the first two episodes is from Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights). You can feel the grittiness in the cinematography and it creates an eery voyeuristic edge that make it feel more intimate.
The first episode which runs long at 1hr and 15min is a great setup for what is to come. It draws you in but leaves you with more questions and wanting more. I was fortunate enough to binge through 3 episodes, but i am still craving the next instalment.
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