The winter column is where I usually report deeper impressions of the fall’s new shows and how the shows are performing, but only two new fall shows held my interest: CBS’s SEAL Team and S.W.A.T., which isn’t a truly new show but a reboot of the short-lived yet memorable 1975-76 ABC police action series.
I’ve been interested in the U.S. Navy SEALs for almost thirty years, going back to one of my first attempts at fiction. As I came to admire the SEALs’ teamwork above all, I abandoned my protagonist, a typical lone-wolf fictional ex-SEAL.
The title of CBS’s new show may sound generic, but the show does emphasize team over individual as the real SEALs do. The episodes also feel real in the training and work they depict, where many recent military shows have strayed too far to the away-from-work, personal side.
You may know this show was originally set to star Jim Caviezel before recasting with David Boreanaz. Having seen Boreanaz expand his acting range in twelve seasons on Bones, he strikes me as better in the role of Master Chief Jason Hayes than Caviezel would have been, but then I last saw Caviezel as Person of Interest’s impassive Mr. Reese.
While CBS is known for its procedurals, the closest thing to formula on SEAL Team is that no mission goes exactly as planned, letting the characters show the flexibility that sets special operators apart from conventional forces.
SEAL Team has performed well enough to receive a full-season order.
Shemar Moore left his popular supporting role on Criminal Minds to play Sgt. Dan “Hondo” Harrelson on the new S.W.A.T. and he’s proven a capable lead. The supporting cast is proven in their own right, including Stephanie Sigman as Hondo’s captain and forbidden love interestI Jessica Cortez, Kenny Johnson, formerly of FX’s The Shield, as second-generation S.W.A.T. officer Dominique Luca to name two. S.W.A.T. has also received a full-season order.
Now on to two promising series that premiered in January: The CW’s Black Lightning and TNT’s ten-episode limited series The Alienist.
Black Lightning is based on a 1977 DC Comics superhero with the power to project electricity. The TV series finds his alter ego, Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), having given up crime-fighting for nine years in favor of becoming a high school principal. He returns as Black Lighting when his daughters are kidnapped.
The show is more plainly violent than the usual superhero fare, but that gives me hope that Pierce, an older, wiser hero, will find more realistic solutions in kind.
The Alienist is based on Caleb Carr’s 1994 novel of the same title. Set in 1896 New York, it follows a criminal psychologist (Daniel Bruhl), a newspaper illustrator (Luke Evans), and a police secretary (Dakota Fanning) covertly assigned to investigate the serial murder of boy prostitutes. From what I’ve seen of last week’s premiere, the series delivers the promised period atmosphere.
I titled this column as a reference to the realism of the above shows, but I also felt I’d be remiss not to mention the trend of sexual harrassment and misconduct being exposed in Hollywood. Andrew Kreisberg, executive producer on four of The CW’s hit superhero shows (Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl) was fired on November 29, 2017 after multiple accusations were investigated.
Source: http://deadline.com/2017/11/flash-supergirl-ep-andrew-kreisberg-fired-sexual-harassment-allegations-1202216549/
Meanwhile, on CBS, current NCIS New Orleans showrunner Brad Kern was investigated twice on complaints he created a hostile work environment dating back to 2016. Deadline Hollywood reporter Nellie Adreeva relays Kern underwent six months of sensitivity training after the second complaint and there have been no complaints against him since:
Source: https://deadline.com/2017/12/ncis-new-orleans-showrunner-brad-kern-investigation-misconduct-1202227263/
For me, TV is an escape from the realities of life, but I can’t enjoy TV when I know the actors, writers, and others who make the shows are being mistreated behind the scenes. I hope all the real villains are exposed and exiled, and standards of workplace conduct are raised.
Until next time.
