TV's new fall season continues to roll out. Tonight's lineup contains one of the best of the new offerings and one of the worst playing opposite each other.
In addition, a fairly average new comedy might just blossom into one of your favorites. Here are the new and returning shows through Friday. New series are in bold.
Today:
7 p.m. -- The Vampire Diaries (The CW).
8 p.m. -- Bad Judge (NBC), Gracepoint (Fox), Reign (The CW).
8:30 p.m. -- A to Z (NBC).
Friday:
7 p.m. -- Last Man Standing (ABC).
THE NEW STUFF
Gracepoint, one of the highlights of the season, was Sunday's TV Week cover story, so we've already spent some time with it. In case your insert has been lost in that pile of old papers over in the corner, here's a brief recap, so you won't let this worthy effort slip under your radar.
Gracepoint is a 10-episode American adaptation of the British murder mystery series Broadchurch. It will tell the same tale, although producers promise some significant differences.
Hopefully, that includes who killed a 12-year-old boy and left his body on the beach in a small Northern California town. I've already seen seven episodes and still don't know "whodunit." The tagline: "Small town; big secrets."
If you've already seen Broadchurch, then you may want to skip this series in spite of its being finely crafted and extremely worthwhile.
It even stars the same actor, Doctor Who's David Tennant, as the lead detective. He's paired with Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller. Both turn in outstanding performances. Fox is betting that most viewers did not catch the BBC version.
Others in the top-notch cast include Nick Nolte, Michael Pena, Jacki Weaver and Kevin Rankin.
Bad Judge debuts at the same time over on NBC and has the misfortune of making many critics' "Worst New Shows" list.
Comedy is highly subjective, and maybe the critics were disappointed that the talented Kate Walsh (Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice) wasn't given a better vehicle with which to work.
Walsh portrays tough, highly respected criminal court Judge Rebecca Wright, a terror from the bench during the day and a rip-snorting, good-time party girl by night.
Wright sleeps with lots of men, wakes up with a hangover most mornings, plays in a rock duo called Ladycock, disrespects superiors and insults colleagues -- the usual stuff for a 40-something bad girl.
It's all sex and booze and booze and sex until an 8-year-old kid, the child of drug dealers, comes into her life.
Will Ferrell is an executive producer. This effort probably won't be at the top of his future resumes. Or we're all wrong and Bad Judge is the next hilarious laugh riot to rocket to the top of the ratings.
A to Z is a fair-to-middlin' romantic comedy that also made a few of the "worst new shows" lists, but I found it charming.
The A and Z in the series are Andrew and Zelda, played by Mad Men's Ben Feldman and How I Met Your Mother's (she was the doomed mother) Cristin Milioti, respectively. The two are polar opposites. Naturally, romantic sparks fly.
Andrew Lofland works for Wallflower Online Dating, one of the current trendy tech-related plot devices being used in hopes of attracting a younger, tech-savvy audience.
Andrew is "a guy's guy" who likes sports and Liam Neeson movies. He's also a hopeless romantic who listens to Celine Dion on his car radio and believes in soul mates and true love.
Zelda Vasco, "a girl's girl" who likes pedicures and themed cocktail parties, is also a pro-bono lawyer and a realist who has her defenses up, mistrusts men and is "not really into the dating scene."
One day Zelda sashays into Wallflower to register a complaint (she'd been accidentally matched with a lesbian). Andrew spies her across the lobby and is instantly smitten. The premise for the series that follows is "a comprehensive account of their eight month, three weeks, five days and one hour" dating relationship.
A to Z features omniscient narration by Katey Sagal (Married ... With Children, Sons of Anarchy) that's an integral part of the experience. Henry Zebrowski (Best Week Ever) plays Andrew's comic relief roommate, Stu, and Lenora Crichlow (Being Human) is Zelda's sassy and brassy best friend.
The comedy is meant to speak to distracted millennials in this cluttered, impersonal era of Twitter and Facebook. Will enough viewers be amused, since the median age for the big four networks is now 55.4? Probably not, but enjoy the series while you can. I found the actors adorable and the comedy sweet.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 10/02/2014