As you have noticed, I really don't care for TV drama series, I'd rather watch drama movies. But I've made an exception this year. I know none of these are critical successes, but for every Homeland, Good Wife and Mad Men, we need Chicago Fire, Nashville and Arrow.
CHICAGO FIRE
Let's start with Chicago Fire. The show follows the lives of firefighters and paramedics working in the Chicago Fire Department. There are two firefighters that get the most screen time, Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer from House) and Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney from Trauma). There are some other recognisable faces on the show too, like David Eigenberg fromy Sex and The City.
I'm having a bit mixed feelings about this show, since I really like the fact that they are firefighters and not police officers or crime scene investigators. I mean aren't we all sick of them already? I know this isn't the first firefighting drama, but the idea is still much more fresh than some police show. The thing I didn't like about in the show, is all the predictable drama with the characters. I mean, in the very first episode we see drug abuse, called of engagement, death, attraction to co-workers, etc. And that's just the first episode. The second episode was much more toned down, which I appreciated, but during it, I began to wonder will the show have enough charisma to last. I'll make my final judgement today with the third episode airing.
NASHVILLE
If I had to describe Nashville with few words, I'd say its Glee for grown-up country music fans. And it is filled with drama! The show focuses on two rival country singers: Rayna (Connie Britton from American Horror Story), an older country music legend struggling to find new audiences, and Juliette, an ambitious newcomer (Hayden Panettiere from Heroes). Both Nashville and Chicago Fire will be fighting for ratings and viewers with American Horror Story, which premiered its second season last week with record high ratings, so that is some serious threat to these newcomers.
I responded much more positively to this series than Chicago Fire. Maybe because I like Britton and musical-dramas. And I've really started to like some country songs, so this is an easy way to get in the mood. I like the chemistry between the characters, though we didn't get to see too much of that in the first episode which was pretty much about introducing all characters and establishing the connections between them. But believe me, the drama is present all the time. We are talking about back-stabbing, drug addicted mothers after daughter's money, evil fathers and old flames. There are multiple sub-plots, like Rayna's husband running for mayor and a cute young couple with some triangle drama and a lot of musical talent. The stars do all their own singing, so don't expect pitch perfect power ballads, but some of the songs are pretty cute. This one from the end of the second episode was sweet and emotional:
ARROW
And the third is my favourite so far. Arrow is based on the comic book Green Arrow and it's perfectly timed since the superhero genre is super hot now after The Avengers and co. Green Arrow is DC Comic and part of the Justice League, which has been in the works of becoming a feature film, so it will be fun to see who they will cast as Green Arrow since he is played by Stephen Amell in this show. This is his biggest role so far, though he has guest starred in multiple of shows. I don't know most of the supporting cast either, so I won't spend any time on them, maybe once this show becomes a success they'll get famous too.
At first I thought that this show would be just some lame attempt to get more money from comic book nerds. But the show is actually good! Or maybe I'm just addicted to this weekly superhero-action splash. To this mi they've added a love interest with an overprotective cop father and a lot of mysterious enemies. I don't know how well the show follows the comic book (I assume not very well), but I like the format with one enemy in every episode and then a larger sub-plot. So far these first two episodes have been pretty much about how Oliver Queen (aka Arrow) survived 5 years stranded on an island and how he is adjusting to his current life. The show has been picked up for a full season so I can't be the only one who likes this show.
I'll start working on my weekly post next, so that will be out tomorrow! Hopefully I'll inspire you to check out these shows, you can't lose anything (except few hours of your life, but I'd risk it).
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