Better Late Than Never TV Reviews

Here's a blog I've been meaning to write for like a month now but have never gotten around to. Between the occasional work assignment, a newish relationship, and my all-around laziness and desire to just read and watch movies and stuff, well, I never found the time. So it's a little less than timely but still needs to be done as it wraps up my coverage of the mostly disappointing 2013 Fall TV season in terms of new shows. I've got three new ones to go through, and two of them quite frankly suck.

Atlantis comes to us from our friends at the BBC and is the story of Jason, Hercules, and Pythagoras (yeah, the mathematician) on the titular island. Except, this Jason isn't the Jason you're thinking of, it's a kid from the present who somehow ends up back in time after trying to find his missing dad. And this Hercules isn't some great, intimidating strongman, it's the fat king from the first season of Game of Thrones. And the third member of this triangle is Pythagoras (I hope you get the joke I just made...). The production value is much worse than you'd expect from the BBC and, well, let's just say I'll stick with Doctor Who. How this show is getting a second season is beyond me.

I was hyped for this series because I'm a big fan of Frank Darabont and I really liked the cast, so I was pretty saddened by the fact that the first two episodes of this event miniseries bored me to tears. Part of that is that, with a few exceptions, I've never been a big fan of the crime noir genre, and this show was clearly created as a love letter to that genre so it would be one hell of an uphill battle to really get me to like it. And while I know all too well some motherfucker's always trying to ice skate up a hill, for once that motherfucker ain't going to be me, and I passed on this show just like I passed on Atlantis.

There's a reason I chose the above poster for this show over all the other ones Fox's promo machine churned out. On its merits, Almost Human isn't all that special. It's not the first "man with machine partner" cop drama ever. It's not the first "future science" drama either (nor is it even the first from these creators, as this is from the same team that gave us the wonderful Fringe). No, on the surface, Almost Human isn't breaking any ground, but it is a fun little show, and that would be enough to make it worth watching, but it's two stars elevate it to another level. Karl Urban excels, as always, at being a growling curmudgeon. I would seriously watch him in just about anything. And Michael Ealy is just as good next to him. His robotic Dorian strikes a great balance between the efficiency of a machine and the soul of a human as he strives to be more than the sum of his parts. Yeah, sorry, I just couldn't resist that line. And when you add the fact that the stunning Minka Kelly is part of the cast...

...and the fact that they keep her lines to a minimum so her bad acting can't detract from the joy of looking at her or any of the other joys the show provides, well, Almost Human is definitely a winner.

So that brings my reviews of all the new shows the 2013 Fall Season provided to a close. Out of all the ones I gave a shot to, the only ones I actually added to my list are Sleepy Hollow, Almost Human, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and The Originals (I'm also still watching Dracula but I'm not counting that because I really am just hate-watching the shit out of that to see how absurdly awful it gets). Anyone else out there want to share what new shows they loved or hated this season? Let's hear 'em!