Thursday Movie Picks is hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Head over to her site to join in. This month's television theme is about shows that failed to get a second season. It's hard when a show that you get invested in does not get renewed, and I did enjoy watching the three shows I listed below. These are my picks this week.
Wonderfalls - Wonderfalls is a Bryan Fuller creation, about a salesclerk who works in a souvenir shop in Niagara Falls. I think this got cancelled midway through its first season, and while I would have wanted to see more of Jaye's adventure, the way they ended the first season seems like a good closure for the show.
Awake - Awake tells the story of a man who lives in two realities after a fatal accident, one where his wife is alive and the other where his son is alive. He refers to his realities as a 'red reality' and a 'blue reality', and while each reality plays out, no one is privy to what the true reality is. He uses this lifestyle of his to solve crimes through clues he gathers from his realities. While the concept was a bit confusing at first, it does get interesting towards the middle and the ending screams for a second season.
A Gifted Man - This is a paranormal medical drama about a talented but self-absorbed doctor. When he begins to see his wife's ghost, she urges him to use his talents to operate the free clinic that she used to work on. I didn't think this was different from other medical shows, but I liked this because it isn't dramatic.
Great picks! I remember watching Wonderfalls but wasn't able to get into it too much because of other shows at the time. I was happy that Brian's Pushing Daisies at least got a series finale after being canceled. Awake was a good show. I totally agree - it started getting so good towards the end, it was disappointing not to see a second season.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to know what happened next to Awake. It sucks that they were promoting the show when the cast heard that the show got axed!
DeleteYou got me here. I haven't seen any of these.
ReplyDeleteAll three shows are interesting in their own way, and I wish that there could have been more episodes - especially for Wonderfalls and Awake.
DeleteHey we have a match!! Loved Awake and was sorely disappointed when it ended after it's initial season. I've heard of Wonderfalls but it came and went before I had a chance to give it a shot. I think A Gifted Man came along at a point when I was burnt out on doctor shows, there are just so many, and it didn't strike me as something unusual so I didn't make the effort and then the next thing I knew it was gone.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that so many shows only make it one season is the main reason I don't bother with much episodic television anymore but I did really like all three of these. And wouldn't you know it one season and poof!
Awake (2012)-LAPD Detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) is involved in a serious car accident with his family and when he awakes finds himself in two different realities. In the first his wife Hannah has survived the crash, in the second his son Rex but Michael can’t tell which is his true waking life. To try and help him place himself he wears a red wristband in the first and a green in the second and consults a different therapist in each. They are the only ones aware of his problems which leads to issues with his team at work. But Michael has become extraordinarily good at solving crimes since he is able to use details and clues he gleans from both realities. Complex, sometimes disorienting (there are times where Michael is dreaming within a dream and so forth) series had a great performance by Isaacs in the lead but required an attention investment that might have been too much for viewers.
Forever (2014)-In 1814 35 year old Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is killed while trying to free slaves from a slave ship but something happens whilst he’s in the water and he reemerges alive, unharmed, naked and immortal-a pattern that is repeated whenever he dies. Jump forward 200 years and Henry is now a New York City medical examiner who uses his centuries of accrued knowledge to help solve crimes while he searches for the key to his immorality. A widower he lives over an antique shop owned by his 80 year old “son” Abraham (Judd Hirsch) who he and his late wife rescued from a concentration camp as a child. But Henry has an enemy-Adam (Burn Gorman) a 2000 year old immortal who thinks he might have found an answer to releasing them from their plight and tries to force Henry to help him. Not as complicated as it sounds this was a fun show full of quirky characters and a fantastic team in Gruffudd and Hirsch who played off each other so well.
Rake (2014)-Keegan Deane (Greg Kinnear) is a criminal defense lawyer and reprobate whose self-destructive behavior cause him no end of troubles leading to him battling wits and owing money to everyone he knows, including his ex-wife, judges, an assistant district attorney, his bookie, a brothel owner, and the IRS. His saving grace is that when he gets around to it he’s a very good attorney. Ramshackle comedy/drama was driven by the charismatic Kinnear who obviously was having a hell of a good time. Had the misfortune to air on Fox who moved it around too many times.
I really wanted to know what happened next to Awake; that show was interesting. The other shows sound interesting.
DeleteI haven’t seen any of these but would have liked to see the one set in Niagara Falls since I live close to this city and have been in some of the tacky tourist shops never mind tacky Clifton Hill. Awake is a popular choice this week.
ReplyDeleteAwake is pretty popular this week. I haven't seen any of these though.
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