NBCReady for another helping of total honesty?
It's the final day of our 2015 fall TV rapid-fire review roll-out, and after giving you our honest thoughts on ABC, CBS and Fox's new shows, it's NBC's turn in the hot seat, with three new dramas, including the latest Chicago spinoff and the highly anticipated Blindspot, and its one new comedy.
Are any of the peacock network's freshmen worth a coveted spot on your already-jampacked DVR? Without further ado, here are our TV Scoop Team's fast takes on NBC's new fall offerings:
Blindspot
Premiere Date: Monday, Sept. 21 at 10 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: Castle (ABC) and NCIS: New Orleans (CBS)
Stars: Jaimie Alexander, Sullivan Stapleton, Audrey Esparza, Rob Brown, Ukweli Roach, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Ashley Johnson
Kristin Dos Santos: Probably the surest drama bet this fall, Blindspot's premise—a beautiful woman found naked, with amnesia, and covered in tattoos that hold the key to a mystery—is instantly compelling, and very easy to get into. The cast is gorgeous, and the leads (Jaimie Alexander and Sullivan Stapleton) have instant chemistry that balances out the high-stakes drama really well. Blindspot should stick around—and I want it to. Greg Berlanti, in ye we trust.
Tierney Bricker: I have been waiting for Jaimie Alexander to snag a leading role worthy of her badassness and she's definitely found it as Greg Berlanti's other supergirl, totally owning the role of a Jane Doe who wakes up covered in tattoos that also happen to be clues. Think Alias' Sydney Bristowe meets Dollhouse's Echo thrown in for good measure. (Dream woman? Possibly!) I found it a little hard to care about the other characters, but the overall mystery has me hooked. Bonus points for the best opening scene of the season, with Alexander being discovered naked in a bag in the middle of Times Square.
Chris Harnick: Chrissy from Growing Pains is in this! She's back! Oh, that's not the point of the show? Well, the action was engaging, but the mystery wasn't nearly was gripping as I hoped. I am interested to see how this progresses.
Jean Bentley: I cannot overstate how much I loved co-creator Martin Gero's last show, The LA Complex, so I was going to watch this regardless. But this is way more Blacklist than California-set Canadian soap (which isn't a bad thing, you should just know what you're getting into). P.S., there's also a dude running away as a bomb explodes behind him. So yeah, it's that kind of show, and I'll be watching at least for a little bit because after watching the premiere, I really want to know WTF is going on here.
Lauren Piester: How could you not be interested in a show about a naked woman showing up in a duffle bag in Times Square, covered in clue-filled tattoos, especially when that woman is the badass Jaimie Alexander? That's a bonkers premise that could either go disappointingly nowhere or somewhere really awesome, and so far it seems awesome. Into it!
The Player
Premiere Date: Thursday, Sept. 24 at 10 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: How to Get Away With Murder (ABC) and Thursday Night Football/Elementary (CBS)
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Philip Winchester, Charity Wakefield, Damon Gupton and Nick Wechsler
Kristin Dos Santos: Totally ridiculous and yet, weirdly…I kind of liked it? It's just so over the top that it's actually sort of fun. The Player—starring Wesley Snipes as a guy trying to prevent something from happening, while rich dudes bet whether it can be done—is HIGH ACTION! With CAR CHASES! SHOOT-OUTS! HIGH STAKES! CONSPIRACIES! HELICOPTERS! So you literally cannot look away. I tried it. Nearly burst a blood vessel. This is not my typical kind of favorite show, but I recommend it to anyone who loves action sequences.
Tierney Bricker: This show just looks so cool and slick and Wesley Snipes is a total BAMF (and GQMF, just look at that suit above!) in it, but I literally could not follow how the darn betting system within the show works. But I've never gambled (I know) or been to Las Vegas (I KNOW) in my life, so that could be why. Still, I'll hold, not fold, for a few more episodes.
Chris Harnick: I could do without the whole betting/Vegas thing because it's compelling action and intriguing enough without that schtick. Solid entertainment and story setup in the pilot, plus you get Philip Winchester running around with a gun in his undies.
Jean Bentley: This show is set in Las Vegas and is marginally about gambling, so naturally it's called The Player. Who doesn't love a little wordplay?! But, really, it's the kind of show that sounds high concept but is actually just a straight-up procedural. If the premise intrigues you, then you'll probably like it. If not, life's too short. There's too much good TV to waste your time on things you don't actually care about.
Lauren Piester: The most excited I've ever gotten about gambling was when my grandma bought me scratch lottery tickets at the gas station and I won $7. I think this sort of world gives me too much anxiety to get very into it, but this show is very pretty. It looks like an action movie and the cast is cool. It's just not my kind of thing.
Chicago Med
Premiere Date: Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC), NCIS (CBS), The Flash (The CW) and The Voice (NBC)
Stars: Oliver Platt, S. Epatha Merkerson, Nick Gehlfuss, Yaya DaCosta, Torrey DeVitto, Rachel DiPillo, Colin Donnell, Marlyne Barrett and Brian Tee
Kristin Dos Santos: The backdoor pilot episode on Chicago Fire was good—well-executed and compelling. And despite the showrunner exit (Sopranos vets Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov have stepped in) and recent cast changes (Laurie Holden is out; Torrey DeVitto is in), this spinoff-of-a-spinoff series seems to hold significant potential. If you're a fan of Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire, chances are, Med will be up your alley.
Tierney Bricker: I've seen more of Chicago on my TV than I've seen of Los Angeles in-person...and I live in Los Angeles. Still, I know I'll eventually end up sitting through an entire weekend's worth of episodes eventually, as Med is a prime-binge candidate. But for real, wake me up when they green-light Chicago Abercrombie & Fitch. (And uay for The Affair and Arrow's Colin Donnell, who I really hope doesn't die on this show, too! He's becoming the new Sean Bean.)
Chris Harnick: I like the idea of Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med all bleeding into each other, it's very appealing to my TV nerd sensibilities, but I still haven't gotten over the fact that this isn't just an ER revival.
Jean Bentley: My cat is named Det. Olivia Benson, if you want to know how I feel about shows in the Dick Wolf-iverse. This is exactly what you think it'll be, and exactly the easy-to-watch medical drama you need in your life.
Lauren Piester: If you like Chicago Fire and Chicago PD, you will like this. It completes a beautiful triangle of Chicago emergency services, which pleases me as a one-time Chicagoan, and it also features the beautiful Colin Donnell. I give it five stars on those grounds alone.
Truth Be Told
Premiere Date: Friday, Oct. 16 at 8:30 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: Dr. Ken (ABC), The Amazing Race (CBS), Reign (The CW) and MasterChef Junior (Fox)
Stars: Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tone Bell, Bresha Webb and Vanessa Lachey
Kristin Dos Santos: Tone Bell is actually really entertaining and here's hoping he stays on TV a very long time! Not on this show, but you know, somewhere. Truth Be Told centers on two married couples and it's a lot of humor about husbands hiding stuff from their wives. So maybe I'm the wrong gender to appreciate? I didn't love it, but, you know…wish this cast all the best.
Tierney Bricker: To keep it short and not-so-sweet, I don't think this show wants my truth to be told.
Chris Harnick: Painful is the first word that comes to mind. The laugh track just made things worse.
Jean Bentley: There are a lot of funny people in this show, and tackling a topic as fraught as race in a funny way is something the world needs--but they might not have gotten it quite right this time. Pass!
Lauren Piester: This feels like a show that's already been on for many seasons and it only seems to air every weeknight at 6 p.m., so you just end up watching it on accident while you're waiting for actual primetime. Like remember King of Queens? It's like that. Talented cast, perfectly fine concept, not a disaster, but I'm not setting my DVR for it, and that's only mostly because I don't have one.
Check back with us a little later today for our rapid-fire review of The CW's new fall show!
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)