Watch clips from most new ABC shows
Here are links to 11 of the 12 new scripted ABC series. At first glance, it seems the Alphabet network has problems.
Watch clips from most new ABC shows
Jonathan Storm, Inquirer Television Critic
ABC has done a much worse job than NBC and Fox of getting out previews of its new fall shows. The network is providing single, continuous clips from each pilot, about a third the length of the four-minute NBC and Fox previews, which were produced to introduce the series' themes and characters, and, it was hoped, present them in their best light.
So it's important not to put too much stock in these clips for predicting your eventual response to the entire shows, especially in comparison to the previews you've seen from other networks.
That said: What a crop of losers! Most of the snippets contain things we've seen before and scenes that aren't very compelling, even though they're supposed to be high points from the series pilots.
Revenge, which stars Everwood's Emily Van Camp and will air Wednesdays at 10 p.m., has a bit of high-society mystery, and the sitcom Subpurgatory, which will fit in the happy Wednesday spot between The Middle and Modern Family, has a laugh or two. But when your clip features a vagina joke, that's a bad sign. The Tuesday night comedies, at 8 and 8:30, are Last Man Standing, and Man Up. Man, I don't see success in either of them.
Pan Am, Sundays at 10, seems excruciating, and the clip of the 8 p.m. Sunday show, Once Upon a Time, while it's grand, goes nowhere in explaining what the heck's going on. Finally, there's Charlie's Angels, which will air Thursdays at 8. Cool chicks knock bad guys' heads. Golly.
The mid-season shows, if anything, are worse. Work It is a classic train wreck. Those guys are going to dress up as women every episode? The River might turn into an interesting adventure. Scandal and Apartment 23 seem to have no spark.
What do you think of these clips and the possibilities for the new ABC shows?
