New TV Alert!

vlcsnap-2013-06-15-17h17m22s60 New shows always seem to creep up on us, and before you know it, you’re stuck having to marathon through the first season to avoid spoilers.  So in the interest of keeping the general viewing public up on some of the more buzzed about shows of this winter/early spring, read on!

True Detective (HBO): The series is already about three episodes in, but it’s already in mid-series form.  There have been a ton of long-form series based around a single killing or case (The Killing, Broadchurch, Top of the Lake), but this might be the best of the bunch so far.  It’s slow and atmospheric, and has the requisite HBO nudity to make it something anyone can get into.  More than most detective shows, this is less concerned with the mystery and more concerned with the philosophy and psychology of the people who track these killers.  It’s a must watch.

Rake (Fox): Rake is the return of the “guy is really good at his job, but he’s also an insufferable asshole” genre to Fox.  You know, House? Based on a popular Australian series, Greg Kinnear makes his TV debut as a jerk lawyer in the same series that marks Peter Tolan’s return to network TV.  His previous network series, The Job, was excellent, but it was hamstrung by an ABC network in the throes of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire phalanx.   He has since gone on to showrun Rescue Me on FX.  I have seen the promos for Rake and it seems as edgy as a network dramedy can be, but it doesn’t look like it’ll last long.  I’d wait to hear on a season two pickup before getting into it.

The Red Road (Sundance TV):  I am very excited for this show.  Sundance had a coming out party last year as a network with Top of the Lake, Rectified, and The Returned.  Red Road is their latest entry premiering next month and it looks like it’ll be pretty great.  It is about a cop with a checkered past, working with the head of a Ramapo indian tribe on the border of NY and NJ to keep the peace between the normies and the indies.  There will of course be doublecrossing and intrigue, but it will star Jason Momoa, who is one of the few people I know my girlfriend would leave me for, so ladies, it should appeal to you.  It’s only going to be six episodes, so I trust that will allow the show to have a more focused narrative.

Looking (HBO):  If you’ve seen a promo for Looking, it looks totally like HBO wants to market it to be the “Gay Girls.” I’ve seen the first episode and it really isnt.  Girls seems dead-set on making you want to hate watch it due to it’s lack of likable characters. So far, none of the characters on Looking are explicitly unlikable.  They are people at various points of their life figure out what they want from life.  For some it’s love, for others it’s success, and they happen to be gay.  If you find that you can’t identify with the show because the main characters are gay, fine, but recognize that means you have a hard time identifying with humans brah.  Give it a shot.

Broad City (Comedy Central): I watched the premiere of Broad City last week and I enjoyed it less for what it was and more for what it means about Comedy Central.  Comedy Central over the last two years have given everyone a shot.  If you are in comedy and have a show idea, you get a show.  Broad City started as a webseries starring Abby Jacobson and Ilana Glaser, two up and coming female comics.  It’s basically an absurdist sitcom with heavy sketch roots.  If I had to compare it to something I would say, tonally it hews closest to extended versions of Stella shorts.  That’s good company to emulate.  I think it’s funny, but I can totally see it being canned after a season or two only to become a cult-hit.

Rick and Morty (Adult Swim):  Anyone who has seen me over the last few weeks has likely been annoyed by me asking if they’ve caught Rick and Morty yet.  I say that because it’s on Adult Swim and they have a very niche audience.  Most adult swim shows have more creative titles that there is anything creative in the series itself.  Also, cartoons these days are made by drug-addled lunatics.  So I’ll admit I was dubious about a cartoon series based on the premise of “what the hell were people thinking letting Marty McFly hangout with crazy Doc Brown in Back to the Future?”  If you think about it, it makes no sense, and that’s the general idea of Rick and Morty.  A grandson and grandfather travel through time and space ala Doctor Who going on adventures and causing more harm than good.  It’s the brainchild of Adventure Times’ Justin Roiland and Community’s Dan Harmon, so it’s got a dark sense of humor.  Check it out.

So there you go.  Here are some new series to get started on while you wait for The Walking Dead, Mad Men, and Game of Thrones to start back up.  If you watch any, leave your spoiler-free opinion in the comments!

About Russ Stevens

Russ Stevens is an editor and writer at Rookerville and a guidance counselor at Nyack HS. He mostly writes about either loving or hating things. In his spare time, he performs Improv comedy with his troupe Priest and The Beekeeper and is a co-producer of their monthly variety show Pig Pile. He loves all the New York sports teams that are historically bad, and he hates lateness more than anything in the world.

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