Touch: New Fox Series

[Temis the Vorta]

The interconnected-strand thing would be more intriguing if it were done cleverly, but in the pilot, it was just a bunch of tear-jerking coincidences that anyone could have cobbled together. It's too easy to write stuff like that. I want to see a writer working a bit harder before I'll be impressed.

I had heard so much good early press for it I gave it a chance since this tv season has been lacklustre-I've sampled just about every new show there has been and gave up on all(Terra Nova, The Secret Circle, Touch, Grimm, OUAT, Playboy Club, Revenge, The Firm, Awake etc) but one. Now I can add Touch to the list. I don't think it was that good. I don't see myself staying with it.

Grimm is shaping up - the characters and the plot arc are definitely growing. OUAT is a strange bird. You have to be happy to sit still and watch some zany fairy tale characters doing stuff that's pretty ironic in the context of the original fairy tales. Whether something like that matters to you is another thing. And Awake might really go places, if it survives. It can't take another ratings drop this week.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Grimm is shaping up - the characters and the plot arc are definitely growing.

I don't like the campiness of the show. It just doesn't work for me--I wasn't a fan of Buffy either and I think some of the people who worked on it are behind Grimm. I like my sf/f to be serious and have conviction about itself despite its extraordinary trappings.

OUAT is a strange bird. You have to be happy to sit still and watch some zany fairy tale characters doing stuff that's pretty ironic in the context of the original fairy tales. Whether something like that matters to you is another thing.

I actually enjoyed the pilot and the premise is fairly fresh but the execution for me has been lacking. After sitting through so many LOST wannabes over the years and LOST itself I have gotten tired of the style and format--out of order storytelling, flashbacks, a large cast, a big mystery within a limited premise--it was something innovative back in 2004 but nowadays it has become formulaic. But what ultimately lost me was there were very few interesting characters--Regina and Gold were just about it for me--the rest meh. And the flashbacks weren't all that interesting--Even on LOST which had better flashbacks and some compelling surprises than OUAT, they eventually became the least interesting part of the show for me and I was glad when they dumped them. I know many like OUAT but for me it just lacks a narrative focus and urgency--a lot of times it felt like it was spinning its wheels.

And Awake might really go places, if it survives. It can't take another ratings drop this week.

I am just so tired of cop shows and that is what it seems to most want to be with a little bit of the dealing with loss angle. Plus if it turns out with some lame experiment or conspiracy by the captain--yuck. It reminds me of Life on Mars and I hated that show.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I really don't see the campiness in Grimm, and I'm usually very sensitive to campiness and even a little will turn me off, fast. That's a big part why I can't stand SyFy's lineup nowadays. Grimm is serious, but not unrelievedly, well, grim about it. Nothing in life is utterly devoid of humor unless you're in a completely dire situation like genocidal robots or zombie apocalypse.

Agreed about the lack of narrative urgency in OUAT - that's definitely the show's weakness.

I'm tired of cop shows, too, but I'm hoping that Awake will turn out to be a show about a guy who is genuinely experiencing two valid realities - not hallucinating, not dying, etc. Because there are interesting places you could go with that.

 

[Borgminister]

Apparently, Touch has already jumped the shark 2 episodes in: The dog showing up in the bridge suicide scene yesterday made me LOL.

The Mohinder-esque actor was quite unintentionally funny as well.

Almost seems like this show should be on CBS given how sappy and touch-feely it is with virtually no even marginally compelling genre aspect typical for FOX. It can't be good that Heroes creator Kring wrote the episode, either.

The coming attraction for next week's episode does hint at a broader framework, so I'll give it a few more weeks. If only to see Kiefer getting his ass handed to him as the anti-bad ass.

Meh.

 

[js]

Yeah, second ep definitely not as good as the first and already bordering on cliched. But agreed, looks like they may be adding some arc elements next week, so will give it another ep or two to see where it goes.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

The ratings last night were good:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118051823?refCatId=14

According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, ''Touch'' averaged a strong 3.2 rating/9 share in adults 18-49 and 11.7 million viewers overall in the 9 o'clock hour, leading in all key categories and retaining 80% of its lead-in from the ''American Idol'' results show (4.0/13 in 18-49, 15.0 million viewers overall), which was at a low but still the night's No. 1 show as ''The Big Bang Theory'' was preempted for basketball. ''Touch'' was down from its preview episode two months ago (3.9/10 in 18-49, 12.0 million viewers overall) but ''Idol'' was much stronger on that night. The Kiefer Sutherland drama, which outperformed the net's prior timeslot average this season by more than 30%, must brace for tougher competition down the road, as ''Grey's Anatomy'' aired a repeat last night and both ''Person of Interest'' and ''The Office'' were preempted.

Maria Bello Joins Fox Drama Series ‘Touch’

Maria Bello is joining the show for a multi-episode arc this season with an option to become a series regular if the drama, as expected, is picked up for Season 2. Bello will play an earth-mother type whose daughter shared a gift similar to that of Martin’s (Sutherland) son Jake (David Mazouz).

 

[AntonyF]

Awful. Awful. Awful.

Some spoilers for episode 2 here...

I found the pilot intriguing. I found it a bit 'too much', but big fan of Heroes, like the overall concept... was hoping it'd improve with episode 2.

Oh no... if anyting it was a lot worse.

This show could be good if the writers showed some restraint. Had one or two plot threads, and unfolded them slowly. But I imagine the script planning sessions go something like this. "Name a profession: clown! Name a location: ice cream parlour. Name an animal: a monkey". Then they link them all together in some overblown narrative. "A monkey escapes the zoo... runs into the ice cream parlour... when an ex-clown realises he misses his clown-monkey double act, becomes a clown again and makes a child laugh. That child is so happy and that child's grandfather (who runs the ice cream parlour) realises that life is good, he keeps his ice cream parlour open and everyone lives happily ever after."

Turning back to the second episode, it is just cringeworthy. A crimelord gives up violence because his kid is upset. Okay yeah. A woman cries when her dad is mentioned... wait for it viewers, we'll come back to that. A man is upset that his daughter has fallen out with him. Can you see the dots forming viewers? Can you?

I joked that it could only get worse if she and the dog would come bounding on to the bridge at the end thinking it couldn't possibly be that brazen... oh yes it can.

Just truly dreadful.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Almost seems like this show should be on CBS given how sappy and touch-feely it is with virtually no even marginally compelling genre aspect typical for FOX. It can't be good that Heroes creator Kring wrote the episode, either.

It does kind of have that vibe. It's like one of those "Touched by an Angel" shows without an overt religious element. The way the elements all come together plays out like a fantasy.

 

[js]

Yup, this one's starting to lose me. I might give it one more ep, but I'm not sure if I can take another hour of "Jake! Jake! Jake, come back here! Jake, don't go there! Jake! Jake!" I mean, I feel sorry for the guy, but it's not engaging drama.