Confession
You know what they say about the book and the cover and the judging? Well, on occasion the same theory can apply to TV. Sure, we all jump to conclusions after watching the very first episode, but what happens when the series turns out to be much better—or worse—than we first thought? Some new fall shows this year completely surprised us...
Scorpion
Better than we thought: The thing about Scorpion is, it's not the smartest drama on TV even though it features the smartest characters. It's very, very, very frothy and lowest common denominator in a way, but for that reason it's so easy to get into and lose yourself in the entertaining and over-the-top ways the group of geniuses come up with to always save the day. We're strangely...hooked.
Red Band Society
Cheesier than we thought: We were so ready to embrace this show as our go-to new drama…but then we saw more episodes. We're still watching, we love Octavia Spencer (and Davd Annable's ginger beard) but Red Band Society has turned out to be too teen-drama cheesy. A little more adult focus will probably reel us back in. You have an Oscar winner…give her more to do!
Black-ish
Better than we thought: Sitcom pilots are always a bit rough around the edges, and Black-ish was no exception. But in the ensuing weeks, the show has stopped hitting us over the head so intensely with its racial politics and found the funny, thanks to its stellar ensemble cast. All the awards to the casting director who found the kid actors who fill out the Johnson family, the show's not-so-secret weapon.
Gotham
Campier than we thought: While the pilot came off like it was put together by someone who read Cop Dramas for Dummies or binged on a whole lot of Law & Order when they had mono, the second episode went the Tim Burton route, and we loved it. And the Fox drama has continued to bring on the camp, with Jada Pinkett Smith leading the charge with her insane portrayal of gangster Fish Mooney, complete with faux-British accent. After Christopher Nolan's oh-so-serious take, a batty Batman-less Batman show is most welcome.
Forever
Better than we thought: While we didn't have the highest expectations for Ioan Gruffudd's ABC procedural (aside from seeing him naked over and over and over again each time he comes back to life), it's turned out to be so much more fun than we could have ever imagined! The easy-to-follow cases are, well, really easy to follow, unlike some other procedurals we could mention. Plus, Henry's friendship with Abe is so sweet, and we can't get enough of it.
Selfie
Sweeter than we thought: We've been obsessed with Selfie since before it premiered, but something we didn't count on? The heart at the center of the series! With each episode, Eliza and Henry get closer and closer, and they each teach other a little more about living life to the fullest. Eliza brings out Henry's fun side while Henry brings out the caring girl underneath Eliza's shallow exterior. We came here for the jokes, but we're all in thanks to this blossoming relationship. Team Heliza, party of one!
Constantine
Better than we thought: At first viewing, we didn't love this NBC drama and found it hard to even stay awake. (What? We're 90 years old and it was past 6 p.m.!) But the series has grown on us, mostly because of Matt Ryan's charisma, and the fact that Liv (Lucy Griffiths) was replaced by Zed (Angelica Celaya) as a series staple. So...sparkage.
A to Z
Worse than we thought: We thought it was love at first sight after watching the pilot, so you can imagine our horror when we saw the next few episodes of this rom-com series. First of all? Not funny. Second of all, the characters became so unrelatable that it was almost painful to watch. We're not sure what happened here, but this show, the one that showed the most promise at the beginning of the series, was not at all what we expected.
Kingdom
Better than we thought: The pilot was all about showing that "Hey, we're on DirecTV and we can swear here!" So they dropped literally hundreds of F-bombs in the premiere, and everyone looked all tough, and we were, frankly, bored to tears. But by the fourth episode, we are now card-carrying Kingdom fans and want Jonathan Tucker (Parenthood, The Black Donnellys) to win every single award for blowing our minds by how different he is as Jay. That guy is killing it!
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