Autumn 2015 TV - Part Two

It's the second half of my feature, alphabetically listing all the TV shows I've been watching this autumn, with thoughts on how they're developing...

'The Knick' (season 2) - Cinemax.
It's another great year for this period medical drama, so far, which too many people are overlooking. I'm not sure why that is. The subject matter? Its wintry 1900s setting? The stigma of Cinemax? It's their loss. The Knick is amazing. Boardwalk Empire with stethoscopes. Gruesome surgeries. Genuinely insightful stuff about turn-of-the-19th-century medicine and social norms. Clive Owen as a coke-addict genius surgeon. Andre Holland stealing the show with a raised eyebrow. And it's all directed with surgical precision by Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies & Videotape, Ocean's Eleven), every single week. I feel blessed it exists.

SUPERGIRL flies high in U.S ratings

I reviewed Supergirl in May as part of a summer preview, but just wanted to draw your attention to my archived review today, as the comic-book drama has just premiered on CBS in the U.S (to a whopping 12.9m viewers, making it the most successful new autumn series in the young adult demographic). It did have The Big Bang Theory as a lead-in, of course, which is the No.1 comedy in America, so how episode 2 fares is less certain. But I have a feeling this show's a real winner, and most other critics agree. Supergirl debuts in the UK on Sky1 this Thursday, 29 October @8PM.

Frame Rated: 5 New U.S TV Shows to Watch this Autumn

A few days ago, over at Frame Rated: I wrote a rundown of the 5 New U.S TV Shows to Watch this Autumn: BLINDSPOT, ASH vs EVIL DEAD, THE MUPPETS, SCREAM QUEENS and SUPERGIRL. Please check it out and share with your friends, family and followers!

Pilot preview: CBS's SUPERGIRL

★★★☆

I've always found gender-bending superheroes to be rather unimaginative, because if you want to appeal to a female demographic why put a woman in the same costume as their male counterpart (with an added skirt), and peddle the same story? Why not create something unique and compelling on its own merits? This is why, for me, Wonder Woman will always be more exciting than Supergirl—and not just because the latter character's best-known as the basis for a terrible 1984 movie, attempting to cash-in on the success of the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman movies.