This is from my May 2023 blog post:
TV and movie comparisons/ Angel season 3 ep 1 "Heartthrob" question
This is my Jul. 2022 blog post:
Should I continue into TV production? (Part 4)/ Why do you want to be a TV writer?
Sept. 4, 2022 My life purpose: It seems like I'm not going to be able to become a TV writer and producer.
My life purpose is to entertain and make people happy, educate, and inform people as a writer/ blogger.
When you read these "TV and movie comparisons" about creative writing and screenwriting, I hope you are entertained by this and learn about writing.
When you read my TV show reviews, I hope you learn about creative writing and screenwriting.
These are the TV shows I watched from my favorite to my least favorite.
Jan. 19, 2025 The Hunting Party:
"Follows a small team of investigators who are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from a top-secret prison that's not supposed to exist."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21906554/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1
Pros:
1. There is a good opening. 2 guards put in a prisoner Richard Harris (Tobias Jelinek) in his cell. The guards scan a barcode on his foot.
The cell has a one sided mirror where he can't see what's outside.
There is a huge prison with all these cells.
It is deep underground.
There is this huge explosion. It blows up Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Cut to Virginia. Bex Henderson is working as security at the casino. She can tell the Dealer knows the Player, and she is dealing by the bottom of the deck.
Bex is picked up the FBI to work for them.
2. The cast:
Melissa Roxburgh- as Bex Henderson. She was an FBI agent (profiler), and then removed, and now back on for this case to catch a serial killer. I have seen her on the show I like Manifest.
Patrick Sabongui - as Hassani, a White House advisor.
Josh McKenzie- as Shane Florence, a prison guard. He's from the TV show that I like La Brea.
Nick Weshler- as Oliver Odell, FBI agent and he worked with Bex. He was on the TV show that I like Shades of Blue.
Spoiler alert of the pilot:
Bex tells Shane she wanted to a profiler since she was 15 yrs old: My dad was the Sheriff. My best friend's dad was a little too interested in the case. He asks me about what the police heard. I slept over at her house, and then went to the garage. I found a rope tied in a strange knot like in a crime scene photo I saw in my dad's office.
Shane: I was recruited from the military. I wanted to be close to family.
Mar. 7, 2025: I watched the 2nd episode, and they brought another character in:
Sara Garcia- as Jennifer Morales. She is part of the tech team and finds info on the inmates.
3. There is good writing.
There is exposition as Bex tells about what she knows about the serial killer Richard Harris. She's the one who helped catch him and he was executed in 2017.
Also as Hassani explains to Bex (and the audience) about the prison called the Pit. Harris wasn't executed at all and he was in the Pit. He is the only inmate that they know escaped because his uniform is off with 2 dead guards.
There are quite a few surprises that I didn't predict in this case.
Spoiler alert of the pilot:
Shane tells Bex that there are recordings. Harris had drugs being pumped in him. They were running experiments on the inmates.
Hassini to Bex: There are a lot less serial killers over the year. We catch them before they become the next Ted Bundy. Everything we know about killers is because of us.
They put Nicole who is Harris's last victim as bait to draw out Harris.
Harris comes at the house with the Bex, Hassani, and Shane there.
Nicole tries to hit Harris with a shovel, and he grabs her with a knife to her.
Hassani shoots Harris in the head.
The "Cleaners" van pick up Harris's body.
Bex is tasked with the telling a story to Nicole.
Hassani and Shane goes to Harris's car, and there's thumping. There's a woman tied up in there.
They call Bex.
Bex then tells: You and Harris were working together.
Nicole grabs a knife and Bex shoots her shoulder.
There are flashbacks of Bex with Oliver working as FBI. Oliver has a killer tied up in the cabin. Bex is locked outside. Oliver pours the gasoline onto him and sets it on fire.
Oliver: Where is she?
Killer: There's a small fishing shack 2 miles from here.
Bex saves this 13 yr old girl Samantha.
Bex adopted her.
Huge surprise: Bex meets the warden and it's Oliver.
Bex: You could have put out the fire (in the cabin killer.)
Oliver: This explosion wasn't an accident. It was a jail break.
4. There is good action.
Bex goes to a animal hospital where she thinks Harris is, there's a short fight.
Cons: none.
My opinion: The pilot was average. I will record the series and watch this all in a week.
Mar. 7, 2025: I watched 4 episodes this week, so half the season. I find this show to be solid with good writing in the mysteries of catching these serial killers. There is also the mystery of who is behind the explosion of the Pit.
This is really good writing because it's unpredictable. At first it seems like the killer is killing these people for this reason, when really he or she is killing for that reason.
There are a lot of twists and turns.
Apr. 8, 2025: I just finished watching the whole season (10 episodes) and I really like it.
You should all watch it if you like mystery, crime, and action.
There is also the mystery of Shane and why is he visiting the Dr. Dulles (who was a doctor) in the Pit. He now has Alzheimer's.
There are twists and turns to Shane's story. Spoiler alert: Shane pretends Dr. Dulles is his dad, when he isn't. Dulles's daughter Sarah reports him to the nursing home that he doesn't have a son.
It turns out Shane learns he was adopted when he's 18 yrs old, and wants to know his biological parents. Dr. Dulles was his therapist for a long time and may know who his parents are.
Sept. 13, 2025: I want to say this show is kind of funny. My favorite episode is S1 Ep 7 "Mark Marsden."
"Bex and the team race to catch Mark Marsden, known as the Widower, a handsome and charming serial killer who murdered three of his wives in cold blood. Everything changes when Mark decides to take a new bride."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32567530/?ref_=ttep_ep_7
Mark is played by Jesse Bradford (Bring it On). I never found him attractive, but he looked good and his acting was good in this episode. Carol (Brooke Smith and was on Big Sky) is the new bride.
Mark is in exposure therapy with being in weddings. Carol is an administrative assistant at the Pit and pretends to be the bride in the therapy to make more money. There are hours of this therapy/ wedding videos. Mark kidnaps Carol.
They have to find them.
Shane: Carol is out there with some creep, and is watching wedding videos from hell our best lead?
Apr. 24, 2025 Comparisons:
Dark Angel: This kind of reminds me of this show.
They create super soldiers with good DNA and train them to fight and kill.
Lydecker: Why send 1000 soldiers out and 100 die when you can send 10 soldiers out and no one dies?
"A group of genetically-enhanced children escape from a lab project. Years later we meet Max, one of the escapees who now works for a messenger service in the post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204993/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_dark%2520ang
The Passage:
"When a botched U.S. government experiment turns a group of death row inmates into highly infectious vampires, an orphan girl might be the only person able to stop the ensuing crisis."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074206/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_the%2520passage
My opinion: I saw the last half of the season, because I didn't know it was on. This was a good show.
Sept. 13, 2025: The Hunting Party will have a 2nd season in mid -season 2026.
Apr. 15, 2025 Paradise:
Grosse Pointe Garden Society: This show is coming out on Sun. Feb. 23. This is on NBC. This looks interesting:
"Follows four members of a suburban garden club, as they get caught up in murder and mischief, as they strive to flourish."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26748764/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_3_in_0_q_grosse%2520garden
Pros:
1. There is a good opening. They're digging a hole, and they put a body in there to bury.
6 months earlier.
2. The cast:
AnnaSophia Robb- as Alice. She was on The Carrie Diaries. I never watched it.
Ben Rappaport- as Brett.
Aja Naomi King- as Catherine. She was on How to Get Away with Murder. I only saw the pilot.
Melissa Fumero- as Birdie Bradley. I was watching the pilot for 15 min. and was like: "She's from Brooklyn Nine- Nine." I saw the first 2 eps of that show.
Matt Davis- as Ford's dad and a cop. He's from The Vampire Diaries.
3. The writing. Spoiler alert for the pilot:
Alice is an English teacher. She has an artist boyfriend.
She gets into conflict with giving a D to a student Peyton for plagiarizing a song as his poem.
Alice's dog Molly was missing, and was found shot dead. Peyton insinuates that he killed her dog.
Alice tells the Principal, but he says Peyton's parents funded a lot of things for the school.
Alice tells Peyton's mom that he killed her dog. She is fired from her job.
Brett catches his ex- wife cheating on him. He has a 9 yr old daughter and 7 yr old son. The ex- wife Melissa has married Connor who's a tax accountant.
Brett helps a man with a fancy car that broke down on highway as a way to prove to his kids he's smart.
He shows the fancy car to his son and the students there and impresses them.
Connor is digging into Brett so he can get custody of the kids.
Catherine is a real estate agent and is cheating on her husband with her co-worker Gary. They work for Gary's father-in-law. She sees Birdie wearing a bracelet that Gary bought for her.
Catherine tells her friends Alice and Brett about it. They follow Gary around and he's hitting on all these female customers.
Catherine tells Birdie about it.
At a house showing, Gary and Catherine are to hook up. Gary takes off all his clothes and the lights come on.
The boss and father-in-law is there and fires him. The women and Birdie are there and gives him the bracelets back.
Birdie is an author. She got into a car accident, and hits a fountain. She's now doing community service by volunteering at the garden club.
She wants to improve her image, so her publicist tells her to create a scholarship to give to a teen.
Birdie meets teen boy Ford who gets the scholarship.
Birdie: This is so you won't make bad decisions like I did, like get pregnant in 10th grade.
Ford: I'm not dating anyone.
Birdie: Neither was I.
Later, Ford's mom Misty goes to Birdie:
Misty: We'll take the money.
Birdie: I thought you would.
Misty: You agreed to no contact.
Birdie: My parents did. He doesn't know he's adopted.
Joel (dressed as a cop) comes by.
Joel: I'm his dad.
Birdie is having contact with Ford whom she gave up for adoption, and has conflicts with the adoptive parents.
The conflicts:
Gary has a gun and is sitting outside Catherine's house.
There are flash forwards of 6 months into the future.
The body is buried in garden, and will be dug up to put in a pond.
The audience doesn't know who got killed.
4. There is good comedy.
5. Ethnic diversity.
Cons: none.
My opinion: I will record the series and watch this in a couple of weeks.
Sept. 13, 2025: I watched the first season (13 episodes) and thought this was average. This show got cancelled and I feel neutral.
Spoiler alert of who got killed: The four friends of Alice, Catherine, Brett, and Birdie were destroying a blanket. Alice's father -in -law Keith grabs the blanket, and then falls back and this garden tool stabs holes in his back.
The four will most likely go to jail for manslaughter. They decided to cover it up.
In the season finale/ series finale: Catherine, Brett, and Birdie have someone tied up. You may think it's Alice.
Jan. 9, 2025 Doc: I was able to watch this TV show on Telus on Demand on the Global network. This TV show came out on Tues.
"It tells the story of Dr. Amy Larsen who loses her memory during a car accident. She must return to being an intern and somehow rebuild her life from the pieces that remain."
Pros:
1. There's a good opening with the screen is black and a crash noise. Dr. Amy Larsen is in a car accident.
She goes through a surgery and then does a CT scan. She's asked questions about herself.
Doctor: How many kids do you have?
Amy: Katie and Danny. They're 9 and 7.
Doctor: Who's the President?
Amy: FDR. Barack Obama.
24 hrs earlier.
They show Amy being the Chief of Medicine. She's dating Jake. The patients complain about her bedside manner.
2. The cast:
Dr. Amy Larsen- Molly Parker is a good actor. I haven't seen any of her work.
Dr. Michael Hamda- Omar Metwally from Big Sky. He is Amy's ex- husband and runs the hospital and administration.
Dr. Richard Miller- Scott Wolf from Nancy Drew and Party of Five.
3. There is good writing and a good story. Spoiler alert:
Amy has retrograde amnesia of the last 8 yrs. She doesn't remember what happened to her family. They have to explain to her.
Michael: We got divorced 4 yrs ago. Danny died 7 yrs ago because of his heart.
Amy cries. I got upset and felt like crying.
4. Ethnic diversity.
Cons:
1. This is a mild con. The TV title is kind of boring. Maybe there could be some word with memory in it.
My opinion: I just finished watching the pilot. This was average. This is a medical drama and I don't usually watch these. I won't be watching this again.
If you like medical dramas and to watch a woman put her life together, then you might like this.
I heard about this show in the May 2024 upfronts:
May 13, 2024 "Fox Fall 2024 Schedule: ‘Lone Star’ Succeeds ‘9-1-1’, ‘The Floor’ Moves, ‘Family Guy’ Among 8 Scripted Series Held For Midseason": Today I found this article by Nellie Andreeva on Deadline:
Sept. 13, 2025: This show got a 2nd season.
Jan. 29, 2025 Watson:
"A year after the death of his friend and partner Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson resumes his medical career at a clinic dedicated to the treatment of rare diseases. However, he soon finds that his old life is not done with him yet."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22475008/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_1_nm_6_in_0_q_watson
Pros:
1. There was a good opening with Watson running in the woods and he calls Sherlock Holmes's name.
This was in Reichenbach waterfalls, Switzerland.
Holmes and his enemy Moriarty fall into the water. Watson jumps in.
6 months later. Pittsburgh.
Watson has a traumatic brain injury. Shinwell Johnson tells him that Holmes left him money for a clinic for Watson to run.
2. The cast:
Morris Chestnut- he is Dr. John Watson. I have seen him on the show The Enemy Within.
Ritchie Coster- as Shinwell Johnson, the sidekick.
Eve Harlow- as neurologist Dr. Ingrid Derian. She was on Next.
Inga Schlingmann- as Dr. Sasha Lubbock. She was born in China, and adopted into a rich family in Texas.
Peter Mark Kendall- as twins Adam and Stephens Croft. Watson hired them to see nature vs. nurture.
Stephen is the analytical one.
Adam is the laid- back one.
Rochelle Aytes- as Dr. Mary Morstan. She is divorced from Watson, and is the medical director.
Spoiler alert for who plays Moriarty: Randall Park.
3. The writing was average. Spoiler alert of the pilot:
Erika is five and a half months pregnant. She hasn't slept for 7 days.
Erika needs bone marrow.
They have trouble finding her brother because he does drugs and doesn't have an address.
Watson finds him.
Then Erika's cousin Autumn has the same symptoms as Erika.
It turns out they are really half- sisters.
Throughout the episode, there is a problem, and then it gets solved.
However, then another problem comes up.
That's how you write a story. There has to be drama, conflict, and tension throughout it.
They said this which is what Holmes says:
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."
Watson's first genetic professor said:
"The stories of our lives is written inside of us before we're ever born."
4. I like the office set.
Cons: none.
Comparisons:
Elementary: This is Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson solving crime. This show is also on CBS like Watson. I only saw the pilot and the 3rd episode "Child Predator." This show was average.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2191671/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2_tt_6_nm_1_in_0_q_elem
House: I have never watched this show before. I was reading the reviews on IMDB, and they were saying how Watson is like House, but worse.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412142/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_6_nm_1_in_0_q_house
My opinion: The pilot was mediocre and then I never watched it again. This is a medical drama and I don't usually watch these.
This show got a 2nd season.
Feb. 21, 2025 Good Cop/ Bad Cop: This show is on the CW and I don't have access to that channel. I found out I have USA network for free preview on Telus, so I may be able to watch 2 episodes.
"Siblings working as detectives in a small town navigate quirky locals, limited resources, their strained relationship, and their father, who's the police chief, in this comedic crime procedural."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31691565/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_good%2520cop
Pros:
1. There is an interesting opening with this being set in Edenvale, Washington with a population of 9376 people, and then soon to be 9375. There was something around 9000 people.
There is a pharmacy. A man wearing a Ronald Reagan mask burst in.
Ronald: Everybody, down on the ground!
Everybody was already down on the ground, a man wearing a Hockey Mask was robbing the pharmacy with a long shot gun.
There is a shoot out.
Then there is the police station. The cop Joe puts a young man in his 20s in the interrogation room and warns that Det. Hickman is going to come in. The Man and audience predict Hickman is going to be mean and hard on him.
Det. Lou Hickman is all nice.
Lou: Is Sheila your mom? I know her. Let's call her together.
Man: No, don't call her. His name is White Mike, that's all I know.
Then Lou has to investigate the pharmacy murder and robbery.
2. The cast:
Leighton Meester- as Det. Lou Hickman. She's from Gossip Girl.
Luke Cook- as Det. Henry Hickman. I have never seen him before.
Clancy Brown- as the police chief Hank Hinkman. He's from The Shawshank Redemption. I never saw that movie.
3. The writing:
Mystery: They are solving crime and a mystery. Who would rob this pharmacy?
There is detective work with forensics and finding a cell phone.
Spoiler alert of the pilot: It turns out the pharmacist Phil was behind the robbery.
Phil: I hired him to stage a robbery so I could give the drugs to the people who lost their insurance. The Robber came back and started threatening me to give him everything.
Lou: So that's why you used the deer head off the wall to kill him with it.
Comedy: Cut to Lou and Hank.
Lou (is on the phone): De Niro's dead?
Hank: No.
Lou: The gunman, not the actor.
Hank: Oh.
There is also the drama, conflict, and tension with the family.
Henry wrote an article about how his dad shouldn't be the chief of police because he fudges crime statistics, and gives preferential treatments to his friends which is true.
The article was written 7 yrs ago. Henry has been estranged from Lou and Hank since then.
4. Ethnic diversity
Comparisons:
A cop show that is also a comedy:
The Rookie:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7587890/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_the%2520rookie
Brooklyn 99:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2467372/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_4_nm_4_in_0_q_brooklyn
Cons: none.
My opinion: The pilot was average. I like mystery and crime drama. I don't really like comedy. If there isn't anything else on, I would watch this.
Sept. 13, 2025: There still isn't any news if this show is renewed or not.
Feb. 25, 2025 Suits LA: This show is coming out on Sun. Feb. 23. This is on NBC. I'll check out the pilot, but I don't know if I'll watch more eps.
"Follows a new group led by Ted Black, a former New York prosecutor who built an L.A. law firm that specializes in criminal and entertainment law."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31122751/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_suits
Pros:
1. There is a good opening:
In New York 2010. Ted visits his witness Billy who is afraid of testifying against a big mob boss. Ted threatens to arrest his daughter Tina who go to jail if he doesn't testify.
Ted leaves, and then there is this huge explosion at the house. I jumped.
Ted wakes up.
Ted's brother Eddie is there. He has Down Syndrome.
At the law office, there is news that Lester Thompson has been arrested for murder.
There is a big merger of 2 law firms.
2. The cast:
Stephen Amell- as entertainment lawyer Ted Black. He is from Arrow.
Josh McDermitt- as criminal defense lawyer Stuart Lane. He's from The Walking Dead.
Lex Scott Davis- as entertainment lawyer Erica Rollins. I have never seen her before.
Bryan Greenberg- as entertainment lawyer Rick Dodsen.
Maggie Grace- as a criminal defense lawyer Amanda Stevens. She doesn't work for them.
Troy Winbush- as Kevin, who used to work for Ted.
Kevin Weisman- as Lester Thompson. He was on Alias.
John Amos- he's an actor who plays himself. I have never seen his work.
Carson A. Egen- as Eddie. Ted's brother.
3. The writing was average. There is drama, conflict, and tension.
Spoiler alert of the pilot:
Stuart and Ted merge their law firms together. Stuart takes nearly all the senior associates with him.
Ted has only Rick and Erica with him.
There is also Ted helping Lester prove that he didn't murder his partner, and that it was a shooting accident.
Ted talks to Amanda.
Ted: How do you do it? How do you live with yourself knowing that whoever it is, is guilty of what they're accused of doing?
Amanda: Because everyone deserves someone to fight for them. Even if it's some kid who broke into a house, because doesn't know any other way.
Stuart wants Erica to work for him and feed him information about Ted, and then Erica will be the head of the entertainment department because that's what she wants.
Erica tells his junior associate Leah.
Leah tells Ted.
Ted yells at Erica and fires her.
Erica: I said that to her to see if I could trust her and if I could trust you.
Rick writes a letter that he's leaving Ted.
Rick: When I said you should fire Greg Litvak, you got a look of glee. He left to provide for his family and not to screw you. The main thing is that you took on Lester. You're taking on something you despise (criminal defense) to save your firm.
The best part was the ending. Ted's dad was a lawyer. Now he's in hospice and will be dying very soon.
Ted says goodbye to him while the dad is still sleeping.
Ted: When you got convicted, you wanted to spend the last night of freedom with me.
You let them kill Eddie. You didn't show up at his funeral.
There are questions set up:
1. Did Lester really kill his partner by accident?
2. Who killed Eddie?
4. Ethnic diversity.
Cons:
1. The writing: I don't find this show that interesting.
There are questions set up.
I don't see a mystery. I like to watch mysteries and crime dramas.
My opinion: The pilot was average. I don't think I'm going to watch this again. I don't really like law dramas.
I never saw the original Suits so I can't compare this to them.
Sept. 13, 2025: This show got cancelled.
The other 2 blog posts of the week:
"David Thewlis to Star in ‘Sherlock & Daughter’ Series Ordered at CW"/ "The CW Fall 2024-25 Schedule: Top Scripted Series MIA, ‘Superman & Lois’ Bows Out On New Night"
http://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/09/david-thewlis-to-star-in-sherlock_22.html
"Swift ‘S.W.A.T.’ Spinoff: Behind The Mad Dash To Get ‘Exiles’ Starring Shemar Moore Off The Ground"/ "S.W.A.T. EXILES Reveals Full Spinoff Cast, Including 9-1-1: Lone Star Vet"
http://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/09/swift-swat-spinoff-behind-mad-dash-to.html
Tara B, Fort McMurray , Alberta, would like to know:
Are you looking forward to fall?
Yes 60.27% (2552)
No 39.73% (1682)
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