Retro Review: ‘The Girl With Something Extra’

by Doug Snauffer

Like many other independent channels, Get TV kicked off the New Year by revising its programming lineup. One change in particular was the addition of an obscure sitcom from the early 1970s entitled The Girl With Something Extra (NBC, 1973-74). read article

‘Super Sci-Fi Saturday Nights’

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by Doug Snauffer

There’s an abundance of science fiction and fantasy on TV these days, and you can find it just about anywhere. The Syfy Channel, for example, produces its own line of original series’ like Aftermath, Incorporated and Channel Zero. Of course, such programming is their stock-in-trade.

However, even the major broadcast networks are churning out their share of similar content, with such titles as ABC’s Agents of Shield, NBC’s Timeless, and Fox’s Gotham. The CW in particular has jumped on the comic book craze currently dominating big-screen box offices. They became home for the displaced Supergirl after she proved incompatible with CBS’ older-skewing demographic last season. At the CW she now keeps regular company with Blade, Arrow, and the Legends of Tomorrow. read article

‘Designated Survivor’ a hit for ABC

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by Doug Snauffer

ABC’s new political thriller Designated Survivor looked like one of the more intriguing new shows coming to TV this season.  The network promised a compelling series that would tap into our fears regarding terrorism and examine what we as a country look for and need in a leader.

Personally I’m also a fan of Kiefer Sutherland and was happy to see him back on TV.  The concept behind Designated Survivor plays out like the type of scenario that counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer worked to foil each season on 24.  It’s as if we’re getting a look at what might have occurred if Jack hadn’t been so good at his job. read article

‘Timeless’ Shoulda Been Better

Time Travelers Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter, and Malcolm Barrett of NBC's Timeless.
Time-travelers Malcolm Barrett, Abigail Spencer, and Matt Lanter of NBC’s Timeless.

by Doug Snauffer

I really expected more from NBC’s Timeless.  I’ve always been a big fan of time-travel stories, and so apparently is Timeless co-creator Eric Kripke (Supernatural, Revolution).  He revealed in a recent interview that inspiration for his latest creation can be traced back to such programs as Voyagers! (NBC, 1982-83) and Quantum Leap (NBC, 1989-93).  That was enough to sell me.

Until, that is, I viewed the pilot for Timeless (NBC, Mondays, 10 pm).  

The first episode played like a two-hour movie that had been hastily edited in half.  Just seven minutes into the premiere episode, three strangers had already been assembled, introduced to a secret time-travel project, given the run-down on their first assignment, attired in appropriate 1930s apparel, and strapped into the giant eyeball-shaped contraption that would carry them back to 1937 to the sight of the Hindenburg disaster. read article

Doug Snauffer sees “MacGyver”

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This is MacGyver?

by Douglas Snauffer

CBS’ reboot of MacGyver (Fridays, 8 p.m.) is another freshman series I was curious about all summer.  

Not that I had high hopes for it.  The odds are typically against recycled TV shows.  MacGyver, though, is being used as a lead-in for Hawaii Five-O, another title resurrected by CBS that is now entering its seventh-season.  So if CBS believed in it that much (if they didn’t, they would’ve had McGarrett & Company be the lead-in instead of the follower), I didn’t want to completely discount Mac’s chances.

My optimism, however, turned out to be short-lived. Just five minutes into the premiere episode my mind was already made up – I hated it. I dutifully sat through the rest of the hour, but that merely reinforced my initial opinion.  MacGyver is another case of a TV classic receiving a modern make-over with disastrous results. read article