Trailers have become available for Fox’s new 2014-15 shows: Batman prequel Gotham; Gracepoint – the adaptation of British mystery, Broadchurch, Mulaney – based on the comedy of rising star, John Mulaney; the social experiment/unscripted Utopia; detective drama Backstrom (think House as a detective – only trying to evolve); Empire, the story of a hip-hop mogul’s family and his entertainment empire; fantasy Hieroglyph, set in ancient Egypt (think ancient gods, wizards, political intrigue); and M. Night Shyamalan’s event series, Wayward Pines.
After you watch the trailer for Gotham (above) – which looks and feels like they got it right – follow the jump to check out the rest.
At first glance, it looks like Gracepoint is, if not quite shot-for-shot, at least a very faithful adaptation of Broadchurch. Then you spot a few little tweaks – enough to suggest both that this adaptation captures the feel of the original and that it has developed its own identity. I found that reassuring.
The trailer makes me think that Fox wants Mulaney to be a younger, hipper Seinfeld. That’s not going to happen – but John Mulaney has in unusual sense of humor so maybe the show will evolve away from those Seinfeld pretensions.
So, fifteen everyday people are dumped in the middle of nowhere – and have to create a functioning, hopefully utopian, society. This trailer makes me think that Utopia will be some kind of legendary mess – for real.
Backstrom is so self-destructive that the most lethal dish on a local diner’s menu is named after him. And he’s a police detective. Played by Rainn Wilson. From the creator of Bones. It may not do well, but I’m in.
Terrance Howard, Taraji P.Henson. Music by Timbaland. A dying mogul seeks to groom his successor – but who will it be? This has a lot of potential.
Mystery, magic, palace intrigue… possibly vampires and gods. Hieroglyph looks like it could be a seriously epic fantasy series. It even has John Rhys-Davies. Definitely worth a look.
M. Night Shyamalan goes David Lynch. Weird, disjointed, and intriguing – but M. Night has let us down so many times. Fingers crossed, he pulls it off – but I’m not feeling sanguine about that…