Life Sentence – Stella (Lucy Hale) – Photo courtesy of The CW
This fall, The CW debuts a reboot of a classic primetime soap (Dynasty) and a military drama (Valor). Then, for mid-season, the network has a superhero series from (surprise!) Greg Berlanti (Black Lightning) and a slightly sudsy comedy drama (Life Sentence).
I have a few thoughts …
- Valor – a military drama with a ton of secrets; complicated relationships; misguided heroism; genuine heroism and The CW’s secret sauce, lotsa soap. The trailer says the show is aiming for substance as well as sizzle, but also suggests it might not make it – there’s just too much packed into too short an amount of time.
Grade: D
- Dynasty – the music for this reboot is very much swampy blues-rock. It’s a sizzling groove against which the characters of Dynasty, and their secrets, are hinted at sufficiently that it looks like it could be a lot of primetime soap fun. Plus, Krystal/Fallon catfight! (They’ve definitely dotted all their i’s and crossed all their t’s.
Grade: B
- Life Sentence – what happens when you’ve been told you’re going to die? You live for today – and that’s exactly what Stella (Lucy Hale) has done. What she doesn’t know is what others have sacrificed to enable her to do what she does. The Trailer for Life Sentence is smart and funny, as well as poignant. I think it’s worth checking out.
Grade: B+
Black Lightning – Greg Berlanti’s fifth superhero series for The CW looks like it could be pretty explosive stuff. The hero comes out of retirement to resume his fight to take down The 100 Gang and the trailer showcases Jackson Pierce as family man, high school principal and superhero in a way that doesn’t come off as too kitschy (Berlanti really gets superheroes!).
There’s plenty of action and plenty of heart; the effects look good, and the cast have real chemistry and real presence. If the writing is up to Berlanti series standards (there’s not quite enough in this three-minute trailer to be sure of that), this should be a fun show.
The trailer is impressive.
Grade: A-