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By Ang Lee (Age: 23, Australia)
Hellcats
Ingredients: Whoever said cheerleading isn’t a sport clearly doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Understandable, considering down on her luck, pre-law student Marty, felt that way before she joined the Hellcats, the competitive cheerleading team at her university. How’d a girl like Marty end up a cheerleader? When university cutbacks and her unreliable mother cause Marty to lose her college scholarship, the only way for Marty to keep her law dreams in tact is to join the Hellcats. But if she thought cheerleading was going to be easy, she’s in for a big surprise! Not only are there challenging dance routines to learn, but she’ll have to deal with Hellcats captain Savannah, who’s unlike anyone Marty has ever met!
Stir With: Aly Michalka (as in Aly and AJ), plays Marty. Ashley Tisdale plays Savannah. Other familiar faces you may recognise include Matt Barr, who’s guest starred on Gossip Girl, Harper’s Island and One Tree Hill plays Dan, who’s Marty’s friend secretly harbouring a crush on her. Robbie Jones, who played Quentin on One Tree Hill is a Hellcats member, while Gail O’Grady from American Dreams and Desperate Housewives, plays Marty’s mother Wanda. Tom Welling is an executive producer on the show.
Ready to Serve: September 8 on The CW
Hellcast Promo:
Ingredients: This show has been hailed as the potential saviour to The CW. Others say that it’s so awesome that it doesn’t even belong on The CW! Some of you may be too young to remember, but Nikita was actually a hit show from the late 90s (La Femme Nikita, which was a spin off from a French film). This version isn’t a reboot, but more like a reinterpretation, in the same way Smallville is to the Superman mythology. As a teenager, Nikita got into some serious trouble, so serious that she was put on death row! She ended up being rescued by a US agency known as the Division. They faked her death and told her that they had picked her to serve her country. The truth? She was being trained as a spy and assassin! Nikita realised the truth, and after they ruined her life, she went on the run. After three years running, she’s not hiding anymore and is back with a vengeance – not only does she want justice, but she wants to save all the innocent people being recruited into the Division who are then turned into killing machines. Let the games begin as she takes on the people who trained her!
Stir With: Maggie Q from Mission Impossible 3 is Nikita. Shane West (A Walk To Remember, ER, Once and Again) plays Michael, one of the Division’s best, and the guy who trained Nikita back in the days. The ultimate cougar Melinda Clarke (aka Julie Cooper-Nichols from The OC and Mrs Donovan from The Vampire Diaries) has shed her Mrs Robinson image and plays Amanda, a master manipulator at the Division, who shapes young and innocent recruits into cruel killing machines. Lyndsy Fonseca (How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives, Kickass) plays Alex, a streetkid who’s recruited into the Division – her story reminds us of Nikita’s.
Ready to Serve: September 9 on The CW
Nikita Trailer:
Ingredients: It hasn’t even aired yet and already Lone Star is being hailed as FOX’s next big hit! Meet Robert Allen, a con artist who is juggling two separate lives. Life A is where charming Bob is happily married to wife Cat, who just happens to come from a wealthy oil family in Houston. Life B is where Robert Allen is the perfect boyfriend to sweet Lindsay in Midland, 400 miles away from Houston. But appearances aren’t everything. Robert is secretly scamming investors of their savings in Midland, and in Houston, Bob is waiting for his chance to take over the family business. Sure it may sound like a soap opera, but this show has heart. Amongst all the scheming and drama is simply a man who was pushed into a tricky life by his own father, but now he’s in love and wants out. But which life does he want?
Stir With: Relative newcomer James Wolk plays Robert/Bob Allen. Adrianne Palicki from Friday Night Lights returns to Texas to play Cat Thatcher. Bryce Johnson from Pretty Little Liars plays her younger brother Drew. Respected actor Jon Voight plays Clint Voight, Cat’s father and the Texan oil tycoon.
Ready to Serve: September 20 on FOX
Lone Star Trailer:
Ingredients: Every season has one – the gripping drama full of mystery that has so many twists and turns that keeps us forever guessing. There was Lost, last year it was FlashForward, this year it’s The Event. The new US president uncovers some sort of government conspiracy and regular guy Sean Walker becomes involved after his fiancée disappears. There’s a mysterious and somewhat science fiction element to the show, with lots of questions but unlike many other shows in the same vein, there will be answers! Considering that some of the crew from Friday Night Lights are involved with this show, expect a strong character focus with great character moments.
Stir With: Jason Ritter from Parenthood, Raise Your Voice, Joan of Arcadia, plays Sean. Blair Underwood plays President Elias Martinez. Scott Paterson from Gilmore Girls and 90210, plays the father of Sean’s fiancé. You may also recognise Taylor Cole, who plays Vicky, from Summerland and Heroes. Jeffrey Reiner was an executive producer on Friday Night Lights and is also one on The Event.
Ready to Serve: September 20 on NBC
The Event Promo:
Ingredients: Nice cop Officer Mike Biggs and sweet fourth grade teacher Molly Flynn meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting and fall in love. Molly lives with her sexy older sister Victoria and mother Joyce, and life isn’t easy for her since they’re both slender, but Molly doesn’t let that get her down and embraces who she is. Life isn’t easy for Mike either, being friends with cop partner Carl McMillan, a thin wise guy and waiter Samuel who frowns upon anyone who doesn’t embrace food. Despite the premise, at the end of the day and underneath it all, the show is a comedy about being loved and embracing yourself.
Stir With: Mike and Molly comes from Chuck Lorre, who is the executive producer of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory. Melissa McCarthy from Gilmore Girls and Samantha Who plays Molly. Roy ‘Reno’ Wilson, who plays Carl, has done a lot of voice work in TV and video games, if you think he sounds familiar.
Ready to Serve: September 20 on CBS
Mike and Molly Promo:
Ingredients: This is a modern spin of the classic TV show about an elite task force who protect the sandy beaches of Hawaii from the bad guys. This time around we have son of McGarrett an original character, returning home to avenge his father’s death and he forms his task force with a unique bunch of characters including Danny ‘Danno’ Williams, who has moved to Hawaii to be closer to his child after his ex-wife moved there, Chin Ho Kelly, who was wrongly accused of corruption but was a good friend of McGarrett’s dad, and Kelly’s niece Kono, who is just about to graduate from Police Academy. Together the heat is on and the action is full blast to keep the island safe.
Stir With: Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight, Three Rivers, The Back Up Plan) plays Steve McGarrett. Scott Cann (Entourage, Ocean Eleven-Thirteen) plays Danno. Daniel Dae Kim never left the island after Lost it seems, because he’s still in Hawaii, this time playing Chin Ho Kelly. Grace Park from Battlestar Galactica plays Kono.
Ready to Serve: September 20 on CBS
Hawaii Five-0 Promo:
Running Wilde
Ingredients: This is the story about the one who got away, told from the perspective of a 12 year old girl! Steve Wilde is a selfish, immature, rich playboy. He may not care about many things, but he cares about Emmy, the daughter of one of his family’s former housekeepers. Emmy is kind and an activist, and now lives in the Amazon rainforest with her 12 year old daughter Puddle. Puddle just wants to be a normal kid and also happens to have not said a word in months! Fate brings Steve and Emmy together again when it turns out the Wilde family business is going to destroy her home, so Emmy comes back to town to convince Steve to help her. He’s too scared to go against his father, but doesn’t want to lose Emmy from his life again and calls upon his unique bunch of friends to help him win back Emmy. We sense this show may be one of those critics’ darling shows that may not rate well but fans will fight for, courtesy of the awesome cast
Stir With: Funny guy Will Arnett (Arrested Development, 30 Rock, When in Rome) plays Steve and sweetheart Keri Russell (Felicity, Waitress) plays Emmy. Stefania Owen (The Lovely Bones) plays Puddle.
Ready to Serve: September 21 on Fox
Running Wilde Trailer:
Ingredients: Steve and Samantha Bloom area husband and wife caterering team who also happen to be former CIA agents. Or at least former former CIA agents now, because guess who’s been called up to get back into the game? They may have been the best spies five years ago, before retiring to get married and build a life together, but will it be that easy to get back into the swing of things?
Stir With: This fun spy drama is the brainchild of JJ Abrams, famous for shows such as Lost and Alias. Relative newcomers to Portrait readers, Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw play the husband and wife spy team.
Ready to Serve: September 22 on NBC
Undercovers Promo:
Ingredients: There’s nothing like a good old relatable family comedy! Better With You revolves around three couples all in different stages from the one family. There’s older sister Maddie and her partner Ben, who have been together for nine years, younger and parents Vicky and Joel, who have been married for 35 years. Younger sister Mia has been dating Casey for seven weeks, and has just announced they’re getting married! The show was inspired by creator Shana Goldberg-Meehan’s own personal experiences. Similar to Maddie, she was in a relationship for 13 years unmarried and shows that love comes in all different forms and that it isn’t about marriage, but rather commitment and love.
Stir With: Creator Shana Goldberg-Meehan worked on Friends, so we’re sure there’ll be laughs galore. Joanna Garcia (Privileged, Reba, Gossip Girl) plays Mia and Jennifer Finnigan (The Bold and the Beautiful, Close to Home) plays her sister Maddie. Kurt Fuller (Wayne’s World, Ghostbusters, Supernatural, Psych) plays dad Joel and Debra Jo Rupp from That 70s Show, plays Vicky.
Ready to Serve: September 22 on ABC
Better With You Promo:
Ingredients: Who would have thought a Twitter account would turn into a TV show? This show is based on ramblings of an old man whose son Justin Halpern then tweets them Twitter style, because hey you can only ramble so much with 140 characters right? In this TV version, we have crazy Ed, who isn’t afraid to express his opinion, and his sons writer/blogger Henry and real estate man Vince. When Henry can’t afford to pay his rent anymore, his father invites him to move in with him. Hilarity of course then ensues. But underneath all the crazy and insensitive remarks, is a man who wants to be a good father to his children because it’s never too late.
Stir With: Star Trek legend William Shatner plays Ed. New addition Jonathan Sadowski (She’s the Man, Chuck, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) plays Henry (Henry was originally played by Ryan Devlin from Veronica Mars, and the promos still feature him, but Jonathan since then has replaced Ryan), and Will Sasso, who’s dabbed in a bit of everything from MadTV to wrestling to sitcoms, plays Vince.
Ready to Serve: September 23 on CBS
$#*! My Dad Says Promo:
No Ordinary Family
Ingredients: Dysfunctional family, the Powells take a family vacation to the Brazil, only for their plane to crash into the Amazon River. Everyone is seemingly okay, but once they return home, they begin to realise that they’ve ended up with super powers! Father Jim is super strong and can leap tall buildings, Mother Stephanie is a scientist with super speed, daughter Daphne has telepathy and her brother JJ has the super smarts. The show is almost something out of a comic book but has a nice mix of family drama and lighter moments.
Stir With: Michael Chiklis (The Shield) plays Jim and Julie Benz (Buffy, Dexter) plays his wife Stephanie. Kay Panabaker (Summerland, Fame) plays Daphne and Jimmy Bennett plays JJ (Daddy Day Care, Evan Almighty). Also part of the cast is Autumn Reeser (The OC, Entourage), and a ton of guest stars like Chord Overstreet (Glee), Steven Collins (7th Heaven, Private Practice) and Jackson Rathbone (Twilight). Greg Berlanti, known for his work on Everwood and Dawson’s Creek is the man behind this show and rumour has it an Everwood cast member is guest starring in one of the show’s first few episodes!
Ready to Serve: September 28 on ABC
No Ordinary Family Promo: |
