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Another fall newbie was given the axe last week: ABC's Back in the Game. The star power of James Caan couldn't save the father-daughter sitcom, which averaged about seven million viewers per episode. Although it hasn't been pulled from the schedule, no additional episodes have been ordered. That is, the network will continue to air episodes until they've run out, which is a huge tease for actual fans of the show.
Of the surviving shows, Super Fun Night is remarkably showing promise, with ABC ordering a few more episodes to prove its worth. Meanwhile, the rest of the remaining shows, particularly ABC's mediocre melodrama Betrayal, are hanging by a thread. At this point, it's not a matter of if, but when these new series will get the boot.
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Dracula (NBC)
Number of episodes: 2
Stars: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jessica De Gouw, Thomas Kretschmann, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Katie McGrath, Victoria Smurfit, Nonso Anozie
Premise: Taking Bram Stoker's classic vampire novel into a new direction, Dracula follows the Count (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) living in America under the fake name Alexander Grayson and with a Bruce Wayne-like playboy stature. At night, when he's not schmoozing with Victorian London bigwigs, Dracula and his unlikely ally Abraham Van Helsing (Thomas Kretschmann) wage a war against the Order of the Dragon, a secret society that, centuries earlier, burned Dracula's lover—who looks an awful lot like London's own Mina Murray (Jessica De Gouw)—alive.
Worst moment from the latest episode: The lamest moment in Dracula's second episode, titled "A Whiff of Sulfur," isn't so much lamely acted or poorly written as it is, simply, infuriating. Here, Count Dracula, one of fiction's greatest antagonists, is supposed to be an undead antihero, a bloodsucker who kills people but is also charming and debonair. Which isn't a bad idea—in other writers' and producers' hands. The team behind NBC's Dracula are so invested in changing people's preconceived notions of the Count that every other character is getting sucked dry.
Case in point: Abraham Van Helsing. In every other iteration of Bram Stoker's novel, he's the fearless, hard-nosed vampire hunter; here, though, he's the Lucius Fox to Dracula's Bruce Wayne, injecting Dracula with some kind of serum in "A Whiff of Sulfur" that makes him able to withstand sunlight. Horror fiction's great vampire slayer has been reduced to a wet nurse.
Prognosis: After a reasonably successful premiere episode, Dracula's second hour saw a 27% ratings drop-off, with a lower tally of 3.4 million viewers. Perhaps people were turned off by NBC's hokey, desperate Halloween audience-grab Why We Love Vampires, the ridiculous and transparent NBC News lead-in special that only attracted 2.6 million viewers. Does this mean we'll soon see a Thursday night NBC News special titled Why Sean Hayes is the Coolest Dude Alive? Or Why Michael J. Fox is an Angel?
Super Fun Night (ABC)
Number of episodes: 5
Stars: Rebel Wilson, Lauren Ash, Liza Lapira, Kevin Bishop, Kate Jenkinson
Premise: Three nerdy friends, led by an inexplicably successful lawyer, Kimmie (Rebel Wilson), vow to live their lives to the fullest by going out every single weekend. The only problem is that they're all socially inept: Kimmie's got paralyzing shyness, Marika (Lauren Ash) is an unwittingly intimidating man-lady, and Helen-Alice (Liza Lapira) is a mousy Asian stereotype. Rounding out the cast are Kevin Bishop as Richard, Kimmie's immature but cute boss, and Kate Jenkinson as Kendall, Kimmie's ruthless, gold-digging co-worker.
Worst moment from the latest episode: Surprisingly, there isn't much to complain about in this episode. Titled "Go With Glorg," the episode follows Helen Alice and Marika as they head to a fantasy convention where they discover that their hero, a Xena-like character named Murna Princess Warrior (played by Brooke Shields), is now a washed-up C-list celebrity resentful of her cult fame. Meanwhile, Kimmie skips the convention to get drinks with workaholic Kendall, who turns out to be a spurned former hippie with a heart. If there's one thing to point out, however, it's the three useless man-cessories that dote on Marika, Helen-Alice, and Kimmie. Essentially, they serve no point but to add some testosterone on screen.
Prognosis: Despite the continual onslaught from critics, folks over at ABC are hanging onto Wilson's word that the show will only get better with each new episode. The studio granted Wilson and her crew an additional four episodes to fulfill her promise.
Betrayal (ABC)
Number of episodes: 6
Stars: Hannah Ware, Stuart Townsend, Chris Johnson, Wendy Moniz, Henry Thomas, Braeden Lemasters, Elizabeth McLaughlin, James Cromwell
Premise: A beautiful but unhappily married photographer Sara Hanley (Hannah Ware) begins an affair with a charming well-to-do stranger, Jack McAllister (Stuart Townswend), only to find out that said stranger is married and is the defending lawyer in a murder case on which her husband (Chris Johnson) is the prospecutor. Think of it as Romeo and Juliet for people who enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey.
Worst moment from the latest episode: The problem with Betrayal is that viewers can predict the next move. And there's no greater example of that in this episode than when Sara's husband Drew is investigating her affair. After stealing her phone, Drew notices that she gets a text from a man named Greg telling her to meet him at the Hilton. He stalks her to the hotel, only to discover that Greg is a colleague with whom she's working with on a feature. Better yet, he's got to leave their meeting early to make dinner for his husband. Gasp! Not.
Prognosis: Considering ABC's made some moves—cancelling Back in the Game and giving Super Fun Night an extra lifeline—it seems like the studio is letting Betrayal run out of episodes at this point.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC)
Number of episodes: 3
Stars: Sophie Lowe, Michael Socha, Peter Gadiot, Emma Rigby, Naveen Andrews, John Lithgow
Premise: Alice (Sophie Lowe) of Victorian England is convinced of an extradordinary world that exists within the depths of a rabbit hole of talking cards and pipe-smoking caterpillar. Believed to be insane, her doctors try to relieve of her such visions, but she is determined to find Cyrus (Peter Gadiot), whom she loved and lost to the evil plots of Red Queen (Emma Rigby) and Jafar (Naveen Andrews). With the help of the White Rabbit (John Lithgow) and Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha), Alice is on a quest to rescue Cyrus, among other adventures.
*Once Upon a Time in Wonderland was on hiatus last week, but below are our thoughts on episode 3.
Worst moment from the latest episode: In a flashback, The Knave of Hearts, then known as Will Scarlet, convinces Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) and his Merry Men to rob Malfecient's castle of its substantial gold treasures. Upon returning and admiring their haul sitting round a camp fire, this interaction ensues. One of the robbers, smiling down at an open chest of glittering gold says that there isn't anything more beatiful than a treasure chest full of gold, to which, Will responds, "A chest of gold cannot compare to the beauty of a woman." To which the bearded man replies, "Depends on the chest." The whole crew erupts in laughter, thanks to a joke ripped from an '80s issue of National Lampoon's.
Prognosis: Once Upon a Time in Wonderland garnered 4.5 million viewers but that was down twenty-nine percent from its already underwhelming debut. Hopefully, the trend rates downward for this poorly written, Alice in Crappy Windows Screensaver CGI disappears down a rabbit hole, forever.
Sean Saves the World (NBC)
Number of episodes: 5
Stars: Sean Hayes, Linda Lavin, Samantha Isler, Thomas Lennon, Megan Hilty, Echo Kellum, Vik Sahay
Premise: Sean's (Sean Hayes) world is flipped around when he is dumped by the love of his life and his online retail company is bought up and his new boss Howard (Vik Sahay) is basically a manipulative robot. Oh, and his fourteen year old daughter, Ellie (Samantha Isler) has just moved in to his New York apartment after her mother abandoned her. How can Sean please his asshole boss by working late each night and get home to make chicken parm for a teenage daughter he knows almost nothing about? Thankfully, Sean isn't doing it alone, his mother Lorna (Linda Lavin) is there to help with a sarcastic remark and Sean's office pals Liz (Megan Hilty) and Hunter (Echo Kellum) have his back.
Worst moment from the latest episode: Once again, Sean has his hands full when he enters a dance competition with Megan to spite his mother, who has partnered with Hunter, but in order to win, Sean and Megan must be coached by his over zealous boss—wait, isn't this supposed to be a show about a single father balancing work and raising a daughter? So why is Ellie only in the beginning and the end of the episode? She does randomly make an appearance at the community center dance competition for some reason. Shouldn't she be doing homework, throwing house party, or not watching her father tango with his boss?
Prognosis: Sean gets more likable with every episode as it settles into the right rhythm but it still isn't hitting the right note. It's not the talent—Sean Hayes is great as always and the other cast members step it up as well (more Hunter, please)—but rather the lack of momentum. There are only so many scarring childhood memories Sean and Lorna can recount before the laugh track starts to scratch. It's a situation comedy, but the situations are too artificial and constructed and the humor in Sean is only as deep as the characters. According to Sean Hayes, NBC is to blame for low ratings and viewership. Considering the dismal NBC line up (see The Michael J. Fox Show), Hayes has a point. Touché.