Drivel Wrap-Up

In this New Golden Age of Tee Vee, broadcast telebision is better than never.

One of these days we'll arse ourself to determine just how many spooky-wooky supernatural shows are polluting the airwaves. (Here's one, another, also, here's an original, not to mention all the "unscripted" pseudo-actual ghost hunting horseshit, the zombies, & fairy tales.) Add another to the pile; the Nasty Broadcasting Co. will be shoveling this shit down America's craw by next September.

NBC's 2014-15 lineup continued to take shape Thursday, as the network picked up three new series, "Constantine," "A to Z" and "The Mysteries of Laura."

Solidifying a trend for shows adapted from comic books, "Constantine" is based on the “Hellblazer” series from DC Comics. It follows John Constantine (Matt Ryan, “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior”), a demon hunter and master of the occult reluctantly drawn back into the fight against darkness when demons target Liv (Lucy Griffiths, “True Blood”), the daughter of an old friend.

Not to mention the fascism.

In "State of Affairs," Katherine Heigl plays top CIA analyst Charleston "Charlie" Tucker, charged with assembling a daily intelligence briefing for the president* (Alfre Woodard). In addition to the difficult moral and political decisions she must make as a part of the job, Charlie was also engaged to the president's son, until he was killed in a terrorist attack. She is now determined to bring his killers to justice.

"Allegiance" [...] also centers on a CIA analyst. In this case, it's a young specialist in Russian affairs named Alex O'Connor (Gavin Stenhouse) who discovers his parents are Soviet spies deactivated decades ago. After years of silence from Moscow, the pair are reactivated by the Kremlin to help pull off a massive terrorist plot on U.S. soil -- and to recruit their son as a spy. Scott Cohen ("Necessary Roughness") and Hope Davis ("The Newsroom") star as the erstwhile KGB agents.

Wow, ripped from the headlines, accompanied by the beat of the war drums. Bill Kristol's favorite of the new season? Which reactionary drooler will be the first to note this series & claim, in all seriousness, "It could happen!" Two C.I.A. analysts on one network? Neither fascism, nor telebision creators (& the programming executives who enable them) have ever been accused of excess originality.

And so, for Alex Jones fans, warmed over conspiracy clichés in a sprawling mish-mash-up:

The network's other drama order Tuesday also dabbles in international intrigue. Billled as a "'Traffic'-like action drama," "Odyssey" explores a sprawling international conspiracy that ties together three very different characters -- a female soldier, a corporate lawyer and a young political activist. Anna Friel ("Pushing Daisies") plays Sgt. Odelle Ballard, an American soldier in north Africa who discovers evidence indicating that a major U.S. corporation has been funding the jihadists in the region† -- just as the rest of her unit is wiped out by U.S. Special Forces. Peter Facinelli ("Nurse Jackie") is a former U.S. attorney, Peter Drucker, working on a merger deal for the company in New York, while Jake Robinson ("The Carrie Diaries") stars as a young political activist who meets a hacker who may have uncovered the conspiracy.

Oh well.

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*Presidential Daily Briefing. Ring a bell?

†What the Kenyan Usurper & his capitalist cronies are really up to.