Television Premieres and Notables: October 17-23, 2016

Monday, 10/17

Jane the Virgin; CW. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.
It's silly and soap opera-y, but it's so fun and whimsical and crazy that it's also extremely delightful.

The Odd Couple; CBS. 8:30 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 10/19

Chance; Hulu. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Hugh Laurie stars in this series based on the Ken Numm novel about a forensic neurologist.


Thursday, 10/20

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Timewarp Again; Fox. 7 pm CST. Special.


Friday, 10/21

The Vampire Diaries; CW. 7 pm CST. 8th-- and final-- season.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; CW. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
Even crazier than Jane, and even more delightful.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency; BBC America. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A new take on Scott Adam's books.
I liked the first series based on them that starred the always-great Stephen Mangan, so I'll give this a shot too.

Black Mirror; Netflix. Streaming. 3rd Season Premiere.


Sunday, 10/23

The Simpsons (Fox; 7 pm CST) airs its 600th episode-- and it's a Treehouse of Terror ep.

The Walking Dead; AMC. 8 pm CST. 7th Season Premiere.
I've watched this show since the beginning, but I am especially fascinated by the idea of how this season is going to play out.
It's one of the biggest shows in the country, and it may have pushed it a little too much last season, so I'm curious to see how the storytelling changes-- and how fans react.
Firstly, I think they made a mistake when they showed what looked like a major character death-- and then held confirmation for a few episodes (and the silliness surrounding the reveal). I think, story-wise, it was an okay choice, but AMC made it a bigger deal than it should have, so fans rebelled a bit.
The second mistake was the cliffhanger. Yeah, it's TV; it's what is done. But I think not showing who Negan killed right away will take away the impact of that death. When Negan was introduced in the comics, he pulped a character in the same issue, and that made him even more terrifying.  But the series decided to hold the reveal over the summer, and I think with an entire eight eps following right after, there won't be time for fans to let it sink in.
And I'm sure things have changed in the TV business of the past few years (more cable shows, shorter seasons), but I wonder if The Walking Dead has the traditional network actor contracts. (I, seriously, don't know; just speculating based on "the way it used to be".)  Traditional contracts locked in an actor for five seasons with the studio getting an additional option for two more (with changes that gave more power to the actor for those additional two years). After that, the actor has the advantage of being able to walk away. That's why you see more cast changes happening around the 7-8 season mark.
It's likely the contracts nowadays are different, but we really are reaching the point in this series where actors may decide to pursue other projects, and character deaths may not be strictly story-based.
The cast makeup of this show may be pretty different in the coming years after being fairly stable (for the main characters) for a the past couple.

Talking Dead; AMC. 9:06 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.
A special 90-minute episode featuring twelve of the actors on Negan's hit list".

Comic Book Men; AMC. 11:40 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.