Ask Matt: Are the ‘Kids’ All Right? ‘This Is Us,’ ‘The Good Doctor,’ and More
Welcome to the Q&A with TV critic (also known to some TV fans as their “TV therapist”) Matt Roush, who’ll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today’s vast TV landscape. One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won’t be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it’s already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected] (or use the form at the end of the column) and follow me on Twitter. Look for Ask Matt columns on most Tuesdays and Fridays.
Will ABC Be Patient With Its New Kids?
Question: I really am enjoying The Kids Are Alright, one of the few shows I still watch on ABC besides Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fresh Off The Boat. I wish this show would get more recognition, because I really think it’s a refreshing series and reminds me of my other favorite family show The Middle in some ways. Do you think the network will give it time to expand its audience seeing as how the buzz it does get is usually positive? — David
Matt Roush: This is one of my new favorites as well, and I plan on giving it another shout-out next week when it airs an episode dealing with the Vietnam draft (haven’t had a chance to watch yet). The irreverent tone set by the extraordinarily well cast parents, and the interplay among a group of very funny and distinctive kids—all boys, which is part of the joke—does send out vibes reminiscent of The Middle, albeit with an added glow of nostalgia for the changing times of the 1970s. I figure Kids, not unlike The Middle, will likely go ignored by the industry, which rarely showers awards on traditional family sitcoms anymore (Modern Family in its heyday and black-ish being notable exceptions). But I’d be surprised if ABC doesn’t stick with this one for a long while. It’s an in-house production, reviews and buzz are generally strong and positive, and it fits the network brand beautifully.
Why Use Two Actors to Play One New Character?
Question: I love This Is Us: the characters, how it ties between multi-generations, and I especially love the Vietnam storyline with the Big Three’s Uncle Nicky. My question is why they hired a different actor to play Nicky as a 70-year-old, rather than use the same actor who played Nicky from his 20s to his 40s? Was it because the actor who played the younger Nicky wouldn’t have been believable playing an elderly version of the character? (They also had two different actors play Randall’s biological father for both his younger and elderly years). If so, then why does Mandy Moore get to play Rebecca in both her younger adult years and in the present day as a middle-aged woman in her 60s? I personally don’t think that she looks believable as a middle-aged woman (not to dismiss Mandy as an actress, since she does a great job playing Rebecca). That’s my only quibble for this show—though the thought of having to wait three weeks between episodes when it just came back from its holiday break is very frustrating, UGH!!!!). — Chris
Matt Roush: The criticism of Rebecca’s older-age makeover not being particularly believable is a fairly constant one, but one of those things a This Is Us fan just has to live with. The core cast is so established in our minds that recasting for an Older Rebecca probably never even was considered—much like the flash-forwards of an Older Randall wouldn’t make sense with anyone but Sterling K. Brown in old-age makeup. With the character of Uncle Nicky, it’s more of an opportunity to give two fine actors a chance to interpret a complex character, and while Michael Angarano (young Nicky) is only three years younger than Mandy Moore, so it could be argued that he could be made up to play the older version, it’s so much more effective to have an age-appropriate actor with the gravitas of Griffin Dunne take on the part, so we’re not distracted by makeup issues at the very least. And I agree: This storyline is This Is Us at its best, and both actors are excellent.
Did Good Doctor Miss a Teaching Moment?
Question: I am sad that The Good Doctor did not use the opportunity to explain Sensory Processing Disorder on its recent “contagion” episodes. SPD is a condition that most autistic children and adults suffer from, as well as many who are not autistic. When Dr. Shaun Murphy was overwhelmed with sound, from people and machinery, it would have been an opportune time to bring this condition to the mainstream. With autism so misunderstood by the general public, this was a missed chance. — Kimberly
Matt Roush: That’s a fair point, and maybe ABC should have aired a PSA to call attention to SPD. But to be honest, while I personally was not aware that this condition had a name, I more than understood that Shaun was experiencing sensory overload as a symptom of his autism—echoed in the most recent episode by the autistic patient’s roommate/boyfriend, who was so sensitive to light. Sometimes dramatizing a condition has as much if not more impact than spelling it out in exposition, but when it comes to The Good Doctor’s illumination of the human condition of autism, you can probably never err on the side of too much information.
Magnum P.U.
Question: Your description of the Magnum PI retread as “lackluster” is too kind. Perdita Weeks and Amy Hill are always welcome at our house, but the rest of the cast have no chemistry or charisma in their roles, the writing and direction are wretched, and the Hawaii setting is entirely wasted on pedestrian photography and staging. With mostly favorable memories of the original, we gave the new model an extended tryout, but canceled it from our DVR days before CBS decided to pick it up for another season. It was the only CBS show we watched or recorded. The net’s disdain for its broadcast content and audience could not be more clear: Retread, recycle, renew, repeat, then count the money. Thanks, but no. — J Norris
Matt Roush: In a nutshell, you have described the conventional critical wisdom about CBS’s formulaic programming. To be fair, when the network does try something different (remember the brilliantly weird BrainDead?), few tend to show up and it implodes. I would also argue that Madam Secretary doesn’t feel like an assembly-line product, and I’m very intrigued about the upcoming serialized drama The Red Line, which will air eight hours over four Sundays this spring, indicating the network doesn’t always play it safe. But usually, yes.
Find Sue Another Home!
Question: Expanding on your recent reply in Ask Matt about The Middle’s stalled Sue Heck spinoff, I’m sure the follow-up question on the minds of fans is: Since Warner Brothers is the studio for The Middle and the Sue spin-off, what’s keeping them from shopping this series to other networks and streaming services? A perfect example of recent spinoff success is the studio’s The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon. Company execs know how to do it right, so why put the brakes on this just because ABC and Fox execs are involved in “a clearing of the decks”—or a better description for it would be “huge egos who want to propose other crappy pilots as long as they are their own crappy pilots.” — Richard
Matt Roush: Here’s where the business of show business comes into play. As much as we revere The Middle and Eden Sher as Sue Heck, it’s nowhere near as popular or lucrative a franchise as a juggernaut like The Big Bang Theory, and CBS made the smart move of spinning off the younger version of Sheldon while Big Bang was still active, giving Young Sheldon a sure-fire lead-in. The ABC/Disney/Fox merger is very complicated, and I imagine this won’t be the only casualty—if there even is a connection between the two events. As for the Warner Bros. studio shopping the Sue spinoff around, some industry trade reports have suggested that as a possibility, so who knows. But if it’s going to happen, it had better do so soon.
So Many AMC Questions
Question: Do you have any idea what became of AMC’s Humans? The last time the series was shown, AMC buried it at odd times and treated it badly. I’m obviously a big fan of it. Was it canceled? — Sue
Matt Roush: Humans (a favorite of mine as well) is currently in limbo, and I haven’t seen an update since summer, at which point the show’s producers were indicating that talks were ongoing for a fourth season. If it happens, I imagine AMC or someone will broadcast it here, even if in the margins of prime time. But the Brits will likely have to make the first move on this one.
Question: Any idea when Into the Badlands will be returning on AMC? This mid-season break has been going on for almost a year. — Mark
Matt Roush: Well, half a year anyway. (The last episode aired in mid-June.) It’s beyond me to decipher AMC’s programming strategy, which isn’t all that uncommon with cable networks that don’t operate on regular seasonal timetables. But the back half of the 16-episode third season will air sometime, and I’m confused as well at the delay, because I was under the impression this was one of the channel’s more popular series.
Question: Will The Son with Pierce Brosnan be returning on AMC? — Martha
Matt Roush: Rarely a week goes by without someone asking about this Western series, which hasn’t been seen since the 10-episode first season wrapped in June of 2017. AMC renewed The Son for a second season around that time, and I haven’t a clue why it’s taken so long to return. But the last time I saw a network promo, clips from The Son were included, and there is talk that both Son and Badlands will be back on the lineup sometime this spring. Stay tuned.
That’s all for now. Thanks as always for reading, and remember that I can’t do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected] or shoot me a line on Twitter (@TVGMMattRoush), and you can also submit questions via the handy form below. Please include a first name with your question.
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I'm still disappointed that ABC passed on the Sue spinoff. Even more-so when I watch The Goldbergs, which is really grating on me much of this season. And then to have the spinoff with Lainie airing afterwards. Fun idea to give us some 90s nostalgia, but I just can't bring myself to watch it. I'd much rather see what's going on in Sue's life. Hopefully she can find a home somewhere. Big miss, ABC, in my opinion.
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I don't know what ABC is doing anymore lol first they cancel one of their biggest hits in Last Man Standing then they pass on the Sue spin off of their other best show The Middle. It's no wonder they're getting their butts kicked by the other networks these days
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yet their Friday nights fell apart after Fox grabbed it. Sure they're doing comedies again for Fridays but none of those shows are getting the ratings and attention LMS has now and before it was cancelled. I get that they didn't own it but it still affected their business because most of those fans that was a very large group left them for LMS on Fox which hurts their bottom line.
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I have a hard time watching much of the shows on ABC when the network won’t even give the Sue Heck spinoff a chance.
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Amy Hill is, as always, an absolute pleasure to watch, but the questioner couldn't be more off-base putting any praise on Perdita Weeks. Her horrendous portrayal of Higgins is neck and neck with Jay Hernandez's abysmally uncharismatic portrayal of Magnum in making this show practically unwatchable. Stephen Hill (TC), Zachary Knighton (Rick), and Tim Kang (Detective Katsumoto) all do alright with what little they are given, and really thinking about it, Hernandez and Weeks are what is wrong with the show -- besides the pathetically terrible writing. Ditch those two, get some better writers, and the show could have been something.
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Keep saying it but I think the original plan to do a continuation with Magnum's adult daughter would've been a much better idea. I have to say I have seen way more negativity towards this reboot than positive which really says a lot about how this reboot was purely made to just cash in on a super popular name and not to make a good series that honors the original. The producers lie through their teeth with their intentions because any intelligent person knows this was made only for money and money alone. Should've just left it alone
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They were fighting an uphill battle with this one. Anyone would pale compared to Tom Selleck, and the writing is really lazy. Following Magnum’s daughter would have solved some of the basic problems.
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and that's not to say it'd automatically be a fantastic series but I think the daughter could've had a better chance. Plus you'd think with all the women empowerment lately they'd kill to have a strong female lead at the helm of an action series. It could've if done well been a win win for old fans and new
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"Magnum, P.R", er..."Magnum, P.I." is just a dumpster fire of a show - these un-necessary remakes & re-boots of past TV series just to add so-called "diversity" is just ridiculous!!
Political Correctness is this world's downfall.
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I guess it's doing well enough for CBS for another season... It is pretty tricky to sometimes redo a classic show.. H50 basically took the name of the show and some of it characters and made a modern shown in the same space... Over time, the only old show names left are Steve, Danno, and Duke... On the old Magnum, they made a 5-0 reference a couple of times during its first season but otherwise not.. The 5-0 task force is alive and well in the re-boot but all we've seen are a couple of the side characters like the ME and Kamekona... I had expected a cross-over by mid season but wondering if they are waiting for a season end and the fact that Magnum did get renewed..
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I read somewhere that it was a ratings disappointment for CBS. It probably got renewed either out of pettiness or because they have nothing else currently to put on in its slot for now. The shows that are killing it on that Monday slot is The Neighborhood. I would say its almost impossible to do a redo of a classic. The only ones I know worked were MASH, The Odd Couple and In the Heat of The Night. Those not only were successful but many would say they surpassed their originals
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Maybe CBS will order a cross-over if Magnum moves to Friday alongside H50.
Those two shows would be perfect companions.
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Haha, I'm in the minority.... I like watching Magnum. I do have some nitpicks about it (as I do with every show I watch) but it's enjoyable enough. Again, it's like MacGyver, in that the "new" show really isn't the same as the "old" one--by a long shot. Although, to be honest, the new Magnum is more like the old one than the MacGyver remake. And by the way, MacGyver's first-season tomato-meter was worse than Magnum's, and it's gone up over the seasons.
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There was an announcement yesterday that Eden Sher will recur on the final season of Jane the Virgin. I can't wait to see her and Jaime Camil in a scene together. And since Brooke Shields (aka Rita Glossner) also recurs on JtV, it'll be like a mini-The Middle reunion - just not the one anyone expected!
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When I saw that announcement on the other site yesterday, I was so happy for Eden Sher. She loves to work, and I am sure she has been in high demand since way before taping on The Middle ended last March. By now I think that everyone knows how I feel about ABC passing over the Sue Heck spinoff in favor of Schooled. I hope that Warner Bros. is shopping The Middle spinoff to other networks. There would be a large built in audience, and Sue is a positive role model for young women. As well as funny to boot.
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I wouldn't say Blackish is showered with awards per say, they nabbed a few emmy nods and the fantastic Tracee Ellis Ross did win the Golden Globes its not like Blackish is coming for the Cheers and Frasier record of being nominated 108\111 times and winning 26\38 emmys plus numerous others. Though it has won a couple critic's choice awards so I guess that's something. On Magnum... Check out the rotten tomatoes score sometime. YIKES!
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How low is Magnum's score? Happily my favorite show on TV , Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a 5 season average of 95%!
Season 3 and 5 earned the very rare 100%.
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57 and audience score 47. I mean... I get that there are a few people that like it but it shouldn't be a surprise that most people won't even watch a reboot of a classic or those that do give it a shot still reject it because it doesn't measure up to their standards. That's the price you must be willing to pay when these people decide to do this type of show and YAY for Agents. That's the best comic book show that has aired since Smallville.
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My friend agrees with you about AoS too. But thinks Gotham is the next best one.
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