Get ready for the cold season with these new shows!
If you’re a college student who wants to procrastinate on some upcoming deadlines, here are a few shows to spend an entire weekend binge-watching. This year’s fall lineup provides a lot of obsession-worthy shows to fall in love with.
Conviction / Airs on ABC, Mondays at 10 p.m.
Conviction might have the same set-up as most legal dramas, but it brings new concepts into play. Hayley Atwell plays a former president’s rebellious daughter who regularly gets herself into trouble until an encounter with the police forces her into a deal: she is tasked with leading the new conviction integrity unit, which investigates people who might have been wrongly convicted. The show has some of the same characteristics of Scandal, but it focuses more on the cases rather than the personal lives of the characters.
Speechless / Airs on ABC, Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m.
Speechless is a show that nails the humor that often comes with having a disability without being insensitive. The main character, JJ, is played by Micah Fowler, who actually has cerebral palsy — just like his character. This show breaks barriers and raises awareness about people with disabilities while being hilarious.
Minnie Driver plays JJ’s mom and is phenomenal at playing the overprotective mother. One of the best things about this show is that it draws attention to how people treat people with disabilities. For example, on JJ’s first day at his new school he arrives to class and all of his new classmates begin to clap and stand up. The teacher then goes on to talk about how excited they are to have him in class and one kid even makes a sign that says JJ for president.
To JJ, this is ridiculous, because he views himself as a normal kid; he then tells the class that they don’t even know him, which points to how society often treats those with disabilities as martyrs rather than people.
Designated Survivor / Airs on ABC, Wednesdays at 10 p.m.
Designated Survivor is an unusually timely show considering the current political climate.
The setup: all of the people fit to run the government are killed after a bombing at the Capitol during the State of the Union and America must deal with the aftermath. The “designated survivor,” who is generally a lower-level cabinet member, is the next successor in line to be president because all of the higher-ups in government were wiped out.
Kiefer Sutherland does a great job portraying someone who has been thrust into an office that he has no right to be in. (We’ll have to wait until Nov. 9 to see whether the show is speculative fiction or reality.) The show manages to tackle some serious issues like race and public hysteria after a major attack and does so in a subtle yet engaging way.
The Good Place / Airs on NBC, Thursdays at 8:30 p.m.
The Good Place is a surprising hit in my book. The show centers around Eleanor (Kristen Bell) who was supposed to be sent to the “bad place” upon her death but is accidentally sent to the “good place.”
She was extremely selfish and rude in life and has no right to be in Heaven, which leads to hysterical encounters between all of the characters. This show revolves around Eleanor trying to become a good person (even if she has to to fake it) to keep her place in Heaven. The premise sounds hokey, but it’s definitely worth a watch.
Written by: CaraJoy Kleinrock – arts@theaggie.org
