FOX has just released the trailers for four of its new series: ‘The Orville’, ‘Ghosted’, ‘Resident,’ And ‘LA To Vegas’, and it doesn’t look like any of them are really destined to make it past the first season.
First up, we’ve got ‘The Orville’ starring Seth McFarlane and Adrianne Palicki. The show looks like a high-budget opportunity for McFarlane to play out his Captain Kirk fantasies. The premise is that a screw up captain gets one final chance to run his own starship, but he’s saddled with his ex-wife as his first officer. That’s about all there is to say about it.
From Emmy Award-winning executive producer and creator Seth MacFarlane (FAMILY GUY, “Ted”) and directed by Jon Favreau (“The Jungle Book,” “Iron Man”), THE ORVILLE is a one-hour science fiction series set 400 years in the future that follows the adventures of the U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory vessel. Its crew, both human and alien, faces the wonders and dangers of outer space, while also dealing with the familiar, often humorous problems of regular people in a workplace…even though some of those people are from other planets, and the workplace is a faster-than-light spaceship. In the 25th century, Earth is part of the Planetary Union, a far-reaching, advanced and mostly peaceful civilization with a fleet of 3,000 ships. Down on his luck after a bitter divorce, Planetary Union officer ED MERCER (MacFarlane) finally gets his chance to command one of these ships: the U.S.S. Orville. Determined to prove his worth and write a new chapter in his life, Ed finds that task all the more difficult when the First Officer assigned to his ship is his ex-wife, KELLY GRAYSON (Adrianne Palicki, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Friday Night Lights”). As the new commander, Ed assembles a qualified, but eccentric crew, including his best friend, GORDON MALLOY (Scott Grimes, “ER,” “Justified”), who has problems with authority, but is the best helmsman in the fleet; DR. CLAIRE FINN (Penny Johnson Jerald, “24,” “The Larry Sanders Show”), one of the Union’s most accomplished physicians; BORTUS (Peter Macon, “Shameless,” “Bosch”), an alien from a single-sex species; ISAAC (Mark Jackson, “That Royal Today”), an artificial life-form from a machine society that thinks biological life-forms are inferior; navigator JOHN LAMARR (J. Lee, FAMILY GUY, “The Cleveland Show”), whose casual humor cuts through even the most dire situations; ALARA KITAN (Halston Sage, “Neighbors,” “Goosebumps”), a young, inexperienced security officer whose home planet’s high gravity gives her superior physical strength; and YAPHIT, a gelatinous creature voiced by comedian Norm Macdonald (“The Middle,” “Saturday Night Live”). Somehow, Ed and Kelly must put the past behind them and, with the help of the crew, navigate fascinating and sometimes dangerous adventures in outer space, as well as the tumultuous and captivating day-to-day personal relationships with their colleagues.
Next up is ‘Ghosted’, this is the paranormal comedy starring Adam Scott and Craig Robinson as a skeptical security guard and a “true believer” book store employee who find themselves working for a secret government organization that has tasked them from saving the world. This one could be a wild card. On the one hand, you’ve got Scott and Robinson, two very funny people that should be fun to watch together. On the other hand, you’ve got a geeky sitcom with a really big production budget. If this doesn’t get a lot of viewers on board quickly… well, you know how trigger happy FOX can be when it comes to cancellations.
Starring Craig Robinson (“The Office,” “This Is the End”) and Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation,” “Big Little Lies”), GHOSTED is a single-camera, action-comedy about the unlikely partnership between two down-on-their-luck polar opposites tasked with an even more unlikely mission: saving the human race from aliens. LEROY WRIGHT (Robinson) is a cynical skeptic and former missing persons detective, who, if we’re speaking frankly, thinks that “aliens” are a big ole bunch of B.S. and that people who believe in them are certifiably nuts…People like MAX JENNIFER (Scott). Max is a genius “true believer” in the paranormal who’s convinced his wife was abducted by aliens. At low points in their lives, both Leroy and Max are recruited by CAPTAIN AVA LAFREY (Ally Walker, “Colony,” “Sons of Anarchy”), a take-no-prisoners, former Air Force test pilot and head of the Bureau Underground, a secret government organization investigating paranormal cases. Lafrey, along with her staff – BARRY SHAW (Adeel Akhtar, “Unforgotten,” “The Night Manager”), an overly friendly forensic pathologist, and DELILAH WARD, a highly opinionated tech specialist – will support Leroy and Max in their quest for answers. Now, this heroic group of underdogs will look into “unexplained” activity in Los Angeles that often leads them to scary, thrilling and hilarious places, as they attempt to uncover the truth and keep the earth rotating on its axis for at least one more day.
LA To Vegas – It’s a sitcom from the team who created Taladega Nights and The Anchorman, in which they attempt to take the same basic character and have him play an airline pilot. Honestly, it would be surprising if this one makes it past 5 episodes.
From executive producers Will Ferrell (“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Elf”), Adam McKay (“The Big Short”), Lon Zimmet (“Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt”) and Steve Levitan (“Modern Family”), LA TO VEGAS is a single-camera ensemble comedy about an airline crew and the eccentric passengers who, every weekend, take the roundtrip flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas with one goal in mind – to come back a winner. Welcome to Jackpot Airlines, a budget carrier whose junket flight from LA to Vegas and back again, is filled with dreamers looking for that big score. Holding (or, more to the point, barely holding) these voyages together is RONNIE (Kim Matula, “UnREAL”), a long-suffering flight attendant who tries to keep her cool (oftentimes, with little success) whether she’s dealing with a bi-polar bride-to-be or the dead body in Row 13. Managing the revolving door of bachelor parties and 21st birthdays gets even trickier when Ronnie develops a “location-ship” with COLIN (Ed Weeks, “The Mindy Project”), a regular passenger and an economics professor, whose son and soon-to-be ex-wife live in Vegas. Further complicating her job every weekend is CAPTAIN DAVE (Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Dylan McDermott, “The Practice,” “American Horror Story”), the narcissistic pilot whose fighter-pilot dreams never quite worked out; BERNARD (Nathan Lee Graham, “The Comeback,” “Hitch”), the always-positive career flight attendant who thinks there’s no flight more magical than the LA-to-Vegas; ARTEM (Peter Stormare, “The Big Lebowski”), the genial professional gambler who serves as the plane’s resident (but unofficial) bookie; and NICHOLE (Olivia Macklin, “The Young Pope”), the sweet-natured, part-time stripper who’s a lot savvier than people realize. It won’t be easy, but this unlikely group of miscreants and dreamers will eventually go from being strangers on a plane to a supportive, if unconventional, family…from Friday to Sunday…whether they like it or not.
The Resident looks like it is FOX’s attempt at creating a younger take at ‘House’. This time it is all about a 3rd year resident who bucks the system and medical traditions in the he treats his patients and trains his residents. On the upside, the show has a really solid core cast made up of Matt Czuchry, Manish Dayal, and Emily VanCamp. On the downside, FOX has a horrible track record when it comes to medical shows that aren’t House.
Focusing on three doctors at different stages of their careers and a dedicated young nurse, THE RESIDENT is a provocative new medical drama that rips back the curtain to reveal the truth of what really happens, both good and bad, in hospitals across the country. Meet DR. CONRAD HAWKINS (Matt Czuchry, “The Good Wife”), one of the best doctors at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital. Charming, arrogant and only a third-year resident, Conrad does everything in the most unconventional way possible. Along with treating patients, Conrad believes it is his job to burst the illusions of first-year residents, like DR. DEVON PRAVESH (Manish Dayal, “Halt and Catch Fire”), and turn them into real-life doctors. Devon is an innocent idealist, who wears his finely tuned moral compass and passion for science like armor. With Conrad’s help, however, Devon quickly discovers the reality of his chosen profession is not what he imagined, and that ethical lines are often blurred. Nothing, not even the best medical school in the country, could have prepared him for what he’s about to learn. As Devon accompanies Conrad through the hospital’s halls, he meets distinguished chief of surgery DR. RANDOLPH BELL (Bruce Greenwood, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” “Mad Men”), the face of the hospital and its most sought-after doctor, whose diminishing skills, and the errors they cause, are covered with the help of allies under his command; DR. MINA OKAFOR (Shaunette Renée Wilson, “Billions”), a rising star surgeon from Nigeria who is threatening Bell’s dominance, but who also is in the U.S. on a visa; and NICOLETTE NEVIN (Emily VanCamp, “Revenge”), one of Chastain Memorial’s most respected nurses and Conrad’s on-again-off-again romantic partner. While Conrad opens Devon’s eyes to the stark realities of hospital life, the once-optimistic young doctor soon realizes that the practice of medicine is a business, like any other. Not all patients are angels and not all doctors are gods, but one thing’s for sure: expectations are meant to be shattered.