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Why Watch That

Since it doesn’t look like we’re ever going to be able to exhaust television, the Critic and the Referee are back to finish (for now) their conversation about this ongoing topic. In this episode, they provide even more reviews about and updates on summer TV shows.

The Shows

Intruders – (drama)
Created by Glen Morgan
Premiered on BBC America August 23, 2014

Plot: Jack Whelan (John Simm) is an former LAPD officer who is asked to investigate a strange occurrence. He tries to find answers, but runs from one stonewall to another. Baffled by the ongoings, he eventually starts to concentrate his search on a secret society that, in spite of saying little about what it is, devotes its efforts to chasing immortality by seeking refuge in the bodies of others.

Houdini – (Biography/Drama)
Created by Nicholas Meyer
Premiered on September 1, 2014 on The History Channel

Plot: Follows the man behind the magic as he finds fame, engages in espionage, battles spiritualists, and encounters the greatest names of the era, from U.S. presidents to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Grigori Rasputin.

Manhattan – (Drama)
Created by Sam Shaw
Premiered on July 27, 2014, on WGN America Network (Stream Free on Hulu)

Plot: Set in 1943 at the time of the Manhattan Project, the series focuses on a New Mexico town that the outside world knows nothing about. The federal government tells the scientists only what they need to know, while the scientists keep secrets from their families.

Critic – “Lately, it’s been doing what it needs to do, but it’s still a bit slow.”
Referee – “I’m going to continue to watch this.”

Happy Valley – (Drama)
Created by Sally Wainwright
Premiered on April 29, 2014 on BBC One (Netflix in North America)

Plot: Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) is a strong-willed police sergeant in the Yorkshire valleys, still coming to terms with her daughter’s suicide. Just as she seems to be getting back on top of her life, she spots Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), the man she believes is responsible for the brutal rape that drove her daughter to suicide, standing on a street in her town. She soon becomes obsessed with finding Royce, unaware that he is involved in the kidnapping of Ann Gallagher (Charlie Murphy), a plot instigated by Kevin Weatherill (Steve Pemberton) and orchestrated by Ashley Cowgill (Joe Armstrong). Things quickly take a dark turn as the abductors scramble to keep the kidnapping secret, although Catherine is on to them.

Critic – “If you like detective shows and you like answers, this is for you.”
Referee – “I’m going to take a look at this show.”

Black Jesus – (Sitcom/Comedy)
Created by Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg
Premiered on August 7, 2014

Plot: The scripted live-action comedy features a black Jesus Christ living in modern-day Compton, on a mission to spread love and kindness throughout the neighborhood with his small group of followers.

Breathless – (medical drama)
Created by Paul Unwin, Peter Grimsdale
Premiered August 24, 2014 on PBS

Plot: Breathless focuses on the lives of a group of doctors and nurses working in a London hospital in the 1960s. The series is set in a busy gynecology unit in 1961, during a time when abortion was still illegal, the contraceptive pill was available only to married women, and moral codes were shifting.

Critic – “It’s a polished soap opera.”

Ray Donovan – (crime drama)
Created by Ann Biderman
Premiered on June 30, 2013 on Showtime

Plot: The show takes place in Los Angeles, California, where Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber), originally from South Boston, is a “fixer” for the powerful law firm Goldman & Drexler, representing the rich and famous. Ray experiences his own problems when his father, Mickey Donovan (Jon Voight), is unexpectedly released from prison, and FBI agents try bringing down Ray and his associates.

Critic – “I am a fan; check out the first season.”

Masters of Sex – (drama)
Created by Michelle Ashford
Premiered September 29, 2013 on Showtime

Plot: Set in the late 1950s, Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan star as the lead characters, Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson, two pioneering researchers of human sexuality at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Critic – “The first season was flawless! The second season was all over the place.”