A Fall Guide To Your NYC Television Shows
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<p>Recently <a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/08/22/marty_markowitz_dubs_nyc_hollywood.php">we learned</a> that there are a record number of TV shows being filmed here right now. Combine that with the NYC shows that film elsewhere, and the Big Apple is getting a lot of small screen time. </p><p>Since this is, after all, how out-of-towners <a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/02/23/what_do_tourists_learn_from_nyc-bas.php">learn about our fair city</a>, we figured we should be keeping tabs on how it's <a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/05/10/nyc_as_seen_on_tv_top_5_worst.php">being portrayed</a>. And look at that, the Fall television season is upon usâcan you smell it? It smells like comfort food and stale plotlines. But maybe there's hope this year?</p><p>We've narrowed down the Fall schedule below, with networks, air dates, summaries, and casts of all the showsânew and oldâyou'll be seeing as you hover over your <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/08/ron_swanson_dinners.html">Ron Swanson Turf n' Turf</a> TV dinners (we'll add on <em>Mad Men</em> when if <em>finally</em> airs early next year). Please note: these are only shows filming in or based in New York City. Which ones should we be watching throughout the season?</p>
RINGER (CW) Tuesday, September 13th, 9 p.m. (new series)Plot: Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as a woman who, after witnessing a murder, goes on the run, hiding out by assuming the life of her wealthy identical twin sister - only to learn that her sister's seemingly idyllic life is just as complicated.Notable cast: Sarah Michelle Geller, Nestor Carbonell (LOST)New York connection: Only the pilot was filmed in NYC, the rest is filmed in LA.Trailer:
PAN AM (ABC) Sunday, September 25th, 10 p.m. (new series)Plot: Period drama about the pilots and flight attendants who once made Pan Am the most glamorous way to fly. âFollows stewardesses circa 1963 and their bouts with âpassion, jealousy and espionageâ.âNotable cast: Christina Ricci, Kelli Garner and Margot RobbieNew York connection: Films in NYC, set all over (because they're stewardesses, duh.)Trailer:
<strong><em>THE 2-2</em></strong> (CBS), airing midseason, no specific airdate yet (new series)<p><strong>Plot:</strong> Six NYPD rookies learn to balance their personal lives with working the streets of upper Manhattan.</p><p><strong>Notable cast:</strong> Leelee Sobieski, Adam Goldberg; Robert DeNiro, executive producer</p><p><strong>New York connection:</strong> Set in NYC, films in NYC.</p><p></p>
SMASH (NBC) Monday, February 6th, 10 p.m. (new series)Plot:A successful songwriting team begin work on a new musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. When a tenacious producer jumps aboard, so begins the difficult task of casting the silver screen icon. Ivy Lynn, a tough Broadway veteran, seems like the obvious choice. But enter Karen Cartwright a young girl from Iowa with a dream of making it on Broadway who walks in and blows everyone away. So who will get the part and begin a journey that will change their lives? It's an age-old story, but a star just might be born once again.Notable cast: Debra Messing, Christian Borle, Anjelica Houston, Katharine McPhee (American Idol); Playwright Theresa Rebeck wrote the pilot; Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) will direct. Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey are executive producers with Hairspray's Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, while Tony-winning songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman will write original songs.New York connection: At least the pilot was filmed in NYC...Trailer:
PERSON OF INTEREST (CBS) Thursday, September 22nd, 9 p.m. (new series)Plot: The show will follow an ex-CIA agent, missing and presumed dead, who moves to New York City to fight crime. Helping him in his crusade is a reclusive billionaire with his own interests.Notable cast: James Caviezel (The Prisoner, The Passion of the Christ), Michael Emerson (LOST), Taraji P. Henson (Boston Legal); J.J. Abrams, producer, Jonathan Nolan, writerNew York connection: We can't find any definitive answer, but it certainly looks like it films in NYC!Trailer:
PRIME SUSPECT (NBC); Thursday, September 22nd, 10 p.m. (new series)Plot: NBC gives the critically acclaimed ITV series about a ruthless police detective starring Helen Mirren a Big Apple reboot. Detective Jane Timoney has transferred to a new squad, where all her male colleagues dislike her. Based on the trailer, the producers are going for a more comedic, lighter tone. Notable cast: Maria Bello, Aidan Quinn, Brian O'Byrne; Peter Berg, producer.New York connection: Films in NYC, set in NYCTrailer:
BLUE BLOODS (CBS); premiere Friday September 23rd, 10 p.m. (2nd season)Plot: Police procedural/drama series following the Reagan family, who are all somehow involved in criminal justice.Notable cast: Tom Selleck and his mustache, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, Len Cariou, Jennifer EspositoNew York connection: Films in NYC, set in NYC.Trailer:
THE GOOD WIFE (CBS); Sunday, September 25th, 9 p.m. (3rd season)Plot: Alicia Florrick (Margulies), whose husband Peter Florrick (Noth), a former Cook County state's attorney, has been jailed following a very public sex and corruption scandal. Alicia returns to her old job as a litigator (after taking years out to be a mother) to provide for her two children.Notable cast: Julianna Margulies, Chris Noth, Christine Baranski, Alan CummingNew York connection: Set in Chicago, but films in NYC.Trailer:
BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO); premiere Sunday, September 25th, 9 p.m. (2nd season)Plot: Period drama focusing on Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based on the historical Enoch L. Johnson), a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey during the Prohibition period of the 1920s and 1930s.Notable cast: Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Paz de la Huerta; Martin Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg, executive producersNew York connection: Films in NYC (with a boardwalk set in Greenpoint), but is mostly set in New Jersey.Trailer:
BORED TO DEATH (HBO); premieres Monday, October 10th, 9 p.m. (3rd season)Plot: Created by author Jonathan Ames, and starring Jason Schwartzman as a fictional Jonathan Amesâa writer based in Brooklynâwho moonlights as an unlicensed private detective. We visited the set and saw some scenes filmed earlier this yearâand it's lookin' good.Notable cast: Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, Zach GalifianakisNew York connection: Films in New York, and set in New York! You'll especially see a lot of Brooklyn.Trailer:
A GIFTED MAN (CBS); Friday, September 23rd, 8 p.m. (new series)Plot: When a well-known surgeon (Wilson) begins seeing his dead ex-wife he starts questioning the meaning of life and his place in the world.Notable cast: Patrick WilsonTrailer:
2 BROKE GIRLS (CBS); Monday, September 19th, 9:30 p.m. (new series)Plot: A new comedy about two girls who form an unlikely bond over having no money and no shame. They work together in a BK restaurant and dream of opening a cupcake shop.Notable cast: Kat Dennings; Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings, executive producers.New York connection: Films in LA, set in NYC.Trailer:
GOSSIP GIRL (CW); Monday, September 26th, 8 p.m. (5th season)Plot: Some over-privileged rich kids have sex with each other and Kristen Bell narrates. Notable cast: Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen, Ed WestwickNew York connection: Films in NYC, and set in NYC... though not the NYC that many of us know (unless you guys go to fancy high schools and live in hotel penthouses).Trailer:
UNFORGETTABLE (CBS); Tuesday, September 201th, 10 p.m. (new series)Plot: A new drama about about a former police detective (Poppy Montgomery) who can remember everything except for the day her sister was killed. She ends up joining her NYPD detective ex-boyfriend's homicide unit and hopes to solve her sister's murder. Notable cast: Montgomery, Dylan WalshNew York connection:Filmed at least partly in New York City, set in NYC.Trailer:
LAW & ORDER: Special Victims Unit (NBC) Wednesday, September 21st, 10 p.m. (13th season)Plot: In the criminal justice system, sexual-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.Cast news: no more Chris Meloni :( but Mariska Hargitay, Stephanie March and Diane Neal will be back and joined by newcomers Danny Pino (Cold Case) and Kelli Giddish (All My Children)New York connection: Films in NYC, set in NYC.Trailer:
CSI: NEW YORK (CBS); Friday, September 23rd, 9 p.m. (8th season)Plot: The New York-offshoot of the popular CSI franchise features Gary Sinise and Sela Ward as forensic investigators who inexplicably work in glossy, clean, rather glamorous quarters and help solve gory crimes. Notable cast: Sinise, Ward, Hill Harper; Jerry Bruckheimer, executive producer.New York connection: Films mostly in LA (with the occasional exteriors shoot in NYC), set in NYC.Trailer:
I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK (MTV); airing early 2012 (new series)Plot: Jason Strider and his friends grapple with dating, sex, and surviving as adults. They care more about hanging with each other, going to bars and hooking up than their entry level jobs, but when a one night stand steals Jason's heart and his pants, he begins a quest to get his beloved jeans backâand hopefully the girlâwhile growing up along the way.New York connection: This has been filming in New Yorkâexpect an MTV portrayal of Williamsburg/Greenpoint, in particular.Trailer:I Just Want My Pants Back - MTV Shows
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS); premieres Monday, September 19th, 8 p.m. (7th season)Plot: Basically we're just still waiting to find out who Ted marries.Notable cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segal, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor.New York connection: Filmed in LA, but set in NYC (also, probably one of the better NYC portrayals on televisionâremember the cockamouse? Trailer:
CASTLE (ABC); Monday, September 19th, 9 p.m. (4th season)Plot: Bestselling mystery novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) has been teaming up with the NYPD to solve their weird crimes. Apparently New York's FInest likes Castle's "writerly intution" (J.B. Fletcher-style?). Notable cast: Fillion, Stana Katic.New York connection: Films in LA, set in NYC.Trailer: