Which of These New Fall TV Shows Will Fail First?
We're going to go out on a limb and predict that not every new television series this season will be a success. While recent years have brought new ratings hits in the form of This Is Us, The Good Doctor, and Young Sheldon, there have also been plenty of failures. At some point in the coming months, one show will be the first to go.
Which newcomer will be the first cancellation victim of the 2018-19 season? In the gallery above, we discuss the outlook for each of the 18 first-year shows headed to the five broadcast networks this fall. Note that this year (unlike in past years) we don't have quotes from critics' first impressions of the new fall pilots, since several networks have issued new guidelines to reviewers prohibiting such early reviews over the summer. (But over the past week several reviewers have started posting their evaluations of all the new fall shows, so we have summarized those where applicable.)
Debuts September 24 on CBS.
The Cast: Jay Hernandez, Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, Stephen Hill, Tim Kang
The Premise: It's a remake of the 1980s CBS drama about a former naval officer turned private investigator living in a guest house on the property of a Hawaiian estate. This time, Magnum is an Afghanistan war veteran and the estate's manager Higgins is a woman, but Magnum still drives a Ferrari, still drinks Old Düsseldorf, and still roots for the Detroit Tigers.
The Outlook: The original Magnum, P.I. (yes, with a comma) was a huge hit, running for eight seasons and over 160 episodes. And the crime procedural genre is even more in the network's wheelhouse these days. But while the name recognition may help draw in the older viewers already inclined to tune into CBS, more desirable younger viewers may be unfamiliar with the original. And much of the success of the first series was due to the charisma of star Tom Selleck. It seems unlikely that Hernandez (best known for Hostel and Suicide Squad) could match that appeal, especially with that lesser mustache. But with Fast and Furious vet Justin Lin directing the opener, anything is possible—though the pilot seems to be lacking the original's humor.
What about that setting: Do TV shows filmed in Hawaii have an edge in securing a renewal? Not if recent history is any judge. Marvel's Inhumans, The River, and Last Resort were recent one-season-and-done shows shot in Oahu, though CBS's own Hawaii Five-0 remake has been going strong since 2010. In fact, Magnum P.I. will be set in the same universe as—and have multiple crossovers with—the latter show (both come from the same producer, Peter Lenkov), which could provide a major boost to the new series.
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