Multiple Moynihans and the endless reign of David Boreanaz in the trailers for CBS’s fall lineup
CBS presented the first look at its upcoming fall schedule at Carnegie Hall in New York this afternoon. After giving the people what they wanted with Star Trek: Discovery and Young Sheldon, the network premiered the following trailers for the other new additions to the primetime lineup.
Bobby Moynihan, John Larroquette, and newcomer Jack Dylan Grazer all play the same guy, Alex, at different points in Me, Myself & I, which looks like something of a comedic take on This Is Us, right down to the period-specific sports memorabilia, in its first trailer. Alternate title for the Moynihan segment of the show, which finds Alex crashing with Jaleel White after a classic bit of sitcom-pilot in flagrante delicto: Urkel Wants Me Out Of His Garage.
With the exception of the year-and-a-half that passed between the end of Angel and the beginning of Bones, David Borenaz has had a place in primetime for 20 consecutive years. The erstwhile Seeley Booth moves from the FBI to the Navy for CBS’ entry in the “Oh shit, Donald Trump is president—maybe some military shows?” sweepstakes. In SEAL Team, he’ll butt heads with Jessica Paré, fret about an operation that went wrong, and work alongside a K9 officer affectionately referred to as “the hair missile.” This will run for 13 seasons, at which point Boreanaz will still have a full head of hair and a new series offer waiting for him.
In this reboot of the ’70s cop show, Shemar Moore is put in charge of a tactical unit that has a long way to go to rebuild the public trust. But Justin Lin is also onboard, so that topical material will be leavened by thrilling action sequences and probably a bunch of pronouncements about the importance of “family.” Fans of bygone series will appreciate the interpolation of the original S.W.A.T. theme at the end of the trailer and/or the presence of Better Off Ted’s Jay Harrington, sporting a beard that would’ve never flown at Veridian Dynamics.
9JKL is not the result of someone ramming their fist into a keyboard—it’s the title of what co-creator and star Mark Feurstein calls “a new comedy set in three apartments on one incredibly crowded hallway.” Feurstein’s character moves back to the building he grew up in, to the apartment between his parents and his brother. With a cast of all-star gamers (Elliott Gould, Linda Lavin, David Walton, and a special appearance by BERT!) and alumni of past seasons’ failed sitcoms, 9JKL also gives CBS two jokes about descending testicles in one fall (there’s also one in Young Sheldon).
The most bothersome trend of the 2016-17 TV season rears its ugly head all over again, with Jeremy Piven as a tech guru who’s going to solve all the problems the public sector can’t. He’s crowdsourcing crime-fighting; let’s use the wisdom of the crowd to determine the most ridiculous line in this trailer. Is it:
a) “More evidence would emerge if a platform existed for it to come forward.”
b) “This Sophie web thing. What does it do, exactly?”, or
c) “You know how Steve Jobs got to be Steve Jobs?”