-ABC’s Forever got off to a very strong start with one of the more confident pilots I’ve seen in a while, but its second and third episodes vacillated between ludicrous and mind-numbingly dull. There’s all the structure to create a good procedural ala Castle – strong leads with a lot of chemsitry and interesting histories, decent premise – but no sense of pacing and very poor writing kill it pretty thoroughly.  Ioan Gruffud has inexplicably gotten hotter with age, here’s hoping eventually he lands on something worthy of him.

-ABC’s Selfie is annoying for the first half of its pilot and then charming.  I reviewed it here, and having seen its second episode now I can say it’s underwhelming but not completely awful. However, its quality is a moot point since it’s pulling in spectacularly low ratings and will get canceled.

-CBS’ Scorpion is a sweet show and is kind of like that painfully socially awkward/unintentionally rude kid that you can’t help but find likable but you still wish someone would take him in hand and teach him how to polite and act in appropriate ways. It’s not that its offensive – its plots are just so inane that I can’t take any element of them seriously. Good ensemble, with some parts stronger than others (Happy, a brusque female mechanical engineer, and Toby, a snarky psychiatrist/con artist, are standouts both separately and together and already fan favorites, but statistical genius Sylvester comes across like a cardboard cutout of a dorky brain) but…hands down the silliest drama I’ve seen in at least several years. The pilot was mediocre, second episode showed a lot of promise, and the third made my brain melt with its total lack of competency and believability. I found myself laughing out loud as the team scrambled to stop a bomb exploding. I want to like this. I just can’t.

-CBS’ Stalker is as bad as I thought it was going to be – see this review for everything I thought said better

-CBS’ Madam Secretary is surprisingly really good, sort of like a cross between 24 and Scandal, only without the bullets. Seriously. Badass performances, solid plot, and really hot Tim Daly husband.

-CW’s The Flash is resounding good and to my surprise has left every single bit of its competition in the dust. It’s strongly constructed, the cast was deftly chosen, and it’s just charming and fresh and light-hearted yet with strong emotional hooks. I love, love it.

Tagged: 1-minute reviews, ABC Forever, ABC shows, CBS Madam Secretary, CBS scorpion, CBS shows, fall series pilots, fall show roundup, Fall TV, Grant Gustin, list of new fall shows, Madam Secretary review, new fall show reviews, new fall shows, Scorpion review, Selfie, Selfie review, the Flash, The Flash review, TV