Animated and investigated

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/09/2016 (3292 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

And so it begins — with the silliness of a sword-swinging cartoon conquerer trying to make it in the suburban human world, and the uncomfortable re-examination of a real-life case that has already been the subject of extended tabloid-style exploitation.

The new television season is upon us, which means it’s time for our annual Fall TV Preview, a weeklong examination of everything that’s new and intriguing (or worth completely ignoring) in the 2016-17 prime-time lineup.

The preview starts today, with capsule previews of the weekend’s new programs (newsflash: once again, there’s nothing new to report on Saturdays) and a rundown of when all your returning favourites will arrive.

And from Monday through Friday, we’ll take a day-by-day look at all the major networks’ new shows, in an effort to help you cut through the clutter and pick a few new must-watch titles to add to what’s surely an overcrowded TV-viewing menu.

Hope you find it useful, and at least moderately entertaining. Happy flipping.

SON OF ZORN

Where and when: Sundays, Fox/Citytv/Sept. 11/7 p.m.

Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Cheryl Hines, Johnny Pemberton and Tim Meadows

Premise: Zorn, a warrior/defender from the mystical (and fully animated) island of Zephyria, returns to the site of one of his more humbling personal defeats — Orange County, Calif. — to try to win back his very human ex-wife, Edie, and reconnect with his mild-mannered teenage son.

Lowdown: It’s as goofy as it sounds, but there’s an undeniable charm and more than a few laughs to be found in this new addition to Fox’s “Animation Domination” Sunday lineup. Series creators Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) have a knack for offbeat storytelling, and there’s plenty of opportunity to combine weird and funny as cartoon-kingdom slayer Zorn (voiced by Sudeikis) tries to settle into a workaday sales job in suburban L.A.

Bottom line: Anywhere else in the prime-time lineup, mighty Zorn would be dismembered within weeks. But as a stablemate to The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy, he just might make it, after all.

 

THE CASE OF: JON BENÉT RAMSAY

Where and when: Sundays, CBS/Global/Sept. 18/7:30 p.m.

Featuring: Jim Clemente, Laura Ramsay, Dr. Henry Lee, James Kolar, Dr. Werner Spitz and James Fitzgerald

Premise: Twenty years after the horrific (and still unsolved) murder of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsay dominated headlines and TV coverage in the U.S., CBS (along with at least three other networks) re-examines the case with the promise to turn up “new information” that might lead to a long-delayed arrest.

Lowdown: The producers of CBS’s three-part miniseries assembled a large team of investigators, some of whom worked on the original case, and built an exact room-by-room replica of the Ramsay house based on crime-scene information. The stated intention of these projects might be to advance the case and eventually catch the killer, but the real agenda is no more noble than seeking true-crime ratings success that will match what last season’s various O.J. Simpson-themed shows produced.

Bottom line: No full previews available at press time, but preview clips provided by CBS are as unsettling as you’d expect.

 

THIS IS HIGH SCHOOL

Where and when: Sundays, CBC/Oct. 2 /8 p.m.

Featuring: The staff and students of South Kamloops Secondary School in British Columbia

Premise: A fly-on-the-wall documentary series that offers an intimate look at the goings-on at an average but still rather special Canadian high school.

Lowdown: Based on a hugely successful British TV series called Educating Yorkshire (which, according to CBC’s press notes, “sparked a national conversation about education”), this six-episode format-import effort examines the challenges faced by both students and teachers in the 21st-century scholastic environment. According to its producers, the intent is to celebrate victories and noble efforts rather than expose the education system’s shortcomings.

Bottom line: No preview available at press time, but given the public broadcaster’s recent successes with imported formats (Dragons’ Den, Hello Goodbye), there’s every reason to believe this limited-run series will fare well.

 

RETURNING SHOWS:

Masters of Sex (Sept. 11, Movie Central)

60 Minutes (Sept. 25, CBS)

The Simpsons (Sept. 25, Fox/Global)

Bob’s Burgers (Sept. 25, Fox/Citytv)

Secrets and Lies (Sept. 25, ABC)

Family Guy (Sept. 25, Fox/Citytv)

The Last Man on Earth (Sept. 25, Fox/Citytv)

Quantico (Sept. 25, ABC)

Heartland (Oct. 2, CBC)

Exhibitionists (Oct. 2, CBC)

This Life (Oct. 2, CBC)

America’s Funniest Home Videos (Oct. 2, ABC)

NCIS: Los Angeles (Oct. 2, CBS)

Madam Secretary (Oct. 2, CBS)

Elementary (Oct. 2, CBS)

The Walking Dead (Oct. 23, AMC)

The Affair (Nov. 20, Movie Central)

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @BradOswald