Review: Fall TV Premiers

BY SAVANNAH KEYSER AND TAMARAH WALLACE

Whether it’s the start of a new series or the continuation of one with a new season, Fall TV is packed full of new entertainment for viewers all across the country.

Designated Survivor

Every year during the State of the Union Address, one member of the Cabinet is taken to a secret location just in case a tragic event happens and the Capital Building is attacked. This person is called the Designated Survivor. In the event of this type of emergency where all other members of the Cabinet, the Vice President, and the President are killed, the Designated Survivor will be the successor of the President. This show is based on exactly that. The Designated Survivor, in this case, is a man named Tom Kirkman, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He would normally be 12th in the line of succession and isn’t necessarily fit to run the country. Soon after stepping into office, President Kirkman has to address the terrible tragedy that the country has endured as well as other issues going on around the United States such as police brutality and racial profiling. President Kirkman now has to figure out in a very short period of time how to set the American Citizens’ minds at ease as well as run the country.

Pitch

“Based on a true story that hasn’t happened yet,” Pitch is a show about the first woman to play in the Major Leagues. Her name is Ginny Baker and she was picked to play for the San Diego Padres. She began to play baseball when she was just a young girl. Her dad taught her how to throw a screwball; he knew it was the only way that she would be able to get into the major leagues because it is impossible for a woman to throw as fast as a man. Ginny mastered this specific pitch and rode it all the way to the major leagues. Her first game is a disaster, she couldn’t deliver one pitch to the strike zone. The next week, Ginny took to the mound and, again, was let down by her performance- until about 4 pitches in. She finally delivered her perfect screwball and from then on she was on a roll. The series follows Ginny Baker and her everyday challenges that she faces as the first and only woman in the Majors, such as sexism and trying to fit in with a team full of men.

This Is Us

Having one kid is hard enough , but having triplets is unimaginable. Jack and Rebecca Pearson soon find this out when their first kid turns into their first three kids. They find it to be even harder after they lose one of their triplets during labor. An opportunity appears, however, when an abandoned baby is brought to the hospital on that same day, Jack and Rebecca make the choice of adopting him as one of their own. The two biological children are named Kevin and Kate and the adopted triplet is named Kyle, but he later changes his name to Randall. The show goes back and forth between the past where Jack and Rebecca are learning how to raise three babies at a time, one of whom is not biologically theirs so there are more issues there, and the present day where the three triplets are all grown up and dealing with their own issues: Kevin is having issues with his current acting job, Kate is struggling with her weight, and Randall is dealing with finding his birth father.

American Horror Story: Roanoke (Tamarah)

This horror story begins like no other season has before, with a show within a show. We learn eerily about the past of a couple and their paranormal experiences surrounding Roanoke, on what seems to be a reality TV show. Roanoke was the first English colony established in North America and failed horribly after the colonists who settled there mysteriously vanished. The only evidence of its existence left was a carving of the word “Croatoan” on a tree. On that note, the writers are consistently able to make it seem as though something unseemly will happen any minute and with good reason. The show has a habit of tricking the audience into paranoia by being slightly uneventful, then suddenly leaving viewers hanging onto the edge of their seat when something startling and gruesome happens. For a thrilling and unnerving watch, be sure to tune into American Horror Story: Roanoke.