NBC is calling this a TV Special, but it is actually a pilot. From Bryan Fuller, the mastermind behind the visually spectacular Pushing Daises, the ever quirky Dead Like Me, and the co-creator of Wonderfalls. If there was ever a remake that could use his touch it would be the Munsters — and man does this look like it has potential. Directed by Bryan Singer and starring Eddie Izzard, Jerry O’Connell, and Portia de Rossi amongst others, the show looks to be filled with spectacular effects (did anyone else see the dragon in the TV spots?!?) and a quirky storyline. I’m hoping that the ratings justify a potential series pickup — since I dig the creative team behind and in front of the camera, but my gut is saying that’s not going to be the case. In which case I have to wonder, is this (rumored) 10 million dollar **pilot** erhm “TV Special” that much of a disaster?!?
Regardless of the outcome, I’m intrigued enough to check out, since it legitimately looks like nothing else on TV and that’s exactly the type of TV I scout out when looking at potential new shows. What’s the point of watching the same old slosh week in and week out when stuff like this is actually being produced. Especially with Bryan Fuller hamming it up in interviews that if this show goes to series, he plans on doing to the Universal Pictures monster catalog what Once Upon a Time is doing with fairy tales and Disney’s catalog and updating them for the modern age — and for the more mature viewer. However, I cannot say if the given special will be good or not, nor can I say if NBC is making a good call on doing what it is doing by “airing” this special all I can say is that whether it turns out good or not, I’m still going to be, at the very least, recording this for a weekend viewing.
Official Episode Description, “Pilot”: A revamping of the 1964-66 TV series “The Munsters” tracks the lives of a ghoulish family. Here, young Eddie discovers he grows hair all over his body during a full moon, and funeral director Herman Munster suffers from a heart condition.
8PM
SYFY: WWE SmackDown (wrestling)
ABC: Shark Tank (reality)
FOX: Kitchen Nightmares (docu)
CW: America’s Next top Model (reality competition)
ANIMAL: Monsters Inside Me (docu)
DISNEY: A.N.T. Farm/Jessie (teen)
DIS: Gold Rush (reality)
9PM
NBC: Grimm (supernatural drama)
ABC: 20/20 All Access Nashville w/ Katie Couric (showcase)
CBS: CSI: NY (crime drama)
CW: Nikita (action drama)
TBS: For Better or Worse (comedy)
HGTV: Home Strange Home (docu)
TRAVEL: Ghost Adventures (docu)
10PM
ABC: 20/20 (news showcase)
CBS: Blue Bloods (crime drama)
NBC: Dateline NBC (news showcase)
ANIMAL: Monsters in My Head (docu)
E!: Fashion Police (entertainment news)
FX: The Ultimate Fighter Fridays (fighting)
SYFY: Haven (supernatural drama)
