Undercovers [NBC - US]

Richard Dower

JJ Abrams, 13 ep. pickup: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/05/03/nbc-picks-up-j-j-abrams-spy-drama-undercovers-with-13-episode-order/50358

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a218013/nbc-picks-up-jj-abrams-undercovers.html

Richard Dower

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s122/undercovers/news/a223143/undercovers-script-pages-leak.html

Richard Dower

Bit of casting news: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s122/undercovers/news/a227462/mekia-cox-joins-undercovers-cast.html

Richard Dower

JJ bigs up his show (surprise, surprise): http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a239261/jj-abrams-praises-undercovers-leads.html

btw...he looks like a dork.

Richard Dower

I'm still not sold on the show, if there is good chemistry and good action it might work, but i'll reserve judgement until i see the first 2/3 eps. : http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s122/undercovers/news/a239822/gugu-mbatha-raw-teases-undercovers.html

JP Liz V1

Promo Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIDRG1edDpg

Starts tonight

Mr E

I was dubious from the promo earlier this summer, but damn that trailer was fun.

Basq

It's JJ Abrams..

.. he's had a pretty fecking consistent career so far, so I'm game!

Richard Dower

I'll definately check it out tonight.

Mr E

Early reviews are very disappointing....

Richard Dower

Mr E wrote: »

Early reviews are very disappointing....

^ a jaysus!... couldn't you wait till tomorrow so we could tear it apart ourselves?

Basq

Mr E wrote: »

Early reviews are very disappointing....

That's a real shame!

But I've faith in Abrams.. maybe the pilot isn't the best, but it could pick up.

And if Herc from AICN doesn't like it.. that tends to be a promising sign. We're all familiar with Herc's Curse, yes?

He called 'The Event' the best pilot of the Fall and gave 'Raising Hope' a scatching review.. we're of opposite opinions there!

Richard Dower

Oh my days, what to say?...it's Mr & Mrs. Smith...with a black couple. Very long pilot at alomost 48 mins, the camera work by Abrams was pretty slick and interesting, but...it's the script and acting that lets it down.

They tried to inject comedy, fail. They tried to inject chemistry, fail. That very annoying tech guy, that dweeb licking spy guys ass all the time, sooo overplayed and annoying. It's trying to be too much, to appeal to too many demographics.

IMO i thought it was a rather weak pilot, but some decent action, very high quality green screen etc. Honestly....i'm undecided.

Richard Dower

I just saw the ratings...oh dear!

Richard Dower

Final numbers...lol!

Undercovers
- 8.702 million viewers
- 5.6/9 HH
- 2.1/6 A18-49

Big part of me WANTS this show to tank...two fingers to Abrams!

Basq

Richard Dower wrote: »

Big part of me WANTS this show to tank...two fingers to Abrams!

Why? And if it does tank, I think he'll recover..! :rolleyes:

The man's became one of the most sought after names in Hollywood.

Richard Dower

He's overrated! [and i'm not gonna expand on that]

Basq

Richard Dower wrote: »

He's overrated! [and i'm not gonna expand on that]

Abrams is far from over-rated mate.

Creatively.. the guy has done everything from revive the student comedy-drama (with 'Felicity'), make the finest spy drama of the last 10 years ('Alias'), revive a dying movie franchise ('M:I 3') and give a fresh and great fun spin on a much-revered series ('Star Trek').

And also give a truly superb speech at TED called 'The Mystery Box':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpjVgF5JDq8

Sorry Rich, but I do think you're talking out of your arse here!

Richard Dower

Basquille....what did YOU think of Undercovers?

Basq

Richard Dower wrote: »

Basquille....what did YOU think of Undercovers?

Didn't watch it yet.. probably over the weekend!

Am not holding out much hope for it but it may improve, although let's hope the viewers improve with it.

Basq

This wasn't bad to be honest!

Chemistry between the leads was very convincing.. the humour was very hit-and-miss but it was witty enough.

I think people expected far too much from an Abrams series.. it was an average pilot, but it definitely has promise.

I'll keep watching!

Full_Circle_81

Not a bad pilot by any means, but didn't blow me away either. The cast and characters were fine and the leads in particular seemed very comfortable with each other, but I'd like to see the banter improve a little.

I loved Alias, but the similarities with this show are a little to close for comfort. I thought Abrams would have been keen to do something a little bit different. But the format is almost identical (right down to the title cards showing the country they are in........come on!!!).
I guess they are going for a more romantic / comedy spy thing here, but don't we already have that with Chuck?

expectationlost

it was ok fun, you can't compare it to his other shows, its suppose to be lightweight, don't know why'd they want to make true lies tv series this is it

FreudianSlippers

It wasn't great TBH, but it has potential. The leads were very convincing and there were some funny parts, but overall it could do with a relatively large improvement.

anotherlostie

I enjoyed it, although I didn't think it was much like Alias (though I LOL'd at the postcard similarity), one of my favourite shows of the noughties. It reminded me much more of something like Hart to Hart. I thought the two leads were very comfortable in their screen chemistry - the lead actress has come a long way from a bit part playing Martha Jones's sister in Doctor Who and her US accent was flawless. It was only a pilot so will give it a few weeks to see where it can go.

Richard Dower

Right, i consider the next two episodes the real litmus test for whether i keep watching this show or not. If it's gonna be "mission of the week" mixed with marriage crap i am gonna EXPLODE!

So UC...you've got tonights and next weeks episode to rope me in, sucka!

Boom_Bap

Ì was pleasantly suprised by this after the reviews i've heard. I liked it, and i think that it will get better over the next few episodes.

Richard Dower

:mad: FFS...second episode was exactly as stated ^ above...so called "comedy" and couple "chemistry" with added douchebag sidekick :rolleyes:
I'm not liking this show at all, it's like a Black Entertainment Televison version of Mr & Mrs Smith, it's lucky that Wednesdays are pretty empty for me with just Hellcats to watch..... :mad:

Richard Dower

LMAO!....UC goes down in the ratings, will the trend continue?, it lost 1.5 million overall viewers, but more important it the A18-49, down from a 2.1 to 1.6...big drop!

Undercovers
- 7.236 million viewers
- 4.7/8 HH
- 1.6/5 A18-49

Richard Dower

just looking at the imdb board/forum......wow. full of racism and talking about the color of the leads actors, the show sucks....but not because they are black.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568769/board/threads/

Richard Dower

Exec claims Undercovers won't be axed??????.....LOL!, we'll see tomorrow mate when your show takes another nosedive in the ratings!!

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s122/undercovers/news/a280634/undercovers-exec-denies-axe-rumours.html

Richard Dower

Dreadful third episode, i don't care if JJ is writng them...they suck!, again with the failed marriage banter and pathetic attempts at humour. Weak story this week and all round DULL show.

I wish Human Target was on Wednsadys sooner as i'd dump this for the much better HT!
I can't wait to report last nigts ratings!!...hehe, i expect another big drop, axe this turd!!!

paddyismaddy

this is crap

Richard Dower

HAHA!...i'm lovin' it:

NBC Undercovers 1.5/4 6.24

NBC was down across-the-board with the all but doomed Undercovers down 0.1 versus last week’s preliminaries to a 1.5 adults 18-49 ratings.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/10/07/tv-ratings-wednesday-law-svu-undercovers-the-defenders-all-down/67034

The wunderkid JJ Abrams has finally been proved not to be such a wunderkid.

Mr E

Richard Dower wrote: »

HAHA!...i'm lovin' it:

The wunderkid JJ Abrams has finally been proved not to be such a wunderkid.

Jesus Rich, you're a ray of friggin' sunshine today, aren't you? ;P
Caprica, Outlaws, SGU and now this....

Oh, and its wunderkind.
German, dontcha know.

Richard Dower

^ is anything i said/posted a lie?...ratings tell all mate.

Mr E

Never said anything to the contrary, Rich.... it just all seems to be bad news today.

don ramo

can someone find the kind way to say to richard that there is a damn ratings thread at the top of the TV forum,

nobody cares what the ratings are richard, they dont affect us, and we have no influence on them, so we dont need to know, people will watch a show if they like and wont if they dont like (actually they will watch it if they dont like it dunno why, but they do)

anyway ill watch this as long as its on, im not looking at the show as a comedy, because its not a comedy, thats what half hour shows are for,

Boom_Bap

i've gotten as far as watching the second episode now, i dont think its that bad, a bit cheesy and corny in places but not a bad show to kick back and watch. It's not going to make you think or have you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what's going to happen. But an enjoyable watch.

Oat23

It sounds like Dublin has been taken over by people from the North in the 4th episode....oh dear .

Richard Dower

Dreadful Orish episode last night, pathetic attempts at Irish accents, but tbf...two of the actors seemed like genuine Irish dudes, had convincing Dublin accents, really bad ep.

Undercovers (97% coverage NBC normally 98%)
- 5.933 million viewers
- 3.9/7 HH
- 1.4/4 A18-49

don ramo

the story was an excellent one, and even reliastic, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired,

two black deparment fo justice people, i believe the irish goverment are very equal opotunity, but youd be pretty lucky to find two pretty good looking black people with northern accents working for the department of justice,

why is every irish accent from the north dont these people realise that accents vary from kerry-cork-dublin-donegal-to the north, and the gards have guns, and some ****3d european siren on the law cars, seruously do some gad damn research,

i like this show, but they seriuously need to hire better researchers, who ever done the research for that episode should be fired and blackballed from every tv developemnet form here to eternity, its actually worse that when heroes were in cork, with the security guard having a badge and hat,

Basq

The accents...



... ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

expectationlost

surprised to see them site shannon airports use for US extraordinary renditions, its TV fact now, yeah see the problem isn't with them being black/mixed race its that there too good looking two drop dead gorgeous plumbers or black irish hmm?

Richard Dower

I've stopped watching the show two episodes back, but it's ratings continue to drop...woeful levels, even Chuck is pulling in a 1.9-2.0...and it's alot cheaper to make, another point is NBC has not ordered more episodes.

Undercovers
- 5.449 million viewers
- 3.5/6 HH
- 1.4/4 A18-49

expectationlost

i think its watchable fun

Richard Dower

Undercovers star Boris Kodjoe has admitted that the spy drama will make changes in an attempt to win over more viewers.

The NBC series has averaged just 7.1m viewers since September and the network has yet to decide whether to commission additional episodes.

Kodjoe told Entertainment Weekly: "We're adding a little mythology. There are a lot of secrets that are going to be revealed, a bigger picture of why we actually went back to the CIA and stuff we didn't even know. I've read some of the scripts, and they're incredible. There's a lot more emphasis on the spy stuff."

The actor, who plays Steven Bloom, argued that the show had already attracted a small but dedicated audience.

"Whenever people tune in, they love it," he claimed. "It's been a weird season with no runaway hits. But our numbers are going up. That's all we can wish for, and we just gotta keep trucking."

He added that creator J.J. Abrams was still dedicated to the project.

"He makes decisions... about plotlines, scripts and everything else," he explained. "I can feel his presence everyday."

Undercovers continues on Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

^ won't help...it's the only NBC show not to get a full season pickup, it's dead after 13 eps. and replaced with The Cape.

Alot of others have given up: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1356759&page=2

Richard Dower

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....Undercovers has been CANCELLED:

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/11/04/nbc-cancels-undercovers/70882

NBC has effectively canceled JJ Abrams’ freshman drama Undercovers and will not pick up any additional episodes. The show will still air on November 10, November 17 and December 1. That takes it through 10 episodes but no dates for what will be the final three episodes have been scheduled yet.

The news is hardly surprising after Undercovers hit series lows last night with a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating that tied with a repeat of Hell’s Kitchen on Fox, but it likely sends a shiver down the spine of Fringe fans who think no network would possibly ever cancel a JJ Abrams show.

^ he hee...i've never been so happy to see a show fail, it was dreadful.

FreudianSlippers

Can't say I'm surprised or upset. Was indeed dreadful.

Richard Dower

Dragging this up 'cause i read online ep. 11 was the best yet...being a slow telly week i said ok, lets see....and they were right, by far the best ep. to date. The were obviously going in the direction of toning down the lovey dovey "couple" crap and pathetic attempts at comedy and focus on building an overall series arc, the action and script was alot better as well.

But it's mute at this stage, the final two eps. aren't even on the schedule to be burned off, but i'll give credit where credit is due....this was the best i've seen.

Richard Dower

LOL!...dragging this up because apparently the final two episodes are going to air in Australia in the next few days, i thought they had stopped production at 11, but i guess they did all 13.....anyways, i'm sure the final two will surface soon enough.....i'll watch them just to see how it ended :-)

http://www.spoilertv.com/2011/12/undercovers-final-2-episodes-to-air-in.html