Tower Prep [US] ** Spoilers **

Richard Dower

CN are launching their second original non cartoon/scripted show on October 19th, after seeing all of Unnatural History and really liking the show i think this might also be worth a look:

"Moving ahead to October, Cartoon Network will premiere another original, live-action series titled 'Tower Prep.' Airing Tuesdays at 9PM, the hour-long drama, produced and written by Paul Dini, will focus on a quartet of special-powered teenagers who attend a prestigious boarding school that they can't leave.

According to an interview in Newsarama, Dini said he wanted the show, which leans towards the darker side of family-oriented programming, to become an alternative to fantasies, comedies and shows about teen rock stars. In other words, most of the shows on competitors Disney Channel and Nickelodeon."

http://www.newsarama.com/tv/paul-dini-tower-prep-100910.html

Interesting quote: Dini said he’s as surprised as anyone that the network let him run with his vision instead of asking him to tone down “Tower Prep’s” darkness.

“It’s kind of a miracle,” he said. “They let us go with what we wanted to do. There was a scene in the finale that I just knew we weren’t going to get through, but we got it through there. I think when you see the pilot, everybody’s gonna be blown away by it. I hope that it sparks something and that we get a second season.”

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/towerprep/index.html

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2010/09/16/paul-dinis-mysterious-tower-prep-to-debut-oct-19-on-cartoon-network/

Richard Dower

Episode 1 is now out, i'll check it out later and report back...if it's as good as Unnatural History it could be a good watch.

Richard Dower

I watched the pilot, quite dark for a supposed teen show on a teen network, ratings did pretty well:

Tower Prep
- 1.323 million viewers
- 0.9/1 HH
- 0.3/1 A18-49
- 1.5/6 K2-11

Mr E

I started watching this show since Harry Knowles praised it to the heavens last week. Its really good. The teen aspects shine through here and there, but for the most part its pretty adult and quite dark as Richard said. Kind of a weird cross of X-men, Harry Potter and Prison Break.

Worth a look if you want to try something new.

Richard Dower

Mr E wrote: »

I started watching this show since Harry Knowles praised it to the heavens last week. Its really good. The teen aspects shine through here and there, but for the most part its pretty adult and quite dark as Richard said. Kind of a weird cross of X-men, Harry Potter and Prison Break.

Worth a look if you want to try something new.

Well i thought the pilot was much better then i expected, i'll be watching ep. 2 tonight, bit shocked you gave it a chance though! :eek:

Glad you did, that review seems quite positive:

TOWER PREP is that complete rarity. A show starring High School age looking actors that not only, doesn't suck, but is one of the best shows on TV. With Glen Morgan (X-FILES) guiding the show with Dini - what you have is a show that all at once has elements of HARRY POTTER, THE PRISONER, LOST & classic silver age X-MEN. It does that, without ever being too much of any of those. Added throughout are some of Dini's specific fetishes, along with Morgan's. The fight scenes, especially as the show goes on, remind me of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES fight scenes. Just in the way they're staged.

The show has genuinely shocking revelations, hurtful betrayals and some real teeth. And finally there's a show that's final shot of the final episode of the season, genuinely will make you go, WHAT THE F*CK, NO WAY!!! And you will be dying for the start of season 2.....

Mr E

Yeah I'm really curious about that final shot of the season. My guess is the 4 finally get outside the wall and realise where they are. They flagged it as somewhere unexpected in the first episode when they looked through the telescope....

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Mr E wrote: »

I started watching this show since Harry Knowles praised it to the heavens last week. Its really good. The teen aspects shine through here and there, but for the most part its pretty adult and quite dark as Richard said. Kind of a weird cross of X-men, Harry Potter and Prison Break.

Worth a look if you want to try something new.

Sounds interesting. Might give it a shot.

Richard Dower

I watched ep. 2, not much exploration of the nature of TP...but we did learn the teachers were also students, ergo they never left. I think the reviewer stated the first four eps. were the setup, character development etc. - as such not a huge amount happened. We discover a underground network of tunnels and labs under the school...lots of very darkly lit scenes and going through tunnels.

Ian Archer, our lead is VERY Green Arrow, seriously the guy could have had the role on SV!, Elise Gatien aka CJ...imo, from what i've seen thus far...dreadful actress, she does not look like a teen and more mid 20's.

We are getting to see more of the other classmates, in regard to Harry Potter...well 100% Ian's dorm roommates are right outta HP for sure, one is a redhead and dead ringer for Ron, another classmate is very eccentric, listens to opera...and sings it!, good characterisation from him.

Ep. 2 didn't offer a whole lot, it was basically a get-to-know-you ep. and your classmates with a bit of snooping around, but it gave me enough to come back next week.

[edit] - i also think Ian has the looks, suave and leadership skills to lead a student rebellion if needed, though maybe not this season, i also think it's more The Prisoner then Prison Break.

Richard Dower

Mr E wrote: »

Yeah I'm really curious about that final shot of the season. My guess is the 4 finally get outside the wall and realise where they are. They flagged it as somewhere unexpected in the first episode when they looked through the telescope....

In my first post Dini eluded to a shot in the finale he thought would never get by the network, maybe he's talking about that?

In ep. 1 the stars were not the same, but this could mean a southern hemisphere, and when they tried to escaped it appeared they were on an island, which has a huge wall souurounding the school.

Reviews + other links:

http://www.bscreview.com/2010/10/tower-prep-monitored-review/

http://www.8asians.com/2010/10/27/8questions-dyana-liu-of-cartoon-networks-tower-prep/

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.241061-Psychic-Psycho-Reviews-Tower-Prep

http://www.republibot.com/content/episode-review-tower-prep-%E2%80%9Cmonitored%E2%80%9D-episode-2

http://www.the-trades.com/article.php?id=12203

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Watched the first two episodes. Great show. You wouldn't know its for kids to be honest.

Richard Dower

Bit of a ratings drop this week:

Tower Prep
- 1.061 million viewers
- 0.7/1 HH
- 0.2/1 A18-49
- 1.1/4 K2-11

Richard Dower

A promo for season 1 as a whole, it definately contains SPOILERS...so be warned!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqfCsXw7Sl4

^ that scene is right outta Harry Potter!...excellent promo, seems alot is gonna happen!

Various webisodes and Vlogs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88R9z8bMrUk&feature=player_embedded

Richard Dower

Ep. 3 tonight, hope it starts to beef up with the shockers, i love dark shows!

Richard Dower

HOLY CRAP!..i was reading this post: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1480669/board/thread/172993534

And he's right!...i just watched the scene again, and you can hear someone saying "fu*k you!"...LOL!

Michael Shanks will also guest star tonight: http://stargate-sg1-solutions.com/blog/2010/11/michael-shanks-in-tower-prep-tonight/

Richard Dower

I watched ep. 3 last night and plan to watch it again, 'cause alot happened. Very strong ep. - what i liked is that alot of humour was injected in this ep. Gabe is the comic relief, loved when CJ could "read" that notebook and say the person who wrote on this was a bed wetter, i LOL'd at this part.

While it had humour it was also quite dark, that whole segment with Whisper23 was great, it was extremely well done....even the voice for Whisper was quite menacing, like a petulant child....i want to play, i want to play NOW!....and the faces on the computer screen.

So is Whisper119 friend or foe?...helping Ian and the Scooby gang?....we learned more about the tech, Sato systems and the origins of Whisper, more students and powers unveiled. I still think that Elise Gaiten/CJ is a woeful actress, she's dreadful....just a pouty and pretty girl, she shows no emotion or range.

Solid ep. - enough for another tune in.

Richard Dower

Oh dear....fair drop this week, i doubt US elections would concern the CN demographic:

Tower Prep
- 0.881 million viewers
- 0.6/1 HH
- 0.1/0 A18-49
- 1.1/4 K2-11

Richard Dower

Accoring to Paul Dini, TP is moving to the 9pm slot Tuesdays....best not to battle Glee!

http://twitter.com/paul_dini

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Did episode 4 air last night?

Mr E

According to IMDB and EpGuides, yes it did.
(It was scheduled anyway.... not much discussion on the episode itself)

Richard Dower

It did air but is not out, dunno why.

Richard Dower

Well it did air, ratings went up a bit...but the key kid demo fell a good bit, 1.1 - 0.8:

Tower Prep (9pm)
- 0.903 million viewers
- 0.7/1 HH
- 0.2/1 A18-49
- 0.8/3 K2-11

Still not out, bloody hell!

Richard Dower

Not looking good!....CN don't repeat TP at all on the channel + it's not available for streaming on the website, so unless you saw it live you're sh*t outta luck!, only thing is maybe somebody DVR'd it. itunes appears to have it.

New review: http://www.robwillreview.com/?p=6489

Richard Dower

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!.....episode 4 is out! :-)

Richard Dower

What did we learn in ep. 4?....the gnomes are actually students!?.....not much else happened tbh, more about the buffer game and trying to figure out if History is connected to the gnomes, good ep. though but at this stage it really needs to start with the shockers and giving us the plot.

From the review on page 1 it seems the first four eps. are the setup - so from ep. 5 onwards i hope they start moving things!

Richard Dower

Thank feck for that!....no missing episode debacle this week, off to watch ep.5 :-)

Mr E

Pretty good episode with some decent revelations. The Corvus stuff is very interesting, and coach being a bad guy pretending to be a good guy (or a good guy pretending to be a bad guy pretending to be a good guy!) could get interesting in the episodes ahead.

The guy playing Jeremy was a shocking actor though....

Richard Dower

Episode 6 is finally out, but with the cancellation of Unnatural History it's very doubtful TP will get a second season.

Richard Dower

YAY!....very enjoyable episode, really liked it....probably the best of the season!, it was very funny and quite clever in it's use of the Odyssey the book and translated that into a series of weird encounters for Ian.

The othe students are actually quite zany and interesting, outside of the main Scooby gang. My fave part though was the three sirens....jesus that was a pretty HOT scene for a childrens tv network!



While we didn't learn anything about the nature of TP i thought the ep. was funny and entertaining + guest apperance by Michael Shanks + director Peter Deluise (both from Stargate).

http://www.republibot.com/content/episode-review-tower-prep-%E2%80%9Cbook-report%E2%80%9C%E2%80%9D-episode-6

"Seriously, the Sirens were…uhm…a bit steamy for a kids’ show, don’t you think? Nothing dirty or untoward happens, and their appearances are edited to be worth a good belly laugh, but it was unexpectedly sexy."

Richard Dower

Does anyone know WHAT THE HELL is going on and what Tower Prep is!!!!!!!!!!!!
Argh!, ep. 7/8 were pretty good...especially ep. 8 which was written by Paul Dini. But the answers are not coming, only 5 left....in the last we discovered the plants and animals in TP are from all over the earth, ok?....does that mean they are on another planet?....please don't let it be "it's all a dream" or it's a matrix situation, they are all unconscious sitting at their computers playing that game with Whisper 119 as per the pilot.

Now we have Redfang and a group of what appears to be escaped TP students living in a series of underground tunnels, Cal gets captured by the gnomes and becomes one, it was strongly hinted that he WANTED to become a gnome?

Ep. 7 had the headmaster looking at Ross to create a virus to take away TP students powers, it's all getting a bit confusing!
I think Harry Knowles over at ain'titcool oversold the show imo, i haven't been "shocked" once....maybe his definition of shock is different to mine, i haven't been floored by the revelations thus far, i'm not going OMG!!!!!!!!......it's more, a-ha!, i dig them....the last scene with Ross and the headmaster was great, him asking her to create the virus and they'd be cool....it was the evil smile that came across Ross's face that sold it.

The info about TP have been little, tidbits, the twists and "shocks" aren't that huge....but, and maybe THIS is the point!....i bloody waana know wtf is going on!!

That final shot in the final episode BETTER be everything Harry Knowles said it is, but maybe i've guessed it already.

Mr E

I tend to agree, Rich. The odyssey episode was pretty terrible (up to the last 10 minutes) - it was probably the most "kiddie" episode yet.

Then the election episode was very predictable (it was obvious it was the badges from about 5 minutes in - I was hoping for a clever twist or piece of misdirection but it never came). Even the ending could be seen coming a mile off.

I think this weeks was a return to form though. It confirmed that the gnomes were students, and introduced another faction of students/ex-students as redfang's followers.

Still waiting for the big twists and betrayals though.....

Mr E

Ah finally.... the floodgates have opened.

Lots of answers (at last). Best episode yet.

Richard Dower

Mr E wrote: »

Ah finally.... the floodgates have opened.

Lots of answers (at last). Best episode yet.

:eek: - don't say any more!....i haven't seen it yet!!

[ok you can spoiler tag]

Mr E

From the last couple of scenes (Conor's last scene and the last scene of the episode), I have a strong feeling that Ian is

Cornelius Tower's grandson, and heir to Tower Prep

.

It also looks like the location of Tower Prep could be

India

?
I think the other planet/space station theory is out the window, anyway....

2 episodes on next week too.... from the episode titles, they sound like they could be good ones. Episode 10 is

Phone Home

and Episode 11 is

Trust

Richard Dower

Two next week?...you're right!, Dec. 21 + 28th will have two episodes each:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tower_Prep_episodes

So i guess CN wanna dump it off the schedule sharpish, no way it'll get a second season...it's doing worse then Unnatural History and that got axed.

JohnK

Thats a shame, I'm actually enjoying this

Richard Dower

Just watched it now, brilliant stuff, VERY dark!....what amazes me is it was rated PG - with a mad bonesaw weilding scientist and dark episode contents i'd expect TV14!

Lots of little points i missed out on/theories are being discussed on the TP forum:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1480669/board/threads/

Cornelius's room with the maps, recordings was very interesting...all the old pics, people are mentioning clones as in one pic Cornelius was all five members of the band, it was the same person playing each instrument.

I'm gonna watch it again but based on what i saw i *think* as Mr. E said Ian is the grandson of Cornelius Tower, i also belive Headmaster is Ian's father + and logically Headmaster is Cornelius's son, in fact the episode 13 title

Fathers

eludes to this.

BUT...my guy is telling me Tower Prep is all a dream state, i think Ian and the others are part of some dream state experiment, i have a feeling it's a Matrix type deal, that final shot is we'll see Ian and the others in some lab, lying on beds, probably a lab at Sato Systems, and Whisper 119 is controlling the enviroment.

For example, Connor...is Conor a real person or was EVERYTHING in this ep. a dream state?, if Conor is real - is HE Cornelius?, or someone the grandfather sent in to TP?

I'm caught up in the things said, in dreams come responsibility, in escape comes responsibility, the fact that Cornelius had three breakdowns, became a psychologist, to me it seemed like the ep. was hiniting everything that went on was a dream state.

But i wonder how CJ factors in?....she didn't dream, Conor smiled at Ian when Ian pointed this fact out, what did Headmaster whisper into Conor's ear in his office?

Remember the first time the kids entered Cornelius's room, the stars were above them like a night sky and they turn the lights on in the room...they disappear, that led me to belive the part of the pilot wherby they get outside the wall, see the ocean and stars....it just triggered in me nothing was real.

Argh!...see i'm over analysing :-) ....but i guess it points to me having a real interest in finding out wtf is going on, with two more eps. next Tuesday the answers (we hope) will come quicker!

Synopsis of the next four eps.

10 "Phone Home"[1] Aury Wallington[11] December 21, 2010 (2010-12-21) 109
The group try to tap into a satellite in order to make a call. Elsewhere, Suki sees her brother, who she thought had died.
11 "Trust"[1] Michael Rohl[12] Riley Stearns[12] December 21, 2010 (2010-12-21) 110
Ian suspects that Cal is a spy after Cal returns on the night of an escape attempt. Elsewhere, a group of disenfranchised students is discovered in the woods.
12 "Snitch"[1] Thomas Wright[13] December 28, 2010 (2010-12-28) 111
Connor returns and claims to know how to get out of Tower Prep.
13 "Fathers"[1] December 28, 2010 (2010-12-28) 112
Ian comes up with a plan to free Gabe and escape from Tower Prep.

http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/12/15/tower-prep-dreams-review/

http://www.republibot.com/content/episode-review-tower-prep-%E2%80%9Cdreams%E2%80%9D-episode-9

"Before we jump into tonight’s episode, let’s discuss our options as to a second season. Paul Dini, the series creator said that he really wanted two or more seasons, but he also said that he built the series with a solid end to the first chapter. In other words, everything won’t be resolved, but we won’t feel cheated with a million dangling threads like when Firefly was killed. It’ll be more like the ends of Defying Gravity and Kings: an ending that is really just a beginning of other stories which, alas, we’re never gonna’ get to see.

So will Tower Prep get a second season? I don’t know. We’re nine episodes in. Thus far the best ratings the series has pulled was for the premier, with 1.3 million viewers. It declined for the next two, hitting a low of 880,000 viewers, then rebounding slightly to 900,000, and hovering just a hair over a million for the next two episodes after that. It then dropped slightly below a million, where it’s been hovering since. This puts it in the same viewership range as Stargate: Universe and Caprica, which is, of course, entirely logical since every show I like dies a horrible, screaming death. But it *is* far cheaper than those shows, so does it have a shot?

I dunno. I’m thinking not. Our best comparison is “Unnatural History,” a show that nobody liked, but was regularly able to pull in ratings of between 1.1 and 1.2 million, and it got killed. Despite being a vastly better show, Tower Prep isn’t hauling impressive numbers. Of course ratings this time of year are generally lower than on new shows running during the summer like ‘History did, so I’m hoping their grading on a curve, but I’m not too optimistic."

This guy has also picked up on CJ....i dunno, Harry Knowles eluded to the fact he loved her story?...is she even real?

"So what’s up with CJ? She’s previously said she has no memories prior to Tower, she didn’t know what a record was (Gabe’s description was really good: “It’s like a hardcopy of a digital download.”), and she wasn’t sharing the same dream the others were. When Ian asks Connor about this at the end, Connor looks like he’s going to say something, then thinks the better of it, and leaves. What do the infiltrators know that they aren’t sharing? Obviously there’s something very unusual about her."

Richard Dower

Mr E wrote: »

From the last couple of scenes (Conor's last scene and the last scene of the episode), I have a strong feeling that Ian is

Cornelius Tower's grandson, and heir to Tower Prep

.

It also looks like the location of Tower Prep could be

India

?
I think the other planet/space station theory is out the window, anyway....

2 episodes on next week too.... from the episode titles, they sound like they could be good ones. Episode 10 is

Phone Home

and Episode 11 is

Trust

How did you figure India?...the map we saw just indicated a peninsula

Mr E

I'd need to watch it again, but wasn't Cornelius in India when he came up with the idea for Tower Preparatory? Might be wrong about this.... I'll check it out again tonight.

JohnK

I think it said he was in India when

he received the vision of his father telling him he had died and left him his fortune

. Then it says he had the idea for turning the land into a special haven during his third breakdown but not that the breakdown necessarily happened in India.

Richard Dower

Mr E wrote: »

Still waiting for the big twists and betrayals though.....

My gut is telling me this is coming, i'll lay odds on CJ being Headmasters daughter and she's been ratting on them since the start.

Richard Dower

Woo!...two eps. tonight, maybe we'll get a few more answers. I'm genuinely interested in this show now, to see where the rabbit hole leads. That final shot better match up with my expectations.....LOL!

Mr E

Looking forward to it, Rich....

Richard Dower

G'wan!...both eps. now out....off to watch :-)

Richard Dower

Right, just finished watch ep. 10+11.....11 was better then the first Phone Home, know what?....i now VERY suspicious of CJ!, she dosen't want to leave TP, her and Cal are weird...maybe brother and sister?, but i'm now convinced CJ is Headmasters daughter!, she even hinted her father won't be happy if she left TP.

Both eps. had pretty good fight scenes, from what Ian said Cornelius Tower is not his grandfather, lol....bloody show gets more conveluted as it goes along.

I mean, we didn't learn that much!, Cal is now not a gnome, Suki's once thought dead brother is infact alive and working for Sato systems and dropped in to upgrade Whipser to version 120.

That guy from the broken seemed to suggest the wall surrounding TP isin't real or dosen't exist.....so?, inside a dome?, or it's back to the dream state theory?
Headmaster calling Ian "broken", like a machine that needs to be fixed, at the end of ep. 11 we got a preview of the final two eps. - some lady in red, lol....i got BSG vibes from that, hmmm....Ian's mom?

Ian fighting Headmaster...good stuff!, students escaping...hopefully the last two eps. answer questions, but i expect big bloody cliffhanger...argh!

Mr E

Good episodes alright. With the wall being fake (and escape that way seemingly impossible), I'm back to thinking that TP is somewhere unconventional again (and that the final shot will be that revelation).

I was hoping that last gnome was going to be Emily (that would have been a great twist).

We'll know all by this time next week...

Richard Dower

Anyone care to speculate on this final shot?
I have a fair few theories, like this:



In the preview of next weeks final two-parter Ian and the other are seen looking up [into the sky?]

Richard Dower

Mr E wrote: »

Good episodes alright. With the wall being fake (and escape that way seemingly impossible), I'm back to thinking that TP is somewhere unconventional again (and that the final shot will be that revelation).

I was hoping that last gnome was going to be Emily (that would have been a great twist).

We'll know all by this time next week...

Headmaster said to Suki's brother about his long flight to get to TP,
I'm guessing those board members at the end of ep. 11 were the guys running the show?....taking over by force what Cornelius had going on.
One thing in general terms, this show is 100% on the wrong network, people say that alot...but in the case of this show it's true. And it's no way for kids!, certainly NOT the target demographic of CN, kids 2-11.

This is teen and young adult fodder, it has many adult themes and dialogue, it has been quite dark in places, as it's gone along i think now, yes, this show definately does have elements and themes of LOST. I din;'t think this in the first few eps. - but as the questions grew, the mysteries deepened and the head scrathing and "wtf is going on!?" crept in i see the LOST connection.

It's a crossbreed of The Prisoner/Lost and a dash of X-Men, it's interesting that this show has engaged me more as each week past, i think this show might garner some cult status in years to come.

Richard Dower

http://justjaredjr.buzznet.com/2010/12/23/drew-van-acker-tower-prep-season-finale-next-tuesday/

Oh sh*t!

This guy does good reviews of each ep.: http://www.republibot.com/content/episode-review-tower-prep-%E2%80%9Cphone-home%E2%80%9D-episode-10

Richard Dower

Haven't posted ratings in awhile, here are the double ep. numbers from Tuesday, not looking good:

Tower Prep (8pm)
- 0.982 million viewers
- 0.6/1 HH
- 0.2/1 A18-49
- 1.1/4 T12-17
- 1.0/3 K2-11

Tower Prep (9pm)
- 1.068 million viewers
- 0.7/1 HH
- 0.2/1 A18-49
- 1.3/4 T12-17
- 0.9/3 K2-11

Richard Dower

Well...this is it!, one way or another, final two episodes tonight. I'm 100% positive it won't get a second series + end on a cliffhanger, but hopefully we'll get a few answers with these last two.

I'm looking forward to seeing this final shot, it's probably the reveal of where TP is, i'll give a more detailed review of the series tomorrow but overall it's been rather enjoyable, a supposed "kids" show that is more adult and has more going on the what network broadcasts it.

Sneak peak of ep. 13: http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/12/28/tower-prep-fathers-episode-13/

+ ep. 12: http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/12/28/tower-prep-snitch-episode-12/

More sneak peaks: http://io9.com/5718646/this-weeks-marathons-include-twilight-zone-and-doctor-who-plus-tower-preps-season-finale

Mr E

Probably won't get to see this until tomorrow night, so I'm unfollowing this thread.