We’ve had our first look at NBC’s 2018-19 season: New Amsterdam, I Feel Bad, and Manifest. My initial impressions are moderate to positive overall, but negligible to meh on queerness.
New Amsterdam
This one interested me the most, as the preview trailer mentioned a “paternity ward.” I was (and still am) hoping this turns out to be a plot point, however there’s nothing more than the mention in the preview show in the first episode. I was an ER aficionado plus I watched the early seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, and I can tell you this show is nothing like those. There isn’t the fast paced, driven, OMG we’re all going to die vibe at all. In fact, this felt like a step back to medical dramas of the 80s and early 90s, where we got as much time on the whole situation as the case of the week.
If you like St. Elsewhere type medical dramas, I think you’ll enjoy this one. I plan on watching this when it hits the air, as it’s got some serious potential to grow.
Screener Review On New Amsterdam
A heartwarming, pro-doctor/anti-insurance, feel good medical drama.
I Feel Bad
I feel bad that I didn’t like this show. I’m a really hard sell on comedy in general. I don’t like laugh tracks and I don’t like being the butt of a joke, which basically means I watch two or three US based comedies once in a while, and I only adore one of them (my beloved One Day at a Time). The premise is a working mom, talking real about her life and the various struggles with raising a family, dealing with her parents, and her husband, at the same time. The cast is great, the acting is great, and it just didn’t resonate with me at all. Probably because her work life made it seem like the nerds were the punchline.
If you like comedies in general, then you’ll probably like this one. It’s not my kind of show, and there’s no queer, so I’ll pass.
Screener Review On I Feel Bad
A married, working mom and the things that make her feel bad.
Manifest
Ahhh yes. The Lost show. An airplane vanishes for five years, lands without anyone on-board aging, and then things get weirder. There are some serious plot-holes, but given the storytelling I suspect most will be filled in as time goes by. Kind of like Lost, you have to go backwards to go forward. Unlike Lost, Manifest is much more clearly about the people and their lives and how it all changes when you magically return.
If you liked Lost, you’ll like this. I didn’t really like Lost because it never answered my questions, and I’ll wait and see if this has any queers. It was a whole plane! You’d think they’d have at least one!
Screener Review On Manifest
People on a plane go missing for 5 years, even though no time passed for them. And then weird things happen.
Overall: Somewhat dissapointing
I mean this only for the queer representation. Last year, NBC brought back Will & Grace, and this year they saved Brooklyn 99, but that seems to fill their queer quota.
Good Girls and Rise were the only new shows last year that had much of a queer rep, and both did go non-traditional ways (for network TV, anyway), by having a non-gender-confirming and a transgender character, both as students. As we know, Rise was canceled, though Michael got a happy ending and we’re all thankful for that. On Good Girls, Sadie isn’t really in it that much, serving mostly as a plot device for her mother. Which makes perfect sense, but still.
Not having any new shows with overtly queer characters is a curious choice, and not one I like.
