A terrific new live action series by Paul Dini called “Tower Prep” will be debuting this Tuesday on Cartoon Network. To give it the ten word pitch, it’s like “The Prisoner” but in high school. In the interests of full disclosure, Paul’s a friend and he showed me the pilot months ago; that doesn’t detract from my belief that it’s a high quality family program that deserves a wide audience.
However that’s going to be a chore. It has quite possibly THE worst time slot they could have given it: 8 PM EST. For viewers interested in high school dramas, that puts it against “Glee.” For audiences who want a show featuring people with unusual abilities and an enigmatic back story, there’s “No Ordinary Family.” Between that and the minimal-to-nonexistent push the series has been getting ( there was virtually no “Tower Prep” presence at San Diego and zero at New York, even though the show was debuting the following week) getting viewers is going to be a tough slog.
But if you want to take a shot at sampling it before it gets exiled to its formidable time slot, it’s airing tonight, Saturday, at 9 PM EST. So give it a watch…while you can.
PAD
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I just saw it on demand and have to say, it’s an excellent series. I really enjoyed the creepy tone, the excellent acting and the intelligent plot.
Sigh, I hope it lasts.
The Cartoon Network has live-action shows? That doesn’t sound right.
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(Sadly, I don’t have cable, so I won’t be seeing it. I really loved Dini’s Batman, though, so I would expect this new show to be pretty good.)
Speaking of Cartoon Network, what’s the deal with CN not airing the Birds of Prey episode of Batman The Brave and The Bold? Was the nightclub song THAT risque?
Actually, i think it’s that it hasn’t aired *yet*. Apparently it airs in other markets – Australia, i think, for one – before it airs here. (Or at least that’s what i read; i have no cable.)
I would agree with you on the Australia thing but they leapfrogged over the episode in what has aired elsewhere. This week was “Menace of the Madniks!”
Wow, 9 tonight would have been great! Too bad they seem to have started it at 8:40, so that my last-minute recording missed the all-important setup. I’ll try again next week. IDIOTS!
Those unbelievable schmucks. You start to see why I’m saying the support is nonexistent?
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At least, as was pointed out, it’s on “On Demand.”
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PAD
Bloody hëll, you’re right. I just went and checked my TiVo and they did start it early, without updating the listing.
Well, here’s hoping they don’t do the same thing to the reshowings…
It looks like the Sat. episode in on this coming Tuesday
I have no cable.
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Dammit.
I really like No Ordinary Family, but I can watch it on Hulu for at least an episode or two to try this out. It had already caught my eye in the commercials, but I wasn’t sure if it was aimed at more than kids. Your recommendation sounds good, PAD, thanks.
Well, don’t look at things quite so negatively. It IS on Cartoon Network and, like other cable networks, it can survive on much lower ratings that would be expected for the major networks. (And considering that Cartoon Network is bringing us another season of “Delocated” on its Adult Swim–a show which honestly didn’t deserve to run more than one episode–I think that CN doesn’t worry too much about ratings.)
Honestly, I’ll be skipping it. I’ve got a ton of shows on my DVR already, and my live action CN itch is scratched by Unnatural History.
PAD,
You forgot to mention that Tuesday at 8pm is the timeslot for NCIS as well. Thus driving even more people from being able to watch the show in the regular timeslot.
The Onion’s AVClub has a review up, which I wouldn’t have expected but can’t hurt.
Didn’t even know it was on last night, oops. But given that No Ordinary Family has been veering into “Will Mr. Roper find out Jack’s not gay this time?” anxiety humor sitcom territory, it won’t take much to get me to switch to Tower Prep.
There was a minimal presence for Tower Prep at NYCC. It was part of the revolving promos at the CN pavilion outside the main floor.
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And yeah, the concept of “The Prisoner in high school” does sound like a good one, given my experiences in high school.
I would call it “Sky High” mixed with the “Prisoner”.
And yeah the 8:40 start sucked eggs. But it does replay a couple of times this week. Its normal time and then again on Friday.
I have seen the promos during The Clone Wars and frankly it made it look just for kids (I’m 33). I did not know Paul Dini was behind it. I’ll give it a try on On Demand. I like to support (or at least give the benefit of the doubt) projects from the creators I like. But if the main male character is in love with the head cheerleader I’ll stop watching right away.
I’m on DirectTV and we get a repeat on CNWest at 11:00. So I’ll be able to see it.
With Glee and NOF, I can’t spare the DVR.
Just watched it on demand. Great show. I have a ton if theories… I can’t wait to see more of it.
Grey
Oh, it’s been getting PLENTY of push, at least on CN. They’ve been plugging the heck out of, with an ad during pratically every commercial break. Trust me, I watch a lot of Cartoon Network, and I can practically recite the commercials for Tower Prep from memory.
One gets the feeling Whisper 199 hasn’t watched a lot of WW II movies such as, oh, THE GREAT ESCAPE. On the unlikely chance someone here hasn’t seen it, it’s about the true story of how the Germans royally screwed the pooch by putting all the best allied escape artist POWs in one camp such that they could keep a close eye on them. Predictably this resulted in the biggest mass escape of the war. So what do the people running Tower Prep school do? Take a bunch of rebellious teens with ‘special abilities’ and throw them together in the equivalent of a concentration camp. That can’t end well. Now, if they could just tone down the annoying MTV soundtrack.
The first episode was like a less creepy and awesome version of the comic Morning Glories, but with superpowers and on zero budget. I’ve got enough of an affinity for superhero stories and enough of a tolerance for amateurishness that I’ll give it a few more episodes to impress me.
Just saw it. It’s pretty good. Since I’m already recording No Ordinary Family, I can just watch Tower Prep in its regular timeslot.
“Young Persons Unknown!”
Boy, whatever the Program is, it sounds really, really counterproductive. Let’s take a bunch of sort-of-superpowered rebellious kids and piss them off and mess with their heads.
That was really enjoyable. I guess I’ll be watching No Ordinary Family on Hulu regularly for awhile.
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“The Prisoner in High School” is a pretty good description. I think I like it better than the recent The Prisoner remake, though that had it’s good points, too. The fact that they’re just kids adds a lot. When the girl asked at the end what they could run to if their parents were the ones who put them there, that was fairly significant.
The one plot element that I found “curious” is that the students seem to accept without question that their parents both know where they are and are okay with it, just because the Headmaster told them so.
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Raphy
Very enjoyable. Nice set up and introduction of all the characters. And it can go in so many different ways. From a sinister Prof X Academy to a Cadmus type place to an Alien zoo.
BTW, they are repeating it Fri and Sat. Check your channel guide.
I thought the first episode was intriguing, but really aimed at kids. My girlfriend watched it with me and didn’t think it was very good. I believe her exact words were, “Is this for middle-schoolers?” and “Fail.”
I see her point, blunt though it was. I don’t have children and I am used to watching decidedly adult programs, so I don’t know if I can get into a show like this. That said, I do love Star Wars: Clone Wars. I can’t help but wonder if all-ages animation is somehow easier for me to accept? I don’t know. I’ll probably give Tower Prep a couple more eps.
That was my husband’s reaction, too. Actually, his exact words were, “It’s something I would have liked when I was 15.”
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As for me, I don’t think I would have liked it even when I was 15. Maybe 10.
The pilot was fun, I’ll definitely keep watching if the quality doesn’t dip.
I just came across a very flattering review of it on tv.com (link below), which included the good news that the whole first season (13 episodes) was already produced. This, combined with the fact that it’s on Cartoon Network, pretty much guarantees that the whole season will air.
http://www.tv.com/tower-prep-is-the-best-lost-replacement-yet/story/24340.html
Thanks for letting us know about it, Peter.
Raphy
I LOVE this show!! I can’t wait for more. Ian is cool but I really identify with Gabe he is like the every kid. I have seen him before I think he was in Spy Kids 3D as Arnold and wasn’t he that sharp little kid on the first season of PUNKD?
This program has not been aired yet in Cartoon Network Argentina. I need to pay attention.
Anyways, just wanted to let you know the following. Today a really good review of Tower Prep showed up in Tv.com.
Here is the link.
http://www.tv.com/tower-prep-is-the-best-lost-replacement-yet/story/24340.html?tag=hotspot;gumball;1
With this promotion, maybe audience will go higher.
My wife and I and our two young daughters love this show and it’s really quite somthing to be able to watch a live action show and not worry about mature content for once.