PaleyFest Previews

The Paley Center for Media “leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms.” There are two locations, in Los Angeles and in New York, the two entertainment capitals of the world. The New York Center has archives of classic TV shows, historical videos only found there, and has events and screenings dedicated to television and media. I’ve been there before for an airing of the Lost pilot that they did right before the series finale, and I think I went to a pilot previews event before as well. I think it’s a great institution to have, focusing on keeping records of media that can sometimes be transient—they have one of kind footage of early TV shows as a part of their collection and mission. The PaleyFest pilot previews are a great event to host, to get fans of television (if you know about the Paley Center and don’t work in the industry, you’re probably a big fan of television) to watch the upcoming season’s show; they also hand out surveys for feedback–not sure where they go, but it made me feel a bit like my voice was counted.

It’s always really fun to see shows with an audience and to see and build off their reactions. I did so once for a screening of Scandal and it remains to be a fantastic way to watch TV occasionally. There’s something different about watching TV than watching a movie—obviously people will shush you during both if you’re too loud, but it’s still more of a vocal atmosphere, even during dramas, probably a cultural sense memory of all television being live (that’s my crack theory anyway). I think it heightens the viewing experience, but could also skew the way I see a show, in that I laugh when others laugh, sometimes when something isn’t necessarily funny. But today, I think I was able to see those moments and grasp whether or not I’d laugh at home alone when there are other distractions available to me. There were some great shows though and I’ll go through the ones I saw (I missed Selfie and most of Manhattan Love Story, but I caught the end of that one) in various posts and some of my thoughts!

Links to each show are below as I post them through the day:

• Manhattan Love Story (ABC)
• Black-ish (ABC)
• Cristela (ABC)
• Forever (ABC)
• Mulaney (FOX)
• Red Band Society (FOX)
• Gotham (FOX)
• Gracepoint (FOX)
• The Flash (CW)
• Jane the Virgin (CW)

Some common things I noticed among the shows are a reliance on voice overs (done most cleverly by Jane the Virgin and most dryly by Forever) and I noticed there were a lot of fistbumps.

My top choice among the ten I watched? Jane the Virgin

My least favorite? Forever

Biggest Surprise? Cristela

Biggest Disappointment: Mulaney

Check each individual post to find out what I thought and tell me if they’re on your Fall Schedule or not! If you’ve watched any early (some are available on Hulu or their network website), what do you think? Am I right or wrong?

Let’s discuss!