This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Tonight, TNT premieres a creepy drama; ABC gives us a new singing competition; and ABC revives "The Gong Show" with a creepy host.
• "The Mist" is a Stephen King novella, first published in 1980. It inspired a 2007 movie with the same title.
And now it has inspired a TV series, also titled "The Mist," which premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on Spike.
It's set in a small town in Maine, where there are all sorts of things going on, from drug crimes to a reported sexual assault and more. You know, small-town sort of stuff.
And then a weird mist descends on the town — a mist that conceals monsters that kill people indiscriminantly.
I've only seen the first episode, but I'm intrigued. And there are only 10 episodes (unless there's a second season), so it might be worth the time investment.
• Do we need another singing competition? Nope. Heck, we don't need "American Idol" back, and ABC is subjecting us to that in early 2018.
So do we need "Boy Band" (7 p.m., ABC/Ch. 4)? Nah.
ABC's new summer singing competition doesn't aim to create a new star, it aims to create a new — you guessed it! — boy band. Thirty hopefuls will compete to win a spot in a five-man group, which will get a recording contract.
Rita Ora is the host, and the judges/mentors — they're calling them "architects" — are Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys; Emma Burton of the Spice Girls; and Timbaland.
It's scheduled to run 10 episodes. And it seems harmless, if you're interested in this sort of thing.
• Speaking of shows we don't really need, ABC is reviving "The Gong Show" (9 p.m., Ch. 4). As it was in its first incarnation, it's a weird talent show of sorts. Mostly strange acts perform; the three celebrity judges can immediately eliminate them by hitting the gong; if they don't get gonged, the judges rate them on a scale from 1-10; the act that gets the highest score win $2,000.17.
Will Arnett, Ken Jeong and Zach Galifianakis are the judges in the first episode, and they're fine. British comedian Tommy Maitland is the host, and he's nowhere near as funny as he thinks he is.
To be more blunt, he's awful. Painfully unfunny.
Here's one of his introductions:
"This next act happens to share the same name with my testicles. Please welcome — Kevin and Elaine!"
This show is supposed to be big, dumb fun. It's definitely dumb. It's occasionally fun. And it's actually too big.
The original "Gong Show" was 30 minutes; at an hour, it's a bit much to sit through.