Fab Four of CTV’s New Fall 2018 Series: THE ROOKIE, MAGNUM P.I., GOD FRIENDED ME, and THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

By BILL HARRIS Special to BellMediaPR.ca BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.: All new shows are rookies, when you think about it. But this season, only one rookie is THE ROOKIE. And the man playing THE ROOKIE, Nathan Fillion, understands and appreciates the irony. Fillion, of course, is a beloved TV mainstay best known for his eight-season run on CASTLE. His new series, THE ROOKIE, debuts Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV. In THE ROOKIE, Fillion’s character is a 40-something regular guy who has gone through some personal trauma and decides that his entire life needs a reboot. So against all odds, he becomes a cop and joins the Los Angeles Police Department, where his presence as a middle-aged newbie is not necessarily appreciated by everyone. And yet at the recent Television Critics Association event, Fillion revealed he is approaching his 25^th anniversary in show business, during which time he essentially has worked non-stop. He has not yet been forced to ponder a reboot himself. So how can he possibly relate to a character who has come to such a substantial personal crossroads? Fillion paused for a couple of seconds. “Good question,” he said, finally. “I am so fortunate that the job I’ve chosen to do, I am still managing to be relevant and gainfully employed,” Fillion continued. “I have not yet had to have that resurgence, I haven’t had the double flip yet. “I’m still riding a fantastic wave and I’ve got fingers crossed, I hope it lasts. I hope for the best, plan for the worst.” As far as THE ROOKIE goes, the scuttlebutt suggests there’s no need for Fillion to plan for the worst. One of the interesting elements of TCA is that you get TV writers of all different descriptions and tastes, who work for a wide range of general-interest or genre-specific media outlets, gathered together in one room. Everyone has strong opinions and there is no shortage of what I would call “TV snobs” (not an insult, merely an observation). Among all those people, I didn’t find one who doesn’t think The Rookie will be a hit. Even the critics whose expertise lies in completely different fields of programming, and would be unlikely to watch a cop show themselves, pondered THE ROOKIE and essentially concluded, “Yeah, that’ll work.” “I accepted this job before the script was even written – that was new for me, a first,” Fillion said. “Here I am at 47 years old still experiencing firsts. I love it. “All the right ingredients were there. All the auspices were there. It’s everything we need for a successful show. I feel pretty smart saying yes to this one. I really do. Does that sound weird?” Nope, not to me. Besides THE ROOKIE, there are three more newcomers on the CTV docket this fall. One of them, however, is a rookie with a wink: MAGNUM P.I. Debuts Monday, Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV New show, yes, but not really, right? This is a reboot of the original series, which starred Tom Selleck and ran for eight seasons in the 1980s. The new version will feature Jay Hernandez in the title role, and undoubtedly my favourite anecdote of TCA came when he relayed the story of telling his mom about his new job. “I was taking my time having this conversation because she was a massive fan (of the original),” Hernandez recalled. “So we were at dinner, having a nice steak and a glass of wine, kind of loosening up. I was like, ‘You know, mom, I didn’t want to say anything (before now), but it’s all official, we’re all done with the contracts. I’m doing MAGNUM PI!’ “And she said, ‘Who’s going to be Magnum? Please tell me it’s going to be Tom Selleck!’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s not going to be Tom Selleck, it’s me!’ My own mother!” Hernandez clearly appreciates the mixture of charm and action that made the first Magnum purr, and he will try to put a 21st-century spin on it. But if Selleck ever wants to drop by for a cameo, Hernandez would be thrilled. “There’s a million ways we could make it happen, but he’s still on a show,” said Hernandez, referring to Selleck’s series BLUE BLOODS, which also airs on CTV. “So if there might be a possible way to get him to do our show, I would love that. “(My mom) just wants to meet Tom. If she meets Tom she will die a happy woman.” GOD FRIENDED ME Debuts Sunday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV A very unique series in terms of its premise and setup, Brandon Micheal Hall stars as a young man who is firm in his anti-religious beliefs, and he has good reason for his skepticism. But one day he receives a friend request on Facebook from an account with the user name “God.” Obviously a prank, right? And yet when some unusual events start to occur, Hall’s character is more and more intrigued by the “God” account, and he becomes determined to find out who – or what divine force? – might be behind it. Don’t let the religious undertones of GOD FRIENDED ME put you off, though. “It’s incredibly important to us that we’re not a show that is preachy or judgmental,” executive producer Steve Lilien stressed. “We’re not here to take sides. We’re here to show all different points of view. “It’s an inclusive show, a respectful show. Whether you believe or don’t believe, our message is more about believing in each other.” THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT Debuts Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on CTV A family with eight boys? That’s funny enough right there, for everyone except the parents, right? This retro sitcom is set in the early 1970s, when “normal adult supervision” hadn’t even been invented yet. What nominal supervision there is comes from the mom, played by Mary McCormack, and the dad, played by Michael Cudlitz. THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT is inspired by the childhood of creator, writer and producer Tim Doyle, who explained, “The most contrived part of the show seems to be that the family has eight boys, but it’s also the most accurate part. “I think when you’re in a big family with limited resources, any act of self-expression is an act of selfishness. You’re kind of swimming against the co-operative nature of a big family. So it was important at an early age that I kind of decided, ‘You know what? I’m not sure I’m ever going to get everything I need from these clowns.’ ” Clowns? Let the circus begin! billharristv@gmail.com