Designated Survivor – Pilot episode of ABC series

Continuity of Government (COG) is a government program that the US has for security reasons and obviously doesn’t talk much about in the public press.  It is designed to make sure that in the event of an attack against government leaders, there will be other leaders and resources ready to take the place of any that are lost and to address any needed counter attack and also to respond to the concerns of the public.

Designated Survivor is a television program on ABC TV.  I watched the pilot episode of this new series about a week ago, and it reminded me how much I dislike network television and commercial breaks.  That’s not the fault of this show though I did notice somethings in the show that were inaccurate, but were done to make for a more thematic viewing experience.  While there seems to be a pretty decent cast of actors on this show, I think many of the characters are stereotypes.  I also am used to mature programs and when a central element of the episode was a horrific attack on Congress resulting in the deaths of nearly everyone, and you barely see evidence of it on screen, you know you are watching a show that has been watered down for family and advertiser friendliness.

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There was also a good deal of predictability about the plot, at least in the one episode I watched, which was all about introducing the story and the characters to the viewer.  I might watch this series later when it ends up on something without commercials to give it a second chance, but for now I’m not going to be tuning into network TV to watch it.  I’ve probably been spoiled by watching cable television network programming and R rated movies, but at first viewing this show just wasn’t engaging enough to me.