Fall TV preview: ‘Hostages’ merges ‘American Horror Story,’ ‘United States of Tara’ stars

While we are still unsure as to whether or not CBS is going to get what they want from their upcoming fall schedule, we have to say that there are big parts of it that we admire. After years of sticking almost entirely with more procedural fare, the network is really making a push now to ingratiate itself into the ways of the serial.

Thus, we have “Hostages,” a show designed for the fall rather to run for a full 22 episodes. You have a big-name producer in Jerry Bruckheimer, a great cast led by Dylan McDermott (“American Horror Story”) and Toni Collette (“The United States of Tara”), and you have a premise that feels like a deadlier version of “Scandal.”

All in all, a good idea for the show, right? At the moment, we have to say that it is. “Hostages” is one of the more promising dramas coming on TV, mostly because it genuinely feels like CBS is listening to the ratings as of late, and realizes that they need something of quality to compete against cable. We don’t know for sure that this will be it based on just a trailer, but having a double-agent for a hostage negotiator (McDermott) and a surgeon (Collette) threatening to kill the President is much more intriguing than someone solving crimes every week. The trailer is fast-paced, exciting, and it shows you everything you need in order to get you hooked and wanting more.

But will this show actually deliver the goods? The only concern that we have here is that CBS has burned us before with great trailers and diminishing returns. With this show getting the important time slot, Mondays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, they need it to be great to survive the competition.

Based on this trailer, do you think that “Hostages” is a show with potential? We want to hear your thoughts below! This is just one part of our massive Fall TV Preview series, and you can read even more of our quick-takes over at the link here.

Photo: CBS