So I was watching The Owl House and I got an advertisement for a new Disney show called Secrets of Sulphur Springs and I decided to watch the pilot. Somehow, they managed to make a live-action show that isn't completely terrible. There are no laugh tracks at all, so it's automatically 50% more watchable. The basic premise is that a girl named Savannah got lost in the woods 30 years ago and is supposedly haunting an abandoned hotel that the main character's family moves into.
The episode starts off with Savannah running through the forest. It was dark outside, and it was raining and thundering. Then three kids who find their way to the hotel try to dare each other to go inside and they see a shadowy figure through a window. I think they did a great job setting the mood here. I actually felt invested (and honestly I was a bit scared).
Then it jumps to the family, who just moved from Chicago to this old hotel, where the dad used to stay when he was younger. The main character is Griffin, who is grumpy about moving, and he has a younger brother and sister who are twins (not sure if they ever said what their names were). Griffin goes to the local school and it's very cliche... he's the new student and the teacher makes him stand up and introduce himself to the class. When he says he is staying in the hotel (can't think of the name, it it started with an F) the whole class murmurs about Savannah, who Griffin has no idea about. The teacher tells the class to stop talking about silly rumors.
Griffin befriends a girl named Harper, who tells Griffin about Savannah. She has been searching for her, and she invites herself to join him after school. The family meets Harper, and she starts telling them about the rumors and the parents tell her to stop because she is "scaring the children". The lights go out, and the dad and Griffin go to the basement to try to turn them back on. Griffin asks the dad about Savannah and the dad brushes off his questions saying oh those are just rumors, stop talking about it, etc (suspicious...) they get the lights back on.
Griffin and Harper explore around the hotel and they find a hidden bunker. They walk through and find a way out through a hidden door. They see a girl running, who they immediately assume is Savannah, but then she runs back to a field where there are other children playing. Someone bumps into him, and he recognizes the boy as his father when he was younger. The two realize that somehow they were transported back in time, presumably 30 years ago.
I think it has potential to be good... it's miles better than the other Disney sitcoms. Again, there are no laugh tracks at all, which would seem out of place since the show is more serious than a silly sitcom. It's more serious, a bit darker, and clearly aimed for older viewers, which, as an older viewer, I appreciate.
