57 Channels and Only This Is On - 1/14/12

Once Upon a Time: How dressing is it that the kid actually think his mother is some evil queen capable of killing a dude. Sure it turns out that he is right, but you would think he may start living back in the real world after the sheriff’s death.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time.

Leverage: Usually I rail against promo monkeys and their spoilery ways, but I am actually glad they actually told us who that was behind the bars because I had no clue who the guy was in the final shot.
You can stream recent episodes on TNT.tv. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.

Shameless: The Chicago cold was such a character of the first season it is weird seeing the cast walking around in summer clothes. Well, Fiona is still wear the same amount of clothing, little to none.

Pan Am: In other promo monkey news, thanks for letting us know next week Christina Ricci will be making out with the hot chick from those horrible vampire movies.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pan Am on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Lucas as A’s lackey helps my theory that he, Mona and Jenna actually comprise as A and a wet Mona and an arguing Jenna also bolsters that theory. Of course with all that smoke I am beginning to think they are all just red herrings (which brings me back to my original theory that Allison really is not dead). But the biggest question now is how did Lucas get from the door to the middle of the lake in the time Emily talked to Spencer? Does he have an evil twin? Or was it just horrible writing? I will assume that latter until proved otherwise.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

The Lying Game: That was a great ending. Just as the credits ends with everyone eulogizing Sutton while I role my eyes (anyone who watches television knows no one is ever dead until you see the body, and even then there are exceptions) Sutton shows up at the door a second before the episode ends.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Lying Game on iTunes.

Castle: I do not understand how Ryan was so calm about learning his future wife was in a conquest book by some sleazy dude. I do not care about exclusivity; she had a one night stand with someone who is probably a hotel for VD. I would call off a wedding for less.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: Whenever they go into silent mood whenever Emmitt is talking is always jarring but effective, but the silent mode when the cops showed up was really striking.
You can stream the show on Hulu. You can also download Switched At Birth on iTunes.

Suburgatory: I did not think Dalia could get any scarier, then I saw the 3-D laser rendering of her inside a paperweight.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Suburgatory on iTunes.

Modern Family: Funniest sight gag of the week was Hayley sticking an egg in Luke’s mouth after theorizing that the egg could survivor a story drop inside his mouth.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Happy Endings: It is nice to know I am not the only person who goes around copying The Wire without actually ever seeing an episode.
You can stream the show on Hulu. YYou can also download Happy Endings on iTunes.

Revenge: I have had the inkling since the beginning (the timeline set up very well), but actually hearing someone suggest that Charlotte may actually be Amanda/Emily’s half-sister was pretty jaw dropping (mostly because I had forgotten of this theory a long time ago). And it was nice to finally see Emily go back to destroying people’s lives. But I wonder if we will be getting the first scene of the series earlier than the season finale like I have always expected. By my count there are still ten episodes left and are they really going to string out Emily and Daniel’s inevitable engagement out that long?
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Chuck: Isn’t Bo Derek a little before Morgan and Chuck’s time? Wouldn’t Kathy Ireland or Elle Macpherson been more age appropriate for the boys? But anyway. Is it a shame the writers did not have the foresight to make the Memento notes a season long gag.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

Best of the Week - 1/13/12

Quote of the Week: Let’s go steal us a time machine. (Parker, Leverage)

Song of the Week: If You Leave Me Now – Chicago (as sung by Cameron, Modern Family)

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: Frank Darabont Coming Back to Television: You would think after he was treated over at AMC with The Walking Dead, you would think it would be a while before Frank Darabont would get back into the television business. But TNT just announced that they ordered a pilot for L.A. Noir (based on John Buntin’s book not the video game) where Darabont will serve as the executive producer as well as write and direct the pilot.

The network is also getting into the reality competition game with The Great Escape from the guys behind The Amazing Race along with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. The show will feature three pairs of players as they try escaping from exotic locations such as a seven story castle, a deserted island, a sinking ship or a maximum security prison. Rich Eisen is set to host and will hit the network this summer. While over on TNT’s sister station TBS has ordered ten episodes of Men at Work starring Danny Masterson (That ‘70s Show), James Lesure (Las Vegas), Michael Cassidy (The O.C.) and Adam Busch (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), who my sources tell me will not be wearing woman’s clothes as part as their job.

Free Download of the Week: Pennies On the Floor – Little Willies (iTunes): If you are not familiar with The Little Willies, it is Norah Jones’s country band.

Deal of the Week: Over 1,000 Albums $5 Each: With over 1000 albums for $5, here are a couple Greatest Hits that you could find while sorting through all of them including the Steve Miller Band, Otis Redding, Run-DMC, and Roxette.



New Album Release of the Week: Voyageur - Kathleen Edwards

New DVD Release of the Week: The Ides of March

Video of the Week: House of Lies is not the only new show Kristen Bell is lending her talents to, Unsupervised is FX’s latest animated series following two 15 year old boys who find themselves without parental guidance. Unsupervised airs Thursdays at 10:30. Check out a promo below:



Next Week Pick of the Week: Justified, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX: In its first two seasons, Justified was kept out of the top slot of my Best Television Shows of the Year by Friday Night Lights and with FNL retiring its jersey last year, Justified is primed to take the Best Show on Television tag. Though with the entire Bennett clan either dead or in jail, it will be hard for the show to find better replacements to be antagonists for Raylan. But the addition of Carla Gugino as Raylan’s boss’s boss will make things interesting especially with Raylan’s high body count that follows him.

Around the Tubes - 1/12/12

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Being Human, America’s Most Hated Family, Dating Rules from My Future Self, Eastbound and Down, Untouchable, and Redbook.

- Being Human returns Monday at 9:00 on Syfy for its second season and here is a sneak of what to expect.

Turn this Mother Out


- Before you write it off on the name alone, no, America’s Most Hated Family is not another Kardashian reality show. The special actually follows the controversial Westboro Baptist Church that grabbed media headlines by picketing military funerals and pretty much everything else (and were humorously counter-protested by filmmaker Kevin Smith with a “Thor Hates Straights’ sign). The one hour special airs tomorrow at 10:00.

- Have you ever wanted to text your former self to warn you off your current dating strategy? When now there’s an app for that. Or least there is new webseries with that plot. Shiri Appleby (Swimf@n) plays a geek, no seriously, in Dating Rules from My Future Self who in the future creates said app and hilarity presumably ensures. The series premiered earlier this week with new episodes premiering every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on its Facebook page. Bonus points for also featuring Bill Haverchuck.

- Pitchers and catchers may not be reporting for a couple weeks, but one baseball player who will be back on the mound this winter is Kenny Powers. And who better to talk to the youth of today in the teaser for the upcoming season of Eastbound and Down returning to HBO Sunday February 19.



- This Sunday at 9:00 on OWN Oprah will be sitting down with New Jersey governor Chris Christie in his own home to talk about the upcoming presidential election and why he did not through his hat into the race.

- It is a little surprising that it has taken Lifetime so long to air this, but for those waiting for the Lifetime version of The Drew Perterson story, Untouchable hits the network Saturday January 21 at 8:00 staring Rob Lowe (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me) as the titular character and Kaley Couco (*knock*knock*knock* Penny) as his missing fourth wife Stacy.



- Coming to a newsstand next week is Redbook’s Hot Husband Issue with Blake Shelton on the cover. Head over to redbookmag.com to win a signed CD from Blake and two tickets to his upcoming tour.

Feed Your iPod vol. LXIV: Silver Springs

Emotion is always a sign of a great song. If a song moves you to feel a certain way, the songwriters are doing their job. One of the most heartbreaking songs of my lifetime is Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac, a lost track from the Rumours era that got found when the band performed it on the MTV reunion special The Dance (remember when MTV would do these grand specials back in the 90?). And as heartbreaking as the first two verses are with Stevie Nick pleading to a former lover to stay (a not so subtle nod to bandmate Lindsey Buckingham) the song turns on a dime at the bridge where Nicks creepily sings, “I’ll follow you down until the sound of my voice will haunt you” and the song has haunted me ever since.

Silver Springs – Fleetwood Mac

I Want My Music Videos - 1/10/12

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


United States of Pop (World Go Boom) - DJ Earworm



One thing always to look forward to at the end of every year is DJ Earworm’s mash up of the 25 biggest songs of the year. Unfortunately, much like last year, DJ Earworm was stuck with a bunch of horrible songs that he was stuck with, but at least World Go Boom was better than last year’s submission.


We Are Young – Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe



Thought I am not completely sold on the song by Fun., at least until Janelle Monáe (who says she plans to release two new albums this year) shows up for an all too brief cameo, but it is hard to to be down with a music video featuring slow motion chaos.


Black Treacle – Arctic Monkeys



I did not like most of the Arctic Monkeys’s latest album because it delved mostly in phycodelia, but this song is more in vein of their older song and even has their usual nonsensical video to boot.


Ray Charles - Chiddy Bang



It’s hard not to think of The Throne sampling Otis Redding when you first see Chiddy Bang serenade Ray Charles, but it entertaining in its own right especially their homage to Parents Just Don't Understand.

The Twelve Events That Will Make 2012 Awesome

Sure the world might be coming to an end December 21 but that does not mean we cannot have a little enjoyment before it happens. Here are twelve things that could lessen the blow of the world ended by the end of the year.

12. Detox - Dr. Dre: I put this at number eleven last year just in case it was not actually released and twelve months later no sign of it even if the first single was release in 2009 with the second last year. Maybe because neither really caught fire is why we are still waiting. Dre has eleven and a half months until the world ends, so hopefully he can get it out by then.

11. Work It: I have been waiting way too long for a Bosom Buddies reboot and I have a feeling this will be as close as I will get. And I will enjoy all three episodes that air before it is canceled.



10. The Amazing Spider-Man: When they first announced they had dropped Sam Raimi from the Spiderman franchise I was all ready for a boycott (even if it freed him to do another Evil Dead movie). Then they cast Emma Stone (number one on my list of the 100 Most Entertaining People of 2011) as Gwen Stacy and even though I do not care for her as a blonde, or with bangs, I will see anything she is in until she makes a bad film. Plan your July 4th weekend accordingly.



9. Bruce Springsteen: Yeah The Boss does seem to do his best work when a Republican occupies the White House (Born in the USA, The Rising) but with the economy in the tank maybe the working man’s hero of the past four decades may just have another good one in him despite the Democratic president which will be the first since the passing of his longtime sax man Clarence Clemmons. Plus the new album cannot possibly be worse than Working on a Dream.

8. In Living Color: I have long nothing is as good the second time around, then Beavis and Butt-Head came back funny as ever (granted their television watching habits have been less to be desired) so maybe the return of In Living Color for its specials (and possible regular series) will still be funny. And it will be see if any of the original cast will show up.

7. The Avengers: All of the individual Avengers movies have been at the very least solid and hinted at a collective movie and have now assembled under the tutelage of Joss Whedon. Sure I would have rather seen a Justice League movie this year instead, but you will take what you can get. The movie hits theaters May 4.



6. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: There will be two Lincoln starring movies released this year and who would have guessed that the one with Steven Spielberg directing Daniel Day-Lewis as the titular character (along with Sally Fields, Joseph Gordon-Levett, Tommy Lee Jones, Lee Pace, Walton Goggins, John Hawes, and Hal Holbrook) would not be the most anticipated one. I guess he should have added more vampires and cast Ramona Flowers as Mary Todd. The movie is set to hit theaters June 22.

5. The Mayans and Roman Emirich Could Be Wrong: Sure, the Mayan calendar maker may not have had any insight into when the world end and stopped in 2012 just because he figured taking the calendar out 5000 years in the future was good enough. In any case, you may want to spend the year partying like its 1999 just in case.

4. House of Lies: Sure I did not love the first episode (see Previewing House of Lies) but is nice to see Veronica Mars back on weekly television without having to slum it on a horrible show like Heroes.

3. The 2012 Olympics: The greatest sporting even comes around every four years (two if you include the winter version) and I may watch even more this year as this will be the first one I will be able to watch in high definition. Get ready to plop yourself on the couch starting July 27.

2. Mumford and Son / The Avett Brother: As you may have noticed there was a lot more folksier music on my 100 Best Songs of 2011 list than in previous years and these two bands kicked open that door two years ago with a pair of great albums. Both should be back early this year with new material. Bassist Ted Dwane recently called their second album "Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake." The Avett Brothers again worked with uber-producer Rick Rubin who worked on I and Love and You.

1. The Dark Knight Rises: If you need to ask why this is number one; obviously you have not seen the first two films of the trilogy. You might want to get in line now for the July 20 release date.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 1/8/12

Leverage: Take out the ego and hubris, it would be nice if a couple other the other members take the lead every once in a while. But how Nate undermined Hardison, I have a feeling we will not be seeing that anytime soon.
You can stream recent episodes on TNT.tv. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Seriously, the Liars have A cornered and no one thinks to shine a flashlight in his or her face? Hrumph. And I saw Emily playing turncoat a mile away; that was one of the worst catfights I have ever seen.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

The Lying Game: Did the writers pull a fast one on them. I have no desire to look it up, but I could have sworn they had us believe earlier that the twins’ birth mother and Char’s aunt was the same person. Then Cordilia Chase shows up this week as Char’s aunt named Annie but not the same last name as the birth mother. Oh yeah, and she wants to be called Rebecca now. Huh?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Lying Game on iTunes.

Work It: I was not expecting Tom Hanks quality or even Peter Scolari, but wow was the acting on the show extremely bad. But I am not ke$hamed to admit that I still laughed harder and more often than a bunch of highly touted pretentious comedies currently on air.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Work It on iTunes.

Parenthood: Awe road trip. I have long called Parenthood “Blue State Friday Night Lights” and all the lingering shots of the landscape was clearly right out of the FNL playbook.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Suburgatory: Chuck did it a couple weeks ago and it is nice to see shows are embracing the pixilated nudity for comedic effect. And thankfully there was pixilation in this sauna fight scene unlike Eastern Promises which I presume was they were making an homage to.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Suburgatory on iTunes.

Revenge: Even thought I hated Tyler, and probably not even in the way the show wanted me too, I really loved his concept of “Truth or Die”. It is a shame no one got to play before his brother interrupted things. I would have liked to see a couple people being forced to play before he was taken away.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Chuck: I like how Casey called out Chuck for not getting of Sarah blatantly obvious pregnancy hints because for the first half of the episode I kelp yelling at the television that no one noticed that she had morning sickness and avoided alcohol.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.