Saturday, April 13, 2013

Best of the Week: 4/13/13




Quote of the Week: Reynold, Eddie and Michael must not know me that well if they think that emphasizing the testosterone unity between us, “We’re men, we’re men and we hate women, and we’re gonna, you know, slap each other with towels in the locker room and chug beers.” That doesn’t work with me. That doesn’t appeal to me at all. I don’t want to be engaging in any sort of masculine tomfoolery with these numbskulls. (John Cochran, Survivor: Caramoan)

Song of the Week: Musical Balloon Ride – Sara Bareilles and the cast of Community

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Syfy Upfronts: Syfy had its upfront this week and here are some tidbits:

- The most promising item that came out of their press conference was that they ordered a pilot from Bryan Fuller (who created three of the best shows of the past decade and his latest Hannibal may make it four) called High Noon and is described as an imaginative, out-of-this-world series exploring what happens when the countries of Earth establish colonies to mine the Moon's resources and discover a new form of life. Chaos erupts in a genuinely emotional, humorously thrilling and always unexpected fashion as the people of the Moon race to uncover this life form's powerful secrets.
- They also ordered a series from Ronald D. Moore (who did the Battlestar Galactica reboot) called Helix about a team of scientists investigate a possible disease outbreak in an Arctic research facility and find themselves trying to protect the world from annihilation. Adn now someone needs to explain to me how this is not The Thing: The Series.
- A second season of Ghost Mine will air thirteen episodes starting in September.
- Three new reality shows are coming this year: Joe Rogan Questions Everything (premiering July 16 at 9:00) with the comedian searching for answers to life’s most startling theories. Cosworld (premiering August 27 at 10:00) about the imaginative world of cosplay competition. And Fanemonium (premiering in the fall) which celebrates the incredibly unique, often misunderstood, and infinitely fascinating fan girl and fan boy culture.
- Premiering in time for Halloween, will be a horror anthology series written, directed, and produced by Jamie Foxx.
- Under “Long Form Development” (which I think make be just a different way of saying mini-series) are three book adaptations of Ringwold by Larry Niven and Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke.
- Other scripts of note in development include No Place produced by Robert Zmeckis, Dominion based on the movie Legion (hopefully Tyra Collette reprises her role, except it should like it will take place twenty years later), and Infinity from Javier Grillo-Marxuach (who created the underappreciated The Middleman).

Preview Picture of the Week:

Dallas Season Finale Monday at 8:00 on TNT

Free Download of the Week: Get Back in the Band – The Presidents of United States of America (NoiseTrade)

Deal of the Week: Blu-Ray Under $10: Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, The Goonies

New Album Release of the Week: Mosquito - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

New DVD Release of the Week: Django Unchained

Video of the Week: It just seemed like the second season of Burning Love just ended (probably because I just finished last weekend) but the third season sees the return of some of the favorites from past seasons like Annie and Blaze plus some contestants from some unseen to us seasons and one lucky super-fan. You can watch the first episode below and the first three episodes are already up on BurningLove.com.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Dallas, Monday at 8:00 on TNT: It seems like TNT was a bit premature airing the second season of Dallas during the winter and on an already crowded Monday at that. Apparently they cut their losses airing two episodes last week and this week just to wrap things up quicker. No word yet if they will completely cut their losses and end the series, now without J.R. or move it back to the more schedule friendly summer for the next season.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Around the Tubes: 4/12/13


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 Oh My God, Veep, Out There, Sullivan and Son, Ghost Hunters, Planet Ocean, Quentin Tarantino’s Rolling Thunder Pictures Triple Features, The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia, Californication, Seventeen, and Patriotic Millionaires.

- Louis C.K. has a new HBO special premiering Oh My God tomorrow at 10:00 and will be followed by World Championship Boxing: Nonito Donaire vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux, here is a preview of the former:


- Also premiering this weekend on HBO is Veep witch opens its second season Sunday at 10:00 with midterm elections looming. Check out the latest trailer below:


- Nick Offerman will be lending his voice to tonight’s episode of Out There at 10:00 on IFC as Sharla’s uber-masculine dad. Check out a sneak peak below:



- TNT just announced the new season of Sullivan and Son will premiere June 13 at 10:00. Mark your calendars accordingly.

- For those that marked Wednesday, April 17 on the calendar for the premiere of Ghost Hunters, I hoped you marked it in pencil because it has been pushed back to June 12 at 9:00. New episodes of Haunted Collector will continue to air on Wednesdays at 9:00 through June 5.

- Out now on Blu-Ray and DVD: Planet Ocean narrated by Josh Duhamel and is a cinematic adventure that invites viewers of all ages to change the way they look at the ocean and appreciate its greatest natural mystery. While coming next week is Quentin Tarantino’s Rolling Thunder Pictures Triple Features, and one of the more awkwardly titled movies ever: The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia.



- It looks like Hank will be getting into television next season on Californication because Michael Imperioli has been cast as “Rick Rath, a successful old-school television producer who will play a key role in Hank’s latest venture.”

- AnnaSophia Robb covers the May issue of Seventeen where she talks about dealing with her own high school drama. For more on AnnaSophia, go to seventeen.com/AnnaSophia and pick up the May issue of Seventeen, on newsstands April 16th.



- Just in time for Tax Day: Patriotic Millionaires Demand Additional Revenue.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Previewing The Borgias



With the recent announcement of The Vatican starring Coach Taylor and Charlotte “Chuck” Charles, it may be easy to forget that Showtime already has series about the Catholic Church. But where The Vatican takes place in modern time, The Borgias goes back to the fifteenth century. But just like the modern time, The Borgias may be looking for a new pope soon as last season ended with Pope Alexander VI consuming a copious amount of poison, delivered to him ironically enough by his food taster.

I cannot comment on if the Pope survives the poisoning, but since this is based on historic events, I am sure spoiler fans can look up how Alexander dies on his Wikipedia page. I will say by the end of the episode, you will know his fate. And that was not the only big event that happened at the end of the last season. Cesare killed his brother Juan and that will certainly have repercussions in the upcoming season. While Lucrezia got engaged to a guy from Naples to secure an alliance with the kingdom of Naples. And Joffre remains M.I.A. I thought his marriage was supposed to tie the Pope to Naples? Even as his father lies dyeing, he barely gets mentioned and does not even show up at all. Please note I only complain because I liked looking at his wife played by Emmanuelle Chriqui. But anyway.

As the third season stars and the uncertainty of the Pope, Caterina Sforza grows stronger in his opposition to the Borgias and recruits a very deadly relative to help her. Another enemy Cardinal Della Rovere boldly shows up to the Vatican to see if his master plan succeeded or not. We also get to meet the new kings of Naples, who introduces us to the term “two bag woman,” and France who apparently is married to a two sack woman and would like to get out of the marriage. We also get to witness the weirdest consummation scene probably ever put to film (but there is precedent). And for anyone who thought the sexual tension between Cesare and Lucrezia was creepy in the first two seasons, get ready for it to get ramped up for the third. And of course being The Borgia, there will also be plenty of murder, deceit, sabotage, defrocking, and the occasional orgy this season.

The Borgias airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime and will be preceded by an all new season of Nurse Jackie at 9:00.


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The Voice Season Four Blind Audition Power Rankings



One thing I really liked about The Voice is that it seemed like they were auditioning artists straight from my iPod. Season two had six contestants that I already had in my library before the show even aired. Last season was down to one, the eventual winner Cassadee Pope. Season four: none. Epic Fail The Voice. I only even recognized one singer, the chick from The Sing-Off who was relegated to the montage segment. But there were some decent contestants this season, so on to the Power Rankings.

1. Midas Whale (Team Adam) - If you cannot be down with a dude who shows up on a nationally televised singing competition with an accordion, we cannot be friends. But if they do an accordion version of D'yer Mak'e (like this season's guest mentor Sheryl Crow), I'm out on these guys.

2. Caroline Glaser (Team Blake) - I have not been this transfixed by a voice on the show since Xenia back in the first season. I cannot confirm nor deny that I spent most of Tuesday on her YouTube channel (but if I did I could give her bonus points for multiple City and Colour covers).

3. Sarah Simmons (Team Adam) – I hate One of Us, like an irrational hatred of the song, that is how much I liked her voice that I did not mind hearing coming from her. I look forward to her singing a song that does not suck massively,

4. Ryan Innes (Team Usher) – It is too easy to compare him to Nicholas David, who my favorite from last season, but I will hold off that comparison until I hear how good Ryan is at singing Huey Lewis. Which begs the question is Usher cool enough to be down with Huey Lewis?

5. Savannah Berry (Team Blake) – I scoffed when she said she was singing Safe and Sound, the harmonies from The Civil Wars make that song and no one person can do that justice. But goodness her version was just beautifully haunting.

6. Jess Kellner (Team Usher) – Such a transfixing voice, I am really interesting to hear what she does next.

7. Holly Tucker (Team Blake) – I am not sure I will like her enough if starts doing pure country songs like it sound like she wants to do (who knew there was a Garth Brooks version? I only knew Bob Dylan, Sdele and Billy) but I kind of hopes she sticks to more adult contemporary.

8. Cáthia (Team Shakira) – I could note understand one word, but I think I loved every minute of it.

9. Danielle Bradbery (Team Blake) – Very apropos that she did a Taylor Swift song because like Taylor, she may not have the best voice around, but just has this likeability quality you cannot deny. But I fear for her longevity because last season Blake said he made a strategic decision to only take one country artist to the Live Show and this is definitely his strongest country contingent to date and I already have her in third in that group.

10. Sasha Allen (Team Adam) – I have this fear that Adam is going to pit her against Judith Hill (who is a bit overrated) in the battle rounds. Though I am pretty sure I saw Judith against someone else in the previews, which means Adam may put her up against Sara Simmons instead or they wlll meet in the Knockout Rounds. Hopefully the coaches steal wisely this season.

11. Kris Thomas (Team Shakira) – I remember in the first season they actually hit the faces of some contestants until they turned around. It is a shame they stopped that because I wonder if I would have mistaken him for a chick if I did not see him.

12. Jessica Childress (Team Usher) – She may not have the best voice of the RnB chicks this season, but she is the most fun, and that counts for something in my book.

13. Judith Hill (Team Adam) – In a power rankings of backing singers (just based on their Blind Audition) I have Amanda Brown, Sasha Allen, Jermaine Paul, then Judith.

14. Grace Askew (Team Blake) – To be honest I am not sure what I made of her performance but I am thinking I liked it.

15. Audrey Karrasch (Team Usher) – I cannot hear this song without thinking of Xenia, and from his reaction, I have a feeling the same goes for Blake who sang along like he did three seasons ago. She gave a really fun performance even if she never pointed along with the song.

16. Jacqui Sandell (Team Blake) – For those keeping track at home, four seasons for Blake and four female Warped Tour veterans including one the won and a runner up.

17. Amber Carrington (Team Adam) – It is almost distracting how much she looks like Carrie Underwood with shot hair. And she may be lucky that Blake had a full team because he already had plenty of strong country artists. Then again, he may end up stealing her anyway.

18. Taylor Beckham (Team Usher) – I did not rally like her voice at first but it really grew on me the longer I listened.

19. Luke Edgemon (Team Shakira) – I am a little surprised he went with Shakira instead of Usher given his gospel root, it will be interesting what the Latin singer does with him.

20. Mary Miranda (Team Shakira) – In the battle of chicks I could not understand, I give a slight edge to Cathia, but would not be surprised if this spitfire can pull the upset in their battle.

21. Brandon Roush (Team Shakira) – I thought with the inclusion of Shakira, they would finally get someone who respects rock. Hopefully Brandon opens up the grunge songbook for his song selection going forward.

22. Patrick Dodd (Team Adam) – Over does it at times but still a strong performance.

23. The Swon Brothers (Team Blake) – They are no Shield’s Brothers but entertaining enough.

24. Garrett Gardner (Team Shakira) – I guess going up against fellow rocker Brandon would be the most obvious Battle Round pairing and my opinion of Shakira would skyrocket if she has them sing Would? by Alice in Chains. Though whoever got the Laine Stanley part would have an unfair advantage.

25. Amy Whitcomb (Team Adam) - Got to rep my girl from The Sing-Off even if she was montaged.

Even though it only takes one singer to win, it is always fun to see who has the strongest team. I went ahead and ranked all 48 contestants (I even listened to the iTunes previews of the montage contestants) with the worst getting one point and the best given 48 and here is how the teams stack out:

Team Adam - 276
Team Blake - 271
Team Shakira - 270
Team Usher – 249

It should not be surprising that the self proclaimed “Mr. Four Chairs” Adam (he won four of the eight this season) edges out his nemesis Blake. It is a bit surprising that Shakira was nipping on their heels. But looking at it as a whole, there are no real standouts (unless you love Latin music) but she does not really have any stickers either while the other teams have some fat to trim. And where last season, Christina Aguilera stocked her team with interchangeable bland pop singers, half of Usher’s team is interchangeable bland RnB dudes. He really needs to choose wisely in the Battle Rounds if he wants to keep up with the veterans.

He will also want to use his steals wisely, unlike every coach last season but Adam who was the only one who took his steals to the Live Playoffs last season. I wonder if anyone will give Blake the shaft twice again this year like Caitlin Michele did last season. And I wonder if they are adding steals this season. I assume everyone will get two steals in the Battle Rounds which will put each team at eight going into the Knockout Rounds. But means there will only be four going to the Live Rounds unless they add a Steal to the Knockout Rounds which I suggested they do last season’

As usual, there were a few artists that slipped through the cracks, and the three worth mentioning I think really shot themselves in the foot with poor song selections.

1. Jane Smith - I have long said singing Adele is the kiss of death on this show because no one is going to out-Adele Adele. Florence Welch is another artist you should proceed with caution with. With that said, Jane is probably the most egregious no chair contestant ever to audition on the show (either her or Ducky) and would have been in my top ten of my power ranking had she made it. I wonder if she auditioned late because from Blake’s comments (which seemed heavily edited) that maybe he would have turned his chair but maybe did not have any slots left. I really hope she auditions again next season. But she may want to avoid Florence + The Machine.

2. Abraham McDonald – A note to all the future contestants, it is a very bad omen to sing a song when the last line is “sucks to be you right now.” It is fated to end badly.

3. Betsy Barta – Like I said above, stay away from Adele, I actually liked her street performance better.

Speaking of returning contestants, what happened to the hot hairdresser with flowers in her hair from last season? Certainly she deserved a second chance more than that chick that got montaged this season. And where was the reggae chick that sang acapella after her Blind Audition that all the coaches were adamant about returning?


As for predictions, this is the hardest season to handicap who will win. And who know, they may go back to having each team represented in the finals and who knows what kind of tweaks they will do to the voting system this season. I could see Blake finally having a successful country artist who could win this season, but will it be Savannah, Holly, and Danielle could be a dark horse. Adam has his two power house back up singers. And I am sure some people have already written off Shakira, but I would not sleep on her Latin artists or Cathia could sneak in there (or she could be this year's Adriana Louise who is pushed through the first three rounds and met with a resounding yawn when the public starts voting). My sources tell me American Idol made a conscious avoid to boring white dudes after almost a decade of duds whose albums bombs; so that bored housewives voting block that pushes those artists may move to The Voice where they can push guys like Warren Stone, Christian Porter, or Josiah Hawley (though The Voice's voting limits seems to keep the bland but cute boys like Chris Mann and Dez Duron from winning). But if we were to go back to the team formats, here would be my predictions for the final four (with a back up pick in parentheses):

Adam - Judith Hill (Sara Simmons)
Blake - Savannah Berry (Christian Porter)
Shakira - Cathia (Brandon Roush)
Usher - Ryan Innes (Josiah Hawley)

Next up are the Battle Rounds and here is a sneak preview:


My eye spies battles between:
Christian Porter vs. The Swon Brothers (Blake)
Cathia vs. Mary Miranda (Shakira)
Judith Hill vs.Karina Iglesias (Adam)
Midas Whale vs. Patrick Dodd (Adam)
Jess Kellner vs. Taylor Beckham singing You Know I'm No Good by Amy Winehouse (Usher)
Jeff Lewis vs. Josiah Hawley (Usher)
Sasha Allen vs. Amber Carrington singing Try by Pink (Adam)
And I think that is Sara Simmons's shoulder next to Agina Alvarez (Adam)
But I am scratching my head trying to figure out who Michelle Chamuel is battling. The arm looks like a white person's, but Jeff and Josiah and Jess and Taylor are battling each other, Audrey Karrasch is wearing a different top, and it looks to skinny to be Ryan's. Maybe Chelsea M? And yes, I spent way too much time watching this video.

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

I Want My Music Television: 4/9/13



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.


No Guns Allowed – Snoop Lion featuring Drake


Just when Snoop Dogg Lion making a reggae album was not weird enough, he made an anti-gun song for the victims of Sandy Hook. You know they guy who in his first single rapped about gunning down an undercover cop. While talking about Same Love by Macklemore and Lewis, I told a buddy of mind I would much rather listen to a good song with a bad message than a crappy song with a good message. With that said, I need to go cue up Deep Cover now.


Get the Girl Back - Hanson


A couple weeks ago I joked that Downtown - Lady Antebellum had to use the chick from 2 Broke Girls not named Kat Dennings because they could not get Kat Dennings. You know who could get Kat Dennings in their music video: Hanson. Although I am not entirely sure if she filmed new scenes or if the director just inserted clips of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist.


Done. - The Band Perry


I mistook the first single from the latest album by The Band Perry as the token angry white chick done wrong song, but I am pretty sure this one is. Plus the video has a fight worthy of King of the Nerds.


Hero – Family of the Year


I am not entirely sure why, but this Family of the Year video took me back to the nineties, back when music videos were on MTV and seemed to mean something.

Monday, April 08, 2013

Previewing The 80's: The Decade That Made Us


The 80's: The Decade That Made Us

Some may dismiss The 80’s: The Decade that Made Us as a cheap I Love the 80’s rip-off, but if you enjoyed the VH1 series, the National Geographic Channel version, airing Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, is a can’t miss series. Even if the subject matter is the same and utilize interviews from those that lived through it (David Hasselhoff! Robin Leach! Ronald Reagan’s doctor! Sorry, no Michael Ian Black), The Decade that Made Us take a more macro look at the decade. Instead of short, three minute segments about a singular topic, most subjects last about ten minutes and weaves its way as to why it is still important today, not just a simple trip to nostalgia.

And what launched the eighties? Hockey. More specifically the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid and as silly as it may seem (I personally would have went with the election of Regan) the show makes a persuasive argument about how the gold medal changed the perception of ourselves after the gloomy seventies and even launched (allegedly) the “U.S.A.” chants that we still obnoxiously use everywhere we can to promote patriotism. Also in the first episode are segments on the rise of electronics and Jane Fonda’s fitness tapes (which were the highest selling VHS tapes of the decade), MTV and the start of the rap phenomenon Run-DMC, and what would the eighties be without a little greed, most exemplified by Dallas. Who knew J.R. Ewing brought down Romania, if you do not know what I am talking about, you must see how.

The assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan
The second episode airing Sunday opens with the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan (recently also focused on by an episode of The Americans) which is believed to be the launch of CNN. It is wild now to look back at the reports with anchors talking on the phone live on television with reporters on the scene with one newsman actually reading a report wrong about the condition of the president with his co-anchor correcting him right then and there. Ted Turner and CNN is not the only “hippy capitalist” featured as this episode also focuses on Ben and Jerry, Steve Job, Calvin Kline, and Tony Hawk. Fear not conservatives, the Gipper is not completely surrounded by liberals in the episode because Alex P. Keaton also gets his own segment.

The 80’s: The Decade That Made Us is required viewing for anyone who lived through threw those ten year (and anyone who was not an want to know just how un-cool their parents were). My only complaint is that it is just six hour over three days. They really should had made a full series out of this with each segment its own half hour episode. And come to think of it, why has VH1 not done part four of I Love the 80’s?

The six-part series will roll out over three nights in the United States, beginning Sunday, April 14, 2013, at 8:00 and continuing Monday, April 15, and Tuesday, April 16, at 9:00 on the National Geographic Channel.


Sunday, April 07, 2013

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/7/13



Revenge: Booooooo!!! How dare they kill off Rebecca Logan? Seriously Creepy Initiative Dude, why keep her alive six weeks only to kill her? This show really trying my patience. C’mon, they kill of Rebecca Logan and Charlotte is still around, slapping people at parties?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

The Walking Dead: Clearly the scariest zombie the popped up on screen this episode was the commercial for the walking corpse that is The Killing. Truly horrifying that the show is returning for a third season. But anyway. After giving Andrea her own episode two weeks ago they actually killed her off. Good riddance. I guess it was artistically cool that she basically went out like her sister, even by her own hadn again, but it is hard to care when you have never cared about the character. This leaves only five original actors from the first season. Who would have guessed Carol would outlast everyone? But it looks like they are going to get an influx of new red shirts for next season when they literally bussed in a bunch of old folks and children who were too weak to fight from Woodbury. Yeah, that will turn out well. Much like Peter, Bjorn, and John, I don’t really care about the young folks taking about the young stuff. And I don’t care about the old folds talking about the old style too. And why go back to the prison at all?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Shameless: They are not really going to kill off Steve are they? Not that I would mind that much, I am beginning to think the show would have been better had he stayed on the lamb. And who knew Frank had it in him to take the fall for Carl. Did not see that coming.

The Voice: There is nothing I hate more then when people whine about semi-professionals being on the show because they think those contestants have an unfair advantage. I watch the show because the semi-professional makes the show much better than the armature competitions out there. And the unfair advantage argument does not hold because the three most successful people to ever have auditioned failed to get anyone to turn a chair. Last season one hit wonder Cupid and Christopher Trousdale, who sold a million records as part of Dream Street went home early. And this week Julie Roberts, who has a gold record, could not even get her acquaintance Blake Shelton to turn around. Personally I am disjointed that I have not recognized any contestant this season. Where is the token Warped Tour Chick for the season (granted Cassadee Pope did not show until the last week last season.

One complaint I do have had about The Voice is that it lacked a true rock judge (Adam Levine is more a pop-RnB guy even if his band has a guitar player). Maybe Shakira will fill that box. This week she picked up Brandon Rouch who looks like he fronted a band from Seattle twenty years ago as well as returning rock singer Garrett Garnder (who almost did not get anyone to turn around two straight seasons until Sharika pushed her button at the last second). And who would have guessed Seven Nation Army would become the standard from The White Stripes library? This is the third straight season someone perform the song. I would have guessed We’re Going to Be Friends would be their song most likely to become a standard.

Oddly they cut down the Blind Auditions by three hours this season, with only twelve contestants per team, down from sixteen last season but back to season two numbers. This makes me wonder if they are already getting rid of the useless Knockout Round. But does that also mean are they getting rid of The Steal because I do not see them having seven or eight contestants from each team in the Live Round. My guess is they will have the Battle Round with a Steal (Shakira already mentioned stealing people), the Knockout Round (which hopefully they introduce another steal) with four or five contestants per team making it to the Live Rounds.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice with the widget at right.

Dallas: When the babies flat lined last week, I did not give much thought to it because assumed they would revive them by this week. Wow, they actually let the twins die. I not sure if that was the right decision because the storylines might be much better tying Christopher and Pamela forever. But in the short term, it will be interesting if Pamela will eventually find out her father was behind the explosion.
You can download Dallas on iTunes.

Castle: I knew from the beginning that Castle’s imagination was getting the best of him by thinking his across the street neighbor killed his girlfriend, but I have to admit by the time Beckett went over there, I starting thinking that maybe he was a murderer. And that was a great reveal that the whole thing was an giant birthday present. Which was a good thing because the other plot was a bit boring.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Justified: A good episode, but it seemed to be lacking something as a season finale. The scene with Raylan telling Augustine he would not leave the limo alive, even saying he had not left the limo yet as he exited it himself to like Sonny Tonin gun down Augustine was classic Raylan, and would have been a great moment for a middle of the season episode, but I wanted more. And it was weird that a season about getting Drew Thomson the finale lacked Drew Thompson, and the reason the FBI wanted Drew Thomson, Theo Tonin skipped town to the extradition free country of Tunisia. I wonder if Alan Arkin was unavailable all season and if this season would have been any different had he would had made an appearance.

So no Drew Thompson and no Ellen May (also conspicuously absent: Johnny Crowder who I am surprised made it out of the season alive) but Boyd and Ava had to spend the episode trying to clean up Ellen May’s confession, ultimately failing. I do not think it was a wise decision for the funeral director to let Boyd to stay out of jail, that will come back to bite him next season. Hopefully Ava gets sent to a co-ed prison where she can bunk with Dewey Crowe and Dickey Bennett.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Caramoan: When I compiled my list of The 25 Dumbest Survivor Contestants Ever list fout seasons ago, number one was a no brainer to the point of being the most obvious number one of any list I have ever compiled: Erik giving up his Immunity Necklace. Though Brandon Hantz came close, Erik would still grab the top spot if I were ever to update the list. So it was quite amazing that the rest of this season rested in the hands of the ice cream scooper. This led to one of the most heart racing Tribal Councils in recent memory as you tried to figure out which way Erik (and to a lesser extent Sherri who took a defeatist attitude at tribal council).

Thankfully he chose wisely because had he gone with the alpha male alliance, it would have been a slow slog to the finale as the vote out their former Favorites tribemates. Instead now you have a solid alliance of four (Cochran, Dawn, Andrea, Philip), their lackeys (Brenda, Erik), two people completely on the outs (Sheri, Michael), and what’s left of the alpha male alliance (Malcolm, Douchebag #1, Douchebag #2) who would seem like the first three to go, except they have two Immunity Idols between them. So the solid alliance needs to keep Sheri with them AND recruit Michael (I told Philip it was a huge mistake to let Corrine keep Michael over Julia) to have enough people to split the votes. And even then, what if the two people the split the vote with both use an Idol? And what if the two lackeys and the Fans team up with the final Alpha Male Alliance member. So not only was the fate of the season in Erik’s hands once this season, it may not be the only vote where Erik becomes the deciding vote. God help us all.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

Modern Family: Wait, Hayley grows up to be Justine Bateman? What?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Modern Family on iTunes.

Nashville: I find it interesting that during the Ho Hey sing-along, Deakon chose to shout the former instead of the latter at Rayna. And with all the interaction with Maddie this episode (he even told her she looked more like her mother than her father, who is not even her real father), I wonder when exactly is Deakon going to find out that she is his daughter.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Americans: Before I talk about this episode, for those who watched via DVR and had the final eight minutes cut off, you can re-watch the episode at fxnetworks.com until May 15.

I still think of the Jennings children the same way I do Chris Brody and Bobby Draper (not at all) but I did love the daughter’s reaction to the potential big news (mom’s too old to be pregnant) and the son’s history report (America won). But it was a nice tension breaker in what turned out to being the shocking plot twist that Philip inadvertently killed Stan’s partner. A real game changer of an episode.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Community: Uh oh, Allison has some Brie competition with the arrival of Larson to the show. But it was very disappointing that did not have a Brie off.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Hannibal: I feared with the serious subject manner that Bryan Fuller’s trademark wit would somehow get lost in the adaptation, but those fears were put to rest when Lawrence Fishburn yelled at someone to use the ladies room so he would continue to yell at someone without being bothered. And Dr. Lecter and his patient was pretty humorous too.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.