57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/18/15

The Strain: The first season it seemed like the show really had a hard time finding the right balence and tone. On one hand the vampire were the creepiest creatures on television with their tongue claw things. On the other, their Master looked like a Muppet. It is hard to figure if the show is actually getting on the right track or not but there it looks to be. It looks like we will be getting a new Master, at least that is what I took out of the scene with vampire mom getting her voice back though it will is yet to be seen if she will be going back to her old form or will be fitted with a Muppets mask of her own (the former Master in the flashback look more like the lesser vampires on the show so maybe she will be fitted with a latex suit). We also learned more backstory and it turns out the Master went rouge from his kind of which there are seven of (no word on what is up with the three other yet) which is kind of interesting. The least interesting part continues to be the science behind the show with them trying to "cure" vampireism..
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Falling Skies: So Anthony's girlfriend dies in the premiere and this week Pope's lady friend gets stuck in some sort of alien quicksand... it looks like no one is going to get a happy ending in the final season. Well except the Mason family, they always get their ways.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Murder in the First: Wait, so you are not allowed to plead guilty without being considered insane despite multiple eye witnesses and overwhelming physical evidence? Seemed like an open and shut case. Take the win and move on guys.
You can download Murder in the First on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Oh that lab scene was glorious, Hannah learning she was chipped, they stupidly freeing the animals including a wild raccoon that she has to give her dinner to appease. And of course Mona showing up to almost makes sense. It almost made me forget the Allison coaching youth soccer story line. Almost.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Tyrant: It only took five episode but Barry has finally decided to fight for his country. Let the season finally begin.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: Finally an episode featuring Dalia Royce in more than two scenes. And she was a nice diversion to the extremely trippy Elliot story line. From the start I have assumed Christian Slater was a figment of his imagination but he did talk to a couple other characters this week and gave money to the drug dealer so maybe I am wrong.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Under the Dome: I finally caught up with the early season and though the second season was completely dreadful I actually like the season premiere with the alert=native reality. But since that ended this invasion of the body snatcher lite story line is almost as dreadful as last season.
You can stream current episodes of Under The Dome for free with Amazon Prime.


Aquarius: Once again the most interesting aspect of the show did not happen on the show this week because there was no way it could because the show has not aired this week yet. That is because NBC announced this week that it is getting moved to Saturdays (along with Hannibal) starting tonight. This has to be the first time a show that has been renewed but banished to the death slot less than a month later.
You can download the entire seaaon of Aquarius on iTunes if you do not want to watch television on Saturdays.

Around the Tubes: 7/17/15

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 The Affair, Life on the Reef, Childhood's End, Heroes Reborn, The Hunger Games, Sports Detectives, and Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks.

- Today, Showtime debuted the second season key art and a new teaser for its Golden Globe Award-winning drama The Affair, premiering this fall on linear, On Demand and over the internet. Starring Golden Globe nominee Dominic West (The Wire), Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson (Luther), Emmy® nominee Maura Tierney (ER) and Screen Actors Guild® Award nominee Joshua Jackson (Fringe), season two of The Affair explores the emotional and psychological effects of an affair that destroyed two marriages, and the crime that brings these individuals back together. This season, the provocative drama will be told separately from four different perspectives, revealing four distinct truths. To watch and share the new teaser for season two of THE AFFAIR, go to: http://s.sho.com/1HY8ro8. For a behind the scenes look at the new season art, go to: http://s.sho.com/1UV81To.

- Life on the Reef, a three-part series that explores the mysteries and hardships of the world’s greatest marine wilderness, premieres Wednesday, July 22, 2015, at 8:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings). The documentary examines the array of life in and around one of the planet’s most extraordinary and endangered places, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and the efforts to protect it.

- Childhood’s End follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious “Overlords,” whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia at the cost of human identity and culture. Check out the trailer below:


- Imperative Entertainment released the first trailer for Heroes Reborn: Gemini (console/PC) and Heroes Reborn: Enigma (smartphone/tablet) -- two games connected with the upcoming Heroes Reborn TV series. The trailer gives a glimpse into the dark world of the Heroes universe as well as the incredible powers fans and players can expect to wield in the game.


- EPIX presents the world television premiere of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1 on Saturday, July 25th at 8:00.

- Muhammad Ali’s Olympic gold medal. The basketball from Wilt Chamberlain’s famous 100-point game. The American flag draped over goalie Jim Craig after the “Miracle on Ice.” All precious artifacts from legendary moments in sports – and all are either missing or in dispute. Enter Sports Detectives (working title), a new Smithsonian Channel docu-series currently in production that looks to uncover the true stories behind some of the most iconic objects in sports history and the moments that defined them. Sports Detectives, comprised of six one-hour episodes, is scheduled to premiere in 2016. The announcement was made today by David Royle, Executive Vice President of Programming and Production, Smithsonian Channel.

- It’s opening day of the Outer Banks bluefin season, and the captains battle it out to make the season’s first catch. Captain Charlie “Griff” Griffin may be new to the competition, but he’s a legend in these waters. Griff, who fishes alongside his son, manages to form a friendship with Gloucester captain Dave Marciano of the Hard Merchandise. Despite the competition, Griff offers to help Marciano navigate the treacherous currents that run through Oregon Inlet as boats pass under Bonner Bridge. It’s a dangerous gamble: If they make it through they’ll reach the fishing grounds, but one wrong move could end both their seasons. Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks: First Strike premieres Sunday, July 19, 2015, at 9:00.

The Eleventh Scooter Television Awards

Welcome to the 11th Annual Scooter Television Awards honoring show that aired a majority of their season between July 2014 and June 2015. Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2014 STA's:

Best Scripted Show: Justified

Best Sitcom: Blackish

Best Sci-Fi Show: Orphan Black

Best Comic Book Adaptation: Marvel's Agent Carter

Best Animated Show: Star Wars: Rebels

Best Reality Show (Competition): The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II

Best Reality Show (Documentary): Sing it On

Best Talk Show: Pardon the Interruption

Best New Show: Marvel's Agent Carter

Guiltiest Guilty Pleasure: Hindsight

Best Awards Show: 2015 Grammy Awards

Best Hour of TV: Fight - Masters of Sex

Best Half Hour of TV: Martin Luther Skiing Day - Blackish

Biggest Shocker: Paige telling someone who her parents really are

Worst Idea: Bringing back Resurrection for a second season

Worst Moment: Carrie seducing her target on Homeland

Biggest Disappointment: It took Paige this long to learn her parents are Russian

Best New Title Sequence: The Affair

Best Dance Sequence: Alison and Donnie Hendrix rap video homage

Best Character: Alison Hendrix (Orphan Black)

Best New Character: Peggy Carter (Marvel's Agent Carter)

Best Recurring Character: Ronald Pierce (Ray Donovan)

Best Guest Appearance: Lady Sif (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Best Duo: Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder (Justified)

Most Entertaining Reality “Star”: Nany Gonzalez (The Challenge)

Most Annoying Reality “Star”: The men of Survivor:Worlds Apart

Show That Should Be Brought Back: Hannibal

Most Anticipated New Show of Next Season: Blindspot

Biggest Question for 2015-2016: What happened to Becca in the elevator?

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2014-15

For my list of best shows of the year, I only consider shows that finished their seasons between July 2014 and June 2015 so the final season of Mad Men which stupidly was split into half season is finally eligible even though the season started almost seventeen months ago. What is not eligible is the show that topped last year's list Hannibal as it just started its third season. Here are the ten best shows that aired their episodes in the same twelve month periods.

1. Justified 7.x (FX)
2. Masters of Sex 2.x (Showtime)
3. Marvel's Agent Carter (ABC)
4. The Americans 3.x (FX)
5. Homeland 4.x (Showtime)
6. Parenthood 6.x (NBC)
7. Gotham 1.x (FOX)
8. Mad Men 7.x (AMC)
9. Blackish 1.x (ABC)
10. Orphan Black 3.x (BBC America)

Previewing The 2000's: A New Reality

VH1's I Love the 80's was one of the greatest specials ever in the history of television. Of course I Love the 90's came next. After that the channel went back further for I Love the 70's even though a better title could have been I Kinda Like the 70's because "Love" is a little strong for that decade. But the huge mistake was when VH1 produced I Love the New Millennium. First off, stupid title. Sure we never landed on a title for the decade, but man up and definitively call it something. Even worse it aired in 2008 before the decade was even over. Not only that, the decade pretty much sucked worse than the seventies.

A couple years back National Geographic Channel debuted its own retrospective The '80s: The Decade That Made Us which was a more newsy, macro version of I Love the 80's. Not surprising they followed that up with The '90s: The Last Great Decade?. The simple answer was yes. Much like I Love the New Millennium, I feared that another in the NGC special in the series would be unnecessary. But tonight sees the premiere of The 2000's: A New Reality. At least they actually waited until after the decade was over to produce it.

With all that happened surrounding the Supreme Court last month, it is actually a little funny that the special starts off with liberals like Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi decrying that radical un-elected judges decided who got to be president while conservatives like Bill O'Reilly commended the Supreme Court for following the word of the Constitution. What a difference fifteen years makes.

I figured going in this retrospective would be more depressing than the two previous but watching the four hour but all the bad news stories just kept on getting compounding: Elian Gonzalez, USS Cole, hanging chads, Chandra Levy, 9/11, anthrax, Tora Bora, Beltway Sniper, Enron, the Iraq War, the Southeast Asian tsunami, Janet Jackson's nipple, Abu Ghraib,Hurricane Katrina, global warming, Lehman Brothers. Sure tails of Survivor, Napster, iPod, The Osbournes, YouTube, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy are sprinkled in but it is hard not to be glad that decade is over after watching A New Reality.

Back again as narrator is Rob Lowe. We also get first hand accounts of the biggest stories by politicians Dick Cheney, Nancy Pelosi, talking heads Bill O'Reilly, Geraldo Rivera, entertainers Randy Jackson, Adam McCay, people who where on the USS Cole when it was attacked, survivors of the tsunami and Katrina, and even the whistle-blowers behind Enron and Abu Ghraib. The 2000s: A New Reality probably is something airing too early (we should probably wait at least a decade before we should take stalk in history) but it is something that will hold up for future generations to understand just how depressing and wild the decade was.

The 2000s: A New Reality premieres tonight at 9:00 on the National Geographic Channel and concludes tomorrow also starting at 9:00.