57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/5/15

Hannibal: I was unfamiliar with most things Hannibal before watching the show so they actually did fool me of the Red Dragon shooting himself in the face. But as we come to the end of the season and quite possibly the season I am almost glad it is over because they really laid on the homoerotic codependency way too heavy this season. The which side is Will on last season was fascinating but it was just eyerolling this season with Will flinging himself over the cliff in a loving embrace. An FBI falling in love with the serial killer he is trying to catch sounds like the conceit of a bad Lifetime movie. Still if Bryan Fuller manages to revive the series, I would still watch because I am still very interested to see where this is going especially if Will rides off into the sunset (though it sounds like Fuller plans to use Will if the show continues in any form) as I believe he is completely absent from future books. And of course what was up with Sully's leg on a platter after the credits?
You can download Hannibal on iTunes.

Ray Donovan: I usually complain about the "x amount of time" title card that start episodes because I find it lazy writing, but it actually worked in this case because it teased a murder mystery. Sure it was clear right off the bat that the red herrings were just that, I never thought that the government lady was going to die or that Ray would kill yet another priest, but it was shocking that Al Swearengen killed his son-in-law / lover. The show even upped that tease with the eventual inclusion of Avi. I am not sure if I can believe that Ray would finally accept his apology like that, but Ray has seemed to be a bit more forgiving this season.

Fear the Walking Dead: Okay, this show is just trolling us. One of the biggest complaints of the flagship show is they cannot have two black dudes on the show at the same time, they have to kill one before bringing on a new one. So the new show actually looks a bit more diverse, except the three black dudes they introduced in the premiere are (un)dead by the end of the second episode. Okay the boyfriend is not (un)dead yet, but he was just left to turn and we will probably have to wait for the girlfriend to bash his head in next week. But the most disappointing part of the episode was that the fat pimply kid did not go with Matt Saresen's mom he is the only person that has been on either show that apparently knows what a zombie is.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: Holy Beth Greene sighting! After being the best part of The Walking Dead in the last season or two, it is nice she can still get work, even if it as just a sex surrogate who has to sleep in the surrogacy room at night. But with Virginia hooking up with the fragrance king I hope she does not become a personal surrogate for Bill even though it is clear she has a crush on her former neighbor (it would also be the second time someone way too young for him hits on him this season. But as usual, the episode belonged to the staff of the office be it Betty failed attempt to get her girlfriend pregnant or Lester being the lone male in the surrogacy program just to irk Jane.

Falling Skies: On one hand, the new queen was the creepiest of all creepy aliens in the history of the show, but on the other. that was a pretty anti-climatic ending with Tom just touching the bomb thingy and the queen dissolving like a vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And of course Anne was not going to actually die after telling Tom she was pregnant again. Of course I was wrong to turn my back on my do not believe anyone is dead on television until you see the body (and even then am still a little suspicious) as I thought Pope was really dead last week. He might as well have been because their final talk was just as anticlimactic. And they must have spent all their CGI money on dissolving aliens because that crowd at the end looked about as really as crowds in Playstation 1 sports games. Oh well.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

The Strain: Hopefully now that the young Goodweather saw his mother try to kill his father he can stop moping around because that kid is seriously dragging the show down. But at least we got a great passive-aggressive conversation between the old dude and the Nazi vampire this week.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Tyrant: Sure the first sixty minutes were boring but what a final scene. After actually seeming contrite and humbled by all he horrible past deeds, Jamal gets on camera and goes full Trump and denies everything and does not give an inch. And then it managed to get even more shocking when his daughter in law shoots him. Wow. Sure I am guessing he will survive (he did survive driving off a cliff while getting his manhood bitten off) but the fight for power has only begun (well if there is another season).
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: What a bizarre way to start and end the episode. It opens with the cheater from the first episode taking about bringing down Elliot for his crime (and how he was part of the extremely timely Ashley Madison hack) and is not seen again in the episode, but I guess he is one of numerous people knocking on the door. Except that was not the end as we get a scene of (presumably) The Illuminati with the Evil Corp head and B.D. Wong. It took me a while to put two and two together and figure out that was also B.D. Wong that met with Elliot earlier this season (I was wondering why that scene was included in the "Previously On" montage). So are these two in cahoots and the Evil Corp dude condoned the hack? Mmmm. We may have nine and a half months to find out.

But the part that struck me the most coming out of the finale (other that how perfect playing Got Your Money at an end of the world party after a financial collapse is) is how I am starting to believe that Elliot and the American Psycho dude may actually be the same person. In a episode of bizarre things, Elliot talking with American Psycho's wife may have been the most bizarre. She seemed to know more than what she was letting on, so maybe she knows her husband has a split personality and known not to bring one up to another. To the best of my recollection, they only had three scenes together, American Psycho offering Elliot a job, the time they ran into each other at Steel Mountain (what a coincidence they were there at the same time), and last week when he barged into Elliot's apartment (again, conveniently waiting until Dalia Royce left). Of the big flaw in my theory is that Elliot could not have a job at All Safe and Evil Corp at the same time without anyone noticing. But maybe American Psycho never worked there and that delusion was just Elliot there in an All Safe capacity. Mmmm, I may have to watch the first season again looking for clues. I am still guessing the better theory is that everyone is a delusion inside Elliot's head and the real Elliot is staring at a snowglobe in some mental health hospital somewhere.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Under the Dome: So the new queen is same actress as her mother but in a bad wig and blue contacts. This show is so horrible. Thank goodness CBS finally canceled it.

Around the Tubes: 9/4/15

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 Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Hulu, You're the Worst, Helevator, Don Rickles, Graves, Billy on the Street, TNT, TBS, and Black Ink Crew.

- Samantha Bee goes Full Frontal:


- Hulu and the premium entertainment network EPIX have closed a landmark, multi-year digital SVOD deal that will bring new releases from Lionsgate, MGM and Paramount to Hulu for the first time beginning October 1st. Recent hits from EPIX including Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, Interstellar, Selma, Top Five and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which have never before been available on a streaming SVOD service, will become available on Hulu in the coming months. Also Hulu is now offering a commercial-free option to subscribers. Viewers now have the choice to watch Hulu commercial free for $11.99 per month or with limited commercials for $7.99 per month. Current Hulu subscribers will maintain their existing subscription, but will have the choice to switch to the commercial-free option at any time for an additional $4 per month. For viewers who choose to watch content with limited commercials, Hulu will continue to show fewer commercials than scheduled television.

- Do you know someone who recently got engaged, hired, dumped or fired? Let Aya Cash and Chris Geere, stars of FXX’s acclaimed comedy You’re the Worst, respond for you by sharing “Worst Greetings” video grams on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. The short videos featuring Cash and Geere in character as “Gretchen” and “Jimmy,” full of their trademark wry, sardonic humor, are now available at TheWorstGreetings.com in advance of the second season premiere of You’re the Worst on September 9th at 10:30 on FXX.

- GSN, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, announced today the premiere of horror-themed game show Helevator on Wednesday, October 21 at 8:00. The terrifying eight episode genre-bending series from Blumhouse, the team that brought the world the “Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious,” “Ouija” and “The Purge” franchises, dares contestants to survive a series of challenges from the depths of an abandoned slaughterhouse.

- Whether you know him from his many appearances on "The Tonight Show", his uproarious stand-up, his decades on TV from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" to the '70s-era Navy sitcom CPO SHARKEY or his turn as Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story trilogy, Don Rickles is Hollywood royalty. Harkening back to a time, pre-Internet, when celebrities hit it big because of talent, not Twitter, the inimitable Rickles has enjoyed a legendary showbiz career that has touched seven decades and still continues today. This October 20, Time Life invites home audiences to front row seats for comedy greatness with Mr. Warmth! Don Rickles: The Ultimate TV Collection, an 8-disc DVD set featuring nearly 20 hours of some of Rickles' finest on-screen moments.

- Premium TV network EPIX® announced today that Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2), Chris Lowell (The Help, “Veronica Mars”) and Angélica María (“Qué Bonito Amor,” Sea of Dreams) have been cast alongside Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon in the EPIX Original Series Graves, a single-camera half-hour political satire produced by Lionsgate.

- truTV announced this week additional guest appearances for Season 4 of Funny or Die’s Billy on the Street. Sarah Jessica Parker, Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis, will join previously announced guests Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Anna Kendrick and Julianne Moore appearing on Billy on the Street, this fall. Emmy®-nominated comedian Billy Eichner makes his truTV debut returning to the streets of New York City to surprise unsuspecting pedestrians with quick-witted, rapid-fire questions on pop-culture. Season 4 will premiere on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 10:30 on truTV.

TBS and TNT are bringing the stars and producers of five of their most anticipated upcoming shows to New York Comic Con in October. The lineup includes panel discussions with Rashida Jones, star of TBS's upcoming series Angie Tribeca; Sean Bean, who returns this fall in TNT's completely reimagined spy thriller Legends; Jason Jones and Samantha Bee, the creative force behind TBS's new comedy The Detour; and Rebecca Romijn with the cast of TNT's fantasy adventure The Librarians. In addition, Jeff Hephner will introduce a sneak peek at TNT's upcoming action-adventure Agent X.

- The Black Ink Crew franchise blows into the Windy City as VH1 adds Black Ink Crew: Chicago to its fall slate. Premiering Monday, October 26th at 9:00, watch as several talented tattoo artists look to find success at “9Mag” – a tattoo mecca for hip hop elites, celebrities and athletes. The series, produced by Big Fish Entertainment, follows a passionate and ambitious group of friends through the unforgiving streets of Chicago as they band together to create new identities for themselves, their families and their business. VH1’s “Black Ink Crew: Chicago” premieres Monday, October 26th at 9:00.