57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/31/15

Homeland: During the excitement of the return of Crazy Carrie last week I missed that Quinn was sent there to kill Carrie. Of course he did not. Thankfully we learned by the end of the episode who it was because really, there were only two plausible people in my mind, Dar and the German Bureau chief. Now the question was she also involved in the plane explosion too.

The Walking Dead: So Glen died. Or did he? I have a long standing belief to never believe someone is dead until we see a body. Well we definitely see zombies tear at Glen's flesh. But then there is the addendum to that belief that even if you see the body, I am still skeptical. The skeptical part of me noticed that the dude who killed himself was falling on top of Glen so it is very plausible that the entrails being pulled out were that of the other guy so I would not be that shocked if Glen shows up later in the season saying he slid under the trash bin while the zombies ate the other dude and just waited there to leave. Then I switched over from Quantico during the commercial to Talking Dead, which lack the obligatory actor shows up after he dies which is always kind of painful, as the producers saying in the most vague way possible that we will see Glen again in some capacity and the character was not included in the In Memorium package either. But the bigger question is why was Glen even in that position? How did Morgan make it back to Alexandria but Glen's group could not? And in the alley way, why did they not climb over the fence bordering the woods? But the second rule of this show is if the characters did the smart thing every time, there would be no show.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Affair: It seemed like an open and shut case Helen would get full custody of the kids, hey, they were not even around in the future act of the season finale last year with Noah and Allison in their swanky high rise. But how does Helen possibly get any visitation right, let along full custody, after a DUI with the kids in the car and weed in her purse? Grandma may be getting the kids because neither parent seems fit. Or maybe they will get shipped off to their aunt's place. Maybe there is a reason we have yet seen one of the Solloway children in the future yet.

Quantico: This week's Power Ranking of Most Absurd Moments of the Week: 1) The front page picture of Alex which looked like it was taken from a Maxim photo shoot, 2) The live stream instant;u getting twelve million viewers, 3) Taylor Swift (did they already run of hot blondes to call her already or did I just miss it this week) abandoning her mission to have sex with her antagonist.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Supergirl: Oh my, is it too soon to call this the guiltiest guilty pleasure in the history of television?
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Gotham: It was an obvious joke, but I am still glad Barbra suggested Butch put a chainsaw on his stump of a hand (and the same week Ash vs. the Evil Dead premieres to boot). Just as obvious was Kristen Kingle would die which would push Ed closer to being The Riddler, the only question was when and by who's hand. We finally got our answer this week as Ed stupidly admitted to killing her last boyfriend and then suffocated while promising to never hurt her again. Not how long until his wardrobe turns green?
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: So if Emmett was home for the summer and the final scene takes place ten months later, that makes it March / April right? So why are Daphne and Bay are still in China? Are they staying there because I am guessing Bay does not obtain gainful employment for a vacation. And what was the phone call? Ug, I hate cliffhangers like this.
You can download Switched At Birth on iTunes.

The Voice: What the frack?!? This show is just trolling me at this point. Andi & Alex were number one on my Battle Ranking Power Rankings, go first and get booted by Adam in favor of some mediocre rocker who has little chance of making it to the top twelve (unless Adam is stupid enough to save him so it is not entirely out of the question). Next up is Ellie Lawrence, who topped my Blind Audition Power Ranking, who goes out to Braiden Sunshine, who has sat in the bottom both times. Making things worse I joked in that post that Braiden would end up being this season's Ryan Sill (never forget), beating Gwen's lone four chair singer in the Battle Round, then probably beat Ellie in the Knockout Round, before Gwen inexplicably saved him in the Playoffs. That was a joke Gwen, you were not supposed to actually do this. Sure picking Demi Lovato was kind of disaster (has anyone ever advanced on this show singing one of her songs) but still I would take Ellie at her worst than Braiden at his worst. I really hate this show. Is it really hard to get the twenty best singers to the Live Show? It seem like five of the twelve that advanced this week just scream fodder and whose only chance to advance is if their coaches save them. I would have said six but sadly Viktor will probably advance by the public because the bored housewife voting block will be voting for his face over his voice.

Blindspot: I would say it is kind of random to have the other chick from Young and Hungry show up on your serious drama but I guess the first time I noticed her was when she was recurring during the first season of The Americans. Since she has that other gig, it is a shame she cannot stick around because it got really sad watching Jane try to connect with anyone and getting shut down every time. Plus that nerd fight scene with the tech person on the team was fun too. Oh well.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes..

Marvel's Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D.: We finally get the what happened to Simmons episode and sadly no talking ducks were involved. I actually enjoyed the first segment but as soon as the astronaut showed up I got less and less involved. Then the ending was just silly, seriously, hold each other's hands so you do not get separated. And though we know know what went on, we are left with more questions, like what is "death." Then you have the promo saying May's husband died last week. Alrighty, there goes my theory that he survived.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Wicked City: I do not really need another serial killer show in my life, but hey, it is the chick from Swimf@n and it is not like there is anything else on at the time. But how exactly how long will the show last if the detective was able to figure out who it is in the first episode. Take the reporter to the artist and then post the picture around town.
You can download Wicked City on iTunes.

Survivor: Second Chances: What a great decision to switch tribes up as many times this season, it is much better than having silly gimmicks like Redemption Island (and the promos says there are merging early next week too). You have one tribe with only one original member of the other tribe but she was the one with an Immunity Idol. Then there was Stephan's weird tearful rant about not wanting an Alpha Male beating him again. But of course it was Abi Maria's tribe that went to Tribal Council. And what weird bedfellows that ousted Woooooooooooo. Aside from Abi Maria, you had Chaos Kass, her nemesis Spencer, and a paranoid Ciera who did appreciate Savage putting her name in his mouth. Seriously, has there ever been a weirder alliance than those four? It will be interesting to see how things shake up after the merge. Will that five strong alliance actually stick together (since not one alliance has stayed strong I am guessing no), and if so, they still need two more for a majority. But now that we are at the merge, you have to go ahead and pencil in Abi Maria into the finals because who would not want to sit next to her. Imagine what fireworks a Abi Maria vs. Kass would produce. But thankfully Terry's son turned out to be alright. You never want to see someone go home like that. It is a bit surprising that it does not happen more often. I believe it was only the second time in thirty season.
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

Nashville: When drunk young Wheeler walked out on the terrace, I thought, oh no, he is the one going over the edge, not Juliette. Instead Jeff awkwardly fell over while trying to save her. Poor Juliette, the one guy who could spin this into her favor just splattered on the sidewalk. And poor Layla, her husband turned out to be gay, she gets dropped from one label and put on the back burner of another, and now her boyfriend dies of what will be ruled as an apparent suicide depending on what dunked young Wheeler says.
You can download Nashville on iTunes.

The Blacklist: There is nothing I hate on television more than the x amount of time earlier place card. Am I really supposed to believe they killed off Lizzy? Never crossed my mind even when they were significantly outnumbered in the Mexican standoff. But I did like that the person who put the hit on her was a teenage girl not like the CIA guy who seemed too obvious or the Congresswoman who was another suspect of mine.
The Blacklist on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 10/30/15

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 Sumbling Dead, Breakthrough, Man Seeking Woman, Earth's Natural Wonders, The Enfield Haunting, The Day Hitler Died, Us the Duo, The Breaks, and Turner Classic Movies.

- Cracked, one of the United States’ longest running humor institutions and home of the Webby Award winning web series After Hours, today announced its newest series from Cracked Studios entitled The Stumbling Dead. The new 4 episode web series, written by Cody Johnston premiered on Cracked on October 26. The Stumbling Dead follows a group of newly-turned zombies on the run, in search of a safe haven. Hunted by deadly, gun-toting “food” – non-zombified humans, that is – the zombies follow their blood-thirsty instincts. But in their pursuit of brains, they often find themselves thwarted by their own, well, brainlessness. Just in time for Halloween, The Stumbling Dead debuted on October 26. All 4 episodes were released simultaneously, perfect for the internet-preferred binge-watching viewing method. Head writer Cody Johnston and director Abe Epperson lead a cast that includes Katy Stoll, Espie Randolph, Michael Swaim, and Tess Paras.

- Yesterday, the National Geographic Channel (@NatGeoChannel) announced it would offer a free preview of the opening episode of Breakthrough, its highly anticipated science series developed by National Geographic Channel and GE, and executive produced by Brian Grazer (@BrianGrazer) and Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward). Beginning Sunday, Nov. 1, at 12:00 a.m. ET, the debut episode of Breakthrough, Fighting Pandemics will be available to watch in its entirety before the network broadcast premiere at 9 p.m. ET that evening. The episode can be seen on NatGeoTV.com and GE Reports, as well as TV-VOD and TVE platforms including iOS handsets and tablets, Android handsets, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Samsung Connected TVs. It will also be available on Facebook, YouTube, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon, Xbox, GooglePlay, Vudu and Sony Playstation.

- His every word is a girl’s worst nightmare. This January, Josh is still a Man Seeking Woman on FXX.


- Earth's Natural Wonders, a three-part series that visits some of the most extraordinary places on Earth and tells the remarkable stories of people who live there, premieres Wednesday, November 4, 2015, 8:00 on PBS (check local listings). The documentary travels around the globe to Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon and the Amazon Rainforest. And while truly spectacular, each location poses extreme challenges for those who call it home (watch a preview.)

- Leading independent studio Entertainment One (eOne) announced this week it secured a deal with Hulu for the exclusive streaming rights in the U.S. for The Enfield Haunting, a three-part dramatization of the terrifying and bizarre real events that took place at an ordinary house in Enfield, London during the autumn of 1977. Produced by Eleven, the three-hour event mini-series will be available to stream on Hulu with either a commercial free or limited commercials subscription plan beginning October 27th. The deal was brokered by eOne's Joey Sabella, Director of U.S. and Latin American Sales.

- A new Smithsonian Channel one-hour special recounts the final days of Adolf Hitler, told in the words of those who were with him. A trove of rediscovered interviews with the Nazi leader’s inner-circle, who surrounded Hitler in his bunker as his enemies closed in, are the centerpiece of The Day Hitler Died, premiering Monday, November 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. These tapes, thought to be lost to history, were found in an archive in Pittsburgh in 2013. This extraordinary footage will be shown on television in the U.S. for the first time in The Day Hitler Died.

- Us the Duo releases their brand new anticipated single “Slow Down Time,” produced by Captain Cuts [Walk The Moon, “Shut Up And Dance”], to all digital retailers via Republic Records. You can get it HERE! The duo —Michael and Carissa Alvarado — unveiled the song alongside a lyric video, check it out HERE.

- VH1 has set the airdate for its next original movie The Breaks, continuing a successful push into scripted programming for the channel. Set in New York City in 1990, The Breaks will premiere on Monday, January 4 at 9:00.

- Turner Classic Movies (TCM) this week announced the TCM Wine Club, a new venture which curates originally produced wines inspired by classic films as well as expertly selected varietals from renowned vineyards around the globe – all with the convenience of home delivery. TCM has partnered with Direct Wines, specialists in direct-to-consumer wine partnerships, as well as Wines That Rock, the pop culture wine company behind classic Rock ‘n’ Roll-influenced wines and more, to create an exclusive club for film buffs and wine enthusiasts alike. As part of the inaugural offer, new members will receive fifteen special bottles including the first-ever release of Café Zoetrope, a custom-crafted red from the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Members will also enjoy True Grit Limited Edition Zinfandel along with The Essentials Cabernet Sauvignon – the first in a series of single-varietal wines, specifically curated for TCM Wine Club members, to showcase the world’s great grapes.

The Voice Season Nine Battle Round Power Rankings

I have long called Blake Shelton the best coach that has ever sat in a spinning chair. Sure he made the single worse decision ever in the history of The Voice (Holly Henry: never forget) but if I were to make a list of the twenty-five dumbest decisions every in the history of The Voice, that may be the only time he appears. I mostly agree with his decisions about ninety percent of the time. Not this season where I only agreed with him once of his five shown Battles (Blind Joe over Blaine).

I have long assumed Blake takes the March Madness bracket approach to Battle Round pairings (and Knockouts for that matter), seeding his team one through twelve and then paring one with twelve, two with eleven, and so on; weird and random pairings be darned; and then just picks the higher seeds no matter what. Which is probably why in the past his Battles ended up in montages rather than Steals.

I do not know what changed this time around where he seemed to pick the weaker singer more often but for the first time ever half his Battles ended in Steals (unfortunately my favorite on his team Krista did not get a reprieve from anyone) and only one got montaged (but when you pair a female soul singer with a male singer-songwriter type and have them sing Britney Spears, of course that is going to me montaged). Though it makes for some bad Battles, I wish Blake would go back to the March Madness brackets approach because I am not really liking his team very much this season unless he can get a gem of a Steal in the Knockouts.

1. Andi & Alex (Team Adam): I enjoyed their Blind Audition but feared they may turn into a novelty act, except they actually got better. And who actually remembered The Calling were once a thing. I give Adam a lot of crap (and deserved for pretty much the rest of his song choices this round) but he really did a great job pairing the duo with someone I thought was fodder and turn it into the best Battle of the season.

2. Ellie Lawrence (Team Gwen): Gwen was on a roll with her song selection this round. Sure three of them got montaged, one of them probably should have also, and I am not sure Sweater Weather is a very good choice if you have to cut it down to two minute. Ellie was decent, but she is still high on the list as her Blind Audition is still the best performance of the season.

3. Amy Vachal (Team Pharrell): It seems like more often than not, the coaches cleanly give a song that favors one singer over another (sorry dude who was forced to sing Regina Spektor), occasionally they can find songs that are suited for both singers. Then on the very rare occasion the coaches pick a song that does not really help either. Amy did fine in her part but overall this just reminded me of the good old days before Battle montages where the last two singers paired would have to Battle each other and sing the songs in completely different ways like Dia Frampton vs. Serabee or Erin Martin vs. The Shields Brothers (the greatest bad Battle ever in the history of the show). Amy was good when she was by herself but I am really surprised this was not montaged and even more surprised the song sold well. Because of that you kind of have to put Amy on the shortlist of front runners with Andi and Alex, Barrett, Ellie, and Jordan. Hey that is actually one per team and two for Adam. That probably means Adam will throw one of them under the bus and probably either Gwen or Pharrell will do something really stupid.

4. Korin Bukowski (Team Gwen): The biggest winner of the Battle Round. I found her Blind Audition too much (despite the awesome song choice) and Gwen apparently did such a poor job picking songs that suited her singers that half her Battles got montaged, but both really hit it out of the park on this one. Sure girls like this sadly never win, but as long as she keeps it simple and sweet, Korin could get as far as Caroline Pennell.

5. Siahna Im (Team Pharrell): Poor song choice but she did do the best she could do with it.

6. Madi Davis (Team Pharrell): I have long assumed performances get montaged because of one of two reasons: they were just bad, the coach made a horrible decision. Madi and Sydney were the lone montage victims to chart this round while Sydney's Blind Audition lingered around for most of the Battles. Clearly people were interested in the Battle, it charted so I wonder just what went wrong because there were some pretty dreadful or just boring Battle that were shown.I am just going to go with the assumption the montaged it because the other coaches did not Steal Sydney because she clearly resonated within her short time on the show.

7. Mark Hood (Team Pharrell): Another boring song choise by Pharrell but he did well, hopefully he can do something a little less dusty after two straight old soul classic

8. Morgan Frazier (Team Blake Pharrell): I have when coaches hem and haw about this is their hardest pairing and how they were stupid to put these two together when ninety percent of the time everyone at home knew who was going to win the moment the pairing was announced, but this definitely was one of the closest Battles ever. Though I disagree with Blake about going with who he can help the most, for me the tie-breaker should be who gave the better Blind Audition and that was Morgan. But at least she was Stolen by Pharrell. And of course all of Blake's hemming and hawing about this Battle will be moot if Blake just Steals Morgan back next round as the last two season's he has done just that with his Knockout Round Steal. Though Dustin or Blaine may be the better choice since having both Morgan and Emily Ann is like having the same singer. At any rate, I really hate when coaches Steal back contestants they just booted from their team.

9. Blind Joe (Team Blake): Considering his bad choices this season, Blake would take the more polished Blaine but I am glad he actually gave Blind Joe the nod because this bar band classic should not be polished.

10. Dustin Christensen (Team Blake Adam): Barrett closed out the first episode which I considered to be the pimpiest of pimp slots on the show, but I actually like Dustin much better on the show.

11. Blaine Mitchell (Team Blake Adam): Though I thought Blind Joe won, I did like how Blaine managedto work the stage for both of them.

12. Kota Wade (Team Gwen): Montage win... yawn.

13. Emily Ann Roberts (Team Blake): Meh.

14. Tim Atlas (Team Gwen Pharrell): He was okay for someone who was montaged during the Blind Auditions but Steal worthy? I do not know. But then again there really eight losers this season worthy of a Steal. So fine, Tim gets another round, but I would be surprised if he goes further.

15. Keith Semple (Team Adam): So is he supposed to be this season's Terry McDermot? Meh.

16. Barrett Baber (Team Blake): I have always assumed whoever gets to close out the first episode is whoever the producers think should win. I find Barrett mostly boring and wonder if he will suffer the similar fate of the only other time a country singer got that slot when James David Carter could not make it past the first week of voting.

17. Evan McKeel (Team Pharrell): Every season the producers seems to focus a lot on one singer that ended up bombing when people actually start voting (Kat from season five was the most glaring example) and I am beginning wonder if Evan is this season's version. They seem to spend a lot of time on him but his iTunes sales have been middle of the pack. That could just be the result of an obscure Mutemath song and a tired Stevie Wonder Battle, but Evan really needs a Knockout moment because if not he may bomb if he makes it to the Live Show.

18. Ivonne Acero (Team Pharrell Blake): One of the big loser of the Battle Rounds, the weak link of one of the worst Battles this season. But hey, Blake gave her a one week reprieve.

19. Shelby Brown (Team Adam): The other big loser of the round. Every nice thing I said about Adam picking The Calling I take back for giving two seventeen year old Edge of Seventeen. Oh my. I wonder if she is regretting not going with Blake right about now. She had one of the best selling Blind Auditions but almost got outsold in the Battle Round by a duo that was montaged.

20. Regina Love (Team Adam Gwen): Another wasted Steal but then again, no one really stands out as more deserving.

21. Riley Biederer (Team Pharrell Gwen): See above.

22. Jordan Smith (Team Adam): In the beginning there were a lot of weird people auditioning with voices you would not expect, now it has teen into J Crew teenage models after another. Jordan harkens back to those early days, but I find his voice to be too shill but as much as the promo spend on him (he is the only one we hear sing in the Knockout previews) he seems like the biggest lock to make the Live Show.

23. Viktor Király (Team Adam): Simular to Evan but I fear that he will be more like this season's Dez Duron, the mediocre singer with model's looks that goes three or four rounds further than his talent deserves because he appeals to the large bored housewife voting block.

24. James Dupré (Team Adam): A big storyline of the Blind Auditions was Adam managing to get two country singers over Blake. Then in the Battles, he gave them both rock songs that sold significantly less than their Blind Auditions on iTunes. Again, I wonder if James is regretting not going with Blake. But I actually believe Shelby could still make the Live Shows, James, not so much. Which would be Adam's third country artist he got instead of Blake that he then unloaded before the Live Shows.

25. Chris Crump (Team Blake): I would rather Krista had advanced.

26. Zach Seabaugh (Team Blake): Did Blake pick him solely on based on marketability because his vocals are not at all memorable.

27. Nadjah Nicole (Team Blake): Montage win... yawn.

28. Summer Schappell (Team Gwen): Montage win... yawn. And based on the studio version, I thought Hanna Ashbrook was significantly better, which maybe is why they montaged it, so Gwen did not look stupid. Actually is that why half of Gwen's Battles get montaged? Advancing Braiden was also stupid and her two Steals were head scratching at best.

29. Darius Scott (Team Pharrell): Montage win... yawn.

30. Jeffery Austin (Team Gwen): Montage win... yawn.

31. Chance Peña (Team Adam Blake): What a lucky kid, he is a teenager who gets paired with two hot twins who are so good, they made hm seem better than he actually like how Magic Johnson made all his teammates look better, and managed to get Blake to Steal him. But without the twins propping him out, I am guessing there will be no more Steals for him.

32. Braiden Sunshine (Team Gwen): I was never a fan of Lyndsey, but if Gwen was will to toss her lone four chair turn overboard for Braiden, I am really beginning to worry he may actually be this season's Ryan Sill (never forget).

So if you rank them by the team they are on, here is how each team stands up:

Pharrell: 175
Adam: 139
Gwen: 115
Blake: 99

Wow, so coming out of the Blind Audition, I had Blake as the strongest team, but now he is at the bottom. I rip on Gwen a lot, but she still has Ellie and a rising Korin, there is really no one worth caring about on Blake's team. He really does need to Steal someone in the Knockouts. But then again, who cares what I think, here is how high the Battle Round songs ranked on iTunes and included the Blind Auditions that have still popped up over the past two week to show you who has staying power.

1. Andi and Alex and Chance Pena (11)
2. Barrett Baber and Dustin Christensen (41)
3. Celeste Betton and Mark Hood (49)
4. Chase Kerby and Korin Bukowski (78)
5. Jordan Smith and Regina Love (98)
6. Ellie Lawrence (122)
7. Chris Crump and Krista Hughes (139)
8. Ellie Lawrence and Tim Atlas (148)
9. Andi and Alex (169)
10. Amy Vachal and Jubal and Amanda (184)
11. Cassandra Robertson and Viktor Kiraly (192)
12. Jordan Smith (195)
13. Keith Semple and Manny Cabo (231)
14. Braiden Sunshine and Lyndsey Elm (235)
15. Blaine Michell and Blind Joe (236)
16. Amy Vachal (299)
17. Emily Ann Roberts and Morgan Frazier (376)
18. Sydney Rhame (394)
19. Shelby Brown (471)
20. Evan McKeel and Riley Biederer (496)
21. Barrett Baber (503)
22. Tyler Dickerson and Zach Seabaugh (693)
23. Dustin Monk and James Dupre (858)
24. Korin Bukowski (864)
25. Morgan Frazier (932)
26. Ivonne Acero and Siahna Im (989)
27. Krista Hughes (1006)
28. Chance Pena (1044)
29. Amanda Ayala and Shelby Brown (1066)
30. Blind Joe (1068)
31. Lyndsey Elm (1194)
32. Madi Davis and Sydney Rhame (1252)
33. Chris Crump (1434)

Since they went to releasing Battle Round performances as duets instead of separately it is hard to tell who exactly who the buyers were buying for but here is how each team member left would rank if you average their Battle and their Blind Audition


1. Alex and Andi (21.5)
2. Barrett Baber (63)
3. Jordan Smith (67)
4. Ellie Lawrence (98)
5. Amy Vachel (108)
6. Chris Crump (177)
7. Dustin Christensen (184.5)
8. Blind Joe (193)
9. Chance Pena (201.5)
10. Morgan Frazier (225.5)
11. Korin Bukowski (277.5)
12. Viktor Kiraly (347.5)
13. Emily Ann Roberts (392)
14. Blaine Mitchell (417.5)
15. Mark Hood (431.5)
16. Keith Semple (441)
17. Zach Seabaugh (497)
18. James Dupre (536.5)
19. Shelby Brown (552.5)
20. Evan McKeel (617.5)
21. Siahna Im (637.5)
22. Ivonne Acero (651.5)
23. Madi Davis (801.5)
(the next seven only rated once on the top 1500 and here is if they ranked the one that charted and use 1500 as the non chart-er)
24. Regina Love (799)
25. Tim Atlas (824)
26. Braiden Sunshine (867.5)
27. Jeffery Austin (956)
28. Summer Schappell (963)
29. Riley Biederer (998)
30. Darius Scott (1496.5)
(the last two have yet to chart once which is probably not a good sign if they make the Live Show)
31. Koda Wade (1500)
31. Nadhaj Nicole (1500)

Now lets see who the iTunes buyers think has the strongest team if you rank them based on the above standing:

Adam: 174
Blake: 155
Pharrell: 115
Gwen: 83

So the iTunes buyers and me differ on Blake. The big loser is Gwen who has six of the nine singers who have failed to make the top 1500 at least once this season, including her two Steal compared to the other three coaches who had at least one Steal in the top ten. I wonder if Pharrell did his team a disservice with poor song choices and if like me they like Pharrell's team but wished they had better songs.

Unlike the Battle Rounds where the spoiled all the pairings in the preview, we currently do not know any of the Knockout pairings. In fact the only performance we saw in the preview was Jordan's and I looked but I did not even see anyone else on the stage so maybe they are doing Knockouts differently this season. But there is still Steals so either they are still doing it pairs and they are not forcing them to sit on stage while the other sings (which if true booooo, I live the instant reaction and the complete dread when the other singer realizes they are going home just hearing their opponent sing) or the stage was too dark to see.

Without pairing spoilers, it is a bit harder to guess who will advance so I am just going to go with who I predicted after the Blind Audition minus the four (half were Blake's team members; he really messed up this season; of course he will still end up winning) I already got wrong ranking them with how confident I am that they will advance.

Adam: Jordan, Viktor, Shelby, Keith
Blake: Barrett, Zach, Emily Ann, Blind Joe
Gwen: Ellie, Jeffery, Korin, (I really do not want to believe it but it is becoming more and more clear he is this season's Ryan Sill), Braiden
Pharrell: Mark, Amy, Evan, Madi
Steals: Siahna, Dustin, Riley, Ivonne

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/25/15

Once Upon a Time: So King Arthur us evil, and Lancelot is (presumable) going to break the curse with his love true kiss with Gwenavere? Huh? And what happened to the Brave chick. I thought she went to Camelot with everyone else and she was thrown in jail with no one else noticing?
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: Crazy Carrie is back! Is this the first time since season two since we have seen Carrie off her meds (not including when she got drugged last season)? I am pretty sure I saw Dar on her crazy picture wall too so my CIA is at least crazy enough for Crazy Carrie. Then there was the scene with the Berlin chief talking to someone from her bathroom. Obviously who she was talking to was going to be a twist. At first I thought she was going to be a lesbian, but that would be too cliched of a twist. Then I thought she was hooking up with the Foundation head. But no, she has been hooking up with Saul. Alrighty. That certainly makes their bickering over the past couple episodes more pointed and Saul's about face of sending her home make more sense. But now the big question is just what is Quinn going to do with Carrie now that he has her?

The Walking Dead: Too many initials this week. At least we learned the W were Wolves. But what does JSS mean? And what was with the A on Carol's porch?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Affair: After the show flipped up its formats this season, I kind of held out hope that this season would continue to be random instead of following some combination of Noah / Helen / Alison / Cole like I pretty much assumed after the first two episodes. For instance, during the first segment this week I was hoping the second segment episode would follow drunk daughter. Alas instead we just got Allison tagging along as her boss went to kill his dog (but thankfully just scared him off). Le sigh. Maybe drunk daughter will be the format change in season three. Considering he is the one that dies, you would think Scotty and his teen girlfriend would get to tell their stories at some point.

Gotham: Yeah, this show is much more entertaining when crazy Barbra around.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

The Voice: I complain a lot about how bad the coaches are at picking songs when the Battle Rounds start and all my complains can be summed up in the Higher Ground battle. Seriously Pharrell, why are assigning a funk classic to two of the WASPiest WASPs this season? The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the only white people who have earned the right to sing that song. That performance reminded me of the time I was working at the local amphitheater where I had to sit through 98° giving the happiest performance ever of Superstition while I stood there head in hands wondering how this was happening.

But surprisingly there was one coach who actually made some inspired song choices and Cee-Lo is still on his sabbatical (okay, Adam did have one inspired song randomly pulling The Calling out of his musical quiver). Sure Gwen is a horrible coach with a bad team, so bad half of her Battle got montaged. but kudos for finally having the guts to get Regina Spektor cleared. This show loves the quirky girl but surprisingly nobody had ever done a song by the patron saint of quirky girls up to this point I was beginning to think that either the producers thought Regina was too obscure (though I would think she is more well known than Ingrid Michaelson who's song was featured a couple seasons back) or she would not clear her songs for singing show. Hopefully now that the president has been set Regina's whole catalog can be raided.

And it was not just Regina Specktor who Gwen introduced to The Voice audience for the first time. Yeah The Calling was random, but that was last decade, Gwen went back two more decades to resurrect Howard Jones. And though they got the dreaded montage placement, Gwen also assigned The Wreckers and Talk Talk (sure that song was eventually made famous by No Doubt). I am usually the pro-montage guy but most of the montaged Battles looked much more interesting than most that actually got shown, aside from those two new songs that have never been performed on the show before, there were the two coffee-house singers on Team Pharrell doing Riptide, heck, I would have even rather seen the weird Blake assigned co-ed duet of Baby One More Time; sure it probably was a trainwreck, but a trainwreck would have been much more entertaining than yet another boring overdone Motown song done by people whose parents may have not even been born yet when the songs were released.

Blindspot: Nothing better than a good old Mexican standoff between government agencies. But it seems now that Jane used to be one of the CIA's assetts and evil CIA guy wants her back or at least eliminate Jane before she remembers anything.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes..

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I spend all season wondering what was going on with Simmons but for the first couple episodes her story has been relegated to that pre-credit scene at the end of the episode. And just when she was about to explain what happened to her in the galaxy far, far away, they cut to black. Boooo. At the promo monkey makes it seem the next episode is going to be a flashback. Hopefully it is the whole episode and does not inner-spliced with the Inhumans saga. I guess I should guess who Lash's other version is; um, if it is someone we know, that does not seem like a long list. Baron's son is probably at the top of the list. Of course my number one rule of television is if you do not see the body, they are not dead (and even then I am a bit skeptical) I do not believe Blair Underwood is dead, maybe that was Baron's son running from Blair. But I am going with Coulson's new love interest who also has been hunting down Inhumans and for some reason was not riding in the van. Speaking of inconsistencies in storytelling, if Lash wants to kill all Inhumans, why did he not go after Daisy while she was incapacitated?
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Survivor: Second Chances: After the first or second episode I said Varner was overplaying himself out of the game and a couple episodes later he is gone. You can also say Monica got voted out this week for playing to hard, except she made the right play. Take out the potential women's alliance (seriously Kimmi, why are you irate at this, you are a female, she is saying she is not voting you out), going after Spencer was the right choice. I would trust Kelly way more than I would trust him. So for the third straight time after the tribe swap, the former tribe with the most members voted one of their own out. The final five that was made this week may end up being just that because the other two tribes are overplaying themselves out of this game. But hey, this week was the very first time Abi Maria did not go to Tribal Council. Who would have thunk it? Good for her.
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Finally a "previously on" package, unfortunately they did not remind me who Pee-Wee Herman was. So now I am even more confused as to why he shot Red's henchman. So was he a plant by the kidnappers, or did he turn on him for other reasons?
The Blacklist on iTunes.