57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/4/17

Homeland: Wait, was that the hot German spy from last season who abducted Quinn?

The Walking Dead: I usually hate one character specific episode, but this Eugene-centric episode was one of the series’ best. Though how does Daryl get a windowless cell but Eugene gets his own furnished studio apartment with a beer stocked fridge?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Billions: Oh my, Wendy’s replacement, this is going to be interesting.

Supergirl: So what exactly is going on with Jeramiah? So he steals the alien registry to help Kadmis who wants to kill all aliens. Except Jeramiah has an alien daughter so I really do not see being a part of it on purpose. Is this some sort of mind control or is he deep undercover and will turn on Kadmis at the right time?
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions: Meh, I hate seasons where they alternate who goes into the elimination. The loser should always go in otherwise why even try?
You can download The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions on iTunes.

The Path: How apropos of Eddie to listen to God Only Knows. Then we get our first look at cleanly sheered Hawk, he actually looks like a teenager now. And actually it kind of looks ike Cal had he gone a little closer. I was just surprised that nothing happened to the hot blonde’s kid, between someone stalking Eddie and when Eddie turned his back on the kid when he made the phone call I thought fo sure something would happen to him. But finally it was actually Eddie who got kidnapped, leaving the kid in the car. That is probably the end of that relationship.
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Legion: Just when I thought the should could not get weirder, the vaguely ethnic chick lives inside the body of an old dude. Except after the lengthy explanation, I was even more confused. So he is always in the world, and she just comes out occasionally? I thought it was a split personality kind of thing, just separate bodies, except then he was talking to the boss while she was out hunting for the ex-girlfriend. Then he felt everything she did. Was he in the world or just in her mind? And then there was Aubrey Plaza… what the fork?
You can download Legion on iTunes.

The Blacklist Redemption: Oh my, the Britney Spears girl. I hope she come up again because I want updates on her record deal.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 3/3/17

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 Cesar Millan’s Dog Nation, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Whitney. Can I Be Me, Bob’s Burgers, Search Party, and Melrose.

- Follow world-famous dog behaviorist Cesar Millan (@cesarmillan) and his son Andre as they team up on a road trip across America to help organizations and people that are rescuing and rehabilitating dogs, in the new series Cesar Millan’s Dog Nation, premiering Friday, March 3, at 9:00 on Nat Geo WILD. The series will present new challenges for Cesar as he does more than just help dog owners with their pets’ behavioral problems. We uncover inspirational K-9 stories and connect with those that are working to make our world a better place for us and our pets, such as organizations helping veterans and their service dogs, community-run animal rescue groups training K-9 police dogs and therapy dogs that help children with autism. From canine heroes to issues affecting local dog communities, no pup is off limits as the Millans hit the road to help dogs across the country.

- The genre-busting cult classic from Joss Whedon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer turns 20 years old on March 10, 2017! To celebrate Buffy Summers, the Scoobies and all the monsters that go bump in the night, 20th Century Fox Consumer Products announces exciting product launches – from board games to new books to fashion accessories to apparel -- and multiple fan-focused activities including a “Sunnydale High Yearbook Contest” offering a trip to 2017 San Diego Comic Con. Plus, on the anniversary, fans can tune-in to relive the two-part premiere episode on Pop (to find your channel go to Poptv.com) on March 10th at 9 AM.

- Showtime ordered a new season of the groundbreaking political documentary series The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth. Returning Sunday, March 19 at 8:00 on SHOWTIME, the show will examine the riveting and unprecedented events unfolding – both inside and outside the Beltway – in President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.

- Showtime Documentary Films will premiere Whitney. Can I Be Me, a film exploring the incredible career and complicated life of the memorable singer, at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 26 at the SVA Theater, with subsequent screenings all weekend. The film will air on Showtime later this year. The powerful documentary is directed by acclaimed BAFTA Award winner Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney, Tales of the Grim Sleeper).

- Game night just got a lot more fun! USAopoly is releasing 3 brand new games based on everyone’s favorite dysfunctional restaurant family, the Belchers from Bob’s Burgers! MONOPOLY®: Bob's Burgers Edition, Bob’s Burgers Puzzle and JENGA®: Bob's Burgers Edition are must-haves for any Bob’s Burgers fanatic – and soon all be available for purchase at USAopoly.com.

- In celebration of Search Party's presence at SXSW, TBS is making all 10 episodes of the binge-worthy first season available to watch for free on tbs.com & the tbs app from 3/14-3/21. If you're attending the festival, come by Search Party's In Search Of pop-up store for a one-of-a-kind experience! The store is open 3/14-3/16 at 88 1/2 Rainey Street in Austin.

- This week Showtime Networks announced the pickup of the five-part limited series Melrose, starring and executive produced by Oscar® nominee and Emmy® winner Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game, Sherlock). BAFTA Award nominee David Nicholls (Far From the Madding Crowd, One Day) is writing all five episodes of the television adaptation. Based on the acclaimed Patrick Melrose series of semi-autobiographical novels written by Edward St. Aubyn, MELROSE hilariously skewers the upper class as it tracks the protagonist’s harrowing odyssey from a deeply traumatic childhood through adult substance abuse and, ultimately, toward recovery. A co-production between SHOWTIME and Sky Atlantic, the limited series will begin shooting in New York, London and the South of France in August. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc.

I Want My Music Television: 2/28/17

Chained To the Rhythm - Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley


Katy Perry makes annoyingly cheery pop music so it was weird that her Grammy performance of this song was kind of dire (even weirder was her Kristy Swanson in Higher Learning hairstyle). Then for the video she goes even more over the top cheery than usual for her. I guess there is supposed to be a deeper message but the problem is Katy Perry is not at good at all at be subtle.


Love - Lana Del Rey


Speaking of unusually cheery, so that is what Lana Del Rey looks like when she smiles? Okay, they real reason I am bringing her up was because “Lana Del Rey Joins Effort to Defeat Trump with Witchcraft” is the weirdest headline I read all week, and this is in a week when the saga of Kim Jung Nam got weirder by the day.


Everyday - Ariana Grande featuring Future


When people started making out on the roof of a car in front of Ariana Grande, I thought, um… what? By the time we get to the laundromat, I got it. I laughed at the office sex. But I draw the line at old people making out. I think th blonde next to them speaks for everyone.


Reverend - Kings of Leon


Oh no, Kings of Leon are giving me really bad Under the Dome flashback which also featured random hot chicks finding an egg in the woods. I hope that was not intentional.

The Twenty-Five Best Knockout Round Performances on The Voice

I knew last season of The Voice would be a hard watch just because of Miley Cyrus as judge (who ended up being worse than I expected) but the reason I stopped watching after the Blind Auditions was the lack of talent. No one singer grabbed me with a first impression. I did go through all the Knockout Round performances later for this list but realized I made the right decision to stop the season early because not one was worthy of this list.

My favorite part of the Knockouts is the completely unnecessary staging of having your opponent sit in the corner while you perform.  And there is really is only three reactions you can have, 1) enjoy a front seat experience, 2) sit stone face like you are playing poker, or my personal favorite, 3) give the oh crap I am going home face.  Though you can usually tell who is going to win from early on, the Knockout Round is a make or break for most everyone else. But for every breakout, there is just as many falls. I remember thinking Savannah Berry was a front runner… right up until she chose to sing a Justin Beiber song, letting Danielle Bradbery to take her country-pop spot and the win on one of the rare seasons the winner was not easily telegraphed. As for those who actually excelled at the Knockout Round, here is my list of the best.

1. A Sunday Kind of Love - Amy Vachal


2. Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!) - Regan James


3. Leave Your Lover - Caity Peters


4. Put Your Records On - Nicholas David


5. A Case of You - Madi Davis


6. Even if it Breaks Your Heart - Morgan Frazier

7. I Heard it Through the Grapevine - Juhi

8. Electric Feel - Brooke Adee

9. Gypsy - Katie Basden

10. Let Her Go - Cole Vosbury

11. At Last - Sasha Allen

12. Hold On, I'm Coming - Mia Z

13. The Way I Am - Caroline Pennell

14. No Woman, No Cry - Preston Pohl

15. If You Love Somebody Set Them Free - Kimberly Nichole

16. Listen to Your Heart - Deanna Johnson

17. Stompa - Jacquie Lee

18. Paris (Ooh La La) - Amanda Brown

19. Heartbreaker - Ashley Morgan

20. Little Talks - Caroline Glaser

21. Creep - Holly Henry

22. Don't Know Why - Stephanie Anne Johnson

23. I'm with You - Amber Carrington

24. Could You Be Loved - Suzanna Choffel

25. Cosmic Love - Matthew Schuler



And here is how they rank per coach.

Adam – 6
Pharrell - 5
Blake - 5
Cee-Lo – 4
Christina – 4
Shakira – 1
Usher - 0
Alicia - 0
Miley – 0
Gwen – 0

I was a bit surprised that Adam ranked on top, granted he only had one in the top ten… and even that was a Battle Round Steal he sent home. Then you have Pharrell who was only on four of eleven season had just one less than Adam and as many as Blake despite those other two being on every season. Dude has an eye for talent. As for the most by season, here is that list (keep in mind the Knockout Round did not start until the third season and inexplicably was replaced with a second Battle Round for season six):

Season 3 – 3
Season 4 - 3
Season 5 - 8
Season 7 – 1
Season 8 – 5
Season 9 - 3
Season 10 – 2
Season 11 - 0

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 2/26/17

Mercy Street: When the show opened without dialogue, I thought it was some artist thing, well if the soldier cannot hear, we the audience will not hear what is being said to him. A scene later I realized nope, there was some glitch where I can hear the background sound and music but not the actors. Then after five minutes watching with the closed captioning on I realized, oh yeah, I get two PBS channel and flipped of and lo and behold, sound. Geez. And is Ramona Flowers gone? There is only one episode left this season (bizarrely they are taking a week off next week, I guess for the Oscars yet why skip that week and not the Super Bowl) so I wonder if we will see her then.
You can download Mercy Street on iTunes.

Homeland: Well that escalated quickly. Poor Quinn, maybe should have let him die, instead he pushes a reporter and shoots a protester. Of course that was just a destraction to the bigger reveal of the episode that some mysterious source got that tape to Carrie. But who? My first thought was Dar. But it does seem like an inside job to discredit the president-elect, even purposely exploding the bomb to minimize casualties just minutes from her location.

The Walking Dead: So those trash people are… interesting. But hey, they are well chorography which definitely needed when trying to take down evil.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Supergirl: Put aside the offensiveness of Mister Mxyzptlk being played by a full sized male model, who did not even wear a bowler hat, I actually kind of enjoyed the little imp. Or really, I just enjoyed him annoying Mon-El who is really ready for a heel turn.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Timeless: Wait, we go through the whole season and Lucy does not even get her sister back? What the fork? And what was going on with Jiya, why is she the only one now with powers? How did the Lifeboat know she was the fourth member? I think I might be fine with this show not coming back.
You can download Timeless on iTunes.

The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions: Walking upstairs has to be up there with lamest Elimination Round challenges. Hopefully the Champions spice things up next week.
You can download The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A room full of Daisy Fem-Bots? Yes please. I really hope fake May did not blow all of them up, wait a waste. Of course the joy of all thoe Daisy’s was ruined by the return of Ward. What the fork?!? They killed him off…twice. Why do they keep bringing him back? And if Simmons is dead in the framework, what happens to real Simmons when she tries to enter it?
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Path: Wait, gay marriages still has ugly bridesmaids dresses, who knew? But at least Hawk is finally cutting off his hair, unfortunately it turned into a weird Ghost moment with a chick too old for him. But Richard finally learned Eddie was in Peru and assumes that he pushed the leader over the cliff. But what exactly happened? Did he actually do it? Did the leader jump? Was Cal secretly there and did it?
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Legion: Okay, so far the show has distracted me with a random dance sequence and gratuitous nudity, but I am beginning to realize nothing is actually happening. I know it is a superhero cliché, but I could even go for a destroyed city right about now.
You can download Legion on iTunes.

The Blacklist (Redemption): When they hyped a two hour Blacklist event I thought they would set of the latter I the first hour. Except Tom was not even in the first hour. Actually has he even been in any recent episode. I vaguely remember his father dying which I was correct in him not actually being dead. But that second half was a bit of a bore, I was more interesting in Red’s man servant seemingly turning on him.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Emerald City: So that is why the princess wore a mask, because she was a robot and wants to hide her not aging? Alrighty. But if she was a robot, why did she “die” when getting hit by a bullet?
You can download Emerald City on iTunes.