57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/17/2018

Homeland: Carrie was a little too obsessed with the two bugs being ineffective, especially when she already bugged the house that lady was going to. But maybe she is on to something (she may be crazy, but at her craziest, she tends to be right) since in lieu of mention her being blackmailed to her possible co-conspirator she instead just had sex with the dude. Maybe he was not the one who got her to make the payments. Maybe she is there to put him in a compromising position by whoever she was working with. She did seem to have an undecipherable accent.

The Chi: Oh, that is why that old guy came back and was so interested in the kid who got killed. Now that it was said out loud, it seems so obvious. But I am still a little fuzzy about how he knew Trice did it and of course why. The bigger shocker, Ronnie turned himself in. Wow.

The Alienist: Oh snap! I thought this was going to be a fairly innocuous episode with everyone chasing ghosts of someone who may be the killer. Then Lazlo and Moore get run off the road in an attempted assassination. But the big shocker is Mary falling to her death after a push by The Swede. I thought for sure it would be the other way around thought the fight. As we go to the inevitable crawl of catching the killer presumably in the finale, that murder adds a level of intrigue of what happens in the last two episode. Lazlo’s driver was there but will The Swede do something to keep him from talking? How will Lazlo retaliate? This should be interesting.
You can download The Alienist on iTunes.

Good Girls: Did they really need to destroy that car? To me the wife of a dealer “borrowing” a car for the day does not seem that bad. I guess if you think it can be tied back to your money laundering you might get spooked.
You can download Good Girls on iTunes.

The Challenge: Vendettas: Again, many of the Mercenaries this time around did not really strike fear in the hearts of many people. Is anyone really shaking in the boots going up against Smashley? Although Smashley vs Britni and Kam vs. Laurel would have been much more interesting draw. Also who is scared of Frank? Sure I might be scared of Frank if he turned out to be my opponent in an insult contest, but nothing physical. Ad for someone who is so against people giving up, why did TJ throw in the towel on the elimination calling it a draw after just an hour? What did he have somewhere to be?
You can download The Challenge: Vendettas on iTunes.

The Path: Well that fifties gay conversion was very creepy. But they do allow interracial dating so they were more progressive than I expected. But what was that other creepy scene at the end with Cal, Steve, and Eddie. Is Eddie tied to Cal so he could feel Cal casting out Steve or is Eddie tied to Steve and felt being cast out by Steve? Considering the final scene I am leaning to the former.
You can stream The Path Hulu.

Rise: So I really want to love this show considering its pedigree (producers of Hamilton and Friday Night Lights) but there are a lot of nit picking going on. Really Rosie Perez and her thick accent was a former student of that principal in rural Pennsylvania? The school could not afford to license Grease but the school’s choir can do Pearl Jam? The school changed their school musical three times in basically a week? And really the most absurd plot point in that the football player decided to do the play because of a rousing speech from his English teacher whose class he sleeps in. C’mon, he is totally doing it to make out with the Tyra Collette stand in. Which I guess would make the other theater girl Lyla. Then the football player is kind of obviously Sarasen. Which would make the closeted gay dude (seriously, dude, it is hard for me to believe that everyone does not already know that) Jason Street. I guess that leaves the girl who thinks she is a boy Landry. But is Riggins the teacher’s son or the kid he brought into his home?
You can download Rise on iTunes.

The Looming Tower: I have seen enough crime show like this where the writers sprinkle in hint at how the bad guys get caught that you see things like the CIA tagging the eventual 9/11 hijackers and you think, oh this is how they get them. But then you realize, oh yeah, they actually did carry out their attacks and them following these guys into the country and keeping tabs on them did nothing at all to stop the attacks. This show is kind of a weird show in that regards.
You can stream The Path Hulu.

Survivor: Ghost Island: When Kellyn passed on the advantage I thought it was a bad idea; never pass up on an advantage. Except not giving up her vote seemed to be the right choice because she needed it at Tribal Council. And now that I think about it, maybe all advantages are cursed. Maybe that is the lesson of Ghost Island. Just how many people have won using an advantage? Sarah comes to mind because without the Legacy Advantage, she would have gone home that week. But even then, she was gifted it.
You can download Survivor: Ghost Island on iTunes.

Gotham: Ivy is killing people now? Ug, I miss the old Ivy.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: So Deke finally realized that Fitz-Simmons are his grandparent, but before then, they annoyingly played up Fitz as a grumpy old man and Deke as an annoying kid way too much. Oh, and holy Von Strucker kid sighting! I had to look him up to remember where he has been this whole time. And there kind of goes my theory Ruby is a robot (though she is very robotic) if Von Strucker knew her when they were kids. But then again, she does not remember, so she could be a replacement.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 3/16/2018

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 Little Fires Everywhere, Leaving Earth: Or How to Colonize a Planet, Paul Simon, Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild, Drop the Mic, Defining Hope, and Kidding

- After a competitive bidding war that ignited Hollywood, Hulu has obtained the rights to develop Little Fires Everywhere, the highly-anticipated limited series from Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, based on Celeste Ng’s 2017 bestseller, as a Hulu Original Series. The project will be produced by Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Washington’s Simpson Street and ABC Signature Studios, and will join Hulu’s award-winning slate of original programming. Witherspoon and Washington will also star as leads in the series. Liz Tigelaar (“Life Unexpected,” “Casual”) will write and serve as showrunner and executive producer.

- In what may be Stephen Hawking’s last major television project, Smithsonian Channel explores his controversial position that the survival of the species depends on inhabiting another planet. Planet Earth has been home to humankind for more than 200,000 years, but with a population of 7.3 billion and counting and limited resources, some scientists believe it might not support human life forever. Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s most prominent scientists, believed that humans must have an interstellar escape plan in place within the next 100 years. He asserted that this is the only way to safeguard the future of the human species from the next mass extinction – by leaving Earth and making a new home on another planet. The program visits an exo-planet observatory in the heart of the Atacama Desert, reveals a plasma-powered rocket engine that could revolutionize space travel, explores the giant greenhouses of Biosphere 2 and showcases NASA’s own “robot army.” Hawking, top scientists, technologists and engineers around the globe investigate whether humans really do have what it takes to colonize another planet. Leaving Earth: Or How to Colonize a Planet airs Sunday, March 25 at 8:00.

- Legendary songwriter, recording artist and performer Paul Simon has announced the final leg of Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour, culminating with four shows in the New York City area: the Prudential Center on September 15 in Newark, NJ (the city where Simon was born), and two nights at Madison Square Garden on September 20 and 21, with an additional concert to be announced soon. As previously announced, Simon and his band will embark on the artist’s final tour May 16 in Vancouver, bringing to the stage a stunning, career-spanning repertoire of timeless hits and classic songs. Tickets for the third and final leg of Paul Simon’s Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour will go on public sale beginning Friday, March 16 @ 9am ET. Go to PaulSimon.com for ticketing information as it becomes available.

- An hour-long block of comedy, competition and hip-hop returns to TBS on Sunday, April 15 with the hit unscripted series Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild at 10:00 and Drop the Mic at 10:30. The network renewed both series after they quickly emerged as the top two new unscripted cable comedies in 2017, reaching an average of 2.7M viewers per episode across TBS’s linear, VOD, and digital platforms, and earning over 250 million social and YouTube views to date.

- The ground-breaking new documentary feature film Defining Hope (www.hope.film) from director Carolyn Jones (The American Nurse) follows eight patients with life-threatening illness, and the nurses who guide them to make critical choices along the way as they face death, embrace hope, and ultimately redefine what makes life worth living. “Defining Hope is a documentary that has evolved over the course of my career,” says director Carolyn Jones. “It’s a journey with nurses and their patients that speaks to the universality of death and leads us to a place of knowledge and power as we recognize that we have agency over the way that we die. To know what we want at the end of life, we have to figure out what makes life worth living.” Produced by Carolyn Jones Productions, the award-winning team behind The American Nurse Project, Defining Hope is presented and distributed nationally by American Public Television (APT), and is slated for release nationwide on public television stations beginning April 1, 2018 (check local listings).

- Showtime has announced that Justin Kirk (WEEDS) has been cast in a recurring role in the upcoming Showtime half-hour comedy Kidding. Kirk joins Golden Globe® winner Jim Carrey, along with Oscar®, Emmy® and Golden Globe nominee Catherine Keener (Get Out), Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) and Judy Greer (Married). Kirk will play Peter, the new boyfriend of Jill (Greer) who is Jeff’s (Carrey) estranged wife.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/11/2018

Homeland: C’mon, did they really have to kill a dog? And how do you let the militia sneak up on that FBI agent like that? They were out in a field. But we did get a poetic comeuppance to O’Keefe who used to run a Russian disinformation farm and then he gets caught and his militia buddies all die because of disinformation.

The Walking Dead: Did we really need the name cards? Sure I did not know the name of half the characters, and will probably forget them by the start f next episode, but that seemed to have no purpose. But at least they killed off almost all the trash people. They were completely worthless. But I do wonder what the leader does now without her flock. Teaming up with Rick against the Savior seems like the play but he clearly wants nothing to do with her. I guess there is always the lady tribe in the woods.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Chi: So Sunny was not dead, did dude just knock him over the head? There was a lot of blood. Then on the flip side, I actually thought the doctor was going to pop right up at some point up until his wife went to look for his pulse.

Lucifer: Wait, they killed Abel already? Are they done with him or are they just going to kepp bringing him back but in different bodies.
You can download Lucifer on iTunes.

The Alienist: Well that was the second time John was chloroformed and nothing that bad happened to him, this time he woke up to a friendly(ish) face. Bad for him the Swede may be bringing more chloroform. Except he may have gotten knocked out again at the end of the episode too except this time the old fashioned way. Oh and that was a creepy way to start the episode with Lazlo stabbing the corpse. I am beginning to realized that maybe most alienists need an alienist of their own.
You can download The Alienist on iTunes.

Good Girls: Oh, creepy manager was not actually dead, they just hilariously tied him up in a treehouse. I guess good old fashion blackmail to stop a blackmailer is a good plan.
You can download Good Girls on iTunes.

The Challenge: Vendettas: I never understood why no one beside Wes ever went up against Johnny. On Survivor winners get targeted instantly but Challengers just let Johnny slide every season and he rarely even sees an elimination. Hopefully this is the sea change know that everyone sees him as vulnerable. But it was weird the anti-bullying angle of the episode. The show was built on bullying. Getting punched by CT was like an initiation.
You can download The Challenge: Vendettas on iTunes.

The Path: Alright, all the cards are finally on the table. Well, I guess Vera did conveniently leave out the whole Eddie has to die thing. But everyone does finally knows that Vera’s mother was an original Mirist member who wants credit for the movement. Also that Steve is her father. Wait did we know that before? It may have been hinted at but I think this is the first confirmation. Which makes thing complicated between her and Cal, not only does he now know they knew each other, but her father got a little too handsy with Cal. But what was with that final scene? Vera’s mom wants to talk with Eddie but she does not answer only for us to see her motionless and eyeless in a chair. Was she dead? Was she having a vision?
You can stream The Path Hulu.

The Looming Tower: Wait, they fired Saarsgaard already? Sure he was a bit prickly but the guy is right. In the first couple episodes it seemed like Jeff Daniels was the protagonist, but Saarsgaard is right in his predictions. And the thing that got him fired, it sounds like the famous story of the time a sniper had Osama bin Laden in the crosshairs but President Clinton called it off because there were roytals there at the time. But I still do not care about Daniel’s personal life and his newest girlfriend maybe moving to New York City while his other girlfriend wants to get married.
You can stream The Path Hulu.

Survivor: Ghost Island: So they need a unanimous vote to send people to Ghost Island or they draw rocks? That means they will be drawing rocks until the merge. Lame. Then when dude gets to Ghost Island, there is no advantage again. Double Lame. And speaking of Ghost Island advantages, the first one is switching hands again as the third straight person I actually liked got voted out. Triple Lame. If Kellyn gets the boot next week I may stop watching this season.
You can download Survivor: Ghost Island on iTunes.

Gotham: I still miss the old Ivy. And by the old Ivy I mean the middle Ivy.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Blindspot: Whenever there is a Groundhog’s Day episode I fully expect a death montage, but this episode was still entertaining enough.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I appreciate the Stay-Puff Marshmallow man reference. When they first said this new portal was a manifestation of their fears. It was the first thing I thought of. But for the big one hundredth episode, all they could get back was Deathlok? They even had Gemma play a LMD instead of getting Ada. That was kind of lame. But we did get the big reveal that Deke is Fitz-Simmons’s grandson(?). I put the question mark there because he does not seem to know who they are to him. So maybe great grandparents. But if that is the case, they really need to get started at making a family.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.