Showing posts with label 57 Channels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 57 Channels. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/23/16



Once Upon a Time: When the new teacher’s aide showed up talking about a princess from another land, I was really hoping this was going to be a Galavant crossover because that actress played a princess on the show. But alas, she turned out to be Princess Jasmine from Aladdin.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: It was a long time coming, but Fiona is really laying down the law. But I wonder which Gallaher moves out first. I have a feeling they will all move out and will be back together by the season finale. Also, Frank’s new family will actually be disbanded by the end of the season.

Masters of Sex: Oh no, as soon as the baby was delivered, I had a sinking suspicion something was wrong, then Barton told Dr. Masters to scrub up. Now we are likely to have a custody battle that I cannot see Betty even getting her day in court back in the seventies.

The Strain: Did the writers forget that Gus had an older brother? Or did I misremember things? But I am pretty sure he was played by Weevil Navarro.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Gotham: At the end, I actually thought for a moment the Penguin and the Riddler were going to kiss. Of course they have more chemistry than Batman and Catwoman who had an extremely awkward kiss themselves.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Supergirl: And here is why I feared the show getting demoted to The CW, they bring in Metallo and then turn him into a male stripper. What the frack? And what was with Hank hiding as a little girl. Speaking of Hank, what was with Superman outing everyone’s secret identity? At the DEO, he called Hank Jonn and Supergirl Kara.

Timeless: I hope it does not become a thing where episodes where history does not change become less interesting. Actually things changed last week and I was still disappointed that nothing dramatic happened in Lucy's home like in the first episode where her sister no longer existed and now has a fiancee. I kind of want something dramatic to happen every week.
You can download Timeless on iTunes.

Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X: Never a good sign when one of your tribemates have to ask, “Is he trying to throw this?” Even worse when the answer is probably no, he is just that incompetent. Poor David. But at least he was able to replenish his Idol after questionably giving his last one to Jessica. I actually thought he might actually lose it again on CeCe and that would have been at least defensible. Now he may be fourth in a four person tribe. Yeah he still has an Idol, but if his tribe loses two more Immunity Challenges before the merge that will not do him much good.
Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X on iTunes.

Monday, October 17, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/16/16



Once Upon a Time: I thought pulling out characters from a high school reading list was bad, but that may have been better than revisiting Cinderella’s origin story.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: So did none of the other Gallagher’s think to use a ladder to get to the second floor? Well I guess it was more entertaining to take a sledgehammer to the wall.

Masters of Sex: Interesting bit of quid pro quo with Virginia “admitting” that her agent took part in the survey and refused the second book because they did not include his data because he was too good in bed. And id Libby really going to hook up with the lawyer? Seems like a really bad match.

Supergirl: So the demotion to The CW means no more cave based DEO instead there is a new building base in city because… why not? Oh well, at least the show is still fun.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Timeless: To let Lincoln die or not to let Lincoln die, that is the question. Might as well save him because they already messed up the timeline. Maybe Lucy’s sister would have returned had they saved Abe. I thought maybe they would change the timeline because Lincoln’s son became obsessed with finding Lucy and never married the person he was supposed to marry and they just messed up the timeline. But nice twist where it turned out Lucy’s father is not really her father even though I was disappointed nothing changed, I was kind of hoping there would be something that changed every time they traveled back in time.
You can download Timeless on iTunes.

Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X: My main rule for the Hidden Immunity is never use it for someone else unless you can give it to someone in your alliance that will switch the numbers into your favor. At Tribal, I thought it was a bold move, but the more I think about it, I think it was the wrong move. Then the promo showed why it was a really dumb idea to give away your Idol because next week, Jeff says, “Drop your buffs.” So unless he is on the same tribe as CeCe and Jessica, dude will really want that Idol back.
Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X on iTunes

The Good Place: So Chidi and Tahanni are really soulmates, right? But does that make Eleanor and the monk soulmates and that was the mix up?
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.


Sunday, October 09, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/9/16



Once Upon a Time: Am I really going to dust off my high school reading list for this season? The Count of Monte Cisco? If they gang runs into the animals of Animal Farm, I may finally have to quit this show.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Fear the Walking Dead: Oh snap, Travis just totally went HAM on those people that killed his son. But Christopher should have known if they were so quick to kill their friend, they would do the same to him.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: C’mon Lester, how do you not know they you have to re-fog the window by breathing on it to get the phone number? But a weird “coat” party. Betty goes home with a gay do they stares at him lingering when he answers the phone. Is she going to use him to make her girlfriend jealous, or is she looking for an assistant of her own? Then it was a shame Libby and Bill did not stick around to take coats that could have had fireworks. Then pour Virginia’s assistant, almost a sad sack as Lester, but at least the latter got some.

The Strain: What exactly was Fet doing all day? He went into the tunnels at dawn but did not get to the nest until dusk while Ephraim was quickly able to get to the lair fairly quickly. And when he ran into Gus, they all seemed comfortable letting the hot chick and the crippled old man get to the surface alone.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Gotham: When Hugo Strange was creating new personas for the Indian Hills residents, I thought the Alice in Wonderland book was a Mad Hatter Easter egg. Turns out it was his sister. Who knew Mad Hatter had a sister? And for someone experimented on, she seems relatively even keel: she was able to get a job, was compassionate enough to torch the bar where she spilled her blood because she knows her blood is poison, and even saved James from her brother.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Timeless: I figured that when Lucy came back, her mother would be better, but oh my, they made her sister not exist because the Hindenburg did not crash when it was supposed to. I did find the Pilot entertaining, but the more I think about their time travel laws, the more it kind of bugs me. Okay, I get they cannot go back and try to get the Hindenburg to crash on schedule to avoid seeing themselves but why is that stopping three other people from going back in time? Or go back a day before leave a message for them and travel back?
You can download Timeless on iTunes.

Conviction: It is depressing that there was actually a person who watched this Pilot and thought, “yeah, I would rather have Haley Atwell star in this on my network instead of Agent Carter.” And then make her do an American accent… c’mon, she couldn’t be the Prime Minister’s rebellious daughter who emigrated to leave the watchful eye of her parents?
You can download Conviction on iTunes.

Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X: Survivor has become so predictable that even when something shocking happens, it is actually predictable. When Gen X lost, I thought, obviously CeCe is going home, then in th testimonial, one of the guys said, CeCe was the obvious vote, which then made me think, wait, that means CeCe is not going home. So of course when the old dude who, c’mon, is really Baby Boomer, got targeted, I knew it was going to be him. Meh.
Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X on iTunes

Blindplot: I never understand all the people who put their guns down to try to talk down a crazy person with a firearm. C’mon, stay put and let the fifteen year old empty her clip and then talk her down.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

The Blacklist: As a pretentious armchair television critic, I like to complain about procedurals, but I actually liked this show a lot better when they were taking down a new bad guy every episode instead spending all this time on Liz’s baby.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Saturday, October 01, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/1/2016





Once Upon a Time: So Emma is going to die? Alrighty. But who really care if we all now know you can escape from the afterworld? And wasn’t Aladdin part of the horrible spin-off? I vaguely remember it, but the only crossover was the one guy who was in the cast right after the show was canceled, did not do much besides flirt with Belle and quickly disappeared. I wonder if they will mention Wonderland with the addition of Aladdin.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: I thought they would drag out the new partners being secretly married for a while but Lester managed to out them pretty quickly. But the guy mentioning they have an open relationship should continue to make things interesting. Just who is going to hook up first? Virginia clearly need to find someone to help with her multiple orgasm study as the random guys she finds do not seem that interesting in her taking note. But Bill also seem like he is quick to want Virginia to be jealous.

Gotham: She may look much older but isn’t Ivy still a teenager at heart? She was pretty quick to kill that guy for not watering his plants. Now if only quick aging guy can age up the other kids on the show.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X: I said last week the dysfunction of the Millennial tribe was going to be the highlight of this season and their first appearance at tribal council did not disappoint. Although with all that chaos it ended up being a lopsided vote without any random votes. I hope they go on a losing streak because there will be weird things that go on if they keep going back I bet. Although I have to decry the promo monkey. C’mon, if you are going to tease a heart attack, dude cannot just turn out to be dehydrated.
Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X on iTunes

The Good Place: With a show featuring Veronica Mars and Sam Malone, who would have guessed a monk who took a vow of silence would steal the show? Also, I want a “Shirt for brain” t-shirt.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/25/16



Ray Donovan: It I weird watching the “previously on” montage and realized this whole season was based around Ray feeling sorry for a Russian prostitute he played Cat’s Cradle with. I actually thought last week that turning rat would be the only way out for Ray but of course he was able to get out from underneath the Russian mob without owing the FBI anything. I was hoping that Ray would be a rat and spend a little time in prison because the show may have been a little more interesting going forward if the series started out with hating his father so much he tried to kill him for being a rat only for him to do the same thing. Oh well.

Fear the Walking Dead: Did I miss something? The question of the past couple episodes was what happened to Ophelia and this week she is just on a road trip. How exactly did she get out of the hotel? The stairwell was pretty full of walkers when Alicia tried to leave that floor. So is she off to find her fiancée? Are we actually going to follow her or is something going to happen to her that she ends back at the hotel? Or is this the last we see of her?
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: So did approach her old therapist in hopes to get him to work with her or to get a free session? Or just to use him? Kind of a weird turn of events. Then her husband and her ended up not actually getting married (and decided this off screen) and now it looks like her daughter is leaving her too. Shame if you is gone for good because the daughter started out as one of the more interesting characters last season but did not really go anywhere with her. But hey, at least she has a new partner at the clinic and bizarrely is the husband(?) of Bill’s new co-worker. Interesting that Bill lied about his relationship with Virginia. I wonder if he was truthful their she would be truthful of her relationship.

The Strain: Being that we are just at the start of the season, I assumed the big worm that slithered away from the Master after being decapitated was the Master’s essence and he was not really dead. And that turned out to be the case and for some reason the Ancients knew this but did not bother to tell anyone to make sure the big old worm gets stepped on after you kill the host. So I guess the next question is who is the Master going to inhabit next. Nazi guy was very disappointed it was not him last time. Maybe he will be overlooked again and Eph’s wife will be the next in line. Though I think it would be better if the Master chose Eph’s son, that would be really twisted.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Gotham: Man, the Talon looked like he was wearing a Nightwing mask; I got a bit confused for a little bit. But not as confusing as the Koopa from the horrible live action Super Mario Bros. being in the beginning of the episode. And how actually did the Captain survive the attack from Azrael? Well, it is a comic book, I am sure this is not the last we see of Poison Ivy (mostly because of stupid casting spoilers that I for some reason still read even though I avoid all other spoilers).
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Lucifer: Speaking of casting spoilers, I knew going in Trisha Helfer was going to end up being Lucifer’s mom but Lucifer miss identifying his mom multiple times was still funny. And is his brother losing his powers. His time stop ended before he could get the blood (and yet managed to not be arrested) and then he had trouble floating things.
You can download Lucifer on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I am not sure if I am disappointed or relieved that Nick Cage is not reprising his roll at Ghost Rider. Probably the latter. I am definitely relived that Ward was not the Life Model Decoy. I figured it would be him or electro boy (except he got crossed off that list after appearing in the main cast credit during the Blindspot premiere. Instead we got a hot naked chick in a very humorous version of Ex-Machina type scene.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes

Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X: A Survivor first!!!! The first evacuation ever! But this begs the question, where exactly did they go? Probst said on Twitter that they took them to a quiet room all night, but just exactly where? Ponderosa? Did they have to leave the island completely? I think the best part of this season will be watching the Millennials be inept. Though I have to disagree with the worst shelter ever as they did not dig a hole in the beach which ended up being filled with water which happing during the first All Star season I believe. I really hope there is not an early tribe swap so no one comes and saves the younger tribe. Oh yeah, and the Legacy Advantage sounds stupid.
Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen. X on iTunes

Blindplot: How random was the phycologist hitting on Chrissy Seaver? Does he not remember what happened to her last boyfriend? But that was not the only personal storyline of the week as it turns out Kurt is going to be a father. At least his father set such a low bar he can just step over it.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: Much like Elliot, I fully believed Tyrell was in Elliot’s head since the moment when he got in the cab. Okay, unlike Elliot, I was not going to risk that theory against being shot. Poor Elliot, if only the cabbie had answered him when he asked the driver if he saw the guy sitting next to him (why the guy did not recognized the most wanted man in America is just something we will likely have to throw in the questions we will never get answered pile).

Almost as big a shock was we learned that the FBI has a whiteboard with Elliott and Tyrell in the middle. Much like the other big twits, there is a generous amount of poetic license because otherwise, why exactly would they have Elliot in prison for a lesser crime and not interrogate him then? Really the only reason to let him out is hoping he would leave you to Tyrell, except apparently no was tailing Elliot when he went to meet Tyrell. Hurumph.

And though I was bearish on this season, I got excited for a post credit scene after last year’s jaw dropper of White Rose dressed like a man in some sort of Illuminati club with the head of Evil Corp. It started out great (Kenny Rogers and Sheena singing Bob Seger!!!!!) but how disappointing the “big” reveal was Elliot’s prison buddy finding the F-Society lackeys who went on the lamb.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Notorious: I was not expecting much with this show but it somehow managed to go under my expectations. At least Julie Taylor trying to be a lawyer should be entertaining.
You can download Notorious on iTunes.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/18/2016




BrainDead: The one thing that defeated the bug people was shame because that is the one thing politicians do not feel? A little too much on the nose but still a pretty entertaining little show. Probably for the best there is no second season (aside from the lack of Ramona Flowers on my television every week) as this was a good enough end.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Ray Donovan: So Micky is some sort of ping pong savant? Who knew? I figured something had to go wrong; the bookie going out like Elvis was not what I was expecting. I figure Hector would end up not throwing the fight (which could very well still happen) or the stripper would steal the cash, or Micky would give it to her outright. But he ended up giving the markers to the Russian dude. The big twist was the FBI found the niece who spilled everything. Is Ray going to have to turn rat to get out from under this? What a horrible turn of events for him if that is the way he has to go. He spent the first season trying to kill his father and eventually turns into him.

The Strain: So the first season, the exposed the Muppet looking Master to sunlight and all he had to do was shed the body and moved into the rock star. Now they cut off the rock star’s head and the worm slinks to the sewers. Hurumph. Not that I expected them to actually kill the Master during the third episode of a season.
You can download The Strain on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: When they brought in the little girl at the Commodore 64 with the whip marks and asking Angela if she ever cried during sex, I figured this has to be her version of Elliot’s eighties television delusion and the little girl will actually be young Angela. Nope, that apparently really happened and was just White Rose testing Angela for some reason. Alrighty. But the bigger news was the return of Tyrell… maybe. Elliot was not sure if he was really there or not so us the audience is left to wonder the same. I leaning towards he is a delusion, the driver would not confirm there was another person in the car and this Tyrell certainly did not act like he did in the first season and looked not as irate as I would expect someone to act one when seeing the person who set him up to take the fall for the worst economic collapse ever.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Blindplot: After spending an entire season of is she or isn’t she Taylor Shaw only to be like, nope, in the season finale, it is interesting that in the second season premiere we got a definitive answer of who Jane really is and we get to meet her brother and her “mother” (that is not to say these people are not lying and that is the twist in this season’s finale). And was that a nuclear warhead at the end?
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/10/16




BrainDead: So you cannot kill the queen bug with a rolled up magazine. Oh no. Better stock up on some Raid. I wonder if the CIA guy was telling us the right story or if he was just misleading him as some devious plan with Red.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Fear the Walking Dead: So drunken mom and gay dude were able to escape being surrounded by zombies? Alrighty. And why do the writers on these walkers show love splitting everyone up all the time? We started out with three separate storylines, maybe four depending where the hot chick went off to. I guess she was probably hijacked by the wedding party because lost people on these shows never turn out to be dead. Well except for Carol’s kid.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: Ever since Joanna and Elliot first met, I thought she knew more than she let on (my working theory was Tyrell was also one of Elliot’s delusion and Joanna knew and did not want Elliot to know she knew). So when the last episode ended with Joanna driving up on Elliot I was expecting some Joanna shoe to drop. Hurumph. All she did was have Elliot hack the phone that may or may have not been given to her by Tyrell. Then we end (kind of) on another cliffhanger with two backs of heads approaching Angela after Elliot made out with her. I really could not make out who they are so it may not be someone we have met already. Then poor Dom, stuck in another Dark Army shootout. But who died? It will be quite convenient that Dom and Darla escape but the boyfriend target managed to die in the spray of bullets like (presumably) intended.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Tyrant: Penny Dreadful really perfected how to handle the last minute cancellation with a “The End” place card at the end of the episode. Instead Tyrant was canceled hours before the now season finale aired. I was always bearish on the show, but one thing I will say about the show is that it did have a radical shift every season, something no other show really have the gull to do. They exiled Barry to start off the second season and killed off Jamal to start the second, so there was always the hope the show would course correct, it just never manage to be as great as it wanted to be. So even though we did not get tto see how the show ended on its own term, it is apropos that it ended how it did because there are no end to these holy wars and so the wars in Abudian will wage in perpetuity just like they do in the real world and the titular character was not Jamal, or any of the Al-Fayad’s, but it is all of us.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Sunday, September 04, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/4/16



Ray Donovan: So the Russian gangster wanted to meet the movie star because he beat up a hundred Russians in a movie just to beat him up? That is some Kim Jong Il stuff. At least they killed off Lisa Bonet, that storyline went on way too long. Now just what exactly is Ray going to get from him that will satisfy the Russian? Is take a dive too obvious?

Roadies: Bad form by Taylor Swift not to show up to the memorial for her former tour manager. And Eddie Vedder can show up but not Mike McCreedy, I was hoping for a showdown between him and Machine Gun Kelly. Oh well, maybe in season two… if there is a season two. There used to be a joke, if you were on Showtime, you would run an automatic seven seasons. But recently they have been pretty trigger happy; they canceled all their comedies, including Happyish after one season. It was announced Penny Dreadful was canceled with a “The End” place card at the end of the third season finale. Last month Ray Donovan was renewed, but no word on this show. But Roadies did not have a “The End” before the credits so it seems like the show thinks there will be more when you end with Reg running back to Kelly-Anne (natch). I guess if there is a second season, the band will not actually split up and we will get an European tour. I kind of hope everyone gets hired by My Morning Jacket just so there is more Jim James.

BrainDead: Finally someone pointing out what is wrong with politics, both parties have been taken over by extremist who would rather burn down the government than compromise on anything. These politicians need to stop listening to the loudest people and start doing what is the best for everyone again.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

The Strain: When the premiere started up, I had to ask myself, did I actually like this show or have I been hatewatching it. As the episode progressed, I remembered it was kind of both. All the vampire stuff is scary but, goodness, these characters are morons and the kid is really annoying. It was more of the same with the new season especially with Gus and his mother. C’mon, how did he manage to get a straitjacket on her without getting bitten?

Pretty Little Liars: I am not sure what was more awkward, Spencer kissing the cop while collecting evidence at her house, or when she asked to kiss Toby one last time. But anyway. After the blood test we learn Noel was not Mary’s kid, that meant it had to be Jenna right? It certainly would make more sense she was Mary’s kid and AD than Charlotte being the original A. But nope, Mary Drake saved Spencer and told her she was her mother. Wait, what!?! Didn;tr we already have paternity issues with Spencer? So we learned Spencer’s father was not really her father, but instead Papa DiLarentas, but her mother is not even her mother too? Again, what!?!
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: So we got the backstory of Elliot going to prison and it was the Ashley Madison guy. I was hoping we would get more of Craig Robinson and how that went down in reality. So did he really just invite Elliot into his office, play chess, and as Elliot was leaving, the FBI stormed his office? Alrighty. But next week it looks like we are going to get what I have hoped for since late last season with Mrs. American Psycho going face to face with Elliot. I have thought since their first meeting she knows a lot more than she lets on, hopefully we will finally learn if that is true.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/28/16



Ray Donovan: There seems to be a pacing problem this season as they are having trouble balancing between the Russian storyline and the boxer. Two episode, Ray kills a Russian and I think, well the other Russians will not like that. Except it was not brought up once last week. Then finally someone found the body this week. And just as things started to get ramped up, they had to slip in a scene with the boxer and his crazy sister. But at least the Russian plot got interesting. Does Ray get the niece back to save Avi or sacrifice him? (Or a third option where both the niece and Avi are safe?)

Fear the Walking Dead: Has there ever been a more boring season premiere than this? I was actually rooting for the dogs.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

Roadies: Wait, does Machine Gun Kelly have suspenders tattooed on his body? Weird. But anyway. But man, did they really bring Phil back just to kill him? Should have stayed with Taylor Swift.

BrainDead: I do not care if it did not turn out to be true, Ramona Flowers has forever been tainted by having sex with Michael Moore. The dream nightmare sequence will forever be seared into my brain. And I thought the bug sex scene last week was the worst thing I would ever see on the show.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Murder in the First: I have talked about the rise of incest on television considering it is one of the last taboo left. But up to this point is has been brother-sister relationship, all of which have been creepy, but oh my goodness, did this show really do a consensual father-daughter relationship? Eww. Then there was Hildy talking about the time her brother got a bit handsy because telling her partner it was a line because saying she was a good liar. I am not sure if it was the writer’s intent, but I was left wondering if her I am a good liar line was about the story she told the pop star or telling her partner she was lying.
You can download Murder in the First on iTunes.

The Voice: I was not expecting much, but I had to bail quite early on the preview episode right around the time Miley Cyrus opened her mouth. The actual person who sang was not that much better though I did like they went straight to the singing, no super sappy background. I did check out the other person they featured who was a big giant meh. The first person picked Alicia and the second picked Miley so this was clearly a showcase on the new coaches not the talent. But that is ever increasing point of the show. Each episode used to end with the best season, but the last three of four seasons, it seems to end with mediocre singers at best but a lot of coach banter and fighting. But if that was the best person Miley got on her team it will be a long season and she will rival Shakira season six as the worst collection of talent on a team ever. Then I had to skip the coaches singing Dream On because I have no desire to hear anyone sing that song on this show other than Amanda Brown.

Pretty Little Liars: I was hoping Hanna would go Liam Neeson this week and after a pitiful attempt at drugging Noel, boom goes the dynomite at the end the episode with a baseball bat. Awesome. I cannot wait to see what goes wrong with the interrogation.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: Interesting they chose not to end the season like they started the series, at their father’s funeral, but I guess they ended the first season in a church so I guess they did not want to go back to that well. Instead we end with Valerie moving back in with her ex-husband. Alrighty, Hopefully the side piece did not get too comfortable, or pregnant, I thought they we going through fertility procedures. But really, for a show whose title would lead you to believe it is about casual sex, there was a lot of talk of death this season and relationships that are moving out of the “causal” category.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

Mr. Robot: And we are back to starting episodes with flashbacks that wink and nod but do not really mean much. So the Muslim chick and fat guy who spent most of a season and a half met in a coffee show, presumably owned by the same guy Elliot took down in the first episode, but not the one with his illegal operation, one with crappy wi-fi. Of course this begs the question, when is Elliot going to run into him in prison? Back in current time, Darla kills a chick… alrighty. So is her boy toy going to give her up as the person who took his gun? Instead, Dom pulls in the fat guy. But really, I think it is safe to assume that everyone can agree the best scene this week was Angela singing Everybody Wants to Rule the World even if it was a bit on the nose. Speaking of the karaoke bar, holy Duck Phillips sighting! He has to be tied into the story somehow, you do not bring in Duck Philips just to creepily hit on someone half his age just for one scene.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Tyrant: I thought we were going to have a repeat of the first season of Homeland where the suicide vest did not go off then… boom goes the dynamite. And now that Jamal is dead, it looks like Barry is slowly morphing from the voice of reason to the titular character.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/21/16



Ray Donovan: A couple weeks ago, Ray sang Bob Seger and this week he danced the Chihuahua, I am beginning to wonder if the actor did something to the writers to make him act the fool. Not that I am complaining, the main problem with the show is that it can get too serious, especially Ray, so this sillier moments make it much more enjoyable. And Connor, if you want to be taken serious, how about not playing dancing video games?

Roadies: Fun fact: I used to work at an amphitheater in college and Lynard Synard came to town, and no lie, played a forty-five minute set, obviously ending with Sweet Home Alabama. Then came back out for an encore which ended up being a forty-five minute version of Free Bird.

BrainDead: I am beginning to wonder if the show is running out of story and it is about tie to wrap things up. I really do not care if Laurel’s dad has bugs in his head.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Pretty Little Liars: So the doctor was a complete waste. Meh. Hopefully Hanna is going to go Liam Neeson to find Uber A next week.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: I spent the whole episode wondering what was going on with the dad, did I just imaging him being carted into his home by a ambulance, did I watch the episodes out of order? That storyline was much more interesting than anything that happened this week. At least it will make for an interesting finale.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

Mr. Robot: Fan theories are a fun way to talk about like Megan would be at the Manson murders because she wore a Shannon Tate shirt; but these wild fan theories never come to fruition. Well except Lost is purgatory, which kind of what the flashsideways were in the final season even though the writers swore the island was not. So when the theory of Eliot being in prison and delusionally thinking he was back living with his mother popped up on the internet, I filed it in the crazy, Sharon Tate type theories. Sure it was an interesting theory, Eliot having a very set routine because he was forced to, but there were too many holes. Craig Robinson really being a prison guard did not really jive, plus Eliot left the house and when to places other than the basketball court, which could be a prison court yard. He even was able to get his hands on drugs to make Mr. Robot disappear.

Except the wild theory was true, Eliot has been in prison this whole time. The big problem is they did this the first season with making it obvious that Mr. Robot was in Eliot’s head, then spent a couple episodes poking holes in that theory only to be, actually he is just in Elliot’s head! And what about Craig Robinson? Was he really an evil prison guard? Was he just in Elliot’s head? Were the Craig Robinson scenes a prequel to the season and him being nabbed by the FBI after chess is why he is in prison? Except we saw Eliot with Craig at the basketball game. If not because of Craig, why is Elliot in prison? It seems it is not because of the Evil Corp hack because the FBI is still looking. Did the Ashley Madison guy get him. I am confused. I miss Alf.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/14/16



Ray Donovan: This show would be much better if Cochran and Ray were forced to team up every week. Can’t Cochran become the new Ezra?

Roadies: Not since the over choreographed scene with KellyAnne running back to the band at the end of the Pilot has anything been so obvious that KellyAnne would end up getting the perfect picture after be denigrated by her idol. Okay, it was also pretty obvious that Phil find his way back to the tour considering Ron White was in the title credits this whole time. Still I find the show very enjoyably, it is kind of like a cozy but tattered blanket reminding me of a time when shows used to be fun before The Sopranos came along and most shows had to be super serious ever since.

BrainDead: As silly as Laurel almost being subjected to enhanced interrogation (granted as not likely that scenario is in present day, I can see that playing out exactly that way in a potential Trump presidency), it did make for a good scene with the bug people inadvertently voting against the torture.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Pretty Little Liars: So Charles had a sibling that is the Liars’ age. They seem to heavily pushing Noel so that probably means it is not him. Sara is blonde and has the look, but she just died (or so we are led to believe, it would not be the first time someone came back from the dead). It is ethnically impossible (not that it has stopped the writers before, Charles turned out being a chick who dated her brother and significantly younger than they led us to believe) but I am rooting for Mona. But I am guessing it will end up being Jenna.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: What was up with the ending? Is our health system so messed up that we are talking people back to their homes when they run out of money?
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

Mr. Robot: I am beginning to think the writers are just trolling us now. And I thought the two straight weeks where they started with a flashback was unnecessary, this week we got a full twenty minutes of Elliot stuck in a cheesy nineties sitcom (I think Married with Children did that very episode) complete with Alf. Alf! Alf killing Gideon!! Again!!! How could anyone possibly take the rest of the episode serious after that (um, I think Angela got hit on with a really bad pick up line)? But hey, at least they worked in an Up All Night reference because, c’mon, does anyone remember anything about USA in the nineties other than Up All Night? I guess we did get one thing out of that, it seemed pretty clear that Mr. Robot admitted to killing Tyrell. Sure you cannot truly believe a delusion, but he did admit to it.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Sunday, August 07, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 8/7/16


MTV Classic: A couple years ago VH1, in honor of MTV’s anniversary they devoted an entire weekend to the channel’s history with classic episodes of its shows and a couple documentaries. It was a great watch and made me think that is what VH1 Classic should be. And how about running full episodes of Yo! MTV Raps, Headbangers Ball, and 120 Minutes instead of random blocks of music videos in the morning. But then VH1 Classic went back to its rock heavy schedule and random movies that have nothing to do with music after the weekend was over.

So I got slightly excited when I heard they were rebranding VH1 Classic as MTV Classic bringing back classic shows from the channel’s history. The lauch started off well enough with an Unplugged marathon but I have been less than enthused since. Sure they show the occasional Beavis and Butt-Head, but so far they have been all episodes from the recent reboot and none from the nineties. And is any one setting their DVR for midnight airings of Run’s House? C’mon, where is Remote Control. And still no one is taking my advice to show genre specif shows in their entirety, instead we are still getting random videos in the morning. Really not the best start when the first one I saw was Vertical Horizon’s Everything You Want. Even worse, the first time I came across Yo! Hip Hop Hits, they were showing a video by Xscape, a fifth rate nineties girl group (featuring the future Mrs. T.I.) who are neither hip hop nor classic. Le sigh.

Ray Donovan: Did we really need to start off the episode with some dude pleasuring himself to a chick playing Cat’s Cradle? And just when you thought that was gong to be the most graphic part of the episode, a minute later we get to watch s full body cavity search. And then a couple minutes after that Conner pulls out some lubricant? Then after everything he went through with the Russians to get Belikov out of jail, he kills him over the Cat’s Cradle chick. That is probably not going to go over well.

Preacher: What the frack was that? Was that meant to not be coherent and meant to be a complete mess? How does an episode like that even make it to air?
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Roadies: In the beginning I thought it was a wise choice to keep the band in the background and focus on the titular characters (and definitely we should never hear any of their songs because the worst part of these scripted music shows is they are supposed to be superstars but their songs are mediocre at best), but after Janine went HAM on the lead singer, the band instantly became extremely interesting. I actually want to see more of Janine as she writes her tell all and Chris’s reaction to all the revelations. And just how does Bill not get fired for sleeping with the lead singer’s girlfriend even if I took place a decade or so ago?

The John Mellencamp cameo made me wonder just where do some of these celebrity cameo stories come from. Did Cameron Crowe ask them for the personal stories like the one about the hundred year old grandmother that could fit in the show? Are they strictly written for the show? Are they stories Crowe has heard and asked the celebrities if he can use it on the show?

BrainDead: I figured Laurel would find a way to get the bugs out of her head before they push out half her brain, but I thought she would simply go to the refrigerator and put some bacon on her ear. Instead we got maybe the most entertaining segment on television this year.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Pretty Little Liars: Seriously promo monkeys, we are already to the countdown portaon of the season. I get annoyed with the “one more episode until the (insert hyperbolic adverb here) finale” promo but four more episodes is a bit much. Sad thing is, that is most of what I remember from this episode. Um, Alison got attacked by someone and it turned out to not be her dead fiancée who is still in the ground. It probably was not Sara who ended up dead. Um, evil(er) twin maybe?
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Mr. Robot: Well at least we did not start with a cute flashback this week. And good news for anyone who was wondering what Angela’s douchebag ex-boyfriend was up to. Otherwise, meh.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Tyrant: Oh hey Barry, you are really doing that days after your daughter died and hours after your wife checked herself into a mental institution? Cold.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: What a horrible ending to a horrible season. What a completely douche thing to do even by Johnny Banana’s standards. At least he cannot possibly get another invitation back after that and even so, how is he not sent into whatever they are calling the elimination round every time? What is worse was the whole point thing was kind of shady; I never really got the standing on the log checkpoint, and making things worse it was worth two points. Why not just stay on the log and refuse to leave?
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

2016 Rio Olympics Opening Ceremonies: Not a very good sign for these games that I fell asleep somewhere around the M’s during the parade of nations. I am ready to call it the worse opening ceremonies of my lifetime. I know Pele was sick, but how was the biggest name at the ceremony Giselle? Was there really no one more important from Brazil? I was ready for Camilla from The Challenge or Abi-Maria from Survivor to pop up.

Sunday, July 31, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/31/16



Ray Donovan: So after half the season dedicated to this casino heist, it ends with the owner with his money back, does not even bother to press charges (presumably to get the insurance money and the original money) and Ray does not even need that money to bribe the FBI guy to blackmail the other guy because Micky is going to turn himself in. But hey, at least we got to hear Ray sing Bob Seger. We dd get some set up of two storylines that will likely end disastrously: apparently Bunchy is now a single father and Connor was able to break into the gun safe. Checkov would have us believe that gun will go off sometime in the third act, the question now is who is he going to shoot?

Roadies: So Janine is the chick from The Civil Wars. Alrighty. Though she was actually competent as the girl next door that got away. But is she really going to hook up with Reg. Or as importantly, is Reg going to hook up with the girl who broke his boss’ heart? Well, if it ends the will they or won’t they storyline with KellyAnne, I would be happy.

BrainDead: Oh no, Ramona Flowers better not be taken over by the bugs. Hopefully she is able to get to her bacon before they push out her brain or Gustav arrives in time. But c’mon Ramona, you throw out all the stuff he brought but did not throw his flowers at him?
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Casual: Oh, hey, Leon, I forgot you even existed. Where has he been, he was the best part of the first season. He should have gotten the C-storyline; it probably would have been more interesting than the teen cancer one. Then you have Pete Campbell as vindictive as ever, lowballing Alex for his company. But since there is still four episodes left, I am guessing Alex will be fighting this even though his partner may take the money and run.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

Mr. Robot: So we are just going to get a flashback at the start of every episode? Meh. At least this was a bit more informative than last week’s F(un) Society origin. I guess we saw the start of Mr. Robot and where the masks came from. There was also the return of White Rose as him and Evil Corp guy talk about there still as unknown Illuminati plot on society. But still I am still a little down on this season. Hopefully now that Elliot is back to hacking, things will pick up.
You can download Mr. Robot on iTunes.

Tyrant: And I thought Jamal not coming back to life would be the most shocking part of the episode, nope his son actually being Barry ended up being more shocking. Sure they had to do some retconning by saying Jamal had low sperm, oh his other son (who died two episodes ago without much of a mention) was not really his son either.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: So after a whole season, we are left with Johnny Bananas, his cousin, and a team that was booted the very first week, but since so many teams left prematurely, were brought back, were sent into the jungle over half the time and managed to not pull the black skull once. How anticlimactic. At least they goosed the finale with a twist where you can screw over your rival and take all the money. At first I thought you have to split the cash otherwise you are the first one out in future Challenges, but if you are Sarah and you are ready to go to grad school and pop out some babies, you might as well take the money and run. Plus that would be funny if she screwed over Johnny Bananas twice in consecutive seasons.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/24/16



Ray Donovan: Welcome back FBI guy (although it was a little silly Ray got the epiphany to see him after seeing a chick in a “Federal Boobie Inspector” t-shirt), he and Micky’s parole officer are the best character on the show. I was actually thinking when he told Ray that he looks like a Bob Seger guy, how disappointing that we will not get to see Ray pretend to be a member of The Silver Bullet Band. Yet somehow FBI guy actually got Ray to do it. I wonder if Showtime asked for this so there would be some synergy with Roadies. That song got the asking price down three million, but apparently Ray does not have two million lying around (um, whatever happened to his buy a football team money?) and will look to get that Horseshoe money with Micky. Whenever those two work together, things never go well. Actually Ray needs that money because of killing all the Armenians for Micky.

Preacher: The hell is not as far as you think comment was really deep, too bad they muddled it by making Eugene turning out to be fake.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Roadies: Did someone already say the C-word on the bus before because the tour already seemed pretty cured up to now. The one guy fired everyone including Phil who seemed to be the lifeblood of the tour (bu hey, he got to go to space with Taylor Swift), they are on their third opening act (does My Morning Jacket count as the fourth or was Jim James just a stowaway), oh and this week the bassist went MIA with the band’s groupie. But I wonder if The Who cast is to explain the inevitable hookup of KellyAnn and the money guy. No way that is really happening without some devilish curse pushing them together.

Pretty Little Liars: Ugg, Ezra proposed to Aria? Still creepy after all these year. Hopefully Ezra’s not so deas fiancé comes back and ruins that relationship one more time.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: I said last week the workplace would be weird if Pete Campbell found out about Alex and his fiancé and it is worse than weird, Pete Campbell plans to burn the company to the ground. Oops. And of course Alex then hooks up with her again, and it kind of looks like she is moving in as he brought a lot of luggage.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

Mr. Robot: Fun Society? Alrighty. I fear we may be getting into Lost-ian territory of silly backstory told in way too cute of a way (the concrete scene was a bit much too). But it is hard out there for secondary characters from the first season, All Safe dude last week, hacker guy this week. I fear for the job security of Gloria Rubin. But the other hackers think it may be the Chinese. My first thought was Tyrell. Mr. Robot also crossed my mind as well as E-Corp who would rather dispense their own brand of justice than let the Feds deal with it.

Tyrant: What the frack? Why did they have and go kill off the hot chick? Sure her character was worthless but, um, yeah, oh well. And did they really kill Jamal too? Sure he was flat lining but that does not stop some people from coming back to life. I know this is a third world country, but he is a former president, so where were the doctors when he started to flat line? Still this guy survived driving off a cliff and being show at point blank range, certainly he can survive a pillow.
You can download Tyrant on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: Finally, a silly challenge harkening back to the early days and not some everyone takes turns to do something short and boring. The Jungle should have been better too except no one got dirty. How do you not pull a leg as they are going by?
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Sunday, July 10, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/10/16




Preacher: I have been pretty ambivalent to the show but I did laugh more than once at the respawning angels. And about the ending, are we ever going to see Eugene again? I guess this is the type of show where people could escape Hell so I would not be that surprised. I wonder if doing harm accidentally via Genesis will make Jessie more inclined to let go of it. Okay, no need to wonder, there is no show without it in him.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Roadies: It was clear by showing up and sitting next to fake Lindsey Buckingham on Saturday Night Live that the real Lindsey Buckingham had a sense of humor, but who really knew just how funny he was? Just the reaction shot of him with Rainn Wilson were great. Speaking of whom, I wonder if Rainn’s character was based on anyone in particular and this was Cameron Crowe’s revenge against some bad reviews.

Pretty Little Liars: Oh yeah, I completely forgot the season started with the Liars burying someone (they made it seem like Hannah who was absent from the scene) or what I thought was something because, c’mon, they definitely would not bury Hannah in the middle of the woods, or as I thought then, anyone else. Oops, got that one wrong. They actually ran over Ally’s husband. Poor Hannah, she is really having a bad week, she is the one that gets captured by Uber A and then she is the one behind the wheel during the hit and run with the deceased literally starring at her with his head through the windshield.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: Just two episodes ago I mentioned how this season was about casual friendships and not casual hook up, and this week all three main characters hooked up with someone. And what world do we live in when a man cannot hook p with his business partner’s secretary and not have to get lawyers involved? That seemed to be a prerequisite at Sterling Cooper (and sometimes Draper Price). Pete Campbell even impregnated one. The guy even spearheaded the pimping of Joan out to that fat slob to secure his business for the firm. Man, someone really need to punch Pete on this show.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

The Challenge: Rivals III: No. No, no, no, no, no. You can feed me all the cow balls you want, you can make be grind on a block of ice, I will even be worn as a backpack by CT and thrown into a trash can, but you are not getting me in a box and burying me alive. Nope. But I did like the trivia (though I would rather there be a history trivia or a spelling bee), it was kind of like on Survivor when they have those late stage season challenges where people realize just where they sit in their alliance. The course of a couple season changed by people realizing they are on the bottom and flipping for a better position.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Aquarius: I watch this how for its stupidity (c’mon, Mulder was the guy who suggested Bobby Kenedy go through the kitchen where he is assassinated and the gay Republican who had the hots for him just happened to be there and of course so was Charlie Manson) but you juxtaposed Manson trying to start a race war and what is going on today with people trying to race bait juts made me uneasy.
You can download Aquarius on iTunes.


Sunday, July 03, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 7/3/16



BrainDead: I am not sure how practical red solo cups duct taped over your ears are and it may have been wise to set the trap, leave, and check them later, but it made for one funny sight gag. But does that ending mean the aliens invaded the cat too? Aren’t cats evil enough that they do not need to be taken over by aliens?
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Pretty Little Liars: Finally someone is calling out the Aria/Ezra relationship as really creepy. Though I fear Aria will be able to talk her ex-boyfriend into the idea.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: I knew it, one of the friends would try to become more than friends. Though I missed what went on with Alex’s dad. They made it seem like the dad told Alex the ex-girlfriend was committed when she just moved away. But then she stole the lightbulbs first?
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

The Challenge: Rivals III: I am shocked that every team but one was able to finish that challenge. I did a Cancer Walk that I was actually prepared for and still could not function for a week afterwards. And what is with that ball during The Jungle? The thing got dented really early. How is well above average soccer player Wes (insert eye roll here) supposed to show off his skills with a ball that is concaved?
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Aquarius: The chick with the historically bad accent has always been the best part of the show, but her pretending to be a cop pretending to be an anti-war activist is just awesomely bad. Almost make up for the unnecessary flashforwards of an event we all know is coming anyway.
You can download Aquarius on iTunes.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/25/16



Penny Dreadful: What is going on over at Showtime. About a month ago they announced House of Lies was ending with just episodes to go in the season. Then they announce the end of Penny Dreadful by added a “The End” title card to the end of the season finale, adding a press release saying yes this is the end the next day. Add that to the recent announcement of its flagship show Homeland will not be airing in its normal fall slot, instead being delayed to winter. I actually do like the surprise “The End” title card because sometime the anticipation of the final couple episodes of a series can really drag on the enjoyment of the show as you spend too much time worrying if the show will stick the landing.

Of course when the show ends, you still are left to decide if the show did stick the landing. The death of Vanessa did bring things full circle and it was probably for the best to put her out of her suffering. Same with Frankenstein’s monster who realized that it is for the best for everyone to let someone stay dead, no matter how much you loved them. Other storylines just kind of fell flat. Dorian was always the weakest link on the show and never really fit. Then I spent most of the season waiting for Mr. Hyde to show up, instead all we got was Lord Hyde who does not seem all that different from Dr. Jekyll. I guess you can say metaphorically that Lily was the split personally, or even Vanessa. But in the end it is probably the right call to just end the show here, it was enjoyable while it lasted but it was never going to be great. I will just be slightly disappointed the show did not last long enough to introduce the Invisible Man.

BrainDead: What a bizarre way to do a “previously On” package. I would expect it from a show like Galavant, but I wonder what possessed the writers on this show to do a musical recap about alien brain bugs and exploding heads. And I am not sure if it really exists, but sadly I can totally believe that there actually is a “Tax Prom” every year. But my big complaint with this show is I really do not understand what is going on with the aliens. Are half conservative and half liberal and just happen to inhabit different brains to continue their partisan war? Do they take on the traits of the brains they inhabit and just amplify those ideas? And why do some brains explode?
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Pretty Little Liars: There are few things I hate more than the “x amount of time earlier” title card at the end of the first scene of an episode. The only thing that is worse is when they do even resolve that scene until later in that season. So we start off the season with the Liars sans Hannah burying someone (or something, I am not entirely sold on them burying a dead body). The title card only said four days ago so hopefully we do not have to wait the whole season to get there.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Casual: It only took four episodes, but I finally see what they are doing. The first season was all about casual romantic relationships and this season is all about casual friendships. Valerie has her work neighbor, Laura has her study group buddy, and Ale, well, he still has the British dude. But now that I realized that, I have to start wondering at which point do any of the friends try to make a romantic move?
A lot was made at all the women Don Draper bedded, but if we are talking quality over quantity, Pete Campbell had Don beat hands down: Alison Brie, Sarah Wright, Alexis Bledel, Jessy Schram. So I was expecting bit more with his finance on this show. Granted if she ended up stealing all of Alex’s lightbulbs later in this season, her stock will rise greatly. And if I were the Asian chick, I would be a bit offended by being called Bill Wennington. C’mon, at least give her Horace Grant.
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

The Challenge: Rivals III: Wow, that was cheap. Vince actually throws punches and gets off with a warning, Tony hovers over his parter and gets tossed. That is like in baseball where a pitcher throws at a dudes head as hard as he can, both teams gets a warning, then a couple innings later some middling reliever drills someone between the shoulder blades with a sixty mile per hour retaliation pitch and gets the boot. To add insult to injury, it was even Vince who basically instigated the whole thing by knocking Camilla to the ground making her go full drunken Brazilian mode leading to Vince and Johnny to wake up the blacked out Tony. Karma should dictate Vince should automatically go to the Junglee. And with a memory challenge, he may very well depending how attentive Jenna is.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Aquarius: Not a good sign for the second week in a row I fell asleep while watching. I did wake up in time to see the chick with the bad accent turn on the creepy biker dude. Worse sign, I did not even bother to look up a recap to see what I missed.
You can download Aquarius on iTunes.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On:




House of Lies: I hate when episode start in the third act before a “x amount of time earlier” title card, this was weird because we did not get just one scene in the future before flashing back to the beginning, we got five (and really the whole episode just jumped back and forth in time), but at least that was worth it for adding Doug making out with the old lady at the end. I guess it was good the show ended because I am not sure a season with Marty and Jeannie blissfully married. But still a weird way to end it. Before the season Kristen Bell was cast in an NBC sitcom but they said it would not interfere with House of Lies. Which makes sense, ten episode of one show, thirteen of another; some sitcoms air twenty-four episodes a year. Except when the Veronica Mars movie was being made there was talk of a television reboot but they said that could not be done because Kristen Bell could not be the face of two shows at the same time. But then David Duchovny did it with X-Files and Aquarius so maybe in that time people were lax on that. But then two weeks before the finale, Showtime announced it would be a series finale, not season. Has Showtime just decided to get out of the half-hour business? Happyish was a rare one and done on a premium network. House of Lies is now done; Episode only has one season left. So that leaves Dice as only half hour on the air that has not been canceled. Except that has not been renewed either, and not getting a renewal a month after the season ended is not a good sign. And I am not aware of any new comedies in the pipeline. Not that I am complaining, Showtime’s drama are much better. House of Lie is the best I have seen on the network and it is not in the top five all all shows.

Preacher: Being able to get people to do whatever you say in the most literal way has to be one of the lames superpowers to have. That may take a while for Preacher to master in his advantage. Okay, the scene with the Irish Vampire was fun.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: When shows like Lost were on I obsessed on every little detail, noticed every callback, every Easter egg, just straight off the dome. Fast forward a decade and I do not even notice that museum guy and Dracula was the same guy. Getting old really sucks. At the start of the episode when museum guy lifted up the vampire I thought, oh, I wonder what Victorian monster this guy could be. It was not until it donned on Vanessa that she was hooking up with Dracula the whole time that the lightbulb slowly flickered over my head too. But what exactly does that ending mean? Dracula want to serve Vanessa but it was still him that drank her blood. Does that mean she is a vampire now too? The hot Mr. Lyle replacement said not to believe the mythology behind Dracula, so maybe not. She definitely turned evil. But we did learn from her phycologist that she has at least three distinct personalities so there is probably still a good version or two in there.

Speaking of split personalities, Lily may be getting one soon after Dorian turned on her to team up with Dr. Frankenstein and will soon get injected with Dr. Jekyll’s formula. I have been waiting all season for Dr. Jekyll to turn into Mr. Hyde, maybe it will be Lily who turns into Mr. Hyde. Well that theory does really work because Mr. Hyde is a hideous, evil creature without compassion or remorse and, well, Lily is already there.

BrainDead: Man, this show got killed by critics (and in the ratings) but I really enjoyed the whole sixties B-movie with modern day production feel to it. It is more enjoyable than the other Ramona Flowers show that aired earlier this year.
You can download BrainDead on Amazon Instant Video, free with a Prime membership.

Casual: Nice to see Pete Campbell is still an intolerable douchebag. Here is hoping someone on this show punches him too. And here we are in the third episode and Laura is on her third learning environment. During the meet and greet, right around the “good job” discussion (speaking of intolerable people) I thought she might be on a fourth one next episode but looks like she may actually be sticking around for a while. And apparently Alex’s phase three phase is officially over after bedding one of the annoying mother. Is he back to phase one or is there a phase four?
You can watch Casual on Hulu.

The Challenge: Rivals III: For years I have been advocating that Survivor poach The Challenge challenge makers. But maybe The Challenge challenge makers have finally run out of ideas because almost all of them this season have been horrible and this week’s grab a flag going off the cliff challenge may have been the worst yet. Then they stole that build something until it reaches a certain height Jungle challenge from Survivor, albeit adding a silly ice cooler bath component to it.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Aquarius: I spent most of last season talking about what was happening behind the scenes than what was actually happening on screen. And that is continuing for the surprise second season. No binge watch option like season one where NBC released every episode On Demand after the premiere, but instead this year we get a two hour commercial free premiere. When they announced this I thought we would get two extended episodes. But when the credits ran I noticed writers and directors for “part 3.” So instead of two extended episodes, the two hour premiere was three shortened episodes (though not by much, most hour longs run forty-two minutes so we basically got two minutes less than usual). Did this stunt work? I cannot see how it possibly could. When Angie Tribeca ran its commercial free marathon, it still had a “presenting sponsor,” Aquarius did not even have that. On a personal level it was pretty much a failure because I found myself nodding off about halfway through. But I vaguely remember Denis Wilson showing up. And guess the people that are killed in the future are the Sharon Tate murders. Meh.
You can download Aquarius on iTunes.

Orphan Black: So before season finale we learned next season will be the last raising the bar for the episode. The big reveal is that Rachel will soon meet the person behind everything that apparently is too good for dying and has been around for over a hundred years. So have we met this person yet or is going to be someone new. My first thought was Leekie, or more specifically someone who looks like him, we really cannot rule out the big bad being a clone themselves. Or will it look like Sarah and the rest of the clones that we already know and this person is the real original clone?
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/11/16




House of Lies: This show was the first US production to film in Cuba since they lifted the embargo and, well, it kind of looks like every Central / South American setting.

Preacher: So the Irish dude is a vampire, the way he devoured the cow I though he was going to be something more demonic. Though there is still some question of what is up with the Preacher, something inhabited him last week and clearly he thinks he now has some power of persuasion telling the girl to wake up at the end, except we have to wait a week to find out if she does.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful: Oh man, why are they getting rid of Mr. Lyle? He was the most entertaining part of the show. But of course since this is television they replaced him with a younger hotter model. But I guess they also needed to replace the hot demon chick even though you would think a witch could survive a simple gunshot wound. I guess this helps put Ethan back on the good side (he did walk away from his father instead of killing him). And now the gang can get back together just in to help Vanessa battle Dracula. But what a weird scene with Vanessa telling the museum guy there is some ancient evil trying to take her soul and not only does not run, goes on a monologue about the vampire bat before having sex with her. How long until he dies or at least getting under Dracula’s spell? I give I two episodes.

The Americans: So this is the closest Spy Philip has been to FBI Agent Stan since that time Elizabeth got caught back in I think season two being at the same park at the same time. But now that they have officially announce an end date after two more season I am just going to assume the Jennings are never going to be caught. Now my big question is when in the eighties will the show end? The season finale took place in January 1984. I was kind of surprised when I looked up the date of the Oakland-Washington Super Bowl because it seemed like it should be later. I thought the premiere took place during the Reagan inauguration which means only three years have elapsed in four seasons. If the Jennings did not get caught, I was hoping the series would at least last until at least the fall of communism but the fall of the Berlin Wall is five years and a half away and eight year until the end of The Soviet Union. So unless there is a sizable time jump we will not get there.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: Really, another episode where no one was sent home. So what are we up to, the sixth episode and only one team has sent home via the Jungle and actually stayed away. Except since another team went home voluntarily, will Jessica and Johnny replace them next week? And I kind of have to side with Camilla on the whole token scandal. It is Christina’s responsibility to keep track of her token and should not just be throwing it around willy nilly. How hard is it to tuck it in your sports bra so it does not get lost like I saw many people do? Now I was too lazy to go back and re-watch it, but if it was a situation where the tokens were color coded to the teams, then I can see disqualifying Camellia if she picked up, say, Christina’s blue token when her teams were red. But of course all that drama did not matter because another dude when home because of his girlfriend (at least this time was noble as she was entering the emergency room) and of course Nany and Wes did not draw a black skull.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Orphan Black: Welcome back Helena. Way to spray your clone with copious amount of blood. Speaking of welcome back, holy Delphine sighting. That was so unexpected, during that final scene I originally thought it was Felix; sister until they kept talking about Delphine during the “next time on” package.
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.

Sunday, June 05, 2016

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 6/5/16




House of Lies: Oh Jennie, why re you making out with the fourth member out of four of a boy band? At least hold out for the second banana. I was going to laugh at the mayoral candidate getting in a fight with that boy bander, but it reminds me too much of what Donald Trump is capable of. You know Trump would punch the fourth banana from One Direction. And his poll numbers would go up.

Preacher: With the proliferation of comic book adaptations and the limited amount of competent actors, it is only a matter time because everyone starts being in two or more properties; heck, despite being a much maligned franchise Fantastic Four’s Johnny Storm has found his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe twice (Chris Evans as Captain America and Michael B. Jordan in an undisclosed role in the upcoming Black Panther standalone). I wish there were some nineties east-coast / west coast rap level of loyalty when it comes to the two big comic book companies, but alas here we have Howard Stark in the DC property (granted a DC imprint Vertigo which I do not believe is tied into the DC Universe; not that the television shows and movies are connected unless you want to believe they are all art of the multi-verse). The lady who plays Tulip was even on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I really did not know much about the comic the show was based on but the premiere was mostly enjoyable but suffered a little from overhype (seriously writers of the world, can we please stop with the “best pilot ever” tag, I think most people are smart enough to realize you say that just in the hopes of getting your name in the promo). The star of the episode had to be the Irish dude (though honorable mention to the homemade bazooka); what is up with that dude? I am tempted to go to the comic wiki page. Dude jumps out of a plane with nothing but an umbrella (an a bottle of wine) but The Penguin he is not as he splats on the ground with his intestines all out then gets back together by depowering a cow. Yep this should be a fun summer show.
You can download Preacher on iTunes.

Penny Dreadful Last week we spent the entire episode with Vanessa in the loony bin learning how she met Dracula and this week we (pretty much) spent the whole episode with Ethan (okay we got a couple scenes with Dr. Jekyll but really until Mr. Hyde shows up, those scene are inconsequential). And the two episodes were very glaring, I kind of got bored last week, but the Ethan backstory was fascinating and well put together. My one complaint was I just knew right when his father drew his gun, that the episode was going to end on that cliffhanger. Crap. Now we have to wait a week to see if Ethan embraces the dark side or the light. Okay, daddy’s gotta die. Right?

The Americans: So the FBI are inkling closer to the Russian scientist (thanks to the promo monkeys for letting us know how that turns out) so we have one week to see if this is the time when the Jennings actually get caught by the FBI or maybe the scientist dies before he can talk. But what I found interesting was Oleg taking about the Challenger. Are the writers going to suggest the Russians had something to do with that?
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals III: So here we are in the fourth week and only two teams were sent home from the jungle. Well actually only one went home because the first team came back for no apparently reason. If you were going to do that, how about have the loser of this Jungle battle the returning team to see who gets back in the game? I would have much rather have Jessica and Johnny back than the other team whose only memory I have of is remember writing I have no idea these people were in this game when they were eliminated the first time.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals III on iTunes.

Orphan Black: Can the next NBC live musical please be Jesus Christ Superstar starring Tatiana Maslany? Or even better Maslany as Alison Hendrix playing Judas?
You can download Orphan Black on iTunes.


We have reached that time of the year where most of the spring shows have ended (there are one more Americans, two more House of Lies ever after tonight, two more of Orphan Black, and four more of Penny Dreadful) and summer shows are slowly trickle out. Actually looking like it will be a very slow summer, it seems like everything is airing at 10:00 on either Wednesday or Sunday, but not much else. Maybe some of the new shows that really have not grabbed my attention with lackluster trailers (Animal Kingdom, Good Behavior, Queen of the South) will end up being this year’s Mr. Robot which had a meh trailer but ended up being great (TNT which airs those first two is in definitely need of a hit as it has launched a critical or commercial hit since maybe Falling Skies; and that show is not on the air anymore). Here is what I will be watching while trying to avoid allergens outside over the next couple months.

Mondays
9:00 - Angie Tribeca (TBS, June 6)
10:00 – BrainDead (CBS, June 13)

Tuesdays
Casual (Hulu, June 7)
8:00 – Pretty Little Liars (Freeform, June 21)
10:00 – Wrecked (TBS, June 14)

Wednesdays
10:00 – The Challenge Rivals III (MTV, already started)
10:00 – Royal Pains (USA, already started)
10:00 – Tyrant (FX, July 6)
10:00 – Mr. Robot (USA, July 13)
10:00 – You’re the Worst (FXX, August 31)

Thursdays
10:00 - Aquarius (NBC, June 16)
10:00 - Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll (FX, June 30)

Sundays

9:00 – The Last Ship (TNT, June 12)
9:00 – Ray Donovan (Showtime, June 25)
10:00 - Preacher (AMC, already started)
10:00 - Murder in the First (TNT, June 19)
10:00 – Roadies (Showtime, June 25)
10:00 - The Strain (FX, August 28)