57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 14: 2024

  

Percy Jackson and the Olympians:   I typically only subscribed to Disney whenever a Marvel and/or Star Wars show was on, but I am now getting it for free so I was able to catch up on this show.  I never read the books, but saw the movie.  It seems like they are taking 10-15 minute scenes from the movie and turning them into 35-45 minute episodes, just with actual children instead of casting adults to play teenagers.  This show really could have used some Daddario because the kids are kind of annoying, especially the titular character.  At least some of the Gods are fun.  Jason Mantzoukus as Dionysus is one of the most inspired casting choices.  Professional wrestler Edge as Ares is another on the nose casting choice that worked.  Shame they did not get Daddario to be Medusa.  Oh well.

 

La Brea:  So Eve was lost to time last season (how gullible do you have to be to believe she just happened to still be in the same time being held by whoever those evil people are), Josh and Riley are also in some TBD time (why were they so certain they are going to a place with a hospital) and Ty somehow warped to two weeks before the show began.  What a wild start.

 

Fargo:  YMCA as the soundtrack to the militia rounding up certainly was an inspired choice.  But I do wonder how the weirdo was able to enter the farm undetected with another person, but Dot, whom I have to assume knows the farm, could not sneak out undetected.

 

The Challenge: Battle for a New Challenge:  Can we just end Chaos already?  It has been a full month since anyone went home.  We at still have at least CT left for the Champs.  It seems like a safe bet he is going to choose "Chaos" get revenge on the time Jay sent him home.  For Jay's sake, hopefully they will not be competing in Hall Brawl or Pole Wrestle.

 

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters:  If they needed the ball to get home, how exactly did young Kurt Russell get home?  Will he not be able to get home the same way now?  Sigh.  This was a failed experiment; hopefully they do not do any more of this.  Just stick to the mildly entertaining movies.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 7, 2024

 

 Fargo:  Okay, that opening at the debate was hilarious.  But given our political climate, I think Roy could still easily win as long as no one uncovers the murder he just committed. Which I have a feeling will happen considering how many people knew Danish was going there.  I also wonder just how many bodies are under that windmill.

 

The Challenge: Battle for a New Challenge:  Ha ha ha, Cara Maria talked all this trash and got beat at a physical challenge by a literal stick figure.

 

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters: Once half the cast went through the portal last week, the grandmother still being alive was the easiest best ever, even though the last time we saw her she was being eaten by giant bugs.  Now the question is just how long does she think it has been since was sucked into the portal.  But at least they explained how Kurt Russell does not look 90 like his character should be.  But trying to figure out how time works down there and when will they actually come out when they find a way out is now hurting my brain.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 24, 2023

 

A Murder at the End of the World:  Yep, I called it, the ending sucked big time.

 

Fargo:  Wild we got an entire episode without Dot.  But somehow the cop’s husband seems almost as bad as Don Draper.  Can either possibly make it to the end of the season?

 

Survivor:  Yep, I called it, Dee won.  But what I would never had guessed was the clusterfork at the last vote where everyone eligible got one vote and for some reason, someone changed their vote from Dee. Why change?  If you think you are getting votes, flipping was not going to change anything.  What stupid ending to a other mediocre at best season.  Hopefully they did a better job casting next one. 

 

The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion:  Okay, that was a cool elimination.

 

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters:  So the evil cooperation found the hacker and just let her go scot free just because Monarch showed up?  What a waste of a storyline.  And when did Kurt Russell get an army?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 17, 2023

  

A Murder at the End of the World:  The robot did it.  That is why no one can seem to find the killer.  That would be the perfect stupid ending to this stupid show.

 

Fargo:  I did not think we would see Lorraine defending Dot, but I guess she is the mother of her granddaughter.  But what exactly does the sheriff want from Dot?   Is he going to replace her with his current wife?  But I wonder if he did the math on Scotty’s age.  I have questions about that myself.

 

Survivor:  So Dee is going to win.  Though it would be more fitting if Austin somehow pulled out the win.  That would be the perfect stupid ending to this stupid season. 

 

The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion:  Gee, who could have seen the team with an extra player winning all three rounds?   Maybe everyone should have targeted them the first round when they had the chance.

 

Quantum Leap:  So Ben keeps leaping into places where the generic hot blonde chick is because they are in love.  Huh?  This was just the third time they have met.  At least the generic hot blonde did not have to make out with some old dude this time and got to make out with an international spy instead. 

 

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters:  So is John Goodman’s Asian granddaughter actually going to turn out to be Kurt Russell’s Asian granddaughter.  That would be the perfect stupid twist to this stupid show.  Happy early Festifus everyone.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 3, 2023

  

A Murder at the End of the World:  If there is snowstorm coming why not just hang out at the guard station?  Or hang out in the car at the guard’s station?  But if you leave the hotel when there is a snowstorm in the forecast, I guess you are not very bright.

 

Fargo:  The Home Alone is the best stuff.  Hopefully it pays off next week when the sheriff’s kid tries to enter.

 

Survivor:  Sigh, that was the last time there was a chance of anything interesting happening.  Now we are just watching the inevitable until the finale.

 

The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion:  Since one team had an extra player, does that mean the producers did not expect any Champ’s to lose?  But really sad when everyone is helping you and you still cannot win the elimination.

 

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters:  Speaking of stupid people doing stupid things in the cold, really stupid to split up when there is an incoming winter storm.   But it is a television show so no one was punished with their life.  But where exactly was the father?  I figured they would run into him eventually.

 

57 Channels and Only This is On: December 6, 2020

 
The Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond:  Wasn’t this supposed to be a limited series?  Seemed like it left multiple treads open.  I thought maybe it was going to tie into the Rick movies, I kind of thought he would show up at the end to tie things in, but no, just a pretty unsatisfying show.  But the big bad seem to go to the Thanos School of helping because they seem to kill quite a few people in their quest to save humanity.
 
 
Fargo:  Well, why not end the season with another worthless dead.  And they saved the worst for last, the acting among all three were just so bad.  Good riddance to this season.  If they do bring back a fifth season, more small time crime and female cops please.  Those are what were missing this season.
 
 
His Dark Materials:  So is snake dude good or evil?  I remember him going between both worlds last season but only vaguely.  Maybe just an opportunist.  But who is the dude in the clock tower and how does snake dude know him?
 
 
Big Sky:  Well, we have already reached spinning our wheels because this is network television and we have to fill so many episodes to squeeze advertising dollars part of the show.  It was pretty obvious that the smart chick that escaped was going to get captured because the story is over if one of them escapes and reports her captures, the story is over.  But I did find it funny that she spent so much time trying to degrade the concrete and then just falls though the rotten wood.  And then so did creepy dude.  I also have to admit that I laughed when Drew Carey’s brother kept on shooting her with an arrow,
 
 
The Flight Attendant:  Well that brother episode was pretty worthless.  I guess that is the advantage of this sill release multiple episodes a week but not all at once model that HBOO Max seems to adapted.  The second episode was much better.  But poor boyfriend got hit by a car.  I was just thinking earlier in the episode he was not going to make it out of the season alive.  Though we will have to wait a week to see if he actually survived or not.
 
 
The Mandalorian:  You kind of had to expect that ending when they entitled the episode, The Tragedy.  Really, kind of a huge spoiler.  But I wonder just how many people Mando is going to round up in his pursuit of Baby Yoda?  He already has Boba Fett and The Calvary.  He looks to break Bill Burr out of prison next week.  Does he also round up Raylan Givens?  Asoka?  Bo Katan?  Apollo Creed?  Pillboi?  Does the Jedi that Baby Yoda summons show up to lend a hand.  Not many know Jedi are out there, I believe it is just Luke and Erza.  Though Sam Jackson claims Mace Windu survived his fall.  Gotta figure someone has to figure in by the end of the season even if it is a final scene tease.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: November 29, 2020

 
 
Fear the Walking Dead:  I totally forgot Grace was pregnant.  Though I forgot who the father was.  Did Morgan hit that or did it happen before they met?  I am thinking it was the latter.  But what exactly is Strand’s game?  Is he really aligned with the evil chick or does he think it is best to stick around until everyone is out.  Pretty bold to go back after you lost the sister.
 
 
The Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond:  Wait, so the evil chick is the army chick’s mom?  You think her big twist was going to be what happened last week.  But which daughter is going to turn out to be “The Asset”?
 
 
Fargo:  My biggest problem with this season is it just did not feel like Fargo.  The show and movie to me is fumblingly small time criminals being followed by the law, preferably female.  The dude tripping and blowing his own head off was the first thing to happen this season that actually felt like the Fargo I knew.
You can download Fargo on iTunes.
 
 
His Dark Materials:  So Dust is dark matter?  Okay, this got more complicated.  But will Lyra actually go back to that professor who seem a little too chill about learning about a parallel universe?  But did the evil people just kill off most of the witches?  Seems like they could have just flown away once the first bomb hit because, you know, they are witches that can fly away.
 
 
Black Narcissus:  So the title came from a cologne?  Alrighty.  But it turned out the Hulu thumbnail was a huge spoiler with the one nun hanging off the side of a building with the bell rope.  Though even if you did not see the thumbnail, it was pretty obvious that is where things were going once see started seeing the girl who jumped off the side of the mountain.
 
 
Big Sky:  The trucker needs to get out more if he needed to see the chick naked to realize it was really a dude.  Seemed pretty obvious to me.  Though I do not understand how the teen girls would not sell because they are too hot.  That was one thing the trucker got right, seems like someone rich, disgusting person would pay top dollar for one or both.
 
 
A Teacher:  Oh my goodness, the teacher just admitted she was forking her student to a co-worker like a teenager coyly admitting her crush in the ladies room.  So gross.
 
 
The Flight Attendant:  Well that ended up being weirder than I was expecting, and I mean that in a good way.  Though I have no idea how they can keep up the bat-shirt crazy pace for multiple seasons because something has to break at some point, but at least the first season is shaping up to be a wild ride.
 
 
The Mandalorian:  So we finally got what we all have assumed was coming for months now, Rosario Dawson as Asoka.  Does not seem like we will see much of her again (at least on this show, it seems like there have been quite a few potential spin offs they have set up in a season and a half) though I guess there is always a chance they cross path again.  But just who will answer the call when Baby Yoda (nope, not calling him by his real name, I think they made his and Mando’s real names stupid so we would still call them by what we all have so far) goes to the Jedi Temple.  I thought for sure when Mando said he left Baby Yoda back at the ship, the evil dude would have already been there to snatch the kid.  Maybe that is who will show up at the Jedi Temple.  Then maybe one of the few remaining Jedi (*cough*Luke*cough*) shows up and saves them.  But do they de-age Mark Hamill?  Recast someone more age appropriate?  Maybe I am over thinking things.

 
 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: November 22, 2020

 
The Good Lord Bird:  If this were an action movie, we know John Brown would have been able to shoot his way out of the predicament, but alas, this was based on real events and unfortunately the racist won this battle.  Hopefully John Brown can rest in the solace than the abolitionists won the war and the Black Man Is free today.  Well, or at the very least, freer because of him.
 
 
Fear the Walking Dead:  Lucia, Sarah, and Wendell all pop back up right before the mid-season finale and it was a pretty insignificant return.  So that leaves Grace as the only person we have not seen since the group submitted to Ginny?  So June gains her hospital but loses Jon who is just going to bolt after reuniting with her?  The guy spent so much time looking for her.  Though I am sure he will run into Morgan and they will eventually deal with Ginny who is now down a hand.
 
 
The Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond:  So Silas just killed the two grifters and hid in a bathroom stall?  Alrighty.
 
 
Fargo:  Well I feel stupid.  When they started black and white, I wondered why a show already set in the fifties, a time of black and white television.  Even when the dog showed up it did not dawn on me.  It was not even until the twister that I realized, oh yeah, we were in Kansas all along.  Pretty cheap ploy for a mediocre season.
You can download Fargo on iTunes.
 
 
His Dark Materials:  Oh yeah, I forgot how convoluted this show was.  Seriously, there is a third universe where ghosts kill anyone who has gone through puberty and kids just run around willy nilly?   Were those kids from that place?  Did they come from a different universe?
 
Big Sky:  I could tell right away that Drew Carey’s brother was a bad dude, but I was not guessing he was that bad.  That is pretty bold to kill off the guy who was biggest name in the cast and front and center of all the marketing.  Make me wonder if David E. Kelley is hoping for a third season of Big Little Lies by killing off Reece Witherspoon’s ex-husband so quickly and violently.  Pretty meh premiere (c’mon, how does that hooker survive being wrapped in plastic for hours and is revives by a couple of chest thrusts), but that ending at least makes me wonder where they go from here.
 
 
The Mandalorian:  Oh joy, more midiclorans in the Star Wars universe.  But at least we now know why the evil dude is after Baby Yoda. 
 
 
The Blacklist:  The show shut down with three episodes left last season.  This was only the second episode back so I wonder if the compressed the last couple episodes they wanted to do or if next week supposed to wrap up last season’s arc because this really felt like a season finale.  I guess the “finale” will be Red vs. Lizzie but they will somehow reconcile before or during what was supposed to be this season’s “premiere.”  Although it will be sill if Lizzie forgives him because murdering her mother in front of her is something that has to be very hard to come back from.
 
 
 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: November 15, 2020

 
The Good Lord Bird:  I have been waiting two episodes for a heist episode and it looks like it will never come because this seems very much like this will be John Brown’s last stand.  Granted we do know Onion escapes as we see him comment on Brown’s execution in the first episode.  But who else in the gang will get out of this alive.
 
 
Fear the Walking Dead:  There is getting to be too many antagonists.  Ginny was introduced last season.  Then the spray painters at the beginning of this season who Morgan may or may not have killed off all of them, and know we have the people in the Purge masks.  And why did Face Dude’s wife joining up with them?  Didn’t she runaway because of Negan?  And know is sticking around to take on Ginny?  That just does not make sense.  But these are people who think it is smart to make an enclosure over the deep end of a pool.  Have they yet to figure out that is where all the water is going to collect when it rains?  A swimming pool has to be the worst encampment in the history of this extended universe.
 
 
The Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond:  So was the uncle playing dead all night just waiting for the nephew to show up with marks?  Seems like there would be a better way to con people than that.
 
 
Fargo:  Wait, and I really supposed to believe Rayan Givens would actually gotten the better of by some inept beat cop?  This season just gets worse.  And who attacked the Italians at the end?  Is there a new gang I town or did Chris Rock hire those white dudes?
You can download Fargo on iTunes.
 
 
A Teacher:  The concept seemed gross but I went in with an open mind because of Kate Mara and FX’s really good track record.  After watching the first three episodes I have to say… this show is really gross.  And the soundtrack is horrible too.
 
 
The Mandalorian:  Oh hey, more Mandalorians… and these ones take their helmets off.  Granted I have watched the animated series so I knew there were some out there that do that.  But now I need to know why our Mandalorian does not and others do?  It would be cool if we got a flashback to see the split in the Mandalorians but this show has yet to use that technique much except for flashes back to Mando’s childhood.  And then after Baby Yoda rudely ate some of the last of a species that his food actually fought back this week.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: November 8, 2020

 
The Good Lord Bird:  Well, I was wrong that we were getting a heist episode this week; it has got to be next week I guess.  But where everybody seems to recognize John Brown, but it took a very long time for anyone notice that Onion is really a dude.  And then he finally came out as a dude by the end.

Fear the Walking Dead:  So how tong until John takes that chick’s bike that she said she has stashed?  With June now back, could be soon.  But did they really kill off the people who were spray painting everywhere already?  So I guess they do not matter, it is the mysterious key that matters?

The Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond:  So the chick who murdered the dude’s mother realized that he was her son this week.  She just finally revealed to her sister that she was the one that “killed” their mother.  When does she let the dude she killed her mother?  But for a second there, I thought the gut at the end with the staff might turn out to be Morgan but the “next time on” spoiled who it really was… no one interesting.

Fargo:  So where did the kid and the Irishman run off to? 
You can download Fargo on iTunes.

The Mandalorian:  Ugg, ice spiders, I really hate spiders.  But Baby Yoda eating those eggs was really creepy considering their mother was right there.  And playing it for laughs made it much worse.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: November 1, 2020

 
The Good Lord Bird:  I knew going in that Fredrick Douglass was going to pop up but I was not expecting Harriet Tubman show up.  I guess I should get around to watching her recent movie soon.  But this week just seemed like a set up for what I am guessing will be a pretty wild heist episode next week.

Fear the Walking Dead:  If a zombie apocalypse is not enough, now they have to worry about The Plague?  But what was the face dude’s wife doing where she is just hanging out with walkie talkie?  Was she with the people in that building?  Someone else?  I was going to assume we would get an episode long flashback of what she has been doing this whole time but the previews seems like we will finally see what is up with that other dude whose name I forgot.   

The Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond:  There have been plenty of zombie kills in th decade long history of the extended universe, but I believe this is the first time someone beat a zombie to death with their bare hands.  That should be pretty alarming to the rest of the group.

Fargo:  Really, they are ordering child murder now?  I know there has always been violence in the franchise but it has almost been comedic, some of these characters are just overtly mean.  But the guy ends up not doing it… only to be murdered himself because the Irish dude was able to leave, come back, find out where he was and catch the dude.  This season is becoming a drag.
You can download Fargo on iTunes.

The Mandalorian:  So far this year, Timothy Olyphant as a Marshall on this show, a Fed on Fargo, and as Timothy Olyphant on The Good Place.  Thank goodness he does not seem to care about being typecast because Timothy Olyphant - lawman is one of the best characters on television.  I was a bit disappointed that once he gave up his helmet, he did not pick up a Raylan Givens hat.  Almost as disappointed as when Chubbs got an infected hand and instead of cutting it off and using a wooden hand, stupid Baby Yoda healed him. 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 25, 2020

 
Lovecraft Country:  With wildly different episodes all season with different genre themes, it was weird ending it with a pretty straight forward ending.  Strong idea, but the whole show just kind of fell flat.

Fear the Walking Dead:  So is Daniel secretly working with Morgan and pretending his mental capacity this whole time?  But what I did not understand about that plan to empty the zombie room was why not just kill them while there were in that pen?  Why wait to do that after they broke free?

The Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond:  So ethically ambiguously sister told her sister than she got their mother killed.  But when does she tell nerdy dude she killed his mother?   But I was wrong that the adults would make the kids go right back to find out the evil chick killed everyone.  And why?  They were using too much power?  Is that what the final scene was about.

Fargo:  Really, they needed to kill off Doctor Senator?  He was the best character this season.  Meh.  But really an inconsequential episode up to this point.
You can download Fargo on iTunes.
 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 18, 2020

 
Lovecraft Country:  This episode would have hit much harder had HBO now already aired a show less than a year ago that featured the Black Wall Street Massacre.  But I missed what happened to the aunt and when did she become a computer?  That is the downside to having the episode seem like an anthology, nothing seems like it matters when it is happening until something later happens that makes you realize that it did matter.
 
Fear the Walking Dead:  So who saved Morgan?  I am predicting the burn faced dudes wife.  But I feel we missed a lot.  How did Morgan survive this long with a bullet in his shoulder and some evil chick looking for him. 
 
The Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond:  Can wimpy dude just learn that the Hispanic sister killed his mom (and sibling) because the longer they string it along, the more annoying it gets.  And if none of them learn how to kill an “Empty” soon, this is going to be a very short trip.  But I wonder what is going to happen when the adults catch up to them.  Will they head home to learn everyone is dead or keep going toward New York?
 
Fargo:  Deafy is getting the short straw this time around.  Previous seasons the law seemed almost as important as the criminals but Deafy just seems like an afterthought.  It did not help that he did not even show up until the third season.  Chris Rock, who seemed like he was positioned as the lead, also does not seem as important as the marketing would have me believe.  And what exactly did he smell?  Weren’t all the bill washed first before given to the mortician?  Can you not wash puke out of money?
You can download Fargo on iTunes.
 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: October 10, 2020

 

Lovecraft Country:  This seemed like the episode that drove the most plot and featured the theme of the week (eww, creepy kids) the least.  Those creepy kids did not even show up until twenty minutes in.  I thought the genre this week was just a straight ahead drama until then.
 
The Walking Dead:  I swear they just added a couple new characters in her after a long break and hoped no one would notice.  I am not even talking about Maggie or the dude from Fear the Walking Dead (on a side note, why put them in the beginning, kind of ruined the reveals later in the episode).  Like the chick who was holding hands with the fat dude.  Was she there the whole time.  And where did they get the music?  How could they possibly have any energy left?  I guessing no one has figured out how to store energy from the solar panels.  Then the Whisperers just had tire spike at the ready even though no one drives cars anymore?  And I just missed how they went from leading the zombies, get caught by the Whispers, hunkered down in the rain, and then Carol leading the horde off a cliff.  Which we knew she was not going to go over herself because they just announced the spin-off.

You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.
 
The Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond:  I thought this was supposed to be about kids who knew nothing but the zombie apocalypse but they still have memories of when it started.  Meh.  And are those kids really going to go from Oregon to New York?  Just going over the Rockies seem too much.  And is the evil chick part of the group that took Rick and if so, when is that movie happening?
 
Fargo:  So Crazy Nurse is just pleasuring dudes in parking lots now?  But hey, Timothy olyphant is back to playing a law man. A law man named Deafy who is not deaf.  After meeting Doctor Senator last week, I wonder what unfortunately named character we meet next week.
You can download Fargo on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This is On: September 4, 2020

 
 
Lovecraft Country:  Was that supposed to be a Quantum Leap homage because that was the vibe I got.  Otherwise, it was the least interesting episode which just left me hoping someone would finally get around to a Quantum Leap reboot.
 
Fargo:  I left the first episode thinking that Chris Rock, the morticians, and the crazy nurse were in cahoots to kill the head of the Italian mob.  But in the second it looked like the crazy nurse was… just crazy.  Plus Chris probably would want him around since he agreed to give him the slaughterhouse that the brother does not seem interested in letting go now.  Plus that is the Fargo way, a comical series of errors are set off by an unforeseen act.  Though I am still predicting that Chris is the father of the little girl.
You can download Fargo on iTunes.
 
Raised by Wolves:  Um, so creepy android lady gave birth to a flying snake baby through her mouth (I guess that answer the question did they give android genitalia, granted, Father looking like a Ken Doll in his skin tight suit kind of already answered that).  Um, okay.  Interesting way to end the season.