57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/2/2017

Once Upon a Time: What a stupid episode that took forty minutes to learn that the Evil Queen in fact hated herself with the remaining time devoted to her learning to love herself. So the Evil Queen is just gone now, just to be off screen for the rest of the series as she lives happily ever after with Bizzaro Robin? It is time to cancel this crap.
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: Aw, the return of the crazy Carrie board. But we were left with two big cliffhangers, first off, what happened to Max? Although the bigger question is why this sercert internet troll cabal would even let him take a phone on the floor in the first place, when you are that paranoid, put up metal detectors and pat everyone down on the in. But these people killed a very important person; Max probably is going to be tortured at the very least. Then the final scene which gets cut short with Quinn putting the person who was spying on Carrie and planted the bomb in the crosshair. Is he actually going to pull the trigger? Carrie has to know that is not right.

The Walking Dead: Wait, we do not even get to see Sasha get captured? Now we have to wonder for a week if she was just trying to manipulate Eugene to giving her a sharp object to actual use on Negan (or any of the Saviors including Eugene) or if she really wants to kill herself. Then Rick and company over take Oceanside and no one managed to die. Meh.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Billions: Interesting that right at the halfway mark of the season, both Axe and Chuck had big wins, Axe got the casino land, Chuck got the crooked guy to admit fault and then they both had a mutual win with Axe getting Wendy back at Axe Capital in exchange for Axe dropping the lawsuits against Chuck. Yet by the end of the episode neither seemed much like winners for various winner.

Into the Badlands: Seriously, Sunny did not know there was a giant wall around the Badlands? You would think that was common knowledge or part of its lore. But I am beginning to realize the “Badlands” are a little better place to be than the, um, Goodlands(?).
You can download Into the Badlands on iTunes.

Supergirl: Well that was a horrible episode. And it was not even Mon-El whose incompetentess has grown on me. Really it is more Supergirl who is literally ready to start an interstellar incident to be with him. The only interesting part of the episode was Teri Hatcher inexplicably killing Hercules.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions: There is nothing more annoying than when the show ends the episode mid-challenge. That is alost as disappointing as not getting to see a CT-Bananas showdown which I believe would have been the first CT wore Bananas as a backpack.
You can download The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions on iTunes.

The Americans: So Stan’s partner tells him of the time he blackmailed an informant and Stan turns around and blackmails his boss to help a Russian… huh? We are at war Stan, just because he helped you does not make you even. If the CIA can milk more out of him, let them.

The Path: Wait, did Cal just try to kill a dead man? I guess another dream. Last episode, Hawk’s ex-girlfriend said the new haircut made him look like Cal. Now after everything that has happened, I am beginning to wonder who exactly is his father? Now know most shows do not cast family member to look plausibly alike, but it is getting more and more possible that Cal could be the father. Again, casting director do not always cast people who look alike, but Hawk and Eddie look nothing alike.
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Survivor: Game Changers: I doubt we will see anything as great as last week’s wild Tribal, but Michaela just breaking up a cup of water as Probst read the votes was pretty bold, especially considering she was blindsided last time she played and was one vote away from that happening again. I actually posted when JT said he was so confident he was not even going to take his Idol to Tribal, he really cannot be that dumb, can he… well of course he can. Can we retroactively reward Stephan the winner of JT season because it is becoming more and more clear he deserved it over JT. Then we have the promo, no too surprising that there is a swap or that there will be someone exiled (they have done odd people swaps before where the odd (wo)man out would have to go back to an empty camp or island) but I am a bit worried Andrea was one of the four people they showed when Probst said this. The big shocker is Probst saying, “a former Survivor makes a surprise return.” That better not be Malcolm, or at the very least he better not be able to return to the game full time. Hopefully it is just someone who joins the exiled player for a day and then leaves or maybe a CT situation who comes into a challenge, wears someone as a backpack and then leaves right afterwards.
You can download Survivor: Game Changers on iTunes.

Blindplot: Oooh, big twist, Jane did not get kidnapped because of her, but because of her boyfriend. Plus it gave us a diversion from Sandstorm for a week which was nice. Not so nice was the promo monkey promising one person will be leaving the team. Um, didn’t Reade just quit? Or is someone else leaving?
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Legion: I really do not like the slowly growing trend of post-credit scenes on television shows. So who exactly trapped David in the orb? It has to be someone powerful enough to keep his powers contained.
You can download Legion on iTunes.

Grimm: When they killed Wu and Hank last week my first thought was, wow, that is very racist followed by, oh, they will bring them back before the series end. Then when they killed off Eve, I was pretty confident that would kill everyone off before bringing them back for a happy ending. Although by the time they killed the Captain I thought how great if the devil just killed everyone, Nick last, then just fade to black… forever. And though you knew they would bring everyone back, the real question was how. Kind of convoluted how they did it. So the first time Nick left “hell” he jumped to an alternative universe? Or did that portal send him back in time?
You can download Grimm on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/26/17

Homeland: Oh my goodness, Carrie calls out Saul for sleeping with a Russian Spy only for him to throw Brody back in her face. Seriously, how do those two still have jobs for our government? But we finally get to what this season is all about: bringing down Dar, which Quinn almost did by himself. But who did he call? It kind of looked like they guy who ran Max’s new internet rebel rouser group but I do not think it was him.

The Walking Dead: Well that did not take long for Eugene to choose a side, I figured we would have to wait until next season at least. Then you had Rosalina wanting to go in guns a blazing only for Sasha to beat her to the punch. Alrighty.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Billions: Wait, is Axe now a member of the Nerds of Doom? Did Jerry O’Connell already with draw? But they should have hired someone more distinctive looking to replace Wendy at Axe Capital because I always forget who he is until after his scenes are over.

Into the Badlands: No “Previously On” after a year layoff, pretty bold… and stupid, I was kind of lost most of the episode.
You can download Into the Badlands on iTunes.

Supergirl: I am trying to think what happened this week on the show but cannot because my mind is completely clouded by the horrible crossover on The Flash. It started out alright with Supergirl singing Moon River mediocrely but the episode went way downhill after that. It somehow was worse than I expected.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

The Path: Wait, were they really painting little coffins? Creepy. But that was cold Richard, granted you reap what you sow and she just got down using other people’s unburdening against them. Turn about fair play.
You can stream The Path on Hulu.

Survivor: Game Changers: The promo monkeys spoiled there were going to be two tribes going to Tribal Council this week but left out one huge detail: they are going at the same time to vote one person out. I could not decide when it was announced if this was a good twist or not, but in the end it turned out to be a great twist as it turned out to be the most chaotic Tribal Councils ever. It even made Hali, who has been completely worthless for a season and a half, actually interesting. Seriously, what did, “I didn’t consent” even mean? You really need to re-watch Tribal just to keep an eye on Hali. She jumps up right after JT goes and tells Brad they are voting for Sierra for no apparent reason and tells her old tribe to vote for Brad. Which, great strategy. But then she sits down while her new tribe is huddling (there was also a moment where Sierra and Malcolm were just randomly talking while everyone else huddled). Then Hali joins her new tribe’s huddle. Thing settle down and we get her, I didn’t consent” line. Only for Sandra (who has been way over confident this season) stupidly telling Hali to vote and votes with her new tribe. Then Tai pulls out an Idol asks if Not-Dante Cullpepper if he wants it and in his first entertaining thing in two and a half season, Not-Dante nonchalantly points to Sierra despite his name being bandied around by his own tribe, which turned out to be a wise because Hali’s old tribe did not take her suggestion and voted for Sierra, which did not count. Awesome. Even better, Hali’s new tribe targeted Malcolm (who got a kiss of death from Sierra, her first good moment in a season and a half) pretty much taking Hali’s suggestion to target strong players when her old tribe did not do the same. This is why I still watch this show thirty seasons plus latter.
You can download Survivor: Game Changers on iTunes.

Legion: Well they explained that better than the two people living in the same body situation. I kind of understand what is going on now.
You can download Legion on iTunes.

Grimm: Wait, did the really kill off the token black dude and the token Asian in the penultimate episode? Kind of racist. Well, though I predict the stick will bring them back to life by the time the series ends.
You can download Grimm on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 1/19/14

Revenge: Last week we had to sit through the silly temporary amnesia storyline and this week it was Emily moping through the episode Well that was until Victoria told her she was infernal And now she is all revengy (did the promo monkey really use that word). Hopefully she starts taking down people again. Takeda’s daughter is now in the revenge game so hopefully she quickly takes Aiden down for what he did to her father. He was never a good addition to the show and he being around is one of the reasons behind the drop in quality for the show.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: I am disappointed that we did not get to see Daphne in jail aside from a quick dream sequence. Granted I guess that she is now essentially going to school at a juvenile detention facility. But wouldn't these pretty much be the same students she lived around since she was young?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Switched at Birth on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: The slap bet has been going on for seven years? Seven Years! SEVEN!!! Ugg, and there still have one left. How many were there to begin with? Oh well, at least we got a Boyz II Men appearance out of this episode.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: With the rise of serialize television, shows started adding the much needed “previously on…” package about a decade or two ago. The older I get, the more I think they may need one after every commercial break. When Alan Alda popped up at the end of the episode as so congressional guy, I went, “wait, who was he in the last episode again?” So Alda is part of big cabal that Red can expose and works inside the government? So was he the mole or was the guy Red killed the mole? And who exactly did Red kill? Who is Newton Philips?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Castle: It is still pretty vague as to if Papa Castle really is deep undercover or really just wanted by the CIA.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Ever since we learned that Skye’s mother was probably a SHIELD Agent it was way too obvious that Mae was her mother. That was until this week when we learned that the lady that dropped Skye off was not her mother but was protecting the 084: an object of unknown origin is followed by death wherever she goes. Of course that does not completely rule out Mae as her mother, but could technically be true, but it is becoming more unlikely.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: Oh, Loretta, why are you stuck in sitcom hell? Hopefully next season, which sadly will be the show’s last, will be Raylan rescuing Loretta from the evil clutches of new bad guy, The Toolman.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

Suburgatory: I wonder if they had a different plan for the premiere that they had to change when Tessa’s mother got cast in another show. Undoubtedly Tessa would end up back with George in their old house eventually because that is the show, but this seemed a bit rushed and I wonder if it had been at the end of the first episode instead of the beginning. But that was a very appropriate use of Royals at the end of the show. Though I do not like the new title sequence, way too creepy.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Suburgatory on iTunes.

Nashville: Well that was a quick death for Peggy, I would have expected her to be on life support for a full episode and teased her or Will ending up being the dead one a little longer. Unfortunately Will survived the episode and is back to being a closeted guy he has been all series. Hopefully Layla will give TMZ another call and out him so that character can finally be interesting. And is Juliet the first person to go up against the crazy religious picketers and come out looking worse? Anyone who they picket in the real world always ends up looking better.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Community: So we get a farewell to Pierce and Troy in the same episode. Pierces parking gift was funnier than it had any right to be. Chevy Chase was kicked off the show but I am confused at why Donald Glover is leaving. Does it really taking up too much time that he cannot do his music and the show at the same time? After hearing his last album, he probably should not have quit his day.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Parenthood: It was not advertised, but we got our first look at the upcoming About a Boy remake when the lead popped up at the poker game (it will get a proper premiere during the Olypmics before settling in on Tuesdays after The Voice). Of course he makes a joke about never having kids. Other than that, the episode was a big downer between a drunken Amber and the continuing marital problem between Joel and Julia. Ugg.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Grimm: C’mon promo monkeys, when you say the episode “delivers” with images of a pregnant character on the screen, she has to at least go into labor at some point of the episode.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Helix: Again, my main take away from the second episode is that the younger CDC chick is quite attractive, even with a massive scar on her back. So did she have major back surgery, is she infected and that is a symptom? Since this is a sci-fi show, I am sure we will find out long after we stopped caring about it.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Helix on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/25/13

Quote of the Week: She said she knew you. I asked her everything I know, and she had an answer for everything. And then I realized I don’t know anything about you. (Sally Draper, Mad Men)

Song of the Week: Nothing In This World Will Ever Break My Heart Again – Hayden Panettiere (Nashville)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Tornados in Oklahoma: If you want to help the relief efforts for the tornado victims in Oklahoma, you can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 instantly, or donate on the Red Cross site, right here.


Mad Men: What the frack just happen? I knew were were in for a wild ride after the opening with Ken Cosgrove and some distractingly bad camera work in the car. What I was not expecting was another drug trip, this time with the whole office (oddly, Roger went M.I.A. after going into the doctor’s “office” to get his shot; I guess after dropping LSD, some “vitamins” just do not have much of an effect). We also get our second whore house flashback because apparently Don / Dick was have some minor medical issues back then too, though much like the previous flashback, I could have done without it. And just when you thought the episode could not get any trippier, Don’s “grandmother” shows up to rob him blind. Alrighty. At least we got to hear Bobby say, “Are we Negros?” Who knew Bobby could be entertaining? I think he has had more lines in the past three episodes than all the previous ones before.
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

Grimm: You would think after that one dude spit in his face that made him go blind, Nick would be very weary of vessin that spray stuff on their victims. Oh well. I knew something was going to happen to him after he gave his key to Rosalie earlier in the episode. But now that the season is over, I have to look aback and see just how slow this season went by. Juliet lost all memory of Nick at the start and took her all season to regain that memory. Then you had Adalind who spent almost all the season in Romania and even though she got knocked up early in the season still is not showing at all. Hopefully season three moves a little faster.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Nashville: If only the whole season was as good as the finale two episodes: murder suicide, Maddie learns of her paternity while her two dads get in a fistfight (or would have if one was not too drunk to land a good punch), a sex tape, an engagement, a family feud, a surprise pregnancy (or so Peggy says, he could be lying and maybe Teddy is not even the father which of course would be ironic), and an epic car crash. Granted I really doubt either Deacon or Rayna will be fatally injured in the accident. And it looks like next season will be a reversal of the beginning of the series where Gunner gets jealous of the time Scarlett. Hopefully the second season moves at the pace of the final two episodes.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Hannibal: I have longed for a reboot of My Two Dads, but I never thought I would get one with the fathers being Hannibal Leckter and Will Graham with Abigail Hobbs playing the daughter. Maybe if this show does not get picked up, they can repurpose the show as a comedy next season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Boy – Emma Louise (iTunes)

Deal of the Week: Up to 64% Off HBO Complete Series: Rome, Deadwood, Big Love

New Album Release of the Week: Currents - Eisley

New DVD Release of the Week: Longmire: The Complete First Season

Video of the Week: Just early this week I was talking about the lack of General Zod in the Man of Steel trailers (see the 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2013) and wouldn’t you know it, hours after I posted that we get a very Zod-centric trailer. Well at least we get to hear him, the glimpses of Michael Shannon add up to about five seconds. But still, consider me placated.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Veronica Mars, All Day Memorial Day, SOAPnet: Memorial Day is Monday which means cookouts and fireworks, or for those of you that hate to go outside, all day marathons on various cable channels. On SOAPnet, starting at 10:00 AM, they will be airing the first nine episodes of Veronica Mars, just days before they start filming the movie. In the first nine episodes you will get to see guest stars like Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Harry Hamlin (Mad Men), Melissa Leo (Oblivion), Jane Lynch (Party Down), Paula Marshall (Gary Unmarried), Lisa Rinna (The Celebrity Apprentice) and Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables), and, um, Paris Hilton (Paris Hilton’s My New BFF). I was actually thinking of starting my Veronica Mars re-watch this weekend, but luckily I have all the DVD’s so I can watch without the commercials, but for those that missed the show, these first nine episodes are a good primer which will get you ready for the movie and your eventual purchase of all three seasons on DVD.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/12/13

Once Upon a Time: I am okay with poetic license so if the show wants to turn Rumplestiltkin into the “Beast” or make Jack of the Beanstalk fame a chick, fine (though turning Captain Hook into a J. Crew model is a little silly) but I really do not like that they turned Neverland into Siberia for Lost Boys. Neverland may be the most magical land in the Disney library and to turn it into a living hell take poetic license too far. But being from the writers of Lost, I have a feeling in three seasons (if the show gets that far) we will learn Bay is Peter Pan who rescues the Lost Boys from the Shadow, who is probably being controlled by Captain Hook. I would not be surprised if Bay ended up back in Neverland through the portal he slipped through and now is living a Hook
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Revenge: I was really hoping that it would be Takeda killing Aiden because the show took a dive in the entertainment department right around he showed up. His character just made the show too complicated and muddled, and with him gone, I hoped they would go back to Emily taking people down again out of revenge for her father next season. That is if there is a next season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Mad Men: On any other show, when Peggy left SCDP, the question would not have been if she would ever end up working with Don, but when. But considering this show has no problem segregating its cast (I cannot remember the last time Betty interacted with anyone else, Gene’s birthday party maybe) or just cut ties with them completely (I wonder if Paul Kinsey ever got to write for Star Trek) I figured they would just stay their separate ways from the rest of the show. So it seemed a little cheesy that Don proposed a merger with Peggy’s current firm.
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

The Voice: Well that was a weird way to start a results show, “hey, we are throwing out half the ways you were allowed to vote… but do not worry, even though we discarded those votes, we still got the same result anyway.” What? When Carson first announced this, my second thought was this is what they are going to use to bring back whoever drew the short straw on Adam’s team because they probably would have been one of the top two vote getters on any other team (my first thought was the irrational Michael Jackson fanatics, which there are still plenty around, stuffed the internet voting and possibly the texting which I am not entirely sure how you manipulate texting but I am morally opposed to texting so I really do not know much about it).

But alas the resurrection of Caroline Glaser, who was voted off Adam’s team, due to “voting irregularities” did not happen unless there is a shocking twist coming Monday (and we are still owed a shocking event from when they hyped one in the Battle Round that never happened). And the show should want to give Caroline a reprieve because she was one of the two best selling artists on the show this season (baffling the other person, Sarah Simmons, is the other one). Caroline and Sarah were the only two contestants whose four songs all charted this season, while Caroline was the only one who had all four of her songs on the Top 200 Overall iTunes chart this week. Not only that, all four of her songs charted higher on Monday than Josiah Hawley who inexplicably is in the final 12 while Caroline is going home. (Even as I write this, all four of Caroline's songs are charting higher than one song by Judith.  The Voice should feel really embarrassed by this.)  During Usher’s save, I was hoping he would say, “Instead of saving these two who are a lock to go home anyway, I am going to wait to use my Save on whoever Adam gets rid of.” That would have been worthy of the move we were promise in the Battle Round that “shocked the other coaches and producers.”

What makes Caroline and Sarah, the two top sellers, being in Adam’s team worse is that America’s Save went Judith Hill. The other save went to Amber Carrington, who hit the teens on the charts, but Caroline and Sarah were not that far behind in the thirties while Judith barely cracked the top 100. Considering they threw out online voting and texting, there had to be an overwhelming amount of phone calls for Judith to catapult Caroline and Sarah. Combine that with the “voting irregularities” this just does not pass the smell test. How are there that many people who said, Judith’s performance was not good enough to buy, but I am going to vote for her anyway?

Judith of course is an RnB singer while Amber is a country artist. You know else sings RnB and country: everyone else America voted for not named Michelle Chamuel (I guess she should be happy that Usher did not have another RnB singer or a country artist on his team). That really makes for a boring final 12. And it will get even more homogeneous because I suspect rockers Josiah and Garrett will be gone within the first two weeks, if not the first two gone. Not that I will find out, because unless they bring back Caroline, there really is no one to get excited for unless you are a country or RnB fanatic. I doubt anyone this season could have made the top five last season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice with the widget at right.

How I Met Your Mother: Have we always known that Robin has a sister? When her father first mentioned the younger Serbowski, my first thought was, well she will turn out to be the titular Mother. Except it would make no sense, we already no the mother has been in New York City for a while, she partied with Sarah Chalke, roomed with Rachel Bilson, and sat in on Ted’s lecture. If Robin’s sister has been in the city this whole time, how have we never met her yet?
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

2 Broke Girls: Not that Pierce Morgan had much integrity in the first place, but how do you go on a show as yourself and comment on the size of another man’s junk on your own television show (which actually airs opposite the same program)? Larry King would never have done that.

Castle: It seems like whenever the show has these big government conspiracy cases, it always turns out to be a very pedestrian killer like a relative or scorn lover (with of course the exception of whenever it involves their own family). And I actually kind of hope Beckett takes the Washington job, then maybe Castle can go back to following around Adam Baldwin’s character.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Grimm: I have always liked Nora Zehetner going back to her Everwood days but unfortunately a decade later she really has not gotten her big break yet. She was unfortunately shuffled off that show after her onscreen brother died. She was the most interesting character on the early episodes of Heroes but was quickly killed off. The only thing I remember seeing her in since was one of the hundreds of Hey I Know That Person cameos on Heroes but she did not stick around long enough to get bedded by Don Draper (but at least she was not sullied by Pete Campbell). I was actually hoping that her character on Grimm would cause Nick to kill Juliet and she would become the new love interest because Juliet is clearly the weak link on the show. The only problem is Nick is the second weakest link.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Survivor: Caramoan: Note to self: whenever you go on Survivor, tank any Individual Reward Challenges. Much like I am shocked that anyone would actually buy food at the action because the money would be better spent on the “advantage’ and Jeff will always have one covered dud and another time he will pull the you can have this for yourself, or something for the tribe thing. It is also becoming more frequent that at least once a season, Jeff will do the you can keep the prize for yourself or everyone else can get it thing and that usually happens during the Loved Ones Challenge. This week had to easily be the cruelest of Jeff’s ploys. He actually let Brenda choose Dawn, THEN said their was a second Loved One hiding on the island, AND THEN gave her the option of everyone but her AND Dawn the loved ones time. And then to make things worse, they actually had the barbecue within shouting distance. That was just cruel Jeff. And then Brenda learned the hard way why you do not want to win these challenges. It is a lose-lose situation. If you chose your Loved Ones, everyone will hate you and will not win if you make it to the finals. If you give up your Loved One, everyone will view you as a threat to win and try to vote you out, which actually happened to Brenda hours after her good deed. Though that was a stupid vote, I would much more worried of Eddie going on an Idol run than Brenda, and like I explained last week, Eddie already had three automatic votes on the jury. Oh well. We did finally get a first look of Andrea on the jury, and I am not sure who packs a cocktail dress when going on the show, but I am glad she did. Wow.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

Nashville: Of course Juliette has a sex tape. But I take it they are going to save the reveal of Maddie’s paternity for the season finale to Deacan, and maybe Maddie herself. I guess the question is how they will find out? Will Rayna finally confess after all these years? will Teddy let it slip in a jealous rage? Will it be released in a tabloid? For the entertainment value, let’s hope it is the third option.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: That was the most disturbing sex scene I have ever seen.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Community: Well this season of Community written fan-fic is finally over. At least we got one last glimps of Evil Annie in a tight red dress before it was thankfully put out of its misery, so it made the season worth it. Wait, it was renewed? Oh goodness.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Hannibal: So a therapist has his very own therapist. Though I have a feeling Hannibal just goes to Scully just to play with her. And what is going on with Abigail Hobbs? She was just resigned to a dream sequence this week, but I would really like to see her in the middle of the Hannibal / Will tug of war for her soul.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 5/4/13

Quote of the Week: Nobody’s been probed… yet. (Sergeant Wu, Grimm)

Song of the Week: The Stroke – Billy Squire (Castle)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Jason Collins Is a Gay Homosexual: Monday, Jason Collins announced Monday that he was gay and after everyone got done asking, “Who is Jason Collins” it turned out he was the first current professional male athlete to publically announced his homosexuality (although he currently is not on a team and as an old journeyman, it may actually stay that way, though I am sure David Stern will make sure he is employed by someone next season). But the most interesting part of his story was that the guy who backed him up at center in high school was Jason Segal. Yes, that Jason Segal.

Preview Picture of the Week:

2 Broke Girls "And the Tip Slip" Monday at 9:00 on CBS

Free Download of the Week: 21 Years of Music – Hanson (Noisetrade)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5 This month’s five dollar deal over on Amazon include Norah Jones, Counting Crows, Bruce Springsteen, and Weezer.


New Album Release of the Week: Annie Up – Pistol Annies

New DVD Release of the Week: Superman: Unbound

Video of the Week: The Walking Dead bad lip reading video is about as well written as the actual show. The best part is when it turns into a musical.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Locked Up Abroad, Sunday (tomorrow) at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel: Now that you have seen the movie, now it is time to hear the real story of Argo from the people who lived it. And unlike the movie which featured Ben Affleck saving diplomats in Iran, tomorrow’s special episode of Locked Up Abroad features mostly testimonials from those who needed the rescuing. The real Ben Affleck character does not even show up for the first twenty minutes, but when he does show up, he had the best line, “This was the best bad idea we had.”

Best of the Week - 3/2/13

Quote of the Week: Why do they all have mustaches? (Carl, Shameless)

Song of the Week: I Swear – All-4-One (House of Lies)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: The Oscars, Yawn: I have only watched the Oscars once in my life (the Chris Rock year) and I certainly was not going to tune in for Seth McFarlane. I did flip over during the commercial breaks of The Walking Dead to see Les Misérables win the award for Best Hair which I found odd because they kept showing Anne Hathaway getting her hair chopped of; that does not seem very hard or award worthy. Then I saw McFarlane talk about John Wilkes Booth was the only person that truly got inside Abraham Lincoln’s head which he must have known was going to bomb because he had another lame follow up joke after everyone groaned. Can they please give Rock another chance? Actually do not, that way I do not have to watch the borefest ever again.

Preview Picture of the Week:

The Lying Game "The Grave Truth" Tuesday at 9:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: Four Songs - Myla Smith (Noisetrade)

Deal of the Week: $2.99 Greatest Hits: Pick up Best Of packages from Hootie and the Blowfish, Prince, The Eagles, JamesTaylor and more.


New Album Release of the Week: The Stand-In - Caitlin Rose

New DVD Release of the Week: The Bay

Video of the Week: Last year History debuted the very well done Hatfields & McCoys and now they are trying to transition that to a full series with the debut of Vikings this Sunday. Hopefully it is just as good. And if that is not enough Vikings for you, in two weeks History is releasing The Real Vikings Collection with three of its special programs. Look for my review of the set around the time it is released.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Grimm, Friday at 9:00 on NBC: I vaguely remember there was once a show called Grimm who had its mid-season finale around Halloween thanks to it pre-Olympics early start. Even fuzzier was what was going on prior to the hiatus. The promos would suggest that Juliet was hooking up with Nick’s boss and Nick just found out (I think it had to do with the sleeping beauty storyline from the premiere). Hopefully there is a lengthy “Previously On” segment.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 11/4/12

Once Upon a Time: After a year of wondering, it turns out Dr. Whale is… Dr. Frankenstein? Alrighty. When he was first introduced as a wizard, I actually thought he would turn out to be the Wizard of Oz (okay, my first thought was, oh goodness, he is not going to be Harry Potter is he) when they talked about his ability to transport to places without magic. So what world exactly does Dr. Frankenstein live in, one where all the classic horror monsters live: Dracula, Wolfman (who I assume would end up being a love interest to Little Red Riding Hood), The Mummy, The Invisible Man. And I know they live in a world where Captain Hook looks like an Abercrombie model who does not think there is such a thing as too much eyeliner, but how can you have Igor without a hunchback?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Revenge: I thought for sure Amanda was not going to make it through surgery. I guessed she made it so Mason Treadwell could come back to cause more havoc. Of coutrse if Mason knew what was best for him he would stop snooping because the last time he got on the case, his house burned down. But I wonder if they are going to put a burn scar on Emily’s back even though I am pretty sure we have seen her in a bikini without one.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

The Walking Dead: The infamous Governor has finally appeared and he and his wall of floating zombie heads lived up to the hype. Of course without television in a zombie apocalypse, what else are you going to stare at hours on end than a wall of illuminated zombie heads? Oh yeah, and Mearle! And I have to wonder if this is the rape camp that Randell came from. I have a feeling Andrea will find out sooner than later.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Voice: Last week I wondered how they could get forty songs into two hours, I assumed they would just montage half of them, it turns out instead they just gave everyone about a minute of screen time with some really bad editing as they cut down songs. And it turns out the much ballyhooed Steal ended up being a major flop. I got a sense when lesser talent got stolen that coaches just did not want someone who would end up replacing an original tram member. Only Adam is taking a saved member to the Live Shows Playoffs even though Caitlin Michele and MarissaAnn clearly won their Knockout pairings.

That was not the only really bad decision from Blake Shelton. Even though he was the best coach when it came to making decisions in the first two seasons, he made some really bad pairings this season decimating his team. After pairing up two of his three best singers in the Battle Rounds with Suzanna Choffel and Lelia Broussard, he then paired his best two in the Knockout Rounds when he put Suzanna up against Cassadee Pope especially when Michaela Paige and Julio Cesar Castillo advanced. When it got down to the final four on his team I thought he was going to pair MarissaAnn with Cassadee and Michaela with Suzanna. Maybe Blake tipped his hand when he said the reason he paired Liz Davis and Gracia Harrison was that he did not want the two to siphoned votes from each other so he was only going to take one, so he took some weak singers (Michaela and Julio) to the Live Shows Playoffs to make it easier for his stronger singers (Cassadee and Terry) to advance.

If anything, the Knockout Round showed just how important song choice is. And for all the dude karaokers out that did not know earlier; never ever ever ever ever sign a Taylor Swift song. Like ever. Dare I say you would be much better off with some indie record that is much cooler than hers. And this week we actually had two dudes try to sing a Taylor Swift song. It was actually a big week for guys singing chick songs, which I rarely think works. Also, do not sing songs but dudes who beat on women. I thought Avery Wilson had a chance to win the whole thing but after a poor song choice, he danced himself off the show.

Even though the Steal ended up flopping because no none but Adam wanted to take them to the Live Shows Playoffs, I do wish they were still allowed one more steal during the Knockout Round. Blake could have finally gotten Caitlyn (assuming she did not reject him for the third time), Adam would finally gotten Gracia, maybe Cee-Lo takes a flyer on Suzanna, and Christina… who knows what stupid decision she would have made. Maybe Kayla Nevarez or steal MarissaAnn back. Really Caitlin was part of my favorite thing that happen this week when she was caught dancing to Nickolas performance.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice with the widget at right.

Castle: Stupid credits. I actually did not think much when I saw Michael Mosley’s name at the beginning of the show, but as the evidence started to mount against Catle, I remembered, oh yeah, he was the serial killer that was never caught and he is totally setting him up. At least he showed up on screen shortly after I figured it out. But seriously, they really need to figure a way to keep the guest stars out of the beginning of the episode.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23: It was nice to see someone finally put fans of The Wire on blast. I will never watch the show because I never want to turn into one of those pretentious jackasses.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: After Gemma talked about overcompensating after losing a child, I thought for sure Able was a goner, and was a bit surprised with all the shocking deaths this year they stopped short of killing a kid.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Philippines: I was a big Astros fan back when I actually paid attention to baseball so I know how big an idiot Jeff Kent is so it is not surprising he has a horrible game plan on the show. Seriously, if you were so keen on getting rid of Penner, why not do it last week? Then had you stuck with him this week you would have had been the leader of the majority alliance with two former players that would be bigger targets. Now you need someone to make a dumber move than you made to get back in control of the game.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

Subugatory: I was super disappointed that after this episode when I went to iTunes, Tessa’s version of Sussudio was not there yet.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Suburgatory on iTunes.

Grimm: Last week when the promo monkeys said there was a new, more violent, Grimm was coming to town, I thought, this is just going to be a retread of the other Slayers on Buffy. I do like that it turned out to be a Vessin who hated who he was. But you know there have to be other Grimms out there somewhere.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 9/9/12

Quote of the Week: Ask Osama bin Laden if he is better off than he was four years ago. (John Kerry, The Democratic National Convention)

Song of the Week: Ronan – Taylor Swift (Stand Up 2 Cancer; proceeds of the song go to cancer research)

Big News of the Week: The Democratic National Convention: It is weird to hear every talk about how great a president Bill Clinton was, even may conservative talking heads considering the guy was so toxic back in 2000 Democratic nominee Al Gore treated his boss like, well, like Mitt Romney treated George W. Bush at his convention. Seriously people, if you have forgotten, go Google Monica Lewinski, Paula Jones, Vince Foster, and / or Marc Rich.

I have a longstanding voting strategy to never vote for incumbents because the longer politicians stay in office, the more corrupt they become. But I would have totally voted for Barack Obama had his convention speech just been him walking up to the front of the stage, say, “I shot Osama bin Laden in the face.” Drop the mic and watch off the stage while Bob Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff played in the background.

Preview Picture of the Week:


Switched at Birth: I actually thought they were going to have Bay forgive Emmitt in less than one episode. That should be unforgiveable, especially for a teenage and ABC Family is not known for its eaklthy relationships (*cough*Aria/Ezra*cough*) so thankfully they have Bay a backbone (for at least one episode). But speaking of unhealthy relationship, that cannot possibly have Daphne hook up with her boss (who I swear is the Kennish’s lawyer with a haircut) can they? Ew.

Grimm: The episode featured a zombie virus that makes you horny. Awesome.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

MTV Video Music Awards: This year has to rival the painfully bad Vegas year (the one where Britney Spears laughably started the show) as the worst VMA’s ever. Really the only thing worth talking about is how the botched the MCA tribute. C’mon, last year Amy Winehouse gets a ten minute tribute including a performance even though she released just one great album and no memorable videos and never received a VMA or even performed on the show. But the Beastie Boys were one of the top five video artists ever (arguable number two behind Michael Jackson), gave one of the most memorable VMA performances ever with Sabotage, and was one of only a handful of artists to win the Video Vanguard Award. But all MCA gets is about five seconds of No Sleep to Brooklyn played over the loud speaker. MTV should be ashamed.


Free Download of the Week: Everything Is Embarrassing – Sky Ferreira (Rcrd Lbl)

Deal of the Week: Big DVD and Blu Ray Sale: The Big Bang Theory, New Jack City, Gremlins 2

New Album Release of the Week: Away From The World (Super Deluxe Limited Edition CD/DVD) - Dave Matthews Band

New DVD Release of the Week: The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Fifth Season

Video of the Week: It seems like every couple months a new movie trailer pops up that makes me go, that has to be a fake Funny or Die trailer because no way anyone would actually make that. When I saw the title Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters I assumed it would be a trailer parody of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but then Jeremy Renner pops up and I realize this is an actually serious movie. Alrighty.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Parenthood, Tuesday at 10:00: NBC’s staggered start of the fall season with the debut of its Monday and Tuesday lineups (sans Revolution which gets its premiere next week so they can air The New Normal and Go On pilots which are both currently online if you cannot wait; same with Revolution and Animal Practice). And the best show premiering this week is easily Parenthood. If my memory is correct Crosby and Jasmine got married, Julia and Joel got a kid (but sadly they did not adopt the coffee girl and her baby like I hoped), and Adam thankfully did not fire the absurdly hot secretary even though she kissed him. I am most interested in which Friday Night Lights alum pops up this season following in the footsteps of Lyla Garrity and Vince Howard. What is Becky Sproles up to these days?

This Is No Fairytale, the Stories Are Real

Grimm finished up its early Monday run this week before returning to its regular Friday timeslot on the 28 (your TV Guide may say there is a new Grimm this Monday but it is wrong, NBC will be airing the Pilots of The New Normal and Go On at that time). If you need a Grimm fix over the next twenty-four days until a new episode airs, you can relive the first season on DVD or Blu-Ray on shelves now. Of course for those interested in give the show a shot, you can pick up the first season, then watch the first four episodes of season two, and be caught up by the time it returns (that is just over an episode a day).

For the unaware, Grimm was created by David Greenwalt who was a writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to co-create the spin-off Angel with Joss Whedon. Grimm is very similar in tone to Angel in that is dark, creepy, with flashes of humor. But instead of a vampire, the lead is a Grimm, a descendant of the guys that wrote all the fairytales, except all the stories turned out to be based in reality and the Grimm’s were tasked to hunting down all the big bad wolfs and the like (Grimm’s have the ability to see the creatures in their true form when humans cannot) before they attack young girls wearing red.

But like his previous show, not everything that goes bump in the night is a bad guy. The Grimm even teams up with a modern Big Bad Wolf, known here as a Blutbad (all the creatures, or Wesen, have a German sounding name) that helps the Grimm identify everything he is up against and the sidekick turns out to be the best part of the show. And the Grimm has to do this while trying to keep his new reality from colliding with his life as cop (with a very shady boss who know more than he is letting on) and his long time girlfriend. Some of the other fairytales tacked in the first season include Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Rapunzel, Big Foot, and The Pied Piper.

Both the DVD and Blu-Ray are filled with extras including deleted and extended scenes from 13 episodes that add up to about and extra 30 minutes including a scene from the Pilot that shows Juliette in a very different job then she ended up having on the show. There is also a featurette The World of Grimm where you can learn the inspirations behind the storylines, characters and creatures. There is another one that focuses how the team brings the monsters to life. There is also a gag reel, highlight reels, and audition tapes which includes Reggie Lee (who would go on and be cast as Sergeant Wu) auditioning for the role of Hank. I also like that each episode includes its “Previously On” clip which is inexplicably not standard on all television box sets.

The Blu-Ray set is well made and even includes a glossary printed inside of all the monsters on the show (which I assume are also printed on the DVD set). I do like that the fold out box set comes with a Velcro type substance that holds it together when closed. I do not like that the disk are pulled out of a sleeve making it easier to scratch instead of the safer pop out version. For a limited time, each set comes with two collectable trading cards (I got the Blutbad and Hexenbiest) as well as an UltraViolet code which you have until 2015 to redeem by if you want to put off buying the season until later. The big reason to pick up the Blu-Ray over the DVD for those with HD capabilities is that the Blu-Ray version includes an Interactive Grimm Guide which look like pages out of the Grimm family books with a page dedicated to each Wesen from the first season (sorry, no previews of baddies to come or just hinted out in the first season) but also includes a video of each creature transforming from human to it true form.

Grimm returns Friday, September 28 at 9:00 on NBC. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.


Full Disclose Notice: This Blu-Ray was given to me by NBC.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 9/2/12

Quote of the Week: Things just went from worse to worser. (Hanna, Pretty Little Liars)

Song of the Week: In My Veins – Andrew Belle featuring Erin Mcarley (Pretty Little Liars)

Big News of the Week: Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell: I am a big fan of Pardon the Interruption and one aspect of the show I really like is at the end of the show, Statboy pops up and cleans up all the errors Tony and Mike make even though it is a silly sports show and who really cares if they are off by .005 on someone’s batting average? I watch a lot of political show and have always wished that after these shoutfests they would bring in their own Statboy to tell you what the talking heads got wrong.

I bring this up because Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan managed to tell only two true statements during his speech at the Republican National Convention according to professional fact checkers. In comparison, FactCheck.org found five flat out lies. Everything else was your run of the mill politicians stretching the truth or conjecture. Unfortunately with no Statboy, you have to wait until the next day to sort these things out. C’mon, it is 2012, how can we not have real time fact checks on screen Pop-Up Video style?

Of all of Ryan’s lies, his most egregious was his claim that an auto plant in his district that Obama promised would stay open. Except it turned out that the president did not make any promises and was not even the president when it closed, that happened under George W. Bush. You can read all about this particular lie on Politifact. To give Ryan some credit, he did back off a little on this lie by saying that maybe, kinda, it might be possible that it could be that jut maybe Barack Obama may not have, possible, not the reason the plant closed. Almost.

Please note I am not trying to pile on the GOP (I am a registered Republican, or as Rush Limbaugh would call me a RINO), and there will be plenty of lies and mistruths next week at the Democratic National Convention, so be sure to bookmark Politifact and FactCgeck.org to get the real truths. And please stop it with the “You didn’t build that” crap, that was also given a “false” by all the fact checkers and anyone who listened to Obama’s full speech with a least one full brain cell can tell the thing that you did not build were the roads and other infrastructures.

Oh yeah, and Clint Eastwood talked to a chair.

Preview Picture of the Week:


Leverage: When Sophie stood at the “real” DB Cooper’s grave who died during Vietnam, I thought, c’mon, dude totally Don Drapered somebody, just check who else was in his platoon. Apparently the writers thought the exact same thing.
You can download Leverage on iTunes.

Grimm: As I have started way too many time, amnesia is one of my three least favorite plot devises on television. The only thing worse is selective amnesia. So Juliet remembers some random dog from her office, even remembers Monroe as if he is some great friend even though she has only met him about three time, but does not remember her fiancé. Alrighty. Hopefully they whip up a potion soon because I really hate amnesia.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Perception: Just when I starting thinking out just how bad Eddie Furlong is looking these days, in walks Tom Sizemore.
You can download Perception on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Amber Waves – Erin McCarley (iTunes)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5: It looks like Amazon’s weekly $3.99 deals are being retired with summer so you will have to pay an extra dollar (and a penny) for the music deal, which this moth include Scooter Hall of Fame inductees from Eric Clapton and Pearl Jam, John Mayer’s latest, and Sam Cooke’s Greatest Hits.


New Album Release of the Week: Sun - Cat Power

New DVD Release of the Week: Safe

Video of the Week: I am not the biggest fan of medical dramas because I am not very good with blood especially the realistic kind (humorous excessive blood in horror movies do not bother me that much) so not surprisingly I did not make it very far into the reality show Chicago Medical premiering this Tuesday at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel. It did not help that the first patient came in with bullet wounds to his thigh, scrotum and penis. Ouch. If you can make it through the clip below (it should go without saying, with a title like Penis Bullet Wound, viewer discretion is very advised), maybe you will enjoy Chicago Medical more than me.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Stand Up 2 Cancer, Friday at 8:00 on NBC, ABC, Fox, and CBS: One again this year, all the major networks and a couple cable channels will be devoting an hour to cancer awareness and telethon where you can donate to cancer research and maybe even talk to Julia Roberts, Samuel L. Jackson, Emma Stone and more if you call in to donate. There will also be performances by Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Tim McGraw.