57 Channels and Only This Is On - 8/25/12

Quote of the Week: You are not the first girl to fall for Downton Grabby. (Spencer, Pretty Little Liars)

Song of the Week: Rainbow Connection – Weezer and Hailey Williams (Bunheads)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Legitimate Rape: Remember the good old days when the political buzzwords were things like “Aqua Buddha”? Instead this cycle we are forced to debate things like “legitimate rape”. Didn’t we decide in the eighties that “no means no”?

Preview Picture of the Week:


Leverage: When I learned that the Leverage team would be going to Washington, it never crossed my mind that the reason they tried to “steal a congressman” would involve cheerleading. And after this episode I really hope they do a whole season in the capital next season. The storylines are endless.
You can download Leverage on iTunes.
Weeds:

Grimm: We may have learned more about the Captain in this episode than in the entire first season. So he is a bastard prince (charming?) who is barely human and very far from pure at heart who looks kind of like Jonah Hex in his pure form. Alrighty.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: How dare Erza’s brother besmirch the good name of Hootie & The Blowfish? Blasphemy. And how dare Erza defile Alex Mack? Can we just kill off the entire Fitz(Gerald) Clan please?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Year of the Dragon – Busta Rhymes: Yes you can download the entire new album from Busta Rhymes for free. Sure it is essentially a mix tape which means you will delete all but one or two songs after one listen, but hey, what do you expect for free? Quality?

New Album Release of the Week: Welcome To: Our House - Slaughterhouse

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

Video of the Week: Someone actually made a movie about butter carving. Welcome back Alicia Silverstone.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Pretty Little Liars, Tuesday at 8:00 on ABC Family: After a month of hyping, the BetrAyal is finally happening this week in the summer finale. The last couple episodes have focused on Paige who was found to be in possession of the missing casket earring and even the shady Jenna warned Emily about her. Of course all that means is that Paige is probably just a red herring. Other likely candidates are the growingly violent Maya’s cousin and Erza who could dump Aria and get back with his baby mama Alex Mack. But that would be more of a run of the mill betrayal, not much of a betrayal (unless Alex Mack joined the A Team to get back at Aria for dating her baby daddy). I m still hoping that Aria goes full WWF heal turn, smacks Spencer over the head with a folding chair, rips off her blouse to reveal a t-shirt underneath that reads “I’m the A-Team”. It is really a shame the how has not hired me as a writer yet.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 8/18/12

Quote of the Week: No One Takes Khaleesi's Dragons. (Michelle, Bunheads)

Song of the Week: One Day – Matisyahu (Covert Affairs)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Paul Ryan: A couple Fridays ago, AMC announced just hours before the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics that they were not renewing The Killing for a third season. It is common practice to release bad news late Friday in hopes that people will forget to be angry by the time the weekend concludes and to do it as the Olympics starts helps to bury it further. I bring this up not because I enjoy pissing on The Killing (even though I do) but I found it a bit odd that Mitt Romney chose Saturday morning on the last weekend of the Olympics to announce his running mate. What exactly was he hiding (besides what is in his tax returns), making the announcement at a time when most people are trying to bury news? Why not wait until Monday when you can own the new cycle instead of a time when people would rather talk about Usain Bolt or why didn’t Noel Gallagher jump out of the crowd during the Closing Ceremonies to punch Liam in the face when he was performing Wonderwall? Sometimes I wonder if Romney really wants to be president or if he has already resigned himself to losing.

Another sign that Romney may not want the presidency was his selection for Vice President. Paul Ryan is a super wonk who’s claim to fame is his budget that is supposed to save the country from financial ruin by slashing Medicare, lower taxes (mostly for the uber-rich) but will actually increase the debt according to a non-partisan economist. The guy is part of the most hated Congress in the history of polling and one of the bigger reasons why the country hates this Congress. This was clearly a pick to shore of the base of the party, but if you need to shore up your base by your vice president pick, you have pretty much already lost (see 2008). But on the bright side Ryan is a fan of Rage Against the Machine who will hopefully be invited to play the Republican National Convention later this month. Not surprisingly Tom Morello is not fond of his latest fan calling Ryan “the embodiment of the Machine our music Rages against”.

Preview Picture of the Week:



Leverage: Hardison biting that one dude (after actually warning him he was not above biting) has to be the funniest scene in the history of the show.
You can download Leverage on iTunes.

Falling Skies: I was all excited about the trip to Charleston this season, but I did not like all the politics when they got there (a dictatorship overthrown by the military; yeah). And even with running, heated water (which is not explained how they could keep the electricity going for an underground mall 24/7) Tom decides to keep the ratty beard. Alrighty. And wasn’t Weaver’s daughter going north to the mountains? How did she beat them to South Carolina?
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Grimm: Where most people spend up-fronts hoping the shows they watch get renewed, I secretly hope they all get6 canceled. I really did not need a second season of Grimm, but here it is and a month before everything else. I always liked the idea of the show way more than the acting (the dude from Road Rules? The chick from Quaterlife?). They need to find some compelling leads and quick.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: With her absence this week, I have come to the realization that CiCi is my favorite character on the show. Granted it does not take much to be the best character on the show. All she has to compete with is whenever Hanna goes H*A*M on people., which is not nearly enough
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Go On / Animal Practice (iTunes): If you missed their preview during the Olympics, you can download the new comedies for free.

Deal of the Week: Blu-Rays Under $10: The Expendables, Total Recall, The Terminator)

New Album Release of the Week: Last of a Dyin' Breed - Lynyrd Skynyrd

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

Video of the Week: The season two trailer of Homeland was just released and not surpisingly it looks all shades of awesome. Despite being unceremoniously booted from the agency, Carrie is back, in some cases with new hair and eye color, but unfortunately it looks like she is back on her meds. And just when you thought things could not get any more moody, they had to go and add a children’s choir to make it more epic. Remember The Social Network with Creep? And yes the Scala & Kolacny Brothers version of Every Breath You Take is available to download. Hopefully that does not last long. Homeland returns Sunday September 31 at 10:00.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Falling Skies, Sunday (tomorrow) at 9:00 on TNT: The first season was a bit rough at times and tiresome at others, but it seemed to hit its strike this season as it finally had a direction (and that direction was towards Charleston). But now there are there, now what? Apparently political drama as the series closes out its sophomore season.

Speaking of rocky first seasons, Bunheads also draws to a close this week. Hopefully it finds its foot too in the next season (it was recently renewed along with Melissa and Joey and Baby Daddy).

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 11/6/11

Once Upon a Time: I was a little surprised that we did not see Maleficent in the real world. At first I thought it was because the Evil Queen was going to remove her heart for the spell as I was unaware that the old dude was her father. I thought it was just her man servant. But the most interesting scene was The Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin talking in the real world. Sure the kid thinks everybody in town is walking around in a haze, but you have to wonder who exactly knows what, and these are the two leading candidates to actually have memories of fairytale land. Snow White’s grandkid just does not happen to get adopted by her archnemesis in a town populated by fairytale characters.
You can stream current episodes on Once Upon a Time. You can also download Once Upon a Time.

The Walking Dead: Sure Shane is a jerk and all, but I did not see him leaving the fat dude for dead (morally aside, how was he going to be able to get back to the truck and then the farm without him, and in the dark at that). I just picked up my jaw at that scene about an hour ago.
You can stream recent episodes over at amc.com. You can also download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Pan Am: This may be the episode where the show finally turns the preverbal corner as it was the first one I whole heartedly enjoyed if it were not for the pilot subplot. Hopefully he gets fired because the pilots have never quite fit in to the show very well. But Christina Ricci’s back-story was extremely enjoyable. Note to self: start tipping waitresses three cents and if they call me on it, tell them it is to get them from getting complacent in a no end job. Brilliant. Bonus points for next week when Smash Williams makes his return to television.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pan Am on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: Seriously, the Slutty Pumpkin? Wasn’t that season one? Just because everyone complained that Lost did not tie up most of it loose ends does not mean that this show does. If everyone has forgotten about the storyline, you really do not to bring it back up even if it is unresolved.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Sing Off: With three all-male college groups left in the competition it is not surprising they finally gave one the ax, but after giving the best Swan Song of the season, is it too late to give the University of Rochester YellowJackets a reprieve? Maybe they should start rewarding the group that gives the best Swan Song performance and let them back in the competition at some point. The Dartmouth Aires regain their spot on the top of my power rankings this week for the first time since the second week thanks to a rousing Queen medley (insert your own Antoine Merriweather singing Queen joke here), but it was still disappointing that Bohemian Rhapsody got resigned to a medley, they should have just performed that because it is basically three different songs in one anyway.


The Sing-Off Week Five Power Ranking (change from last week in parentheses)
1. Dartmouth Aires (+1)
2. Afro Blue (-1)
3. Delilah (+3)
4. Urban Method (-)
5. Vocal Point (-)
6. Pentatonix (+1)



You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Sing-Off on iTunes.

Castle: Early on I actually pegged the one hostage as an inside man until he had a seizure then I just figured I had too big of an imagination. I guess maybe they should have sent in an actual medical examiner instead of Beckett and maybe they would have know he was not epileptic.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Parenthood: Julia kind of overreacted a bit with the sushi. Really having her doctor explain to her baby mama what she could and could not eat would probably have been a better idea.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Survivor: South Pacific: First off: bad promo monkeys who spoiled the merge. I was eagerly hoping that there was not going to be a merge to see Ozzy’s face when he learns he would have to spend a couple days at Redemption Island, only for it to be ruined for me on Sunday. Booooo. With that out of the way, I never understood why there are not more people flipping votes after a tie. I would much rather bail on my alliance than go to rocks even if there is a Redemption Island safety net. Though I have to question Coach for not using his Immunity Idol to try to save himself or somebody in his alliance.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Revenge: I still hate the start of the series and really do not care for any of the characters beside Amy Abbot, but gosh darn is this show getting good. Two major what the frack moments this week. I have long pegged the annoying little frat boy as a gay homosexual con man, but what I did not see coming was the computer nerd blackmailing him for sexual favors. Then the other was Not-Amy Abbott bashing in the skull of the bodyguard then showing up all happy, happy, joy, joy on Amy’s doorstep. I cannot wait until the next episode (which sadly I will have to because of some study country music award show next week).
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Grimm: I originally thought this episode would be about Hansel and Greta, thankfully I was wrong when they started having sex and it ended up being the Goldilocks and the Three Bears. But they really took way too long to have the only interesting character in the cast to show up. The Big Bad Wolf did not even make an appearance until over half way through. But it was worth the wait when he hysterically tore some dude’s arm off.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Previewing Grimm

When it comes to new shows, I tend to look past the cast and the glossy introductory promos and look at who is working behind the scenes of the show. Surprisingly of the two fairy-tale themed new shows this fall, Once Upon the Time (see my First Impressions of the show) topped my list of the Most Anticipated New Shows of Fall 2011 list while Grimm could not even make the list considering the former is “from the writers of Lost,” a show I still cringe whenever I think about it, while the latter is brought to us by the guy who co-created Angel with Joss Whedon, which landed in at number sixteen on my list of the 100 Greatest Shows of the 00’s. Of course, on the flipside, Sean Hayes is also a co-executive producer. Yes, the Sean Hayes you are thinking of.

Much like Angel, the lead in Grimm, David Giuntoli (Road Rules, wait, what? Why am I just learning that this guy was on Road Rules and the subsequent Challenges with the Real World, and why do I not remember him at all?) is a detective that takes on special cases due to his special ability, in this case, his is a descendant of the Brothers Grimm and as it turns out, their stories were not just fables but real life and only the Grimms can see these characters for who they really are. Unfortunately just like Angel, the lead is tall, dark, and boring (which is maybe why I do not remember him).

Giuntoli is joined in the homicide department with Russell Hornsby (Playmakers) who like to bust his partner’s balls. Also hanging around the precinct is Reggie Lee (Persons Unknown) and all will be reporting to Sasha Roiz (Caprica) as the captain. While at home Giuntoli is getting ready to propose to girlfriend Bitsie Tulloch (Quarterlife) but his newfound lineage may put that in jeopardy. Kate Burton (Monty) also puts in a memorable guest appearance in the Pilot as David’s aunt who keys him into his heritage.

One problem that Grimm runs into is that it is a very dark retelling of the stories we remember as children, but it may be hard for the show to go into the cheesy, like in the first episode where we meet a young girl in a red hooded sweatshirt, who is kidnapped on her way to her grandparent’s house, whose initials just happen to be R. H. It is hard ton to wince a little at plot points like this. Hopefully this gets less cheesy as the show goes on just like David Greenwalt managed to do with Angel which managed to be a darker version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that still had a lighter side to it. This time around, the comic relief (though not as entertaining as Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan) will come in the form as Silas Weir Mitchell (My Name is Earl) who will be helping the newest Grimm out with some of his cases and just happens to be a reformed Big Bad Wolf. No, seriously.

Despite what looks to be a procedural every week, there looked to be an introduction of a Big Bad in the form of the moderately attractive Claire Coffee (Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough) which hints that the fairytale characters may be more organized than the Grimms may realize. Hopefully she will be appearing early and often because I am not quite sold yet on a strictly procedural show.

In a battle between the show and Once Upon a Time, you will have to give the win to OUaT in terms of quality and almost certainly in terms of viewers (assuming Grimm will not garner enough eyeball on Friday against the already entrenched sci-fi show Fringe) it is currently a tossup because it is hard to be cautious when it comes to a show “from the writers of Lost.” But Grimm’s ratings may make that discussion moot much like The Playboy Club vs Pan Am.

Grimm airs Fridays at 9:00 on NBC. You can stream episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.