57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 22, 2023

 

The Last of Us:  Did this really need to be 80 minutes?  The season is 9 episodes, why not do ten episodes with shorter run times?  This episode could have ended with Joel disposing of the body in Boston and that would have been an interesting end to the episode and leaving you wanting more.  Are these long episode just done to screw people who are paid by the episode? 

 

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches:  Um, why was the hot brain surgeon having an orgasm at the same time her mother was having sex?

 

Leverage: Redemption:  Ooo, the Leverage team got got.  Except I only vaguely remember the guy who entrapped them.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  Well, at least two of the three most annoying people went home this week.  Now if on Fessy follows his Big Brother brethren out the door next week.

 

Big Sky:  I actually did not even realize this was the finale until it was over.  Here is hoping ABC puts everyone out of their misery and finally cancels the show.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 15, 2023

 

 

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches:  Nothing will ever top Denise Richards: nuclear physicist, but Alexandra Daddario: brain surgeon comes really close as most unbelievable occupation for an actor.  But at least that James Bond movie was campy, it seems like we are supposed to take this show seriously.

 

Leverage: Redemption:  That was a fun detour where the team gets scooped on a target.  I wonder if we will see that lady again.  It would be fun to see other Leverage teams.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  So in the past five weeks, one whole team has gone home?  What a stupid forking twist this has been.  Unfortunately Fessy won the elimination to stay in the game, yet for some reason the other two teams have not been completely eliminated yet.  Ugg.

 

Big Sky:  I guess I cannot say this show has gone off the rails because that would imply it was on the rails at any point, but this whole Buck being the big bad has just gotten absurd.  This is definitely not a story worthy of a full season.

 

Ghosts:  After his introduction last week, I was not expecting the new guy to be around very long.   In two episodes he has been fired and quit.  Now I wonder if he will flee after learning about the ghosts.  He has already seen a keyboard type by itself, what else will he see?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 8, 2023

 

 Quantum Leap:  Really, they are going to entitle an episode, “Fellow Travelers” on a show like this and have it be the title of a song and not have the leaper run into any other fellow travelers?  What a troll move.

 

Leverage: Redemption:   I am surprised how much Hardison we are getting this season.  Though I wonder just where the actor was because clearly he is just doing this on a green screen on the set of whatever else he was filming at the time this season was being filmed.

 

Big Sky:  Oh yeah, Jenny’s mom is still around.  But instead of tying into the overall mystery, she instead stumbled upon some weird cult?  Alrighty.  This show is just all over the place this season.  Oh, and Lyle Lovitt is back, but Hootie is gone.  Weren’t these guys introduced as partners?

 

Doom Patrol:  Um, so are they just not explain why Cliff kept the zombie butt with teeth in the freezer?  That was pretty obvious he did not close the freezer.  Of course there is still one out there living with the scientist.  So who exactly will be the big bad this season: Immortus or the zombie butts with teeth?  Maybe the bigger question is when will we get to see the remainder of this season and Titans?  I kind of assumed that after this half season of Doom Patrol, Titans would return, but that is not on the January schedule.  So when, then?  Maybe they should have waited until after Pennyworth ended to start Titans, then maybe there would not be this break between superhero shows.  But HBO Max seems to be a mess right now with little rhyme or reason.

 

Quantum Leap:  Really, they are going to entitle an episode, “Fellow Travelers” on a show like this and have it be the title of a song and not have the leaper run into any other fellow travelers?  What a troll move.

 

Leverage: Redemption:   I am surprised how much Hardison we are getting this season.  Though I wonder just where the actor was because clearly he is just doing this on a green screen on the set of whatever else he was filming at the time this season was being filmed.

 

Big Sky:  Oh yeah, Jenny’s mom is still around.  But instead of tying into the overall mystery, she instead stumbled upon some weird cult?  Alrighty.  This show is just all over the place this season.  Oh, and Lyle Lovitt is back, but Hootie is gone.  Weren’t these guys introduced as partners?

 

Doom Patrol:  Um, so are they just not explain why Cliff kept the zombie butt with teeth in the freezer?  That was pretty obvious he did not close the freezer.  Of course there is still one out there living with the scientist.  So who exactly will be the big bad this season: Immortus or the zombie butts with teeth?  Maybe the bigger question is when will we get to see the remainder of this season and Titans?  I kind of assumed that after this half season of Doom Patrol, Titans would return, but that is not on the January schedule.  So when, then?  Maybe they should have waited until after Pennyworth ended to start Titans, then maybe there would not be this break between superhero shows.  But HBO Max seems to be a mess right now with little rhyme or reason.

Ghosts:  I really do not care for the new assistant, a little too annoying.  But the ghost living in his care is pretty entertaining so there is a bit of a payoff.  I wonder how long they will last.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 18, 2022

 

The White Lotus:  I predicted the "rich" gays (I feel like I get half credit), but I was not expecting it to go down like that.  So did Ethan and Daphne hook up? I was expecting him to confess since he never lies but in never came, so maybe not.  My prediction for season three is that either Craig or Portia (if Craig is is in prison) will be taking Tonya’s ashes to her favorite White Lotus in Southeast Asia to spread them like Tonya did her mother in the first season.

 

Let the Right One In:  From the start, I wondered how do you do a show about a young vampire who does not age for multiple seasons when the actress is definitely going to noticeably age every year.  Well, you take away her immortality.  So what now?  Are vampire Naomi and Isiah going to go on the run with Mark and Eleonore?  Is she going to star in New York, get a job on the graveyard shift and work with Claire on a cure?  What does she tell her partner who knows a killer’s print was found in her trash?  I may actually be more interested in a second season that I have about the first.

 

His Dark Materials:  How exactly does the greatest blacksmith in all the land not have opposable thumbs?  Kind of seems important to the profession.  But it did lead to a pretty unintentionally funny montage.  But when Lyra comes back to the land of the living, will she be able to join back up with her Deamon?  That trip just seems a little too risky.  I do wonder just who will she bring back with her because there will be a few familiar faces across the river.

 

Leverage: Redemption:  Why was the Christmas episode this week and not the one just days before the holiday? 

 

Survivor:  This is the problem with the Big Movez era of Survivor; the moment you make a game winning move, like Jesse taking out Cody, everyone else sees this and they will do everything they can do to get you out before Final 3. But Jesse and Karla seems like they were from the Bitter Jury era because it really looked like she lived up to her promise to taint the jury against Cassidy after she voted her out. And Jesse wanted all the credit for taking out his closest ally but did not respect Kassidy for taking out hers and then executed the best plan at taking Jesse out.  So if you are going to make a Big Move on Survivor these days, you better be able to make fire.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  I complain that they let the peanut gallery help people during the eliminations, but it was really absurd that it was positioned that everyone could see into Kacey’s brother’s end to help him.  This really needs to stop.  And just as I finished cheering that Kacey’s boring brother was finally gone, TJ has the latest dumb twist and he is still around until Kacey is out.  So with the Ride or Dies be able to run TJ’s final together as long as one makes to the end?

 

Doom Patrol:  The emotional vampire is really infringing on What We Do in the Shadows’ energy empire’s domain.

 

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 11, 2022

 

 The White Lotus:  So Greg is the “rich” gay’s cowboy?  I guess that is who he was talking to on the phone earlier this season.  Though should Greg not be back by now?  I was also ready to lock the “rich” gays into my who died pick, then the promo monkeys had and go show the college bros fighting in the ocean.  Would they really make it that obvious though?  I think I still have the “rich” gays one, the college bros two, and the prostitutes three.  

 

Let the Right One In:  Oh my, I was not expecting the henchman to die so soon.  But with him out of the way, what are Mark and Claire going to discuss?  Are they going to get rid of the cop so they can work on their vampire cure without her looking into them?  Did the cop put two and two together and figure out that Mark is the on INTERPOL is looking into as the mass murderer? 

 

His Dark Materials:  The show is so convoluted that such a long layoff really hurts this show.  Forgot the girl is Eve.  Forgot there is some evil dude that looks like Cristen Cole.  And I just do not understand in the first place how or why the knife broke.  Can it be fixed?  Seems like it will be needed.

 

Leverage: Redemption:  So Eliot has a black dad.  Oh course he does.

 

Survivor:  How the fork do you give back your Idol after taking it from someone?  Not quite Ice Cream Scooper level of stupidity, but definitely in the second tier.  So basically all Jesse has to do is win fire making challenge to win this season given he still has another Idol in his pocket.  That is going to be anti-climactic.

 

The Challenge: Ride or Dies:  So the Ride or Dies are no more.  And in a cruel twist, they are stuck on separate teams.  Unfortunately I guess this means we will just be eliminating one person from her on out which will just prolong the season.  The last couple seasons have hovered around 20 which means we are probably just at the half way point.  Even more unfortunate is that now when Nany is medically pulled from the game, that means Johnny will not have to go with her.  Though the promo makes it look like someone is going to get the boot without losing in elimination.

 

Stargirl:  So the mom went to get Artimas and just came back with a crossbow?  She really could it helped.  I guessed they were just saving her for the Icicle kill.  I wonder if old Flash showing means the JSA will pop up on the season finale of The Flash sometime.

 

Doom Patrol:  How do you improve on Butts with Teeth?  Well, just do a Butts with Teeth song and dance number.  I was a bit disappointed that the time machine is still working; hopefully it does not get as confusing as lost season. 

 

 

The Twenty-Five Best Shows of 2021-22

1. Only Murders in the Building 

2. Yellowjackets 

3. The Great 

4. The White Lotus 

5. Minx 

6. Ghosts 

7. The Dropout 

8. Vigil 

9. Abbott Elementary 

10. Girls5Eva 

11. Love Life 

12. Dopesick 

13. Hacks 

14. Leverage: Redemption 

15. Doom Patrol 

16. Dollface 

17. Single Drunk Female 

18. Reservation Dogs 

19. Peacemaker 

20. La Brea 

21. Made for Love 

22. Hawkeye 

23. Pivoting 

24. The Righteous Gemstones 

25. Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail

Shows that aired a majority of their season between August 2021 and June 2022 were eligible for this list.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 1/6/13

Quote of the Week: I both hate you and want to be you. It's Ryan Gosling all over again. (Raj, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: Rapper's Delight – Sugarhill Gang (Parenthood)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Television Is Already Back: Even though many shows just had their “Winter Finale” less than a month ago, most are already returning as soon as tonight. And here is what I will be watching while trying to stay warm over the next couple months (new shows I hope are worth watching in italics):

Sundays
8:00 – Once Upon a Time (Tonight)
9:00 – Revenge (Tonight)
9:00 – Shameless (January 13)
9:00 – The Walking Dead (February 10)
10:00 – House of Lies (January 13)
10:30 – Californication (January 13)

Mondays
8:00 - Switched at Birth (January 7)
8:00 – How I Met Your Mother (January 14)
8:00 – The Voice (March 25)
9:00 – Bunheads (January 7)
9:00 – Dallas (January 29)
9:00 – 2 Broke Girls (January 14)
10:00 – Deception (January 7)

Tuesdays
8:00 – Pretty Little Liars (January 8)
8:00 – The Voice (March 26)
9:00 - The Lying Game – (January 8)
9:00 – Go On (January 8)
9:00 – Happy Endings (January 8)
9:30 – Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 (January 8)
10:00 – Justified (January 8)
10:00 – Parenthood (already back)

Wednesdays
8:00 - Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites II (February 13)
8:30 – The Neighbors (January 9)
9:00 – Modern Family (January 9)
9:30 – Suburgatory (January 9; moving to 8:30 April 3)
10:00 – The Americans (January 30)
10:00 – Nashville (January 9)

Thursdays
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory (already back)
8:00 – Community (February 7)
8:00 - Last Resort (January 10)
10:00 – Do No Harm (January 31)
10:00 – King of the Nerds (January 17)

Fridays
9:00 – Grimm (March 8)


Preview Picture of the Week:

Pretty Little Liars returns with a bang Tuesday at 8:00 on ABC Family

Leverage: It was cheap of TNT to announce that it was not going to renew Leverage just days before the season finale which also happen to air on Christmas night. At least the writers had already wrote the finale like a series finale and the team was able to go out with one last entertaining job.
You can download Leverage on iTunes.

Parenthood: Thankfully my New Year resolution was not to tear up during Parenthood because I would not have made it a full day without breaking it. Really heartbreaking when Kristina shaved her head. The show when from heartbreaking to shocking when Victor shatters the window with his bat. Should be interesting to see how Julia and Joel react to that.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: For anyone who want to give me a belated Christmas present, a life-sized Jenga game will do. Either that or a Sheldon Cooper’s Council of Ladies t-shirt.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Sooner the Sunset – Sooner the Sunset (Noisetrade)

Deal of the Week: 2,000 Albums for $5.00: Need to spend those Amazon gift cards you got for Christmas, Amazon MP3 has 2000 albums for only $5.00 each including a few albums that made my Best Albums of 2012 list like The Lumineers, Fiona Apple, John Mayer, and Cat Power:


New Album Release of the Week: SIGNED and SEALED in BLOOD - Dropkick Murphys

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

Video of the Week: Whenever you do a list inevitably something is going to be left off. This Is the End just missed my list of the 13 Events That Will Make 2013 Awesome because even though it features numerous comic geniuses from the Judd Apatow phylum: Seth Rogan, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, and a dead Michael Cera all playing themselves. And even though the trailer is hilarious, I feel the actual movie will just be one big in joke and an excuse for everyone involved to sit around and get high. Plus had I included one apocalypse themed movie on my list it would have been the end of Edgar Wright’s disaster trilogy: The World’s End described as “Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.” Since that does not have a trailer yet, here is the trailer for This Is the End.


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Lying Game, Tuesday at 9:00 on ABC Family: Let’s face it, the first season of The Lying Game was a bit of a bore. But when Sutton turned around and said, “Hi mom” the show got way more interesting. Except we had to wait ten months to see what exactly the mother and daughter knew and when they knew it. I would not mind at all if the first episode (or some episode this season) is a flashback at how they got together, devised their scheme, and put it in motion.

Previewing the Mid-Seasons of Rizzoli & Isles and Leverage

Rizzoli and Isles returns tonight (followed by Leverage, more on that later) for its final five episodes of the season (yes the finale will air Christmas night). Where we left off over the summer, Rizzoli saved Isles from becoming the next victim of Eddie Cibrian while Jane’s little brother may or may have not knocked up Alexandra Holden who left their possible love child at her front door.

Tonight murder hits close to home when a man dies Division 1 Café from rat poison. And yes Jane’s least favorite restaurant owner becomes a suspect. And the victim turns out to know someone from one of the detective’s past. While next year, more ghosts from the past haunts another detective while the author of Suicide Boy is found hung in his office. We do learn the paternity of baby Tommy Jr. while Jane’s mom gets some action. Also Maura has to put her office in code red after a body is brought in, but that is not before sharing another one of nuggets in that you are less likely to get lime disease hiking without clothes.

Rizzoli and Isles airs Tuesdays at 9:00 on TNT. You can also download Rizzoli & Isles on iTunes.



Following Rizzoli and Isles is the continuation of the Leverage season and the team returns to take on what may be their biggest mark, which is saying a lot considering they once took down an entire nation. Tonight the team will be taking on Wal-Mart. Well, a Wal-Mart stand-in called Value More. If you live in a small town you know the story, a big box store moves in, crushing all the local business and then flexes it’s cooperate muscle to keep their employees from unionizing. Value More is so big, Nate has avoided taking them on, that is until Elliot cozies up to a local shopkeeper in the form of Willa Ford.

The team may actually be more ambitious next week when the Leverage Team tries to steal a dream. And to do so, they build something that looks like something Abed from Community would build if he had limitless funds to create a bigger dreamatorium. They will also be taking down a shady vinery owner and try to get a corrupt toy maker to buy a doll so creepy that it makes Chuck look like a Cabbage Patch Doll before his dangerous product its shelves before Christmas. And Nate’s nemesis insurance –investigator-turned-InterPol-agent Jim Sterling will make an appearance before the season ends.

Leverage airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on TNT. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.

Best of the Week - 11/24/12

Quote of the Week: She sent us a biter-gram yo. (Merle, The Walking Dead)

Song of the Week: Love Hurts – Nazareth (Go On)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Chevy Chase Leaves Community: Although this begs the question is it really leaving the show two episodes before the presumed series finale is filmed? That is like a teacher retiring during finals week.

Preview Picture of the Week:


Free Download of the Week: It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Norah Jones (iTunes)

Deal of the Week:



New Album Release of the Week: Girl On Fire - Alicia Keys

New DVD Release of the Week: Men in Black 3

Video of the Week: The latest chapters debuted last night and and as soon as they hit the internets, I will post them here.

Next Week Pick of the Week: Leverage, Tuesday at 10:00 on TNT: Leverage returns this week, on a Tuesday instead of its usual Sundays following Rizzoli and Isles, to air the final five episodes of its fifth season going up against a big box company that is destroying a small town. For those that do the math, yes that means the season finale will fall on Christmas night. If my memory serves me correctly, it aired on Christmas (and New Year's Day) last year too.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 9/23/12

Leverage: It was highly entertaining a couple seasons ago when they split the two genders into two separate, but interchanging episodes. I thought that was what we were getting this time around with Hardison, Elliot, and Parker split from Nate, Sophie, and Sterling. Unfortunately the two storylines never crossed with each other aside from a phone call. Even more disappointing was Adam Baldwin who I wanted something more interesting for after the teaser at the beginning of the season.
You can download Leverage on iTunes.

The Voice: I really do not like the overabundance of teenagers this season (at least 15 of the singers that have tried out cannot legally buy beer). What’s worse is that none of them are even that good. I would be surprised if any of them aside from Avery Wilson make it to the live shows. Actually the talent level as a whole is way down this season and you have to wonder if the quick turnaround was a good idea. I am really disappointed in the lack of professional talent this time around, 61 Blind Auditions already and I have not recognized anyone yet. Including Cupid, who was apparently a one hit wonder who did not want to be known as a one hit wonder yet still auditioned with his one “hit.” (Ironically the two most “famous” this season, Cupid and the boy bander who supposable sold a million records, did not get picked.) And really I have not seen anyone worth rooting for this season except De’borah who I fear her chances of longevity on the show. Well she and Devyn DeLoera, but I will be rooting for Devyn for very different reason. On the bright side, they toned down the sob stories. The only one that sticks out of my head this week was the dude who’s parents dies ion quick succession as a child and the chick born prematurely (but was saved by music!).
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice with the widget at right.


Parenthood: I really hope Kristina is having false alarm because I am not sure I can sit through an entire season of her going through cancer treatments, just way too heartbreaking. Seriously, that cast such a showdown over the episode I cannot even remember what happened before it.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: Wedding: Sons of Anarchy style. Seriously, has there been a wedding on television with less hype and hoopla
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons: Holy Trishelle sighting! I totally was not expecting to see her back on The Challenge this time around. I am disappointed the internets did not give more of a day’s notice that she was going to show up. Unfortunately she was relegated to the background for her triumphant return (her first since 2004) which makes me think her time on the show may not be long. At least she got to witness firsthand one of the greatest moments ever in Challenge history when Big E rang the bell with Wes’s head. Good riddance Wes, please stop coming back on the show, you are the only person that can make Kenny empathetic. But I would put Big ringing the bell with Wes’s head number two after the time CT used Johnny Bananas as a backpack before slamming him into a barrel.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons on iTunes.

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.

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 - 7/21/12

Quote of the Week: I’m only going to say this once boys, give me the... teddy bear. (Eliot, Leverage)

Song of the Week: Little Boxes – Steve Martin and Kevin Nealon (Weeds)

Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: Emmy Nominations Announced: The only nomination Justified got was for Dickie Bennett (and his hair)? Alright, I am back to ignoring the Emmy’s.

Falling Skies: Even though I knew it probably would not be the case, I was hoping Karen would come back normal, or at least as normal as a de-harnessed kid could be. Unfortunately it looks like she is still being controlled by the Overlords somehow. Sadly I have a feeling she may go the way of the black kid whose name I have already forgotten by the end of the next episode which is a shame because she was really the only character I actually cared about from the start of the series.
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Weeds: Kids playing roller derby was probably the most entertaining this I saw anywhere this week. Well it was until the great Andy slap fight of 2012.

Pretty Little Liars: I love how stupid these girls are. Of course Hanna, the police man was there because of the note. Of course Spencer, Garrett was sending you somewhere that would help him get off (although I thought we already saw him confess to killing Allison with Jenna). Then you have Aria who finds a boat load of money in Ezra’s sock drawer (not his finest hour) and instantly thinks that he collected Jason’s reward money. She is that paranoid but actually believes his I let the guy pay in cash to avoid taxes excuse. And what could he have possibly tell Jason? Then there is Emily who just happens to remember a tattoo right before seeing it on Aria’s former beard. God bless stupid people.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Dallas: As I mention in my initial post about Dallas, there was going to be more to Rebecca and Anne than being doting brides to the Ewing men. We learned just was hiding in Rebecca’s closet earlier this season, and we finally (kinda) learned Anne’s deep dark season besides having an evil ex-husband and it looks like she had a kid. Of course there are a couple possibilities like she gave them up for adoption, they could of died, or my current favorite theory, she thinks her kid is dead but really grew up to become Rebecca. Didn’t her parents mysteriously died early in her life? If so then we would get the awesome Springer episode with Christopher marring his step-mother’s daughter. Sometime soap operas write themselves.
You can download Dallas on iTunes.

Preview Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: Fly Like an Eagle – Steve Miller Band (Google Play)

Deal of the Week: $2.99 Soul Albums: This week’s absurdly low price sale on Amazon is dedicated to soul music including greatest hits packages from Prince, The Temptations, Al Green, and the new album from Frank Ocean.



New Album Release of the Week: Handwritten - The Gaslight Anthem

New DVD Release of the Week: Boss: Season 1

Video of the Week: Apparently Mansome is a real documentary (from Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and the Super Size Me Guy) and not a Funny or Die fake trailer. Now if you excuse me, I need to go add this to my queue.



Next Week Pick of the Week: 2012 Summer Olympics: Opening Ceremony, Friday at 7:30 on NBC: I am an unabashed Olympics fan, I will watch it all, no matter how obscure, I will be even watching handball at some point probably. Trampoline? Sure, why not? (Unfortunately for the second games in a row I will not be able to watch any basketball because I cannot bring myself to root for the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant). If you cannot wait a whole week for the start of the games, there are a couple preliminary soccer games starting Wednesday including the American woman (welcome back to my life Alex Morgan) playing at noon on NBC Sports Network (which used to be called Vs). Head over to nbcolympics.com to get a full rundown of what sports will be airing when and what channel.

Previewing Leverage 5.x

Leverage could very well be the best show on television that is not in the discussion for best show on television. It is not in the discussion because it does not take itself too seriously which also means there are no eye rolling pretentious “best shows”. After four seasons, the format has not changed yet has managed not to feel tired with its criminals taking down bigger criminals Robin Hood style theme. Sure the last season got a bit dark with Nate taking up drinking again and he kind of, sort of killed somebody even if indirectly.

Now with Jack Latimer and Victor Dubenich out of the way, Leverage Incorporated has relocated to Portland, Oregon (the FBI, InterPOL and other groups have been staking out their Boston hideout) and is quick to find a new job in the City of Roses. And how very Portland of them to use a microbrewery as their cover? This week’s case involves a shipping executive (who shows up in the form of Carey Elwes who will also show up in a future episode of another TNT show Perception later this season) who cheap techniques leads to the death of a couple of employees. To get him back, the team may have its biggest con yet (or at the very least they “steal” one of their biggest prop for con).

Even though it is only a brief cameo, Christian Kane’s Angel buddy Adam Baldwin shows up in a hilarious flashback tonight. Hopefully this only sets up a bigger role for Baldwin later in this season. Also showing up this season will be Treat Williams (Everwood) as an ex-hockey player turned team owner who cares more about money than wins or player safety. Matthew Lillard (Scooby-Doo) also pops up as a corrupt businessman (is there any other kind?). And what would a Leverage season be without a face-to-face with their longtime nemesis, insurance-investigator turned InterPOL agent Jim Sterling?

Leverage airs Sundays at 8:00 (until August 26 when it moves to 9:00) on TNT. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.