57 Channels and Only This Is On: 12/18/13

Tomorrow I start my Best of 2013 lists, but before then, I thought I would have a rare mid week 57 Channels post because of all the television on Sunday that deserves some analysis. As for the best of list, you can contribute by filling out the 9th Green's Readers Favorite Songs of 2013 Poll at the bottom of this page (or just click the link).

Quote of the Week: If you had just discovered after 30 years that I was a martian, the least I could do was explain to you life on mars. (Margaret Scully, Masters of Sex)

Song of the Week: Days Are Gone – Haim (Revenge)

Big News of the Week: Hall and Oats Finally in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The inductees for next year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced yesterday and to little surprise, Nirvana were a first ballot inductee (though I would have held off the twenty-fifth anniversary of Nevermind). After Rush was inducted this year, another long overlooked rock act with a feverish fan base Nirvana are also in. Peter Gabriel also got in for the second time, he originally was inducted as part of Genesis and this time will be as a solo artist. And things will get mellow with the inclusion of Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt. But for my money, the show will be headlined by Hall & Oates the greatest duo in the history of music. I am guessing the reason it took a decade and a half to be nominated (they were inducted after their first nomination) was because of those extremely cheesy eighties music video.

Once Upon a Time: After a really bad first half of the season, this show really needed a reboot, and surprisingly they actually did it, Storybrooke no longer exists, everyone is back in fairytale land where they left off with no recollection of what happened. While Emma and Henry live as is she never gave him up. Okay, this storyline reeks of the flash forwards on the final season of Lost, but as least we know now it will not all turn out to be purgatory (at least hopefully not). But why does Bae go back to fairytale land? He was in the real world when the curse went into effect. And if everything goes back to the way it was pre-curse, does this mean everyone who died will be resurrected. I am guessing that would be the best way to bring Rumplestiltkin back. Of course if that is the case then Peter Pan, the Huntsman, et al will also be resurrected.

With Neverland behind us (hopefully), we did get a glimpse of what is ahead. And no I do not really care how Captain Hook got his memory back. Nope, the real news is we got a glimpse on the next Big Bad: The Wicked Witch of the West. Get ready for some embarrassingly bad CGI flying monkeys.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: The only thing I hoped for with the finale was that Brody died a horrible death and the writer finally followed through. If only two seasons too late. I was also kind of hoping Carrie would have a miscarriage but unfortunately that did not happen. But hopefully for next season grandpa and auntie take care of the Brody spawn because raising a kid in Istanbul sounds like a horrible idea. And I am guessing that Saul will be part of Carrie’s team in Istanbul. Though how Carrie got a promotion is pretty befuddling after everything she has done over the past season and a half.

Revenge: The series started off with Daniel (presumably at the time) getting shot, so I guess it is almost apropos that he ended up being on the other end of the gun for the teaser to this season. Though it is hard to believe even a drunk Daniel would shoot Emily. Unfortunately the teaser for the second half of the teaser has Emily with amnesia, one of my three least favorite plots on television. Hopefully we learn by the first episode she is faking because I really hate amnesia plotlines.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: Greatest colligate presentation ever. But shockingly the rainmaker got fired for it. So will another college take a chance on him or will he have to go back to running studies at whorehouses? I will be spending the next nine month trying to not go to Wikipedia to avoid spoilers. I did make it through three seasons of Deadwood without checking out history reports on the subject.

How I Met Your Mother: The Mother is so inconsequential that I completely forgot that she ran into Lily until she brought it up. The writers really should have came up with a good storyline for the Mother before actually folding her into the show because of right now, I am not sure if she even make the top 5 of the Ted Mosbey Girlfriend Power Rankings.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Sing-Off: Last week’s promo had me a little worried for the safety of Vocal rush and they did inexplicably end up in the Ultimate Sing-Off (even though Voice Play definitely should have been in the bottom two). But thankfully they did make it out unscaved and got two performances from the group. Though I do hope it is the last time we see the group in the bottom because they are significantly better than everyone else this season except Home Free and maybe Ten (that really should be the final three). Since only half of the groups performed, my Power Ranking has unchanged from Sunday with the exception of Element getting the ax.

1. Vocal Rush
2. Home Free
3. Ten
4. acoUstiKats
5. The Filharmonic
6. VoicePlay


Free Download of the Week: Something About December – Christina Perri (iTunes)

Video of the Week: We are a year away from Interstellar from hitting theaters, but you can have your first look now. Well, it mostly looks like stock footage except for a quick glimpse of Matthew McConaughey driving on a country road (which says nothing since the movie supposedly is about space). But that is enough for me consider the movie comes from Christopher Nolan, the guy behind Memento, Inception, oh, yeah, and the Batman trilogy.


Next Week Pick of the Week: What else is there aside from ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 12/15/13

Once Upon a Time: And now Greek Mythology is on the table for the show (how long until Norse mythology is tied in and Thor shows up). It was recently announced that the chick from Lost will be joining the cast as the next Big Bad, I originally thought that she may be the human form of Ursula, who was last seen as extremely bad CGI), but maybe she will be a God. As for Peter Pan unleashing another curse I do not care (but I will put ten cents on Tinkerbell earning her wings by stopping it with pixiedust; speaking of fairies, when did having your shadow ripped from you kill you). Nor do I care that The Darlings saying they are going back home even though home is nineteenth century England.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: I did not think for a second that Brody had converted back to Al Qaida. It has come pretty obvious that the writers will never have Brody or Carrie turn on each other and have shown that have done the dumbest things for each other. And now Brody is in a heavily guarded compound with no way to escape (and very reminiscent to the way he assassinated the Vice President last season; why don powerful men keep inviting him into a room alone), but I am sure Carrie will still find a way to get him out even though the show would be much better without him.

Masters of Sex: Bill seeing Virginia throughout the episode seemed a little sitcom-y for me even though that last scene with them was very powerful. But it did seem apropos that Bill was obsessed with measuring phalluses considering the former and current lovers of Virginia engaged in a phallus measuring contest all episode.

The Sing-Off: Thank goodness the show is back and not a moment too soon after a lackluster season of The Voice. It has been over a month since The Voice has had a performance as good as Bottom of The River (if the girl who sang lead does not show up on The Voice next year, Mark Burnett has failed as a producer), What Makes You Beautiful or even Cruise. Unfortunately one of the groups that sang one of those songs was already sent home. It is a little weird how they split the third and four episodes especially considering what I considered the two weakest of final eight are both in the same episode. Then the two teams I thought had the best chance to advance far in the competition on Thursday both ended up in the bottom two, sadly with Street Corner Renaissance, who I had already penciled into the finals, going home. So now I am a little worried for Vocal Rush, who gave by far the best performance this season (and followed that up with my middle school jam by C+C Music Factory) even though there are two fodder teams on their episode. It also does not help that the promo makes it looks they struggle with their eighties tune.

If the two best groups from the first round do not make it to the live show I assume we have Mark Burnett to blame because the guy seems to like to have fodder in his sing shows. The other thing we have Mark Burnett to thank for is the new Ultimate Sing-Off where the two bottom teams have their own “Battle Round” with only one advancing, no Steals are in play. These were entertaining, but I am disappointed that they seem to have replaced the Swan Song. I do not see why they could not have done both (aside of course for licensing fees reasons). But anyway. Here is my Power Ranking for those still left in the competition.

1. Vocal Rush
2. Home Free
3. Ten
4. acoUstiKats
5. The Filharmonic
6. Element
7. VoicePlay


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I think I predicted this earlier, but it became pretty obvious that Sky’s mother is really Mae. But much like The Blacklist, the question is how long they will drag this out. At least in the winter finale, Lizzie came to the realization that it may be the case. How long until Sky figures this out. Mae is old enough, she is a SHIELD agent, Sky looks half Asian, how is May not her first guess. Really the only question now is, could Coulson be the father?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: Well that was an unexpected finale. After Jax killed Clay I theorized the only thing the show had left to do was for Tara to kill Jemma. Oops. Got that one backward. Now, I guess all there is left is for Jax to kill his other parent.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Holy Ciera! She actually won an immunity challenge. Maybe she actually is good at puzzles; it is just that her mother is just that much better. But it looks like we are going to be in for a boring finale as the final three will be Tyson beating Gervase and Monica unless Ciera miraculously manages to win another immunity challenge or two. Though it would be obvious Hayden will be voted right back out if he comes back from Redemption Island, I do wonder if Monica will be more prone to flipping if it is Laura or even Tina. Monica probably still loses, but would have much better chance with a all girl final.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

Nashville: Last week I did not even mention the promo monkeys teasing someone dieing this week because it seemed so obvious that it would be Lamar, it did not seemed worth even predicting. Oops again. But I did mention last week that if Will did not come out of the closet they might as well write him off the show and promote Layla to cast regular. So it was either Will or Peggy who may have seen her last day. But like I have said before, I do not believe anyone is dead until I see a body (and even then I am sometimes hesitant) and unlike Peggy who’s lifeless body we saw, we did not see Will’s body. So as of now I am guessing Will stepped off the tracks at the last moment.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: C’mon, if you are going to do a It’s a Wonderful Life episode, do a It’s a Wonderful Life episode, not five different segments with five different narrators. I would have liked to see an entire episode of Penny trying to hook up with Sheldon.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

The Michael J. Fox Show: I do not why, but I laughed hysterically through the commercial break at the King of Pain joke.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Michael J. Fox Show on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 12/8/13

2014 Grammy Nomination Special: It is odd to have your nominations at 10:00 on a Friday considering the weekend tends to be a wasteland for news. But after the nominations I understand why they had it on a day when most people deliver bad news. After last year when I actually enjoyed all five Album of the Years and was content with most everything in the big four. Well except that Call Me Maybe was was nominated for a songwriting award along with Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) which re-appropriated the Nietzsche saying for the umpteenth time in song.

The biggest shock of the night was Sara Bareilles getting Album of the Year nod for the underwhelming The Blessed Unrest, her weakest album to date. She shares the nomination with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis who somehow ranked up the second most nomination with seven including three of the big four. Not bad for the second coming of Vanilla Ice.

As for the snubs, Lorde seemed like the biggest lock for Best New Artist, yet when the nominees were announced, not surprisingly Macklamore and Ryan Lewis were joined by Kendrick Lamar (who grabbed the same amount of nominations as the duo), and country upstart Kacey Musgraves. The other two were a bit shocking especially considering they took the spot of Lorde who was arguably the most buzzed about new artist of the year and was peaking as the nominations were being decided.

First there was James Blake who is virtually unknown stateside (or very well in his native England) and was getting no buzz at all during awards season. No shots at James Blake because Retrograde will probably make my Best Songs of 2013 list (okay, one irrational shot, whenever I see his name I think of James Blunt which is a big negative), but he does not belong here. But Blake is not even the least deserving artist in the category; that honor goes to Ed Sheeran. Ed even seemed embarrassed when the camera cut to him after announcing he was nominated. Again, no shots at Ed, but he is not new. And not even in the way that Kacey Musgraves is technically on her fourth album kind of way. The guy was nominated for Song of the Year just last year and even performed at the award show. This year, his is up for nothing else (same as James Blake; though technically Ed is nominated for being on the Taylor Swift album) while Lorde is up for four awards including Song and Record of the Year. But I guess you cannot get too upset for Lorde not also getting the Best New Artist nomination, she will probably get one next year.

Once Upon a Time: Thank goodness, we are finally out of Neverland (so what if they did not bother to explain how Prince Charming is allowed to leave without dying). Oh wait, Pan is now in Henry’s body so that storyline will continue. Ugg.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: I actually cheered when the roadside bomb went off. I should have known Brody would crawl out, the guy is a cockroach.

The Walking Dead: My favorite part of the episode is everyone saw Rick skitter behind the bus, and yet the Governor’s whole army marched right past him without even bothing to look to see if he was still there so Rick could tackle the Governor after every passed. There is nothing more entertaining than television characters that are AI video game dumb. My second favorite part was the mom who was so fixated on the water even though someone told her that walkers avoid water, keeping her back on her child and the big wooded area that could actually have walkers in it.

But it is time to say R.I.P. to Hershel. When the Governor captured him and Michonne it was pretty clear one of them would be assassinated by the Governor if not both. And Michonne actually has both of her legs. The Governor also became zombie chow but surprisingly it was not at the hands of Rick, Michonne (though she did leave him for the zombies, presumable, when she had the chance to finish him) but by the mother who we just met two episodes ago. I do wonder if we will see her, or her sister, again. I think they were the only two of the Governor’s army who ended the episode alive. I would not be surprised if they were the ones that took the baby and will raise them as their own until Rick happens across them at some point.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: I was wondering when the study start if they were using any sort of contraception and finally got my answer: apparently only a diaphragm which only has about a 95% success rate. I am not sure I like those odds.

The Blacklist: In an interview with one of the dudes behind Homeland, I remember him talking about how smart viewers are now and you can never surprise them with what happens, you can only surprise them with when it happens. I think about that a lot when watching The Blacklist. Most people had Lizzie being Red’s daughter as early as when NBC released its first trailer. I began to think that maybe Red may be the father of Lizzie’s husband instead when it was revealed her father was alive and well (as far as she knew) in the series premiere. But as time went on, I went back to thinking that it was Lizzie who came from Red’s loins, a fact that was all but confirmed when Red killed Lizzie’s “father” when her “father” wanted to tell her some big secret. So the question is not if Lizzie is Red’s daughter but when the writers let us in on this fact.

Being one of those “smart” television watchers that the Homeland dude spoke of, the winter finale seem like the most logical. Lizzie’s “dad” was killed by Red two episodes and the last promo suggests that the baddie was going to assassinate Lizzie next if Red did not plead for his daughter’s life? Except that “fact” ended up not coming to light and Red got that other dude from Homeland to give up the code. But the evidence was mounting so high that even Lizzie started to suspect that Red was her father that at the end of the episode she straight up asks him if it were true. Her it comes, and his answer was… no. What?!?

So either two things are going on: 1) Red is telling the truth. Then what was this big secret that he killed her father over about (could she be Alan Alda’s kid and she is the big thing Red has over Alan for the last twenty years that has kept him alive)? Or 2) Red is lying and the writers are prolonging the obvious even longer. I am not sure I like either scenario going forward.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

The Goldbergs: The second Legend of Zelda game was the bane of my existence as a kid and to this day I never finished it. Now in the age of YouTube, I may have to dig out the Nintendo and see if I can finally conquer it.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Goldbergs on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: I have this fear that the show is going to just reset and have Tara get back with Jax. But I really cannot see her go into wtnes protection because then we will just have another season with Jax trying to find his kid. They already did that back in season three which was the worst season of the series. Plus I have a feeling now that Jax has killed Clay, one of the few things the show has left to do is have Tara kill Gemma.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Stupid promo monkeys ruined the surprise that the votes would be deadlocked but I was surprised as who it was flipped. I assumed it was Monica that Hayden got to flip convincing she was on the bottom, but nope, Ciera for some reason decided to flop after making a big deal about not turning on their alliance last week. So not only did she flop, someone she voted with someone who ended up drawing the short straw. Bad move Ciera. So that was only the second tie since the show went to picking rocks and I find it interesting this week Probst clarified on Twitter that at final four if there is a tie, the players make fire. I wonder if we get another tie this season.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

Nashville: Layla is quickly moving up the Nashville Power Rankings with each passing episode and now has positioned herself at number three. And Juliette will probably not be very happy that she is close to being overtaken by Layla. The show this season has been at its best when one storyline focuses on their feud. Hopefully Layla gets upgraded to series regular soon. She could take the place of the gay cowboy who has been worthless since he has joined. Either out him to the general public now or just write him off the show (when Layla called TMZ I actually thought she was going to out him).
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Sound of Music Live!: About an hour in I wrote “I was not expecting Julie Andrews but wow, Carrie Underwood is getting out-acted by a bunch of minor. Hopefully someone falls down the stairs soon.” But really aside from the wooden performances from the two big named leads, it was an entertaining production. Sure I have some complaints: having a live production that is not in front of a live audience just felt weird. Same goes for the obviously taped orchestration. I was expecting applause in-between acts but you could hear a pin drop. It was also a weird that the cast did not get a curtain call (granted it would have been even weird to take a bow in front of an empty soundstage). And of course it would have been a lot more memorable had someone fallen down the stairs. But since it was a rating bonanza (it had two million more viewers than The Big Bang Theory during the same half hour), I suspect another live production will happen again next year and may I suggest A Christmas Carol. Just do it in front of a live audience. I even have the casting: Kelsey Grammar as Ebenezer Scrooge, Ted Danson as Jacob Marley, Neil Patrick Harris as Bob Crachet, and Emma Stone as the Ghost of Christmas Past (just without a bad eighty’s wig).

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 11/24/13

Once Upon a Time: Just when I thought they could not ruin Peter Pan anymore, they make his origin story an adult. Sure it makes absolutely no sense that Peter Pan’s shadow predates Peter Pan, but that is the kind of writing you get on this show. And even though I doubt that either will stick, but I have no problem with Henry dying or Rumplestilkin getting trapped in Pandora’s Box. And though the promo monkeys suggested not guessing what happens next, they bring Henry back to life and the second half of the season is Henry becoming the new leader of the Lost Boys.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: I was hoping he would just rot in the half finished building for the rest of eternity but it looks like Brody will be back on American soil by next episode. And he will probably get a full pardon even though he is a known associate of Abu Nazir, tried to blow up the Vice President and other high ranking officials, and they succeeded in killing the Vice President the following season. Maybe if we are lucky, they will ship him overseas to help their asset in Iran.

The Walking Dead: Where has the fake cop been this whole time? Of course like every interesting character this show introduces, I fully expect her to be dead by the end of next episode. I do wonder if these new people are cousins to the Greene family because it is distracting how much the one looks exactly like Maggie.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: When the promo monkeys hyped someone from Emily’s past coming back, I rolled my eyes when her gay husband showed up. Oops, he was not it. Then when the reporter got all Deep Throat meeting in a parking garage, I just assumed the British chick was back in town. Nope, Lydia is back from the dead. Wait, what? I thought she was dead, except I do not remember how. I remember he falling off her balcony onto a car but I thought she survived that. (I had to look it up, she was supposed to be on the airplane that exploded at the end of season one. So Lydia was not on it, Victoria was not on it, who exactly was on the airplane?)
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: An episode of Masters of Sex without any sex. Unless you consider seeing the inside of a lady count. I do now wonder if Dr. Haas and Vivian will meet each other again in the sex study. Now that she has had an orgasm it seems like she would try to reenroll (unless she was too embarrassed by the first rejection). And I wonder if Barton himself will ever partake in some sort a way even if it is just a way to “cure” himself.

Castle: Number one rule of television: if you do not find a body, they are not dead. And even if you do find a body, there is still a fifteen percent chance they still not turn out to be dead. So I never for a moment thought the serial killer was actually dead. And now that he has a plastic surgeon girlfriend, he could end up being anyone. He may even show up as Ryan’s doppelganger at some point.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I was worried when they said the episode would tie into the movie because I do not like going to movies and prefer to watch them from the comforts of the couch. Thankfully they did not spoil anything (sure they were cleaning up after London was destroyed but you could tell from the trailer a city was getting destroyed; that an a city inevitably gets destroyed in every superhero movie). But it was a bit disappointing that they had a movie tie in episode and none of the characters from the movie showed up. They really could not have run into Natalie Pirtman for a second or two?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: Wow, they actually killed off Clay. He had to die at some point, but after he survived two gunshot to the chest from Opie I assumed he was going to manage to survive until closer the series finale. But here he is shot by Jax during the antepenultimate episode of the penultimate season. So now what? The series has always been about a power struggle between Jax and Clay and now with Clay off the board for the reminder of the series there is a gaping hole. The rest of the series cannot possibly be about the power struggle between Tara and Gemma could it?
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: If I had not seen just the day before a dude shoot his step-father in the throat in front of his mother and wife, what Ciera did to her mother would have been the most coldblooded thing on television this week. It is one thing to vote your mother out, it is other to writer her name down then put “mom” in parentheses so she, and everyone in the world, knows that you shot your mother in the throat. And it was awesome and almost makes this horrible Blood vs. Water idea worth it. The most bizarre thing is that Ciera could be in the driver’s seat. The promo monkeys make it seem like the newbies are going to ban together to oust the veterans. The she could easily get in the final three. Once there she could actually win because people may be weary of voting for Caleb (because Colton is evil) and Hayden (who already won a rival reality show). Of course whenever the promo monkeys suggests something, it almost always goes wrong, which means one of the newbies will either not flip on the veterans or let the veterans get wind and Tyson will use his Idol.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

Nashville: If I were Rayna I would have totally let the police arrest me and then win the war in the court of public opinion. I really doubt a digital single is really going to completely placate the head of the record label.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: It doe not even matter if Amy pointed out how wrong it was, the writers should have never have heldon make the slavery comparison, it just was not funny. It did not help that this episode just aired after Sarah Palin also made a very inappropriate slavery comparison.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Parenthood: Max is typically my least favorite character on the show, but Max asking out Hank’s daughter and the uncomfortable position that put Hank in was hilarious. Can’t they just have Hank’s daughter move back to California permanently? It would completely make up for the downer that the Julia storyline has been this season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 11/17/13

Once Upon a Time: So the Darling boys grew old enough to be in their twenties before Peter Pan kept them in a un-aging state, but Wendy looks exactly the same she did the last time we saw her. Alrighty.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: Most shows have a point of view character, someone who speaks for the viewers, usually a newbie to the team, who asks the questions that the people watching would want to know. I am beginning to think Senator Lockhart is such the character on Homeland. He is the new guy to the CIA and looks around and asks, what the frack is wrong with you people and they ends the episode locked in the dark. Yep, that pretty much sums up the viewing experience of this season on Homeland.

The Walking Dead: Just like Brody on Homeland, it was only a matter of time before The Governor showed up. Brody was given pretty much a whole episode, three into the season (and has not been seen since) whereas The Governor only got a cameo at the end of episode five. Last week I predicted he would run into Carol, but it looks like he did not travel that far away from the prison. So that puts him in play for feeding the zombies rats that we saw early in the season.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: Well that was the least sexy sex scene ever. At least between two relatively attractive people. I never thought anything involving Lizzy Caplan would be possible. I do wonder who Masters will impregnate first, his wife or his assistant. I am a little surmised the talk of contraception has yet to come up in the research. Did they even have readily available contraception back in the fifties?

The Voice: It is hard to quit the show cold turkey because I need something to watch between 2 Broke Girls and the Blacklist and The Goldbergs and Sons of Anarchy so I half watched those hour and a half while flipping around and making pithy comments on Twitter (#VoiceSave Holly Henry). I was a little interested to how the Instant Save turned out hoping it failed miserably. And it kind of did. After making my pithy comment I decided to scroll the hashtag results and saw about 80-90% of them for Jonny, Blake even pointed this out when Carson asked him who he thought America would save. Even the retweet of The Voice’s official tweets were the most for Jonny (followed by Josh with Kat in the hole). Yet the first person eliminated with the lowest amount of tweets was Jonny. Huh? My first thought was there must have been a lot of tweeters who misspelled his name (most people would naturally want to put an “h” in it like Johnny Cash) but supposedle the show allows five different misspellings (people like Jonny, Jaquie, and Tessann need such a thing but it is funny to see the five ways you are allowed to misspell Ray). This just does not pass the sniff test. Unfortunately the Instant Save will not be going anywhere, at least no time soon because the ratings were way up from last week’s results show which was a series low for the show and even matched last week’s Tuesday performance show. Hopefully the novelty wears off and ratings drop again like I thought would when you pull a stunt that alienates half the country and it is scrapped for next season. But really all I want next season is better talent than what makes up this top ten.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.

The Blacklist: I thought the promo monkeys said there was going to be a big reveal this week? Did I miss it? All I saw was more speculation that Red is really Lizzie’s father but no real confirmation.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Yep, Simmons is quickly becoming the most entertaining character by a long mile on the show. Her awkward encounter with Agent Sitwell was hilarious.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: Oh Tara, I told you that you should have turned on the club while you were in jail instead of concocting this elaborate plan that fell like a house of cards once you recruited a junkie and friend of the club. But now that she is at her breaking point, anything is possible with her. Speaking of anything is possible; Jax really tangled a web trying to get out of guns. Is he really going to turn rat and sell out both the Irish and the Koreans?
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: I like when they start doubling up Tribal Councils post merge, especially when the votes are as obvious as Vytas and Tina. I also liked Vystas just throwing bombs all over Tribal on his way out. He called out Monica, pointed out the chicks could easily take over the game. I am surprised more people do not do it when they know their number is up. And though I am glad they retired the gross eating challenge seasons ago, I am glad they brought it back for Gervase to have to partake in it again. And he almost won this time. I wonder if he spent the last decade eating strange delicacies for this very moment.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

Parenthood: It is weird the election storyline is expanding well past the real world elections. But I wonder if there will be a point where Amber goes to the press without Kristina’s consent. I was kind of assuming that was going to happen this week.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 11/10/13

Once Upon a Time: I was not expecting much from CGI Ursula, but that was really cheesy looking. Only worse was the real Ursula all CGI. And if mermaids can easily transport back and forth between worlds, then why not summon Ariel earlier and ride her back, why mess with the magic beans? The better question is why am I still questioning the massive plot holes on this show.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: So that was Saul’s big master plan: use Carrie to get to the Iranian dude, and then blackmail him into talking to him? Ugg. At least we know why the Iranian dude was creepily watching the kid playing in the yard last episode. Though how easy was it to find his grandson? If the wife was in witness protection, why was the kid not? And what was with the pregnancy tests? I would think that the mental health facility would have run some sort of blood test to see if Carrie was pregnant.

Of course the best part of the episode was a shout out to Scooter McGavin’s 9th Green in the episode. At least I am assuming that Majid Javadi holing up off the 9th Green of a golf course was a reference to this site.

The Walking Dead: During the season premiere Rick mentioned he has three questions newbies have to answer before they are allowed to join the chain gang in the prison. We finally learned one of them, “How zombies have you killed?” I wonder if we will learn the other two by the end of the season. Rick did finally make his first decision of the season my exiling Carol for killing the two sick people. She is not dead so there is a good chance we will see her again eventually (it did take a couple seasons to see the guy from the Pilot again). The Governor is still out there somewhere and I do not remember them running into each other last season. I just hope she does not turn out to be the lead in the proposed Walking Dead spin-off.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: So Emily’s big take down this week was… her own home? Alrighty.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

The Voice: I am pretty much out on this season after realizing I only watched an hour and a half of the five hours this week and was pretty bored with what I saw. To be honest I was out the moment Holly Henry was inexplicatively booted from the show for dude to butcher Blurred Lines and get booted himself the very next week. The show has a serious problem when Holly’s seven week old version of The Scientist was charting higher on Monday and Tuesday than two songs performed that day by Grey and Amber Nicole. Now with Preston Pohl, who got stuck with the worst song selection this week, also given the boot, the two biggest fan favorites are gone before even the top ten despite being the only two whose audition songs made the top twenty-five this season (or even the top eighty for that matter).

And just when you thought The Voice could not get any worse than letting the two early favorites fall by the waste side, next week they are introducing the Instant Save next week. For those that have not heard yet, starting next week (and will continue through the top 6 week) they will announce a bottom three and then for the next five minutes, Twitter users will be able to vote which singer to save. First off, way to alienate half your audience. Anyone who lives on the west coast will either have sit though spoilers to see if their favorites are in the bottom three just to vote for them, or watch when it is on and not be able to participate.

Most importantly, this will undoubtably backfire. As is, voters have thirteen hours from the end of the show to vote, be it the phone, the internet via nbc.com, or downloading songs on iTunes. Now you are going to give the reigns to a very small minority of Twitter users, mostly on the east coast only five minutes to decide. This is just ripe for manipulation. Even though Vote for the Worst closed up shop earlier this year, some other prankster, or just run of the mill spammers, could easily manipulate things so undeserving people make it further than they should. And how is the show going to know with just a five minute vote window? The person who gets the least amount of votes next week could easily make it to the final four/five by Twitter alone. And let face it, the cutest boy is likely to get the Instant Save every week. Hopefully the show quietly eliminates the Instant Save before it begins because it will ruin the show as much as dumping talent a lot sooner than it should (the Instant Save will probably end up saving people who do not deserve it). If not, I highly recommend instead of saving someone in the bottom three, Tweet the show a contestant that should not have been eliminated in the first place instead (I will be tweeting Holly Henry).

Unfortunately it is too late to make any suggestion for next season because I believe the Blind Auditions (and maybe even the Battle and Knockout Rounds) have already been taped. They even start casting for season seven next month. But most importantly for the upcoming casting, they need to find better singer. Enough with the amateur hour, leave those contestants for the crappy Fox singing show. It is time to start recruiting professionals again. Seriously, have they run out of Warped Tout chicks and Alicia Keys backup singers (this season lacked both for the first time)? This is the second straight season where I did not know any of the singers who audition. They need to go back to casting semi to full professional singers and stop it with all the teenagers who are not ready for primetime. For every Caroline Pennell and Danielle Bradbery, there are about twenty teenagers who do not even get a chair to turn around or make a quick exit during the Battle Round (and are montage most of the time).

I do make these suggestions because it does seem like the show does take my suggestions to heart. The last time I may suggestions on how to make the show better, I suggested that they needed to open their songbook because they had been recycling way too many song from previous season (sometimes even in the same season, last season saw two versions of Teenage Dream and Feelin’ Good) and this week only saw two recycled songs. And when ranting against repeat songs, I mentioned that I was surprised Seven Nation Army was performed on three straight season when I thought The White Stripes song most likely to become a standard would be We’re Going to Be Friends and low and behold Caroline Pennell performed the latter this week. Still even with the new songs, nothing I saw this week was as good as the latest video Holly Henry posted this week of her singing Daughter’s Youth.


The Blacklist: Between the end with Red reminiscing about his daughter and the promo for next week, it is almost guaranteed that Lizzie will turn out to be his daughter. Hopefully they come out and say it next week because everyone guessed it during the first trailer they released for the show. There are already on episode six, it is already been dragged on too long already, hopefully we get a definitive answer next week.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Castle: The problems wit procedurals is sometimes it is easy to figure out who the killer is even in the first act. The biggest indicator is whenever a recognizable guest star is in the episode. And then there are cases like this week when the cop being a total jerk early in the episode which led me to think he was the actual killer. Despite a few red herrings, fifty minute later I was right.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: When ABC announced Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I was assuming that the Item 47 which was on The Avengers DVD was essentially the Pilot. Unfortunately Lizzy Caplan got herself cast in Masters of sex making her unavailable for this show (okay, it is not that unfortunately because I would much rather have Caplan on a show called Masters of Sex). Instead they replaced Caplan with a token hot chick with nominal acting skill. (Caplan has said she could still pop up on the show but since Masters of Sex has already been renewed for a second season, it probably will not be for a lengthy amount of episodes.) Titus Welliver, who was also in the Item 47, made his first appearance on the show. I wonder if he will be showing up more in the future with his own team which may or may not include Caplan.

As I mentioned earlier, the people they did cast on the show are not the best actors in the world. But I may have been wrong about Fitz because she did a very good job in this episode (or was it Simmons, I still not sure which one is which). I only liked her up to this point because when I squint, she looks exactly like Keira Knightley. Maybe they should give more for her to do and less to the token hot chick.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: I knew Tara’s plan would crumble quickly, but I am surprised that Jax figured it out that quickly. I have no idea how this would turn out. If I were Tara, I would go to the DA and give her the club in exchange for immunity from her current case and witness protection for her and her kids. But then again the DA may even reject that if Jax does in fact deliver the Irish to her. Though my favorite part of the episode was when the lady cop asked where the DA’s wig went, the black cop spouted some urban slang and after he walked away, simply said, “I did not understand a word of that.” It may have been a little sitcom-y, but I enjoyed what essentially a throw away line
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Just when you thought that Ciera just making the merge was amazing, the fate of this season rested in her hands; either stick with her stag alliance even though he mother came back in the game or join a couples alliance. Granted it turned out the fate was not entirely in her hands as Tina and Aras stupidly thought Gervise and Monica would be okay being in an alliance with two couples. But the craziness could continue because Ciera has a legitimate shot at actually winning this season as long as her mother does not screw things up.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

Parenthood: It is getting to be distracting just how much Drew’s booty call looks like a smaller version of Alison Brie. I guess that will be the closest to a an Alison Brie fix I can get until next year.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 11/2/13

Quote of the Week: I would switch because I’m afraid I won’t do well in this duel because it’s a puzzle and I can’t even spell. But I would switch. (Kat Edorsson, Survivor: Blood vs. Water)

Song of the Week: Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr. (The Goldbergs)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: The Red Sox Win Another World Series: For the third time in a decade the Boston Red Sox with the face of the steroids scandal from their city winning the MVP. Wake me up when the asterisk era is finally over in Major League Baseball.

Preview Picture of the Week:

“John 8:32” Sons of Anarchy, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX

Free Download of the Week: 24 Hours – Sky Ferrera (iTunes)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5 Each: This month’s discounted albums include Johnny Cash, A Tribe Called Quest, Mazzy Star, and Passenger.


New Album Release of the Week: The Marshall Mathers LP2 - Eminem

New DVD Release of the Week: Mad Men: Season Six

Video of the Week: Sad day Wednesday when Kat was booted from Survivor. Sure I was prepared for it all week considering most of the Redemption challenges have been puzzles, and Kat cannot even spell let alone do a puzzle. It is a shame she did not make the merge to at the very least be part of the Jury because when she was voted out of One World was the single greatest Ponderosa episode ever in the history of the show. We did get Kat on the After Show and since it was Halloween, both Kat and host Parvoti Shallow dressed up like kats. Can they just make Kat the permanent co-host?


Next Week Pick of the Week: Once Upon a Time, Sunday at 8:00 on ABC: Considering mermaids showed up in the season premiere, it was only a matter of time before The Little Mermaid showed up (apparently I was wrong thinking that the mermaid they captured in the premiere was Ariel). But goodness the preview for next week looks bad, especially the poor Ursula CGI. At least it cannot be as boring as this week’s Captain Hook centric episode.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/27/13

Once Upon a Time: Wow, these characters are stupid. You do not need Bellfire to crack the star map code: everybody knows the way to leave Neverland is take the second star to the right and go straight on ‘till morning. Now the hard part will be getting your hands on some fairy dust.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: They could have easily had written out the Brody family after last season, and I am sure most viewers hoped for it, but I thought the writers had a real opportunity to look at the effects of the family left behind after learning their father and husband turned out to be a national pariah. Instead they just had Dana start up a crazy love affair with someone who may be a fratricidal murderer. I also figured that Carrie would eventually find her way back to the CIA by being a double agent against whoever the shady lawyer represented, but I would have never guessed that it was the plan from the start by Saul and Carrie.

The Walking Dead: You would think that if people know that everyone is already infected and you are living with old people that can kick it in the middle of the night, you would take more precautions to keep that from happening. Sure it would make for a less interesting show, but if I am living in a prison during a zombie apocalypse I would not be content with a sheet as a door, I would at the very least shut the door while I am sleeping or if there is a shortage of keys at the very least put some sort of noisemaker on the sheet if someone tries to stalk in at night.

We do get two mysteries during the episode, who is feeding the zombies rats at the gates, is it someone nefarious or one of the stupid kids feeling sorry for them? Then who is the person who lit the infected people on fire? Could it be the same person? I am guessing not as it seems the rat person may be a double agent for The Governor why the firestarter is just a concern, overzealous, health freak.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: So who tried to Conrad is going to be an actual mystery complete with a silly hashtag. Alrightly. I did not give much thought to it after it was revealed that the brakes were messed with. So I guess I should guess who did it: Victoria’s other son.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: It may get a little weird seeing Tinkerbell on Once Upon a Time and then an hour later seeing her sans her fairy costume an hour later. But anyway.

The Voice: I am a hug fan of montages, there are plenty of performances I sit through that I wished were montage. Except this season not only was number one on my Power Rankings, Holly Henry, was montage, so number two, Cole Vosbury. I really have a hard time believing that either of their battles was possibly worse than the Kat vs. R. Anthony Battle. What made things worse there were a couple of Battles that featured Steals that would have been montaged. Did anyone really need to sit through Grey vs. Nic even if there was a Steal involved? Blake's Steal of Nic was already the worst use of a Steal when it happened, and looked even worse when three montaged contestants, Holly, Cole, Brandon Chase, all charted higher than Nic.

I do sometime wonder if The Voice even knows who their audience is. Holly was one of only two contestants to make the top 25 on iTunes for their Blind Audition (only one other person made the top 100, and three more made the top 200). And yet everyone who bought her song had to wait a full month from her audition to see she got montaged on the final episode of the Blind Auditions. It says something that the montage segment has the second most views from Battles this week currently on YouTube (and the one video with more views was from Monday which was on the internet a full 24 hours longer) while Holly and Cilla’s After the Battle video of all the Battles, even the ones from the first week and doubling all but one other video. Holly's version of Torn even made the top 100 on the iTunes pop charts, higher than all but four other Battles this season. The Voice has been spending a lot of footage this season on Tessanne Chin, Kat Robichaud, and Matthew Schuler this season, but I am willing to bet Holly, Austin Jenckes, and Preston Pohl will get a lot more votes starting next week.

The unknowing of the audience of the show extends to the coaches when you had multiple awkward situations this week where the people that got stolen actually outsold the winning. In the last two seasons of Steals, that only happened once that I am aware of when Caroline Glaser charted higher than Danielle Bradbery by only a couple spot. Again Will Champlin just barely outsold James Wolpert. But then there is Juhi who charted over 200 spots higher than George Horga Jr.

Speaking of the Juhi vs. George battle, there have been plenty of stupid reasonings as to why a coach picked someone. Blake’s I am going to stick with what I know during his country or bust plan last season being one of the dumbest. But that was overtaken this season by Cee-Lo reason why he picked George, who was so unmemorable that I originally thought his Blind Audition was montage and then he went on to hit the worst note of the season, over “Baby Einstein” Juhi because he knew this was what he was doing while Juhi was also contemplating college. Seriously Cee-Lo, do not give that boy any false hope, pull that band aid off now because music is probably not going to be George’s best option especially if you are just going to dump him in the Knockout Round. That was the second worse decision Cee-Lo has ever made on the show just behind Erin Martin over the Shields Brothers.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.


How I Met Your Mother: Does CBS own Indiana Jones stock or something? Two weeks ago The Big Bang Theory focused an entire episode around Raiders of the Lost Ark. Now How I Met Your Mother built their episode around a scene from The Last Crusade. I assume that 2 Broke Girls will spend an episode calling Han Short Round to check off The Temple of Doom. I wonder which CBS sitcom will be stuck doing homage to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Hopefully it was We Are Men and since it was canceled it will never see the light of day. No one needs to be reminded of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Really, that is where they are going to end the episode? Right when Lizzie’s husband shows her his shoe box of goodies? I hate when show like this. The only thing worse is when they do not start the very next episode where they left off and do not explain what happened until the middle or end of the next episode. I am guessing that, as I theorize when Lizzie first discovered it, that the box was planted there by Red (or maybe even those watching them) just to mess with her. If husband really is a double agent, why not bolt town after he realizes he has been made? Or at the very least kill wifey and make it look like an accident, why confront her?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: One thing really missing from the show (aside from good acting; at least they got the Token Hot Chick into her underwear this episode) is a long term antagonist. I was happy to see the evil doctor back thinking she may be it. Except she quickly died. Maybe the girl in the flower dress will become that. Unless of course she dies in the next episode she appears in.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I have predicted it from the beginning, and we finally got actual visual confirmation, no dream sequences, no speculation, that Allison is actually alive. Now why is Ezra trying to kill her? And how did he get Mona, CeCe, and the rest of The “A” Team to carry out his evil doings? And why don’t these teenage girls ever go to the police when people are trying to harm them? And why doesn’t Hanna wear a corset every episode?

Ravenswood: I actually liked the set up of the show during Pretty Little Liars, but by the time the show premiered, I got bored really quick. It may have been a better idea just to give Caleb a Ravenswood storyline in Pretty Little Liars as opposed to giving him his own show. Or maybe they could have transitioned a little better by having a Liar or two stick around a couple minutes, especially Hanna in that costume. I am one hundred percent pro corset after seeing Hanna in that dress. I am still a little confused with what the show is about. So every time a solder comes home from war in Ravenswood, five teenagers die, and all happen to look exactly like the teenagers who died previously? Huh? After that ending, if it was not for the “next week on” package, I thought Ravenswood might have been a one episode special and not an actual series.

Sons of Anarchy: So that is Tara’s master plan? Fake a pregnancy then try to get Gemma to make you miscarry, and when she does not, panic and do it yourself? Alrighty. Seems a little convoluted and evil genius from a Bond overthinking to me.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Oh Kat, the first time you strategize in two seasons and it fails miserably. I really hope Redemption Island does not have any more puzzles so Kat has a chance of getting back in the game (granted does sorting numbers twenty at a time even quaify as a puzzle?). Either that or Hayden falls on the sword and takes her place.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

Nashville: I was hoping that Layla was really going to turn out to be the oh shucks girl they introduced her as because I thought that would be the best foil for Juilette. But apparently she is undermining. I did not even realize what she did to Scarlett until Will called her out for it. If anything I thought Layla was taking pot shots at Danielle Bradbury, the most recent winner of The Voice.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Once Upon a Time: Wonderland: Anastasia turning out to be the Red Queen was one of the easiest "plot twists" to spot ever. I saw thatcoming as soon as they showed just part of her back in bed. But I kind of want to see a show where Anastasia turns into the Red Queen, that would be a much more interesting show than the one they made.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time in Wonderland on iTunes.

Parenthood: Let’s be honest, the beginning of this season has been mostly a bore. It did pick up a bit this week as Kristina’s conversation with Hank and drunk Joel were entertaining. But I do wonder if the dip in quality this season is linked to Camille’s new cat face which is really distracking. Seriously old people, just age gracefully, it is much better to look old than look like an alien.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/20/13

Once Upon a Time: That was a weird scene with Mulan and Sleeping Beauty. Was Mulan coming back to tell Sleeping Beauty she loves her? That was just a weird scene to have between two minor characters on the show especially when one of them has a boyfriend.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: Since he was in the season trailer, it was only a matter of time before Brody showed up. But did they really need to devote the whole first thirty minutes and about eighty percent of the whole episode to him? And I missed why the Guatemalans are helping him. They are not Muslim so it is not for religious fanaticism. They said it was for some sort of “favor” so it has to be one big favor if they are going to pass on the bounty on his head to protect him.

The Walking Dead: Poor Beaver Cassidy Casablancas, he just has a hard times around roofs. The show has come up with some creative zombie scenes, but raining zombies has to be near the top. Cassidy was not the only familiar face to pop up in the premiere, there was the chick from Rome, the dude from The Waterboy, and I am pretty sure that was the best friend from Everybody Hates Chris. Unfortunately only one made it out of the premiere alive. But I would not be too surprised if any of them quite literally come back to bite the group in the behind.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: I was suspicious last week when Aiden showed up last week eager to help Victoria bring down Emily yet did not reveal the most damning secret about her, so it was not much of a surprise that it turned out that Aiden was planted there by Emily to stir things up.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

The Voice: When Nic Hawk got stolen, I thought to myself, wow that is the least deserving Steal ever. Fast forward an hour later and I am saying the same thing about Anthony Paul. And if it is like last two seasons where they front load the more noteworthy steals in the first week, it may not be the last time I say that. There is also an enthusiasm gap for the Steals this season. If you think back to the last two seasons, coaches were breaking their buttons trying to steal Amanda Brown, Sasha Allen, and Caroline Glaser, but this season the coaches are waiting for contestants to say their goodbyes to push their buttons.

There also seems to be an increase of co-ed battles this season. It seemed in the past there may only be one per team if the genders were unequal. If my eyes were right whole spotting them in the previews, all but two of Blake’s battles are co-ed and half of Cee-Lo’s are too. I bring this up because of the first six co-ed battles this week (including montages); the fairer sex won the first five with only Ray Boudreaux prevailing for the guys. The best of the bunch was Caroline Pennell vs. Anthony Paul, though it is not a good sign when the best performance of the week revolves around a Justin Bieber song.

You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.


The Blacklist: Did the show really just completely rip-off Breaking Bad? And just how does one explain creepy chemical scars all over your body to one’s wife? Um… I am asking for a friend.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

The Goldbergs: I cannot confirm nor deny I watched scrambled porn back in the day, but I will admit I would occasionally watch WWF pay per views.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Goldbergs on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: I do not know why, but I really enjoyed that last scene with Jax making the cops apologize to all the Sons. What I did not like was the return Boydette Crowder. Seeing her on screen just makes my head hurt. It was also weird that the district attorney telling the mirror she was going “hood” which only turned out to be her taking off her wig to show her braids. Alrighty.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Wow, the Loved Ones actually won something. Way to slide down a giant ramp and throw a ring on one of four pegs. That challenge was extremely lame. Unfortunately we have not gotten much of Kat this season, but her closing her hoodie was the best part of the episode.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

Nashville: When Rayna said she was dropping out of of Juliette’s tour my first thought was I hope her label makes Juliette take Layla out on the road with her. Thankfully that seemed to be the case. These two on the road together should be more entertaining than when Juliette and Rayna shared the bill.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/13/13

Once Upon a Time: That is the second time in as many episodes where someone who lived in the real world told someone stuck in fairytale land about how they are depicted in pop culture. At least they pointed out how absurd it is to have cast an Abercrombie model as Captain Hook when everyone knows him as an old dude with a bad perm. Neverland expands next week with the inclusion of Tinkerbell (those are some heavy wings to fill after Julia Roberts and Keira Knightley) which begs the question when will the Indians show up?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: Now there is the Carrie that was severely missing last season: off her meds and being driven crazy by her job. The crazier Carrie gets, the more entertaining the show is. At the end of season one I pondered how they would possibly let Carrie back into the CIA, but after having her committed, I am not sure what would be less likely, that the CIA would take her back after her escapade in the loony bin or if Carrie would be willing to go back after completely throwing her under the bus complete with an involuntary stay in a mental health facility. Granted I am sure they will be brought back together some how to track down Brody who was thankfully completely absent this week.

Revenge: If Aiden really wanted revenge on Emily, why not tell Victoria that she is really David Clarke’s daughter? That seems like the quickest way to bringer down, blow her cover. But we did get the first takedown of the season and I really cannot remember the last time she pulled out the red Sharpie. It created an interesting conundrum of whether to take down someone who clearly has repented.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Masters of Sex: So who told Beau Bridges that the study moved to, um, copulation? If Dr. Haas did not do it like he says (not that I believe him) that would only leave the two, um copulating. Neither of which I would assume would admit to such a thing especially to their boss. But it is becoming pretty clear that Betty the prostitute is quickly becoming the break out star of the show, she always has a funny comment whenever she opens her mouth. I am sure there is a hooker joke in there somewhere, but I will just leave it be.

The Voice: Forget Kaley Cuoco, holy Neil McDonough sighting! That should squash the conspiracy theories that producers told the coaches to turn for Briana just because she had a famous sister (not to mention the son of the guy who brought Tijano music to America failed to turn a chair). And the dude was also the son of The Commodores drummer. Who knew the Commodores had a white drummer?

I wonder if the “Best of the Blind Audition” were just that or a preview of whom we can expect in the Live Shows. I would actually live with the twelve singers featured if that were the case although I was a bit surprised that Josh Logan and Nic Hawk were featured. I guess Christina does not have much else to spotlight, but it is hard to think Nic can make it two rounds with all the ringers currently on Adam's team. It does seem like there will be five singers per team this season because the show finally took my advice to add at least one Steal to the Knockout Rounds (last season would have been much more palatable if Ryan Innes, Midas Whale, Mary Miranda, and Luke Edgemon). Though I have a feeling most of the coaches will just end up stealing someone they just dumped in the Battle Rounds. My post-Battle Rounds Power Rankings are coming tomorrow and looking at the talent as a whole, this season may not be pretty. There really is only one person worth rooting for.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.

The Blacklist: It is nice to see that Lizzie decide to look into her fiancée’s gun, so what exactly has that gun been used for to get it redacted by Homeland Security? And who was the dude with the apple? I am a little apprehensive that the questions are piling up without any answers. Red’s reasoning to why he picked Lizzie was a little muddling and does not quell any theories that he is really her father and really just stoked those flames.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Castle: Congratulation for those that guessed Kate would be back with the NYPD by the fourth episode (assuming she is welcomed back, but there will be no show if she is not; sorry dude who replaced her who’s name I did not bother to learn), I had it happening in this episode. Oh well. And if you are going to do a Saved by the Bell rip off, why not just get Screech and A.C. Slater to reprise their roles? I cannot image they are busy.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: It is becoming pretty clear what this show is missing, aside from the obvious better actors (can someone please show the token hot chick how to tell a joke), it really needs a Big Bad to battle. I am not sure if Joss Whedon created the idea of a Big Bad, but he certainly perfected it. I wonder if the scientist that Coulsen scarified will become one. He did look like the Silver Surfer when he reached out of the Gravitonium ball. Although I am not sure if a television show has a big enough to do the Silver Surfer (or something like it) very often.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: I have come to expect disturbing scenes on the show, and this one probably does not make the top ten most disturbing scenes in the show’s history, but the guard forcing Clay and Gemma to have sex in front of them was pretty disturbing. I put the over / under on number of episodes until somebody actually does kill those guards at three. I would have put it at one but they may have more pressing matters after their clubhouse went boom.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Wow. Calab had to have one of the ballsiest moves in Tribal Council history, definitely the ballsiest that did not involve an Immunity Idol. Dude just called his shot like Babe Ruth, obviously the girls quickly jumped on board and eventually Vytas (and almost Hayden) joined him to get rid of Not-Dante Culpepper. And it was the right move. Not-Dante’s reasoning to get rid of John was because his loved one was not on a tribe and then outright said at Tribal that it would be wise to vote out someone who is unattached in the game. At that point you have to turn on Not-Dante before he turns on you. And he had to do it right there while Ciera gave him the numbers, it would have been harder to after she was gone, even harder had Brad turned on him at that Tribal which Caleb could not be completely sure was the case. And Ciera still being in the game is amazing. She is the very reason her tribe lost three of their four challenges, two of which they had a sizeable lead in.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

Ironside: There is nothing more awesomely cheesy than when detectives on cop shows have an epiphany almost completely out of nowhere. Ironside may have actually had the most absurd epiphany ever when his jump off mentioned Britney Spears which made him think of some missing girl from a decade ago in a Mandy Moore Christina Aguilera that looked like a witness who fled a crime scene. Wow. That is a humongous leap for a dude in a wheelchair. The show may only air one or two more episodes, but I am going to enjoy all of them. Hopefully there is more Casey Cartwright shoved dudes faces into pasta.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Ironside on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: How dare Amy besmirch the good name of Indiana Jones? I never cared for her inclusion on the show and now I am actively hating her.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: Wow there were some glaring plot holes from the start that were even bigger than the rabbit’s portal. Since the Knave started out in Storybrooke, that means this Wonderland should adhere to the same rules. That means Wonderland should have been frozen in the time between Emma being born and until she showed up in Storybrooke which was about thirty years. Yet somehow young Alice traveled Wonderland sometime in the nineties and then again recently as a teenager. And wasn’t it already established that Regina’s mother was the Red Queen? And now with no explanation she is a hot young blond with an accent (I just brought up the whole Captain Hook / Abercrombie model thing). No wonder why ABC put the show on during its death slot.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time in Wonderland on iTunes.