The Ten Best Television Shows of 2014-15

For my list of best shows of the year, I only consider shows that finished their seasons between July 2014 and June 2015 so the final season of Mad Men which stupidly was split into half season is finally eligible even though the season started almost seventeen months ago. What is not eligible is the show that topped last year's list Hannibal as it just started its third season. Here are the ten best shows that aired their episodes in the same twelve month periods.

1. Justified 7.x (FX)
2. Masters of Sex 2.x (Showtime)
3. Marvel's Agent Carter (ABC)
4. The Americans 3.x (FX)
5. Homeland 4.x (Showtime)
6. Parenthood 6.x (NBC)
7. Gotham 1.x (FOX)
8. Mad Men 7.x (AMC)
9. Blackish 1.x (ABC)
10. Orphan Black 3.x (BBC America)

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2013-14

For my list of best shows of the year, I only consider shows that air a majority of their episodes during the past year so I did not consider the most recent season of Mad Men which stupidly was split into half season with the remaining episodes not airing until spring of 2015. Here are the ten best shows that aired their episodes in the same twelve month periods.

1. Hannibal, Season 2 (NBC)

2. Justified, Season 5 (FX)

3. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (FOX)

4. Masters of Sex, Season 1 (Showtime)

5. The Blacklist, Season 1 (NBC)

6. Orphan Black, Season 2 (BBC America)

7. The Americans, Season 2 (FX)

8. Penny Dreadful, Season 1 (Showtime)

9. Parenthood, Season 5 (NBC)

10. Sons of Anarchy, Season 6 (FX)


And for fun, here are the shows that had the most Quotes and Songs of the Week from the past year.

Quotes of the Week:
Justified – 8
The Bridge – 6
Mad Men – 5
Homeland – 4
Shameless – 3
The Big Bang Theory – 2
Masters of Sex – 2
Once Upon a Time – 2
Orphan Black – 2
Penny Dreadful – 2
Pretty Little Liars – 2
Survivor – 2
The Challenge – 1
Community - 1
How I Met Your Mother – 1
King of the Nerds – 1
Nashville – 1
NFL Draft – 1
The Neighbors – 1
Ray Donovan – 1
The Sing-Off – 1
Tyrant – 1
Under the Dome – 1

Songs of the Week:
How I Met Your Mother – 6
Pretty Little Liars – 5
The Goldbergs – 4
The Americans – 3
Nashville – 3
Ray Donovan – 3
The Blacklist – 2
Growing Up Fisher – 2
Orphan Black - 2
Revenge – 2
Suburgatory – 3
The Big Bang Theory – 1
The Bridge – 1
Californication – 1
The Colbert Report – 1
Community - 1
Crisis – 1
Dominion – 1
House of Lies – 1
Mad Men – 1
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – 1
The Millers – 1
Perception – 1
Sons of Anarchy – 1
Tyrant – 1

Best of the Week: 3/29/14

Quote of the Week: I guess this hotel takes that non-smoking policy pretty seriously Mr. Duffy. (Boyd Crowder, Justified)

Song of the Week: The Gambler – Kenny Rogers (The Americans)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: People Are Still Talking About the Lost Plane: When the Malaysian plane went missing a couple weeks ago I just assumed it was at the bottom of the ocean somewhere and moved on. Yet here we are and it is still a top of the hour news story with some pretty absurd theories getting floated on these twenty-four hour news channels: suicide pilots, it hid from radar by hiding behind other planes, aliens, and of course this is Lost come to life. But new came out this week that wreckage likely from the plane is floating in the Indian Ocean perpetrating my original thought that it sitting at the bottom of the ocean. But just like the JFK assassination, the moon landing, and 9/11, you still hear people clinging to their absurd theories.

Preview Picture of the Week:

“Tale of Two Confessions” Twisted Season Finale, Tuesday at 9:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: Lake Street Dive Album Sampler (NoiseTrade)

New Album Release of the Week: A Dotted Line - Nickel Creek

New DVD Release of the Week: Knights of Badassdom

Video of the Week: John Carney wrote and directed Once on a shoestring budget and cast Glen Hansard of the Irish band The Frames who were big in their native country but unknown in most of the rest of the world, and newbie Marketa Irglova. Once would bring in almost $20 million more than it cost and garnered an Oscar. Not surprisingly Carney’s follow up Begin Again is a bigger affair with singers that American would recognize, especially if they turn into The Voice every week with coaches Adam Levine and Cee-Lo Green (Mos Def also makes a cameo with probably the best line of the trailer). But the load of the singing looks to be going to Keira Knightley as Levin’s ex who turns to music herself to cope with the break-up and gets spotted by down on his luck former record executive Mark Ruffalo. Will Begin Again match the charm of the lower key Once? Probably not, but it is always nice to see Knightley wearing modern clothes which is a rare sight.


Next Week Pick of the Week: How I Met Your Mother, Monday at 8:00 on CBS: After nine season, Ted is finally going to tell his kids just how he met their mother. Sure we met her at the end of last season and everyone else in the group met her this season (except maybe Barney; I do not remember that happening yet). We even know when and where it is happening and what happens afterwards. With all the returning guest stars they pulled the last couple episodes, I wonder if they will bring back the kids one last time even though the then teenagers are in the mid-twenties by now (the show has been showing stock footage of the duo since the first season). Even though I could have done without maybe the last five season, for those that cannot get enough of stories of parents meeting, you are in luck because How I Met Your Dad will likely be on the CBS schedule next season. Starring Greta Gerwig of all people.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/16/14

Once Upon a Time: Since everyone who gets more than one line is inevitably going to turn out to be a fairy tale character so from the first moment I assumed Emma’s new boyfriend was not who he said he was. Since the promos that reran ad nausea hyped the debut of the Wicked Witch of the (presumably) West, my first guesses were Oz related: maybe the Wizard himself, or The Scarecrow, Tin Man, or Cowardly Lion. Surprisingly we did not have to wait a season or two to find out who the boyfriend was as at the end of the episode he turned into a fracking bad CGI flying monkey. Awesome. (On a side note, when is NBC going to reboot Quantum Leap with Christopher Gorham, that dude can easily pass off as Scott Backula’s kid.)
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

The Walking Dead: Did we finally learn what Rick’s three questions for joining the group that was that was hinted way back in the season premiere? Daryl did ask Bob three questions when they met: 1) How many zombies have you killed? 2) How many humans have you killed? 3) Why?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Resurrection: From the promos, the show did not look all that good, but I was intrigued by how they would explain it all. Except my sources tell me that the book the show is base on does not actually explain why these people come back. I did find the premiere compelling, but I am not sure how the story plays out over a whole season, let alone a series. And if there is no answer, that will be very frustrating. But I will probably stick with it because it is currently stuck right between my hate watching ABC Sunday’s schedule.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Resurrection on iTunes.

Revenge: So Nico captures Aiden and can easily avenge her father’s death (which make the show much better because the show has been on a steep slide since introducing Aiden) but instead concocts some James Bond villain sinister plan to kill his love in front of him before killing him. Of nothing goes as plan, and instead of Emily killing Nico, she is allowed to weirdly slink out the loft. Then you have Victoria killing her baby daddy and Conrad’s first wife is Jack’s mother. Ugg. Just end this show now.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

The Voice: So the Blind Auditions are done and not one singer really worth caring about. I may be out on this season faster than I was last one. But since I made it though the first round, my first, and maybe only, Power Rankings of the season will be posted tomorrow.
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: So Lilly paid the bartender a lot of money to make sure she always has a non-alcholoic drink in her hand this weekend? Ugg, just end this show already.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The reason why we have not seen any of Marvel’s big named heroes was evident this week (well other than obvious monetary reasons). This was hyped as the Lady Sif episode, but really, it turned out to be more Lorelei-centric. And as it is with the movies, the villains are much more interesting and in the short time you have in an episode, you have to focus on the bad guy. If they brought in a bigger name than Sif, the show would have to self most of the cast to fit them in (Skye already spent most of this episode in bed). But I would not mind a Lady Sif spin-off.
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: So Ezra thinks that A is Allison’s mother who is trying to make is safe for her to come back to Rosewood, but Allison verified her mother does not know she is alive. After a very heavy handed season, next week’s Ally Tells All episode better actually tell all. And let me go ahead and guess that the person under the mask is Mona (assuming it is not Allison at the beginning of the episode).
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Justified: Finally, Raylan has found a law enforcement agent as prickly as him, but before you suggest he get transferred to the Memphis DEA office, Dewey Crowe had to go and run over him before Danny could test out the twenty-one foot rule on Eric Roberts (but the promos suggests that Danny will get to ret that again next week on Raylan which I am sure will end humorously). But the scene where Raylan and Roberts entered Audrey’s was just one of those scenes that the show does just so well. Surprisingly the body count was low.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Cagayan: Just like the Race Wars season, it seems like they are ditching the gimmick a little too soon but after the Brains lost four of five Challenges, three of which were for Immunity, it was inevitable. We will have to wait until next week if just the Brains have to drop their buffs and get absorbed or all three will be mixed up. If it is the latter hopefully my two favorites who were being targeted this week, Cliff and Morgan end up in cushier situations, maybe on the same tribe. But how exactly did Cops-R-Us (Philip Sheppard should sue for copyright infringement) think they could throw a basketball challenge with Cliff Robinson on their team?
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Cagayan on iTunes.

The Americans: After the tease at the end of season one, I was excited for potential of Paige to figure out her parents’ secret. But after three episodes of near misses, I am ready for her to finally learn the truth. I really hope they are not waiting for this season’s finale (or longer) for that to happen.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: Oh Juliet, pulling that kind of stunt is what got you dropped in the first place. Thankfully she has not learned her lesson because the show would be a lot less entertaining. The other big bombshell was Will proposing to his beard. Hopefully this means we are closer to somebody outing him because that would be a much more interesting storyline than him staying in the closet and hating himself.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Parenthood: All the lackluster and annoying storylines this season were almost all worth it for that dinner scene where basically everyone came out in the opening for everyone, including Jasmine’s family and minister, to hear. And Drew, who was always low man on the Braverman Power Ranking, may finally be moving up after his roommate hooked up with his former bootie call. But it kind of sounded like they are actually going to ruin that awesomely awkward dynamic by having Drew move in with his sister, which could get really awkward too considering her place is only one room.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: I liked the changed final challenge this season from the Survivor like popularity contest to an actual nerd skills competition. But for the second straight year, a girl one which makes me wonder if a guy will ever win this show. They might as well call it Queen of the Nerds at this point.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.

Hannibal: I do not know what is says about me that I recognize that the bailiff was murdered the way that Will is accused of his victims before forensics made the same assumption. And by killing the judge, does that mean Hannibal wants to keep Will in a perpetual state of innocent until proven guilty but still in prison? I would have never had guessed a court room based episode would be this engrossing, but of course was able to pull out an epic one.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 3/15/14

Quote of the Week: Miller, would you call this a herd, a gaggle, or a flock of (expletive deleted)? (Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, Justified)

Song of the Week: Chapel of Love – Dixie Cups (Pretty Little Liars)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: A Not So Melancholy Happy Trails to Brandon Weeden: Our long national nightmare is finally over, Brandon Weeden has finally got cut. Two years ago, not only did they waste a first round draft pick on the pushing thirty year old quarterback, they moved up to get him so they used multiple draft picks to get him. And since this is the Browns, of course he sucked, but Weeden somehow managed to not even meet extremely low expectations. The guy got tackled by the United States flag and on multiple occasions tried to throw an underhanded pass under pressure multiple times. So good riddance Brandon Weeden, you will not be missed (well except by people who like to make fun of the Browns). I feel sorry for the fans of which ever Canadian Football League team that picks him up. Now we have a month to see what quaterback bust the Browns will draft next.

Preview Picture of the Week:

“A Is For Answers” Pretty Little Liars season finale, Tuesday at 8:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: Lift Your Spirit – Aloe Blacc (iTunes)

New Album Release of the Week: Symphonica - George Michael

New DVD Release of the Week: Frozen

Video of the Week: Yesterday, TNT announced its full summer schedule which will be big as in ten original series, the most scripted dramas than any basic cable channel ever (and will probably be more than most, if not all the networks this summer). Below is the complete list of return days for those that want to mark your calendars now.

Major Crimes: Monday, June 9 at 9:00
Murder in the First (New Series): Monday, June 9 at 10:00
Rizzoli and Isles: Tuesday, June 17 at 9:00
Perception: Tuesday, June 17 at 10:00
Cold Justice: Friday, June 20 at 8:00
The Last Ship (New Series): Sunday, June 22 at 9:00
Falling Skies: Sunday, June 22 at 10:00
Dallas: Monday, August 18 at 9:00
Legends (New Series): Wednesday, August 20 at 9:00
Franklin and Bash: Wednesday, August 20 at 10:00

The first of those new series, Murder in the First just released its first trailer. The show, from Steven Bochco, will follow a single murder investigation across an entire season stars Taye Diggs (Private Practice) and Kathleen Robertson (Boss). Here is hoping that it is better than The Killing (or at the very least actually solve the investigation by the end of the first season). Check out the trailer below:




Next Week Pick of the Week: Pretty Little Liars, Tuesday at 8:00: The show has been hyping for weeks now that the season finale will be where “Ali Tells All.” The title of the episode is even entitled A Is for Answers. Hopefully it lives up it because the show has gotten convoluted lately with all the theoriews floating aroumd on the show and the different A’s and A Team members. Hopefully Allison sets everything straight and we can move forward next season. Although things will get more convoluted in Hanna’s love life next season thanks to the Ravenswood cancelation as her current love triangle will get expanded to a quadrangle because it was announced Caleb will be back to a series regular. I wonder if they will bother to wrap up the Ravenswood storyline or Caleb will just show up and say something like, “My father sold the house so I decided to move back to Rosewood. Oh yeah, and that chick I told you I was going to protect and made you think I was dating: she actually died the day after you left town so you do not have to worry about her.”

Best of the Week:2/15/14

Quote of the Week: You’re Indian? The feather not the dot? (Frank Gallagher, Shameless)

Song of the Week: She Will Be Loved – Maroon 5 (House of Lies)

Big News of the Week: Let the Games Begin: Amidst threats of terrorism, gay propaganda, and shorts weather in Sochi, the Winter Olympics somehow kicked off without a hitch this week. Well unless you are Bob Costas’ eyeball. Or the dude who had to kick himself out of his bathroom. But still it is hard to get excited for this year’s games. Maybe it is the tape delay or many US disappointments, no Lindsey Vonn, Shawn White does not medal, Bode Miller chocks again. Sure the new slopestyle competitions were entertaining (the new team ice skating event, not so much). But things hopefully pick up today when the United States have their second hockey game against Russia (the last time we played theb home nation, it was one of the most competitive hockey game ever) and yet another one tomorrow. Then the tournament portion starts on Tuesday.

Preview Picture of the Week:

“Free Fall” Pretty Little Liars, Tuesday at 8:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: Bridges – Broods (iTunes)

New Album Release of the Week: Lions - William Fitzsimmons

New DVD Release of the Week: Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season

Video of the Week: I have long called Parenthood the blue state version of Friday Night Lights. Jason Katims is the guy behind both and has even recruited a few Dillon alums to hang with the Bravermans (Lyla, Vince, Luke, and Jess). Except they all played new characters. Now for the first time, a former Coach Taylor player has found their way to California when Landry and his band Crucifictorious are recording at the Lunchenette with Amber after hours. Below is the first of four webisobes which has a few FNL references: “Lance,” Becky referred them (though it is not known how Amber knows her aside from her ex-fiancé’s doppelganger knocked Becky up), and even am East Dillon t-shirt makes an appearance. The next three episodes will hit the internets sometime next week and will feature another familiar face from Dillon.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Woman’s Gold Medal Curling Match, Thursday at 5:00 on CNBC: I was a bit disappointed with the curling coverage this year, maybe I am remembering it wrong, but I thought there was a dedicated curling channel last time. This time around there is a match at 3:00 AM, another one around mid day, and a final match at 5:00 PM (with bonus curling if time permits). Even more disappointing was the American play. The woman’s team gave up the first ever seven point end in Olympics history; I do not even remember any team scoring more than four in an end. Scoring seven can sometimes win you a match. The men have not fared much better (my theory is their uniforms are not cool enough). So I have switched my allegiance to Great Britain, at least on the sheet, for now mostly because of skip Eve Muirhead.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 1/26/14

Shameless: Of course Frank has an as to known unseen daughter. But this begs the question just how many kids does Frank have. Really the paternity of all the Gallagher’s is in question obviously Liam is not his) and who knows how many other kids out there he had out of wedlock? He may have to hunt down all of them this season looking for a donor.

Revenge: Coldblooded that Emily would bring in Sara’s mother to win her battle. But a bit of a dissatisfying ending because it was not full takedown. Has she even completely ruined anyone lately (I guess Lydia could count)? Maybe we will get a takedown when Takeda’s daughter puts two and two together and realize Aiden was the that killed her father and puts that practice of separating skin from flesh to good use. We two cliff hangers, Emily suffers her second blackout, the second of which results in her waking up in Conrad’s bed. Then we are left with a fist look at Conrad’s first wife. Hopefully she is the one to finally kick the show out of the rut it has been in for about a season and a half.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

House of Lies: Monica getting stabbed was all sorts of awesome. I am guessing she will be fired, but I kind of hope they find a way to bring the stabber back. Certainly Marty may not have much of a problem hiring someone who would stab his ex-wife. Oh well, they at least still play the stabber's AT&T commercial in heavy rotation.

The Blacklist: The promo monkeys pulled a quick one on me this week. I actually thought that the chick in the black wig was Lizzie but just turned out to be a victim of The Alchemist. But why exactly did Red need The Alchemist to uncover the mole. Does this mean Meera changed her DNA and is not who she says she is?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Castle: The reason why Justified is the best crime drama on television is that the criminals on the shows are idiots. So I got a good laugh this week when killer got caught because she did not bother to “burn” her burner phone. And is there any chance they keep the starlet around to be Alexis’ new best friend? Or even better have a spin off where the starlet starts imitating her art and becomes a optically challenged P.I. at night with Alexis as her sidekick. They can air it on ABC Family. I would watch that.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Are there really places you can go to throw plates at walls? That cannot be cheap.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Justified: I am glad Rachel brought up the theory that Raylan’s booty call just may have been working with the baseball bat guy. It certainly crossed my mind because that scenario has happened to Raylan before with the waitress and the UFC fighter which ended hilariously with a bean bag shotgun. Speaking of non lethal projectiles, it was seeing Wynn getting back to his psychotic ways. It seems like after Robert Quarels show up as the obligatory psycho, Wynn let him to all the evil stuff.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Nashville: That Zac Brown Band segment was really awkward. But Scarlett calling out Raina for having a co-dependent relationship with her exes was awkwardly awesome.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Community: Despite being another paintball-type episode, the lava floor episode was still thoroughly entertaining. At least it was until Annie went out way too soon and Britta got her way and got Troy and Abed to talk about their feelings.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Parenthood: After a yawn fest of a first half of the season with boring storyline (Camille in Italy) after boring storyline (Drew’s bootie calls) after excruciating storyline (Joel and Julie long and played out separation), I finally got excited for one of the rare times this season for a potential storyline: Kristina starting her own school. Hopefully this pulls the show out of its doldrums.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 1/4/14

Quote of the Week: Minuses are made up! (Annie Edison, Community)

Song of the Week: True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (The Millers)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Television Is Back Already: Most shows started their “winter break” less than a month ago, but shows started returning as early as last Thursday and most other shows will make their return this week. Here is a full run down of what I will be watching into the spring and when they return:

Monday
8:00 – Switched at Birth (January 13)
8:00 - How I Met Your Mother (January 13)
8:00 – The Voice (February 24)
8:30 – 2 Broke Girls (January 13)
9:00 – Dallas (February 24)
10:00 – The Blacklist (January 13)
10:00 – Castle (January 6)

Tuesdays
8:00 – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (January 7)
8:00 – Pretty Little Liars (January 7)
8:00 – The Voice (February 25)
9:00 – The Goldbergs (January 7)
9:00 – Ravenswood (January 7)
10:00 – Justified (January 7)
10:00 – Perception (February 25)

Wednesdays
8:00 – The Middle (January 8)
8:30 – Suburgatory (January 15)
9:00 – Modern Family (January 8)
10:00 – Nashville (January 15)
10:00 – The Americans (Febuary 26)

Thursdays
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory (January 2)
8:00 – Community (January 2)
8:30 – The Millers (January 2)
9:00 – The Crazy Ones (January 2)
9:30 – The Michael J Fox Show (January 2)
10:00 – Parenthood (January 2)
10:00 – King of the Nerds (January 23)
10:00 – Vikings (February 27)

Fridays
8:00 – Last Man Standing (January 10)
8:30 – The Neighbors (January 10)
9:00 – Grimm (January 3)
9:00 – Hannibal (February 28)
10:00 - Helix (January 10)

Saturdays
9:00 - Orphan Black (April 19)
11:30 – Saturday Night Live (January 18)

Sundays
9:00 – Once Upon a Time (March 9)
9:00 – Shameless (January 12)
9:00 – Revenge (January 5; moves to 10:00 March 16)
9:00 – The Walking Dead (February 9)
10:00 – House of Lies (January 12)

TBD
Penny Dreadful
The Strain
Mad Men
Survivor

Preview Picture of the Week:

“Who’s in the Box” Pretty Little Liars, Tuesday at 8:00 on ABC Family

The Big Bang Theory: I got a little worried when Penny proposed to Leonard because that would ruin the whole dynamic of the show. Well assuming Leonard moved in with Penny. Penny moving in with Leonard and Sheldon would be awesome, but the other way around would be disastrous. Who would be dumb enough to move in with Sheldon, Raj would know better, Amy would not be a good idea. That could only leave Stuart which could be interesting unless they would bring in someone new.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Community: When it was announced that creator Dan Harmon would be brought back to the show after a year’s sabbatical I assumed we would be treated to a last season was all a dream season opener like Dallas. Nope, it actually did happen, the group actually graduated and now are back at Greendale (except for Pierce who is just resigned to being a creepy hologram. Oh, except for Jeff who is now a teacher. It was a wise idea to bring the show back with two episodes just to make a smoother transition back into the original creative team after the last fan-fiction type season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Parenthood: I actually thought Drew’s friend with benefit was going to propose Amy join their benefit package. Nope it turns out she was just jealous. Too bad for Drew who has constantly been on the bottom of the Braverman Power Rankings for five seasons now. That storyline would be a nice reward for having nothing to do on the show. But I guess he should be happy he has not been dragged into the Julia / Joel saga.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Artists to Watch in 2014 (Amazon MP3)

New Album Release of the Week: Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours - Peter Gabriel and Friends

New DVD Release of the Week: Archer: The Complete Season Four

Video of the Week: The first official trailer for Veronica Mars was released though most of it we have already seen aside from our first looks at Deputy Leo, the new Sherriff Lamb, and a blink and you will miss it cameo from Dax Sheppard. But the big question will the people who did not see the show be inspired by the trailer to actually see it? The first half a minute is filled with boring trailer clichés but it does finally pick up when Dick Casablancas finally makes an appearance. We will have to wait until March 14 to see how many people who did not contribute to the Kickstarter campaign are willing to part with their hard earned cash now that the product is finished.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Justified, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX: Instead of the usual Big Bad, last season Justified went with more of a mystery season with the Ballad of Drew Peterson. The season five premiere is entitled “A Murder of Crowes” and from the promos that feature a newly released Dewey Crowe, I am guessing he will be playing a bigger part this season. As great as the last season was, it was severely lacking some Dewey Crowe. The only question is if Dicky Bennett also became a free man since last season, they maybe the greatest moronic duo since Beavis and Butt-Head.

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.

Best of the Week: 11/9/13

Quote of the Week: Saul, you don’t look like a man who landed the biggest asset of his career. (Majid Javadi, Homeland)

Song of the Week: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) – The Proclaimers (How I Met Your Mother)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Bullying in the NFL: Back when I played sports, hazing was an accepted practice, but we now live in a “It gets better world” (even though it does not, but that is a rant for another day) and apparently hazing is not even acceptable in the most “manly” of institutions the NFL. Sure what Richie Incognito said was horrible, but no worse than what is shouted at players every Sunday. That is not to say Incognito should not be cut (considering his rap sheet, no one should have signed him in the first place), but it is weird to continually hear about bullying in the NFL.

Preview Picture of the Week:

“Huang Wu” Sons of Anarchy, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX

Free Download of the Week: The Triple Threat – The Hush Sound (NoiseTrade): I am a bit surprised that The Hush Sound did not hit that wave of indie pop from the middle of last decade, Wine Red was ultra catchy and could have easily been the soundtrack to one of the silhouette iPod commercials. But the group recently got back together and has a sampler of their new work which sound more mature than their earlier songs.

Deal of the Week: Blu-Ray Under $10: Home Alone Collection, Zombieland, Inception, Gremlins 2: The New Batch

New Album Release of the Week: November - Grace and Tony

New DVD Release of the Week: Dexter: The Complete Final Season

Video of the Week: The new TBS comedy Ground Floor premieres Thursday but you can actually watch it now over at tbs.com. If you are not sure if you want to send the next twenty-minutes watching the whole thing, check out this short clip first.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Killing Kennedy, Sunday at 8:00 on National Geographic Channel: After the success of Killing Lincoln, it was only a matter of time before Bill-O’Reilly’s other books get their own movie. And just in time for the fifth anniversary of his assassination is Killing Lincoln with Rob Lowe in the titular role and Ginnifer Goodwin and Jackie O.

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.