57 Channels and Only This is On: January 4, 2020

Ray Donovan: There were a lot of references to Ray killing his father, both pro and con. I have long thought the show would be much better if they move beyond Micky and his never-ending feud then team up with Ray. I did find it interesting that we saw young Ray and baby Daryl but the other three Donovan children were completely missing. But I appreciate that we did not get a full flashback episode like other shows like to do because it was hard to tell who some of Micky’s buddies were.

Dare Me: I was looking forward to this because how can you mess up hot chick mean girl cheerleader. Well you make it boring apparently, and the casting was not great. I just do not buy the new coach as hard as nails as she is bring portrayed and the former captain just is not attractive enough to be a Queen B. Hopefully it gets better.

Shameless: For an episode I thought Frank managed to attract yet another rich crazy woman, she turned out to be an evil genius who was preying on his weakness. I was wondering who that dude they lingered on in the picture was. I just assumed that it was someone from the early seasons that I forgot. Turned out to be a guy from even further back in Frank’s past.

Almost Family: You really have to be delusional to be mad you get demoted when you are forking the opposing council. Someone needs to be debarred by the end of this. But Julia being extremely awkward continues to be the best part of the show, this time around her boyfriend’s kid. How dumb do you have to be to buy someone the exact same t-shirt that they wear? But I guess the biggest question is who is Julia’s real father? The only dude on the show that is the right age is Roxy’s father, but we know he shoots blanks, so I guess it is someone we have not met.
You can download Almost Family on iTunes.

Vikings: Wait, how did Russian dude get Ivar’s dead wife? Does he know? Was this planned? Is it just a coincidence and she is just a distant cousin doppelganger? Is Ivar just seeing things?
You can download Vikings on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 28, 2019

Shameless: Carl did a good deed? Wow, that has to be a first for him. For a guy who wanted to be in the army, dude only had been doing things for himself his whole life.

Ray Donovan: More brother on brother violence. But haven’t we already seen Ray and Darryl fight with Darryl complaining that Ray does not treat him like a brother before? But things came full circle with the old family friend as Succession daddy pulled a heist back in the seventies with Mickey, apparently became very rich and surely Mickey will want his cut after killing everyone else involved. But who gets to Mickey first, Ray or lady cop?

Mr. Robot: Okay, I am mildly confused at what I saw. Did anything we saw actually happen? Darla did give that speech about how many people were dead, but is Darlene real? I was under the impression that Elliot in the dream world was the “real” Elliot but he did not have a sister. And what happened to American Psycho dude. He went off to the woods to die but then there was a bright light and we never see him in the “real world” again. Le sigh. Add this show to the ever growing list of shows that would have been much better remembered had they just ended after one season
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

His Dark Materials: So both of Lyra’s parents are evil? But why didn’t Lyra yell at her father to stop. And if Daemons can morph into different animals when their humans are still young, why didn’t that Daemon morph into something smaller and leave the cage? Lyra’s ferret looked like it could slip into the cage. Now I know this is the network that ended a season with Ned Stark being beheaded, but goodness, what a depressing way to end a season.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 22, 2019

Ray Donovan: That old family that the Donovan family grew up with seems very Sucessiony. Or wheat I believe Succession to be, really, Billions is the only rich people doing bad rich things I can watch at this time. Although, unlike Succession, I feel the patriarch will die sooner than later, be it naturally or someone speeds up the process. Now if only the Donovan patriarch will just die soon.

Watchmen: Oh wow, I got a prediction right. Lady Truie turned out to be Ozymandias’ daughter. Though I would never have guess that her mother self-inseminated herself using his private collection. And I would not have guessed she was in her thirties now either, she came across much older. But in the end everything just came together nicely. Well, except the stupid Inception ending and we never learned the identity of Lube Man.

Shameless: You know what; Debbie does have a point about the persecution of redheads. Really, we have become so politically correct in the country; really the only groups of people you can make fun of without the Twitter mob coming after you are redheads and Canadians. So I do feel her pain in that respect.

Mr. Robot: Mmmm, so I have for long times have thought White Rose’s machine was some sort of time machine. Instead it zapped everyone to an alternative dimension? Except there is no Darla. Is it because she is not dead? Or is she there, we just see her yet and there may be two of some people now like there are now two of Elliot. The one we saw was in that dimension all along while the one we saw at the end was the one we have been seeing for the first four season. This has gotten too confusing for me.
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

His Dark Materials: So Lyra just fell from that air balloon and is perfectly okay. That was some soft snow.

Survivor: Island of Idols: Yawn.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

Vikings: So the old king captures King Herald, attacks Bjorn just to set up a meeting to discuss how Bjorn should be the king of all of Norway. Seems like there could have been a better way to do that. But these are Vikings I guess.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 15, 2019

Ray Donovan: So we are normalizing herpes now? Okay. But I hope that Bunchy throwing something away at the hospital was a sign he is not going to go with the white supremacist. Dude does have a black brother and all. So Mickey went to some tropical place only to return to New York to set up some time share scam? Please just put, and keep this guy in prison or kill him off.

Supergirl/Crisis on Infinite Earths: Of wow, they got Lucifer Morningstar and Arli$$. That was pretty shocking. Although I am not sure we needed a full minute on the Birds of Prey Earth. The Lucifer was somewhat shocking. I did read on I believe Men’s Health of all places that he would be included but I was not really going to believe television gossip I see on Men’s Health.

Makes me wonder who else will show up. Wonder Woman’s Linda Carter and Lois and Clark’s Teri Hatcher have both already appeared in previous seasons of Supergirl, and goodness knows the crossover needs a Wonder Woman presence because it is laughable in all the Earths there is not one. Granted, we did see Titans which had Wonder Girl who referenced Diana so there is definitely at least one Wonder Woman. Kind of an oversite of Harbinger who supposedly rounded up the greatest Superheroes of the multiverse. And are there no Batmen under fifty? We saw a broken down (and kind of gay) Batman of another Earth who apparel looks like Earth 1’s Batman. Then there is Michael Keaton and Sir Jorah Mormont. The Supermen are no spring chickens, but all three we saw are under fifty. There was a rumor the Gotham Batman may show up but he is on the other end of the age spectrum of being two young but that was a website I trust even less than Men’s Heath for my TV news.

So we got two seconds on the Titans’ Earth. I wonder if we will get a Doom Patrol sighting. I am mostly curious to see if they place that show on the Titans Earth or confirm what we were watching was on a slightly different Earth. There was some casting change and they gave Negative Man a completely different attitude from the Titans episode. The also completely ignored Beast Boy who has been living with them for a while and the only Titans reference was a magazine article.

Okay, fun fan service aside, that third episode was confusing. I have no idea what that whole treadmill thing was about and the Green Arrow in purgatory was a bit confusing too? So Olivier is giving up live to become the new Spectre. And the old one just came out of nowhere. And just how did they come up with those paragons? With Lex Luther, that makes four of the seven from Supergirl. I missed why Martian Manhunter was one because that dude just disappeared. Then one is an Asian scientist with no powers because… um, diversity? The only other person of color was a green dude from Mars (um, if all the other Earths are now gone, are all the Mars gone too?). I hope the last two episodes make sence because the crossover is almost as confusing as the actual comic it was based on.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Watchmen: Here is the problem with beings that are too powerful, I am left wondering why Dr. Manhattan did not zap him and Angela out of there instead of staying and fighting when he knew how that was going to end with him being zapped with the teleporter? He just zapped his kids a couple minutes earlier. But at least we got conformation of Ozymandias was put in his place by Dr. Manhattan but not a prison like most people thought but actually but as reward. Granted, I suspect that Dr. Manhattan knew that it would not be viewed as paradise very long.

Shameless: In ten seasons, it is kind of surprising they have not done the character was mad that they were the only one not molested by the town pervert before. Or maybe they did and I already forgot about it. Really after ten seasons, it is surprising the writers have not run out of messed up storylines yet.

Mr. Robot: Where has Bobby Canivalle been all this time? I have spent most of the season assuming he was dead. Kind of the same for the rapper, I definitely forgot he switched sides. Unless that was a big surprise. But what a silly rom-com ending except the two lovebirds missed each other. This show is really overthinking everything this season.
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

His Dark Materials: So are they not going to get the Daemons that were in the cages in hopes of maybe someday reuniting them with their humans?

Castle Rock: Well there goes my prediction that Joy ended up being the Annie Wilkes from the Misery book. I was also waiting to see who the author was, I thought they might make it Stephen King himself, but alas no shots of his face. But it was painfully obvious Joy was dead, she was just too happy after being “revived.” Weird we got one random shot of the creepy kid from season one but he did not figure into anything. Then there was a random missing flyer of Henry Deaver in Canada. Was that supposed to be an Easter egg or are we to believe someone actually put that up in a Canadian gas station? No post credits scene so I guess we will have to wait until season three to see if they dip back into the original story.
You can watch Castle Rock on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: Well after forking things up all season, they finally removed Dan right before the finale. And did it because an off camera incident with someone who was not a contestant. Of course this led to rampant speculation on the internet until some website claims they had multiple sources that Dan grabbed a producer’s leg betting into a boat after a challenge. So grabbing Noura’s arm to claim how innocent the action was is okay, but goodness, cannot touch anyone in production. Oh well, at least we know for sure he is not winning.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: Kind of a borefest like most finales on the show, and honestly, I spent most of the episode searching for what Dan did. But hey, at least Paulie and Cara Maria lost after decimating their team.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

Almost Family: Well that was certainly a shocking ending. Of all the children he has fathered, the one Leon did not was the one he raised. Which begs the question, does he know? Clearly they did not need any sort of treatment but obviously he was definitely not shooting blanks. Weird that they set up this big weird family but now we know Juila is not blood related to her “sisters.”
You can download Almost Family on iTunes.

Stumptown: So Grey’s girlfriend turned out to be evil. Meh, and I kind of liked her. But what a weird plan to get rid of Dex. To assume that Grey would exile her but forgive did not seem like the best plan to me.
You can download Stumptown on iTunes.

The Blacklist: I thought last week would have made for a pretty good “fall finale” but then they really end with Lizzie’s mother being gunned down in the street… except not. Kind of extreme. And I did not get why Lizzie was so quick to side with her mother. She had been lying to her this whole time, had a dude tied up in her apartment, killed a dude in the vicinity of her kid, but lizzie still rescued her to safety.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 8, 2019

Ray Donovan: Oh no Daryl, I fear that the cop asking if she could hold on to the VIP pass was a test and he failed. If you were such a fan you should not part with the merch that easily. Then if Micky not dying was not annoying enough now they are pretending that he is going to the Maldives as is he is not going to return later this season.

Supergirl: So Martian Manhunter’s brother is going back to Mars and Assistant Director Skinner is defeated? Hopefully they do not revive either storyline after Crisis and also recon Lena into not irrationally hating Supergirl, or at the very least give a ready to hate.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Watchmen: Last week I read an article that ran down a bunch of popular Reddit theories, most so convincing they almost felt like spoilers. The last one they posted was so stupid that I kind of rolled my eyes at how non plausible it was: Cal is really Dr. Manhattan. Then Lady Truie mentioned Dr. Manhattan was in Tulsa, and I thought, oh now. Then she mentioned how Angela did not react to that new and I thought, well fork, this is why I do not read fan theories. Earlier, Lady Truie mentioned her father will be joining her soon, and her father was also one of the popular fan theories that is also going to be right.

Shameless: Oh hey, Xanthippe Lannister Voorhees. But it was weird to see her play poor. I wonder if she will be back (I had to look her up to see if she was on the show before Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and that is how she knew Debbie, she was not… man this show has been on for a while). I was sad to see Mikey go so she could get free health care, but then I realize, oh, he could just run into Ian.

Mr. Robot: So we get multiple shots of Angela in the “Previously On,” White Rose says she is alive, yet she does not show up at all. Meh. I have always thought White Rose’s end game was some sort of time machine but I guess we will not find that out. Or will we? I wonder if White Rose put on the make up and dress so (s)he will get arrested in what (s)he thinks is its true form or if it was to evade the police some how.
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

His Dark Materials: So that kid is like the male, real world version of Lyra? I wonder if we already met his father. I wonder if they gave us any good looks at family photos, but I do not care enough to rewatch.

Castle Rock: So where exactly is the creepy dude from the first season? When he was gone from his cage earlier this season I thought the old body snatchers took him. So did Henry take him somewhere? They did snatch his mother’s body I presume looking for answers so maybe he will show up in the finale.
You can watch Castle Rock on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: It seems like every season there is someone who is clearly on the bottom on their alliance and we the viewers scream at the television to flip and they rarely do unless they do one of those pecking order challenges. Dean was clearly that person this season, going as far as trying to form an anti-goat alliance not realizing he has not done anything to win yet this season. But after the loved one’s visit, it became abundantly clear that he was fifth in a four person alliance. And it worked out perfectly because Noura and Karishma were the only people he had a chance at beating this season. Then he inexplicably tells Tommy he is the target, sending home Karishma. Just when you thought this season could not get any worse…
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: So the Brits get a ten minute penalty for interference, but the Americans seemed to be doing a lot of interfering too and I thought TJ say they no one could carry the stuff individually. Granted they still have not gotten to TJ yet, so that may be coming.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

Stumptown: Well, cannot say I blame Dex for that.
You can download Stumptown on iTunes.

The Blacklist: o Red shows up when Katerina was supposed to show up and misses her… too cute. But at least they ended this charade when Lizzie figured it out. Too bad they gave the conclusion to that confirtation in the “Next Time On…”
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: December 1, 2019

Ray Donovan: So Micky was burned beyond recognition? Well at least they did not drag it out very long to reveal he was not really dead considering it was extremely obvious he was not. Now they just need to explain how he survived such a huge fireball. But hey, if Micky is “dead” Ray should easily be able to get his prints to take the fall for that murder.

Watchmen: Hooded Justice was black? Did not see that coming. Although I did see after the episode someone pointed out that Lou Gossett Jr. had the same color scheme early in the season so it is not that they did not telegraph it. I kind of wish that Angela was the POV the whole time, that would have been more interesting. I also wish we had gotten more of his life than just that short few months… Unless Angela is still under the Nostalgia and that ending was how Lady Truie met Hooded Justice. That would explain how she got out of police custody.

The Walking Dead: So Michonne is just going to leave her small children to help that dude back home? Huh? Almost a big question as how Daryl and everyone is going to get out of their predicament.

Shameless: So a week after shiving a dude in the sick ward, Ian is up for parole? Then to hurt his parole chances, he tries to shiv someone else? Although the best part of the episode was when I realized Debbie did not forget to load the debit cards but instead they were all garnished by the government for unpaid debt.

Mr. Robot: RIP Janice, but you really kind of annoying. Otherwise, felt like huge filler episode.
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

His Dark Materials: Wow, it just seems like Lin-Manual Miranda is on a completely different show. I mean, both his show and the main show are bad, but just a different kind of bad.

Castle Rock: Strangulation by stethoscope… had we not seen someone this season shove an ice cream scooper down someone’s throat, that would have been a pretty imaginative self-defense scene. Interesting the episode description said, “Annie sees things for what they are.” Considering she saw her long dead mother and a waterfall that came out of a mirror. But maybe it says that because she is the only one who is not under the cult’s spell as even Joy is not walking in step. But annie is legit crazy, I wonder what is so special about the doctor? Is it just that you have to see the statue to be enthralled by it? But a surprisingly short episode, about thirty-five minutes, even less than a network drama without commercials.
You can watch Castle Rock on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: Idols have been out of control for a while now and two of the last seasons featured someone who went on a three or longer Idol run until Idols were no longer available to play, but at this point I really hope Karishma somehow finds an Idol every week and somehow finds herself in the final (but I fear she will be more like Rick than Ben in the fire making challenge) and manages to win the whole things. Only her or Janet are the only ones from this season that would land them in the bottom five winners of all time list.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: Poor Nany, Smashley gets lost and she still cannot solve a simple Sudoku puzzle. But I wonder if she would have turncoat because the Brits with only one actual Brit clearly look like the better team at this point. Of course it would serve Cara Maria and paulie right to get beat by people who they tried to get rid of.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

Almost Family: What a nice treat of back to back episode. The Thanksgiving episode may be the best so far.
You can download Almost Family on iTunes.

Titans: When they said one Titan would fall, New Robin seemed obvious considering he famously “died” in the funny books. Except they already threw him out of a window to certain death only to be saved by Superboy in the next episode. Hawk seemed like the next most likely so he could be sacrifice himself and redeemed for his bad behavior. Why I put any thought into might happen because who actually died was completely outside the realm of reason. First of all it, it took forever for that pillar to fall, Lyla Garrity could not get two people out of harm’s way in ten seconds? Then, instead of using her super-speed to hold up the pillar, how about Super Girl using her super-speed to move people out of harm’s way instead of holding the pillar? And can a little electricity really kill an Amazon? Aren’t they Gods? Ugg, what makes things worse is she was the second best part of the show. But is she really dead-dead? Raven pretty easily healed Starfire and says her powers are evolving. And of course this is DC so I am sure there is a Lazarus Pit somewhere. Hopefully she shows up next season somehow.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: November 17, 2019

Supergirl: No Dreamer, no Alex’s girlfriend, very little Brainiac 5… and we may have had the best episode since Saturn Girl went back to the future. Sure, Andréa’s mask was a little too generic, I thought that was Dreamer for a split second.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Watchmen: So crazy rick Asian build her clock in Oklahoma away from the coasts where there is more likely nuclear attacks occur and earthquakes… but isn’t Tulsa right smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley? Of course we already know what she says is not necessary the whole reason behind what she does as seen by her introduction. But she shoots to the top of the list of who imprison Ozymandias in what they certainly implied was on the moon this week.

The Walking Dead: So what is Negan’s game? He is telling the Whispers he wants to be with them but I feel he is just saying that. I do not really seeing him put Rick’s kid in danger no matter how much barbed wire he wraps around his bat.

Shameless: Oh my, are they really going to kill off Lip’s baby mama? Granted he will not be the only single parent in the household.

Mr. Robot: I feel like I missed something. So we first see the FBI agent pointing her gun at Darla. Last week I thought they ended with her seeing the two in the car, when did she get to the apartment? Or was I not paying attention last week because I was bored that there was no dialogue?
You can download Mr. Robot: on iTunes.

His Dark Materials: Wait, this whole story is taking in an alternative universe from our own and there is a portal to get here? Okay, after being bored the first week, that was kind of interesting.

Castle Rock: So the cult of the centuries old invasion of the body snatchers people do not bother to secure their snatchee’s? And they do not have to kill the people first? The first dude was definitely dead. Although now I am wondering how he was resurrected. Was just falling into the crypt enough to resurrect whatever snatched his body but everyone else has to go through that casket process? And just why are they waiting to kidnap Annie to be the vessel for their leader? And is because she killed that dude with an ice cream scooper the reason she is the best candidate?

But the bigger new in Castle Rock was the arrival of Annie’s step-mom, who promptly gets shot. But hey, we do know she can survive trauma to the gut because that was about where Annie stabbed her. Or maybe she will body snatched and survive that way. But who was Jot saying mom too? She does not want to call Annie her sister which makes me think she would not be ready to call the new lady mom. And what was the plan after she sedated her real mother? Just go back on the run with Annie? With the cops involved (and four episodes left) they clearly are not going anywhere soon now.
You can watch Castle Rock on Hulu.

Survivor: Island of Idols: I had a lot to say on Twitter while this was happening and I really do not want to relive these two hour so just head there to get my thoughts if you do not already follow me.
You can download Survivor: Island of the Idols on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2: I really wanted T.J., famously hates quitters to lay into the Brits for just blatantly throwing a challenge. Really, they should institute a rule that if you are caught throwing a challenge you are automatically thrown into elimination, even switch the gender week if you have to. The show has just let these people ruin this season by pulling this crap. Sure it looks like they are finally doing something about it next week (though if they eliminate the two black players due to a swimming challenge that will be a bad look), hopefully it is not too late to save this season. Although this season is starting to look much better now airing after Survivor.
You can download The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 on iTunes.

Almost Family: Brittney Snow being ashamed by doing just completely moronic this really is the best part of this show.
You can download Almost Family on iTunes.

The Good Place: Wait, the Blogger got 44% better over the year? How? I know we only saw about two and a half hours of the experiment but he ended by spreading gossip and fleeing when someone fell into a hole. Maybe since he started at so a low floor it was hard to get worse. But how does that explain Brett who got progressively worse until the final second when he started to apologize to get him to negative one percent. Although if the goal of this experiment was to get better, The Bad Place should have gotten great people who had very little room for improvement. Although now that the judge is going for a full reboot, should be interesting what comes next. I am going to go out on a limb and predict Team Cockroach finds a way to save humanity.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.

Titans: Um, just how did Batman managed to get the female Titans to the same place at the same time? And why not try to get New Robin, Hawk, or Beast Boy there? Was it just so they could make the mansplaining joke? And why not just break out him out yourself or just have Bruce Wayne buy Old Robin’s release? Or was Bruce really there, he was still acting weird like in Old Robin’s fever dreams. Scarecrow toxin?

Then New Robin just randomly quoting maybe the fifth best West Side Story song was weird. Maybe more weird than him forking Deathstroke’s daughter. And with Rose telling her father she is out, did they just confirm we are in the middle of Judas Contact?

The Blacklist: Playing babies in anti-abortion crusaders… that is just a bit extreme. Of course the evangelical kept it and the politician did not. Although if the rapist was the biological father, where did the eggs come from? The crazy doctor? And just how can the baby survive in a man?
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Previewing Shameless: Season Ten

After being the most consistent show of the decade, Shameless ended with a big change as Fiona rode off into the sunset, heading south after a big payday leaving the rest of the Gallagher clan to fend for themselves. The shakeup was supposed to be bigger because after his character’s own happy ending, being reunited in jail with his one true love, Cameron Monaghan also announced his departure only to announce he was returning to the show a couple months later. Too bad they locked his character away for a pretty violent crime.

With no more Emmy Rossum we get what I believe is the very first update to the title sequence in the ten season history. So instead of getting to see Fiona urinate every week, we get to see Debbie urinate every week (it took me until the second episode to catch that). And instead of Debbie wrapping Liam in toilet paper, Liam is the one who wraps Frannie. Then instead watching Fiona fork the dude who left the show back in the first season but we still got to see his naked behind every week, Ian and Lip get busy in the Gallagher bathroom. Although they did not update all the scenes which leads to a very weird moment of seeing a very young Carl followed by a grown very naked Carl about a minute later.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same and Shameless is as consistent as ever. The new season even starts off with Fiona, sort of. Even without Fiona and Ian in prison, there are still five Gallaher’s livings in the house with another one on the way. Yep, Lip’s baby mama is now very pregnant but was worried about having a child with severe health problems in her family. But she is going to great lenths to make sure her kid comes out all right. Somehow Frank is still allowed to stay; I guess he is still recovering from the broken leg from last season. Luis Guzman is back as Frank’s lone friend but he may be worse off than Frank now.

Without Fiona around, Debbie has stepped up as head of the household, though she was kind of taking that role last season when Fiona was spiraling. But she is hording all the money Fiona left her but knowing her brothers and father, that may be the smartest decision. Micky got arrested to give Ian the fairytale ending, but months later, they are much more Married with Children inside a six by eight cell. Then there is Liam who is starting to embrace his black heritage. So Shameless is as shameless as ever.

Shameless airs Sundays at 9:00 on Showtime.

The Most (and Least) Anticipated Questions of 2019-20 Television

The Challenge premiered last week, Wu-Tang: an American Saga started yesterday and Titans premieres tomorrow which means the slow start of the fall television is upon us until the flood gates upon in two and a half weeks when the networks unveil their line ups. As I usually do every fall, I am asking all the big questions heading into the new television year.

1. Will someone get into The Good Place for the first time in 521 years? You know it has gotten too hard to get into The Good Place when Doug Forcett is currently not on track to get there. But the judge has let Team Cockroach set up a new version to see if people can get in without having to worry about racking up negative point for doing things that in theory sound good like buying flowers for your mother because unfortunately too much gasoline was used to get them there. Of course The Bad Place it doing everything to keep their cupboards stocked by picking four people that will hinder The Brainy Bunch. Which adds a secondary question, who else did Shawn pick? We met an annoying blogger that triggered Tahani. When I heard Shawn got to pick, I initially thought Eleanor’s mom, Tahani’s sister. Chidi’s ex-girlfriend, and Donkey Doug, but the blogger really ruined that prediction. Chidi’s ex still seems very likely, but I really hope Donkey Doug makes an appearance.

2. Will Mr. Robot and Homeland stick the landing? Two shows that had meteoric rises that then had rough sophomore seasons. After seven seasons, Homeland has mostly ironed itself out (aside the season where Peter Quinn slowly and painfully died). Mr. Robot on the other hand has to iron itself quit quickly because this is it. Here is hoping one if not both of these shows can go out in the way they came in.

3. Will Disney+ be a Netflix killer? Netflix has been a behemoth for almost a decade now with even the deep pockets of Amazon, Facebook, and YouTube (who has already thrown in the paid streaming towel) unable to put much of a dent into it. But two companies with even deeper pockets, Apple and Disney are launching their own paid subscription streaming services this fall. Now if I am Netflix, I am not too worried with Apple (one word: Ping) who seems to be more along the lines of Amazon who seems more interested in selling other stuff (though that may change after Amazon bought the rights to tell Lord of the Rings stores for about a billion dollars) but Disney is pushing hard with big name IP (Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, along with their classic animated movies) and a very nice price point at $7, one dollar cheaper than Netflix cheapest tier. Expect Disney+ gives you four log-ins to Netflix’s one, and 4K compared to standard definition For $13, Netflix will let you stream in HD on two screens while at that price, you still get Disney+ in 4K with four streams, but you also get ESPN+ and Hulu with ads (no Hulu ad free or live TV bundles announced yet). Disney+ also has discounted yearly rates. Sure these are introductory rates and I would expect a rate hike within five year, but I would still be worried if I were Netflix. And I have not even brought up HBO Max and the unnamed Comcast streamer both coming next year which will be taking two of Netflix’s biggest performers, Friends and The Office respectively.

4. How will Shameless move on without Fiona? After nine seasons it is an end of an era as Fiona finally cashed out and went south away from the bitterly cold Windy City. But there are still five Gallagher children left since Ian, who announced right after Fiona he was leaving the show only to announce his return months later; six if you count Franny and seven if you count Lip’s who is on the way (his baby mamma has been bumped up to series regular as well as Mickey who is regaining that status). So there will likely still be plenty of trouble brewing on the south Side.

5. Who is going to die/show up on Crisis on Infinite Earths? The former may be a bit easier to answer since Arrow has already cancel and the titular character has already been cast on a dude version of G.L.O.W. which I have zero interested in. Of course the comic book had two major death so there may be a surprised death (most surprising would be if it is the same as the comic book). So the bigger question is will there be any surprise appearances. Burt Ward from sixties Batman has been already announced as well as the voice of many Batman animated shows and movies Kevin Conroy. But will there been any surprise guest? Rumor that the three main Smallville actor may show up (Chloe is, um, otherwise busy). But can the lowly CW get anyone from the movies? Can they get anyone from the DC Universe show (the Swamp Thing cast is very avaiable right now) . I hear Ben Affleck is also very available to play his Batman. I just hope they land Black Manta or anyone from the upcoming Bird of Prey movie.


As the great philosopher Butt-Head once pondered, how would we know if something was cool if there weren't things that sucked; here are the five least anticipated questions:

1. Can the Titans defeat Trigon after he mind controlled Dick? Um, the trailer shows Raven with a gem in her forehead, so I am going to go ahead and guess yes.

2. What crappy IP can The CW exploit next? Half of The CW schedule is based on DC heroes (Batworman joins the fall lineup after a lackluster appearance in last season’s team up) that are not to say there is much for any new ideas. The only shows on the fall that are not based on existing IP is some football show and a show that is older than the network itself (granted two of the five midseason shows are original ideas) with dark Nancy Drew also joining the lineup. The Lost Boys has been in development there for a couple years, how long until they do dark Fat Albert?

3. Who will win the battle of Catherine the Great shows? Remember the nineties when there were two asteroid movies, two volcano movies, two Mars movies, and two insect animated movies release within months of each other? With the overabundance of airtime, we might get that version on television. Over the next couple months we are likely to have multiple shows based on a Russian Empress from the eightteenth century. Okay the two will likely be very different as seventy-four Hellen Mirren will star in the HBO adaptation starting October 21 while the Hulu version has twenty-one year old Elle Fanning playing a slightly younger version. No word when Hulu will premiere The Great but if you remember, earlier this year, Hulu surprise dropped their Frye Festival documentary just days before Netflix released their much hyped version. My guess is that the HBO show will get more viewers but the Hulu one will be much more entertaining.

4. Who’s going to watch CBS comedies? For most of this century, CBS comedies have dominated the rating but in the last couple years it has mostly being kept afloat by The Big Bang Theory. But that show is now gone and being replaced by… Bob Hearts Abishola. And as stupid as the name is, the trailer made it look really creepy as a hospital client starts to stalk his immigrant nurse. Then The Unicorn and Carol’s Second Act do not look much better. Compare that to NBC’s Thursday line up and the peacock may finally getting its Much See TV mojo back with the funniest show on television, The Good Place, the always solid Superstore and two freshmen show that look pretty good.

5. How can you make Survivor worse than Edge of Extinction? Well, have an island full of Idols that is inhabited by a giant bust of Boston Rob seems like a good start. Meh. Wake me up when they bring Lauren back.


Here is everything I will be watching this fall. Way too much on Sunday and Wednesday, the networks really need to stary spreading out their shows.

Mondays
8:00 – The Neighborhood (CBS, September 23)

Tuesdays
8:00 – The Little Mermaid Live! (ABC, November 5)
9:00 – Mix-ish (ABC, September 24)
9:30 – Black-ish (ABC, September 24)
10:00 – The Purge (USA, October 15)

Wednesdays
Wu-Tang: An American Saga (Hulu, yesterday)
Castle Rock (Hulu, October 23)
8:00 – Survivor (CBS, September 25)
8:00 – The Goldbergs (ABC, September 25)
8:30 – Schooled (ABC, September 25)
9:00 – The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 (MTV, Already Started)
9:00 – Not Just Me (October 2, FOX)
9:00 – Modern Family (ABC, September 25)
10:00 – Stumptown (ABC, September 25)

Thursdays
8:00 – Superstore (NBC, September 26)
8:30 – Perfect Harmony (NBC, September 26)
9:00 – The Good Place (NBC, September 26)
9:30 – Sunnyview (NBC, September 26)

Fridays
Titans (DC Universe, September 6)
Light as a Feather (Hulu, October 4)
Dollface (Hulu, November 15)
Reprisal (Hulu, December 6)
Marvel’s Runaways (Hulu, December 13)
8:00 – The Blacklist (NBC, October 5)

Sundays
8:00 – Ray Donovan (Showtime, November 17)
9:00 – Supergirl (The CW, October 6)
9:00 – The Walking Dead (AMC, October 6)
9:00 - Watchmen (HBO, October 20)
9:00 – Shameless (Showtime, November 3)
10:00 – Mr. Robot (USA, October 6)
10:00 – Silicon Valley (HBO, October 25)
10:00 – Kidding (Showtime, November 3)
Brain Games (Nat Geo, December 1)

The Best Television Shows of 2018-2019

1. Doom Patrol 1.x

2. The Good Place 3.x

3. Miracle Workers 1.x

4. G.L.O.W. 2.x

5. Future Man 2.x

6. The Act 1.x

7. Angie Tribeca 4.x

8. Shameless 9.x

9. Harlots 2.x

10. Game of Thrones 8.x


Shows that aired a majority of their season between July 2018 and June 2019 were eligible for this list.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March 17, 2019

Supergirl: Did they already disband The Elite? They were the only remotely non-horrible part of this season. Oh well, next week we get Lex Luthur. Meh.
Supergirl on iTunes.

Shameless: Fiona seemly got fleeced on that deal. All she got was her $100,000 back. At least get some interest if that dude stands to make money on the deal. Then she gives half to Debbie. $50,000 may last a couple years if you are frugal, but Fiona has not been the best at money. And flying south without a plan is not a great way to manage money. But hey, when changes her mind and want to rejoin the cast in half a season like Ian did, I guess that would make storyline sense.

The Walking Dead: I do not understand the argument of not going back to Hilltop. The Whisperers are just going to assume you are going there if you are or not. I really doubt they are going to knock on the door, be told the daughter is not there, and then say sorry and leave. I doubt they would leave unless they get proof and Hilltop cannot prove a false negative so there is going to be a showdown if you go there or not. I also do not understand stopping either. The Whisperers walk with slow moving zombies, they are easy to outrun.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Black Monday: So the SEC has been leaning on Keith for three months? I guess that is the problem with doing a show that takes place over a year in just ten half hour episodes. The SEC nabs Keith with 122 days to go and the next episode is 65. But interesting Mo actually came clean on his long con and that just blew up. So how is he going to get back on track? Marry Tiff himself? Or was that him behind both kidnappings in the episode? Next episode is 7042, which would be… 19 years ago? That should be interesting.

The Passage: Just when you think these people cannot get any dumber, that actually had a contingency plan by planting bombs in their bunker… except the forking morons did not seem to kill any of the vampires in the explosion. I kind of wonder if Shawna was lying and that the black scientist was turned and survived the bomb and will pop up at some point in season two. Actually, will anyone be around in season two after all the other countries nuked the U.S.? Amy survives because we see he decades in the future. Fanning we saw in Amy’s future vision. So are these vampires like cockroaches that can survive explosions in enclosed bunkers and nuclear fallout? Yet that black Bible spouting chick seemingly can kill them pretty easily. As for the rest of the cast, Zach Morris and his ex-wife were given the cure but seem to have some vampire properties. Zach’s army buddy seems to be in the same situation except we do not really learn how Shawna saved him. Then will this next season be exclusively in the distant future or will it split between present day? I guess the biggest question is, will there even be a second season?
You can download The Passage on iTunes.

Survivor: Edge of Extinction: Every season we have a swap and conspicuously every swap you can spot Probst shoving certain platters or bags towards certain players making me wonder just how random was the swap. Then we ended up with a pretty statistically improbable result of the minority tribe all ending up on the same tribe except the one member who was on the outs. And of course they continue to lose.
You can download Survivor: Edge of Extinction on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of World: Well after we got our first English player to go him last week, Wes orchestrates to get rid of another… and fails the only way Was can. For a self-proclaimed genius, his plans fail quite miserable all the time.
You can download The Challenge: War of Worlds on iTunes.

Deadly Class: So the headmaster and the hot Asian assassin are linked… sort of. He knew her father. They kind of teased they were related a couple times and now we know what is really going on there. But so much for the speech on protecting her when her father died because she just straight up abandoned him. Granted, what exactly could she have done when the Cartel rolled up to the Headmaster’s home? That and the raid on the crazy person should make for an interesting finale.
You can download Deadly Class on iTunes.

Doom Patrol: Oh my goodness, a Cult of the Recreator. How stupid and how great. But what exactly is Mr. Nobody up to by telling Crazy Jane about Doom Patrol? I guess they had a team name yet, but a weird reveal for the name he planted almost forty years ago. But this is a weird show so it will likely play out is a great way.

Blindspot: So are they selling that game? If not they are missing out on some money… from me at least. I kind of want to play.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So Red knew of a plot that goes all the way to the top. But did he know it went all the way to the tippy top because the president turned out to be in on it. So how exactly to you get a pardon from the one person who is actually conspiring against you? Well the team has about ten minutes to figure that out.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March 10, 2019

Supergirl: This season has been one of the biggest drags in television history to watch but The Elite finally seem like a worthy advisory, much more than Agent Liberty. But Supergirl’s response of having her own “Super Friends” was really grown worthy. That is clearly the lamest iteration of Super Friends ever. You can take the four kind of racist Super Friends from the original eighties show and they would still be cooler than Supergirl’s Super Friends.
Supergirl on iTunes.

Shameless: Oh yeah, I completely forgot about Liam too. Now I am wondering how long it has been since he has been on. Has he been on this half of the season? Then after a half a season of really bad news, is Fiona actually getting some good news? Although I am not sure if I would accept an offer by someone who is quick to buy you out. Maybe that is how she gets written off the show, she leaves town to oversee the new property.

Black Monday: Wow, that has to be the most elaborate prank ever conceived. Except the joke may end up on Mo because he may have broken up the engagement of his mark and tipped off said mark to the actor he hired. But since we still have a couple episodes left, it will probably work out in the end.

SMILF: $90 for electricity? Doesn’t Bridget live in a one room apartment? Is this a big city thing and they are paying more for electricity? That is more than I pay for all my utilities in my much bigger square footage. Does Bridget leave her computer/television on at all times? Is she still using incandescent light bulbs? That just seems like a lot.

The Walking Dead: I finally got around to last week’s episode despite not getting On Demand for a week and the AMC website not letting me watch and I was a bit shocked that no one died during the exchange. I was ready for Alpha to kill her daughter just out of spit. Although, now the daughter knows the Hilltop secret exit. Except she (presumably) did not get to tell her mother about it before being rescued by Daryl. And I never understand why people on this show think a room full of zombies is such an insurmountable task. Just create a small opening and kill them one by one as they come out. But I wonder how they still have batteries that work that can power that boombox
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Good Girls: I complain a lot about promo monkeys spoiling things, but the cast list just spoiled who would live and die, both the gangsta and the husband were in there pretty much spoiling that neither would die. Granted the husband still got shot. Yet the police did not make much of a deal about this. Yeah you can tell the kids it is a robbery gone wrong, but when it happens in the house, I cannot believe the police would buy that especially if you are being investigated for robbing the grocery store.
You can download Good Girls on iTunes

The Passage: C’mon, just let the little weasely army guy die. Or get bitten I guess. Although isn’t Zach Morris’s ex-wife now stuck with the vampires?
You can download The Passage on iTunes.

Survivor: Edge of Extinction: Obviously due went to Edge of Extinction. Stupid cliffhanger. And it will be a little lame if they get a little more stuff every time someone new shows up at the island. But it always amazes me how long people hold on to Immunity. Wentworth knew her name was coming up but did not player her Idol just in case. My philosophy has always been, play it just in case and go look for a new Idol tomorrow.
You can download Survivor: Edge of Extinction on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of World: Wait, didn’t just last season Zach risked a million dollars and went in to elimination just to spite his partner and now he is letting his patner run right over him? And this time he was right, it is
You can download The Challenge: War of Worlds on iTunes.

Deadly Class: mmm, the age old question, to Devil’s Threesome, or not to Devil’s Threesome. I guess when she looks like her; you just have to bite the bullet. Clearly these moron took way too much time to come to that conclusion.
You can download Deadly Class on iTunes.

Gotham: Barbra got big quick. It had passed my mind that she may be faking it but if she is this big, that would be a very long con. And I was really surprise Barbra, or no one else, actually crashed the wedding. I cannot remember the last wedding I saw on television that went off without a hitch.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Doom Patrol: Alright, we have a two parter. Well, I assume we this will get resolved next episode. Kind of weird pacing just because I expected the Doom Patrol to dispatch the baddies by the end of the episode, instead the book gets read and we roll the credits. And I wonder if that magic dude was supposed to come off as a low rent Constantine because that was what happened. (Scrolls Wikipedia) Oh yeah, that character was created when the Doom Patrol writers were not allowed to use Constantine… makes perfect sense.

Blindspot: A weird move to have a flashback episode from in between seasons, two seasons ago. I was thinking it was a case I did not remember there for a while.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Oh wow, Red did not escape. That was a shocker. So what next? The promo looks like the execution is next episode. I know Red waived he right to an appeal, but that seems very quick. If Red could not escape on his own, could Lizzy find a way to get him out? Will he be pardoned by a pardon happy psychopathic president?
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: March, 3, 2019

Shameless: So after a couple months of destructive behaviors, Fiona finally gets herself to AA. It would be kind of sad if Frank’s pep talk about being an angry drunk (compared to his happy drunk) was what convinced her to make some chances. Though I guess we will have to see if this sticks. It is kind of becoming a long slog to Fiona’s exit, I understand why they do it from a marketing perspective, but from an entertainment perspective it is becoming a long goodbye.

Black Monday: So who exactly were those maids at the end and who exactly were they working for, I kind of missed what was going on there.

The Walking Dead: I did not watch this week because I went to watch On Demand, and yet six days later it is still not there. So I went to AMC.com to watch except when I went to log in threw my cable provider, nothing happen. I would not even let me log in and I tried with three different browsers. Fork you Spectrum. Fork you AMC. Technology should not be this hard. This is why people are cutting the cord.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Enemy Within: Homeland debuted almost a decade ago and NBC has been trying to create a network version almost every year since. And every single one was one and done until The Blacklist which basically the procedural version of Homeland. The Enemy Within just seems like the gender swap version of The Blacklist but with a significantly worse actor as the lead. Although I am just assuming that they are going to bust one of these hundreds of sleeper agents per episode.

The Gifted: Well the show sucked but at least they closed all the season two plot threads. Well that was until they set up a potential season three with the presumed dead (except by me, we just saw her get shot, not die) Blink. And where did she come from? It looked like a post-apocalyptic wasteland to me. Although I would be fine without learning the answer if they finally cancel this shirt show.
You can download The Gifted on iTunes.

Survivor: Edge of Extinction: The Edge of Extinction twist is lame to begin with but still the show found a way to make it worse: end an episode on a cliffhanger of if the guy is going to continue or go home. Is anyone actually going to go home? Especially after only six days? But congrats to Lauren for being one of the rare non-annoying people to find an Idol/Advantage in recent history. A couple seasons ago, one of the contestants made a big deal about how only dudes find them only for a guy to find the Idol after a hunt, and I actually thought they were going to do that again.
You can download Survivor: Edge of Extinction on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of World: Cograts on Nany for having the guts to vote in CT and the luck of him actually going home but I fear that may have been a pretty bad strategic move. She said she did that because there were too many British people who are friends. If there are too many British people, maybe you should try to get one out because once you are only last non-English team left, you are a sitting duck. So instead three Americans and a Brazilian were sent home. Add that to the four Americans who were sent home the first week (not to mention the American and Mexican who were instantly eliminated after the first challenge). So now the teams with at least one British player outnumber the ones without six to five by my count.
You can download The Challenge: War of Worlds on iTunes.

Gotham: Oh wow, they really did the evil puppet. At least that was entertaining while it last. And was the tunnel person supposed to be young Killer Croc? I guess maybe not because it seems like Aldred actually killed him. That would have been a cool origin story.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Doom Patrol: Just when you think it was not going to get any better than puppets, out walks a dude with a second dinosaur head and vegetation growing out of his hand. This show is awesome.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: February 24, 2019

Supergirl: This season is just dreadful, but I did get a good laugh at The Dreamer’s outfit. So stupid.
Supergirl on iTunes.

Shameless: Fiona has done some horrible things in this back half of the season, but you cannot blame her for letting an alcoholic have some of her drink when she did not know he had been sober for a hundred days. Same with the social services guy. Really, Lip should have gotten her to rehab or at the very least take her to an AA meeting with him.

Black Monday: Weird that the show pointed out the two shows with short black kids living with rich white people and then in the very next scenes it reminds us that this is the second show in the eighties with a robot butler. Although the other show did not murder the robot butler. But wow, I never realized just how racist Teen Wolf was.

The Walking Dead: I am sure being a horny teenager in the zombie apocalypse must be hard on the libido, but how about not let the bad chick out of her cell? Same they just did not do a full on flashback episode because we did not get to see just how crazy bald momma went from an underground bunker to wearing a dead man’s face. A pretty big jump. And there have been plenty of dumb plans on this show, but waiting until nightfall to look for your buddy in a zombie apocalypse with people posing as zombies out there is high on the stupidity list. Although that bears the question, just when do the Whispers sleep? If you are hiding among the zombies and presumably they do not sleep, at what point do you break away from the heard and catch some shut eye and not get eaten by the heard you are with?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Passage: Finally someone is smart enough to kill all the death row inmate vampires. Oh wait, they care about one girl. Okay, first off, didn’t they kill the vampire that turned the scientist so why is he even still alive? Maybe it is because they killed the old vampire before the scientist turned and that is some grey area. Even if that is it what it is, how about then kill all the other death row vampires and just keep the scientist alive to save the little girl. And why does it take so long to kill a vampire in the sun?
You can download The Passage on iTunes.

Manifest: What a stupid forking way to end the season. They just told us that the returned die the exact time for when they were gone so if the new guy was gone for a year, he clearly is not going to die. I guess there is the question of if the cop got shot. Not that I really care, I am fine with the show not returning.
You can download Manifest on iTunes.

Survivor: Edge of Extinction: Kind of a giant “meh” of a premiere. Did not help that it was only an hour. Usually we get ninety minutes or back to back episodes. Which gives us better idea of who these people are. We only continued the streak of annoying people is the ones that find advantages. And the Advantage Menu is a stupid name. Really, unless you are confident you are getting the boot, you gotta go with the steal reward. As predictions go, I will say Lauren will win. And I am not just saying that because she kind of looks like the hot chick from the Baywatch movie.
You can download Survivor: Edge of Extinction on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of World: Yeah, it was pretty obvious from the promo that Bananas would be the “legend” that goes home early and then Bananas gets the boot from the first round of the challenge pretty much made it a lock. So when Bananas calls out Zach it took out all the suspense because c’mon, calling Zach a legend would be a bit of a stretch. Watching Bananas leave this early should have been great but the Promo Monkeys just took all the fun out of it. And are they going to do the same next week? It seems like either Paulie or Kyle will be going home. But since next week is a double elimination, at least the other boot will be a surpise… unless they both end up going home.
You can download The Challenge: War of Worlds on iTunes.

Gotham: Sure Jim, you may have saved Gotham from that gas, but you just polluted the river worse than The Cuyahoga in the seventies when that caught on fire. So yeah, probably smart for the government to keep the city quadrated off for a little longer.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Doom Patrol: I was a bit down on the premiere because there were a bit too many origin stories to get through and way too much naked Encino Man. But this episode was much more enjoyable. And I do hope we get an episode inside Jane’s Underground.

The Blacklist: I hate arguing with the simple minded like those who think that spending billions of dollars putting up a wall would even slow the drug flow into the country. I have to tell these people that I have seen a lot of movies and shows on the subject and have seen drug smugglers dig tunnels under existing barriers, walk around the wall in low tide, pay hot chicks to put it in the car and go through customs (most recently they payed Clint Eastwood to do this), I have seen them bring in drugs through the post, I have seen them swallow condoms full of heroin, get on a plane, then crap out the condom and clean it up, but one thing I have never seen is anyone trek drugs across the desert so a wall there would be a complete waste of billions of dollars. Now surgically implant them in woman to make them seem pregnant is a new one. And I have to wonder just how would that work? Like do you have to find a former pregnant chick because it seems like it would be hard to grow that skin into a pouch.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: February 17, 2019

Shameless: Oh no, Fiona got fired. But long overdue, she has been constantly drunk since learning her boyfriend was married. Now I am wondering if she is actually going to die and that is how she leaves the show. It is certainly not going to be her going away for very long for that petty assault. Or she could go to rehab and be back a season later like Ian who was just revealed to be returning just two months after announcing his departing. But that was kind of a random intro with Frank recapping what happened during the first season of Homeland which was about eight years ago. I guess it is nice he is finally getting caught out. I cannot wait to hear his take on the bad second season.

The Walking Dead: When they lingered on Jesus, I thought they were actually going to act like a sword through the heart was not fatal. Would not have been the most absurd, oh dude is dead moment, only for them to recover the next episode moment. But then you have Negan who escapes, goes back home, and then decides he rather be a captive? Is that actually what is happening?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Passage: Oh snap, the main vampire forked the other doctor’s wife and then turned her into a vampire herself? Now with all the mind control going on, they have to kill all the vampires now, right?
You can download The Passage on iTunes.

Manifest: Let me call it now, all of these new people with lost time are going to be the evil version of the flight passengers. Although it would be quite on the nose that the good people lost time in the air while all the bad people lost time underground / under water.
You can download Manifest on iTunes.

The Challenge: War of World: How silly how they played up Hunter sending home the person who took a half a million dollars (pre-taxes) from him as if they are even now. Smashley can go home to her million dollars (pre-taxes) while Hunter is stuck in a house where most people are against him. I do wonder if anyone has won a Challenge after being sent in first. But the big news was the promo for next week hyping a Legend goes home. Has to be Bananas right? Really only him and CT qualify even though CT went out early last season so that really would not garner a tease like that. I guess there is an outside chance that it is Cara Maria or Wes.
You can download The Challenge: War of Worlds on iTunes.

Deadly Class: How very Fear and Loathing of them. Though I guess Hunter S. Thompson never ran into a talking Ice-T slot machine. I kind of want to play that. But was the headmaster really there or was white boy just tripping?
You can download Deadly Class on iTunes.

Gotham: Of course Leigh was a secret agent, she “died” with The Riddler. But why didn’t Bane deploy her at the same time?
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Doom Patrol: The Doom Patrol episode of Titans was the best one of that show so I had high hopes for the spin off. Unfortunately it dragged a bit because there were so much origin stories. Yet somehow at the same time not enough because I was left wondering how Elasti-Girl and Negative Man met the Chief and then we got nothing of Crazy Jane. And it was a bit weird Beast Boy did not even get a mention despite being part of the team for a while. Here is hoping now that the introductions are out of the way, things pick up next week.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: February 3, 2019

Supergirl: Well that was one of the worst hours to ever air on television. You have the sister being the only rational person on the episode pointing out The Dreamer was not really a woman and therefore should not receive any gift passed on the maternal line.
Supergirl on iTunes.

Shameless: Sextuplets? Those will double Frank’s output in children. Although does he actually take responsibility for them unlike his current children or does he just inform Carl he was the actual sperm donor. Although Peg Bundy does have a history of having fever dreams of being pregnant before.

The Passage: Finally a ration person who thinks they should actually kill the death row vampires. Oh wait; moron stopped the execution because she hijacked his brain to give him a sob story. You know what, when a death row vampire hijacks your brain, that is even more reason to destroy it.
You can download The Passage on iTunes.

Manifest: Jus when I thought this show could not get any worse; somehow the new hiker guy is making the show even dumber. So did he and the hot cop get stuck in another time jump thingy? Am I supposed to assume that bad CGI was what that was?
You can download Manifest on iTunes.

Vikings: Sometime the “Previously On” section can be a bit spoilerly and boy did I get a very Igar’s bride was going to be the one that murders him vibe from this week’s “Previously On.” Okay, I got that a bit backwards since Igar killed her but I did get it a bit right in that she tried pretty hard to get her killed by telling Bjorn about the secret passage into Kattergaurd. Of course this begs the question, when did Kattergaurd become that fortified? We always see the port but I do not remember ever seeing walls. But in the end, Bjorn was able to exile his brother… I think. That was a weird ending with Bjorn questioning things and the quick change of scenes of him holding a bloody blade his mother gave him. Are they saying that battle was just a dream? I am guessing seeing a fleeing Igar afterwards means that it happened.
You can download Vikings on iTunes.

Gotham: Wait, so Walker (who I just hear as Waller, as in Amanda, which would actually make sense) put a chip in The Riddler’s head so they could have him blow up a building full of civilians. Then tried to get Gordon to kill The Riddler threw his army buddy and when he did not, the army buddy sent The Riddler to kill Gordon. I feel like we are missing something.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

Blindspot: I kind of wish more of the episode was written by the dead writer, it was great to see overexaggerated versions of these characters. What I do not need more of is sick Jane. Now that her organs are shutting down and she is on her death bed they can finally cure her.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 27, 2019

Supergirl: Why is Kara acting as if Alex is not going to remember her at all? She is not losing the information that Kara is Supergirl. Presumably Alex will still remember Kara and still remember Supergirl, just not that they are the same person. Although, just how long until Alex realizes Kara is Supergirl? I cannot imagine it will take her own sister too long to figure out her secret identity.
Supergirl on iTunes.

Shameless: So no one took over Fiona’s room while she was livening in her apartment building? With that house over crowded, you would think someone would move in especially when I believe the three boys were still sharing a room. And I am starting to think that Fiona exits the show maybe going to rehab. Or could they possibly kill her off? It would be weird if she OD’s and yet Frank is still somehow managing to cling to life.

The Passage: Well, I was not expecting Zach Morris to get caught this quickly. Though where do they go from here? The shady organization had a shoot to kill order on him. They cannot let him go. Are they just going to try the cure on him too?
You can download The Passage on iTunes.

Manifest: So last week the pilot presumably found another cloud to make him go into the future again and now this week we find another dude who lost a year in the woods of New York? This show is getting dumber by the episode.
You can download Manifest on iTunes.

Vikings: What a horrible troll to have Floki taunted by the Christian Cross in what he though was the Viking hell. So now he is caved in and covered in ruble. Is this it for Floki? I guess he could just go out the way he came but that is if his torch did not go out. It is about time to close out this plotline, no need to spread it over the final season.
You can download Vikings on iTunes.

Deadly Class: Would it be racist to ask if the hot Asian chick and the Asian head master dude were related? They had that moment at the end where she spilled all the secrets of the new guy. But he did poison her for that test so maybe not.
You can download Deadly Class on iTunes.

The Good Place: Well I was sort of right in that The Bad Place would pick people who would torture the Soul Squad. Got Simone completely right. But odd that of all the time they have spent on how Tahani has lived in her sister’s shadow that instead of Kamila, they bring in a blogger to torture Tahani. And that guy got really annoying real quick. I guess they still bring her because you can say Simone can torture both Chidi and Eleanor. I just hope Donkey Doug is one of the final two..
The Good Place on iTunes.

Gotham: I made an offhand comment that maybe it was The Riddler that blew up the building but I never actually thought it would be him because mass destruction was never his M.O. Or he would at least let someone solve a puzzle first to allow Batman to stop mass destruction.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/28/2018

Supergirl: Ugg, they are really going to lay on the illegal aliens are the actual aliens allegory pretty thick this season aren’t they. And as an old white dude, I am kind of offended how old white dudes are portrayed this season on the show. C’mon, we are not all alien (illegal or actual) hating people.
Supergirl on iTunes.

Shameless: Wait, crazy Peg Bundy is a shrink herself? I guess it takes one to help one, maybe? But poor Fiona, she seemed to finally get her stuff together, only for everything to completely fall apart right before she is about to leave the show. I wonder if she will end up going out the way it almost happened back in season one in that she does run away with Steve in her final scene. And is Lwna really that oblibious that Supergirl showed up seconds after Kara left?

The Walking Dead: Okay preacher guy, when you’re crazy girlfriend asks if you are with her or will you report her, maybe not admit you are going to tell Rick.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Last Ship: They have killed off a bunch of cast members in this final season and those all of them survived this episode (except for that one dude’s leg), did they really need to kill that child that helped the Americans? But how very Red Reddington of the Florida traitor. What shadiness does she have up her sleeve? But c’mon, military, be smarter, you had to know the ambulance was a scam all along. I sniffed it out from the moment they arrived.
You can download The Last Ship on iTunes.

You: So Joe is really going to be okay with Beck breaking up with him? Is he just going to start obsessing over that new chick? Well, at least he was able to last more than a minute the first time with her.
You can download You on iTunes.

Manifest: So is the kid going to be some sort of messiah? First he just happens to find the Jamaican dude by when he claims was a feeling, no voices or visions like everyone else. And then he is apparently the only person in the plane to see the weird lights. So what is his connection, did he do this or did some other force (aliens) do it because of him?
You can download Manifest on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: The producers really do have a floating scale when it comes to giving people the boot. I was a bit surprised when it was not even discussed Sylvia head-butted Marie and after giving Cory a deserved boot, how did Tony not go with him? Putting your arm around someone tightly and asking multiple times, “are we gonna fight” seems like grounds for being sent home. Also, that had to be the lamest trivia challenge ever. Two wrong answers I think? Just too many Challenge related questions. Trivia should be common knowledge questions.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Survivor: David vs. Goliath: Oh my goodness, Angelina asking Natalie multiple times for her jacket after being blindsided is the greatest moment on the show since Andrea told Zeke he sucked at this game. I am not sure if she was being sincere or trolling her, but either way it was awesome.
You can download Survivor: David vs. Goliath on iTunes.

Superstore: Weird that the day after Megyn Kelly suggested that blackface is fine if done out of respect, and a day before her show was canceled for those comments, this show had the exact same discussion. And the anti-blackface side was only doing that so they could win the costume contest.
You can download Superstore on iTunes.

The Good Place: Did we really need to leave Jacksonville so soon? They could have spent the whole season trying to save the souls of Donkey Doug, Pillboi, or even Blake Bortles and I would have been perfectly fine with that.
The Good Place on iTunes.

Blindspot: So Jane explained the syringe that Kurt caught her with as what she wants to kill herself with. Um, Kurt, you are a moron. Are you not a little suspicious that she already had the poison in a syringe and not keeping it in a vile until it was time. But I really like these Patterson-centric episodes where we only get glimpses of the mission which is clearly done to keep costs down but are always well done.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/21/2018

Supergirl: Oh, hey, The Real Eleanor! Well, fork. They killed her off already. Shirtballs. And is it too late to have Saturn Girl be the token Legionnaire to stay behind because Braniac 5 may actually be more annoying than Toyman Jr.?
Supergirl on iTunes.

Shameless: Peg Bundy? Monica Geller? Danny Tanner? What nineties era sitcom star will be on next, Uerkel? But is that it for Ian? The actor announced he was leaving the show too. Seriously, can people just leave without announcing iy first? Once it is announced it is just a long slog until they are off the show. At least Ian just announced last week so it was not a long wait. Assuming he just rides off into the sunset with Micky. Kind of sad that is his big love. Is Jimmy going to come back for Fiona to take her away for her to leave?

Fear the Walking Dead: Is the preacher really going to hook up with the creepy Trash Lady? And what happened to his eye? I remember he was really sick last season, but I do not remember anything happening to his eye.
You can download Fear the Walking Dead on iTunes.

The Last Ship: Wait, the lesbian traitor is really an American mother of one from Orlando? I just assumed she was an ambiguous Latina who could pass as Caucasian. Being an actual turncoat makes her a much more compelling character. So just how and when was she turned? And I know in the post-pandemic world, they might be low on soldiers, but how do you not keep eyes on that house. At least pay a local.
You can download The Last Ship on iTunes.

You: So the Pretty Little Liar gets her head bashed in with a rock last week and looks none worse the wear the next day? Oh, but she is apparently dead now? It was quite absurd that Joe tossed the rock not far away from the body last week and I does not seem like anyone bother to canvas more than two feet from the attack, but c’mon, Joe had to have left plenty of DNA at the house, including a forking jar of urine. But Joe hallucinating his ex-girlfriend is giving me the sinking suspicion that the big twist at the end of the season will be that Joe was hallucinating some, if not all of what happened this season.
You can download You on iTunes.

Manifest: So now they passengers can see inanimate objects instead of just hearing voices tell them to do things? Meh.
You can download Manifest on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: Yeah, I laughed pretty hardily at Natalie in the ball pit. Big old shocker she actually won. Even bigger shocker Zach got the boot for medical reason. Always sucks when someone leaves for medical reasons. But had he stupidly not voluntarily put himself into that elimination that injured him, he would still be in the game uninjured.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Survivor: David vs. Goliath: So we got a brand new advantage, the Idol Nullifier where someone can play it and would wipe out the Idol that is played. But only if they play it for someone who actually plays their Idol. I will be quite shocked if this actually gets played correctly.

Then at Tribal you had the battle of the dumb moves. First you get the Black Dude David with the Idol who decides to try to get the Tribe to vote out the other David so he would not have to play the Idol even though he would still be in the minority for any future Tribals with this group. I never understand the hold on the Idol for later strategy. If you think there is more than ten percent chance you are going home, play it now. Then tomorrow, go out and look for another one. I am too lazy to do the research, but I am pretty sure more people have been booted with an Idol in their pocket than have played one correctly. In Survivor you should worry about getting to tomorrow and then worry about tomorrow then.

But Black David was bailed out by the White Dude Goliath who had a dumber move of his own when he decided to turn on his majority for what appeared to me for no apparent reason. So now he is in the minority and why would anyone trust him? It is just amazing to me how whenever these Tribe swaps happen that the majority seemed to vote one of their own more often than the easy vote. I would be interested to go back and see how many of these early Tribe Swap turncoats actually make it very far. I would be shocked to see either of these two morons in the finals. I would be surprised if either get to the merge.
You can download Survivor: David vs. Goliath on iTunes.

The Good Place: Isn’t Michael telling the group about The Good Place point system kind of a backdoor to still get them in? Since they know about the points, any points they accumulate would be void, but now they think there is no way to get to The Good Place, actually they can get those points for doing good because they are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, not because it will get them moral deserts of an decent afterlife. Right? I think I hurt my brain coming up with that theory. But hey, of course Jason has his own infectious disease named after him in Jacksonville.
The Good Place on iTunes.

Blindspot: Oh no, Jane got caught with a syringe. Oh wait, the promo for next week sees the team working together with no tension. I guess she is easily able to explain this like she did taking photos of Patterson’s board. I really need to stop watching promos.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/14/2018

Shameless: Oh Frank, of all your stupid ideas, electroshock therapy to your own junk has to be the worst. But getting conned by Peg Bundy in pursuit of drugs does totally seem on brand.

The Walking Dead: I feel like I missed something. A dangerous mission to DC for a plow and a wagon? And what exactly were you expecting pulling those things over a glass ceiling? And is It really that hard to make your own plow?

The Last Ship: Oh yeah, Tom Chandler still has children, that was the first sighting of the season. And right during the episode Chandler said he was back full time. And what a weird juxtaposition of a siege with a fight with the daughter.
You can download The Last Ship on iTunes.

You: So Peaches is just the female Joe? I can work with that. So when does Peaches get a POV episode? Is it a flashback to when Peaches met Beck? Although we are already seem to be done with Beck monologing. But of course Peaches is not dead, she just got interesting. And how exactly does Joe get out of this? He stupidly threw the weapon nor far from where he attacked her? Shouldn’t there be enough DNA on it?
You can download You on iTunes.

Manifest: So now the people on the show can solve crimes by following the voices in other people’s head? And kind of lame that the big cliffhanger of the person who went on television being murdered ended up being the maid.
You can download Manifest on iTunes.

The Challenge: Final Reckoning: You know what Marie, if you did not want the Lavender ladies to turn on you, maybe you should not have voted with Banana’s last week creating that tie.
You can download The Challenge: Final Reckoning on iTunes.

Blindspot: So Jane and Tasha are bad guys now? Alrighty. Not that I think that Tasha will do anything to hurt her old team. I guess something had to change to make the show more interesting.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.