57 Channels and Only This Is On: June 5, 2022

 

The Time Traveler’s Wife:  Oh wow, an episode of The time traveler’s Wife that is about, you know, the time traveler’s wife.  Though I am not sure if Ygritte could actually pull off a teenager.

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  So Alicia is dead?  My big take away from her “waking up” was that she actually looks healthy… she must be dead.  But I am guessing they left it vague in case this is a Maggie situation where the actress wanted to leave only to realize there is not much work out there andcomes back to the show.

 

The First Lady:  I routinely ask about the accuracy of small details in this shows based on real people, but the thought that three Secret Service  pulled Sasha out of class solely because of a school shooting a couple states away seems fairly absurd.  Then I forgot that Judy Greer was on this show.  She seemed like she was going to be an important part of the Betty Ford storyline but just seemed to disappear.  But it was nice to see that Gerald was a good sport on SNL unlike Cheney and Rumsfeld.  I wonder what Dick thought of the movie made about him.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:  Yeah, it became obviously fairly quickly that the lady no one else saw was not really there.  But where exactly did she come from?  Did the other alien conjure her like he just show up to him from tome to time?

 

I Love That for You:  I mentioned how Patricia and Joanna would see different types of doctors to treat their types of cancer.  Unfortunately for Joanna, that did not stop Patricia from asking to talk to her doctor.  It was really rough of Joanna to ask her dad to pretend to be her doctor.

 

Obi Wan Kenobi:  Ooo, Vader vs. Kenobi… that almost made me forget that the Inquisitor somehow beat Leia to the end of the tunnel despite Leia having a decent head start the Inquisitor not really knowing where the tunnel ended.  Almost.

 

The Challenge: All Stars:  Stupid “This Season On…”  We saw Wes complain about Johnny being brought in as a mercenary so as soon as he got selected, it was obvious whoever he went up against was going to lose.  And that was one of the dumbest eliminations ever.  All they had to do is stand between the things, like Beth and Wes did, and had everyone been smart, could have been up there forever.

 

The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans:  Is there really going to be someone who goes home right before they were going to leave anyway for the second straight season?  But how disappointing that they did not put C’mon Me My Baby Tonight on Spotify.

 

Under the Banner of Heaven:  I did not realize this was going to be the finale.  And at 90 minutes, they really could have just split the last episode into two 45 minute episode.  Though, with every episode over an hour, they really could have just done ten 50 minute episodes instead.  Or just done away with the cop and his family life and made the Lafferty’s the main characters.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: February 13, 2022

  

Claws:  Well, that ended exactly how I thought it would end after they started the season with Desna shooting a pregnant Quiet Ann.  The writers probably thought they were being clever, butt by adding that scene they really telegraphed the turn big time. Plus I really hate shows about antiheroes where they do not get the comeuppance that they deserve.  Only Uncle Daddy, but he still got to go to gay heaven, so not even the worst ending he could have had.  Then that illusion was confusing, I still am not sure where that second boat came from and how Quiet Ann got on it.

 

Billions:  Last week I was wondering what happened to the Los Angeles Olympics that were already awarded in 2028.  While that city has yet to be mentioned, Chuck did say they were going to try to, “steal the Olympics.”  This show really tries to make it look like it takes place in the real world; it is surprising they would take on something this big especially since the Olympics are clearly not going to move, so it is very obvious Chuck is going to win this war.  But hey, we did get Scooter and Wags bonding over Cat in the Cradle… that was entertaining.

 

Snowpiercer:  Wow, I was not expecting Layton to take over Snowpiercer that quickly.  Though I am not entirely sure what happened.  How did Layton get on the train so fast?  And why did he try to break the window.  Seems like a really dumb thing to do.  But now what?  They go to the Horn of Africa and just hope it is habitable?

 

Pam & Tommy:  Okay, Tommy listing off his list of enemies was pretty funny.  But was that supposed to be Motley Crue that Tommy was recording with?  I thought they were broken up when this whole thing was going on, or at least Vince Neil was no longer there.  But the most interesting Motley Crue event of this week was not on this show but the Nikki Sixx/Eddie Vedder fued.  But really sad Sixx thinks this is a competition, Pearl Jam is one of the greatest bands of all time that still puts out decent albums and the Crue are a joke hair metal band that everyone stopped paying attention before Pearl Jam even put out their first album.  I was shocked to see that Motley Crue has actually put out two albums this century.

 

The Book of Boba Fett:  That really felt like a fast food version of television: sure it tvstes good, but the more I think about it, the more I regret it.  It looked great, Mando was great, The Grogu return was great.  Fennic going ninja on the evil doers was great.  The Freetown citizens coming through like the Knights of the Vale was great.  The Wookie refusing to die was great.  Yet, the episode was not great.  It suffered from the superhero syndrome of having to unnecessarily having to destroy a city in the final fight.  I forgot the Rancor was still around.  I do not understand how Raylan got so injured that he was presumed dead, but will be kept alive by Boba’s tank and the mod guy.  It looked like he got shot in the shoulder and only was shot once unlike the deputy who was shot multiple times.  And it was disappointing that Cad Bane made a great entrance only to die in his second appearance.  For a second, I thought that was going to be him in the tank\.  But hey, Darth Maul was cut in half and still survived.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 6, 2022

  

Claws:  Really, we are supposed to believe Uncle Daddy went to gay heaven?  Dude is definitely going south of the border.  But what a horrible set up job.  Desna just puts all her fingerprints over the gun before even planting it, and then shoots Uncle Daddy with the gun.  It is going to be really hard to set him up now.  I would not be disappointed if Desna joins Uncle Daddy, but she is probably going to get away.

 

Billions:  So Mike Prince wants the 2028 Olympics for New York City?  Umm, who is going to break it to him that those games were already awarded to Los Angeles?  That is about as bizarre as Wags saying Frey would never do that to Henley.  Huh?  They had such a contentious relationship that they named their reunion tour “Hell Freezes Over.”  I do not know, seems like there was a time Frey would have outted Henley for performing a private concert for Kim Jung Un.

 

Snowpiercer:  So Wilford was going to freeze off Melanie’s arm and just decides against it just because Layton went by him (I am I the only one who just now realized that Layton was his last name?).  It will be interesting if Layton’s discovery will be able to win over any of Wilford’s faithful when the trains join back up.

 

Pam & Tommy:  Well this is turning out to be the longest Funny or Die sketch ever.  As of now, I am leaning towards “Die.”

 

The Book of Boba Fett:  I never thought I would see the day when Raylan Givens got outdueled.  But he is not dead, right?  Cad Bane did shoot him once, but riddled the deputy multiple times.  We got to hear what Raylan was going to tell the town and maybe get some insight of what was with the box of sand the Pykes took out to a desert.  Not that Boba will be lacking soldiers; he got the Wookie, the cyber punks, Fennic, Mando is coming back, possibly with Grogu and his tiny armor with him (obviously he is choosing the armor over the lightsaber, but why not let him have both, Luke).  Maybe Ahsoka who was just randomly at Luke’s academy for no apparent reason other than maybe make us remember she has a spinoff coming.  We may also see some surviving Tuscan Raiders join the fight.  While the Pykes just have Cad Bane.  Although Emilia Clarke has been the Mephisto of the Star Wars universe, so maybe she and Crimson Dawn comes by to even the odds.

 

Single Drunk Female:  How do you do an episode entitled “Shamrocks and Shenanigans” that takes place on St. Patrick’s Day and not feature any House of Pain songs?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 29, 2022

  

Claws:  Well, I have been predicting the group would slowly break up all season and they finally did, but it happened quickly and it was not everyone going over to Quiet Ann’s side.  But at least they called out Quiet Ann for not being very quiet this season.  I am now beginning to think that Desna killing Quiet Ann from the opening scene is actually them faking her death to get out from under the DEA.

 

Snowpiercer:  So Layton found someone in that building and it was not Melanie?  So where is Melanie?  They did spoil that she was still alive during “This Season On…”  Just how was that person surviving?  Where are they getting heat for their suit?  And why did the one dude that was being locked away in the library car have a Taser?  Maybe not give someone possibly loyal to Wilford a weapon that can be used against you.

 

How I Met Your Father:  I was very underwhelmed when Hilary Duff said she met the father that day and the only possible baby daddies we met were the dude who got engaged, the annoying British dude, the guy who moved to Australia (and did she really meet him that day if they had been facetiming and texting for weeks prior), and… Piz.  I did say it would be lame if the father turned out to be some guy at the engagement party that we, the audience did not meet.  Low and behold, the first person she is going to date is some random guy she said two words to at the bar.  If everyone she ends up dating over the course of the series just happened to be at that engagement party… ugh, I do not even want to think about it.

 

The Book of Boba Fett:  It seemed pretty obvious Mando was going to show up at some point.  Boba needs help taking down the Pykes and Mando owes him one for saving Grogu, oh and they literally played his theme at the end of the last episode, but I was not expecting a full episode of The Mandalorian right in the middle of the season with no Boba and Fennick only showing up for a minute.  Sad this was easily the best episode of this series.  The cold open was great.  Mando having to take a commercial flight was hilarious (shocking he got all his weapons back), and heartwarming that the mechanic converted the place on the ship usually meant for droid for presumably a place for Grogu to hang out (though where exactly is the bounty hunter going to put his bounties).  Though, Boba needs him, but Mando is going to go visit Grogu first?  Is Mando going to bring in Grogu for the final showdown?

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 16, 2022

 

Dexter: New Blood:  So we are never going to learn just how Kurt found out that Dexter killed his son?  That is something fairly big to yada yadda.  But I guess that was a fitting to Dexter Morgan’s story.  Well, having his son kill him so he could not kill anyone else.  Not the part where Angela being so adamant for Dexter to be locked up for killing the evil people, but letting Harrison go and acting like she killed Dexter.  I just hope they do not try and spin off a Harrison show with Dexter talking to him, that actor was really boring.

 

Claws:  My prediction of a Desna and Jenn split really had a roller coaster.  First Desna let Jenn run the new show.  Expect one of the first things Jenn does was assault a rival which set them up for blackmail.  Oh, to avoid getting sued for assault, Desna just shot her son.  Huh.  She is willing to sue you for assault, maybe she will report you for murder.  But since Desna is the star, of course that did not hvppen.

 

Yellowjackets:  So Lottie said something is coming and they will not be hungry for long.  Well, that was ominous.  She also said he doesn’t belong to her about Travis to Jackie, but her visions can be fairly vague so maybe not.  But if it is those two, who does Travis belong to?  By the looks of it, everyone else.  But a letdown with the ritualistic killing because we know Travis was not going to die (though it cross my mind for a half a second that maybe Javi was posing as adult Travis, but alas).

 

I was halfway through the season by the time everyone got to watch the first episode and I was surprised with how obsessed Reddit was with whom they dubbed the “Antler Queen” was and they finally got that reveal.  Though that does not necessarily mean Lottie will still be the one wearing antlers when we get to that scene in the Pilot, but my theory that Lottie is the girl in the pit is not looking very good.  One thing that may complicate things is it looks like Misty’s wheels were spinning and maybe she does more drugging and tries to out Lottie as she looks to be the leader of the Wild Bunch clan.  I got strong leader vibes from her in that scene from the Pilot.

 

Another theory that went up in flames this week was that Jackie was sending the postcards (as well as another Reddit theory that Adam was really Javi).  While I found the reveal that Jeff was behind this the whole time because he owed Loan Sharks disappointing, I weirdly enjoyed Adult Jackie’s storyline for the first time this season.  I loved how Jeff said she could not get away with the murder because they watched too much Dateline to know she could not.  But still, all of this does not add up.  Like Nat brought up, why would Jeff murder Travis?  And who cleared out his bank account?  If Jeff cleared it out, why would he still need to blackmail Tai and Nat?  So maybe my Jackie theory is still in play. 

 

I also have a prediction that Jackie steals Shauna’s wilderness baby and if that baby is what Lottie says is coming that will make them hungry no more, I could see Jackie being the one sane person not tripping on shrooms and heads off into the wilderness to keep it from being eaten.   I do wonder if Jeff knows about the wilderness baby.  After reading Shauna’s diaries, I was expecting he would bring that up.  Did she tell him already and claims it died out there?

 

Misty psycho watch:  has she actually become friends with the person she kidnapped?  I thought maybe the reporter was just playing along hoping being nice would get her released but maybe she has been successfully Stockholmed because she did not even call for help when Nat was at the door.  That would have been fun, Misty saying she would help clean up the body if Nat did not tell anyone about the person in her basement.  But we should definitely get the reunion in the finale and hopefully we learn of another survivor or five.  Though, who else graduated with them?  Van seems like the only other Senior on the team, maybe Lottie.

 

The Book of Boba Fett:  Oh wow, bringing in the guest stars.  First Steven Root.  Then Young Nat from Yellowjackets pops up still sporting that mullet with bangs, but at least it was one color.  But maybe not wise to make her do an accent.  Which was confusing because this is Luke Skywalker’s planet and he had an American accent.  Then the guy who brought in the monster for the Hutt’s really looked like Danny Trejo and when they finally gave him a close up I realize, oh, wait, that really is Danny Trejo.

 

The Real World Homecoming: Los Angeles: Poor David, could not make it to the end of another season.  But two straight seasons where a cast member did not make it to the end.  Maybe for season three, stop goading them in to these past traumas until someone breaks.  Just let them have fun.

 

The Challenge: All-Stars: That was some weird editing, Darrell and Janelle were in second place while Nehemiah and Melina were dead last and wasted a lot of time going to the caves first.  Sure Darrell and Janelle went to the memory game not realizing they read the wrong directions, but then got the full memory board the very next try.  So how exactly did Nehemiah and Melina, who twisted her ankle, edge out Darrell and Janelle?  Did the bike just really gas you out for the rest of that part and just one team doing it first and the other doing it last make the difference.

 

But it seems like production did not expect everyone to take that long to run TJ’s final because they had to use headlights to provide lighting because the sun went down before anyone could finish.  It seems like production forgets these are middle aged people doing these challenges.  But the team that came in third (and only because the other team quit) ended up winning because Darrell still did not learn to read.

 

The Blacklist:  One thing that never crossed my mind was how was Dembe involved with Lizzy’s murder.  I really rather they not go back to that storyline because it was bad enough the first time.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 9, 2022

 

Dexter: New Blood:  I believe this was the very first time Dexter took down the Big Bad before the finale… unless he is the Big Bad and Angela takes Dexter down in the finale.  That would be a fitting end to the series… except they are definitely going to do another season eventually.  I thought we were going to get a full flashback episode like a lost episode of the original show, maybe with the whole gang returning, but alas.  Dexter cut that story short and waited to give the full story until they got into Kurt’s dollhouse. 

 

So that is where the podcaster at.  But much like how we never learned just how Kurt figured out Dexter killed his kid; we do not know how she ended up down there.  We know Kurt lured runaways to his hotel and locked them up, and he did try that once with the podcaster, was she actually dumb enough to go with him again?  Not that Kurt is very bright either.  Did he really think he would roll up on Dexter’s cabin in a large and loud tanker, spray the entire cabin with gasoline and wait for them to come out after the cabin was on fire?  Has anyone was actually there, they would have heard the tanker pull up.  Not that Dexter has a great plan either, alerting Kurt that he found his underground bunker.  What if he was close and locked them in?  And again we are treating that screw as some sort of smoking bullet.  How could that possibly tie back to Dexter?

 

Claws:  So the judge kept on bring up how Brice was not the biological father and then gives custody of the children… to his uncle who is not biologically related to the children.  Huh?  But I still think Jenn will eventually joining Uncle Daddy and Quiet Ann and eventually the whole group will turn on Desna.

 

Yellowjackets:  So Van was not the first to die and managed to survive having a wolf chew off half her face and make it back a couple of miles back to the cabin where they only have rudimentary antibiotics, most of which was used on coach’s leg.  Though there was something weird with her POV; could something mystical have kept her alive?  But we did not have to wait long to have an actual first death… assuming Laura Lee did not manage to survive that plane exploding the way Van survived being mauled.    I must say, when Nat talked to her sponsor, my first though was, oh, that is adult Laura Lee based solely on her looks.  C’mon Lottie, you saw Laura Lee encased in red a couple episodes, why are you letting her fly that plane?  Maybe give the talisman that she gave to Van that Tai stole and give it to Laura Lee.

 

We also got the big reveal that Adam was the blackmailer and has no digital footprint.  That really leans into the theory that Adam is really Javi.  Though I never bought into that theory because Javi have been very insignificant to this point, basically Shauna gave him a few pages of her diary and that was about it.  Plus the timeline does not really line up if Adam graduated in ’04, which would have made Javi about ten in 1996.  Javi at the very least looks like a middle schooler if not an underclassman.  But of course Adam could be lying about when he graduated.  If that really is Javi, then is he really behind the postcards and killed his brother?  The keep on pointing out that only family can get banking information so seems very likely he emptied the account.  But that would be a huge letdown if Javi was behind everything.

 

Psycho Misty update:  she did blow for the first time.  And a lot of it.  Aswesome.  Then she had to profusely apologize to her bird.  But just how long is she going to keep that reporter down there?  Until she solves Travis’s murder?  Then what?  Is she actually going to kill her or let her go?

 

But just how much time does Callie spend at her friend’s house?  She just came home to get a change of clothes.  She then eats with her parents but then Shauna said Tai could stay in her room because she was going back to the friend’s house to spend another night.  Things do seem like they are going to pick up next week with Homecoming (unless they save that for the finale).  Will we finally get to learn of some of the other survivor?  Will One Eyed Van show up?  It will be annoying if of the other survivor besides the main four decide to skip the event and we are still left guessing.  And Jeff was Homecoming King?  Was Jackie the queen then?  This may be as awkward as that dinner with Jackie’s parents.

 

The Book of Boba Fett:  Holy Hutt sighing.  But those twins are giving off big time Lannister vibes.  Do they really need to be that close to each other?  It does seem like maybe the Hutt’s are behind the assassination plot from last week and are in cahoots with the Mayor.

 

The Challenge: All-Stars: Well, there goes my prediction of Jodi and Brad winning,  I thought they might pull I out because it seemed like Brad had the much better strategy than Darrell, but on the flip side Janelle seemed to have a better strategy than Jodi and Darrelle managed not to keep hitting Janelle on the head with cinderblocks.

 

The Blacklist:  I do not think I really needed to see what happened to Ressler between the seasons, but after watching this episode… I still think I did not need to see that.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: January 1, 2022

 

Dexter: New Blood:  Uh oh, Dexter breaking his code once again leaving a lot of DNA in the campground.  There is a reason why he does his kills in plastic, which is going to be a lot to clean up.  I wonder if he shows Harrison the body and how to clean it up next week.  Then his girlfriend is on his case linking him to two needle pricks.  Will they dust the drug maker’s house for prints now?  The last time Dexter broke his code; he broke into dude’s house, and then put his gloves on.  His prints should still be on the window.  But what will she do with the information about the pricks?  Is Dexter going to have to move again?  Maybe head back to a warmer climate.

 

Claws:  So Desna is already on the out with no longer Quiet Ann, things seem to be fracturing with Jennifer.  Is that going to be this season, Desna just becoming estranged from everyone on the show and then the inevitable reunion for the finale? 

 

Yellowjackets:  Oh wow, I did not have Van very high on my who will die first power ranking.  Actually that list was just Coach Ben and no one else.  But what is with Tai sleepwalking up trees?  Is this where it started and that traumatic experience has caused her to do it again?  And how did Tai get the totem that Lottie gave to Van?  Is the totem how Tai got safely into the tree to avoid the wold attack?

 

What I found most interesting was the talk in the car when Natalie was talking about how everyone did some bad things, Shauna disagreed and she should not drag everyone into her “pit of despaired.”  Interesting choice of words because we know there was a literal pit out in the Canadian wilderness.  Was Shauna not part of that whole thing?  I wonder if there will be a split in the groups between the cannibals and non-cannibals.  Could Nat be part of the pit group and Shauna part of a different group?  Then could Shauna and Jackie be part of two different groups because that will be a rough relationship going forward?  How do you read someone else’s diary?  Bad form Jackie.  

 

Back in present day, Misty is going full Citizen Detective by any means necessary in this week’s Misty psychopath watch.  So the reporter says that Travis’ back account was emptied shortly after he died.  That has to be Javi.  Who else could do it but a family member?  Unless, maybe, the account was not that big and Nat had his information.  Though the show has been very stingy up to this point with who is still alive outside the four main women and the already dead Travis.

 

Now it is time for my favorite part of the show: fashion watch.  So, not only did Jackie bring one argyle sweater vest, she brought multiple sweater vests to a soccer tournament for no apparent reason.  Not to be out down Mari, who seemly got more screen time this week than the previous seven episodes combined, went full eighties prep school villain wearing a polo shirt with a sweater wrapped around her neck.  Awesome.  Then poor Van, dies in a Coed Naked Soccer shirt.  How did our parents actually let us wear those, or the Big Johnson shirts (though I was not allowed to get the Big Johnson “Liquor in the front, poker in the back” shirt), back then?

 

The Book of Boba Fett:  Well that premiere left me feeling… whelmed,  I realized fairly early, that I do not really care that much about Boba’s backstory.  I enjoyed the old PlayStation 2 game, but do not really see it.  Nor do I care that much about the Tuscan Raiders stuff though it seems like we will be getting a duel timeline show for at least another episode or more.  Sigh.  Maybe we will see Obi-Wan at some point to set up his series.    

 

The Challenge: All-Stars: It is too bad Jodi did not order a milkshake so Ayanna could have gone full Daniel Plainview and tell Jodi she drinks her milkshake, she drinks it up.  But I wonder just how long this challenge took. Having to run a mile while remembering things had to take quite a few trips.

The Ten Most Anticipated Events of 2021

  
10. Everything that got delayed from 2020:  Unfortunately due to the Coronapocalypse, many things on my most anticipated list from last year never actually happened.  Hopefully movies like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, West Side Story. Black Widow, as well as the Olympics actually happens this year.

9.  Mr. Mayor (January 7):  National treasure Ted Danson is back on a NBC sitcom about a year after the end of The Good Place from the team that brought us 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  Should be good.

8.   8. In the Heights (June 18):  There are a lot of things this year that are written in pencil, but Warner Bros. have already announced their entire slate of movies will get a simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release.   So we should see some of these movies no matter how long the vaccine rollout takes.  Many people know Lin-Manuel Miranda for Hamilton, but before the cultural phenomenon, there was In the Height.  And unlike the Disney Ploose version of Hamilton which was just the stage play, this is a full blown adaption.

7.  The Book of Boba Fett (December):  There was some confusion as if this would be its own thing or if it would be the third season of The Mandalorian, but it turns out to be a mini-series and the first of the many live action spin-off from the first show.  Boba was awesome in his limited run and Ming-Na Wen is always a welcome addition to any cast.  Plus this show will be run by famed director Robert Rodriquez who directed the big Boba Fett return.  Maybe we will finally learn how he got out of the Sarlac Pit and what he has been up to since then and now.  This is likely the only new Star Wars live action show we get this year, but animated show The Bad Batch (a spin-off of the Clone Wars which will also feature the voice of Wen) and anthology show Visions are also supposed to air this year but no date for either.

6.  Marvel Television on Disney Ploose:  The MCU was a sprawling cinematic universe that spanned ABC, Netflix, Hulu, and Freeform.  Granted none of the shows really had any influence on the movies and Marvel TV studio was shut down, all the existing shows were canceled.  All of this was to consolidate the televised show onto Disney Ploose (sorry sister site Hulu who was planning a whole Adventure into Fear series of shows when this decree when down).  Now all these new shows for The Ploose supposedly will be tied directly into the MCU and the first couple features characters from the movies.  We have dates for WandaVision (1/15) and Falcon and Winter Soldier (3/19) but just loose dates after that including Loki (May).  Later this year is the show I am most excited for, Hawkeye which features the titular character mentoring Hailee Steinfeld and Lucky the Pizza Dog.  The other show that is supposed to happen this year is the lone show based on a new character Ms. Marvel.

5.  Nine Perfect Strangers (TBA):  Big Little Lies was such a success for David E. Kelly and Nicole Kidman; they made a second season and went on to do another mini-series together, The Undoing.  They are teaming yet again for a Hulu show Nine Perfect Strangers which like Big Little Lies is based on a book by Lynn Moriarty.  While not one of the titular characters, Kidman plays the director of the resort than the nine strangers come to relax.  But the list of actual strangers is pretty impressive: Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, Michael Shannon, Grace Van Patten, Samara Weaving, Luke Evans, and Melissa McCarthy (okay have not heard of the last two actors of the nine).  Manny Jacinto (BORTLES!!!!!!!) and Tiffany Boone also work at the spa with Kidman.  Pretty interesting cast.

4. The Suicide Squad (August 6):  A wise man once said, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice… won’t be fooled again.  Yet I am cautiously optimistic about DC’s second attempt at the franchise which is sort of a sequel and sort of not (added only a “The” to the title only adds to the confusion).  James Gunn was quickly picked up by DC after being fired from Guardians of the Galaxy (but quietly rehired) giving him free reign on a sequel even if it does not quite jive with the original.  Back is the best part of the first film Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.  Also returning are Viola Davis (Amanda Walker), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), and, um… Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang).  Idris Elba was originally cast to replace Will Smith as Deadshot but ends up playing the much lesser known Bloodsport.  He is not the only D-list villain in the movie, but unlike Elba, I would be fairly surprised if Pete Davidson’s Blackguard, David Dastmalchian’s Polka Dot Man, Michael Rooker’s Savant (Gunn has already killed him once), Nathan Fillion’s T.D.K.,  Daniela Melchoir’s Ratcatcher 2, or Fluta Borg’s Javelin make it to the end of the movie.  I would have had John Cena’s Peacemaker on that list, but he was already announced to be starring in a HBO Max spin-off show.  It is still unknown which of the numerous villains is the main antagonist and which are in the titular group, but Sylvester Stallone and Taika Waititi are both cast as yet to be announce characters.  At the very least, this has to be better than the first one.  Right?

3. Last Night in Soho (April 23?) – Edgar Wright is one of my favorite working directors so anything he does goes to the top of my list.  This movie is being listed as a psychological thriller but seems to be much more serious than his previous horror movies like Shaun of the Dead.  The movie star Anya Taylor-Joy after her much buzzed about show The Queen’s Gambit.  No trailer yet which makes me think this will not make its April date (is had already been pushed back once) but hopefully it will get released by the end of the year.

2.  Only Murders in the Building (TBA):  Steve Martin and Martin Short gave us one of the funniest movies in the history of cinema in The Three Amigos and who better to replace Chevy Chase in that threesome than Selena Gomez?  The trio star as three strangers with a true crime obsession who get wrapped up in one.  And of course, then hilarity ensues.

1.  No More President Donald Trump (January 20):  I cannot think of a more incompetent person to lead our country through a pandemic and yet Donald Trump somehow performed worse than I ever expected.  Thankfully there were over eighty million Americans who agreed with me and will be showing him the door in a couple weeks.  Hopefully Joe Biden can do a better job at the vaccine roll out because the rate it is happening under trump, it would take a full decade.  And it is not only Trump who will be leaving; also gone will be all his incompetent flunkies.  I look most forward to a new Postmaster General so I no longer will have to wait weeks to receive a package that was sent through the USPS.

Here is also a list of everything I will be watching as I wait to go back outside again once everyone gets vaccinated.

Mondays
8:00 - The Neighborhood (CBS, January 4)
9:00 – Snowpiercer (TNT, January 25)

Tuesdays
8:00 – Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (NBC, January 5)
9:00 – Black’ish (ABC, January 26)
9:30 – Mix’ish (ABC, January 26)
10:00 – Nurses (NBC, January 5)
10:00 – Big Sky (ABC, January 26)

Wednesdays
8:00 - The Challenge: Double Agents (MTV, already started) 

      8:00 – The Goldbergs (ABC, January 13)

Thursdays
Search Party (HBO Max, January 14)
8:00 - Mr. Mayor (NBC, January 7)
8:00 – B Positive (CBS, January 7)
8:30 – Superstore (NBC, January 14)

Fridays
Wandavision (Disney Ploose, January 15)
The Falcon and Winter Soldier (Disney Ploose, March 19)
8:00 – The Blacklist (NBC, January 22)

Sundays
9:00 – Shameless (Showtime, January 10)
9:00 – The Waling Dead (AMC, February 28)
10:00 – Your Honor (Showtime, already started)

Best of the Week vol. XLVIII

Quote of the Week: If we lived in a world where slow moving xenon would produce light then you’d be correct. Also pigs would fly, my derriere would produce cotton candy, and The Phantom Menace would be a timeless classic. (Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas (Rubicon)

Big News of the Week: Superheroes Coming to the Small Screen: The 00’s were dominated by superheroes at the Cineplex thanks to the X-Men, Spiderman and Batman to the point Hollywood cranked out random funny book characters (Daredevil?). That really didn’t translate much to live action television. Sure the decade started out with Superman’s beginning, but a Batman-less Gotham themed Birds of Prey tanked and Aquaman couldn’t even find room on the laughable CW schedule.

But two Superheroes that are no strangers to television are currently in the pipeline. Earlier this month news broke that David E. Kelley, the guy behind L.A. Law and the upcoming Kathy Bates legal drama Harry’s Law, will team up with Warner Bros. for a Wonder Woman series. No word on who will fill Lynda Carter’s spandex, but if I were a casting director, I would definitely screen test the recently unemployed and currently brunette Tyra Collette (seen at right).

Not to be outdone, ABC and Marvel are looking about bringing The Incredible Hulk back to the small screen after being portrayed by three different actors over a nine year span (Eric Bana, Edward Norton, and the upcoming Mark Ruffalo) on the big screen. After being heavily CGI’ed in those movies, I do not see how you can go back to Lou Ferrigno in green paint (assuming that a television show would not have the budget to CGI Hulk). And if you go for green pain, who do get? An obvious choice would be The Rock who coincidently appeared in the only funny Barack Obama skit SNL has managed to produce as “The Rock Obama.”

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:




Free Download of the Week: Tom’s Diner – Suzanne Vega (Amazon MP3) – Most people know the song via DNA’s dance remix, but the song was initially recorded as an acapella song. Here is new version with Vega adding some music herself to the song which pays homage to the DNA version.

Deal of the Week: Haolloween Blu-Ray Under $10 (Ghostbusters, The Evil Dead, Frozen, Hatchet)

Video of the Week: Hollywood is littered with too many “What If” casting decisions to name, but it is extremely rare for there to be any photographic evidence. Like Eric Stoltz who was originally cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future and they even filmed for five weeks before replacing him with Michael J. Fox. On the upcoming 25th Anniversary Edition of Back to the Future DVD we actually get to see footage of Stoltz as McFly.




Next Week Pick of the Week: How I Met Your Mother, Monday at 8:00 on CBS: Jennifer Morrison (Urban Legend: Final Cut) is the latest young moderately attractive guest star on How I Met Your Mother, Season 6 - How I Met Your Mother leading to speculation that she will turn out to be the titular character. Or maybe she will just end up as another notch on Ted’s bedpost like Ashley Williams, Sarah Chalke, Laura Prepon, Mandy Moore, Danica McKellar and Busy Phillips (at the same time!), Judy Greer, Carrie Underwood, and Rachel Bilson. After six seasons, honestly, I really do not care at this point.

Best New Shows of Fall 2008

In this I have to be first world we live in, there tends to be a rush to judgment. Take the first impression of The Big Bang Theory which was universally panned thanks to a sub-par pilot last year, many of the jokes that were killed by the overplaying of the promo before the show become much beloved by the end of the year. So once again I have rounded up a cabal of TV Bloggers to list their favorite new shows of the season now that they have gotten about a month of episodes under their belts. Then I put their list into my patented formula that is slightly more credible than token daily tracking poll. Here are the results. You can catch up by downloading the shows on iTunes and/or Amazon Video on Demand.

1. Privileged (The CW) iTunes - Amazon
2. Fringe (Fox) iTunes - Amazon
3. True Blood (HBO)
4. The Mentalist (CBS)
5. My Own Worst Enemy (NBC) iTunes - Amazon
6. Raising the Bar (TBS) iTunes
7. Busted (MTV) iTunes - Amazon
8. Gavin & Stacey (BBC America) iTunes
9. Kath & Kim (NBC) iTunes - Amazon
10. Gary Unmarried (CBS)

Also receiving votes: Life on Mars, 90210, Worst Week, Whatever Martha!, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Eleventh Hour, Sons of Anarchy, The Ex-List, Rita Rocks
Voters: Dan, Ducky, Matt, Rae, Sandie, Scooter McGavin, Tube Talk Girl, Vance

The closest thing to a consensus would be Privileged, then Fringe slightly behind and everything pretty much bunched up at the bottom. But considering some of the negative comments voters sent with their ballots, they are less than enthuse with the new slate of shows this fall much like I am which many are contributed to lingering effects of the writer’s strike. Honestly I was thinking of not hosting the poll this year but only did for prosperity sake so in 1000 years from now people in the future could tell just how poor this television season was. In a measure of full disclosure, here was my ballot:

1. Busted (MTV)
2. Gary Unmarried (CBS)
3. Raising the Bar (TNT)
4. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Cartoon Network)
5. The Ex-List (CBS)

2008 Fall Television Preview

Yesterday I mad a run down of the music that will fill the fall air this season but today I turn inside to the television that will put me firmly into my couch as the leaves turn colors. Well some of these shows are on a short leach like Gary Unmarried. But no shorter leash than on Heroes which was abysmal last season and the first season was not much better. It does not bodes well that last season I found myself switching over to I Love New York because I was so bored with Heroes. But anyways. Here is what I will be watching, and for the most part, enjoying and their start dates:


Monday
8:00 - The Big Bang Theory; CBS (September 22)
8:00 - Chuck; NBC (September 29)
8:00 - Monday Night Football; ESPN (October 13, November 17, December 15)
8:30 - How I Met Your Mother; CBS (September 22)
9:00 - Heroes; NBC (September 22)


Tuesday
9:00 - Greek; ABC Family (already started)
10:00 - Eli Stone; ABC (October 14)


Wednesday
8:00 - Friday Night Lights; DirecTV (October 1)
8:00 - Pushing Daisies; ABC (October 1)
8:30 - Gary Unmarried; CBS (September 24)
10:00 - Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Island; MTV (already started)
10:00 - South Park; Comedy Central (October 15)


Thursday
8:00 - Survivor: Gabon; CBS (September 25)
8:00 - My Name Is Earl; NBC (September 25)
8:00 - Thursday Night Football; NFL Network (November 6)
9:30 - SNL Weekend Update Thursday; NBC (October 9)


Friday
8:00 - Everybody Hates Chris; The CW (October 3)
9:00 - Ex-List; CBS (October 3)
9:00 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Cartoon Network (October 3)


Sunday
9:00 - I Love Money; VH1 (already started)


Then for the midseason, I will be looking out for Lost, The Goode Family, Cupid and the NBC showing of Friday Night Lights. And specials like Hip Hop Honors on October 7 featuring Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Slick Rick, and Too $hort. And of course the debates between John McCain and Barack Obama on September 26, October 7, and October 15 with Sarah Palin and Joe Biden going at it on October 2. I will also be trying to catch up on the second seasons of Dexter and Big Love as well as the third season of Weeds on DVD.