57 Channels and Only This Is On: 2/2/14

Shameless: I knew it was coming as soon as Frank did not identify himself to his daughter, but it was still extremely cringeworthy seeing his daughter jump on him. Also not that surprising that Fiona hooked up with her boss’s brother, I am just a little surprised that it happened in the first episode they meet. I agree with the brother, it will not be the last time.

House of Lies: Holy Dick Casablancas sighting! Although I did not need to see Veronica Mars ride him. Interesting he had a very similar pitcher / catcher conversation as Dick. But now it looks like Jennie and Doug have migrated to Kaan and Associates so now how long until Clyde join them to get the gang back together. But then again, would Marty want him back after he jumped ship to his ex-wife’s team?

Switched at Birth: I had to laugh when Sherrie sort of tried to play the race card with the black principal. I was waiting for the principal to call her out for it but that never quite happened.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Switched at Birth on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: The mother felt like a bad fit since she appeared earlier this season and after a dedicated episode to her, it is clearly the case. The show took nine seasons to be able to explain how Ted met the mother and they managed to do the opposite in about twenty minutes. And it is clear why the mother is bad television, she is the male version of Ted and Ted was already the least interesting character on the show.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So Red is just going to let Mira walk, not telling anyone of who was really behind the leak? Odd for a guy who when on a killing spree last week to find out who the mole was two episodes ago. I wonder if he will ever tell Lizzie of her co-worker’s misdeed. But my favorite part of the episode was when Ressler got hit with the truck. Add them to him getting shot in the leg a couple weeks ago, I hope this starts a trend of him getting hurt every week. That may be the only thing he would be for on the show.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: After swearing off boys, Hanna has taken up… reading? But just the last two pages. Awesome. And it cannot be a coincidence that the detective just so happened to tip Hanna to the dental records plot twist in the middle. We did learn this week that Erza is working with somebody (possibly for, I have a sinking suspicion that he is being blackmailed so they can put Erza and Aria back together without it being weird, but that pairing will always be weird and creepy). Plus it would be hard to have a slice of boysenberry pie, perform dental work on Hanna, and seranande Emily with heavy metal all in one night by himself.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Justified: A melancholy happy trails to Wade Messner. I will miss his meeting of the minds with Dewey. Or maybe this will pave the way for Dicky Bennett to come back into his life, who was always his best cohort. But Wade’s demise did lead to the best part of the episode where Dewey promised Jesus he would turn his life around if he would let him kill Messner. And I really hope that Kendell Crowe does not hook up in Foster Care, although those two would make for a great spin-off idea. I certainly would be better than that horrible Foster Care show on ABC Family.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Nashville: Juliette Barnes started out as that cheesy pop-country that relies heavy on auto-tune and gimmicks, but here half way through the second season, she has turned into the kind of country artist I wish actually existed, the out-law country of the sixties and seventies who instead of apologize for something she should not have to apologies for, she just goes on stage says her record label wants to apologize and instead of doing so, busts into a song entitled Don't Put Dirt On My Grave Just Yet. Awesome. Hopefully she signs with Rayna’s record label next week because everyone knows it will happen eventually.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: Has James Earl Jones never done comedy before? More importantly where was the director to say, “Hey James, how about pulling back just a tad?” Even though he was way over the top the whole episode, I was still thoroughly entertained by the whole thing.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Community: So we get the second Brie Larson sighting on the show (it is odd that Dan Harmon would bring back someone introduced during his exile) and yet she again does not run into Alison Brie. Does the show worry that having them on screen together at the same time would be too much awesomeness that it could rip the fabric of space and time? Come to think of it, that could very well happen.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: Every reality show has their heels, but on King of the Nerds, their antagonists are one botched experiment away from turning into Supervillains. Thankfully the volcano experiment did not go horribly wrong otherwise Batman may have had to be called in to wrangle with Josh.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 1/12/14

Revenge: I really have amnesia storylines with a fiery passion. Well at least it looks like Emily got her memory back by the end of the episode.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Castle: I probably say this every time this is brought up, but did we always know Ryan actually had a first name and that name is Kevin? Seriously future writers, if you are going to predominately use a character’s last name, do not make it something that can be confused as their first name.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: We finally learned what happened to Agent Coulsen in “Tahiti” and… some machine ticked his brain for days after he died. Alrighty. I guess the question now is why is Coulsen so important that Director Fury would go to such lengths to revive him because I doubt he simply needed a Euchre partner.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: After years of predicting that Allison was not as dead as the show would have us believe since episode, I was vindicated during the last finale when she finally showed her face. And then quickly disappeared as the Liars instead of trying to find her again spent their time trying to figure out who is in her casket (I would say the better question would be who got everyone to believe it was Allison and how did they do it; but then again none of these girls are Veronica Mars even if Spencer was able to get Radley shut down). And even though his spin-off started weeks ago, Caleb finally came back to town to break up with Hanna. Though I wonder how fast he will crawl back to her once his new show is canceled. I really do not see it going on much longer.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Justified: What a nice touching tribute to author Leonard Elmore, whose short inspired the show, at the start of the show. I do not remember any show that took that much time to pay tribute to someone tied to that show aside a title card (and even those usually come at the end of the episodes). But the best tribute is to take his vision and turn it into the best show on television which Justified continued to be with a stellar premiere. Raylan was again on point, and nicely bookended the episode shooting inflatable objects. Another strength of the show is the stupidity of its criminals and Dewey Crowe may be the dumbest of them all. Even though he was in only two scenes, both were instant Justified classics. The first took us down memory lane as a lawyer reminded us of every run in Dewey had with the Marshall Service, and the second ending in Raylan shooting his first inflatable object of the episode. Then you had Wynn Duffy’s eyebrows getting promoted to series regular and Dave Foley showing up as one of “The Canadians.” All the greatness was not even ruined by the appearance of Michael Rappaport.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: Apparently I was not the only one thinking about the living situation if Penny and Leonard got married (it is really disturbing how much I have the same thoughts as Sheldon). And Sheldon’s forced vacation with Penny was much more entertaining than the one he spent with Amy a couple seasons ago. The whole episode could have been the two practicing yoga and I would not have minded.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Community: It is odd with a serial butt crack abuser running around on an episode with Ben Folds, the nineties band the bandit was a fan of with was Dave Matthews Band. Even more shocking was the writers did not use the plotline as an excuse to have Annie bend over. And now that I think of it, if the story is ever revisited, I have a feeling Annie’s Boob will end up being the culprit.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Helix: I still have not gotten around to watching Battlestar Galactica so I have no expectations going into the show because of what the guy previously created and my main take away from the show was… the young CDC member is quite attractive. I really do have much else to say about the show so far.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Helix on iTunes.

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

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

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

Scene of the Week:


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TBD
Penny Dreadful
The Strain
Mad Men
Survivor

Preview Picture of the Week:

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 10/6/13

Once Upon a Time: As Lost Boy #6 in my high school production of Peter Pan I am not very happy that they have turned Peter Pan evil. He is more Jack Merridew (the episode even featured a conch shell) than the Peter Pan we know and love. Speaking of that conch shell, was the mermaid that blew it supposed to be Aerial? They can make her evil, I do not really care.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Homeland: A quick addendum to my preview of the new season which was too spoilery. Homeland likes to throw I a game changer every couple episodes and Saul throwing Carrie under the bus may be the most shocking yet. Not only did he disclose to the whole nation that she is a crazy person, he actually lied under oath. We actually saw Saul listen to Carrie and Brody having sex last season. The fun of Homeland is watching the show to move on after completely blowing things up (sometimes quite literally) and this is an interesting set up to season three. I hope it does not end with Carrie and Brody on the lamb together. But if Saul’s testimony was the most shocking, Quinn killing the kid was the least shocking. As soon as Quinn was given the okay, I knew he would accidentally kill him, I just thought it would have been the kid under the desk, we just had to wait another thirty seconds for the murder to happen.

Revenge: The second season was rough, hard enough to sit through I was kind of hoping it would get canceled. But it came back complete with a new showrunner. Gone is Declan, Nolan’s money, The Initiative and Carrion (names of which even the characters never want to hear again). Of course we start off two months in the future (some things never change) where we see Emily shot twice in the abdomen by some unseen assailant who she trusts enough to be alone on a yacht with (my way too early prediction is the new French chick). Also gone this season (but not completely off this mortal coil) is Ashley who was sent back to her native land by the blackmailing team of Victoria and Emily. Emily even worked in some revenge essentially ending Conrad’s short run as governor of New York and making him think he has some degenerative disease that will turn him crazy (just thinking he has it will probably turn him crazy).
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Betrayal: Betrayal sounds like a title that was considered but ended up not used for Revenge. As Revenge sank like a rock last season, it is weird they would team it with a new soap heavy show. Except Betrayal is boring. It came off like the first of a twenty act movie instead of the first episode of a television show. There was probably the reason they heavily featured the last minute of the episode (essentially spoiling the whole thing) in the promos because nothing of note happened except a simpleton may have killed his uncle we barely saw for reasons that were not well explained.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Betrayal on iTunes.

The Voice: I applauded the song selection last week unfortunately some of the songs this week were less inspiring but some guy did pull out an MGMT song and another person dusted off an underappreciated song by Bill Withers. Unfortunately we did not get to see much of the first Creedence Clearwater Revival song on the show as it got montage (I do not count the times Proud Mary was performed because everyone always does the Proud Mary version). I wonder if song selection did Malford Milligan in, he did trot out the well worn Let's Stay Together. Even with the tired song, I still though he was the third best singer this week. Hopefully he gets an invite back next season. Granted they seem to only invite back cute young boys. Which begs the question, where is Jane Smith from last season? She would be a perfect fit for Cee-Lo who was not around last season.

One guy that did get the return invitation was James Irwin (who did not even make my Contestants Who Should Be Brought Back last season) who made history by being the first returnee who got all four chairs to turn around. But I wonder if the coaches were having some button remorse because his performance started out well, they all pushed their button, then sat there stone-faced went he went into the awkward rock portion of the song. After that it seemed like the least competitive fight for a four chair turner ever with Adam even giving him a harsh critique. For some reason James picked Adam and may be the first four chair turner who exists this season.

The big new this week (which is not saying much because there were a lot of weak performances) was the audition of Briana Cuoco. Okay this is mostly because of her famous sister Kaley from The Big Bang Theory. Brianna’s rendition of You and I was pedestrian at best but Kaley lost her mind (like some family members do, but Kaley over did it a bit) when Christina turned around for her sister. Hopefully Briana gets better because I would not mind having Kaley Cuoco on my television, two to three times a week for the rest of the year.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.


The Blacklist: Usually with procedurals there is a big twist at the end to the point you expect it and can even guess what it is before it happened, but I never saw Isabella Rossellini turning out to be a human trafficker who rails against human trafficking to eliminate her competition (which is ingenious in an evil kind of way). But it is disappointing that it looks like Elizabeth is just going to ignore the money and passports she found under the floorboards.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A slight improvement over the premiere and that does not even take into account the cameo of Samuel L. Jackson. But yeah, Sam Jackson was awesome.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Goldbergs: How do you have a show set in the eighties and have a storyline about your mother buying your embarrassing clothes for the first day of school and not play, or at the very least reference Parents Just Don't Understand. Instead they end the episode with a Styx song? Epic fail.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Goldbergs on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: I did not think Tig would end up dead this week, but I was surprised with a test being why he survived but it does make sense (it did not make since that Pope’s men would still care about his vendetta against Tig if he was dead). But in true Sons of Anarchy fashion, you were left wondering the fate of Tig all week, he shows up alive, and then four characters die violently in the episode (and that does not even count the Nazi’s). Thankfully Otto finally met his finale fate, how he made it this long is befuddling. The big shock was the death of the Marshall, he was set up at the major antagonist and now he is completely off the board (unless there is yet another vengeful relative in their family). But the Sons have their hands full with the Irish right now.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Finally a challenge the Loved Ones can win, they have most of the muscle on the guys side including a former NFL lineman who pushed around dudes for a living, while the women are going against mostly forty and fifty year olds. Making it easier, one of the stronger returnees Tyson goes out with a shoulder injury. Should be a cake walk right? Right off the bat Brad Culpepper barely beat the aging Gervase, then Katie and Ciera lose to their mothers who are twice their age. At least Ciera put up a fight against her mother, when she went against Kat, it looked like she jumped off the platform just to get away from her competitor. So in two straight seasons, the new tribe has won one team challenge total and four out of sixteen challenges in three seasons before they started to mix up the tribes. It is really time to stop it with the fans vs. favorites concept even if they include loved ones in the equation.

Or just bringing back contestants period aside a rare All-Stars season (at least five seasons apart). Case in point: Colton. The dude caused the ost eye rolling when he cast was announced. He was a character you did not even love to hate, u just hated him so much you wanted to turn the channel. But he came back and he changed, cry a bunch in the second episode but by the second episode he was spreading lies amongst his tribe and making rude comments about them in his confessional. As by the third episode, after realizing he would be first of his tribe voted out, he just up and quit even though his tribe was on a winning streak and may have never gone to Tribal Council. And if that streak continues, there may be a tribe swap sooner than later when he could have been reunited with his fiancé and rebooted his game. Instead he quits and Probst and his tribe just lit into him. Probst even went as far to say he faked his injury One World so he could leave the game. I was a little surprised Probst did not ask Caleb if he wanted to quit with Colton. I kind of wanted Caleb to say, nope, I am good here. Oh well. So good riddance Colton, not only are you a horrible person you are a quitter.

This week we finally saw some loved ones go head to head in an Immunity Challenge and next week we will see it in the Redemption Island Arena when Candice take on her husband John (with Marissa still in the mix). It is one thing to not take your loved one’s spot on Redemption Island, but are you really willing to send them home? It will be interesting if Marissa finishes first, will Candice or John just concede the game to their spouse? Though I hate the Blood vs. Water theme, I have to admit the concept sets up some interesting storylines.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

Modern Family: Our first Dylan sighting of the season, complete with a new haircut. Rumour has it that there is going to be a Modern Family. When I saw the headline I was hoping for a Dylan / Hayley starting a new life themed show, but unfortunately they are looking at one starring Manny's real father. Bummer.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Modern Family on iTunes.

Super Fun Night This was just an abomination. I do not know what I am going to do between Modern Family and Nashville, but it will not be watching this ever again. I implore ABC just to bring Suburgatory back now or if they do not want to out right cancel Super Fun Night, please switch it with Back in the Game, The Neighbors, or even The Goldbergs even though I have problems with that show, it is still at the very least watchable. Super Fun Night is not. ABC, you know Super Fun Night is not getting a second season already, just cut ties now before you do irreconcilable damage to Nashville's ratings when people like me flee your network as soon as Super Fun Night starts and never comes back.
If you must, you can stream episodes on Hulu. You can also download Super Fun Night on iTunes

The Bridge: Do we finally get to hear what cassette Sonya was so desperate to recover after her sister’s car was totaled and it was… I have no clue what song that was. As for the actual episode, it did not feel like a season finale it all; it more felt like a middle of a season episode. I guess that happens when you capture your big bad two episodes ago. The only plot point was that Linder’s “bride” was rescued. Sure some things were set up for a second season, the FBI let Charlotte know they are on to her just after she set up her new business with the Fausto (how her boy toy made it through the season alive was shocking). Of course Daniel stumbled onto a dead ninety-nine year old woman with a ton of cash, including Euros, stacked in her bathroom. And it looks like next season will be Marco trying to break into prison to kill David Tate. Hopefully that is more entertaining than the last couple episodes of this season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Bridge on iTunes.

Nashville: I really liked the addition of the new singer from the reality show (and the show really needs a kick after last week’s bore of a premiere). Or more specially, I really like her as a bright eyed foil to Juliette’s jaded pop star, it looks like it will be more interesting than the Juliette / Rayna rivalry. I really liked the look on Juliette’s face when Layla said she was singing on of Juliette’s classic which was only matched by her look when the new bean counter said Layla’s song was number one on iTunes. I hope they keep Layla naïve and do not give her some deep dark secret like they give everyone on a soap opera.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: I always love it when they find a way to get Penny and Sheldon together, but I could have done without so much time with the other teams. Howard and Amy even joked how they have never spent any time together, and after this episode it may be wise never to give them screen time again even if Neil Diamond is involved.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Parenthood: This season token Friday Night Lights cameo is Jess Meriwether as Kristina’s campaign manager. You have to think Julie Taylor sits around wondering, “Why am I stuck on some crappy alien love story show on The CW with Hastings Ruckle; where is my Parenthood role?” It is odd that Lyla Garrity is the only original cast member that has been invited show but Jess is the third of the newbies to make an appearance. Jess was not the only new face this week as the dude from The Office also popped up. But I have to wonder if the show is really going to go the route where Julia ends up in the arms of the dude from The Office while Joel spends some quality time with Penny from Lost.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 9/29/13

Ray Donovan: Of course the season ended with Mickey saving Ray’s life. Let me go ahead and predict next season will see the two reluctantly team up against a common foe. Ugg, at least the season is over and Homeland can start next week.

The Voice: It what seems to be my yearly, How to Fix the Voice rants, one of my bigger complaints was the recycling of songs and how they needed to retire a bunch of songs. This season did see the third straight performance of Back to Black and Too Close and a few others that got trotted out for a second try. But overall they include a bunch of new songs to the show including some surprisingly awesome song selections. After the first night I did not think someone would perform a song cooler than Keep Your Hands to Yourself, then the very next night someone broke out the most inspired song selection since Lindsey Pavao flipped a Trey Songz track when some dude sang The Theme to the Jeffersons. Boom. Then you also had a guy perform the lone Blu Cantrell hit, a Lynyrd Skynyrd song not named Sweet Home Alabama, a Jack White song, and surprisingly the very first song on the show by The Killers (not counting the time the band themselves performed). Overall I was happy with the song selection this season, hopefully when the coaches take the reins, their picks are just as inspiring. Of course Cee-Lo’s usually are for better or worse.

But the first week belonged to Holly Henry. A couple weeks ago when she appeared in an ad for this season I wondered if it is too soon to anoint someone after just five seconds. Now that I have heard the full ninety second performance the answer is a resounding yes. I am not the only one who thought this because her version of The Scientist cracked the top 25 on iTunes, only the second time I can recall that happening during the Blind Auditions (and it is more impressive than when Sarah Simmons did last season because Holly has to contend with singles from all the high profile fall releases; can anyone remember any marquee album released in the first quarter of 2013). I will not go into a full detail as to why because I have already written a lengthy write-up on Holly Henry for my upcoming Power Rankings that I will post at the end the Blind Audition. Basically if she does not get far this season, I will have to write another lengthy How to Fix The Voice post. Until then, just watch her performance and enjoy.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.


How I Met Your Mother: When the season started off with Wayne Brady singing Islands in the Stream, both the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton parts, I thought the final season would be a return to form. Unfortunately the rest of the hour, what was way too long, fell back into the usual tropes that has brought down the show in the last couple seasons.
You can stream episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: The problem with Pilots is when you see the extended trailers; you have pretty much seen the entire episode. So some of what should have been the best parts of the episode, when James Spader first walks into the FBI and when Elizabeth stabs him neck, were scenes you expected to happen. But there were a few things they saved for actual show. From the trailer, it was easy to guess that Spader would turn out to be Elizabeth’s father but since her parents became a central part of their discussion, that is probably not the case (though I would not take it completely off the table, she could be adopted or Spader had an affair with her mother unbeknownst to her or her “father”). After the discovery in the floorboard, the safer best is the husband could be Spader’s kid. Or maybe the husband is at the top of The Blacklist. How good this show is will be determine how they handle the storyline. Most shows would make you wait a couple episodes, or until the winter break to reveal his intention, but if Elizabeth does not confront her husband in the next episode, that will be a major flaw. I fear he may be in the hospital for the foreseeable future.
You can stream episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: It become clear pretty early on that it may not have been the best idea to do their casting from the Abercrombie catalogue. Most of the cast just does not know how to deliver a joke. Hurph. Hopefully they learn quickly because the ratings make it look like it will be around for a while. As for the actually show, the big reason of how Agent Coulson is not dead like we saw in The Avengers was that he held his breath for thirty seconds. Alrighty. Okay there is clearly more to this story as Maria Hill says that Coulson can never know what really happened in Tahiti. So is he a reanimated corpse? A robot with Coulson’s memories uploaded? Something completely different?
You can stream episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

The Goldbergs: As a child of the eighties, I like a good retro show from the decade, I will even watch a crappy version. Unfortunately The Goldbergs is much closer to the latter. Hopefully it finds its footing and quick because I want watch for the soundtrack alone.
You can stream episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Goldbergs on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: There are fewer things in my life that I need to see less than Matt Sarasen’s mom having sex with Robocop. I really wish I could un-see that. And though it was teased in the promo, the scene with Jax talking to the formal marshal through the one way mirror was very powerful. But I was shocked that Jax actually gave up Tig. I figured after Pope died, no one would care about that debt anymore. But Tig cannot possibly be dead can he? This is not the kind of show that would have a death off scene. The writers would never pass off a chance to have emotionally painful death scene. And it would seem odd to start off an episode with a death scene. Maybe they will give him some sort of reprieve if Tig does something for them like they did with Clay inside.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water: It only took two episodes and the old Colton is back and I am back to hoping he has another appendix left to burst. Either that or he quits as the promo suggest he might after Probst asks him if he wants too. I assuming him sitting on his fiancé’s lap is against the rules and hopefully him doing that s viewed as quitting. Then it would be funny if Colton quits and asks his fiancé to join him and he goes, you know what, I am going to go head and stay and play.
You can stream episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Blood vs. Water on iTunes.

The Bridge: When they caught Drew Thompson with a couple episodes left on Justified last season, I wonder how they could possibly fill up the rest of the season. But the last couple episodes ended up being the best of the season. So when they caught David Tate last week I thought The Bridge could do the same. Um, no. It is probably not a good sign that my biggest question coming out of this episode was what exactly was on Sonia’s cassette tape?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Bridge on iTunes.

The Challenge: Rivals II: I really liked how they broke out the Pythagorean Theorem for the final challenge. Although I am shocked that everyone knew what it was (did they give them the equation on the board, I did not get a good look at the instructions). Granted none of them were smart enough to make an educated guess and instead tried to do the math in the dirt. But as great as the Pythagorean Theorem leg of the final challenge was, the gross food leg was very unnecessary. I really did not need to see people projectile vomit for ten minutes straight.
You can download The Challenge: Rivals II on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: The show has always been at its best when they find a way to get Penny and Sheldon together which is happening less and less as the cast expanded. But as the premiere showed, when they do, it is comedy gold. Kaley Cuoco showed up for a quick cameo on The Voice this week because her sister is auditioning later this season, here is hoping Jim Parsons pops up in the friends and family room. And since we already heard one television theme performed this season, maybe the other Cuoco will perform Big Bang Theory Theme.
You can stream episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

The Crazy Ones: I had two thoughts while watching the premiere: 1) It is too bad Mork ages backwards because an ill conceived Mork and Mindy reboot would have been a better vehicle than this, and 2) Kelly Clarkson needs a much better agent.
You can stream episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download The Crazy Ones on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 9/28/13

Quote of the Week: Here’s one I thought I’d take to the grave: a while back YouTube changed its user interface from a star based rating system to a thumbs up ratings system. I tell people I’m okay with it but I’m really not. (Sheldon Cooper PhD, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: Islands In the Stream – Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (as sung by Wayne Brady and Wayne Brady, How I Met Your Mother)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Power Rankings of New Fall Television: Television came back in full force this week with a slew of new shows. Surprisingly only one came D.O.A. (do not get too attacked to Lucky 7). Granted a lot of the more poorly reviewed show (We Are Men, Super Fun Night, Sean Saves the World, The Millers, Ironside, Welcome to the Family) do not premiere until next week. I did watch just over half of the ten new shows and here is absurdly premature Power Rankings:

1. The Blacklist
2. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
3. The Michael J. Fox Show
4. Back in the Game
5. The Goldbergs
6. The Crazy Ones

But who cares what I think. Here is how the shows stack up in total viewers in millions. As you can tell, it is very helpful to air after the two of the most watched shows on television like the top two shows here and not very helpful to air after another new show like the bottom three:

1. The Crazy Ones (15.52)
2. The Blacklist (12.58)
3. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (12.12)
4. The Goldbergs (8.94)
5. Back in the Game (8.01)
6. Mom (7.99)
7. The Michael J. Fox Show (7.50)
8. Hostages (7.41)
9. Trophy Wife (6.69)
10. Lucky 7 (4.43)

Although if you go by the ever more important 18-49 demo ratings, the rankings go like this:

1. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (4.7)
2. The Crazy Ones (3.9)
3. The Blacklist (3.8)
4. The Goldbergs (3.1)
5. Mom (2.5)
6. Trophy Wife (2.3)
7. Back in the Game (2.2)
8. The Michael J. Fox Show (2.2)
9. Hostages (1.8)
10. Lucky 7 (1.3)

Preview Picture of the Week:

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

Free Download of the Week: The Mother We Share – Chvrches (iTunes)

Deal of the Week: $3.99 Albums: Amazon is hosting a secret sale of albums that should be in everyone’s library including ones by Nirvana, Beastie Boys, The Police, and Boyz II Men. Update your library now on the cheap if there are holes.


New Album Release of the Week: Pure Heroine - Lorde

New DVD Release of the Week: This Is The End

Video of the Week: The triumphant return of Kenny Powers is tomorrow when the fourth and final season of Eastbound and Down premieres of HBO at 10:00. Check out a preview clip below:


Next Week Pick of the Week: Masters of Sex, Sunday at 10:00 on Showtime: Masters of Sex did not make my Power Ranking from above because it does not air until tomorrow, but if it was, it would have been number one with a bullet. To read more, check out my preview of Masters of Sex here.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/12/13

Once Upon a Time: I am okay with poetic license so if the show wants to turn Rumplestiltkin into the “Beast” or make Jack of the Beanstalk fame a chick, fine (though turning Captain Hook into a J. Crew model is a little silly) but I really do not like that they turned Neverland into Siberia for Lost Boys. Neverland may be the most magical land in the Disney library and to turn it into a living hell take poetic license too far. But being from the writers of Lost, I have a feeling in three seasons (if the show gets that far) we will learn Bay is Peter Pan who rescues the Lost Boys from the Shadow, who is probably being controlled by Captain Hook. I would not be surprised if Bay ended up back in Neverland through the portal he slipped through and now is living a Hook
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Revenge: I was really hoping that it would be Takeda killing Aiden because the show took a dive in the entertainment department right around he showed up. His character just made the show too complicated and muddled, and with him gone, I hoped they would go back to Emily taking people down again out of revenge for her father next season. That is if there is a next season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

Mad Men: On any other show, when Peggy left SCDP, the question would not have been if she would ever end up working with Don, but when. But considering this show has no problem segregating its cast (I cannot remember the last time Betty interacted with anyone else, Gene’s birthday party maybe) or just cut ties with them completely (I wonder if Paul Kinsey ever got to write for Star Trek) I figured they would just stay their separate ways from the rest of the show. So it seemed a little cheesy that Don proposed a merger with Peggy’s current firm.
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

The Voice: Well that was a weird way to start a results show, “hey, we are throwing out half the ways you were allowed to vote… but do not worry, even though we discarded those votes, we still got the same result anyway.” What? When Carson first announced this, my second thought was this is what they are going to use to bring back whoever drew the short straw on Adam’s team because they probably would have been one of the top two vote getters on any other team (my first thought was the irrational Michael Jackson fanatics, which there are still plenty around, stuffed the internet voting and possibly the texting which I am not entirely sure how you manipulate texting but I am morally opposed to texting so I really do not know much about it).

But alas the resurrection of Caroline Glaser, who was voted off Adam’s team, due to “voting irregularities” did not happen unless there is a shocking twist coming Monday (and we are still owed a shocking event from when they hyped one in the Battle Round that never happened). And the show should want to give Caroline a reprieve because she was one of the two best selling artists on the show this season (baffling the other person, Sarah Simmons, is the other one). Caroline and Sarah were the only two contestants whose four songs all charted this season, while Caroline was the only one who had all four of her songs on the Top 200 Overall iTunes chart this week. Not only that, all four of her songs charted higher on Monday than Josiah Hawley who inexplicably is in the final 12 while Caroline is going home. (Even as I write this, all four of Caroline's songs are charting higher than one song by Judith.  The Voice should feel really embarrassed by this.)  During Usher’s save, I was hoping he would say, “Instead of saving these two who are a lock to go home anyway, I am going to wait to use my Save on whoever Adam gets rid of.” That would have been worthy of the move we were promise in the Battle Round that “shocked the other coaches and producers.”

What makes Caroline and Sarah, the two top sellers, being in Adam’s team worse is that America’s Save went Judith Hill. The other save went to Amber Carrington, who hit the teens on the charts, but Caroline and Sarah were not that far behind in the thirties while Judith barely cracked the top 100. Considering they threw out online voting and texting, there had to be an overwhelming amount of phone calls for Judith to catapult Caroline and Sarah. Combine that with the “voting irregularities” this just does not pass the smell test. How are there that many people who said, Judith’s performance was not good enough to buy, but I am going to vote for her anyway?

Judith of course is an RnB singer while Amber is a country artist. You know else sings RnB and country: everyone else America voted for not named Michelle Chamuel (I guess she should be happy that Usher did not have another RnB singer or a country artist on his team). That really makes for a boring final 12. And it will get even more homogeneous because I suspect rockers Josiah and Garrett will be gone within the first two weeks, if not the first two gone. Not that I will find out, because unless they bring back Caroline, there really is no one to get excited for unless you are a country or RnB fanatic. I doubt anyone this season could have made the top five last season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice with the widget at right.

How I Met Your Mother: Have we always known that Robin has a sister? When her father first mentioned the younger Serbowski, my first thought was, well she will turn out to be the titular Mother. Except it would make no sense, we already no the mother has been in New York City for a while, she partied with Sarah Chalke, roomed with Rachel Bilson, and sat in on Ted’s lecture. If Robin’s sister has been in the city this whole time, how have we never met her yet?
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

2 Broke Girls: Not that Pierce Morgan had much integrity in the first place, but how do you go on a show as yourself and comment on the size of another man’s junk on your own television show (which actually airs opposite the same program)? Larry King would never have done that.

Castle: It seems like whenever the show has these big government conspiracy cases, it always turns out to be a very pedestrian killer like a relative or scorn lover (with of course the exception of whenever it involves their own family). And I actually kind of hope Beckett takes the Washington job, then maybe Castle can go back to following around Adam Baldwin’s character.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Grimm: I have always liked Nora Zehetner going back to her Everwood days but unfortunately a decade later she really has not gotten her big break yet. She was unfortunately shuffled off that show after her onscreen brother died. She was the most interesting character on the early episodes of Heroes but was quickly killed off. The only thing I remember seeing her in since was one of the hundreds of Hey I Know That Person cameos on Heroes but she did not stick around long enough to get bedded by Don Draper (but at least she was not sullied by Pete Campbell). I was actually hoping that her character on Grimm would cause Nick to kill Juliet and she would become the new love interest because Juliet is clearly the weak link on the show. The only problem is Nick is the second weakest link.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Survivor: Caramoan: Note to self: whenever you go on Survivor, tank any Individual Reward Challenges. Much like I am shocked that anyone would actually buy food at the action because the money would be better spent on the “advantage’ and Jeff will always have one covered dud and another time he will pull the you can have this for yourself, or something for the tribe thing. It is also becoming more frequent that at least once a season, Jeff will do the you can keep the prize for yourself or everyone else can get it thing and that usually happens during the Loved Ones Challenge. This week had to easily be the cruelest of Jeff’s ploys. He actually let Brenda choose Dawn, THEN said their was a second Loved One hiding on the island, AND THEN gave her the option of everyone but her AND Dawn the loved ones time. And then to make things worse, they actually had the barbecue within shouting distance. That was just cruel Jeff. And then Brenda learned the hard way why you do not want to win these challenges. It is a lose-lose situation. If you chose your Loved Ones, everyone will hate you and will not win if you make it to the finals. If you give up your Loved One, everyone will view you as a threat to win and try to vote you out, which actually happened to Brenda hours after her good deed. Though that was a stupid vote, I would much more worried of Eddie going on an Idol run than Brenda, and like I explained last week, Eddie already had three automatic votes on the jury. Oh well. We did finally get a first look of Andrea on the jury, and I am not sure who packs a cocktail dress when going on the show, but I am glad she did. Wow.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

Nashville: Of course Juliette has a sex tape. But I take it they are going to save the reveal of Maddie’s paternity for the season finale to Deacan, and maybe Maddie herself. I guess the question is how they will find out? Will Rayna finally confess after all these years? will Teddy let it slip in a jealous rage? Will it be released in a tabloid? For the entertainment value, let’s hope it is the third option.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: That was the most disturbing sex scene I have ever seen.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Community: Well this season of Community written fan-fic is finally over. At least we got one last glimps of Evil Annie in a tight red dress before it was thankfully put out of its misery, so it made the season worth it. Wait, it was renewed? Oh goodness.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Hannibal: So a therapist has his very own therapist. Though I have a feeling Hannibal just goes to Scully just to play with her. And what is going on with Abigail Hobbs? She was just resigned to a dream sequence this week, but I would really like to see her in the middle of the Hannibal / Will tug of war for her soul.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 5/11/13

Quote of the Week: You could be my bodyguard and I could be your Whitney. (Nolan, Revenge)

Song of the Week: Baby Jane (Mo Mo Jane) – Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels (Mad Men)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Miracle in Cleveland: No, a Cleveland sports team did not win a sports championship for the first since 1948 (unless you count the Cleveland Crunch, but I bet the vast majority of people reading this could not even name the sport), not even divine intervention could make that happen. Instead three long ago missing women escaped from a house where they were being held in Cleveland. The tenth anniversary of the first girl being kidnapped actually just a couple weeks ago and I remember sitting on the couch thinking that a decade is about the time to accept the sad reality. Apparently I was extremely wrong. Being that I live in the Cleveland television market, both How I Met Your Mother and 2 Broke Girls were “joined in progress” after breaking news (which was not so much breaking, but a rehash of the earlier story which really could have been resigned to a scroll on the bottom) and then Grimm was preempted entirely for a special report.

Preview Picture of the Week:

"The Bon Voyage Reaction" The Big Bang Theory, Thursday at 8:00 on CBS

Free Download of the Week: Current and More Sampler – Eisley (NoiseTrade)

New Album Release of the Week: Modern Vampires of the City - Vampire Weekend

New DVD Release of the Week: Dexter: The Seventh Season

Video of the Week: The World’s End had me at from the guys that brought you Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Although with a title like The World’s End, I was hoping for a disaster movie but the start of the trailer makes it look a pub crawl with the title coming from the name of the last bar they would patron. Then half way through, people’s eyes start glowing. Be it alien invasion or body snatching, I am all on board this movie.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Survivor, Sunday (Tomorrow) at 8:00 on CBS: For all intents and purposes, this season of Survivor ended when Andrea was unceremoniously vote off two weeks ago, but apparently they are still going ahead with the finale tomorrow which of course will be followed by the Live Reunion. After decimating the Fans all season, the Favorites surprisingly let two of them in the final five, which could be the downfall of the Favorites because the Fans may have better chance with the jury than the Favorites. And it looks like Sherri is part of the Dawn / Cochran so she could make it while Eddie could take the next two Immunity Challenge to secure his spot in the finals. It also looks like the finale will feature the attest ever in the game medical evacuation. Me, I will just be tuning into to see what Andrea wears in the final three Tribal Councils.