Around the Tubes - 3/29/12

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Dallas, The Borgias, Nurse Jackie, The Big C, Full Metal Jousting, Craigslist TV, Hungry for Change, Kid’s Choice Awards, and The Song That Changed My Life.

- TNT has released another teaser campaign for their upcoming Dallas reboot giving a nod to the famous “it was all a dream” twist from the original run when a very not dead Bobby walked out of the shower. The new incarnation hits your cable box June 13.



- The Borgias, Nurse Jackie, and The Big C all return next weekend, but for those that cannot wait for their returns; you can find them on show.com, YouTube and maybe even on your OnDemand channels.

- For fans of Full Metal Jousting who wonder what it would be like to joust against one of your friends, here is a video of Paul Suda and Josh Knowles talking about putting their friendship aside when they went head to head in the first quarterfinal.



- A new season of Craigslist TV starts up tomorrow on YouTube. The first episode of Season 4, "Be My Bodyguard" features JT, a Whitney Houston-obsessed karaoke host, as he searches for a Kevin Costner-esque "bodyguard" in LA.

- From now until March 31, you can watch Hungry for Change for free over at gaiamtv.com. The movie exposes shocking secrets the diet, weight loss and food industries don't want you to know. Discover the deceptive strategies designed to keep you craving more and more.

- With the Kid’s Choice Awards this weekend, SodaHead.com has conducted a poll of the most popular family entertainment over the past three decades from music to music.

- New program alert! Premiering on BYUtv this Sunday is The Song That Changed My Life where artists like Tony-award winning Broadway star Lea Salonga and Billboard chart record breaker, Grammy-award winning Duncan Sheik talk about that one special song that made them realize that could or should make music themselves.

Previewing Wicked Tuna

For anyone who like fishing or listening to Boston accents, I have a show for you: Wicked Tuna. (Full Disclosure Notice: I hate Boston, I hate Bill Belechicken, I hate the roided up Red Sox, I hate Ben Affleck, I hate Marky Mark, I hate Mitt Romney, I hate Jimmy Fallon, I hate the Boston dude from The Voice, I even hated the Boston season of The Real World; Boston is one step above Jersey Shore on the annoying places scale) The series follows around five boats (only three are shown in the premiere episode) sailing out of America’s oldest seaport, Gloucester, Mass looking to hook them a bluefin tuna.

Stakes are high because every time they head out to sea will coast them about $3,000 between fuel and other costs of fishing so if them come back without a catch, they are out a lot of money. But catching just one bluefin can bring you into the black on the trip and you may need to catch multiple fish just to make money on your trip. Keep in mind that catching bluefin tuna is not as easy as throwing out a line and coming back empty-handed is a real possibility especially when you are fighting against the other boat and other dangers at sea.

Even though the fisherman are the main focus of the show, Wicked Tuna does touch on the very real realities of overfishing that have dwindled the bluefin tuna over the year to the point one scientist called them the bison on the sea. National Geographic has even set up a website for Wicked Tuna that features an in-depth article on the history of how bluefin got where they are today (they are currently classified as a “species of concern” by the government), as well as information and links to the many different stakeholders in the survival of this species.

Wicket Tuna airs Sundays at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel. But who cares what I think about the show, you can actually watch it yourself over at natgeotv.com or on the National Geographic Facebook page. For those that want to wait to watch it on your television, check out the trailer below:

Trailer

We’re Gonna Party, Karamu, Fiesta, Forever

It is a shame that time has almost completely forgotten Lionel Richie. He was on the eighties music Mt. Rushmore with Michael Jackson, Prince, and Bruce Springsteen but is now put into categories with other cheesy eighties acts like Culture Club. Like most eighties acts, the nineties were not kind to Richie, it probably did not help he went ten years in-between releasing a new album after the smash hit Dancing on the Ceiling. Even worse, last decade he became known primarily as Nicole Richie’s dad even though he released an otherwise ignored solid Coming Home album.

Know like many pop acts of the past decade that saw their record sales go south, Lionel is going country. But unlike someone like Jessica Simpson, Richie has a history in country, writing Kenny Rogers’s number one country hit Lady. Also Lionel is taking baby steps into the genre rerecording thirteen songs from his catalogue for Tuskegee with a who’s who of country stars from Blake Shelton (Lionel has been mentoring Blake’s rivals currently on The Voice, so hopefully a performance will be soon coming on the show), Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles (who will be competing against Richie on the upcoming vocal competition Duets), recent country convert Darius Rucker, and of course Kenny Roger who shares his former song Lady with the songwriter.

Songs range from his Commodores days to the hit making eighties that everyone know and for those that have never heard Just for You, it comes from Lionel’s little heard 2004 album of the same name (sorry Billy Currington, you drew the short straw on that one). Not surprisingly the songs can be pretty much hit or miss, Shelton, with all the time hanging around Cee Lo Green, adapts himself well to You Are. But on Say You, Say Me, now with slide guitar, Jason Aldean and his very thick country accent really drags down the song which is probably why his voice does not pop up until the second verse. Hello gets creepier thanks to Nettles but she also overpowers the song more than what it needs.

Sail On which was the most country ready song in Richie repertoire works nicely with the added Tim McGraw vocals. And the harmonies of Little Big Town start Deep River Woman off nicely in one of the few songs where Lionel’s voice is not the first week here. The old guard of Richie and Willie Nelson suits Easy well and may even leave you disappointed that Willie has not tacked the classic sooner. Tuskegee ends with All Night Long with Jimmy Buffett and Corel Reefer Band bringing even more party to the song, along with some steel drums, with the song being as awesome as you would have expected when you saw it on the track listing. But most of Tuskegee, you are left wishing that Lionel Richie would have just recorded countrified versions of his songs by himself.

Song to Download – All Night Long

Tuskegee gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

First Impressions: Mad Men 5.x

All the pretentious Mad Men fans like to go on and on about the time jumps between season of Mad Men and how they are able to guess when the new season is taking place in no time, and this was actually the first time I actually cared enough to realize how far ahead the show went when I noticed that Baby Gene was still a baby. Although I almost thought the show went backwards in time after seeing Bobby Draper managing to get younger.

So here we are about six months later (I am still not pretentious enough to pin down the exact length of time) and apparently the new car smell might be wearing off the new Draper nuptials. As previous notch in his bedpost Dr. Miller so aptly predicted last season, Don only likes stuff that are new (she also correctly predicted he would be married within a year early last season). Note to any secretary who marries her boss who happens to have stolen someone else’s identify, throwing him a surprise party for his fake birthday may not be the best idea no matter how many awkwardly awesome Zoo Be Zoo dances you do for him at the party.

But more surprising than his party is that the marriage may actually work. Megan can play the mother that Don has be searching for all his life by monitoring his alcohol intake and she will even clean the apartment in her underwear (I bet she is up for punching him in bed too). You know that is something Betty (who thankfully was absent for the first two hours) would never do, mostly because that is something for the help and if she were to do it, she would dress in her Sundays best while doing it. Megan is Don’s mother, wife, and mistress all rolled into one. I may even take the under for number of women Don has sex with this season. Has Vegas even released their Mad Men prop bets yet?

I have long thought that Peggy Olsen would end up being the new Don Draper, she has her own secret life, but I am wondering if Pete Campbell may be filling those shoes who thanks to Peggy’s secret has his own (even if we have not seen or heard about him for about two season). And when he walked into him home in the suburbs, I actually had visions of his own Draper Manor and now has the same amount of kids as Don had during season one and even started feuding with Roger Sterling. All he needs now is his own unattractive bohemian mistress.

But the reason I continue to watch Mad Men after the boring first two seasons, is that around the third it surprisingly got funny. Well that and everyone could use more Annie Edison in their lives. There was plenty to laugh at. Bert Cooper arguing with Peggy’s hippie boyfriend, Roger and his teen bride ruining the surprise party, Lane continuing to be a creepy perv to poor effect, the unintended result of SCDP’s help wanted ad, the bean ballet, the partner’s meeting Pete’s office, Roger’s first meeting with his baby and how the baby got around, and Harry Crane’s recreation of Megan’s dance. Zoo Be Zoo indeed.

Mad Men airs Sundays at 10:00 on AMC. You can download Mad Men on iTunes. You can even buy the Zoo Be Zoo song sung by Megan Draper herself on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 3/25/12

Once Upon a Time: When Rumplestilskin combined the hairs of Snow White and Prince Charming, I thought he was creating a child from the hair which made me wonder if that kid grew up and became the mysterious writer. That was until I remember that would make him Emma’s brother, who he asked out on a date (but then again Luke and Leia flirted in the first fourth Star Wars movie, so not out of the realm of possibilities). Since he showed up in Storybrooke, I theorized he was banished from the fairy tale world much like Emma, and this at least this new theory would explain his existence.

Elsewhere, it is a little creepy that it turned out to be Katherine’s heart in the box; I assumed it would turn out to be an animal’s heart. Of course it can still turn out that Regina (or even Gold) had someone tamper with the results and my theory that Katherine is hanging out with Belle in the dungeon could still be correct.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: The show likes to come up to the preverbal line and then jump across it, but Mandi’s baby daddy turning out to be her own father just went way too far even for this show. Naturally whenever Mandi shows up I get visions of Tessa Altman and I glad she is off in the suburbs so she was not around for this storyline.

House of Lies: Was Pop-Up Videos even around in 2002? I thought it was off the air by then.

The Voice: I have been down with Cee Lo Green from the Goodie Mob days through his Prefect Imperfection all the way up to Gnarls Barkley (okay, no one really loved his Perfect Imperfections). But I am now out on Cee-Lo after he picked the horrible Erin Martin over the awesomeness of Wayne’s World The Shields Brothers!. But at least Dia Frampton can now rest easier now that she no longer owns the title of worst Battle Round duet in the history of the show.

I understand Cee-Lo can enjoy weirdness, but there is good weird (i.e. Heart-Shaped Box last week) but Erin is just bad weird, and even if you do like her voice, she still hit some painfully bad notes during this performance. What was almost as disappointing as Cee-Lo pick in the winner was his choice of song. Yes Tina Turner was an inspiring, but if you are going to have one of her songs, how could it not be We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)? Can you image how awesome that performance could have been, Erin was already dressed for it. And by awesome, I mean awesomely bad. I feel cheated.

Yet Erin over the Shields Brothers was not even the biggest shocker of the night, I was shocked, shocked, SHOCKED when Ashley De La Rosa, who I assumed was just a tomato can considering her Blind Audition was relegated to a montage (please note that the three singers last year just happened to go up against three finalist during the Battle Round), beat Jonathas who got all the girls in a tizzy when he auditioned. Thankfully Christina Aguilera did give him the boot now so the teen girl faction cannot vote him further than he should go. I do blame his early exit on his bad tattoos. Whoever is pictured on his arm (his wife? Daughter? Jon Bon Jovi circa 1988?) should be offended at how bad the depiction of them is. But why not show Ashley’s Blind Auction, it was not a train wreck. Did she not have a sobby enough of a sob story? (her The Voice page boasts she is a, “trilingual straight-A student”.) Or is America not cool enough to get a V V Brown song, which she performed?

Actually much like last week, upsets were plentiful this week, aside from the Shields Brothers, I would have guessed that Angel Taylor Gwen Sebastian would have an easy time getting to the Live Shows. That is seven times this season I have been really shocked by the outcome of the battle based solely on the contestants Blind Audition and how they were portrayed on the show.

One final comment: how does Blake Shelton not know Heart Shaped Box but has Get Outta My Dreams (Get Into My Car) at the ready? I think much like presidential candidates have to release their financial records; Blake should have to release the songs he has on his iPod.



You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. Check the widget at left to download the songs from this episode.

Switched at Birth: Holy Rodger Dorn sighting! I guess that means Wilkie will not be going to boarding school next season because you do not bring in Roger Dorn for just one scene. Plus the deaf third wheel was a great addition to the Daphne / Wilkie relationship this week.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Switched At Birth on iTunes.

The River: Of course the river will not let them leave. Not that we will get to see how it turns out.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The River on iTunes.

Justified: The problem with a great promo it can overshadow an episode and this is a prime example. With a couple more episodes left in the season, I kind of knew nothing much would come out of Raylan’s “Why wait” suggestion to Quarles and the barmaid did end squashing it. And that really made the rest of the episode feel like filler because of it. Though I came to the realization this week that even despite the plastic face, Win has some of the greatest reaction shots to Quarles’s craziness.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: One World: I am conflicted about this week, usually I do not wish pain on anyone, but if someone deserved it, it definitely is Colton who even manage to up his douchebagary before being hauled off on a stretcher when he suggested, twice, and even to her face that Christina should jump in the fire so she does not have to wait to be voted off. I would have live to see Christina manage coup and vote Colton off instead with an Idol in his pocket, but I am glad he is gone by any means.

But what know? It was an odd bit of editing that they gave so much screen time to someone who was gone before the merge to the point the only other people I know that are left are Kat and Tarzan and I only know them because they are complete morons (or is it Troyzan that is the idiot?). Should be interesting who emerges as the leader without Colton there. Hopefully it is not Alicia. And I was really disappointed that they did not vote right after the merge, I have longed for the time Survivor would have a surprise vote before anyone has time to strategize.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Bent: I am glad to have Landry Clarke back on television, but I am not entirely sure what the show is all about. It seems to me the show should have been a hour long drama that just happens to be funny because it is not funny enough to be a sitcom. And just how many failed sitcoms is NBC going to give the male lead whose name I have not bothered to learn because his shows never stick around? Plus naming him Riggins on a show with Landry Clarke is a bit distracting.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Bent on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes: My favorite part of the episode was the running temperature gauge. My second favorite, how CT dove right in after the dude said not to.
You can stream recent episodes over at mtv.com. You can also download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes on iTunes.

Community: Of course Fresh Stewart was playing a French Stewart impersonator who was now too old for the role. Welcome back Community.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Awake: My favorite part of this episode was the name: Kate Is Enough. It nice to see a show that takes itself overly serious would name an episode so cheesily.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Awake on iTunes.

Best of the Week - 3/24/12

Quote of the Week: Why wait? (Raylan, Justified)

Song of the Week: Silver Springs – Fleetwood Mac (as sung by George Bluth Sr., Bent)

Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: Tim Tebow Heading to New York: As a Cleveland Browns, I was a bit worried with all the talking head claiming the Browns must upgrade at the quarterback position even though I was content with Colt McCoy and though the team should upgrade around him, making Colt better in the process. Serious, his number one receiver last year was a kick returner. I do not like mobile quarterbacks like Robert Griffin III because they have a short shelf life, and free agents like Kevin Kolb and Matt Flynn were not going to do much better than McCoy and I did not want to overpay for the same production we already had. A week after free agency started and all the high profile names were out of the pictures and I let out a sigh of relief. Then Peyton Manning landed in Denver.

Naturally all the talking head pointed to Cleveland as a potential landing spot for Tim Tebow which made more worried than the previous possible because Tim is the single worst starting quarterback ever in the history of the National Football League. Sure he made me believe me in God again because not only was he the worst, he also was the luckiest playing teams after major upheaval, the Bears a week after Jay Cutler got hurt, the first game back for Carson Palmer after sitting on the couch the last year and a half. They were even to win a playoff game because the Steelers best defensive players couldn’t even set foot in Denver because a medical issue could have killed him because of the thin air.

Thankfully the Jets quickly traded for Tebow, not just because he would not be playing for Cleveland, but Tebow’s presence in New York could possibly cause the city, or very least the team, to self combust. Seriously, is it too late to get a Tebow / Rex Ryan reality show on this fall? Sure I may have some karma coming back to be for badmouthing Tim Tebow (as Pat Robertson humorously suggest will happen to Peyton Manning for daring to step into Tebow’s shoes) but to see Tebow singlehandedly bring down NYC can only be summed up by the Jet’s own Bart Scott: “can’t wait!”

Preview Picture of the Week:

Make it or Break It returning Monday at 9:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: Blood for Poppies – Garbage (Garbage.com; e-mail required)

Deal of the Week: $3.99 Albums: Amazon has secretly released another batch of albums for only $3.99 including ones from The Throne, Florence + the Machine, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Maroon 5. Grab them quick because the sale may npt last long.



New Album Release of the Week: Covered - Macy Gray

New DVD Release of the Week: South Park: The Complete Fifteenth Season

Video of the Week: All the pretentious Man Men fans like to whine how it’s been about five hundred days since the last new episode. Screw you hippies. It has been 1,677 days since R. Kelly released the last chapter of Trapped In the Closet. Well the wait is almost over because IFC recently announced that new episodes are “coming soon.” No word on when exactly or how many new chapters will be released this time, but Kels stated last year that he has already written thirty-two chapters. Can’t wait.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Mad Men, Sunday at 9:00 on AMC: After all the hype, I finally got around to watching Mad Men a couple years ago and was bored to tears. Unfortunately I already owned season three before I even started on the first season, so I went ahead and forced myself through the second which also did not do much for me aside from cure my insomnia (and make me want to drink and smoke and work; two things I rarely even do at home). The third season got better and had a season finale that I really enjoyed and for the first time I really wanted to see where the show would go with the new agency. And the fourth did not disappoint the promise mostly because of Don Draper’s secretaries, the first who hilariously had a mental breakdown that Don chose to ignore and then was replace by Mrs. Blankenship who was straight out of a sixties work sitcom. As I write this, I still have three episodes I need to get through to be caught up by the fifth season premiere, and even though I doubt I will ever enjoy it like all the annoying pretentious people who claim Mad Men is the best thing on television (seriously, do they just not watch Justified or refuse to think a show about rednecks could be any good?), but I am for the first time actually looking forward to the show.

Around the Tubes - 3/23/12

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Girls, Veep, Leave it to Niecy, Game of Thrones, Full Metal Jousting, Saturday Night Live, Mad Men, and more summer premiere dates.

- HBO has recently released new posters for two of their upcoming new shows, Veep starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Judd Apatow produced Girls. Take a gander of both below:



- For more on Veep, check out this week’s New Yorker for a piece on the show.

- Do not ask me what a docu-sitcom is, but Reno 911 star Niecy Nash will be starring in just that when her new show Leave it to Niecy premieres Sunday at 10:00 on TLC where she is on a mission to make her family eat healthier. Take a look below:

Just Robbed a Farmer


- Fans of Game of Thrones will want to head to its Facebook page where Fans can watch videos on each of the 5 Houses of Westeros, and then pledge their allegiance to one of them. Those who pledge to the House with the winning votes, will be eligible for a sweepstakes.

- While on the Full Metal Jousting Facebook page, you can enter a sweepstakes to win a suit of armor from the show.

- April Saturday Night Live hosts have been announced and Sofia Vergara will host April 7 with musical guest One Direction. Then on April 14 the combo of Josh Brolin and Gotye will hit the stage.

- Last week I listed a bunch of summer premiere dates, and here are a couple more for you to mark on your calendars accordingly:

Thursday, May 24 at 10:00 on TBS: New sitcom Men at Work starring Danny Masterson, Michael Cassidy, Adam Busch, and James Lesure
Tuesday, June 5 at 8:00: The third season premiere of Pretty Little Liars
Tuesday, June 5 at 9:00: The continuation of the freshman season of Jane by Design
Monday June 11 at 9:00 on ABC Family: New show Bunheads about a Vegas showgirl turned small town dance instructor
Wednesday, June 20 at 8:30 on ABC Family: New show Baby Daddy about a new single father
Wednesday, July 11 at 9:00 on ABC Family: New realty series Beverly Hills Nannies which should be self explanatory
Thursday, July 19 at 10:00 on TBS: New sitcom Sullivan and Son produced by Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley (you know, the kid from A Christmas Story)

- Mad Men returns this weekend and HellaWella examines how attitudes towards key issues have changed since the 50’s and 60’s.

I Want My Music Television - 3/22/12

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.

Good Girl - Carrie Underwood



Yeah, Carrie Underwood definitely needs to wear glasses more often.


Never Let Me Go - Florence + The Machine



Just when you think Florence + the Machine cannot get anymore epic, here comes their latest video. Though it is hard to see two people at an ice skating rink without thinking of Happy Gilmore, you know, if Claire Dunfey excreted some weird dirty water from her forehead.


Tonight (Best You Ever Had) - John Legend



I have not added a song to my Baby Making playlist in a while because of the sad state of RnB the past decade, but the new John Legend song may have to go into heavy rotation, if only if there is a non-Ludacris version of the song because he is a bit of a mood killer.


Blue Jeans - Lana Del Rey


After the universal hate, you would think Lana Del Rey would go into hiding with Salman Rushdie and Bartman, but Lana del Rey is back with a mini tour and a new video that looks like something Herb Ritts would have directed in the nineties but with a random alligator thrown in foe no reason at all.

I Know Things Can Really Get Rough When You Go it Alone

Nothing ever lives up to expectations after being overhyped. After a bunch of Emmy’s and every critic raving over it like it was written by Jesus itself, I decided to give Mad Men a chance and was bored to death. Nothing happened, Don Draper is a humongous douchebag, and the acting from Betty Draper and Pete Campbell are so horrible is surprising that they are not currently employed by The CW. Could I have liked Mad Men more if people had not over sold it before I watched it? Possibly, the further I got away from the hype, the more I have enjoyed the show.

Possibly the worst case of overhyping came courtesy of Natalie Portman eight years ago when she proclaimed to the world that The Shins would change your life. Naturally you just had to give Caring Is Creepy a listen and there was no way not to be let down no matter how much you liked it. It had a nice wall of sound and encapsulated the indie movement about to pop, but in no way life changing. It surprisingly took them three years after the release of Garden State to release their next album and essentially broke up after that when lead singer James Mercer replaced the entire band and started recording with Danger Mouse as Broken Bells.

Mercer is back with an entirely new backing band still on the name The Shins (five years since he last used the name) for his first post Danger Mouse work with new album Port of Morrow. Though he did not produced the album (that was done by Greg Kurstin of The Bird and the Bee) or play any instruments on it but Danger Mouse’s influence if felt on the album with a more consorted effort to use electronic instrumentation than in previous incarnations of The Shins. Even the title track could have fit easily on the Broken Bells album.

The added textures are felt all over the album like on the album’s lead single Simple Song which sonically anything but with a lot going on in the background. The simple motif continues during Bait and Swich whe Mercer tries to claim, “I’m just a simple man.” September almost goes the opposite route from Simple Song as an actual simple and sweet song. While Fall of '82 sounds like something out of the Steely Dan catalogue. The Shins may never change many lives, they are still putting out solid albums.

Song to Download - Fall of '82

Port of Morrow gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

You Can Join the A Team or You Can Disappear

Pacing is a major issue with serial television these days. I am always a fan of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer route where you set up a big bad at the beginning of the season and defeat them at the end. Without a distinct goal you wander aimlessly around an island for unknown periods of time like Lost. Then there are series like The Killing that has a goal it is reach for, but as we found out in the first season finale, we have no idea when we will actually learn the killer of Rosie Larson.

Pretty Little Liars. fell into the latter category; we knew the goal for the titular characters was to figure out who the omnipresent A was. For the first three blocks of episodes, the show set a good mystery with plenty of suspects who could have been the mad texter, but the show started to lose steam as the mystery stretched out too long. Sure there was no throw the remote at the television moments like when the mystery was left unsolved on The Killing, but it was starting to get frustrated.

Then as Pretty Little Liars returned for its fourth block and we were finally promised that by the end of the season, A would be revealed which jumped started the show again as you had to pay attention to every little detail because like I said earlier, anyone could have plausibly have been A. One moment that struck me in what could have easily have been a throw away special Halloween episode, separate from the other episodes was a look at the end that former Allison tormentees (yes, I just willed that word into existence) Mona, Jenna, and Hermie the Hermaphrodite gave each other.

So that triad went straight to the top of my list of possible A suspects (after a not so dead Allison, which was more based on my hope that is was her because it would have made for the most interesting storyline). It turned out I was thirty-three percent right on my prediction when Mona revealed herself to Spencer after a dramatic costume change. Or am I more correct than I currently know? Not only did Mona threaten Spencer that should could join the A “Team” suggesting that Mona had some help. And just in case anyone though that Mona was just referencing the awesome eighties television show (if there is The A-Team on Pretty Little Liars, is Mona the Face of the team or Hannibal?), she also hints at multiple people during her weird inner monologue in her padded room and the telling a mysterious figure she did everything she asked her to at the very end. Of course the mysterious figure just happened to be wearing a jacket similar to Vivian Darkbloom’s coat.

So now the question is who is in that red jacket and just who Mona was working with? There was the black swan that looked exactly like Melissa who was talking to my previous suspected Mona cohort Hermie the Hermaphrodite. And of course the person with the biggest vendetta against Allison, the newly sighted Jenna, who gave her own mysterious figure a package prior to the masquerade ball. Oh yeah, and we will also have a murder mystery next season when Mya showed up dead at the end of the episode. Was it the crazy lesbian swimmer? Melissa, who had a front row seat at the crime scene? Another member of the A Team? Hopefully the show learns that two season is too long before the reveal something and we get at least one answer by the end of season three which will be starting up in two short months on Tuesday, June 5 at 8:00.

Pretty Little Liars 2.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

My Hands Are Clean

It is never a good sign when the behind the scenes drama of a show is more entertaining than what happens on screen, but the feud between The Walking Dead. creator Frank Darabount and AMC got more heated than most of the zombie battles on screen when the network decided it would rather spend more money on Mad Men, a show that got three times less the viewers of The Walking Dead. But with all the turmoil, the second season of the show got off to a great start with the zombie parking lot, a better sequence than anything in the slow moving first season. And it was all downhill from there.

In the mist of the zombie parking lot, little Sophia just had to run off into the woods, not to be seen again for two month. If it were not bad enough that we had to sit and watch characters we do not care about spend all that time searching for a kid we did not care about, all the searching was for not because she was hanging out with the other zombies in the zombie barn that became the group’s camp. Of course none of the people that fed the zombies in the zombie barn bothered to think to themselves, “hey, they are looking for a little girl, maybe the little zombie girl in our zombie barn is her.” Nope, we had to wait until Shane went off his rocker, the second of four times this season, and opened the zombie barn to find her.

To think how much worse that could have been if I actually cared about Sophia, but like the rest of the cast, I just did not care. Anyone in the cast could have been eaten by a zombie and I would be fine with it. I would have been content had Hershel went on a murdering spree post-zombie barn incident or if the dude from Terriers had gotten the best of Rick in the bar. The writers even managed to ruin the two more entertain from the first season as both Daryl and Glen got too whiny as the season progressed.

The season finale started much like the season premiere, with a horde of zombies, presumable the same ones (who, they moved slower than the plots on the show if they are just now getting to the farm). And we finally got the massive zombie fight I have been waiting for since the start of the show and the show finally delivered on something and thinned the cast some more (goodbye Hershel’s family whose named I never bothered to learn, but to the son, why did you not drive off as soon as Rick and Carl were on the roof, and how about locking the door in a zombie apocalypse?), but unfortunately Lori was not one of them. And Andrea inexplicably was able to escape hundreds of zombies to be saved by some Assassin's Creed looking person with arms zombie minions. Wait, what?

But as soon as everyone was safe and sound at the Sophie camp, the show started slowing down with the characters back to being whiny except for Rick who looks to be morphing into Shane. Great. And much like the end of season, the characters are stuck in the middle of nowhere with no plans (aside from the giant prison a mile away, seriously, they could not end the season at its doorsteps?). Even with the awesome zombie battle, The Walking Dead remains the single worst television show I have watched this season (and I made it through every episode of Pan Am.). Or at least until The Killing returns in two week. AMC: telling the slowest stories on television.

The Waling Dead 2.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 3/18/12

Once Upon a Time: Did they really rip off that unwatchable Amanda Seyfried movie for Little Red Riding Hood’s back-story? That really isn’t rhetorical because I have pretty much blocked the entire movie out of my mind except the sight of Amanda in the Red costume. But I vaguely remembering that they wanted you to think that it was her boyfriend, but it turned out being her family that is cursed.

I was a bit surprised that the wolf did not turn out to be the Doctor. When he showed up early in the episode I figured it would turn out to be him. But I am really getting sick of this Katherine search plot. Just show us that the Evil Queen has her locked up in the dungeon with Belle soon and get it over with.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: It looks like Lip’s nursery is going to be bigger in a couple months. But I wonder if he will get Ian to pretend to be the father for him?

The Walking Dead: You know all those annoying videos that seem to pop up every month or so that shows every time in movies where things happen over again and again like how no one has cell service or characters that tell you what doesn’t kill you make you stronger? I wonder how long until the “Smashing Your Own Face to Set Someone Up” will get made. Just this season we have seen Shane do it and the Rent Boy on Revenge (and I just finished up the first season of Boardwalk Empire which also saw someone do it back in the prohibition days). I guess it is to show us that the character is unhinged; because they could Shane could have easily said he escaped and saved the broken nose. But I did like the zombie Woodstock shot that ended the episode.
You can stream recent episodes over at amc.com. You can also download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I have had a long standing belief that A is Alison back from the dead, the problem is that there has not been a hint of the supernatural elsewhere on the show until the creepy doll kid. Except he turned out to be a plant by A. Oh well, one week and we will no for sure. And could we finally be done with the Aria / Ezra creepfest? The storyline has been so painfully to watch, it has felt like a lifetime sitting thought it. But I have a feeling this is a fake out because the writers have always treated them as some grand love story, and not the statutory rape that it is, so I would not be at all surprised if he gets a job in the town over. Over even worse Ella somehow gets Ezra his job back.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

The Voice: Did I really see Christina Aguilera and Lionel Richie give advice to some on how to sing a Nirvana song? But anyway, it was not a very good week for people high on my Post-Blind Audition Power Ranking. Gone are Jamie Lono (#4), Whitney Myers (#5), Lex Land (#8), and Geoff McBride (#10). Thankfully Lindsey Pavao (#3) staved off elimination but did so by bumping off Lee Koch (#20). After watching all my favorite gone down, it was when the four chair turning Whitney got shown the door I came up with an idea that going into the live show, each coach should be able to poach someone another coach sent home in the Battle Rounds. Or even better, have the viewing public vote on their six favorite eliminated contestants and introduce a fifth judge and see if they can defeat the original four.

It also became obvious that the coaches are giving songs that give one singer a clear advantage. Ever song selection this week clearly gave an advantage to the person who eventually won. Granted this may just be an anomaly because last week the pairings seemed more down the line with the exception of Ironic. Also my theory that your adviser can also give you an advantage went out the window when Geoff still lost despite getting to spend time with Lionel Richie (granted he should have won).
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

The River: I am surprised the Spanish chick who knows everything did not take heed from the dog because certainly the dog knows something the humans do not. I do not know if it was the zombies on the ship or it is something else coming later, but I would have totally followed the dog.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The River on iTunes.

Justified: Limehouse said last episode he likes to back the winner so I wonder how long until he swings over Boyd because his candidate looked much better in the debate than the one with the planted moderator (if I were Quarles, I’d want my money back). The bomb scene was just another classic Justified moment in a long line of great Justified moments.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: One World: Wow, both tribes almost split right down the middle with alliances staying together on both tribes. And now Colton is stuck with all the misfits and unfortunately quickly voted out the only one that seems to have the mental capacity to vote him out so it looks like we are stuck with him until at least the merge. This then begs the question with the buff guys on the other tribe rejoining the boys at the merge or stick with the girls? All I know is Survivor really needs to recruit more players with Tarzan’s name recognize affection (something I also have but never knew there was a name for).
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Suburgatory: So Dallas went to an all back college with Robin Givins? Excuse me while I let that sink in for a while.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Suburgatory on iTunes.

Modern Family: Is it wrong that I laughed histarically at the clown funeral?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



The Challenge: Battle of the Exes: I know there is not many brain cells among them already, but breathing in all that jet exhaust cannot be healthy. But it least it was entertaining especially when the picnics items flew high up in the air or Camilla falling down. And it is pretty amazing to learn this was the very first time Mark was in an elimination round.
You can stream recent episodes over at mtv.com. You can also download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes on iTunes.

Community: Oh, Annie’s Boobs, how have I missed you.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Awake: I know I do not watch many cop shows, but from the very few that I have seen in my lifetime, I have upon the realization that ever former partner is dirty.
You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Awake on iTunes.

Best of the Week - 3/17/12

Quote of the Week: Now I am off to lead a pack of tiny testosterone animals to victory. Got to warm them up and give them my best Friday Night Lights speech about hearts or eyes or some (expletive deleted). (Steve, Shameless)

Song of the Week: King of Rock – Run-DMC (Happy Endings)

Scene of the Week:



Big News of the Week: It’s March Madness Baby!: The first round is less about how many games you won but how many teams you have going deep in your bracket still around. And when one half of your Final Four is out on the first day really is not a good sign. Thanks Missouri and Duke. But like it is the last couple years, the big story is Barack Obama’s bracket which surprisingly is not completely chalk this year and even has an eleventh seed in the Sweet Sixteen. Sure his other three regions are pretty much chalk and has the overall top two teams in the finals.

Preview Picture of the Week:

Pretty Little Liars Season Finale

Most Worthless The Walking Dead Character of the Week: T-Dogg (so when they are rounding up a posse to hunt down an armed dude, they choose the ten pound Asian Glen who got trigger shy a couple episodes back over T-Dogg; which begs the question, who else is above T-Dogg in the hunting queue? Maggie? Hershel? Carl?)

Free Download of the Week: Beautiful Day - U2 (Google Play)

New Album Release of the Week: Tuskegee - Lionel Richie

New DVD Release of the Week: The Muppets

Video of the Week: I gave up on spoilers almost a decade ago after finally realizing they were ruining my television experience, but the one concession I make is that I still watch the promos that follow the shows which are like my nicotine patch that keeps me from spoiler site. Granted I should just turn off my television when the credits run because the promos routinely spoil the show anyway or are just misleading. With all the crap I do give to the promo monkeys, the promo for next week’s Justified is the single greatest promo ever in the history of television. “Why wait?” More like “Can’t wait!”



Next Week Pick of the Week: Pretty Little Liars, Monday at 8:00 on ABC Family: Monday is the big day when we will finally learn who A is on the season finale of Pretty Little Liars. Check out my odd of who is behind the texts here: Oddsmakers: Who Is A?