57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/2/14

Shameless: That was a lot more entertaining than last week’s mope fest. Who would have guess womb fratricide could be so funny? And they really should use Mickey more often. Sure he is not the best actor on the show, but he definitely delivers the funniest lines.

The Walking Dead: Where have the three amigos been all this time? As the show struggled to find characters worth caring about, these three show and are already high in the show’s power ranking (same goes with the lesbian tag along). We do learn who they are and what they are about this week. Well that is if we are to believe that the mulletted scientist (seriously, a mulletted scientist is awesome) actually does know what caused the zombie outbreak and how to cure it. Of course Glen and his irrational love ruined the trip to DC. Hey Glen, how about not attacking the military guy? That probably was not the smartest thing ever. I do wonder if Abraham is connected to the military guys The Governor killed a couple seasons back (probably not because I think that was two or three showrunners ago).
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Switched at Birth: Who knew you could mumble speaking in ASL? But enough about sign language quirks, Wallace Fennel’s mom stabbed a dude! Did not see that coming.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Switched at Birth on iTunes.

The Voice: Last year, Usher and Shakira were clearly overmatched with Adam and Blake running circles around them. I give Shakira a pass because no one great picked her over the other coaches aside from the three Latinas (none of which she took to the Live Shows). Usher on the other hand did pull in some ringers during the Blind Audition but managed to end up with a worse team than Shakira when the show went live due to some bad coaching decisions (like cutting Ryan Innes and Jess Kellner) and some horrible Battle Round pairings which led to some of the most painful to sit through performances ever (Josiah vs. Jeff may have been the worst non-montaged Battle ever).

So I was disappointed that Usher picked up four of my five favorite acts in the first week. Maybe they can be stolen before Usher ruins them. Then Shakira continued picking up the scraps with three uninspiring singers, none of which seems like Live Shows material. Since she is in his chair, Shakira really should go with the Cee-Lo philosophy of taking fliers on weirder contestants no one else wants. Adam may be the four-chair champion, but it is more impressive what Cee-Lo did when he was the only one to turn around (Jamar Rogers, Nicholas David, Amanda Brown, and Cole Vosbury among them). Shakira may have done better with Marina Mia and / or Keith Shuskie, both who seemed more promising than the three she did pick up who scream fodder to me.


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

The Blacklist: Was Red’s interpolation of a gay homosexual offensive? Maybe. Was it entertaining? Very.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Castle: After the second person came forward and confessed, I thought for sure that the killer was a hypnotist who convinced people they were the ones to commit the murder. That would be a pretty ingenious way of getting away with it.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Oh snap, Aria went H.A.M. on Ezra’s apartment. But I am wondering if Erza really is telling the truth about not being A and is just a very overzealous writer doing anything for a story. Then again it is also plausible that he is both and the person who tried to kill Ally is someone completely different. And just how many dudes is Hanna going to awkwardly kiss? Caleb is not going to be happy when he returns to Rosewood now that his spin-off has been canceled.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Justified: Even though it was basically a procedural its first season, it is weird now when they have a standalone episode in the middle of the season (at least I am assuming that this case will not have any bearing on the rest of the series). Of course there was plenty of humor in Raylan chasing down a one legged computer hacker who drained his bank accounts. Although with all that was going on with the Crowders, the Crows, and the brewing feud between Alison and Wendy, the case just seemed rushed.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Cagayan: A couple seasons ago I suggested that Survivor should do a Morons vs. Masterminds season and though that was a conceit for an All Star version, Brains vs. Beauty vs. Brawn may be as close as they get (as log as you assume jocks and models are not very smart). When the show was announce I originally thought that the Beauty tribe would be at a distinctive advantage because Immunity Challenges are geared to brute strength and mental puzzles, but low and behold they won the first one and came from way behind on the Brains tribe on a puzzle in the second.

That sent the Brains to Tribal for the second straight time. It has become very clear extremely soon that all of them are just overthinking everything and it seems like every master plan backfired on everyone who thought they were in control. First David targeted Garrett because he was a threat later in the game instead of the easy vote of J’Tia. Then Garrett was paranoid to not let anyone out of his sight but was not paranoid to not play his Hidden Immunity Idol. And just like that J’Tia is the Ciera of this season inexplicably surviving two votes she had no business making past (hopfully she turns out to be as entertaining as Ciera). Seriously, how do you not vote off the chick that dumped out your rice when you did not even win the fishing supplies?

But the all-stars of the first two episodes was the new budding friendship of former Trailblazer Cliff Robinson and the guy who had his basketball cards Woo (well those two and Morgan’s overworked underwear; my first impression of the “Beauty” tribe was underwhelming but I was proved extremely wrong with Morgan who sure likes bending over). Hopefully Tony, who is targeting Cliff, overplays his hand like everyone on the Brains tribe and finds his torch being snuffed out with Immunity in his pocket. Cliff and Woo would make a solid final two (and Morgan as the third for other obvious reasons).
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Cagayan on iTunes.

The Americans: The first season really launched the type of great show that has everything you should want, great acting, great writing, but it was just missing some intangible that keeps me from getting too excited for the show (FX continued that trend with The Bridge over the summer). I do have a feeling that with The Americans, it is hard to root for a couple of communist especially since we know they lost the Cold War. I am still in on the show and though I am still not waiting breathlessly for a new episode, my excitement level has raised a little after the season two premiere. I do like Paige is starting to snoop around her parents and seeing how they deal with learning her parents are Russian spies. But is she going to continue to snoop after catching her parents in the act? And now the parents have seen firsthand what can happen when he walked in on his friends murdered along with their daughter. It will be interesting to see if they are most loyal to their children or their country when it comes down to it. But when it comes down to it, I still hope they fast forward to the end of the Cold War to see how the Jennings adapt then. But that is still almost a decade away on the show.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: When a producer called Juliet up I was thinking they were going to go in the way of The Dixie Chicks and Rick Rubin when they were shunned by Nashville. Nope, they went completely the other way with harps and weird goth photo shoots that in no way Rolling Stone would put on their cover. Oh yeah, and Lamar died. And Teddy let it happen.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Hannibal: When NBC released a promo for the new season there seemed to be a very spoilery scene of Hannibal and Jack doing battle (or as spoilery as a prequel when you knew something like that would happen), except that fight scene surprisingly ended up being the very first scene of the new season. Of course we got the dreaded “12 weeks earlier” placecard in the middle of the fight. So it may take a while for us to see the conclusion of that scene. If the show takes place in real time, we would not see it until maybe the penultimate episode.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 3/1/14

Quote of the Week: Guy threw his leg out the window, jumped out, slid down the light pole and then gave me the bird! C’mon, I love this guy, let me catch him. (Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, Justified)

Song of the Week: Don't Put Dirt On My Grave Just Yet – Juliet Barnes (Nashville)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: A Reboot No One Asked For Coming to NBC: When Veronica Mars got itself kickstarted back into existence, it started the inevitable discussion of what should follow it, of course Firefly, Terriers, and every Bryan Fuller show got mentioned. One show that has never gotten mentioned by anyone in the reboot discussion was Heroes. Yet NBC announced very late last Saturday night (if people dump bad news on Friday afternoon hoping that it will get forgotten in the weekend rush, what does it mean to drop a press release on Saturday night) that Heroes Reborn will be returning for a 13 episode mini-series event.

Not else was released about it other than creator Tim Kring will be back as executive producer. No cast has been mention, but not surprisingly most of the former cast is available other than the cheerleader (who may become available in May as Nashville is currently floundering, but then again, everything on ABC currently so it is really a tossup; a Lost reboot announcement may soon follow).

People who watched Heroes typically fall into one of two camps; there are those that think that the show fell off a cliff creatively after the first season, and people like me who never thought the show was very good in the first place aside from the occasional episode written by Bryan Fuller (who is currently the creator of Hannibal another rating adversed show so he may or may not be available by the Heroes gets started). But Heroes is coming back because superheroes are big again, Marvel launched an empire that came into the televised terrain this season (and will expand onto Netflix with five other shows soon) while DC is playing catch up with multiple shows (most of them not linked) in the works. But why NBC would choose to reboot a universally disliked show is still a head scratcher. If they were going to reboot a sci-fi show, why not the much superior Quantum Leap? I would even take a Misfits of Science reboot over Heroes.


Preview Picture of the Week:

"Brotherhood" Perception, Tuesday at 10:00 on TNT

Free Download of the Week: Live From Austin City Limits – Needtobreathe (Noise Trade)

New Album Release of the Week: G I R L - Pharrell Williams

New DVD Release of the Week: Garden State [Blu-ray]

Video of the Week: Orphan Black was easily the biggest surprise of 2013. It was BBC America’s first original scripted series, co-produced by a Canadian network (whose sci-fi shows range from watchable to laughably bad) starring an unknown in almost ten different roles, and airing on Saturday nights. How anyone found it in the first place is a mystery, but I caught up last summer thanks to On Demand (as far as I know the whole fitrst season is still there if you want to catch up). The show ended up being one of the best shows on television. Orphan Black returns April 19 and below is the first trailer for season two:


Next Week Pick of the Week: Shear Madness, Tonight at 10:00 on Nat Geo Wild: Just when yuou thought reality television had exhausted every occupation on the planet, tonight sees the premiere of Shear Madness. The show follows Natalie Redding, a former model turned shepherdess with a master’s degree in animal sciences who runs a successful sheep, goat, and fiber business. Her husband is Sean who is dubbed “son of hair care icon Jheri Redding” who I am under the assumption was the inventor of the Jheri Curl.

We’re All Self Conscious, I’m Just the First to Admit It

It took me a minute to get into Kanye West. His first single was a mublecore track Through the Wire that he quite literally recorded with his mouth wired shut (hence the title of the song). He second single was a song called Slow Jamz and I am against rap slow jams (Bonita Applebum being the lone exception). Then I heard All Falls Down. That was a sit up and take notice moment. Base around an obscure Lauryn Hill hook (he could not clear the sample so that is Syleena Johnson singing) that loops throughout the whole song a self conscious Kanye debates himself on what he thinks other people want him to do and what he knows he should do.

By the time Jesus Walks dropped I was all in. The song is the rare rap song that sounds epic and timeless, something that could fill U2 type stadiums. Again, Kanye was rapping about an internal battle, but this time it was a war for his soul with faith on one side and the almighty dollar, through any means necessary on the other shoulder. Ten years later and it is still a tossup of which side won, but it was at that time I had to check out the whole album.

The College Dropout, March’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, almost plays out like a concept album on the doldrums of working your way through college. Starting off with We Don’t Care about the mid-twenties with not much to look forward to because “we weren’t supposed to make it past twenty-five.” That concept then end with School Spirit which stand tall amongst the other great tracks on the album. On the track Kanye says goodbye to school without the paper saying he is finished to a piano bounce (which is only enhanced by the like, “I got a Jones like Norah.”) It is a shame the song never got a video treatment or was released by a single.

Even on the first album, you could see Kanye push the boundaries; who else could get Jay-Z to appear on the same track as a spoken word artist (Never Let Me Down). Or get two of the deeper thinking rappers, Talib Kweli and Common, get down and a pick up chicks song (Get Em High). The guy even closed out the album recounting the road to the first album by having everyone involve give an oral history to a beat (Last Call). And right before that, it may be one of the sweetest rap song that managed to not come across as extremely corny (Family Business).

The College Dropout was a game changer that topped my list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the 00’s. It set up a long career. In a genre that has one of the smallest shelf lives, Kanye is still very relevant a decade later and even a bigger lightning rod for better or worse. I would argue that Yeezus would be for worst, but this still does not keep me from hoping a new Kanye West album drops this year, be it solo, another Watch the Throne, an uneven G.O.O.D. compilation, or something completely different that we will never see coming.

Previewing Vikings: Season Two

After the very successful first foray into scripted television with the Hatfields & McCoys miniseries, History quickly followed that up with its first scripted series Vikings. It was decent, but still did not live up to like historical dramas like Rome or Deadwood. Of course the biggest problem was its basic cable limitations which kept them from going overboard with the violence, nudity, and language. Reading about real life Vikings, their story needs to be told in a hard R setting and you are just losing a lot of story being hindered by a PG-13 limitation.

But the show was good enough to warrant a second season and tonight’s premiere ties up all the loose ends when the episode opens up with an epic brother on brother battle after last season Rollo chose to align with one of Ragnar’s enemies. There is a lot of bloodshed. Once that is over, Ragnor has to deal with other problems most notably the very pregnant princess who sails into his port much to the chagrin Lagertha. There is less bloodshed, but this is a loser leaves town situation where one can have the attention of Ragnor at a time (his suggestion of a harem is shot down).

With all the loose ends tied up tonight, season two kicks into high gear next week when the show skips ahead four years. The woman who won is pregnant again to add to two kids that were birthed during the time jump. The break also means we get a new Bjorn played by Alexander Ludwig (The Hunger Games). Enough time has passed now that it is time to go back to England and Ragnor and his new raiding partner this time happen upon Wessex, England which is ruled by a king said to be as ruthless as Ragnor. This info comes from the former monk who has grown out his hair in the past four years and has taken up the Viking lifestyle. It is his story is the most interesting in the second season as he travels back to his former land and struggles with his past his current lifestyle.


Vikings airs Thursdays at 10:00 on History. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Vikings on iTunes.

Previewing Inside Job and Save Our Business

I never watched Undercover Boss because it seemed like it was just some bourgeoisie coming down to see how the plebes lived for a week before going back to their golden castles. It was like a “let them eat cake” version for the televised age. Plus a second season sounded silly for the show launched by the Super Bowl, seen by a third of all Americans. They really could find enough places where the worker bees are not suspicious of the old newbie in a bad wig and glasses? So I am a bit weary of anything “from the producers of Undercover Boss.”

Inside Job takes the Undercover Boss formula and tweaks it so there is not that icky “let them eat cake” vibe of its predecessor. Instead of the boss going undercover, (s)he sends an employee undercover as part of an interview process to fill a new position. But those other three applicants, who also share a house during the episode, are unaware that there is a mole amongst them. Then after the end of the interview process, it is the mole, not the boss who will pick who is hired.

Inside Job does a very good job in pacing as they do not reveal to the viewer right away who the insider is. But it does reveal who it is about halfway through the episode. So for those that like to put on their detective’s hat and try to figure out who employed by the business, you have plenty of time to guess, but we find out before the gimmick becomes annoying. Even before we meet any of the applicants, I guessed that the insider would be the oldest and / or the most boring while the person hired would be the next most boring. Going with that theory I was able to guess who the mole was on one of the two episodes I saw and who was hired on both. (The cynic in me would say each company already knows who they are going to hire and the producers provide the two “applicants” for entertainment value.)

The companies participating in the premiere season will be Mazda, House of Blues, Johnny Rockets, Abbyson Living, David Barton Gym, and Showdazzle.com. And where a second season of Undercover Boss seemed silly, more seasons of Inside Job could work because it will undoubtedly have a smaller audience. And even if future applicants are familiar with the twist, it would still be entertaining to see them try to figure out who among them already have a job within the company.

Inside Job airs Fridays at 9:00 on TNT.

Save Our Business is another “from the producers of…” whose show sounds like a small variation on their previous series. This show comes from the guys behind Kitchen Nightmares but instead Gordon Ramsey coming in to turn around failing restaurants, British entrepreneur and millionaire Peter Jones (who reminds me a little too much of Taran Killam as the recently unemployed Piers Morgan on Saturday Night Live) comes in and helps turn around failing businesses. Jones is less of a prick than Ramsey, but he still gives very blunt assessments of the businesses he encounters. During the first season, Jones will lend his expertise and tough-love guidance to an online retailer of “vintage inspired” woman’s clothing, an indoor kids theme park, a karate school, a combination florist / wine store, and a New York City bagel deli.

Save Our Business airs Fridays at 10:00 on TNT.

Previewing Diggers: Season Three

Tonight sees the return of the excitable Tim Saylor and George Wyant for a new season of Diggers and tonight they are looking to dig up “the greatest find of our lives.” These guys have never met a hyperbole they did not want to go over the top on. This greatest find they speak of is actually a mouse. Of course this is not just any mouse; it is the mouse from Steve Jobs’ first mass marketed Lisa computer.

Back in 1983, Jobs gave a speech at the now-defunct International Design Conference in Aspen and was asked to include a personal item for a time capsule that would also include Mad Magazine, a Rubik Cube, and beer for those who opened the time capsule. Sure the beer sounds silly and insignificant, but since the actual time capsule is plastic, the aluminum can will help metal detectors find it.

There is one small problem, no one remembers where the buried, the three people who were there had three different locations in mind for the time capsule, which was supposed to be open in 2000, but gained renewed interest with Jobs’ passing. And that is where Saylor and Wyant come in and they have to bring out the big guns to find it: Deep Seekers 10 feet which can find items as deep as ten feet. And the length of the thirteen foot long time capsule will make it the biggest dig of their careers. Also this season, the boys dig up bayonets and rare bullets, rare buttons to Colonial cannonballs, historical coins, and even a piece of gangster history..

Diggers airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on National Geographic Channel. You can also download Diggers on iTunes.

Previewing Dallas: Season Three

Season two was a hard season for Dallas. Midway through the filming, Larry Hagman died throwing all the plans up in the air and the writers had to redo the rest of the season to deal with JR’s death on screen. It was a valiant effort but the whole season just felt weird. The show returns tonight and it is back in tomorrow that the writer have proper time to prepare for a full season. But it may be back to an all too familiar form. Sue Ellen is drinking again while Bobby is trying to keep J.R. Jr. from drilling on Southfork.

What is new this season is that Elena is out for revenge after she learns that J.R. switched the deed of Southfork with her father’s land which turned out to be dry. So she sets up a secret alliance with Cliff who needs Elena’s help to prove the Ewing have set him up for J.R.’s murder. And the person she turns to at the end of the finale whose casa is being guarded by multiple armed guards is going to be very integral to the plan.

But forget the Barnes family tree, the most interesting and most messed up antagonists on the show remains the Ryland family. Last season Emma set her father to prison who in turned earlier in the season sent his mother to a forced rehab, giving the control of Ryland Transportation to him. With Harris in prison, that control reverts to Emma. That is going to make for an awkward Thanksgiving, well if anyone is able to make it. Of course J.R. Jr. is quick to exploit that relationship as he ended last season in bed with Emma instead of his new wife Pamela. If my knowledge of the Ewing family tree is correct, that means J.R. Jr. is married to his second cousin and his mistress is a first cousin. Again, that will be a very awkward Thanksgiving especially if his cousin and her ex-husband Christopher shows up.

But then again, the Ewing’s do not need to wait for Thanksgiving because they are now all living on Southfork, Bobby, Christopher, J.R. Jr., Ann, Emma, and Elena. Maybe even Sue Ellen who may not have moved in but spends an awful lot of time there. There is even a new ranch hand (see at right) who catches an eye of an Ewing, and probably all of them by the end of the season. As for the new season, in the first couple of episodes there are plenty of double crosses and bombshells dropped that you have come to expect from Dallas, the one at the end of the second episode is a doozy that will make for an interesting rest of the season. And just a heads up to Survivor fans, keep an eye out for a former contestant who gets wooed by J.R. Jr. in the background of an episode next week.

Dallas airs Mondays at 9:00 on TNT. You can also download Dallas on iTunes.

Dallas is not the only show returning to TNT this week, tomorrow, Perception returns to close out its second season with it four final episodes. Fist up, Dr. Pierce gets to live out his Field of Dreams fantasy. And by fantasy I mean it because it is all a hallucination when he is visited by a player on the last Cubs championship team. More humorously, Lewicki is stuck with a prodigy that Pierce is supposed to impress but hide by working with Kate. Next week is a little less humorous when Lewicki's brother comes to town with trouble not that far behind.

Perception airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on TNT. Perception on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 2/23/14

Shameless: Well that was a very serious episode of Shameless. I prefer my Shameless with even a little bit of black humor. I still wonder even if Fiona give up Mike’s brother if that will be enough for her to maintain guardianship of Liam.

The Walking Dead: This week was a lot more entertaining than Carl’s coming of age tale the week before. Any of the storylines this week would have made for a better full episode than Carl’s. Well maybe not Maggie and Glen irrational love story. They could have even made the Tyrese storyline its own spin-off. Call it A Man and Three Little Ladies. And I am glad the lesbian faux-cop made it through the assault because one of the more entertaining characters they have introduced in a white that was not instantly eaten by a zombie. Hopefully the three new characters live up to their hype from the people who read the comics and are not a letdown let when they spent the second season imploring, “Just wait until The Governor shows up” only to be severely disappointed.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

House of Lies: Who could have guessed that canine murder could be so entertaining? And who needs curling uniforms when you have Doug’s suit?

Switched at Birth: The murder mystery party was so stupid and silly, I actually wanted it to be the focus of the whole episode. It surely was much more entertaining than the Daphne love triangle. And I am not sure what it says about me that when Mary Beth said she was invited to the frat party that Bay was not, my initial though that it was a dog party that it turned out to be. But hey, I was right.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Switched at Birth on iTunes.

Castle: Just when you thought Castle has run out of idea on absurd plotlines, zombies, vampires, ghosts, they make a telekinesis episode. Awesome.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: It was revealed to the audience last season so it is sometime hard to remember that it is not clear cut that Ezra is A to the Liars. All they have is that he drinks Board Shorts Ale and they found Alison’s diary in his classroom which very well could have been planted there by A for all they know. But after Aria found that manuscript, it has to be pretty obvious to the Liars that he is A. That is close to a smoking gun they may get after they botched the sting in the reptile house. But if Ezra was with Aria, who was there in the reptile house. Mona seems too obvious. I have always had a sinking suspicion since it was revealed Ezra was A that he is being forced to help by the real A or has an evil twin so the writers can justify putting him and Aria back together. They like that creepy relationship way too much.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: Just when you thought Midas Touch Attack could not hit a new low, they lost a debate on Star Wars vs. Star Trek taking the pro-Wars side with the highly biased Lando Calrissian as one of the judges. This is one of the most epic reality losing streaks ever. And while a spelling bee on The Challenge is awesome, having one on King of the Nerds just seems lame and way too easy for the nerds.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 2/22/14

Quote of the Week: Set phasers to fun. (Xander Jeanneret, King of the Nerds)

Song of the Week: Nothin' but Trouble - Lily Lane (Pretty Little Liars)

Big News of the Week: Blame Canada: Vladimar Putin said before the Olympics that if the Russians won gold in ice hockey, none of the other gold medals would matter. If the Russians did not win the gold, none of the other gold medals would matter. Of all the American disappointments this Winter Olympics, Shawn White, no figure skating medals since the thirties, three combined Curling wins, a short track shutout in medals, all would have been forgiven if we grabbed the gold in hockey. Unfortunately for the second straight Olympics, the Americans were eliminated by one goal by those darn dirty Canadians. Making things worse in the women’s gold medal game, Canada tied the game in the final minute (with the US hitting the post of an empty goal) and went on to win in overtime. It is enough that the banished Justin Bieber to our country, but could we at least get one hockey gold, something the men have never done on foreign soil, please.

Preview Picture of the Week:

“Raw Deal” Justified, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX

Free Download of the Week: A Nightmare Before Summer – Nicole Atkins (Noise Trade)

New Album Release of the Week: Morning Phase - Beck

New DVD Release of the Week: Thor: The Dark World

Video of the Week: After The Avengers collected almost all the money, Marvel got cocky enough that it started greenlighting movies and television shows for even some of their most obscure properties. First up is Guardians of the Galaxies which features a talking tree and a gun toting raccoon. The movie finally hits screens in August but we finally got to see our first official trailer this week in an effort for Jimmy Kimmel Live to pull some eyeballs away from the latest iteration of The Tonight Show (bad news for Jimmy Fallon, he pulled in around the same numbers as Conan did when he took over for Leno). The trailer makes it looks like the reject version of The Avengers, and I mean that in an entertaining way. Now if only Marvel can get characters as interesting as a gun toting raccoon or a talking tree on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. they will managed to collect all the money.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Hannibal, Friday at 10:00 on NBC: With the Olympics ending this weekend, there are a glut of new and returning shows premiering next week (not to mention most that took the last two weeks off) but one of them stand above them all, the second season premiere of the best new show of last year, Hannibal. When we left off, Hannibal Lecter so toyed with Will Graham, everyone thought Will was the one that was doing all of the killing, but in a moment of clarity, Will finally realized that his physiatrist was setting him up, just as he was committed to a facility for the criminally insane. Hopefully the show does not have a sophomore slump and can prosper now that it is paired with Grimm on Friday nights. Here is a list of other premieres next week worth mentioning:

The Voice, Monday and Tuesday at 8:00
Dallas, Monday at 9:00 on TNT
About a Boy, Tuesday at 9:00 on NBC (sneak peak tonight after the Olympics)
Growing up Fisher, Tuesday at 9:30 on NBC (sneak peak tomorrow after the Closing Ceremonies)
Perception, Tuesday at 10:00 on TNT
Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, Wednesday at 8:00 on CBS
The Americans, Wednesday at 10:00 on FX
Vikings, Thursday at 10:00 on History

Around the Tubes: 2/21/14

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 Penny Dreadful, Growing up Fisher, The Americans, Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, Snake Salvation, Walking with Dinosaurs, AMHQ with Sam Champion, Live from Space, Mad Men, Shameless, House of Lies, and Syfy spring schedule.

- As the momentum and excitement builds in anticipation of the Sunday, May 11th premiere, Showtime has released the full-length trailer of its highly-anticipated drama series Penny Dreadful. Currently in production in Ireland, the eight-episode series stars Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill) and Eva Green (Casino Royale). Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Secret Diary of a Call Girl), Danny Sapani (The Bill) and Harry Treadaway (The Lone Ranger) also star.


- You can catch the series premiere of Growing up Fisher after the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics Sunday before it settles into its regular timeslot Tuesdays at 9:30. Until then, you can watch the cast watching curling.


- The Americans return Wednesday at 10:00 on FX and here is a first look at the new season:


- This spring, ten aspiring creature creators will compete to join the ranks of the legendary Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Watch them compete for the job of a lifetime on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, premiering March 25 at 10:00, only on Syfy.


- National Geographic Channel (NGC) announced this week a special episode that will examine the life of Pastor Jamie Coots, who was bitten by a rattlesnake during church service this past Saturday and died that evening after reports that his family refused medical attention following his wishes. In practicing his religious beliefs, Pastor Coots’ unfaltering dedication to his faith was often tested by health and legal risks. Snake Salvation: They Shall Take Up Serpents, a compilation from the series, will premiere tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 20, at 10:00.

- Originally broadcast in 1999, BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs set out to create the most accurate portrayal of prehistoric animals ever seen on a screen. A near 15 years later, the dino-classic has been reimagined for the big screen with the help of BBC Earth and Animal Logic (300, The Matrix Trilogy), lending digital dino magic to bring these beasts to life once again in the 2013 animated feature. On March 25th the journey is migrating to Blu-ray/DVD and Digital HD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, offering moviegoers the chance to bring the explosive visual experience home. Included with the 3D Blu-ray combo pack comes a special “Cretaceous Cut,” to pay homage to the original series in the sense that the characters exhibit relationships with each other, but do not talk, while also providing the theatrical cut (which includes voiceovers) to help tell a specific storyline.


- The Weather Channel, the world's leading weather authority, is set to premiere its new flagship live morning show AMHQ with Sam Champion on Monday, March 17. The series will air weekdays from 7:00-10:00 a.m. ET. The Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning weather anchor, who also serves as managing editor, will anchor the three-hour weekday show alongside a team of co-hosts that includes meteorologists Maria LaRosa and Mike Bettes live from The Weather Channel headquarters in Atlanta. Champion, who spent a combined 25 years at ABC’s flagship O&O WABC-TV and “Good Morning America,” will serve as a trusted source viewers can depend on to forecast the day ahead.

- National Geographic Channel also announced this week that celebrated journalist, producer and television host Soledad O’Brien ( @soledadobrien) has joined the network’s global television event Live from Space as host and co-executive producer. O’Brien will broadcast live from Mission Control in Houston during the program, taking viewers into orbit, literally circling the globe, to offer a unique perspective on astronaut life and work aboard the ISS. The program will air LIVE on Friday, March 14 at 8:00 on the National Geographic Channel in the U.S. and in 170 other countries, and on Channel 4 in the U.K. It will also simulcast on NGC’s Spanish-language network in the U.S., Nat Geo MUNDO.

- As cable television readies itself for the first half of the final season of AMC’s acclaimed period drama Mad Men, The Saturday Evening Post interviews Jon Hamm and five other key cast members as well as series creator Matt Weiner.

- Good news for fans of Shameless and House of Lies, both have been picked up for a fifth and fourth season respectively. In other Showtime news, Wendell Pierce has joined the cast of the second season of Ray Donovan which is set to premiere this summer.

- Syfy recently released their Spring schedule and here are the highlights:

Carvers (Original Special): Tuesday, March 4 at 10:00
My Big Fat Geek Wedding (Original Special): Tuesday, March 11 at 10:00
Foxy and Co (Original Special): Tuesday, March 18 at 10:00
Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge (Series Premiere): Tuesday, March 25 at 10:00
Continuum (Season 3 Premiere): Friday, April 4 at 10:00
Warehouse 13 (Season 5 Premiere): Monday, April 13 at 9:00
Metal Hurlan Chronicles (Series Premiere): Monday, April 13 at 10:00 and 10:30
Zodiac: Signs of the Apocalypse (Original Movie Premiere): April TBD

Feed Your iPod LXXXII: Potholes in My Lawn

Earlier this week De La Soul celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising by putting up their entire catalogue for free for twenty-five hours. De la Soul seems to be lost in the annals of time. Maybe because it was because they were never flashy, just good. Maybe it is because A Tribe Called Quest gets all the backpack rapper shine. Maybe it was because their albums did not make it to the digital age (at least legally) because of licensing issues. But going through their catalogue, especially those first three albums are worth rediscovering so hopefully you grabbed them when you could. When I think of De La Soul, my mind usually goes first to Potholes in my Lawn, a phrase to this day I still laugh at(at least until I found numerous potholes in my own lawn), which was the first De La song I ever heard and to day, remains one of their best.

Potholes in My Lawn – De La Soul

Amazon 2014 Pilots Power Rankings

Amazon Prime started out as a service that would get you free two day shipping for a low yearly price. As an added bonus, eventually they let you steam free content from their site. Sure the content sucked and no one signed up for Prime other than those that wanted the shipping deal. Last year, Amazon dipped their toe into the Netflix market went they put up a bunch of original comedies with the two most well received being picked up to series (but unlike Netflix, you can purchase individual episodes and seasons). The problem was most of them ranged from mediocre to painful to sit through and looked like they were on a webseries budget, not which of something that would rival networks like Netflix’s original programming. Most notable was a serial version of Zombieland which replace Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and the future Lex Luther for a cast that seemed to be plucked from your local community theater (granted the only good one, Alpha House was greenlighted).

Apparently learning from their mistakes, this crop for Pilot Season was all at the very least watchable and also included two dramas this time around. They even cast recognizable actors in the shows instead of amateurs. It is curious that they released these Pilots the day of the Winter Olympics Opening Cerimonies though it did work as viable counterprogramming as almost everything went on Olympics hiatus (maybe not so coincidently these Pilots were released a week before Netflix’s critically adored House of Cards). And I was able to watch them all between curling matches. Here is how I rank them. (To watch yourself, click on the show’s image to be taken to Amazon Instant Video where you can watch all the Pilots for free.)

1. The After – It has been a while since we have seen anything from Chris Carter. The only thing on his resume after the end of The X-Files is as the producer of The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Of course back in The X-Files days, he was one of the few sci-fi shows on the dial along with whatever Star Trek spin-off was airing on UPN at the time. In the post-Lost era, now every station, network or cable has their own science fiction show (or continue to find one that sticks in many cases). The After features eight strangers (the dude from Heroes, the dude from Leverage, the white chick from Soul Plane, the chick from NYPD Blue, Jamie Kennedy in clown makeup among them) stuck in parking garage at the end of the world. Of course this is not a chance meeting otherwise this would not be a Chris Carter show (a surprise character at the end of the Pilot makes it very clear that it is a Chris Carter show). During the first hours it is hard not to think of Lost (strangers that happen upon something supernatural), FlashForward (this is missing time), and Revolution (power stops working, but not in a stupid way like Revolution). But this is the creator of modern day sci-fi, so this show has the most upside of all the Pilots.

2. The Rebels – This show is basically what Major League would be if they focused on the cheerleader turned widow of a profession sport team except it is the other owners who want her to sell and move the team. But what made Major League great were the wacky characters. The Rebels focus too much on the straight owner Natalie Zea (Raylan Givens’ baby mama) who biggest joke is wanting to change the team's "costumes" and her assistant turned general manager. The best parts of the Pilot are whenever the coked up, monkey buying wide receiver is on screen (well I do not remember if they stated his position, but he is clearly a wide receiver because they are all crazy). If they end up focusing on the wacky locker-room hijacks instead of the boardroom, The Rebels could have the most potential of all the comedies this season.

3. Mozart in the Jungle – Based on the cover image and the opening scenes, this show could easily be mistaken as a drama. There are a few dramas that have more and more effective laughs. Really Gael Garcia Bernal (I’m with Lucy) seems like he is acting in a farce about a conductor while everyone else seems to be starring in a Smash spin-off which goes behind the scenes of a prestigious orchestra.

4. Bosch: Titus Welliver may not be a household name, but if you have watched any dramas over the past decade, you have undoubtedly seen him as he has been in roughly fifty percent of them over the past ten years. Though despite in appearing in about fifty different shows in his career, he has only been in the main cast twice. Now he is the lead of Bosch which appropriately is littered with actors that you will recognize but may not know where from exactly with the exception of Herschel Green from The Walking Dead who is still sporting his post-apocalypse ponytail and straggly beard. Bosch is another cop show (Welliver is the titular character) with a gruff detective that gets the job done. The show starts off with Bosch on trail for shooting a perp while on the weekend he is investigation the murder of a young boy who was buried in the woods. It is clear that Bosch is connected to the case, be it involved himself or maybe he was beaten as a child, it remains unclear from the Pilot. But it feels like I have already seen this show many times before. It is surprising that the show is not already on TNT right now.

5. Transparent – Another comedy in the sense that it is only thirty minutes long, not in that you will spend much time laughing. This one is about three children of a man (George Bluth Sr. himself Jeffery Tambor) who seems to be going through a midlife crises when he calls his children over some big news (like probably most viewers, the children think it is cancer). There is a big plot twist halfway through that makes the title make complete sense. But none of it is funny at all, it does not even seem like it is trying to be funny. Really the only thing the show has going for it is that it looks like it is trying to beat Californication’s record for most nudity in a “comedy” title.

Though these Pilots were a vast improvement over the last bunch, Alpha House remains the best overall.   None this year would make me want to want to subscribe to Amazon Prime, especially if they are going to double the price of it in the near future.

I Want My Music Television: 2/18/2014

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.


Invincible – U2


U2 seemed a little too adamant that Invisible is NOT the first single of their yet to be announced next album (which looks like will not be coming out until summer now). Instead it was just released to remind people they are still around. Um, you guys just released a song for the Mandela soundtrack late last year. It was almost like Bono was saying, if you do not love this song, do not worry, there is a better song coming. It is wise because this would be a fairly uninspiring first single. But the light show going on the background of the music video is pretty cool.


Everything Is AWESOME!!! – Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island


When you are on The Lego Movie Soundtrack, Tegan and Sara pretty much had to have a Lego themed music video. Though just putting Legos on pencils, that is a bit too lazy especially when you compare it to the Lego heavy White Stripes video for Fell in Love with a Girl.


L8 CMMR – Lily Allen


This is the weakest of the new songs we have gotten from Lily Allen over the past two months. Hopefully it is on the Girls Soundtrack because it just is not good enough to make it on her upcoming album. But as disappointing as the song is, the 8-bit themed lyrics video more than makes up for it.


I Need My Girl – The National


I probably should like The National more than I do, they are from Ohio and specialize in the sad bastard songs that I like to put on repeat. I think maybe the singer is just not palatable to me. But they have been putting out some interesting music videos lately. The most recent is for touching I Need My Girl which was appropriately released on Valentine’s Day.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 2/16/14

Shameless: That took long enough for the first Ian sighting of the season. I wonder if we will get a full back story of what happened since we last aw him. It is odd that they guy spent his whole life working towards getting into the armed forces and then screws it up so royally when he gets there. While it did not take long for Fiona’s world to completely fall down after having sex with her boyfriend’s brother. He breaks up with her; she gets transferred, brother leaves coke at the house which Liam gets into, which leads Fiona to jail. The Gallagher’s have gotten out of hairy situations before but it is hard to stay together after one of the kids ingests your Coke. Maybe Sheila and Chief Running Water adopts the kids is the only way I see that happening.

The Walking Dead: Whoever thought it was a good idea to spend most of an episode with Carl should be left for zombie food, or at the very least fired. Goodness that was a boring and annoying hour of television. At least Michonne when H.A.M. on her zombie doppelganger.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

House of Lies: So it looks like Clyde is getting back into the fold by bringing in Eliza Coupe (though Jennie may be counting that chicken long before it hatches) but is he also actually going to hire Monica? I could see Roscoe guilting his father into it. And it would be funny seeing Marty hire Monica as the lowest level associate. The only way it would be funnier is if Marty hired the person who stabbed her to be Monica’s direct supervisor.

Switched at Birth: Holy Wallace Fennel’s mom sighting!
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Switched at Birth on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I usually hate dream sequences with a fiery passion, but the black an white noir episode was one of the better Pretty Little Liars episode in a while (although somehow Toby is an even worse actor when devoid of color). The show made it clear up front that it was all a dream and meant nothing else than it was the catalyst for Spencer to realize that A changed Alison’s diary which could be clues as to what he is hiding. She also came to the realization that now Erza knows that they know he’s A. This show may be ramping up again.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Justified: Poor Boyd, every time he tries to help Ava, she ends up in a worse situation. Considering how she has already taken a shotgun to one Crowder, I wonder how long she will put up with this one. But the worst of luck goes to Dewey. It always go to Dewey. He tries to sell the pool Raylan shot up, plots to kidnap Boyd only to get one of his henchmen and then, of course, the plot is happened across by Raylan.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

King of the Nerds: Wow, is Zack actually going to win the whole thing? This is truly the origins story of a super-villain we are watching. I am guessing there is going to be a lab experiment gone wrong in the final challenge.
You can download King of the Nerds on iTunes.

Best of the Week:2/15/14

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

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

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

Preview Picture of the Week:

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

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

New Album Release of the Week: Lions - William Fitzsimmons

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

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


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

Around the Tubes: 2/14/14

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 Justified, Killer Karaoke, The Pete Holmes Show, Shirley Temple, Dallas, Killer Legends, Deal with It, The Safecrackers, Betsy Who, Heidi Merrill, 2014 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Sharknado 2.

- If you are one of those the skip promos, please note that Justified is taking next week off and will return February 25 at 9:00 on FX. Archer and Chozen continue their Olympics break and will also be off one more week.

- Valentine’s Day is today, but Killer Karaoke, which returns Thursday at 10:00 on TruTV, want to remind you that actually Love Hurts.



- As TBS's late-night series The Pete Holmes Show prepares to launch new episodes on Feb. 24, sister network TNT will present the half-hour special The Pete Holmes Show Special on Saturday, Feb. 15, following its NBA All-Star Saturday coverage. The special will feature host Pete Holmes’ favorite moments from The Pete Holmes Show's initial seven-week run.

- Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will pay tribute to Hollywood legend and U.S. Ambassador Shirley Temple Black with a night of her films on Sunday, March 9 starting at 4:30 PM with Heidi. Known forever as "America's Little Darling," Temple Black passed away at the age of 85 at her home in Woodside, Calif.

- The backstabbing, two-timing, double-crossing drama of TNT's Dallas is slated to kick off its third season Monday, Feb. 24, at 9:00. And TNT has the perfect binge-watching opportunity for viewers leading into it: a 25-hour marathon of Seasons 1 and 2. TNT's pre-season-premiere Dallas marathon will begin Sunday, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m. and run straight through until the premiere of the new season the following night. The marathon will also feature asocial media component, with various fan and character tweets featured throughout each episode. Additional content will be available through the Dallas Facebook page, narrated by John Ross Ewing.

- On Sunday at 8:00, Chiller will debut its newest special, Killer Legends. The hair-raising two-hour event focuses on four timeless urban legends (The Candyman, The babysitter and the man upstairs, The Hookman, and The Killer Clown) that haunt the psyche of the American public. This horror documentary follows filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Rachel Mills as they investigate the true crimes that may have spawned these urban legends while exploring how these myths evolved and why we continue to believe.

- Deal with It is returning to TBS Wednesday March 19 with new celebrity guests including Nick Cannon, Arsenio Hall, Bill Engvall, Kevin Nealon, Chris Jericho, Bob Saget, Tom Greem, Orlando Jones and more.

- TruTV has ordered six half-hour episodes of The Safecrackers, which is slated to premiere March 24. The series follows expert safecracker Phil Crawford and his best buddy Blaze as they travel the country determined to unravel the mysteries and unlock the secrets lurking in lost and abandoned safes. Phil, Blaze and their fun-loving crew of family and friends can track down and crack open just about anything, from giant bank vaults to intricate antique safes and even armored vehicles and underground bunkers.

- Spin recently debuted the latest song from Australian Betty Who, Heartbreak Dream. Check it out if you are a fan of indie dance pop like Robyn.

- Heidi Merrill, Nebraska native and current resident of New York City, brings a unique twist to the music world pulling inspiration from Sinead O’Connor, Evanescence, Leona Lewis, Robin, Sarah Mclachlan, Lifehouse and Kings of Leon. Mixing smoky textures of pop and rock, Merrill interprets everyday themes we all experience and translates them into a one-of-a-kind sound. Merrill is excited to announce that she will be opening for Tyler Hilton and Anna Nalick in March and April for their separate East Coast tours.

- AXS TV continues its commitment to being TV’s home for live music festivals, announcing today that it will be the official broadcaster of the 2014 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. The network has acquired the rights to air the Festival live, for the second consecutive year with StubHub returning as the Official Broadcast Partner.

- Syfy and The Asylum this week announced that Kelly Osbourne, Judd Hirsch, Andy Dick, Judah Friedlander, Vivica A. Fox and Mark McGrath will join the eagerly anticipated Original Movie Sharknado 2: The Second One. Look to the skies July when the movie premieres.

Previewing Wicked Tuna: Season Three

It may be way too cold to go out fishing yourself this weekend, but for those that need their fishing fix, the next best thing is coming your way as Wicked Tuna returns for its third season tomorrow at 9:00 on the National Geographic Channel. The show follows fishing boats from the nation’s oldest seaport, Gloucester, Massachusetts out on the hunt for a bluefin fish that can be worth more than $20,000.

Last year Tyler McLaughlin, captain of the Pin Wheel took in the most money on the show and he is quick to let everyone else know that even if he is a lot lonelier this season (on opening day, he is the lone person on the Pin Wheel). While at the end of last season, Captain Dave Marciano saw his Hard Merchandise sink to the bottom of the harbor. So this season he has bring in a lot extra to pay for all the repairs he spent to get the boat ready for tuna season.

Also back this season is Paul Herbert who is taking over the captain seat of the Wicked Pissah (ugg, only in Boston) who wants to prove to his former boss Dave Carraro he can outfish him. And after a disappointing season, Captain Bill “Hollywood” Muniz is looking to redeem himself otherwise he may have to retire because of fanatical pressures. Paul will not the only one battling a former mentor as Tyler’s former boss Captain TJ Ott of the Hot Tuna is returning to Gloucester to put his former “bucket scrubber” in his place.

Later this season McLaughlin realizes flying solo is not the best idea and recruits college buddies to help him out but their inexperience in fishing shows. The boats brave harsh weather and wicked storms to make a profit. While one captain makes a boat switch. Later this season, one of the captains even resorts to espionage type tactics to find out where another captain has been successful just as two other captain strike an unlikely alliance to get a leg up on the competition.


Wicked Tuna airs Fridays at 9:00 on the National Geographic Channel. You can download Wicked Tuna on iTunes.

I Want My Music Television: 2/12/14

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.


Air Balloon – Lily Allen


Still no official word on a full album, but Lily Allen has already released a second music video over the last couple months. Hard Out Here was a fun take down of today’s pop music but ended up sounding too much like the songs she was mocking. Air Balloon is more classic Lily. The accompanying music video may not have any balloons, but there are random shots of butterflies, hillbillies, zebras, jaguars, mushrooms that look like they were imported from a Super Mario Bros. game, and a crucifix airship thingy. So “air balloon” is a euphemism for drugs, right?


Coming of Age - Foster the People



After Pumped up Kicks, Foster the People kept on releasing songs that went nowhere on the charts but the music videos for the videos were mostly entertaining. That trend looks to continue as Coming of Age just does not sound like a song that will lift them from One Hit Wonder territory, but at least the music video is interesting in a more serious montage from John Hughes film kind of way.


Girls Chase Boys – Ingrid Michaelson



The title for the new Ingrid Michaelson music video includes the addendum “An Homage to Robert Palmer’s Simply Irresistible) as if anyone over the age of twenty-five needed that clarification. Maybe she wanted to preemptively keep people from calling it a parody. Though it is not explained why she is dressed up like Sarah Palin.


Bridges – Broods


Winter is a dead month for music where you have to go on the look for new artists that may become the next big thing. It is around this time last year when I discovered Royals and Broods just may be the 2014 version Lorde. They are a brother sister duo from New Zealand (check), with a teenage lead singer (check), and worked with Joel Little on their EP (check) who was the guy who also scored a Grammy with Lorde Song of the Year. Based on those three criteria, a Lorde comparison seems easy, but I think a better comparison is a combination of Lorde and some other 2013 buzz artists, CHVRCHES and James Blake. If you like the song, it is currently iTunes Free Single of the Week. A six song EP is out now with a full length debut expected out later this year. Jump on the bandwagon now so you can say you knew them before they got big.