The Voice Season Eight Knockout Round Power Rankings

Stop it The Voice, just stop it with the hyperbole. During the final episode of the Knockout Round Carson hyped a socking end to the round. Everyone know that is a lie. Everyone know that who is not picked was going to be Stolen. You pulled that "shocking" crap at the end of the Battle Round. If you want to shock us, actually end an episode without a Steal for the first time ever, now that would shock me. Having Christina, who had a Steal left, Steal the person Adam did not pick in the final Knockout is the antithesis of shocking. It would have only been shocking had Christina said pass to Lexi and demanded to just reinstate Ashley in lieu of Stealing someone who will just be gone when the public starts voting. But no, you just continue to insult my intelligence. Overselling everything just hurts the product in the long run.

The big new during the Knockout Round was not any of the performances but who did not perform, Anthony Riley who was explained away for having personal reasons for leaving the show. Those reasons can be easily found on the internet (just avoid the baseless rumors that also popped up). This led to the first ever three person Knockout. Of course the contestants were hyperbolic about how being up against two people is harder. Um, no, you went from a fifty-eight percent of advancing to seventy-six percent (assuming I correctly calculated the right percentage of advancing via a Steal).


1. Brooke Adee (Team Blake) : Sure she may not have the best voice this season, but she is easily the most entertaining and though she probably will not win, Brooke has the best chance of being the most successful from this season. By choosing songs by Bon Iver (by way of Birdy) and MGMT it will be interesting if the show lets her stay "indie" and sing songs you may not expect from this show like say I Will Follow You Into the Dark, Portions for Foxes or something by Banks or will continue to have to sing the few indie songs that have already been cleared. I hope she gets to start to blaze her own trail but I fear Blake, who likes to recycle songs that have already done on the show for his non-country singers, will maker her sing The Scientist, or worse, Pumped Up Kicks.

2. Deanna Johnson (Team Adam): The two songs Deanna picked for herself were some of the best this season. The one Adam picked for her went so bad that it was montaged and even the studio version was really bad. Now with Adam picking songs, I fear for her longevity. It will be a crime against humanity if she does not get to sing My Immortal at some point.

3. Joshua Davis (Team Blake Adam): I am down with anyone who will break out an Amos Lee song on the show, suprsisingly the second in as many seasons. Hopefully he gets to continue to sing underdepreciated singer-songwriters on the show but I have a feeling Adam will make him do U2 or The Killers or some crappy pop-rock song.

4. India Carney (Team Christina): She was number one on my previous two Power Rankings, but her Knockout performance was her weakest of the three. It just felt like she was on one hundred the whole time.

5. Hannah Kirby (Team Blake Pharrell Blake): See below:

6. Kimberly Nichole (Team Pharrell Christina): see below:

7. Mia Z (Team Pharrell): Early in the show every season was peppered with weird singers who did bizarrely entertaining performances (mostly on Team Cee-Lo). Unfortunately the show has gotten away from those types of singers. But now with Pharrell's mantra of Other, it looks like those types of singers are getting more of a chance this season with Hannah, Kimberly, and Mia all making the Live Shows after offbeat Knockout Round performances. Of course with all of Pharrell's talk of Other, he let two of these girls go, thankfully Blake and Christina saved two of them and hopefully the new coaches let them to stay weird.

8. Meghan Linsey (Team Pharrell Blake): Meghan goes on The Voice to try to relaunch herself as a soul singer after a career in country and still ended up on Blake's team. Voters tend to take country and soul singers further than their talents deserve, and with the smartest coach who has won with both types, I guess we can go ahead and pencil her into the finale. Actually you can pen her into the finals, the pencil may just be used for her winning the whole show.

9. Rob Taylor (Team Christina): I really liked Rob's first two performances but as he opened up his Knockout performance with more falsetto I have come to the realization that that is really becoming a gimmick and his regular singing voice is really kind of mediocre and I actually preferred Treeva in their Knockout. Of course if he breaks out some Jodeci in the Live Shows I could easily be persuaded to jump back on his bandwagon. It is weird how nineties RnB gets ignored on this show.

10. Nathan Hermida (Team Adam): see below

11. Brian Johnson (Team Blake Adam): I am grouping Nathan and Brian together because both or good enough not to hate but neither are good enough to actually care enough. Luckily both are on Adam's extremely weak team so one of, or both, may actually advance. After that, I do not see them making it very much further.

12. Sarah Potenza (Team Blake): The biggest question is Sarah like Blake's last rock singer Terry who rode a bunch of classic rock songs to the finals, or more like the last rocker on the show Kat who needed Cee-Lo and Twitter to advance. Unfortunately for Sarah, Blake's team has the stiffest competition, all five of who I think have a chance to advance.

13. Sawyer Fredericks (Team Pharrell): The clear front runner if you are going by iTunes, but I do not get it. Collide showed a lot of flaws, but still outsold everyone this round. In face his three songs were of the five highest charting songs of the pat two weeks. People say that the string of boring WGWG destroyed an d if Sawyer wins, it could be the first death nail for The Voice.

14. Corey Kent White (Team Blake): I am a little shocked that Cody was not Blake's token country singer in the Live Shows this season.

15. Tonya Boyd-Cannon (Team Adam): see below:

16. Koryn Hawthorne (Team Christina Pharrell): see below:

17. Caitlin Caporale (Team Pharrell): see below:

18. Lexi Dávila (Team Adam Christina): see below:

19. Sonic (Team Christina): Let me (almost) close out my Power Rankings with the boring balladeers mini-Christina's of the season. I do not see any of these ladies getting America's vote thought one or two may advance via a Coach Save (because three people have to advance on Team Christina and Adam) which will only extend them one week before being cut.

20. Lowell Oakley (Team Pharrell): His Knockout was kind of embarrassingly bad.

Looking over the teams, giving each an numerical value, here is how the teams stack up based on my list after the Battle Round:

Blake: 65
Adam: 64
Christina: 49
Pharrell: 32

At the end of the Battle Round, Christina had a commanding lead, but her dumb decisions finally caught up with her. Adam, who was at the bottom last round actually jumped up to almost compete with Blake. Of couse, who cares what I think, here is how the singers ranked via iTunes over the past two weeks.


1. Sawyer Fredricks (47)
2. Noelle Bybee and Sawyer Fredericks (91)
3. Joshua Davis (96)
4. Sarah Potenza (103)
5. Sawyer Fredricks - I'm the Man of Constant Sorrow (144)
6. Megan Linsey (177)
7. Cory Kent White (189)
8. Clinton Washington and India Carney (212)
9. Brooke Adee (242)
10. Deanna Johnson (245)
11. Nathan Hermida (253)
12. Mia Z (262)
13. Lexi Dávila (363)
14. Caitlin Caporale (418)
15. Koryn Hawthorne (456)
16. India Carney (549)
17. Hanna Kirby (761)
18. Sonic (847)
19. Deanna Johnson - All I Want (835)
20. Cody Wickline - He Stopped Loving Her Today (869)
21. Brian Johnson (952)
22. Lowell Oakley (974)
23. Brooke Adee - Skinny Love (1222)
24. Brian Johnson and Joshua Davis (1468)

Like I said before, Sawyer is the clear favorite going live. One thing that really struck me looking at this list is he is the only one this season with any staying power on the charts. Usually this late the iTunes is peppered with former rounds. Yet besides Sawyer, only two other Battles reappeared and three other Blind Auditions, one by someone who was eliminated. Then you had three singers who could not even crack the top 1500 with their Knockout performance. To see really how each singer stacks up, I took the average peak of each three rounds and where is how the singers rank that way (I put an asterisk next to anyone who missed the top 1500 and used 1500 as the missing performance in the average).

1. Sawyer Fredricks (28.6)
2. Joshua Davis (104.6)
3. Meghan Linsey (252)
4. Sarah Potenza (255)
5. Mia Z (276.6)
6. Cody Kent White (311.3)
7. India Carney (324.3)
8. Brian Johnson (536.6)
9. Caitlin Caporale (604.6)
10. Deanna Johnson (614.6)*
11. Brooke Adee (633)*
12. Nathan Hermida (662.6)*
13. Lowell Oakley (652)
14. Hannah Kirby (826.3)
15. Rob Taylor (1017)*
16. Sonic (1062.6)*
17. Tonya Boyd-Cannon (1076)*
18. Kimberley Nichole (1116)**
19. Lexi Dávila (1121)**
20. Koryn Hawthorne (1152)**

Ouch, Christina has four of the bottom six while four of the top six were on Blake's team at sometime this season. If you rank them like I do my Power Rankings here is how the teams compared:

Blake: 67
Pharrell: 57
Adam: 56
Christina: 30

One Thing I notice with the list above was that a lot of singers got hurt with being montaged during the Battle Rounds. Weirdly everyone who got montaged during the Blind Audition lost their Battle, but all but one of the Battle Round montage winners went on to win their Knockout too. Because of this and it is hard to tell why someone bought a Battle with two people on it I though I would also rank the top twenty by just their Blind Audition and Knockout performance.

1. Sawyer Fredricks (36.5)
2. Joshua Davis (104)
3. Deanna Johnson (172)
4. Brooke Adee (199)
5. Sarah Potenza (259.5)
6. Mia Z (260.5)
7. Meghan Linsey (279.5)
8. Cody Kent White (306.5)
9. Nathan Hermida (328)
10. India Carney (456.5)
11. Brian Johnson (752)
12. Caitlin Caporale (759.5)
13. Lowell Oakley (817)
14. Lexi Dávila (931.5)*
15. Koryn Hawthorne (978)*
16. Hannah Kirby (1116.5)
17. Rob Taylor (1140)*
18. Tonya Boyd-Cannon (1165)*
19. Sonic (1173.5)*
20. Kimberley Nichole (1500)**

With this calculations, Deanna and Brooke were the big winners, each jumping seven spots while Christina manages a worse team with India dropping a couple barely hanging on to the top ten. Here are how the teams stack up just with the solo performance rankings:

Blake: 35
Adam: 62
Pharrell: 58
Christina: 25

So Sawyer is the front runner individually, Team Blake as a whole looks to be the strongest, it could very well be Sawyer in the finals with two or three Blake team members joining him, though I would not count out Joshua as a spoiler.

Every season it is easy to guess who advances to the Top 12 before anyone sings a note for the Live Playoffs, sometimes it is easy to guess coming out of the Blind Auditions. This is not one of those seasons where many plausible scenarios can play out on all the teams; each member on Team Blake could go far in this competition, they just need to make the Top 12 first because two will be going home this week no matter what. The other three teams do have clear locks for the next round (India, Sawyer, Joshua) but who gets the second Public Save is a bit murkier leaving the Coach's Saves even more of a coin flip. But here is how I see this season playing out:

Team Adam
Joshua Davis: Lock to get the Public Vote; probably makes the final, could win if Sawyer falters
Deanna Johnson: seem to be the safest bet as long as she does not her nerves get the best of her, out in the middle rounds
Tonya: Adam's saves can be bizarre so I am going to predict Tonya as his Save; probably out first or second week after that
Nathan: Could sneak in the Public Save if Deanna falters live; could survive a Twitter save or two
Brian: Outside chance of getting saved by Adam but would probably get a Twitter Save and out

Team Blake
Meghan: Public Save, second place
Corey: Probably the Public Save, last one booted before the finals; if Public saves Brooke instead, doubtful Blake saves him
Brooke: Coach's Save if not by public, hard to predict if she does advance, could ride a indie contingent to the finals or she could have an uninspiring Live Show run like Reagan last season
Sarah: Probably out unless Brooke gets the Public Vote instead of Corey, if advances could be top 6
Hanna: Probably out unless Corey does not get the Public Vote and outsells Sarah on iTunes prompting Blake to Save her, if so, could make thew top 8

Team Christina
India: is a lock for the public vote; just misses out on the finals
Rob: because the other four people besides India on this team all have missed the iTunes Top 1500 at least once this season I am going to predict the RnB fans that advance India will also float Rob's boat for the second save; he survives a Twitter save for top 10
Sonic: Then Christina takes her orginal singer over two her two saves; out the first week
Kimberley: Probably need a Christina Save unless she have a Amanda Brown / Dream On type performance in her
Lexi: Closest thing to a lock not to advance this round, though Christina has made dumber decisions that if she saved her

Team Pharrell
Sawyer: is a lock for the Public Vote, unless Pharrell feeds him songs as bad as Christina did for Matthew in season five, is also a lock for the finals and probable winner
Mia Z: Maybe gets the other Public Save, if not Pharrell Saves her; out during the top 8
Koryn and Caitlin: I was thinking Lowell was going to get his Save until his weird Knockout performance so the Pharrell Save with probably come down to Caitlin and Koryn, and I am leaning to him leaning toward Koryn since he likes going with who he thinks he can help the most the teenageer the most; either would be out next week anyway
Lowell: Pharrell has made dumber decisions than to save him; worst case scenario though, he is this season's Ryan Sill, inexplicably saved by his coach and rides a Twitter Save until the top 8

If my predictions are right, here is how I see the top 12 going down (which I will undoubtedly be wrong because the Twitter Save will screw the results up unless they thankfully did away with that)

Top 12: Sonic, Koryn
Top 10: Tonya, Rob
Top 8: Mia, Deanna, India
Top 5: Corey

Finalist:
4th: Brooke
3rd: Joshua
2nd: Meghan
1st: Sawyer

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/4/15

Once Upon a Time: I remember back when we saw Emma's back story saying that it was surprising that her friend did not turn out to be a fairy tale character. Well, it turned out she was in fact from the fairy tale world and apparently Malificant's daughter. Except wasn't Lily Hispanic? Or was I thinking of someone else?
You can Download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Even though I thought it was the case, I still laughed at the end when Sammi started banging on the storage bin revealing she was not so dead. I do wonder if that is the last we see of her, it does seem like that character has run her course and this show has no problem getting rid of characters they do not know what to do with anymore.

The Walking Dead: During the final commercial break I was thinking, are they really not going to kill anybody off in the season finale. Sure Glenn somehow made it out of the zombie dog pile, Daryl somehow was saved by one dude as about a hundred zombies surrounded his car (no one thought of at least trying to hot wire it). Things got even more surprising when Glenn and his nemesis and Sasha and the Reverend were all seen in some weird friendship montage. Of course that was all red herrings for the finale when the evil doctor stabbed the politician's husband who gave Rick the okay to kill him right in front of his old friend Morgan who just got done telling Daryl "Every life is precious." There has been a lot of discussion this season about how Rick has morphed into Shane. Does that make Morgan the season one version of Rick to Rick's Shane? We will have to wait until fall to find out but first up we get to see how the outbreak broke out with Fear the Walking Dead this summer! Starring Matt Saresen's mom!! Hopefully that show does not take four to five seasons to get good.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: So Courtney Love pops up in one scene as a hit man who services will not be needed? Alrighty, I have a feeling this will not be her only appearance. Does she still go after Emily Amanda or go after Margot for knowing her identity? This is just getting too silly, hopefully this is the end of the show, just let Courtney Love and Louise kill them all.
You can download Revenge on iTunes.

Marvel's Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Finally a showdown between Bobbie and May, and it certainly lived up to expectations. But the feuding SHIELDs is a little silly, you are both on the same side, there is no need to act so covertly against each other.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: Rarely is there is a scene that is extremely shocking but Mikey Michael strangling Katherine to death while she keeps shooting him had my jaw dropped for a couple minutes.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Wow, an Immunity Idol actually worked I cannot remember the last time that happened. Not that it matters much if it stays six versus four. I am surprised the White Collar went with the Blue Collar who is full five, why not go with the easier No Collar tribe?
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The Americans: Finally Paige learned who her parents were after teasing that she was on to them way back in the first season finale. Of course right went something interesting was about to happen when CIA Agent Stan showed up to diner, the episode ended. Meanwhile Henry got more lines this week than in his entire run of the series to date.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 4/3/15

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 American Odyssey, EPIX, Hubble's Cosmic Journey, Callaghan, Skee TV, and House of Lies.

- NBC and Google have teamed up to create an extended world for the show with an online companion site Explore American Odyssey, powered by Google Maps, that will focus on key cities and destinations from the show and allows fans to uncover hidden secrets, make new connections and view exclusive content. Fans can check back after new episodes have aired on NBC to view new content and discover the latest leaks and interceptions.

- EPIX brings you action, drama and inappropriate comedian Jim Norton this upcoming April! Watch SNL favorites Bill Hadar and Kristin Wiig in indie drama The Skeleton Twins next Friday, April 3rd at 8:00. Continue the weekend fun with Sylvester Stone in thrilling action film The Expendables 3 on Saturday, April 4th at 8:00. Jim Norton returns to EPIX for his third comedy special Jim Norton: Contextually Inadequate on April 24th at 10:00 and to end the month, Hercules with Dwayne Johnson is on April 25th, 8:00.

- Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has captured thousands of stunning images of space, revolutionized our understanding of the universe and become a global icon. To mark its 25th anniversary (#Hubble25), National Geographic Channel tells the definitive story of NASA’s most successful science project ever, in Hubble’s Cosmic Journey, premiering Monday, April 20, at 10:00.

- Nashville based singer/songwriter Callaghan has just released the video for “Crazy Beautiful Life, the first single from her second album, A History of Now. The video can be viewed here: Crazy Beautiful Life. Crazy Beautiful Life goes for adds at Triple A radio in the U.S. on April 6th. Her first U.K. single from the album, “Best Year 2015,” is currently in rotation on BBC Radio 2 there.

- Award-winning DJ, producer, digital media pioneer and entrepreneur Scott Keeney aka “DJ SKEE” will launch his new, hour-long television series, SKEE TV, on Fuse beginning Thursday, April 9th at 10:30. The premiere episode of SKEE TV will feature a live performance from rapper Machine Gun Kelly and an interview in the hot seat with DJ SKEE as well as original segments featuring indie artist Marina and The Diamonds, rapper Fashawn and DJ Alesso. All new line-ups will be featured each week. Hip hop artist Common, electronic music group Phantogram, rapper Action Bronson and R&B/country artist Sam Hunt have also been confirmed to appear on the first season of SKEE TV.

- Showtime has renewed House of Lies for a fifth season to air in 2016 with 10 episodes.

Previewing Olypmus

Syfy is a weird channel that I sometimes am not sure what it is trying to be. One thing that ties all of its programs together is they all look fairly low budget, just a step up from Ed Wood type movies. But sometime they try to make legitimate television show that just fail (like last year's Ascension), sometimes they make movies that are meant to be bad (they are on their third Sharknado) sometimes they just buy Canadian show to fill up airtime. Speaking of trying to make legitimate television shows, I do not think they have produced a new one that had any sort of acclaim since Battlestar Gallactica and that ended six years ago.

Their latest attempt at scripted programming is Olympus and to be honest I am not entirely sure if Syfy produced it as a legitimate program or if they are in on the joke like a serialized version of Sharknado. If you do turn in I highly recommend you go into it with a Sharknado state of mind because watching ironically may be the only way anyone can find any enjoyment of it.

The story follows... some dude. No I did not forget the name between watching the first episode and by the time I wrote this. The main protagonist's name is never spoke because, as he explains, anyone who speaks it turns to stone and he does not want to test if that he would also turn to stone if spoken. Was he cursed by Medusa? Are they withholding the name so they can shock you that he will turn out to be Hercules or some other famous name in Greek Mythology? You will have to let me know if they ever bother to reveal the name?

So random dude has been tasked to rescue an Oracle from Cyclops (Syfy is finally putting the Face Off contestants to use because Cyclops is kind of creepy especially where they put his one eye) to take her back to the Temple of Gaia. There is also a secondary political plot that seems like it is trying way too hard to be like better shows in the genre like Game of Thrones, but Olympus is not even Spartacus. Maybe it should be as it is a bit distracting as it go from fantasy type CGI background with piratical background. But again, if this is meant to be a Sharknado type farce that is so bad it starts to almost be good, they are doing a pretty good job at it.

Olympus airs Thursdays at 10:00 on Syfy.

I Want My Music Television: 4/1/15

Can't Deny My Love - Brandon Flowers



Brandon Flowers first solo album was met with a resounding yawn. After an album back with The Killers, he is giving going alone another try and the first single may actually be worse than the songs from the first. And no unnecessary dialogue with Rachel Evan Wood is going to save the music video either.

St. Jude - Florence + the Machine


Florence + the Machine have already released three music videos for thier upcoming album and this song may be my favorite of the best because it is the rare song where Florence does not seem to be singing at 10 the entire song. And just like the other videos they have released, this one is kind of weird, not dancing with your doppelganger weird, but weird nonetheless in a why is the Smoke Monster in the video kind of way.

Peaches N Cream - Snoop Dogg featuring Charlie Wilson


Well it looks like the Snoop Lion era is thankfully over. But then again, Snoop Dogg really has not had many great songs since Drop it Like it's Hot. But like that song, this song was produced by Pharrell. But now I have to wonder, what was the last great song Pharrell was a part of? It certainly not this song. Didn't some crappy third tier RnB group from the nineties already have a crappy song called Peaches and Cream?

Work Song - Hozier


It looks like Hozier is going with the spaghetti approach (throw a bunch at the wall hoping one sticks) in hoping to land a second hit releasing his third music video in as many months this year. Doubtful this will be the one that lifts him out of one hit wonderdom especially since this one does not feature any hot chicks from Game of Thrones, just a bunch of weird people dancing.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/29/15

Once Upon a Time: So if the good guys are going to pick off Mr. Gold's cabal one by one with kindness, does this mean they are going to give Cruella Dr. Hopper's Dalmatian as an appeasement to her at some point?
You can Download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Oh no, Sammy called the Army to report Ian. Which begs the question how did it take a tip from someone to catch him, Ian was hiding in his own home? I wonder if he will get a bunk with his brother.

The Walking Dead: Oh snap, I just figured that the old group would just blindly follow Rick with his overthrow of Alexandria but it did not cross my mind that any of them would actually want to assimilate which apparently Michone does. If Rick is exiled like I assume I wonder who goes with him. Of course they will be back just as Rick warned Deanna that anyone exile will be back. Sure the middle episodes were a bit of a drag but no one does season premieres / finales like this show and next week should be explosive. Plus we still have the person that is marking walker foreheads with a Scarlet A.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Revenge: So a taxi to happened to plow Margot over in the fire lane? Seems fishing, nothing is that coincidental on this show. I wonder if her henchman had anything to do with it, with or without Margo's knowledge, because he seemed a little to overeager not to give up the fight.
You can download Revenge on iTunes.

Bates Motel: So Norman did not kill the token hot chick like I feared, but she still ended up dead. Meh.
You can download Bates Motel on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I have long predicted a not so dead Mona would turn out to Be A, well at least I was half right. When her name flashed up under the guest star list I then assumed a not so dead Alison's mother was going to be A after realizing it was not Mona. Completely wrong at that. We learned that Charles is actually A and by the home movie that do make it seem like Charles is Jason's twin brother that apparently no one knew existed. If so, where has he been all this time? Did the Dilarentas family have him hidden in that bunker this whole time?
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Marvel's Agent of SHIELD: So the "Real SHIELD" does not trust Coulson and his alien DNA, that actually seems reasonable. They could have spent the whole episode in that conference room explaining stuff I would not have minded because I could not care less about Ward and Agent 33 (but it did give us some decent comedy with Talbott ruining his marriage and basically sexually harassing his female underlings).
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: One of the main problems with this season was that you knew that Raylan was not going to catch Boyd until the series finale but much like season four where they actually caught Drew Thompson a couple episodes prior to the finale and then ending up have its best episodes of the season after that, Raylan actually caught Boyd redhanded with a couple episodes left. It looks like we may get the trial Tim was hoping for. Though since the CI shot him, I wonder if a RICO case will stick.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II: Congratulations to Sarah and Jordan. And since you won, you can both retire because I really have no desire to see either back on the show. And take Jay and Jenna with you because they do not deserve another invite after quitting (though it is odd the other challenges had a thirty minute time limit but the drinking one). Pure rookie moves, first they do not look at LeRoy's answer and then they actually tried drinking the fish oil while Sarah and Teresa clearly poured half of it down their faces and then spit out the rest while pretending to puke.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Survivor: Blue Collar vs. White Collar vs. No Collar: Morons, Survivor 101 states you never, under any circumstance: throw a challenge. The only time anyone threw a challenge and actually ended up winning was when in Fans vs. Favorites they did not even bother to compete just to get rid of Brandon Hantz. Every other time a team that has thrown a challenge, no one involved ever won that season. It is weird to think after how bad their tribe was, No Collar may actually be in the drivers seat. Blue Collar is in disarray, White Collar lost two members after the tribe swap, if smart the No Collar could easily decimate everyone, but are they smart enough to do that now that the merge is immanent?
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The Americans: Could Stan actually take the fall for the bug in the pen? If someone catches him working with Oleg he would have to move to the top of the suspect list for the FBI. But I have a feeling the black dude will end up being that fall guy.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Wait, did they just out Lizzie as being pregnant? Tom having an ultrasound in his pocket pretty much confirms it. Red is going to be very disappointed.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Previewing Killing Jesus

After the success of Killing Lincoln it was only a matter of time National Geographic Channel would commission Killing Kennedy and Killing Jesus, the next two books in Bill O'Reilly's assassination anthology, would follow. But not only have they have been done in successive year, they have also gotten bigger in scope. The first one was mostly focused on narrator Tom Hanks with Dateline type quality recreations in the background. For Killing Kennedy, they actually were able to recruit a name actor, Rob Lowe (okay, not the biggest get considering this is the same guy who said yes to a Lifetime movie about Scott Peterson) while the movie looked like a legitimate made for television movie.

National Geographic Channel raised the bar again for Killing Jesus. Sure it is no Ben Hur, but you can definitely check out the production value. Though they went unknown for the titular character (some dude named Haaz Sleiman... looking at IMDB, oh hey, he was in an episode of Veronica Mars), that are a few recognizable faces. Kelsey Grammer shows up as King Herod, the first person who tries to kill Jesus. Do not worry, this is not a full bio-flick on the life of Jesus (NBC's A.D.: The Bible Continues will probably go more in depth on that) as the film quickly fast forwards thirty years to Jesus first meeting Simon.

Getting the top line in the movie is Stephen Moyer (who really need to redeem himself in his first role since somehow being more stiff than Carrie Underwood in The Sound of Music Live) as the man who sentences Jesus to death (um, spoiler alert?) Pontius Pilate. Rufus Sewell (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and Emmanuelle Chriqui (You Don't Mess With the Zohan) play characters in the shadows who put Jesus's Crucifixion into motion. And for anyone who wanted to know what Irisa from Syfy's Defiance looked like sans her alien makeup, she also makes an appearance in the film (weirdly as Chriqui's daughter despite their six year age difference).

The previous Killing movies focuses as much on the eventual assassins as it did the titular characters, but focus of Killing Jesus remains mostly on the Son of God despite the three hour run time. We have all heard the story of Jesus before and I assume it will be getting a large chuck of screen time during A.D. I was hoping we would be getting more information on the conspiracy happening behind the scenes that led to his death than the story of his life that everyone who had been to Sunday School already know. Still Killing Jesus will be a huge success, probably beating the previous two movies in viewers. Though he is the least know of the series, I am actually looking forward to the inevitable Killing Patton, because that is a story I really do not know much about and will probably learn a lot of new information, unlike the fairly predictable and already well known story of Killing Jesus.

Killing Jesus airs Sunday at 8:00 on the National Geographic Channel.

Around the Tubes: 3/27/15

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 Billions, Jim Norton: Contextually Inadequate, Rouge, Lincoln's Last Day, Shannon and Sophie, MTV Movie Awards, and Radio Disney Music Awards.

- Showtime has picked up the drama Billions to series for 12 one-hour episodes, it was announced today by David Nevins, President of Showtime Networks Inc. Starring Oscar nominee and Emmy and Golden Globe® winner Paul Giamatti and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Damian Lewis, the series is a complex and contemporary drama about power politics in the New York world of high finance. Billions is written and executive produced by Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Ocean's Thirteen, Rounders), and Andrew Ross Sorkin (Too Big To Fail). Beginning production later this year, the series will shoot in New York and is slated for a 2016 premiere.

Jim Norton: Contextually Inadequate is returning to the Somerville Theatre in Boston, MA, for his third consecutive EPIX special, Norton takes on the twisted state of the 21st century. With his customarily caustic point-of-view, Norton tackles everything from Bill Cosby to nude photos to the firing of his radio co-host Anthony Cumia. It premieres Friday April 24 10:00, check out a clip below:


- Undercover detective Grace Travis (Thandie Newton) crossed the line between right and wrong and her involvement with the city's most powerful and dangerous crime family caused her to pay the ultimate price - the loss of her son. This season, she's left undercover life behind to be a better mother to her daughter. She also has a new job as a handler for an FBI task force investigating corporate espionage in San Francisco. Recently separated, with the arrival of her estranged mother, she has plenty of drama on the job - and at home. But when her undercover operative goes missing, Grace is forced back into a world of lies and deceit, following a trail of dirty money and investigating four soldiers at the center of the drama. Rogue: The Complete Second Season; Street Date: May 19, 2015.

- Showtime has set the summer premieres for two of its critically-acclaimed and award-winning dramas – Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex. Both series will premiere on Sunday, July 12th at 9:00 and 10:00, respectively, and each will have 12 one-hour episode seasons.

- April 14th, 2015 will mark the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. This critical moment in American history will be examined in Lincoln's Last Day, an original one-hour Smithsonian Channel documentary that retraces the events leading up to the fatal shot, premiering on April 13th at 8:00.

- The new UP Original Series Shannon & Sophie (#ShannonandSophie, #smotherhood) explores and celebrates the close, funny mother-daughter relationship of Shannon Tweed-Simmons, actress, model and wife of KISS legendary bassist/co-lead vocalist Gene Simmons, and their daughter Sophie Tweed-Simmons, an actress, singer and fashion designer. Gene Simmons and son Nick Simmons also appear in the show. Produced by Force Four Entertainment, Shannon & Sophie premieres with back-to-back episodes on Thursday, April 16 at 9:00.

- MTV this week announced that award-winning actress and young Hollywood sensation Shailene Woodley will receive the fourth annual “MTV Trailblazer Award” during the LIVE telecast of the 2015 MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, April 12 at 8:00 from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, CA. The coveted award will be presented to Woodley by her Insurgent co-star and fan favorite, Miles Teller.

Multi-talented actress and recording artist Zendaya will serve as host of the 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards (RDMA), music's biggest event for families, taking place SATURDAY, APRIL 25 at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, it was announced yesterday by Phil Guerini, Vice President, Programming and General Manager, Radio Disney. Guerini said, "On stage and off, Zendaya brings intelligence, thoughtfulness and honesty -- and an effortless cool factor -- to everything she does, all qualities that are appreciated by generations of kids and tweens, and especially their parents. We join her legion of fans in welcoming her back to the RDMA stage."

I Want My Music Television: 3/26/15

Famous - Charli XCX


Last year YouYube created their own award show which was widely panned as being unnecessary. Of course that did not stop them from doing another one. But they did change things up this time around. Instead of creating live music videos at the last awards and handing out fan voted awards, the winners got their own music videos as an honor, or at least I think, it is kind of hard figuring out what is actually going on with the YTMA's. All I know is because of it we get a new Charli XCX music video, a creepy-fun ode to our devotion to our mobile devises. I do wonder if having to watch an ad to get into a room is a not so subtle dig at the ads in front of YouTube videos.

Bloodstream - Ed Sheeran featuring Rudimental


Ed Sheeran also got the YouTube Music Award music video treatment but where Charli got a bunch of mobile zombies, Ed get Ray Liotta. So maybe not all YouTube Awards are treated equal. Is Ray playing old Ed? Am I supposed to think of Taylor Swift's Blank Space while watching (it takes place in a mansion, there is a random horse for no apparent reason, destruction of property). Whatever the case, the YTMA's are still pretty unnecessary.

Nobody Love - Tori Kelly


As a pretentious music blogger I have an image to uphold only only like the greatest most snobby music being made, but even us pretentious music bloggers have our guilty pleasures (Ariana Grande) and songs we like semi-ironically (Teenage Dream). Now I know this Tori Kelly song is not good, the singing like a baby girl in the pre-chorus is kind of embarrassing, there is an unnecessary Mariah Carey type vocal gymnastic as if she were trying out for some crappy karaoke show. But I have to admit it does not suck massively either. The verses give off a cool eighties RnB vibe to it like it could have been a hit for The Jets (which begs the question, whatever happened to The Jets?) three decades ago and following the unnecessary vocal gymnastic is a pretty awesome horn breakdown. Now I need to decide on whether this song deserves to be filed away in my guilty pleasure folder or like ironically.

Lampshade om Fire - Modest Mouse


Pretentious blogger confession number two: I have never been much of a fan of Modest Mouse. With that said, I do kind of like their new song (I really like the line, "this is what I really call a party now" line, but a party never really starts until someone starts fire to a lampshade and wild, ADD inducing new music video.

2015 Spring Music Preview

The big news for albums this spring that it was recently decided that their will be a world album release date on Fridays. No word on when this switch is official but it looks like iTunes has some albums released on Friday and others on Tuesday while Amazon is stick with Tuesday for now. I was excited for the new Mumford and Sons album until I heard the first single and now I am kind of dreading it. Actually this list is littered with underwhelming first singles (Death Cab for Cutie, Alabama Shakes, Snoop Dogg, and Of Monsters of Men among them). But as D'Angelo and Kendrick Lamar have shown, album release dates are no longer fluid so maybe their will be more surpised album that will be coming in the next couple months that will be more enticing to earlobees than those listed below which may only be worth a spin on Spotify or two. If you are interested in preordering the album on Amazon, click on its title. Click on the artist's name to be taken to their iTunes.

March 23
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit - Courtney Barnett
To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
Short Movie - Laura Marling
Mr. Wonderful - Action Bronson
Toto XIV - Toto
Nothing But The Silence - Striking Matches

March 31
Kintsugi - Death Cab for Cutie
The Past, The Present, The Future - Jodeci
Southern Style - Darius Rucker
Carrie & Lowell - Sufjan Stevens
The Day Is My Enemy - The Prodigy
The Album About Nothing - Wale
Tokyo Dome In Concert - Van Halen
Ludaversal - Ludacris
Postcards From Paradise - Ringo Starr

April 7
No Pier Pressure - Brian Wilson
After It All - After It All - Delta Rae
Blow Up The Moon - Blues Traveler
Small Town Dreams - Will Hoge
New Glow - Matt and Kim
Clueless Soundtrack (20th Anniversary Vinyl Release)

April 21
Sound & Color - Alabama Shakes
Kindred - Passion Pit
Ten Songs from Live at Carnegie Hall - Ryan Adams

April 28
Jekyll + Hyde - Zac Brown Band
Sirens - The Weepies
The Magic Whip - Blur
Fly International Luxurious Art - Raekwon

May 5
Wilder Mind [Deluxe Edition] - Mumford & Sons
The Waterfall - My Morning Jacket
I Can't Imagine - Shelby Lynne
California Nights - Best Coast

May 12
Trust Fall EP- Incubus
Bush - Snoop Dogg

May 19
The Desired Effect - Brandon Flowers
Sol Invictus - Faith No More

June 2
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful - Florence + The Machine

June 9
Beneath The Skin - Of Monsters and Men

TBD
So Help Me God - Kanye West
Through the Eyes of Wonder - Stevie Wonder
This Is Acting - Sia
Clefication - Wyclef Jean
Adele
Ashley Monroe
Dawes
David Gilmore
Deftones
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Filter
Heart
Jill Scott
Kacey Musgraves
Metallica
Nate Ruess
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Band Perry

The Voice Season Eight Battle Round Power Rankings

During his long winded Battle decision, Pharrell gave us a huge insight into his decision making process. He said his decision boiled down to either pick the best, most polished singer or the one that needed his help the most. He ended up going with Lowell Oakley even though Kimberley was the clear winner. This, of course, was a horrible decision. Though not outwardly stated I am pretty sure Shakira went with the same philosophy her two season in the same chair and finished last both times. This philosophy is bad for everyone except the "winner" of the battle, the person who deserves it goes home, you lessen you lessen your chance of winning, and the audience has to endure lesser singers.

I pretty much disagreed with every decision Pharrell made this round with the exception of Anthony over Travis. Of course the difference between Pharrell and Shakira was that Pharrell actually had singers worth stealing and both Christina and Blake strengthened their teams with two Pharrell outcasts (okay, Blake's second steal was one of trademark Knockout Round fodder steals; whoever gets Travis next round will obviously be his favorite this season; it is a shame Blake wasted a Steal on him and did not have one for the vastly more deserving Noelle Bybee). It was not as if Adam had anyone worth stealing as half his team was montaged, something that usually happens to Blake.

1. India Carney (Team Christina)
2. Ashley Morgan (Team Pharrell Christina)
3. Hannah Kirby (Team Blake Pharrell)
4. Brooke Adee (Team Blake)
5. Rob Taylor (Team Christina)
6. Joshua Davis (Team Blake Adam)
7. Kimberly Nichole (Team Pharrell Christina)
8. Anthony Riley (Team Pharrell)
9. Meghan Linsey (Team Pharrell Blake)
10. Sarah Potenza (Team Blake)
11. Treeva Gibson (Team Christina)
12. Brian Johnson (Team Blake)
13. Tonya Boyd-Cannon (Team Adam)
14. Kelsie May (Team Blake)
15. Barry Minniefield (Team Adam)
16. Deanna Johnson (Team Adam)
17. Sawyer Fredericks (Team Pharrell)
18. Koryn Hawthorne (Team Christina)
19. Paul Pfau (Team Pharrell)
20. Mia Z (Team Pharrell)
21. Caitlin Caporale (Team Pharrell)
22. Nathan Hermida (Team Adam)
23. Blaze Johnson (Team Adam)
24. Cody Wickline (Team Blake)
25. Clinton Washington (Team Christina Adam)
26. Lowell Oakley (Team Pharrell)
27. Lexi Dávila (Team Adam)
28. Joe Tolo (Team Christina)
29. Jacob Rummell (Team Blake Pharrell)
30. Corey Kent White (Team Blake)
31. Sonic (Team Christina)
32. Travis Ewing (Team Pharrell Blake)

Looking over the teams, giving each an numerical value, here is how the teams stack up based on my list after the Battle Round:

Christina: 161
Blake: 129
Pharrell: 121
Adam: 117

Christina was the big winner of the Battle Rounds stealing two of Pharrell's strongest singers and managed to pick her strongest singers almost every Battle (she did shed one of her better iTunes compeditors Gabriel Wolfchild for the boring Joe Tolo). Blake was his methodical self taking his five strongest singer even if they were not actually the best in their Battle (both male country singers should have lost their Battles but are more likely to garner votes in the Live Rounds). Though he had one decent Steal, Adam is still the weakest and will need another great Steal in the Knockout Round to compete this season and not come in dead last. Of course this is entirely possible consider Pharrell picks singers based on who needs his help the most not who was best. But who cares what I think, here are how the singers ranked on iTunes at their highest peak over the past two weeks as well as a few Blind Audition still hanging around (although it seemed like less of those reentered the charts then have in past seasons).


1. Noelle Bybee and Sawyer Fredricks (13)
2. India Carney and Clinton Washington (60)
3. Brian Johnson and Joshua Davis (106)
4. Meghan Linsey and Paul Pfau (198)
5. Nathan Hermida (235)
6. Hannah Kirby and Sarah Potenza (246)
7. Saywer Fredricks (249)
8. Ashley Morgan and Mia Z (309)
9. Deanna Johnson (319)
10. Cory Kent White and Jacob Rummel (321)
11. Kimberley Nichole and Lowell Oakley (349)
12. Paul Pfau (411)
13. Cody Wickline (509)
14. Cody Wickline and Matt Snoook (510)
15. Briar Johnson and Caitlin Caporale (672)
16. Caitlin Caporale (725)
17. Jermery Gaynor and Rob Taylor (771)
18. Brenna Yeager and Kelsie May (819)
19. Ameera Delandro and Sonic (841)
20. James McNeiece and Tonya Boyd-Cannon (898)
21. Brooke Adee (961)
22. Travis Ewing (968)
23. Anthony Riley and Travis Ewing (1189)
24. Blaze Johnson and Michael Leier (1206)
25. Barry Minnifield and Jack Gregori (1296)
26. Joshua Davis (1377)
27. Michael Leier (1452)
28. Hannah Kirby (1472)

In previous seasons, this is where I would average the highest peak of the artists Battle and Blind Audition songs to see who is the clear frontrunner after two round (at least on iTunes). It is a little trickier now that they are selling Battle duets with both singers. For instance we are not sure if people bought Stay because of India or because of Clinton or maybe the duet would have outsold indiviual version of the song. It may become clearer after we check the charts when the Knockout Rounds. Until then here is hows each singer ranks when you average their Blind Audition with their Battle duet (for those that did not crack the top 1500 wit one of their songs I asigned them with 1500 and put an asterick by their name):

1. Sawyer Fredricks (19.5)
2. Joshua Davis (109)
3. India Carney (172)
4. Mia Z (284)
5. Meghan Linsey (290)
6. Cody Wickline (291.5)
7. Paul Pfau (304.5)
8. Brian Johnson (329)
9. Sarah Potenza (331)
10. Cory Kent White (372.5)
11. Ashley Morgan (478.5)
12. Lowell Oakley (504.5)
13. Jacob Rummell (530)
14. Travis Ewing (671)
15. Caitlin Caporale (698)
16. Anthony Riley (754)
17. Rob Taylor (775.5)
18. Clinton Washington (780)*
19. Deanna Johnson (799.5)*
20. Blaze Johnson (829)
21. Brooke Adee (828.5)*
22. Hannah Kirby (859)
23. Tonya Boyd-Cannon (864)
24. Nathan Hermida (867.5)*
25. Treeva Gibson (912)*
26. Kimberley Nichole (924)*
27. Kelsey May (942)
28. Barry Minnifield (1154)
29. Sonic (1170.5)*
30. Joe Tolo (1244.5)*
31. Lexi Dávila (1500)**
32. Koryn Hawthorne (1500)**

Wow, Pharrell is really dominating the iTunes charts, stupid decisions and all. Blake is not that far behind (it did not help that Brooke, who was one of the best sellers last round was montaged this round; another frontrunner, Deanna Johnson also lost a lot of steam after the montage treatment). Adam, who used to be the iTunes king, clearly had a really bad Blind Auditions because his top two iTunes composite were his two steals. #19 is the highest ranking singer who was orginally on his team. Christina looks just as bad once you get by India (of course, on this show you only need one). Her next highest is her steal of Ashley.

Prediction time, the preview did not reveal many match ups: Ashley vs. Sonic, Sarah vs. Brian, Meghan vs. Travis, and for the first time in Voice history, a three way Knockout between Sawyer, Mia, and Paul. Here is who I think will be in the Live Playoff, (though not necessarily on the same team on now) ranked by how confident I am that not only will the make it to the next round but how confident they will be one of the final three on their team.

Team Adam
Joshua
Deanna
Tonya
Nathan
(Clearly Adam has no one worth stealing so I gave Pharrell an extra singer because it is more likely he will have multiple singers stolen unless Christina starts making her usual stupid decisions again and she is due)

Team Blake
Sarah
Meghan
Cody
Brooke
Brian (not beating Meghan but Stolen? maybe by Adam)

Team Christina
India
Ashley
Rob
Kimberly (maybe stolen back by Pharrell)
Treeva

Team Pharrell
Sawyer
Mia
Lowell
Hannah
Caitlin (I do not see him keeping her and Mia so maybe she goes to Christina where she probably rather be)
Jacob (I would put Anthony here but he is conspicuously absent in the preview and may be the reason for the three person battle; since Pharrell likes people he can help, no one on his team needs more help than Jacob; either that or Blake takes back Jacob or maybe Hannah for his Steal)

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/22/15

Shameless: I was hoping for a Carl / Chucky juvenile spinoff but it looks like we will be getting that on the main show with both being sentenced to hard time. Of course Chucky ended up with the white supremacists while Carl ended up with the hood gang. Elsewhere I really liked the doctor story line, I just wonder how long it will last. On one hand, Frank needs a place to stay, on the other, the last time he took care of a dying women in hopes of being left her estate did not work out very well for him. But then again, nothing really works out for him except for his inability to stay dead.

The Walking Dead: A couple weeks ago I floated out the theory that it was not Rick and company who should be weary of the residents of Alexandria because they always run into evil doers, it should be Alexandria that should be hesitant of the new group. It looks like I am not the only one as the reverend also voiced his concern over Rick. With the death of the congresswoman's son, I am guessing the coup will be coming next week (or at the very least in two weeks for the finale).And poor young Chris Rock, but how do you let one person out power two in the revolving door? And speaking of those two deaths, the camera really lingered way too long on those death scenes.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Bates Motel: So Norman maybe killed the token hot chick already? Bummer. But that was not her in the lake was it, it looked more like a dude, I first thought that was the creepy neighbor.
You can download Bates Motel on iTunes

Community: About a decade ago Arrested Development did everything it could to get a fourth season, they even slipped some in jokes about hoping to being picked up by HBO or Showtime into episodes. But alas, the show could not find a new home. Five years later, DirecTV saved Damages from cancellation opening up a flood gate an now five short years after that no beloved or cult television show is allowed to died because there are so many channels, band streaming sites looking for content. Even horrible shows that everyone hates like The Killing somehow manages a reprieve. Seven years later Arrested Development finally got its fourth season. So it is clear we are now living in an era when no media property will die as long as everyone involved wants it to live on (sorry Friday Night Lights fans, Kyle Chandler has no interest in reviving the series, probably for the best).

So when Community finally got the ax from NBC, the was little question on if it would get its prophetized six seasons a movie, the question would be where would it land. Hulu passed and surprisingly Yahoo! wanted to get in the streaming game. Even more surprising is that the show is basically commercial free and free to watch. I watched the first two episode and they only aired on ad before the first one. As for the content itself, it is still Community even though it is down yet another cast member (Shirley escaped to CBS multicam hell), it did not even relish in the lack of network standards and practices. Like always it is somewhat enjoyable but I really hope that this is it, well plus a movie. But even if this is it, it will probably be revived again in five years or so.
You can watch Community on Yahoo Screen.

Pretty Little Liars: I have been out on this show for a season or two now, but this episode finally pulled me back in with the characters acting like idiots (passing notes in jail with the lawyer calling them out for it; Aria's brother leaving the car after getting hit with an arrow... stay in the car and keep driving you moron, do not leave the car where there is not a windshield to protect you) and other characters just doing things for no apparent reason (Calab just sitting in the dark at the cabin) and a big plot twist: Alison gets convicted followed directly by all the Liars getting arrested. If only they had gone to the police after the first text. An let me predict one more time, a not so dead Mona will turn out to be the next A that will be revealed next week.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD: So the big secret Bobbi and Mack have is they are covert operatives for "the real SHIELD." Alrighty. At least they only drug that secret out two episode. Granted if Edward James Olmos is involved, maybe it is the real SHIELD. And let me guess, he is going to want to lock Skye up but over Colson's dead body.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes

Justified: If you are dumb enough not to assume the evil crime boss lady does not keep a gun in her purse, you definitely deserve to die. The Ava finally tipped her hand and went with Raylan this week, unfortunately for her, Boyd did not get caught red handed as he did not make it through the bottom of the floor. Yeah, it probably was not the best idea to trust the crazy explosion expert.
You can download Justified on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II: So Sarah has had two of her partners leave prematurely and was sent home too as a result; Leroy had two of his sent home and both times got a replacement partner. This time he got an upgrade right before the finale. Lucky boy. Why not just hand him the prize right then and there (well probably because Sarah ends up winning anyway). But the best part of the show was the After Show with Banana's saying he would never sell out a friend / cut to him selling out Paula. Did he forget all of this was on tape?
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Exes II on iTunes.

Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar: Ask and you shall receive, just last week I was complaining about no Reward Challenges and we get two this week. The show flows a lot better with two challenges per episode. Then we had a Tribe Swap which could not have ended better for Blue Collar, a majority on one tribe and a swing vote on the other. Bearded dude brought up it ended up like the swap back in One World but it was also divided by strength back in the Fans vs. Favorites II season also. Maybe it is fixed.
You can download Survivor: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar on iTunes.

The Americans: Wait, is Martha really going to forgive Clark? Even more surprising, how does Clark kill Martha just in case?
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Wait, so they just let Tom walk after confessing to killing harbor master just to keep Lizzy out of jail even though the AG guy could have made the whole thing go away anyway? Maybe Tom should have been taken to a black site. I really hope he does not end up joining the team somewhere down the road.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Previewing Aloha Vet

If you like any of Nat Geo Wild's veterinarian show, you will want to check out its latest Aloha Vet. As the title suggest, this show takes place in Hawaii and you guessed it with the exotic location there are going to be some exotic patrons to the vet's office. Dr. Scott Sims treats both domestic and wild animals and has no problem making house calls be it by riding a horse, scuba diving, or even flying his own plane.

As Nat Geo Wild describes the show:Island hop with one of Hawaii's best known veterinarians Dr. Scott Sims, as he treats animals on the go. Unlike most vets, Dr. Sims sees animals both wild and domestic, large and small, and he's known to o whatever it takes to give them the care they need. He even built his own private plane to go on house calls.

A true adventurer, he'll perform procedures on beaches, mountaintops, near waterfalls, and even on the tailgate of a truck. Watch Dr. Sims rescue a sea turtle in a fishing line, save an unconscious horse stuck in a riverbed and bring sight back to a pig blinded for years. Don't miss Aloha Vet as he ventures across the rural islands of Hawaii, doing whatever it takes to help all creatures great and small.

Aloha Vet airs Saturdays at 9:00 on Nat Geo Wild.

Around the Tubes: 3/20/15

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 Blues Traveler, Backstrom, Idiotest, It Takes a Church, Deep Web, StarTalk, CPO Sharkey, Broadchurch, Loaded, and VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

- The legendary, Grammy-winning Blues Traveler have just finished recording a highly anticipated new album via Loud & Proud Records, and have turned to direct-to-fan platform PledgeMusic to allow fans to pre-order and interact with the band leading up to the album release. A clever collaboration between various artists, Blow Up The Moon sees Blues Traveler keep an open-minded perspective on making music and enlists an eclectic mix of songwriters. For Blow Up the Moon, featuring "Castaway", the first track premiered, the band collaborated with respected musicians such as Thompson Square, Plain White T's, 3OH!3, Hanson, Jewel, Secondhand Serenade, Dirty Heads & Rome Ramirez (Sublime), JC Chasez (*NSYNC), Bowling for Soup, New Hollow and Thomas Ian Nicholas. Plain White T's, Secondhand Serenade, Thomas Ian Nicholas and Bowling for Soup have also used PledgeMusic to release their music.

- This Saturday, March 21 from 11pm – 2am FX will air the first three episodes of FOX’s new crime series Backstrom. Backstrom stars Rainn Wilson as Det. Lt. Everett Backstrom; Genevieve Angelson as Det. Nicole Gravely; Dennis Haysbert as Det. Sgt. John Almond; Kristoffer Polaha as Sgt. Peter Niedermayer; Page Kennedy as Officer Frank Moto; Beatrice Rosen as Nadia Paquet; Thomas Dekker as Gregory Valentine.

- GSN is dishing out the laughs and plenty of April Fool’s-themed fun for the Season 2 premiere of hit game show Idiotest, on Wednesday, April 1 at 8:00. Comedian Ben Gleib (“Chelsea Lately”) returns as the wildly witty host dishing out even tougher brainteasers to contestants competing for a $10,000 cash prize. Gleib will also play an integral role in the season two premiere which will feature some April Fool’s-related stunts being kept under wraps. The remainder of the season will feature new types of tests and rivalries, as well as a variety of themes amongst the competitors.

- GSN’s hit matchmaking show, It Takes a Church returns for a second season on Thursday, March 26 at 8:00. Each week, It Takes a Church visits a congregation from across the country to surprise one unsuspecting single with the news that they’re about to be saved from the dating world. The church's Pastor will task their congregation of aspiring matchmakers, to find the best possible catch for our dater, but in the end, our single will decide which suitor to put their faith in. The congregant who brought the chosen suitor will make a difference to their church by winning a donation on its behalf.

- Reunited for the first time since working together on the Bill and Ted film franchise, Keanu Reeves joins Alex Winter's documentary Deep Web as the narrator. Y ou can hear Keanu's voice in this NEW Clip explaining what the Deep Web really is! This upcoming documentary premieres at SXSW this Sunday March 15 with a world television premiere following on EPIX in Spring 2015!

- National Geographic Channel took SXSW-goers on a deep dive into outer space last night during a sneak peek presentation of its first-ever late-night talk series StarTalk, where show host and prominent astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) — joining via Skype — answered fan questions and revealed the series premiere date of Monday, April 20, at 11 p.m. ET/10 p.m. CT (with encores each Friday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT). World-renowned cultural luminaries across science, entertainment and politics, like President Jimmy Carter, Richard Dawkins, Chris Hadfield, Norman Lear, Christopher Nolan, George Takei and others, were announced as guests.

- This May, the TV DVD archivists at Time Life invite home audiences to enlist for high seas hilarity and military madness with a never-before-released television classic: CPO Sharkey: The Complete First Season. Previously unavailable on any format, the '70s-era sitcom was a showcase for iconic comedian Don Rickles, who played U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Otto Sharkey, an abrasive, sharp-tongued veteran in charge of a company of new seaman recruits on a San Diego naval base. Setting sail on May 19 and sure to thrill any fan of classic comedy or television, the 3-disc set ($29.95srp) will feature all 15 30-minute long episodes from Season One, along with a special Johnny Carson clip from "The Tonight Show".

- Called "a bona fide national obsession", the critically acclaimed second season of the top-rated British mystery series Broadchurch returned to the U.S. airwaves this March on BBC America. And on May 19, mystery buffs, TV DVD aficionados and anglophiles are invited to return to the stunning Dorset coastal town of Broadchurch for more mystery, heightened drama, and taut thrills with Broadchrurch: The Complete Second Season, a 2-disc DVD set from Entertainment One.

- It’s a different kind of road trip in Loaded, starring Patrick John Flueger (Chicago P.D., Brothers, Scoundrels), Kumail Nanjiani (HBO’s Silicon Valley, which returns for season 2 on April 12, and co-host of Comedy Central’s The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail), Andrew W. Walker (Wedding Planner Mystery, Against the Wall) and Alexandra Holden (In a World…, Rizzoli & Isles), when two estranged friends come together under the pretense of moving a third back home, who desperately needs an intervention. The unexpected reunion turns bitter at times, as past wounds are revealed, and they’re forced to confront the choices they made leading to the current direction of their lives. Stranded overnight, the strain comes to a head in an explosive night of drinking and purging. Set along the California freeways, Loaded takes the audience on a funny, but prickly trip in which lost friendships are found again. The journey will change each of them, and their lives will–hopefully–never be the same.

- This week, Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino, members of the songwriting duo A Great Big World, joined forces with the VH1 Save The Music Foundation to announce their participation in the second annual Keys + Kids initiative open to K-12 public schools. The program was created in response to the growing need for high-quality, functional pianos in schools, and to provide students with an opportunity to have their school be an environment where their talent can shine. Beginning March 16th and through April 17th, interested K – 12 public schools can submit their application at h1savethemusic.org/keyskids to receive one of ten packages valued at $10,000.  Each grant includes a Kawai piano to support their music and arts program. A Committee made up of members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, VH1 Senior Staff and patrons of the Keys + Kids Leadership Circle will judge applications. Grant winners will be announced on the Foundation’s website on May 20, 2015. For more information, contest rules or to see how you can get involved please visit www.vh1savethemusic.org.

Previewing Barely Famous and Walk of Shame Shuttle

We live in a country that reveres one hit wonders in pop music. There are lists made, radio stations devote entire weekends to them, Dexy's Midnight Runners have been living off of Come on Eileen for three decades while bands that stupidly achieved a second trip on the charts end up getting day jobs. There is really no equivalent for movie stars that are known for only one film, they are not even famous enough to get an invite to Dancing with the Stars which routinely recruits "stars" over half the country have never heard of.

It was over a decade ago when Sara Foster was poised for a star turn opposite Luke Wilson in The Big Bounce. The only problem was the movie bombed and was critically panned. In the eleven years since, her IMDB page touts three television episodes, a stint on the 90210 reboot, three movies you have never heard of and one you never knew exist (wait, there was a second Bachelor Party movie?).

Since the acting career never really took off, Sara looks to be joining the family business. Nope, she is not going into music production like her father David who was probably the second most famous one of the eighties after Quincy Jones. Nope she is taking on her father's latter day career as reality star. He starred in The Princes of Malibu with third wife Linda and most recently on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with fourth wife Yolanda.

Now Sara stars in the appropriately titled Barely Famous with her little sister Erin who is dubbed a writer on the show. According to IMDB her lone writing credit was for the horrible NBC sitcom The New Normal. Though she actually does have more acting credits than her sister popping up on twelve different shows as well as a few movies you never heard of.

This probably will come as a shock to nobody, but in recent court deposition, it came out that Love and Hip Hop, as well as pretty much every VH1 reality show, is a complete fake. Not that the Fosters mind that one bit because they are going out of their way to make sure everyone know Barely Famous is not a "real" reality show. Of course Erin receive a James Franco booty call every episode, even in the middle of a date with an Apple employee, is fake.

But the thing is, Barely Famous is actually kind of funny. The big problem is that it has been down before and done in the more reasonable web series form. A mockumentary on not really being a star is not a television series, it is better served in bitesize, five to ten minute intervals no matter how many celebrity cameos you get (Kate Hudson and Nicole Richie in the first, Jessica Alba in number two, Courntney Cox in the third; presumably Franco will pop up in the finale because James Franco has never said no in his career).

Remember how I said Love and Hip Hop, and basically every VH1 show was outed as fake? Well The Walk of Shame Shuttle is extremely fake too. Sure, like Love and Hip Hop, it wants you to think it is real, but there is no way that is true. One big red flag is they actually air the address of the walk of shamees, many of who are clearly actors. Sure there are a few that are plausibly real because we clearly live in a TMI society, but it is hard to believe they found enough to air their dirty laundry on basic channel to fill a series.

The Walk of Shame Shuttle is basically Taxicab Confession set during the morning. The enterprising Kellyann Wargo, who came up withe the idea in college, is one of the drivers along with comedians Jordan Pease and Michelle Collins. But it is Kellyann who is the star of the show, where the other two try to upstage their fairs, Wargo says more with her reaction shots. Yeah the passengers may or may not be fake, but Kellyann's facial expressions to the craziness are priceless. Neither The Walk of Shame Shuttle or Barely Famous are must see television, or even worth space on your DVR, but if you find yourself flipping through your channels and happen on either, you may actually be entertained for a minute or two before moving nto the next channel.

Walk of Shame Shuttle airs at 9:00 followed by Barely Famous airs Wednesdays at 9:30 both on VH1.