Previewing Angie Tribeca

2015 was the year of peak television where there was just too many television shows not just on television but now streaming services that not even the people that actually get paid to watch television can keep up let alone us armchair critics. Last year was also a year when channels started to get creative (aside from putting series premiere online and On Demand which had been happening for almost a decade now). NBC put the entire Aquarius first season On Demand and apparently was successful to warrant a second season (but apparently not successful enough not to be relegated to the Saturday burn off slot later in the season; so let's see what they do in the second season). TNT went the On Demand root for Public Morals, but just the first four episode (later it put the whole season there for a weekend) which was not as successful because it got canceled after one season. Recently USA did a Mr. Robot 24-hour marathon and for that have still not caught up, the entire first season is still On Demand, and the last time I checked there is also an Uncensored version of the first season episodes there now too.

Of course the Mr. Robot 24-hour marathon came months after the final episode aired during the time of year marathons have become commonplace. TBS is doing the most attention grabbing roll out of a new television show ever. Starting Sunday at 9:00 PM they are airing a 25-hour marathon of the entire first season of their new show Angie Tribeca commercial free. This is either a stroke of marketing genius or someone is getting fired. Not that the marathon needs to be successful because TBS already renewed Angie Tribeca for ten more seasons (okay, this is a bit misleading because the joke is each season they renewed the show for runs one episode, so basically it just renewed it for another ten episode) which premieres Monday 25 at 9:30. So basically you have seven chances to watch the season by 10:00 PM Monday. But if you do not have three hours and a half hours to carve out, the entire first season will be available On Demand and at tbs.com to watch at your leisure.

The big question though is Angie Tribeca worth the huge stunt? After watching the entire first season over a three and a half block I would have say definitely yes. I will even go ahead and call it the funniest show on television. The show is a deadpan cop show in the vein of the Naked Gun movies where they cram every dumb and absurd joke that can into every scene.

Rashida Jones (Cop Out) stars as the titular character with Hayes MacArthur (She's Out of My League) as her new partner Jay Geils that of course she does not want but is weirdly attracted to even though he last partner / boyfriend died (or did he? at any rate, you will recognized him in the flashbacks). Jere Burns (Wynn Duffy!) is the police captain while Deon Cole (the crazy co-worker on Black-ish aka the best part of Black-ish until the character got fired which I guess makes sense now) and his partner Jagger (the titular character from Max). The TBS press release would also like to point out that "Not involved with the series is Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull)." Like I said this is a show that leaves no joke unsaid no matter how stupid.

The show is the brain child of Nancy (who pops up in the premiere) and Steve Carell (who I am pretty sure provides the theme song, if you can call it a theme song). They got a work out from their Rolodex because each episode has many familiar faces including Lisa Kudrow, Gary Cole, while Alfred Molina has too much fun inn a recurring role as the department... well his role basically changes every episode. The other cameos are too many and too good to mention, but I will say you will definitely want to tune in to episode six just to see who they get to quote Carly Rae Jepsen.

After seeing the entire first season I am ready to go ahead and call Angie Tribeca the funniest show on television. If you like absurdist comedy like the Naked Gun movies or the eighties comedy Sledge Hammer!, you will definitely want to check out Angie Tribeca. Really my only complsint is the season ends with a cliff hanger (which may or may not be an homage to Sledge Hammer!) which is kind of annoying. But hey at least season two starts the following week.

Angie Tribeca first season premieres Sunday at 9:00 PM on TBS and will re-air over the course of 25 hours. Season two premieres the following Monday at 9:30 with new episodes following every week.

I Want My Music Television: 1/12/16

Wildest Dreams - Taylor Swift


I remember a couple years ago Jay-Z tried to make a big deal about being the first new music video of the decade. Except no one really cared because no one ever bothered to watch Carson Daly's New Years Eve show. Taylor Swift is trying the same thing with the second half of the decade. Granted it was technically the last music video to premiere in 2015, but whatever. The song itself it pretty meh, but what would you expect sixth single from an album that only had two great songs. But this is the second mediocre song in a row that Swift spent late nineties type money on for a music video (somebody better be making some money for making me sitting through that horrible Natalie Dormor horror movie before every video I watch). I wonder if people are starting to make money on music video or is it basically only Taylor and Adele that are making any money. I just wished she had gone full Evil Dead during the muddy forest scene.

Irresistible - Fall Out Boy featuring Demi Lovato


Speaking of overpriced music video from the late nineties, Fall Out Boy pay, um, homage(?) to *NSYNC in their music video (which begs the question whatever happened to Kim Smith?) and boy you can tell just how less money they spent on it compared to the original with really bad doll make up. They were able to even recruited on N'Sync member who was already referred to as Fat Spice back in their heyday and looked to have not stopped eating since. But was there a second member at the beginning, my goodness, Adele smashing their single week record is not treating these guy very well. Do not expect a N'Sync Cochella reunion anytime soon. And those she only has one song that does not suck massively, Demi Lovato actually kind of works as a backup singer.

Flip and Rewind - Boss Selection featuring Rashida Jones


One more nineties throwback. Rashida Jones has recreated some of her favorite RnB music video from the decade. I am old enough to recognize them but am too old to actually remember what half of them are. TLC's Baby Baby Baby is obvious, and Mary J. Blige's Real Love in also fairly easy but I am hard pressed to place the other. Xscape? All-4-One maybe? Are the mustard suits from Heavy D and the Boyz? And for those scratching their head as to why Rashida Jones is getting into music, just remember she got her last name from father Quincy as in the guy who produced all the great Michael Jackson records. Boss Selection is actually the stage name for Sunny Levine, Quincy's grandson and Rashida's nephew.

Lazerus - David Bowie


I actually wrote most of this post last week but did not finish it in time to post it before the weekend. Originally I started off by making a poor attempt to tie this into nineties nostalgia before mentioning how this video reminded me of Metallica's One. But David Bowie ended up passing away before I did post it. So instead of the poor jokes I originally made, let me take this time to celebrate his life. As a child of the eighties, I first learned of Bowie due to his cheesy Let's Dance phase (Modern Love being my favorite), which of course every five year old loved, so I did not realize until much latter how embarrassing that video with Mick Jagger was (or the rumors surrounding them). I did not get into his older stuff until high school when he hooked up with Trent Resnor on an album and realized just how weird he was and was much closer to what he was like in the seventies than what I grew up with. But maybe the most lasting memory I have of Bowie is when he opened The Concert for New York with a sparce cover of Simon and Garfunkel's America before launching appropriately enough into Heroes in front of the brave men and women who risked their lives on 9/11. Friday, Bowie released what turned out to be his last proper album Blackstar on his birthday which will will go down as one of the haunting final album like Johnny Cash's American albums.

Previewing Shameless: Season Six

Something shocking happened last season on Shameless. Okay, something shocking happens every episode of Shameless, usually five to ten, but the shocking thing I am talking about is that someone on the show did something that normal people would not think was shocking at all if anyone else did it, but it was shocking that it seemed like Frank showed legitimate feelings for another human being. Sure he has had bouts of conscience in the past but he has always reset to his old self by the next episode like a cartoon character.

So it is even more shocking that three months later Frank is still pining over his dead doctor buddy with benefits. And it is shocking still that those all to real human feeling may be sticking around at least for a few more episodes (after a funny montage in the season premiere, I was really hoping that they had spread those season out through the whole season). Sure Frank is not particularly very good at being a normal human being, especially when he trying to find someone to replace Bianca next week, but at least he is starting to grow if just baby steps.

But do not worry, the rest of the cast is just as shameless as ever (the title of the second episode is #AbortionEules so this may not be the time to recommend the show to your angry uncle who spent the holidays railing against Planned Parenthood; well unless you want to make him angrier). Lip started sleeping with his professor last season with her husband's blessings and that is continuing despite some more complications. Ian is now in a prescription drug haze while Micky is now three months into a fifteen year stint for attempting to kill the eldest Gallagher (but hey, he may be out in eight due to overcrowding). At least the season opens with Carl being released from Juvi, though it may just be a matter of time before he is back. And as the episode title suggests , not everyone is keen to Debbie's potential bundle of joy.

But Fiona mat still be the most messed up of them all as she tries to keep everyone together (well, except Frank). Still married and still hooking up with her boss, she experiences more troubles than the rest of her family combined. Surprisingly things may actually be looking up for Kev and V after The Alibi gets named the Best Worst Bar on the South Side which is a boon to business. Of course this is Shameless, so I do not expect it to last for very long. I put the over/under on when the health inspectors shows up at episode four.

Shameless airs Sundays at 9:00 on Showtime.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 1/9/16

Galavant: What a great way to start off 2016 with a new season. They opened with a musical number which had already been on the internets for a while so I was ready for the season to really start after the commercial break. But instead of fore silly fun, my ABC interrupted the premiere for breaking news: the Browns have fired their coach and general manager. What the frack? How is something that had been rumored for weeks worthy of beaching into a new episode for. I really doubt there were many people tuning into a musical comedy that also watch football (well, besides me). Worse yet (well aside from announcing they were hiring Jonah Hill to run the team later that week, or the guy who Hill played in Moneyball; a movie about baseball) they returned to the show already in progress. Um how about taking those twenty minutes out of the Quantico repeat. Or better yet, wait to run that news during the news. Hurumph. At least when I finally got to watch the episode in its entirety and uninterrupted later in the week it was still great. Thankfully I am the only one watching otherwise I am sure there would be some negative Nancy who would have been offended by the gay bar or the "brown cow" line.
You can download Galavant on iTunes.

Supergirl: Just how many Krptonians are on Earth? I counted about a dozen of Non's soldiers ambushing the exchange. Makes Supergirl and Superman a little less special. And maybe if there is that many roaming around, it may be time for Kara to call her cousin and ask for that help. Hopefully Martian Manhunker threw Cat off the Kara is Supergirl scent (even though leaving the office on four separate occasions to go off and be Supergirl in one day was highly suspicious) because her constant prodding got annoying. As for the ending, what exactly is Maxwell Lord up to with a chick with black eyes, no family, and the Red Tornado's arm?
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Pitch Slapped: Sing it On was a fun diversion last year (aside from the suicide episode) and I was hoping Pitch Slapped would be a high school version of that. Unfortunately it is worse because of a stupid decision of bringing in two ringers to help a pair of a capella group. The chick is super annoying and you kind of half to applaud the dude for calling her out for wanting to beat Deke more than she wants them to win (but a smack to the back of the head to the whiny Millennial for actually saying that to her face; show some respect). And it is hard to take anyone seriously when they are named after a hockey fake out. But really, I wish NBC would just revive The Sing Off preferably with Ben Folds, Shawn Stockman, and Sara Bareilles.
You can download Pitch Slapped on iTunes.

The Challenge: Bloodlines: I have longed enjoyed this show because it is one of the few shows that allows legitimately crazy people on it because you never know what they will do or say. But there is crazy fun (say, Nany) and crazy scary. Every time Abram gets that look in his eye, I just fear he would legitimately kill someone. Seriously the guy got so worked up during the elimination, one he was not even participating in, he got a nose bleed. And, goodness, that Aftershow was hard to watch. I guess it is for the best that they did not get into Tomas and Cara Maria playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in the back of the bus. I do not even want to know what Abram would have done had he seen that.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines on iTunes.

The Blacklist: Few things more entertaining when two or three people are able to take down a small army. Seriously, was the smoke bomb a dud? It had no effect on anyone and probably put the guys in the gas masks in a disadvantage. Then when they check to see if there are any survivors, the first guy in gets shot and everyone else just follows not realizing that the gunshot proves someone survived.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 1/8/16

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 Angie Tribeca, A Celebration of American Creativity: In Performance at the White House, The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall, Conan, JeruZalem, The Little Prince, Mad Men, House of Lies, The Coral Burnett Show, Unreal, People of Earth, Tales from the Crypt, and The Offspring.

- TBS's eagerly anticipated debut of the new series Angie Tribeca just got a whole lot bigger. As part of the network's 25-hour marathon kicking off the show, TBS will hold an all-day, all-night launch party packed with stars from Angie Tribeca and other TBS shows, along with special guests, surprise appearances, music, comedy and so much more. Binge-A-Thon: 25 Hours of Commercial-Free Angie Tribeca Episodes Plus Comedy with the Cast and Friends in Studio LIVE! will air in segments between episodes throughout the entire Angie Tribeca launch marathon, which begins Sunday, Jan. 17, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

- Three-time Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Keb’ Mo’, recently performed at a special concert, hosted by President and Mrs. Obama, called A Celebration of American Creativity: In Performance at the White House. The concert is set to air this Friday, Jan. 8, 2016 on PBS. Specific air times are available through local listings.

- Showtime has officially announced the airdate of its new groundbreaking political series The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth. The series will premiere on Sunday, January 17th at 8:00. Produced in cooperation with Bloomberg Politics and featuring Bloomberg Politics managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann and noted campaign strategist and media advisor Mark McKinnon. The real-time documentary series will pull back the curtain on the 2016 presidential race, revealing the intense, irreverent, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines of what promises to be one of the most fascinating and consequential elections in modern history. Premiering in advance of the Iowa caucuses, The Circus will deliver the stories as they are happening and examine what really goes on behind the carefully constructed facade of a presidential campaign in real time.

- Showtime will debut the world television premiere of Oscar® nominee Spike Lee’s latest documentary, Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall, on Friday, February 5th at 9:00, with multiple plays throughout the month on-air, on demand and over the internet. The film focuses on a rarely examined chapter of Jackson’s career as he evolves from the lead singer of Jackson 5 to a solo artist recording what will become his breakthrough, seminal 1979 pop record, Off The Wall. Audiences will travel with the global superstar as he strikes a new path with CBS Records, first with his brothers as The Jacksons and then stepping out on his own to create his own music with his own team. This illuminating portrait traces how an earnest, passionate, hard-working young man becomes the “King of Pop.”

- TBS has set Monday, Jan. 25, for the premiere of Conan in Qatar, featuring Conan O'Brien and First Lady Michelle Obama on their recent trip to visit U.S. troops stationed at the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar. This latest in a string of global excursions for Conan will mark his second trip abroad to perform for the men and women of the United States military. In May 2003, he visited Kuwait and Bahrain on a USO tour.

- One of the year’s most anticipated horror films, JeruZalem is a unique, point-of-view style horror film directed by Doron and Yoav Paz. The film follows Rachel (Jane the Virgin star Yael Grobglas), and her friend Sarah (Danielle Jadelyn), two American girls on vacation in Jerusalem who find themselves trapped in the middle of an epic apocalypse. Shot on location amongst the monuments of Jerusalem’s Old City, which is typically prohibited to filmmakers, the film features extraordinary footage of the city’s ancient architecture and religious landmarks. The film also utilizes extensive point-of-view footage, shown from the perspective of Sarah’s Go ogle Glass-type smart eyewear, as she uses the glasses’ GPS, facial recognition and other apps to navigate the city and identify potentially threatening strangers.

- The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will open with the U.S. premiere of Paramount Pictures’ The Little Prince at the Arlington Theatre on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016. Directed by Mark Osborne and featuring the voices of Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, Ricky Gervais, James Franco, Mackenzie Foy, and Benicio Del Toro, The Little Prince is based on the classic tale of the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Opening Night Film + Gala is co-sponsored by Bella Vista Designs.

- In Mad Men: A Cultural History, M. Keith Booker and Bob Batchelor offer an engaging analysis of the series, providing in-depth examinations of its many themes and nostalgic portrayals of the years from Camelot to Vietnam and beyond. Highly regarded cultural scholars and critics, Booker and Batchelor examine the show in its entirety, presenting readers with a deep but accessible exploration of the series, as well as look at its larger meanings and implications. This cultural history perspective reveals Mad Men’s critical importance as a TV series, as well as its role as a tool for helping viewers understand how they are shaped by history and culture.

- House of Lies is Havana-bound! Marty (series star and executive producer Don Cheadle) and the Pod are en route to Cuba for one episode of the fifth season of the hit Showtime comedy, premiering in 2016 on-air, on demand and over the internet. Filming in and around Havana, the episode will mark the first time an American scripted series will be shot in the country since the U.S. and Cuba restored diplomatic relations last summer.

- On February 9, two new-to-retail DVD collections will be unveiled, serving up many unforgettable moments from the show's groundbreaking years, which The New York Times proclaims "helped define the golden age of television." The 6-disc Treasure from the Vault Collector's Edition ($59.95srp) features 15 complete and uncut episodes from The Carol Burnett Show, as they originally aired on television.

- Hulu has acquired the exclusive subscription video on-demand rights to Lifetime’s critically acclaimed drama series from A+E Studios, UnREAL. All episodes of season one will become available to stream through Hulu’s No Commercial and Limited Commercials plan beginning February 3rd and future seasons of the series will become available to stream on Hulu following their initial season run on Lifetime.

- TBS has greenlit People of Earth, a new original comedy about a support group for alien abductees from Emmy®-winning executive producers Conan O'Brien (CONAN), Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks and Recreation) and Jeff Ross (CONAN, Eagleheart), along with David Kissinger (Eagleheart) and Larry Sullivan. People of Earth was created by David Jenkins, who penned the pilot and serves as series co-executive producer. The comedy's ensemble cast includes three-time Emmy winner Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show, Wyatt Cenac: Brooklyn), Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live, Suburgatory), Oscar Nuñez (The Office, Benched), Michael Cass idy (Argo, Men at Work), Alice Wetterlund (The Interview, Silicon Valley), Luka Jones (Her, The Campaign), Brian Huskey (Neighbors, This Is the End), Nancy Lenehan (The New Adventures of Old Christine, Catch Me if You Can), Tracee Chimo (Orange is the New Black, The Five-Year Engagement), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Selfie, The Angriest Man in Brooklyn), Björn Gustafsson (Spy, Kung Fury) and Ken Hall (Patch Town, Straight Man). TBS has ordered 10 episodes of People of Earth from Conan's Conaco LLC in association with Warner Horizon Television. The premiere date will be announced later.

- TNT is teaming up with M. Night Shyamalan on a new two-hour block of terror and suspense to be curated by the Oscar®-nominated writer-director (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable) and executive producer of the summer's TV hit, Wayward Pines. The block will feature both short and long-form storytelling, led by Tales from the Crypt, based on the original EC Comics and new stories, all executive-produced by Shyamalan and his partner at Binding Edge Pictures, Ashwin Rajan. The horror block is set to launch in fall 2016.

- Round Hill Music has made a deal with the American punk rock band, The Offspring, to acquire the rights to the band’s catalogue of publishing and master recordings. The publishing catalogue includes hits from their 1994 release, Smash, which remains the biggest-selling album of all-time on an independent label as well as all the group’s subsequent releases. The masters’ acquisition includes the rights to Ixnay on the Hombre, Americana, Conspiracy of One, Splinter, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, and Days Go By.

The Ten Most Anticipated Events of 2016

10. Swish - Kanye West: In previous installments I would open up with Detox saying maybe this is the year Dr. Dre finally releases his album. Dre did release an album last year though not Detox which seems will officially never see the light of day (then again Bob Dylan released The Basement Tapes forty years later so maybe someday). Kanye West may be the closest thing to a long anticipated album. Yeezus came out three years ago making it his longest wait between albums. He actually released what was assumed to be the first single New Years Eve 2014, another single came out a couple months later as well as a Rihanna collaboration (who's Anti is also oft delayed), he premiered a third song at the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary, and once again dropped another song this New Years Eve. Will we actually get to hear Swish this year? Will it go under another name change before being released (it was originally supposed to be called So Help Me God)? Or will it turn into the next Detox?

9. The Presidential Election (November 8): Of course Kanye may just very well forgo music and throw his hat into the race for president this year instead of waiting until 2020 like he announced last year. He might as well because this election cycle has turned into a clown show. And the Republicans said they had learned from four years ago with what was commonly referred as a clown car of horrible candidates that tainted the one guy who could actually beat Barack Obama and ended up losing in a landslide. So the Republicans conduct an autopsy, decide they need to be more welcoming to women and minorities... and ended up with a crazier group candidate with anyone who could actually win a general election languishing in single digits. I have long said I would not worry about Donald Trump until they started to vote but now that we are about a week out I am starting to get worried because Ted Cruz, who is just Trump with tact, is right behind him. Then you have the Democrats who should look at the Republicans and think they can win in a slam dunk except they rigged their nomination so someone who may be indited before the election will win with no opposition except for some guy who can be described as your crazy Jewish uncle. Seriously, people want a second Clinton as much as they want a third Bush, not at all. Yet both parties seem intent on nominating someone no one else in the country wants as president. Hopefully Canada is more open to immigrants than Trump because there may be an influx no matter who wins in November

8. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (February 5): I have not been this excited for a film based solely on its title since Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Hopefully this one is better.


7. More Live Musicals on Television!: After three tries, NBC finally got their live musical right with the Wiz. No official word if there will be another but I sure they will announce another on during May sweeps in not earlier. And now Fox is getting into the live musical business with Grease Live (starring Julianne Hough, Vanessa Hudgens, Keke Palmer, and Carly Rae Jepsen) coming January 31 and they are righting one of my major gripes with the NBC version and including a live audience. Clueless ABC is also doing a musical this year but their musical version of Dirty Dancing staring Abigail Breslin will not be live. Also not live is another Fox event who is remaking Rocky Horror Picture Show set to air this fall. I have never been much of a fan of the movie and the recent casting of Victoria Justice, who acts about as well as she sings (not very) and a bunch of people I have not heard of does not get me any more excited.

6. Billions (January 17): Paul Giamatti comes to the small screen to shout at people on a weekly basis! Sure I have no idea what is going on as he tries to catch a hedge fund billionaire with ill gotten gain (Brody returns to Showtime!). I have a lengthier write up on the show coming around the time the show premieres.

5. La La Land (July 15): When NBC announced after the success of The Sound of Music Live! that a live musical would be a yearly event, one of my first fantasy castings was Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in Guys and Dolls. Unfortunately that is not happening (yet) but the duo is starring in a musical (albeit not live) coming out this summer.

4. Angie Tribeca (25 Hour Marathon starring January 17 at 9:00): I have a full write up coming closer to the premiere date but let me say now that this is the funniest show on television.

3. X-Files (January, 24): Reboots can be tricky, but I am cautiously optimist for the new X-Files even though the two stars jumped ship long before the series originally ended and the mediocre at best movie from a couple years back. First off they are just dipping their toe back in the water with just six hours, including four stand alone episode and plenty of fan service with the return of the Smoking Man and the Lone Gunman (despite their demise). And even if it does end up sucking, hey, it is only six episodes.


2. The Suicide Squad (August 5): Have we finally reached superhero fatigue? The Fantastic Four reboot bombed, Ant- Man was the worst performing Marvel film. Yet by my count there are seven more comic book adaptations coming this year. Marvel has two more, DC is starting their cinematic universe with two films itself, while Fox, despite the recent disaster of the Fantastic Four, is going all in with their other Marvel owned property X-Men with three movies. To be honest there is only one that has really gotten me excited; I never cared much about the X-Men, I am two films behind on Marvel, and every passing Superman v Bat Man trailer makes me less excited; and that is The Suicide Squad. Okay I want to cut off the trailer when Jared Leto's Joker shows up because he looks horrible, but sign me up for everything else about it. Just give Margo Robbie her Oscar for Harley Quinn now. Or at the very least an MTV Movie Award.


1. The Olympics (starting August 5): Always one of my favorite events every other year and plenty of story lines for this year's game which will includes Rugby Sevens for the first time: can Micheal Phelps add it his gold medals record? Can Usain Bolt go back to back to back in the Mens 100 Yard Dash? Can the US Women Soccer team be the first team to win Gold the year after winning the World Cup? Will anyone die swimming in Rio's polluted river? Okay the modern Olympics would not be complete with controversies in the lead up and this year's big one is the rivers where they plan to host the outdoor swimming events were unsafe to swim in. A previous scandal was adverted when they announced that the organizers were going to charge for air conditioning but later reversed that decision.

My 2016 Winter Television Schedule

Before I get to 2016, let me do some 2015 clean up as there were two shows that I watched last week (granted their aired five hours between them); three if you count the remaining Wicked City episode ABC dumped On Demand this week (I have only one thought on the unaired episode: it still sucked). As for the other two, TNT burned off Legends with three straight hours which is a shame because the show was vastly improved and probably the most improved from season to season ever. Not unexpected because the first season was mostly bad, but if you gave up in the first episode you should give season two a try, you do not really even need to see the first season to enjoy it (and maybe would enjoy it more because you would not have the stink of the first season in your mind) and it has a satisfying ending, no annoying cliffhangers, everything is tied up nice and neat.

For reasons unknown, MTV also aired back to back episodes of The Challenge this week and just like the recent Survivor back to back episode I came away extremely disappointed and Nany got the boot because she could not figure out to push a mattress into a bell. Hurumph. This format this season really sucks, they really should have kept the pairs of teams. But we did get a trailer for the rest of the season which again teased CT though he was wearing a grey shirt (along with Zach) instead of the red and blue of the current teams. So maybe he is not coming to replace whoever Abram kills. Are they going to add a third team or are we going to get another Johnny Bananas backpack elimination challenge (which remains the greatest moment in The Challenge history).

As for 2016, the advantage of the winter season as apposed to fall is that shows returned staggered as opposed to all at once then seasons start to finish while others are just returning or beginning. I guess the big new for winter 2016 is that I will be watching PBS regularly for the first time since they stopped airing Bob Ross on a regular scheduled (they still have some decent specials, documentaries and specials that I check out on occasion) with Mercy Street starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Sign me up for anything with Ramona Flowers, I even made it through that horrible The Returned reboot last year. Fox got me to lift their ban with a Batman show and they are going to get me to watch another funny book adaption Lucifer. Really the only other new show to catch my eye is Angie Tribeca which TBS is bizarrely premiering with a 25-hour marathon of the first season. Most everything else new looks kind of dreadful though I will probably end up hate watching Shaddowhunter because I always end up hatewatching everything that airs after Pretty Little Liars now on the very stupidly titled Freeform channel. There really cannot be a way it is any good since the movie starring Phil Collin's kid was horrible and a television version has worse acting and a smaller budget. But anyway. Here is what I will be watching while waiting for the weather to warm up. The list is incomplete as there a few shows without a return date; NBC has not even bother to announce what they are doing after football end (aka after this month) which has been mostly a disaster day for years.

Mondays
8:00 - Supergirl (CBS, January 4)
8:00 - The X-Files (FOX, January 25; season premiere the night before after the NFC Championship game)
8:00 - Gotham (FOX, February 29)
8:00 - The Voice (NBC, February 29)
9:00 - Lucifer (FOX, January 25)
9:30 - Angie Tribeca (TBS, January 25; note this is the second season premiere date, the first season will air during a 25 hour commercial free marathon starting Sunday, January 17 at 9:00, or just watch it at your leisure On Demand starting that day)
10:00 - Castle (ABC, February 1)
10:00 - Blindspot (NBC, February 29)

Tuesdays
8:00 - Pretty Little Liars (ABC FamilyFreeform, January 12)
8:00 - The Muppets (ABC, February 2)
9:00 - Marvel's Agent Carter (ABC, January 19)
9:00 - iZombie (The CW, January 12)
9:00 - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC, March 8)

Wednesdays
8:00 - The Middle (ABC, January 6)
8:00 - 2 Broke Girls (CBS, January 6)
8:00 - Survivor (CBS, February 17)
8:30 - The Goldbergs (ABC, January 6)
9:00 - Modern Family (ABC January 6)
9:30 - Blackish (ABC January 6)
10:00 - Nashville (ABC, March 16)

Thursdays
8:00 - The Big Bang Theory (CBS, January 7)
8:30 - The Odd Couple (CBS, April 7)
9:00 - The Blacklist (NBC, January 7)
9:30 - Angel from Hell (CBS, January 7)
10:00 - Vikings (History, February 18)

Fridays
8:00 - Last Man Standing (ABC, January 8)
9:00 - Grimm (NBC, January 29)

Sundays
7:00 - Grease: Live (FOX, January 31)
8:00 - Galivant (ABC, Tonight)
8:00 - Once Upon a Time (ABC, March 6)
9:00 - Shameless (Showtime, January 10)
9:00 - The Walking Dead (February 14)
10:00 - Mercy Street (PBS, January 17)
10:00 - Billions (Showtime, January 17)
10:00 - Quantico (ABC, March 5)

TBA
The Americans
Orphan Black
Bates Motel

The 100 Best Songs of 2015

1. First - Cold War Kids

2. Here - Alessia Cara

3. Leave a Trace - Chvrches

4. S.O.B. - Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

5. Magnets - Disclosure featuring Lorde

6. Lonely Town - Brandon Flowers

7. Big Decisions - My Morning Jacket

8. Girl Crush - Little Big Town

9. Cocoon - Catfish and the Bottlemen

10. Coffee - Miguel

11. She Used to Be Mine - Sara Bareilles

12. Fool for Love - Lord Huron

13. Close Your Eyes (And Count to (Expletive Deleted)) - Run the Jewels featuring Zach De La Rocha

14. Work Song - Hozier

15. Lampshades On Fire - Modest Mouse

16. Photograph - Ed Sheeran

17. Feel Right - Mark Ronson featuring Mystikal

18. Hold Back the River - James Bay

19. Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins) - Father John Misty

20. Your Type - Carly Rae Jepsen

21. Empty Heart - Grace Potter

22. Fight Song - Rachel Platten

23. Bright - Echosmith

24. Doing It - Charli XCX

25. Style - Taylor Swift

26. FourFiveSeconds - Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCartney

27. Let It Go - James Bay

28. Roll Up Your Sleeves - Meg Mac

29. Renegades - X Ambassadors

30. Nobody Love - Tori Kelly

31. Untouchable - Pusha T

32. One Time - Marian Hill

33. Electric Indigo - The Paper Kites

34. Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart - Chris Cornell

35. Hello - Adele

36. Sagres - The Tallest Man on Earth

37. Weight of Love - The Black Keys

38. Same Old Love - Selena Gomez

39. Brother - Needtobreathe featuring Gavin DeGraw

40. OctaHate - Ryn Weaver

41. Walk the Wire - Boy and Bear

42. Coming Home - Leon Bridges

43. Freedom - Pharrell Williams

44. The Wolf - Mumford and Sons

45. Outta My Mind - The Arcs

46. Love 3X - ZZ Ward

47. Bad Blood - Ryan Adams

48. Forever Mine - Andra Day

49. Dreams - Beck

50. Bad Blood - Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar

51. Smoke Break - Carrie Underwood

52. First Kiss - Kid Rock

53. Stand By You - Rachel Platten

54. Heavy Is the Head - Zac Brown Band featuring Chris Cornell

55. What Kind of Man - Florence + the Machine

56. John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16 - Keith Urban

57. Empty Threat - Chvrches

58. The Next Storm - Frank Turner

59. 1,2 1,2 - Raekwon featuring Snoop Dogg

60. Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd

61. Hold On Tight - Greg Holden

62. The Healing - Gary Clark Jr.

63. All Day - Kanye West featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom and Paul McCartney

64. Still Want You - Brandon Flowers

65. One Last Time - Ariande Grande

66. Easy Rider - Action Bronson

67. Bloodstream (Arty Remix) - Ed Sheeran and Rudimental

68. Famous - Charlie XCX

69. The Wrong Year - The Decmberists

70. Take My Love - The Lone Bellow

71. Future People - Alabama Shakes

72. Strangers - Langhorne Slim and the Law

73. Things Happen - Dawes

74. Loving You Easy - Zac Brown Band

75. NWA - Miguel featuring Kurupt

76. Sound and Color - Alabama Shakes

77. How Could You Babe - Tobias Jesso Jr.

78. On To Something Good - Ashley Monroe

79. My Type - Saint Motel

80. Our Own House - MisterWives

81. Fell in the Sun - Big Grams

82. California Roll - Snoop Dogg featuring Stevie Wonder

83. Could Have Been Me - The Struts

84. Don't Wanna Fight - Alabama Shakes

85. Eyes Wide Open - Sabrina Carpenter

86. St Jude - Florence + the Machine

87. Mine - Phoebe Ryan

88. Delilah - Florence + the Machine

89. Focus - Ariana Grande

90. Good For You - Selena Gomez featuring A$AP Rocky

91. Adventure of a Lifetime - Coldplay

92. Put a Flower in Your Pocket - The Arcs

93. The Eye - Brandi Carlile

94. Biscuits - Kacey Musgraves

95. Numbers - Daughter

96. Inside Out - Spoon

97. Black Sun - Death Cab for Cutie

98. Sugar - Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds

99. If You Ever Want To Be In Love - James Bay

100. Fatal Flaw - Titus Andronicus

The 50 Best Music Videos of 2015

1. Anna - Will Butler


2. Good for You - Selena Gomez


3. Feel Right - Mark Ronson featuring Mystikal


4. She's Not Me - Jenny Lewis


5. Actin Crazy - Action Bronson


6. Bad Blood - Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar

7. Time Machine - Ingrid Michaelson

8. That Black Bat Licorice - Jack White

9. For Free? (Interlude) - Kendrick Lamar

10. Here - Alessia Cara

11. Dearly Departed - Shakey Graves featuring Esme Paterson

12. Empty Threat - Chvrches

13. Biscuits - Kacey Musgraves

14. Style - Taylor Swift

15. I'm in Love with My Life - Phases

16. Magnets - Disclosure featuring Lorde

17. Adventures of a Lifetime - Coldplay

18. Shut up and Fish - Maddie and Tae

19. Pedestrian at Best - Courtney Barnett

20. I Can Be Somebody - Erin McCarley

21. Hands to Myself - Selena Gomez

22. I Love You, Honeybear - Father John Misty

23. Close Your Eyes (and Count to (Expletive Deleted)) - Run the Jewels featuring Zach de la Rocha

24. Renegades - X Ambassadors

25. Same Old Love - Selena Gomez

26. S.O.B. - Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

27. Doing It! - Charli XCX

28. Lonely Town - Brandon Flowers

29. One Last Time - Ariana Grande

30. Love 3X - ZZ Ward

31. I Really Like You - Carly Rae Jepsen

32. Heartbeat - Mat Kearney

33. Lampshades on Fire - Modest Mouse

34. King Kuta - Kendrick Lamar

35. Focus - Arianda Grande

36. Bittersweet - Archis

37. Bloosdstream - Ed Sheeran and Rudimental

38. California Roll - Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder

39. Bulletproof Picasso - Train

40. St. Jude - Florence and the Machine

41. Song for Someone - U2

42. Weight of Love - The Black Keys

43. Too Many Rapper - Beastie Boys featuring Nas

44. Work Song - Hozier

45. We Are Giants - Lindsey Sterling featuring Dia Frampton

46. Flesh without Blood / Life in Vivid Dream - Grimes

47. Delilah - Florence and the Machine

48. coffee - Miguel

49. Famous - Charlie XCX

50. First - Cold War Kids

The 40 Worst Songs of 2015

1. Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae) - Silentó

2. Trap Queen - Fetty Wap

3. Dear Future Husband - Meghan Trainor

4. (Expletive Deleted) Up Some Commas - Future

5. (Expletive Deleted) I'm Madonna - Madonna featuring Nicki Minaj

6. Marvin Gaye - Charlie Puth featuring Meghan Trainor

7. Hey Mama - David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha and Afrojack

8. White Iverson - Post Malone

9. Dooo It! - Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz

10. Hit the Quan - ILoveMemphis

11. See You Again - Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth

12. Ayo - Chris Brown X Tyga

13. Pretty Girls - Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea

14. Truffle Butter - Nicki Minaj featuring Drake and Lil Wayne

15. Where Are Ü Now - Skrillex and Diplo with Justin Bieber

16. Honey, I'm Good. - Andy Grammer

17. Used to Love You - Gwen Stefani

18. Post To Be - Omarion featuring Chris Brown and Jhene Aiko

19. What Do You Mean? - Justin Beiber

20. 679 - Fetty Wap featuring Monty

21. Cool for the Summer - Demi Lovato

22. Roll 'em Up - Alli Simpson featuring Jack and Jack

23. Cha Cha - D.R.A.M.

24. (Expletive Deleted) Better Have My Money - Rihanna

25. Hotline Bling - Drake

26. This Summer's Gonna Hurt Like a (Expletive Deleted) - Maroon 5

27. Somebody - Natalie La Rose featuring Jeremih

28. She's Kinda Hot - 5 Seconds of Summer

29. Levels - Nick Jonas

30. Worth It - Fifth Harmony featuring Kid Ink

31. Hey Everybody! - 5 Seconds of Summer

32. Want to Want Me - Jason Derulo

33. Trini Dem Girls - Nicki Minaj featuring LunchMoney Lewis

34. I Don't Like It, I Love It - Flo Rida featuring Robin Thicke and Verdine White

35. Ghost Town - Adam Lambert

36. Drag Me Down - One Direction

37. Double Tap - Jordan Sparks featuring 2 Chainz

38. Time of Our Lives - Pitbull and Ne-Yo

39. The Night Is Still Young - Nicki Minaj

40. I Know What You Did Last Summer - Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 12/27/15

Homeland: Well that was two straight seasons with kind of subdued finales. Last year was all about Carrie's father's funeral and this season Carrie foils the terrorists plot in the first act. I figured the rest of the episode would focus on catching Allison but there were a lot of scene inter-spliced with Carrie's boss weirdly coming on to her (I think?) the whole Quinnn thing and when they finally got back to Allison, they just sprayed the car like a mobster movie which left me thinking, wait was that actually Allison in the trunk, maybe I miss saw and it was really just one of the human trafficking girls from the house. But I re-watched that see, paused and zoomed it and am pretty sure that was Allison. Maybe a season of getting Allison out of Russia would have been a good set up. Oh well. So what is next, will next season be Carrie married to Otto still in Berlin or is she going to change her mind and take Saul up on his offer and we will be in another war zone next year?

The Affair: When Noah came up as the focus of Act 1, I thought, well he probably did not kill Scotty and it will end up whoever is the focus of Act II. Except at the end of Act I, we see a drunken Helen run over Scotty after Noah made her take the wheel. Well that explains why she paid for his high powered lawyer. Then the lawyer of all people ended up spoiling the surprise twist by suggesting to Noah that they should float the idea in court that Alison pushed Scotty in from of the car. Then I though, oh, that is extremely plausible. And of course that turned out to be what happened. So Noah is left to decide whether to let his wife or the mother of his child take the rap, of course he takes option three and falls on the sword. Not that I think he will spend much time in jail. I do not think the Scotty case is closed and season three will end with someone else taking the fall. But what I do not understand is the whole Alison's baby daddy situation. They spent half the season teasing Scotty was the father and that was the big news he had over Alison. But it turns out Cole is the father but does not know. But if Scotty, who did not seem like the smartest man on Earth, can figure this out how has Cole not? Can Cole not count nine months? It never really accorded to me because they do plenty of time jumping between episodes so it was unclear where they are in the timeline any given episode but how does Cole not learn when Alison is pregnant not do the math? I have had issues with the show from the beginning, but I an still intrigued where the show goes next.

The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines: Three weeks ago there were three crazy Brazilians on my television screen, and now there are none. Hurumph. Yeah, this format sucks massively. They they even messed up the best challenge of the season by not having everyone participate in trivia instead having half the people answers questions (I am too lazy to go back and rewatch but Nany's cousin got some of the easiest questions in the history of the show) the the dumbest people did not even get a chance to show the world how dumb they are. But as much as the show is trying to ruin the format, the competitor are giving a valiant effort at acting crazy. And things do not get much crazier than Abram and his head tattoo (even more socking than Abram's arrival: his brother looks and acts like everyone's tax guy). Knowing CT and Zach are coming at some point, is it too easy to predict that Abram literally kills the guy Cara Maria has been hooking up with and that is why we need two new bloodlines?
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 12/20/15

The Librarians: You would think it would get old quick, but Groundhog Day type episodes are always a high point of any series that can pull it off. Though I thought the episode turning out to being a video game instead did not add much to the story and actually drug the episode down after that reveal.
You can download The Librarians on iTunes.

Homeland: I am not sure who was more dumb this episode, whoever left the cell phone dude alone in a room with a window to jump out of, Allison's escort who gave someone suggested of treason his firearm, or Saul, who after left the room long enough for the terror suspect to jump out a window, to leave Allison alone in the operating room. Sadly I believe there are people in our intelligence agencies to do stupid stuff like this. So now we are down to one episode left, does Carrie get to the bomb in time (okay this is an easy answer, they are not going to blow up the star unless someone gives her the antidote that they gave Quinn) and does Saul find Allison before she make it to Russian soil?

The Affair: Bombshell in the courtroom, hedge fund douchebag says under oath that Noah was washing off blood in his driveway. I doubt someone that rich would lie under oath over bad feelings that happened this week. That is not to say Noah killed Scotty, it could have very well have been Allison and Noah cleaning up the mess. Or a silly red herring and Noah hit a deer even though there is no reason to clean deer blood off your car in the middle of the night. Then Cole became officially engaged this week, does that mean we will actually see the wedding next week? I wonder if they will stick to the two act structure or split it up like the hurricane episode. I kind of hope they devote the whole episode, or the very least one act, to Scotty's point of view to see what he has been up to all season. The hinted twice this season that he is the real father of Allison's kid, it would be weird if we do not actually see that affair consummated.

Quantico: Weren't we promised the identity of the bomber this episode? All we got was the gay dude admitting he was blackmailed into helping and some reveal about the FBI's head's son almost blowing himself up earlier in life, but that certainly is no smoking gun. But at least the episode gave me a good laugh at the thought of Ben Carson being at a New Years Eve party thrown by a sitting Democratic Senator. Still not even in the top ten least believable thing the show has done this season.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Supergirl: A hacking scandal on Supergirl... well that was kind of awkward. But anyway. After the great reveal of Martian Manhunter last week, the midseason finale was a big letdown. What a horrible ending. I thought after Supergirl and Non went after each other I thought we would get a resolution after a commercial break, except after the break there was a promo for NCIS, not even one for Supergirl or even a "Supergirl returns with new episodes..." tag. But I guess the only big new of the winter finale was Cat finally figuring out her assistant was Supergirl. Sure how she came to the realization (no way a human could have heard that conversation!) was silly and she still needed Kara to take off her glasses for confiermation, but silly is what the show does best.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Survivor: Second Chances: We had our very first no vote ever in the history of Survivor!!! Still, even after Probst explained the rules via a telestrator during the commercial break, I am still a little confused with what happened. And once again we has someone overplaying their hand, Kimmi just spent way too much time with Kelley and Keith. Still another great moment in what you have to put into the discussion of greatest ever. Unfortunately that was the last great moment of the season as the last two Tribals went as expected and Jeremy won in a blowout. Shame Kelley did not win that last Tribal because I would have liked to see that vote. It is a shame Probst did not do his usual, let's revote to see if you made the wrong decision because I wold like to see if Kelley had a chance. You would think Abi Maria, Cierra, and Kass would likely vote for her, maybe Keith, Kimmi, and Spencer (though I think his I will do whatever it takes for Kelley to win was just a ploy to get Jeremy to take him to the finale).

Speaking of Spencer I did find it interesting he did say he stopped watching because he kept second guessing himself as to if he should have taken out Jeremy. Of course, not taking out Jeremy / Tasha instead of sending Abi Maria to the jury was stupid. Going up against Abi Maria and Keith would have been a slam dunk. Oh well, on to the next one with a return of Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty. Awesome. I loved this concept unfortunately the first time they did it was one of the worst cast season's in the history of Survivor. Hopefully they did a better time next time around even though the promo looks like half the cast get pulled from the game due to injury. But I am a little more excited for next fall, is it too soon for Survivor: Third Chances? You have everyone in the cast is available sans Jeremy. Then the only way to make the Witches Coven better would be to add Kat (or their first male member Phillip). You can also reunite original castmates Gervase, Sue, and Kelly (but she can only return if she promises not to pull out that stupid pick a number way of voting), from the second season, Kimmi and Alicia can go head to head again (maybe Survivor can rip off The Challenge and have a Rivals season) one of my personal favorites Andrea, Erik the Ice Cream scoopper deserves a third chance after being pulled from the game last time, and who would not want to see Francesca get booted first for the third time?
You can download Survivor: Second Chance on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines: Since I wanted to finish all the Winter Finales (ugg) of all the fall shows before starting something new, I was did not start the new season until this week but it was worth the wait. It is so nice to have drunk Nany and crazy Camilla back in my life. The show continued its trading ideas with Survivor and stole its Blood vs. Water concept for Bloodline. But at least The Challenge is actual blood, no wives or boyfriends. Okay there is one adopted dude and I am a bid suspicious of some "cousins" while Camilla's sister lacks a Brazilian accent like Camilla and Abi Maria. The season started out strong with a deceptively great challenge with the mud hill. First it is always great to incorporate mud into a challenge, with the running water going into the dirt it made it harder to go up the hill, and of course anything physical where you have to fight for a spot is always great.

Unfortunately with all the great personalities, just in the first three episodes you had Nany and Camilla going H.A.M. as you would expect, and two bothers getting into a fight while two cousin hurled the worst insults on the show since Frank brought up gay porn and Nany's drug addled sister (how was she not here) the show is ruining this season will a really poor format. They start off putting co-ed teams in a severe disadvantage meaning they could be eligible for both male and female elimination week. Compounding this Jill goes into elimination despite eating more bugs than Jenna's cousin and Aneesa just because her cousin is a dude on a male elimination week.

And the new teams this week may not be much better. It is silly to have a bloodline go home just because their relative lost a challenge. Why change that format at all? They should have just kept the two person teams and had no co-ed (or all co-ed) teams. Or just go full Survivor and anyone can be up for elimination. Way to be stuck in the 20th century MTV by still separating the genders. I was also going to make fun of Cara Maria for managing to build a horrible team, but she actually won that first challenge and may lose her weakest teammate in the first team elimination. And if Tony goes home for turning the color of The Grinch just in time for Christmas and she can replace him with CT who we know is showing up sometime this season, she just may end up going from an embarrassingly bad team to a pretty strong one.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines on iTunes.

Childhood's End: I kind of like Syfy's annual pre-Christmas miniseries event, just as everything goes on hiatus, here is something to watch during the holidays. I still have the last two hours to go, but this one is at the very least better than last year's attempt whose name I already forgot.
You can download Childhood's End on iTunes.