Around the Tubes: 2/5/16

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 Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Those Who Can't, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 Revealed, Family Feud, The Lineup, Sun Studio Sessions, Alaska Aircraft Investigations, Penny Dreadful, and the Swon Brothers.

- Samantha Bee just couldn't let the Iowa caucuses pass by without adding her own take. So check out some special video segments at youtube.com/fullfrontalsamb. And be sure to tune in to the series premiere of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, airing Monday, Feb. 8, at 10:30, only on TBS.

- Those Who Can't, truTV's first venture into full-length scripted comedy, premieres Thursday, Feb. 11 at 10:30 with two back-to-back episodes. The 10 episode, half-hour series follows three trouble-making teachers, played by show creators and executive producers Adam Cayton-Holland, Andrew Orvedahl and Ben Roy of the Denver-based comedy troupe The Grawlix. More inept than the kids they teach, they’re out to beat the system as they struggle to survive each day on their own terms. Starring alongside them is Maria Thayer (Eagleheart) the school librarian with an insuppressible passion for life. Beginning February 1, fans can get a sneak peek of two episodes of the series at truTV.com. The series premiere is also available now on iTunes and Video on Demand.

- Sports Illustrated, a Time Inc. media property, IMG and TNT are teaming up for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 Revealed, a first-of-its-kind broadcast event that will culminate with the unveiling of the 2016 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model. Actor, comedian and recording artist Nick Cannon and The Librarians star and Skin Wars host Rebecca Romijn are set to lead the festivities, which will celebrate the amazing women in this year’s edition, including Nina Agdal, Irina Shayk, Chrissy Teigen, Gigi Hadid, Emily DiDonato, Erin Heatherton, Chanel Iman and more. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 Revealed will air Saturday, Feb. 13, at 10:30 p.m. (ET) / 7:30 p.m. (PT) dur ing NBA All-Star Weekend on TNT, following the network's coverage of State Farm NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

- GSN, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, will present a five-hour marathon of romance-themed episodes of the iconic game show Family Feud, hosted by Steve Harvey, on Valentine’s Day, Sunday, February 14, from 6:00-11:00pm.

- Fuse, a national television network for the fast-growing, multicultural and Latino audience, today announced The Lineup, a new unscripted series showcasing the music that influences the everyday lives of some of the biggest names in sports. The series premieres Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 9:00, but viewers will get a sneak peek at The Lineup on Saturday, February 6 at 9:00.

- Nashville-based singer-songwriter Tony Lucca is set to appear on the season 7 premiere of Sun Studio Sessions, the show that features performances recorded at the legendary studio in Memphis, TN. Lucca’s episode will begin airing Saturday, February 6, 2016, at 10 p.m. on WKNO (PBS Ch.10) in Memphis, TN. Fans should check local listings for subsequent airings; “Sun Studio Sessions” appears on PBS stations across the country. After being on the show’s radar for a while, Lucca shot the six-song solo performance last year (including the songs “Anchored,” “Delilah,” “Old Girl,” “Smoke ’Em,” “Sparrow,” and “Sweat It Out”). After living in the Music City and honing his songwriting craft, recording, and writing in town for years now, Tony Lucca has the energy and spirit of Nashville coursing through his veins, so the session in Memphis is a perfect fit for him.

- Alaska is more dependent on airplanes than any other state in the country. But with that dependence comes danger: during the summer, Alaska faces an average of one plane crash every day. The region’s plane accidents range from the historic crash that claimed the life of Senator Ted Stevens to the single-engine plane that crashed into an office building in downtown Anchorage in 2015. The new Smithsonian Channel series, Alaska Aircraft Incestigations, goes behind-the-scenes with unprecedented access to the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Alaska “Go Team.” For the first time, The NTSB has allowed a television crew to follow its Alaska unit as it investigates the more than 125 crashes that occur in the state every year. The series, comprised of six hour-long episodes, premieres Sunday, March 13 at 9:00.

- The hit Showtime drama series Penny Dreadful is heading to Spain to shoot select episodes for its third season. Shooting in the city of Almería in the Andalusia region, the episodes will follow Ethan (Josh Hartnett), Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), new series regular Kaetenay (Wes Studi) and Hecate (guest star Sarah Greene) as they battle dark forces in the 1800s American West. The new season will premiere on Sunday, May 1st at 10:00 on-air, on demand and over the internet.

- In the year since their self-titled debut release, Oklahoma duo The Swon Brothers have racked up hundreds of shows, written with many of Nashville’s top tunesmiths, and connected with thousands of fans across the globe, and their latest EP, Timeless is a great reflection of the growth and experiences that have shaped them since they first started their musical journey years ago. The new collection provides a glimpse into the boys’ more soulful side with a sound that truly mirrors where they are musically at this moment in time, and they are eager to deliver this new crop of tunes to fans as they embark on the Carrie Underwood tour for 40-plus dates opening for the female vocal powerhouse and their longtime friend.

I Want My Music Television: 2/3/16

Hymn for the Weekend - Coldplay featuring Beyonce


Didn't Coldplay already do the weird colored sand thing in a previous music video, or am I thinking of someone else that did that? But anyway. I am not really liking the happy Coldplay of their latest record. Yeah I know there last one was super depressing but they really did not need to swing the pendulum so far in the other direction.

Wide Open - The Chemical Brothers featuring Beck


The Chemical Brothers have always done some pretty creative music videos and add the mysterious disappearing dancer to that list.Simple but really visually effective.

Lose It - Oh Wonder


I do not know if the whole new Oh Wonder video was staged or these were actually reactions but I really hope it was the latter. I just feel bad for whoever had to clean up the confetti after every audition.

FloriDada - Animal Collective


The new Animal Collective music video is pretty freaky, I would not expect anything less from them.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 1/31/16

Galavant: I was a bit skeptical when the titular character ended the last with a sword through his chest, but since it led to this week's death song and dance sequence and a zombie inspire version of Grease, I am glad it happened.
You can download Galavant on iTunes.

Shameless: I wonder what the over / under of new Gallagher's there will be by the start of next season. As adamant as Fiona is, I think two babies next year may actually be more entertaining despite babies ruining many of shows in the history of television. And I actually kind of want to download The F Word.

Billions: I wonder what was going on during that twenty dollar bill scene. Was Chuck really trying to do the right thing by paying for that guys ice cream or was he just rubbing it in the guys face. As a guy who is so calculating that he even wears a flag pin while getting his children ice cream I thought it was the latter and he had to know that was going to happen (maybe not the ice cream cone to the back but at least the guy who find it condescending. But after the talk with his wife I wonder if that was really Chuck's attempt at being human.

The X-Files: The best (and most depressing) part of the first episode was when Mulder creepily said he would not have forgotten meeting the hot chick only for her to mention they met when she was a child and back to Mulder realizing he (and the audience who watched the first time around) is really old. But did we meet her back in the nineties on the show? And who was the old guy he met with later, did we meet him before too? I get he was the guy who did the alien autopsy, but when Mulder said their talked a decade ago, that would be after the show ended. There was that horrible movie that came out eight years ago but I do not remember that having anything to do with aliens.

But one thing that I realized while Jeff Winger was doing his worst Glenn Beck impersonation was that I no longer want to believe. All these conspiracy theories were fun in my youth, but now that the internet is populated with so many of these wackadoos, it is hard not to roll their eyes at everything they say.
You can download The X-Files on iTunes.

Supergirl: They laid the Nazi allegory on a little too thick. And by a little, I mean way too hard. And if the best Kara can do is Cat's kind of douchy kid, maybe she should have went with the Toyman's kid.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

Lucifer: There was a time when layers, cops, and doctors were simultaneously the most watched television shows and the most hated professions in the country. Now it seems hard to launch a show with them in the lead unless Dick Wolfe slaps a Chicago in front of them (coming this fall: Chicago Law!). So they have to get creative to be successful like bringing in weird consultants. The Blacklist has the FBI aided by someone on their Most Wanted list, Blindspot has an amnesiac covered with tattoos; but Lucifer has them all beat by having Satan as an LAPD consultant... who consults an topless B-movie actress turned cop solve cases. Alrighty. Well this should be interesting.
You can download Lucifer on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars : Holy Hermy the Hermaphrodite sighting! Which begs the question what was the actor doing during the finale because he would have made much more sense as Charles than CeCe. But maybe he is the next A who looks may be lurking around near the end of the episode. Though my favorite part of the episode was either Hanna's ring tone or that she eats concentrated orange juice right out of the can.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes

Marvel's Agent Carter: I not the biggest fan of meta jokes but if you do them, you really should spread them out. Having Peggy call movies based on comic books silly was enough, but having Jarvis later in the episode saying he fears the thought of being a disembodied voice for all of eternity was a bit much in the same episode. Other than that, pretty entertaining episode with an actress sucking some dude into the palm of her hand... literally. Where did that guy go, is he now in limbo with the black scientist, another dimension, or just dead?
You can download Marvel's Agent Carter on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines: That challenge really favored the girls who just dominated, well until it came to monkey-bars and puzzles. And is that puzzle really that hard? Survivor does it all the time but it looks from the television screen not to look too hard.
You can downloadThe Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 1/29/16

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 Generation X, Stop Hate Dump Trump, Brian Wilson, Hulu, Predator Road Trip, Showtime Championship Boxing on CBS, Billions and VH1.

- America’s neglected middle child: That’s what a 2014 Pew Research study called Generation X, the 65 million people born in 1961-1981. Sandwiched between the baby boomers and millennials, Gen-Xers have always seemed to live in the shadow of those who came before and after them. But these so-called cynics have turned their childhood experiences into some of the biggest achievements the world has ever seen.
National Geographic Channel’s new series Generation X, narrated by Christian Slater, premieres Sunday, Feb. 14, at 10:00 following the new season premiere of Brain Games. Each hour examines one major milestone of Generation X — from the premiere of “Reality Bites” to the remarkable presidential election of 2008 to the legalization of gay marriage — and then breaks it down to explore the political, cultural and economic forces at play. Using original interviews with gen X members and archival footage from the era, the series puts the Generation in the spotlight it has long deserved.

- A diverse coalition cutting across race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and party affiliation has organized to give voice to Americans calling out Donald Trump for his hate speech, misogyny, Islamaphobia, and racism. A new web site, stophatedumptrump.com, will provide a platform for those who do not and will not stand for the continued threats, rhetoric and fear mongering by the Republican Presidential front-runner.

- Music legend Brian Wilson has announced a 2016 world tour to celebrate and perform the iconic album Pet Sounds for a final time, in honor of its 50th anniversary. Originally released on May 16, 1966, Pet Sounds is universally hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time. With more than 70 dates being confirmed, and several previously announced dates selling out in record time, Wilson and his band will be joined by former bandmates Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin when they kick off the tour this Spring. Concert stops include dates in Australia, Japan, United Kingdom, Spain, Israel, and Portugal followed by a full U.S. tour later this Summer and Fall. Fans can expect a live performance of Pet Sounds in its entirety, as well as top hits and fan favorites spanning his 54-year career with The Beach Boys and as a solo artist. Ticket presales begin January 27 with the official onsale January 29 in most markets. Additional dates and special events to be announced. For up-to-date information, please visit BrianWilson.com.

- In a groundbreaking agreement, Hulu and IFC Films have closed a landmark output deal that will make Hulu the exclusive streaming home for all future documentary releases from IFC Films, which will include all documentaries from the brands IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. The multi-year agreement marks the first time these documentary films will be available on Hulu within the first window following their initial release in theaters and on-demand. Future IFC Films documentaries will be available to stream through Hulu’s No Commercials and Limited Commercial subscription plans. Beginning this fall, Hulu will be the exclusive streaming video on-demand home to highly anticipated documentary releases from IFC Films, and will be the only destination to stream future documentaries from IFC Films following their run in theaters. The deal also grants Hulu the streaming rights to debut future trailers for all IFC Films documentaries.

- He’s called the “Lion Whisperer” because he shares an extraordinary bond with Africa’s most fearsome predators. Now Kevin Richardson faces his biggest challenge yet – a battle to transport 27 lions, 4 black leopards and 14 hyenas to a new home, a sanctuary on the edge of the Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa. Smithsonian Channel follows Richardson and the move in a new special airing in two-parts, Predator Road Trip: Backseat Lion, premiering Wednesday, February 24 at 8:00, and Predator Road Trip: Hyena Breakout on Wednesday, March 2 at 8:00.

- WBA Welterweight World Champion Keith “One Time” Thurman will defend his title against former champ “Showtime” Shawn Porter in a blockbuster matchup of two of the world’s best 147-pound fighters on Saturday, March 12 on Showtime Championship Boxing on CBS.

- On the heels of delivering the biggest premiere week ever for the network, Showtime has picked up its new critically-acclaimed drama Billions for a second season. BILLIONS had the best series debut performance ever for a Showtime original series with 6.5 million viewers, besting the series premiere of Ray Donovan by 7 percent (with 6.1 million viewers in June 2013). Starring Oscar® nominee and Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Paul Giamatti and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Damian Lewis, Billions airs Sundays at 10:00. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc.

- Love is in the air at VH1, a network that loves love. Who else has created 30 series with “Love” in the show title? (Think about it.) VH1 will celebrate Valentine’s Day with its first-ever “14 Days of Love” event, a two-week marathon of love-themed programming airing Monday, February 1 through Sunday, February 14. America will fall in love all over again when the “14 Days Of Love” event brings fan favorites Flavor Flav, Tiffany “New York” Pollard, and Bret Michaels back into viewers’ living rooms with encores of the entire first seasons of the biggest shows of love in TV history: Flavor of Love, which debuted on VH1 on January 1, 2006, I Love New York, and Rock of Love With Bret Michaels.

I Want My Music Television: 1/28/16

Genghis Khan - Miike Snow


I do not know if Miike Snow is parodying the absurdity of the James Bond / supervillan relationship but I want to just ignorantly believe that was their intent with this music video.

Take it Back - Nate Ruess


Two thing that will help you get on my list of the best music videos of the year is to either get kids to lip sync your songs or a pseudo celebrities to fill into you. I am not sure why Nate Ruess picked the dude who let Don Draper bed his wife back in an early season of Mad Men (and countless other roles that none currently are coming to mind), but it is enough to be in the considerate for this year's list.

Blue Wonderful - Elton John


Last year Brandon Flowers released a music video featuring a hot chick dancing weirdly alone in the house during what looked to be the eighties. I spent way too much time watching that. It looks like Elton John is showing us where her parents were at the time, assuming the hot chicks parents have the power of flight and used it not to fight crime but to do Cir de Sole type aerial dancing. Alrightly.

My Church - Maren Morris


I do not particularly mind the two ads per fifteen minutes on streaming radio, what I do mind is that it is the same two of four ads every single time. Can these streaming services not find more advertising? I do like when ever Spotify offers to watch one ad in exchange of a half hour of music. But again, those video ads are very limited too. But I have to say it kind of works when they are advertising music. I watched so many ads for Maren Morris that I am kind of digging this song now. Not that I ever want to see that ad again.

I Want My Movie Trailers: 1/25/16

Suicide Squad


I know we are still in the first month of the year, but I am ready to call this the best trailer of 2016 which is saying a lot because I still really dislike Jared Leto's Jack Kevorian meets a drunk spring breaker version of The Joker. It is amazing that this is taking place in the same universe as the upcoming Superman v Batman movie that keeps dropping bland trailer after bland trailer. Maybe DC should just give up on building up the Justice League and focus on making Sucide Squad movies. I would much rather see a Harley Quinn stand alone movie than Wonder Woman (which dropped unimpressive footage last week too) and really every other Justice Leaguer stand alone supposedly coming over the next five years. Really the only thing that may save the DC universe is if the Suicide Squad goes rouge and is who the Justice League battles in their team up movie. Well that and Black Manta in Aquaman. Sure the recent announcement of Amber Heard as Hera is cool and all, she looks good in swimwear and all, but where is the Black Manta casting news? Here is hoping Common, who is currently cast in an unknown role in Suicide Sqaud turns out to be Black Manta.


Neighbors 2


Yeah the Neighbors 2 trailer looks like it will suffer from the Die Hard 2 Syndrome (how can the same thing happen to the same guy twice?) but there are plenty of funny bits in the trailer (old people phone... ha) though it would not be the first comedy whose only funny bits show up in the trailer. Granted I am not entirely sure about sexy soroitity Hit Girl; Selena Gomez on the other hand, yes please.


10 Cloverfield Lane


After the series finale of Lost I went on a strict no JJ Abrams diet. So naturally I skipped Cloverfield and had every intention of not watching the sequel, well that was until I happened upon the trailer. Sign me up for any movie that which features Ramona Flowers and Dan Conner playing Life.


The Nice Guys


He was great in Crazy Stupid Love so it is nice to see Ryan Gosling embrace his funny side lately between this and The Big Short.

Previewing The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth

I was one of the few people over the summer who did not get too worried over the rise of Trump because I always assumed the people who supported him would not bother to show up when voting started and when the field narrow, someone else would emerge because Trump reached his ceiling in support. Now that we are just days before the first caucus, I am starting to worry. Not that I am beginning to think President Trump is a possibility, but the alternatives at the top of the pols are not much better. Seriously, the four people on top of the polls right now are a reality star, a socialist, a wife of an ex-president, and a Canadian; all of which would be pretty disastrous for this country.

Yet, no matter how depressing this election cycle gets, I still find myself flipping over to the twenty-four hour news channels for the latest poll numbers and candidate interviews. Showtime is getting into the political silly season with the premiere of The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth. It claims to be a real time documentary of this years political race (there is a time stamp of twenty-two days before the Iowa Caucasus in the first episode) so there is plenty of birther talk tonight. The show is produced in cooperation with Bloomberg Politic (of course it is hard not to remember the namesake of the company just tested the waters of a third party run recently) and featuring Bloomberg Politics managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann and noted campaign strategist and media advisor Mark McKinnon.

Tonight's episode focuses on the "three outsiders," Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump, in the race. Insteringly enough, the guy who seems to never turn down an interview invitation because he is always on television (despite claiming to hate the media), Trump does not get a sit down interview in the episode. There really in nothing much new in terms of the politics side, if you have been even mildly following the elections, you have heard every soundbite already. The only new I leaned is that Bernie plays monster with his grandchildren, a scene that will either humanize the socialist or scare people even more.

The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth airs Sundays at 8:00 on Showtime.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 1/23/16

Galavant: I am no medical expert, but a sword through the heart really is not a good thing. I am not sure even any of Ricky Gervas's "medicine" can help him after that. But hey, the giants vs. dwarfs song may be the best on the show yet.
You can download Galavant on iTunes.

Mercy Street: Holy Ted Mosby sighting! I fully expected to never see him again unles someone rebooted The Surreal Life in ten to twenty years. In other weird casting choices, Bill Lumbergh in period garb, alrighty; and casting Ramona Flowers as some on described as indistinguishably plain. Mmmmm, not exactly how I would describe her.
You can download Mercy Street on iTunes.

Supergirl: The character has been so inconsequential it did not really don on me until this week that Wynn shared the same name as the Toyman. Which begs the question, why is the Toyman one of the leads on this show? Of all the great characters in the DC Universe, the Toyman? Are the owners of the characters so stingy that that is one of the few characters they would allow them to use since the property is so stretched between the movie universe and four other television shows and they do not want characters to overlap unless there is a forty year difference between them? Wynn has been pretty worthless up to this point and after this week you have to wonder if he is going to turn heel soon after one of the harshest relegation to the friend zone I have ever seen. He may rather be in the Phantom Zone after that. You really cannot go back to business as usual after that. If he does turn into his father, I just hope he does not turn into this show's Ward who the writer cannot bring themselves to write off the show.
You can download Supergirl on iTunes.

War and Peace: I do not need them to sound like Boris and Natasha, but those nondescript accents everyone is using are a bit distracting. There was actually a point when I started to think the show was taking place during the Civil War before realizing, oh yeah, this is supposedly taking place in Russia even though they sound like they are from either New or old York.
You can download War and Peace on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I wondered why Aria went to Fitz and told him to not be her alibi as to where she was when CeCe was killed. It turn out she was protecting him. But wouldn't the smarter play be to say they were with each other until after 4:00 instead of saying we had no alibi. And deleting the security footage will likely come back to haunt them, nothing more suspicious than missing security footage right at the time of a murder.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes

Marvel's Agent Carter: What a great start of the episode with Peggy popping out of the bank vault. But it is weird that the pin Dotty wanted to steal looks very much like the Avengers logo. And I know that the character's in the show dodo not know they are in a comic book show, but c'mon, when someone gets frozen in ice during a heat wave, how is someone named "Miss Frost" not on the top of your suspect list? But still, the show is still great with so many great moment, my favorite probably being the clown gag.
You can download Marvel's Agent Carter on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines: It is quite amazing that John's entire alliance get eliminated and yet he still finds a way to keep him and his cousin Vinny out of the pit. I was especially disappointed because this was the pit where CT was brought in as a hired gun and I was hoping for a repeat of the greatest moment in Challenge history where CT wore Johnny as a backpack, and instead of knocking over the trashcan, turned around and body slammed Johnny into it for good measure. But alas, this did not turn out to be a physical challenge, just a silly pole pulling challenge. As intimidating as CT is, I do think Abram's cousin got the shot straw having to go against Zach who even makes CT look mortal standing next to each other.
You can downloadThe Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So Lizzy is no longer allowed in the field? That cannot possibly last long. But mostly a meh episode because it seemed pretty obviously early on faux Red was hired by the real one.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 1/22/16

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 Triumph's Election Special 2016, The Open Mind, The Great Human Race, Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes, From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, Major League Legends, The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, Comedy Knockout, Genius by Stephan Hawking, A Year in Space, and Hamilton's America.

- Hulu will be the exclusive streaming home to Triumph's Election Special 2016, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog’s one-hour election extravaganza from Funny Or Die. The Hulu Special will become available to stream through Hulu’s No Commercials and Limited Commercial subscription plans beginning early February. In Triumph's Election Special 2016, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog hits the 2016 presidential campaign trail. Viewers will be taken from Iowa to New Hampshire to South Carolina in a tenacious news-gathering journey in the heat of the primary election season. Triumph has already visited a Democratic Debate, a Tea Party Convention, and followed a string of Ted Cruz bus appearances. In addition to crashing campaign events and mocking the press for their thirst for controversy, Triumph will take on hard-hitting issues of concern to voters on each side of the spectrum. “A quote? I don’t have time for this (expletive deleted),” said Triumph.

- This weekend airs a rare interview with The Co-Chairs on the Commission of Presidential Debates: Michael McCurry & Frank Fahrenkopf discuss the General Election 2016 debates on the upcoming episode of the PBS TV series The Open Mind, hosted by Alexander Heffner: thirteen.org/openmind. The Open Mind series encourages thoughtful discourse and provocative exchanges -- hosting an eclectic mix of guests, from Independent senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to producer Jill Soloway to bestselling novelist Salman Rushdie and comedian J.B. Smoove.

- The human race is resilient. For millions of years, our species has fought for survival. We transformed rocks into tools, sticks into weapons and friction into fire — enabling us to spread across the continents and endure the planet’s harshest terrains. Now, National Geographic Channel (NGC) embarks on that journey across the globe in an epic new series, The Great Human Race, premiering in the U.S. on Monday, Feb. 1, at 10:00 and globally later this year in 171 countries and 44 languages.

- Certain images are permanently etched into our national memory, and the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion is one of them. On Jan. 28, 1986, with the eyes of the world watching, the space shuttle abruptly burst into flames during a live television broadcast. All seven crewmembers died, including a social studies teacher who was supposed to be the first American civilian in space. The heartbreaking tragedy instantly became a defining moment in American history. To mark the 30th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, the National Geographic Channel combed through long-forgotten news footage, radio reports, audio recordings and rarely seen NASA footage to retell the events leading up to, during and immediately after that fateful day. Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes, premiering Monday, Jan. 25, at 9:00, takes viewers behind the scenes of this compelling and historic story in a way never before seen. Produced by the Peabody-award winning producers of “MLK: The Assassination Tapes,” the one-hour special includes no narration and no commentators, instead unfolding the story solely through the reports of journalists covering the story at the time, extensive audio and video recordings from NASA and archived interviews with the flight crew and others who were part of the one-of-a-kind mission.

- Spun off from Robert Rodriguez's cult classic film franchise, Season One of Miramax/El Rey Network's From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series centered on bank robber Seth Gecko (D.J. Cotrona) and his violent, unpredictable brother Richard "Richie" Gecko (Zane Holtz). On the lam to Mexico, they encountered former pastor Jacob Fuller (Robert Patrick) and his family, whom they took hostage in the family RV. Following an ill-advised detour to the culebra-infested Titty Twister, they were forced to fight until dawn to get out alive. Across 10 explosive, SFX-filled episodes in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series - The Complete Season Two (Street Date: February 2, 2016), core relationships deepen and become more complicated as everyone tries to put their lives back on track after one very insane day. Santánico and Richie are now partners in crime, resembling a more modern version of Bonnie and Clyde; Seth and Kate are scraping by as small time criminals south of the border; and Freddie Gonzalez has an almost obsessive focus on protecting his wife and young daughter in the suburbs. Carlos Madrigal and Scott Fuller emerge from the Titty Twister, changed men. They will all come together once again - this time facing off against an even bigger threat.

- Smithsonian Channel and Major League Baseball have teamed up to tell the stories of four players who transcended the National Pastime and left legacies as true American icons: Hank Aaron, who surmounted racism in the Deep South and became baseball’s home run king; Babe Ruth, who emerged from a troubled youth to become America’s first superstar celebrity; Lou Gehrig, the embodiment of integrity who achieved immortality for his bravery in facing a terrible disease that now bears his name; and Ted Williams, who aspired to be the greatest hitter ever and inspired generations with his quest for perfection. Major League Legends will premiere over four consecutive Monday nights beginning February 29 at 8:00 with a special Black History Month presentation of Major League Legends: Hank Aaron.

- Who is God? Where did we come from? Why does evil happen? What happens when we die? Every human being on earth has asked themselves these questions at some point, and most likely each person has found a different answer. This spring, National Geographic Channel and Revelation Entertainment’s epic series The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, produced by Freeman, Lori McCreary and James Younger, will take viewers on a trip around the world to explore different cultures and religions on the ultimate quest to uncover the meaning of life, God and all these big questions in between. The Story of God with Morgan Freeman premieres Sunday, April 3 at 9:00 on the National Geographic Channel.

- truTV this week announced a greenlight for the new comedic competition series Comedy Knockout which pits comedians against each other in a series of fast paced challenges with the audience having sole discretion to decide who is the funniest person in the room. In each episode, host Damien Lemon (Guy Code) sends three comics into a battle of high stakes comedic gameplay. With points doled out based on the audience’s applause, it’s all about one-upmanship as competitors attempt to landj massive comedy blows and whip the rowdy crowd into a frenzy of raucous laughter. The whole time, the comedians throw roast-like, rapid-fire jabs at each other to knock their opponents off balance. Each show ends with one comedian crowned Champion, one eliminated, and one ultimately forced to face the crowd and apologize for going down in shameful defeat. Comedy Knockout will premiere on truTV in April 2016 with 10 half-hour episodes.

- PBS President and CEO Paula A. Kerger announced this week at the PBS portion of the Television Critics Association Press Tour that PBS, with National Geographic as its international broadcast partner, has commissioned a new six-part science series. Genius by Stephen Hawking, from production company Bigger Bang, will be presented and narrated by renowned theoretical physicist Prof. Stephen Hawking. In each episode, a different group of ordinary people will be challenged to think like the greatest scientific minds in history in order to solve some of humanity’s most enduring questions. GENIUS will air on PBS in the U.S. in 2016, and internationally on National Geographic Channel.

- President and CEO Paula A. Kerger announced this week at the Television Critics Association Press Tour that PBS has commissioned the two-part series A Year in Space, adapted from TIME’s original digital video series about astronaut Scott Kelly, whose current 12-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS) is testing human limits for space travel and laying the groundwork for a manned mission to Mars. The first installment of A Year in Space, which tracks Scott Kelly’s mission from training and launch, through his 12 months aboard the International Space Station, right up through his descent and landing is scheduled to air on PBS on Wednesday, March 2 from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings), timed within a day of Scott’s planned return to Earth. The second installment is scheduled to air in 2017.

- PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger announced today at the Television Critics Association Press Tour that it will air Hamilton's America, a feature film documentary providing intimate access to Lin-Manuel Miranda and his colleagues during the two years leading up to the Broadway opening of the musical Hamilton. A contemporary perspective of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s revolutionary musical based on the life of United States Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, Hamilton's America will come to Great Performances in the fall 2016, and will be a highlight of PBS’s Arts programming.

Winter 2016 Music Preview

2013 was dubbed the year of the comeback with Daft Punk, Nickel Creek, and Black Sabbath all releasing new albums after a lengthy hiatus, and in the latter case, an album with Ozzie Osbourne that no one thought would ever happen after almost four decades at odds. But reunion albums are now the norm with last year seeing decade long hatchets buried by Jodeci, Veruca Salt, and New Order except non of those really caught fire. Many suggest the uptick in reunions is the proliferation in festivals Stateside that are looking for big names to set themselves apart. Cochella just announced the reunion of the original Guns N' Roses after two decades of vitriol and LCD Soundsystem (which is not much of a reunion because it is just one dude who decided to "disband" just five years ago). Then usually an album comes so they have something to promote than just their catalog. So already this year we are getting comeback albums from Violent Femmes (15 years) and The English Beat (33 years). I have a feeling those will be more like last year's comeback albums and less Get Lucky. But those are really the only albums worth talking about that are coming out in the first quarter as all the big names are in the TBA section. But here are the few new albums to look out for over the next couple months (and though you may not have heard from Primal Scream since the nineties, I did not bring them up in the comeback album talk because they have both been constantly putting out albums this century).


January 1

Wildflower - Rachel Platten

January 8
Blackstar - David Bowie

January 15
Not To Disappear - Daughter
Sweven - Brooke Waggoner

January 22
New View - Eleanor Friedberger
Dystopia - Megadeth
Adore Life - Savages

January 29
This Is Acting - Sia
Have a Nice Day - Reagan James

February 5
Wonderful Crazy Night - Elton John
The Psychedelic Swamp - Dr. Dog
Ghosts of Highway 20 - Lucinda Williams

February 12
Swish - Kanye West
My Wild West - Lissie

February 19
Side Pony - Lake Street Dive
Painting With - Animal Collective
Need Your Light - Ra Ra Riot
Victorious - Wolfmother

February 26
Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin - Willie Nelson
I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it - The 1975
Keep It Together - Lily and Madeleine
For All Kings - Anthrax

March 4
We Can Do Anything - Violent Femmes
Full Circle - Loretta Lynn
iii - Miike Snow

March 11
ArrangingTime - Pete Yorn
Good Grief - Lucius
Painkillers - Brian Fallon

March 18
Chaosmosis - Primal Scream

April 1
Weezer (White Album) - Weezer
Changes - Charles Bradley
The Wilderness - Explosions In the Sky

April 15
This Path Tonight - Graham Nash

TBA
Moonlight - Ariana Grande
Boys Don't Cry - Frank Ocean
Anti - Rihanna
Mascochism - Sky Ferreira
RTJ3 - Run The Jewels
Detore - Cyndi Lauper
Meart + Beat - The Band Perry
Drogas - Lupe Fiasco
Skulls - Lupe Fiasco
Roy - Lupe Fiasco (which he claims to be his final album)
Shine - Wale
Here We Go Love - The English Beat
Anna Nalick
Beck
Bleachers
Blink-182
Bruno Mars
Charli XCX
Christina Aguilera
Ed Sheeran
Gorillaz
Haim
The Killers
Kings of Leon
Lorde
The Lumineers
Metallica
My Morning Jacket
Nine Inch Nails
Pearl Jam
Radiohead
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sleigh Bells
Soundgarden
U2
Vampire Weekend

And this could be the year we finally get Detox from Dr. Dre.

Previewing Billions

The first season of Homeland was one of the great season's in the history of television. Sure everyone knew it probably would have been better had they actually let Brody kill himself in the season finale, but it came back for the second season and continued to be great. Then about half way through the second season things started going downhill and the "they should have killed Brody long ago" chants started to get more fervent. Then the third season was dreadful and every time Brody showed up, you just could not help but wonder why is he still here. But at least he finally died at the end of that season.

So when Showtime announced Billions and Damien Lewis was listed in the cast you have to wonder why they were getting back into the Sergeant Brody business? Does he have pictures of Showtime executives? But anyway. On the show Lewis plays a hedge fund manager, but before you start thinking of The Wolf of Wall Street, he is is presented as a hedge fund manager with the heart of gold for giving out free tuition and is adored by the public since he was the lone partner of his firm not to die on 9/11.

Opposite him is Paul Giamatti (San Andreas) as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, basically the guy who prosecutes all the insider trading that happens on Wall Street (basically Eliot Sptizer but more powerful). Okay, this is a show on premium cable so these heroic personas are just for show, they are both mostly horrible people. Giamatti is the kind of guy who enjoys being burned by cigarette butts that are cooled down by, um, you do not want to know. But he is right to go after Brody because he has some ill gotten gain and says things like, "Why have (expletive deleted) you money if you never say (expletive deleted) you?"

And of course there is a twist: Giamatti's wife, Maggie Siff (Sons of Anarchy) just so happens to be the in house "performance coach" (a nicer way to say shrink) for Brody's Axe Capital, a job she had before she even met him and makes a sizable more than he does. So a guy who prosecutes inside traders really cannot give his wife a heads up he is building a case against her boss. On the flip side, Brody is married to Malin Akerman (Watchmen) who is just as conniving as her husband.

The biggest problem with Billions (once you get past Brody's inclusion in the cast) is I have little understanding what goes on with these hedge fund guys and Wall Street in general. I have seen multiple movies and read plenty of articles on it but still come away confused. And I think I am not the only one which is why these people were able to sink our economy because no one but these hedge fund guys knew what was going on. Apparently the new movie The Big Short recruits celebrities like Margo Robbie in a bubble bath, to help explain what went on. What Billions really needs is Margo Robbie in a bubble bath. Granted everything could benefit from Margo Robbie in a bubble bath.

Earlier I questioned why Showtime would want to get back in the Sergeant Brody business, but not only that why would they bring him back in the role that probably has just a shelf life of one season? Doesn't Brody have to go to jail in the season finale? I am not sure if many people want to see a cat and mouse game between a hedge fund manager and district attorney for multiple season. Sure season two could be the trial but we still need to get to the end of season one first.

Billions airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.

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

Pretty Little Liars: Some deep allusions to the series finale in those last scene at the funeral, even with the chick in the bunker filling in for Jenna, but with two big differences. First off, unlike the first funeral where I never at any point until I was proven right, did I think Allison was dead. With an open casket, with way too much cleavage for a dead girl, it is pretty clear CeCe did not fake her death. Second, I waited and waited, but no text to the Liars after the funeral. So is there not going to be another A this season? They di do a close up on a security camera which made me believe some omnipresent figure was looking on earlier in the episode. So are they just going to do a simple murder mystery this time around, no unseen stalker? If so, let me guess the killer is Jason. I just hope we do not have to wait five seasons to find it out. And what about the scene from the last finale with the Liars rushing to Allison's classroom telling her, "he's" here? Are we going to have to wait all season to get back to that scene? And I have to say, even though she is now twenty-three(ish) and he is twenty-eight(ish), Aria and Ezra is still creepy.
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Shadowhunters: I do not not know why anyone would make a television show after a horrible failed movie (granted I guessed it worker for Buffy the Vampire Slayer) yet for some reason, I always find myself watching every horrible show that comes after Pretty Little Liars. Buffy this show is not, it is basically the movie with worse actors and a much smaller budget. Yet I am somehow memorized by the lead's unnaturally orange hair. I just wonder if that is the actor's choice or that is what the character calls for (the mother did point it out in the premiere but Phil Collins daughter went with her natural hair color in the movie). I guess the good thing is these post Pretty Little Liars shows do not last very long. Until then, I can get a good laugh everytime one of them breaks out the faux lightsaber. Since Disney owns both Freeform (seriously, if you are going to change your name, how about picking something shorter and to the point, not extremely silly) and Star Wars, they really cannot sue themselves for content infringement.
You can download Shadowhunters on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines: And her in-lies the fatal flaw of this season'as format, co-ed bloodlines have absolutely no incentive to try hard and actually can benefit from losing if it is the opposite gender day to go into The Dome. Granted it took this long for KellyAnne's cousin to figure this out and still failed at throwing the challenge.
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Bloodlines on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So the Cabal is just going to let Red and Lizzie just get away with everything after they worked so hard to set them up? Mmmm. This really cannot be the end of this and if I were Lizzie I would not feel all that safe just because I signed a deal.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 1/15/16

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 Showtime news, Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee, Smurfs Epic Run, Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes, Supercar Superbuild, and Heartbreaker.

- SHOWTIME will be available to over 70 million households during a Free Preview Weekend from Saturday, January 16 through Monday, January 18. Viewers nationwide will be able to sample the network’s award-winning programming on SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, SHOWTIME ANYTIME® and select distributors' TV Everywhere portals. The Free Preview weekend will include sampling of the series premieres of the powerful new drama series BILLIONS, starring Oscar® nominee and Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Paul Giamatti and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Damian Lewis, and the groundbreaking new political series THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH. Immediately following the series premiere of BILLIONS, SHOWTIME will offer a special sneak peek of the second episode on demand, on SHOWTIME ANYTIME and on the SHOWTIME streaming service starting at 11 p.m. ET. Additionally, viewers will be able to sample new episodes of the hit comedy series SHAMELESS, along with SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING heavyweight matches and feature films, including the world television premiere of the Oscar®-winning film The Imitation Game.

- Here are some other Showtime headlines from the TCA's:
HIT SHOWTIME® COMEDY SERIES SHAMELESS GETS SEVENTH SEASON PICK-UP
SHOWTIME® ANNOUNCES SPRING PREMIERE DATES FOR HOUSE OF LIES AND PENNY DREADFUL; HOUSE OF LIES Set For Sunday, April 10th at 9 PM ET/PT And PENNY DREADFUL On Sunday, May 1st at 10 PM ET/PT Across All Platforms

- In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month holidays, Muta’Ali Muhammad, grandson of legendary actors and activists Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis, will be premiering the documentary, Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee, on Centric TV January 17, 2016 at 3:00pm. The film will also be released February 1st via iTunes, Amazon and Google Play.


-This week, Ubisoft invites players to enter the magical world of the Smurfs with the latest game installment, SmurfsTM Epic Run. Available today for free on the iTunes App Store, Google Play and Amazon, Smurfs Epic Run is a state-of-the-art 2D platform mobile game developed by Ubisoft Paris [Mobile]. The game challenges players to run, jump, glide, rush and dash through more than 100 levels, all with the goal of freeing the captive Smurfs.


- Certain images are permanently etched into our national memory, and the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion is one of them. On Jan. 28, 1986, with the eyes of the world watching, the space shuttle abruptly burst into flames during a live television broadcast. All seven crewmembers died, including a social studies teacher who was supposed to be the first American civilian in space. The heartbreaking tragedy instantly became a defining moment in American history. To mark the 30th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, the National Geographic Channel combed through long-forgotten news footage, radio reports, audio recordings and rarely seen NASA footage to retell the events leading up to, during and immediately after that fateful day. Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes, premiering Monday, Jan. 25, at 9/8c, takes viewers behind the scenes of this compelling and historic story in a way never before seen. Produced by the Peabody-award winning producers of “MLK: The Assassination Tapes,” the one-hour special includes no narration and no commentators, instead unfolding the story solely through the reports of journalists covering the story at the time, extensive audio and video recordings from NASA and archived interviews with the flight crew and others who were part of the one-of-a-kind mission.

- The new Smithsonian Channel four-part series, Supercar Superrbuild, premiering Sunday, February 14 at 9:00, goes behind the inherent beauty, amazing mechanical prowess, and basic building process of Maserati, Lamborghini, Bentley and Aston Martin, four of the world’s leading luxury automakers, as they attempt to produce what they hope is their next iconic car.

- Check out brand new trailer below for Heartbeat (starring Melissa George), coming soon to NBC! Based on the real life and achievements of Dr. Kathy Magliato, this unique character-driven medical drama follows Dr. Alex Panttiere, an outspoken world-renowned heart transplant surgeon and one of the few women in her field. Stubborn and fearless, Alex always operates on her own terms. She revels in a racy personal life that's a full-time job in itself, manages the daily demands of skeptical faculty and dutiful interns, and pushes the boundaries of medical science to impressive new heights.

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.