Best of the Week: 3/8/14

Quote of the Week: Spare us the wiener act. Bullying is a vital part of every ecosystem, it teaches kids resilience. The world is a rough place. Bullying is like getting inoculated: it’s a vaccine. And you little (expletive deleted), you got to learn to stay away from people like my son. That is what you learn when you get punched in the face by a bully. How do you think Steve Jobs turned out so great? Bullies. And I guentee Junior here will be getting the hottest chicks when he’s thirty because he got bullied today. Do you want to peak now? My kid will be picking up roadside garbage in an orange jumpsuit in ten years and you’re kid will be in med school curing cancer and getting laid. You’re welcome. (Frank Gallahger, Shameless)

Song of the Week: Hungry Heart – Bruce Springsteen (Growing Up Fisher)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Something Is Happening in the Ukraine: The Olympics are all about watching sports unite the world. Apparently Vladimir Putin was not paying close attention because just after the Closing Ceremonies, he was turning his eyes to invading former territory Ukraine. Despite spending the last week and a half of news on the subject, I am still not entirely sure what is going on because half of the talking heads are finding ways to blame this all on Obama while the other half are pointing out how crazy the other half is. Le sigh.

Preview Picture of the Week:

"Wrong Roads" Justified, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX

Free Download of the Week: Headfirst – Jillian Edwards (Noisetrade)

New Album Release of the Week: Veronica Mars: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

New DVD Release of the Week: Inside Llewyn Davis

Video of the Week: Last week at the end of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. we were introduced to Lorelei, an Asgardian temptress who finds her way to Death Valley and gets a newlywed to ditch his wife to drive her somewhere. Since Thor is too important to slum it on television and Marvel needs some extra promotion for his movie which landed on DVD two weeks ago (watch Thor: The Dark World now just in case their are spoilers even though the episode right after the movie hit theaters was fairly vague), the promos show that it will be Lady Sif that will come to battle the villain. Now I have had my issues with the show, but if they somehow manage to get Lady Sif and Skye is a wrestling match, it will likely turn out to be the greatest television episode ever in the history of television.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Once Upon a Time, Sunday at 8:00 on ABC: The show has left Neverland about ten episode two late and now, um, I cannot remember what happened last. (Heads to Wikipedia.) Oh yeah, Peter Pan’s unleashed a new curse that Regina negated by Regina when she un did her original curse. So Storybrooke is no more, all the fairy tale characters back in their respective world with Emma and Henry living together without any memory of what happened. Until Captain Hook started to bang on their door. Hopefully this new direction is a better course because Nederland was a massive drag. There will be a new antagonist in the form of the Wicked Witch of the West. No word yet if Dorothy, the Wizard, or the three other witches will make an appearance. But there better be bad CGI flying monkeys.

Around the Tubes: 3/7/14

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on True Detective, American Comedy Awards, Music Mavericks, On the Menu, Friends of the People, John Ashton, Karla Moheno, and Thick as Thieves.

- True Detective closes out its first season (and only one with the current leads) this Sunday at 9:00 on HBO and here is a clip to get you ready for the finale:


- NBC and Don Mischer Productions announced this week the nominations for the American Comedy Awards, airing May 15 at 9:00 on NBC. The “American Comedy Awards” is one of the only award shows in which the winners are determined through a combination of fan voting and voting among entertainment industry professionals. Voting is now open, and the public is encouraged to help pick the winners in all 19 categories by voting online at nbc.com or on Facebook via the American Comedy Awards Facebook Voting App. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. ET/8:59 p.m. PT on March 18. You must be at least 13 years old to vote.

- This Sunday, March 9th, Ovation is proud to present the latest episode of Music Mavericks, featuring Billy Joel. A hit-maker in the 70s, 80, and 90s, Joel has had a whopping 33 Top 40 hits, all of which he wrote. He’s won six Grammys, sold over 150 million records worldwide and has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. In 2013, he received the Kennedy Center Honor, the nation’s highest honor, for influencing American culture through the arts. This profile shows how a kid from the Bronx was influenced by the Beatles and went on to become one of the most-successful singer-songwriter-pianists of all time.


- Ty Pennington (Trading Spaces, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) is heading to the kitchen to host TNT's new series On the Menu, with legendary Chef Emeril Lagasse (Emeril Live, Top Chef, Emeril's Florida) signing on as Menu Master. On the Menu is television's first cooking show ever to give viewers the chance to taste the winning dish after every episode, as well as give everyday cooks the chance to have their dish appear in dining institutions across the country.

- truTV has given the greenlight to its first-ever sketch-comedy series: Friends of the People. The series stars comedians Kevin Barnett (Sleepwalk with Me, Guy Code),Jennifer Bartels (In Living Color reboot, Broken Exes), Jermaine Fowler (the upcoming Comedy Underground with Dave Attell), Lil Rel Howery (In Living Color reboot,Variety's "10 Comics to Watch"), The Lucas Bros. (upcoming 22 Jump Street, Fox’s Lucas Bros Moving Co.) and Josh Rabinowitz (I Just Want My Pants Back, Comedy Central's Comics to Watch). The network has ordered 10 episodes, including the pilot, with plans to launch the series in summer 2014. Friends of the People is being produced by 3 Arts Entertainment and Marobru Productions (Chappelle's Show, Comedy Underground with Dave Attell).

- Guitar legend John Ashton and former member of the iconic Psychedelic Furs has announced an all-star project that involves a long list of admired musicians who have shaped the course of music. After years of producing, occasional cameos, and family time, Ashton is making his long-awaited return as an artist with a collection of songs on Satellite Paradiso. Ashton partnered with the PledgeMusic direct-to-fan platform so fans can have the unprecedented chance to be a part of the album-making process. All pledgers receive a digital download of the album once it's ready and access to exclusive updates which document the final journey to the completion of this project.

- New York City-based rock singer and songwriter Karla Moheno releases her new single, Blacked Out and Blue off of her debut album Gone to Town. The single, which premiered on ARTISTdirect, was inspired by Moheno's experience during Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012. "The song is about making the best out of a bad situation", Moheno explains, "In that case, it was riding out the storm with some booze and music making".



- LA Band, Thick as Thieves have released the video to their latest single Ghosts off their EP These Days. Ghosts is about the desire to suppress the longing for someone you can no longer be with, but fearing that the feeling will always haunt you. The video follows the downward spiral of a legendary gaming character after the split from his equally famous wife.

Previewing Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

Since everything from the eighties is getting rebooted these days it should not be that surprising that even nature shows like Cosmos is getting a new millennium version. But where the world did not really need a newer version of Endless Love, Cosmos actually deserved being updated because a lot has been discovered o the subject over the past thirty-four years. Plus, I for one, and probably everyone my age and younger than me, never saw the original.

Like the original, the updated series, this time with the subtitle A Spacetime Odyssey instead of A Personal Voyage, will air thirteen episodes. Stepping in for the dearly departed Carl Sagan is astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson who is probably best known to pop culture people for his cameo on the Big Bang Theory and his series of tweets last year criticizing Gravity (sample tweet: “The film #Gravity should be renamed ‘Angular Momentum’”). Near the end of first episode, Tyson gives a touching recollection of the time he met Sagan as a teenager.

Despite looking and sounding like one of the more interesting video your science teacher makes you watch when (s)he does not trust the substitute teacher to be competent, Cosmos is still a very compelling watch. First off we are introduced to Tyson’s “spaceship” (which looks like something out of the newer Star Wars trilogy) that will take us to the ends of the universe explaining our space “address” line by line giving the viewer of just where we are in the grand scheme of things.

Then we are transported back in time to the birth of Renaissance when Giordana Bruno first tried to suggest that Earth was not the center of the universe and that we actually revolve around the sun (which is with crudely drawn cartoons despite boasting Seth McFarlane as a producer). But the most fascinating part of the premiere is when Tyson has us look at the Cosmic Calendar which puts the Big Bang on January 1 and today on New Year’s Eve. Cosmos manages to take a very complex subject and put them in ways that the laymen should easily understand and should be appointment television for learners of all ages.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey airs Sundays at 9:00 on Fox. You can also catch each episode the following day at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel. For those interested in (re)watching the original Carl Sagan version Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, the National Geographic Channel will be airing all thirteen episodes this weekend, from noon to 6:00 on Saturday and will continue on Sunday from noon to 7:00.

Previewing Cesar 911

After over a hundred episodes, The Dog Whisperer came to an end two years ago. But Cesar Millan continued his relationship with Nat Geo Wild last year with the premiere of Leader of the Pack where Cesar would try to find homes for high maintenance dogs. Cesar is back with a new show this Friday, Cesar 911 which bares many similarities to the show that introduced him to the nation and will air six episodes this season.

For all intents and purposes, Cesar 911 is just The Dog Whisperer but instead of owners at their wits end calling on his help, it is neighbors, co-workers, relatives, friends, and significant others who call Cesar for essentially a doggy intervention. Then Cesar and the whistleblowers ambush the owners and their unruly dogs usually on walks to air their grievances with Cesar offering his services to help. This small twist does add the intrigue of if the owners are willing to take Cesar’s help. Of course they all do because there would not be a show, but it is clear that one or two are resentful of the ambush. There are a couple of employees that call Cesar on their bosses which could very well effect their employment down the road.

So Cesar is back to familiar territories helping dogs and their owners. Of course the pack and his Dog Psychology Center come back into play (have he always had llamas). This season he will run into a trio of terror who like to honk the horn when they are stuck in the car, a spoiled Chihuahua who likes to go after ankles at a dance studio, and many more. And since the owners are not the ones asking for help, Cesar also has to do much more work training the humans too. There is even one relationship this season where Cesar suggest that an owner should either choose her dog or her boyfriend. And she does end the episode separated from one of them.

Cesar 911 airs Fridays 9:00 on Nat Geo Wild.

I Want My Music Television: 3/4/14

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


Midnight – Coldplay


Usually when an artist drops a new song, it is accompanied by big fan fair, maybe a press release about a new album. But now we are living in a post-Beyoncé world where artists are getting more and more cryptic. Prior to releasing a new music video, Coldplay posted on social media that they would be releasing something, at midnight in the time zone local to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The song ended up being entitled Midnight and is this weird Bon Iver meets Radiohead track with an even weirder accompanying video. A week later they did announce a new album coming in May with pre-order where the insta-download track being a more traditional sounding Magic (though it is more bass heavy than previous Coldplay work) which they are calling the first single instead of Midnight which is stuck in the very middle of the album.


Partition - Beyoncé


Speaking of Beyoncé, she just officially released a new music video (though if you bought the visual album, you have already seen it). It weird that after giving birth, her music videos have gotten more sexual between this and Drunk in Love as if she has something to prove. And she definitely is proving something. Why do I think this is just your average Monday in the Carter household?


If I Could Change Your Mind – Haim


Even though they are a band who play their own instruments, listening to their music, you can easily tell that Haim are heavily influenced by girl groups of the nineties and their latest music video is just a great throwback to that era. Of course the song itself is a throwback lamenting “lying eyes” which were a staple in lyrics back in the eighties and nineties (I guess songwriters today date people with better poker faces). And like I do whenever they release something new, it is time to update the Haim Sisters Power Rankings and after this video I have Alana in pole position.


Arabella – Arctic Monkeys


The golden age of music video nudity continues with Arctic Monkeys who latest looks like a mix between an old noir flick and old time peep show.

Previewing Bates Motel: Season Two

Bates Motel had the unfortunate luck of being the lesser of two serial killer prequel that premiered last spring because the better in almost every single way Hannibal (granted the other serial killer themed show The Following, which I did not bother to watch but hear mostly bad things, doubled their combined ratings). It also did not help that the show was created by Carlton Cuse in his first project after helming quite possibly the most divisive series finale in the history of television with Lost. So Vera Farmiga’s tour de force performance as Norma Bates went mostly unmentioned as the rest of the show failed to live up to her intensity.

Last season ended with Norman getting some sweet loving from the token hot chick at school and then killing his hot teacher in a blind rage. Alrighty. Bates Motel returns tonight (three days after the superb second season premiere of Hannibal) on the next day before quickly forwarding four months after the cold open. Business is surprisingly booming at the Bates Motel (and of course the surrounding pot economy around the city). But much like last season, there is still a dark underbelly to the town and someone is just getting out of a mental facility after what transpired four months ago.

I had some issues with the first season. Most it was boring and all of the characters not named Norma were fairly useless. But the show returns with a bang tonight. More specifically it ends with a bang, setting up a season that should easily surpass the underwhelming first. They even give the most useless of all the useless characters something very interesting to by the end of the first episode. Just based on what happened, the second season premier is a vast improvement over the first but still pails in comparison to Hannibal.

Bates Motel airs Mondays at 9:00 on A&E followed by Bates Motel After Hours at 10:00. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Bates Motel on iTunes.

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Best of the Week: 3/1/14

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

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

Scene of the Week:


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

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

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


Preview Picture of the Week:

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Previewing Vikings: Season Two

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

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

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


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

Previewing Inside Job and Save Our Business

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

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

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

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

Inside Job airs Fridays at 9:00 on TNT.

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

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

Previewing Diggers: Season Three

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

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

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

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

Previewing Dallas: Season Three

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Best of the Week: 2/22/14

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

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

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

Preview Picture of the Week:

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

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

New Album Release of the Week: Morning Phase - Beck

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

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


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

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

Around the Tubes: 2/21/14

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Penny Dreadful, Growing up Fisher, The Americans, Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, Snake Salvation, Walking with Dinosaurs, AMHQ with Sam Champion, Live from Space, Mad Men, Shameless, House of Lies, and Syfy spring schedule.

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


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


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


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


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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

Feed Your iPod LXXXII: Potholes in My Lawn

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

Potholes in My Lawn – De La Soul

Amazon 2014 Pilots Power Rankings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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