57 Channels and Only This Is On - 8/18/12

Quote of the Week: No One Takes Khaleesi's Dragons. (Michelle, Bunheads)

Song of the Week: One Day – Matisyahu (Covert Affairs)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Paul Ryan: A couple Fridays ago, AMC announced just hours before the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics that they were not renewing The Killing for a third season. It is common practice to release bad news late Friday in hopes that people will forget to be angry by the time the weekend concludes and to do it as the Olympics starts helps to bury it further. I bring this up not because I enjoy pissing on The Killing (even though I do) but I found it a bit odd that Mitt Romney chose Saturday morning on the last weekend of the Olympics to announce his running mate. What exactly was he hiding (besides what is in his tax returns), making the announcement at a time when most people are trying to bury news? Why not wait until Monday when you can own the new cycle instead of a time when people would rather talk about Usain Bolt or why didn’t Noel Gallagher jump out of the crowd during the Closing Ceremonies to punch Liam in the face when he was performing Wonderwall? Sometimes I wonder if Romney really wants to be president or if he has already resigned himself to losing.

Another sign that Romney may not want the presidency was his selection for Vice President. Paul Ryan is a super wonk who’s claim to fame is his budget that is supposed to save the country from financial ruin by slashing Medicare, lower taxes (mostly for the uber-rich) but will actually increase the debt according to a non-partisan economist. The guy is part of the most hated Congress in the history of polling and one of the bigger reasons why the country hates this Congress. This was clearly a pick to shore of the base of the party, but if you need to shore up your base by your vice president pick, you have pretty much already lost (see 2008). But on the bright side Ryan is a fan of Rage Against the Machine who will hopefully be invited to play the Republican National Convention later this month. Not surprisingly Tom Morello is not fond of his latest fan calling Ryan “the embodiment of the Machine our music Rages against”.

Preview Picture of the Week:



Leverage: Hardison biting that one dude (after actually warning him he was not above biting) has to be the funniest scene in the history of the show.
You can download Leverage on iTunes.

Falling Skies: I was all excited about the trip to Charleston this season, but I did not like all the politics when they got there (a dictatorship overthrown by the military; yeah). And even with running, heated water (which is not explained how they could keep the electricity going for an underground mall 24/7) Tom decides to keep the ratty beard. Alrighty. And wasn’t Weaver’s daughter going north to the mountains? How did she beat them to South Carolina?
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Grimm: Where most people spend up-fronts hoping the shows they watch get renewed, I secretly hope they all get6 canceled. I really did not need a second season of Grimm, but here it is and a month before everything else. I always liked the idea of the show way more than the acting (the dude from Road Rules? The chick from Quaterlife?). They need to find some compelling leads and quick.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Grimm on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: With her absence this week, I have come to the realization that CiCi is my favorite character on the show. Granted it does not take much to be the best character on the show. All she has to compete with is whenever Hanna goes H*A*M on people., which is not nearly enough
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Go On / Animal Practice (iTunes): If you missed their preview during the Olympics, you can download the new comedies for free.

Deal of the Week: Blu-Rays Under $10: The Expendables, Total Recall, The Terminator)

New Album Release of the Week: Last of a Dyin' Breed - Lynyrd Skynyrd

New DVD Release of the Week: Revenge: The Complete First Season

Video of the Week: The season two trailer of Homeland was just released and not surpisingly it looks all shades of awesome. Despite being unceremoniously booted from the agency, Carrie is back, in some cases with new hair and eye color, but unfortunately it looks like she is back on her meds. And just when you thought things could not get any more moody, they had to go and add a children’s choir to make it more epic. Remember The Social Network with Creep? And yes the Scala & Kolacny Brothers version of Every Breath You Take is available to download. Hopefully that does not last long. Homeland returns Sunday September 31 at 10:00.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Falling Skies, Sunday (tomorrow) at 9:00 on TNT: The first season was a bit rough at times and tiresome at others, but it seemed to hit its strike this season as it finally had a direction (and that direction was towards Charleston). But now there are there, now what? Apparently political drama as the series closes out its sophomore season.

Speaking of rocky first seasons, Bunheads also draws to a close this week. Hopefully it finds its foot too in the next season (it was recently renewed along with Melissa and Joey and Baby Daddy).