Early Fall TV Grades

Mad Men: A- (the young actress that plays the daughter, Sally should win an emmy. She is fantastic)


Vampire Diaries Ep 1: A-

VD Ep 2: B+

The Event: A- ( I really liked it, but some reviews were not good. Others panned it saying it’s another “Lost”. Is that a BAD thing??)

Hawaii Five-O: B ( I gave it a chance and did not hate it. Scott Caan was annoying, but not as much as usual. I don’t know if it will be in regular rotation though)

Survivor Ep 1: B- (Notgreat. But most openers are not.)

Survivor Ep 2: A (last night’s was really good. I hope you all watched it)

Modern Family: A (very funny)

Detroit 1-8-7: B (not great, but not horrible. I hope it lasts for the sake of the city. Kind of, “kind of”, like NYPD Blue)

Glee: C ( I don’t know if I can stay with it. The stories, acting and on this episode, the songs were all bad)

Raising Hope: B+ (a lot of potential. From the creator of “My Name is Earl”)

Running Wilde: C- (not very good. Too bad for Will Arnett)

The Defenders (starring Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell): B+ … this was a pleasant surprise. I looked at the stars and the premise and dismissed it early on thinking it would get cancelled very early. BUT, I wanted to see this “train wreck”, so I gave it a chance last night and LIKED IT. I don’t know if it’ll last, but it was actually pretty entertaining. I’m sure you’d roll your eyes at all courtroom scenes, but the main two actors were pretty good.



Joaquin Phoenix on Dave: A ( I liked it a lot and really want to see his movie)



Apprentice: Incomplete

Boardwalk Empire: Incomplete

Undercovers: Incomplete



Rubicon: I have officially dropped it. It was becoming a “chore” to keep up.



Tonight is NBC Thursday and Sunday on HBO, Eastbound and Down & Bored to Death.

Fall Grid

As many of you know, the sponsors backed out due to "suspicious clicking activity".  Whatever man, I think it was some kind of scam anyway.  But I will not be deterred.  I don't do this for the money, I do it to point out ridiculous concepts for TV shows, to discuss what we should be watching so no one (including me) misses out on anything special, and to recap my favorites.

Every year I put together a small grid of the upcoming fall season and a list of premiere dates.  I send it to a small group of folks, but it was suggested to me to publish it on my blog.  I'm trying to figure out how to attach right now.  I may have to do a copy and paste into a message, but rest assured, it will be coming...

Okay...hmmm...hmmm... for now, here is a list of upcoming premiere dates for the week of 9/6-9/12 (times are Central Region):
Wednesday 9/8 on CW:  America's Next Top Model and Hellcats (7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, respectively)
Thursday 9/9 on CW:  Vampire Diaries and Nikita (7:00 and 8:00)

The DO NOT MISS for the week is Vampire Diaries!

The following week is the big one where most networks bring the onslaught of their premieres.

Check back soon!

FINALES

So there is about four weeks left of the winter TV season and I want to know what finales you are all looking forward to.  Personally, I am looking forward to, but also relishing the series finale of Lost.  It has been one of the best shows for the past six years.  I look forward to the ending the writers are going to give us.  Needless to say, not everyone is going to be happy with it.  That's just the nature of the business.

Also, I'm hoping the writers of 24 will give us some exciting ending to a somewhat mediocre and cliche final season.  Jack Bauer will go down as one of the best characters ever on television.

Other finales I will look forward to:  Survivor:  Heroes vs. Villains (if Russell can make it that far, that is...), Celebrity Apprentice (I am already calling a Bret vs. Holly final), Flash Forward (this is a very good show with low ratings and also with actress Peyton List...google her...you won't regret it), and I suppose the American Idol finale should be decent too, even though the finalists are not really going to be the draw (prediction:  Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze).

Then, we'll have Friday Night Lights to lead us into the summer and in July, BIG BROTHER!!

Post your comments and let me know what you're looking forward to.

Later gang.

PROGRAMMING REMINDER: FNL!

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.  THIS FRIDAY.  7:00 PM CHICAGO TIME ON CHANNEL 5.  MAKE A NOTE!

Wednesday TV

Modern Family.  'Nuff said.  Once again a solid, funny episode.  Slowly, Luke is beginning to surpass Manny as my favorite character!

American Idol...UGH...'nuff said.  It is painful to watch.  Sadly the one one non-boring contestant got the boot last night.  Siobhan was sent home and screeched out her swan song to end the show.  The final five are:  "Big Mike" "I am boring but people like me because I'm big yet sensitive" Lynche, Aaron "How old are you again?  16?  Really?  16?  Oh, now 17" Kelly, Casey "Let me brush my long, blond, curly locks out of my face" James, Crystal "I am the front-runner but am in dire need of a makeover" Bowersox, and Lee "I have no personality but do have the best male voice" DeWyze.  Lee and Crystal SHOULD be the final two.  Look for "Big Mike" to go home next week.

I missed "Happy Town".  ARGHH.  I will try to catch it online at ABC.com.

TONIGHT:  All new Survivor:  Heroes vs. Villains.  Will Russell make it through another week with Sandra on the hunt for his head?  Tune in tonight, only on CBS!

New Poll

As we countdown the final days of "Lost", I want to know what you all think.  Where are the castaways?  Take the poll on the right!

24...the countdown is on

Monday's episode of 24 was a little slow and dull, but definitely one of those "set up" shows for the final episodes of the season.

Jack contacted Chloe and "convinced" her to help him get to the double agent, Dana.  Chloe agreed, but in reality was going to set up Jack to "protect" him.  Jack, always one step ahead of everyone, knew this and wound up taking Cole (played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer's husband, Freddie Prinze Jr.) hostage, though Cole was convinced by Jack to work with him to get to Dana.  We should see some beatdowns next week.

Meanwhile, at the White House, Ethan, the Chief of Staff, a few hours removed from a crippling heart attack, gave his resignation after President Taylor refused to call off the Peace talks and expose the Russians for assassinating President Hassan.  Ethan also tells her if she is exposed for a cover-up, she runs the risk of Impeachment as well as possible criminal charges.  She doesn't change her mind.

The only other point of interest was that Dana, the double agent, was taken from CTU by a private security firm by Presidential order.  The head of the private security team is actor D.B. Sweeney (star of The Cutting Edge!), complete with cheeseball federal agent mustache.  This agent makes the offer of killing Dana after the evidence against the Russians is beaten and tortured out of her.  Remember though, ONLY one man does the beating and torturing on this program.  I fully expect Jack to save her, then the beat-down will begin.

Tune in next week.  Only five hours left of the series!

All time favorites...

What are some of your all-time favorite TV shows?  I want to hear from the masses.  Here are some of mine (not necessarily in order):

The Simpsons
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Lost
Survivor
Arrested Development
Soap
The (British) Office (with Ricky Gervais)
South Park

Updates, reminders, etc.

Sorry for the delays in updates, but it has been a busy week. First off, a huge REMINDER, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS returns to NBC on Friday, May 7. Mark your calendars now (or set up your DVR's now).

Just going off on a tangent, the show Cavemen on ABC from a few years ago was never really given a chance. The episodes I watched were pretty funny. I think I am going to start a campaign for ABC to release the one and only season on DVD. Who's with me? (Oh man, I've a funny picture to add buy can't see how to do it on this site...oh well, imagine two cavemen sitting in a bar...)  Wait, I  think I've got it:

Last week's TV was great. As posted, Jack Bauer stole a helicopter and is going to be kicking some major butt tonight. Celebrity Apprentice is a great guilty pleasure and Mr. Trump sold out a little bit last night. Lost was fantastic as the two camps prepare for "war". American Idol is now down to the final six (Big Mike, Casey James, Siobhan, Aaron, Crystal Bowersox, and my pick to win, Lee DeWyze from Mt. Prospect, IL). Modern Family is probably the best sit-com on television right now. If you're not watching, do yourself a favor and set it up on your DVR. It is brilliant. And Survivor. OH, Survivor. Great, great episode. A full recap will be coming soon (and hopefully before this week's episode).

On a final note, I've started watching the old HBO show, "The Wire". I am through season one. It is fantastic. It revolves around narcotics and homicide detectives in Baltimore battling drug dealers. Doesn't really sound all that exciting, right? Well, do yourself another favor and rent this. As I always contend, for procedural police or medical dramas, the show lives and dies by it's characters. The Wire has some of the most complex and interesting characters: both in the police force and the drug community. One of the best is a junkie, confidential police informant named "Bubbs".

To purchase, go to:




Okay gang, gotta go for now, but feel free to make comments and makes this site interactive!

Have a great week!

LOST!

I wanted to put a quick post on saying I will not do regular Lost posts. Lost is my favorite show on TV right now and I typically will watch each week's episodes at least twice, but there are so many other great (and better than I'd ever be able to do) recaps, I'll instead direct you to:

www.ew.com and tell you to click on the "Lost" link. This is great.

And I will be honest with you all, I get very confused and don't even know what's going on half the time, but it makes me think and exercises my brain, so I love it.

Only six episodes left of this ground-breaking series. It'll be a sad day come May 23...

24...six hours left

Tonight (4/19) we finally got a great episode of 24. The best of the season in my opinion. There are only six hours left of the series, and if tonight's episode is any indication of what is to come, they are not to be missed.

** SPOILER BELOW **

We pick up shortly after Renee was shot and killed. Jack is in shock and calls the new head of CTU, Chloe, and insists on knowing where their Russian informant is. Jack is sure he'll know who is behind Renee's death. Chloe is hesitant as she figures Jack is hell bent on revenge, but Jack vows he just wants to grill the guy for info. Jack finds the informant in Federal Court, and conveniently, when Jack walks in, the informant is granted a five minute recess by the judge. I'm no lawyer, but I assume every courtroom scene on television is 100% accurate... Jack discovers that the Russian Government is behind EVERYTHING that has gone on today: the nuclear threat on Manhattan, the assasination of President Hassan and the death of Renee. But CTU traitor, Dana Walsh, is the one that knows the names and who is exactly to blame.

Meanwhile, President Taylor, still trying to get this Peace Agreement to take place, agrees to let disgraced ex-President and traitor Charles Logan deal with the Russians to get them back to the Peace table. Pres Taylor has no idea the Russians are responsible for the day's events...but Logan does, and keeps it close to the vest. In some really good scenes, Logan blackmails the Russian President back to the peace talks with the threat of exposing the Russian's involvement in the day's events. We don't know how Logan knows, but he does. Logan tells his assistant, President Taylor doesn't need to know how it happened, just that the Russians are coming to the Peace agreement.

Then, Logan's assistant informs him that Jack Bauer is going to question the CTU double agent, Dana Walsh, who is the Russian point person at CTU and will give up the info exposing the Russians, and subsequently Logan's knowledge of events. Logan is trying to get back in the good graces of America, so Jack must be stopped!

Jack does get to Dana and in some vintage Jack Bauer beats the crap out of her. Jack gets his info. He's ready to take on the Russians.

Logan goes to President Taylor and says Jack needs to be contained. Taylor is a total Jack supporter and won't have any part of it without a good reason. Logan comes clean and admits he knew the Russians were behind everything, but JUST RECENTLY learned of this (again, we don't know how). President Taylor is now at a crossroads- keep the Peace Treaty alive, or expose the Russians. What is more important to her? This is actually quite a compelling scene.

President Taylor ultimately orders Jack to stand down. Jack wants to slap her around too now, you can just see it, but he begrudgingly agrees, though you know he'll do what he wants. The President figures this too and orders him to be taken into protective custody.

As Jack is about to be transported by Helicopter away from CTU, he steals a gun, steals the helicopter and takes off. Chloe tells Jack she'll have no choice but to tell the Air Force to shoot him down if he doesn't do it himself. End of episode.

Next week looks like a good one. Tonight's grade: A-. Very solid and no real lulls. As said before, hopefully the final six hours will be this good and the show will go out with a bang.

Survivor 4/15

Before my review of last night's Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, I want to ask you all to tune into "Miami Medical" on CBS tonight (Friday) at 9:00 pm Central Time. Below is a link for some info about the show: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/miami_medical/about/


I've six degrees of separation to this program (actually five...) and I've yet to watch, but I'll give it a chance and my honest review in days to come. It was created by Jeffrey Lieber who was one of the co-creators of the best show on TV right now, "LOST".

If you're going to be out tonight, be sure to DVR it.

Now onto Survivor.

** SPOILERS AHEAD...IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED, TURN AWAY NOW...**

Okay, let the broken record start now: Russell Hantz is the best and most entertaining Survivor player ever. The man is incredible. Villain Russell said nothing, NOTHING to Hero J.T., and yet J.T. felt so sorry for our man that he gave Russ the Individual Hidden Immunity Idol ("IHII"). For novices to the show, each week someone is voted out and an IHII can give immunity so that whomever holds and plays the IHII cannot be voted out. The last season that Russell played, he found and played THREE IHII's! He doesn't need anyone helping him! But in this "all-star" season of Survivor, Russell has the advantage that none of the other Survivors had the benefit of watching his season, as this season took place before Russell's first season aired. Had J.T. this benefit, he would have never, EVER, made this critical and frankly, dumb mistake.

Here's how it went down: at the reward challenge, the five remaining Heroes saw the new Villain tribe consisting of Russell and five women (Coach being voted off last episode). The came to the "obvious" conclusion that there was a women's alliance and poor Russell was doomed. They had no clue that Russell was running the show. The Villains wound up winning the reward of an Outback Steakhouse feast. At the feast, Pavarti found a clue to another IHII and shared that knowledge only with Danielle saying, I'll tell Russell on a need to know basis. Pavarti and Danielle did indeed find the second IHII and did keep it secret from dear Russell. Meanwhile the Heroes retreated to their camp to strategize...

At Heroes' camp, J.T. came up with a brilliant plan which he shared with the rest: if the Villains don't win at the immunity challenge, he would slyly slip Russell the IHII and tell him to play the idol to save himself and when the two tribes merged (J.T. assumed the merge would definitely happen after the next expulsion), then the Heroes would have a new ally in Russell who would "owe them one". Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Save for one point- he is giving the IHII to RUSSELL HANTZ.

Well, according to script, Heroes dominated the immunity challenge, Villains lost, J.T. slipped the IHII to Russell and some of the best TV in a long time happened. Back at Villain's camp, Russell shared the news with his allies Parvati, Danielle and Jerri, and also shared the heartfelt love note that J.T. included with the IHII. GREAT TV!!

The actual Tribal Council was anti-climatic as Russell's allies held a 4-2 advantage over the two outcasts Sandra and Courtney. It was just a matter of who the four wanted to keep. Courtney was ousted and they kept Sandra in what I think will be a CRITICAL MISTAKE! (mark it down). More great TV was watching Jury Member Coach (the first member of the Jury who will decide who wins $1,000,000) in his kimono and apparently meditating while in the Lotus position. Seriously, where do they get these people??

Next weeks preview show the Heroes and Villains merging and Sandra immediately flipping to the Heroes side. I pray this doesn't lead to Russell's downfall...

Overall grade of this episode: A-

Glee review

In my previous post I commented how 24 was such an original and innovative show when it premiere in 2001. I think Glee could be something similar now. It's an original concept and gets a huge buzz. Past musical shows (like Cop Rock and Viva Las Vegas) were huge, HUGE, flops. When Glee premiered, it targeted the right audience (basically, the American Idol audience) and was able to get the rights to sing current, popular songs.

The first half of the inaugural season was very enjoyable with good stories intertwined with the musical numbers. I truly enjoyed the first half of season one. On Tuesday the second half of season one kicked off where the first half left off. Unfortunately, there was SO MUCH time in between (bad move on Fox's part), it left me a little confused as I'd forgotten some major plot points and honestly, left me not really caring as much. It was also difficult for me to explain to my wife what was going on as she is just now trying to get into the show.

So apparently cheerleader coach Sue blackmailed the principal to get reinstated though she had been suspended for trying to sabotage the Glee Club's performances at sectionals (or regionals? not quite sure), Glee Club male lead Finn has dumped the very hot ex-cheerleader Quinn (who barely appeared in this episode) after finding out her baby is ex-best friend Puck's and not his and in addition, is now dating Glee Club female lead and social outcast Rachel, and Glee Club instructor Will has dumped his wife Terri after discovering she was faking her pregnancy to keep him close and started dating Guidance Counselor, Emma, after Gym Teacher Ken left her at the alter. Caught up now?

In our episode, Sue torments Will and employs the two dumb cheerleaders (forgive me not knowing their names) to woo Finn away from Rachel, causing tension between them and ultimately destroying the Glee Club (just go with it...). Finn breaks up with Rachel and Sue invites her to the "Old Maid's Club". From there she is scared and soon finds respite in the arms of an enemy Glee Clubber from a rival high school. Finn and the McKinley Glee'ers think the rival is simply trying to gain intel for the regionals. Rachel thinks it's true love. I suspect Sue is behind this... Meanwhile, Will and Emma start dating but decide to put it on hold so Will can "discover himself".

The two cheerleaders and Sue provided good comic relief this episode and the musical numbers all involving "Hello" (or "Hell") songs ("Hello I Love You", "Hello", "It gives you Hell", "Hello Again", and "Hello/Goodbye" and coincidentally, "Highway to Hell" by the rivals) were very entertaining, but I thought the story lines fell a little flat. I am glad they nipped the Wil/Emma romance for now because it was a little boring. I fear for Quinn and Puck because I like them both but just don't know what the writers can do for them. We'll see if some momentum can be generated by next week's Madonna themed episode.



Later

Monday Night Recap

24 was one of the most original and innovative shows when it premiered over 8 years ago, shortly after the 9/11 attack. Now on Day (season) 8, Jack Bauer has seriously endured every possible crisis and disaster imaginable, and nearly all of them numerous times. This is the problem and why it is good that this is the Final day. Jack has prevented three nuclear attacks, tortured nearly every nationality of terrorist, and uncovered "moles" in CTU in all 8 seasons (apparently CTU does not do background checks on prospective employees).

**SPOILER ALERT: 4/12 episode details coming up**

Jack has also lost nearly every woman he's gotten romantically involved with to some tragic accident. This happened again on Monday's episode. Renee Walker, the hot red-head, and Jack consummated their relationship just hours after Jack had been shot and additionally stabbed in the stomach by the same red-head. Jack finally has some peace and happiness in his life, right? Wrong, we're only 18 hours into this day, so Jack has 6 hours of heartache left. (Cue sniper attack) Renee, just about to reveal to Jack she recognized a Russian gangster when said gangster (who somehow knew exactly where to shoot) took her out. Kind of a sad ending, but we've seen it before. In fact, we saw it last week when President Hassan had his throat slit to end the hour.

One funny thing that I liked was the ridiculous Brian Hastings being relieved from his post as head of CTU and being replaced by the always twitchy and sardonic Chloe O'Brien. Chloe is the best character on the show (aside from the lead, of course).

I've stayed with this show for nearly 8 full years and will ride it out, but I am relieved Jack's days are over. In the final six hours I look forward to Jack kicking the crap out of everyone, including Starbuck from Battlestar Gallactica who was this year's mole at CTU.

Another note: Why in the hell did Freddie Prinze Jr. take a role on this season. His character did nothing. NOTHING! What a nice easy paycheck for Prinze. He can take that home to Buffy and baby Prinze and laugh all the way to the bank.

So six hours to go until the end of this series. Tune in on Fox each Monday at 8:00 CDT.

Sponsorship!

This site is now sponsored by certain ads that you'll see all over the place. I'm not allowed to tell you to click on them, so use your own judgment, but if I could myself, I certainly would since there are some good products! :)

American Idol - 4/6/10

Okay, my wife and I may be the final two people actually watching this train wreck (and I do just to keep the wife happy...), but I did not hate the 4/6 episode which was songs by Lennon/McCartney.

The final nine are simply not in the categories of say the Daughtry season or the Carrie Underwood season, but they try hard and "have fun" (ugh, I hate when they say that...). The only two I kind of like are Lee DeWyze (from outside of Chicago) and as of last night, I "kind of" like this Crystal Bowersox.

Lee sang "Hey Jude" with the help of a bag-piper and Crystal sang "Come Together" (one of my least favorite Beatles tunes) with backup from a man playing a didgeridoo (seriously, WTF?). Anyways, those two stood out and were actually very good.

The others: "Big Mike", Aaron, Siobhan, Katie, Andrew Garcia were boring.

Tim Urban, who simply doesn't belong in this competition, actually was pretty good with his rendition of "All my Lovin'", but as said, he doesn't belong.

Casey James sang "Jealous Guy" (a Lennon tune I've never heard of...and I know EVERY SONG) and the judges LOVED it. I didn't get it, but I guess it was good.

I've got to believe Katie, Andrew and Tim will be bottom three in tonight's show and I'll predict that Katie Stevens will be sent home, though Tim Urban probably needs to get the boot.

Later nerds.

It has been a while...

Hopefully everyone is watching Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Russell is still the man. Watch for new posts coming soon on shows like: 24, Lost, Survivor: H v V, Celebrity Apprentice, and many, many more...