Category Archives: Television

Don’t Call Me During…: Midseason 2012 – Sundays

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Girls

It’s the time again as I shock and awe you with how much television I think I’m going to be able to watch.

Returning/New Shows:

9:00 PM – Girls (HBO; 1/13)
The show I love to hate. It got better as the season wore on especially when Adam (Adam Driver) became more than just Hannah’s (Lena Dunham) weird one-dimensional not-boyfriend. I’m concerned that Dunham will address her critics too much this season. After the backlash for the lack of minorities in Girls‘ version of Brooklyn, could casting Donald Glover as a potential love interest be too much of an overreaction?

9:00 PM – Game of Thrones (HBO; 3/31)
Erwin swears to me that this will be the best season because it’s based on the best book of the series, A Storm of Swords.  I wouldn’t know. I refuse to read the books mostly to annoy him. I just hope it’s not like the first two seasons where we spend half the season introducing yet more new characters until the plot can really move forward.

9:00 PM – Shameless (SHO; 1/13)
Am I the only one who thinks the show would be 100 times better if Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) left and/or died? They haven’t figured out how to make his character work and I don’t think they ever will.

10:00 PM: House of Lies (SHO; 1/13)
I would abandon this show but it stars Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell. I’m not ready to admit this show isn’t good.

10:30 PM: Californication (SHO; 1/13)
I actually last season was pretty good until the closing minutes of the finale in which another ridiculous misunderstanding will keep Hank (David Duchovny) and Karen (Natascha McElhone) from being together (which would allow the show to finally end for good).

The Rest:

8:00 PM – The Simpsons (FOX)
8:30 PM – Bob’s Burgers (FOX)
9:00 PM – The Good Wife (CBS)
9:00 PM – Revenge (ABC)
9:00 PM – The Walking Dead (AMC) (2/10)
10:00 PM – Happy Endings (ABC)
10:30 PM – Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 (ABC)

My Favorites of 2012

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Favorite Television Series: Breaking Bad

BreakingBad

There were a lot of good series this year – Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Parks and Recreation – but none really had an amazing standout year.  However, I found myself anticipating each episode of season 5.1 of Breaking Bad. While it lacked a main villain like season four, it was still fun to watch the evolution of Heisenberg.

Favorite Television Episode: “Blackwater” (Game of Thrones, Season Two, Episode Nine)

Blackwater

While the second season of Game of Thrones was a little slow, everything was building up to this episode and it didn’t disappoint. Between the large scale battle when Stannis Baratheon’s forces arrived at King’s Landings to the outstanding performances from Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey, “Blackwater” showed the all the possibilities of having Game of Thrones on HBO.

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10 Rash Thoughts About the Season Two Finale of Homeland

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The Choice

Don’t read if you haven’t seen the season two finale of Homeland, “The Choice.”

This has been a polarizing second season for the Emmy-winning Showtime series. After praising the season’s early episodes, it took a turn for the worse as the show put too much stock in the relationship between Brody and Carrie and “suspension of disbelief” became a weekly occurrence. Like many, I was hoping the finale would salvage all the faith and praise Homeland was given. So how did that work out?

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The Nostalgia Factory

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With the news that Disney is considering a Boy Meets World spinoff focusing on the daughter of Cory and Topanga Matthews (Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel), I began to think of other sitcoms that I wouldn’t mind seeing sequels of.

Parker Lewis Can’t Lose (1990-1993)

How It Might Work: Parker Lewis (Corin Nemec) has kids of his own and they are as devious and technologically-sound as he and his friends were in their day. Mikey (Billy Jayne) can be a retired musician living off the royalties while Jerry (Troy Slaten) is living off is cashed out Apple stock. Former Principal Musso (Melanie Chartoff) is now the superintendant. Kubiac (Abraham Benrubi) can be the gym teacher/football coach.

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“Revenge” Isn’t Sweet

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Sometimes a show should only last one season. No matter how entertaining the premise, some concepts can only be stretched so far. Revenge is turning out to be one of them.

The fun of show was watching Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) seek revenge against the people that led to her father’s wrongful imprisonment and death.  The main targets were the Grayson Family, led by matriarch Victoria Grayson (Madeline Stowe). They orchestrated the framing of Emily’s father so clearly they needed to suffer the most.

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No Place Like Homeland

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Without spoiling the first four episodes of season two of Homeland, I just wanted to take a moment to praise the fearlessness of the writers and producers.

Years of watching television has trained the viewer to expect events to occur at a slower pace than they would naturally.  A show must stretch its drama out over the season so, while it can be frustrating, sometimes you have to accept that all the major events won’t happen until the finale.  This season of Homeland has thrown those expectations out the window.

The ends of the last three episodes could have served as season finales and everyone would have been satisfied, anticipating season three. The creators of Homeland, Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, are throwing caution to the wind. Everything is happening at an unusual and unexpected pace for a U.S. television series.

This could turn out to be a huge mistake.  The show could fall apart like a marathoner who uses all their energy early in the race. I have no idea what’s going to happen next but I can’t wait to find out which is the most exciting feeling a television viewer can have.

Don’t Call Me During…: Fall 2012 – Fridays

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8:30 pm: Community (NBC; 10/19)
I have no idea to expect from this season.  In the Dan Harmon Era, this would be a good thing.  With him gone, are the new showrunners going to try to continue with a watered-down version of Harmon or take the show in their own direction?  Neither seem particularly appealing.

9:00 pm: Fringe (FOX; 10/28)
Another final season.  I’m glad that this show gets to go out on it’s own instead of this show being cancelled and not knowing how the show was meant to end.

Don’t Call Me During…: Fall 2012 – Thursdays

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8:00 pm: Last Resort (ABC, 9/27)
Shawn Ryan (The Shield) on network TV?  I’m in. Having Andre Braugher doesn’t hurt either.  It’s a shame that this probably won’t last past the first season in this absolutely brutal timeslot.

8:00 pm: The Big Bang Theory (CBS; 9/27)
It’s not as funny as it used to be (too much Jim Parsons but an Emmy will do that) but last season’s emphasis on the three female characters as a separate group – Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and Amy (Mayim Balik) – gave the show new life.

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Don’t Call Me During…: Fall 2012 – Wednesdays

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9:00 pm: Modern Family (ABC; 10/26)
The show is getting more hit or miss as it ages.  The characters who were breakouts – Phil (Ty Burrell) and Cam (Eric Stonestreet) are now becoming overwhelming. Also, the way the writers make the two wives – Gloria (Sofia Vergara) and Claire (Julie Bowen) – increasingly shrill is borderline sexist.

10:00 pm: Nashville (ABC; 10/10)
My most anticipated new show this season.  Why?  Connie Britton.  After her performance as Tami Taylor in Friday Night Lights, I would watch any show that she starred in.  Speaking of which…

10:00 pm: American Horror Story (FX; 10/17)
I watched the first few episodes because it starred the aforementioned Britton but it was just too silly.  Then I heard all the buzz after the Halloween episode aired and came back.  I don’t regret watching it but if I had missed it, I think I would have been okay with that. I’m actually curious how this will work with some returning actors playing different characters in a different story.

10:30 pm: Key & Peele (COM; 10/26)
I’m hoping the consistency of the skits improve in season two.  The funny skits are hilarious and stayed with me.  The bad skits, however, have this insular quality like you can tell they are the only two people who would find this funny.

Don’t Call Me During…: Fall 2012 – Tuesdays

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9:00 pm: Happy Endings (ABC; 10/23)
I think Happy Endings has taken over Modern Family‘s spot as ABC’s funniest show.  The way I feel about this show now is how I used to feel about How I Met Your Mother in the good days (seasons 1-4)

9:00 pm New Girl (FOX; 10/25)
Zooey Deschanel is still the weakest link in this cast but she improved as the season went on.  Well, she didn’t necessarily improve.  She just meshed better with her castmates.  She’s about to lose this show to Schmidt (Max Greenfield).  I haven’t seen a secondary character hijack a show from it’s star like this since Urkel.

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