Monthly Archives: September 2013
‘The Blacklist’: Part Thrill, Part Intrigue
James Spader, everyone. James. Freaking. Spader.
Oh, I’m sorry. There was a show going on around him? It took me a bit to notice, but I must say that The Blacklist, NBC’s newest high-action drama, is pretty awesome, I went into it expecting to not be able to get through the pilot, as procedurals and I went our separate ways many years ago. Not so, it would seem.
In the opening minutes of The Blacklist, the notorious criminal Raymond “Red” Reddington, played by Spader (ohh, I will certainly get back to him), walks into FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., and promptly gets himself arrested. He doesn’t struggle, even when he’s taken a secure warehouse and shoved into a glass jail cell. Who doesn’t love a villain in a glass cell? Answer: no one. But the kicker is that his one request is to speak with Elizabeth “Liz” Keen, a brand-spankin’ new agent who has no connection to him.
Should ‘Sleepy Hollow’ Go Back to Sleep?
Warning: Many of the comments in this review are meant to be sarcastic, so put on your sarcasm detector.
Last night’s episode of Sleepy Hollow, titled “Blood Moon,” began with a dream sequence. His wife Katrina warns him of an army of evil that will rise to bring the Four Horsemen back to life. This “army of evil” hunting will certainly give Ichabod and Abbie something to do for the rest of the series. Katrina explains that the first dark spirit will rise with the blood moon and that “she [the dark spirit] is one of us.” Ichabod has no clue what she is talking about and wakes up before she can explain.
Abbie’s captain, Frank Irving, played by Orlando Jones, still doubts the whole Headless Horseman ordeal, even though two officers went on record stating that they saw the horseman. Irving informs that they recanted their statements. He then shows her security footage that proves that Andy Dunn, played by John Cho, did not die by a demon whipping his head off his neck, but running head first into a wall. This basically decapitates him, without the head actually coming off because that seems plausible. With the physical evidence of the videotape, Abbie starts to doubt what is real and what is not.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Who is the First to Leave?
Amber Riley and Derek Hough
In hopes of staying in the competition, contestants had to dance their butts off this week for their first elimination of the season. This week contestants were dancing the jive, rumba, paso doble, and samba. Even though there was a lot of booty shaking going on, I wasn’t impressed with tonight’s performances. It was to the point that I was constantly changing the channels between the new Chuck Lorre show Mom and the season premiere of “The Voice.” It wasn’t entertaining to watch.
At this early point of the game, it’s important to stand out and make yourself known. The highest score for the first two weeks were Glee’s Amber Riley. She got a 51 out of 60. Everyone also congratulated her dancing partner, Derek Hough, who a received an Emmy on Sunday for best choreography.
The dance that really didn’t interest me at all was Bill Engvall’s jive. He was dancing to Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” and the performance was very rigid. It was AARP Country meets jive. Bill Engvall was a walking a prop, while his dance partner, Emma did all the hard work. With his performance he received 7’s across the board giving him a total score of 21.
Not Everyone Will Love ‘Mom’
Mom is a broad comedy that wouldn’t feel out of place in TV Land’s lineup with Hot in Cleveland and The Exes. While it is not the best show ever, Mom works well and is one of the few shows nowadays that an entire family can watch together.
Mom stars Anna Faris as Christy. At first Christy isn’t the most likeable character, even though she is genuine. As the pilot progresses, we find out that Christy can’t connect with her daughter because she takes after her mother, Bonnie, who was a terrible parent. Both women are members of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is where they run into each other after years of not talking. Christy tries to be a better parent than her mother was, but its hard when her mother is the perfect grandmother for Christy’s daughter, Violet. Despite not getting along with her, Violet take after her mother, Christy. Have you noticed a theme yet?
Christy, Bonnie, and Violet have a tendency to date really stupid men. Baxter is the son of Christy’s youngest son and thinks selling pot is a good way to get money for the child support he is six months behind on. Bonnie will do just about anything that moves. Violet has the most stable relationship with men. She has been with her current boyfriend Luke for around a year. However, Luke’s about as bright as Baxter. The only reason Luke likes bananas is because they come with their own container.
‘Breaking Bad’ Welcomes You to the “Granite State”
It turns out Saul’s vacuum cleaner repair guy is, in fact, a vacuum cleaner repair guy. He picked up Walt at the end of last week’s watershed episode. The person who got out of the van at the beginning of “Granite State,” though, was Saul, who decided he needed to get out of Albuquerque, too. The plan is to send Saul to Nebraska, but he and Walt are going to share a bedroom in the vacuum store until things die down. Saul asks how Walt’s been, and the repair guy directs him to a live feed of Walt’s room. He’s pacing back and forth.
After the opening credits, we get a quick Marie update. She’s in an SUV with men who assure her that they’re going to find Hank and Gomez. She doesn’t seem too confident. They pull up to her home, but something’s wrong. Papers are strewn all over the driveway and the door is bashed in. The inside of the house is completely torn up. This was Jack’s work – he wanted Jesse’s confession video. They skip to the part where Jesse fingers Todd as Drew Sharp’s murderer and Jack is not happy. He’s ready to get rid of Jesse. They just inherited a massive fortune. Why do they need to stay in the meth business? If they’re no longer cooking, Jesse’s life is inconsequential. Todd wants to stick with it, though, so he can stay close to Lydia. They still have a massive supply of methylamine, so they might as well finish it off and make a few more millions. “No matter how much you got, how do you turn your back on more?”
‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’: Series Premiere Review
Tina Fay, Amy Poehler, Kristin Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis. These are just some of the many talented comedians who have become household names through Saturday Night Live. They have all left the show and become successful film and television stars. The newest actor to have his own series is Andy Samberg. Samberg is already a talented recording artist thanks to his comedic rap group phenomenon The Lonely Island. Now, he is going back to television.
‘Dads’: Watch at Your Own Risk
Everyone likes to have a good laugh and they say laughing is the best medicine to have. So Tuesday nights will make your night a little bit brighter. Dads is a new show airing on FOX at 8 pm. It’s created by Seth MacFarlane. He is best known for his vulgar, racist remarks on the hit show Family Guy and his feature movie Ted. You must watch this show at your own discretion, but if you know Seth MacFarlane, you know what to expect.
Dads is about two video game designers, Eli and Warner, who have their dads come to live with them. It sounds simple, but it’s a lot more complicated than it seems. Warner, who is played by Ted star Giovanni Ribisi, often feels guilty because his dad lives with him and his wife. Warner’s dad Crawford, played by Martin Mull, who twentysomethings best know as the principal from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, already makes himself feel at home by making a mess in the kitchen and entering in only a towel.
‘Dancing with the Stars’: First Week Jitters
Mondays are my new favorite night when it comes to watching television. No it’s not Monday Night Football for me, but it’s something else that deals with a lot of technique and precision. Season 17 of the Dancing with the Stars started last night on ABC. It was larger than life. Opening the show, the professional dancers came out in style. Having a limo, red carpet, and paparazzi snapping away photos, the choreography was brilliant in how it introduced the new cast the new cast members. The judges and the hosts even got in on the action and danced in the opening act.
Brant Dougherty and Peta Murgatroyd
Pretty Little Liars star Brant Dougherty was the first celebrity to take the dance floor. His partner is Peta Murgatroyd. Their first dance was the cha cha. He said he decided to do the show because he knows how much his mom loves the show. They dance to “Blurred Lines” and a lot of booty shaking was going on. The judges all agreed that he is very easy on the eyes and the chemistry between them two will be very entertaining to watch. Bruno, one of the judges, noticed that Brant lost his timing. It’s the first week and you can only move up from here.
Carrie Ann gave Brant a 7. Len gave the first 8 of the season. Brant received a 7 from Bruno for a 22 out of 30. Now the first week jitters are all over. He must feel very happy and relieved to have gone first because not only are you the first to get it done and out of the way, but now you setting the bar high and raising the standards of the new competition.
(Mostly) Spoiler Free Review of ‘Sleepy Hollow’
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a short story written by Washington Irving. It has been around for over 200 years and it inspired many adaptations, including the 1999 Tim Burton film. There’s a pretty good chance that you’ve at least heard of it or know the story. Except the people in Sleepy Hollow, the new show that premiered last night on Fox, have no idea of the legendary tale that is coming to life. Now, I didn’t have high expectations for this show because it sounded far-fetched. Like the classic story, Ichabod Crane fights the Headless Horseman. Except, this show takes place in the 21st century and Crane and the Headless Horseman are from 1781. That must have been one hell of a pitch to get this show greenlit.
Now, the show was not as bad as I had expected. It answered a lot of questions in the first episode, such as why Ichabod is British despite fighting the Red Coats in the opening scene and how The Headless Horseman and him aren’t dead. Although, it didn’t answer how Ichabod woke up shirtless and then came across a shirt after he was arrested for, presumably, running in the middle of the street. The latter one could be explained in a future episode, though.
‘The Queen Latifah Show’: A New Queen in Daytime
Starting today on CBS owned and operated stations, a new queen of daytime is making her way to the television scene. Not only is she a rapper, actress, television star and former spokesperson for Cover girl, Queen Latifah has decided to come back to television. Fans might know her as Dee Dee from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but she can now put talk show host as well onto her resume.
For The Queen Latifah Show’s debut the eponymous host was determined to bring out the big guns. Who better than her Hairspray costar John Travolta? Coming onto the stage, the show opens to her wearing a Tony Manero white polyester suit, made famous by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. She added her spin to the Bee Gees song “Staying Alive” with “Feeling Alive.”
Wait! What's A Dial? 