Category Archives: Cable
“Breaking Bad’s” ‘Rabid Dog’ Is All Over The Place
When has Jesse versus Walt not had a presence in Breaking Bad? Sure, it hasn’t always been at the magnitude it’s at now – it feels like it’s been forever since the worst thing we saw Walt do was call Jesse an idiot – but it’s always been there. It’s been growing in severity as each season has passed, from some verbal disagreements to several physical fights, all hopefully building up to one last confrontation. “Rabid Dog” set the scene for the final showdown; it just took awhile for it to get there. The last few episodes have flown by. I find myself looking at the clock and thinking, “No way an hour has already passed. It just started!” This episode, though, was a little slower, starting with Walt’s faulty gas pump lie.
Before I get to that, the opening scene needs a little love. I’m pretty sure I gnawed off all of my fingernails as Walt moved through his gasoline-soaked house searching for Jesse and discovered he was gone. Walt’s cover-up for the gasoline smell kind of undid all of that. It wasn’t poor writing or a bad transition. It’s that Walt’s elaborate lies have become so tiresome that they’re disrupting the course of the show. The bigger the lie, the more he exaggerates this sense of earnestness, and even Walt Jr. picked up on it. I have to admit, I gasped when he asked his dad to tell the truth for once. I thought for sure this was going to be the moment he started to figure everything out. My hopes were dashed when he started talking about Walt’s cancer, which he gladly played into. Skyler seemed to know almost immediately and confronted him about it once the family settled in at its temporary hotel home.
Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” at the VMAs
Everyone is still talking about Miley’s performance at the MTV Music Video Awards. It’s been two days and we’re all still processing it. Did she appropriate a segment of black culture? Did Miley’s mom really approve of the things her daughter was doing with that foam finger? Yes and yes.
Instead of beating the dead horse that is Miley’s performance, Wait! What’s a Dial? has decided to take a look back at the performance that began the VMA’s reputation for crossing the line. While it was raunchy and shocking in 1984, Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” performance looks quaint in comparison to some of the acts today.
‘Breaking Bad’: These Are My ‘Confessions’
With every new episode of Breaking Bad comes seriously heightened anxiety levels. We’ve all endured some pretty panicky moments over the course of the show, but no episode has ever come close to the tension “Confessions” created. Let’s start from the beginning.
The opening scene brought us to a diner with Todd, his uncle, and a cohort, all of whom were just returning from laying a smackdown on Declan and his subpar meth lab. Todd let Walt know what went down via a voicemail and then, after sitting down at the table, gloats about his involvement with the train heist in what felt like an attempt to convince the older, hardened criminals that he was ready to head up his own lab. We don’t hear about Todd again or the rest of the episode, so it’s unclear whether or not Walt actually heard the message.
In the next scene, Walt seems to be focusing on more important things than his cell phone. He’s trying to cover up his black eyes with concealer while also talking to Walt Jr. He’s not totally engrossed in the conversation until Jr. mentions that Marie invited him over for dinner. Walt perks up mid-makeup application and, just as his son is walking out the door, he pulls him back in. He has to think fast, so he does the one thing he knows will keep Walt Jr. in the house: he drops the “C” bomb. He was clearly not ready for the news and decides to stay home, just like Walt, the expert manipulator who chose to go after his own son, knew he would. When Hank gets home sans his nephew, Marie panics. She becomes more on-edge once she realizes Hank hasn’t revealed his secret to anyone at work. The scene cuts to the White residence, and Walt recites and records the beginning of what sounds a confession, which starts out almost identically to the one in the pilot.
‘Doctor Who’: Where To Start
So, you’ve finally given into your curiosity and want to start watching Doctor Who. Who can blame you? All your nerdtastic friends are doing it. Not to mention, Doctor Who is arguably one of the most successful TV shows of all time and is nearing it’s 50th Anniversary! That’s nothing to turn your nose up at. But with all that success, and all those episodes, it can be quite daunting to figure out where to start. After all, there have been 11 doctors, 7 seasons since the 2005 reboot, and 26 seasons of Classic Doctor Who, which we won’t even touch in this. Overwhelmed yet? Don’t be. Lucky for you, you have options.
Blink (Season 3 Episode 10)
Fan favorite, “Blink,” writt
en by the current show runner, Steven Moffat, is an excellent stand-alone episode if you want to sample the series before committing. It does not spoil any of the plot points for later viewing pleasure. The episode actually features hardly any of the Doctor at all, but manages to give an incredibly accurate depiction of who the Doctor is, how he is viewed by others including his companion, and the tone that the series eventually takes on. This fast pace and suspenseful episode features Carey Mulligan as Sally Sparrow in her whirlwind adventure to defeat the Weeping Angels.
If you end up liking this episode, I recommend then going back to Season 1, Episode 1, “Rose,” and watching all the way through. The earlier episodes are great in all their campy glory, but it is definitely nice to know that the show gets better as time goes on, which makes the bad lighting more forgiving.
Who Can ‘Beat Bobby Flay?’
Food Network loves having chefs who aren’t famous compete against Bobby Flay. The Iron Chef America and former Throwdown! with Bobby Flay star now has a new show, Beat Bobby Flay, which is a combination of the former two shows. While Beat Bobby Flay feels derivative, so does everything that Food Network airs nowadays. Only, this time it doesn’t get boring because they took the some ideas from both Iron Chef and Throwdown! and left the unnecessary exposition on the cutting room floor.
Of course, every show begins with a segment that introduces the chefs to viewers. Since Beat Bobby Flay is only a half hour, each chef of the two chefs competing in the first round gets about a minute to describe themselves, which means no long, dramatic life stories. Life stories are limited to “this is my cooking style, this is how and why I chose it, and this is how I developed it.” It’s a cooking show. No less would be kind of odd. Any more would border on tedious and risk veering into uninteresting.
Streaming is the New Cable: Why TV Networks Should Be Afraid of Netflix
Nine nominations is not a fluke, it’s something to brag about. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored House of Cards with nine nominations including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Kevin Spacey) and Outstanding Drama Series. Not too bad for a series that a majority of television viewers have never heard of.
How could this be? How could a show with such amazing talent, near perfect writing, and incredible pacing be overlooked? Surely this show is on a major network during a competing time slot; going against programs like Breaking Bad. The truth is, this show has no competition and doesn’t need a time slot. All one needs is a Netflix account and a device to stream it through. This allows them to have access to every episode of the first season of House of Cards and another fantastic show called Orange is the New Black.
The dangerous part of having access to full seasons of a program is a new addiction that comes with owning an account to Netflix or Hulu, most commonly known as “binge-watching”. Binge-watching occurs when you have total access to a program and you sit around all day and night until suddenly you realize hours have passed and you’ve watched 13 episodes of a show. Here in lies a problem that major networks like Fox and NBC are facing. There is no doubt the instant streaming has infiltrated every house hold and has changed they way people catch up on programming. There is no doubt that networks are using DVR and on-demand to their advantage, but what programs are left to record?
‘Double Divas’ Look For the Perfect Fit
As a woman, I have mixed feelings about Lifetime’s Double Divas. On one hand, I think it’s great that the women at LiviRae Lingerie, which is in Kennesaw, Georgia, help women of all sizes find the perfect bra and panties. On the other, it’s awkward watching women on television going through the intimate experience of trying on intimate apparel, especially when you realize that the show will appeal to the demographic that makes do with the Victoria Secret catalog because their older brother refuses to buy them Playboy.
Setting all of that aside, Double Divas is definitely worth a look. The show is in the same vein as TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress and I Found the Gown. Because the show deals with lingerie, it will not be for everyone, but it doesn’t have to be. LiviRae owners Molly Hopkins and Cynthia Richards understand that most women want bras that are functional and pretty. They get that pretty does not equal sexy and that not everyone is comfortable showing off their breasts.
‘Breaking Bad’: ‘Buried’ Deep With No Way Out
You know how some teenagers think they’re invincible? They’ll maybe pass by a car wreck on the side of the road and think, “Hey, that could never happen to me” and continue to race down the highway without caution. But then it does happen and it’s scary. It’s scary and it sets them straight.
That is Walter White. He finally had his epiphany in “Buried” on Sunday night. How many times have we heard him acknowledge that he isn’t perfect?
“I screwed up.”
Those words sounded almost foreign coming from his mouth. There was no lying. There was no blaming anybody else. It was an honest statement, a statement that wasn’t totally self-serving, and from Walt, those are rare. He told Skyler that he’d turn himself in and told her to take the money. If anything, he’ll leave his family with a little bit (or a lot, really) of security regardless of the fate he suffers. It was actually sort of heartwarming. It’s one of his final statements of the episode, though, that kind of set all of that aside. His plea for Skyler to not let all of his hard work go to waste was more like the Walt we’re used to, the Walt who just last week begged Jesse to believe him because Walt needed him to.
‘The Jeselnik Offensive’ Tries Too Hard To Be Offensive
The Jeselnik Offensive, hosted by Anthony Jeselnik, makes a point of being offensive. Actually, that’s the show’s entire schtick. It gets old fast. You shouldn’t be uncomfortable to laugh at a joke when you are alone, yet Jeselnik loves uncomfortable laughter. Jeselnik’s onstage persona is extremely punchable. It’s a mixture of Daniel Tosh, Craig Kilborn, and British comedian Jimmy Carr, who is one of the few people to pull off shock comedy well.
Most of his jokes are offensive because they are not funny. Asking your audience to turn off Amber Alert on their phones is in bad taste. Following it up with a joke about Usher’s son almost drowning in a pool is horrible. When he finally does get to a joke in poor taste that would be funny coming out of a comedian who would show some remorse, he’s already gone way too far.
Top Dramas Coming Out This Fall
Mid-August is upon us. That means it is officially time to start preparing for the most wonderful time of the year. No not the holidays or the onset of school, but rather the fall season of Television. To say I’m excited for this season is an understatement, especially after last year, which which fell flat. This year however the networks have 57 new shows slated as of right now.
Basically, I should probably drop all my classes for the fall to make time… Or actually get DVR, dump my boyfriend, and start getting groceries delivered to my house to make time for all the awesomeness in store for this season. Thankfully, I have a couple weeks to decide my course of action. That being said, here are the dramas I’m most excited for this fall, in no particular order.
1. The 100 (CW)
The 100 follows a group of rebellious young adults, roughly 100 years after Nuclear Armageddon destroys the planet. These individuals are deemed expendable because of their crimes and as such are chosen to be part of an experiment to see if the Earth is once again safe for the human race to live on.
Why I’m excited: For one this show is buying into the post apocalyptic fad that is taking over now that vampires are starting to fade away. While this show ties into the trend, it doesn’t take too much influence from the Hunger Games. I also really enjoy that their lead, Clarke, is a female and seemingly strong from the previews. Aesthetically, the show is stunning and really well put together visually, which is also somewhat hysterical considering some of the radiation impacted animals, which are horrifying. It’s unique that the characters are all criminals in one way or another, which will bring a lot of interesting characters into the mix with strong personalities and story lines.
Wait! What's A Dial? 