Category Archives: Network Television
Sleepy Hollow Makes You Sleep With One Eye Open
After Sleepy Hollow’s strong pilot and terrible second episode, its third episode could either make or break the series. If it continued on with the second episode’s cheesy subplot, obvious Chekhov’s guns and just downright outrageousness; then the show would have to be buried. Luckily, the third episode titled “For the Triumph of Evil…” was a vast improvement over last week’s disaster. This has to do with removing the whole zombie John Cho story line and finally gathering some materials to make an Ichabod/Abbie ship.
This week, Ichabod and Abbie had to fight a demon called “The Sandman,” who like Freddy Krueger, attacks people in their sleep. Instead of actually fighting you, he makes each person relive their sins so they willingly kill themselves. Unfortunately, Abbie is on The Sandman’s hitlist for what she did to her sister, Jenny. Jenny had told the police that she had seen a demon in the woods. Abbie lied and said that she didn’t see anything, thus betraying her sister and forcing her into an institution.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Walk of Fame or Walk of Shame
Dancing with the Stars got glammed up for Hollywood Night. The celebrities were paying homage to some of the legendary icons. Most of the dance routines consisted of flapper dresses and 1920’s Gatsby style routines. There is a certain style that comes with 1920s Hollywood. The elegance, sophistication, and storytelling truly did show amongst the performances. Tom Bergeron made an announcement that Bill Nye has a badly torn tendon and is seeking medical attention. Bill decides that he is going to dance, the show must go on.
Leah Remini and Tony’s performance was the rumba and required a lot of eye contact. She had to portray a Bond girl as Adele’s “Skyfall” played in the background. Her footwork felt very sloppy and Leah’s hair was getting all over her face. It was very distracting because no one could tell what her facial expressions were. The judges praised Leah for getting out of her comfort zone. The chemistry between Leah and Tony continues to sizzle. Len mentions that the routine certainly wasn’t deadwood. She received 8s across the board for a score of 24 out of 30.
‘Glee’: Beatles Week
Glee’s season 5 got underway last night. The New Directions are back. For two weeks, the glee club will be paying homage to The Beatles. Their club advisor, Mr. Will Schuester, mentions that they need to bring their A+ games so that they when they win back to back championships, they can form their own New Directions dynasty. All my life, I grew up listening to the Beatles and I thank my dad for it. When watching Glee I had very high expectations as to how the show was going to go. I thought that the show had its moments, but it wasn’t something out there.
Rachel has a call back to do a reading of “Funny Girl” in front of the producer of the show, Peter Facinelli. She has the right look for the part, but Facinelli feels that she might be too young for the part. The first song Rachel sings is Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday.” The song was so somber and melancholy that you needed a box of tissues by your side. Rachel begins to sing in an empty auditorium and passes “Sardies,” a famous New York Restaurant that she and Finn went to on their work date in the season two finale. Then she walks to the well-known Bow Bridge and begins to reflect about her love for Finn. It’s very emotional to see because these were the locations she was with Finn during the season two season finale. She views a picture on her cell phone of the entire glee club.
‘The Crazy Ones’ Is A Half Hour Ad
Do you want to watch a half hour long McDonald’s ad? Of course, you do. Nothing’s better that 30 minutes of trying to convince a celebrity to sing “You Deserve a Break Today.”
Not really.
CBS needs a reality check. No one wants to watch a sitcom length ad, even if it stars Robin Williams. And yet, The Crazy Ones is just that: an ad disguised as a sitcom starring Robin Williams. Since the show does take place at an advertising agency, many viewers may be generous enough to give the show a pass on using real brands because it adds realism. The problem with that is the show isn’t realistic at all.
A Hop Across the Pond for the ‘Parks and Recreation’ Gang
After what felt like forever, season six of television’s happiest show (okay, maybe I’m biased) finally premiered tonight. We’ve known for awhile that the Pawnee gang was heading across the pond – the “Parks and Recreation” cast did a substantial amount of filming in London – but the exact reason for the trip wasn’t clear. We found out in the aptly titled “London,” but not before the Swanson-Lewis-warrior princess baby was addressed.
The episode picked up right where season five ended: the pregnancy test mystery was solved. Ron took it a step further and proposed to Diane right there in his office, and since they’re already in the municipal building, they might as well just head up to the fourth floor and get it done today. Leslie was so excited, she could barely speak. I feel like her inner monologue was very similar to mine: “OMGRONSWANSONISGONNABEADADDY. OMGRONSWANSONISGETTINGMARRIED.” Ron and the the future Mrs. Swanson just want to sign the papers and get out. Leslie can’t help herself and assembles a bouquet made of highlighters while throwing paper disguised as rice in the air in typical, glorious Leslie fashion.
Which Returning Show Are You Looking Forward To?
We’re trying something new at Wait! What’s a Dial? In the past, we’ve reviewed shows based on their trailers. However, now that we’re reviewing a lot of pilots, we want you to let us know what you think the upcoming season of returning shows will be like based on their trailers.
Homeland
Is “Back in the Game” in the Game?
I’m going to be honest. Back In the Game is not a show I’ll be watching week after week. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad show. I’m just not one of those baseball dads or soccer moms who turned the show on and said “this is my life.”
Back in the Game focuses on the relationship between Terry Gannon, her son, Danny, and her dad, The Cannon. The three of them live under one roof because Terry had to move back home after her divorce. Terry, played by Maggie Lawson, isn’t happy about the arrangement because The Cannon always calls Danny “Donny” and pushes baseball on him., which is a problem because not only is Danny not very athletic, he’s only interested in the game to get a particular girl.
Things are complicated when Danny’s tryout is so bad he doesn’t make the team. The coach, Dick, holds a meeting for parents of all the rejected kids. It becomes clear that Dick rejected all the outcasts. The foreign looking kid. The flamboyant stereotype of gay men. The fat kids. All don’t make Dick’s team.
No Trophy For ‘Trophy Wife’
If you’re looking for a good laugh, Trophy Wife won’t do it. The show is so dry and boring it certainly doesn’t deserve a award of any kind. It doesn’t get a trophy in my book.
Malin Ackerman plays Kate, a young, carefree, step mom to three step kids and has to deal with her husband’s two ex-wives. In a voice over, she mentions how she met her husband, Pete. She and her friend were having a good time at a Karoke Bar, dancing, drinking and she fell and broke Pete’s nose with the microphone. They rush to the hospital and to kill time they get to know each other by explaining their injuries. Pete’s first ex-wife, Diane, is a nurse, who happens to be on duty the night Pete breaks his nose. She’s the one who puts his nose back in place. With all the confusion and panic going on between the families, Pete asks Kate out on a first date. Kate didn’t expect to meet Pete’s entire family in one night.
‘The Goldbergs’ Retread ‘The Wonder Years’
The Goldbergs is a lot like The Wonder Years. Perhaps too much. Both have an adult narrator reflecting back on his childhood and take place during what is perceived as a more idealist time. For The Wonder Years it’s the 50s; for The Goldbergs that time is the 80s. Had the similarities ended there, The Goldbergs would be described as inspired by The Wonder Years. Instead, it’s a copy.
How similar is The Goldbergs to the beloved sitcom about Kevin Arnold? Grumpy father? Check. Perky mother? Check. Older sister? Check. Older brother? Yup. Winnie Cooper? No, but there’s a already a love interest for young Adam Goldberg. Supposedly, all these characters are based on real people, but that doesn’t help the show’s case.
Read the rest of the article at No White Noise.
‘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.
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