Entertainment Shakedown: AKA: I'm Back Baby!

First of all I want to apologize for the lack of updates recently, between Upfronts, family commitments, weddings and playoff hockey, let's go Devils, the month of May has been completely kicking my ass. But enough excuses, there is much to discuss. May brings all sorts of excitement to the entertainment world filled with renewals, cancellations and the announcements of the new shows to come.

I'm starting the news off with cancellations. Time to see how the "promising" shows of last year turned out.

ABC

The River - Ok, so it was pretty much a given that the little show brought to you by the guy who "brought us Paranormal Activity" was probably not getting a pick up. Which is sad because I really enjoyed it, and will even go so far as to say it may have been my favorite show of last season. While having a short season, only eight episodes, the show was a creepy, crazy ride that I am sad to see end. Although the show had a decent ending which could work as a season or series finale, I still wish that ABC had stuck with it. There was a rumor circulating a few months back that NETFLIX was interested in possibly picking the show up and producing new episodes, and since the first season was released on DVD, and available on Amazon, I am still holding out hope.

Pan Am - The show was cute, and had some really awesome guests, but it was mostly forgettable. I wouldn't have been upset if it was renewed but I can understand why it wasn't.

CBS

 
A Gifted Man - Let's be honest CBS rarely cancels shows, especially after only a season, but in order to make room for new shows something's got to go. It wasn't a terrible show, but it definitely wasn't helped by having a Friday night time slot.

CW

The Ringer - It's sad that a show with such an awesome cast, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Nestor Carbonell would only last a season, but even I have to admit the show got a little too soapy/predictable for my taste.

The Secret Circle - Honestly, this show was pretty much presented on a silver platter, based on a book series by the same author and with the same creative team as its ridiculously successful lead in The Vampire Diaries, it looked like this show was almost a shoe in for success. But alas, it lacked whatever magic, no pun intended, that has kept The Vampire Diaries audience captivated.

FOX

The Finder - It was pretty much a given when FOX decided to move their Bones spinoff to Friday nights that it wasn't going to get a second season. The show itself was fine, awesome guest stars, but as seems to be the current trend in tv land lately of you're not a "hit" right off the bat, you get the axe.

Alcatraz - It seems with JJ Abrams, his shows either do ridiculously well, or the crash and burn. Alcatraz fell into the later category. The concept itself was pretty awesome, and having Hurley in it definitely added to the appeal, however the show itself sort of fell flat. While I watched the shoe, and enjoyed it, I didn't LOVE it. If I missed an episode I wasn't feening to watch it as soon as possible.

Terra Nova - I sometimes feel like Jason O'Mara on a show is like having a show written/directed by Joss Whedon. Both are quite talented and yet most of their shows barely last a season. Let's face it though, with the mega huge budget required to keep this show going, if it wasn't an automatic television phenomenon, it was destined to be canceled.

NBC 

Awake - I will state again for the umpteenth time, I am still devastated to know that I live in a world where Awake was canceled and Whitney was renewed. The show itself was great, my only complaint was that it required A LOT of brain capacity for 10pm on a Thursday.

The Playboy Club - I know, I know it was canceled FOREVER ago, it only had three episodes air, but I still feel it is worth mentioning. Here we have another classic example of an NBC screw up. Instead of taking the controversy caused by the fact that the were airing a show called The Playboy Club to their advantage, they decided to stop airing the show after only three episodes despite having several more already filmed. Um, that just seems like a waste of money to me. Why not air the remaining episodes, in the hopes of picking up some new viewership? If it doesn't pick up then don't renew, but the money has already been spent to not air the remaining episodes and replace it with reruns of another failing show is just a waste. News flash NBC you are already in last place, the only place to go is up, take some risks. 

Other cancellations include:
ABC
Charlie's Angels
Missing
GCB
Work It

CBS
How to be a Gentleman
NYC 22
Rob
Unforgettable

 CW
H8R

FOX
Allen Gregory
I Hate My Teenage Daughter
Napoleon Dynamite

NBC
Are You There, Chelsea?
Best Friends Forever
Free agents
The Firm
Prime Suspect  
  
Next up...What's new for the fall/midseason line up.

TV Time: What's Currently on My Sched...

So it's been some time since I did I what I'm watching post, and since we've now entered mid-season programing I felt the need to update:

Monday

8pm
Bones (starting 4/2)

9pm
Hart of Dixie
Alcatraz
Touch (starting 3/19)

10pm
Castle


Tuesday

9pm
The River

Wednesday

9:30pm
Apartment 23 (starting 4/11)

10pm
Revenge
Psych (starting 2/29)
The Soup

Thursday

8pm
Community (starting 3/15)

9pm
The Finder

10pm
Archer
Awake (starting 3/1)

Scandal (starting 4/5)

ON DEMAND
Face Off
The Voice
Comic Book Men


Interestingly enough I watch most of my reality competitions On Demand. In fact I just started watching The Voice this weekend while I sick in bed, mostly because I realized that I knew three contestants on it already so I might as well. Words can not even begin to express how excited I am for Awake  to start, between that and the return of Community NBC and I may have temporarily come to a truce in our long standing fight, but we shall see.

I admit as much as I hate that Zoë Gulliksen was cut from the show, because she is insanely awesome and the eipitomy of awesome female geeky fandom, seriously this girl knows her shit, follow her on twitter at @bookishbelle if you don't already, trust me you'll be glad you did, and let's face it would be nice to have a female POV on that show, Comic Book Men, is starting to grow on me. What can I say I like comics and Kevin Smith, it was bound to happen. 


I'm sure by the spring this will be revised yet again, but for now, this is what I've got.

Harry Morgan Dies at Age 96: AKA: The Entertainment Industry Has a Profound Effect

Despite the fact that the final episode "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", aired over a year before I was born, I grew up on M*A*S*H. It was and may still be both my mother and father's favorite tv show. They managed to collect all 11 seasons on DVD, slowly gathering them as Christmas and birthday gifts for each other. One of my favorite memories was when the both bought the same season for each other for Christmas one year. Not to mention that at some point they owned the M*A*S*H trivia game...yup that existed.

Anyway like I said, I grew up on the show, FX used to marathon episodes daily and I would come home from school and watch it with my mom. It was just the normal thing to do, it wasn't until I got to college that I realized it was a bit odd for someone my age to be able to describe entire episodes of a show that had been off the air for over a decade.

This morning I read on TVLine about the death of actor Harry Morgan. There was no big fanfare, in fact I almost missed the article entirely. Just a simple statement really that the man had passes away at the age of 96. You can read the article for yourself here.

It made me sad. I realize how utterly simplistic that sounds, but it's the truth. I talk to my mother often enough, as we do live on very different schedules, but reading the news made me immediately take out my phone to text her, because I knew she'd be sad too.

Despite working in the industry for years, I still am amazed at the way this silly little business has such a profound impact on our every day lives. The way it can cause such deep emotions and connections that you never really stop to think about or even notice all that much. A reminder that on some level my silly little job can, and often does have an impact.

R.I.P. Colonel Potter.

Community Benched?: AKA: Why I Have No Reason to watch NBC Now

I'm finally weighing in. This week NBC announced their new mid season line up...and something very important was missing...NBC had decided to "bench" Community. This lead to a rousing chorus of "WTF?" around the fandom.

I feel, Jeffrey Kirkpatrick, of TV Fanatic perhaps put it best when he stated, "Evidently, you are completely unaware of the power of the Communies. They're as crazy as Dan Harmon. They'll cut you." You can read his full article here.

Ok so that may be pretty strong but, still the out pouring of black beards, a reference to the dark timeline in episode, Remedial Chaos Theory, the petitions and just general outcry on the Internet is pretty amazing.

I admit that I got into Community later than most, but I still love this show, in fact with the exception of Grimm, which due to it's awful tome slot of 9pm on Fridays, I record and usually forget to watch for days, Community is the ONLY reason I tune into NBC at all. I remember the days of Must See Tv and making sure that I was home to watch Friends and Will and Grace, but lets face it it's been a LONG time since the glory days of the peacock. Even the Today Show got to annoying for my taste, with the addition of Meredith Vera and I switched over to the Early Show, for my morning needs.

It is a VERY rare occasion these days for any tv in my house to be tuned in to NBC, to be fair I tried returning to the channel this fall but none of their shows excited me all that much. I started off watching Playboy Club, and I, though I think I may be in the minority here, actually liked it. But with that gone, and Grimm stuck on Fridays, and therefore relegated to my DVR, I do have a life folks, Community was the one show NBC had to offer that I couldn't wait to see each week.

The new shows for the mid season unvailings aren't looking so great either. While SMASH sounds like it should be something right up my alley, I'm just not really feeling it, though I had every intention of watching, only because it employs so many people I know and love. However, it is slated for 10pm on Monday nights, which pits it up against CBS's Hawaii 5-0 and ABC's Castle, both well established shows, which, sorry SMASH take my allegiance over you. Also, and I realize that SMASH is NOT Glee, but one would think in order to get ratings up, you might want to at least try to tap into that Glee watching demographic, 10pm is  a little late for that.

I will admit to being IN LOVE with NBC's new series Awake, unfortunately they have stopped production due to some "pressing creative issues". Thus putting them behind and absent for the mid season schedule thus far.

NBC should take the time to realize that although they are not getting the ratings they desire, they are putting out shows that have rabid loyal fan bases, best not to anger the few loyal viewers you have. Until then, if all they have to offer is Whitney  and Are You There, Chelsea?  I think I'll pass.

I'm Still Here...and I've got Theories

I haven't completely dropped off the face of the earth, however between working on NaNoWriMo and the fact that I was lacking power for almost a FULL WEEK, I'm a little behind on on my television. I am working on catching up but it's a slow process.

But I have a TON of theories on some of my favorite shows...so be prepared for the flood gates to open and a wealth of theories and observations to come bursting through....

Week Four: AKA: Making Decisions

So we're into week four of the fall tv season, and decisions are being made. I've gone through several weeks of new shows and am starting to make my decisions onto which shows I am going to make the commitment to. So far here are my updated verdicts:

Sundays

Homeland (10pm Showtime)
Ok, so I've only gotten my hands on the pilot, but as I've said before I ADORE Mandy Patinkin and as I think the concept an amazing new take on a familiar fear. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more.

Pan Am (10pm ABC)
I wasn't sure I was going to continue watching this show after the pilot, but three episodes later and I find myself looking forward to each new episode. I adore Captain Dean (AKA: Mike Vogal, who will always be Dean from Grounded For Life to me), and Kate Jennings Grant has a recurring as role as Judith Cameron, Laura and Kate's mother. She just flat out rocks, and she is way prettier then they make her up to be.

Mondays

Terra Nova (8pm Fox)
I am well aware I need to be watching this show, and fully admit to it being my fault that I have yet to catch up. However due to my due to my commute anything airing before 10pm is a gamble on whether or not I make it home to watch.

Hart of Dixie (9pm CW)
It's a cute show, and three weeks in and I am still entertained. Is it a thought provoking master piece? Hardly, but it's sweet and a good way to the hour before Castle.

Playboy Club (10pm NBC)
Well the decision was made FOR me here. It wasn't the best show I had ever seen, but it was interesting enough. I was really looking forward to seeing where the storyline between Sean and Bunny Alice was headed. Homosexuality in the 1960's is not something we, the viewers, have been readily exposed to, I was really interested to see how they handled it. Unfortunately we may never know.

Tuesdays

Ringer (9pm CW)
This is one of the saddest hings I've typed. I was psyched for the premiere and raced home for the second episode, I was beyond excited to have Buffy Summers and Richard Alpert once again gracing my screen. Yet now after three episodes, I've realized I don't really care about the story. It's not a bad show, it just seems to be moving fairly slowly, and I don't really care about the characters themselves.I'm going to stick with it or awhile but sad to say when the mid season replacements start up, I'll probably end up watching something else instead.

Wednesday

Revenge (10pm ABC)
This show was honestly a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sure how they were going to sustain this as a tv show, as opposed to a movie, but, at least for now, it seems to be working quite nicely. More importantly, I actually "care" about the characters. I want to befriend Nolan, console Jack about his father, and while I'm not 100% sure how I feel about Victoria, I know that I want to know more about her.

American Horror Story (10pm FX)
We're only one episode in and honestly I am still in WTF mode. I'm not giving up on it just yet, but honestly the jury is still out on whether or not it's being added to my regular schedule. 

Thursday

Person of Interest (9pm CBS)
I still need to catch up but I'm gonna stick with it, because let's face it Ben Linus always has a plan.

Person of Interest "Pilot": AKA: Some People were just Born to Play Creepy

So when CBS announced they were doing a new show created by JJ Abrams and Jonathon Nolan, which would star Michael Emerson, I couldn't be happier. Seriously the amount of genius in that sentence is just crazy.

Person of Interest debut last Thursday on CBS at 9pm. Michael Emerson, better known as Ben Linus of Lost, plays a mysterious billionaire who hires Jim Caviezel, better known as Jesus of The Passion of the Christ, a down on his luck ex-CIA man, whom everyone, government included, believes is dead to help him on a mysterious mission. It seems that mysterious billionaire has created a machine that can predict violent crimes. However all he has to go on is a social security number. He doesn't know if the person who's SS# he has is the victim or the perpetrator, all he knows is that they are involved.

Perhaps the most unnerving thing about this premiere/show is the use technology as surveillance. The grainy black and white surveillance footage, from cameras all over the city, add in the pairing of her cell phone which allows Reese, aka Jesus, to listen in on her conversations, and it's enough  to make anyone paranoid. Big Brother is definitely watching, and the scene of Resse discovering about September 11th while in Mexico with his girlfriend, is a subtle reminder of why.

We live in a post September 11th world, where so many freedoms have given away to constant surveillance in the name of safety. As Emerson's, Finch explains, "The public wanted to be protected, they just didn't want to know how they were being protected." It has become something we are so used to that most of us don't even notice/realize it anymore.

All and all Person of Interest is a very interesting premise, and with JJ Abrams and Johnathan Nolan at the helm, I'm very excited to see where they go with it.