Michael Stephenson's Blog, page 12
November 6, 2015
The Player Is Still Playing... For Now #ThePlayer #NBC
The Player Is Still Playing... For Now #ThePlayer #NBC
All pictures courtesy of NBC
The latest episode of the as yet not officially canceled The Player (#ThePlayer) started with a boom. So how is the show whose episode order was cut down to nine doing? It's moving along.
Still in search of his wife, this week Kane and the big guy took a trip to Chicago where a bank bombing occurred. Not just a normal bombing, Kane detects that the explosion was lateral enough to take out only the floor with the bank lawyers on it and not the entire building. While all other governmental and reporting organizations think it is a terrorist attack, Kane and Cassandra don't find enough clues that add up to say as much. Instead, they follow a different theory.
The bomb had been made with syntex meaning the bomber knew how to make professional explosives, however, it also meant that the bomber had to have an illegal supplier as syntex is not sold at your local Target. They track down the buyer which produces a list of how much of the dangerous chemical was bought.
The illegal dealer also happens to have cameras outside of his legit place of business which Cassandra hacks into and searches for the license plates of the potential buyer. The one clue the seller gave them was that the man had an authentic construction worker city badge given for government demolition jobs like bridges and whatnot. A little cross-referencing and they find the name and bio of the man who built the bomb. Alex makes a trip to the man's house to find a foreclosure sign up outside. As it turns out, the bank that currently owns his house was the same bank that months earlier told him they'd be able to modify his mortgage so he and his family could keep the house after he lost his job--budget cuts. But the lawyers screwed him out of the money by filing the foreclosure paperwork months earlier and milking the family for their last few cents before taking the home. They were going to flip it for a profit.
Not a terrorist but a vigilante, he has a list of people who he thinks should suffer because of what they did to his family. Finding his wife and children living in a cheap motel on the outskirts of Chicago, Alex learns that they tried telling their story to an award-winning blogger. A black woman fully down with this Latino family's struggle, she changes colors when the bank asks her to squash her story in exchange for a lump-sum payment to clear her student loan debt. That just made her the second target on the bomber's list.
Strapping a vest to her chest in an elevator, he shows his face to the elevator cam and sets the bomb to blow a few seconds after he exits into the lobby. So shocked most of the waiting lift passengers were to see the bomb vest that no one dared stop him as he coolly strolled into the crowd and out of the building undetected. Alex arrives just in time and removes the non-booby-trapped vest seconds before it explodes. Pushing aside the fact that it was stated that there was enough syntex to take out the entire lobby of the building, he manages to get up and carry the journalist out to safety. A hero, he has to escape from bloodthirsty reporters as The Player can't be captured or otherwise he no longer is the player. A brief aside revealed that Wesley Snipes used to be a player; in fact, he was the highest rated most favored player in game history. Apparently all pit bosses were at one point players themselves--something for Alex to look forward to and an interesting twist if this franchise ever takes off or is rebooted or something magically allows it to gain more fans.
Back to his pursuit of the bomber, the last name on the list is the CEO of the bank. While the man doesn't set any of the policies and wasn't directly responsible for the predatory and dastardly business practices, just him being a figurehead was more than enough to be blown up in his own house. Alex shows up just in time there too, and talks the bomber out of blowing the man up as the CEO undoes the ropes and tape and escapes out to call the police. The game won without another casualty after the lawyers, Alex gets the guy to go to the police with him, but not without Wesley first blowing up the CEO's house as retribution.
The side story for the night dealt with Snipes' character's past as we learned he grew up in the streets of Chicago but made a name for himself. After visiting an old friend who is also involved with the game thing, his trust for Cassandra is called into question as he is currently keeping secrets from her. When he goes to meet with the man again, he finds him with a slit throat inside of a burial house. Who this man was, who killed him, and who really controls the game are all called into question.
The pursuit for Kane's non-dead dead wife continued too as her mother came into town to settle up what to do with her house. She tells Kane that her daughter was a big liar who kept secrets and he doesn't know what to think of that but grabs a set of keys with her name on them. Meanwhile, Cassandra thought she discovered where Ginnie was but when she arrived at what looked like a safe house, all she found were appliances still left to run as someone had recently left.
At this point, I think the bigger mystery lies within whether this will continue to stay on the air or has any chance of being picked up for another season. With the episode order so short, and the word canceled all but written all over it, I am struggling to keep my interest in a show I think will soon be gone forever. Why they haven't tried moving this show to Tuesday night where it clearly belongs, I will never know, but since they insist on keeping it right where it is, I am already saying my adieus and goodbyes.
What do you think? Have you given up on the show too? Were you ever a fan? Did the show ever sound like a good concept to you? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, "it's like they say, don't hate the player, hate the game."
P.S. In this case I think you could hate the NBC scheduling team to put this show on an already packed night. Could the show use some improvements? A lot of them, yes, but not being able to see that it is clearly in the wrong time slot on the wrong day is what is killing this show. Oh well. I'll come up with a better sign-off next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of NBCThe latest episode of the as yet not officially canceled The Player (#ThePlayer) started with a boom. So how is the show whose episode order was cut down to nine doing? It's moving along.
Still in search of his wife, this week Kane and the big guy took a trip to Chicago where a bank bombing occurred. Not just a normal bombing, Kane detects that the explosion was lateral enough to take out only the floor with the bank lawyers on it and not the entire building. While all other governmental and reporting organizations think it is a terrorist attack, Kane and Cassandra don't find enough clues that add up to say as much. Instead, they follow a different theory.
The bomb had been made with syntex meaning the bomber knew how to make professional explosives, however, it also meant that the bomber had to have an illegal supplier as syntex is not sold at your local Target. They track down the buyer which produces a list of how much of the dangerous chemical was bought.
The illegal dealer also happens to have cameras outside of his legit place of business which Cassandra hacks into and searches for the license plates of the potential buyer. The one clue the seller gave them was that the man had an authentic construction worker city badge given for government demolition jobs like bridges and whatnot. A little cross-referencing and they find the name and bio of the man who built the bomb. Alex makes a trip to the man's house to find a foreclosure sign up outside. As it turns out, the bank that currently owns his house was the same bank that months earlier told him they'd be able to modify his mortgage so he and his family could keep the house after he lost his job--budget cuts. But the lawyers screwed him out of the money by filing the foreclosure paperwork months earlier and milking the family for their last few cents before taking the home. They were going to flip it for a profit.
Not a terrorist but a vigilante, he has a list of people who he thinks should suffer because of what they did to his family. Finding his wife and children living in a cheap motel on the outskirts of Chicago, Alex learns that they tried telling their story to an award-winning blogger. A black woman fully down with this Latino family's struggle, she changes colors when the bank asks her to squash her story in exchange for a lump-sum payment to clear her student loan debt. That just made her the second target on the bomber's list.
Strapping a vest to her chest in an elevator, he shows his face to the elevator cam and sets the bomb to blow a few seconds after he exits into the lobby. So shocked most of the waiting lift passengers were to see the bomb vest that no one dared stop him as he coolly strolled into the crowd and out of the building undetected. Alex arrives just in time and removes the non-booby-trapped vest seconds before it explodes. Pushing aside the fact that it was stated that there was enough syntex to take out the entire lobby of the building, he manages to get up and carry the journalist out to safety. A hero, he has to escape from bloodthirsty reporters as The Player can't be captured or otherwise he no longer is the player. A brief aside revealed that Wesley Snipes used to be a player; in fact, he was the highest rated most favored player in game history. Apparently all pit bosses were at one point players themselves--something for Alex to look forward to and an interesting twist if this franchise ever takes off or is rebooted or something magically allows it to gain more fans.
Back to his pursuit of the bomber, the last name on the list is the CEO of the bank. While the man doesn't set any of the policies and wasn't directly responsible for the predatory and dastardly business practices, just him being a figurehead was more than enough to be blown up in his own house. Alex shows up just in time there too, and talks the bomber out of blowing the man up as the CEO undoes the ropes and tape and escapes out to call the police. The game won without another casualty after the lawyers, Alex gets the guy to go to the police with him, but not without Wesley first blowing up the CEO's house as retribution.
The side story for the night dealt with Snipes' character's past as we learned he grew up in the streets of Chicago but made a name for himself. After visiting an old friend who is also involved with the game thing, his trust for Cassandra is called into question as he is currently keeping secrets from her. When he goes to meet with the man again, he finds him with a slit throat inside of a burial house. Who this man was, who killed him, and who really controls the game are all called into question.
The pursuit for Kane's non-dead dead wife continued too as her mother came into town to settle up what to do with her house. She tells Kane that her daughter was a big liar who kept secrets and he doesn't know what to think of that but grabs a set of keys with her name on them. Meanwhile, Cassandra thought she discovered where Ginnie was but when she arrived at what looked like a safe house, all she found were appliances still left to run as someone had recently left.
At this point, I think the bigger mystery lies within whether this will continue to stay on the air or has any chance of being picked up for another season. With the episode order so short, and the word canceled all but written all over it, I am struggling to keep my interest in a show I think will soon be gone forever. Why they haven't tried moving this show to Tuesday night where it clearly belongs, I will never know, but since they insist on keeping it right where it is, I am already saying my adieus and goodbyes.
What do you think? Have you given up on the show too? Were you ever a fan? Did the show ever sound like a good concept to you? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, "it's like they say, don't hate the player, hate the game."
P.S. In this case I think you could hate the NBC scheduling team to put this show on an already packed night. Could the show use some improvements? A lot of them, yes, but not being able to see that it is clearly in the wrong time slot on the wrong day is what is killing this show. Oh well. I'll come up with a better sign-off next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
November 5, 2015
Constantine Is Resurrected And Sarah Needs To Be Put To Rest #Arrow #Superheroes #CW
Constantine Is Resurrected And Sarah Needs To Be Put To Rest #Arrow #Superheroes #CW
All pictures courtesy of the CW
Why don't I watch more of this show? Gahhh! I don't normally watch Arrow but when I do, I make sure it's a Flash or other DC property crossover.
Breaking from some of my usual watching habits, this week I decided to tune into the CW's Arrow (#Arrow) for a special episode in which another DC character would be appearing. The character in question was Constantine from the short-lived NBC show of the same name from last season. After a brief 13 episode run on Fridays at the doomed time of 8pm (Undateable and Truth Be Told are there now), NBC put the Warner Bros. owned show out of its misery and canceled it due to its heinously low ratings. It's very rare but in some cases when the studio owns the show as opposed to the show being a co-owned production by the studio and the network, this NBC character was able to jump from station to station and appear in the Arrow/Flash universe (side note: no, he didn't appear on the Flash yet, but who knows what the future holds). Since the show had the same producers as CW's DC world (and Supergirl on CBS), the same actor reprised the role.
Now that we have a little background, the episode was rather crazy. Again, I don't normally watch the show, but I do keep up with the news on this show because it occasionally overlaps with the Flash. Therefore, the fact that they had found and used the Lazarus Pit last season to bring back Oliver after him being killed (read: nearest to death possible) by Ras Al Ghul wasn't new to me. What was new was how many dead people were apparently alive again. This includes Oliver, his sister and a woman named Sarah. Sarah is the sister of Black Canary, another superhero whose father is a police officer. Oliver and his sister are fine but Sarah's got a little problem.
After her father nearly killed, er, re-killed her, Sarah escaped to roam the streets killing anyone who got into her way. A zombie, the crew figures out she is attacking a certain type of person for a certain reason. Though she's killed plenty of men, many of her victims have the exact look as her killer, Oliver's sister. Aw snap! I know. Turns out, she has a craving not for human brains but for peace. Since she was completely dead when thrown into the Lazarus Pit the crew believes that her body was resurrected but not her soul. In order to have peace, she must kill the person who killed her.
Knowing this little tidbit, capturing her is easy. They put Oli's sister out as bait, Sarah takes the bait because she doesn't really have a brain and she gets an arrow in the back, knocking her unconscious. Should they kill her again? No, there's another way.
Back and forth flashes throughout the show of Mr. Queen's past in some kind of military outfit, he is taken to a tent on charges of being a spy. In the tent we meet the spy, our snarky exorcist with an attitude Constantine. Getting his butt beat as usual, he manages to break free from the handcuffs, and kidnaps Oliver away to a place where some dark world artifact is kept locked away by magic. They're first meeting, they happen to jive with each other when Oli saves Constantine from a deadly booby trap. Favors owed, Arrow calls in the blond demon-slayer to cure Sarah from her... sickness.
In need of an exorcism or rather a restitution of her soul, Constantine shows up to Oli's secret hideout with the team and puts her into a summoning circle. A little voodoo and trickery and he manages to take Arrow and Black Canary to the other side of Sarah's mind. Instead of in heaven or even in purgatory, she is being kept in a room resembling what I can only surmise is the Lazarus Pit. Whatever thing jumped into her body before she could during her resurrection is keeping her real soul hostage in the replica pit. Yes, that's confusing. I was very confused by it too, but Constantine was a show I enjoyed and spent nearly all of my time being confused by, so... yeah.
Instead of Oliver or Black Canary pulling out the big heroics, Constantine is the one to defeat the demon/guard thing as the other two grab the girl from the pit goo. Freed, her spirit reunites with her body as her sanity is restored. I don't know how long she's been dead or anything of that nature but I assume this will have long-lasting effects on the show going forward if she was a key character. Even if she wasn't, dead people coming back to life is nothing to shake a stick at.
The other side stories I couldn't keep up with as much not being a longtime fan of the show. Oliver's sister hired him a new campaign manager for his run at the Mayor's office, and the man told him to distance himself from Laurel/Black Canary. Diggle and Black Canary's dad (the cop) dug up some info on Diggle's brother who was killed in a foreign country. His death had something to do with a global criminal organization. Some info at the end of the episode hinted that the man wasn't as upstanding and innocent as his brother believed. And there was also a scene in which Constantine transferred a scar or arm writing of some kind from his skin onto Oliver's stomach through magic. Again, not something I'd be familiar with but I'm sure that Easter egg has come up once or twice in the series before and now the fans have concrete evidence on its origin.
What did you think about last night's episode? Do you think Sarah's restitution will have a big impact on the gang going forward? Were you excited to see another DC character crossover? Did you ever watch Constantine on NBC? How do you think Diggle's brother's death will factor into the rest of the season? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, hey, mate, you might wanna move back. I'm doin' a bit of magic here.
P.S. With CW's network already packed to the brim with supernatural, witchery, and superhero stuff, I can understand why they wouldn't have space for Constantine. Still, it might have been nice to see it come on as a mid-season replacement of something. Maybe this crossover will breathe new hope for the show yet.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of the CW
Why don't I watch more of this show? Gahhh! I don't normally watch Arrow but when I do, I make sure it's a Flash or other DC property crossover.
Breaking from some of my usual watching habits, this week I decided to tune into the CW's Arrow (#Arrow) for a special episode in which another DC character would be appearing. The character in question was Constantine from the short-lived NBC show of the same name from last season. After a brief 13 episode run on Fridays at the doomed time of 8pm (Undateable and Truth Be Told are there now), NBC put the Warner Bros. owned show out of its misery and canceled it due to its heinously low ratings. It's very rare but in some cases when the studio owns the show as opposed to the show being a co-owned production by the studio and the network, this NBC character was able to jump from station to station and appear in the Arrow/Flash universe (side note: no, he didn't appear on the Flash yet, but who knows what the future holds). Since the show had the same producers as CW's DC world (and Supergirl on CBS), the same actor reprised the role.
Now that we have a little background, the episode was rather crazy. Again, I don't normally watch the show, but I do keep up with the news on this show because it occasionally overlaps with the Flash. Therefore, the fact that they had found and used the Lazarus Pit last season to bring back Oliver after him being killed (read: nearest to death possible) by Ras Al Ghul wasn't new to me. What was new was how many dead people were apparently alive again. This includes Oliver, his sister and a woman named Sarah. Sarah is the sister of Black Canary, another superhero whose father is a police officer. Oliver and his sister are fine but Sarah's got a little problem.
After her father nearly killed, er, re-killed her, Sarah escaped to roam the streets killing anyone who got into her way. A zombie, the crew figures out she is attacking a certain type of person for a certain reason. Though she's killed plenty of men, many of her victims have the exact look as her killer, Oliver's sister. Aw snap! I know. Turns out, she has a craving not for human brains but for peace. Since she was completely dead when thrown into the Lazarus Pit the crew believes that her body was resurrected but not her soul. In order to have peace, she must kill the person who killed her.
Knowing this little tidbit, capturing her is easy. They put Oli's sister out as bait, Sarah takes the bait because she doesn't really have a brain and she gets an arrow in the back, knocking her unconscious. Should they kill her again? No, there's another way.
Back and forth flashes throughout the show of Mr. Queen's past in some kind of military outfit, he is taken to a tent on charges of being a spy. In the tent we meet the spy, our snarky exorcist with an attitude Constantine. Getting his butt beat as usual, he manages to break free from the handcuffs, and kidnaps Oliver away to a place where some dark world artifact is kept locked away by magic. They're first meeting, they happen to jive with each other when Oli saves Constantine from a deadly booby trap. Favors owed, Arrow calls in the blond demon-slayer to cure Sarah from her... sickness.
In need of an exorcism or rather a restitution of her soul, Constantine shows up to Oli's secret hideout with the team and puts her into a summoning circle. A little voodoo and trickery and he manages to take Arrow and Black Canary to the other side of Sarah's mind. Instead of in heaven or even in purgatory, she is being kept in a room resembling what I can only surmise is the Lazarus Pit. Whatever thing jumped into her body before she could during her resurrection is keeping her real soul hostage in the replica pit. Yes, that's confusing. I was very confused by it too, but Constantine was a show I enjoyed and spent nearly all of my time being confused by, so... yeah.
Instead of Oliver or Black Canary pulling out the big heroics, Constantine is the one to defeat the demon/guard thing as the other two grab the girl from the pit goo. Freed, her spirit reunites with her body as her sanity is restored. I don't know how long she's been dead or anything of that nature but I assume this will have long-lasting effects on the show going forward if she was a key character. Even if she wasn't, dead people coming back to life is nothing to shake a stick at.
The other side stories I couldn't keep up with as much not being a longtime fan of the show. Oliver's sister hired him a new campaign manager for his run at the Mayor's office, and the man told him to distance himself from Laurel/Black Canary. Diggle and Black Canary's dad (the cop) dug up some info on Diggle's brother who was killed in a foreign country. His death had something to do with a global criminal organization. Some info at the end of the episode hinted that the man wasn't as upstanding and innocent as his brother believed. And there was also a scene in which Constantine transferred a scar or arm writing of some kind from his skin onto Oliver's stomach through magic. Again, not something I'd be familiar with but I'm sure that Easter egg has come up once or twice in the series before and now the fans have concrete evidence on its origin.
What did you think about last night's episode? Do you think Sarah's restitution will have a big impact on the gang going forward? Were you excited to see another DC character crossover? Did you ever watch Constantine on NBC? How do you think Diggle's brother's death will factor into the rest of the season? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, hey, mate, you might wanna move back. I'm doin' a bit of magic here.
P.S. With CW's network already packed to the brim with supernatural, witchery, and superhero stuff, I can understand why they wouldn't have space for Constantine. Still, it might have been nice to see it come on as a mid-season replacement of something. Maybe this crossover will breathe new hope for the show yet.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
November 4, 2015
People Keep Askin' Me If I'm Back. Yeah, I'm Pretty Sure I'm Back #AgentsofSHIELD #Marvel #ABC
People Keep Askin' Me If I'm Back. Yeah, I'm Pretty Sure I'm Back #AgentsofSHIELD #Marvel #ABC
All pictures courtesy of ABC
Ladies! Ladies, don't fight. Oh, it was just a test? Well, OK then. Last night's Agents of SHIELD (#AgentsofSHIELD) started with a bang and the hits kept comin'.
The episode picked up where the episode from two weeks ago left off, with Mei's ex-husband played by Blair Underwood nearly dead from an attack ordered by Grant Ward. Not taking into account the phenomenal episode from last week which concentrated solely on the stranded Simmons' on the alien planet, Mei came back to SHIELD headquarters where her ex was being operated on after being left for dead in a corner store. He turned out fine, but Mei wasn't having any of it. Mess with her man and she has to hunt you down and kill you.
After a preliminary test of Mockingbird to see if she was field ready, the two embarked on a mission to the Cayman Islands, following the New Hydra money trail.
Meanwhile, Hunter felt so down on his luck about not only missing killing Ward but causing Mei's ex to nearly be killed that he joined a new mission to track one of the ATCU guys to see if he was the Sonic the Hedgehog Inhuman. This, only after Coulson benched him on the Ward pursuit. He, Daisy and Mac go on a mission where they procure the blood of the head ATCU guy. During that they also get a location from his phone.
And where did that location lead to but to the ATCU storage facility. For weeks Coulson has been asking to see HQ of this new organization and find out what they were doing with the Inhumans they find. As luck would have it, Daisy had a drone equipped with stealth tech so they didn't have to sneak inside. And what and who did they see?
As it turns out, they saw Coulson and the director. After distracting the man with a staged break-in at her place where she even offered him his favorite fast food burger, she took him to HQ at the same time that Daisy and the gang arrived outside. With no audio to listen to the conversation, Daisy overreacted like she always does and got anxious about his presence in what looked to her like an evil lab from a horror movie or that strange cargo warehouse from Indiana Jones.
She might have been proud to know that Coulson reacted in a similar but more subdued manner as the director told him each Inhuman they found was kept alive in a sedation plasma until they could be cured. Treating the Inhuman outbreak like a disease they are working toward a cure and consider the goo bath an induced coma until these people could be properly taken care of. A most interesting fact came when she revealed a budding crush on Coulson. Are the feelings reciprocated? Maybe. Coulson's getting a love interest since the woman from the first season still believes he's dead. Yay!
Back to the juicier story (don't worry, it ties back into the whole Daisy and ATCU thing), Mei and Mockingbird pursued their lead to the Caymans where they discovered something linking the Von Strucker kid back to Ward and to a secondary location where they could find him. For fans of the Marvel movies, the kid is the son of Baron Von Strucker from Avengers: Age Of Ultron. After being found out as posers in the bank vault safety deposit box room, Mockingbird didn't want to dive headfirst into combat, distracting with a long cover story until finally one of the guards prompted her and Mei to kick some serious butt.
After a quick pep talk from Mei about how she can't hesitate going forward and how she can do this, Mockingbird admitted that she had been keeping herself locked away in the lab for fear of getting into another situation concerning Ward. She was afraid to go back out into the field which is why she wholeheartedly obeyed Coulson's orders. Taking a bullet to the head will do that to you.
They manage to find the kid just as Ward's guys have him hanging from a pummeling strap. A fight ensues, and while Mei takes down one guy and talks to the kid, Mockingbird fights the other three men and the biggest one, defeating him through electrocution in a nice pool. Pools. I'll miss summer.
This...
The biggest reveal happened at the very end when the kid told the story of what really happened when he went to kill Blair Underwood. With his dying breath, he tells Mei that Blair turned into something, a great big blue, Sonic the Hedgehog looking monster. The very same monster Daisy and the others had been looking for. The very same monster that had been killing other Inhumans with its own Inhuman powers. And who turned out to be this Inhuman killing machine but the trusted psych guy whose job it was to help Inhumans mentally adjust to the world and determine if they were ready for entry into the special team Daisy was trying to put together. The funny thing is that after seeing Blair Underwood in so many subpar indie films, I thought he was done playing the villain. At least here he gets to play a little bit of both and we know he's a good guy deep down. I hope he still gets to stay on the show longer as I like him on my TV and his stints on The Event and Ironside started OK, but turned out horrid.
...turns into this.
What do you think? Did you watch last night's episode of Agents of SHIELD? Do you think it's good for Coulson to have a love interest? And what about this big twist? Did you see the doctor actually being the big new baddie on the block? I'm usually three steps ahead on these shows and even I didn't see that one. Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for a scare check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, what side are you on: Team Captain America or Team Iron Man?
P.S. Was anyone else expecting to have heard or seen a little teaser something by how about Captain America: Civil War? By this time last year they already had a teaser trailer out for Age of Ultron and the movie is only seven months away. It almost seems like they're letting DC steal their thunder with so much DC stuff streaming out. Hm? I'll think of a better sign-off next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of ABC
Ladies! Ladies, don't fight. Oh, it was just a test? Well, OK then. Last night's Agents of SHIELD (#AgentsofSHIELD) started with a bang and the hits kept comin'.
The episode picked up where the episode from two weeks ago left off, with Mei's ex-husband played by Blair Underwood nearly dead from an attack ordered by Grant Ward. Not taking into account the phenomenal episode from last week which concentrated solely on the stranded Simmons' on the alien planet, Mei came back to SHIELD headquarters where her ex was being operated on after being left for dead in a corner store. He turned out fine, but Mei wasn't having any of it. Mess with her man and she has to hunt you down and kill you.
After a preliminary test of Mockingbird to see if she was field ready, the two embarked on a mission to the Cayman Islands, following the New Hydra money trail.
Meanwhile, Hunter felt so down on his luck about not only missing killing Ward but causing Mei's ex to nearly be killed that he joined a new mission to track one of the ATCU guys to see if he was the Sonic the Hedgehog Inhuman. This, only after Coulson benched him on the Ward pursuit. He, Daisy and Mac go on a mission where they procure the blood of the head ATCU guy. During that they also get a location from his phone.
And where did that location lead to but to the ATCU storage facility. For weeks Coulson has been asking to see HQ of this new organization and find out what they were doing with the Inhumans they find. As luck would have it, Daisy had a drone equipped with stealth tech so they didn't have to sneak inside. And what and who did they see?
As it turns out, they saw Coulson and the director. After distracting the man with a staged break-in at her place where she even offered him his favorite fast food burger, she took him to HQ at the same time that Daisy and the gang arrived outside. With no audio to listen to the conversation, Daisy overreacted like she always does and got anxious about his presence in what looked to her like an evil lab from a horror movie or that strange cargo warehouse from Indiana Jones.
She might have been proud to know that Coulson reacted in a similar but more subdued manner as the director told him each Inhuman they found was kept alive in a sedation plasma until they could be cured. Treating the Inhuman outbreak like a disease they are working toward a cure and consider the goo bath an induced coma until these people could be properly taken care of. A most interesting fact came when she revealed a budding crush on Coulson. Are the feelings reciprocated? Maybe. Coulson's getting a love interest since the woman from the first season still believes he's dead. Yay!
Back to the juicier story (don't worry, it ties back into the whole Daisy and ATCU thing), Mei and Mockingbird pursued their lead to the Caymans where they discovered something linking the Von Strucker kid back to Ward and to a secondary location where they could find him. For fans of the Marvel movies, the kid is the son of Baron Von Strucker from Avengers: Age Of Ultron. After being found out as posers in the bank vault safety deposit box room, Mockingbird didn't want to dive headfirst into combat, distracting with a long cover story until finally one of the guards prompted her and Mei to kick some serious butt.
After a quick pep talk from Mei about how she can't hesitate going forward and how she can do this, Mockingbird admitted that she had been keeping herself locked away in the lab for fear of getting into another situation concerning Ward. She was afraid to go back out into the field which is why she wholeheartedly obeyed Coulson's orders. Taking a bullet to the head will do that to you.
They manage to find the kid just as Ward's guys have him hanging from a pummeling strap. A fight ensues, and while Mei takes down one guy and talks to the kid, Mockingbird fights the other three men and the biggest one, defeating him through electrocution in a nice pool. Pools. I'll miss summer.
This...The biggest reveal happened at the very end when the kid told the story of what really happened when he went to kill Blair Underwood. With his dying breath, he tells Mei that Blair turned into something, a great big blue, Sonic the Hedgehog looking monster. The very same monster Daisy and the others had been looking for. The very same monster that had been killing other Inhumans with its own Inhuman powers. And who turned out to be this Inhuman killing machine but the trusted psych guy whose job it was to help Inhumans mentally adjust to the world and determine if they were ready for entry into the special team Daisy was trying to put together. The funny thing is that after seeing Blair Underwood in so many subpar indie films, I thought he was done playing the villain. At least here he gets to play a little bit of both and we know he's a good guy deep down. I hope he still gets to stay on the show longer as I like him on my TV and his stints on The Event and Ironside started OK, but turned out horrid.
...turns into this. What do you think? Did you watch last night's episode of Agents of SHIELD? Do you think it's good for Coulson to have a love interest? And what about this big twist? Did you see the doctor actually being the big new baddie on the block? I'm usually three steps ahead on these shows and even I didn't see that one. Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for a scare check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, what side are you on: Team Captain America or Team Iron Man?
P.S. Was anyone else expecting to have heard or seen a little teaser something by how about Captain America: Civil War? By this time last year they already had a teaser trailer out for Age of Ultron and the movie is only seven months away. It almost seems like they're letting DC steal their thunder with so much DC stuff streaming out. Hm? I'll think of a better sign-off next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
November 3, 2015
How Long Can This Crazy Music Last? #CrazyExGirlfriend #PremiereWeek #3WeekRoundUp
How Long Can This Crazy Music Last? #CrazyExGirlfriend #PremiereWeek #3WeekRoundUp
All pictures courtesy of the CW
Where to begin with this show. One of the last premiere week/three week roundups I will be doing (with the exception of Supergirl and maybe Wicked City), this one is coming a little late as my computer and I weren't on the best of terms last week and because I had to wade through all of my emotions about this show. As a quick reminder for those of you who want my initial thoughts on this show, I would point you to a post I did earlier concerning the release of my book Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend (#AhStalking). But if you don't want to click that link then let me give you a brief refresher.
My initial thoughts on the CW's only new show for the fall season were not exceptionally good or bad. Actually, they were a mixture of "meh" and "dang it! Not again!" The last sentiment came from the fact that my book covers virtually the same topic (more on that later). Funny enough, if I hadn't written the book over a year ago and decided to edit it as my first comedy to come out after the summer's The Writer, I might not have been interested in this show at all. But after having my mojo and dignity questioned by a few young ladies, I had to step back and wonder about whether I was still current enough to be entertaining in the slightest or if I had just happened upon the wrong audience for the past decade or so. So, with Crazy Ex skewing younger and being a comedy written by women but for everybody, I figured that at least I could see what some ladies find funny... if the show proved successful.
Well, sigh. There's so much here to talk about that I truly don't know where to begin. I know I say that a lot in these reviews, but this one is legitimately all over the place. First, as I mentioned twice already, my book is pretty much on the same thing and was the only reason I tuned into the show. While I would love to not be so self-involved and not throw one big advertisement for Yep in your face, it would be nearly impossible for me to talk about the show without mentioning the book. I'll try to keep the mentions to a minimum, but no promises.
Why Is Josh So Dreamy?
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend starts Rachel Bloom as Rebecca Bunch, a genius Harvard and Yale-educated lawyer (refer back to my post on Limitless to see my thoughts on TVs never-ending crop of geniuses). Like every other genius, she is really good at what she does but finds that her life is a total wash outside of her work. One day, after seeing a butter commercial that asks her when the last time was that she was happy (poorly worded sentence. Moving on), she remembers that she was the happiest when she dated an Asian guy ten years ago back in summer camp named Josh Chan. As if by some miracle, she runs into him on the streets of NYC and learns that he is moving to West Covina, California, a small town about thirty minutes outside of LA (I lived there for a while back when I was homeless; trust me, you can make it to downtown LA on the I-15 in thirty minutes depending on the time of day). As the namesake implies, she is crazy enough to quit her job after receiving a half a million dollar promotion, jump a plane and fly across country to try to be with Josh Chan. No sure thing! No back-up plan! Nothing! Just a "we'll see what happens!"
In West Covina, she finds a job at a local law firm in the town (again, she could have found one in LA but no), she goes to a local bar where she runs into a bartender friend of Josh, her coworker points out that she might be crazy and then just dismisses it as her being in love and she discovers that Josh already has a girlfriend who is super attractive and who he has been with off and on since they were children. In fact, this girlfriend of his, Valencia, was around since their summer camp days ten years ago when Rebecca and Josh were 15 or 16-year-olds. This lady has staying power. Not to mention she does yoga as seen on the second episode.
The first episode ran through many of the typical stalking motifs: she texts excessively, she runs into him by accident and he's weirded out by her sudden presence in California, she stalks him to a party where he doesn't show, etc. At the end of the night, after having spent much of her time with the bartender who instantly liked her from the moment she walked in, she and her coworker sing about the awesomeness of love after she realizes and then un-realizes that she is crazy. Rather than tell the girl to get help, the woman agrees to help feed her fantasy like a good friend would do. The one problem I had here is that it comes off as creepy and kind of insincere that the woman suddenly wants to help her. They haven't been friends for years, she barely knows this girl, she's clearly quite a bit older--why would she suddenly nod her head at helping this Rebecca girl claim this guy. The relationship didn't feel organic.
I Know We Just Met But Surprise, I'm Crazy Too
If I'm being honest, neither does the relationship she has with the bartender Greg. The moment he meets her, he tries sleeping with her which isn't far from reality, but the way he does it feels so slimy; yet, he is portrayed as the good and decent guy she should be with. There's no overreaching connection and even after seeing their first official date on the fourth episode, I still don't feel a chemistry between them. Something about Greg makes me think he's gay every time I look at him. I know, some fans of the show will jump on me and say "just because he's a sweet guy doesn't mean he's gay or anything like that." I know. I get that. I have been the sweet guy many times in my life. But for me, some of the most iconic sweet guys were Ross and Chandler from Friends. Even though there may have been jokes about Chandler, I never thought either character was gay. Greg feels like the gay best friend not the love interest we all hope she falls for in the end.
The second episode dove deeper into the psyche of Rebecca and its fractured state. After seeing Valencia and Josh kissing, she sets out to befriend her ex-boyfriend's girlfriend so she can copy everything about her which she believes will win Josh. Valencia, just like allbeautiful women, struggles to keep female friends and accepts Rebecca as her new potential bestie. Rebecca's plan goes awry when she kisses Valencia in the middle of a club when Josh and Greg join the women for a night out. She then blurts out that she used to date Josh which sends the overly jealous Valencia into a rage causing her to ban Josh from any future contact with Bunch unless supervised by a third party.
Are You As Confused As I Am?
This all leads to the third episode in which Rebecca throws a house party in hopes of luring Josh to her place and circumventing Valencia's rules while the woman isn't in town. Surprisingly, this goes well when Josh comes to the party and manages to use his powers of cool Asian-ness to turn the pathetic gathering of losers into a real fly kick-back. Greg came because he's stalking Rebecca almost as much as she is stalking Josh, though I can't figure out why. And we also meet Rebecca's psych major neighbor who wants to "study her" because she's fascinating. In the fourth episode this translates into the nihilist neighbor actually recording observations of her strange behavior and wanting to befriend her out of... pity?
What's my grade? Deep sigh. I have to currently give this a C. Let me backtrack for a moment and go over a few things. First off, I know that many of the fans of this show probably would like my book which is hard because alienating a potential customer is never good, but I have to be honest here. I think the show suffers from a few problems. The chief problem is probably the tone and pacing.
A little history of the show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was originally slated to air on Showtime as a half hour comedy. I guess Showtime ordered a few episodes but then saw the pilot and decided to pass. This left the producers in a hell of a predicament. For starters, they had to expand 30 minutes into 60. Sure, commercial breaks factor in, but often Showtime shows aren't a full 30 minutes either. The first two episodes were noticeably drawn-out. Don't get me wrong, I often have plenty of long scenes in my books, especially in Yep, but they have to keep moving at a steady pace. The show didn't pack every second with a joke or with character building. Certain parts fell flat. For instance, the convenient store scene in the second episode where Rebecca sees Valencia for the first time could have had 30 seconds shaven from the entire sequence and it would have made such a difference. The dialogue, while good, is not always delivered snappy enough so it almost feels like the character is working through a joke as they say it. And boy are those commercial breaks long as hell. It feels like they're coming up two minutes short each week so every break has to be 30 seconds longer. This improved slightly by episode four.
Another thing, the silence. Listen, I've always defended laugh tracks on the multi-camera comedy. But I also can enjoy the no laugh track of the single cam when done right. What I find most often, however, for a great deal of single cam shows is that they not only remove the laugh track but they cut down on the filler sounds and cue-ing tones that help to fill the dead space when no one is talking. Outside of the musical numbers, sometimes I could barely hear any ambient sound in the background of scenes crowded with people. It made the show feel like a show rather than a glance into someone's life. The best example I could give is of the Bernie Mac Show (one of the pioneers of this single cam one-hour comedy). When he sits down to talk to America, there was often some music in the background, not overpowering but there in order to offset the undertones in his voice. I'm not going to treat any reader like an idiot but I don't have time to explain this. However, sound engineers instinctively know how to fill the dead space without being overbearing.
Everybody's Singing!
Speaking of sound, the music is pretty much all original pieces, which is both good and bad. Bad for the reasons mentioned above. Good because it shows the creativity of the writers. But you'll have a hit and miss each episode. I actually didn't like the "Getting Ready Song" as much as I did the "West Covina" song of the first episode. And neither came close to the "Yoga" song of the second episode. Interesting enough, though the songs were a clear selling point if you've seen any of Rachel Bloom's online stuff, they have yet to find a harmony with the show. "West Covina" notwithstanding, nearly every other song seemed like it was either a pre-conceived funny music video that was stuffed into the show or overshadows the show and current plot with its catchiness. In other words, some songs feel as if they are just there and others feel as if an entire episode or situation was written around them just so they could use that funny device (hey, I've done it before. Plenty of writers do it. It happens).
Finally, the characters. Everyone seems to be a caricature or is not even attempting to be a real human making the ebb and flow of the show confusing at times. Is the fact that Greg is instantly obsessed with her, and Paula (her coworker) is willing to help her supposed to convey that we are seeing this entire world from her mentally unstable point of view, or are they just as unstable? Or is the show trying to subvert her mental illness and "craziness" by making everyone around her seem crazier, and by default making her look less crazy? This, in part, seems to be the case as her craziness is pitied by the neighbor and bolstered into a "this is actually normal behavior" thought process. Thinking about it, at least she spent real time with Josh, albeit ten years ago. Greg had no prior knowledge of her, yet he lusts after her but hasn't conveyed any sense of love at first sight. To be clear, my other book Unrequited is all about me falling in love at first sight with a girl. There's an overwhelming sense of "oh my god, my world has changed forever." Greg just seems to be hanging around in hopes of getting that pity sex when Josh finally wises up and coldly turns her down.
Nice Guy Bartender Greg. Gay Best Friend?
And speaking of Josh, did they have to make him a bit of an idiot? Contrary to the title song of the show, I think her craziness is made to be less nuanced because of his lack of any true attractiveness outside of his physical looks. He's sort of a nice guy but he was also begging Rebecca to lie to his girlfriend about having dated ten years prior. This dynamic alone confuses the "this is actually normal behavior and we're all a little maladjusted" message. If he had something legitimately going for him or the man and woman were shown on equal footing, the viewer might feel more inclined to sympathize with her plight. I get the whole "they're opposites" thing but it feels more like the show is reinforcing the crazy stereotype rather than subverting it and making viewers consider the meaning behind such language.
And for the part I was actually dreading, my comparison with my book. Honestly, there are tons of similarities between the book and the show, which actually rather ticks me off, because long story short I had some stories stolen from me a long while back and have been paranoid ever since. But stuff like: the other girl being into Yoga, the protagonist being a smart but quirky adult adolescent, selfies, twitter, etc. All of it is in the book. Don't want to spoil anything but even the parents are similar, which makes me wonder if I dislike or hate my own book. Of course, it's all slightly different and from what I've seen I approach lost love and mental instability from a different angle while still trying to toe a delicate line of funny and heartfelt, but who knows if I succeed, either.
Should you be watching? Hell, the real question is for how long can you watch. The ratings for this show have been abysmal. Yes, Monday at 8pm is a tough slot, especially with no lead-in as critical darling Jane the Virgin comes on at 9pm, but these ratings are... man! Crazy didn't even premiere to a million viewers. It weighed in just shy at 950,000... out of 310 million people in the US. It has a 0.8 share in the 18-49 demographic. The numbers went up the second week but then they went down the third to 860,000. I'm not even sure that the people who watch this show know about this show. Bear in mind, The Flash gets 4 million viewers weekly which is good for the CW. Arrow gets even more. But to not even have a million people watching the show and to have it premiere late and for Supergirl on CBS to now have its premiere which is also geared toward a younger and female audience, I'm really not sure if it can survive. And in fairness, I can't recommend you watch a show when I have a feeling it might get canceled and you end up with TV heartbreak (it's real). Granted, the one lone saving grace of this is that even though it is the lowest rated show on the channel currently, it is still on the CW. They aren't too quick to expel shows and they blew half their fall season advertising budget on this show, so it would be hard to just walk away. But I can't see advertisers staying much longer if the ratings don't jump at least to 1.2 million by Thanksgiving. If you love this show, you have to tell everyone you know. Shameless plug, the book might be better (Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend).
What do you think? Have you heard of this show? Have you seen it? If so, will you continue to watch? What was your favorite song? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking Check out my scary reads: #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now exclusively on Amazon. Or check out the crazy, action-packed crime novel #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in the coming months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, this has been another blog post.
P.S. That sounded way cooler in my head. I was thinking I was going to have this cool sign-off specifically for NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month where you do a post a day), but that didn't work out at all. That was just as bad as all of the rest of them. How am I ever gonna get through this month with such bad writing? Eh! I'll think of something good, I know it.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of the CWWhere to begin with this show. One of the last premiere week/three week roundups I will be doing (with the exception of Supergirl and maybe Wicked City), this one is coming a little late as my computer and I weren't on the best of terms last week and because I had to wade through all of my emotions about this show. As a quick reminder for those of you who want my initial thoughts on this show, I would point you to a post I did earlier concerning the release of my book Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend (#AhStalking). But if you don't want to click that link then let me give you a brief refresher.
My initial thoughts on the CW's only new show for the fall season were not exceptionally good or bad. Actually, they were a mixture of "meh" and "dang it! Not again!" The last sentiment came from the fact that my book covers virtually the same topic (more on that later). Funny enough, if I hadn't written the book over a year ago and decided to edit it as my first comedy to come out after the summer's The Writer, I might not have been interested in this show at all. But after having my mojo and dignity questioned by a few young ladies, I had to step back and wonder about whether I was still current enough to be entertaining in the slightest or if I had just happened upon the wrong audience for the past decade or so. So, with Crazy Ex skewing younger and being a comedy written by women but for everybody, I figured that at least I could see what some ladies find funny... if the show proved successful.
Well, sigh. There's so much here to talk about that I truly don't know where to begin. I know I say that a lot in these reviews, but this one is legitimately all over the place. First, as I mentioned twice already, my book is pretty much on the same thing and was the only reason I tuned into the show. While I would love to not be so self-involved and not throw one big advertisement for Yep in your face, it would be nearly impossible for me to talk about the show without mentioning the book. I'll try to keep the mentions to a minimum, but no promises.
Why Is Josh So Dreamy?Crazy Ex-Girlfriend starts Rachel Bloom as Rebecca Bunch, a genius Harvard and Yale-educated lawyer (refer back to my post on Limitless to see my thoughts on TVs never-ending crop of geniuses). Like every other genius, she is really good at what she does but finds that her life is a total wash outside of her work. One day, after seeing a butter commercial that asks her when the last time was that she was happy (poorly worded sentence. Moving on), she remembers that she was the happiest when she dated an Asian guy ten years ago back in summer camp named Josh Chan. As if by some miracle, she runs into him on the streets of NYC and learns that he is moving to West Covina, California, a small town about thirty minutes outside of LA (I lived there for a while back when I was homeless; trust me, you can make it to downtown LA on the I-15 in thirty minutes depending on the time of day). As the namesake implies, she is crazy enough to quit her job after receiving a half a million dollar promotion, jump a plane and fly across country to try to be with Josh Chan. No sure thing! No back-up plan! Nothing! Just a "we'll see what happens!"
In West Covina, she finds a job at a local law firm in the town (again, she could have found one in LA but no), she goes to a local bar where she runs into a bartender friend of Josh, her coworker points out that she might be crazy and then just dismisses it as her being in love and she discovers that Josh already has a girlfriend who is super attractive and who he has been with off and on since they were children. In fact, this girlfriend of his, Valencia, was around since their summer camp days ten years ago when Rebecca and Josh were 15 or 16-year-olds. This lady has staying power. Not to mention she does yoga as seen on the second episode.
The first episode ran through many of the typical stalking motifs: she texts excessively, she runs into him by accident and he's weirded out by her sudden presence in California, she stalks him to a party where he doesn't show, etc. At the end of the night, after having spent much of her time with the bartender who instantly liked her from the moment she walked in, she and her coworker sing about the awesomeness of love after she realizes and then un-realizes that she is crazy. Rather than tell the girl to get help, the woman agrees to help feed her fantasy like a good friend would do. The one problem I had here is that it comes off as creepy and kind of insincere that the woman suddenly wants to help her. They haven't been friends for years, she barely knows this girl, she's clearly quite a bit older--why would she suddenly nod her head at helping this Rebecca girl claim this guy. The relationship didn't feel organic.
I Know We Just Met But Surprise, I'm Crazy TooIf I'm being honest, neither does the relationship she has with the bartender Greg. The moment he meets her, he tries sleeping with her which isn't far from reality, but the way he does it feels so slimy; yet, he is portrayed as the good and decent guy she should be with. There's no overreaching connection and even after seeing their first official date on the fourth episode, I still don't feel a chemistry between them. Something about Greg makes me think he's gay every time I look at him. I know, some fans of the show will jump on me and say "just because he's a sweet guy doesn't mean he's gay or anything like that." I know. I get that. I have been the sweet guy many times in my life. But for me, some of the most iconic sweet guys were Ross and Chandler from Friends. Even though there may have been jokes about Chandler, I never thought either character was gay. Greg feels like the gay best friend not the love interest we all hope she falls for in the end.
The second episode dove deeper into the psyche of Rebecca and its fractured state. After seeing Valencia and Josh kissing, she sets out to befriend her ex-boyfriend's girlfriend so she can copy everything about her which she believes will win Josh. Valencia, just like allbeautiful women, struggles to keep female friends and accepts Rebecca as her new potential bestie. Rebecca's plan goes awry when she kisses Valencia in the middle of a club when Josh and Greg join the women for a night out. She then blurts out that she used to date Josh which sends the overly jealous Valencia into a rage causing her to ban Josh from any future contact with Bunch unless supervised by a third party.
Are You As Confused As I Am?This all leads to the third episode in which Rebecca throws a house party in hopes of luring Josh to her place and circumventing Valencia's rules while the woman isn't in town. Surprisingly, this goes well when Josh comes to the party and manages to use his powers of cool Asian-ness to turn the pathetic gathering of losers into a real fly kick-back. Greg came because he's stalking Rebecca almost as much as she is stalking Josh, though I can't figure out why. And we also meet Rebecca's psych major neighbor who wants to "study her" because she's fascinating. In the fourth episode this translates into the nihilist neighbor actually recording observations of her strange behavior and wanting to befriend her out of... pity?
What's my grade? Deep sigh. I have to currently give this a C. Let me backtrack for a moment and go over a few things. First off, I know that many of the fans of this show probably would like my book which is hard because alienating a potential customer is never good, but I have to be honest here. I think the show suffers from a few problems. The chief problem is probably the tone and pacing.
A little history of the show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was originally slated to air on Showtime as a half hour comedy. I guess Showtime ordered a few episodes but then saw the pilot and decided to pass. This left the producers in a hell of a predicament. For starters, they had to expand 30 minutes into 60. Sure, commercial breaks factor in, but often Showtime shows aren't a full 30 minutes either. The first two episodes were noticeably drawn-out. Don't get me wrong, I often have plenty of long scenes in my books, especially in Yep, but they have to keep moving at a steady pace. The show didn't pack every second with a joke or with character building. Certain parts fell flat. For instance, the convenient store scene in the second episode where Rebecca sees Valencia for the first time could have had 30 seconds shaven from the entire sequence and it would have made such a difference. The dialogue, while good, is not always delivered snappy enough so it almost feels like the character is working through a joke as they say it. And boy are those commercial breaks long as hell. It feels like they're coming up two minutes short each week so every break has to be 30 seconds longer. This improved slightly by episode four.
Another thing, the silence. Listen, I've always defended laugh tracks on the multi-camera comedy. But I also can enjoy the no laugh track of the single cam when done right. What I find most often, however, for a great deal of single cam shows is that they not only remove the laugh track but they cut down on the filler sounds and cue-ing tones that help to fill the dead space when no one is talking. Outside of the musical numbers, sometimes I could barely hear any ambient sound in the background of scenes crowded with people. It made the show feel like a show rather than a glance into someone's life. The best example I could give is of the Bernie Mac Show (one of the pioneers of this single cam one-hour comedy). When he sits down to talk to America, there was often some music in the background, not overpowering but there in order to offset the undertones in his voice. I'm not going to treat any reader like an idiot but I don't have time to explain this. However, sound engineers instinctively know how to fill the dead space without being overbearing.
Everybody's Singing!Speaking of sound, the music is pretty much all original pieces, which is both good and bad. Bad for the reasons mentioned above. Good because it shows the creativity of the writers. But you'll have a hit and miss each episode. I actually didn't like the "Getting Ready Song" as much as I did the "West Covina" song of the first episode. And neither came close to the "Yoga" song of the second episode. Interesting enough, though the songs were a clear selling point if you've seen any of Rachel Bloom's online stuff, they have yet to find a harmony with the show. "West Covina" notwithstanding, nearly every other song seemed like it was either a pre-conceived funny music video that was stuffed into the show or overshadows the show and current plot with its catchiness. In other words, some songs feel as if they are just there and others feel as if an entire episode or situation was written around them just so they could use that funny device (hey, I've done it before. Plenty of writers do it. It happens).
Finally, the characters. Everyone seems to be a caricature or is not even attempting to be a real human making the ebb and flow of the show confusing at times. Is the fact that Greg is instantly obsessed with her, and Paula (her coworker) is willing to help her supposed to convey that we are seeing this entire world from her mentally unstable point of view, or are they just as unstable? Or is the show trying to subvert her mental illness and "craziness" by making everyone around her seem crazier, and by default making her look less crazy? This, in part, seems to be the case as her craziness is pitied by the neighbor and bolstered into a "this is actually normal behavior" thought process. Thinking about it, at least she spent real time with Josh, albeit ten years ago. Greg had no prior knowledge of her, yet he lusts after her but hasn't conveyed any sense of love at first sight. To be clear, my other book Unrequited is all about me falling in love at first sight with a girl. There's an overwhelming sense of "oh my god, my world has changed forever." Greg just seems to be hanging around in hopes of getting that pity sex when Josh finally wises up and coldly turns her down.
Nice Guy Bartender Greg. Gay Best Friend? And speaking of Josh, did they have to make him a bit of an idiot? Contrary to the title song of the show, I think her craziness is made to be less nuanced because of his lack of any true attractiveness outside of his physical looks. He's sort of a nice guy but he was also begging Rebecca to lie to his girlfriend about having dated ten years prior. This dynamic alone confuses the "this is actually normal behavior and we're all a little maladjusted" message. If he had something legitimately going for him or the man and woman were shown on equal footing, the viewer might feel more inclined to sympathize with her plight. I get the whole "they're opposites" thing but it feels more like the show is reinforcing the crazy stereotype rather than subverting it and making viewers consider the meaning behind such language.
And for the part I was actually dreading, my comparison with my book. Honestly, there are tons of similarities between the book and the show, which actually rather ticks me off, because long story short I had some stories stolen from me a long while back and have been paranoid ever since. But stuff like: the other girl being into Yoga, the protagonist being a smart but quirky adult adolescent, selfies, twitter, etc. All of it is in the book. Don't want to spoil anything but even the parents are similar, which makes me wonder if I dislike or hate my own book. Of course, it's all slightly different and from what I've seen I approach lost love and mental instability from a different angle while still trying to toe a delicate line of funny and heartfelt, but who knows if I succeed, either.
Should you be watching? Hell, the real question is for how long can you watch. The ratings for this show have been abysmal. Yes, Monday at 8pm is a tough slot, especially with no lead-in as critical darling Jane the Virgin comes on at 9pm, but these ratings are... man! Crazy didn't even premiere to a million viewers. It weighed in just shy at 950,000... out of 310 million people in the US. It has a 0.8 share in the 18-49 demographic. The numbers went up the second week but then they went down the third to 860,000. I'm not even sure that the people who watch this show know about this show. Bear in mind, The Flash gets 4 million viewers weekly which is good for the CW. Arrow gets even more. But to not even have a million people watching the show and to have it premiere late and for Supergirl on CBS to now have its premiere which is also geared toward a younger and female audience, I'm really not sure if it can survive. And in fairness, I can't recommend you watch a show when I have a feeling it might get canceled and you end up with TV heartbreak (it's real). Granted, the one lone saving grace of this is that even though it is the lowest rated show on the channel currently, it is still on the CW. They aren't too quick to expel shows and they blew half their fall season advertising budget on this show, so it would be hard to just walk away. But I can't see advertisers staying much longer if the ratings don't jump at least to 1.2 million by Thanksgiving. If you love this show, you have to tell everyone you know. Shameless plug, the book might be better (Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend).
What do you think? Have you heard of this show? Have you seen it? If so, will you continue to watch? What was your favorite song? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking Check out my scary reads: #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out now exclusively on Amazon. Or check out the crazy, action-packed crime novel #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in the coming months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, this has been another blog post.
P.S. That sounded way cooler in my head. I was thinking I was going to have this cool sign-off specifically for NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month where you do a post a day), but that didn't work out at all. That was just as bad as all of the rest of them. How am I ever gonna get through this month with such bad writing? Eh! I'll think of something good, I know it.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
November 2, 2015
Is Anyone Else Tripping On Merlin Being Young And Black? No? Just Me? OK #OnceUponATime #ABC
Is Anyone Else Tripping On Merlin Being Young And Black? No? Just Me? OK #OnceUponATime #DarkSwan #ABC
All pictures courtesy of ABC.
If my blog was more popular I know that someone would see that title and not bother reading the post or anything else on the site before going on a tirade about race. But even if you are a fan of the show and you have been paying attention to the way they treat the black characters, you would be saying the same thing or at least thinking it but being too afraid to say it. Where shall we begin?
ABC's sixth episode of Once Upon A Time (#OnceUponATime) has gifted us with some very interesting debate fodder having little to do with the show. First they brought Black Lancelot back (yes, I will forever call him Black Lancelot as seeing him for the first time after so much whiteness on this beloved show was mind-blowing). Now, they've brought in a black Merlin and I don't know how to react. Fans both white and non-white know that this show has a bit of a minority problem. The one Asian woman who was supposed to be a strong female was controversially turned gay. The few black women on the show have been evil or killed off or both. Black Lancelot was apparently killed and replaced with an evil white woman using magic to disguise herself as him only for him to mysteriously reappear this season. And now Merlin--a guy who was stuck in a tree for a millennia--is on the scene. What troublesome fate lay before him? Well...
Black Lancelot humbly at your service.
After last week's rescue of Merlin from the tree, he and many of the others went down to Camelot's dungeons to free Merida and Black Lancelot after they had been put in prison for treachery to the King. After discovering that King Arthur is actually evil, Snow White, Prince Charming and the rest of the Scooby-Doo gang spent their time trying to figure out what plans he has concerning Emma. As they go off to do their detective work, Merida stays behind with Belle and uses the always clever "what's over there" distraction technique to make an escape with Beast's love. What use does she have with Belle? Why, magic, of course. Deprived of the magical wisps, she needs another way to find out to where her brothers have been kidnapped. Since Belle has a big book of magic with her, redhead figures the young lady can help her on her quest to save her siblings and her kingdom.
As the two women journey to save the three brothers in fairy tale times, back in Storybrooke Merida has been instructed to make Rumpelstiltskin into a hero capable of pulling Excalibur from the stone. But without the powers of the dark one he's just a plain old wimp like he had always been. Needing more than encouragement and a few forest sparing lessons, Emma instructs Merida to try killing Belle to force Rumpel to become a hero. His plan: flee the small town with his headstrong beauty before the arrowswoman has good opportunity to kill Belle.
She doesn't go with him, instead saying that they aren't the run-from-their-problems type and that he can be a hero. He reveals that the little glimpse of heroism he had back before he became the dark one was yet another lie. He originally told her he broke his foot to escape the troll wars so Bae (his son) wouldn't become an orphan. In earnest, he did it because he was scared of dying. It had nothing to do with his son.
Disappointed, she starts back toward town as he drives off and who does she run into but Merida.
Back in fairy tale time from a few weeks before, she and Merida magically locate her brothers that are to be executed that day so no one in her bloodline ever is able to lay claim to the throne. Brave's plan is to drink a magical elixir that would turn her into a bear. She would then use these grizzly powers to slaughter her enemies... and I can only assume get honey from trees or steal their picnic baskets too (I couldn't resist!). Belle gives her a pep talk about doing it herself and blah blah blah. She replaces the elixir with water, Red jumps from the bushes and is made a fool, she manages to save her brothers anyway by shooting through all three arrows flying toward their three heads.
Lady's got skills! The men then bow to her and accept her as rightful queen--yeah, this whole thing started because they didn't want a woman in power, and because they blamed her for not arrowing the enemy that speared her father on the battlefield. But all ended well there.
Back in Storybrooke she drank the real elixir and chased Belle through the woods where Rumpel made a triumphant return and saved Belle, becoming the hero Swan needed him to be. Going back and making a deal with the new dark one, he pulled the sword from the stone and threw it at her feet.
Wait, what about Merlin, you ask? The side plot involved the Storybrooke gang trying to contact Merlin after re-discovering they had freed him from his tree a few weeks prior. Their problem? Only someone chosen by Merlin could speak with him. First sending in Arthur to use a magical toadstool to summon him, they re-discovered his evilness when they found the unburnt mushroom he had carelessly tried to destroy. They get Henry in as he now holds the title of the author even though he no longer has the pen. They summon a vision of Merlin but instead of talking to him they get a holographic voicemail of him trying to explain how to clear the darkness from Emma. The message cuts off before he gives complete instruction as someone is coming for him. What was even more troublesome was not that they were going to potentially kill the black guy again, but the fact that Merlin magically appeared to Emma during her pick-pocketing days as a child. But wasn't he trapped in that tree for 1000 years? What a mystery!
What do you think? Are you troubled that Merlin doesn't have a big beard (you thought I was gonna say something about him being black again, didn't you? That's racist)? Are you upset that Merida's brothers didn't get to speak? And what the hell was up with that candy bar? Is that a popular candy there? Does the name have some extra meaning? Now I'm intrigued... and hungry. Let me know what you think in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, that was the day of the dead people. No, not the day of the dead people. The day of the dead, people.
P.S. Don't criticize my grammar. I don't want to start NaNoWriMo in tears. That's a writers' joke... sort of. My sign-off will be better next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of ABC.If my blog was more popular I know that someone would see that title and not bother reading the post or anything else on the site before going on a tirade about race. But even if you are a fan of the show and you have been paying attention to the way they treat the black characters, you would be saying the same thing or at least thinking it but being too afraid to say it. Where shall we begin?
ABC's sixth episode of Once Upon A Time (#OnceUponATime) has gifted us with some very interesting debate fodder having little to do with the show. First they brought Black Lancelot back (yes, I will forever call him Black Lancelot as seeing him for the first time after so much whiteness on this beloved show was mind-blowing). Now, they've brought in a black Merlin and I don't know how to react. Fans both white and non-white know that this show has a bit of a minority problem. The one Asian woman who was supposed to be a strong female was controversially turned gay. The few black women on the show have been evil or killed off or both. Black Lancelot was apparently killed and replaced with an evil white woman using magic to disguise herself as him only for him to mysteriously reappear this season. And now Merlin--a guy who was stuck in a tree for a millennia--is on the scene. What troublesome fate lay before him? Well...
Black Lancelot humbly at your service.After last week's rescue of Merlin from the tree, he and many of the others went down to Camelot's dungeons to free Merida and Black Lancelot after they had been put in prison for treachery to the King. After discovering that King Arthur is actually evil, Snow White, Prince Charming and the rest of the Scooby-Doo gang spent their time trying to figure out what plans he has concerning Emma. As they go off to do their detective work, Merida stays behind with Belle and uses the always clever "what's over there" distraction technique to make an escape with Beast's love. What use does she have with Belle? Why, magic, of course. Deprived of the magical wisps, she needs another way to find out to where her brothers have been kidnapped. Since Belle has a big book of magic with her, redhead figures the young lady can help her on her quest to save her siblings and her kingdom.
As the two women journey to save the three brothers in fairy tale times, back in Storybrooke Merida has been instructed to make Rumpelstiltskin into a hero capable of pulling Excalibur from the stone. But without the powers of the dark one he's just a plain old wimp like he had always been. Needing more than encouragement and a few forest sparing lessons, Emma instructs Merida to try killing Belle to force Rumpel to become a hero. His plan: flee the small town with his headstrong beauty before the arrowswoman has good opportunity to kill Belle.
She doesn't go with him, instead saying that they aren't the run-from-their-problems type and that he can be a hero. He reveals that the little glimpse of heroism he had back before he became the dark one was yet another lie. He originally told her he broke his foot to escape the troll wars so Bae (his son) wouldn't become an orphan. In earnest, he did it because he was scared of dying. It had nothing to do with his son.
Disappointed, she starts back toward town as he drives off and who does she run into but Merida.
Back in fairy tale time from a few weeks before, she and Merida magically locate her brothers that are to be executed that day so no one in her bloodline ever is able to lay claim to the throne. Brave's plan is to drink a magical elixir that would turn her into a bear. She would then use these grizzly powers to slaughter her enemies... and I can only assume get honey from trees or steal their picnic baskets too (I couldn't resist!). Belle gives her a pep talk about doing it herself and blah blah blah. She replaces the elixir with water, Red jumps from the bushes and is made a fool, she manages to save her brothers anyway by shooting through all three arrows flying toward their three heads.
Lady's got skills! The men then bow to her and accept her as rightful queen--yeah, this whole thing started because they didn't want a woman in power, and because they blamed her for not arrowing the enemy that speared her father on the battlefield. But all ended well there.
Back in Storybrooke she drank the real elixir and chased Belle through the woods where Rumpel made a triumphant return and saved Belle, becoming the hero Swan needed him to be. Going back and making a deal with the new dark one, he pulled the sword from the stone and threw it at her feet.
Wait, what about Merlin, you ask? The side plot involved the Storybrooke gang trying to contact Merlin after re-discovering they had freed him from his tree a few weeks prior. Their problem? Only someone chosen by Merlin could speak with him. First sending in Arthur to use a magical toadstool to summon him, they re-discovered his evilness when they found the unburnt mushroom he had carelessly tried to destroy. They get Henry in as he now holds the title of the author even though he no longer has the pen. They summon a vision of Merlin but instead of talking to him they get a holographic voicemail of him trying to explain how to clear the darkness from Emma. The message cuts off before he gives complete instruction as someone is coming for him. What was even more troublesome was not that they were going to potentially kill the black guy again, but the fact that Merlin magically appeared to Emma during her pick-pocketing days as a child. But wasn't he trapped in that tree for 1000 years? What a mystery!
What do you think? Are you troubled that Merlin doesn't have a big beard (you thought I was gonna say something about him being black again, didn't you? That's racist)? Are you upset that Merida's brothers didn't get to speak? And what the hell was up with that candy bar? Is that a popular candy there? Does the name have some extra meaning? Now I'm intrigued... and hungry. Let me know what you think in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, that was the day of the dead people. No, not the day of the dead people. The day of the dead, people.
P.S. Don't criticize my grammar. I don't want to start NaNoWriMo in tears. That's a writers' joke... sort of. My sign-off will be better next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
November 1, 2015
It's Here! NBA Season Is Back In Full Effect! #NBA #SportsAndStuff
It's Here! NBA Season Is Back In Full Effect! #NBA #SportsAndStuff
All pictures and logos courtesy of the NBA unless otherwise stated.
So, as you all may or may not know, while I enjoy reading, writing and watching a ton of TV and movies, I also enjoy the occasional sports competition where the finest young men and women come together for rousing games and displays of strength and dexterity known only to the gladiators before them. But I am rather particular about my sports, as in only sports that are included in the Olympics (sorry, Football). Listen, it's not that I don't like football, I just don't get into it as much as other faster-moving sports. Do I watch the super bowl? Doesn't everybody? Well, no, I only sometimes will watch the bowl but only if I have nothing pressing on my DVR.
My sport of choice, as you can tell by the title of this post, is basketball, even more specific the NBA. College ball I never got into. For one, I've always loathed college in the first place even when I attended. It always felt like a bit of a ruse on many levels and collegiate sports felt like the biggest con. But I digress. Suffice it to say that I also can't get into the fact that the best players leave after a year anyway. No, the NBA is where it is at for me with the occasional look across to baseball once every six years or so. But I love the Olympics--summer and winter--and can't wait for the 2016 Rio games. There's something about those track girls that I can't seem to shake.
Ahh! How many tangents am I going to go on? Sorry about that, but now that you know my sports loving history... sort of, we can get down to what really matters right now, here, at this moment!
The NBA where, uh... stuff happens. Sorry, I don't know the motto/theme for this year. The where [insert stuff] happens theme was half a decade ago, wasn't it? With that said, what are you looking forward to seeing over the long haul of the next nine months. Wait, nine months? Is the NBA season really that dang long? End of October, November, December, January through June--goodness gracious! That's frickin' ridicurus! Whatever. I'm in it for the long haul. Here are some of my most anticipated stories for this year.
I'll put my most anticipated one last as who I want to win the championship is of the utmost importance and therefore deserves the "last but not least" literary drumroll. I will start with one of the stories that has plagued me for the last few days: Will Lebron's new mustache seek out world domination.
Bottom picture courtesy of Family Matters, an ABC studio production.
Forget about the fact that the new lip hair looks like it is a genius attempt to grow his own Groucho Marx Halloween costume disguise, or that he looks more and more like Carl Winslow every day, I have to commend him on his new fashion statement. Just the fact that he is bold and daring enough to come to work with yet another questionable, side-eye-inducing folicular choice after last year's "suddenly I'm not balding any more" headband-gate is praiseworthy in itself. I also think that if he continues to grow it out, it will soon take on a life of its own. Seeing how it is now Movember--an ode to not shaving for a good Cancer cause--I hope he doesn't shave it off. In fact, I hope he gets some of that expensive mustache wax and enters one of those woolly stache competitions they're always talking about on that show Whisker Wars (side note: If you're not hip to the stranger corners of reality TV, yeah, it's a show that actually exists; long live Beard Team USA!). Maybe 70s porn staches are the new way to go. If that be so, then so it be.
You are going to ignore the fact that I did not have a proper way to end that last paragraph and we are going to move on to a second most anticipated story: Will Derrick Rose aka Fragile Knees, Kevin Durant AKA Broken Foot, and Kobe Bryant AKA Black... and Blue maintain their health for a full season. I know that Kobe and Derrick have been oft-injured as of late but Durant has maintained much of his healthiness until last year. I should give him a break, right? Wrong! Though he doesn't play the position, he is technically a very big man coming in near to seven feet tall. And we all know just how troublesome lower body injuries can be when it comes to the tallest players in the game. I'm worried that his case could become something similar to Rose's where he looks good after returning from an injury only to re-injure himself in another crucial part of his body.
And as for Fragile Knees and Kobe, I feel bad for Limp Rose. The official season hadn't even started yet and he got hurt, busted in the face in an accident that would see him turn into the NBA's version of the Phantom of the Opera. Just because you have double vision shouldn't give you the right to miss twice as many shots, 8 for 19.
That goes triple for you, Kobe. Listen, this is not to stomp on your greatness, but take this year as a time to chill. Still play good basketball, try to wow the fans with a few "I still got it" moves and school the rookies in everything but breathing. We know that you know that we know that everybody knows that there's no way you're even going to sniff at a championship this season. Be the parade princess--erm, prince that you are, sit in that slow moving car wreck called the Lakers, and wave and smile at the flocks of fans come to see you play one last time. Do not drag this out for another year or two. It is not worth it.
My third most anticipated story of the year: Which lyrically un-talented baller will grab the mic this season. We all know that if there's anything that almost any professional athlete wants to be outside of their sport it would be a rock star or a rap star. We've seen it countless times, decade after decade. From Shaq and Kobe to Kevin Durant, every baller (football isn't immune to this) at some point pauses from dropping shots to dropping rhymes and it is quite often hilarious. While there are some who have actually made a decent track or two like Portland Trailblazers' Damian Lillard or Cleveland's Iman Shumpert, most players are not rappers.
No matter how hard they try, Paul Pierce is not going to miraculously stand up out of his wheelchair and turn from limp legs Jimmy into Drake. It doesn't happen!
Picture courtesy of Degrassi
Speaking of the Shea Buttery Don from the 6, my fourth most anticipated story of the year: How many times will we catch Drake grinning, laughing, chumming it up and being super-duper starstruck over every NBA player that comes to Toronto. For that matter, how often will we see Drake at a Raptors game? Seeing as how I don't know if Jack Nicholson still goes to Lakers games, there's always a pedantic "oh, there's Billy Crystal" reaction when watching Clippers games, and Spike Lee sadly hasn't been relevant since Inside Man (Old Boy does not count!), the teams are sorely lacking in celebrity mascots. And outside of the Clippers, I really only watch scrub teams' games to see what tortured soul of a famous person is also stuck watching the scrub team live. Yes, there's a caveat there for Toronto; they're decent. But until they can make it out of the first round, preferably not being swept, they still earn a spot on my crap list.
My fifth most anticipated story of the year: Who will be the winner for dumbest play of the season. Looking beyond the seven foot centers around the league that will mysteriously find themselves outside the three-point line and take the shot that they've never shot in their lives, who else will make the dumbest play of a lifetime? The one play that makes everyone go, "huh? Did this dude just did this?" If this could somehow be turned into a betting pool, my money would be on Javale McGee or Nick Young as seasons past have shown either of them to be a fountain of "what the hell-ishness?"
'My bad. I thought that was my knee.' "Um... right."
#WhoDatDunkin?My sixth most anticipated story: How will the NBA try to get us to care about the All-Star weekend dunk contest this year? Just the fact that most of the competitors don't even have a shoe deal is troublesome to me. Not to say that any of them are scrubs, but most of them the casual fan doesn't know, and the diehard fan just asks themselves why the hell this guy is dunking and not Blake Griffin or Lebron James. #WhoDatDunkin? Most of the dunks we've already seen before so what we usually come to see is the trash-talking coupled with the dunk. But how is that one guy that guarded Lebron that one night and only held him to 32 points after he let the man repeatedly break his ankles really going to gloat about his so-so dunk when we don't even know his damn name? Hell, we've had dudes that hadn't even dunked in a game before stepping up to claim the title of best dunker. Like, what? No! Get at least one really good player. Hell, convince Kobe to do it for old time sake.
Number seven: How many ridiculous three point shots will Steph Curry make this season. Scratch that, how many ridiculous shots will we see period. With Steph Curry starring in his own version of Angels in the Back Court with seemingly every shot he throws into the air going in, I'm more shocked when he doesn't make an insane shot. Dropping 40 on opening night is just an embarrassment of riches. But then following it up against the same team last night with 53 leaves me speechless. Hopefully a match-up between the Warriors and the Thunder will render ridiculous shots from KD, Steph, Klay and Westbrook because I need to have my mind blown at least twice every year.
Number eight: What player will end up wearing some "what are those" or another questionable fashion choice? Who will have the most clown-worthy outfit in a post-game presser that will blow up the internet? This is not taking into account the misguided new uniforms for teams--I'm looking at you Atlanta--but the off-court clothing that the players actually chose to wear themselves... like, nobody made them wear it. They actually chose to have people see them wearing it... in public. For some strange reason, I keep having this vision of a wooden shirt.
With Michael Conley having rocked the wood-brimmed hat and wooden bow tie, a shirt can't be too far behind. Backpacks; glasses with no lenses; tight pink, red, purple, fuchsia, indigo or other ridiculous-colored pants and/or leather shirts--all of that should be in the past now. Outside of Iman Shumpert still trying to do his best rendition of Kid and Play, I hope to see some real fashion and not some stuff the players are trying to pawn off as high-end when they know they bought half of their outfit at Kids-R-Us. And for goodness sake, Dwyane Wade, wear some dang socks with your shoes.
Most anticipated number nine: Which player and/or coach and/or team owner will get into the most off-court shenanigans. With Matt Barnes beating some gray into Derek Fisher's beard before the season began, Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving impregnating fine but really young women, and no baller checking for Rihanna for pretty much the first time since she broke up with Chris Brown, who will have the most distracting sideline story for their team. Could it be Ty Lawson's inability to not drive while under the influence? Will Mark Cuban finally bitch-slap somebody because, you know... he's Mark Cuban? And will Steve Ballmer finally get on Dancing with the Stars? Only time will tell.
And finally, who will win it all? What team will take home the ultimate trophy that is the NBA championship? What Cinderella will finally get her crown? What city and fan base will have the bragging rights of playing Queen's "We Are The Champions" from summer 2016 until summer 2017? For those who may not know, my hope is in the Cleveland Cavaliers. We went to the finals last year and almost got the crown even with two of our three best players out. Given even more time to gel this year and a bolstered bench with the additions of Richard Jefferson and Mo Williams (they don't have to do a lot, just maintain the score), and with Varejao back from injury, I think we have a favored shot at the trophy.
What do you think? What is your most anticipated story line for this season? Which team are you rooting for? Whose health is the most important to you? Are you looking forward to any hilarity the season might bring? Are you a balding man like me who still wants to know what the hell Lebron did to his hair to get it back? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “we're playing bas-ket-balllll! We're playing bas-ket-ballll."
P.S. Yes, those are lyrics from Kurtis Blow's classic rap song "Basketball." I'm sure you've heard it before in your life but have you seen the video? Not to be racist, but that was a lotta white people for a 1980s rap video about the blackest sport of the time.
P.P.S. Shout out to Lolo Jones for coming up with one of the best Halloween costumes. Yes, she is really hurt and will be losing the crutches in a few days. I see you senorita.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures and logos courtesy of the NBA unless otherwise stated.
So, as you all may or may not know, while I enjoy reading, writing and watching a ton of TV and movies, I also enjoy the occasional sports competition where the finest young men and women come together for rousing games and displays of strength and dexterity known only to the gladiators before them. But I am rather particular about my sports, as in only sports that are included in the Olympics (sorry, Football). Listen, it's not that I don't like football, I just don't get into it as much as other faster-moving sports. Do I watch the super bowl? Doesn't everybody? Well, no, I only sometimes will watch the bowl but only if I have nothing pressing on my DVR.
My sport of choice, as you can tell by the title of this post, is basketball, even more specific the NBA. College ball I never got into. For one, I've always loathed college in the first place even when I attended. It always felt like a bit of a ruse on many levels and collegiate sports felt like the biggest con. But I digress. Suffice it to say that I also can't get into the fact that the best players leave after a year anyway. No, the NBA is where it is at for me with the occasional look across to baseball once every six years or so. But I love the Olympics--summer and winter--and can't wait for the 2016 Rio games. There's something about those track girls that I can't seem to shake.
Ahh! How many tangents am I going to go on? Sorry about that, but now that you know my sports loving history... sort of, we can get down to what really matters right now, here, at this moment!
The NBA where, uh... stuff happens. Sorry, I don't know the motto/theme for this year. The where [insert stuff] happens theme was half a decade ago, wasn't it? With that said, what are you looking forward to seeing over the long haul of the next nine months. Wait, nine months? Is the NBA season really that dang long? End of October, November, December, January through June--goodness gracious! That's frickin' ridicurus! Whatever. I'm in it for the long haul. Here are some of my most anticipated stories for this year.
I'll put my most anticipated one last as who I want to win the championship is of the utmost importance and therefore deserves the "last but not least" literary drumroll. I will start with one of the stories that has plagued me for the last few days: Will Lebron's new mustache seek out world domination.
Bottom picture courtesy of Family Matters, an ABC studio production.Forget about the fact that the new lip hair looks like it is a genius attempt to grow his own Groucho Marx Halloween costume disguise, or that he looks more and more like Carl Winslow every day, I have to commend him on his new fashion statement. Just the fact that he is bold and daring enough to come to work with yet another questionable, side-eye-inducing folicular choice after last year's "suddenly I'm not balding any more" headband-gate is praiseworthy in itself. I also think that if he continues to grow it out, it will soon take on a life of its own. Seeing how it is now Movember--an ode to not shaving for a good Cancer cause--I hope he doesn't shave it off. In fact, I hope he gets some of that expensive mustache wax and enters one of those woolly stache competitions they're always talking about on that show Whisker Wars (side note: If you're not hip to the stranger corners of reality TV, yeah, it's a show that actually exists; long live Beard Team USA!). Maybe 70s porn staches are the new way to go. If that be so, then so it be.
You are going to ignore the fact that I did not have a proper way to end that last paragraph and we are going to move on to a second most anticipated story: Will Derrick Rose aka Fragile Knees, Kevin Durant AKA Broken Foot, and Kobe Bryant AKA Black... and Blue maintain their health for a full season. I know that Kobe and Derrick have been oft-injured as of late but Durant has maintained much of his healthiness until last year. I should give him a break, right? Wrong! Though he doesn't play the position, he is technically a very big man coming in near to seven feet tall. And we all know just how troublesome lower body injuries can be when it comes to the tallest players in the game. I'm worried that his case could become something similar to Rose's where he looks good after returning from an injury only to re-injure himself in another crucial part of his body.
And as for Fragile Knees and Kobe, I feel bad for Limp Rose. The official season hadn't even started yet and he got hurt, busted in the face in an accident that would see him turn into the NBA's version of the Phantom of the Opera. Just because you have double vision shouldn't give you the right to miss twice as many shots, 8 for 19.
That goes triple for you, Kobe. Listen, this is not to stomp on your greatness, but take this year as a time to chill. Still play good basketball, try to wow the fans with a few "I still got it" moves and school the rookies in everything but breathing. We know that you know that we know that everybody knows that there's no way you're even going to sniff at a championship this season. Be the parade princess--erm, prince that you are, sit in that slow moving car wreck called the Lakers, and wave and smile at the flocks of fans come to see you play one last time. Do not drag this out for another year or two. It is not worth it.
My third most anticipated story of the year: Which lyrically un-talented baller will grab the mic this season. We all know that if there's anything that almost any professional athlete wants to be outside of their sport it would be a rock star or a rap star. We've seen it countless times, decade after decade. From Shaq and Kobe to Kevin Durant, every baller (football isn't immune to this) at some point pauses from dropping shots to dropping rhymes and it is quite often hilarious. While there are some who have actually made a decent track or two like Portland Trailblazers' Damian Lillard or Cleveland's Iman Shumpert, most players are not rappers.
No matter how hard they try, Paul Pierce is not going to miraculously stand up out of his wheelchair and turn from limp legs Jimmy into Drake. It doesn't happen!
Picture courtesy of DegrassiSpeaking of the Shea Buttery Don from the 6, my fourth most anticipated story of the year: How many times will we catch Drake grinning, laughing, chumming it up and being super-duper starstruck over every NBA player that comes to Toronto. For that matter, how often will we see Drake at a Raptors game? Seeing as how I don't know if Jack Nicholson still goes to Lakers games, there's always a pedantic "oh, there's Billy Crystal" reaction when watching Clippers games, and Spike Lee sadly hasn't been relevant since Inside Man (Old Boy does not count!), the teams are sorely lacking in celebrity mascots. And outside of the Clippers, I really only watch scrub teams' games to see what tortured soul of a famous person is also stuck watching the scrub team live. Yes, there's a caveat there for Toronto; they're decent. But until they can make it out of the first round, preferably not being swept, they still earn a spot on my crap list.
My fifth most anticipated story of the year: Who will be the winner for dumbest play of the season. Looking beyond the seven foot centers around the league that will mysteriously find themselves outside the three-point line and take the shot that they've never shot in their lives, who else will make the dumbest play of a lifetime? The one play that makes everyone go, "huh? Did this dude just did this?" If this could somehow be turned into a betting pool, my money would be on Javale McGee or Nick Young as seasons past have shown either of them to be a fountain of "what the hell-ishness?"
'My bad. I thought that was my knee.' "Um... right." 
#WhoDatDunkin?My sixth most anticipated story: How will the NBA try to get us to care about the All-Star weekend dunk contest this year? Just the fact that most of the competitors don't even have a shoe deal is troublesome to me. Not to say that any of them are scrubs, but most of them the casual fan doesn't know, and the diehard fan just asks themselves why the hell this guy is dunking and not Blake Griffin or Lebron James. #WhoDatDunkin? Most of the dunks we've already seen before so what we usually come to see is the trash-talking coupled with the dunk. But how is that one guy that guarded Lebron that one night and only held him to 32 points after he let the man repeatedly break his ankles really going to gloat about his so-so dunk when we don't even know his damn name? Hell, we've had dudes that hadn't even dunked in a game before stepping up to claim the title of best dunker. Like, what? No! Get at least one really good player. Hell, convince Kobe to do it for old time sake.Number seven: How many ridiculous three point shots will Steph Curry make this season. Scratch that, how many ridiculous shots will we see period. With Steph Curry starring in his own version of Angels in the Back Court with seemingly every shot he throws into the air going in, I'm more shocked when he doesn't make an insane shot. Dropping 40 on opening night is just an embarrassment of riches. But then following it up against the same team last night with 53 leaves me speechless. Hopefully a match-up between the Warriors and the Thunder will render ridiculous shots from KD, Steph, Klay and Westbrook because I need to have my mind blown at least twice every year.
Number eight: What player will end up wearing some "what are those" or another questionable fashion choice? Who will have the most clown-worthy outfit in a post-game presser that will blow up the internet? This is not taking into account the misguided new uniforms for teams--I'm looking at you Atlanta--but the off-court clothing that the players actually chose to wear themselves... like, nobody made them wear it. They actually chose to have people see them wearing it... in public. For some strange reason, I keep having this vision of a wooden shirt.
With Michael Conley having rocked the wood-brimmed hat and wooden bow tie, a shirt can't be too far behind. Backpacks; glasses with no lenses; tight pink, red, purple, fuchsia, indigo or other ridiculous-colored pants and/or leather shirts--all of that should be in the past now. Outside of Iman Shumpert still trying to do his best rendition of Kid and Play, I hope to see some real fashion and not some stuff the players are trying to pawn off as high-end when they know they bought half of their outfit at Kids-R-Us. And for goodness sake, Dwyane Wade, wear some dang socks with your shoes. Most anticipated number nine: Which player and/or coach and/or team owner will get into the most off-court shenanigans. With Matt Barnes beating some gray into Derek Fisher's beard before the season began, Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving impregnating fine but really young women, and no baller checking for Rihanna for pretty much the first time since she broke up with Chris Brown, who will have the most distracting sideline story for their team. Could it be Ty Lawson's inability to not drive while under the influence? Will Mark Cuban finally bitch-slap somebody because, you know... he's Mark Cuban? And will Steve Ballmer finally get on Dancing with the Stars? Only time will tell.
And finally, who will win it all? What team will take home the ultimate trophy that is the NBA championship? What Cinderella will finally get her crown? What city and fan base will have the bragging rights of playing Queen's "We Are The Champions" from summer 2016 until summer 2017? For those who may not know, my hope is in the Cleveland Cavaliers. We went to the finals last year and almost got the crown even with two of our three best players out. Given even more time to gel this year and a bolstered bench with the additions of Richard Jefferson and Mo Williams (they don't have to do a lot, just maintain the score), and with Varejao back from injury, I think we have a favored shot at the trophy.
What do you think? What is your most anticipated story line for this season? Which team are you rooting for? Whose health is the most important to you? Are you looking forward to any hilarity the season might bring? Are you a balding man like me who still wants to know what the hell Lebron did to his hair to get it back? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “we're playing bas-ket-balllll! We're playing bas-ket-ballll."
P.S. Yes, those are lyrics from Kurtis Blow's classic rap song "Basketball." I'm sure you've heard it before in your life but have you seen the video? Not to be racist, but that was a lotta white people for a 1980s rap video about the blackest sport of the time.
P.P.S. Shout out to Lolo Jones for coming up with one of the best Halloween costumes. Yes, she is really hurt and will be losing the crutches in a few days. I see you senorita.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
October 31, 2015
Halloween Is The Grimm-est Holiday #Grimm #NBC
Halloween Is The Grimm-est Holiday #Grimm #NBC
All pictures courtesy of NBC
NBC's Grimm (#Grimm) is back after last year's craziest season ever. With so much going on last season, it was difficult to figure out where they'd go with the story after exploding a few plots into oblivion. For those that can't remember what happened, let's recap.
Nick, for a while at the beginning of last season, wasn't a Grimm anymore. He lost his powers due to a spell cast on him by Adalind who also slept with him while disguised with her witch powers to be his wife Juliette. Through another potion, Juliette was able to literally sex the Grimm back into Nick but not without turning into a Hexenbeast herself. Trubel, the other Grimm girl, came back into town talking about some secret organization and the royals who control all of these monsters. Adalind wound up pregnant with Nick's baby, Juliette hated him for that even though it was explained countless times that it wasn't his fault, everyone was searching for Adalind's first child that Nick's mom was supposed to be keeping safe and the royals sent multiple guards to find the baby as the baby was also a royal by blood. The season ended with the baby being taken, Nick's mom's head being cut off and gifted in a box to him a la Seven, the Asian cop finally finding out about Nick, Juliette losing her mind and burning down Nick's trailer with all the Grimm history inside, and Trubel shooting Juliette with a bow and arrow twice in the back to stop her from killing Nick.
Fast forward to this season, as Nick is lamenting his wife's dying breath, some other organization shows up and starts taking people. The same group that took Trubel before and informed her of the shadow organization that wanted to know if she was a Grimm or not (still haven't a clue about what they do), some FBI lady came in with the group and instructed them to take everyone. The next day Nick awakes to find Trubel gone, his dying wife Juliette gone, his mother's head-in-a-box gone and the house cleaned. Not only is he confused about why they'd take all the ladies and lady heads, but he can't remember what happened after they came into the room.
The Grimm Identity (the name of this season's premiere episode) played similar to the Blindspot or Bourne Identity--what they were going for. The whole episode sees Nick running around from his police station with his partners and the captain, to Monroe, to the FBI field office where the lady works. No one knows if they should believe him or not and the only one who does know what happened that night is the lady who isn't too forthcoming with information. Like any law-abiding cop would do, he kidnaps the woman and demands to know where she took Trubel.
Meanwhile, his partner Hank and his captain along with the Asian cop all question his story. They do some digging to find that the woman does work for the FBI and they find where she lives for Nick. While they're trying to help him out in as correct of a way as possible, he pushes forward like a bull, stomping from one place to the next and making himself look like a fool. In the midst of all of this back and forth of "is Nick telling the truth or making it up" (he doesn't halfway know himself), Adalind finally births their baby boy. Again, just like any man who was tricked into having sex with one of his mortal enemies who has tried to kill him and the people around him multiple times before, Nick is ecstatic about the birth. They've potentially just given life to a HexenGrimm (#HexenGrimm).
Oddly enough, though the episode moves exceedingly fast, very little actually happens.
After Nick kidnaps and holds hostage the FBI woman, she tells Hank and the others that she has a meeting with her people scheduled for later that night. She and Nick go to the meeting only to find it already ambushed by another group. Her people are dead and the new monsters have a knack for leaving huge calling cards that resemble something Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' villain The Shredder might leave. Four slash marks across the side of the empty warehouse where they get the best of the FBI agent and they are off into the night, leaving Nick the clue to what comes next. With her dying breath, the agent says horsemen and tells Nick that it's four (or at least I think that's what she said. It could have been Norsemen too). I'm assuming this refers to the book of Revelation's four horsemen prophecy that signals the end of days (everyone loves mixing in Biblical references these days).
What any of this means, we currently don't know. But from the season preview, we know that Trubel will return at some point and that war is coming. I think there's also potential for Juliette to re-surface somehow too, but I don't know if the actress has moved on or not as she was always underutilized. I have a feeling the show might be better without her.
What do you think? Do you watch Grimm? How did you like last night's premiere episode? Do you think that Nick will get a new love interest in either Adalind or Trubel or someone else? And what do you think happened that night the group took Trubel? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “Just because I am a wolf doesn't make me a big bad wolf."
P.S. That is probably from a movie or a show or something having to do with wolves, but I can't remember if it is or not. It might not be from anything but it is now. I'll think of something better next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of NBC
NBC's Grimm (#Grimm) is back after last year's craziest season ever. With so much going on last season, it was difficult to figure out where they'd go with the story after exploding a few plots into oblivion. For those that can't remember what happened, let's recap.
Nick, for a while at the beginning of last season, wasn't a Grimm anymore. He lost his powers due to a spell cast on him by Adalind who also slept with him while disguised with her witch powers to be his wife Juliette. Through another potion, Juliette was able to literally sex the Grimm back into Nick but not without turning into a Hexenbeast herself. Trubel, the other Grimm girl, came back into town talking about some secret organization and the royals who control all of these monsters. Adalind wound up pregnant with Nick's baby, Juliette hated him for that even though it was explained countless times that it wasn't his fault, everyone was searching for Adalind's first child that Nick's mom was supposed to be keeping safe and the royals sent multiple guards to find the baby as the baby was also a royal by blood. The season ended with the baby being taken, Nick's mom's head being cut off and gifted in a box to him a la Seven, the Asian cop finally finding out about Nick, Juliette losing her mind and burning down Nick's trailer with all the Grimm history inside, and Trubel shooting Juliette with a bow and arrow twice in the back to stop her from killing Nick.
Fast forward to this season, as Nick is lamenting his wife's dying breath, some other organization shows up and starts taking people. The same group that took Trubel before and informed her of the shadow organization that wanted to know if she was a Grimm or not (still haven't a clue about what they do), some FBI lady came in with the group and instructed them to take everyone. The next day Nick awakes to find Trubel gone, his dying wife Juliette gone, his mother's head-in-a-box gone and the house cleaned. Not only is he confused about why they'd take all the ladies and lady heads, but he can't remember what happened after they came into the room.
The Grimm Identity (the name of this season's premiere episode) played similar to the Blindspot or Bourne Identity--what they were going for. The whole episode sees Nick running around from his police station with his partners and the captain, to Monroe, to the FBI field office where the lady works. No one knows if they should believe him or not and the only one who does know what happened that night is the lady who isn't too forthcoming with information. Like any law-abiding cop would do, he kidnaps the woman and demands to know where she took Trubel.
Meanwhile, his partner Hank and his captain along with the Asian cop all question his story. They do some digging to find that the woman does work for the FBI and they find where she lives for Nick. While they're trying to help him out in as correct of a way as possible, he pushes forward like a bull, stomping from one place to the next and making himself look like a fool. In the midst of all of this back and forth of "is Nick telling the truth or making it up" (he doesn't halfway know himself), Adalind finally births their baby boy. Again, just like any man who was tricked into having sex with one of his mortal enemies who has tried to kill him and the people around him multiple times before, Nick is ecstatic about the birth. They've potentially just given life to a HexenGrimm (#HexenGrimm).
Oddly enough, though the episode moves exceedingly fast, very little actually happens.
After Nick kidnaps and holds hostage the FBI woman, she tells Hank and the others that she has a meeting with her people scheduled for later that night. She and Nick go to the meeting only to find it already ambushed by another group. Her people are dead and the new monsters have a knack for leaving huge calling cards that resemble something Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' villain The Shredder might leave. Four slash marks across the side of the empty warehouse where they get the best of the FBI agent and they are off into the night, leaving Nick the clue to what comes next. With her dying breath, the agent says horsemen and tells Nick that it's four (or at least I think that's what she said. It could have been Norsemen too). I'm assuming this refers to the book of Revelation's four horsemen prophecy that signals the end of days (everyone loves mixing in Biblical references these days). What any of this means, we currently don't know. But from the season preview, we know that Trubel will return at some point and that war is coming. I think there's also potential for Juliette to re-surface somehow too, but I don't know if the actress has moved on or not as she was always underutilized. I have a feeling the show might be better without her.
What do you think? Do you watch Grimm? How did you like last night's premiere episode? Do you think that Nick will get a new love interest in either Adalind or Trubel or someone else? And what do you think happened that night the group took Trubel? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “Just because I am a wolf doesn't make me a big bad wolf."
P.S. That is probably from a movie or a show or something having to do with wolves, but I can't remember if it is or not. It might not be from anything but it is now. I'll think of something better next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
October 30, 2015
Creepy But Logical #Bones #SleepyHollow #Hollowbones
Creepy But Logical #Bones #SleepyHollow #Hollowbones
All pictures courtesy of FOX
Ahhh! Why do I even try? Ever feel like life itself is going against you at the moment? That is precisely how I've been feeling for the last near two weeks. Every year, usually twice a year my computer gets a virus or gets so hot that it overheats and does this ten minute shutdown thing for a few days (the computer is a little old, so...). As luck would have it, both things smacked me at the same time I was doing cleanup in my garden. I had to focus on getting my yard together while trying to figure out what was wrong with my computer and ended up rebooting and re-installing everything on the computer. There's not much on here save for a few programs to help me create my books and other such works. Still, it is a hassle, especially if you have to do it a few times because the code is rootkited or whatever. I'm not going to go into it.
So, with that mini-rant about how computer viruses are from the devil, I get back on topic and give you a review of FOX's confusing and confounding crossover event from last night, Bones and Sleepy Hollow. Now, to be fair I read an article yesterday on my phone (should have saved the link and emailed it to myself) that stated how little the actors understood the crossover also. Other than the fact that they were both on Fox and both had a male and female partner that clash at first like oil and water (bad and overused cliche; hey, I haven't written anything in over a week. Gimme a break!) before accepting each other's differences and maybe even coming to appreciate them. And they're both FBI.
But when looking outside of that, one show is steeped in modern-day real world science while the other deals in fantastical paranormal occult stuff. It would be like if Walter White showed up on The Walking Dead because everyone discovered that the way to defeat the zombies was to give them blue meth. If that's confusing, well, it's probably because I don't watch the Walking Dead, or it could also be the fact that the idea doesn't make any sense. If anything, FOX could have done a crossover between Rosewood and Bones (something I expect they will do come next season) or a crossover between Sleepy Hollow and, uh... hmph? The one show I can think of is NBC's Grimm but network logistics and all. Other than that, they could have waited until their Lucifer show (premiering mid-season) came out but who knows if that'll last and if it'll replace Sleepy Hollow as the strange show on the network.
How did they do with this strange, ill-advised crossover event? Believe it or not, I'd say they did OK. First off, though I wanted it to be, I quickly realized that this wasn't going to be some explosive mind-blowing crossover that ends with all of the crossover characters in a shootout for their lives and situations that had long-lasting repercussions on both shows. No, this was more of a toe-dip into the water of making a shared TV universe where they can have their different shows crossover with little problem to mark special occasions. In this case, the occasion was Halloween as this was to be a haunting crossover spectacular. And while it didn't live up to that moniker per se, it did do a nice job at making us believe these two radically different-in-tone shows could coexist in the same universe.
Beginning with Bones, the team found two pairs of human bones because... well, the show is called Bones. I can't imagine what it'd be without actual bones. Anyway, the first set of bones belonged to a woman from this time period. Recently dead, she had much of her skull intact and had clue markers on her like hair that had recently been dyed back from a previous purple hue, and multiple earring holes. Nicely dressed, she appeared to have been a puritanical church girl until those two clues (because straight-laced people would never do something so silly as dye their hair a cool color or get more than one ear piercing).
They discover that she was actually a doctor going for higher position, so she wanted to be taken seriously. That, however, still did not account for why she was found in the near vicinity of the second dead body. Enter Ichabod and Abbie. The second body belongs to a redcoat fella from back when redcoats and bluecoats and midnight rides were still a thing. He first determines that the man is one person but when Dr. Brennan does a facial reconstruction and analysis through her neat machine, they match the possible face to the man that Ichabod had been talking about for the last few weeks, a General Howe. I say possible face because for more than half of the show the body did not have a head. Why? Because the purple-haired woman believed back when she was alive a myth from long ago that spoke of the head somehow being a gateway into life after death. Essentially a good luck charm, she could resurrect so long as she had the head near her. How she discovered the body was where it was I can't recall, but she found the general's grave, sliced off his skull and took it back to her place where she participated in a crazy stunt.
A morbid but natural fascination with death, the woman had previously gotten a doctor friend to stop her heart with a drug cocktail before reviving her. When she died, she went to what she perceived as a stop before heaven where she spoke with her sister who died as a young child (the catalyst for her death intrigue). This life-changing experience is what prompted her to act differently, re-dying the hair, removing the earrings, etc.
With the experience so phenomenal, she pushed her boyfriend to do it with her the next time. He went first and all he saw was darkness and nothing. So frightening the experience, that when she revived him he panicked and accidentally killed her. And so solved the case of The Ressurection in the Remains. Frankly, I thought the Bones episode of the night was rather lacking in excitement, though all readers should take that with a grain of salt as I don't normally watch the show. Outside of a few cutesy referencings of Ichabod's strange character, his garb, how much he knows about history of that pre-revolutionary era, and an odd note with his signature on it as dictated to or by George Washington, nothing else leapt out as overly strange. There was some talk about Abbie's FBI mentor also being the mentor of Boothe and a throwaway line about Ichabod and Abbie having a romantic relationship in the future but other than that it didn't reach the heights of weirdness more than a few of us were expecting it to; instead, everything made perfect sense.
Moving into the Sleepy Hollow episode, Abbie requested the headless man's body be moved back to Sleepy Hollow as ordered by George Washington long ago. See, he had not only given the order to kill General Howe but knew that burying him in England wouldn't be beneficial to the patriots. Why? Because the purple-haired woman was right. The general had some kind of artifact that tied him into the dark plans of the evil one Ichabod and Abbie are always talking about. While they still haven't fully engaged in Christian lure and just outright said it is the devil doing this stuff, it has been hinted at more than enough times (giving him other names doesn't change that when they're going off the Christian book of Revelation). This amulet or stone the general has allows him the power of resurrection, not only making it easier for him to be resurrected by someone else (Pandora) but to call forth his own dark army that can only roam around during the night and become subterranean during the day.
Naturally, when the transport for the body is interrupted and the dead guy escapes, the Bones crew is called on for some assistance as they can get Ichabod and Abbie into a historical monument in D.C. While Brennan is tripping off of how historical of an archaeological discovery this all is, Ichabod finds a secret passage where the general's body was to originally be stored under Greek fire or napalm as scientifically pointed out by Brennan. She and Ichabod get trapped and almost burnt to death before Booth shoots out the keypad to reopen the secret passage door. I don't honestly know what to say about that part as the archaic lock popped off like cheap house siding in a summer rainstorm, prompting the question of why Abbie doesn't always do that. That was pretty much it for the Bones' crew as Ichabod and Abbie took over, discovering that General Howe's undead army was defeated by the Greek fire in the battle of Manhattan where Betsy Ross helped burn the city to the ground.
Abbie and Ichabod, along with her sister and the old sheriff's son lure the zombie-gopher soldiers into an underground tunnel where they burn them all. Then, in a strange twist, the general walks into the fire on his own and roasts himself. Still trying to figure out why he did that.
To end the episode, Bones got their new artifact to obsess over with the secret passages, Ichabod and Abbie stopped another monster-of-the-week threat that had brewed since the season opener, and Abbie was confronted with info that her sister was caught up in an ongoing FBI investigation. Again, this is a bias statement because I don't normally watch Bones, but I found Sleepy Hollow the much better episode in the crossover. I enjoy crossovers so long as they are done correctly (still waiting on that Agents of Shield/Daredevil crossover). Though they showed no split or frayed seams between the two shows, I would appreciate a little more fireworks and bizarreness the next time the network and producers go for #HollowBones. Viewers certainly did enjoy it as both shows saw a slight uptick in ratings for the historically tough Thursday night.
As a side note about ratings, with canceling season upon us, I will soon be giving my predictions on what will and won't stay and why. For now, I still have a few more premiere week three week roundup posts on new shows.
What did you think viewers? Did you watch the Bones and Sleepy Hollow crossover? Did you like it? Did one hour standout over the other? If they do this again in the future, what would you like to see happen? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign."
P.S. Yeah, it's Friday and I just hit you with a little throwback 90s jam music from Ace of Base. The lyrics sorta apply here... kinda. OK, maybe I'm reaching a little but I couldn't think of anything else to write and it was in my head. I think of something better next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of FOXAhhh! Why do I even try? Ever feel like life itself is going against you at the moment? That is precisely how I've been feeling for the last near two weeks. Every year, usually twice a year my computer gets a virus or gets so hot that it overheats and does this ten minute shutdown thing for a few days (the computer is a little old, so...). As luck would have it, both things smacked me at the same time I was doing cleanup in my garden. I had to focus on getting my yard together while trying to figure out what was wrong with my computer and ended up rebooting and re-installing everything on the computer. There's not much on here save for a few programs to help me create my books and other such works. Still, it is a hassle, especially if you have to do it a few times because the code is rootkited or whatever. I'm not going to go into it.
So, with that mini-rant about how computer viruses are from the devil, I get back on topic and give you a review of FOX's confusing and confounding crossover event from last night, Bones and Sleepy Hollow. Now, to be fair I read an article yesterday on my phone (should have saved the link and emailed it to myself) that stated how little the actors understood the crossover also. Other than the fact that they were both on Fox and both had a male and female partner that clash at first like oil and water (bad and overused cliche; hey, I haven't written anything in over a week. Gimme a break!) before accepting each other's differences and maybe even coming to appreciate them. And they're both FBI.
But when looking outside of that, one show is steeped in modern-day real world science while the other deals in fantastical paranormal occult stuff. It would be like if Walter White showed up on The Walking Dead because everyone discovered that the way to defeat the zombies was to give them blue meth. If that's confusing, well, it's probably because I don't watch the Walking Dead, or it could also be the fact that the idea doesn't make any sense. If anything, FOX could have done a crossover between Rosewood and Bones (something I expect they will do come next season) or a crossover between Sleepy Hollow and, uh... hmph? The one show I can think of is NBC's Grimm but network logistics and all. Other than that, they could have waited until their Lucifer show (premiering mid-season) came out but who knows if that'll last and if it'll replace Sleepy Hollow as the strange show on the network.
How did they do with this strange, ill-advised crossover event? Believe it or not, I'd say they did OK. First off, though I wanted it to be, I quickly realized that this wasn't going to be some explosive mind-blowing crossover that ends with all of the crossover characters in a shootout for their lives and situations that had long-lasting repercussions on both shows. No, this was more of a toe-dip into the water of making a shared TV universe where they can have their different shows crossover with little problem to mark special occasions. In this case, the occasion was Halloween as this was to be a haunting crossover spectacular. And while it didn't live up to that moniker per se, it did do a nice job at making us believe these two radically different-in-tone shows could coexist in the same universe.
Beginning with Bones, the team found two pairs of human bones because... well, the show is called Bones. I can't imagine what it'd be without actual bones. Anyway, the first set of bones belonged to a woman from this time period. Recently dead, she had much of her skull intact and had clue markers on her like hair that had recently been dyed back from a previous purple hue, and multiple earring holes. Nicely dressed, she appeared to have been a puritanical church girl until those two clues (because straight-laced people would never do something so silly as dye their hair a cool color or get more than one ear piercing).
They discover that she was actually a doctor going for higher position, so she wanted to be taken seriously. That, however, still did not account for why she was found in the near vicinity of the second dead body. Enter Ichabod and Abbie. The second body belongs to a redcoat fella from back when redcoats and bluecoats and midnight rides were still a thing. He first determines that the man is one person but when Dr. Brennan does a facial reconstruction and analysis through her neat machine, they match the possible face to the man that Ichabod had been talking about for the last few weeks, a General Howe. I say possible face because for more than half of the show the body did not have a head. Why? Because the purple-haired woman believed back when she was alive a myth from long ago that spoke of the head somehow being a gateway into life after death. Essentially a good luck charm, she could resurrect so long as she had the head near her. How she discovered the body was where it was I can't recall, but she found the general's grave, sliced off his skull and took it back to her place where she participated in a crazy stunt.
A morbid but natural fascination with death, the woman had previously gotten a doctor friend to stop her heart with a drug cocktail before reviving her. When she died, she went to what she perceived as a stop before heaven where she spoke with her sister who died as a young child (the catalyst for her death intrigue). This life-changing experience is what prompted her to act differently, re-dying the hair, removing the earrings, etc.
With the experience so phenomenal, she pushed her boyfriend to do it with her the next time. He went first and all he saw was darkness and nothing. So frightening the experience, that when she revived him he panicked and accidentally killed her. And so solved the case of The Ressurection in the Remains. Frankly, I thought the Bones episode of the night was rather lacking in excitement, though all readers should take that with a grain of salt as I don't normally watch the show. Outside of a few cutesy referencings of Ichabod's strange character, his garb, how much he knows about history of that pre-revolutionary era, and an odd note with his signature on it as dictated to or by George Washington, nothing else leapt out as overly strange. There was some talk about Abbie's FBI mentor also being the mentor of Boothe and a throwaway line about Ichabod and Abbie having a romantic relationship in the future but other than that it didn't reach the heights of weirdness more than a few of us were expecting it to; instead, everything made perfect sense.
Moving into the Sleepy Hollow episode, Abbie requested the headless man's body be moved back to Sleepy Hollow as ordered by George Washington long ago. See, he had not only given the order to kill General Howe but knew that burying him in England wouldn't be beneficial to the patriots. Why? Because the purple-haired woman was right. The general had some kind of artifact that tied him into the dark plans of the evil one Ichabod and Abbie are always talking about. While they still haven't fully engaged in Christian lure and just outright said it is the devil doing this stuff, it has been hinted at more than enough times (giving him other names doesn't change that when they're going off the Christian book of Revelation). This amulet or stone the general has allows him the power of resurrection, not only making it easier for him to be resurrected by someone else (Pandora) but to call forth his own dark army that can only roam around during the night and become subterranean during the day.
Naturally, when the transport for the body is interrupted and the dead guy escapes, the Bones crew is called on for some assistance as they can get Ichabod and Abbie into a historical monument in D.C. While Brennan is tripping off of how historical of an archaeological discovery this all is, Ichabod finds a secret passage where the general's body was to originally be stored under Greek fire or napalm as scientifically pointed out by Brennan. She and Ichabod get trapped and almost burnt to death before Booth shoots out the keypad to reopen the secret passage door. I don't honestly know what to say about that part as the archaic lock popped off like cheap house siding in a summer rainstorm, prompting the question of why Abbie doesn't always do that. That was pretty much it for the Bones' crew as Ichabod and Abbie took over, discovering that General Howe's undead army was defeated by the Greek fire in the battle of Manhattan where Betsy Ross helped burn the city to the ground.
Abbie and Ichabod, along with her sister and the old sheriff's son lure the zombie-gopher soldiers into an underground tunnel where they burn them all. Then, in a strange twist, the general walks into the fire on his own and roasts himself. Still trying to figure out why he did that.
To end the episode, Bones got their new artifact to obsess over with the secret passages, Ichabod and Abbie stopped another monster-of-the-week threat that had brewed since the season opener, and Abbie was confronted with info that her sister was caught up in an ongoing FBI investigation. Again, this is a bias statement because I don't normally watch Bones, but I found Sleepy Hollow the much better episode in the crossover. I enjoy crossovers so long as they are done correctly (still waiting on that Agents of Shield/Daredevil crossover). Though they showed no split or frayed seams between the two shows, I would appreciate a little more fireworks and bizarreness the next time the network and producers go for #HollowBones. Viewers certainly did enjoy it as both shows saw a slight uptick in ratings for the historically tough Thursday night.
As a side note about ratings, with canceling season upon us, I will soon be giving my predictions on what will and won't stay and why. For now, I still have a few more premiere week three week roundup posts on new shows.
What did you think viewers? Did you watch the Bones and Sleepy Hollow crossover? Did you like it? Did one hour standout over the other? If they do this again in the future, what would you like to see happen? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign."
P.S. Yeah, it's Friday and I just hit you with a little throwback 90s jam music from Ace of Base. The lyrics sorta apply here... kinda. OK, maybe I'm reaching a little but I couldn't think of anything else to write and it was in my head. I think of something better next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
October 18, 2015
The Doctor Is In The House And He IS... #DrKen #PremiereWeek #3WeekRoundUp
The Doctor Is In The House And He IS... #DrKen #PremiereWeek#3WeekRoundUp
All pictures courtesy of ABC unless otherwise stated
So, here it is, ladies and gentlemen. My post on ABC's new comedy Dr. Ken. Again, I'd remind you that if you want my original thoughts on the show, click the #Premiere Week button up top and scroll all the way down to ABC. As a quick refresher for those that won't do that, I will say that Dr. Ken had me on the fence as far as anticipation went. While I enjoy Ken's humor in other things--The Hangover series and Community--I didn't know how well it could translate over to his own show. So, did it translate or no?
On Dr. Ken, Ken Jeong plays a doctor who, from what I can tell, is a general practitioner. While he doesn't have his own practice, he works in a private in- and outpatient treatment clinic somewhere in California I believe it was, though I have to admit locale details were sparse. He's quite rude to his patients who, in return, are rude to him and don't often pay attention to his diagnosis. This is evidenced by the first episode in which a man comes in and believes (read: self-diagnoses) that he has a few hemorrhoids which would quickly pass. He gets into a back and forth with Ken where the good doctor tells him he actually should have a colonic and that there could be something else wrong with him than booty bumps. As the man learns at the end of the episode, he listens to Dr. Ken and goes to have the flush-out, finding non-malignant polyps inside of him. Though he complained enough to have Dr. Ken potentially fired, in the end the doctor proved right and helped to save his life.
Dr. Ken has a mix of coworkers who all seem a little off and help to add to the comedy. You first have prime time sitcom vet Tisha Campbell-Martin who viewers will remember from her stints on 90s hit comedy Martin and early aughts gone-too-soon comedy My Wife and Kids. Head nurse, she plays on the same comedic wavelength as Ken sometimes, daring to go over-the-top with her outlandishness. Her experience and the amount of funny she brings to the cast is nice to see.
Next is the secondary doctor in Ken's small posse of friends. Dr. Julie (first names for everybody!) is the perky, I-just-love-my-job-because-I'm-helping-so-many-people type. Again, no specialty given, I suppose she, too, is a general practitioner. Her voice is high and chirpy like a Tweety bird and though she is dark-haired, she plays the role of the ditsy blonde. Though the actress playing her has a fair amount of credits to her name, she hasn't hit big on anything yet and can still be considered a fairly new comer on the scene. Her character is fluff, the Phoebe from friends of the group. As a side note, you know I had a mental lapse and had to look up Lisa Kudrow's character name on Friends on IMDb--Happy 25th Birthday IMDb--and guess what they didn'thave as her four big "most known for" roles.
Next, we have Hector. Hector is played by another comedy veteran who has been seen in bit roles and character roles ever since back when he had a full head of hair. Check just about any NBC or ABC canceled comedy in the last decade and he's been on it at some point, not to say that he is bad luck or the reason these things get canned. Hector is Dr. Ken's designated nurse working side-by-side with him. He thinks of Dr. Ken as his work husband and a big deal is made of their friendship on the second episode when he turns from Ken after not receiving the proper recognition he believed he deserved for becoming a registered nurse. If he wasn't good in his role, people wouldn't keep hiring him.
While the supporting cast at work is good, the one at home matches if not surpasses it. Married to an Asian woman who is a psychologist or therapist or psychiatrist (not really sure), they live in a near palatial home. They have two children, a girl and a boy. The girl gets her license the first episode causing the overly protective and controlling Ken to freak out about her whereabouts. In the end, he learns a lesson when his daughter doesn't attend a rave like he thought she did. Her name being Molly, he gets arrested by an undercover cop when his searching for his daughter is mistaken for him trying to buy the drug. Laughs and hugs all around when he realized that he had to let his daughter grow up to be a woman which meant allowing her a little more freedom.
Daddy-daughter bonding
His wife, played by Suzy Nakamura who has been on the fringe of the spotlight for years now and has surely been "that one Asian woman from that thing" on more than a few occasions both brings an understated comedy to the show (she does have to play the straight man to her husband's foolery) and maintains a sense of warmth and realism not seen since, dare I say it Clair Huxtable. She's not neurotic, doesn't come off as a desperately oversensitive mom that wants the approval of the cool label, though in the second episode she is intimidated by Ken's parents when they visit. In a rather humorous twist, the parents bond with her and the children when they hear their son is late to dinner every night because of having to attend a sensitivity course assigned after Hector files a patient complaint for the whole RN diss. The parents wholly agree with their daughter-in-law's assessment that Ken is overly angry much of the time. They even add their own source of laughter after visiting, his overuse of the qualifying phrase, "as a doctor."
The third episode dealt with a small issue of helicopter parenting/teaching your child to stand up for himself. Called names at school, it is Allison (his wife's name) who tries to defend her son. Their son seems to be a little slow or just all around goofy similar to the character played by most young kids these days. They're supposedly always out of touch with their own feelings and life in general as the boy doesn't know how he feels about the new nickname he is given. Dr. Ken deals with his own separation from the crowd at work when he earns a better parking spot and weekends off as a senior staff member who puts in excellent work. Both issues are resolved when Ken fights for the rights of his colleagues and Allison takes on a nickname from the bullying preteens herself, thereby distracting them long enough to return to calling her son his proper name.
What's my grade? I give it a solid B leaning toward B+. It's not going to be anything you haven't seen before if you've been watching TV for 20-30 years, or even 10 years. But it is a nice change of pace from the influx of one-camera comedies with no laugh tracks that Bernie Mac started way back in the day. It's filled with doctor-patient humor that I'm sure plenty of people will identify with, albeit on the wrong side sometimes (most of Ken's patients self-diagnose and stray from his treatment regimen). The wife is allowed to be a woman with an identity separate from her children and husband which is also refreshing. This may sound racist but I hope they bring more of their own ethnic experiences into the comedy as Fresh Off The Boat and Blackish do. Ken can really open it up with the over-the-topness on the racial subject matter, though I know how tiresome this can be for any ethnicity. ABC has been desperately trying to bring back TGIF when in the 90s they had Boy Meets World, Family Matters, Step-by-Step and Full House. I can say I think this is another solid step in the right direction.
Should you be watching? Again, with comedies it is always up to you. With the solid B score and ratings that are quite good for a Friday at 8:30, I would say that yes you should be watching. Tim Allen as his lead-in, the two shows are just different enough humor-wise for you to enjoy them both. If you have a family not embroiled in Friday night lights of any sport or extracurricular activities and you aren't using it as your Netflix and chill night with your significant other or just to catch up on your DVR, then I say give this show two to three episodes to impress you. It probably won't garner your attention every week, but it should give you a few good chuckles.
What do you think? Will Dr. Ken see you as his next patient--erm, viewer? Have you seen the show? If so, which area do you think is funnier, his work life or his home life? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “ha ha ha ha ha! It's funny because he's fat."
P.S. Mr. Chow. So we meet again. Better sign-off next time. You know the deal.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of ABC unless otherwise stated
So, here it is, ladies and gentlemen. My post on ABC's new comedy Dr. Ken. Again, I'd remind you that if you want my original thoughts on the show, click the #Premiere Week button up top and scroll all the way down to ABC. As a quick refresher for those that won't do that, I will say that Dr. Ken had me on the fence as far as anticipation went. While I enjoy Ken's humor in other things--The Hangover series and Community--I didn't know how well it could translate over to his own show. So, did it translate or no?
On Dr. Ken, Ken Jeong plays a doctor who, from what I can tell, is a general practitioner. While he doesn't have his own practice, he works in a private in- and outpatient treatment clinic somewhere in California I believe it was, though I have to admit locale details were sparse. He's quite rude to his patients who, in return, are rude to him and don't often pay attention to his diagnosis. This is evidenced by the first episode in which a man comes in and believes (read: self-diagnoses) that he has a few hemorrhoids which would quickly pass. He gets into a back and forth with Ken where the good doctor tells him he actually should have a colonic and that there could be something else wrong with him than booty bumps. As the man learns at the end of the episode, he listens to Dr. Ken and goes to have the flush-out, finding non-malignant polyps inside of him. Though he complained enough to have Dr. Ken potentially fired, in the end the doctor proved right and helped to save his life.
Dr. Ken has a mix of coworkers who all seem a little off and help to add to the comedy. You first have prime time sitcom vet Tisha Campbell-Martin who viewers will remember from her stints on 90s hit comedy Martin and early aughts gone-too-soon comedy My Wife and Kids. Head nurse, she plays on the same comedic wavelength as Ken sometimes, daring to go over-the-top with her outlandishness. Her experience and the amount of funny she brings to the cast is nice to see.
Next is the secondary doctor in Ken's small posse of friends. Dr. Julie (first names for everybody!) is the perky, I-just-love-my-job-because-I'm-helping-so-many-people type. Again, no specialty given, I suppose she, too, is a general practitioner. Her voice is high and chirpy like a Tweety bird and though she is dark-haired, she plays the role of the ditsy blonde. Though the actress playing her has a fair amount of credits to her name, she hasn't hit big on anything yet and can still be considered a fairly new comer on the scene. Her character is fluff, the Phoebe from friends of the group. As a side note, you know I had a mental lapse and had to look up Lisa Kudrow's character name on Friends on IMDb--Happy 25th Birthday IMDb--and guess what they didn'thave as her four big "most known for" roles.
Next, we have Hector. Hector is played by another comedy veteran who has been seen in bit roles and character roles ever since back when he had a full head of hair. Check just about any NBC or ABC canceled comedy in the last decade and he's been on it at some point, not to say that he is bad luck or the reason these things get canned. Hector is Dr. Ken's designated nurse working side-by-side with him. He thinks of Dr. Ken as his work husband and a big deal is made of their friendship on the second episode when he turns from Ken after not receiving the proper recognition he believed he deserved for becoming a registered nurse. If he wasn't good in his role, people wouldn't keep hiring him.
While the supporting cast at work is good, the one at home matches if not surpasses it. Married to an Asian woman who is a psychologist or therapist or psychiatrist (not really sure), they live in a near palatial home. They have two children, a girl and a boy. The girl gets her license the first episode causing the overly protective and controlling Ken to freak out about her whereabouts. In the end, he learns a lesson when his daughter doesn't attend a rave like he thought she did. Her name being Molly, he gets arrested by an undercover cop when his searching for his daughter is mistaken for him trying to buy the drug. Laughs and hugs all around when he realized that he had to let his daughter grow up to be a woman which meant allowing her a little more freedom.
Daddy-daughter bondingHis wife, played by Suzy Nakamura who has been on the fringe of the spotlight for years now and has surely been "that one Asian woman from that thing" on more than a few occasions both brings an understated comedy to the show (she does have to play the straight man to her husband's foolery) and maintains a sense of warmth and realism not seen since, dare I say it Clair Huxtable. She's not neurotic, doesn't come off as a desperately oversensitive mom that wants the approval of the cool label, though in the second episode she is intimidated by Ken's parents when they visit. In a rather humorous twist, the parents bond with her and the children when they hear their son is late to dinner every night because of having to attend a sensitivity course assigned after Hector files a patient complaint for the whole RN diss. The parents wholly agree with their daughter-in-law's assessment that Ken is overly angry much of the time. They even add their own source of laughter after visiting, his overuse of the qualifying phrase, "as a doctor."
The third episode dealt with a small issue of helicopter parenting/teaching your child to stand up for himself. Called names at school, it is Allison (his wife's name) who tries to defend her son. Their son seems to be a little slow or just all around goofy similar to the character played by most young kids these days. They're supposedly always out of touch with their own feelings and life in general as the boy doesn't know how he feels about the new nickname he is given. Dr. Ken deals with his own separation from the crowd at work when he earns a better parking spot and weekends off as a senior staff member who puts in excellent work. Both issues are resolved when Ken fights for the rights of his colleagues and Allison takes on a nickname from the bullying preteens herself, thereby distracting them long enough to return to calling her son his proper name.
What's my grade? I give it a solid B leaning toward B+. It's not going to be anything you haven't seen before if you've been watching TV for 20-30 years, or even 10 years. But it is a nice change of pace from the influx of one-camera comedies with no laugh tracks that Bernie Mac started way back in the day. It's filled with doctor-patient humor that I'm sure plenty of people will identify with, albeit on the wrong side sometimes (most of Ken's patients self-diagnose and stray from his treatment regimen). The wife is allowed to be a woman with an identity separate from her children and husband which is also refreshing. This may sound racist but I hope they bring more of their own ethnic experiences into the comedy as Fresh Off The Boat and Blackish do. Ken can really open it up with the over-the-topness on the racial subject matter, though I know how tiresome this can be for any ethnicity. ABC has been desperately trying to bring back TGIF when in the 90s they had Boy Meets World, Family Matters, Step-by-Step and Full House. I can say I think this is another solid step in the right direction.
Should you be watching? Again, with comedies it is always up to you. With the solid B score and ratings that are quite good for a Friday at 8:30, I would say that yes you should be watching. Tim Allen as his lead-in, the two shows are just different enough humor-wise for you to enjoy them both. If you have a family not embroiled in Friday night lights of any sport or extracurricular activities and you aren't using it as your Netflix and chill night with your significant other or just to catch up on your DVR, then I say give this show two to three episodes to impress you. It probably won't garner your attention every week, but it should give you a few good chuckles.
What do you think? Will Dr. Ken see you as his next patient--erm, viewer? Have you seen the show? If so, which area do you think is funnier, his work life or his home life? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “ha ha ha ha ha! It's funny because he's fat."
P.S. Mr. Chow. So we meet again. Better sign-off next time. You know the deal.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
October 17, 2015
Cornstalks, Bullets, And GMOs? Finally Something Close To My Heart #TheBlacklist #NBC
Cornstalks, Bullets, And GMOs? Finally Something Close To My Heart #TheBlacklist#NBC #DVRRewind
All pictures courtesy of NBC
In a twisted episode quite near and dear to my heart in a way, last night's The Blacklist (#TheBlacklist) dealt with a villain named Eli Matchett. Not necessarily a Blacklister from Red's or the FBI's personal list, he is a homegrown terrorist who really only wants revenge on the big, evil GMO corporation. Hold on to your butts people, because this is going to be a crazy ride just in case you missed it or need a refresher.
After the daring and artfully done escape from a restaurant they sieged last week, Red and Elizabeth rode their freight container all the way to Iowa. Why Iowa instead of across the Atlantic Ocean like originally planned? Because Red is hellbent on clearing Liz's name. To do that, he must bring down the Cabal--those creepy behind the shadow controllers of everything. He wants to pin everything on the director and get Liz back on US soil safely where she no longer has to flee. Well, the best way to bring down a secretive, world-controlling organization is to bring down its funds and, as most secretive, world-controlling organizations, the Cabal has to launder their money because much of it is illegally gotten. For instance, the Illuminati's money is funneled through OPEC which funnels its money into the oil and cleans the money by selling it to the people all around the world so that every time you buy a tank of gas or turn on your natural gas-fueled power you're cleaning the money of an illegal group.
On The Hunt For The Missing Farmworker
Anyway, Red knows that a GMO corn-creating company called Verdiant is the global corporation laundering the Cabal's money. If they can bring that corporation to its knees, then they'll have the Cabal and leverage. And how do they do that? Easy, steal some corporate trade secrets. Enter Eli Matchett. Eli is second or third or even fourth generation farmer who grew up, lived and worked on the same family farm for years until he had a legal scuffle with Verdiant. See, the corn seed Monsanto--oops, slip off the fingers, I meant Verdiant makes is too costly for the small-time farmers but in high demand. They produce faster and have genetic properties that help to fight off pests so they also produce a bigger crop.
Unfortunately, they don't play nice with farmers and would rather drive them out of business and grow food on their own corporately structured mega-farms. Well, a while back Verdiant decided to grow some of this new GMO corn strain that hadn't yet been fully patented. Upwind from Eli's farm, when some of the strain cross-pollinated (I'm sure you farmers and gardeners are going crazy right now; yay, language I understand!) with his own strain, they sued him for patent infringement or some other legalese for supposedly stealing their GMO. What? Pure insanity!
Not only did he lose his crop from that, but he lost the farm trying to pay bills and such. The farm was bought by Verdiant and then turned into another one of those industrial mega farms. He wants that sweet Silver Queen revenge. So, he devises a plan to steal the trade secrets of the company to sell them? No, to find the GMOs weaknesses and modify the bugs that eat corn to know such a weakness. Release the bugs, kill the corn, create famine and a world food crisis in a matter of two months--yes, Verdiant's corn is grown across the globe.
Red just wants the info for the purposes described above, but knowing that an industrial farm was hit just earlier that day (how the hell does he know this? He was stuck in a shipping container with Keen the whole time) in Iowa he and Liz track this Eli man and his band of angry farmers through the fields of the great state. As it turns out, Ressler pieces together their D.C. escape and is hot on the trail of the missing cargo freight. He tracks it to Iowa where they discover that a farm had been hit earlier too and go to the house of the missing farm worker as everyone else that came in that day was dead. Converging on the same secret lab, Red and Keen make a harrowing escape as they try to get the needed data just before Ressler and the one woman arrives (damn, what is her name). They arrive to see the bugs and they know what Eli was doing.
Stopping at a diner for no particular reason other than food and to show Keen sinking farther into Breaking Bad territory as she shoots an undercover cop (she didn't know he was a cop) who identifies them, she freaks for a few minutes about the things she's done and how the man will surely die because there's probably no heart surgeons around to save him. That gets Red thinking about how this simple farmer got into contact with a bio-geneticist that would engineer a bug to attack the corn. The genius he is, he uploads some info about Verdiant back to those that still believe in him and Keen at the Blacklist HQ. He then goes to confront one of the Verdiant execs at her house. Turns out, Verdiant was steathily behind their own company's attack. They gave the farmer the geneticist to create the bugs. They already had a strain of corn even stronger and equipped against such infestations. They would get their biggest opponent killed or captured, and look like heroes when they released the corn strain as the world approached the precipice of catastrophe. Arrests all around for the Verdiant executives, surely interrupting the Cabal's money flow but not crippling it.
Tom Is Back For Yummy Asian Cuisine
And while Red and Keen remain on the run, there were a few side-stories that didn't render much: Dembe's (aka Mufasa) absence had finally been noticed by Red who called the little guy with glasses to find him. He's still being held in an abandoned factory somewhere. Keen's ex came back to chat with Ressler about finding Liz. Ressler says no and lets him leave but Harold Cooper goes to him with a proposition at the end of the episode. And that proposition is... stay tuned for next week's The Blacklist.
What did you think of season 3, episode 4? Did you want something more out of the Cooper/fake Keen meeting? Were you shocked that only now did Red realize his right hand man was gone? How did he know about the theft before he knew about that? And who was that other person they threw into the room with Dembe? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “Even though we have won this battle, we have already lost the war."
P.S. Is that from a great literary work of fiction or nonfiction? Do you know? A mystery is a foot my dear reader. I'll come up with a better sign-off next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of NBC In a twisted episode quite near and dear to my heart in a way, last night's The Blacklist (#TheBlacklist) dealt with a villain named Eli Matchett. Not necessarily a Blacklister from Red's or the FBI's personal list, he is a homegrown terrorist who really only wants revenge on the big, evil GMO corporation. Hold on to your butts people, because this is going to be a crazy ride just in case you missed it or need a refresher.
After the daring and artfully done escape from a restaurant they sieged last week, Red and Elizabeth rode their freight container all the way to Iowa. Why Iowa instead of across the Atlantic Ocean like originally planned? Because Red is hellbent on clearing Liz's name. To do that, he must bring down the Cabal--those creepy behind the shadow controllers of everything. He wants to pin everything on the director and get Liz back on US soil safely where she no longer has to flee. Well, the best way to bring down a secretive, world-controlling organization is to bring down its funds and, as most secretive, world-controlling organizations, the Cabal has to launder their money because much of it is illegally gotten. For instance, the Illuminati's money is funneled through OPEC which funnels its money into the oil and cleans the money by selling it to the people all around the world so that every time you buy a tank of gas or turn on your natural gas-fueled power you're cleaning the money of an illegal group.
On The Hunt For The Missing FarmworkerAnyway, Red knows that a GMO corn-creating company called Verdiant is the global corporation laundering the Cabal's money. If they can bring that corporation to its knees, then they'll have the Cabal and leverage. And how do they do that? Easy, steal some corporate trade secrets. Enter Eli Matchett. Eli is second or third or even fourth generation farmer who grew up, lived and worked on the same family farm for years until he had a legal scuffle with Verdiant. See, the corn seed Monsanto--oops, slip off the fingers, I meant Verdiant makes is too costly for the small-time farmers but in high demand. They produce faster and have genetic properties that help to fight off pests so they also produce a bigger crop.
Unfortunately, they don't play nice with farmers and would rather drive them out of business and grow food on their own corporately structured mega-farms. Well, a while back Verdiant decided to grow some of this new GMO corn strain that hadn't yet been fully patented. Upwind from Eli's farm, when some of the strain cross-pollinated (I'm sure you farmers and gardeners are going crazy right now; yay, language I understand!) with his own strain, they sued him for patent infringement or some other legalese for supposedly stealing their GMO. What? Pure insanity!
Not only did he lose his crop from that, but he lost the farm trying to pay bills and such. The farm was bought by Verdiant and then turned into another one of those industrial mega farms. He wants that sweet Silver Queen revenge. So, he devises a plan to steal the trade secrets of the company to sell them? No, to find the GMOs weaknesses and modify the bugs that eat corn to know such a weakness. Release the bugs, kill the corn, create famine and a world food crisis in a matter of two months--yes, Verdiant's corn is grown across the globe.
Red just wants the info for the purposes described above, but knowing that an industrial farm was hit just earlier that day (how the hell does he know this? He was stuck in a shipping container with Keen the whole time) in Iowa he and Liz track this Eli man and his band of angry farmers through the fields of the great state. As it turns out, Ressler pieces together their D.C. escape and is hot on the trail of the missing cargo freight. He tracks it to Iowa where they discover that a farm had been hit earlier too and go to the house of the missing farm worker as everyone else that came in that day was dead. Converging on the same secret lab, Red and Keen make a harrowing escape as they try to get the needed data just before Ressler and the one woman arrives (damn, what is her name). They arrive to see the bugs and they know what Eli was doing.
Stopping at a diner for no particular reason other than food and to show Keen sinking farther into Breaking Bad territory as she shoots an undercover cop (she didn't know he was a cop) who identifies them, she freaks for a few minutes about the things she's done and how the man will surely die because there's probably no heart surgeons around to save him. That gets Red thinking about how this simple farmer got into contact with a bio-geneticist that would engineer a bug to attack the corn. The genius he is, he uploads some info about Verdiant back to those that still believe in him and Keen at the Blacklist HQ. He then goes to confront one of the Verdiant execs at her house. Turns out, Verdiant was steathily behind their own company's attack. They gave the farmer the geneticist to create the bugs. They already had a strain of corn even stronger and equipped against such infestations. They would get their biggest opponent killed or captured, and look like heroes when they released the corn strain as the world approached the precipice of catastrophe. Arrests all around for the Verdiant executives, surely interrupting the Cabal's money flow but not crippling it.
Tom Is Back For Yummy Asian CuisineAnd while Red and Keen remain on the run, there were a few side-stories that didn't render much: Dembe's (aka Mufasa) absence had finally been noticed by Red who called the little guy with glasses to find him. He's still being held in an abandoned factory somewhere. Keen's ex came back to chat with Ressler about finding Liz. Ressler says no and lets him leave but Harold Cooper goes to him with a proposition at the end of the episode. And that proposition is... stay tuned for next week's The Blacklist.
What did you think of season 3, episode 4? Did you want something more out of the Cooper/fake Keen meeting? Were you shocked that only now did Red realize his right hand man was gone? How did he know about the theft before he knew about that? And who was that other person they threw into the room with Dembe? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalking If you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHomeor #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “Even though we have won this battle, we have already lost the war."
P.S. Is that from a great literary work of fiction or nonfiction? Do you know? A mystery is a foot my dear reader. I'll come up with a better sign-off next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
