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Michael Stephenson's Blog, page 7
October 14, 2016
Crying? There’s No—OK, Fine! I Won’t Use The Same Cliche Movie Line As Every Other Reviewer #Pitch #FOX #3weekroundup
Crying? There’s No—OK, Fine! I Won’t Use The Same Cliche Movie Line As Every Other Reviewer #Pitch #FOX #3weekroundup
All pictures courtesy of FOX
Back at it again, not only with another three-week roundup review but with the opening line to remind you that it is a three-week roundup review. For those who don’t know, this is where I make my judgment on the first three episodes of a series (giving it a chance to build and bud into success before grading it) and give you a recap of the first three episodes. So, does FOX’s new sports drama hit a grand slam or will it [insert second baseball cliché of this review, meaning something bad]? Let’s find out.
Pitch stars the magnificently hot and overly scrumptious Kylie Bunbury as Ginny Baker—I know, we’re slidin’ right into the sexism. Ha! I just snuck a cliché baseball play in there without you even noticing. I’m smooth like that. Ginny Baker is a young 20-something baseball player who happens to be the first woman ever to play in the major leagues, that’s the MLB for those of you who, in real life, find baseball to be too boring and comparable to sitting around listening to your grandma and her friends in their knitting circle while they talk about the foods they eat to keep regular and she makes you hold her yarn ball. Essentially the female Jackie Robinson, it is a drama following the trials and tribulations of her being sent up from the minors to play on her first big team, the San Diego Padres after their starting pitcher is injured. In a ploy by management to not only get more butts in seats but liven up the dug-out, they call down to their affiliate and there she appears.
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Episode one gets us acclimated to the new digs as we follow Ginny’s new hectic life. She awakes on game day, her first day in the league, hops in the backseat of her chauffeured car and is taken to the game by a driver with her manager/agent at her side. Her manager (Ali Larter) used to be a bigwig in Hollywood and worked with A-list talent as we learn in episode two but she now has only Ginny as her client, and what a client she will be. After telling the driver that this young girl is the biggest, most important person he’s ever driven (not true as he once drove Michael Jackson), she helps to guide the girl through her first day. But Ginny doesn’t really need guiding. While all the lights flash and camera-phones record, Ginny is reliving her journey to the big leagues, starting with days in her youth spent with her father as her personal coach.
A show told half in flashbacks, we see Ginny as a small child watching her older brother play hit and catch with her father one summer night. Hardly good at it, the domineering man shoos the boy away as he is trying to “make a ball player.” He, instead, picks his daughter to play catch with and discovers that she has a natural talent for throwing the ball. And so her journey begins. Back to the current time and she is stepping out of the car to meet with not only the general manager (the guy in the suit not the one in the dug-out; played by Mark Consuelos, Kelly Ripa’s husband) who is doing his best trying to play behind-the-scenes politics, but also with the other head of the team, who I initially assumed was the president and/or owner, but come to find out in episode three this guy is a minority owner who has been given power by the other owners to run all baseball operations for the team. He, along with the other top brass, decides that to mark the special occasion they give her the jersey number of 43, one more than Jackie Robinson’s 42. As they have a press conference, Larter (again, her manager) tells Consuelos that she is the most important woman in the world right now: Hillary Clinton with sex appeal, The Kardashians with a skill-set; in other words, she’s pretty and can do stuff.
Her day continues with the informal meet with the catcher and superstar of the team (side note: didn’t know a catcher could be a superstar of a baseball team, but hey! OK. I guess if he hits well) Mike Lawson (played by the always good Mark Paul-Gosselaar in probably his most dramatic TV role ever). He slaps her butt after talking with her and she reads him the riot act about sexual harassment. He then counters that with how he is a butt-slapper. That’s his thing. He does it to everybody and seeing as how he is team captain, if she wants to be treated like one of the guys, she’ll allow him to slap her butt, too. Nothing sexual.
Not completely alone in her journey, she has Blip Sanders (played by Mo McRae) to be the friendly face/shoulder on which to lean. A previous teammate in the minors, they came up together for years before he got the call-up to turn pro before she did. No romantic feelings there (her rule is that she doesn’t date other ball players) he is happily married but acts as a best friend and calls her out for having a bubble butt the moment he sees her walk into the locker room. This only calms her nerves so much, as she can’t escape the glare of the spotlight. Her first game has a full stadium of home fans equipped with tons of little girls seeking her autograph. She obliges and looks into the stands to find her parents looking proudly back at her. As she takes the mound, she flashes back to another memory of one of her childhood games with her dad sitting in the crowd. Looking to be near the age of puberty, she strikes out one of the guys to win the game for her team and thinks she’s done something, before her dad quickly and sharply informs her, “we ain’t done nothin’ yet!”
That is when he teaches her this special pitch, this pitch that he learned in some foreign, mystical land from some baseball voodoo priest. OK, not really, but that’s halfway how it sounds because the pitch is so magical that it will undo the handicap she will undoubtedly have as physiology and biology take over in boys’ puberty.
Back to her first game and she does terribly. Pitches too high, too low, nowhere near the plate—she’s too nervous to do it and walks not one but a few players. They lose. Bigly! And we get another flashback to where she is coached to pitch by her father. He wants her to throw a strike, but she struggles in the night’s dark, unable to do it. Then, he calls out her brother and slaps the crap out of him totally Joe Jackson/Ike Turner-ing his face, with the promise that every time she doesn’t throw a strike, he’ll hit her brother. She throws one immediately and he tells her that she can do it when she has to. Yay, abusive black fathers! Just what TV needs more of.
Back to current time and she is pissed that she failed in her first outing. Then she has a huge argument in her hotel room with her father about how this was his dream (it was) and he shouldn’t have done this to her (he probably shouldn’t have), but this argument reinvigorates her resolve to do good on the next game as the team has decided to keep her on for at least five games instead of the previously discussed one. Not only are they keeping her, but management tells the coach that they can’t sit her either because of the optics that’ll give out that she’s not good enough, they chose the wrong woman for this, and etc. All she wants to do is get back in and play her game.
As Mike fields questions about her, Blip’s wife helps her get her head unspooled and chill. Blip and Mike discuss how Mike can be a good mentor for her if he gets rid of his own bias. He wants the chip for his legacy but knows he probably won’t get it. Blip convinces him that this, whether Ginny does well, will be a big part of his legacy.
As another game comes up, so comes another flashback to a crucial state championship win that catches the eye of a Padres minor league scout. Her father by her side, he reminds her that “we ain’t done nothin’ yet” even after the win. Back to the current day and she starts to freeze up on the mound again when Mike walks to her and tries to give her an uplifting speech. It is rather obvious that Mark/Mike is partly the comic relief while also playing the Carl Winslow-ish father/big brother figure. He’s an ass, but he’s also a veteran who knows a lot about the game. It certainly reminds of her father. She shakes free from the willies and gets her pitch back, throwing her first strike, and then another, and another! Her legacy is dang-near cemented when she pitches out a potential grand slam. After that, she is pulled from the game so that her decent game can have a closer come in and give her the win. She gets the win and the crowd goes wild!
Not everyone enthused, the injured pitcher calls her the b-word which causes a fight between him and Blip. The fight makes it to a reporter and up the line to management who immediately thinks that the head coach (I know that’s not what they call them but indulge me) played by Wonder Years' dad Dan Lauria has lost control of the team and their respect. They want to fire him, something that spills into the other episodes.But at the end of the episode, it is revealed that the night Ginny was scouted by the Padres minor league guy, her father was driving her home when he took his eyes off the road as he was going to fix that line about having done something when they are hit head-on by a truck. She survives but he is killed. She had been seeing his ghost the whole time through the show.
Episode two sees “Ginsanity” kick into high effect. With every sports news show talking about the girl that’s beating the boys, she’s just trying to be one of the guys, an 80s movie reference that was supposed to be a teenage drama loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Yes, I also saw that movie and that end scene is spectacular. In this episode, we go farther into Ginny’s journey and connection with her manager. Larter’s character found her while she was still in the minors and being repped by her older brother. He got her a big deal (to him) with some local company that Larter sees as limiting. In Larter’s flashback scenes, it is revealed that the reason she switched her life up is because it was semi-forced upon her when her husband (now ex) decided that he didn’t want to keep trying to get pregnant after failed in vitro and, I’m assuming, years at it. This is actually quite understandable and very common for couples to break apart both after losing a child and due to not being able to have one. He doesn’t even want the same life they’ve lived anymore. This causes her to also want to abandon her Hollywood life on a whim when she sees Ginny making the news in the minors. She gets Ginny one deal that makes her older brother realize he can’t continue to be her manager, and she is in. But the job doesn’t cover up her loneliness.
Meanwhile, as Ginny is the poster girl for feminism, a track star is raped by another college track boy down in Florida. Every reporter, especially a particular female one played by Joanna Garcia Swisher wants Ginny’s reaction. I mention Joanna because while she hasn’t yet factored in heavily to the show, it is revealed that she is Mike’s ex-wife, and it should be interesting to the viewers to know that she is actually married in real life to MLB player Nick Swisher.
As Ginny tries avoiding the whole locker room rape controversy, Mike is trying to get her to trust in her game more, and management is looking to fire the coach immediately after a recording of him from a year earlier surfaces, in which he is talking about the cute little gimmick the minor league Padres affiliate have in Ginny Baker. Ginny orders that her manager release a statement on her behalf supporting her coach but she doesn’t do it, which gets her a butt-chewing by Ginny later: “you work for me!”
Ginny busies herself with putting all of her focus into hitting the gym and trying to be a better ball player while the world seems to swirl around her in madness. While the craziness continues, she guest-stars on Jimmy Kimmel to read some mean tweets and discuss locker room decoration tips to make fun of herself. Coach finds out from his assistant coach that he will soon get fired and Mike finds Ginny’s manager sitting alone at the bar looking sexy.
From Left To Right: Larter's Asst., Larter, Consuelos
Episode three was, to me, the most controversial. Opening with Mike and Larter’s character having slept together and trying to rush to work as major sponsors will be at the next game to see Ginny, they agree that they have to keep this relationship secret from Ginny because of the awkwardness, and the guys wouldn’t take kindly to it either. The big whoop on this episode circles around how tough to take it on Ginny: go hard at her like a guy or try to protect her because she’s a girl. This comes up due to their next opponent being the same team that injured the original starting pitcher. Baseball code says that you have to get payback when they injure one of your guys, by hitting one of theirs. She argues back and forth with Mike about hitting the offender with a beanball as she flashes back to a past relationship.
The very reason she has her no ball-players rule is because she did date one in the past and it didn’t end well. The guy lied to her and said he wanted to quit baseball and go back to school because he thought he’d never get called to the big leagues. Therefore, she started a relationship with him two years ago thinking that he’d no longer be a ball player in a matter of months (close of the season). But when a pro team calls him up, he says that school will wait and that he has to chase that dream now! She gets mad, really for no reason because they could still have a relationship, but instead she breaks it off on the count that she feels she’ll never have the respect of her fellow players if she does date another player, regardless of if they’re on the same team or not.
This then pseudo-backfires as people on her own team find out they had a relationship anyway and want their own ride on her, treating her like a lucky charm to get them to the big leagues, too. (There are so many bits of commentary I could make here on the current “locker-room talk” situation and how even if that isn’t locker-room talk, tell that to writers who think it is, but I won’t go deep into it). In another surprise twist, we find out that the guy she once dated is now the catcher for the very team that they are currently facing. After she does beam one of their hitters, then goes up to bat, she knows that their pitcher has the unspoken right to hit her right back.
He doesn’t.
Going against what everyone expects, he throws too close, then too wide, trying to walk her instead of respecting the unwritten baseball rules. And here is where it gets really sticky because she then begs to be treated like one of the guys and not have him pull his pitches for her. She even starts toward the mound for a fight, which causes a big brouhaha between her team and the other team and I sat there saying no! No! Just no! Nooooo! Let me finish the episode and wait until I give my grade to say why I hated this.
Coach, what would you do if I sang outta tuneAnyway, the game ends and the ex-boyfriend tells her that he was hacked a year ago and that some of their private pictures might get out, which he would have told her had she answered her phone earlier. Meanwhile, the coach that was about to be fired proves very good at office politics and reasons that if they fire him now, after his sexist comments and stuff, it’ll look like Ginny got him fired and can’t handle the emotions of the game. This told to the right people help him to keep his job even after getting ejected from the game before it even started. We also find out that the general manager (Consuelos) is getting a divorce from his wife. It ends with Ginny’s ex telling her that she’ll need someone to vent to about all her new fame, and she needs to make a true friend quick.
What’s my grade? OK, before I give my grade, I really have to vent about this show. First off, the very premise of it, similar to Supergirl, is a love-letter to third-wave feminism. Playing off the real-life story of Mo’ne Davis, the little league female phenom pitcher, the show tries to be a mix of girlpower and barrier-breaking designed to gen-up discussion about gender equality and athletic segregation. “Why can’t a woman play with the men?” is a common refrain in the very existence of the show. Yet (sigh), just like Supergirl, I feel as if it subverts its own narrative in so many ways.
Loosely based on a what-if scenario of Mo'ne Davis, seen right.
First off, the opening shots of the show display legs. Listen, Kylie is a very sexy woman. I drooled over her when she was on Under The Dome, and will continue to gawk, but it almost plays as a spoof of a serious discussion to be had. I can hear the conversation: “Yes, she’s sexy, and she can pitch. But so what?” But is it really so what? It’s one thing to say that she is attractive, but it's another to lead with that. It’s saying, “This show is not about her looks... but it also makes even more incredible because she’s hot, see guys?”
Then there’s the “just one of the guys” mentality. Up until the third episode, this worked fine. You don’t want special treatment in the locker room, with the exception of being able to change without having guy-eyes perv out at the sight of your nakedness. Fine. But when you get to the third episode, and you’re trying to incite violence of any kind against you as a female, to me that goes against even modern feminism. This plays directly into the notion that these anti-feminist men have about current-day women and does nothing to help their movement. That notion is: women use their cunning to often play victim, incite violence from men against themselves or play as a catalyst of violence between men. Knowing that society frowns upon a man hitting a woman, they suddenly have license to act invincible because a man will ultimately protect them. In other words, even while she is fighting against the “damsel-in-distress” scenario, she is inciting that very predicament and cornering the men in her life to do her bidding. Because even some of the most progressive feminist aren’t going to say that the pitcher would have been perfectly OK if he clocked her in the jaw when she approached the mound, yet the men had to run to her defense based solely off of normal baseball unspoken rules. This is temptress/seductress class 101: play men off of each other to see who deserves your affections. In episode one her best friend fights to defend her honor. In episode three, the entire team does the same not because she was actually hit by the ball, but because of some perceived slight on her behalf. It, in the worst way, reminds me of that case (I believe it was in Vegas) a few months back where a woman got mad that some guy didn’t hold the door open for her at a fast food restaurant, and her boyfriend came back and killed the guy. Or how Emmett Till whistled at a white woman, she found it offensive, and the men in her life came to her rescue. It tries to play above that archetype, yet somehow manages to play directly into it.
But the worst offense of all for me on this show is the perfunctory nature of Ginny Baker, and her femininity. As much as it has partially billed itself as something that could be controversial and start a dialogue and girlpower-y as said, you could not only change her character to a guy and have it be nearly the same show, but you could almost remove her character entirely and it would still be compelling. On the surface that seems like it would be a good thing because it speaks to high-quality fiction writing based on a sports environment. However, in this case, I think it actually is a detriment because it misses the mark it clearly is trying to hit. Even with all the mentions of her being the first woman, it doesn’t feel like a woman’s story, but a regular fish-out-of-water tale; I could just as easily see this same or similar story playing out with the first openly gay male. Imagine all the stuff that Baker has done, take her out of it and replace that with a gay man. Does it change the story that much? I can even understand the defense for this: “It’s good that her being a woman doesn’t seem to factor in that much because it proves that a girl can be one of the guys.” True, but here it doesn’t feel as genuine, and does feel like a cheap imitation of Twelfth Night. And this isn’t even factoring in the final complaint: derivative and imitation.
Not that the show is derivative, but Ginny’s ambition, motivation, reason for being there is all derivative. I have said it many times before, my novel The Provocateur points this out as it was told to me by the people who really control this world: Men say I want to do something or be something, and women say me, too. In other words, they are never originators. Maybe that is because we don’t allow them to be, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Here, it is her father’s dream that she follows, lives, achieves. In that sense, it’s hard for me to see her as anything other than a man’s ambitions cloaked in a female skin. Basically, she’s just doing what some guy told her to. Yes, she takes ownership, but she is shadowed by what a man wanted and what she’d done to please that man, even if that man is her father. Again, subverting the narrative.
Back to my grade. With all of that said, I will give this show a solid B. It’s filmed well, it has a stylized dramatic film-quality flair to it similar to Empire (it is becoming a FOX hallmark I think, as The Exorcist has a similar feel), the acting is solid, and the writing is good but only if you ignore those gripes I mentioned. As said before, I love me some Kylie and want to know if she’s single. But sadly, I can actually see this show without her, and I find that rather disturbing.
Should you be watching? Boy, is this a confusing one. Baseball fans of all kinds I think will enjoy this show. With appearances from people who are actually involved with MLB (Fox is really using Colin Cowherd a lot) it looks to be a worthy sports drama to scratch that long winter itch for when the World Series wraps up in a few weeks, not to mention it is on the same channel that hosts the MLB playoffs so it should get a lot of promotion. Also, if you’re a feminist, woman, or young girl then this show is probably for you. Granted, it has a slightly more mature lean (it comes on at 9pm on Thursdays on FOX) but it is OK for kids ages 10 and up, I’d say. But as far as guys who don’t want to be preached to, you might want to stick with Thursday Night Football. I don’t mind being preached to, but as I stated in my preview of this show, this will be hard to stay on my watching schedule when Scandal comes back; that is if this stays on for a full 22 rather than a shortened season.
What do you think? Have you seen Pitch? If not, will you tune in? If you have, what was your favorite part? Am I being too hard on the show not forcing a more powerful female message? Have I completely missed the mark on my criticism of said message? Or do you agree with me? And do you think she’ll find out about Larter and Mike hooking up? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "But it was signed by Babe Ruth!”‘Yeah! Yeah, you keep telling me that. Who is she?’
P.S. Yeah, that’s for Kylie if ever she reads this and all you 90s kids out there. If you don’t know what baseball movie that’s from, you don’t deserve a proper baseball drama. Anyway, I’ll think of a better sign-off next time.
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All pictures courtesy of FOXBack at it again, not only with another three-week roundup review but with the opening line to remind you that it is a three-week roundup review. For those who don’t know, this is where I make my judgment on the first three episodes of a series (giving it a chance to build and bud into success before grading it) and give you a recap of the first three episodes. So, does FOX’s new sports drama hit a grand slam or will it [insert second baseball cliché of this review, meaning something bad]? Let’s find out.
Pitch stars the magnificently hot and overly scrumptious Kylie Bunbury as Ginny Baker—I know, we’re slidin’ right into the sexism. Ha! I just snuck a cliché baseball play in there without you even noticing. I’m smooth like that. Ginny Baker is a young 20-something baseball player who happens to be the first woman ever to play in the major leagues, that’s the MLB for those of you who, in real life, find baseball to be too boring and comparable to sitting around listening to your grandma and her friends in their knitting circle while they talk about the foods they eat to keep regular and she makes you hold her yarn ball. Essentially the female Jackie Robinson, it is a drama following the trials and tribulations of her being sent up from the minors to play on her first big team, the San Diego Padres after their starting pitcher is injured. In a ploy by management to not only get more butts in seats but liven up the dug-out, they call down to their affiliate and there she appears.
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Episode one gets us acclimated to the new digs as we follow Ginny’s new hectic life. She awakes on game day, her first day in the league, hops in the backseat of her chauffeured car and is taken to the game by a driver with her manager/agent at her side. Her manager (Ali Larter) used to be a bigwig in Hollywood and worked with A-list talent as we learn in episode two but she now has only Ginny as her client, and what a client she will be. After telling the driver that this young girl is the biggest, most important person he’s ever driven (not true as he once drove Michael Jackson), she helps to guide the girl through her first day. But Ginny doesn’t really need guiding. While all the lights flash and camera-phones record, Ginny is reliving her journey to the big leagues, starting with days in her youth spent with her father as her personal coach.
A show told half in flashbacks, we see Ginny as a small child watching her older brother play hit and catch with her father one summer night. Hardly good at it, the domineering man shoos the boy away as he is trying to “make a ball player.” He, instead, picks his daughter to play catch with and discovers that she has a natural talent for throwing the ball. And so her journey begins. Back to the current time and she is stepping out of the car to meet with not only the general manager (the guy in the suit not the one in the dug-out; played by Mark Consuelos, Kelly Ripa’s husband) who is doing his best trying to play behind-the-scenes politics, but also with the other head of the team, who I initially assumed was the president and/or owner, but come to find out in episode three this guy is a minority owner who has been given power by the other owners to run all baseball operations for the team. He, along with the other top brass, decides that to mark the special occasion they give her the jersey number of 43, one more than Jackie Robinson’s 42. As they have a press conference, Larter (again, her manager) tells Consuelos that she is the most important woman in the world right now: Hillary Clinton with sex appeal, The Kardashians with a skill-set; in other words, she’s pretty and can do stuff.
Her day continues with the informal meet with the catcher and superstar of the team (side note: didn’t know a catcher could be a superstar of a baseball team, but hey! OK. I guess if he hits well) Mike Lawson (played by the always good Mark Paul-Gosselaar in probably his most dramatic TV role ever). He slaps her butt after talking with her and she reads him the riot act about sexual harassment. He then counters that with how he is a butt-slapper. That’s his thing. He does it to everybody and seeing as how he is team captain, if she wants to be treated like one of the guys, she’ll allow him to slap her butt, too. Nothing sexual.Not completely alone in her journey, she has Blip Sanders (played by Mo McRae) to be the friendly face/shoulder on which to lean. A previous teammate in the minors, they came up together for years before he got the call-up to turn pro before she did. No romantic feelings there (her rule is that she doesn’t date other ball players) he is happily married but acts as a best friend and calls her out for having a bubble butt the moment he sees her walk into the locker room. This only calms her nerves so much, as she can’t escape the glare of the spotlight. Her first game has a full stadium of home fans equipped with tons of little girls seeking her autograph. She obliges and looks into the stands to find her parents looking proudly back at her. As she takes the mound, she flashes back to another memory of one of her childhood games with her dad sitting in the crowd. Looking to be near the age of puberty, she strikes out one of the guys to win the game for her team and thinks she’s done something, before her dad quickly and sharply informs her, “we ain’t done nothin’ yet!”
That is when he teaches her this special pitch, this pitch that he learned in some foreign, mystical land from some baseball voodoo priest. OK, not really, but that’s halfway how it sounds because the pitch is so magical that it will undo the handicap she will undoubtedly have as physiology and biology take over in boys’ puberty.
Back to her first game and she does terribly. Pitches too high, too low, nowhere near the plate—she’s too nervous to do it and walks not one but a few players. They lose. Bigly! And we get another flashback to where she is coached to pitch by her father. He wants her to throw a strike, but she struggles in the night’s dark, unable to do it. Then, he calls out her brother and slaps the crap out of him totally Joe Jackson/Ike Turner-ing his face, with the promise that every time she doesn’t throw a strike, he’ll hit her brother. She throws one immediately and he tells her that she can do it when she has to. Yay, abusive black fathers! Just what TV needs more of.Back to current time and she is pissed that she failed in her first outing. Then she has a huge argument in her hotel room with her father about how this was his dream (it was) and he shouldn’t have done this to her (he probably shouldn’t have), but this argument reinvigorates her resolve to do good on the next game as the team has decided to keep her on for at least five games instead of the previously discussed one. Not only are they keeping her, but management tells the coach that they can’t sit her either because of the optics that’ll give out that she’s not good enough, they chose the wrong woman for this, and etc. All she wants to do is get back in and play her game.
As Mike fields questions about her, Blip’s wife helps her get her head unspooled and chill. Blip and Mike discuss how Mike can be a good mentor for her if he gets rid of his own bias. He wants the chip for his legacy but knows he probably won’t get it. Blip convinces him that this, whether Ginny does well, will be a big part of his legacy.
As another game comes up, so comes another flashback to a crucial state championship win that catches the eye of a Padres minor league scout. Her father by her side, he reminds her that “we ain’t done nothin’ yet” even after the win. Back to the current day and she starts to freeze up on the mound again when Mike walks to her and tries to give her an uplifting speech. It is rather obvious that Mark/Mike is partly the comic relief while also playing the Carl Winslow-ish father/big brother figure. He’s an ass, but he’s also a veteran who knows a lot about the game. It certainly reminds of her father. She shakes free from the willies and gets her pitch back, throwing her first strike, and then another, and another! Her legacy is dang-near cemented when she pitches out a potential grand slam. After that, she is pulled from the game so that her decent game can have a closer come in and give her the win. She gets the win and the crowd goes wild!
Not everyone enthused, the injured pitcher calls her the b-word which causes a fight between him and Blip. The fight makes it to a reporter and up the line to management who immediately thinks that the head coach (I know that’s not what they call them but indulge me) played by Wonder Years' dad Dan Lauria has lost control of the team and their respect. They want to fire him, something that spills into the other episodes.But at the end of the episode, it is revealed that the night Ginny was scouted by the Padres minor league guy, her father was driving her home when he took his eyes off the road as he was going to fix that line about having done something when they are hit head-on by a truck. She survives but he is killed. She had been seeing his ghost the whole time through the show.
Episode two sees “Ginsanity” kick into high effect. With every sports news show talking about the girl that’s beating the boys, she’s just trying to be one of the guys, an 80s movie reference that was supposed to be a teenage drama loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Yes, I also saw that movie and that end scene is spectacular. In this episode, we go farther into Ginny’s journey and connection with her manager. Larter’s character found her while she was still in the minors and being repped by her older brother. He got her a big deal (to him) with some local company that Larter sees as limiting. In Larter’s flashback scenes, it is revealed that the reason she switched her life up is because it was semi-forced upon her when her husband (now ex) decided that he didn’t want to keep trying to get pregnant after failed in vitro and, I’m assuming, years at it. This is actually quite understandable and very common for couples to break apart both after losing a child and due to not being able to have one. He doesn’t even want the same life they’ve lived anymore. This causes her to also want to abandon her Hollywood life on a whim when she sees Ginny making the news in the minors. She gets Ginny one deal that makes her older brother realize he can’t continue to be her manager, and she is in. But the job doesn’t cover up her loneliness.
Meanwhile, as Ginny is the poster girl for feminism, a track star is raped by another college track boy down in Florida. Every reporter, especially a particular female one played by Joanna Garcia Swisher wants Ginny’s reaction. I mention Joanna because while she hasn’t yet factored in heavily to the show, it is revealed that she is Mike’s ex-wife, and it should be interesting to the viewers to know that she is actually married in real life to MLB player Nick Swisher.As Ginny tries avoiding the whole locker room rape controversy, Mike is trying to get her to trust in her game more, and management is looking to fire the coach immediately after a recording of him from a year earlier surfaces, in which he is talking about the cute little gimmick the minor league Padres affiliate have in Ginny Baker. Ginny orders that her manager release a statement on her behalf supporting her coach but she doesn’t do it, which gets her a butt-chewing by Ginny later: “you work for me!”
Ginny busies herself with putting all of her focus into hitting the gym and trying to be a better ball player while the world seems to swirl around her in madness. While the craziness continues, she guest-stars on Jimmy Kimmel to read some mean tweets and discuss locker room decoration tips to make fun of herself. Coach finds out from his assistant coach that he will soon get fired and Mike finds Ginny’s manager sitting alone at the bar looking sexy.
From Left To Right: Larter's Asst., Larter, ConsuelosEpisode three was, to me, the most controversial. Opening with Mike and Larter’s character having slept together and trying to rush to work as major sponsors will be at the next game to see Ginny, they agree that they have to keep this relationship secret from Ginny because of the awkwardness, and the guys wouldn’t take kindly to it either. The big whoop on this episode circles around how tough to take it on Ginny: go hard at her like a guy or try to protect her because she’s a girl. This comes up due to their next opponent being the same team that injured the original starting pitcher. Baseball code says that you have to get payback when they injure one of your guys, by hitting one of theirs. She argues back and forth with Mike about hitting the offender with a beanball as she flashes back to a past relationship.
The very reason she has her no ball-players rule is because she did date one in the past and it didn’t end well. The guy lied to her and said he wanted to quit baseball and go back to school because he thought he’d never get called to the big leagues. Therefore, she started a relationship with him two years ago thinking that he’d no longer be a ball player in a matter of months (close of the season). But when a pro team calls him up, he says that school will wait and that he has to chase that dream now! She gets mad, really for no reason because they could still have a relationship, but instead she breaks it off on the count that she feels she’ll never have the respect of her fellow players if she does date another player, regardless of if they’re on the same team or not.
This then pseudo-backfires as people on her own team find out they had a relationship anyway and want their own ride on her, treating her like a lucky charm to get them to the big leagues, too. (There are so many bits of commentary I could make here on the current “locker-room talk” situation and how even if that isn’t locker-room talk, tell that to writers who think it is, but I won’t go deep into it). In another surprise twist, we find out that the guy she once dated is now the catcher for the very team that they are currently facing. After she does beam one of their hitters, then goes up to bat, she knows that their pitcher has the unspoken right to hit her right back.
He doesn’t.
Going against what everyone expects, he throws too close, then too wide, trying to walk her instead of respecting the unwritten baseball rules. And here is where it gets really sticky because she then begs to be treated like one of the guys and not have him pull his pitches for her. She even starts toward the mound for a fight, which causes a big brouhaha between her team and the other team and I sat there saying no! No! Just no! Nooooo! Let me finish the episode and wait until I give my grade to say why I hated this.
Coach, what would you do if I sang outta tuneAnyway, the game ends and the ex-boyfriend tells her that he was hacked a year ago and that some of their private pictures might get out, which he would have told her had she answered her phone earlier. Meanwhile, the coach that was about to be fired proves very good at office politics and reasons that if they fire him now, after his sexist comments and stuff, it’ll look like Ginny got him fired and can’t handle the emotions of the game. This told to the right people help him to keep his job even after getting ejected from the game before it even started. We also find out that the general manager (Consuelos) is getting a divorce from his wife. It ends with Ginny’s ex telling her that she’ll need someone to vent to about all her new fame, and she needs to make a true friend quick.What’s my grade? OK, before I give my grade, I really have to vent about this show. First off, the very premise of it, similar to Supergirl, is a love-letter to third-wave feminism. Playing off the real-life story of Mo’ne Davis, the little league female phenom pitcher, the show tries to be a mix of girlpower and barrier-breaking designed to gen-up discussion about gender equality and athletic segregation. “Why can’t a woman play with the men?” is a common refrain in the very existence of the show. Yet (sigh), just like Supergirl, I feel as if it subverts its own narrative in so many ways.
Loosely based on a what-if scenario of Mo'ne Davis, seen right. First off, the opening shots of the show display legs. Listen, Kylie is a very sexy woman. I drooled over her when she was on Under The Dome, and will continue to gawk, but it almost plays as a spoof of a serious discussion to be had. I can hear the conversation: “Yes, she’s sexy, and she can pitch. But so what?” But is it really so what? It’s one thing to say that she is attractive, but it's another to lead with that. It’s saying, “This show is not about her looks... but it also makes even more incredible because she’s hot, see guys?”
Then there’s the “just one of the guys” mentality. Up until the third episode, this worked fine. You don’t want special treatment in the locker room, with the exception of being able to change without having guy-eyes perv out at the sight of your nakedness. Fine. But when you get to the third episode, and you’re trying to incite violence of any kind against you as a female, to me that goes against even modern feminism. This plays directly into the notion that these anti-feminist men have about current-day women and does nothing to help their movement. That notion is: women use their cunning to often play victim, incite violence from men against themselves or play as a catalyst of violence between men. Knowing that society frowns upon a man hitting a woman, they suddenly have license to act invincible because a man will ultimately protect them. In other words, even while she is fighting against the “damsel-in-distress” scenario, she is inciting that very predicament and cornering the men in her life to do her bidding. Because even some of the most progressive feminist aren’t going to say that the pitcher would have been perfectly OK if he clocked her in the jaw when she approached the mound, yet the men had to run to her defense based solely off of normal baseball unspoken rules. This is temptress/seductress class 101: play men off of each other to see who deserves your affections. In episode one her best friend fights to defend her honor. In episode three, the entire team does the same not because she was actually hit by the ball, but because of some perceived slight on her behalf. It, in the worst way, reminds me of that case (I believe it was in Vegas) a few months back where a woman got mad that some guy didn’t hold the door open for her at a fast food restaurant, and her boyfriend came back and killed the guy. Or how Emmett Till whistled at a white woman, she found it offensive, and the men in her life came to her rescue. It tries to play above that archetype, yet somehow manages to play directly into it.
But the worst offense of all for me on this show is the perfunctory nature of Ginny Baker, and her femininity. As much as it has partially billed itself as something that could be controversial and start a dialogue and girlpower-y as said, you could not only change her character to a guy and have it be nearly the same show, but you could almost remove her character entirely and it would still be compelling. On the surface that seems like it would be a good thing because it speaks to high-quality fiction writing based on a sports environment. However, in this case, I think it actually is a detriment because it misses the mark it clearly is trying to hit. Even with all the mentions of her being the first woman, it doesn’t feel like a woman’s story, but a regular fish-out-of-water tale; I could just as easily see this same or similar story playing out with the first openly gay male. Imagine all the stuff that Baker has done, take her out of it and replace that with a gay man. Does it change the story that much? I can even understand the defense for this: “It’s good that her being a woman doesn’t seem to factor in that much because it proves that a girl can be one of the guys.” True, but here it doesn’t feel as genuine, and does feel like a cheap imitation of Twelfth Night. And this isn’t even factoring in the final complaint: derivative and imitation.
Not that the show is derivative, but Ginny’s ambition, motivation, reason for being there is all derivative. I have said it many times before, my novel The Provocateur points this out as it was told to me by the people who really control this world: Men say I want to do something or be something, and women say me, too. In other words, they are never originators. Maybe that is because we don’t allow them to be, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Here, it is her father’s dream that she follows, lives, achieves. In that sense, it’s hard for me to see her as anything other than a man’s ambitions cloaked in a female skin. Basically, she’s just doing what some guy told her to. Yes, she takes ownership, but she is shadowed by what a man wanted and what she’d done to please that man, even if that man is her father. Again, subverting the narrative.
Back to my grade. With all of that said, I will give this show a solid B. It’s filmed well, it has a stylized dramatic film-quality flair to it similar to Empire (it is becoming a FOX hallmark I think, as The Exorcist has a similar feel), the acting is solid, and the writing is good but only if you ignore those gripes I mentioned. As said before, I love me some Kylie and want to know if she’s single. But sadly, I can actually see this show without her, and I find that rather disturbing.
Should you be watching? Boy, is this a confusing one. Baseball fans of all kinds I think will enjoy this show. With appearances from people who are actually involved with MLB (Fox is really using Colin Cowherd a lot) it looks to be a worthy sports drama to scratch that long winter itch for when the World Series wraps up in a few weeks, not to mention it is on the same channel that hosts the MLB playoffs so it should get a lot of promotion. Also, if you’re a feminist, woman, or young girl then this show is probably for you. Granted, it has a slightly more mature lean (it comes on at 9pm on Thursdays on FOX) but it is OK for kids ages 10 and up, I’d say. But as far as guys who don’t want to be preached to, you might want to stick with Thursday Night Football. I don’t mind being preached to, but as I stated in my preview of this show, this will be hard to stay on my watching schedule when Scandal comes back; that is if this stays on for a full 22 rather than a shortened season.
What do you think? Have you seen Pitch? If not, will you tune in? If you have, what was your favorite part? Am I being too hard on the show not forcing a more powerful female message? Have I completely missed the mark on my criticism of said message? Or do you agree with me? And do you think she’ll find out about Larter and Mike hooking up? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "But it was signed by Babe Ruth!”‘Yeah! Yeah, you keep telling me that. Who is she?’
P.S. Yeah, that’s for Kylie if ever she reads this and all you 90s kids out there. If you don’t know what baseball movie that’s from, you don’t deserve a proper baseball drama. Anyway, I’ll think of a better sign-off next time.
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October 12, 2016
Mr. President You Have 24 Hours To Cast Your Vote Or Be Kicked Off The Island #DesignatedSurvivor #ABC #3weekroundup
Mr. President You Have 24 Hours To Cast Your Vote Or Be Kicked Off The Island #DesignatedSurvivor #ABC #3weekroundup
All Pictures Courtesy of ABC
Yes, that headline may seem overly long, meandering and pointless, not to mention it refers to three different shows all in one, but those dialed into TV will come to realize just how genius it was and then you’ll be all like, “Oh, Michael, your wit is amazing. How do you do it?” and I’ll shoulder shrug, “It’s what I do.” Or you’ll probably just connect all the dots and shoulder shrug yourself and not even care. That hurts my feelings. It’s time for another 3-week roundup of a new show. Designated Survivor, you’re on deck.
ABC’s new show Designated Survivor stars Kiefer Sutherland (most recently of 24 fame; Huh! Huh! The 24 hours reference in the title. Yeah, you get it. Don’t roll your eyes at me) as one of the lowly cabinet members of the current fictional president. His character, Tom Kirkman, is the current Secretary of Urban Housing and Development, one of those cabinet positions that you’re not really sure exists and sounds like nothing more than a glorified landlord for American cities. That is until one fateful night during the presidential address. In a breathtaking opening scene for the first episode, he looks out of his window from a secluded office area and can see the capitol on fire during the state of the union. The show thrusts us into the chaos immediately (showing us just how amazing and riveting this show could be from jump) before peeling back the clock to show us 15 hours earlier.
Fifteen hours earlier it was business as usual on The Hill. A busy day, the president’s office is preparing for the State of the Union later that night while taking care of other business: lobbying for support for other new government plans, making strategic conflict moves against our foreign terror enemies, etc. One of the last things the President needs to be bothered with is the Housing plan proposed to him by his lowly Urban Housing secretary; in fact, in a meeting with him, the President has a far different plan.
For years, Tom (forgive me if I slip up and call him Kiefer every now and then because that might be easier) and the President have gotten along, even though their agendas seem to run counter. He chose Tom because he was a good guy, but sadly he feels the man doesn’t have a single political bone in his body. He’s not ostensibly cut out for the D.C. atmosphere, not to mention the President sees him almost as dead weight (and you know what we do to dead weight). With that in mind, the President proposes a plan to shift his job. Technically, he is not firing Kiefer, though it can be seen as that to some people. Technically. Instead, he’s shifting his position/pushing him toward a job as an ambassador in Canada somewhere (I think they said Alberta). This way he still gets to maintain a job in government while staying out of the President’s finely coiffed hair.
Naturally, this ambassadorship would require a move to Canada, something which his wife, Alex Kirkman (played by veteran Natascha McElhone) wants no part of. The kids are settled, their oldest son, a teenager, only has a few years more of high school, and their daughter looks like she’s still in elementary, equipped with an early bedtime and fluffy teddy to lull her to sleep. A move is the last thing she wants, especially now that she loves her job (I think she’s an attorney, but the hectic show has only mentioned it twice). They debate about the positives and negatives, and he jokingly but half-not-jokingly says that he’ll commute from Canada to D. C. and back.
And then they get a call. “What’s a designated survivor?”
Tag Me In Barry O
OK, admittedly, one of my family members thought that line was stupid because if he’s supposed to be a real cabinet member, then he should know what a designated survivor is, regardless of whether this concept is real or not. And even in my defense of the line—that it is there so they can later explain the concept to the viewer—I totally ignore the fact that they explain this concept at the beginning of the episode, albeit in small type across an image of the the capitol. Still, this is forgivable on behalf of the writers.
So, to answer the question: A designated survivor is one person from the line of presidential succession that is chosen to sit out a big government event in which most of the top ranking officials will attend, in order to assure that if something terrible happens, the government will continue forward. Think about how LBJ took over after JFK was assassinated: succession. Or how Gerald Ford got sworn in after the whole Nixon watergate thing: succession. From what I can remember of government class, I think it goes President, Vice Pres, Speaker of Congress, Speaker of House, Secretary of State, then I’m not sure. But, somehow Kiefer’s character as the Secretary of Urban Housing factors into that. They sequester him away in a conference room just off the capitol where he and his wife can watch the address on TV in safety. And we have returned to that opening scene once more.
Boom goes the dynamite! And dead fall the people. With the State of the Union address normally attended by every congressperson and much of the President’s cabinet, practically everyone dies: Pres, Vice Pres, everyone, save for the designated survivor. And then the games are on. Tom has never really been elected to anything in his life, never even had high political aspirations, yet, now he will be sworn in as the next president of the united states. Not only is the US undergoing the biggest terrorist attack on home soil since 9/11, but they’re swearing in a rookie at the helm. It’s no secret that the sharks that already constantly circle the waters of the swampy Potomac smell blood—and that’s not just from the over 400 dead elected officials in the rubble of the capitol.
With Tom’s first mission after being sworn in to find out who did this and reassure the American people that everything will be fine, his wife’s main goal is to make sure her family is alright and get them situated on a night where the nation is under attack. The secret service quickly gets their little girl from home and brings her to the White House. Their son, however, lied about going to a friend to help with a Youtube video; instead, he is out in a rave/club selling drugs to other underage kids like himself. They figure out where he is, raid the club and grab him just after he hides the drugs on himself. This will become a serious issue, trust me.
Tom—erm... I mean, President Tom is dragged into the White House war room where he is greeted by the previous president’s top trusted general and other analysts as they are trying to figure out what next to do and who attacked them. As he is getting info about potential terrorist plots and credits for the attack, out on the ground we have a secondary plot/characters developing.
Maggie Q plays an FBI agent stationed in D.C. who, at the time of the bombing, was at a bar drinking away her life’s regrets. Upon seeing the explosion on TV she jumps into action even though she isn’t on-call if you can say that. She makes her way down to the rubble of the capitol and helps to dig for bodies and evidence. We meet her boss played by Malik Yoba (of New York Undercover fame) who seems both stern and lenient, but not a conspiracy theorist like his subordinate. She gives him one theory backed by a few measly initial facts/ evidences, and he is set to run with it.
Back in the war room, the general latches on to the FBI assistant director’s theory about the attack coming from one specific group of Islamic extremists. He wants to bomb them into oblivion now, but the new president wants surety of such theories. Regardless, they have another issue mounting. The Iranians have moved a few of their fighter jets into the Gaza strip and are ready to overtake Israel at any time. They see US weakness and have readied their pounce. In his first presidential move, Tom negotiates with the Iranian Ambassador to get him to move those jets back to their own land or else. Real strength, he proves a few people wrong about him already.
Still, some remain unconvinced. One such detractor is Kal Penn’s character. Yeah, Kal Penn is in this. He plays a once-junior speechwriter for the previous president who finds himself confessing his doubt and frustration about the “new rookie” at the helm of the nation to the very man himself in one of those creepy talking in the bathroom stalls moments. Ewww! It’s awkward, and funny, and awkwardly funny, but it also bonds them in a way that will only grow stronger as the show persists. He is tasked with writing the most important speech of Tom Kirkman’s life: a speech to the American people as their new president after the devastating terrorist attack. The first episode ends with that and the discovery of another undetonated bomb in the capitol rubble found by the FBI.
Episode two picks up on Tom’s first full day. With the general he butted heads with now scheming with the previous president’s chief of staff to stage some kind of puppetmaster coup, and bits of the rubble still on fire, President Tom knows that he has to visit said rubble at some point during the day as the body count continues to rise. But first he has to go through a myriad of other governing business, including a briefing with every intel professional and chief of whatever still left. Updates on transportation, the stock market, the banks, who could have bombed them, terrorist interrogation tactics and a brouhaha in Michigan. And while everything else is important and given answers, the episode focuses on the Michigan thing and the group that did this.
In Dearborn, Michigan, devout Muslims are being attacked in the street, some badly beaten, others killed and the unrest has led to the governor running his state as if he were king and it his own sovereign kingdom, instructing the police to use a nationally unacceptable military level of force in and against the Muslim communities. When President Kirkman calls him to tell him to stop, the man plays him like a straight up punk and tells him that he doesn’t have to listen to him because he’s not the elected President. Personally, the moment I saw that, I thought he should’ve called in the national guard, but he took a different approach.
The hate for brown people intensifying through the US, Kal Penn is stopped by the cops a few feet from his home under suspicion. He cooperates, they run his license and he manages to get away without being shot, but it still unnerves him enough to mention it to his boss. As they watch the Michigan mayor impose a curfew on the Dearborn Muslim community, and the man refuses to take the President’s calls, Kiefer meets with a surprise person. As it turns out, just like for the presidency, there is a designated survivor for the congress, too, or rather a designated survivor for the opposing political party. Congresswoman Kimble Hookstraten (played by Virginia Madsen) comes to meet with the new president and commiserate about the loss of the government. Seen from miles away, her intentions really seem to be aimed at the seat of president as not only is she questioning whether he should be president, but much of the nation feels the same. They don’t even know this guy, but he’s suddenly they’re leader? You might feel ticked, too.
The visit to the rubble goes terribly as something that isn’t supposed to be a photo-op turns into a photo-op, which then devolves into a panicky riot ignited by people watching the breaking news about a brutal police beating of a Muslim teen in Dearborn. That, coupled with some fat white guy running through the crowd and digging into his jacket, yanking something free incites the secret service to hop into action and shuffle the President and new First Lady back into the caravan and zip the heck outta there.
The President manages to get the Michigan governor on a video-conference call and tells/threatens him with some political move that gets the man to have his police ease off from the brutality. Unfortunately the kid dies in the hospital, but another battle is won... for now.
Meanwhile, Maggie Q’s investigation into the bomb continues as she visits the experts’ lab. With their newly-gained info, she surmises that the second bomb found in the rubble may have never been meant to explode. In other words, the bombers placed it there so it could be found so it could link back to the desired terrorist group. She concludes that not only is this a possible red herring but maybe the attackers are not yet done.There’s a little contention on the homefront with Alex arguing with her and the President’s son about him not being responsible enough to look after his sister, but she doesn’t find the drugs until episode three.
Episode three starts to show the struggle between President Kirkman keeping his family happy and the pressures of the job. As the nation prepares to mourn the passing of their previous president, President Tom prepares to give a eulogy at the man’s private funeral (one that is televised). With Kal Penn on the job of writing the perfect speech for him, the President must also make another big call that will define his term: he has yet to make a determination of who will be his chief of staff. Between the old president’s COS (played by Adan Canto) and his personal lead staffer for all his years in the public sector (played by Italia Ricci) he has gotten two varying opinions on everything, but from two very informed people. Both eagerly await his choice, something he has not a mind to think about until after the funeral.
Meanwhile, the biggest news outside of the old president being mourned is that a survivor is found in the rubble. Hell yeah, it’s suspicious! Of course, he could truly have just been the luckiest man in the room. On it, Maggie Q doesn’t believe in his Leprechaun blessing and asks to review the TV recordings of what happened. In those recordings she sees another woman in the visitor rafters with a cameraphone snapping pictures of the political theater in action. Two pictures and an off-time timecode is all it takes for her to realize that something wicked happened in the minute of blacked-out TV where the survivor man wasn’t in his seat.
If that’s not bad enough, the group that the general swore was behind the attack finally lays claim to it in the most dubious of ways. Somehow, they hack into the White House’s personal, secured computer network, take a digitial looky-loo, and leave the video for the staff to find. Between that and the deceased president’s son not wanting the “new guy” to speak at his funeral, favoring instead the other congresswoman designated survivor, President Tom has more on his plate than a Roman aristocrat fresh from the vomitorium. The funeral eulogy rejection comes on the heels of a sit-down interview with Elizabeth Vargas in which she hardballs him with a question about if the president fired him on the day of the attack. In a D.C. twist unseen since Honest Abe, he told the truth and said that he had been ungraciously offered (read: forced) into a possible new position as an ambassador to Canada—more fuel to the fire for people already jockeying to get him out of office.
The funeral goes well and the congresswoman is seen as a strong leader but, in an underhanded but conning trick, the president’s old COS releases the video of the terrorist group taking responsibility, undermining President Tom’s leadership, yet earning the position of Chief of Staff. When breaking the news to his old loyal girl in Ricci, he tells her that he needs someone who is going to think differently than him but wants to keep her on as a special adviser to him. The tape distracted people from thinking about Tom not being worthy to be president.
The show ends when, on the homefront, his wife finds the MDMA (Molly) that their son was selling and is about to tell him but he can’t make it home in time for dinner that night. Still, everyone stays up to see him come in and have a little family time. Yes, that was a lot and yes, this show is intense.
What’s my grade? I give it a B+ with strong consideration for A-. We are getting up there in good TV, folks. Granted, this is no Game of Thrones, but for broadcast TV this is really quite good. The show moves fast, has a very hectic political feel to it, is political without being overly political if that makes sense, and is smartly written as it juggles a lot of swords but never catches hand on blade. I think the most interesting part of it all, however, is that even though it is for the sophisticated viewer like those who enjoy Game of Thrones, Fargo, People vs. OJ Simpson, Scandal, it is also very much a family show. It has yet to drench itself in overly-sexualized plots (though, I’m sure they may have something down the pipeline for Ricci and Cando’s characters) and has briefly touched on the subject of infidelity with Maggie Q’s character making the revelation that she was so invested in the bombing because she was having an affair with one of the senators now confirmed dead. Is there danger, blood, violence? Yes, however nothing worse than what one might see on other broadcast TV series. I would say someone ten-years-old and up could watch this, no problem. And, like I said in my preview look at this fall’s new shows, I will give my recommendation of a night switch for this. I actually think that if this show survives, it can go well on ABC Sunday nights in the 9pm timeslot. Granted, it has no real humor in it, which has been a downfall of ABC Sundays ever since Desperate Housewives left and then Brothers and Sisters just went on a forever hiatus, but it fits well as a transitioning show between Once Upon A Time and Quantico. Yes, Secrets and Lies is currently doing fine there, but I think that this would work better as a full season mainstay as it is perfectly suited mentally for a slow Sunday night.
Should you be watching? Yes. I can’t stress this enough, set your expectations people. I hate TV snobs who say they will only watch shows rated 9.0 or higher or who expect Shakespeare from every series. What? It’s just entertainment, people. If you like a good political thriller that gets down to business (similar to West Wing), then you’ll probably enjoy this. Intense action, mystery, family drama, people trying to undercut each other—it’s got everything, minus the gratuitous sex found in Game of Thrones, How To Get Away With Murder and Scandal. Designated Survivor currently airs on Wednesdays at 10pm on ABC.
What do you think? Have you seen Designated Survivor? If not, do you think you’ll check it out now? If you have, what did you like about it? How do you think their son’s drug dealing will factor into future episodes? And what is behind the guy who mysteriously disappeared from his seat during the bombing? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, “Wait, so you’re saying that it’s Gen Xers vs. Millennials? Huh. That’s interesting.”
P.S. Get it now? The title? It’s funny because not only did Kiefer star in 24, not only is his new show called Designated Survivor, not only did he not get voted into office on the show, not only does it remind you all to go vote (or not) in this upcoming presidential and overall election, but the show airs on the same night that CBS airs their newest season of Survivor. Yeah! Wow, I guess it really wasn’t that brilliant. Eh, well... I’ll think of a better sign-off next time, and hopefully a better title.
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All Pictures Courtesy of ABCYes, that headline may seem overly long, meandering and pointless, not to mention it refers to three different shows all in one, but those dialed into TV will come to realize just how genius it was and then you’ll be all like, “Oh, Michael, your wit is amazing. How do you do it?” and I’ll shoulder shrug, “It’s what I do.” Or you’ll probably just connect all the dots and shoulder shrug yourself and not even care. That hurts my feelings. It’s time for another 3-week roundup of a new show. Designated Survivor, you’re on deck.
ABC’s new show Designated Survivor stars Kiefer Sutherland (most recently of 24 fame; Huh! Huh! The 24 hours reference in the title. Yeah, you get it. Don’t roll your eyes at me) as one of the lowly cabinet members of the current fictional president. His character, Tom Kirkman, is the current Secretary of Urban Housing and Development, one of those cabinet positions that you’re not really sure exists and sounds like nothing more than a glorified landlord for American cities. That is until one fateful night during the presidential address. In a breathtaking opening scene for the first episode, he looks out of his window from a secluded office area and can see the capitol on fire during the state of the union. The show thrusts us into the chaos immediately (showing us just how amazing and riveting this show could be from jump) before peeling back the clock to show us 15 hours earlier.
Fifteen hours earlier it was business as usual on The Hill. A busy day, the president’s office is preparing for the State of the Union later that night while taking care of other business: lobbying for support for other new government plans, making strategic conflict moves against our foreign terror enemies, etc. One of the last things the President needs to be bothered with is the Housing plan proposed to him by his lowly Urban Housing secretary; in fact, in a meeting with him, the President has a far different plan.
For years, Tom (forgive me if I slip up and call him Kiefer every now and then because that might be easier) and the President have gotten along, even though their agendas seem to run counter. He chose Tom because he was a good guy, but sadly he feels the man doesn’t have a single political bone in his body. He’s not ostensibly cut out for the D.C. atmosphere, not to mention the President sees him almost as dead weight (and you know what we do to dead weight). With that in mind, the President proposes a plan to shift his job. Technically, he is not firing Kiefer, though it can be seen as that to some people. Technically. Instead, he’s shifting his position/pushing him toward a job as an ambassador in Canada somewhere (I think they said Alberta). This way he still gets to maintain a job in government while staying out of the President’s finely coiffed hair.
Naturally, this ambassadorship would require a move to Canada, something which his wife, Alex Kirkman (played by veteran Natascha McElhone) wants no part of. The kids are settled, their oldest son, a teenager, only has a few years more of high school, and their daughter looks like she’s still in elementary, equipped with an early bedtime and fluffy teddy to lull her to sleep. A move is the last thing she wants, especially now that she loves her job (I think she’s an attorney, but the hectic show has only mentioned it twice). They debate about the positives and negatives, and he jokingly but half-not-jokingly says that he’ll commute from Canada to D. C. and back.
And then they get a call. “What’s a designated survivor?”
Tag Me In Barry OOK, admittedly, one of my family members thought that line was stupid because if he’s supposed to be a real cabinet member, then he should know what a designated survivor is, regardless of whether this concept is real or not. And even in my defense of the line—that it is there so they can later explain the concept to the viewer—I totally ignore the fact that they explain this concept at the beginning of the episode, albeit in small type across an image of the the capitol. Still, this is forgivable on behalf of the writers.
So, to answer the question: A designated survivor is one person from the line of presidential succession that is chosen to sit out a big government event in which most of the top ranking officials will attend, in order to assure that if something terrible happens, the government will continue forward. Think about how LBJ took over after JFK was assassinated: succession. Or how Gerald Ford got sworn in after the whole Nixon watergate thing: succession. From what I can remember of government class, I think it goes President, Vice Pres, Speaker of Congress, Speaker of House, Secretary of State, then I’m not sure. But, somehow Kiefer’s character as the Secretary of Urban Housing factors into that. They sequester him away in a conference room just off the capitol where he and his wife can watch the address on TV in safety. And we have returned to that opening scene once more.
Boom goes the dynamite! And dead fall the people. With the State of the Union address normally attended by every congressperson and much of the President’s cabinet, practically everyone dies: Pres, Vice Pres, everyone, save for the designated survivor. And then the games are on. Tom has never really been elected to anything in his life, never even had high political aspirations, yet, now he will be sworn in as the next president of the united states. Not only is the US undergoing the biggest terrorist attack on home soil since 9/11, but they’re swearing in a rookie at the helm. It’s no secret that the sharks that already constantly circle the waters of the swampy Potomac smell blood—and that’s not just from the over 400 dead elected officials in the rubble of the capitol.
With Tom’s first mission after being sworn in to find out who did this and reassure the American people that everything will be fine, his wife’s main goal is to make sure her family is alright and get them situated on a night where the nation is under attack. The secret service quickly gets their little girl from home and brings her to the White House. Their son, however, lied about going to a friend to help with a Youtube video; instead, he is out in a rave/club selling drugs to other underage kids like himself. They figure out where he is, raid the club and grab him just after he hides the drugs on himself. This will become a serious issue, trust me.Tom—erm... I mean, President Tom is dragged into the White House war room where he is greeted by the previous president’s top trusted general and other analysts as they are trying to figure out what next to do and who attacked them. As he is getting info about potential terrorist plots and credits for the attack, out on the ground we have a secondary plot/characters developing.
Maggie Q plays an FBI agent stationed in D.C. who, at the time of the bombing, was at a bar drinking away her life’s regrets. Upon seeing the explosion on TV she jumps into action even though she isn’t on-call if you can say that. She makes her way down to the rubble of the capitol and helps to dig for bodies and evidence. We meet her boss played by Malik Yoba (of New York Undercover fame) who seems both stern and lenient, but not a conspiracy theorist like his subordinate. She gives him one theory backed by a few measly initial facts/ evidences, and he is set to run with it.Back in the war room, the general latches on to the FBI assistant director’s theory about the attack coming from one specific group of Islamic extremists. He wants to bomb them into oblivion now, but the new president wants surety of such theories. Regardless, they have another issue mounting. The Iranians have moved a few of their fighter jets into the Gaza strip and are ready to overtake Israel at any time. They see US weakness and have readied their pounce. In his first presidential move, Tom negotiates with the Iranian Ambassador to get him to move those jets back to their own land or else. Real strength, he proves a few people wrong about him already.
Still, some remain unconvinced. One such detractor is Kal Penn’s character. Yeah, Kal Penn is in this. He plays a once-junior speechwriter for the previous president who finds himself confessing his doubt and frustration about the “new rookie” at the helm of the nation to the very man himself in one of those creepy talking in the bathroom stalls moments. Ewww! It’s awkward, and funny, and awkwardly funny, but it also bonds them in a way that will only grow stronger as the show persists. He is tasked with writing the most important speech of Tom Kirkman’s life: a speech to the American people as their new president after the devastating terrorist attack. The first episode ends with that and the discovery of another undetonated bomb in the capitol rubble found by the FBI.
Episode two picks up on Tom’s first full day. With the general he butted heads with now scheming with the previous president’s chief of staff to stage some kind of puppetmaster coup, and bits of the rubble still on fire, President Tom knows that he has to visit said rubble at some point during the day as the body count continues to rise. But first he has to go through a myriad of other governing business, including a briefing with every intel professional and chief of whatever still left. Updates on transportation, the stock market, the banks, who could have bombed them, terrorist interrogation tactics and a brouhaha in Michigan. And while everything else is important and given answers, the episode focuses on the Michigan thing and the group that did this.
In Dearborn, Michigan, devout Muslims are being attacked in the street, some badly beaten, others killed and the unrest has led to the governor running his state as if he were king and it his own sovereign kingdom, instructing the police to use a nationally unacceptable military level of force in and against the Muslim communities. When President Kirkman calls him to tell him to stop, the man plays him like a straight up punk and tells him that he doesn’t have to listen to him because he’s not the elected President. Personally, the moment I saw that, I thought he should’ve called in the national guard, but he took a different approach.
The hate for brown people intensifying through the US, Kal Penn is stopped by the cops a few feet from his home under suspicion. He cooperates, they run his license and he manages to get away without being shot, but it still unnerves him enough to mention it to his boss. As they watch the Michigan mayor impose a curfew on the Dearborn Muslim community, and the man refuses to take the President’s calls, Kiefer meets with a surprise person. As it turns out, just like for the presidency, there is a designated survivor for the congress, too, or rather a designated survivor for the opposing political party. Congresswoman Kimble Hookstraten (played by Virginia Madsen) comes to meet with the new president and commiserate about the loss of the government. Seen from miles away, her intentions really seem to be aimed at the seat of president as not only is she questioning whether he should be president, but much of the nation feels the same. They don’t even know this guy, but he’s suddenly they’re leader? You might feel ticked, too.The visit to the rubble goes terribly as something that isn’t supposed to be a photo-op turns into a photo-op, which then devolves into a panicky riot ignited by people watching the breaking news about a brutal police beating of a Muslim teen in Dearborn. That, coupled with some fat white guy running through the crowd and digging into his jacket, yanking something free incites the secret service to hop into action and shuffle the President and new First Lady back into the caravan and zip the heck outta there.
The President manages to get the Michigan governor on a video-conference call and tells/threatens him with some political move that gets the man to have his police ease off from the brutality. Unfortunately the kid dies in the hospital, but another battle is won... for now.
Meanwhile, Maggie Q’s investigation into the bomb continues as she visits the experts’ lab. With their newly-gained info, she surmises that the second bomb found in the rubble may have never been meant to explode. In other words, the bombers placed it there so it could be found so it could link back to the desired terrorist group. She concludes that not only is this a possible red herring but maybe the attackers are not yet done.There’s a little contention on the homefront with Alex arguing with her and the President’s son about him not being responsible enough to look after his sister, but she doesn’t find the drugs until episode three.
Episode three starts to show the struggle between President Kirkman keeping his family happy and the pressures of the job. As the nation prepares to mourn the passing of their previous president, President Tom prepares to give a eulogy at the man’s private funeral (one that is televised). With Kal Penn on the job of writing the perfect speech for him, the President must also make another big call that will define his term: he has yet to make a determination of who will be his chief of staff. Between the old president’s COS (played by Adan Canto) and his personal lead staffer for all his years in the public sector (played by Italia Ricci) he has gotten two varying opinions on everything, but from two very informed people. Both eagerly await his choice, something he has not a mind to think about until after the funeral.
Meanwhile, the biggest news outside of the old president being mourned is that a survivor is found in the rubble. Hell yeah, it’s suspicious! Of course, he could truly have just been the luckiest man in the room. On it, Maggie Q doesn’t believe in his Leprechaun blessing and asks to review the TV recordings of what happened. In those recordings she sees another woman in the visitor rafters with a cameraphone snapping pictures of the political theater in action. Two pictures and an off-time timecode is all it takes for her to realize that something wicked happened in the minute of blacked-out TV where the survivor man wasn’t in his seat.
If that’s not bad enough, the group that the general swore was behind the attack finally lays claim to it in the most dubious of ways. Somehow, they hack into the White House’s personal, secured computer network, take a digitial looky-loo, and leave the video for the staff to find. Between that and the deceased president’s son not wanting the “new guy” to speak at his funeral, favoring instead the other congresswoman designated survivor, President Tom has more on his plate than a Roman aristocrat fresh from the vomitorium. The funeral eulogy rejection comes on the heels of a sit-down interview with Elizabeth Vargas in which she hardballs him with a question about if the president fired him on the day of the attack. In a D.C. twist unseen since Honest Abe, he told the truth and said that he had been ungraciously offered (read: forced) into a possible new position as an ambassador to Canada—more fuel to the fire for people already jockeying to get him out of office.
The funeral goes well and the congresswoman is seen as a strong leader but, in an underhanded but conning trick, the president’s old COS releases the video of the terrorist group taking responsibility, undermining President Tom’s leadership, yet earning the position of Chief of Staff. When breaking the news to his old loyal girl in Ricci, he tells her that he needs someone who is going to think differently than him but wants to keep her on as a special adviser to him. The tape distracted people from thinking about Tom not being worthy to be president.
The show ends when, on the homefront, his wife finds the MDMA (Molly) that their son was selling and is about to tell him but he can’t make it home in time for dinner that night. Still, everyone stays up to see him come in and have a little family time. Yes, that was a lot and yes, this show is intense.
What’s my grade? I give it a B+ with strong consideration for A-. We are getting up there in good TV, folks. Granted, this is no Game of Thrones, but for broadcast TV this is really quite good. The show moves fast, has a very hectic political feel to it, is political without being overly political if that makes sense, and is smartly written as it juggles a lot of swords but never catches hand on blade. I think the most interesting part of it all, however, is that even though it is for the sophisticated viewer like those who enjoy Game of Thrones, Fargo, People vs. OJ Simpson, Scandal, it is also very much a family show. It has yet to drench itself in overly-sexualized plots (though, I’m sure they may have something down the pipeline for Ricci and Cando’s characters) and has briefly touched on the subject of infidelity with Maggie Q’s character making the revelation that she was so invested in the bombing because she was having an affair with one of the senators now confirmed dead. Is there danger, blood, violence? Yes, however nothing worse than what one might see on other broadcast TV series. I would say someone ten-years-old and up could watch this, no problem. And, like I said in my preview look at this fall’s new shows, I will give my recommendation of a night switch for this. I actually think that if this show survives, it can go well on ABC Sunday nights in the 9pm timeslot. Granted, it has no real humor in it, which has been a downfall of ABC Sundays ever since Desperate Housewives left and then Brothers and Sisters just went on a forever hiatus, but it fits well as a transitioning show between Once Upon A Time and Quantico. Yes, Secrets and Lies is currently doing fine there, but I think that this would work better as a full season mainstay as it is perfectly suited mentally for a slow Sunday night.
Should you be watching? Yes. I can’t stress this enough, set your expectations people. I hate TV snobs who say they will only watch shows rated 9.0 or higher or who expect Shakespeare from every series. What? It’s just entertainment, people. If you like a good political thriller that gets down to business (similar to West Wing), then you’ll probably enjoy this. Intense action, mystery, family drama, people trying to undercut each other—it’s got everything, minus the gratuitous sex found in Game of Thrones, How To Get Away With Murder and Scandal. Designated Survivor currently airs on Wednesdays at 10pm on ABC.
What do you think? Have you seen Designated Survivor? If not, do you think you’ll check it out now? If you have, what did you like about it? How do you think their son’s drug dealing will factor into future episodes? And what is behind the guy who mysteriously disappeared from his seat during the bombing? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, “Wait, so you’re saying that it’s Gen Xers vs. Millennials? Huh. That’s interesting.”
P.S. Get it now? The title? It’s funny because not only did Kiefer star in 24, not only is his new show called Designated Survivor, not only did he not get voted into office on the show, not only does it remind you all to go vote (or not) in this upcoming presidential and overall election, but the show airs on the same night that CBS airs their newest season of Survivor. Yeah! Wow, I guess it really wasn’t that brilliant. Eh, well... I’ll think of a better sign-off next time, and hopefully a better title.
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Wait, Aren’t All Weapons Lethal? Even Tasers Can Kill, Right? #LethalWeapon #FOX #3weekroundup
Wait, Aren’t All Weapons Lethal? Even Tasers Can Kill, Right? #LethalWeapon #FOX #3weekroundup
All pictures courtesy of FOX
Hiz-zah to whoever came up with this wholly original idea for a TV show. I know that whichever executive greenlit this show they call Lethal Weapon over at FOX is losing their mind just knowing how they’ve blown people away with something fresh, hip and all-around cool. Two cops doin’ cop stuff on a weekly basis, but there’s a little friction in their relationship. How did they not think of this before? Seriously, what genius greenlit this? But before I heap on the accolades, let’s dig into the nitty gritty of Lethal Weapon in another 3-week roundup of the new (new?) show.
FOX’s rehash of the 80s movie (seriously, can the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers running Hollywood not think of any original ideas; I’ll give Boomers a break because they came up with this concept 30 years ago and executed it successfully. But Xers can stop reaching back into their childhood to give us the same overdone crap) Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover comes to us as a literal big screen to small screen translation. Before you perk your lips to spit venom at your computer screen and say “Well, what did you expect?” I’d like to kindly point you to last year’s rendition of Minority Report. Yes, it may have been canceled. But at least with that idea they tried doing something different, new, slight to right of the concepts put forth in the movie. Here, the first three episodes of Lethal Weapon have been like watching the first movie over and over on repeat with a little extra Mrs. Murtaugh added in for extra flavor. Let me set the scene.
We opened the first episode with Martin Riggs (played by Clayne Crawford; never seen him before, but he’s been in stuff) playing a wild Texas police officer chasing down some criminals with his partner riding shotgun in a pickup truck. I never can quite get a good accent down just right, but I have to say that his opening lines all seemed terribly over-accented, not to mention overacted. While in this high-speed chase through Texas desert, he takes a call from his wife who is going into labor with their first child as they speak. She is on her way to the hospital and tells him to hurry his butt back home to see his kid come into the world. A “yes, ma’am” kinda guy, he stops the truck and uses the opportunity to show his military sniping skills to take down the guys who thought they had gotten away. His work done, he rushes back to his woman’s side. But it isn’t until he arrives at the hospital does he receive the bad news. On her way to the hospital, his wife got T-boned by a semi, killing both her and the baby. And now...
We cut to Roger Murtaugh on the morning of his 50th birthday and first day back into the office since suffering a heart attack. Played by TV vet Damon Wayans Sr., Murtaugh is far different from Danny Glover’s take in my opinion. He’s slightly funnier but also less straight-man, which plays very well against his wife Trish (played by Keesha Sharp), but not as well off of Riggs. A scar down his chest from the heart surgery he had, he not only awakens to his beautiful wife, but to the realization that they have a newborn to go with their two teenage children—unexpected pregnancy. He actually had the heart attack in the delivery room. Now, Trish makes him wear one of those fancy Fitbit-esque watches to monitor his heart rate because if it gets higher than a certain threshold (“50! Stay above 50!” I know that’s a Speed reference which is a completely different movie but still), he runs the risk of another attack and possible death.Murtaugh returns to work to find his old partner promoted to captain. While Roger commends the man for his new position, no way he could tether himself to a desk just yet. He loves being an LA detective too much. So, he’s getting a new partner, this new lateral transfer from out of state that his captain wants him to show around. Before he can meet the new guy, he is called in to a bank heist.
As you’ve probably already guessed, Roger meets Riggs at the heist. The free-wheeling, depressed, deathwish Riggs doesn’t bother following protocol but instead waltzes right through the front doors with pizzas for the robbers that didn’t ask for food. He yaps to them about how they’ll want to get away and/or make the news all the while sizing them up with a gun to his head. Quicker than they could think, he yanks the gun from his nearest shooter and takes out the rest of the guys easy. The hostages flee, he strolls out with a slice of pizza, introduces himself and says he’s got the situation contained. And then the building blows up with he and Murtaugh standing less than a football-field’s length away.
There’s the typical Murtaugh and Captain argument about how the guy is unstable all before they end up working their first official case together.
The case: A dead man with a gunshot wound to the head found high in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the neon-orange sunset. A war vet, the man earns the immediate respect (human to human) of Riggs, who finds it strange that they found no car and his boots are clean. In other words, he didn’t walk up there, so how did he shoot himself, as is the examiner's initial conclusion from looking at the body?
A visit to the widow reveals that they were supposed to move out of state in one week. Murtaugh shows his detective skills when he sees the man’s son sitting with a baseball glove that belonged to his father. Apparently, the man was a leftie, but whoever placed the gun thought he was right-handed—why shoot yourself with your non-dominant hand. They track him back to his work at the docks where they find that somebody was importing illegal drugs. But before they get to that conclusion, they get into a wild car chase from the port as it is revealed that somebody knows more about the man’s death than they are letting on. A shady guy hops in a sports car and zooms off only to crash, get out of the car and be hit by a bus. Thousands of dollars of city damage.
They take a break mid-show for some partner bonding because Trish urges Roger to invite his new crazy partner over to the house. She wants to meet him. The meeting goes... emotionally. He reveals he used to be married but lost his wife as Roger explains his new baby. While Trish can see the carefree, suicidal tendencies in her husband’s new partner, she’s also very open-hearted and forgiving and thinks this could be a good thing for her man.
From there, Riggs goes back to the dead man’s widow where he learns that their son has been kidnapped by the cartel from which her husband stole heroin. Standard “drugs for the boy,” but she can’t find the drugs. What she doesn’t know but Riggs and Murtaugh figure out is that one of the guys they talked to at the LA Port was not only the dead man’s rent-a-cop boss but his commanding military officer during his tours of duty. It was that man’s plan to steal from the cartel. He contracted the dead man out to do it, then killed him so that the cartel would think the dead man still had their drugs and the mastermind would escape blame. As soon as Riggs concludes this, he handcuffs Roger to a counter-bar in his beachside mobile home because he wants to go off and play hero/martyr.
Riggs gets to the warehouse and finds the kid being held by the drug guys. Without an exchange, hell breaks loose as Roger comes in after somehow escaping the sand-trailer. The baddies die in the shootout and the detectives come out the hero. They are about to leave when someone starts sniping at them from the roof. The military mastermind shoots Riggs in the arm, causing the off-kilter cop to come up with a sacrificial plan where he will play target for the shooter, which will give away the man’s position, allowing Murtaugh to shoot the guy. Instead, Roger shoots Martin in the foot, causing him to drop to the ground where a gun lies beneath him. A dead shot as proven by the beginning of the show, Riggs grabs the gun and shoots from the ground to the sniper, making the man tumble dead off the roof.
We end the first episode knowing that Martin Riggs has to have weekly therapy visits to keep his job, with a therapist played by Fast and Furious star Jordana Brewster. I’m sure she’ll probably be a potential complicated love interest. We also learn that Riggs’ (ex?) father-in-law happens to be the DA or some kind of high-ranking government official in LA and is glad to have his daughter’s remains buried back in the home of her childhood.
Episode two starts with a butt-chewing from the captain about the amount of damage they caused in the city and the cost. He’s reluctant to give them another case and switches them off homicide for a while. Instead, he gives them a simple noise complaint. A huge party in the hills, a neighbor woman called about the daytime shindig. As soon as they get there, they hear gunshots ring from the suspected house and see the assassin escape. A man that had come to the party house to engage in illegal weapons dealing sees someone that happens to have a hit on their head. He tries to shoot and kills guest star Jason Derulo (initially thought to be the target). After another wild chase through the city, the man ends up exploded and unable to tell them anything.
When they do more tracking of the guns and the party guests and workers, they find that the real target of the entire party melee was actually a young waitress woman. Through some cool forensics detective stuff, they find out that the woman in question (they wanted to find her to question her on what she knew, initially) is also pregnant. The hit is out on her because of what she has seen/done/knows. As, apparently, is always the case for any woman who is in trouble, hers stems from a man she fell in love with. She found out about his illegal arms dealings and ran. So, Riggs and Murtaugh put her into a safe house while they go off and have another family dinner. Murtaugh finally learns that not only did Martin have a wife, but that she was pregnant when she died. Now he feels even worse about flaunting his newborn in the man’s face but is still committed to crowding around the man as part of a new family.
Meanwhile, an ATF agent that had been working on the illegal gun smuggling gets in contact with the LAPD office and works with Martin and Roger. In the end, this agent is revealed as corrupt and one of the dealers; in fact, the very boyfriend (I think) of the woman. He kidnaps/takes her into his custody, and goes to complete a huge gun deal. Riggs and Murtaugh figure it out in the nick of time and get there to stop the thing with a myriad of explosions and bullets. The day is saved, though, this time, Roger Murtaugh has to slip his heart-monitoring watch off because it is going crazy at the fact that his heart is so elevated, and he can’t have it beeping when he and Riggs sneak into the warehouse where the deal is going down.
Episode three starts with the robbery of an armored truck full of drug money. No, not the scratch and sniff, shoot-it-up kind but the sticky-icky, legal in California (medically), Colorado and Washington (state) kind. But apparently, some of it is illegal because the first place Riggs and Murtaugh go (after Riggs is done moping in his beach trailer and shooting his TV for daring to show happy couples) is to the cartel homies and Mexican street thugs. Apparently, they are the ones who took the money, ramming the armored truck with a dump truck and jacking a few million in marijuana profits. A twist, the only witness left alive is a retired cop and driver/security guard of the armored vehicle; the man also played Murtaugh’s training officer back in the day. A little detective work (it’s always a little) finds that some of the drug dealers are dead or in jail but the truck is still missing because the retired cop stole the truck back from the idiot criminals. He was just going to keep the money because, after so many years working on the force, he’s now in poor health and lacking money—partially caused by the sickness and death of his wife of over two decades.
Roger tries to get in some quality date-time with his wife, and Riggs debates whether he can really open up to anybody including the precinct-mandated therapist and his father-in-law, all while they try to figure out what to do to the retired cop. He’s sorry, he confessed to Roger, he knew he did wrong and he knew it was stupid, he was just down on his luck. Still, they have to turn him in. But he gets kidnapped by the cartel that wants their money back. In probably the most uncreative, “OK we can’t think of a better way to get them outta this mess” climax, the case ends with the two going all car chase/chicken on the thugs, leading them on a wild chase through the city as they completely ignore the fact that the thugs have a gun to the ex-cop’s head. Naturally, the thugs hop into their own low-riders and chase full-steam after the money-leaking armored truck until they corner our two lovable idiots. How will they escape? The police cavalry come in at the nick of time, sparing the viewer from anything more creative and memorable. To be honest with you, I had to cook dinner while watching the second and third episodes and found them so forgettable that I had to go back and re-spot-watch them for key plot points. Oh. My. God! Brace yourselves, people, because it’s coming.
What’s my grade? OK, I rarely ever do this, but I’m going to actually give this two grades. My first grade is a D. That’s right, it is one of the lowest-rated new shows I’ve watched in the last two seasons of me running this blog. Why? Many reasons. After having written a very plot and character-driven season two of my own episodic novella series The Writer (check that out at Amazon; look for the link below), I find the storylines of the first three episodes so... meh! It is a show dead on creativity. Not only did they not try something new and different or a slanted angle from the films, but they seem to have watered down the sheer... I don’t know what it is, but something. It’s like the X-factor but for film and TV. Something here is missing, even though the cast is really decent. And whatever that missing thing is feels like The Rock’s and Samuel L. Jackson’s characters from that Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg movie The Other Guys, only taken semi-seriously (“Aim for the bushes?”). The plots almost feel as if they came from the 90s, they’re so simple. Then, for the first two episodes, I felt it took too long to get into the actual case, which I understand—the first season of my episodic novella The Writer does take a while to pick up and get going because there’s a lot of character, setting and situation set-up—but come on. In both, they didn’t really get to the case until the second act. The action is... sigh! Martin Riggs craziness is summed up by him jumping off stuff: in episode one he jumps off a speeding sports car, in episode two a speeding bike and off a building through the window into another building, in episode three out of an overturned armored truck. It’s cool but repetitive and old-hat. The chemistry between characters and actors is OK, but at some points it does feel like they’re acting, and the directing will neither wow nor depress. It is super-formulaic and worst of all doesn’t have an overarching big mystery/case to occupy the background of the entire season like other recent successful shows such as Blindspot and The Blacklist. Also, I would argue that it doesn’t have the verve and cool vibe of Rosewood, nor the geekiness of Bones or Sleepy Hollow. It’s just very... middling.
However, if you are really into the original movies, as well as you just like a good cop procedural with a few laughs as opposed to something overly serious like Law and Order: SVU, then you might like this, in which case I would give the show a C+. It is not mind-blowing and nothing new, but you can tune in and have an enjoyable experience, just don’t expect a classic.
Should you be watching? Again, with all the things I outlined in my previous two paragraphs, I would have to say no for viewers who are looking for more depth in their shows. That is not to denigrate people who enjoy it. I’d say it is trying to be near the level of Castle, but doesn’t have that same novel idea, wit, and X-factor. But it does work as a good escapism series. Check it out for yourself. You can see the first three episodes now on Fox on Demand or at FOX.com. Lethal Weapon airs on FOX Wednesdays at 8pm, before Empire.What do you think? Have you heard/seen FOX’s newest incarnation of Lethal Weapon? If not, will you tune in to check it out? If you have seen it, what is your favorite part? Is it one of your newest crazes or is it just an OK show? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Man, I’m gettin’ too old for this shi--”‘Whoa, whoa! Dude, you can’t say that on national broadcast TV.’“But it’s my catchphrase. If I can’t say that, I’ll feel neutered. They neutered my catchphrase?”‘Yeah, it seems like it. Wow! Missed opportunity.’
P.S. Seriously, why am I not a TV executive? Did no one else realize this? How can you have Lethal Weapon without “getting too old for this sh*%?” That’s like in that one PG-13 Die Hard where they said “Yippy-ki-yay mother” and then cut away. What?? Noooooooo (Vader yell)! I’ll think of a better sign-off next time.
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Twitter@filmbooksbball
All pictures courtesy of FOXHiz-zah to whoever came up with this wholly original idea for a TV show. I know that whichever executive greenlit this show they call Lethal Weapon over at FOX is losing their mind just knowing how they’ve blown people away with something fresh, hip and all-around cool. Two cops doin’ cop stuff on a weekly basis, but there’s a little friction in their relationship. How did they not think of this before? Seriously, what genius greenlit this? But before I heap on the accolades, let’s dig into the nitty gritty of Lethal Weapon in another 3-week roundup of the new (new?) show.
FOX’s rehash of the 80s movie (seriously, can the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers running Hollywood not think of any original ideas; I’ll give Boomers a break because they came up with this concept 30 years ago and executed it successfully. But Xers can stop reaching back into their childhood to give us the same overdone crap) Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover comes to us as a literal big screen to small screen translation. Before you perk your lips to spit venom at your computer screen and say “Well, what did you expect?” I’d like to kindly point you to last year’s rendition of Minority Report. Yes, it may have been canceled. But at least with that idea they tried doing something different, new, slight to right of the concepts put forth in the movie. Here, the first three episodes of Lethal Weapon have been like watching the first movie over and over on repeat with a little extra Mrs. Murtaugh added in for extra flavor. Let me set the scene.
We opened the first episode with Martin Riggs (played by Clayne Crawford; never seen him before, but he’s been in stuff) playing a wild Texas police officer chasing down some criminals with his partner riding shotgun in a pickup truck. I never can quite get a good accent down just right, but I have to say that his opening lines all seemed terribly over-accented, not to mention overacted. While in this high-speed chase through Texas desert, he takes a call from his wife who is going into labor with their first child as they speak. She is on her way to the hospital and tells him to hurry his butt back home to see his kid come into the world. A “yes, ma’am” kinda guy, he stops the truck and uses the opportunity to show his military sniping skills to take down the guys who thought they had gotten away. His work done, he rushes back to his woman’s side. But it isn’t until he arrives at the hospital does he receive the bad news. On her way to the hospital, his wife got T-boned by a semi, killing both her and the baby. And now...We cut to Roger Murtaugh on the morning of his 50th birthday and first day back into the office since suffering a heart attack. Played by TV vet Damon Wayans Sr., Murtaugh is far different from Danny Glover’s take in my opinion. He’s slightly funnier but also less straight-man, which plays very well against his wife Trish (played by Keesha Sharp), but not as well off of Riggs. A scar down his chest from the heart surgery he had, he not only awakens to his beautiful wife, but to the realization that they have a newborn to go with their two teenage children—unexpected pregnancy. He actually had the heart attack in the delivery room. Now, Trish makes him wear one of those fancy Fitbit-esque watches to monitor his heart rate because if it gets higher than a certain threshold (“50! Stay above 50!” I know that’s a Speed reference which is a completely different movie but still), he runs the risk of another attack and possible death.Murtaugh returns to work to find his old partner promoted to captain. While Roger commends the man for his new position, no way he could tether himself to a desk just yet. He loves being an LA detective too much. So, he’s getting a new partner, this new lateral transfer from out of state that his captain wants him to show around. Before he can meet the new guy, he is called in to a bank heist.
As you’ve probably already guessed, Roger meets Riggs at the heist. The free-wheeling, depressed, deathwish Riggs doesn’t bother following protocol but instead waltzes right through the front doors with pizzas for the robbers that didn’t ask for food. He yaps to them about how they’ll want to get away and/or make the news all the while sizing them up with a gun to his head. Quicker than they could think, he yanks the gun from his nearest shooter and takes out the rest of the guys easy. The hostages flee, he strolls out with a slice of pizza, introduces himself and says he’s got the situation contained. And then the building blows up with he and Murtaugh standing less than a football-field’s length away.
There’s the typical Murtaugh and Captain argument about how the guy is unstable all before they end up working their first official case together.
The case: A dead man with a gunshot wound to the head found high in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the neon-orange sunset. A war vet, the man earns the immediate respect (human to human) of Riggs, who finds it strange that they found no car and his boots are clean. In other words, he didn’t walk up there, so how did he shoot himself, as is the examiner's initial conclusion from looking at the body?A visit to the widow reveals that they were supposed to move out of state in one week. Murtaugh shows his detective skills when he sees the man’s son sitting with a baseball glove that belonged to his father. Apparently, the man was a leftie, but whoever placed the gun thought he was right-handed—why shoot yourself with your non-dominant hand. They track him back to his work at the docks where they find that somebody was importing illegal drugs. But before they get to that conclusion, they get into a wild car chase from the port as it is revealed that somebody knows more about the man’s death than they are letting on. A shady guy hops in a sports car and zooms off only to crash, get out of the car and be hit by a bus. Thousands of dollars of city damage.
They take a break mid-show for some partner bonding because Trish urges Roger to invite his new crazy partner over to the house. She wants to meet him. The meeting goes... emotionally. He reveals he used to be married but lost his wife as Roger explains his new baby. While Trish can see the carefree, suicidal tendencies in her husband’s new partner, she’s also very open-hearted and forgiving and thinks this could be a good thing for her man.
From there, Riggs goes back to the dead man’s widow where he learns that their son has been kidnapped by the cartel from which her husband stole heroin. Standard “drugs for the boy,” but she can’t find the drugs. What she doesn’t know but Riggs and Murtaugh figure out is that one of the guys they talked to at the LA Port was not only the dead man’s rent-a-cop boss but his commanding military officer during his tours of duty. It was that man’s plan to steal from the cartel. He contracted the dead man out to do it, then killed him so that the cartel would think the dead man still had their drugs and the mastermind would escape blame. As soon as Riggs concludes this, he handcuffs Roger to a counter-bar in his beachside mobile home because he wants to go off and play hero/martyr.
Riggs gets to the warehouse and finds the kid being held by the drug guys. Without an exchange, hell breaks loose as Roger comes in after somehow escaping the sand-trailer. The baddies die in the shootout and the detectives come out the hero. They are about to leave when someone starts sniping at them from the roof. The military mastermind shoots Riggs in the arm, causing the off-kilter cop to come up with a sacrificial plan where he will play target for the shooter, which will give away the man’s position, allowing Murtaugh to shoot the guy. Instead, Roger shoots Martin in the foot, causing him to drop to the ground where a gun lies beneath him. A dead shot as proven by the beginning of the show, Riggs grabs the gun and shoots from the ground to the sniper, making the man tumble dead off the roof.
We end the first episode knowing that Martin Riggs has to have weekly therapy visits to keep his job, with a therapist played by Fast and Furious star Jordana Brewster. I’m sure she’ll probably be a potential complicated love interest. We also learn that Riggs’ (ex?) father-in-law happens to be the DA or some kind of high-ranking government official in LA and is glad to have his daughter’s remains buried back in the home of her childhood.
Episode two starts with a butt-chewing from the captain about the amount of damage they caused in the city and the cost. He’s reluctant to give them another case and switches them off homicide for a while. Instead, he gives them a simple noise complaint. A huge party in the hills, a neighbor woman called about the daytime shindig. As soon as they get there, they hear gunshots ring from the suspected house and see the assassin escape. A man that had come to the party house to engage in illegal weapons dealing sees someone that happens to have a hit on their head. He tries to shoot and kills guest star Jason Derulo (initially thought to be the target). After another wild chase through the city, the man ends up exploded and unable to tell them anything.
When they do more tracking of the guns and the party guests and workers, they find that the real target of the entire party melee was actually a young waitress woman. Through some cool forensics detective stuff, they find out that the woman in question (they wanted to find her to question her on what she knew, initially) is also pregnant. The hit is out on her because of what she has seen/done/knows. As, apparently, is always the case for any woman who is in trouble, hers stems from a man she fell in love with. She found out about his illegal arms dealings and ran. So, Riggs and Murtaugh put her into a safe house while they go off and have another family dinner. Murtaugh finally learns that not only did Martin have a wife, but that she was pregnant when she died. Now he feels even worse about flaunting his newborn in the man’s face but is still committed to crowding around the man as part of a new family.Meanwhile, an ATF agent that had been working on the illegal gun smuggling gets in contact with the LAPD office and works with Martin and Roger. In the end, this agent is revealed as corrupt and one of the dealers; in fact, the very boyfriend (I think) of the woman. He kidnaps/takes her into his custody, and goes to complete a huge gun deal. Riggs and Murtaugh figure it out in the nick of time and get there to stop the thing with a myriad of explosions and bullets. The day is saved, though, this time, Roger Murtaugh has to slip his heart-monitoring watch off because it is going crazy at the fact that his heart is so elevated, and he can’t have it beeping when he and Riggs sneak into the warehouse where the deal is going down.
Episode three starts with the robbery of an armored truck full of drug money. No, not the scratch and sniff, shoot-it-up kind but the sticky-icky, legal in California (medically), Colorado and Washington (state) kind. But apparently, some of it is illegal because the first place Riggs and Murtaugh go (after Riggs is done moping in his beach trailer and shooting his TV for daring to show happy couples) is to the cartel homies and Mexican street thugs. Apparently, they are the ones who took the money, ramming the armored truck with a dump truck and jacking a few million in marijuana profits. A twist, the only witness left alive is a retired cop and driver/security guard of the armored vehicle; the man also played Murtaugh’s training officer back in the day. A little detective work (it’s always a little) finds that some of the drug dealers are dead or in jail but the truck is still missing because the retired cop stole the truck back from the idiot criminals. He was just going to keep the money because, after so many years working on the force, he’s now in poor health and lacking money—partially caused by the sickness and death of his wife of over two decades.
Roger tries to get in some quality date-time with his wife, and Riggs debates whether he can really open up to anybody including the precinct-mandated therapist and his father-in-law, all while they try to figure out what to do to the retired cop. He’s sorry, he confessed to Roger, he knew he did wrong and he knew it was stupid, he was just down on his luck. Still, they have to turn him in. But he gets kidnapped by the cartel that wants their money back. In probably the most uncreative, “OK we can’t think of a better way to get them outta this mess” climax, the case ends with the two going all car chase/chicken on the thugs, leading them on a wild chase through the city as they completely ignore the fact that the thugs have a gun to the ex-cop’s head. Naturally, the thugs hop into their own low-riders and chase full-steam after the money-leaking armored truck until they corner our two lovable idiots. How will they escape? The police cavalry come in at the nick of time, sparing the viewer from anything more creative and memorable. To be honest with you, I had to cook dinner while watching the second and third episodes and found them so forgettable that I had to go back and re-spot-watch them for key plot points. Oh. My. God! Brace yourselves, people, because it’s coming.
What’s my grade? OK, I rarely ever do this, but I’m going to actually give this two grades. My first grade is a D. That’s right, it is one of the lowest-rated new shows I’ve watched in the last two seasons of me running this blog. Why? Many reasons. After having written a very plot and character-driven season two of my own episodic novella series The Writer (check that out at Amazon; look for the link below), I find the storylines of the first three episodes so... meh! It is a show dead on creativity. Not only did they not try something new and different or a slanted angle from the films, but they seem to have watered down the sheer... I don’t know what it is, but something. It’s like the X-factor but for film and TV. Something here is missing, even though the cast is really decent. And whatever that missing thing is feels like The Rock’s and Samuel L. Jackson’s characters from that Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg movie The Other Guys, only taken semi-seriously (“Aim for the bushes?”). The plots almost feel as if they came from the 90s, they’re so simple. Then, for the first two episodes, I felt it took too long to get into the actual case, which I understand—the first season of my episodic novella The Writer does take a while to pick up and get going because there’s a lot of character, setting and situation set-up—but come on. In both, they didn’t really get to the case until the second act. The action is... sigh! Martin Riggs craziness is summed up by him jumping off stuff: in episode one he jumps off a speeding sports car, in episode two a speeding bike and off a building through the window into another building, in episode three out of an overturned armored truck. It’s cool but repetitive and old-hat. The chemistry between characters and actors is OK, but at some points it does feel like they’re acting, and the directing will neither wow nor depress. It is super-formulaic and worst of all doesn’t have an overarching big mystery/case to occupy the background of the entire season like other recent successful shows such as Blindspot and The Blacklist. Also, I would argue that it doesn’t have the verve and cool vibe of Rosewood, nor the geekiness of Bones or Sleepy Hollow. It’s just very... middling.
However, if you are really into the original movies, as well as you just like a good cop procedural with a few laughs as opposed to something overly serious like Law and Order: SVU, then you might like this, in which case I would give the show a C+. It is not mind-blowing and nothing new, but you can tune in and have an enjoyable experience, just don’t expect a classic.
Should you be watching? Again, with all the things I outlined in my previous two paragraphs, I would have to say no for viewers who are looking for more depth in their shows. That is not to denigrate people who enjoy it. I’d say it is trying to be near the level of Castle, but doesn’t have that same novel idea, wit, and X-factor. But it does work as a good escapism series. Check it out for yourself. You can see the first three episodes now on Fox on Demand or at FOX.com. Lethal Weapon airs on FOX Wednesdays at 8pm, before Empire.What do you think? Have you heard/seen FOX’s newest incarnation of Lethal Weapon? If not, will you tune in to check it out? If you have seen it, what is your favorite part? Is it one of your newest crazes or is it just an OK show? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Man, I’m gettin’ too old for this shi--”‘Whoa, whoa! Dude, you can’t say that on national broadcast TV.’“But it’s my catchphrase. If I can’t say that, I’ll feel neutered. They neutered my catchphrase?”‘Yeah, it seems like it. Wow! Missed opportunity.’
P.S. Seriously, why am I not a TV executive? Did no one else realize this? How can you have Lethal Weapon without “getting too old for this sh*%?” That’s like in that one PG-13 Die Hard where they said “Yippy-ki-yay mother” and then cut away. What?? Noooooooo (Vader yell)! I’ll think of a better sign-off next time.
Amazon
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
October 7, 2016
I Have The Powe—What? Wait, So I’m Not He-Man? Really? #SonofZorn #3weekroundup #FOX
I Have The Powe—What? Wait, So I’m Not He-Man? Really? #SonofZorn #3weekroundup #FOX
All pictures courtesy of FOX
Time for another three-week roundup review on a new show. Next up, Son of Zorn. A high-bred of animation and live action, Son of Zorn joins FOX’s already crowded Sunday night block of half-hour comedies. But is it a sword-slashing, rip-roaring, barbaric good time, or is it just one of the many shows destined for defeat at the paws of the cancellation bear? Son of Zorn is certainly gonna fight like hell against that bear, kinda like that hiking guy that survived that grizzly bear attack twice. Like, can you believe that guy? Holy crap! Is Leo gonna play him in a movie, too? Is he now gonna go seek vengeance on the guy that killed his boy? So many questions and no reasonable answers. Let’s start the review.
Zorn and his pimp cup.
Son of Zorn (#SonofZorn) is the latest addition to FOX that tries to bridge the gap between the Animation Domination days of Sunday nights, and the newest live-action addition of Last Man on Earth. A show in which the main (though, not the title character) is animated, Zorn is voiced by familiar comedic face and SNL alum Jason Sudeikis. Zorn is a barbarian warrior who hails from the land of Zephyria, a foreign land where everything is animated and they’re stuck in the fictional times of what strongly looks like He-Man territory. The character even looks like a longer-haired He-man with kickin’ Junior-High bangs and blushed-tomato-red hair. His muscles are huge, and, because they’re animated, they always seem to glisten in the real world. At the start of the first episode, we meet Zorn in mid-battle when his cellphone reminds him that it is his son’s birthday. Rather than stay and finish the battle as his friends die in horrifying agony, he’s gotta take a rain-check to hop a flight to go and see his son for his seventeenth birthday.
Titular Character Son of Zorn Alan (he's small one)His son, Alanugulon or Alan for short (played by Superstore’s Johnny Pemberton), lives with his ex-wife Edie (played by veteran Cheryl Hines) in Orange County, California. Both are totally not animated, regular suburbanites. As any rippling-machismo mound of muscle and testosterone would feel, Zorn still has feelings for his ex-wife and borer of his seed. Upon his arrival back in the OC, he winds up at her house an hour before Alan is set to arrive back home. They catch up on her sofa as she is now a far cry from the young, wild woman he used to know (they had a past filled with drugs, war slayings, conquerings of foreign lands, and copious amounts of sex) but still has glimmers of that carefree teen, twenty, and thirty-something he used to know. He thinks that she still has feelings for him, and judging by the way she is constantly caught staring at his body, it’s clear she does. But alas, she is engaged to be betrothed to another.
This Isn't Awkward. Yet another SNL and comedy alum, Tim Meadows (The Ladies Man) plays Edie’s fiance Craig. An online college professor who gives lectures over his cellphone and is constantly emasculated by everything related to Zorn, he specializes in psychology and breaking down the mental/emotional needs of Alan and Edie and now Zorn. Think the black version of Neil from The Santa Clause minus the circus sweaters. Zorn would love to slaughter Craig and his people and sacrifice him on a Zephyrian altar while holding his beating heart in his palm, but he doesn’t do that, because, you know, that would put a damper on the whole family vibe.
Strangely, it is because of this barbaric and old-world thinking that Alan is embarrassed by his father who, last time he visited, came to his school slinging his huge sword around for everyone to see. No, that is not some sort of innuendo about his dangly cartoon parts; the guy actually carries around a humongous gold sword that we find out has powers in the second episode. With our society being the way it is (killing frowned upon) Zorn slays everything he can that won’t wind him up in jail: tables, chairs, vehicles, other things worth stabbing (slays more than Beyonce). Yeah, he gets it in. Admittedly, part of the fun of this show is waiting to see just what crazy problem he’ll try to solve or create by wielding his sword. Standing back to look big picture, maybe that could become a problem.
Alan is so embarrassed by his dad’s always-on warrior instincts that he skips out on seeing the man. As it turns out his birthday was three weeks prior, demonstrating how terrible Zorn is at modern technology (that phone reminder was way off). Edie explains that Alan isn’t excited to see Zorn because the man was never around during his childhood. Zorn missed about a decade of the boy’s life and is only now back because... um... huh? Outside of the birthday thing, I got nothin’! Maybe they said it but I didn’t catch it, but I’m thinking that the age of 17 is important in Zephyria culture. Even with that assumption, Zorn schedules a flight back to his land within a few days. It is not until he and Edie talk about how Alan doesn’t want to see him that he realizes he’s missed too much of his son’s life. A mid-battle call from one of his gladiator buddies back home who loses his son on the battlefield (the boy is cut in half lengthwise) cements the idea that he needs to stay around to bond with Alan.
She Looks Like She Used To Be Wild
So, Zorn rents a cheap apartment from a skinny pervert and sets off on a normal, non-soldier life in modern suburbia. He gets a corporate desk job as a telemarketer selling industrial soap dispensers, a job he only gets because he is a diversity hire. His boss Linda (played by Artemis Pebdani of Scandal fame) makes the smooth transition into the role of overworked, apathetic mid-management type who gives semi-inspiring speeches about how everything that Zorn knows from the field of battle can be applied to his new work environment: his war is getting high sales, his pent-up aggression should be used to get high sales, he can move on in life and possibly get over his ex and get closer to his son by getting high sales. I enjoy her performance.
When Zorn takes Alan to a restaurant as a forgiveness plea for missing his entire life, they run into Nancy an Asian classmate and crush of Alan. (I can’t say the actress that plays her because two actresses are still listed most everywhere I look, probably from the original actress being recast when the show went to series). Here, Zorn learns not only that his son is a vegetarian but is ashamed of riding the school bus. The thoughtful and caring father he is, Zorn decides to get his son a vehicle. But instead of a car, he purchases a battle bird from Zephyria, equipped with harness, gut-ripping talons and a wingspan of a small plane. When Edie objects to Alan keeping his dad’s gift, Zorn decides he must kill it to get rid of it instead of shipping it back to his homeland. He stabs it, it doesn’t die, he has to keep stabbing it, it’s funny until it’s not, and then we see the bird twitching in the garbage as the credits roll. Remember, this show is meant to be on the same humor level as Family Guy or whatever other Seth MacFarlane offering that FOX has.
Episode two deals with Zorn moving his crap out of Edie’s garage and soon-to-be marital house. As Zorn deals with his past, Alan tries to woo his crush Nancy. With Zorn’s help and Zorn’s sword’s help, Alan uses a seeing eye sword addition to non-cyber-stalk cyber-stalk her. He can see everything she does and tries to glean her favorites and dislikes before he and Zorn realize it is wrong to spy on people and Alan decides he’ll just be normal and try to get the girl. Does it work? Eh! He’s taking the long route but he’ll probably get there.
Meanwhile, Zorn continues to attempt to relive the old days with Edie who doesn’t budge off her declaration that she is over him. But when he uses his sword to spy on her in the shower, he realizes that she still has the Z, R, N tattoo across her butt cheeks (think about it). He’s got a chance, but he’s still gotta move all that crap from her garage. His crap is quickly replaced by Craig’s pity-purchase of more than a dozen industrial soap dispensers. Such a Neil thing to do.
Episode three sees our hero dealing with the boredom of corporate American work-life. Battle-starved after a week or two away from Zephyria, Zorn seeks out the closest thing to slaughtering his enemies that he can: he picks a prank-fight/real fight with a guy who stole the office hot sauce and works in one of the other companies that occupies the same building as his work. From tricking the man into drinking blood to nearly decapitating him in the middle of the office, Zorn will conquer until the subject of his ire is stopped by his boss and forced to apologize like a bully-child. Now Zorn can’t kill him because... Ethics! And he learns that his real battle... is getting high sales.
All-seeing Eye Sword Stone Sans-Sword
As Zorn holds his own warring frustrations, Alan suffers through gym class bullying by a fat kid that looks like White Shrek. Unsolicited advice from his parent triumvirate gives him three things to do: slay this bully in a battle to the death, fight back with one or two good punches, or tell him that he is loved and get on his back to act like an overturned turtle kicking and struggling to right himself off his shell. Guess who said the last one? Guess what Alan chooses? That’s right, Alan first tells the bully he is loved, then, when that doesn’t work, he gets on his back and flails his legs in the air like an irritated baby on the changing table. But it is revealed that he has cartoon Barbarian legs like his father. And, just like his father, his legs are super strong. One tiny kick flings the boy across the room into a rack, thusly ending his bullying problem. Granted, now everyone knows that he has weird cartoon legs, which probably won’t help in the long run, but if they say something he can just kick their butt, and probably kill them in the process.
What is my grade? I’d give it a C+. Will this survive the season? Most likely, yes. As I stated in my initial preview, this looks like a show that could be really good for two years, then peter off. My problem is that this is not the stone-in-the-water ripple that, say, Family Guy was. Back when Family Guy first came out, it actually got me to start watching FOX’s animation offerings again. And then it got canceled because so few people saw its brilliance. But through Adult Swim it revived and when it did, it truly became a generational phenomenon. Everybody was watching and talking about Family Guy, cementing its place in pop culture. While I have moved on from my Family Guy-days, as I think most people have (not to say it isn’t still popular), I tend to judge FOX’s animated comedies by that rubric. I don’t see this as a must-see comedy like some of the other FOX shows were in their prime. This is akin to Bob’s Burgers in that people will like it but I doubt it will turn into appointment-viewing on a weekly basis.
Should you be watching? If you’re still enthralled by The Simpsons, Family Guy, Brooklyn-9-9 and some of the other comedy offerings of FOX, then I say go for it. It serves its purpose as a decent slapstick family comedy with a slight edge, and with the guys behind the 21 Jump Street remake and the Lego movie as producers, it has unlimited potential for heartwarming humor. But if you want something a little more thought-provoking, then look elsewhere. Son of Zorn airs on FOX Sundays at 8:30pm EST.
What do you think? Have you ever heard of Son of Zorn? Have you seen it? If not, do you think you’d tune in now? If you have seen it, what is your favorite part of the show? Do you think Zorn will ever take the family back to visit Zephyria? And when the heck is Alan going to get his own sword? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said... What? You mean I’m still not He-Man? Well ain’t this about a bit--”
P.S. How many more years will we be bombarded in entertainment with things that reference the 80s? When will it stop? Ahhhh! I’ll think of a better sign-off next time.
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All pictures courtesy of FOX
Time for another three-week roundup review on a new show. Next up, Son of Zorn. A high-bred of animation and live action, Son of Zorn joins FOX’s already crowded Sunday night block of half-hour comedies. But is it a sword-slashing, rip-roaring, barbaric good time, or is it just one of the many shows destined for defeat at the paws of the cancellation bear? Son of Zorn is certainly gonna fight like hell against that bear, kinda like that hiking guy that survived that grizzly bear attack twice. Like, can you believe that guy? Holy crap! Is Leo gonna play him in a movie, too? Is he now gonna go seek vengeance on the guy that killed his boy? So many questions and no reasonable answers. Let’s start the review.
Zorn and his pimp cup.Son of Zorn (#SonofZorn) is the latest addition to FOX that tries to bridge the gap between the Animation Domination days of Sunday nights, and the newest live-action addition of Last Man on Earth. A show in which the main (though, not the title character) is animated, Zorn is voiced by familiar comedic face and SNL alum Jason Sudeikis. Zorn is a barbarian warrior who hails from the land of Zephyria, a foreign land where everything is animated and they’re stuck in the fictional times of what strongly looks like He-Man territory. The character even looks like a longer-haired He-man with kickin’ Junior-High bangs and blushed-tomato-red hair. His muscles are huge, and, because they’re animated, they always seem to glisten in the real world. At the start of the first episode, we meet Zorn in mid-battle when his cellphone reminds him that it is his son’s birthday. Rather than stay and finish the battle as his friends die in horrifying agony, he’s gotta take a rain-check to hop a flight to go and see his son for his seventeenth birthday.
Titular Character Son of Zorn Alan (he's small one)His son, Alanugulon or Alan for short (played by Superstore’s Johnny Pemberton), lives with his ex-wife Edie (played by veteran Cheryl Hines) in Orange County, California. Both are totally not animated, regular suburbanites. As any rippling-machismo mound of muscle and testosterone would feel, Zorn still has feelings for his ex-wife and borer of his seed. Upon his arrival back in the OC, he winds up at her house an hour before Alan is set to arrive back home. They catch up on her sofa as she is now a far cry from the young, wild woman he used to know (they had a past filled with drugs, war slayings, conquerings of foreign lands, and copious amounts of sex) but still has glimmers of that carefree teen, twenty, and thirty-something he used to know. He thinks that she still has feelings for him, and judging by the way she is constantly caught staring at his body, it’s clear she does. But alas, she is engaged to be betrothed to another.
This Isn't Awkward. Yet another SNL and comedy alum, Tim Meadows (The Ladies Man) plays Edie’s fiance Craig. An online college professor who gives lectures over his cellphone and is constantly emasculated by everything related to Zorn, he specializes in psychology and breaking down the mental/emotional needs of Alan and Edie and now Zorn. Think the black version of Neil from The Santa Clause minus the circus sweaters. Zorn would love to slaughter Craig and his people and sacrifice him on a Zephyrian altar while holding his beating heart in his palm, but he doesn’t do that, because, you know, that would put a damper on the whole family vibe.Strangely, it is because of this barbaric and old-world thinking that Alan is embarrassed by his father who, last time he visited, came to his school slinging his huge sword around for everyone to see. No, that is not some sort of innuendo about his dangly cartoon parts; the guy actually carries around a humongous gold sword that we find out has powers in the second episode. With our society being the way it is (killing frowned upon) Zorn slays everything he can that won’t wind him up in jail: tables, chairs, vehicles, other things worth stabbing (slays more than Beyonce). Yeah, he gets it in. Admittedly, part of the fun of this show is waiting to see just what crazy problem he’ll try to solve or create by wielding his sword. Standing back to look big picture, maybe that could become a problem.
Alan is so embarrassed by his dad’s always-on warrior instincts that he skips out on seeing the man. As it turns out his birthday was three weeks prior, demonstrating how terrible Zorn is at modern technology (that phone reminder was way off). Edie explains that Alan isn’t excited to see Zorn because the man was never around during his childhood. Zorn missed about a decade of the boy’s life and is only now back because... um... huh? Outside of the birthday thing, I got nothin’! Maybe they said it but I didn’t catch it, but I’m thinking that the age of 17 is important in Zephyria culture. Even with that assumption, Zorn schedules a flight back to his land within a few days. It is not until he and Edie talk about how Alan doesn’t want to see him that he realizes he’s missed too much of his son’s life. A mid-battle call from one of his gladiator buddies back home who loses his son on the battlefield (the boy is cut in half lengthwise) cements the idea that he needs to stay around to bond with Alan.
She Looks Like She Used To Be WildSo, Zorn rents a cheap apartment from a skinny pervert and sets off on a normal, non-soldier life in modern suburbia. He gets a corporate desk job as a telemarketer selling industrial soap dispensers, a job he only gets because he is a diversity hire. His boss Linda (played by Artemis Pebdani of Scandal fame) makes the smooth transition into the role of overworked, apathetic mid-management type who gives semi-inspiring speeches about how everything that Zorn knows from the field of battle can be applied to his new work environment: his war is getting high sales, his pent-up aggression should be used to get high sales, he can move on in life and possibly get over his ex and get closer to his son by getting high sales. I enjoy her performance.
When Zorn takes Alan to a restaurant as a forgiveness plea for missing his entire life, they run into Nancy an Asian classmate and crush of Alan. (I can’t say the actress that plays her because two actresses are still listed most everywhere I look, probably from the original actress being recast when the show went to series). Here, Zorn learns not only that his son is a vegetarian but is ashamed of riding the school bus. The thoughtful and caring father he is, Zorn decides to get his son a vehicle. But instead of a car, he purchases a battle bird from Zephyria, equipped with harness, gut-ripping talons and a wingspan of a small plane. When Edie objects to Alan keeping his dad’s gift, Zorn decides he must kill it to get rid of it instead of shipping it back to his homeland. He stabs it, it doesn’t die, he has to keep stabbing it, it’s funny until it’s not, and then we see the bird twitching in the garbage as the credits roll. Remember, this show is meant to be on the same humor level as Family Guy or whatever other Seth MacFarlane offering that FOX has.
Episode two deals with Zorn moving his crap out of Edie’s garage and soon-to-be marital house. As Zorn deals with his past, Alan tries to woo his crush Nancy. With Zorn’s help and Zorn’s sword’s help, Alan uses a seeing eye sword addition to non-cyber-stalk cyber-stalk her. He can see everything she does and tries to glean her favorites and dislikes before he and Zorn realize it is wrong to spy on people and Alan decides he’ll just be normal and try to get the girl. Does it work? Eh! He’s taking the long route but he’ll probably get there.
Meanwhile, Zorn continues to attempt to relive the old days with Edie who doesn’t budge off her declaration that she is over him. But when he uses his sword to spy on her in the shower, he realizes that she still has the Z, R, N tattoo across her butt cheeks (think about it). He’s got a chance, but he’s still gotta move all that crap from her garage. His crap is quickly replaced by Craig’s pity-purchase of more than a dozen industrial soap dispensers. Such a Neil thing to do.
Episode three sees our hero dealing with the boredom of corporate American work-life. Battle-starved after a week or two away from Zephyria, Zorn seeks out the closest thing to slaughtering his enemies that he can: he picks a prank-fight/real fight with a guy who stole the office hot sauce and works in one of the other companies that occupies the same building as his work. From tricking the man into drinking blood to nearly decapitating him in the middle of the office, Zorn will conquer until the subject of his ire is stopped by his boss and forced to apologize like a bully-child. Now Zorn can’t kill him because... Ethics! And he learns that his real battle... is getting high sales.
All-seeing Eye Sword Stone Sans-SwordAs Zorn holds his own warring frustrations, Alan suffers through gym class bullying by a fat kid that looks like White Shrek. Unsolicited advice from his parent triumvirate gives him three things to do: slay this bully in a battle to the death, fight back with one or two good punches, or tell him that he is loved and get on his back to act like an overturned turtle kicking and struggling to right himself off his shell. Guess who said the last one? Guess what Alan chooses? That’s right, Alan first tells the bully he is loved, then, when that doesn’t work, he gets on his back and flails his legs in the air like an irritated baby on the changing table. But it is revealed that he has cartoon Barbarian legs like his father. And, just like his father, his legs are super strong. One tiny kick flings the boy across the room into a rack, thusly ending his bullying problem. Granted, now everyone knows that he has weird cartoon legs, which probably won’t help in the long run, but if they say something he can just kick their butt, and probably kill them in the process.
What is my grade? I’d give it a C+. Will this survive the season? Most likely, yes. As I stated in my initial preview, this looks like a show that could be really good for two years, then peter off. My problem is that this is not the stone-in-the-water ripple that, say, Family Guy was. Back when Family Guy first came out, it actually got me to start watching FOX’s animation offerings again. And then it got canceled because so few people saw its brilliance. But through Adult Swim it revived and when it did, it truly became a generational phenomenon. Everybody was watching and talking about Family Guy, cementing its place in pop culture. While I have moved on from my Family Guy-days, as I think most people have (not to say it isn’t still popular), I tend to judge FOX’s animated comedies by that rubric. I don’t see this as a must-see comedy like some of the other FOX shows were in their prime. This is akin to Bob’s Burgers in that people will like it but I doubt it will turn into appointment-viewing on a weekly basis.Should you be watching? If you’re still enthralled by The Simpsons, Family Guy, Brooklyn-9-9 and some of the other comedy offerings of FOX, then I say go for it. It serves its purpose as a decent slapstick family comedy with a slight edge, and with the guys behind the 21 Jump Street remake and the Lego movie as producers, it has unlimited potential for heartwarming humor. But if you want something a little more thought-provoking, then look elsewhere. Son of Zorn airs on FOX Sundays at 8:30pm EST.
What do you think? Have you ever heard of Son of Zorn? Have you seen it? If not, do you think you’d tune in now? If you have seen it, what is your favorite part of the show? Do you think Zorn will ever take the family back to visit Zephyria? And when the heck is Alan going to get his own sword? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said... What? You mean I’m still not He-Man? Well ain’t this about a bit--”
P.S. How many more years will we be bombarded in entertainment with things that reference the 80s? When will it stop? Ahhhh! I’ll think of a better sign-off next time.
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Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
October 6, 2016
Heaven Can Wait But What A Divine Comedy! #TheGoodPlace #3weekroundup #NBC
Heaven Can Wait But What A Divine Comedy! #TheGoodPlace #3weekroundup #NBC
All pictures courtesy of #NBC
It’s that time again, people. That’s right, we are in the third full week of the new TV season, which means that most of the new TV shows have had three chances to earn your viewership (and earn a good rating from the networks ) to see if they will stick around. While some shows decided to do a two-episode premiere and totally throw off my review timing (I’m lookin’ at you The Good Place), I will try my best to get as many reviews out in the next week and a half as I can. So, what about this new NBC comedy, the only of the season? Is it good like the title implies, or is it another comedy dud destined to fall by the wayside with the likes of The Craig Robinson Show, Better or Worse, and those other shows that you totally never saw and I haven’t the lethargy-defeating energy to Google? Let’s find out about The Good Place (#TheGoodPlace).
The Good Place is sponsored by cute Otters holding hands while they sleep. It stars Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop, a freshly deceased typical white woman—thank god they didn’t make her typically Asian—who was born in Phoenix, Arizona, went to college in Tempe, uh... Arizona, and then she moved back to Phoenix, Arizona. Ha! Typical white girl. Anyway, we learn on the first episode that Eleanor has died after a tragic but totally understandable shopping cart incident. There may have been some bending down to pick something up involved, a decline, an ex-boyfriend, an erectile dysfunction billboard truck, an unattentive grocery store parking lot cart-getter and some other stuff involved. Doesn’t matter! What matters is that she’s dead now and has wound up in the office of Ted Danson.
Ted Danson plays Michael (a play off of the Archangel Michael as opposed to the awesome me that I am... I assume) who acts as the de facto Mayor of this Good Place. We later learn that he is the designer of this particular non-heaven heaven. Wait, let’s back up a minute and explain the rules of this place as told to us by Michael—the Ted Danson character, not me... But me, too. Just keep reading.
OK, so The Good Place is not heaven in the Christian sense (though, it totally is modeled after the modern-day Christian-atheistic blur of what people think heaven should be like), but is rather just a good place. It’s also not one big conglomerate setting, but a series of neighborhoods that don’t ever seem to come into contact with each other. Each neighborhood/town is designed and run by one de facto, uh... designer and Mayor... and FroYo vendor. People in non-heaven heaven love FroYo. This place is extremely exclusive and hasn’t allowed in tons of famous people. It also doesn’t allow cursing and replaces all cuss words with more PC (and network-friendly) words like fork and bullshirt! Also, you’ll meet your soul-mate who is supposed to be in the same part of The Good Place as you. Oh, and you get your own home that is built to the specifications of your dream home. Most people choose a mansion, but Eleanor gets, essentially, a mix between a post-modernist kindergarten-shapes-painting and a Lego, interiorly decorated with tons of pictures of clowns (finally, we know why the country’s clown outbreak happened; promo for this show). It’s small, it’s cozy and it is quite possibly the most hideous house Eleanor has ever seen.
That’s right, as soon as Eleanor meets her supposed soul-mate Chidi (played by William Jackson Harper), a French-speaking African nerd, she confesses that she hates clowns, would prefer the huge mansion that her neighbors live in, has never been a lawyer (as assumed by Michael) and doesn’t share any of the memories that display on her living room TV. The only thing Michael got right was her name. Here is where the fun starts.
As it just so happens, black-guy-with-the-glasses was actually an ethics professor when he was alive. He spent his entire life doing two things: teaching ethics and writing an impossibly long, boring and exhaustive opus/book on ethics as explored in episode three. With only two options of where to live posthumously: The Good Place or The Bad Place (a not-hell hell), and Cincinnati totally off the table for middling, not great, not bad, typical people, Eleanor has but one option. She has to learn how to be good. And she quickly learns that learning how to Good is really going to be exhausting.
Black Guy with Glasses. They Call Me Chidi
With much of the first episode atmosphere and world-building, the second episode (it came in a one-hour super premiere) picks up in the middle of a chaos started by the thoughts, overly descriptive, and pessimistic mouth of Eleanor. In her self-centered and selfish mind, she has mentioned everything from Ariana Grande to stealing gold from her neighbors’ mansion to calling her neighbor a long-necked giraffe to recalling her real life/job as a non-pharmaceutical pharmaceutical telemarketer that sells a medicine—well, actually it's a tableted chalk pretending to be medicine—to old people. And because of all of her extraneous mentions of things before she went to sleep, she awoke to chaos with Grande songs blasting through the sky, jumbo shrimp flying around and attacking people, marauding giraffes running the streets, huge chalk-tablet bottles rolling through the town, giant frogs and everyone uniformed in blue and yellow stripes. Except her. Only now does she realize that she caused all of this mayhem with her stupid, normal, typical thoughts. Why is she so painfully average!!!!
The town a mess after the chaos, Chidi uses their second day in The Good Place as a test to see if he’ll help her become good. She has the option between helping to clean up or learning to fly like a superhero. Naturally, she chooses flight. I would choose flight, too, but to fair to me I don’t like cleaning garbage. Chidi, like a boss, volunteers them both for the cleaning. Eleanor does some, then responsibly shoves the rest of the dirt and refuse under a rug to go fly. And then all hell breaks loose again. Literally, it is an adult-themed, live-action, non-food Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Whatever she’s thinking will fall from the sky, or rise from the ground. A dumpster falls on two guys—it’s OK because everyone is dead, duh!
Look at how attractive and satisfied she is. Oh yeah, she definitely learned a lesson.
In the end, she learns a lesson: No shortcuts to being good—a lesson she is bound to learn every single episode, every single week, not that that is a bad thing (see what I did there?). But the plot twists when she finds a letter on her doorstep at the end of the episode that simply says she doesn’t belong there (dun dun dunnnnn!)
Episode three opens with Eleanor trying to figure out who wrote the letter. We go deeper into the lives of two of the other main players. Eleanor’s suspicion immediately goes to her giraffe-necked, mansion-living neighbor Tahani. A British medical charity fundraising superstar (she raised something close to a billion dollars in her lifetime for various health agencies), Tahani is all smiles, spice, and sugar—totally not a reference to her Indian (from India) heritage. Played by Jameela Jamil, my god is this woman beautiful. Um... yeah, I forgot what else I was gonna say. And I say that with an eye that has been on Bell for quite a while. She’s a very nice looking mom, but she’s married so I try not to drool over taken women. Thank god Angelina Jolie is single again. (And there’s your sexist comment of the day. You’re welcome).
Tahani and her Buddhist Monk man Jianyu
Tahani is soul-mates with Jianyu, a Buddhist monk who took a vow of silence that he is still committed to keeping in the afterlife... because he’s weird? Let’s just go with that for now. His silence bothers the heaven out of Tahani the overly talkative smile-machine. In order to try connecting with him, she enlists Eleanor’s help on the third episode. Eleanor tries to pull the truth about the letter from her and expose her as just as big of a fraud and horrible person as she is, but can’t because Tahani seems to be the real deal. Only when Tahani breaks down about her Asian beau does Eleanor come to her aid with a shoulder to cry on and helps to build a relationship with her.
Siri--Uh, I Mean Janet. As Eleanor is trying to figure out who sent the letter, her soul-mate Chidi is bothered by Michael to find a hobby/job that will help fulfill him in the afterlife. Aided by The Good Place’s Janet, a human-formed version of Siri designed to help Michael and all the “placers” adjust to life after death, Michael tries steering Chidi clear from his ethics book. He finally reveals to Chidi that he read the book and found it abhorrent which is why he doesn’t want Chidi to waste his time on it (forget the fact that he’s dead and the book may be pointless, though, I’m guessing at some point the book will be used to help people in the Bad Place become good). Chidi decides that he still wants to work on his book and all is resolved. Eleanor learned another lesson about being a good person and how to care about others. In the end, it is revealed that Jianyu is the person who actually wrote the letter. How did he know she didn’t belong there? Because she blabbed to him at the welcoming party after filling up on wine/champagne. Ready for the M. Night-twist? He actually doesn’t belong there either and his name is not Jianyu but Jason Mendoza. Sadly, that story is saved for episode four.
So what is my grade? I give this show a B+. Yes, it is that entertaining. In my initial preview of this show about a week ago, I didn’t know what to make of it. This year, instead of doing deeper research on all the series, I went solely off the commercials to glean series specifics. From what I saw of this show’s trailers, it looked awkwardly positioned for a state of “meh!” I didn’t think that it could last the season and that it would focus on making fun of how good people are. While it does do that, it eases the comedy of laughing at people trying to be their best with flashbacks of Eleanor and Jason (starting on the 4th episode) at their worst during their lives. There, we learn that Eleanor was a designated driver hat-draw cheat, frequented a coffee shop with a sexist owner because the coffee was good, and didn’t care about the environment at all. The contrast of them as they were and them trying to learn to be good with Chidi as their Yoda has potential for great heart-warming moments if done right. We also have the potential for a secondary or tertiary plot when, in the fourth episode, it is revealed that one of Eleanor’s missed attempts to be good seems to have opened a gaping hole in the floor to lands unseen, possibly The Bad Place.
Should you be watching? Yes. While I cannot say whether this will be the standout of the season, for now, it has earned enough good fortune with me to be a show possibly worth following. The comedic acting is solid, the cast is diverse and isn’t afraid to approach its diversity (in other words, people’s ethnicities aren’t just there because they decided to cast a black guy instead of a white man), and the writing and directing seem solid. With everyone looking as if they are actually invested in the material, it could turn into one of those cult classic comedy shows in the vein of Freaks and Geeks or Community or Arrested Development where it gains a strong following but may be out of its time or just not what people are wanting right now. Check it out and see for yourself. The Good Place comes on Thursdays at 8:30pm EST on NBC. Check out the first four episodes on demand or on NBC.com now.
What do you think? Have you seen The Good Place or is this the first time you’re hearing about it? If you haven’t seen it, will you check it out now? If you have seen it, what do you think about it? Will that hole in the floor really lead to The Bad Place? Has Eleanor really taken the place of another Eleanor? Is she even supposed to be dead right now? What about the other Eleanor, where the heck is she? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Dude! What hell-hole did you crawl out from?”‘Detroit.’“Oh! Fair enough.”
P.S. Ha! An Ohioan making a joke against Michigan. Classic Midwest humor. I’ll come up with a better sign-off next time.
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All pictures courtesy of #NBC
It’s that time again, people. That’s right, we are in the third full week of the new TV season, which means that most of the new TV shows have had three chances to earn your viewership (and earn a good rating from the networks ) to see if they will stick around. While some shows decided to do a two-episode premiere and totally throw off my review timing (I’m lookin’ at you The Good Place), I will try my best to get as many reviews out in the next week and a half as I can. So, what about this new NBC comedy, the only of the season? Is it good like the title implies, or is it another comedy dud destined to fall by the wayside with the likes of The Craig Robinson Show, Better or Worse, and those other shows that you totally never saw and I haven’t the lethargy-defeating energy to Google? Let’s find out about The Good Place (#TheGoodPlace).
The Good Place is sponsored by cute Otters holding hands while they sleep. It stars Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop, a freshly deceased typical white woman—thank god they didn’t make her typically Asian—who was born in Phoenix, Arizona, went to college in Tempe, uh... Arizona, and then she moved back to Phoenix, Arizona. Ha! Typical white girl. Anyway, we learn on the first episode that Eleanor has died after a tragic but totally understandable shopping cart incident. There may have been some bending down to pick something up involved, a decline, an ex-boyfriend, an erectile dysfunction billboard truck, an unattentive grocery store parking lot cart-getter and some other stuff involved. Doesn’t matter! What matters is that she’s dead now and has wound up in the office of Ted Danson.
Ted Danson plays Michael (a play off of the Archangel Michael as opposed to the awesome me that I am... I assume) who acts as the de facto Mayor of this Good Place. We later learn that he is the designer of this particular non-heaven heaven. Wait, let’s back up a minute and explain the rules of this place as told to us by Michael—the Ted Danson character, not me... But me, too. Just keep reading.OK, so The Good Place is not heaven in the Christian sense (though, it totally is modeled after the modern-day Christian-atheistic blur of what people think heaven should be like), but is rather just a good place. It’s also not one big conglomerate setting, but a series of neighborhoods that don’t ever seem to come into contact with each other. Each neighborhood/town is designed and run by one de facto, uh... designer and Mayor... and FroYo vendor. People in non-heaven heaven love FroYo. This place is extremely exclusive and hasn’t allowed in tons of famous people. It also doesn’t allow cursing and replaces all cuss words with more PC (and network-friendly) words like fork and bullshirt! Also, you’ll meet your soul-mate who is supposed to be in the same part of The Good Place as you. Oh, and you get your own home that is built to the specifications of your dream home. Most people choose a mansion, but Eleanor gets, essentially, a mix between a post-modernist kindergarten-shapes-painting and a Lego, interiorly decorated with tons of pictures of clowns (finally, we know why the country’s clown outbreak happened; promo for this show). It’s small, it’s cozy and it is quite possibly the most hideous house Eleanor has ever seen.
That’s right, as soon as Eleanor meets her supposed soul-mate Chidi (played by William Jackson Harper), a French-speaking African nerd, she confesses that she hates clowns, would prefer the huge mansion that her neighbors live in, has never been a lawyer (as assumed by Michael) and doesn’t share any of the memories that display on her living room TV. The only thing Michael got right was her name. Here is where the fun starts.As it just so happens, black-guy-with-the-glasses was actually an ethics professor when he was alive. He spent his entire life doing two things: teaching ethics and writing an impossibly long, boring and exhaustive opus/book on ethics as explored in episode three. With only two options of where to live posthumously: The Good Place or The Bad Place (a not-hell hell), and Cincinnati totally off the table for middling, not great, not bad, typical people, Eleanor has but one option. She has to learn how to be good. And she quickly learns that learning how to Good is really going to be exhausting.
Black Guy with Glasses. They Call Me Chidi With much of the first episode atmosphere and world-building, the second episode (it came in a one-hour super premiere) picks up in the middle of a chaos started by the thoughts, overly descriptive, and pessimistic mouth of Eleanor. In her self-centered and selfish mind, she has mentioned everything from Ariana Grande to stealing gold from her neighbors’ mansion to calling her neighbor a long-necked giraffe to recalling her real life/job as a non-pharmaceutical pharmaceutical telemarketer that sells a medicine—well, actually it's a tableted chalk pretending to be medicine—to old people. And because of all of her extraneous mentions of things before she went to sleep, she awoke to chaos with Grande songs blasting through the sky, jumbo shrimp flying around and attacking people, marauding giraffes running the streets, huge chalk-tablet bottles rolling through the town, giant frogs and everyone uniformed in blue and yellow stripes. Except her. Only now does she realize that she caused all of this mayhem with her stupid, normal, typical thoughts. Why is she so painfully average!!!!
The town a mess after the chaos, Chidi uses their second day in The Good Place as a test to see if he’ll help her become good. She has the option between helping to clean up or learning to fly like a superhero. Naturally, she chooses flight. I would choose flight, too, but to fair to me I don’t like cleaning garbage. Chidi, like a boss, volunteers them both for the cleaning. Eleanor does some, then responsibly shoves the rest of the dirt and refuse under a rug to go fly. And then all hell breaks loose again. Literally, it is an adult-themed, live-action, non-food Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Whatever she’s thinking will fall from the sky, or rise from the ground. A dumpster falls on two guys—it’s OK because everyone is dead, duh!
Look at how attractive and satisfied she is. Oh yeah, she definitely learned a lesson. In the end, she learns a lesson: No shortcuts to being good—a lesson she is bound to learn every single episode, every single week, not that that is a bad thing (see what I did there?). But the plot twists when she finds a letter on her doorstep at the end of the episode that simply says she doesn’t belong there (dun dun dunnnnn!)
Episode three opens with Eleanor trying to figure out who wrote the letter. We go deeper into the lives of two of the other main players. Eleanor’s suspicion immediately goes to her giraffe-necked, mansion-living neighbor Tahani. A British medical charity fundraising superstar (she raised something close to a billion dollars in her lifetime for various health agencies), Tahani is all smiles, spice, and sugar—totally not a reference to her Indian (from India) heritage. Played by Jameela Jamil, my god is this woman beautiful. Um... yeah, I forgot what else I was gonna say. And I say that with an eye that has been on Bell for quite a while. She’s a very nice looking mom, but she’s married so I try not to drool over taken women. Thank god Angelina Jolie is single again. (And there’s your sexist comment of the day. You’re welcome).
Tahani and her Buddhist Monk man JianyuTahani is soul-mates with Jianyu, a Buddhist monk who took a vow of silence that he is still committed to keeping in the afterlife... because he’s weird? Let’s just go with that for now. His silence bothers the heaven out of Tahani the overly talkative smile-machine. In order to try connecting with him, she enlists Eleanor’s help on the third episode. Eleanor tries to pull the truth about the letter from her and expose her as just as big of a fraud and horrible person as she is, but can’t because Tahani seems to be the real deal. Only when Tahani breaks down about her Asian beau does Eleanor come to her aid with a shoulder to cry on and helps to build a relationship with her.
Siri--Uh, I Mean Janet. As Eleanor is trying to figure out who sent the letter, her soul-mate Chidi is bothered by Michael to find a hobby/job that will help fulfill him in the afterlife. Aided by The Good Place’s Janet, a human-formed version of Siri designed to help Michael and all the “placers” adjust to life after death, Michael tries steering Chidi clear from his ethics book. He finally reveals to Chidi that he read the book and found it abhorrent which is why he doesn’t want Chidi to waste his time on it (forget the fact that he’s dead and the book may be pointless, though, I’m guessing at some point the book will be used to help people in the Bad Place become good). Chidi decides that he still wants to work on his book and all is resolved. Eleanor learned another lesson about being a good person and how to care about others. In the end, it is revealed that Jianyu is the person who actually wrote the letter. How did he know she didn’t belong there? Because she blabbed to him at the welcoming party after filling up on wine/champagne. Ready for the M. Night-twist? He actually doesn’t belong there either and his name is not Jianyu but Jason Mendoza. Sadly, that story is saved for episode four.
So what is my grade? I give this show a B+. Yes, it is that entertaining. In my initial preview of this show about a week ago, I didn’t know what to make of it. This year, instead of doing deeper research on all the series, I went solely off the commercials to glean series specifics. From what I saw of this show’s trailers, it looked awkwardly positioned for a state of “meh!” I didn’t think that it could last the season and that it would focus on making fun of how good people are. While it does do that, it eases the comedy of laughing at people trying to be their best with flashbacks of Eleanor and Jason (starting on the 4th episode) at their worst during their lives. There, we learn that Eleanor was a designated driver hat-draw cheat, frequented a coffee shop with a sexist owner because the coffee was good, and didn’t care about the environment at all. The contrast of them as they were and them trying to learn to be good with Chidi as their Yoda has potential for great heart-warming moments if done right. We also have the potential for a secondary or tertiary plot when, in the fourth episode, it is revealed that one of Eleanor’s missed attempts to be good seems to have opened a gaping hole in the floor to lands unseen, possibly The Bad Place.Should you be watching? Yes. While I cannot say whether this will be the standout of the season, for now, it has earned enough good fortune with me to be a show possibly worth following. The comedic acting is solid, the cast is diverse and isn’t afraid to approach its diversity (in other words, people’s ethnicities aren’t just there because they decided to cast a black guy instead of a white man), and the writing and directing seem solid. With everyone looking as if they are actually invested in the material, it could turn into one of those cult classic comedy shows in the vein of Freaks and Geeks or Community or Arrested Development where it gains a strong following but may be out of its time or just not what people are wanting right now. Check it out and see for yourself. The Good Place comes on Thursdays at 8:30pm EST on NBC. Check out the first four episodes on demand or on NBC.com now.
What do you think? Have you seen The Good Place or is this the first time you’re hearing about it? If you haven’t seen it, will you check it out now? If you have seen it, what do you think about it? Will that hole in the floor really lead to The Bad Place? Has Eleanor really taken the place of another Eleanor? Is she even supposed to be dead right now? What about the other Eleanor, where the heck is she? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Dude! What hell-hole did you crawl out from?”‘Detroit.’“Oh! Fair enough.”
P.S. Ha! An Ohioan making a joke against Michigan. Classic Midwest humor. I’ll come up with a better sign-off next time.
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Twitter@filmbooksbball
September 28, 2016
Zombies are Set to Walk Any Day Now, Pumpkin Spice is Everywhere and That TV Show You Totally Didn’t Expect To Come Back Is Totally Back! #PremiereWeek #ABC #FOX #NBC #CBS
Zombies are Set to Walk Any Day Now, Pumpkin Spice is Everywhere and That TV Show You Totally Didn’t Expect To Come Back Is Totally Back! #PremiereWeek #ABC #FOX #NBC #CBS
That’s right, laids and gents, the time has come for another crazy fall premiere week/season. Why season instead of just one or two weeks? Because the political shenanigans that have threatened to not only upend our country and current society as we know it under the leadership of orange-skinned or pant-suited tyrants are only now getting to the debates, which have frightened the major networks (and a few cable channels) into premiering their new shows at ridiculously staggered intervals. Because of Monday night’s first presidential debate, NBC has chosen not to premiere Timeless until October 3, while ABC has decided to do a similar thing with their new drama Conviction. While I think that delaying the premieres may be good in this case, I say that with a huge caveat: many of the new shows that premiered later into the season last year didn’t have a good chance to catch on, or couldn’t break preset viewing patterns. With the exception of Supergirl, ABC’s Wicked City, AMC’s Into the Badlands and a few other crap shows not worth mentioning struggled to find audiences. And while Into the Badlands may have gotten a renewal, most everything else did not. While I am well aware of the binge/Netflix-culture of today’s gotta-have-it world not being as tied down to certain norms, I still think that all shows benefit from one set deluge in the fall and again mid-winter after New Years, rather than a new show premiering each month, then going on hiatus, replaced with something for a few short weeks then back and forth and back and forth. While it encourages bingeing, I’m still not convinced that we as audience members enjoy the show more or as much as we think we do when bingeing. It makes water cooler talk way harder. But anyways...
Wait a minute, was that whole thing my opening paragraph? Oh my god! That was way too long. And then I went too deep into the subject matter of the schedule and... That definitely should’ve been in the second paragraph. Now I’ve wasted a second paragraph talking about how the first should’ve been at least two paragraphs, completely missing the point that this post is to inform people about some of the new shows coming this fall. Yeah, still knockin’ that rust off. Let’s get to the shows.
This year, let’s begin with the wimp of the major networks and go from there. I’m talkin’ about NBC.
NBCFor whatever reason—either because they think they’re returning shows are so fantastically great that they don’t need any new stuff or because they really couldn’t find anything that great to put on after all the really good shows went to FX and AMC, the good shows to ABC and FOX, and the decent shows to CBS—NBC has decided to premiere just three shows this fall. Frankly, none of them float my boat all too well, even after seeing countless commercials for them during NBC’s wonderful coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics. While I keep an open mind for all shows, I can’t figure out which one of the three is the least appealing, so we’ll begin with The Good Place.
The Good Place
The Good Place follows the life—er... I mean, death and afterlife of Eleanor Shellstrop played by Kristen Bell. After living a far-less-than-stellar life rife with misanthropy, apathy for others, self-centeredness and a slew of curse words, she dies and goes to heaven or... The Good Place. Ha! Get it! Because it’s the name of the show. The joke’s probably funnier on the show. Her first overwhelming instinct is that she has somehow ended up in the wrong place. Not only should she not be in heaven, but she makes the argument that she shouldn’t even be dead yet. She makes this argument to Ted Danson in his return to goofy comedy after stints on more serious CBS dramas. Ted plays the mayor of the city in which Kristen’s character now resides. While he promises to look into the mystery behind her appearance in heaven and if her death was warranted, Kristen is paired with dorky black guy Chidi played by William Jackson Harper. Not only is he her guide to the new heaven where everything is roses, rainbows, lollipops and drunken nights with non-hangover mornings, but he is also revealed to be her soul-mate. Surprise, fool!
From here, the show seems to roll along in the same vein as most fish-out-of-water sitcoms as Eleanor explores/learns what it means to truly be a good person. Based off the commercials alone, I can’t figure out who this show is quite for. I can’t see it appealing to actual Christians as the spectrum of afterlife belief is so varied amongst all of them, that I’d find it hard to believe they would watch something like this for an extended period of time. Also, the euphemisms and funny twist-of-words for all the curses that she tries to employ through the show, while cute in a 30 to 60-second commercial, may grow immensely annoying over the course of a season, though I’m sure the writers would tone that down. Even worse, the show seems to be very much about nothing, and not in a good Seinfeld way. Again, I haven’t seen an episode and will give you my judgment after three episodes as always, but at the moment I can’t see this turning into a full series (maybe a full season) of comedic shenanigans that sitcoms so often thrive off. For instance, because it is heaven there shouldn’t be any random hookups—a singles’ sitcom staple. Eleanor is not married with children so the kids/family angle is gone, and she really isn’t a detective/sleuth so things like iZombie or other out-there concepts are also gone. This is really just laughing about the bad surrounded by good, which, at some point, can get old and feel more like we’re laughing at someone because they're different than us. Not that great of a message for a show billed as a wholesome comedy.
The strength of this show is in the casting as Kristen is everywhere right now and I’ve always loved her, and Danson is an old pro. Harper, while I’m not familiar with his work, also looks good. Ultimately, I think this show will be successful or fail based on the NBC network’s viewership’s eagerness to find a laugh amidst the drama-heavy slate of shows across the network. Other than this, the returning Superstore is the only real comedy that NBC has invested in after the critically-acclaimed but ratings-disappointments of Parks and Rec, Community, A to Z, Bad Judge and a slew of other shows over the last seven years. Will you tune in for a Good laugh or are you a soulless, heartless atheist with no chance of ever getting to meet Ted Danson in the afterlife? The Good Place airs Thursdays at 8:30pm on NBC.
That was a far too long preview of a show. I’ll try to cut it down to my standard from last year.Next, This is Us.
This Is Us
Similar to The Good Place, NBC’s Olympics coverage bombarded viewers with advertisements for their new drama This Is Us. Fresh off his Emmy win for his role in FX’s American Crime Story: The People vs OJ, Sterling K. Brown was front and center for much of the commercials and promotion material. However, the sad thing in all of this was that even though they showed countless commercials for this series and even showed a reaction clip of people who watched the first two or three episodes and talked about how moving and heartwarming it was, I still have no idea what this show is actually about. That’s right, it’s another show that cannot communicate its draw within a commercial. I am flabbergasted by how someone in Hollywood would’ve elevator-pitched this successfully, but somebody did. So... Anyway, Brown is joined by Mistresses and Revenge alum Justin Hartley who, I guess plays some kind of Hollywood type, maybe an actor, though this isn’t made clear in the advertising. Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore play a young couple on the cusp of starting their family as she is in labor with triplets. Then there is Chrissy Metz who plays a fat woman who is friends with Justin’s character. She meets a fat guy and wants to lose weight and can’t get involved with a fat person right now, and being a fat guy he’s funny and lovable, and laughs all around. The commercial then ends with Brown’s character revealing that he was orphaned at a fire station by this old black guy who he confronts on the stoop of some apartment building. Angry, he tells the man that he turned out alright without him, then seems to quickly forgive him and invite him to meet his grandkids.
All of this is supposed to be heartwarming (as said by the beta-viewers on the commercial) and really make you feel for these people going through life. Apparently, there is supposed to be one strand uniting them all, but with each commercial I found myself caring less and less. Again, what is the show about? Why would I care about these characters? The commercial is so nondescript in a bad way (not in the American Horror Story good way) that this has to be my least anticipated show of the fall. It might be as fantastically touching as a Hallmark holiday movie, but.. eh! We shall see. This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 10pm on NBC. Will This Is Us become a part of you?
Lameee! I tried to do something slick and funny with that last line and it fell completely flat. Stupid words, always messin’ up what I wanna say! Moving on!
Timeless
Probably one of my most anticipated new fall shows, NBC’s Timeless stars Goran Visnjic (previously of ER fame) as a sinister time traveler who seeks to alter the history of some of America’s (and the world’s) greatest historical events. While not all of these alterations are bad (he helps the Hindenberg land safely, thusly saving the lives of three dozen people), they all have consequences that ripple through time’s expanse and effect us today. It is up to a team of three... or four or however many they want for that week to chase him through time with their own time machine vortex-thingy to stop him. See? See how easy it was to explain the concept of that show? And you can get all of that from the commercial. You’re probably even plotting in your head all the ways the series could go, the events they could cover. It’s simple, yet can get so complex. Granted, this is about concept more than character but it still has potential for great execution.
The team is filled out by Abigail Spencer (she’s a familiar face from multiple series), Matt Lanter and funnyman Malcolm Barrett. It promises fun period-piece adventures while reminding us of just how much things have changed and stayed the same. As already stated, Timeless will have a later premiere than the other two shows already mentioned. It premieres Monday, October 3 at 10pm.
ABC Home-cave of the cancellation bear, the alphabet network always comes with a plethora of new shows to sub-in for the shows decimated by the previous season’s slaughtering of decent TV. While NBC has only three shows to premiere over the course of three weeks, ABC has a new show for nearly each night on its schedule. We’ll begin with Monday where the surprise cancellation of Castle left an hour-long hole in the 10’clock timeslot after Dancing With the Stars. In this slot, they’ve placed Conviction.
Conviction
Starring Hayley Atwell (formerly Peggy Carter of Agent Carter/Captain America-fame) as a defense attorney with a heart of gold, from what I understand the show follows her and her team as they try to solve the crime of their clients and dig into the truth of what really happened before their clients are convicted of wrongdoing... or slide when they actually did do something wrong. Either way, it puts her into a tough kick-butt-worthy role similar to her days as Carter, while giving her a softer, more nurturing edge—testament to the female-leaning edge of the network. While I am glad to see more of Hayley... Mmm, more Hayley (and there’s your sexist comment of the day. You’re welcome!), I am a little taken back by the tone of the show. Castle dominated the Monday timeslot not just because it had two lovable, charismatic leads with great chemistry, but because it played well to the drama/comedy aspect that people often like to see to wind down their first day back into the workweek. Reality shows tend to do so well on Mondays because people don’t want heavy mental fare after the exhausting Monday. But since CBS hasn’t had a problem with its shows, I’m sure conviction can do just fine. Still, after my three viewings, if I feel it is better suited for a different day, I will tell you.
Conviction airs Mondays at 10pm on ABC. It will premiere one week after the first presidential debates. Next up, American Housewife.
American Housewife
Sitcom veteran role player Katy Mixon (of Mike and Molly fame) gets her first starring role as a typical American Housewife in this new 30-minute sitcom. While the commercials haven’t quite made it clear if this is a multi-cam or single-camera show (a la Modern Family), it does have the vibe of a new-age Roseanne. Joined by veteran actor Diedrich Bader (of Drew Carey Show-fame) who plays her eccentric husband, the two navigate life as a typical American Middle-class family situated somewhere in middle America. Katy is sure to bring her down-south sass to the role and the commercials look promising, though typical of such a show.
The polar opposite of NBC, ABC has decided to go heavy on the comedy and feature, not one but two nights of back-to-back comedies on Tuesday and Wednesday, all geared toward family viewing. With American Housewife sandwiched between the likes of Fresh Off The Boat and The Goldbergs, it should play well to the same audience and eke out a modicum of success for the network. American Housewife will air Tuesdays at 8:30pm on ABC and premieres October 11th after the second presidential debates.
Speechless
Sticking with comedy, but moving to Wednesdays, we have ABC’s Speechless. Headed by Minnie Driver in yet another attempt of hers to break into the steady paycheck of the American sitcom market, she plays matriarch to a family whose life revolves around their handicapped son. While he has siblings, the family has been forced to relocate and change schools countless times as the son struggles to fit into a society that still has lots to learn about disability adjustments. The commercials I’ve seen of it don’t delve into the boy’s affliction, but I may have missed such a diagnosis in the few times I’ve watched. The boy, however, seems to have MS as, similar to Theorist Stephen Hawking, he is confined to a wheelchair and cannot speak for himself. Here is where Reno 911! vet Cedric Yarbrough comes in to serve as some sort of speech surrogate (hence, the name of the show).
The sassy, take-no-BS, angry but lovable black man shtick on full display here, much of the comedy will be mined from the relationship between Cedric and the boy as he interprets what the young man says, and between Minnie and Cedric as he interacts with the overbearing mother. What Black-ish tried to do with modern blackness, this show will try to do with the trials and tribulations of being handicapped and being the family/caretakers of someone with a disability. Truthfully, I’m not very interested in sitcoms these days and the ones that I did like from Fox last year both got canceled. Regardless of how good these shows are, I probably won’t tune in regularly to Speechless and American Housewife. Speechless will air on Wednesdays at 8:30pm on ABC. It premieres Sept. 28th.
Designated Survivor
Ending the comedy additions to the network, Designated Survivor ends the Wednesday night with another political drama that has promised to be unlike previous DC-centered productions. The always committed Jack Bauer—er, I mean Kiefer Sutherland returns to TV in yet another riveting role. Based around the very real idea that during large political speeches (not just the State of the Union) in which the majority of the top federal governing body is cloistered into one area (think President, Vice President, Secretary of State and on down), one person from the President’s cabin is chosen as a designated survivor to stay within a plan of succession in case something horrific happens to the entirety of the top staff. Well, something terrible happens. From the commercials we see that a bomb goes off during the State of the Union address, killing the President and pretty much everyone in the federal government. Because of this Kiefer is sworn in as President when before, he had never been elected to anything in his life—a fact we learn from Kal Penn’s character. Oh yeah, Kal Penn is in this thing, too, though I don’t know what role he plays yet. While I can see this making for a great movie concept, thinking toward the future, this show could become very stale and similar to any other political drama by the end of the first season. With that said, I still look forward to the insanity of a guy who has no idea what he’s doing becoming president amidst the country’s greatest tragedy and how he will handle that, as he and everyone around him has to know that whoever dared kill the federal government deserves a war, but more importantly wants a war. And how will his family deal with it? Obscurity to the most protected, scrutinized family in the world? Only time will tell. Designated Survivor airs at 10pm Wednesdays on ABC.
Notorious
Thursday night sees an unexpected entry in the TGIT lineup. With Kerry Washington toting around another gut-full of her NFL-baller husband and that not playing into the plot of Scandal, Rhimes and her cohorts have decided to delay the premiere until midseason. This move has made way for another scandalous show, Notorious. Hoping to feed off the OMG-crowd of Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder, Notorious follows the working relationship between a high-powered celebrity attorney and a national news show producer as they decide what will and won’t be the biggest news stories. Very similar to my own novel A Negotiation of Wounds (sequel coming soon), the show feeds on public perception and how a court case plays out in the eyes of the public, and how that makes or breaks the news and vice versa. As an example, if the news producer wants to paint the lawyer’s client in a bad light, make him America’s newest villain a la Nick Dunne in Gone Girl, then that just makes everything much harder for the lawyer. And with TV vets Piper Perabo as the news producer and Daniel Sunjata (of Rescue Me fame) as the lawyer, things promise to get hot and downright devious as they work to control the narrative at every turn.
ABC clearly has high hopes for Notorious as they have slotted it in a fantastic slot at 9pm on Thursdays right behind the long-standing Grey’s and before How To Get Away. The biggest problem I see with this is that if the writing is subpar and less than emotional, it could damage the entire brand of TGIT.Fridays and Sundays stay pretty much the same with the exception of ABC’s Secrets and Lies making its triumphant return after delaying its spring second season premiere to take advantage of the gaping hole left in the Sunday night schedule. Though not new, it will continue in the vein of an anthology series with Juliette Lewis’ detective character picking up another case rife with secrets... and, uh... lies.
FOX A network always searching for the next big think, FOX has come under fire in the last few years for canceling shows that had yet to hit their rhythm but was gaining steam in many fans eyes. This included such shows as Second Chance and Almost Human. While it has made questionable decisions like canceling freshman comedies Grandfathered and the Grinder, while renewing the low-rated Sleepy Hollow after one of the two main leads left, and renewing Scream Queens after a season of volatile ratings, it seems to have stuck to a few trends while bucking others. The network which has always skewed younger seems to have veered into nostalgia land to grab a slice of the older demographic this season with the onslaught of shows based on past film franchises. While they started this trend last year (or a few years ago) most notably with Minority Report, they continue it this year with the likes of Lethal Weapon and The Exorcist. With Monday and Tuesday staying much the same as last season (Lucifer moves to 9pm on Mondays), we start on Wednesday with Lethal Weapon.
Lethal Weapon
Yet another procedural that will stick heavily to the case-by-case weekly format while plying the familiar winks from the film franchise, Lethal Weapon stars Damon Wayans as Murtaugh, the freshly 50-year-old cop with a bum ticker that nearly killed him on the day of his newest baby’s birth. Much to live for and trying not to have another heart attack, he nearly retires the day he gets partnered with his newest young partner Martin Riggs (played by Clayne Crawford), a Texas transfer new to the LA scene. Just like in the movie Riggs just recently lost his wife and now has a death wish that causes him to over-commit to the dangerous and deadly in his pursuit of criminals.
So what makes this concept fresh from the 80s where first we saw it? Umm... The black guy is already a proven comedian? Honestly, nothing. The difference between this and the movie looks so negligible that it's a wonder they didn’t just reboot it into a movie. Still, with Wayans in the role of “gettin’ too old for this sh—oh, my bad! Can’t curse on network TV” guy, it could make for an interesting watch. And with the likes of McG behind the camera, it looks similar to a long-canceled show entitled Fastlane. I ain’t got time. Look it up! My biggest hope is that they don’t just have a weekly case, but that they roll with the one overarching big case that all of the smaller crimes feed into at the end of the season, but that may be too much to ask.Lethal Weapon airs Wednesdays at 8pm on FOX, right before Empire.
Pitch
Speaking of minority capitalization—something both FOX and ABC have been very deft at achieving in the last 10 years—FOX throws viewers a curveball on Thursdays with the arrival of Pitch. Yes, I just pulled that reference out of the stereotypical entertainment-writer handbook for shows that deal with sports. Curveball. Just stupid! Anyway, Pitch, like more than a few other new shows I’ve seen pitched to us (there it is again! When will it stop) has a premise that sounds better as a two-hour movie than a 22-episode seasonal series. Even 10-13 episodes is pushing it. Pitch follows the drama, tragedy, struggle and triumph of Ginny Baker as she becomes the first woman to pitch in Major League Baseball. Played by Kylie Bunbury (I know her from Under the Dome; she is just... breathtakingly beautiful), the show flashes back and forth between her entry into the major leagues now, and what she did as a child to make it there. It is a feminist love-letter to sports. While I see no problem integrating women into the MLB as it is not a contact sport, I would have issue with the same going for football and basketball, as I’m sure plenty of fans would.
To a larger point, I wrote that last sentence to make the point that this show courts precisely that critique. It will not be subtle about its aim and will field criticism from the point it’s trying to make. The strange part to me is that it looks like a family drama. Strange because shows with political statements to make do better when in categories similar to ABC’s American Crime or FX’s American Crime Story—far more serious and stoic about the subject matter. Again, this is only the tone I’ve gotten from the commercials so it could be far different than what I am envisioning, but we will see if it can weather the storm of critics who will hate it because of what it stands for, as well as the possibly low ratings due to the strength of its competition (it got lucky that Scandal wasn’t coming back because they’d play to a similar demo). Pitch airs Thursdays at 9pm on FOX right after Rosewood.
The Exorcist
Friday sees FOX’s old standby Hell’s Kitchen returning to open the night. We Americans still can’t get enough of the angry Brit who has another slew of men and women to terrorize in his LA kitchen. But to pair with his hellacious outbursts, FOX will air their TV version of The Exorcist. If the summer box office has told us anything, horror is huge right now. FOX Studios not only has American Horror Story playing over on FX (soon to be joined in January by Legion and Tom Hardy’s Taboo) but they also have Scream Queens on FOX. And now comes The Exorcist based on the book/movie of the same name from the 70s. Little info on this one and how it will adapt the novel or movie into a full series, but from what I’ve gathered, it is supposed to follow the exploits of Fathers Tomas Ortega and Marcus Keane as they travel the country/world performing exorcisms. Again, little is known about the full plot of the season, so I can’t tell you if this is a case-by-case procedural or if the season will stick with one or two cases that stretch a large expanse of episodes, but I must say that I am intrigued by this series. The concept of an exorcist by itself is populated with so many possibilities that I can see this series going in a thousand different directions every week, let alone throughout a full season.The Exorcist airs Fridays at 9pm on FOX.
Son Of Zorn
Last, and probably least, is FOX’s Son of Zorn. In keeping with their Animation Domination Sunday brand that had been recently interrupted with the addition and success of Last Man on Earth, FOX greenlit this animation-live action hybrid. A great cast filled with comedy vets Cheryl Hines, Tim Meadows and Jason Sudekis voicing Zorn, the show follows an animated barbarian from another realm named Zorn. Bored with his life as ruler over this other realm, Zorn returns to our earth where he has a human son with Hines. Gone for much of the boy’s life, only now does he try to bond with him and be the father he never was. He even gets a regular job here as he hopes to stay close to the boy. Another fish-out-of-water concept, Zorn still thinks with his hefty sword first and has the mind of someone on the battlefield even when trying to adapt and adopt modern concepts. To make this simple, I do not want to see this show. I’m sure it has its good points, but... eh! It looks like a show that’ll be good for two seasons, then fizzle/slog through a third season before dying, and that’s my thought based solely off the commercials. But again, time will tell.From FOX we move to...
CBSAnother network filled to the brim with returning fair of Survivor, NCIS and Scorpion, CBS has two new notable series. We begin on Tuesdays with Bull.
Bull
Bull stars former NCIS actor Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull, a jury consultant for the defense. From what was shown on the commercial, his job is to help the defense team and their client to choose the perfect jurors, and craft the perfect story that will get them off. In doing this, he and his team use the latest in psychoanalytic technologies to help predict the voting behavior and thought patterns of each juror both pre-trial and during the adjudication. Think of it sort of as a CSI or Law and Order but focused solely around the jury and not necessarily the victims.
If you’re into the psychology behind why people do what they do and why a jury would vote a certain way (and after watching American Crime Story: People vs. OJ, who wouldn’t be?), then this might be worth checking out, though I don’t know how much mental flossing they go into each week.Bull airs on Tuesday nights at 9pm on CBS.
MacGyver
Testifying to the fact that Generation Xers still aren’t over their sickening obsession with everything 80s (you know they’re seriously blaming Millennials for this? Ridiculous), we have yet another classic TV series reboot. For those who aren’t in the know, MacGyver, played by Lucas Till this time around, is a clandestine government agent who uses his “unconventional problem-solving skills” (yeah, from the actual IMDb synopsis) to solve crimes and cases and whatnot. While Lucas looks well-suited for the part, and the concept and brand are highly recognizable to viewers, I can’t help but think that this show might fail based solely on the same problem I pointed out last year in my Limitless show three-week review: There is an overload of too many geniuses on TV. There’s just too many abnormally smart people on TV.
While MacGyver may have been novel back in 1985 when first it premiered, today we see countless genius characters solving crimes using some obscure factoid they learned once in the fifth grade that happens to come in handy right now as a bomb is about to go off. We’ve seen characters use pieces of gum to fix everything from broken heels to blot out security cameras. The very concept on which MacGyver thrived has become routine. But again, name recognition is very strong. Still, with Limitless not able to eke out another season with a much more elevated concept, and MacGuyver getting the cringe-worthy 8:00pm timeslot on Fridays on CBS, I wouldn’t be surprised if it only lasted a season, regardless of how good it may be. Again, we’ll see when I deliver my three-week reviews for these new shows.
The CW I wouldn’t normally cover the CW but since I did a little of that last year, I can dive in here again. The CW will have a few new shows to go along with the network-switched season 2 of Supergirl. Their two shows that actually have premiere dates so far are No Tomorrow and Frequency.
No Tomorrow
I haven’t seen too many commercials about this show, but from what I do know, it sounds very similar to NBC’s failed Me, You and The Apocalypse—a midseason replacement from last season that tried placing British humor in American primetime. No Tomorrow follows a main female character (again, I don’t even know her name at the time of this writing) who learns that the world is going to end in a set amount of days. From there we see the shenanigans that ensue as she tries to live her life and get things checked off her bucket list before it’s all over. One of those things happens to be fall in love. Enter Galavant—uh, I mean the guy who played Galavant from the now defunct ABC comedy. He’s there, he’s the one who knows the world is gonna end, and he’s gonna die, too, and, uh... there’s some funny stuff. And yeah. No Tomorrow will air Tuesdays at 9pm on the CW right after The Flash.
Frequency
Another new CW show is Frequency. I don’t know if this is based on the movie of the same name but it seems to have a similar concept. Frequency is about a young woman played by Peyton List, who begins to get strange messages from her father through a particular radio frequency. The twist? Her father, a bad criminal/police detective who was said to have murdered people, died over a decade ago. Now, they must band together to stop some future crimes from happening while mending their complicated relationship and figuring out the truth about each other.
All I can say about this one is that it looks interesting, although it is just another twist on the overplayed procedural/mystery/detective theme we get so often on TV. Could be worth a watch, but I’m not holding my breath on me wanting to tune in for this each week.Last but not least, we have USA’s latest entry, Falling Water.
Falling Water
I know little about this series but am intrigued. From what I can decipher from the commercials, it looks as if this is about the connection between three or more people’s lives through their dreams. The trailer mentions something about being able to step into someone else’s dreams, which sounds similar to Inception and has long been an entertaining concept. Here, however, it seems to hint at a more sinister play between reality and fiction, and bending the will of others as they sleep.Falling Water will air on USA network, but because it is cable, you will have to check your local listings for the exact time. It is set to premiere Thursday, October 13th.
AMC and FX will have more new series later into the season near the midseason point in January, along with the rest of the networks. Of course, I will have missed one of your most anticipated series as I can’t cover everything, and I tend not to cover premium channels save for that one time I did Ash vs. Evil Dead. So tell me, what new shows this fall are you looking forward to? What returning shows can you not wait to start watching again? Will you give the new shows a three week grace period like me, or will you knock them from your viewing list immediately if they don’t live up to your expectations? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Ask the sex question."‘OK. How often do you two have sex?’“Never! This therapy didn’t work. We’re getting a divorce. We’ve tried everything, even killing each other.”‘Maybe you should try that again.’
P.S. I know, that’s a terrible sign-off. For one, it’s too long, and for two it refers back to a movie that came out over a decade ago. Frankly, it’s not even a good joke as I really had high hopes for Ben and Angie. I hope that whatever this craziness is that is going on between the two of them gets worked out and the kids do well through the separation. They really made a good couple. Oh well. Love and marriage are hard.
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That’s right, laids and gents, the time has come for another crazy fall premiere week/season. Why season instead of just one or two weeks? Because the political shenanigans that have threatened to not only upend our country and current society as we know it under the leadership of orange-skinned or pant-suited tyrants are only now getting to the debates, which have frightened the major networks (and a few cable channels) into premiering their new shows at ridiculously staggered intervals. Because of Monday night’s first presidential debate, NBC has chosen not to premiere Timeless until October 3, while ABC has decided to do a similar thing with their new drama Conviction. While I think that delaying the premieres may be good in this case, I say that with a huge caveat: many of the new shows that premiered later into the season last year didn’t have a good chance to catch on, or couldn’t break preset viewing patterns. With the exception of Supergirl, ABC’s Wicked City, AMC’s Into the Badlands and a few other crap shows not worth mentioning struggled to find audiences. And while Into the Badlands may have gotten a renewal, most everything else did not. While I am well aware of the binge/Netflix-culture of today’s gotta-have-it world not being as tied down to certain norms, I still think that all shows benefit from one set deluge in the fall and again mid-winter after New Years, rather than a new show premiering each month, then going on hiatus, replaced with something for a few short weeks then back and forth and back and forth. While it encourages bingeing, I’m still not convinced that we as audience members enjoy the show more or as much as we think we do when bingeing. It makes water cooler talk way harder. But anyways...
Wait a minute, was that whole thing my opening paragraph? Oh my god! That was way too long. And then I went too deep into the subject matter of the schedule and... That definitely should’ve been in the second paragraph. Now I’ve wasted a second paragraph talking about how the first should’ve been at least two paragraphs, completely missing the point that this post is to inform people about some of the new shows coming this fall. Yeah, still knockin’ that rust off. Let’s get to the shows.
This year, let’s begin with the wimp of the major networks and go from there. I’m talkin’ about NBC.
NBCFor whatever reason—either because they think they’re returning shows are so fantastically great that they don’t need any new stuff or because they really couldn’t find anything that great to put on after all the really good shows went to FX and AMC, the good shows to ABC and FOX, and the decent shows to CBS—NBC has decided to premiere just three shows this fall. Frankly, none of them float my boat all too well, even after seeing countless commercials for them during NBC’s wonderful coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics. While I keep an open mind for all shows, I can’t figure out which one of the three is the least appealing, so we’ll begin with The Good Place.
The Good Place
The Good Place follows the life—er... I mean, death and afterlife of Eleanor Shellstrop played by Kristen Bell. After living a far-less-than-stellar life rife with misanthropy, apathy for others, self-centeredness and a slew of curse words, she dies and goes to heaven or... The Good Place. Ha! Get it! Because it’s the name of the show. The joke’s probably funnier on the show. Her first overwhelming instinct is that she has somehow ended up in the wrong place. Not only should she not be in heaven, but she makes the argument that she shouldn’t even be dead yet. She makes this argument to Ted Danson in his return to goofy comedy after stints on more serious CBS dramas. Ted plays the mayor of the city in which Kristen’s character now resides. While he promises to look into the mystery behind her appearance in heaven and if her death was warranted, Kristen is paired with dorky black guy Chidi played by William Jackson Harper. Not only is he her guide to the new heaven where everything is roses, rainbows, lollipops and drunken nights with non-hangover mornings, but he is also revealed to be her soul-mate. Surprise, fool!
From here, the show seems to roll along in the same vein as most fish-out-of-water sitcoms as Eleanor explores/learns what it means to truly be a good person. Based off the commercials alone, I can’t figure out who this show is quite for. I can’t see it appealing to actual Christians as the spectrum of afterlife belief is so varied amongst all of them, that I’d find it hard to believe they would watch something like this for an extended period of time. Also, the euphemisms and funny twist-of-words for all the curses that she tries to employ through the show, while cute in a 30 to 60-second commercial, may grow immensely annoying over the course of a season, though I’m sure the writers would tone that down. Even worse, the show seems to be very much about nothing, and not in a good Seinfeld way. Again, I haven’t seen an episode and will give you my judgment after three episodes as always, but at the moment I can’t see this turning into a full series (maybe a full season) of comedic shenanigans that sitcoms so often thrive off. For instance, because it is heaven there shouldn’t be any random hookups—a singles’ sitcom staple. Eleanor is not married with children so the kids/family angle is gone, and she really isn’t a detective/sleuth so things like iZombie or other out-there concepts are also gone. This is really just laughing about the bad surrounded by good, which, at some point, can get old and feel more like we’re laughing at someone because they're different than us. Not that great of a message for a show billed as a wholesome comedy.
The strength of this show is in the casting as Kristen is everywhere right now and I’ve always loved her, and Danson is an old pro. Harper, while I’m not familiar with his work, also looks good. Ultimately, I think this show will be successful or fail based on the NBC network’s viewership’s eagerness to find a laugh amidst the drama-heavy slate of shows across the network. Other than this, the returning Superstore is the only real comedy that NBC has invested in after the critically-acclaimed but ratings-disappointments of Parks and Rec, Community, A to Z, Bad Judge and a slew of other shows over the last seven years. Will you tune in for a Good laugh or are you a soulless, heartless atheist with no chance of ever getting to meet Ted Danson in the afterlife? The Good Place airs Thursdays at 8:30pm on NBC.
That was a far too long preview of a show. I’ll try to cut it down to my standard from last year.Next, This is Us.
This Is Us
Similar to The Good Place, NBC’s Olympics coverage bombarded viewers with advertisements for their new drama This Is Us. Fresh off his Emmy win for his role in FX’s American Crime Story: The People vs OJ, Sterling K. Brown was front and center for much of the commercials and promotion material. However, the sad thing in all of this was that even though they showed countless commercials for this series and even showed a reaction clip of people who watched the first two or three episodes and talked about how moving and heartwarming it was, I still have no idea what this show is actually about. That’s right, it’s another show that cannot communicate its draw within a commercial. I am flabbergasted by how someone in Hollywood would’ve elevator-pitched this successfully, but somebody did. So... Anyway, Brown is joined by Mistresses and Revenge alum Justin Hartley who, I guess plays some kind of Hollywood type, maybe an actor, though this isn’t made clear in the advertising. Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore play a young couple on the cusp of starting their family as she is in labor with triplets. Then there is Chrissy Metz who plays a fat woman who is friends with Justin’s character. She meets a fat guy and wants to lose weight and can’t get involved with a fat person right now, and being a fat guy he’s funny and lovable, and laughs all around. The commercial then ends with Brown’s character revealing that he was orphaned at a fire station by this old black guy who he confronts on the stoop of some apartment building. Angry, he tells the man that he turned out alright without him, then seems to quickly forgive him and invite him to meet his grandkids.
All of this is supposed to be heartwarming (as said by the beta-viewers on the commercial) and really make you feel for these people going through life. Apparently, there is supposed to be one strand uniting them all, but with each commercial I found myself caring less and less. Again, what is the show about? Why would I care about these characters? The commercial is so nondescript in a bad way (not in the American Horror Story good way) that this has to be my least anticipated show of the fall. It might be as fantastically touching as a Hallmark holiday movie, but.. eh! We shall see. This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 10pm on NBC. Will This Is Us become a part of you?
Lameee! I tried to do something slick and funny with that last line and it fell completely flat. Stupid words, always messin’ up what I wanna say! Moving on!
Timeless
Probably one of my most anticipated new fall shows, NBC’s Timeless stars Goran Visnjic (previously of ER fame) as a sinister time traveler who seeks to alter the history of some of America’s (and the world’s) greatest historical events. While not all of these alterations are bad (he helps the Hindenberg land safely, thusly saving the lives of three dozen people), they all have consequences that ripple through time’s expanse and effect us today. It is up to a team of three... or four or however many they want for that week to chase him through time with their own time machine vortex-thingy to stop him. See? See how easy it was to explain the concept of that show? And you can get all of that from the commercial. You’re probably even plotting in your head all the ways the series could go, the events they could cover. It’s simple, yet can get so complex. Granted, this is about concept more than character but it still has potential for great execution.
The team is filled out by Abigail Spencer (she’s a familiar face from multiple series), Matt Lanter and funnyman Malcolm Barrett. It promises fun period-piece adventures while reminding us of just how much things have changed and stayed the same. As already stated, Timeless will have a later premiere than the other two shows already mentioned. It premieres Monday, October 3 at 10pm.
ABC Home-cave of the cancellation bear, the alphabet network always comes with a plethora of new shows to sub-in for the shows decimated by the previous season’s slaughtering of decent TV. While NBC has only three shows to premiere over the course of three weeks, ABC has a new show for nearly each night on its schedule. We’ll begin with Monday where the surprise cancellation of Castle left an hour-long hole in the 10’clock timeslot after Dancing With the Stars. In this slot, they’ve placed Conviction.
Conviction
Starring Hayley Atwell (formerly Peggy Carter of Agent Carter/Captain America-fame) as a defense attorney with a heart of gold, from what I understand the show follows her and her team as they try to solve the crime of their clients and dig into the truth of what really happened before their clients are convicted of wrongdoing... or slide when they actually did do something wrong. Either way, it puts her into a tough kick-butt-worthy role similar to her days as Carter, while giving her a softer, more nurturing edge—testament to the female-leaning edge of the network. While I am glad to see more of Hayley... Mmm, more Hayley (and there’s your sexist comment of the day. You’re welcome!), I am a little taken back by the tone of the show. Castle dominated the Monday timeslot not just because it had two lovable, charismatic leads with great chemistry, but because it played well to the drama/comedy aspect that people often like to see to wind down their first day back into the workweek. Reality shows tend to do so well on Mondays because people don’t want heavy mental fare after the exhausting Monday. But since CBS hasn’t had a problem with its shows, I’m sure conviction can do just fine. Still, after my three viewings, if I feel it is better suited for a different day, I will tell you.
Conviction airs Mondays at 10pm on ABC. It will premiere one week after the first presidential debates. Next up, American Housewife.
American Housewife
Sitcom veteran role player Katy Mixon (of Mike and Molly fame) gets her first starring role as a typical American Housewife in this new 30-minute sitcom. While the commercials haven’t quite made it clear if this is a multi-cam or single-camera show (a la Modern Family), it does have the vibe of a new-age Roseanne. Joined by veteran actor Diedrich Bader (of Drew Carey Show-fame) who plays her eccentric husband, the two navigate life as a typical American Middle-class family situated somewhere in middle America. Katy is sure to bring her down-south sass to the role and the commercials look promising, though typical of such a show.
The polar opposite of NBC, ABC has decided to go heavy on the comedy and feature, not one but two nights of back-to-back comedies on Tuesday and Wednesday, all geared toward family viewing. With American Housewife sandwiched between the likes of Fresh Off The Boat and The Goldbergs, it should play well to the same audience and eke out a modicum of success for the network. American Housewife will air Tuesdays at 8:30pm on ABC and premieres October 11th after the second presidential debates.
Speechless
Sticking with comedy, but moving to Wednesdays, we have ABC’s Speechless. Headed by Minnie Driver in yet another attempt of hers to break into the steady paycheck of the American sitcom market, she plays matriarch to a family whose life revolves around their handicapped son. While he has siblings, the family has been forced to relocate and change schools countless times as the son struggles to fit into a society that still has lots to learn about disability adjustments. The commercials I’ve seen of it don’t delve into the boy’s affliction, but I may have missed such a diagnosis in the few times I’ve watched. The boy, however, seems to have MS as, similar to Theorist Stephen Hawking, he is confined to a wheelchair and cannot speak for himself. Here is where Reno 911! vet Cedric Yarbrough comes in to serve as some sort of speech surrogate (hence, the name of the show).
The sassy, take-no-BS, angry but lovable black man shtick on full display here, much of the comedy will be mined from the relationship between Cedric and the boy as he interprets what the young man says, and between Minnie and Cedric as he interacts with the overbearing mother. What Black-ish tried to do with modern blackness, this show will try to do with the trials and tribulations of being handicapped and being the family/caretakers of someone with a disability. Truthfully, I’m not very interested in sitcoms these days and the ones that I did like from Fox last year both got canceled. Regardless of how good these shows are, I probably won’t tune in regularly to Speechless and American Housewife. Speechless will air on Wednesdays at 8:30pm on ABC. It premieres Sept. 28th.
Designated Survivor
Ending the comedy additions to the network, Designated Survivor ends the Wednesday night with another political drama that has promised to be unlike previous DC-centered productions. The always committed Jack Bauer—er, I mean Kiefer Sutherland returns to TV in yet another riveting role. Based around the very real idea that during large political speeches (not just the State of the Union) in which the majority of the top federal governing body is cloistered into one area (think President, Vice President, Secretary of State and on down), one person from the President’s cabin is chosen as a designated survivor to stay within a plan of succession in case something horrific happens to the entirety of the top staff. Well, something terrible happens. From the commercials we see that a bomb goes off during the State of the Union address, killing the President and pretty much everyone in the federal government. Because of this Kiefer is sworn in as President when before, he had never been elected to anything in his life—a fact we learn from Kal Penn’s character. Oh yeah, Kal Penn is in this thing, too, though I don’t know what role he plays yet. While I can see this making for a great movie concept, thinking toward the future, this show could become very stale and similar to any other political drama by the end of the first season. With that said, I still look forward to the insanity of a guy who has no idea what he’s doing becoming president amidst the country’s greatest tragedy and how he will handle that, as he and everyone around him has to know that whoever dared kill the federal government deserves a war, but more importantly wants a war. And how will his family deal with it? Obscurity to the most protected, scrutinized family in the world? Only time will tell. Designated Survivor airs at 10pm Wednesdays on ABC.
Notorious
Thursday night sees an unexpected entry in the TGIT lineup. With Kerry Washington toting around another gut-full of her NFL-baller husband and that not playing into the plot of Scandal, Rhimes and her cohorts have decided to delay the premiere until midseason. This move has made way for another scandalous show, Notorious. Hoping to feed off the OMG-crowd of Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder, Notorious follows the working relationship between a high-powered celebrity attorney and a national news show producer as they decide what will and won’t be the biggest news stories. Very similar to my own novel A Negotiation of Wounds (sequel coming soon), the show feeds on public perception and how a court case plays out in the eyes of the public, and how that makes or breaks the news and vice versa. As an example, if the news producer wants to paint the lawyer’s client in a bad light, make him America’s newest villain a la Nick Dunne in Gone Girl, then that just makes everything much harder for the lawyer. And with TV vets Piper Perabo as the news producer and Daniel Sunjata (of Rescue Me fame) as the lawyer, things promise to get hot and downright devious as they work to control the narrative at every turn.
ABC clearly has high hopes for Notorious as they have slotted it in a fantastic slot at 9pm on Thursdays right behind the long-standing Grey’s and before How To Get Away. The biggest problem I see with this is that if the writing is subpar and less than emotional, it could damage the entire brand of TGIT.Fridays and Sundays stay pretty much the same with the exception of ABC’s Secrets and Lies making its triumphant return after delaying its spring second season premiere to take advantage of the gaping hole left in the Sunday night schedule. Though not new, it will continue in the vein of an anthology series with Juliette Lewis’ detective character picking up another case rife with secrets... and, uh... lies.
FOX A network always searching for the next big think, FOX has come under fire in the last few years for canceling shows that had yet to hit their rhythm but was gaining steam in many fans eyes. This included such shows as Second Chance and Almost Human. While it has made questionable decisions like canceling freshman comedies Grandfathered and the Grinder, while renewing the low-rated Sleepy Hollow after one of the two main leads left, and renewing Scream Queens after a season of volatile ratings, it seems to have stuck to a few trends while bucking others. The network which has always skewed younger seems to have veered into nostalgia land to grab a slice of the older demographic this season with the onslaught of shows based on past film franchises. While they started this trend last year (or a few years ago) most notably with Minority Report, they continue it this year with the likes of Lethal Weapon and The Exorcist. With Monday and Tuesday staying much the same as last season (Lucifer moves to 9pm on Mondays), we start on Wednesday with Lethal Weapon.
Lethal Weapon
Yet another procedural that will stick heavily to the case-by-case weekly format while plying the familiar winks from the film franchise, Lethal Weapon stars Damon Wayans as Murtaugh, the freshly 50-year-old cop with a bum ticker that nearly killed him on the day of his newest baby’s birth. Much to live for and trying not to have another heart attack, he nearly retires the day he gets partnered with his newest young partner Martin Riggs (played by Clayne Crawford), a Texas transfer new to the LA scene. Just like in the movie Riggs just recently lost his wife and now has a death wish that causes him to over-commit to the dangerous and deadly in his pursuit of criminals.
So what makes this concept fresh from the 80s where first we saw it? Umm... The black guy is already a proven comedian? Honestly, nothing. The difference between this and the movie looks so negligible that it's a wonder they didn’t just reboot it into a movie. Still, with Wayans in the role of “gettin’ too old for this sh—oh, my bad! Can’t curse on network TV” guy, it could make for an interesting watch. And with the likes of McG behind the camera, it looks similar to a long-canceled show entitled Fastlane. I ain’t got time. Look it up! My biggest hope is that they don’t just have a weekly case, but that they roll with the one overarching big case that all of the smaller crimes feed into at the end of the season, but that may be too much to ask.Lethal Weapon airs Wednesdays at 8pm on FOX, right before Empire.
Pitch
Speaking of minority capitalization—something both FOX and ABC have been very deft at achieving in the last 10 years—FOX throws viewers a curveball on Thursdays with the arrival of Pitch. Yes, I just pulled that reference out of the stereotypical entertainment-writer handbook for shows that deal with sports. Curveball. Just stupid! Anyway, Pitch, like more than a few other new shows I’ve seen pitched to us (there it is again! When will it stop) has a premise that sounds better as a two-hour movie than a 22-episode seasonal series. Even 10-13 episodes is pushing it. Pitch follows the drama, tragedy, struggle and triumph of Ginny Baker as she becomes the first woman to pitch in Major League Baseball. Played by Kylie Bunbury (I know her from Under the Dome; she is just... breathtakingly beautiful), the show flashes back and forth between her entry into the major leagues now, and what she did as a child to make it there. It is a feminist love-letter to sports. While I see no problem integrating women into the MLB as it is not a contact sport, I would have issue with the same going for football and basketball, as I’m sure plenty of fans would.
To a larger point, I wrote that last sentence to make the point that this show courts precisely that critique. It will not be subtle about its aim and will field criticism from the point it’s trying to make. The strange part to me is that it looks like a family drama. Strange because shows with political statements to make do better when in categories similar to ABC’s American Crime or FX’s American Crime Story—far more serious and stoic about the subject matter. Again, this is only the tone I’ve gotten from the commercials so it could be far different than what I am envisioning, but we will see if it can weather the storm of critics who will hate it because of what it stands for, as well as the possibly low ratings due to the strength of its competition (it got lucky that Scandal wasn’t coming back because they’d play to a similar demo). Pitch airs Thursdays at 9pm on FOX right after Rosewood.
The Exorcist
Friday sees FOX’s old standby Hell’s Kitchen returning to open the night. We Americans still can’t get enough of the angry Brit who has another slew of men and women to terrorize in his LA kitchen. But to pair with his hellacious outbursts, FOX will air their TV version of The Exorcist. If the summer box office has told us anything, horror is huge right now. FOX Studios not only has American Horror Story playing over on FX (soon to be joined in January by Legion and Tom Hardy’s Taboo) but they also have Scream Queens on FOX. And now comes The Exorcist based on the book/movie of the same name from the 70s. Little info on this one and how it will adapt the novel or movie into a full series, but from what I’ve gathered, it is supposed to follow the exploits of Fathers Tomas Ortega and Marcus Keane as they travel the country/world performing exorcisms. Again, little is known about the full plot of the season, so I can’t tell you if this is a case-by-case procedural or if the season will stick with one or two cases that stretch a large expanse of episodes, but I must say that I am intrigued by this series. The concept of an exorcist by itself is populated with so many possibilities that I can see this series going in a thousand different directions every week, let alone throughout a full season.The Exorcist airs Fridays at 9pm on FOX.
Son Of Zorn
Last, and probably least, is FOX’s Son of Zorn. In keeping with their Animation Domination Sunday brand that had been recently interrupted with the addition and success of Last Man on Earth, FOX greenlit this animation-live action hybrid. A great cast filled with comedy vets Cheryl Hines, Tim Meadows and Jason Sudekis voicing Zorn, the show follows an animated barbarian from another realm named Zorn. Bored with his life as ruler over this other realm, Zorn returns to our earth where he has a human son with Hines. Gone for much of the boy’s life, only now does he try to bond with him and be the father he never was. He even gets a regular job here as he hopes to stay close to the boy. Another fish-out-of-water concept, Zorn still thinks with his hefty sword first and has the mind of someone on the battlefield even when trying to adapt and adopt modern concepts. To make this simple, I do not want to see this show. I’m sure it has its good points, but... eh! It looks like a show that’ll be good for two seasons, then fizzle/slog through a third season before dying, and that’s my thought based solely off the commercials. But again, time will tell.From FOX we move to...
CBSAnother network filled to the brim with returning fair of Survivor, NCIS and Scorpion, CBS has two new notable series. We begin on Tuesdays with Bull.
Bull
Bull stars former NCIS actor Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull, a jury consultant for the defense. From what was shown on the commercial, his job is to help the defense team and their client to choose the perfect jurors, and craft the perfect story that will get them off. In doing this, he and his team use the latest in psychoanalytic technologies to help predict the voting behavior and thought patterns of each juror both pre-trial and during the adjudication. Think of it sort of as a CSI or Law and Order but focused solely around the jury and not necessarily the victims.
If you’re into the psychology behind why people do what they do and why a jury would vote a certain way (and after watching American Crime Story: People vs. OJ, who wouldn’t be?), then this might be worth checking out, though I don’t know how much mental flossing they go into each week.Bull airs on Tuesday nights at 9pm on CBS.
MacGyver
Testifying to the fact that Generation Xers still aren’t over their sickening obsession with everything 80s (you know they’re seriously blaming Millennials for this? Ridiculous), we have yet another classic TV series reboot. For those who aren’t in the know, MacGyver, played by Lucas Till this time around, is a clandestine government agent who uses his “unconventional problem-solving skills” (yeah, from the actual IMDb synopsis) to solve crimes and cases and whatnot. While Lucas looks well-suited for the part, and the concept and brand are highly recognizable to viewers, I can’t help but think that this show might fail based solely on the same problem I pointed out last year in my Limitless show three-week review: There is an overload of too many geniuses on TV. There’s just too many abnormally smart people on TV.
While MacGyver may have been novel back in 1985 when first it premiered, today we see countless genius characters solving crimes using some obscure factoid they learned once in the fifth grade that happens to come in handy right now as a bomb is about to go off. We’ve seen characters use pieces of gum to fix everything from broken heels to blot out security cameras. The very concept on which MacGyver thrived has become routine. But again, name recognition is very strong. Still, with Limitless not able to eke out another season with a much more elevated concept, and MacGuyver getting the cringe-worthy 8:00pm timeslot on Fridays on CBS, I wouldn’t be surprised if it only lasted a season, regardless of how good it may be. Again, we’ll see when I deliver my three-week reviews for these new shows.
The CW I wouldn’t normally cover the CW but since I did a little of that last year, I can dive in here again. The CW will have a few new shows to go along with the network-switched season 2 of Supergirl. Their two shows that actually have premiere dates so far are No Tomorrow and Frequency.
No Tomorrow
I haven’t seen too many commercials about this show, but from what I do know, it sounds very similar to NBC’s failed Me, You and The Apocalypse—a midseason replacement from last season that tried placing British humor in American primetime. No Tomorrow follows a main female character (again, I don’t even know her name at the time of this writing) who learns that the world is going to end in a set amount of days. From there we see the shenanigans that ensue as she tries to live her life and get things checked off her bucket list before it’s all over. One of those things happens to be fall in love. Enter Galavant—uh, I mean the guy who played Galavant from the now defunct ABC comedy. He’s there, he’s the one who knows the world is gonna end, and he’s gonna die, too, and, uh... there’s some funny stuff. And yeah. No Tomorrow will air Tuesdays at 9pm on the CW right after The Flash.
Frequency
Another new CW show is Frequency. I don’t know if this is based on the movie of the same name but it seems to have a similar concept. Frequency is about a young woman played by Peyton List, who begins to get strange messages from her father through a particular radio frequency. The twist? Her father, a bad criminal/police detective who was said to have murdered people, died over a decade ago. Now, they must band together to stop some future crimes from happening while mending their complicated relationship and figuring out the truth about each other.
All I can say about this one is that it looks interesting, although it is just another twist on the overplayed procedural/mystery/detective theme we get so often on TV. Could be worth a watch, but I’m not holding my breath on me wanting to tune in for this each week.Last but not least, we have USA’s latest entry, Falling Water.
Falling Water
I know little about this series but am intrigued. From what I can decipher from the commercials, it looks as if this is about the connection between three or more people’s lives through their dreams. The trailer mentions something about being able to step into someone else’s dreams, which sounds similar to Inception and has long been an entertaining concept. Here, however, it seems to hint at a more sinister play between reality and fiction, and bending the will of others as they sleep.Falling Water will air on USA network, but because it is cable, you will have to check your local listings for the exact time. It is set to premiere Thursday, October 13th.
AMC and FX will have more new series later into the season near the midseason point in January, along with the rest of the networks. Of course, I will have missed one of your most anticipated series as I can’t cover everything, and I tend not to cover premium channels save for that one time I did Ash vs. Evil Dead. So tell me, what new shows this fall are you looking forward to? What returning shows can you not wait to start watching again? Will you give the new shows a three week grace period like me, or will you knock them from your viewing list immediately if they don’t live up to your expectations? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Ask the sex question."‘OK. How often do you two have sex?’“Never! This therapy didn’t work. We’re getting a divorce. We’ve tried everything, even killing each other.”‘Maybe you should try that again.’
P.S. I know, that’s a terrible sign-off. For one, it’s too long, and for two it refers back to a movie that came out over a decade ago. Frankly, it’s not even a good joke as I really had high hopes for Ben and Angie. I hope that whatever this craziness is that is going on between the two of them gets worked out and the kids do well through the separation. They really made a good couple. Oh well. Love and marriage are hard.
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September 25, 2016
Summer’s Over, The New Season is Upon Us, I Didn’t Watch The Emmys And More Than Half The Nation Still Doesn’t Know What Is Aleppo! IT’S Entertainment Time #Summer2016 #Fall #TV #Movies
Summer’s Over, The New Season is Upon Us, I Didn’t Watch The Emmys And More Than Half The Nation Still Doesn’t Know What Is Aleppo! IT’S Entertainment Time #Summer2016 #SummerRoundUp #Fall #TV #Movies
Wow! What a summer. Yes, I was gone from my blog for a very long time. It was an extended blogging vacation for me, but I got a lot of other creative work done on my writing and plotting for other projects. I stayed quite busy with the second season of my episodic novella series The Writer (check that out through the link down below). I also had to plot more than a few projects coming out this fall and winter, including (hopefully) The Man on The Roof, The Knowledge of Fear, A New Low, Hype Chick and the first season of Extraordinary(more info on that later). And I also stayed very busy with my garden which was only so-so. I’ll give garden updates later in the coming weeks as I do some garden cleanup, but until then let’s get to the world of entertainment that was over the months May-September 2016.
A Summer of War!!! Picture Courtesy of Marvel Studios and Disney
Yes, summer starts in May—at least the summer of the entertainment industry starts in May. That began with the arrival of the film Captain America: Civil War. Unfortunately, due to how busy I was I was unable to get in a review of the movie and its soundtrack similar to what I did for Batman v. Superman. While people didn’t buzz about it for weeks as much as they did Batman v. Superman, I think most people conceded that Civil War was a far better film. Personally, I thought it was actually the best Captain America movie, as well as the best (hold on to your britches!) Avengers film. To me, an Avengers film is defined as when most, if not all, of the Avengers show up in one film. With the exception of Thor and Hulk, everyone else was there. I actually didn’t like the first Avengers all that much, but my opinion has gotten better in the last few years.With that said, I can’t gush enough about Civil War and how great I thought it was. You could even understand Marvel’s fight with DC to keep its release date (Iron Man: “He killed my mom!”). The soundtrack was also the best one that the Marvel cinematic universe has had so far. A great video to look up (which I totally agree with on most of the points they made) is the Marvel Symphonic Universe. They took what I’ve been saying for years and made it into a short video for people to consume and argue over. With the exception of the Winter Soldier music and the music at the big fight at the airport, the music for much of Marvel is forgettable. Sorry, it just is. DC has better music while Marvel has better films. Again, still waiting for someone to interlace some DC music into Marvel films just to see what difference it makes.
Suffice it to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Captain America, even if that is his last go around as, uh... Captain America (if the directors are to be believed).
Moving on, some of the other films for the summer were hits and misses... and more misses. X-men, while I initially wanted to see it, had such bad reviews that I couldn’t bother to walk the few miles to sit in an AC-cooled theater to see it for 5.50 on discount day. I had other stuff going on. To keep it going with the missed opportunities, let’s talk about Independence Day: Resurgence. Wait... Wait... Maybe we shouldn’t talk about Independence Day: Resurgence. I literally almost fell asleep in that movie, which never happens. It was just so lackluster. It had no build-up, the characters weren’t interesting, the veterans (Goldblum, Paxton, Fox, the other ones) also seemed to have reached back into the 90s and faxed in their performances, ugh! And while they had a few cool concepts, even the CGI was just... blah!
That was my second biggest disappointment of the summer. Most of the other movies were serviceable/decent or fairly good. This list was mostly populated by horror films and included: the Shallows (good), The Conjuring 2 (pretty good), Tarzan (decent; had some nice moments), Star Trek Beyond (good), Don’t Breathe (pretty good; love Jane), Morgan (decent, but predictable), Me Before You (decent romance; No notebook, but then what is?), The Nice Guys (pretty good buddy-cop throwback comedy), Now You See Me 2 (good if you’re a fan of the first one) and Central Intelligence (decent).
I saw hardly any movies in August as most of that crap was just... no. No. No. No-no? No? No! That includes Sausage Party (tired of Rogen which is also why I didn’t see Neighbors: Sorority Rising), War Dogs (would have seen it but it just didn’t move me as I wanted it to), Mechanic: Resurrection (eh!) and the Obama love story Southside With You (wasn’t playing near me). There was also a ton of other stuff I didn’t see throughout the summer, that neither I nor anyone else apparently (check the box office) had time for: Mike and Dave need... blah blah blah, Nerve (wanted to see it but thought it came out in September), The BFG, Pete’s Dragon, Secret Life of Pets (didn’t feel like seeing animation this year), Dory (didn’t like Finding Nemo) and some other crap! As for that one movie that came out in August, you know... that comic book one with the funny black guy and hot white girl... and the guy with the boomerangs...? YOU KNOW! Well, let’s talk about that two paragraphs down.
Through all of the summer movies and into the rest of the year, I’ve realized a couple of trends for this year’s film and entertainment industry. For one, everybody is into civil war. Whether it be the civil wars of Marvel’s movie characters, their TV counterparts (Agents of Shield exploded in the last months of the third season), DC having Batman and Superman fight, the X-Men doing... what they do every film, villains fighting villains, or hell, even the crazy war in Syria, everybody is having it out with people they know and are close to. It’s getting ridiculous. We even had McConaghey getting in his own Free State of Jones Civil War movie. Yikes!
Also, another big trend this year had to be animal movies. Yes, family-friendly movies meant for ages all the way down to two always tend to have some kind of animal in them to appeal to children, but with the slew of animal films this year: Zootopia, Jungle Book, Dory, Secret Life of Pets, Nine Lives, Angry Birds, Storks, Sing (or whatever that karaoke animated movie is named that’s supposed to come out in November or December), Pete’s Dragon (yes, I’m counting it. Dragons are animals, too, no matter how fictional they might be) and still other stuff I know I’m forgetting, everybody jumped on the trend. It actually makes me nervous for the other, darker version of the Jungle Book to come out by Warner Bros. sometime next year or 2018. Has it possibly already missed the mark and fallen in the canyon of too-late-trendiness? Hell, even the WB will have JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them, which, can we all stop acting like that isn’t a more British-y, old-timey version of Pokemon minus the poke-ball and Pikachu? Seriously, it’s a guy running around trying to catch monsters. Don’t tell me that you didn’t know at least someone between the ages of 2 and 36 that tried doing that this summer with PokemonGo! The movie is the same concept, I guarantee you!
Now, about that Suicide Squad movie (I know, you probably thought I was gonna go on a stream of PokemonGo jokes, right? Or that I was gonna mention that horrid Hillary Clinton “Go-go-go to the polls” misfire, or talk about the many church signs that used PokemonGo as an advertising ploy to get people to come in and catch them some of the Holy Ghost, or how perverts were trying to use the app to Peek-at-chu, but no! I am not going to make any of those lame jokes, accusations, and observations of 2016 summer pop culture. I’m too dignified for that.). Um... yeah, that movie was terrible. While I’d like to do a full review on that, too, people have made more than enough good observations on it for me to not waste a full post on its failings. I guess it made money, which is actually troublesome and disheartening for anyone coming after them to do a remake (I have long wanted to reboot and create my version of the DC superheroes, but hey... we all have dreams we’ll never achieve, right?). But everything from the poorly executed story, to the boring pace, to Leto’s joker, to the main villains own award-winning Hall of Funny Walks gyrations, to the redundancy of the Bruce Wayan cameo at the end—it all just wasn’t good. I so thought that this would be the film to really kick things into gear for DC and turn it around, but... eh!
Honestly, I know what’ll happen. Wonder Woman is probably going to be good and do great just because it’s a female superhero, and feminist (no offense) will come out and champion the movie and claim how “a woman saves the DCEU.” I swear to God that will end up in someone’s review article just under a year from now. Guarantee it! But I think it’ll still be followed with movies that people aren’t as thrilled about, and that are bolstered by die-hard fans that think if they don’t support it, they’ll never get to see more of these films. I keep warning people, cheering on something you’re not all that thrilled about in hopes of seeing something better does not usually lead to better quality. It doesn’t. And as far as the tonal change DC is instituting, my answer to that would be to look at the two very different renditions of the Fantastic Four. The Jessica Alba edition and the latest... thing of 2015 had two completely different tones, still both not very good (though the first two FF movies I did like until I saw some other comic book movies and realized their inferiority; Oh my goodness! Can I sound any more pretentious?). But again, if this movie made money and is what people like, keep it up WB.
As far as summer TV went, there wasn’t a lot on to keep viewers inside. We had the return of Zoo, which wasted little time killing off the wide-eyed model white woman who scared me with her lemur-eyes. Big black dude finally got some and, let’s be honest, he probably almost crushed that little chica they paired him with more than a few times. It was a family affair as Jackson’s father was not only revealed to still be alive but was one of the evil masterminds behind all of this. And the doctor’s father was some egomaniacal womanizer who seduced and married his own son’s date, then divorced her years later. Who could have thought that the season would end with the big black dude and the Latina being the parents of one of the last remaining children in the world as humans were all sterilized as part of the cure for the animals? It was a lot of insanity.
Mr. Robot, the ode/ripoff of everything David Fincher, got excessively strange and turned a few viewers off while garnering others. Just how much of that series is actually taking place in his head? And why the hell is Craig Robinson suddenly on this show? So many questions and no answers whatsoever.Those who watch the Haves and Have-nots were treated to another twisty, turn-y season that saw an overdose, more blackmail, and the white judge dude still sitting in prison and his wife cappin’ fools! And is Candace going to try to raise her child or give him to her mother or what? What the hell?
Grace won! Grace should always win.
America’s Got Talent was buoyed by Simon Cowell’s return to American TV and by the singing talent to come along with him. While I can’t say that the finale was as exciting as the rest of the show, I think most people enjoyed a safer episode after the arrow-shooting mistake earlier in the season. Yes, folks, it’s actually a dangerous show. People can die!
A fair share of scripted shows started and sputtered to their death rather quickly. Houdini and Doyle had promise had it not cast a less-than-charming Houdini who has worked well as a serviceable character actor in Hollywood for years but probably isn’t best suited for a leading man role. Mistresses, after four seasons of pulling its own magic trick of staying on the air, was finally canceled when the plot got too ridiculous for people to care anymore. American Gothic and Brain Dead both showed real promise as concepts, but it became clear to most viewers through the first episode of both that they could quickly descend into tediousness. NBC’s Better Late Than Never probably should’ve chosen the never option when considering coming on TV.
And with the slew of reality shows (both early and late entries) clogging up the airwaves, with the exception of HBO’s pivotal sixth season of Game of Thrones, summer TV never took off from the ground. Maybe that was because of the one huge attraction of the summer, NBC’s Olympics.
Picture courtesy of whoever took it... and NBC.
The Olympics was my absolute jam. Don’t listen to all of the haters and fools that refused to tune in, during the day in favor of complaining while they had no day jobs, this year’s coverage probably had the most live event coverage since the games (winter or summer) were hosted by America. Granted, you did have to have the full NBC package including NBC Sports, CNBC, MSNBC, BRAVO and USA, but if you did have them, you could see every event live at some point. While NBC may have a very small amount of clout with the IOC, people need to understand that they can’t control the scheduling of events. A big complaint was about the gymnastics. They showed it live during the day when it was live and repeated it at night. People complained that they already knew the results by then. Please! Stop! Either don’t look at the results or watch it live, but don’t complain that they didn’t show it live at your convenience. Unless you record the events, you have to realize that some stuff just isn’t going to be on AND live exactly when you want it to be. You like boxing? Great! Just realize that it’s going to probably be on at a really awkward time for you. That’s why they have DVRs. That’s why they have the live-streaming service. Remember, people, they have literally hundreds of events to try to show you in the course of 17 days. I literally saw almost every single event live at some point: handball, shooting, marathon swimming, field hockey, rhythmic gymnastics—you name it, I saw it and it had that Live tag at the top of the broadcast. Yes, you might have to look for the stuff. Sorry, but it can’t all be aired on one channel. OK? OK. My only complaint with the way they covered it was more so with ATT (my cable provider) incorrectly describing and time-blocking the events. I taped trampoline three times when it supposedly was scheduled and only saw it once. But that is easily improved.
Moving on, the games themselves were phenomenal. Michael Phelps, the living legend, and Usain Bolt, the... living legend, both came back for yet another Olympics to add to their all-time, all-time-ness. From now until the world inevitably implodes into another war and the Olympics cease to be, you can never have another Summer games without mentioning both of their names in their respective sports.
Allyson Felix, to me, was robbed of this privilege with the dive heard ‘round the world, but she is still up there with the greats. We got shocking upsets in almost all of our team sports, winning not a single gold in any volleyball discipline for the first time since... huh? Maybe ever. Definitely since the 90s. Ryan Seacrest and Adriana Lima may have made a love connection during the Olympic late night Rio Zone—good for them.
The Final Five was the most amazing thing I’ve seen since the last Olympics but some of you hatin’-ass people still had to find things to criticize Gabby for. Shakin’ my damn head. Then people criticized Aly’s, Simone’s and Madison’s bodies. Give me a break! That’s all I’ll say about that as I would prefer to focus on their amazing accomplishments, as the world just saw quite possibly the greatest female gymnastics team in the world, with the greatest gymnast to ever do it! Yeah! I said that!
And then there was Lochte. Sigh! Jeah, I don’t know, man. Um... from the silly hair to the loss to Phelps to the gas station bathroom lie, he took Meek Mill’s place as having the most L’s in a summer. The good news for him and his fans is that he will make a return in this fall’s Dancing With the Stars, along with cute anime character Laurie Hernandez.
Not to forget about our Paralympic athletes (in my opinion we should pay more attention to them and their games, too) we saw a McSweep on the wheelchair track from Paralympian McFadden. She won gold in every event she raced on the track, and won a silver in the marathon street wheelchair race. The US won its first women’s sitting volleyball gold, and the men’s wheelchair basketball continued its reign as the most decorated team in Paralympic history. We also won a gold on the track in blind sprints at, if I can remember, the 100m... I think. Don’t quote me on that. In any case, we had a helluva summer athletically as a country, showing our resolve and determination to be the greatest. If only politics showed the class and togetherness of the games. They will forever live as an ideal of what the world could and should be.
Speaking of politics, what the hell is Aleppo? To be fair to Gary Johnson the Libertarian presidential nominee, I also didn’t know what Aleppo was? I thought it was that fancy cat food brand, but I’m currently not a presidential candidate. But again, I’m not sure it should be the greatest of importance to know one singular city when there’s an entire country at war. Saying “the Syrian war” should be more politically correct. Yes, I get it. During WWII it was often about Berlin, but again, it’s the entirety of Germany that we have to defeat. Address the entire problem, rather than symptom treat. All of that should come with the mind that I am not a Libertarian, or at least I don’t think I am (don’t really know their politics, so I can’t say for sure).
Gary Johnson’s gaffe was a minor blip on the scale of insanity that continues to be the 2016 presidential race. In June both of the primaries ended with a gas of relief until Sanders continued to needle the democrats by saying he was going all the way... to where I don’t think even he knew, but he was definitely going there. And he did. He went there. So... I don’t know where the hell he is now, but he’s somewhere.
When People Say Mean Things About You For Their Political Gain
In July, the nominations were made official with two of the gaudiest, most ridiculous displays of party inoculation that you’ll see. Yes, the RNC and DNC are often circuses, but with the behind-the-scenes backbiting and deal making, it seemed all too scripted like an SNL parody sketch. We got to see Hillary Clinton’s “damn, this some good weed!” face, hear about Melania Trump’s childhood growing up as a middle-class black woman in Chicago’s southside, come to terms with the fact that all Sanders voters were just “being ridiculous” (Sarah Silverman’s words), and came to realize that this fight between black lives and blue lives has bruised us all. This, all while trying to ignore the fact that both major party candidates chose the poster children for “creepy white guy uncles” as running mates. No way I’m leaving my kids with Tim Kaine nor Mike Pence even for an hour. Trump, uh... Trumped all over his supporters and they swallowed it down like—oh! Oh, wait! Let me just back away from that sentence. It was about to take this blog places it dare not go.
Since then, we’ve been invited to take a gander at Trump’s African-American, have been shamed over questioning the health of both candidates as if having doubts about a 68 and 70-year-old slated to run the country is somehow a bad thing, have been instructed that a popular internet meme of a green frog is actually a symbol of white power, have had our eyes burned down to the retinas with the sight of a life-sized naked Trump statue/effigy/paper-thingy and have seen both candidates ramp up the attack ads (if you’re in a swing state as great as my state of Ohio, you get to see this crap 24/7. Yay!). Yet, it’s far from being over. We still have another full month to go, which will see the debates and the election and the aftermath, and could cause political upheaval not seen since... 2008.
What a summer!
What did you all think of the summer that was, guys and gals? What did you do? What is your favorite memory from this summer (it can be personal)? What are you looking forward to in the upcoming fall/winter months? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Disney. Jobs. West. East! Other directions."
P.S. OK, so maybe I did liberally borrow from Kanye West’s strange stockholder-meeting speech he held in the middle of the MTV VMAs, but, you know, it’s like... art. Plus, did you see that video for his song Fade? My god, Teyana Taylor is... I mean, I knew about her body, but she’s got serious moves. Now I understand why Iman Shumpert was all Jheri-curled up. A woman that bad can make you do strange things. I’ll think of an original sign-off next time. And please forgive me as I haven’t done this in a while and am quite rusty.
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Wow! What a summer. Yes, I was gone from my blog for a very long time. It was an extended blogging vacation for me, but I got a lot of other creative work done on my writing and plotting for other projects. I stayed quite busy with the second season of my episodic novella series The Writer (check that out through the link down below). I also had to plot more than a few projects coming out this fall and winter, including (hopefully) The Man on The Roof, The Knowledge of Fear, A New Low, Hype Chick and the first season of Extraordinary(more info on that later). And I also stayed very busy with my garden which was only so-so. I’ll give garden updates later in the coming weeks as I do some garden cleanup, but until then let’s get to the world of entertainment that was over the months May-September 2016.
A Summer of War!!! Picture Courtesy of Marvel Studios and Disney Yes, summer starts in May—at least the summer of the entertainment industry starts in May. That began with the arrival of the film Captain America: Civil War. Unfortunately, due to how busy I was I was unable to get in a review of the movie and its soundtrack similar to what I did for Batman v. Superman. While people didn’t buzz about it for weeks as much as they did Batman v. Superman, I think most people conceded that Civil War was a far better film. Personally, I thought it was actually the best Captain America movie, as well as the best (hold on to your britches!) Avengers film. To me, an Avengers film is defined as when most, if not all, of the Avengers show up in one film. With the exception of Thor and Hulk, everyone else was there. I actually didn’t like the first Avengers all that much, but my opinion has gotten better in the last few years.With that said, I can’t gush enough about Civil War and how great I thought it was. You could even understand Marvel’s fight with DC to keep its release date (Iron Man: “He killed my mom!”). The soundtrack was also the best one that the Marvel cinematic universe has had so far. A great video to look up (which I totally agree with on most of the points they made) is the Marvel Symphonic Universe. They took what I’ve been saying for years and made it into a short video for people to consume and argue over. With the exception of the Winter Soldier music and the music at the big fight at the airport, the music for much of Marvel is forgettable. Sorry, it just is. DC has better music while Marvel has better films. Again, still waiting for someone to interlace some DC music into Marvel films just to see what difference it makes.
Suffice it to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Captain America, even if that is his last go around as, uh... Captain America (if the directors are to be believed).
Moving on, some of the other films for the summer were hits and misses... and more misses. X-men, while I initially wanted to see it, had such bad reviews that I couldn’t bother to walk the few miles to sit in an AC-cooled theater to see it for 5.50 on discount day. I had other stuff going on. To keep it going with the missed opportunities, let’s talk about Independence Day: Resurgence. Wait... Wait... Maybe we shouldn’t talk about Independence Day: Resurgence. I literally almost fell asleep in that movie, which never happens. It was just so lackluster. It had no build-up, the characters weren’t interesting, the veterans (Goldblum, Paxton, Fox, the other ones) also seemed to have reached back into the 90s and faxed in their performances, ugh! And while they had a few cool concepts, even the CGI was just... blah!
That was my second biggest disappointment of the summer. Most of the other movies were serviceable/decent or fairly good. This list was mostly populated by horror films and included: the Shallows (good), The Conjuring 2 (pretty good), Tarzan (decent; had some nice moments), Star Trek Beyond (good), Don’t Breathe (pretty good; love Jane), Morgan (decent, but predictable), Me Before You (decent romance; No notebook, but then what is?), The Nice Guys (pretty good buddy-cop throwback comedy), Now You See Me 2 (good if you’re a fan of the first one) and Central Intelligence (decent).I saw hardly any movies in August as most of that crap was just... no. No. No. No-no? No? No! That includes Sausage Party (tired of Rogen which is also why I didn’t see Neighbors: Sorority Rising), War Dogs (would have seen it but it just didn’t move me as I wanted it to), Mechanic: Resurrection (eh!) and the Obama love story Southside With You (wasn’t playing near me). There was also a ton of other stuff I didn’t see throughout the summer, that neither I nor anyone else apparently (check the box office) had time for: Mike and Dave need... blah blah blah, Nerve (wanted to see it but thought it came out in September), The BFG, Pete’s Dragon, Secret Life of Pets (didn’t feel like seeing animation this year), Dory (didn’t like Finding Nemo) and some other crap! As for that one movie that came out in August, you know... that comic book one with the funny black guy and hot white girl... and the guy with the boomerangs...? YOU KNOW! Well, let’s talk about that two paragraphs down.
Through all of the summer movies and into the rest of the year, I’ve realized a couple of trends for this year’s film and entertainment industry. For one, everybody is into civil war. Whether it be the civil wars of Marvel’s movie characters, their TV counterparts (Agents of Shield exploded in the last months of the third season), DC having Batman and Superman fight, the X-Men doing... what they do every film, villains fighting villains, or hell, even the crazy war in Syria, everybody is having it out with people they know and are close to. It’s getting ridiculous. We even had McConaghey getting in his own Free State of Jones Civil War movie. Yikes!
Also, another big trend this year had to be animal movies. Yes, family-friendly movies meant for ages all the way down to two always tend to have some kind of animal in them to appeal to children, but with the slew of animal films this year: Zootopia, Jungle Book, Dory, Secret Life of Pets, Nine Lives, Angry Birds, Storks, Sing (or whatever that karaoke animated movie is named that’s supposed to come out in November or December), Pete’s Dragon (yes, I’m counting it. Dragons are animals, too, no matter how fictional they might be) and still other stuff I know I’m forgetting, everybody jumped on the trend. It actually makes me nervous for the other, darker version of the Jungle Book to come out by Warner Bros. sometime next year or 2018. Has it possibly already missed the mark and fallen in the canyon of too-late-trendiness? Hell, even the WB will have JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them, which, can we all stop acting like that isn’t a more British-y, old-timey version of Pokemon minus the poke-ball and Pikachu? Seriously, it’s a guy running around trying to catch monsters. Don’t tell me that you didn’t know at least someone between the ages of 2 and 36 that tried doing that this summer with PokemonGo! The movie is the same concept, I guarantee you!
Now, about that Suicide Squad movie (I know, you probably thought I was gonna go on a stream of PokemonGo jokes, right? Or that I was gonna mention that horrid Hillary Clinton “Go-go-go to the polls” misfire, or talk about the many church signs that used PokemonGo as an advertising ploy to get people to come in and catch them some of the Holy Ghost, or how perverts were trying to use the app to Peek-at-chu, but no! I am not going to make any of those lame jokes, accusations, and observations of 2016 summer pop culture. I’m too dignified for that.). Um... yeah, that movie was terrible. While I’d like to do a full review on that, too, people have made more than enough good observations on it for me to not waste a full post on its failings. I guess it made money, which is actually troublesome and disheartening for anyone coming after them to do a remake (I have long wanted to reboot and create my version of the DC superheroes, but hey... we all have dreams we’ll never achieve, right?). But everything from the poorly executed story, to the boring pace, to Leto’s joker, to the main villains own award-winning Hall of Funny Walks gyrations, to the redundancy of the Bruce Wayan cameo at the end—it all just wasn’t good. I so thought that this would be the film to really kick things into gear for DC and turn it around, but... eh! Honestly, I know what’ll happen. Wonder Woman is probably going to be good and do great just because it’s a female superhero, and feminist (no offense) will come out and champion the movie and claim how “a woman saves the DCEU.” I swear to God that will end up in someone’s review article just under a year from now. Guarantee it! But I think it’ll still be followed with movies that people aren’t as thrilled about, and that are bolstered by die-hard fans that think if they don’t support it, they’ll never get to see more of these films. I keep warning people, cheering on something you’re not all that thrilled about in hopes of seeing something better does not usually lead to better quality. It doesn’t. And as far as the tonal change DC is instituting, my answer to that would be to look at the two very different renditions of the Fantastic Four. The Jessica Alba edition and the latest... thing of 2015 had two completely different tones, still both not very good (though the first two FF movies I did like until I saw some other comic book movies and realized their inferiority; Oh my goodness! Can I sound any more pretentious?). But again, if this movie made money and is what people like, keep it up WB.
As far as summer TV went, there wasn’t a lot on to keep viewers inside. We had the return of Zoo, which wasted little time killing off the wide-eyed model white woman who scared me with her lemur-eyes. Big black dude finally got some and, let’s be honest, he probably almost crushed that little chica they paired him with more than a few times. It was a family affair as Jackson’s father was not only revealed to still be alive but was one of the evil masterminds behind all of this. And the doctor’s father was some egomaniacal womanizer who seduced and married his own son’s date, then divorced her years later. Who could have thought that the season would end with the big black dude and the Latina being the parents of one of the last remaining children in the world as humans were all sterilized as part of the cure for the animals? It was a lot of insanity.
Mr. Robot, the ode/ripoff of everything David Fincher, got excessively strange and turned a few viewers off while garnering others. Just how much of that series is actually taking place in his head? And why the hell is Craig Robinson suddenly on this show? So many questions and no answers whatsoever.Those who watch the Haves and Have-nots were treated to another twisty, turn-y season that saw an overdose, more blackmail, and the white judge dude still sitting in prison and his wife cappin’ fools! And is Candace going to try to raise her child or give him to her mother or what? What the hell?
Grace won! Grace should always win. America’s Got Talent was buoyed by Simon Cowell’s return to American TV and by the singing talent to come along with him. While I can’t say that the finale was as exciting as the rest of the show, I think most people enjoyed a safer episode after the arrow-shooting mistake earlier in the season. Yes, folks, it’s actually a dangerous show. People can die!
A fair share of scripted shows started and sputtered to their death rather quickly. Houdini and Doyle had promise had it not cast a less-than-charming Houdini who has worked well as a serviceable character actor in Hollywood for years but probably isn’t best suited for a leading man role. Mistresses, after four seasons of pulling its own magic trick of staying on the air, was finally canceled when the plot got too ridiculous for people to care anymore. American Gothic and Brain Dead both showed real promise as concepts, but it became clear to most viewers through the first episode of both that they could quickly descend into tediousness. NBC’s Better Late Than Never probably should’ve chosen the never option when considering coming on TV.And with the slew of reality shows (both early and late entries) clogging up the airwaves, with the exception of HBO’s pivotal sixth season of Game of Thrones, summer TV never took off from the ground. Maybe that was because of the one huge attraction of the summer, NBC’s Olympics.
Picture courtesy of whoever took it... and NBC.The Olympics was my absolute jam. Don’t listen to all of the haters and fools that refused to tune in, during the day in favor of complaining while they had no day jobs, this year’s coverage probably had the most live event coverage since the games (winter or summer) were hosted by America. Granted, you did have to have the full NBC package including NBC Sports, CNBC, MSNBC, BRAVO and USA, but if you did have them, you could see every event live at some point. While NBC may have a very small amount of clout with the IOC, people need to understand that they can’t control the scheduling of events. A big complaint was about the gymnastics. They showed it live during the day when it was live and repeated it at night. People complained that they already knew the results by then. Please! Stop! Either don’t look at the results or watch it live, but don’t complain that they didn’t show it live at your convenience. Unless you record the events, you have to realize that some stuff just isn’t going to be on AND live exactly when you want it to be. You like boxing? Great! Just realize that it’s going to probably be on at a really awkward time for you. That’s why they have DVRs. That’s why they have the live-streaming service. Remember, people, they have literally hundreds of events to try to show you in the course of 17 days. I literally saw almost every single event live at some point: handball, shooting, marathon swimming, field hockey, rhythmic gymnastics—you name it, I saw it and it had that Live tag at the top of the broadcast. Yes, you might have to look for the stuff. Sorry, but it can’t all be aired on one channel. OK? OK. My only complaint with the way they covered it was more so with ATT (my cable provider) incorrectly describing and time-blocking the events. I taped trampoline three times when it supposedly was scheduled and only saw it once. But that is easily improved.
Moving on, the games themselves were phenomenal. Michael Phelps, the living legend, and Usain Bolt, the... living legend, both came back for yet another Olympics to add to their all-time, all-time-ness. From now until the world inevitably implodes into another war and the Olympics cease to be, you can never have another Summer games without mentioning both of their names in their respective sports.
Allyson Felix, to me, was robbed of this privilege with the dive heard ‘round the world, but she is still up there with the greats. We got shocking upsets in almost all of our team sports, winning not a single gold in any volleyball discipline for the first time since... huh? Maybe ever. Definitely since the 90s. Ryan Seacrest and Adriana Lima may have made a love connection during the Olympic late night Rio Zone—good for them. The Final Five was the most amazing thing I’ve seen since the last Olympics but some of you hatin’-ass people still had to find things to criticize Gabby for. Shakin’ my damn head. Then people criticized Aly’s, Simone’s and Madison’s bodies. Give me a break! That’s all I’ll say about that as I would prefer to focus on their amazing accomplishments, as the world just saw quite possibly the greatest female gymnastics team in the world, with the greatest gymnast to ever do it! Yeah! I said that!
And then there was Lochte. Sigh! Jeah, I don’t know, man. Um... from the silly hair to the loss to Phelps to the gas station bathroom lie, he took Meek Mill’s place as having the most L’s in a summer. The good news for him and his fans is that he will make a return in this fall’s Dancing With the Stars, along with cute anime character Laurie Hernandez.
Not to forget about our Paralympic athletes (in my opinion we should pay more attention to them and their games, too) we saw a McSweep on the wheelchair track from Paralympian McFadden. She won gold in every event she raced on the track, and won a silver in the marathon street wheelchair race. The US won its first women’s sitting volleyball gold, and the men’s wheelchair basketball continued its reign as the most decorated team in Paralympic history. We also won a gold on the track in blind sprints at, if I can remember, the 100m... I think. Don’t quote me on that. In any case, we had a helluva summer athletically as a country, showing our resolve and determination to be the greatest. If only politics showed the class and togetherness of the games. They will forever live as an ideal of what the world could and should be.Speaking of politics, what the hell is Aleppo? To be fair to Gary Johnson the Libertarian presidential nominee, I also didn’t know what Aleppo was? I thought it was that fancy cat food brand, but I’m currently not a presidential candidate. But again, I’m not sure it should be the greatest of importance to know one singular city when there’s an entire country at war. Saying “the Syrian war” should be more politically correct. Yes, I get it. During WWII it was often about Berlin, but again, it’s the entirety of Germany that we have to defeat. Address the entire problem, rather than symptom treat. All of that should come with the mind that I am not a Libertarian, or at least I don’t think I am (don’t really know their politics, so I can’t say for sure).
Gary Johnson’s gaffe was a minor blip on the scale of insanity that continues to be the 2016 presidential race. In June both of the primaries ended with a gas of relief until Sanders continued to needle the democrats by saying he was going all the way... to where I don’t think even he knew, but he was definitely going there. And he did. He went there. So... I don’t know where the hell he is now, but he’s somewhere.
When People Say Mean Things About You For Their Political GainIn July, the nominations were made official with two of the gaudiest, most ridiculous displays of party inoculation that you’ll see. Yes, the RNC and DNC are often circuses, but with the behind-the-scenes backbiting and deal making, it seemed all too scripted like an SNL parody sketch. We got to see Hillary Clinton’s “damn, this some good weed!” face, hear about Melania Trump’s childhood growing up as a middle-class black woman in Chicago’s southside, come to terms with the fact that all Sanders voters were just “being ridiculous” (Sarah Silverman’s words), and came to realize that this fight between black lives and blue lives has bruised us all. This, all while trying to ignore the fact that both major party candidates chose the poster children for “creepy white guy uncles” as running mates. No way I’m leaving my kids with Tim Kaine nor Mike Pence even for an hour. Trump, uh... Trumped all over his supporters and they swallowed it down like—oh! Oh, wait! Let me just back away from that sentence. It was about to take this blog places it dare not go.
Since then, we’ve been invited to take a gander at Trump’s African-American, have been shamed over questioning the health of both candidates as if having doubts about a 68 and 70-year-old slated to run the country is somehow a bad thing, have been instructed that a popular internet meme of a green frog is actually a symbol of white power, have had our eyes burned down to the retinas with the sight of a life-sized naked Trump statue/effigy/paper-thingy and have seen both candidates ramp up the attack ads (if you’re in a swing state as great as my state of Ohio, you get to see this crap 24/7. Yay!). Yet, it’s far from being over. We still have another full month to go, which will see the debates and the election and the aftermath, and could cause political upheaval not seen since... 2008.What a summer!
What did you all think of the summer that was, guys and gals? What did you do? What is your favorite memory from this summer (it can be personal)? What are you looking forward to in the upcoming fall/winter months? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. Both season 1 and season 2 are out NOW, exclusively on Amazon. Stay connected here for updates on season 3 coming summer 2017. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Look for the mysterious Sci-fi episodic novella series Extraordinary to premiere sometime this winter on Amazon and my blog. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.
Until next time, "Disney. Jobs. West. East! Other directions."
P.S. OK, so maybe I did liberally borrow from Kanye West’s strange stockholder-meeting speech he held in the middle of the MTV VMAs, but, you know, it’s like... art. Plus, did you see that video for his song Fade? My god, Teyana Taylor is... I mean, I knew about her body, but she’s got serious moves. Now I understand why Iman Shumpert was all Jheri-curled up. A woman that bad can make you do strange things. I’ll think of an original sign-off next time. And please forgive me as I haven’t done this in a while and am quite rusty.
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April 18, 2016
Thomas Crown? No? But I Like The Pierce Brosnan Remake. Three Week Roundup Review: The Catch #TheCatch #ABC #Shondaland #3weekroundup
Thomas Crown? No? But I Like The Pierce Brosnan Remake. Three Week Roundup Review: The Catch #TheCatch #ABC #Shondaland #3weekroundup
All pictures courtesy of ABC unless otherwise noted
It's that time once again. Finally, after purging myself of most of the postmortem season reviews for the mid-season replacement shows I watched, I can get back to doing some other posts. A potato planting post is coming soon for those of you who are following my gardening advice. Also, there should be a supplies post for stuff you might want to get before the season kicks into gear. But for now, we've got a few new very late season additions, including ABC's new The Catch (#TheCatch). Remember, Scandal also premiered very late in the season. Does Shonda keep a steady track record of late premieres turned potential phenomenon or is The Catch a dud similar to Off The Map? Let's find out together.
Redhead Alert! The Catch centers around Alice Vaughan played by the always lovely Mireille Enos of The Killing fame. The head of her own private investigation firm, she specializes in protection and fraud investigation rather than the run-of-the-mill cheating spouse cases. For those not in the know, private investigators often do a lot more than follow people; in fact, many rich and famous persons hire firms to do thorough background checks on new contacts. Many political candidates keep high-class PI firms on retainer as a rule to help them vet potential "friends and donors." Alice runs a firm of that caliber based in LA. Shonda has a knack for basing her shows in big cities ripe for scandal and high-class intrigue. Rarely, however, has she tackled what some refer to as "The Two Bigs," New York and Los Angeles. Seeing as how it is the land of the rich and famous, this opens the door for potentially huge guest stars if the creator and showrunners ever decide to take the show that way.
Alice, as the lead investigator and head of the company is at the top of her game as shown in the opening moments of the series premiere. Thinking she's an art gallery worker, one of the partiers at the gallery opening speaks/flirts with her about a painting upon which the show is partially based. In this famous painting a woman is shown being taken in rapture by a lover whose face is turned away from the viewers' gaze as he buries himself within her neck. The sadness of the painting is that the woman doesn't appear too taken by her lover's passion, instead giving back a sad, almost depressed look as she cradles the nape of his neck. The man explains to Alice that he believes the woman is saddened not because she doesn't enjoy her lover but because she knows and realizes that love is the greatest con of all, a cheap parlor trick that lasts but a vapors stay (ooo! I went all fancy with it. Yeah, remember I am still an actual writer. I'm capable of more than just this silly blog). Before ever celebrating the capture of such euphoric feelings she mourns the loss of them, not to protect herself from ever falling in love again, but to remind herself never to take it for granted. This may seem off-topic but it plays heavily into the thrust of the show.
This photo was taken off someone's twitter feed and is the painting in question.
When Alice tells him that what they're viewing in the gallery is a fake and takes him back to the real one locked in the back, she lets him slip off her security badge to go steal the painting. A thief, the man cuts the real painting from the canvas, rolls it and stuffs it into his jacket. The plan all along, Alice, her team and the cops catch him outside red-handed on the red carpet as she throws him down to the ground and cuffs him (note: PIs are not allowed to arrest people).
Her show-'em-you-a-badass moment nailed, in the very next scene we are inundated with talk of her forthcoming nuptials and her black business partner Valerie Anderson. In a few months Alice is set to marry one of the most charming men she's ever met. Loyal, honest and a business owner, her man understands her and fully understands her disdain for all things traditional wedding, but it is the jaded, soon-to-be-divorced Anderson who pushes her to do things the traditional way: the cake, the gown, the big show of affection.
From Left to Right: Alice, Valerie, Danny, SophieRounding out her personal team is Danny Yoon her personal assistant and constant law breaker who only does bad things for good reasons and with his boss' blessing. She also has a new add to her team in Sophie Novak a lawyer with a myriad of specialties that will be revealed throughout the series just as her background in computer hacking was in the second episode. Essentially she is like the Huck to Alice's Olivia to put it in Scandal terms (though I doubt she goes as far as to kill). They assist her with anything and everything and aren't tethered to a desk as Alice works to prevent her clients from being conned. While they work their normal routine cases, forever seeking to expand their client base, the one gotcha case that keeps coming back resurfaces with yet another game.
Technically, the gotcha case isn't just a case but a person, someone very skilled and crafty in the game of sabotage, thievery and manipulation. A master con-artist, the person sends them a message nearly each time they get ready to make a big move. In the form of a riddle or clue, one would suspect him of being The Riddler--where the hell is Batman when you need him? Oh right, trying to kill Superman. I forgot. Anyway, not only have Alice and her team never captured this person but they've never actually seen him and don't know what he looks like. Still, they've chased him on multiple big jobs for months, dating back to before Alice hired Sophie.
With yet another big client now as the target of this hidden antagonist, Alice and her team try to thwart an exchange of confidential company data for a large firm that caters to rich clientele and manages their financials. If Mr. X gets access to it, he gets access to wealth in access of 100 million dollars.
Much to the chagrin of Alice and her team, the exchange goes smoothly as the man comes, makes a quick distraction, subverts the attention of the mark's shadow and uses a child to deliver payment for the small USB. To taunt Alice, we see the man in question pass right by her back as she searches the outdoor plaza for who could have committed such a skillful deception.
Irked by the man's escape, she finally returns home to her fiance. As it should come to no surprise to you now (it was the selling point in the advertisements) the secret Mr. X she's been chasing for the last few months is none other than her fiance, currently operating under the name Christopher Hall. Played by Peter Krause of Six Feet Under and Parenthood fame, Chris has been long-conning her for over a year. Yes, the con is on Alice, as opposed to him having simply fallen in love with her on his own. His angle: work her for not just her money (of which she has over a million dollars personally) but access to her client list and influence on suspicion. The closer he is the less faults she can see. Unfortunately after taking her money and getting the jumpdrive, he is told that the job has finally ended.
The person to who he reports is Margot Bishop, another member of his three-person con ring and lover. They go back years into their youth when they hustled pocket change and wallets from purses and pockets. Far more upscale now, they deal in the millions. Reginald Lennox rounds out their team. Yes, he's the bald black guy. He's also the muscle and the cleaner, both literally and metaphorically. After Margot tells Peter that the con must end immediately, like tonight, she orders that he break it off with Alice and has already tasked Reginald with cleaning after Peter leaves, and boy is he thorough.
Awaking to his fiance, Christopher gets dressed and stares at her until she comes to. His thoughts on more than just the con, he shows an inkling of true love. For but a moment it is he who plays the role of the woman in the painting, both satisfied with his great con and unwilling to see it end. A proposition, he asks her to run away with him now, get married, leave her business behind and never come back. They'll start a new life somewhere. Impulsive and crazy, she thinks it sweet and nearly falls for it but decides that she must at the very least capture this taunting figure who has screwed over her clients and team. And as they depart so ends their relationship even though Alice doesn't know it.
When she gets to the office, she stresses over the proposal, letting it slip that he asked her to leave everything because he wanted her. Even knowing what it meant for them, her girlfriends/workers tell her to go get her man. She leaves only to find that she can't contact him on the phone, is unable to leave him a message, his car at work is still there, but his personal business she stood in a mere day prior is nothing more than an empty space ready for rent. At home she finds that Reginald has cleaned the place from top to bottom. Not only are his clothes and personal effects gone, but there are no pictures, no fingerprints, no hairs, no DNA of any kind, he probably doesn't even have a half-empty shampoo bottle left for her to use. It is as if he never existed, precisely what Margot wants. Alice's thoughts: Oh my god, he conned me... and I gave him all of my money!
And so begins the game of cat and canary (you thought I was gonna say mouse, didn't you? Funny enough, I think one of the working titles for the series was Cat and Mouse). Out for revenge and professional street cred, Alice pursues her ex-fiance in hopes of doling out his comeuppance. She's been led astray the entire time, from his fake name to his fake reason for meeting her. His real name is Benjamin Jones and he didn't meet with her and Valerie to vet their company on whether he should use them for his investigative needs, the con was always on her. Why it took a year to get some names, or why he slid so deeply into her and her life (ha! Sorry, I should keep this blog PG-13 at the least) is a mystery unto both Alice and the audience set to unfold over the remainder of the season. One thing was for sure though, not only does she feel hurt and betrayed all classic signs of a love still very much alive, but he has that feeling, too. He still loves her. To prove to her his sincerity (or to brag about his skills, whichever) he goes back and steals the painting from the beginning as he told her once that he'd buy the real thing for her one day--mind you the painting in question is worth millions.
The second episode opens with that very problem: If this is the real painting then how can she return it to the art gallery without looking suspicious and keeping her rep intact amongst her clients. As if this all weren't bad enough, just as she discovers her sweet Christopher Hall is this sleazy Benjamin Jones, an ex-Interpol current FBI agent Jules Dao comes to question her about said man. She's on pins and needles about any new man suddenly coming into her life and telling her stuff, so she doesn't quickly share what she knows, instead pushing forward with her own investigation.
The chase not the only focus of her life, she still has other cases and in the second episode focuses on her own Innocence Project surrounding a young guy accused of killing his much older sugar mama. Having been acquitted of the crime and marrying a journalist who believed in his not guilty verdict, he still wants to clear his name and get the money rightfully owed to him through the old woman's will. Alice thinks the guy did it but because certain evidence wasn't allowed to be viewed by the jury he got off. Needing a win and to make sure her BS tracker isn't still on the fritz, she pursues info to back his guilt.
Unfortunately, she finds evidence to the contrary that points to the woman's disowned son. Her instincts still off she even runs into Benjamin on assignment in his next con. Not to be outwitted again, she allows him to steal something from her that links to the first thing he stole. A jumpdrive (yeah), as soon as he inserts it into the laptop, not only is Sophie able to backdoor hack into his computer but she manages to drain all of the accounts of the money he stole before any of their clients noticed it missing. Out ten million, he, Margot and Reginald must figure out how to come up with the money fast as they have a huge debt to pay off to some not so nice people. They start working on their next con which involves a Middle Eastern princess.
As Ben continues his life of crime, Alice and her team follow-up on the rich woman's son, even finding a cache of jewels and stolen merchandise said to have been taken in a house robbery the night the woman died. The riches found stuffed in her son's favorite canoe he kept at their beach house, she now knows it's the son who does himself no favors by running. Still, her gut says something different leading her back to the woman's house where she finds evidence pinning the young playboy to the crime after all. Double jeopardy in play, she escapes when his journalist wife comes to find them, only to push her husband down the marble stairs, killing him. Her reason: "He would've ruined my reputation. I believed him. I believed him." The symbolism is strong with this one.
I'm Benjamin Christopher Michael. Yeah, MichaelRealizing Christopher/Ben always read through the obits of a particular newspaper to assume his next identity, she puts a specific obit in that matches the back-story he told her to see if he'll bite. In the third episode he does bite, taking the name Michael as he works a con on the princess. The con: Get the princess to use her family's wealth to invest in two massive real estate ventures in downtown LA. The two tallest apartments in LA recently built for grandeur and high-class living, each building is worth 150 million dollars. She can have a place in each for a holding fee of five million. From a female-oppressive country the young woman isn't allowed to control the money herself, instead having a bodyguard who holds her purse strings of the inherited fortune from her recently dead parents split amongst her and her brothers. She relies on him to make the deal for her.
The problem is that while the offers are real, the deal and the hosting of the investors meeting are all fake. Reginald seduces the real estate woman so he and the team can host their own house showing all set up for the princess. Ben brings her to the showing along with her bodyguard where a deal is immediately struck. But at this meeting Ben learns that the bodyguard tells the princess the deal is for eight million each (one in each building). He's skimming a total of six million dollars from the account. Ben convinces his crew that if they out the bodyguard's dishonesty he can slip in and procure an even bigger payoff. As simple as Margot pretending to have been duped as well and letting her purchase amount slip, the princess is convinced and the plan goes off without a hitch.
Meanwhile, Alice moves on to her next case while keeping Ben in her sights. As Valerie's divorce crawls along, her soon-to-be ex comes in with his sister who participated in a faulty clinical trial for new medications for MS. She wants Alice and Valerie to prove that the company administering the test drug lied in their published results that declared no one experienced any side effects so she can sue the company for feeling dizzy, passing out and putting herself in harm's way. Alice risks going to get a drug sample thinking a rival company may have sabotaged it. But when she sneaks in as a test subject, she accidentally gets pumped full of the drug. She rushes out, grabbing a drink of orange juice to replenish her blood sugar, as a trace on the credit cards of the new Benjamin/Michael turned up his location.
Special Agent Dao. I'm French. Alice arrives at the location just as the side effects kick in, making her med-drunk as she stumbles through the restaurant. Meanwhile, Ben sits to have dinner with the princess. He slips out for the bathroom and is confronted by the bodyguard who tries to kill him but ends up dead at the hands of Margot. She and Reginald sneak the body out the back as Ben sees Alice at the front. She gives chase but in her state collapses a few times, once into a bloody floor. Receiving info earlier from Agent Dao that Ben killed a woman in cold blood, this only confirms her suspicion. Her side effects also confirm the sabotaged drug trial as she was fine until she drank the belladonna-laced orange juice. The doctor had a wife who also suffered from MS and tried scuttling his own drug trial as a way of earning a do-over so he could re-fabricate the drug.
Unfortunately, Ben got away with the princess who will be leaving LA soon. But in a heart-to-heart phone conversation at episode's end, Ben and Alice talk to each other where he lovingly warns her not to pursue him and she lies in agreement as she plots to follow him to the ends of the earth to capture the one man that fled with her love.
What's my grade? Honestly, it's hard to tell at this point. I haven't been watching it live on Thursdays which can influence my grade, but from what I've seen so far I'll have to give it a B-. Listen, I'd love to rate it higher, but this show feels very much like the other failed Shondaland show from a few years ago, Off The Map--a doctors without borders drama with a Grey's Anatomy tone. It's not as grabbing as How To Get Away With Murder or Scandal and it has more of a Private Practice feel to it, a show which I didn't care for. And I was quite surprised by Shonda's choice for the lead. I know there's other producers/creators of the show, but with her streak of minority casting I fully expected, nay hoped for maybe a Latina or Asian woman in the next lead role. Of course that's just a personal "oh rats!" moment and I am a fan of Mireille Enos; in fact, I think the cast is good and the story also supplies a nice twist. As stated in the title, to me it has a very The Thomas Crown Affair circa-1990s feel to it with the sexy law enforcer chasing after the sexy thief, but I actually don't think it goes far enough in that direction. I can't put my finger on it quite yet but I know that something is missing from this show to push it over the top into greatness. Can't say it's earned it's role as the closer for must see Thursday night TV the way ABC bills its lineup. Maybe it is the cast chemistry as I know that the two leads were both aged up considerably from the pilot.
Should you be watching? Eh, I don't know. This is one of those shows that is so difficult for me to recommend because it doesn't immediately jump out as being for a particular audience. Hate to be repetitive but that problem of it missing something and me being unable to determine what that is, is very rare for me. I'll say sure, see it and judge for yourself. You might enjoy it. It is a fun show that moves quick and gives everyone a side to cheer for but I'm not sure it'll be your new addiction from season to season. So far it has yet to hit that special stride. The Catch airs Thursdays at 10pm eastern on ABC following Scandal.
What do you think? Have you heard of and seen this show? Am I wrong about it being addictive? Is it your new favorite show? What do you like best about it? And if you haven't seen it, do you think you'll tune in for an episode now? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out NOW exclusively on Amazon; season 2 coming this summer. 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.
Until next time, "No, ma'am. I'm agent Carl Hanratty. And your boy, well... he's in trouble."'What did Frank do?'"Frank Abagnale Jr.'s been forging checks"'Oh, well that shouldn't trouble anybody. I'll just write a check to cover his debts. Uh, how much?""1.4 million dollars."
P.S. Did I paraphrase that from the movie, you bet? And me having mentioned The Thomas Crown Affair, you thought I was gonna go with a quote from there, didn't you. But no, in honor of Leo Dicaprio's first Oscar win I went with the classic Catch Me If You Can. Fun facts abound here: In the movie Leo played real life conman Frank Abagnale Jr. In it he courts an innocent young woman he cons into believing he's a doctor. The girl is played by Amy Adams, a red head. Mirielle Enos plays a redhead in The Catch. He also had a brief sex scene with a flight attendant played by Ellen Pompeo who happens to star in Shondaland's flagship show Grey's Anatomy. He also starred in the film Django Unchained which featured Kerry Washington, who stars as Olivia Pope in Shondaland's Scandal. Six degrees of idea separation. Yeah. Suck on those lemons for a while.
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All pictures courtesy of ABC unless otherwise noted It's that time once again. Finally, after purging myself of most of the postmortem season reviews for the mid-season replacement shows I watched, I can get back to doing some other posts. A potato planting post is coming soon for those of you who are following my gardening advice. Also, there should be a supplies post for stuff you might want to get before the season kicks into gear. But for now, we've got a few new very late season additions, including ABC's new The Catch (#TheCatch). Remember, Scandal also premiered very late in the season. Does Shonda keep a steady track record of late premieres turned potential phenomenon or is The Catch a dud similar to Off The Map? Let's find out together.
Redhead Alert! The Catch centers around Alice Vaughan played by the always lovely Mireille Enos of The Killing fame. The head of her own private investigation firm, she specializes in protection and fraud investigation rather than the run-of-the-mill cheating spouse cases. For those not in the know, private investigators often do a lot more than follow people; in fact, many rich and famous persons hire firms to do thorough background checks on new contacts. Many political candidates keep high-class PI firms on retainer as a rule to help them vet potential "friends and donors." Alice runs a firm of that caliber based in LA. Shonda has a knack for basing her shows in big cities ripe for scandal and high-class intrigue. Rarely, however, has she tackled what some refer to as "The Two Bigs," New York and Los Angeles. Seeing as how it is the land of the rich and famous, this opens the door for potentially huge guest stars if the creator and showrunners ever decide to take the show that way.Alice, as the lead investigator and head of the company is at the top of her game as shown in the opening moments of the series premiere. Thinking she's an art gallery worker, one of the partiers at the gallery opening speaks/flirts with her about a painting upon which the show is partially based. In this famous painting a woman is shown being taken in rapture by a lover whose face is turned away from the viewers' gaze as he buries himself within her neck. The sadness of the painting is that the woman doesn't appear too taken by her lover's passion, instead giving back a sad, almost depressed look as she cradles the nape of his neck. The man explains to Alice that he believes the woman is saddened not because she doesn't enjoy her lover but because she knows and realizes that love is the greatest con of all, a cheap parlor trick that lasts but a vapors stay (ooo! I went all fancy with it. Yeah, remember I am still an actual writer. I'm capable of more than just this silly blog). Before ever celebrating the capture of such euphoric feelings she mourns the loss of them, not to protect herself from ever falling in love again, but to remind herself never to take it for granted. This may seem off-topic but it plays heavily into the thrust of the show.
This photo was taken off someone's twitter feed and is the painting in question. When Alice tells him that what they're viewing in the gallery is a fake and takes him back to the real one locked in the back, she lets him slip off her security badge to go steal the painting. A thief, the man cuts the real painting from the canvas, rolls it and stuffs it into his jacket. The plan all along, Alice, her team and the cops catch him outside red-handed on the red carpet as she throws him down to the ground and cuffs him (note: PIs are not allowed to arrest people).
Her show-'em-you-a-badass moment nailed, in the very next scene we are inundated with talk of her forthcoming nuptials and her black business partner Valerie Anderson. In a few months Alice is set to marry one of the most charming men she's ever met. Loyal, honest and a business owner, her man understands her and fully understands her disdain for all things traditional wedding, but it is the jaded, soon-to-be-divorced Anderson who pushes her to do things the traditional way: the cake, the gown, the big show of affection.
From Left to Right: Alice, Valerie, Danny, SophieRounding out her personal team is Danny Yoon her personal assistant and constant law breaker who only does bad things for good reasons and with his boss' blessing. She also has a new add to her team in Sophie Novak a lawyer with a myriad of specialties that will be revealed throughout the series just as her background in computer hacking was in the second episode. Essentially she is like the Huck to Alice's Olivia to put it in Scandal terms (though I doubt she goes as far as to kill). They assist her with anything and everything and aren't tethered to a desk as Alice works to prevent her clients from being conned. While they work their normal routine cases, forever seeking to expand their client base, the one gotcha case that keeps coming back resurfaces with yet another game.Technically, the gotcha case isn't just a case but a person, someone very skilled and crafty in the game of sabotage, thievery and manipulation. A master con-artist, the person sends them a message nearly each time they get ready to make a big move. In the form of a riddle or clue, one would suspect him of being The Riddler--where the hell is Batman when you need him? Oh right, trying to kill Superman. I forgot. Anyway, not only have Alice and her team never captured this person but they've never actually seen him and don't know what he looks like. Still, they've chased him on multiple big jobs for months, dating back to before Alice hired Sophie.
With yet another big client now as the target of this hidden antagonist, Alice and her team try to thwart an exchange of confidential company data for a large firm that caters to rich clientele and manages their financials. If Mr. X gets access to it, he gets access to wealth in access of 100 million dollars.
Much to the chagrin of Alice and her team, the exchange goes smoothly as the man comes, makes a quick distraction, subverts the attention of the mark's shadow and uses a child to deliver payment for the small USB. To taunt Alice, we see the man in question pass right by her back as she searches the outdoor plaza for who could have committed such a skillful deception.Irked by the man's escape, she finally returns home to her fiance. As it should come to no surprise to you now (it was the selling point in the advertisements) the secret Mr. X she's been chasing for the last few months is none other than her fiance, currently operating under the name Christopher Hall. Played by Peter Krause of Six Feet Under and Parenthood fame, Chris has been long-conning her for over a year. Yes, the con is on Alice, as opposed to him having simply fallen in love with her on his own. His angle: work her for not just her money (of which she has over a million dollars personally) but access to her client list and influence on suspicion. The closer he is the less faults she can see. Unfortunately after taking her money and getting the jumpdrive, he is told that the job has finally ended.
The person to who he reports is Margot Bishop, another member of his three-person con ring and lover. They go back years into their youth when they hustled pocket change and wallets from purses and pockets. Far more upscale now, they deal in the millions. Reginald Lennox rounds out their team. Yes, he's the bald black guy. He's also the muscle and the cleaner, both literally and metaphorically. After Margot tells Peter that the con must end immediately, like tonight, she orders that he break it off with Alice and has already tasked Reginald with cleaning after Peter leaves, and boy is he thorough.
Awaking to his fiance, Christopher gets dressed and stares at her until she comes to. His thoughts on more than just the con, he shows an inkling of true love. For but a moment it is he who plays the role of the woman in the painting, both satisfied with his great con and unwilling to see it end. A proposition, he asks her to run away with him now, get married, leave her business behind and never come back. They'll start a new life somewhere. Impulsive and crazy, she thinks it sweet and nearly falls for it but decides that she must at the very least capture this taunting figure who has screwed over her clients and team. And as they depart so ends their relationship even though Alice doesn't know it.
When she gets to the office, she stresses over the proposal, letting it slip that he asked her to leave everything because he wanted her. Even knowing what it meant for them, her girlfriends/workers tell her to go get her man. She leaves only to find that she can't contact him on the phone, is unable to leave him a message, his car at work is still there, but his personal business she stood in a mere day prior is nothing more than an empty space ready for rent. At home she finds that Reginald has cleaned the place from top to bottom. Not only are his clothes and personal effects gone, but there are no pictures, no fingerprints, no hairs, no DNA of any kind, he probably doesn't even have a half-empty shampoo bottle left for her to use. It is as if he never existed, precisely what Margot wants. Alice's thoughts: Oh my god, he conned me... and I gave him all of my money!
And so begins the game of cat and canary (you thought I was gonna say mouse, didn't you? Funny enough, I think one of the working titles for the series was Cat and Mouse). Out for revenge and professional street cred, Alice pursues her ex-fiance in hopes of doling out his comeuppance. She's been led astray the entire time, from his fake name to his fake reason for meeting her. His real name is Benjamin Jones and he didn't meet with her and Valerie to vet their company on whether he should use them for his investigative needs, the con was always on her. Why it took a year to get some names, or why he slid so deeply into her and her life (ha! Sorry, I should keep this blog PG-13 at the least) is a mystery unto both Alice and the audience set to unfold over the remainder of the season. One thing was for sure though, not only does she feel hurt and betrayed all classic signs of a love still very much alive, but he has that feeling, too. He still loves her. To prove to her his sincerity (or to brag about his skills, whichever) he goes back and steals the painting from the beginning as he told her once that he'd buy the real thing for her one day--mind you the painting in question is worth millions.
The second episode opens with that very problem: If this is the real painting then how can she return it to the art gallery without looking suspicious and keeping her rep intact amongst her clients. As if this all weren't bad enough, just as she discovers her sweet Christopher Hall is this sleazy Benjamin Jones, an ex-Interpol current FBI agent Jules Dao comes to question her about said man. She's on pins and needles about any new man suddenly coming into her life and telling her stuff, so she doesn't quickly share what she knows, instead pushing forward with her own investigation.The chase not the only focus of her life, she still has other cases and in the second episode focuses on her own Innocence Project surrounding a young guy accused of killing his much older sugar mama. Having been acquitted of the crime and marrying a journalist who believed in his not guilty verdict, he still wants to clear his name and get the money rightfully owed to him through the old woman's will. Alice thinks the guy did it but because certain evidence wasn't allowed to be viewed by the jury he got off. Needing a win and to make sure her BS tracker isn't still on the fritz, she pursues info to back his guilt.
Unfortunately, she finds evidence to the contrary that points to the woman's disowned son. Her instincts still off she even runs into Benjamin on assignment in his next con. Not to be outwitted again, she allows him to steal something from her that links to the first thing he stole. A jumpdrive (yeah), as soon as he inserts it into the laptop, not only is Sophie able to backdoor hack into his computer but she manages to drain all of the accounts of the money he stole before any of their clients noticed it missing. Out ten million, he, Margot and Reginald must figure out how to come up with the money fast as they have a huge debt to pay off to some not so nice people. They start working on their next con which involves a Middle Eastern princess.As Ben continues his life of crime, Alice and her team follow-up on the rich woman's son, even finding a cache of jewels and stolen merchandise said to have been taken in a house robbery the night the woman died. The riches found stuffed in her son's favorite canoe he kept at their beach house, she now knows it's the son who does himself no favors by running. Still, her gut says something different leading her back to the woman's house where she finds evidence pinning the young playboy to the crime after all. Double jeopardy in play, she escapes when his journalist wife comes to find them, only to push her husband down the marble stairs, killing him. Her reason: "He would've ruined my reputation. I believed him. I believed him." The symbolism is strong with this one.
I'm Benjamin Christopher Michael. Yeah, MichaelRealizing Christopher/Ben always read through the obits of a particular newspaper to assume his next identity, she puts a specific obit in that matches the back-story he told her to see if he'll bite. In the third episode he does bite, taking the name Michael as he works a con on the princess. The con: Get the princess to use her family's wealth to invest in two massive real estate ventures in downtown LA. The two tallest apartments in LA recently built for grandeur and high-class living, each building is worth 150 million dollars. She can have a place in each for a holding fee of five million. From a female-oppressive country the young woman isn't allowed to control the money herself, instead having a bodyguard who holds her purse strings of the inherited fortune from her recently dead parents split amongst her and her brothers. She relies on him to make the deal for her.The problem is that while the offers are real, the deal and the hosting of the investors meeting are all fake. Reginald seduces the real estate woman so he and the team can host their own house showing all set up for the princess. Ben brings her to the showing along with her bodyguard where a deal is immediately struck. But at this meeting Ben learns that the bodyguard tells the princess the deal is for eight million each (one in each building). He's skimming a total of six million dollars from the account. Ben convinces his crew that if they out the bodyguard's dishonesty he can slip in and procure an even bigger payoff. As simple as Margot pretending to have been duped as well and letting her purchase amount slip, the princess is convinced and the plan goes off without a hitch.
Meanwhile, Alice moves on to her next case while keeping Ben in her sights. As Valerie's divorce crawls along, her soon-to-be ex comes in with his sister who participated in a faulty clinical trial for new medications for MS. She wants Alice and Valerie to prove that the company administering the test drug lied in their published results that declared no one experienced any side effects so she can sue the company for feeling dizzy, passing out and putting herself in harm's way. Alice risks going to get a drug sample thinking a rival company may have sabotaged it. But when she sneaks in as a test subject, she accidentally gets pumped full of the drug. She rushes out, grabbing a drink of orange juice to replenish her blood sugar, as a trace on the credit cards of the new Benjamin/Michael turned up his location.
Special Agent Dao. I'm French. Alice arrives at the location just as the side effects kick in, making her med-drunk as she stumbles through the restaurant. Meanwhile, Ben sits to have dinner with the princess. He slips out for the bathroom and is confronted by the bodyguard who tries to kill him but ends up dead at the hands of Margot. She and Reginald sneak the body out the back as Ben sees Alice at the front. She gives chase but in her state collapses a few times, once into a bloody floor. Receiving info earlier from Agent Dao that Ben killed a woman in cold blood, this only confirms her suspicion. Her side effects also confirm the sabotaged drug trial as she was fine until she drank the belladonna-laced orange juice. The doctor had a wife who also suffered from MS and tried scuttling his own drug trial as a way of earning a do-over so he could re-fabricate the drug.Unfortunately, Ben got away with the princess who will be leaving LA soon. But in a heart-to-heart phone conversation at episode's end, Ben and Alice talk to each other where he lovingly warns her not to pursue him and she lies in agreement as she plots to follow him to the ends of the earth to capture the one man that fled with her love.
What's my grade? Honestly, it's hard to tell at this point. I haven't been watching it live on Thursdays which can influence my grade, but from what I've seen so far I'll have to give it a B-. Listen, I'd love to rate it higher, but this show feels very much like the other failed Shondaland show from a few years ago, Off The Map--a doctors without borders drama with a Grey's Anatomy tone. It's not as grabbing as How To Get Away With Murder or Scandal and it has more of a Private Practice feel to it, a show which I didn't care for. And I was quite surprised by Shonda's choice for the lead. I know there's other producers/creators of the show, but with her streak of minority casting I fully expected, nay hoped for maybe a Latina or Asian woman in the next lead role. Of course that's just a personal "oh rats!" moment and I am a fan of Mireille Enos; in fact, I think the cast is good and the story also supplies a nice twist. As stated in the title, to me it has a very The Thomas Crown Affair circa-1990s feel to it with the sexy law enforcer chasing after the sexy thief, but I actually don't think it goes far enough in that direction. I can't put my finger on it quite yet but I know that something is missing from this show to push it over the top into greatness. Can't say it's earned it's role as the closer for must see Thursday night TV the way ABC bills its lineup. Maybe it is the cast chemistry as I know that the two leads were both aged up considerably from the pilot.Should you be watching? Eh, I don't know. This is one of those shows that is so difficult for me to recommend because it doesn't immediately jump out as being for a particular audience. Hate to be repetitive but that problem of it missing something and me being unable to determine what that is, is very rare for me. I'll say sure, see it and judge for yourself. You might enjoy it. It is a fun show that moves quick and gives everyone a side to cheer for but I'm not sure it'll be your new addiction from season to season. So far it has yet to hit that special stride. The Catch airs Thursdays at 10pm eastern on ABC following Scandal.
What do you think? Have you heard of and seen this show? Am I wrong about it being addictive? Is it your new favorite show? What do you like best about it? And if you haven't seen it, do you think you'll tune in for an episode now? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out NOW exclusively on Amazon; season 2 coming this summer. 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.
Until next time, "No, ma'am. I'm agent Carl Hanratty. And your boy, well... he's in trouble."'What did Frank do?'"Frank Abagnale Jr.'s been forging checks"'Oh, well that shouldn't trouble anybody. I'll just write a check to cover his debts. Uh, how much?""1.4 million dollars."
P.S. Did I paraphrase that from the movie, you bet? And me having mentioned The Thomas Crown Affair, you thought I was gonna go with a quote from there, didn't you. But no, in honor of Leo Dicaprio's first Oscar win I went with the classic Catch Me If You Can. Fun facts abound here: In the movie Leo played real life conman Frank Abagnale Jr. In it he courts an innocent young woman he cons into believing he's a doctor. The girl is played by Amy Adams, a red head. Mirielle Enos plays a redhead in The Catch. He also had a brief sex scene with a flight attendant played by Ellen Pompeo who happens to star in Shondaland's flagship show Grey's Anatomy. He also starred in the film Django Unchained which featured Kerry Washington, who stars as Olivia Pope in Shondaland's Scandal. Six degrees of idea separation. Yeah. Suck on those lemons for a while.
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April 17, 2016
Oh My God! They Killed Kenny [Insert Female Series Lead's Name] #SleepyHollowFinale #TheBlacklist #Review #Recap #NBC #FOX
Oh My God! They Killed Kenny [Insert Female Series Lead's Name] #SleepyHollowFinale #TheBlacklist #Review #Recap #NBC #FOX
All Blacklist pictures courtesy of NBC unless otherwise noted.
I want to try making this as short as possible but you all should know how that goes by now. To begin, I don't know how much I'll mention about Sleepy Hollow as I wasn't that thrilled with the season (potential series) finale. I will, however, say that I thought the writers and creators made a very interesting and bold decision. In fact, that seems to be the trend as The Blacklist made the same decision less than a week later. And that decision? Kill off one of the leads.
It's interesting to me how the current in-thing to do on series this season is to either kill off one of the main leads or change the character so radically that they are barely recognizable (cough *Olivia Pope* cough). But I find it even more baffling that the victims have been all women so far. Now I am not usually one to point out sexism, but that, I do believe, screams of sexism.
All Sleepy Hollow pictures courtesy of FOX unless otherwise noted.
Let's back up here and recap the two episodes. On Sleepy Hollow (#SleepyHollow) the "witnesses'" three season journey finally came to an end when, in an act of desperation, they managed to free themselves from that strange waylaid void that existed as the once prison for a banished god. But in escaping they came back with Pandora's box intact, which she'd later use against her god/ex-boyfriend. The problem? The box, for whatever reason, required the soul of one of the witnesses.
What?
Yeah. If it felt like a very strange throw-in to the series that's because it was. From what I've read, Nicole Beharie (the actress playing Abbie Mills) wanted to leave the show for whatever reason. Looking at the underside of the business let's remember how rare this is. Usually an actor likes to keep the steady paychecks rolling in, especially if they are the lead of their own show (I'm lookin' at you Grey's Anatomy. You know you should've died with Derek or, hell, even four seasons ago). Not only that but when they do decide to leave a show after being the lead it's usually after they've put quite a few years in; both casts of Friends and Seinfeld shrugged at another season until Seinfeld saw that final season paycheck and the Friends cast somehow negotiated what is still the biggest group contract for a show ever. Not to mention that this is a woman, an actress saying she's done with a network show, let alone a person of color. Literally, it is nearly unheard of, especially since the roles for black women are so few and far between. With that said, she was building an impressive resume before she got the show.
Talking to my Dead Ex-Captain/Sheriff But with all of that said I'd also be remiss if I didn't point out that Nicole Beharie has built up a very long list of rumors within the industry referring to a very nasty or not-very-good attitude. I wouldn't normally give much credence to such rumors, however, this personality seems to have been confirmed by Beharie in an interview where she mentioned growing up as somewhat of a bully due to her size. She was small but needed to make a point that she wouldn't be picked on, ending up becoming bad herself. I say that to say that maybe the producers wanted her gone for that reason. Remember, this is only speculation.
By now you realize that the box took Abbie's soul, dooming her to death in a twist that came out of left field. As I'm sure many viewers like me thought through the episode, this would be a huge plot for next season. Hell, Crane himself was dead, so was his wife as she was stuck in purgatory for a full season and a half. They killed "Harold" (the Asian guy) and killed Orlando "the Black captain guy" Jones twice... or was it thrice? I don't know. They love killin' Black people on this show. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be visiting Sleepy Hollow anytime soon. I suppose Abbie's just dead dead as opposed to dead but... It should also be noted here that since this is the lowest-rated show on the network, the show itself will probably be dead soon, too. Still, if it manages to come back it will have been a very bold choice for the narrative as it completely changes the show and puts a coffin nail in the "will they/won't they" of Abbie and Ichabod's relationship--a dynamic naturally inherent in this type of show.
While Abbie's death was unpredictable, it came on a dying show that few people watched so maybe the word bold is misplaced and overused in reference to it. However, The Blacklist's (#TheBlacklist) decision to kill off Elizabeth Keen defines the very word.
On Thursday's episode Keen (played by Megan Boone) gave birth to her hurried baby with Tom while on the run from the villain Mr. Solomon. Having escaped the church where she and Tom were supposed to wed, they got into a car chase through the city ending in Tom strategically crashing the car into the back of a truck. A distraction, it supplied a split second for them to escape. Though they made it to a Kangaroo Hospital setup by Red at the last minute where Keen delivered her baby, the crash not only caused secondary internal damage to Keen but only temporarily paused the chase. Mr. Solomon was sent to do one thing: retrieve Keen, and he'd succeed no matter what.
I'm Not As Good At My Job As My Sly Grin SuggestsWell, he failed. In fact, his plans led to the death of Keen. The injury caused by the crash shutdown Keen's internal organs (her lungs) causing the doctor to have to induce a medical coma until they could get to a real hospital. But on their way to the hospital the doctor and Red lost her. She never awoke from the coma and died in the middle of a roadside standoff between Red and Mr. Solomon during the absence of Tom who stayed behind to take care of their newborn baby. And that's all she wrote.
This twist came out of nowhere. The very premise of the show was partially built on the relationship between Keen and James Spader's Red. She's in the synopsis of the show. Not to mention his relationship with her subtracts a huge subplot/mystery of the show as we are left with the question of why he wanted her in the first place. We spent a full season believing he was lying about not being her father, another season thinking he may have killed her father and this season not knowing why he was around if he was never going to reveal his relation to her. Yes, they tried to distract with the plot about the Fulcrum and blah blah blah. That turned out to be a weak overarching plot for the season as it didn't explain why he'd stay around for her after her memories of the Fulcrum could not be recovered.
Lizzie, at this point even I don't know. Not only are we left with her death leaving a gaping hole in the show, but we also are left with a very unsatisfying feeling on how she left (if this is the last we see of her). The season seemed more to push her to the side in some instances within the last few episodes, which was probably due to Megan Boone's real life pregnancy. However stripping away her FBI status was something many viewers saw as fixable so long as the writers came up with something great. Now that she's gone, it's difficult to see how the show will maintain its thrust. With his sole reason for turning himself in and working with the FBI now gone, why would he continue?
Behind the scenes, for weeks we've heard talk of a spin-off show, which--pardon me, I meant completely pointless, unnecessary and superfluous spin-off--will be headed by a female lead and focus on Keen's widowed ex-hubby Tom and, presumably, the new baby. While the events of the episode centered around Mr. Solomon will certainly give the two of them real animosity (Solomon is set to be the main villain), it seems like they sold the cow instead of the milk. First off, while I know that Spader was the star and selling point of the show, I thought this show was still female-led with Keen. Are they aiming to have a woman in a Red-esque role? What is the point to spinning off this show in the first place? And was there any conversation about keeping Tom on this show instead of spinning it off? Granted, I don't know much about the show yet as the rumor leak continues, but it sounds like something similar to White Collar or ABC's The Catch, but I'm probably completely wrong on that.
Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly
Back to Keen's death, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that the writers struggled to write in Megan's real-life pregnancy. What I wonder is if having her first child made her less inclined to spend hours and hours away from her newborn child. If that is the reason she left, then I can fully understand. But any other reason would seem very arbitrary. Plot-wise, it wouldn't make sense for her to have faked her death and not end up with Tom again if she truly was in love with him and wants to raise her child. This makes it all the more curious on why they'd make this narrative decision. We'll see if the show can recapture the sizzle it once had without her, but from here it looks to be very choppy waters ahead.
What do you think? Do you think Sleepy Hollow will return for another season? What about The Blacklist? Do you think that was a bold decision or a foolish one to get rid of Keen? Or is she really dead? If she isn't dead, who do you think faked her death and why (maybe she did it to get away from Red as opposed to Red doing it)? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out NOW exclusively on Amazon; season 2 coming this summer. 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.
Until next time, "Wait, so you're saying that you faked your death?"'Yeah! I've done it. I've done it before and I'll do it again.'"What the hell kinda craziness is that?"'I try to fake my death at least once every two years. Need to see if the right people gon' show up to my funeral. Plus, it's the best way to get a free meal. I be up in that post-funeral reception.'"Hell naw!"
P.S. Ok, that isn't technically a quote from anything yet. It's actually from another comedy I'm working on right now, but don't yet have a name for. I don't know if it'll stay in the finished manuscript but we'll see. I'll think of something better next time.
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All Blacklist pictures courtesy of NBC unless otherwise noted. I want to try making this as short as possible but you all should know how that goes by now. To begin, I don't know how much I'll mention about Sleepy Hollow as I wasn't that thrilled with the season (potential series) finale. I will, however, say that I thought the writers and creators made a very interesting and bold decision. In fact, that seems to be the trend as The Blacklist made the same decision less than a week later. And that decision? Kill off one of the leads.
It's interesting to me how the current in-thing to do on series this season is to either kill off one of the main leads or change the character so radically that they are barely recognizable (cough *Olivia Pope* cough). But I find it even more baffling that the victims have been all women so far. Now I am not usually one to point out sexism, but that, I do believe, screams of sexism.
All Sleepy Hollow pictures courtesy of FOX unless otherwise noted. Let's back up here and recap the two episodes. On Sleepy Hollow (#SleepyHollow) the "witnesses'" three season journey finally came to an end when, in an act of desperation, they managed to free themselves from that strange waylaid void that existed as the once prison for a banished god. But in escaping they came back with Pandora's box intact, which she'd later use against her god/ex-boyfriend. The problem? The box, for whatever reason, required the soul of one of the witnesses.
What?
Yeah. If it felt like a very strange throw-in to the series that's because it was. From what I've read, Nicole Beharie (the actress playing Abbie Mills) wanted to leave the show for whatever reason. Looking at the underside of the business let's remember how rare this is. Usually an actor likes to keep the steady paychecks rolling in, especially if they are the lead of their own show (I'm lookin' at you Grey's Anatomy. You know you should've died with Derek or, hell, even four seasons ago). Not only that but when they do decide to leave a show after being the lead it's usually after they've put quite a few years in; both casts of Friends and Seinfeld shrugged at another season until Seinfeld saw that final season paycheck and the Friends cast somehow negotiated what is still the biggest group contract for a show ever. Not to mention that this is a woman, an actress saying she's done with a network show, let alone a person of color. Literally, it is nearly unheard of, especially since the roles for black women are so few and far between. With that said, she was building an impressive resume before she got the show.
Talking to my Dead Ex-Captain/Sheriff But with all of that said I'd also be remiss if I didn't point out that Nicole Beharie has built up a very long list of rumors within the industry referring to a very nasty or not-very-good attitude. I wouldn't normally give much credence to such rumors, however, this personality seems to have been confirmed by Beharie in an interview where she mentioned growing up as somewhat of a bully due to her size. She was small but needed to make a point that she wouldn't be picked on, ending up becoming bad herself. I say that to say that maybe the producers wanted her gone for that reason. Remember, this is only speculation.By now you realize that the box took Abbie's soul, dooming her to death in a twist that came out of left field. As I'm sure many viewers like me thought through the episode, this would be a huge plot for next season. Hell, Crane himself was dead, so was his wife as she was stuck in purgatory for a full season and a half. They killed "Harold" (the Asian guy) and killed Orlando "the Black captain guy" Jones twice... or was it thrice? I don't know. They love killin' Black people on this show. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be visiting Sleepy Hollow anytime soon. I suppose Abbie's just dead dead as opposed to dead but... It should also be noted here that since this is the lowest-rated show on the network, the show itself will probably be dead soon, too. Still, if it manages to come back it will have been a very bold choice for the narrative as it completely changes the show and puts a coffin nail in the "will they/won't they" of Abbie and Ichabod's relationship--a dynamic naturally inherent in this type of show.
While Abbie's death was unpredictable, it came on a dying show that few people watched so maybe the word bold is misplaced and overused in reference to it. However, The Blacklist's (#TheBlacklist) decision to kill off Elizabeth Keen defines the very word.
On Thursday's episode Keen (played by Megan Boone) gave birth to her hurried baby with Tom while on the run from the villain Mr. Solomon. Having escaped the church where she and Tom were supposed to wed, they got into a car chase through the city ending in Tom strategically crashing the car into the back of a truck. A distraction, it supplied a split second for them to escape. Though they made it to a Kangaroo Hospital setup by Red at the last minute where Keen delivered her baby, the crash not only caused secondary internal damage to Keen but only temporarily paused the chase. Mr. Solomon was sent to do one thing: retrieve Keen, and he'd succeed no matter what.
I'm Not As Good At My Job As My Sly Grin SuggestsWell, he failed. In fact, his plans led to the death of Keen. The injury caused by the crash shutdown Keen's internal organs (her lungs) causing the doctor to have to induce a medical coma until they could get to a real hospital. But on their way to the hospital the doctor and Red lost her. She never awoke from the coma and died in the middle of a roadside standoff between Red and Mr. Solomon during the absence of Tom who stayed behind to take care of their newborn baby. And that's all she wrote.This twist came out of nowhere. The very premise of the show was partially built on the relationship between Keen and James Spader's Red. She's in the synopsis of the show. Not to mention his relationship with her subtracts a huge subplot/mystery of the show as we are left with the question of why he wanted her in the first place. We spent a full season believing he was lying about not being her father, another season thinking he may have killed her father and this season not knowing why he was around if he was never going to reveal his relation to her. Yes, they tried to distract with the plot about the Fulcrum and blah blah blah. That turned out to be a weak overarching plot for the season as it didn't explain why he'd stay around for her after her memories of the Fulcrum could not be recovered.
Lizzie, at this point even I don't know. Not only are we left with her death leaving a gaping hole in the show, but we also are left with a very unsatisfying feeling on how she left (if this is the last we see of her). The season seemed more to push her to the side in some instances within the last few episodes, which was probably due to Megan Boone's real life pregnancy. However stripping away her FBI status was something many viewers saw as fixable so long as the writers came up with something great. Now that she's gone, it's difficult to see how the show will maintain its thrust. With his sole reason for turning himself in and working with the FBI now gone, why would he continue?Behind the scenes, for weeks we've heard talk of a spin-off show, which--pardon me, I meant completely pointless, unnecessary and superfluous spin-off--will be headed by a female lead and focus on Keen's widowed ex-hubby Tom and, presumably, the new baby. While the events of the episode centered around Mr. Solomon will certainly give the two of them real animosity (Solomon is set to be the main villain), it seems like they sold the cow instead of the milk. First off, while I know that Spader was the star and selling point of the show, I thought this show was still female-led with Keen. Are they aiming to have a woman in a Red-esque role? What is the point to spinning off this show in the first place? And was there any conversation about keeping Tom on this show instead of spinning it off? Granted, I don't know much about the show yet as the rumor leak continues, but it sounds like something similar to White Collar or ABC's The Catch, but I'm probably completely wrong on that.
Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly Back to Keen's death, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that the writers struggled to write in Megan's real-life pregnancy. What I wonder is if having her first child made her less inclined to spend hours and hours away from her newborn child. If that is the reason she left, then I can fully understand. But any other reason would seem very arbitrary. Plot-wise, it wouldn't make sense for her to have faked her death and not end up with Tom again if she truly was in love with him and wants to raise her child. This makes it all the more curious on why they'd make this narrative decision. We'll see if the show can recapture the sizzle it once had without her, but from here it looks to be very choppy waters ahead.
What do you think? Do you think Sleepy Hollow will return for another season? What about The Blacklist? Do you think that was a bold decision or a foolish one to get rid of Keen? Or is she really dead? If she isn't dead, who do you think faked her death and why (maybe she did it to get away from Red as opposed to Red doing it)? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out NOW exclusively on Amazon; season 2 coming this summer. 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.
Until next time, "Wait, so you're saying that you faked your death?"'Yeah! I've done it. I've done it before and I'll do it again.'"What the hell kinda craziness is that?"'I try to fake my death at least once every two years. Need to see if the right people gon' show up to my funeral. Plus, it's the best way to get a free meal. I be up in that post-funeral reception.'"Hell naw!"
P.S. Ok, that isn't technically a quote from anything yet. It's actually from another comedy I'm working on right now, but don't yet have a name for. I don't know if it'll stay in the finished manuscript but we'll see. I'll think of something better next time.
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Twitter@filmbooksbball
April 12, 2016
Shade And Betrayal Come In All Hues Postmortem Review: Shades Of Blue #ShadesofBlue #NBC #Postmortem
Shade And Betrayal Come In All Hues Postmortem Review: Shades Of Blue #ShadesofBlue #NBC #Postmortem
All pictures courtesy of NBC unless otherwise noted
It's that time again. Excuse me if I get completely off track as I just finished the American Idol series finale and I am still reeling from the crazy goodness of that extravaganza of talent and ridiculousness. But for those of you who didn't know, Jennifer Lopez had more than just American Idol playing on Thursday nights. In fact, I would argue that her second show occasionally eclipsed the talent show in flat-out entertainment value, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
As mentioned in a previous post but bears mentioning again, I was unable to do my 3 week roundup reviews for the first three episodes of new shows for most of the mid-season replacements. That includes this show which I actually wasn't keen on seeing because it was yet another cop show and I thought it'd be another procedural and I am so tired of the case-of-the-week format that has sustained broadcast TV for so long that I want to smash my head against the wall just thinking about it, but I digress. For one, I need my brain to create stuff and live. For two, these walls I have around here have a very nice paint job and I don't wanna mess them up with a splattering of my brains. So, without further ado of this postmortem review, Shades of Blue, you're on deck.
In this Ryan Seacrest-produced NBC drama, Jennifer Lopez plays a tough New York detective that's not completely law-abiding. As a hint of her dealings, she calls her fellow detective/officers/unit her crew instead of the aforementioned police lingo. Fast and Furious has a crew. Ocean's Eleven has a crew. Police... should not be a crew, but as we learn, these cops are dirtier than Linus' blanket.
Heading this crew is her captain played by veteran mob-actor Ray Liotta who looks as if they dug him out of whatever grave he was in and pushed him to one of his finest performances really since Goodfellas. Old, graying, pissy with baggage no parent should ever have to carry, he snarls and emotes his way through the role of pseudo-villain as he orchestrates his crooked cops' lives like an involved Godfather. Everybody is supposed to get taken care of under his watch, even Lopez's teenage daughter who flaunts her innocence through much of the show until her mother's secrets catch up to them both.
Joined on the crew are a few other possibly recognizable faces, chief among them being Drea De Matteo who most people might remember from either The Sopranos or Sons of Anarchy. The middle-aged, mom with kids, a job that overworks and underpays her, and a husband that doesn't appreciate her, she struggles to reclaim some sanity and sexiness after discovering her husband cheated on her with some young piece of... well, I mean, you know. Like most of the crew, she has been in it for years and trusts Liotta's judgment.
The crew rounds out with Vincent Laresca who plays Carlos Espada, and fairly newcomers Hampton Fluker as Marcus Tufo (the 30-something black guy) and Santino Fontana of CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fame. Right off the bat I recognized Fontana who plays the best friend/possible love interest if only Rebecca would get her stuff together on Crazy Ex, and knew that something would have to give as that show had a full season order of 18 episodes way back in December. Of course I was right as his character dies early into the season. But before we jump to his death, we begin with the addition of one more crucial cast member who kicks off the show.
Michael Loman played by newcomer Dayo Okeniyi of Hunger Games fame is a detective rookie just assigned to Liotta's unit. The trusted one, and the only one currently without a partner to call her own, Lopez is assigned to show him the ropes, get him acclimated to his new duties as a detective and ease him out of his role previously as a beat cop. Things go sideways on their first call-in during the opening minutes of the series premiere when they burst in on some black drug dealers and the young cop caps one of the guys. Quick-triggered, as it turns out the thing the man had in his hand wasn't a gun but a video game controller. He just murdered the guy in cold blood. From the outset, the show doesn't shy away from the controversial subject of police misconduct and influence in minority communities. This is made all the worse because Loman is black.
Instead of following his own instincts, he allows Lopez to take the reigns at covering up the crime in a very Training Day-esque scene-staging. "You heard a call for help, you went in, he shot at you, you shot back." This becomes a very important part of the series as it helps build Loman's character as the by-the-book, repentant cop. Not only does he, over the course of the series, go to the man's funeral and nearly confesses to his family, but he grows an immediate distrust of his fellow detectives in the precinct. He isn't part of the crew yet, and doesn't know of the underhanded criminality they routinely employee to grease their own palms. In any case, his erratic behavior not only leads to some of the other detectives disciplining him like an unwanted stepchild (they had to handcuff him and put him in the back of the car to keep him from confessing at the funeral) but it also earns unwanted attention for Liotta and Lopez's crew from Internal Affairs as well as the FBI.
"Who came in the door first, Loman?"
For clarity's sake, Loman's actions did bring more heat from the FBI onto the crew, but the Feds already had their eye on Liotta for a while. And there lies the show's major conflict. Looking at the most involved and trusted, yet the one with the most to lose, the FBI pursue Lopez's character. Enter Special Agent Robert Stahl and his Asian partner who really isn't given much to do outside of give him side-eyes and tell him that he's getting too close to Lopez before she ultimately ends up sleeping with him in the season finale. The deal? Stahl and his partner tell Lopez that she must now serve as an informant for them to bring down her boss and her crew in exchange for some form of immunity and protection for her teenage daughter.
Special Agent Stahl
See, they also have something over her head that Stahl abuses behind the Asian woman's back. They know that the girl's real father is actually a criminal who went down for a crime ten years ago. As it turns out, not only did he not do it, but he was framed for such a crime by Liotta and Lopez. Why? His imprisonment served as her ultimate escape from a physically and emotionally abusive man who beat her so bad for two years that she nearly lost the baby (her daughter) when he pushed her down a flight of stairs. While he isn't set to see parole in a few years still, Lopez has yet to even tell her daughter that this man is her father; in fact, she's lied to the girl for years and told her varying lies that her father either ran away and abandoned them, or that he's dead. She wants to keep her daughter innocent and safe from even knowing this evil man. They catch Lopez trying to deal some illegal stash to an undercover agent which they can bring her in for at any time. Cornered, she has to navigate the treacherous waters of betraying her "family" while not letting the FBI take out the people who trust her.
Lopez's daughter; Totally believe she's her daughter. Lopez is old enough to be her mother in real life
You interested yet? While this show is not anywhere near the sophistication of Scorsese's The Departed or the Asian film on which that was based Infernal Affairs, the atmosphere does call back to those two films--a mole in a trusted organization trying not to get caught while doing their own dirt. As said before, it also mixes elements of Training Day into the mix as Loman continues throughout the series to pursue real justice even if it comes against his fellow officers. Just remember, however, that while those are very potent films involving crooked cops and undercovers, this does play on NBC broadcast TV which does needfully water down the premise, while maintaining a great level of drama.
The story pushes forward at a good pace as we learn that practically before Lopez can even get out of FBI custody, Liotta knows that there is a rat in his crew. His suspicion arises from strange behavior from some of his underlings coupled with chatter he's hearing from the IA's and DA's office and a failed job. Turning to his right-hand woman, he goes to Lopez to voice his frustrations, turning the heat up on her as she is very close to being caught. Panic intensifies when she suggests that they give everybody a lie detector test (call Maury! Call Maury!), only to have him turn to her as the first participant. She takes the test, cheats and passes but doesn't remember that she has a tell he ID'd way back in the day when he helped frame her daughter's father for a murder she accidentally committed as a uniformed officer. She brushes her hair behind her ear. Even seeing it, he pushes it to the back of his mind in favor of easing his thoughts. He doesn't want it to be her as he knows he'd have to kill her if it was, and she's like a surrogate daughter for him. Talking with his wife, he reminisces about his daughter's suicide. He feels partially at fault for it because he told her she was a waste of space before she decided to take her life. Still, he might have to do what he's gotta do.
Her daughter's father.Meanwhile, as Lopez "helps" Liotta try to uncover the rat, two major things happen: Liotta gets a call from another crooked cop in IA he's good friends with (there's a twist there that I'll let you have all to yourself) about a big "job" coming their way, and Lopez's ex's cellmate gets out of jail. Tackling the cellmate first, as soon as the man gets out he goes to see his new girl, and decides that he's over not seeing his child (from his old girl). He kidnaps the child and is ready to escape but is confronted by Liotta. All the time he's out he lets bits and pieces about the frame-job that Lopez did years ago. Honestly, I'm probably remembering a little of it wrong as it gets slightly confusing in the early episodes. Just realize that he's got info that can possibly get Lopez's daughter's father released as the man is innocent.
At the same time, Fontana is internet-dating a Brazilian woman and begins taking Portuguese lessons from a prostitute he and his partner Marcus busted a few weeks earlier. Secrecy is not his friend here as the meetings are quickly suspected of being handler meetings by Liotta. To help clear Lopez from further suspicion, the FBI helps concoct papers that says the guy is an informant, which leads Liotta to pursue him for questioning. But before he can get to Fontana, Stahl and his Asian partner pick the guy up and offer him protection from his boss. He doesn't take it, escapes and meets up with the rest of his crew at a construction site where the ex-prisoner/kidnapper has taken the child. While Liotta watches, he manages to free the child and wrestle the gun from the guy. The man goes over the side of the railing and falls to his death. Liotta confronts Fontana with the forged papers about him being an informant before pushing him from the building, too. Not a full splat, Liotta has to kill the boy a second time later in the hospital minutes before Lopez can get there and save him.
With the first casualty on their hands, Stahl and the FBI want to get Liotta fast before more people die. Lopez tries to cut a deal where they can capture him doing this big job Liotta has on good word will be huge. He nearly turns the job down when the man behind the curtain sends him, as his first mission, a kidnapped man in a trunk. The hook: the man is the significant other of an armored truck dispatcher. The trucks move evidence mostly for law enforcement. A huge movement of drug money ceased by the DEA in a recent raid will be coming soon and this unmet puppeteer wants Liotta and his crew to rob the truck. So, they hold the kidnapped guy ransom against the dispatcher who is supposed to make sure that no one sees the truck going off its route.
The FBI wants to catch Lopez's crew in the act of taking the money. However, because Agent Stahl has a very bizarre obsession (we're talkin' buying and dressing a prostitute as Lopez) with Lopez, she manages to sex him into a deal where she and her crew have immunity, and only Liotta goes down. Guilt ways on her, but this is the best she can do.
Not satisfied, or jealous of her partner's sexual exploits with Lopez, Stahl's Asian partner goes to the courts and submits some evidence the FBI has on Lopez's daughter's father which exonerates him of the crime. He's released immediately on the basis that he won't sue the city of NY. Dangling free, he goes to her to immediately contact this daughter that he's always known about but who knows little about him. Now Lopez has to deal with this just as she, Liotta and the crew prepare for the robbery. Her daughter talks to the man, comes to hate her mother for keeping them from each other (she found out about him before he got out of prison) and sees none of the violent tendencies of which her mother speaks.
Meanwhile, Lopez sabotages the FBI's gotcha when she learns that Stahl never really went to his superior with the immunity deal for the rest of the crew outside of Liotta. She tries stalling their vehicle so they can't come and removes her wire so the FBI can't listen or track her. All of this backfires. Not only does the crew arrive at the heist of the parked armored truck, but rookie Loman arrives, too, as he was doing some other police work that led him to the truck. Also, the Asian FBI agent is left to watch the building where the puppeteer's men were keeping the kidnapped man. No movement all day, they raid the storage locker after the heist only to realize that the man has been dead for quite some time.
Lopez quarterbacks everything but convincing her rookie that they have to do the heist to keep Internal Affairs off his back (the heist is a payoff to a crooked cop), proves difficult, especially after two people get shot in what was supposed to be an easy job.
Some Serious Stuff Just Went Down The money then goes missing only to appear again as a bargaining chip for Lopez, then Liotta, who both negotiate deals where they separately turn themselves in and return the money in exchange for immunity for the rest of the crew. We end with Stahl having accepted Liotta's deal before Lopez's, making for a helluva cliffhanger. But the final frame is electrifying as Lopez is confronted one last time by her daughter's father who has returned with a gun after she tried paying him to stay away from their daughter. While I would normally spoil it as I've done in my other postmortem reviews, I'll hold off on that this time. Why? Because this series, unlike many of the others I've done is not an anthology (from what I know) and it has already been green-lit for a second season. Which means you can catch the whole season OnDemand or at NBC.com and determine if you want to tune into a second season sometime next year.
What's my grade? I give this one a solid A-. Since when can Jennifer Lopez actually act? Like, when dat happen? It's crazy how this year is the comeback year of both Jennifer and Ben Affleck from that embarrassment that was Gigli over a decade ago (acting wise). She sizzles on the screen with bits of Enough, Selena and something completely new that she's finally dug deep down to put on screen. Her performance is helped by veteran Ray Liotta who, while sometimes turns in a subpar performance, is given a meaty enough role not to phone it in like he's been doing for the last dozen years. The writing can be a bit crisper, but then again who am I to talk? The plot twists and turns in plenty of great ways that may give you pleasant reactions of "wow" and "didn't see that coming." Best of all, unlike my initial thoughts, it isn't another case-of-the-week series. Don't misunderstand, that element is there; however, unlike many of the new series trying to break free from this format, employing a more involved overarching tertiary plot (think The Blacklist, Minority Report, Limitless, Second Chance, etc.), here the secondary plot is the focus while the weekly cases are edged toward the back. You won't care as much about the guy trying to take over the new drug territory so much as you will Lopez trying to keep from being caught by her boss. The only problem I can see from this format is the possible trouble a second season will have with keeping the drama alive with a new tension.
Should you be watching? Yes. For one, if you haven't overdosed on your supply of gorgeous women with Kerry Washington, Jaina Lee Ortiz (Rosewood), and Kaley Cuoco heating up the TV airwaves weekly, then adding Jennifer Lopez to that can't hurt. Also, as said, this is the best acting Lopez has ever done, and it's already coming back for a second season. Not the gritty True Detective that HBO has given us, it doesn't take nearly as many prisoners as one might expect broadcast television to take. In this day and age where every protagonist drifts toward a morally ambiguous center, Lopez's Harley makes a great female addition to the haul of uniquely flawed characters.
What do you think? Have you seen Shades of Blue? If not, do you think you'll tune in after this review? If you have, did you like it and what was your favorite part of the season? Are you excited for it to come back for a second season? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out NOW exclusively on Amazon; season 2 coming this summer. 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.
Until next time, "Oh? That's a very interesting... outfit for a first date."'You like it? It's kinda embarrassing but I actually had my dog pick it out for me.'"Oh? Hm. You know dogs are colorblind, right?"Silence.
P.S. Thank god dogs don't much care about TV... or do they? Even if they did watch the show and couldn't tell the colors, I'm sure they'd be just as ticked as me that a show called Shades of Blue rarely ever shows anyone wearing blue, let alone multiple shades of it. Zero fashion sense. I'll think of a better sign-off next time.
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All pictures courtesy of NBC unless otherwise noted It's that time again. Excuse me if I get completely off track as I just finished the American Idol series finale and I am still reeling from the crazy goodness of that extravaganza of talent and ridiculousness. But for those of you who didn't know, Jennifer Lopez had more than just American Idol playing on Thursday nights. In fact, I would argue that her second show occasionally eclipsed the talent show in flat-out entertainment value, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
As mentioned in a previous post but bears mentioning again, I was unable to do my 3 week roundup reviews for the first three episodes of new shows for most of the mid-season replacements. That includes this show which I actually wasn't keen on seeing because it was yet another cop show and I thought it'd be another procedural and I am so tired of the case-of-the-week format that has sustained broadcast TV for so long that I want to smash my head against the wall just thinking about it, but I digress. For one, I need my brain to create stuff and live. For two, these walls I have around here have a very nice paint job and I don't wanna mess them up with a splattering of my brains. So, without further ado of this postmortem review, Shades of Blue, you're on deck.
In this Ryan Seacrest-produced NBC drama, Jennifer Lopez plays a tough New York detective that's not completely law-abiding. As a hint of her dealings, she calls her fellow detective/officers/unit her crew instead of the aforementioned police lingo. Fast and Furious has a crew. Ocean's Eleven has a crew. Police... should not be a crew, but as we learn, these cops are dirtier than Linus' blanket.
Heading this crew is her captain played by veteran mob-actor Ray Liotta who looks as if they dug him out of whatever grave he was in and pushed him to one of his finest performances really since Goodfellas. Old, graying, pissy with baggage no parent should ever have to carry, he snarls and emotes his way through the role of pseudo-villain as he orchestrates his crooked cops' lives like an involved Godfather. Everybody is supposed to get taken care of under his watch, even Lopez's teenage daughter who flaunts her innocence through much of the show until her mother's secrets catch up to them both.Joined on the crew are a few other possibly recognizable faces, chief among them being Drea De Matteo who most people might remember from either The Sopranos or Sons of Anarchy. The middle-aged, mom with kids, a job that overworks and underpays her, and a husband that doesn't appreciate her, she struggles to reclaim some sanity and sexiness after discovering her husband cheated on her with some young piece of... well, I mean, you know. Like most of the crew, she has been in it for years and trusts Liotta's judgment.
The crew rounds out with Vincent Laresca who plays Carlos Espada, and fairly newcomers Hampton Fluker as Marcus Tufo (the 30-something black guy) and Santino Fontana of CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fame. Right off the bat I recognized Fontana who plays the best friend/possible love interest if only Rebecca would get her stuff together on Crazy Ex, and knew that something would have to give as that show had a full season order of 18 episodes way back in December. Of course I was right as his character dies early into the season. But before we jump to his death, we begin with the addition of one more crucial cast member who kicks off the show.Michael Loman played by newcomer Dayo Okeniyi of Hunger Games fame is a detective rookie just assigned to Liotta's unit. The trusted one, and the only one currently without a partner to call her own, Lopez is assigned to show him the ropes, get him acclimated to his new duties as a detective and ease him out of his role previously as a beat cop. Things go sideways on their first call-in during the opening minutes of the series premiere when they burst in on some black drug dealers and the young cop caps one of the guys. Quick-triggered, as it turns out the thing the man had in his hand wasn't a gun but a video game controller. He just murdered the guy in cold blood. From the outset, the show doesn't shy away from the controversial subject of police misconduct and influence in minority communities. This is made all the worse because Loman is black.
Instead of following his own instincts, he allows Lopez to take the reigns at covering up the crime in a very Training Day-esque scene-staging. "You heard a call for help, you went in, he shot at you, you shot back." This becomes a very important part of the series as it helps build Loman's character as the by-the-book, repentant cop. Not only does he, over the course of the series, go to the man's funeral and nearly confesses to his family, but he grows an immediate distrust of his fellow detectives in the precinct. He isn't part of the crew yet, and doesn't know of the underhanded criminality they routinely employee to grease their own palms. In any case, his erratic behavior not only leads to some of the other detectives disciplining him like an unwanted stepchild (they had to handcuff him and put him in the back of the car to keep him from confessing at the funeral) but it also earns unwanted attention for Liotta and Lopez's crew from Internal Affairs as well as the FBI.
"Who came in the door first, Loman?" For clarity's sake, Loman's actions did bring more heat from the FBI onto the crew, but the Feds already had their eye on Liotta for a while. And there lies the show's major conflict. Looking at the most involved and trusted, yet the one with the most to lose, the FBI pursue Lopez's character. Enter Special Agent Robert Stahl and his Asian partner who really isn't given much to do outside of give him side-eyes and tell him that he's getting too close to Lopez before she ultimately ends up sleeping with him in the season finale. The deal? Stahl and his partner tell Lopez that she must now serve as an informant for them to bring down her boss and her crew in exchange for some form of immunity and protection for her teenage daughter.
Special Agent StahlSee, they also have something over her head that Stahl abuses behind the Asian woman's back. They know that the girl's real father is actually a criminal who went down for a crime ten years ago. As it turns out, not only did he not do it, but he was framed for such a crime by Liotta and Lopez. Why? His imprisonment served as her ultimate escape from a physically and emotionally abusive man who beat her so bad for two years that she nearly lost the baby (her daughter) when he pushed her down a flight of stairs. While he isn't set to see parole in a few years still, Lopez has yet to even tell her daughter that this man is her father; in fact, she's lied to the girl for years and told her varying lies that her father either ran away and abandoned them, or that he's dead. She wants to keep her daughter innocent and safe from even knowing this evil man. They catch Lopez trying to deal some illegal stash to an undercover agent which they can bring her in for at any time. Cornered, she has to navigate the treacherous waters of betraying her "family" while not letting the FBI take out the people who trust her.
Lopez's daughter; Totally believe she's her daughter. Lopez is old enough to be her mother in real lifeYou interested yet? While this show is not anywhere near the sophistication of Scorsese's The Departed or the Asian film on which that was based Infernal Affairs, the atmosphere does call back to those two films--a mole in a trusted organization trying not to get caught while doing their own dirt. As said before, it also mixes elements of Training Day into the mix as Loman continues throughout the series to pursue real justice even if it comes against his fellow officers. Just remember, however, that while those are very potent films involving crooked cops and undercovers, this does play on NBC broadcast TV which does needfully water down the premise, while maintaining a great level of drama.
The story pushes forward at a good pace as we learn that practically before Lopez can even get out of FBI custody, Liotta knows that there is a rat in his crew. His suspicion arises from strange behavior from some of his underlings coupled with chatter he's hearing from the IA's and DA's office and a failed job. Turning to his right-hand woman, he goes to Lopez to voice his frustrations, turning the heat up on her as she is very close to being caught. Panic intensifies when she suggests that they give everybody a lie detector test (call Maury! Call Maury!), only to have him turn to her as the first participant. She takes the test, cheats and passes but doesn't remember that she has a tell he ID'd way back in the day when he helped frame her daughter's father for a murder she accidentally committed as a uniformed officer. She brushes her hair behind her ear. Even seeing it, he pushes it to the back of his mind in favor of easing his thoughts. He doesn't want it to be her as he knows he'd have to kill her if it was, and she's like a surrogate daughter for him. Talking with his wife, he reminisces about his daughter's suicide. He feels partially at fault for it because he told her she was a waste of space before she decided to take her life. Still, he might have to do what he's gotta do.
Her daughter's father.Meanwhile, as Lopez "helps" Liotta try to uncover the rat, two major things happen: Liotta gets a call from another crooked cop in IA he's good friends with (there's a twist there that I'll let you have all to yourself) about a big "job" coming their way, and Lopez's ex's cellmate gets out of jail. Tackling the cellmate first, as soon as the man gets out he goes to see his new girl, and decides that he's over not seeing his child (from his old girl). He kidnaps the child and is ready to escape but is confronted by Liotta. All the time he's out he lets bits and pieces about the frame-job that Lopez did years ago. Honestly, I'm probably remembering a little of it wrong as it gets slightly confusing in the early episodes. Just realize that he's got info that can possibly get Lopez's daughter's father released as the man is innocent.At the same time, Fontana is internet-dating a Brazilian woman and begins taking Portuguese lessons from a prostitute he and his partner Marcus busted a few weeks earlier. Secrecy is not his friend here as the meetings are quickly suspected of being handler meetings by Liotta. To help clear Lopez from further suspicion, the FBI helps concoct papers that says the guy is an informant, which leads Liotta to pursue him for questioning. But before he can get to Fontana, Stahl and his Asian partner pick the guy up and offer him protection from his boss. He doesn't take it, escapes and meets up with the rest of his crew at a construction site where the ex-prisoner/kidnapper has taken the child. While Liotta watches, he manages to free the child and wrestle the gun from the guy. The man goes over the side of the railing and falls to his death. Liotta confronts Fontana with the forged papers about him being an informant before pushing him from the building, too. Not a full splat, Liotta has to kill the boy a second time later in the hospital minutes before Lopez can get there and save him.
With the first casualty on their hands, Stahl and the FBI want to get Liotta fast before more people die. Lopez tries to cut a deal where they can capture him doing this big job Liotta has on good word will be huge. He nearly turns the job down when the man behind the curtain sends him, as his first mission, a kidnapped man in a trunk. The hook: the man is the significant other of an armored truck dispatcher. The trucks move evidence mostly for law enforcement. A huge movement of drug money ceased by the DEA in a recent raid will be coming soon and this unmet puppeteer wants Liotta and his crew to rob the truck. So, they hold the kidnapped guy ransom against the dispatcher who is supposed to make sure that no one sees the truck going off its route.The FBI wants to catch Lopez's crew in the act of taking the money. However, because Agent Stahl has a very bizarre obsession (we're talkin' buying and dressing a prostitute as Lopez) with Lopez, she manages to sex him into a deal where she and her crew have immunity, and only Liotta goes down. Guilt ways on her, but this is the best she can do.
Not satisfied, or jealous of her partner's sexual exploits with Lopez, Stahl's Asian partner goes to the courts and submits some evidence the FBI has on Lopez's daughter's father which exonerates him of the crime. He's released immediately on the basis that he won't sue the city of NY. Dangling free, he goes to her to immediately contact this daughter that he's always known about but who knows little about him. Now Lopez has to deal with this just as she, Liotta and the crew prepare for the robbery. Her daughter talks to the man, comes to hate her mother for keeping them from each other (she found out about him before he got out of prison) and sees none of the violent tendencies of which her mother speaks.
Meanwhile, Lopez sabotages the FBI's gotcha when she learns that Stahl never really went to his superior with the immunity deal for the rest of the crew outside of Liotta. She tries stalling their vehicle so they can't come and removes her wire so the FBI can't listen or track her. All of this backfires. Not only does the crew arrive at the heist of the parked armored truck, but rookie Loman arrives, too, as he was doing some other police work that led him to the truck. Also, the Asian FBI agent is left to watch the building where the puppeteer's men were keeping the kidnapped man. No movement all day, they raid the storage locker after the heist only to realize that the man has been dead for quite some time.
Lopez quarterbacks everything but convincing her rookie that they have to do the heist to keep Internal Affairs off his back (the heist is a payoff to a crooked cop), proves difficult, especially after two people get shot in what was supposed to be an easy job.
Some Serious Stuff Just Went Down The money then goes missing only to appear again as a bargaining chip for Lopez, then Liotta, who both negotiate deals where they separately turn themselves in and return the money in exchange for immunity for the rest of the crew. We end with Stahl having accepted Liotta's deal before Lopez's, making for a helluva cliffhanger. But the final frame is electrifying as Lopez is confronted one last time by her daughter's father who has returned with a gun after she tried paying him to stay away from their daughter. While I would normally spoil it as I've done in my other postmortem reviews, I'll hold off on that this time. Why? Because this series, unlike many of the others I've done is not an anthology (from what I know) and it has already been green-lit for a second season. Which means you can catch the whole season OnDemand or at NBC.com and determine if you want to tune into a second season sometime next year.What's my grade? I give this one a solid A-. Since when can Jennifer Lopez actually act? Like, when dat happen? It's crazy how this year is the comeback year of both Jennifer and Ben Affleck from that embarrassment that was Gigli over a decade ago (acting wise). She sizzles on the screen with bits of Enough, Selena and something completely new that she's finally dug deep down to put on screen. Her performance is helped by veteran Ray Liotta who, while sometimes turns in a subpar performance, is given a meaty enough role not to phone it in like he's been doing for the last dozen years. The writing can be a bit crisper, but then again who am I to talk? The plot twists and turns in plenty of great ways that may give you pleasant reactions of "wow" and "didn't see that coming." Best of all, unlike my initial thoughts, it isn't another case-of-the-week series. Don't misunderstand, that element is there; however, unlike many of the new series trying to break free from this format, employing a more involved overarching tertiary plot (think The Blacklist, Minority Report, Limitless, Second Chance, etc.), here the secondary plot is the focus while the weekly cases are edged toward the back. You won't care as much about the guy trying to take over the new drug territory so much as you will Lopez trying to keep from being caught by her boss. The only problem I can see from this format is the possible trouble a second season will have with keeping the drama alive with a new tension.
Should you be watching? Yes. For one, if you haven't overdosed on your supply of gorgeous women with Kerry Washington, Jaina Lee Ortiz (Rosewood), and Kaley Cuoco heating up the TV airwaves weekly, then adding Jennifer Lopez to that can't hurt. Also, as said, this is the best acting Lopez has ever done, and it's already coming back for a second season. Not the gritty True Detective that HBO has given us, it doesn't take nearly as many prisoners as one might expect broadcast television to take. In this day and age where every protagonist drifts toward a morally ambiguous center, Lopez's Harley makes a great female addition to the haul of uniquely flawed characters.
What do you think? Have you seen Shades of Blue? If not, do you think you'll tune in after this review? If you have, did you like it and what was your favorite part of the season? Are you excited for it to come back for a second season? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend . #AhStalkingIf you’re looking for a scare, check the YA novel #AFuriousWind, the NA novel #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or the bizarre horror #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic and adult, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out NOW exclusively on Amazon; season 2 coming this summer. 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.
Until next time, "Oh? That's a very interesting... outfit for a first date."'You like it? It's kinda embarrassing but I actually had my dog pick it out for me.'"Oh? Hm. You know dogs are colorblind, right?"Silence.
P.S. Thank god dogs don't much care about TV... or do they? Even if they did watch the show and couldn't tell the colors, I'm sure they'd be just as ticked as me that a show called Shades of Blue rarely ever shows anyone wearing blue, let alone multiple shades of it. Zero fashion sense. I'll think of a better sign-off next time.
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