What You Should Have Watched #11

TV Schedule for the 2011/2012 Season

It’s that time of the year again, when thoughts turn from reruns and reality TV to new episodes of scripted comedies and dramas. USA and FX have kept me happy with new episodes of Covert Affairs, White Collar, Burn Notice, Louie and Wilfred, but now were back to REAL prime time.

Keep in mind that I’m a single father of three kids, so I really don’t watch anything “live.” My DVR is in heavy use, and I also rely on Hulu and network websites for some stuff.

Here’s what I’m planning on watching:

Sunday

6:00 – The Simpsons (Fox/Sept. 25)

7:00 – Family Guy (Fox/Sept. 25)

7:00 – Once Upon a Time (ABC/Oct. 23)

7:30 – Allen Gregory (Fox/Oct. 30)

9:00 – Breaking Bad (AMC/current)

9:00 – The Walking Dead (AMC/Oct. 16)

I haven’t really been blown away by The Simpsons in a LONG time. I usually let episodes pile up on the DVR and the end up falling asleep halfway through episodes. I very rarely rewind what I’ve missed before deleting the episode. Sad. I saw a trailer for Once Upon a Time when I went to see Captain America: The First Avenger. It looked pretty awesome with a Fables (comic book series) vibe. Comparisons will be made to Grimm, surely, but in subject matter only. Their executions are different, which is good. It kind of reminds me of a few years ago when Surface, Threshold and Invasion all premiered at the same time. Similarities could be found in all of them, but they were all vastly different. Too bad none of the actually survived their first seasons. I’ll give Allen Gregory a chance based on Jonah Hill. I wonder if Family Guy will move on to making fun of a new movie franchise since they finished with the original Star Wars movies last year or if they’ll move onto the first three episodes. I’d like to see them tackle Indiana Jones. There’s some good material there. Or maybe Back to the Future. Since it’s on well after my kids go to bed, I should be able to watch The Walking Dead live.

Monday

7:00 – How I Met Your Mother (CBS/Sept. 19)

7:00 – Terra Nova (Fox/Sept. 26)

9:00 – Castle (ABC/Sept. 19)

I caught a rerun of HIMYM last week, and it was the one where Marshall’s dad dies. The way they addressed it was WAY too heavy for a sitcom like this. I kind of hope we actually meet the mother this season. I mean, Ted is my least favorite of the characters, but I’d like to see some headway made on the title. I’ll give Terra Nova a chance. I’m most looking forward to Castle. Nathan Fillion is an actor I’ll watch in anything, and I’ve enjoyed every episode of this show.

Tuesday

7:00 – Glee (Fox/Sept. 20)

7:30 – Man Up (ABC/Oct. 18)

8:00 – Ringer (CW/Sept. 13)

8:00 – New Girl (Fox/Sept. 20)

8:30 – Raising Hope (Fox/Sept. 20)

9:00 – Parenthood (NBC/Sept. 13)

9:00 – Sons of Anarchy (FX/Sept. 6)

I’m just about done with Glee. Man Up gets a couple viewings because of Dan Fogler. Ringer gets a view because of Sarah Michelle Gellar, but after watching the trailer I’m guessing that one view is ALL I’ll give it. The preview I saw of New Girl looked funny. What bothers me, though, is that Damon Wayans, Jr. is still listed as a cast member on Fox’s website, even though he’s also in Happy Endings on ABC. Oh noes! And thank you Wikipedia. Looks like all is well…well, for Happy Endings, that is. I got into Raising Hope REALLY late into the season last year, but I’m glad I finally gave it a chance. Garret Dillahunt, Martha Plimpton and Shannon Woodward make this a must-see for me. I loved the first season of Parenthood, but I missed every single episode of the second season. I should probably watch those before jumping into season three. And do I really need to say anything about Sons of Anarchy? It’s the most badass show on TV. Oh, I guess I did need to say something about it.

Wednesday

7:00 – Up All Night (NBC/Sept. 14)

7:30 – Free Agents (NBC/Sept. 14)

7:30 – Suburgatory (ABC/Sept. 28)

8:00 – Modern Family (ABC/Sept. 21)

8:30 – Happy Endings (ABC/Sept. 28)

8:30 – I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Fox/Nov. 23)

Will Arnett has a new show? SOLD! What’s that? Anthony Head does too? DOUBLE SOLD!! Holy crap! Alan Tudyk too? Who is answering all of my prayers? Is it TV Jesus? Modern Family is probably the most solid sitcom on TV right now, and Happy Endings was a pleasant surprise last year. I’m giving I Hate My Teenage Daughter a try because Jaime Pressley was good on My Name is Earl, and she’s nice to look at. I think I saw a preview earlier in the summer that I laughed at, but I could be wrong about that.

Thursday

7:00 – Big Bang Theory (CBS/Sept. 22)

7:00 – Community (NBC/Sept. 22)

7:30 – Parks and Recreation (NBC/Sept. 22)

8:00 – The Office (NBC/Sept. 22)

8:00 – Person of Interest (CBS/Sept. 22)

8:00 – Bones (Fox/Nov. 3)

8:00 – Burn Notice (USA/current)

9:00 – Wilfred (FX/current)

9:00 – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX/Sept. 15)

9:30 – Louie (FX/current)

9:30 – The League (FX/Oct. 6)

Out of all of the shows I plan on watching, only four of them are on CBS. Two of them are on Wednesday nights. The Big Bang Theory is a well-written sitcom that panders to the nerd in me. Person of Interest has Ben Linus from Lost, so that’s why I’m tuning in for an episode or two. NBC’s Thursday night comedy block (well, ¾ of it) is some of the smartest comedy that I’ve been fortunate to watch. Community seems fresh and new every week, Parks and Rec has some of the best characters to ever fill a show, and The Office is solid comedy that (to me) hasn’t gotten stale yet. I’m really interested to see what kind of dynamic James Spader will add to the show for however long he’s on. My eight o’clock hour seems pretty full, but Burn Notice will probably end its summer season soon (Sept. 8 according to Wikipedia), and Bones doesn’t start until November, so I’ve got plenty of time to lose interest in Person of Interest (pun…intended?) by the time it starts back up. The FX sitcoms are some of the funniest I’ve ever seen. Not necessarily the smartest and usually pandering to the lowest common denominator, but, hey, look how far that’s taken Two and a Half Men. Right now, Louie is my favorite show this summer. It speaks truth without talking down to the viewer. I’m enjoying Wilfred, but it’s darker than I anticipated. Always Sunny is probably the most crass and unredeemable show on TV, but it’s so much fun to hate the leads. The League is just solid comedy, and when talking about great characters, one always has to mention Jon Lajoie’s Taco.

Friday

7:00 – Chuck (NBC/Oct. 21)

8:00 – Grimm (NBC/Oct. 21)

8:00 – Fringe (Fox/Sept. 23)

8:00 – Supernatural (CW/Sept. 23)

Chuck has been my popcorn show since it started. I watched it because of Adam Baldwin and continued to watch it because of Yvonne Strahovski. They don’t even try to make any of their stories even slightly believable, but they’re incredibly fun to watch. It looks like I’ll be DVRing Supernatural and Fringe (these two will ALWAYS be priorities for me) and catching up with Grimm on Hulu.

Saturday

7:00 – Rules of Engagement (CBS/Sept. 24)

A show on Saturday that isn’t a rerun? Sometimes I don’t like to admit that I like this show. It’s not original or very clever, but the acting really sells it. Patrick Warburton is another guy I’ll watch in anything, and I really like the characters played by Oliver Hudson (relationship to Kate aside) and Bianca Kajlich (so so SO pretty). If this show were up against anything else, it would lose, so putting it on a Saturday is a pretty good idea on CBS’s part. Also, I may have included the wrong picture.

Mid-Season Shows of Interest

Alcatraz (Fox)

The Finder (Fox)

Touch (Fox)

Covert Affairs (USA)

Psych (USA)

White Collar (USA)

Southland (TNT)

American Horror Story (FX)

Archer (FX)

Justified (FX)

Cougar Town (ABC)

Apartment 23 (ABC)

I know nothing about Alcatraz or Touch except that one has Jorge Garcia in it and the other has Keifer Sutherland. That’s enough for me to at least give it an episode to grab me. I’m slightly pissed at The Finder, but it’s not the show’s fault. I have a problem with backdoor pilots. I was all prepared to watch an episode of Bones last season, but instead it’s The Finder with Bones and Booth thrown in every now and then. I liked Geoff Stults and Michael Clarke Duncan, but Saffron Burrows just seemed like a poor-man’s Fiona (from Burn Notice), bad first season accent and all. Speaking of Burn Notice, USA has some really top-notch original programing, most of which has been entertaining me during the summer. I know that Covert Affairs and White Collar will be returning some time later in the fall, but Psych starts sometime in October. I’ve given up on straight-ahead cop shows (no more CSI or Law & Order for me), but a friend talked me into watching Southland over the summer and I fell in love. I have no idea when the fourth season will start, but I’m looking forward to it. I am not a fan of horror movies, so American Horror Story wouldn’t usually interest me, but Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) is one of the stars, so I’m in for a bit…at least until I can only watch it with all the lights on. Justified and Archer are two more top-notch FX shows. I’m glad that Justified received some well-deserved Emmy nominations. I’m also glad that H. Jon Benjamin has Archer to fall back on since Jon Benjamin Has a Van was such a bad show. I was disappointed to see that Cougar Town was not on the schedule for this fall. Despite its misleading title, it’s a funny show. And what little I saw of Apartment 23 made me laugh, but it was a great scene with James Van Der Beek cashing in on his Dawson fame to have sex. Simple but funny.

So, I think that’s everything. Isn’t it enough? I’d embed some trailers, but there are just too many, so I hyperlinked all the shows to their official web pages. It’s a little more work on your part, but you can do it. I believe in you, you lazy bastards!

Christmas Video Constitutional

I loved the first two of these, so I'm expecting to like this one. Plus, it's named after my favorite STar Wars meme! The trailer, though, did not have me laughing nearly as much as Something Something Something Dark Side did.



The Green Hornet looks...good?

I enjoyed the first season of Spartacus on Starz. Apparently the lead has had to be recast after the star, Andy Whitfield, developed and went through treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Starz decided to do a prequel mini while we wait. Here's the trailer.



I just don't know anymore. I don't WANT to post this, but I feel like I have to. And the kicker? It's not even Japanese.



Would this be as funny if the Inception music weren't behind it? Probably not.



I don't like being around cats, but I kind of love watching them.



Newest digital short. Nice.



Too...much...meat.

What You Should Have Watched #6

2010-2011 Season

It’s mid-August, so that means it’s time to take a look at the upcoming television season. Looks like I’ve got everything mapped out with only a couple of new shows in the mix. NBC is coming out strong on mid-season replacements, though.

Here’s what I’ve got. Click on any of the shows to go to their official pages.

Sunday

Saturdays and Sundays are going to be my catch-up days. I’ve got three kids I’ve got to feed, bathe and put to bed, and then I’ve got to go about the business of cleaning up from the evening and making lunches for the next day. I’m lucky if I get to start watching TV at 8:00. 9:00 seems like a better target. So with absolutely nothing to watch on Saturday and only two shows on Sunday, my DVR is gonna get a workout.

I’m pretty blasé toward the Simpsons, but every now and then they can still deliver a good episode. Family Guy, though, I am all over. Even the mediocre episodes are pretty damn funny.

7:00     Simpsons (Sept. 26)

8:00     Family Guy (Sept. 26)

Monday

We’ve got the first of new shows with The Event. I’ve heard nothing about the show except for the vague promos that NBC is running. I’ll give it a chance; it could be good. Chuck is my guilty pleasure. It’s not really that great of a show, but I love the actors and the characters. And Castle, well, it’s Nathan Fillion. I’ll watch him in anything.

7:00     Chuck (Sept. 20)

            How I Met Your Mother (Sept. 20)

7:30     Rules of Engagement (Sept. 20)

8:00     The Event (Sept. 20)

9:00     Castle (Sept. 20)

Tuesday

New shows here include a new superhero show and something from the creator of Arrested Development. I like Michael Chiklis and love love LOVE Julie Benz. This could be decent, but it’s also got me worried that it’ll turn to crap. Then we’ve got Will Arnett in Running Wilde, the new show by Mitch Hurwitz. Those are two names who will get a pass for anything.

I’ve just started catching up on Parenthood via OnDemand. I swear to God I teared up at the end of the 4^th episode of the first season when the daughter brought her boyfriend to a family get together. It hit me that I’m going to be the father of a teenager in a decade, and I’m going to have to meet boyfriends. Ugh.

The nine o’clock hour shows the first time when I’ll have a show I can’t DVR. That’s okay, though, since any of those three shows is either available OnDemand the next night or on the shows website.

Sons of Anarchy is one of the best shows on TV, and I’ll give the finger to anyone who says otherwise.

7:00     No Ordinary Family (Sept. 28)

            Glee (Sept. 21)

8:00     White Collar

8:30     Running Wilde (Sept. 21)

9:00     Parenthood (Sept. 14)

            Sons of Anarchy (Sept. 7)

            Covert Affairs

10:00   Louie

Wednesday

Right now Wednesday has the biggest amount of possible drops. The Middle was mildly entertaining for a bit last season, and I’m going to do my best to catch up, but I won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen. Undercovers is a spy show by J.J. Abrams, so I’m sold right there. I’m sick of standard cop procedural shows, but I like Benson and Stabler too much to give up on SVU. We’ll see if that attitude lasts through the season.

The biggest surprise of last season was how much I enjoyed Cougar Town. This and Modern Family gave Community a good run in the best new comedy race last season.

7:00     The Middle (Sept. 22)

            Undercovers (Sept. 22)

7:30     Better with You (Sept. 22)

8:00     Modern Family (Sept. 22)

            Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Sept. 22)

8:30     Cougar Town (Sept. 22)

9:00     Terriers (Sept. 8)

            Psych

Thursday

This brings us to my first conundrum. If I could, I would watch Big Bang Theory and Shit My Dad Says online, but CBS never posted BBT last season, and I don’t expect it to this one. So that means I HAVE to DVR those shows. I love Community and 30 Rock so much that I have to watch them as close to their live airings as possible, so waiting the watch them on Hulu the next day is out of the question. That means Bones doesn’t get DVRed, and that makes me a little sad.

Fringe WILL be DVRed, and in HD no less. I’m going to give Nikita a chance, even though I’ve never seen La Femme Nikita, Point of No Return or the French film Nikita. Maggie Q, man, Maggie Q. So I’ll Hulu The Office and the new offering, Outsourced.

7:00     Community (Sept. 23)

            Big Bang Theory (Sept. 23)

            Bones (Sept. 23)

7:30     30 Rock (Sept. 23)

            Shit My Dad Says (Sept. 23)

8:00     The Office (Sept. 23)

            Fringe (Sept. 23)

            Nikita (Sept. 9)

8:30     Outsourced (Sept. 23)

9:00     It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Sept. 16)

9:30     The League (Sept. 16)

Friday

I hate myself for watching Smallville, but I can’t bring myself to stop. I feel like, as a rabid comic book fan, I HAVE to watch it. But it’s SOOOOOOO bad. The plots are bad. The acting is bad. The writing is bad. But the girls are so very, very pretty, so at least there’s that.

7:00     Human Target (Oct. 1)

            Smallville (Sept. 24)

8:00     Supernatural (Sept. 24)

Mid-Season Replacements

ABC    Mr. Sunshine

It’s a comedy with Matthew Perry, so I’m in.

NBC    The Cape, Friends with Benefits, Perfect Couples

The Cape is superhero show but looks corny as hell, so there’s a good chance I won’t make it past the first episode. Friends with Benefits looks like a generic 20-something comedy, as does Perfect Couples, but PC has Olivia Munn in it, and she’s my new girlfriend (just don’t say anything to her about it…she wants to keep it on the down-low).

CBS    Mad Love

Another generic rom-com, but it’s got Sarah Chalke in it, so I’ll give it a try.

FX       Lights Out, Justified, Archer

Lights Out is the only new show, but I’ll watch it without even knowing a thing about it. FX gets my viewing for anything.

Video Dump for the Week

Okay, this is pointless and stupid, but it made me tear up a little bit from laughter. Apparently it's overdubbed with words that are similar to the mouth motions of the actors.



I'm including this trailer for the 2007 British film "Death at a Funeral." It's an extremely fun and funny movie about death and grieving and really knowing who people are. I'm including it NOW because I just learned that Chris Rock is producing a remake of it for American audiences. I have no doubt in my mind that it will be extremely inferior to the original, and I highly recommend that you find this version. You may recognize Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Dollhouse, Arrested Development) and Peter Dinklage (Nip/Tuck, Threshold). Dinklage, by the way, will be reprising his role for the remake.



While I'm at it, let's throw up the trailer for Alan Tudyk's next movie, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. It...looks...hilarious. It's the best parody of a teens-in-the-woods slasher flick that I've ever seen.



I'm a big proponent of books over their big screen counterparts, even with comic books, but I'm expecting this movie to be a lot better than the comic it's based on...regardless of Nick Cage.



I can't remember if I've already posted it, but it couldn't hurt to post it again. Here's the promo for Family Guy's Empire Strikes Back episode. I loved their first Star Wars episode, and I'm anticipating loving this.



If you haven't seen this ad already, well, don't expect to see much of it in the future. The makers have pulled it after receiving apparently a lot of complaints. I thought it was pretty clever and really got their point across.



Has Steve Buscemi ever had a lead role in a movie? He's been in a LOT of movies, but has he ever been the star? Not a star, but THE star? If not, I do believe his time has finally come. Plus, there's Peter Dinklage (it's all connected, see?) and Sarah Silverman.



Here's the red band trailer for the new Michael Cera movie, Youth in Revolt. It's kind of like Fight Club if Fight Club were a teen romance movie.

Youth In Revolt Red Band Trailer - watch more funny videos

And while we're at it, let's throw up Cera's Between Two Ferns episode.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis from Between Two Ferns

Family Guy Done Done It Again

While not my favorite episode (that would be the Surfin' Bird episode), this past week's episode of Family Guy had my new favorite song in it. Here, give it a listen (and a look).

Definitely the funniest Christian Bale rant remix I've heard

TV Reviews for the Viewing Week of Nov. 16, 2008 Pt. 1

"Will and shorts, two things I’m no longer allowed to change by myself."

Homer’s new job was a lot funnier than Lisa’s crossword addiction. Homer or Ralph, those are the two characters that’ll make an episode for me. Doesn’t matter if they’re the focus of the episode or just show up to make a couple of quips.

Hmm, a couple of call-backs early on. You’ve got Cleveland in his bathtub falling out of his house, and you’ve got Frank Sinatra, Jr. singing with Brian. Okay, if you can find it, it’s probably on YouTube, that news special that Stewie did is actually based on an actual news feature. Otherwise it was a pretty lackluster episode. Maybe it’s just my mindset lately, but it’s taking a lot to impress me.

Good for Mac, but I’m wondering what will end up happening to Col. Ryan. Will he stay as their commanding officer? If not, I would hope they would find a role for him in some capacity. Robert Patrick is a good actor.

Ah, poor Wolowitz. Always unlucky in love. But good for Leonard. And seriously, why didn’t someone just pick something that would beat Spock?

Angie made a comment while walking through the room, and it was so obvious, yet I hadn’t seen it. It’s a weekly dose of Meet the Parents/Fokkers. Except this guy is more likeable than Ben Stiller. Actually, all the actors are more likeable than their movie counterparts.

Of course. Something was going right for Chuck, so there had to be something wrong about it. I guess we won’t be seeing as much of Jordana Brewster as I was hoping we would...although we saw a decent amount of her toward the end of the episode. Same with oh my God I have forgotten the blonde’s name. Sarah, that’s her. Yeah, shower scene. Not all that sexy, but still.

Hmm, not a bad episode, but not all that great. I do need to start implementing conference calls at the office. I just don’t think my company is big enough or I’m important enough to actually get away with it, though. I forgot how Barney and Ted met. Would anybody believe that they’re best friends rather than Ted and Marshall?

On the surface, I am really enjoying this season. But underneath, fundamentally, there are flaws. Now, I don’t know if this is because it’s trying to cram in things that were supposed to happen last season but didn’t because of the strike, or if the writers are just trying to do too much, or if the writers are just sloppy. Gabriel and Elle were cured of their bat-shit craziness way too easily. I mean, it’s good that those two crazy kids (pun not intended, but enjoyed by the writer nonetheless) found each other and are able to know love and blah blah blah, but really, they were cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, and one bowl doesn’t magically cure that. I’m very excited about next week. Seth Green shows up, and it’s a shame that there’s been too little of Seth Green on TV.

Watching Gretchen and the General together seriously nauseates me. The last half of the episode was pretty intense. The fact that there was no dialogue and no sound other than some mood music really ramped up the tension. You knew something bad was going to happen, but Sucre’s slip-up still got to me.

Well, if I’ve heard correctly, this show has been cancelled. I would have thought it would have at least gotten a full season, what with Slater’s star power. And of course after the cancellation notice, we get more into a conspiracy against Edward/Henry, going back to the murder of his parents by the KGB.

"I guess that depends on if he has succeeded in killing himself yet."

Another excellent episode with a brief look into Walter’s time at the institution. It seems as if there is something hinky going on with Walter’s former doctor. He was too eager to keep him locked up, and not just because he thinks Walter isn’t fit for human interaction.

Wow. Now that’s an inventive way to kill people. I personally enjoyed the, how many was it? Five? Five hyenas that killed the rapper. Who knew that animal smuggling was such a high-risk, high-dollar enterprise. And all that work just to teach Stabler the importance of family.

"How much memory does that thing got?"

The look on Blondie’s face when Vic tells her about killing Terry and then about reselling confiscated drugs, oh my God that was priceless. And her boss in the back room? The realization that Vic was a master criminal with a badge? Fuckin’...priceless. Oh, and then there are Claudette and Dutch when they hear that Vic has full immunity on everything he confesses to. It’s too bad about Ronnie, though. He’s followed Vic through everything, even after getting his face burned. And as things seem to have all worked out in Vic’s favor, everything has gone to shit for Shane.

Are John and Cameron going to hook up? That would be weird. Would the Terminators make themselves anatomically correct? Is it just some inherent flaw in robots that they always want to be human? Considering what John grows up to do, it would be incredibly kinky and messed up if he hooked up with a Terminator. I always enjoy seeing Buffy alums working, even though they usually don’t get major parts.

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Listening to: Free - All Right Now
via FoxyTunes