TV Tyrant

Mid-Season: Filling The Hole

January 5th, 2011 | by | big love, fox, fringe, nbc, new season, new shows, season premiere, tv shows, v

Jan
05

For years, January was the Best.Month.Ever., television wise. After months of being deprived of my favorite shows, the inevitable post-holiday dreariness, and another two months or more of winter to endure, January brought me back to that mysterious island on Lost, and the high-intensity crack of 24. What is a TV obsessed gal to do this year, now that both of those shows have finished their runs? Instead of being sad and grumpy, I have found some joy in the mid-season television schedule. Read full story

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Shows More People Should Be Watching…

October 14th, 2010 | by | abc, nbc, ratings, sitcom, tv shows

Oct
14

I seem to gravitate towards the lonely, ill-promoted shows, and have had my TV heart smashed several times. The Nielsens make me cranky. Once we hit late winter I visit TV by the Numbers more often than I would like to admit. Is it really that people just aren’t interested in smart, unique TV, or is it that the networks just have zero idea how to tap into something that isn’t easy-peasy to promote, a la CSI or Law & Order. Here are a few shows I wish more people were watching.

Chuck (NBC, Mon @ 8est) – Honestly people, this is the sweetest damn show on television! And funny. And spy-y… much more fun than JJs ho-hum Undercovers spy show (sorry Mr. Abrams, you know how much I love ya’). Plus, for all you Firefly fans, there is Adam Baldwin (Jayne!) being gruff and awesome (not to be confused with Awesome, Chuck’s brother-in-law).

This show has struggled since the beginning, and I am sure the only reason it is still on is because of some weird deal with Subway sandwich shops, and the fact that NBC sucks right now, and I am grateful for that (and this is probably the reason why a bunch of my other faves are still around, actually).

I totally understand why this show was a slow-starter. It took some time to get a good balance between Chuck’s spy life and his family/Buy More life, but I think they have it pretty much nailed right now.  NBC slashed their budget and this season and last have been a 13 ep. order with possibility for extra added episodes as the season progressed (which happened last year, upping the season to 19 eps). These changes have really made the episodes sharper and even more fun. If NBC continues to tank, and there is no indication things are getting any better over there, there is a good chance for extra added Chuck again this season. Plus, they really know how to bring on the guest stars. Linda Hamilton, Chevy Chase, Armand Assante, Nicole Richie, Scott Bakula, Steve Austin and the mother of all guest stars, Mark Sheppard.

The show is easy to jump into, it’s not rocket science people! Check it out here or here and have a little fun with Chuck.

Cougar Town (ABC, Wed @ 9:30est) – Terrible title. Really, the worst. Even the creator thinks so, but I implore you to give this show a chance. ABC seems to like it, so it isn’t in imminent danger of getting cancelled, but I truly believe it is funnier than it’s 9 o’clock lead-in, Modern Family. I know, Modern Family has gotten all the awards and hype, but I think Cougar Town is sharper with the wit, and sweeter with the ‘Aw’ moments.

Courtney Cox is funnier than in Friends as the leader of a odd bunch of neighbors, co-workers and family who live together in a cul de sac in Florida. They like to drink wine and play pranks on each other… I am not doing it justice (I’m not in PR, for goodness sakes!), but this show makes me laugh right out loud week after week.

Let me reiterate, this show is not about a 40-something woman dating younger men. Not.At.All. (except for the first bunch of episodes in season one, before they figured out what this show was really about) The show has even started mocking its name during its opening title page. Give it a chance, and catch episodes here or here.

I’ve got more shows to pimp, but I will save those for another day. If you find yourself with an extra hour or so one day, open your mind and give your funny bone a little treat with one of these shows.

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What I Watched This Summer

October 4th, 2010 | by | cbs, eureka, nbc, science fiction, tv shows, warehouse 13

Oct
04

Contrary to rumors, I did not spend my summer hiding in the corner waiting for The Winchesters to return (but I can’t wait to comment on this new season). Along with the usual baseball obsession – Go Yankees!! – I enjoyed some really fun shows this summer, both new and old, and found myself looking forward to the continuation of them next year.

Big Brother – Let’s get this out of the way: I LOVE Big Brother. Always have, always will. It is cheezy and full of worthless people and consumes a ridiculous amount of time and space on my DVR, but I can count on it to amuse me to no end all freakin’ summer long. I don’t care what you think of me, the day CBS and Julie Chen finally abandon this show, summer will never be the same.

Eureka – One of my favorite summertime shows. This year they took what had become a bit of a tired series and rebooted it with what could have been a terrible time travel trope. The characters were reinvigorated, and we got to see an out-of-time James Callis as the villian-ish villian. Plenty of kookiness erupted in town, and a lot of was tied into the time travel event, which I thought was clever. Just when I thought I would be coasting through this series, I was entertained all summer long.

Warehouse 13 – Summer has a nice group of cheery sci-fi shows going on and this one has become one of my favorites. By the middle of the season I thought it had really found it’s footing, and was just plain funny. Pete and Myka have a great brother/sister relationship going (Hooray! for no will they/won’t they angst), and they have found a nice vibe for Claudia and Artie. Leena still feel superfluous, but maybe they have a plan. Excellent season ending cliffhanger, BTW.

Haven – I had a hard time getting into this one. It felt cheap (but don’t most things SyFy?) and a total rip-off of X-Files, but it really ended up growing on me. Sure, some of the mysteries caused by ‘The Troubles’ were ridiculous, but the characters sucked me right in. This one is still running, so I have no idea what’s next, but I am looking forward to getting to that last week episode on my DVR. Incidentally, this is one of those shows I would have never given time to if it wasn’t for OnDemand. I was able to catch up on a gloomy weekend and set the DVR to record the rest of the series. Does anyone watch television shows live anymore?

Royal Pains, White Collar, Dexter & Californication – I know, weird group. Royal Pains and White Collar I put together because they are silly little shows on USA that I find amusing, with actors that are charming and cute and that’s about all I gotta say about that. Dexter… well, y’all know about Dexter. This spring I finally joined Netflix, and was able to see season 2 of Dexter on Netflix Instant Play (saw season 1 on CBS back in the dark days of the writer’s strike). Best.Invention.Ever. I would have plowed through seasons 3 & 4 as well, but stupid ol’ Showtime doesn’t have them on OnDemand or InstantPlay, so I’m gonna have to wait on that. Showtime did the same trick with Californication, getting me all excited about season 1 and rekindling my Duchovny love, and then not letting me OnDemand anything else. That’s fine, I had a lot of Yankee games to watch anyway.

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Heroes: The end is nigh?

October 30th, 2009 | by | canceled, heroes, nbc, series finale

Oct
30

I rarely root for a series I once loved to end, but an exception could certainly be made for Heroes.

Looks like I could easily get my wish, as Airlock Alpha (once syfy.com, before the SciFi Channel became SyFy) reports that NBC sources say Heroes is being asked to wrap up its entire story by season’s end.

Heroes banner

An unidentified source was quoted as saying:

There isn’t much happening with this show in terms of audience, and giving it a ‘final chapter’ feel is something the network is considering to help allow the show to go out with a bang.

As I wrote earlier this season, even the most die-hard fans have been having a hard time staying interested. It’s all unfocused – the storyline’s all over the place, the characters are no longer interesting and they don’t seem to be working toward anything.

Even the disjointed, strike-impaired second season seemed to be working toward something. And last season had a good start before trailing off into “who the hell cares” anymore land.

Read full story

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NBC brings us a new post-apocalyptic drama: Day One

May 4th, 2009 | by | day one, nbc, science fiction

May
04

Just got the news that NBC Universal is going to have a show that should be very cool in the fall (still no word on Chuck, though Heroes got renewed): Day One.

NUP_134807_5100

Here’s the official description:

From executive producer/writer Jesse Alexander (“Heroes,” “Lost,” “Alias”) and director Alex Graves (“Fringe,” “Journeyman”), “Day One” tells the story of life on earth following a global catastrophe that has devastated the world’s infrastructures. Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the cataclysmic event, an eclectic band of survivors — played by Adam Campbell (“Date Movie”), Catherine Dent (“The Shield”), Julie Gonzalo (“Eli Stone”), David Lyons (“ER”), Derek Mio (“Greek”), Carly Pope (“24″), Thekla Reuten (“Sleeper Cell”) and Addison Timlin (“Cashmere Mafia”) — strives to rebuild society as they unravel the mysteries of what happened and face their uncertain future. The group, all residents of one apartment building in suburban Van Nuys, Calif., embarks on a quest for survival and discovers that hope is found in small victories — and heroes are born every day. “Day One” is a Universal Media Studios production.

The pedigree is great – folks behind Lost, Alias, Heroes (hey, it has had its moments), Fringe and Journeyman? That’s a scifi geek’s dream!

I just hope that it goes on in the fall, isn’t bumped all over the scheduling map and is given an actual chance to catch on. Given that all of the above shows except Journeyman was a success (Fringe hasn’t been renewed yet, but TV Guide says it is likely to be), there’s hope yet. I must take note, however, that most of the aforementioned shows were smash hits almost from the start.

And as for Journeyman, I have to admit that it took a while to grow on me. I’d almost erased it from my DVR season pass a couple of times, but it just caught me enough to give it another go. It finally sank its hooks into me for good about mid-season, but that was too late for some, I’m afraid.

So, sci-fi fans, take heart. We’re not being abandoned. Now, dammit, you just have to actually WATCH the show. I don’t care if you DVR it, watch it live or watch it online. Just watch it.

Photo courtesy NBC Universal.

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