Sorry yo!

I know I’ve been away forever, and I totally forgot that I have a blog…anyway, I’ve fallen behind on all those five million TV shows I watch, so I’m trying to get caught up before I start writing about all the awesomeness again. By next week methinks! I know you’ll all be waiting patiently by your computers hitting the refresh button over and over…toodles!

-A

I just realized that I could combine the two into the Revenge of the Modern Family where the not best comedy on TV sweeps the Emmys….oh wait.

Sorry that was my borderline unhealthy love for Parks and Rec cutting in. But that, my dear friends, will continue tomorrow. Tonight is actually about Modern Family and the new series Revenge. Also, I actually enjoy Modern Family a lot, but it’s only my fourth favorite, being beaten by P&R, Community and HIMYM. Anyway, this might actually be short for the first time ever because I just wrote a way long post about yesterday’s shows. So here goes!

I think Modern Family was back to great form tonight, the premiere (in similar fashion to HIMYM) was an hour long and I thought both episodes were great, the first one was better than the second. I mean dude ranch in Wyoming kind of always beats hijinks at home. I really loved the first episode, and I really want to recap but rather I’ll just say that I enjoy any episode that has the whole family together and craziness ensues. Dylan coming along for the trip was a fantastic idea, and he had great scenes all around. I’ll miss that ridiculous dude, but as Claire has said on numerous occasions, Hailey can do better. I liked Alex’s little vacation romance, and though it didn’t have a lot of screen time, it was perfectly adorable. Mitchell and Luke lighting off that firecracker was delightful and I enjoyed the moment between Mitchell and Cam about how having a boy will be just fine and they’ll be great dads together. Phil being cut down yet again by Jay lead to some great moments (“who’s your son in law?” “Philis, my son in law.”) And then the creepy cowboy hitting on Gloria lead to my favorite line of the night from Phil “Only we touch our women when they don’t want us too!” OH and Lily is actually doing more than blank staring, so yay! Anyway, the first episode was full of great moments and lines and it was a good episode of things Modern Family does well. The second episode was enjoyable as well. Claire had to be right and went to great lengths to prove it (which she apparently gets from Jay and that was a great reveal). Hailey and Alex don’t want to share a room anymore, so they scheme to get Luke to move to the attic, which he does (oh, he knows what they’re up to, he’s just wanted to move for a while). The end was great where Claire did her best to not have to be right, but to do the right thing by getting Luke out of the attic. I actually really enjoyed that scene and now I want to know what’s living in the corner. Cam and Mitchell were fighting about who was problematic in how their raising Lily since she doesn’t want to share her dads with a sibling that they plan to add to the family. Then there was the Manny stole the locket storyline, and it was a good one too. Gloria breaking into the locker to return the locket rather than take Manny to the principle was great, and we’ve learned that poor Manny would not do well in an interrogation. I think that’s a pretty brief summary of the episodes, and they were over all very enjoyable. I really do enjoy Modern Family, and I give it flack mostly because it’s the most highly praised comedy on TV when it’s not truly deserving of that honor since there are a couple comedies out there (which by now you ALL know) that rise above. But when I’m just talking about Modern Family, it’s a dysfunctional family comedy that does great things and reaches a broad audience across all generations, and that my friends, is something truly great in itself.

Onto Revenge. Now I’m going to be extra light on this one to avoid spoilers because I actually do recommend this one. Now, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Revenge, so I kept my expectations low and that may have lead to that conclusion. Overall though, it was a pretty well crafted and well told story, and the soapy-esque drama in the well set Hamptons is actually very fun. And by that I mean in comparison to the kind of show it is, it’s obviously not going to win an emmy or anything, BUT it’s fun and entertaining and escapism. Don’t we all need that sometimes? I’m not one to watch the night time soaps, I mean, I watched Grey’s Anatomy for a few seasons, but I got bored of it becoming something I didn’t like. Revenge is actually a well thought out, trashyish, fun, drama. It tells the story well using flashbacks and not revealing everything off the bat (it’s fun to see, as the episode goes on, all the twists and turns. Honestly that’s what shows like this need to do to work.) Plus the voiceover worked without getting too cheesy or pretentious. Plus the acting overall was pretty good, especially Emily Van Camp at the center as Emily Thorn (wow she played justified two faced well!) and the evil villainess Victoria Grayson played by Madeliene Stowe (she’s going to be extra fun to love to hate). The pilot worked for me and I’m looking forward to seeing how it gets to the scene that takes place five months in the future (I’ve always thought was a brilliant idea for a series opener on a show of this sort, well played once again). I’m not sure how this concept (a girl returns with a false identity in pursuit of revenge on the many high end rich folk that lead to her father being wrongly accused and thus destroying her family) can go on especially since TV series run for at more than 3 seasons if they last. It definitely has enough content to last for a while, so I’m looking forward to seeing all the revenge and crazy intense shenanigans in the Hamptons. I mean, who doesn’t like watching snooty rich folk who have it coming get beaten down by a intelligent, scheming, likable heroine who has every justification? If anything, that itself is a reason. I recommend this one, check it out!

That’s Wednesday’s shows! Next are Thursday’s shows, and since there’s so many, I’ll do my best to talk about all of them before the weekend is over and once I get caught up. Until then, faretheewell my friends!

-A

Wow, Tuesday night went from not great to awesome in that order! I didn’t love the first episode of this season of Glee, I absolutely loved Raising Hope’s season 2 premiere, and New Girl was somewhere in between. And since I waited a day to write this I’ll try my hardest not to go on and on here. EDIT: I’m just going to stop promising this, I’m a talker dagnabit!

I’m going to start with Glee for obvious reasons (being that I probably have the most to say about it and I don’t want to take up most of the blog right away, AND it was the first of Fox’s Tuesday night lineup like last year). So, Glee. It was SO Glee. I’m not sure how else to put it. I’m just going to throw out there that this is a very critical review because I see so much lost potential in what could be an amazing show, so it makes me sad for it. Unfortunately, I definitely have lost faith in the fact that it could be this amazing show about show choir that I so used to love, that it could be this defining show that I got a feeling about from watching the pilot. No, Glee won’t be that ever. I think many people agree since it lost viewership too. If Glee was going to be that show, it would have sparked something in the season 3 premiere, but it did not. Why? Well, it hasn’t fixed its problems, if anything they were worse. Now the problem I’ve always had with Glee was it’s horribly inconsistent tone and lack of good storylines for it’s characters (the latter is more of a problem in True Blood for me, but it shows through in Glee’s mess too). This episode was a mess. It was all over the place. My biggest pet peeve is Sue, and her out of nowhere hate for glee club. I don’t think making every season begin with Sue hating glee and then ending with Sue accepting glee, only to hate them again the next season really works. Sue was a good character at the beginning, but she’s become such a mess with her lack of motive, she’s just become annoying. Plus I had so much anger about her wanting to cut funding for the arts, but honestly that’s the artist in me and it’s not really anything new to us in the real non-Glee world. Santana is another problem, did everything that happened last year go poof? Why is she helping Sue sabotage Glee again exactly? And don’t even get me started on the mess of Quinn…Anyway, this brings me to something that made me realize why i have such a problem with Glee. Thank you Todd VanDerWerff of the AV Club, you’ve made it clear with your infinite wisdom. I didn’t even realize this until Todd pointed it out in his review of this episode, but the show is continuously doing the same thing over and over. Nothing is new. I think that’s why problems with characters like Sue and Santana exist. It’s starting to look like every season is just going to be the same: Sue hates Glee but understands them before the season finale and decides not to sabotage, Brittany and Santana will bounce between the cheerios and Glee, we’ll get put on a roller coaster of emotion about expectations of being a star, and Will won’t be a well developed character, but instead bounce between being a selfish douche and wanting to REACH THESE KIDS! Oh and obviously they’ll always aim for nationals, because there is no possible way to reach any higher than that, I guess. But it wasn’t a total bomb of an episode, I liked the musical numbers, as I so often do. I really liked the scene where Kurt and Rachael got a reality check in realizing they might not actually be that good enough because they’re only really awesome in this small town Ohio high school. Then the scene in the car where they talked about it was great. Glee does that kind of thing well, but the show isn’t going to be great if they mix a little bit of good with a whole lot of bad. Honestly, I (and it seems like most other people) have given up on the fact that Glee can actually be that great, but at least it’s entertaining despite it’s flaws and it will always have catchy musical numbers that lead to me reminiscing about show choir. If Glee can do what I see as near impossible somehow, and really fix it’s problems, I’ll be pleasantly suprised.

On to New Girl! I actually had watched the pilot on itunes before the premiere, and I liked it for the most part (I’ll say my obligatory “it has potential but also has problems” shtick). I’m a fan of quirky so I really enjoyed the episode. The characters, aside from the lead Jess played by Zooey Deschanel, are very one note. All the guys are a little cliche, so I’ll forgive that. Actually one of them stood out, and that was Nick. He had also just gotten dumped and was very “normal” guy (also the only one of the 3 dudes who doesn’t go by a nickname). So I liked that. He’ll be my favorite of these dudes with whom Jess has taken up residence. There’s also Coach, the athletic type (bye Damon Wayans Jr, have fun back at Happy Endings! Hopefully the dude replacing you can be awesome too). I like the guy, he’s entertaining, a little wacky, and he means well. Schmidt I like the least, though he’s supposed to be a douchebag (I think every penny in the douchebag jar is probably from him). I’m sure he and Coach, and even Nick will learn something living with Jess, and they’ll develop more on top of it. Jess is, well adorkable, as we’ve all heard. She’s so charming and entertaining that it’s hard for anyone not to like her, not bad if that’s your lead character. I actually wonder if this role was written for Zooey, but not the point. Obviously I have to point out that saying that LOTR references are bad is stupid, and the fact that Jess is actually pretty awesome and would actually attract a lot of guys I know. But it was the pilot, and I foresee it turning into a pretty good sitcom. The set up of roommates is actually something everyone can relate to and makes me reminisce about college, so I’m looking forward to that dynamic. Overall, I liked New Girl and hope it only gets better, only to turn into a great sitcom and introduce more people to Raising Hope, which would be one great hour of TV.

RAISING HOPE! Yeah I capitalized, what up? The season 2 premiere brought me great joy. I always liked the show, but I was thrilled with how great it became through it’s first season. The season 2 premiere just proved that it’s still as great, and now I can’t wait for the remainder of the season. The episode centered around Jimmy’s lost musical talent of singing and playing piano. It was a simple premise and lead to some great moments and quotes. I liked that their new hope was in, well, Hope, as she had potential to be talented like her father. I really enjoyed the beginning where Shelley sang a song about what happened last season. I’ve always loved her daycare for babies/dogs/old people, and she’s just so fun (I’m glad she moved on from Scrubs to this role, it’s fitting). Then we were brought to Jimmy watching a home video where he was an awesomely talented singer/pianist. He was tragically hit in the head with a putter and then couldn’t remember any of his training and alas, his talent. So of course Virginia and Burt try what they can to help him remember, from finally taking him to the doctor to recreating past moments. Sadly he could not remember, UNTIL THEY WERE DRUNK! When Jimmy played at the recital the next day, he wasn’t actually good at all, they just thought so the night before because of the beer. I did like seeing Lucas Neff be talented through his parents beer goggles when he drunkenly sang and played piano, I wonder if that was actually him…Anyway, Sabrina, like the adolescent girls of Jimmy’s talented past, fawned over his performing and who knows what that means for those two crazy kids. The episode definitely showcased some great things. Mention of TV sitcom plot lines including Gilligan’s Island and how it would be unwise to take advise from Gilligan (even though there was a professor, as Burt had exclaimed) was definitely a big one. I also enjoyed the bird in Burt’s shirt and his confession of being jealous of Jimmy and how he threw the putter (“I’ll always remember that day, September 11th, 2001: the day I through that putter”). More good included the fact that Virginia and Burt can’t remember words often (Jimmy had amnesia “you had ambrosia” “anemia…” “anemia!”), and that fantastic line about how Hope was like “that guy with the Barbara Walters hair and named after that movie dog.” Plus Maw Maw teaching Jimmy and then Hope piano with the abrasive puppet was just awesome. I’m so excited this great show is back, and I hope this season is comparable to the amazing season Parks and Rec had last year (thanks to that EW article for making me realize that my love for these shows is not something that I alone have). I love the Chance family and look forward to spending the end of my TV Tuesdays with them.

That’s all for now folks!

-A

Monday of premiere week, yay! I watched How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, 2 Broke Girls and Castle. Also, I read that stupid email about netflix changes, but let’s not talk about that. Premiere week, people!

How I Met Your Mother was back in good form as it premiered its seventh season tonight. “The Best Man” and “The Naked Truth” were pretty good, the former being better than the latter. I loved the framing device of Barney’s wedding where He and Ted reminisce about Punchy’s wedding, aka worst wedding ever. Barney’s wedding jitters make me wonder what will happen since he’s not sure he picked the right ‘tie’ but I’m looking forward to seeing who this mystery bride is. Punchy’s wedding was pretty enjoyable all around. Ted’s wedding toast montage, auto tune and all, was great. And we learned about Robin’s truth voice, YES! It’s ok Robin, I too think the Spice Girls should get back together. The scene where Robin told Barney she still has feelings for him while appearing to help him get Noa back by saying exactly that, was both heartbreaking and very well done. I like Nora and all, but I don’t think she’ll be ‘the one,’ just the one that leads Barney to be the man who has a ‘one.’ Marshall and Lily revealed their pregnancy news, and I’m hoping this season doesn’t get weighted down by baby-ness the way so many shows do. I trust HIMYM will be just fine. It’s always in good hands. Plus, when Carl the bartender realized that Lily was pregnant because she wanted a non alcoholic beer, that was gold. Also, future Ted/Bob Saget has confirmed the the story is kind of but not really even close to being over. I’m thinking season 8 will be a fitting end if that’s how it goes. Also, I’m curious about this Ducky Tie…Anyway, “The Naked Truth” was pretty entertaining too. Marshall freaking out about his Beercules video was an alright arc for the episode (btw can I AM BEERCULES please be used more often on nights of partying, PLEASE?!). Also, Edward forty hands game rule explanation? Nice! Luckily, neither the first, nor the second video stopped Marshall from getting his dream job in as an environmental lawyer, old marshmallow is on a straight path (well, except for the ducky tie incident, seriously, can we please know this??) Also, Martin Short should make an entertaining boss for Marshall, I definitely enjoyed him in the episode. Oh, we also had Barney trying to win Nora’s trust back. His string of every lie he ever told was classic Barney. And not one, but two stories about being bit by a snake, well somewhere, and needing the poison sucked out was great. Plus one was SPACE POISON! In the end, he showed how he really wanted to change for her by not leaving the diner until he got a second date with her. Looks like a new couple emerged. Even if he is a jerk for not ordering food that whole time, but that’s just the waitress in me. Btw, is this diner taking the place of MacLaren’s, because that might be the saddest thing ever…however will Carl be updated on Lily’s pregnancy?? Oh and speaking of couples, Ted was trying to decide who to bring to the architect’s ball. Really the story line was ok, I liked the cheering for the yellow legal pad and colored charts, but the obvious exciting part was Victoria’s return. I’m really happy she’s back and I’m hoping Ted can smooth things over with her. Granted it’s a little anticlimactic since we know she’s not the mother, but still, it should be interesting. My last point, now I DEFINITELY think Robin marries Barney now. It would explain why the bride would want to see Ted, since he’s supposed to be Robin’s best man. Plus I would LOVE to see a war over Ted as best man, that would make for some fantastic episodes. But who knows, I’m one of those people sticking with the theory that the mother is Barney’s half sister…trust me, it makes sense!

I don’t have much to say about Two and a Half Men. I mean I’ve never thought the show was good. That would be the writers fault. Granted the funeral scene and the death of Charlie explained was entertaining, but replacing Sheen with Ashton Kutcher didn’t really improve it, just as I had anticipated. The writing is lazy and changing up the plot and actors won’t improve the show. Granted it works because that’s what the general population seems to like, looking at the ratings and all. Sigh..

2 Broke Girls was pretty good. I enjoyed the pilot and I like the characters, the lead actresses definitely play them well, and I really enjoy Kat Dennings in most things anyway. The show has a good concept, rather than just 2 broke girls working in a diner, it’s 2 broke girls deciding not to settle for working in a diner and start a bakery business. On top of that the character of Caroline, the spoiled heiress, is not as cliche as I thought she would be, so that will be a strong point. She’s got smarts, I like it. I definitely think this one has potential, granted some of the jokes really strained for laughs, but I’ll forgive it since it’s the pilot. It could definitely be a good sitcom at some point if it gets better throughout the season.

Castle was exciting of course. However, I was worried after the episode that all the comedy had left the show, but the superhero promo for next week gave me all my hope back. That will be awesome! Back to the episode, Beckett and Caste’s relationship definitely won’t be the same, she actually did remember everything even though she told Castle she didn’t (everything including when he told Kate he loved her…). Plus she broke up with Josh, so yay! The new captain is going to be a very different dynamic. So far I’ll say Montgomery was better than this ‘Iron’ Gates, but who knows, maybe she’ll charm me with her scowls and hardassed-ness. Ryan and Esposito continue to make me happy. I like their bromance, even though on current TV shows they’re third to Troy and Abed from Community and Shawn and Gus from Psych. Hmm what else? Well it looks like Alexis and her father will have a more strained relationship this season, she doesn’t like all this Beckett/that crazy case stuff, but I don’t blame her. Oh yeah, the crazy case stuff. Beckett will be safe as long as she doesnt delve into the case, somehow. Not sure who the sketchy dude that called Castle telling him all that was exactly, but let’s hope he’s trustworthy. Anyway, the case is obviously coming back a decent amount this season and Beckett is really going to have to work to get back to her old self, if that ever happens. Oh and you know, Castle+Beckett goodness. Those are definitely strong arcs for the season, so I’m definitely excited for what’s to come. 

Lastly, netflix. Ugh. Quickflix Quickster (sorry for the typo, but it reminds me of friendster which makes me think that the DVD part of Netflix is going to die faster than Myspace…) really? Ok I don’t really want to rant about this, I’ll just say that if it concerns you, you got the email. I’ll also post a link if you’re REALLY curious, but yeah, Netflix basically screwed the pooch. The lack of instant streaming content, plus no more integrated website, plus slow mail, is the basis of why. Anyway, I’m going to pull a Forrest Gump and that’s all I have to say about that.

Anyhoo, Monday of premiere week was good. Tomorrow I’ll chat about Glee, New Girl and Raising Hope. I already watched New Girl on itunes, so I already have thoughts. I’ll just say like most pilots, it was decent and I enjoyed it, but it does have problems. More on that later. Goodnight, yo!

-A

entertainmentweekly:

Emmys 2011: The complete winners list

Emmys were pretty much the usual this year. A few surprises in a couple of the actor categories, but that’s about it. My favorite part was The Office sort of character montage and how much everyone was in character. Good deal! The Lonely Island had Michael Bolton, so that was awesome too. The “In Memorium” segment was moving as always. As for any other thoughts, I’ll just say again how sad I am that Parks and Recreation, arguably the best comedy on TV right now, lost to Modern Family, probably the second best comedy on TV. Obviously that’s my opinion, but it’s not an uncommon one as I’ve seen from reading around the internetz. I guess, to see if you agree, watch the last seasons of both shows and decide for yourself. I knew it was mostly in my dreams, but oh well. Anyway, overall, they were enjoyable as always, and I know that I have a lot of things to check out still. Somehow I’ve seen and watched all of the comedy nominees (with the exception of 30 Rock, which I’ve only seen some of) and have seen almost none of the drama category. I WILL! Please don’t hurt me, if you don’t believe me, look at my netflix queue…