My Week In TV - 11/9/14

This week there were no new episodes of The Flash or Agents of SHIELD on Tuesday. ABC ran some hour-long special about Marvel Comics and their TV and movie forays, followed by election coverage. No idea why the CW had a repeat. But many of the episodes more than made up for it...

Gotham: The best episode of the series thus far. Not perfect. Still some wonky scripting and acting (I'm looking at you, woman who plays Barbara, Gordon's girlfriend) but much tighter. There was no weekly crime to solve, the entire episode focused on the aftermath of the Penguin's public appearance at Jim Gordon's arrest. I was hoping they'd keep this tighter focus but, instead, I've read in the past week of the forthcoming introductions of yet another two future Batman villains.

Arrow: The episode was titled "The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak." Fun episode. Love her. (Her mother, not so much.)

American Horror Story: Freak Show: Wow, did this episode go places! Big revelations and plot turns, and guys in tighty-whities! I actually watched it a second time.

The Big Bang Theory: Big sweet moment when Amy starts to tell Sheldon something important and, after a minute, he stops here with "I love you too." Awwwwwwww.

Bones: I am beginning to wonder if I really need to keep watching this show. It's not awful but it's really rather standard. And with Thursday being a big TV night, maybe I can just let it go, or at least just watch episodes On Demand when I'm not watching anything else.

Scandal: I feel like this show is going in circles at times with the whole B613 thing. Someone needs to be stopped and other characters plot to stop them. And I can't fathom a seemingly smart White House chief of staff, who's played plenty of dirty tricks over the years, being stupid enough to get involved with a guy AFTER he learns the guy's a prostitute, start paying him for their "dates" and even shell out money for a place in lieu of hotel rooms. Shouldn't he suspect someone might be setting him up for something?

How To Get Away With Murder: After this one, only two episodes remain until we, the viewers, learn who actually killed Sam. So then all that's left is to find out how they get away with it? And this has me wondering what will happen in Season 2? I wonder if this show is sustainable?

The Simpsons: "Simpsorama," the crossover with Futurama. Sooooooo much better than the Family Guy crossover. Bender is sent back in time to kill Homer Simpson (as it turns out, because of something Bart did that led to creatures destroying New New York in the 31st century). Lisa: "Why must you kill my dad? Especially when cheeseburgers are doing the work for you?"

Family Guy: Another one I'm starting to tire of. Used to be kind of a guilty pleasure, although I don't really believe in that concept, but now it's more guilty than pleasure.

My Week(s) In TV - 10/19/14

So I missed a week. Oops. Consider this a two-week summary (any more procrastination and it'd be a three-week summary). Instead of listing them based on the day they aired, I thought I'd rank the shows in general order of awesomeness.

How to Get Away with Murder: The show has really grabbed me. I'm glad I gave it a second chance after the first episode. It's a wild ride with mostly interesting characters. Viola Davis is, not unexpectedly, tremendous, especially at the end of the third episode a week ago.

American Horror Story: Freak Show: I find it a cross between the more sinister, darker Asylum and the more campy Coven. Jupiter, Florida in 1952 is a very strange place. I'm loving the musical numbers (of contemporary songs, not songs from the time period!) and the Baltimore accent employed by Kathy Bates as the bearded lady. (Also, if anyone wants to gift me with a DVD set of Season One, which I have yet to see...)

Arrow/The Flash: I'm combining these because they're practically the same show. Same co-creators, same format featuring current events explained/enlightened by flashbacks, both shows feature the titular hero and his support team. And, of course, Barry "The Flash" Allen was introduced in Arrow last season. There are plenty of differences as well, though. Arrow, while based on a comic book, is a little darker and more grounded in something close to reality. The Flash is more obviously of the genre, but it also makes room for a little more humor.

Scandal: I'm still on board with a lot of this, but I'm starting to tire of the Olivia/Fitz drama. If you're not going to put them together as an actual couple once and for all, and I guess it's impossible -- even on this show -- for a sitting U.S. President to divorce his wife and marry his mistress, then just put this romance far, far away for a while.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I read an article somewhere which stated that it feels like this season's show will influence events in future Marvel films, unlike last season, when events in the Captain America sequel turned this series around. Of course, if the ratings aren't up to snuff, then there will be no more influencing in either direction.

The Big Bang Theory: Still solid and reliable, but at the same time it's a bit formulaic. For example, there are episodes in which the guys and girls go their separate ways -- in the case of last week's show it was the girls in Vegas while their men were at home being their usual geeky selves.

Bones: Again, kinda formulaic, although they're not above a bit of Law and Order-style headline-ripping. Or tweaking, in the case of the episode where the "corpse du jour" turned out to be an overweight right-wing radio talk show host who, it was said, didn't believe any of the conservative stuff he said but only said it because the ratings were so big. Sound like anyone you know?

The Simpsons: The 25th Treehouse of Horror special was on Sunday. Not bad, but for me the best part of it was the end of the final segment. That segment featured the Simpsons' house being haunted by the ghosts of their original selves -- from the crudely-drawn shorts on the Tracey Ullman Show. Then, under various circumstances, the current Simpsons die and become ghosts. Lisa then wonders if there can be other versions of their family, and a string of alterna-Simpsons suddenly line up at the door, including the LEGO Simpsons from last season and Simpsons looking like characters from South Park, anime shows (Maggie as Pikachu), Archer...and the minions from Despicable Me!

Gotham: I still can't figure out why I haven't stopped watching this mess. I feel like this could be such a brilliant show but they've made so many missteps. Too many characters, plotlines that are either predictable or ridiculous (or both), some bad acting...but this kid playing the young Bruce Wayne is excellent. I'm still undecided about continuing with this show.

Family Guy: Meh. Also, one week the show was a rerun for some reason. The new TV season is a month old and already there's a rerun?

My Week In TV - 10/5/14

Well, Dallas was canceled by TNT. It seems that once J.R. was gone, so were the ratings. That will make my Mondays a little easier in the future. As for this most recent week, let's start with...

Gotham: I saw enough improvement from the pilot to keep it on my watch list, at least for now. I can do without Jada Pinkett Smith as a new character, Fish Mooney. But on the other hand, Carol Kane guest-starred as Oswald Cobblepot's mother. She would have easily fit into one of the Tim Burton "Batman" movies.

The Big Bang Theory: Silliness as Wolowitz (who spent some time on the International Space Station a while back) was asked by NASA to throw out the first pitch at an Angels game. His athletic ability adding up to zero, he uses a replica of the Mars rover to deliver the first pitch. It goes very, very slowly. That, and giving him a microphone to address the crowd, made the entire storyline ridiculous.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: I want to see where they're going with the mystery of Skye's parentage. It appears she'll be meeting her father soon. Maybe she'll get a last name out of it and we'll know her as something other than "Skye."

My Week In TV - 9/28/14

Remember how I used to post about which comic books I bought every week, with comments about each book (or comics in general, or whatever else I decided was sort of related to them)? Well, I don't buy nearly as many comics as I used to (go back and read about my issues with the DC comics reboot that led to Superman's using his baby blanket as a cape). So, I thought I'd try something new: commentary on the TV shows I watch each week.

This is in part inspired by what a big week this was for my personal TV viewing, which I will get to. First, though, this won't be about my regular Monday-through-Friday shows -- consisting of the brilliant Keith Olbermann on ESPN2 and, of course, TMZ -- unless something in particular during those shows that I think needs attention. Nor will this be about telecasts of sporting events, again unless I feel it's warranted. So we'll start with the programs that aired between September 21 and 28. (I didn't necessarily watch them in their time slot. I usually DVR everything and skip through the commercials. Also, I hope future posts won't be as long as this one is turning out to be.)

Last Monday started with, thanks to the magic of DVR, two episodes of The Big Bang Theory on CBS, the two-hour third-season finale of Dallas on TNT and the premiere of the new series Gotham on Fox.

Big Bang has been on so long now that I'm sort of waiting for the dropoff in quality. Not sure it's happened yet, because they've been able to have the characters grow out of their established personas. It's very slow, but just enough (such as Raj finally being able to talk to women without alcohol) to keep them interesting. So we'll see. (Note: it's on Monday for a few weeks due to CBS showing some NFL games on Thursdays.)

The Dallas reboot has been surprising since the start. Although ostensibly starring the sons of J.R. and Bobby Ewing, so much of the show has featured the old cast, and killing off J.R. (necessitated as it was by Larry Hagman's passing) led to some of the best television of 2013. Season three ended with a shocking death, although the shock was lessened by the fact that it happened at the very end of the episode and was hyped by TNT: "One...Ewing...Will...Die." Better to kill the character in the middle so it's truly unexpected.

I had tremendous expectations for Gotham, the Batman series without Batman.

My TV Schedule (And Two Gay Nays)

In the past I've talked about how I decide whether or not to watch a new TV show -- basically, I need something to pique my interest in it, or else I just happen to watch on a whim. So with the new fall TV season under way, I thought I'd update you on what I'm currently watching (or considering watching, or tried to watch). There have been a few changes in my schedule.

SUNDAY: I've still got "The Simpsons" (which, let's face it, at this point I'll never stop watching) and "Family Guy" (which I can't quite get rid of). With "Desperate Housewives" gone, though, I don't have another Sunday night show. I'm considering trying "666 Park Avenue," only because Vanessa Williams moved from Wisteria Lane to this address. Apparently (as you can guess from the number) there are devilish doings going on. I'll try it.

MONDAY: It used to be a quiet night until Fox moved "Bones" here. I also sampled the debut of "Partners," one of the two new shows with heavy gay content. It co-stars Michael Urie, one of my faves from "Ugly Betty," which is why I watched it. Urie's character is gay and his best friend (played by David Krumholtz) is straight. Their significant others are Brandon "I'm no longer Superman" Routh and Sophia Bush, respectively. I may watch another episode because I really like Urie, but I think they'd be better off if they ditched the truly dull Krumholtz and Routh entirely, and maybe Bush as well.

TUESDAY: At least "Partners" isn't the other big gay sitcom, "The New Normal."

Quick Reviews: Seeking, Ted, Abe

I managed to see three movies in four days, and none of them was "Magic Mike." How is this possible? Someone needs to remind me that I'm gay.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World: All attempts to stop an asteroid from crashing into Earth have failed, says the radio at the start of the movie. The world will end in three weeks. We then get Steve Carell in his typical role as lovelorn shlub. We know this immediately because as soon as the radio DJ finishes the news update and resumes playing music, his wife jumps out of their car and runs away, never to be seen again. While some people start partying and having random sex without concern for pregnancy or disease, Carell's character, Dodge, tries going to work as usual, selling insurance. Then he meets Penny (Keira Knightly), and they end up trying to track down his high school sweetheart, the one true love of his life. Since the focus is on their trip and its impact on them, there isn't much focus on the whole world-ending thing. "The Day After Tomorrow" this ain't. So when they're nearly caught up in riots, it comes off as more of a plot device. And the way it ended didn't seem quite right to me. But some stretches of it were quite affecting. My grade: B-minus.

Ted: From the mind of Seth MacFarlane comes the story of a boy who wishes for his teddy bear to come to life, has his wish magically granted, and still lives with the bear 25 years later, both wasting their lives away drinking, getting high, etc. Basically a mediocre episode of "Family Guy" but with more explicit raunch and language, and

Eye Yi Yi!

I was up much too early this morning because I had an appointment with my ophthamologist. Before we get into that, though, let's discuss our favorite public transit system.

My appointment was for 8:40 am. I got down to Frankford Terminal to catch the El around 8:10, giving me plenty of time to get to Allegheny station and either walk or take another bus to the office. However, when I got up the stairs to the El platform, there was chaos. It was filled with people waiting for a train, and some were getting quite disturbed. I got my phone and logged onto the mobile version of SEPTA's website to see if there were any advisories, and found...nothing. They have a Twitter account as well. I went on Twitter and found...nothing. (Later I checked and saw that their Twitter account hadn't been updated in 3 days until this afternoon, when there was an announcement about a book drive.) Thanks for nothing, SEPTA.

I thought about waiting to see if a train was coming from somewhere, but I saw that one of my fine Twitter peeps, PhilthyBlog (the actual blog is here) posted that he was sitting on a train that was stuck at a station for 15 minutes. So I left the El platform and caught a bus instead, and ended up only a few minutes late.

So, about my eyes...

I've been to the eye doctor's often over the last two-plus years.

More Random TV Talk

Four more "singers" have been voted off the "American Idol" island. They won't be missed. Simon Cowell will be missed. His commentary is about the only thing keeping me watching. I suppose I should be shallow and say I enjoy contestant Tim Urban's shirtless picture. Perhaps if he showed some skin on the show he can hang around a few weeks more.

Meanwhile, tonight we were force-fed an appearance by Danny Gokey. He sang, which was bad enough (though, since I record it each week and fast-forward through the commercials, I also was able to forward past the song). Then he had to not only pimp his late wife (again), but also the fact that the song he sang was written by someone whose wife also died. I got this from Entertainment Weekly, and I'll probably have to say it until the day I die: put the GO in Gokey!

Thank goodness for the DVR. I also fast-forward through the filmed packages for each wannabe such as this week's inane "Something that America would be surprised to learn about me is..." followed by a totally unsurprising (and usually uninteresting) fact. Here's a clue, wannabes (and show's producers): no one's heard of any of you before this. I don't know ANYTHING about you. And unless you're going to talk about your nights at the local sex club either riding the sling or on your knees at the "milking station," I don't care.

Meanwhile, last week I worried that "Desperate Housewives" was hinting that Katherine would go lesbian with the stripper. I so hoped they wouldn't go there. They went there. Plus, apparently (suddenly) the gay couple on the block throw big parties all the time, but also (again, suddenly) are trying to adopt a baby. And Susan was an idiot (as usual). I seriously think I'm tiring of this show. The only question is, should I stick it out until John Barrowman arrives in April to do whatever he's doing that will lead to the end of the stupid Bolen mystery and Drea de Matteo's leaving the show?

If I stop watching both "DH" and "Idol," and with "Ugly Betty" ending next month, I won't have many shows to watch on the "big four" networks -- "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "Bones." I'm sticking with "The Amazing Race" at least as long as Steve Smith is still on. On cable, there's also "RuPaul's Drag Race" and "Be Good Johnny Weir" but there aren't too many episodes of those shows so they won't be on much longer. "Mad Men" and "Robot Chicken" are in between seasons. I've been watching "Southland" since it moved to TNT. They've got some new episodes now, so we'll see if TNT wants to continue running it. I like it but I'm not sure I love it yet. Oh, and I musn't forget my daily dose of TMZ.

I know there are a lot of shows that are popular and/or critically acclaimed, but as I've said before, something needs to hook me in order for me to even try to watch. So if I've got some more empty time slots in the coming weeks I doubt they'll be filled by other shows.

My Sunday Night TV

Now that the networks are bringing out new episodes, there's a bit too much for me at the moment. Too many of the shows I watch regularly are on Sundays: "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "Desperate Housewives," all of which premiered tonight. Also, I sampled the "Family Guy" spinoff "The Cleveland Show" -- I don't think I'll give it a second chance. "Mad Men" is in the mix as well, although it started a few weeks ago and there aren't as many new episodes in the season, so it will be out of the way. (I'd include "Robot Chicken" as well, but their new episodes ended last week. Besides, it's a 15-minute show -- actually less, because of commercial time and the credits.)

I could, of course, DVR a lot of this and save it for during the week. That presents problems, though:

• The networks -- Fox, in particular, often skews things so that their shows begin a minute or two before the scheduled time ("The Simpsons" will start at 7:58 or 7:59, for example). Also, if they have a national NFL telecast in the 4:15 pm ET slot and the game runs late that may cause the schedule to be adjusted.
• I don't like to watch shows days later if I can help it. I like to read some recaps of shows on EW.com and I don't want to worry about avoiding spoilers.
• With my DVR I can record one network while watching a show on another network. If I do that, I can't watch the Sunday night NFL games on NBC. If the Eagles are one of the Sunday night teams, that takes away my options further. I have a second TV downstairs (besides my TV with the DVR in the living room) but the screen is smaller and there's no DVR.

I record the shows anyway so I can fast-forward through the commercials, but this generally means I'm either missing the Sunday night football or I only see parts of it, or I'm up really late at night -- like now, for example.

Because of all of this, I'm not watching the new season of "The Amazing Race." It debuted tonight as well. I never watched the show until the most recent season but I was really impressed. If I want to watch this season I'll have to catch up with it online, or perhaps the Travel Channel will have repeats later in the week, as they did last year.

I suppose I'm lucky that I only have this problem one night per week.

My Week In Comics: 8-19-09

Okay, so I had to re-title this, since tomorrow I'll be back to the store for a new book or five. At least I came up with something permanent, instead of calling it "This week's..." or "Last week's..."

Blackest Night: Superman 1 (of 3): This tie-in to the "Blackest Night" event is probably the best of any of the BN books I've picked up. It's a success on all levels. The latest Black Lantern to be introduced is Kal-L, the Superman of Earth-2, who died during "Infinite Crisis." It plays a little like a horror movie, with Smallville depicted as the typical small town just before the monster begins its devastation, followed by the attack by BL Kal-L (and an unsurprising assistant) on Superman, Superboy, Krypto and Ma Kent. Considering that the Earth-2 Superman was considered by many to be more powerful, how the living current Kal-El is going to win the fight is a question. It even ties into current Superman events, as another black power ring arrives on New Krypton. Of course, this will lead to complaints such as "How can Superman be doing such-and-such on New Krypton at the same time he's fighting the Black Lantern Superman on Earth?" from continuity sticklers.

Supergirl 44: This is Part 3 of the four-part "Codename: Patriot" storyline. DC is promising that the stories going on in the Super-books regarding New Krypton and the plot by General Lane against Superman will set up something huge in 2010. It's intriguing to imagine what they're planning, considering how entertaining (for the most part) the current plot is. Ral-Dar, the Kryptonian who wounded General Zod, learns that he's a pawn in Lane's plans and escapes, headed to intercept the U.S. President (which, we learn, is exactly what Lane wants). As Superman gives chase, Supergirl and Mon-El go after Nightwing and Flamebird, who are headed towards Metropolis...or are they?

Superman/Batman 63: The world has been taken over by the mind-controlling Gorilla Grodd. The atmosphere is filled with kryptonite, which forced Superman to leave Earth, the other heroes have been eliminated, and only Batman fights on desperately. In other words, it's another issue that completely ignores what's going on currently in the DC Universe. Plus they stole the end from the "Stewie Kills Lois/Lois Kills Stewie" Family Guy episodes.

Superman Annual 14: It tells the story of how Mon-El's home planet of Daxam came to be -- and how Mon-El himself came to be, for that matter. It's interesting if you like Mon-El, I suppose.

Simpsons Comics 157: "Marge's Extreme Make-Under" -- Springfield has been named the ugliest city in America by a magazine and, thanks to the "Eye on Springfield" TV show, Patty and Selma take the brunt of the abuse. So Marge decides to defend their honor by looking more like them. Homer is not happy!