(Also at 411Mania.com)
Welcome everyone to Man Cave DVR. This column is kind of like a Two Tivos To Paradise companion piece until Al Norton decides that I’ve totally ripped him off and has me shut down. Here is the premise:
I watch a lot of television. That’s what happens when you have a DVR and no life. So I’ve decided to quickly review all the television I watch in hopes of being quoted during one of the trailers for the show. Once that happens, I’ll stop writing this column. We could be here for awhile.
Some shows I’ll continue to watch, while others I’ll give up on because I think they suck or the network thinks they suck.
Here’s what I watched for the week of October 5 - October 11
Sunday (10/5)
Bob’s Burgers (Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl) - I’m just going to put this out there: Bob’s Burgers is the funniest animated comedy on FOX. If you disagree, fine. But you’re wrong. The season premiere was a spectacular mix of a great story and over the top comedy. A Die Hard and Working Girl musical is crazy enough. But then mashing up the two movie musicals is absolutely insane. Yet Bob’s Burgers pulled it off with an awesome final scene that showcased all of the kids, who remain the heart of the show.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Chocolate Milk) - I wasn’t too impressed with this episode. I liked all the interactions between Jake and Terry, especially Terry on drugs, but that’s about it. I thought Kyra Sedgwick’s cameo was pretty disappointing, especially as a one-time thing. I actually wouldn’t have minded if they made that a longer arc, but it seems like they knew it had no legs. Boyle looking for a date to his ex-fiancee’s party was a good third story, but nothing special.
Homeland (The Drone Queen, Trylon and Perisphere) - Can this show survive without Brody? That was the question heading into season four. So far, so good. Claire Danes was absolutely fantastic in these first two episodes as she now has to balance a new role at work with a new child at home. And she’s not doing a very good job. This episode proved that Homeland was more than the Carrie/Brody relationship. While that story undoubtedly helped the show, the premiere proved that it can survive without it thanks to great writing and acting. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out now that Carrie is station chief following a debacle in Pakistan, Quinn is at a crossroads, and Saul is trying to fix years of screw-ups. I also like the new character Aayan. WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?!?!?!
Total Divas (Scared Straight) - I used to enjoy this show for the hilarious unintentional comedy. Now it’s like they realized it was a comedy when it wasn’t supposed to be and have gone so far in the opposite direction that the show is just boring. Everything about this week’s show was boring. Total Serious Divas isn’t fun. Knock it off.
Mulany (Pilot) - I gave this show a chance and I regret to say that I’m out on it. I get that it was a “Throwback Comedy” with a laugh track and whatnot, but it just doesn’t work. I never really watched Seinfeld, but I can see the obvious comparisons. The biggest difference is that Seinfeld was actually funny. Mulany is not. Not even Martin Short could save this show.
Revenge (Disclosure) - This show has once again lost the plot. The cliffhanger is whether or not Emily died in the fire. Obviously she didn’t. I’m all for Charlotte turning against Emily/Amanda because I’d be pissed too if my sister destroyed my family instead of being honest with me. Everything else on this show just makes no sense. David returns and immediately falls back in love with Victoria because I guess, for some weird reason, he has no clue that Victoria sold him out. How he doesn’t know that is beyond me as I feel like it’s been established. Now Victoria is going to get David to go after Emily (who will survive the fire) and instead of Emily coming out and saying, “I’m Amanda, I’m your daughter” and end this show, we’re going to get a season of convoluted nonsense. If I wasn’t so deep into this show, I’d give up on it.
Monday (10/6)
Gotham (The Balloonman) - I’ll go ahead and say it: I loved The Balloonman villain. It was so goofy that it worked for me. The actual investigation was pretty weak, but the villain was pretty cool. This was a passable episode only saved by Oswald returning to Gotham, killing people, and then showing up at Jim’s place as the show closed. All the parts are there for Gotham to work, they just need to be put in the right place.
The Big Bang Theory (The Hook-Up Reverberation) - Raj finally introduced us to his girlfriend, making his character not completely useless, but then they did a jealousy storyline with Penny, which was completely useless. I liked the comic book store storyline though and actually wished they would’ve gone through with it. At the same time, they did a nice job showing why they couldn’t go through it (significant others/financials to think about). Had this been 3-4 years ago, the comic book store would’ve been theirs. But they’ve grown up since then. This was the first well-balanced episode of the season.
Scorpion (A Cyclone) - I might be out on Scorpion. I’m just having a hard time connecting with any of the characters. Maybe because I’m not a genius who is also a prick. Paige continues to use common sense to outsmart them, which doesn’t seem all that believable. I get that sometimes geniuses think too much, but I’m really supposed to believe that between the four of them they can come up with the simplest answer? I’ll probably give it one more week. Maybe.
Are You The One? (One Too Many) - I don't watch a lot of reality television, but when I do it's usually on MTV. This show tries to find the perfect match for 10 guys and 10 girls. On the first night one of the chicks already hooked up with one of the guys. Smart move idiots. What if they aren't your perfect match? You just look like whores. There's also an 11th chick, which means a lot of backstabbing on the girl side. As I always say, reality tv thrives on drama and MTV knows how to bring the drama.
The Blacklist (Dr. James Covington) - Liz has been awesome this season. She's on edge, knowing that Tom is still out there, but also on a mission to get answers from Red. As usual, Red was fantastic in this episode and he continued to play chess while everyone else is playing checkers. Plus we got an appearance from Paul Reubens. I hope he becomes Red's full time sidekick.
Tuesday (10/7)
New Girl (Mircro) - I wasn’t feeling this episode. The micro-penis storyline was pretty lame, Jess seemed uninspired, the jokes were flat. The only positive of this episode was CeCe and Winston making Schmidt believe that he could become a model. Schmidt continues to be the highlight of the show on a weekly basis.
Awkward (Welcome to Hell) - Jenna getting rejected from SCU seemed a little unbelievable considering how her interview went and how much effort she put into school, but we’ve all dealt with college rejection letters so this was a very relatable episode. I wish they’d stop teasing the Jenna/Matty reunion. We all know that, no matter how hard they pursue someone else, they will end up together. Right? The lack of Sadie in this episode hurt as I really wanted to see her reaction to everything.
Faking It (Lust in Translation) - A weak set-up episode with a good ending to lead into next week. The whole “Brazilian transfer school” thing was pretty lame, as was everything that followed. But Liam finally telling Shane that he slept with Amy saved the episode and will certainly make for a fun next couple of weeks.
Happyland (Price of Admission) - So we have a love square. Fun. Unfortunately, it’s not. The acting in this show is just so bland and the ideas, while not bad, lack conviction. Lucy and Ian are brother and sister who might be in love, Will also loves Lucy, but he has a girlfriend who seems pretty cool. Basically, Will is a dick and I have no reason to root for him. In fact, I have no reason to root for anyone except Will’s girlfriend. One more episode before I’m out on this show.
Below Deck (You’re Grounded) - Some good drama this week as Captain Lee turned into a total jerk, Kelley tried to fake his way through a hangover (we’ve all been there), and Kate and Amy are really turning up the bitchiness towards each other. Plus, Jennice finally admitted to liking Kelley, which led to the happiest moment of the season.
Sons of Anarchy (Some Strange Eruption) - Abel was the star in this episode. It's nice to see that the writers are acknowledging how smart this kid is and how much bad stuff he's seen. And, of course, more bad stuff happened this episode. Jax had it out with Lin and revealed why he went after the Chinese, which just confused Lin even more. Plus Juice has Gemma dead to rights, although I highly doubt he pulls the trigger. Things continue to heat up in Charming as we head towards the explosive finale.
The Mindy Project (I Slipped) - I’m just not feeling the Mindy/Danny relationship. They’ve been together officially for like 4 weeks and they spent most of that time trying to keep their relationship a secret. Now things are already so stale that they’re moving towards anal sex. Mindy and Peter were great in this episode, but the rest of it fell kind of flat to me. Although I definitely related a little bit with Danny. Take that how you want.
Selfie (Un-Tag My Heart) - Looks like Eliza isn’t the only one with problems. Henry is a flawed character as well who is behind the times and actually wants to enter the modern era. Unfortunately for him, he’s not good at it. Fortunately for us, it makes for funny television. By the end Henry is done with Facebook, but it showed that he’s willing to adapt for the one he loves. And it’s clear that he loves Eliza, even if she’s still hung up on a booty call who actually turned out to be a nice guy. This show, like Blackish, suffers from a terrible title. But the content is there.
Wednesday (10/8)
Red Band Society (There’s No Place Like Homecoming) - So many inconsistencies on this show. Once again, Coma Kid and Black Kid Who I’m Not Certain Is Actually Sick serve no purpose. Everyone else is free to just wander in and out of the hospital despite having cancer and heart problems. I think I’m supposed to feel sorry for everyone because they are sick and in the hospital with some pretty serious conditions, but I don’t. These kids have it made at this hospital. I feel sorry for anyone who actually believes that hospitals are really like this.
South Park (The Cissy) - MORE CONTINUITY! It’s a very strange thing in the South Park world but I like it. Who knows if Randy as Lorde was the original plan for the episode or if they re-wrote the whole thing following some idiot at Spin taking last week’s gag too serious, but it was a brilliant tie-in to Cartman exploiting gender identity. That’s the great thing about South Park, because they do episodes on a week-to-week basis, they can stay extremely current with any topic.
Key & Peele (Georgina and Esther and Satan) - The texting sketch was hilarious and completely on-point. I also enjoyed the mattress store sketch, especially the small swerve at the end, and the club sketch. The satan and joke laugh sketches went on far too long for my liking.
Nashville (I Can’t Get Over You To Save My Life) - EVERYONE IS UNLIKABLE! Luke is a jerk to his wife, his wife is going behind his back, Jeff is Jeff, Luke doesn’t want to get to know his future daughter in laws, Deacon and Avery are sleeping around, Juliette won’t talk to the people who know her best, Gunnar is a jerk, Zoey is a bitch, have I missed anyone? Scarlett is a good person, but she gets more useless by the episode. Rayna is about the only person worth liking but she’s juggling way too much and needs to slow down.
The Goldbergs (The Facts of Bleeping Life) - This was a near perfect episode. All the characters were used perfectly and no one felt useless. Even Erica’s friend Lainey got plenty of screen time. Adam and Barry forming their own rock band an then going through every stage in a day was great. Anytime Barry and Adam unite it usually makes for good television and this episode was no different.
Modern Family (The Cold) - ADAM DEVINE! It was great to see him return to the show and put Haley in her place. The other star of the show was Lily’s friend, who constantly upstaged Lily and then stole the episode after Mitch made her cry. The rest of the episode was pretty hit and miss. Phil editing the wedding video and the scenes with Luke were good while Cam benching Manny because he sucked wasn’t good. Isn’t Manny on the team in the first place because he was a force at running back or something? Pretty sure he was never the kicker.
Blackish (The Nod) - DEON COLE! I really hope that he becomes a regular on the series as he’s always funny on Conan and can thrive in the right role. This seems to be the right role for him. Last week was a disappointing follow-up to a strong premiere, but they picked back up this week by highlighting Dre Jr., Pops, and Diane along with Cole’s cameo. Everything about this episode clicked. From the plot to the character usage to the acting. All-around good stuff.
Stalker (Whatever Happened To Baby James?) - The critics might hate this show, but I’m enjoying it. It helps that it seems to go by really fast. This week was full of some good twists and continued to move along the main story of Jack being a (former?) stalker who is working in the area so he can spend time with his son. Jack remains a mystery and I’m sure we won’t get the full story until the end of the season. Meanwhile, it looks like Beth might be getting a stalker. She’s really good at catching the stalker of others, but can she spot her own?
Thursday (10/9)
Snack Off (School Lunch and Cinnamon Rolls) - A pretty weak episode thanks to the contestants screwing up their dishes. That said, Shannon’s cinnamon roll waffles and chicken definitely sounds like something I would eat as a snack. Can’t wait to try that.
How To Get Away With Murder (Smile or Go To Jail) - I like this show. But it’s still suffering from too many characters with too many personalities. As I mentioned last week, no one is who they seem to be and sometimes it’s very tough to keep up with who is who and who they appear to be and who they really are. It was nice to see Annalise and her crew actually lose a case as they seems rare in any lawyer show. While I do like the show, I can’t say that I’m as hooked as everyone else seems to be. Or am I just pretending to not be hooked when I actually love this show more than any show in history?
A to Z (B is for Big Glory) - This show is adorable. Yes, I used the word adorable. I wonder if this episode counts towards Andrew and Zelda’s relationship time since it didn’t seem like they knew that they were together until the end of the episode. This was a nice “definite the relationship” episode as they both knew they liked each other, but didn’t exactly make it official at the end of the first episode. So they kept doing their thing, until they made it official at the end of this episode. Not really a fan of the secondary characters, but Andrew and Zelda have enough charm to make the show work.
Gracepoint (Episode 2) - The father is the number one suspect, which isn’t very surprising. As I learned from Gone Girl, if a wife or child is murdered/goes missing the husband/father is always the number one suspect. I still want to know more about Carver. Obviously there’s a history there and we learned this week that he might have some medical issues as well. What was up with Danny’s skateboard in the creepy ladies house?
Friday (10/10)
Girl Meets World (Girl Meets The Forgotten) - THE RETURN OF HARLEY KINER! I guess it’s not all that shocking that Harley ended up as a janitor. It’s also not shocking that, in trying to teach Maya and Riley lesson, Cory enlisted the help of the lunch lady. He always did have a thing for lunch ladies. A really good episode following last week’s terrible Halloween special.
Saturday (10/11)
Nothing on the DVR
Binge Watch
The League (Last Week: S04E04 Current: S06SE06)
So I’m all caught up on the series and will officially add it to my DVR list for next week. After hitting a stride in season three, the show didn’t slow down. There were some hiccups along the way, but that’s to be expected with just about any comedy. Taco continues to be the highlight, but as I mentioned last week, there are no weak characters on this show. I’m also falling in love with Jenny for so many reasons.
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