Daniel's TV Blog

Last season was busy. I had intended to watch The Good Place but somehow just missed it. I love Kristen Bell and Ted Danson so I knew I would like it.

I didn't like it, I loved it. I watched the whole season last weekend. I can't remember laughing out loud so much to a TV show. Big spoilers below.

The Good Place is the afterlife where the best of the best spend eternity. Everyone else goes to the Bad Place. I had heard the twist somehow before watching the show. So I knew they were actually in the bad place. But I still didn't know the circumstances these people were there. My theory was this was the bad place for Michael and he had to try to keep the place together given a list of impossible situations. In the end, he had planned this place as a bad place to make the four main characters torture each other without realizing it. I'm glad there is a second season. It will be fun to watch it play out again as a mild reset.

Of course one of the best things about the show is Janet, the all knowing AI. When she died, I just about died myself. I watched it over and over. Also, her reboot sequence was also hilarious.



And there was Bad Janet who was even funnier. Adam Scott showing up as the head of the Bad Place was yet another wonderful thing. This show was hilarious. I will probably watch it all again over the summer.

When it was announced that Ally McBeal was moving to a recurring character, I was skeptical if the show would still be good. But the show really shifted away from Catco this season. Which was also a bummer because I loved Andy from Cougartown as Snapper. Also introduced this season was Lena Luthor who took on some of Cat's role as the outside perspective.

Alex had a great storyline as she came out as lesbian and started dating Maggie the cop. Yay for diversity.

Keeping with their strong women theme, Lynda Carter joined the cast as the President of the United States. She is actually an alien in disguise, of course. But when her life was threatened, Supergirl has to spin around to stop a fire in the best homage to Wonder Woman ever done.

Keeping with the classic Smallville type stunt casting, the end of the season Big Bad was Rhea played by Teri Hatcher. She was Mon-El's long lost mother. She brings an invading fleet of ships and plans to enslave the Earth until they are stopped by Supergirl. Teri Hatcher was Lois Lane to Dean Cane Superman. They did not have any scenes together.

One of the best things about this season was the cross-overs with the other DC shows. There weren't actually on this show, but Supergirl helped save Earth 1 on The Flash/Arrow/Legends and then was stuck in a gangster lounge singer fantasy with Barry. It was the second best musical episode of the year.

But the best thing about season two was definitely Mon-El. He is easily the hottest guy on TV right now. I enjoyed his arc this season as his back story unfolded. I really want him back for season 3 but based on the finale, that is up in the air, or through a wormhole.

Labels: supergirl

Honestly, I don't know how I made it through to the end of the season. I took it off my DVR last season but then went back and watched the rest of the season. A couple episodes this season I fast forwarded through half of them.

But in the end, I was rewarded for sticking it out with a great final episode that actually answered the questions. Spoilers on that later.

One of the things I really liked about this show was how they mostly concentrated one character in each episode. The thing I mostly disliked about this show is the characters themselves. I didn't like most of the characters. They did stupid things and were just generally unpleasant characters to watch. The thing I really hated was their misunderstanding of time zones and the international date line. Laurie is in Australia where it is morning on the seventh anniversary of the departure. She is talking to her daughter in the US who references that it is also the seventh anniversary where she is. Nope, it the evening of the night before.

Anyway, we finally get the answers to what happened to the two percent of the population that disappeared. Nora goes through the machine that sends her to the other side. There she finds out the world was split, most people on our side, but a few on the other side. After some time, she made it to her family but decided not to bother them as they seemed happy and she didn't belong there. So she found the machine on that side and came back. We don't see any of this but she explains it to Kevin after he tracks her down years later.

I'm inclined to accept this story. One of the foundations of their world is most people now believed this was confirmation of god an/or the supernatural. But her explanation was just some weird radiation event that is not fully understood yet. It is the classic god of the gaps.

Also explained, to a lesser extent, is Kevin's ability to die, go to the afterlife, and come back. He had some weird heart problem and was just lucky. In his last visit to the afterlife he was given no new information. The children didn't know where the shoes were and Christopher Sunday did not teach him the song. It was all just in his head.

So happy ending for most, eventually.

Labels: Leftovers

CBS

Kevin Can Wait
I never watched this. Kevin James just doesn't interest me.

Bull
This glorifies all that is wrong with the justice system. If someone can afford to hire this jury consultant to game the system, then it's not a fair trial. I won't be watching.

MacGyver
I'm opposed to this.

Man With A Plan
I watched the first couple episodes but just wasn't that interested. I like the actors but when they went to the "who will he take to the football game" trope so quickly, I just got turned off.


NBC

Timeless
I watched about five episodes. The time travel stuff is fun and the military guy is insanely hot. But the conspiracy and secret society stuff is dumb.


Trial and Error
This show is hilarious. I still have about six episodes on my DVR I need to watch. Sherri Shepherd is laugh out loud funny.

This is Us
I may watch this over the summer. I don't know much about it but it has been getting great reviews.

Taken
This show barely even registered on my TV radar.

The Good Place
I binged on this show last weekend. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard at a show. Everyone is just amazing, especially Ted Danson.


ABC
American Housewife
I watched a few episodes and I really enjoy this show. I will catch up over the summer.

Fox

Lethal Weapon
Why? Just, why?


The CW

Riverdale

ABC

Last Man Standing
This cancellation was a little controversial. But when a show goes into its seventh season it becomes much more expensive. So unless they are pulling in Friends ratings or the network has a higher ownership state, six season is all there is.

Dr. Ken
I watched this for a few episodes but I lost interest. I really like the cast, I just didn't think it was that funny.

The Real O'Neals
I'm really sad about this. It was wonderful to have a TV show about a gay teenager. I also loved his family and his fantasy world.


American Crime
I watched the second season but I was unsatisfied with the ambiguous ending. I didn't watch the third season.

Time After Time
The was probably the worst of the new time travel shows. My biggest issue was how Jack the Ripper was able to figure out how to microwave a frozen burrito without burning his mouth. It was a bad show. Timeless, however, was somehow renewed.


NBC

Emerald City
I watched the first season and it was visually appealing. I just didn't really care for the characters. I probably wouldn't have watched a second season anyway.

Grimm
The ending was planned and I wrote about it earlier.

Powerless
I really liked this show. I'm sad it didn't get more of a chance. The best episode was when they found a Batarang and hoped to use it to meet Batman. Danny Pudi and Ron Funches are the best. There was an unaired episode with Adam West guest starring. They released it on youtube.





CBS

2 Broke Girls
Just like Last Man Standing, this made it to six seasons and then it was no longer affordable. I never watched it.

The Great Indoors
I enjoy Joel McHale but this office comedy just wasn't very funny.

The Odd Couple
I watched the first season and then lost interest in it. The actors are great but the characters were just not that interesting.


CW

Frequency
The movie wasn't very good so I didn't bother to even consider watching the show.

Reign
I was vaguely aware of this show about Mary Queen of Scots. It was appartently on for four seasons. It looks like it ended with a planned ending.

The Vampire Diaries
This show lasted 8 seasons and I never watched one episode. We hit peak vampire a long time ago and we don't need more vampire shows or movies.

No Tomorrow
The world is ending or maybe not. But this show did. I never watched it.



Fox

Bones
This show was on for twelve seasons? That's a really good run. David Boreanaz is sexy, but I was just never interested in it.

Making History
I'm sad this show didn't catch on. It was really funny. In the second episode there was a very good gag about gun control moments before the Revolutions starting in Lexington.

Sleepy Hallow
I watched the first season but I really didn't like this show. I never really bought into the premise.

Scream Queens
This show was hilarious. It was such complete nonsense. I don't know where they would have gone in the third season.


Son of Zorn
This show was very odd. I loved all the characters and Tim Meadows was brilliant. I wasn't really happy with the season finale where the Son of Zorn got pregnant. I found it enjoyable.

Thanks to the bizarre world we live in, the recent season of Saturday Night Live had record ratings. Here is my list of best sketches. But first...


Best Monolog - Kristen Stewart. There were a lot of good monologs this year, but Kristen Stewart explaining how the president used to tweet about her love life was so weird it had to be true. Also she dropped the f-bomb.

Best Musical Performance - Katy Perry Swish Swish. With all the drag queens and the bizarre teenager doing a weird backpack dance, I couldn't get enough of this.


Best Weekend Update Character - Weather girl. Vanessa Bayer ended her great seven season run with the amazing TV meteorologist character Dawn Lazerus. How she is able to spew complete gibberish so well just amazes me. It almost makes up for the most annoying weekend update character ever, Jacob the bar mitzvah boy.

5. Dirty Talk (Aziz Ansari)
This was the real introduction the new player Melissa Villaseñor. She is the naughtiest girl in the 6th grade.

4. Totinos (Kristen Stewart)
I love Vanessa Bayer's put upon housewife character trying to keep her hungry guys happy during the Super Bowl. But this year she stepped it up a notch with a French lesbian love story. Anything for her hungry guys.

3. Cherry Grove (Scarlet Johansen)
There are five miracles of home water birth asleep in this house!

2. Wells for Boys (Emma Stone)
I really want to have the balcony for when I want to announce something. I keep watching this and laughing.

1. Haunted Elevator (Tom Hanks)
Of course the best sketch of the year was Tom Hanks as David S. Pumpkins. Any questions? Yes! This was probably the best sketch in years.



Best Episode - Kristen Stewart. I was never much of a Kristen Stewart fan before this episode. I never watched the vampire movies and her public relationships never interested me, unlike the president. But this episode was packed with great skits. I hope they invite her back even though she dropped the f-bomb on live TV.

Labels: SNL

Stephen Furst played the long suffering Smithers type character assistant to Ambassador Molari. He was fantastic in that role, going from nobody to Emperor through the series. Vir was one of the few to stand up to the creepy Shadow representative. And he saved the lives of thousands of Narn by helping them emigrate from their destroyed world. He was one of the good guys and Steven Furst played helped make that character great.

There are allegations of misconduct. Here is the article. They may resume production after their investigation. I hope the allegations are assault related instead of rape related.

Inhumans
This got an early pickup but they still don't have a full trailer to release. The eight episode season will run in Agents of SHEILD's time slot before it's fifth season.

The Good Doctor
A young surgeon starts at a new hospital. He is a genius autistic savant and doesn't get along well with others. I tend to avoid all medical dramas.

The Mayor
A rapper runs for mayor as a stunt to sell more albums. Then surprise, he wins. Seems a little too much like our real life. But it does star both Lea Michele and Yvette Nichole Brown, both of whom I love. I will give this a small chance.

The Gospel of Kevin
Kevin is a waste-oid who suddenly discovers he is a profit of the lord. Now he wanders the countryside helping random people Hulk style. I'm hoping this is good as it stars Jason Ritter who I've always been a fan of. TIL, he is the son of the late John Ritter.


Ten Days in the Valley
So there's a TV writer and he kid gets abducted but the whole thing is similiar to a storyline on her TV show. The looks way to inside to be successful. Plus it seems very specific to its opening storyline.

The Crossing
A large number of people wash ashore near a small town, most of them dead. It turns out they are refugees of a war in the future. The small town must figure out what to do with them. This also seems a little current. It's easy to dismiss refugees when they are brown and don't speak English. I'm not sure about the long term viability of this show.



Deception
A famous magician starts to work with the FBI to solve complex cases of misdirection. So it's basically Castle but with a magician instead of a famous writer. I'll give this a try.

For the People
Another legal drama.

Alex Inc
Zach Braff has a new show where he is trying to start some podcast company. Not only does this sound like a terrible show, it sounds like a really bad business decision.

Splitting Up Together
Pam from The Office and the dad from Scream Queens are getting a divorce. They are still going to live together and raise the kids together. So it is basically The Real O'Neals but with younger children.


Rosanne
Shows returning is the new trend. I didn't watch much of the original show. I haven't decided if I will watch the return.

The Bachelor Winter Games
When I was ready the description earlier this week, I winced and face-palmed. My coworker asked if I had a brain freeze. I then read him the line that broke me: "[This show] will reunite the all-stars at a luxurious winter resort, where they will go head-to-head in winter-themed athletic challenges, including the toughest sport of all – love." But of course I'm going to watch every episode.

Dancing with the Stars Junior
Really?

Labels: upfronts

The CW has a rather solid schedule. They only have a few new shows to add this year.

Dynasty
Dynasty is back! At the start, the big feud seems to be between the Ivanka-like Fallon and the business executive Cristal. These are great improvements over the original female characters. The gay son Steven is around too, but no one cares anymore that he is gay. Except that he is having an affair with his new step-mom's nephew. This looks amazing. I really hope they bring Alexis in at the start of season two like in the original.


Black Lightning
Another superhero show set in the Arrow-verse. Or at least I'm assuming it's in the same universe. It's not a direct spin-off like the last Flash and Legends. What I love about this is it not an origin story. Black Lightning gave up being a hero long ago and now has to return. It's also in New Orleans and I love that city.

Life Sentence
A new comedy-drama to go along with Jane The Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. This one is about a young woman who suddenly finds out her terminal cancer is cured. All the stuff she did thinking there would be no tomorrow and no consequences start to pile up. I enjoy the CW comedies but I may not have time for this one.

Valor
Oh look, another special forces TV. Does this make three? This one looks like it might be about POWs. I'll skip all these, thank you very much.

Labels: upfronts

I was in LA during the finale so I didn't get to watch it until this morning.

As a gay ginger myself, I was very happy to see Brooke and Scott take home number one. Of course he is far more athletic than I ever was or ever could be. If I ran the race, my ending would be similar to Floyd from #TeamFun, near dead on the side of the road from heat exhaustion and dehydration.

I also would have been OK with #TeamLoLo winning as I get a boner every time I look at Logan. What a hot piece of ass. Here's my favorite scene of the entire series: Redmond, Matt, and Logan all shirtless.


I still have hatred in my heart for #TeamMomAndDad after they eliminated my future ex-husband Seth.

It was sad to see #TeamTheBoys get knocked out due to a bad decision and a bad cab driver. They could have recovered from one, but not both. I still want to rub my face in Redmond's beard for hours.

I'm sad The Race is over and I'm sad CBS is only doing one race a year these days. I don't want to wait nine month for my next adventure.

Labels: The Amazing Race

I'm back from vacation and ready to finish up on my upfronts reviews. Let's continue with CBS.

The big news is they finally have a trailer for Star Trek Discovery which was supposed to be part of last season's schedule. But it looks terrible. They said, what did people hate about past Star Trek shows? The hated the prequel. Let's do that again! They hated the lady captain. Let's do that again! But of course I'm going to watch it.



Young Sheldon
The trailer looks great. It's your basic The Goldbergs slash Wonder Years with a grown-up version of the character narrating the events of his childhood. The difference is the audience is already familiar with the adult character and his idiosyncrasies.

Me, Myself and I
Bobby Moynihan is leaving SNL to star in his own show. This is about the three stages of a characters life, a 14 yo version growing up in the 90s, the 40 yo version going through a divorce, and the 65 year old version played by John Larroquette. I think this might be a good formula and I plan on watching.


9JKL
An actor moves back to New York and lives next door to his parents and brother, on either side of him. I watched the trailer and didn't laugh once.

Seal Team
This is totally not The Brave. That show is on NBC and it is totally different.

SWAT
You know what CBS needs? Another police prodecural. The original SWAT starred TV series kiss-of-death Robert Urich and only lasted two seasons.

Wisdom of the Crowd
Crowdsourcing to solve crime. It's CBS so it's a procedural. And it's got Jeremy Piven, another reason not to watch.

Labels: upfronts