New and Shiny Shows

The Crazy Ones: Pilot
Robin Williams is the dad, Sarah Michelle Gellar is the daughter and together they are the perfectteam in an ad agency. Real celebrities like Kelly Clarkson and McDonalds were used in the pilot. Clarkson was great as a version of herself that wanted to become less pure and sweet. Williams was typically and annoying while Gellar was almost invisible.
The Crazy Ones refers to a old commercial that pitched nothing but an idea before a product was made.

Two and a Half Man: Nangnangnangnang
The episode title refers to the sound/action that Alan made when breast feeding. The show introduced the new "Half Man". Since Angus T. Jones is gone they needed another woman crazy perv. Amber Tamblyn is a horny drunk lesbian who is also Charlie's secret daughter. In this modern day no one on the show asked for DNA proof which seemed a bit false. Amber is a great actress but so far her character is very one-dimensional.

Also Alan is no longer a chiropractor as he refused to pay higher rents for his practice.Now he is Walden's personal assistance.

Parenthood: It has to be now
Amber is going to marry her unstable boyfriend because that will help the situation. Kristina is running for mayor because her opinion matters even though all she cares about is her kids. that autistic kid is huge and now a photographer.

Great that the show is back but I forgot how silly these people act sometime, just like real people.

Sidenote: Optimum is still interrupting breaking news stories with Optimum commercials after 15 minutes of air time.

She's going to be O.K.

When we last left Detective Benson she had a gun to her head as was lead into her bedroom by an
unstoppable rapist/torturer.

Law & Order SVU: Surrender Benson/Imprisoned Lives

A four day journey with one of the most evil men this show has featured left Benson exhausted and mentally, emotionally, and physically abused. Fortunately she was not sexually assaulted. Her ordeal left her full of rage that she took out on her captor. Oddly though she lied about the details of her escape which in real life would not be necessary as since she was tortured that taking revenge would be okay even in the courts.

The entire season will be dealing with her torture but Det. Benson seems to be coping well.

The second hour was a mash-up of the different kidnapped and rescued stories we have been hearing about the last few years. Far from subtle it was a typical post-9/11 story line. For those who remember pre-9/11 storylines typically had the criminals winning.

Marvel's Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Marvel's Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. : Pilot

Well Joss Whedon just calls upon his friends from Firefly and Angel to make this pilot better than most. Whedon has a co-workers as they often appear in his works from Angel to Buffy to Firefly to Dollhouse to How I Met Your Mother.

This show explores the events after the Avengers saved NYC in that big movie that a lot people saw. Agent Coulson is mysteriously alive, his 8 second death and relocation seems to be a cover story. Coulson is putting together a team to find superheroes and make sure they are not a problem.

His team is full of normal humans and must find ways to control the situations created when super-powered beings start showing off. There are also other groups looking to the same and possibly for evil purposes.

I have hope for this show even it is a monster of the week like his other shows since there is always a bigger storyline. Disney is not the kid-first nuts they use to be so hopefully they will allow this show to push boundaries like Buffy did.

CBS Monday Night Premieres

Except for Merritt Wever winning and her short speech the Emmys were just typical.

How I Met Your Mother: The Locket / Coming Back
This is going to be a long weekend. They establish that "The Mother" is adorable and perfect in every way. Ted is stalking Robin, again. Marshall is doing a road trip with Sherri Shepard.  Then on the second half Robin seems more insecure then Barney. Overall some nice moments but too much foreshadowing.

2 Broke Girls: And the Soft Opening
The writers threw every genital joke they saved up over the break into this one episode. I missed this show and glad it is back but they still have Jennifer Coolidge doing the worse character currently on TV.

Mom: Pilot
Horrible women use alcoholism as an excuse for their messed up lives. Maybe there is more to the story but the canned laughs made it distracting. I prefer show without a studio audience so I need to get use to other people laughing at stuff that not funny.

ABC Friday Night Premieres

I skipped the Tim Allen show because I never watched it and do not plan to.

The Neighbors: Family Conference
Funny and sweet episode. The entire plot involved the teenagers new found love for each other. Alien and human love is adorable. The whole alien invasion of Earth is on hold leading to problems for the alien dad that will be featured all season.

Shark Tank
Cake balls ruled the day. I enjoy this reality show about people trying to sell there ideas to established professionals. The rejections are my favorite parts because it is usually well explained and is actually a learning moment.

Tuesday Night Premieres

Fox is on a roll starting a week earlier then every other network.

Dads: Pilot
It feels like a 1980s sitcom and that is not a good thing. Everything typical of a sitcom is here with no surprises. One of the dads shows up to his son's work and cost them a multi-million dollar deal and everyone just shrugs it off. That scene just made me dislike everything about this show. Add to that there were no laughable moments. That said this is the pilot which is usually the worst episode so maybe I'll try again.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Pilot
Andy Samberg does bits while solving cases as a detective. Again no laughable moments but at least it is less formulaic then Dads. This show has a better future but it still is a low brow comedy which is not a good time for me.

New Girl: All In
Jess and her new beau run off to Mexico while the roommates continue to ruin their own lives. The show is sweeter than it is funny but worth watching if you like absurd situations.

The Mindy Project: All My Problems Solved Forever
Finally a funny show that I actually laughed out loud. Mindy and the cast are constantly throwing out clever and funny lines showing how the writing and acting are the best among Fox's comedies. New to the cast is James Franco who is great when he tries and yes he is trying for this role.

Monday Premieres and Finales

Bones: The Secret in the Proposal
Bones struggles with her feelings after Booth refuses to marry her for good reasons. While we see Bones softer side the murder of the week is a good reason to bring in Freddy Prinze Jr.. Prinze Jr. plays a CIA agent and former colleague of Booth. Yet all I was thinking is that these two guys made out with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Detail of The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane. oil, 26 7/8 x 33 7/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sleepy Hollow: Pilot
A promising show about hunting the headless horseman quickly turns into a huge founding father-bible conspiracy show. You can also see there will be a "monster-of-the-week" along with the primary storyline. Luckily more than one person believes that all this supernatural stuff is real as several cops see the headless horseman and his head is secured. I would watch this show again but I will not be TiVoing it. Poor Clancey Brown never made it pass the 10 minute mark.

Under The Dome: Curtains
The dome has got a bad attitude and everyone finally gets all religious. Nothing gets answered but contact with the dome "builders" has begun.

SIDE BY SIDE: The Science, Art and Impact of Digital Cinema

Great documentary about the changeover from film to digital hosted and co-produced by Keanu Reeves. We see how great film is and was then we see how convenient and flexible digital is and is becoming.

Reeves interviews many famous and creative artists who work behind the lenses. Most of the industry is lamenting the reduced use of film but they love the ease of use of digital. There is no judgement but film is still loved for its richer depth but everyone can see that digital has yet to reach its full potential.

As a host Reeves does a great job but they do a lot of cutaways to him that seem unnecessary. Still for all you movie lovers this is a great doc that should be watched for free on PBS. 

Rising Above It All

From my Coined For Money blog:


It has been 12 years since that awful day on September 11, 2001, the day when at least 20 Muslims conspired to kill as many Americans as they could based on their extremist views.

New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. has recovered physically but remains scarred emotionally. The World Trade Center is now at full height and soaring above everything like a beacon of success and recovery.

 

We will never forget what happened and we will only grow stronger.