What to see and what to flee... (TV Edition)
Blog Exclusive!
"Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" Season 13 (2011) 4 Stars - Watch it on HULU or NBC
Television spin-offs rarely work. Case in point "Joey" which was the bastard child of Everybody Loves Raymond or even Law and Order: Trial by Jury." But SVU defies convention. It is not only as good as the original L&O, but it trumps it in every way. Case in point: Most of the original cast is still intact and the newcomers to the show also fit right in.
The show manages to stick by the same exact formula running on 13 years now and it still surprises me every time. Season 13 marks change in L&O: SVU with the departure of Christopher Meloni (Det. Stabler), but with Mariska Hartigay returning there is no drop-off however.
On Wednesday, January 12th the show returned from a holiday break with it's 11th episode of the season. Be sure to check out the cops busting down walls to catch pedophiles, murders and addicts SVU style or you may very well be booked for insubordination.
P.S. Hartigay is the best television actress of her generation (whom I have seen at least.)
"Pan Am" Season 1 (2011) 3 1/2 Stars - Watch it on HULU or NBC
This aviation drama is scoring well with the critics, but has been crashing and burning with American audiences all season long. I only checked it out because the entire first season (9 episodes in all) was available as an HD download on iTunes. The show may return and I hope it does because it's really, really fun and glamorous.
"Pan Am" takes place in the early 1960s (with an occasional flashback to the 1950s) and takes viewers on a nostalgic trip around the world. I find the best part of the show to be the pretty ladies of course (I am a guy), but coming in a close second is the ability to see how I would have been treated by an airline some 50 years ago. Instead of having to take my shoes off at the behest of the TSA and receiving less than 2 ounces of pretzels (peanuts are out due to allergies) I would have gotten free magazines, free coat check and a full-on dining experience.
The plot is admittedly laughable since it centers around a flight attendant who acts as a spy for the MI6 and the CIA, but for a free viewing experience "Pan Am" is worth checking out.
The fan base is more geared towards a female audience by the way so don't expect an "Air Force One" type of show.
"Grimm" Season 1 (2011) 3 Stars - Watch it on HULU or NBC
I swore that soap operas were vile, disgusting creatures nurtured for far too long by daytime broadcast television executives. And yet I find myself watching Revenge week in and week out as uncontrollably as a teenage girl addicted to texting. See Revenge isn't the typical soap opera that sucks, is terribly overacted and features no actuality at all.
Everything, to an extent, is plausible in "Revenge." Emily, the show's main character has multiple grudges (don't we all?), and the businessmen that rule the Hamptons, where the show takes place, are portrayed as 1 percenter ass wipes.
Each and every episode offers a tremendous amount of intrigue, scandal and sexy-time. Because as we all know sex-scenes never get old. Ever. And to be completely scandal ridden the show features male on male sex as well. It seems that on "Revenge" everyone is horny all the time and without all the huffy-puffiness the show would be nothing, but a beautifully filmed Lifetime network special.
That's all I have this week. Be sure to check out HULU in order to view your favorite shows on internet connected TV's, mobile devices and computers.
Checkout Det. Benson in action below on Law & Order: SVU:
"Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" Season 13 (2011) 4 Stars - Watch it on HULU or NBC
Television spin-offs rarely work. Case in point "Joey" which was the bastard child of Everybody Loves Raymond or even Law and Order: Trial by Jury." But SVU defies convention. It is not only as good as the original L&O, but it trumps it in every way. Case in point: Most of the original cast is still intact and the newcomers to the show also fit right in.
The show manages to stick by the same exact formula running on 13 years now and it still surprises me every time. Season 13 marks change in L&O: SVU with the departure of Christopher Meloni (Det. Stabler), but with Mariska Hartigay returning there is no drop-off however.
On Wednesday, January 12th the show returned from a holiday break with it's 11th episode of the season. Be sure to check out the cops busting down walls to catch pedophiles, murders and addicts SVU style or you may very well be booked for insubordination.
P.S. Hartigay is the best television actress of her generation (whom I have seen at least.)
"Pan Am" Season 1 (2011) 3 1/2 Stars - Watch it on HULU or NBC
This aviation drama is scoring well with the critics, but has been crashing and burning with American audiences all season long. I only checked it out because the entire first season (9 episodes in all) was available as an HD download on iTunes. The show may return and I hope it does because it's really, really fun and glamorous.
"Pan Am" takes place in the early 1960s (with an occasional flashback to the 1950s) and takes viewers on a nostalgic trip around the world. I find the best part of the show to be the pretty ladies of course (I am a guy), but coming in a close second is the ability to see how I would have been treated by an airline some 50 years ago. Instead of having to take my shoes off at the behest of the TSA and receiving less than 2 ounces of pretzels (peanuts are out due to allergies) I would have gotten free magazines, free coat check and a full-on dining experience.
The plot is admittedly laughable since it centers around a flight attendant who acts as a spy for the MI6 and the CIA, but for a free viewing experience "Pan Am" is worth checking out.
The fan base is more geared towards a female audience by the way so don't expect an "Air Force One" type of show.
"Grimm" Season 1 (2011) 3 Stars - Watch it on HULU or NBC
NBC's recently been plagued by b.s. The once proud network is now known for its late night talk show host controversy, the untimely cancellation of Law & Order and terrible Jekyll and Hyde style writing that plagued shows such as Heroes. Yet, with all the drama NBC still managed to unwrap "Grimm," the best new show of the year.
"Grimm" is based off of the stories written by the Brothers Grimm in 18th c. Germany. Select characters and morality lessons that made these fairy tales timeless are introduced on an episode-by-episode basis. The big bad wolf and his piggy friends, for example, square off in one episode. These supernatural characters are part animal and part human. The people blessed with their ability can switch between their carnal and human forms at will.
Grimm is also fairly unconventional with it's cinematography. The number of colors that are produced in each and every shot are beautiful and wholly unrealistic. In fact, everything about this show is unrealistic, expect for the human drama. The two main actors David Giuntoli and Russell Hornsby play the role of partners in the Portland Police Department. There chemistry is so convincing that it's easy to forget the absurd plot lines (a boy who controls rats with his voice? and makes them kill! for one).
Somehow the show sticks with you -- whether you like it or not. And trust me you'll like it.
"Grimm" is based off of the stories written by the Brothers Grimm in 18th c. Germany. Select characters and morality lessons that made these fairy tales timeless are introduced on an episode-by-episode basis. The big bad wolf and his piggy friends, for example, square off in one episode. These supernatural characters are part animal and part human. The people blessed with their ability can switch between their carnal and human forms at will.
Grimm is also fairly unconventional with it's cinematography. The number of colors that are produced in each and every shot are beautiful and wholly unrealistic. In fact, everything about this show is unrealistic, expect for the human drama. The two main actors David Giuntoli and Russell Hornsby play the role of partners in the Portland Police Department. There chemistry is so convincing that it's easy to forget the absurd plot lines (a boy who controls rats with his voice? and makes them kill! for one).
Somehow the show sticks with you -- whether you like it or not. And trust me you'll like it.
"Terra Nova" Season 1 (2011) 3 1/2 Stars - Watch it on HULU or FOX
Honest to god this show should stink, but it didn't let me down all season long. My love affair with "Terra Nova" is understandable since science fiction is my favorite genre. It's like the creators of "Jurassic Park" had a baby with the people behind "Avatar."
Now this show is downright cheesy, but it you can get over all the schlock you will find "Terra Nova" to be equal parts sexy, thrilling and downright cinematic. Seriously folks I've seen movies with budgets so big that it make "Terra Nova's" look like a student film.
The plot is fairly standard in that it's a survival story. Survivors from the future (2149 to be exact) come hurdling down a worm hole that transports them 85 million years. The survivors land into an Earth where dinosaurs still ruled the roost and they need to stake out a place for themselves amid a stark, never ending jungle landscape. On top of that rebel human settlers named the 'Sixers' are hell-bent on milking the past for precious minerals while simultaneously trying to find a way back to the future in order to transport their ill-gotten gains. While predictable the whole way through Terra Nova is the rare show that will please people that hate sci-fi while appealing to the one's that love it.
It's great family fun.
The show may or may not be cancelled for the 2012 schedule, but here's to hoping that Fox decides to keep this show alive.
Honest to god this show should stink, but it didn't let me down all season long. My love affair with "Terra Nova" is understandable since science fiction is my favorite genre. It's like the creators of "Jurassic Park" had a baby with the people behind "Avatar."
Now this show is downright cheesy, but it you can get over all the schlock you will find "Terra Nova" to be equal parts sexy, thrilling and downright cinematic. Seriously folks I've seen movies with budgets so big that it make "Terra Nova's" look like a student film.
The plot is fairly standard in that it's a survival story. Survivors from the future (2149 to be exact) come hurdling down a worm hole that transports them 85 million years. The survivors land into an Earth where dinosaurs still ruled the roost and they need to stake out a place for themselves amid a stark, never ending jungle landscape. On top of that rebel human settlers named the 'Sixers' are hell-bent on milking the past for precious minerals while simultaneously trying to find a way back to the future in order to transport their ill-gotten gains. While predictable the whole way through Terra Nova is the rare show that will please people that hate sci-fi while appealing to the one's that love it.
It's great family fun.
The show may or may not be cancelled for the 2012 schedule, but here's to hoping that Fox decides to keep this show alive.
"Revenge" Season 1 (2011) 3 1/2 Stars - Watch it on HULU or ABC
I swore that soap operas were vile, disgusting creatures nurtured for far too long by daytime broadcast television executives. And yet I find myself watching Revenge week in and week out as uncontrollably as a teenage girl addicted to texting. See Revenge isn't the typical soap opera that sucks, is terribly overacted and features no actuality at all.
Everything, to an extent, is plausible in "Revenge." Emily, the show's main character has multiple grudges (don't we all?), and the businessmen that rule the Hamptons, where the show takes place, are portrayed as 1 percenter ass wipes.
Each and every episode offers a tremendous amount of intrigue, scandal and sexy-time. Because as we all know sex-scenes never get old. Ever. And to be completely scandal ridden the show features male on male sex as well. It seems that on "Revenge" everyone is horny all the time and without all the huffy-puffiness the show would be nothing, but a beautifully filmed Lifetime network special.
That's all I have this week. Be sure to check out HULU in order to view your favorite shows on internet connected TV's, mobile devices and computers.
Checkout Det. Benson in action below on Law & Order: SVU:
As always thanks for reading!
© 2011 Matthew R. Reis, All rights reserved.
Comments
Post a Comment
Feel free to share your thoughts, recommend films for me to see and more. Comment anytime.