Monthly Archives: June 2014

Entertainment Buzz, TV Reviews & Discussion, Upcoming!

The CW Unveils Fall 2014 Schedule

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The line-up and premiere dates are as follows:

Monday September 29 and Tuesday September 30 The CW is airing the IHEARTRADIO music festival. (8-10 pm Eastern)

Monday October 6 The Originals (8-9 pm Eastern)

Monday October 13 Jane the Virgin (9-10 pm Eastern)

Tuesday October 7 The Flash (8-9 pm Eastern)

Tuesday October 7 Supernatural (9-10 pm Eastern)

Wednesday October 8 Arrow (8-9 pm Eastern)

Wednesday October 22 The 100 (9-10 pm Eastern)

Thursday October 2 The Vampire Diaries (8-9 pm Eastern)

Thursday October 2 Reign (9-10 pm Eastern)

Friday August 22 America’s Next Top Model (9-10 pm Eastern)

Friday October 3 Whose Line is it Anyway (8-8:30 pm and 8:30-9 pm Eastern)

The Flash and Jane the Virgin are brand new series. The Flash is especially anticipated, with Grant Gustin starring as Barry Allen, a role that he originated on Arrow. The Flash, like Arrow, is a DC Comics universe series.

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By HodgePodge
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Entertainment Buzz, TV Reviews & Discussion

Teen Wolf Mines Fanfic Tropes for Season Premiere

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Known for increasingly wacky plot lines and ploys, Teen Wolf dug full force into standard fan fiction tropes for its season 4 premiere Monday night.

Long known to be a fan fiction favorite, de-aging was trotted out as the opening dilemma/mystery for the teen clique to face early in the new season. After a flashback episode in season 3 in which Ian Nelson played a well-received teen Derek Hale, the young actor has been brought back to play a Derek who has been de-aged to about 16 again.

In a move that indicates a lengthy turn at the crack pipe, the writers had Derek kidnapped and placed in the tomb of a werejaguar god with ancient powers that caused him to morph into his teenage self, with his age (and apparently the memories of himself) only up to the point at which he was secretly dating Kate Argent before she set the fire that wiped out most of Derek’s family.  Yes, you read that correctly.

The plot line could easily have been swiped from any number of fan fiction writers, for just about any TV show or movie.

These de-aging stories are certainly popular with media fans, but there is something the Teen Wolf writers and showrunners probably didn’t consider: The ire of Tyler Hoechlin fans who waited the entire episode for their favorite to appear, only to have the younger actor show up instead.

Pro tip: What works on paper, doesn’t necessarily work on screen.

And don’t underestimate the wrath of fans who have waited months to see their favorite actor in action, only to be served a bait and switch. The one-time flashback episode that featured Ian Nelson in season 3 was enjoyable for many fans, but that did not signal their willingness to trade their beloved Hoechlin for the young cutie beyond that.

Trailers for the remainder of the season indicate the switch isn’t permanent, but neither are there clues for how long viewers will have to wait to see the actor and the much-anticipated hairy chest that Tyler Hoechlin will apparently sport in the season.

The brand new hairy chest is another topic altogether, of course.

Teen Wolf airs on MTV at 10p.m. Eastern/Pacific.

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By HodgePodge
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Entertainment Buzz, Highlights of the Week, TV Reviews & Discussion

Clonetastic Orphan Black S2 Finale

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Beware of Spoilers Ahead!

Orphan Black aired its action-packed season 2 finale tonight, and it was not short on surprises and twists.

The episode picked up with Kira having been kidnapped by Rachel, and  Sarah surrendering herself as a bargain for Kira’s safety. Naturally, things didn’t go as Sarah hoped, and Rachel seemed to have no intention of releasing Kira. Siobhan and the rest of the Clone Club had to devise their own way to free both Sarah and Kira, while also doing what they could for Cosima, whose health was noticeably deteriorating.

The scene with clone sisters all safe and sound for the time being, and dancing together, was both a cinematic and emotional high point in the episode.

The twists that continued right until the last frame were all surprising without being ridiculous, and the cliffhanger leaves the viewers with just the right amount of anticipation for a new season and the right amount of the urge to scream, “I want it NOW!”

Always a good sign in a finale.

Well played, Orphan Black. Well played!

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By HodgePodge
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Entertainment Buzz, TV Reviews & Discussion

Angelic Train Wreck: Dominion

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The pilot for Dominion is a classic tale of a good idea gone really, really bad. The post-apocalyptic world presented the producers with an unending cache of possibilities, but the developers chose a selection of boring clichés and offensive visuals to create their universe.

Cheap is a good word for this creation, and it describes not just the production values, but the apparent attitude with which the story’s world was built.

Was archangel Michael’s somewhat reluctant participation in an orgy really necessary?  Was it necessary to create a world in which people would throw orphaned children into the lowest caste of a rigidly divided class structure, and put them to work in their laundry facilities?

But most importantly, was it really necessary to have the scary, evil opponent in a gladiator style fight be an obese woman possessed by a homicidal angel?

These types of “creative” choices say an awful lot about the attitudes of the show’s developers and what viewers can expect in the future from them. Hint: nothing good.

This vulgar mess of a production is all the more disappointing given the potential of the show’s premise.

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By HodgePodge
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Entertainment Buzz, TV Reviews & Discussion, Upcoming!

Syfy Premieres Dominion Tonight

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Tonight, Syfy’s Dominion makes its debut at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific.

Apparently set in the universe created by the film Legion (2010) with Paul Bettany, Lucas Black and Adrianne Palicki, the series picks up 25 years later. In a post-apocalyptic world after the battle between archangels Gabriel and Michael, grubby politics rules, and a caste system has taken hold. Having come out victorious from the battle years earlier, Michael sticks around the town of Vega, formerly Las Vegas, to watch over the pathetic remains of humanity.

Some of the residents also await a messiah to save them from the pending reemergence of Gabriel and what they call lower angels, which are actually murderous, beastly looking creatures. There is most certainly one particular character who will turn out to be the intended savior.

This is a Syfy series, and so there are bound to be cheap production values, but a good story could garner interest and a loyal following. Whether the series will actually present a good story remains to be seen.

Check your guide for listings.

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By HodgePodge
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Highlights of the Week, TV Reviews & Discussion

Bizarre But Fitting End to Fargo

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(Beware: Spoilers Ahead For the Finale)

Fargo wrapped up its ten-episode run on FX last night with with a tense, often gruesome hour and a half time slot. As bizarre as all previous episodes, the finale was also a real nail biter.

A very pregnant Molly wrestled with how involved to get in solving what was essentially her case, seeing that nobody else made the connections and stayed on it the way she did. Gus, watching her wrestle with it and fearing for her life, finally overcame his own fears with regard to Malvo and really stepped up.

The relationship between Greta and her newly anointed grandfather, Lou (Keith Carradine), was a satisfying thread to the family that Gus and Molly weaved throughout the series.  The jeopardy the family faced created the bulk of the tension in the episode.  The question of Lester’s survival provided not so much tension, but real curiosity, and at times, of course, the viewers were very much ready for his survival to be nonexistent.

The end to Malvo was a surprise and rather satisfying. The end to Lester was likely a little disappointing to those hoping for something more vicious.

The final moments, despite constituting a happy end for the Solverson-Grimly family, nonetheless felt a little somber. Fitting, since there wasn’t much joy in what they’d all experienced, just an end to the carnage.

(And no, it has not escaped our noticed that the brilliant law enforcement officer is named Solverson and the somewhat gloomy Gus is named Grimly. The psychotic, bad guy killer Malvo was equally subtle. Well played, Fargo. Well played.)

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By HodgePodge
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TV Reviews & Discussion

24: Live Another Day Episode 9

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I watched the ninth episode of 24: Live Another Day last night.   If you haven’t watched it and intend to do so, please don’t read further!

I have problems with this episode.

The premise that the President of the United States not only negotiated with a terrorist but surrendered himself in atonement for a drone attack which accidentally killed civilians disturbs me.

The president’s additional reason for this sacrifice is even more troubling.  He decides that having been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s it is an appropriate sacrifice to make.  Really?  What does that say to other Alzheimer’s victims?  And this is a person in the very early stages who would have access to the very best healthcare…gee what a role model.

 

Entertainment Buzz, TV Reviews & Discussion

Please Save Us From Heroes

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There is a reason NBC’s Heroes fell out of favor with fans after an initial burst of wild popularity. For a show with immense potential and a great, if unoriginal premise (see our post about The 4400), the show ended up limping to its drawn out, long overdue demise after four seasons. Despite this, NBC has brought on show creator Tim Kring to helm a mini series follow up, called Heroes Reborn.

Planned to air in 2015 some time, the mini series details are still extremely scarce.  It is still unknown how many original series characters will be making a return, but it seems as though it will be light on them, with more focus on different characters, given that NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke said, “but we won’t rule out the possibility of some of the show’s original cast members popping back in.”

Winces among television fans around the Internet are an indication that this mini series really needs to deliver and generate some positive, well-earned buzz if it’s going to get viewers to point their remotes to their local NBC channel.

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By HodgePodge
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Highlights of the Week, TV Reviews & Discussion

Orphan Black Amazing Weirdness

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This show continues to be utterly weird and completely amazing. Season 2, episode 9 aired last night, June 14th, on BBCA. Last week saw the introduction of transgender clone Tony, and this week saw jaw-dropping developments with Helena.

In a show that naturally and effortlessly demonstrates the power of women, it was a risk to go into the territory of subjugating women for the purposes of essentially making them breeding stock. But the risk paid off as two of the women being abused took cringe-worthy and deliciously satisfying revenge.

The sight of an abuser in stirrups has to be a highlight for many, many women out there, and no further explanation why is really necessary.

Just one more episode in the season remains, and audiences should expect shock, twists and more generally amazing weirdness to feature heavily.

See the complete list of episodes here (but be careful of spoilers):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Orphan_Black_episodes

Check out the show’s official BBCA page here:
http://www.bbcamerica.com/orphan-black/

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How Do I Find Members?

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That one is pretty easy, really. You can find other members by clicking the Members link on the top navigation menu. Click the Follow button for any members you want to follow, and you’ll be able to track their activities in your account area.

Find your account area by hovering your mouse over your username in the top right corner of the page.  Then hover over Follow, then click Following, to see the activities of those you have chosen to follow. The page will show you how recently those members have been active. Choose a member to see what that person has been up to.

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You can also click the Activity link on our top navigation menu to browse activity site wide, and look for members that way.

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