Unforgettable
CBS Tuesday, September 20 at 10 p.m. (eastern)
Starring: Poppy Montgomery (Without a Trace) and Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck)
Plot: Former cop Carrie Wells is asked by her ex-boyfriend and former partner to join his homicide unit and help him solve a case. She spends a lot of time trying to solve her sister’s murder. The twist is that Carrie has hyperthymesia, which is the ability to remember everything. There have been a few confirmed cases in history, and it’s both a blessing and a curse for this character.
Why We Are Excited: We like the idea of it and we actually really like Poppy Montgomery, but….
Why We Are Not Excited: one of us thinks that it looks entirely forgettable. Also, we have enough shows like this.
Preview:
Anticipation Score: 4/10
Be sure to click on the "##Upcoming Shows## link in the cloud so you can stay apprised. And let us know if you think you will be watching any of them!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Sons of Anarchy Premiere
This isn't a show we are going to cover weekly. Probably every two-three weeks. But we just wanted to say that we loved the premiere and are so happy that Jax and Tara are engaged. We love them.
Episode Grade: A-
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
New Show: The Playboy Club
The Playboy Club
NBC. September 19, 2011.
Starring: Amber Heard (Zombieland, Pineapple Express), Eddie Cibrian (Sunset Beach, CSI: Miami), Naturi Naughton (Fame, Mad Men), and Sean Maher (Firefly, Serenity).
Plot: This centers around the lives of the employees at the first Playboy club. It’s possibly an attempt to rip off the style of Mad Men, but you can say the same thing about Pan Am (a show that both of us really want to see). We’re not really clear on the plot thing. What’s the story, exactly? Some girl murders a perv and has to hide it? There’s an attractive guy that none of the women can bag? Is there a story here, or are we just supposed to tune in for the Bunnies? There’s a lot of potential for this to just be silly.
Why We Are Excited: Visually, it looks nice. It looks like they spent money on the club and costumes. There is a lot of potential here for smart social commentary, stories about friendship, memorable characters, fun back story, and dark comedy with a premise like this. We both hope the show takes advantage of all of its opportunities. Also, if you are a guy just looking for some eye candy, this is one of the places you can turn come fall.
Why We Are Not Excited: One blogger doesn’t consider Playboy or that brand to be groundbreaking or helpful in any way. Call her a prude (which you shouldn’t, because she’s a Deadwood and Sex and the City fan), but this blogger is just over it when it comes to this topic. A show portraying the Playboy brand as glamorous has a LOT of work to do to win one of us over. When you buy things from the sex industry, you’re not “challenging social mores” or “updating a culture,” you’re supporting an industry of objectification and slavery that will not only cheapen everyone involved, including the viewer, but will also ruin your actual sex life. (See also the porn chapter of "The Brain that Changes Itself" by Dr. Norman Doidge.) Yeah, Playboy isn't exactly hardcore stuff, but it paved the way. Feminist activist Gloria Steinem said, “the series "normalizes a passive dominant idea of gender. So it normalizes prostitution and male dominance" and one of us couldn’t agree more. This show is great advertisement for the Playboy company. HOWEVER, we have not seen the show. Message is more important than content to us. If the show is actually empowering or intelligent, it can win both bloggers over.
Preview:
Anticipation Score: 1.5/10
Be sure to click on the "##Upcoming Shows## link in the cloud so you can stay apprised. And let us know if you think you will be watching any of them!
NBC. September 19, 2011.
Starring: Amber Heard (Zombieland, Pineapple Express), Eddie Cibrian (Sunset Beach, CSI: Miami), Naturi Naughton (Fame, Mad Men), and Sean Maher (Firefly, Serenity).
Plot: This centers around the lives of the employees at the first Playboy club. It’s possibly an attempt to rip off the style of Mad Men, but you can say the same thing about Pan Am (a show that both of us really want to see). We’re not really clear on the plot thing. What’s the story, exactly? Some girl murders a perv and has to hide it? There’s an attractive guy that none of the women can bag? Is there a story here, or are we just supposed to tune in for the Bunnies? There’s a lot of potential for this to just be silly.
Why We Are Excited: Visually, it looks nice. It looks like they spent money on the club and costumes. There is a lot of potential here for smart social commentary, stories about friendship, memorable characters, fun back story, and dark comedy with a premise like this. We both hope the show takes advantage of all of its opportunities. Also, if you are a guy just looking for some eye candy, this is one of the places you can turn come fall.
Why We Are Not Excited: One blogger doesn’t consider Playboy or that brand to be groundbreaking or helpful in any way. Call her a prude (which you shouldn’t, because she’s a Deadwood and Sex and the City fan), but this blogger is just over it when it comes to this topic. A show portraying the Playboy brand as glamorous has a LOT of work to do to win one of us over. When you buy things from the sex industry, you’re not “challenging social mores” or “updating a culture,” you’re supporting an industry of objectification and slavery that will not only cheapen everyone involved, including the viewer, but will also ruin your actual sex life. (See also the porn chapter of "The Brain that Changes Itself" by Dr. Norman Doidge.) Yeah, Playboy isn't exactly hardcore stuff, but it paved the way. Feminist activist Gloria Steinem said, “the series "normalizes a passive dominant idea of gender. So it normalizes prostitution and male dominance" and one of us couldn’t agree more. This show is great advertisement for the Playboy company. HOWEVER, we have not seen the show. Message is more important than content to us. If the show is actually empowering or intelligent, it can win both bloggers over.
Preview:
Anticipation Score: 1.5/10
Be sure to click on the "##Upcoming Shows## link in the cloud so you can stay apprised. And let us know if you think you will be watching any of them!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
New Girl - Pilot
So, we watched the pilot of New Girl on iTunes, but you can also get it on YouTube. Leeard loved it and gave it an A. Ern liked it and gave it a B-.
What was good? Zooey Deschanel’s character, Jess, is adorable. Her cute little hair, her quirkiness, her random singing, her awkward eyeglasses, her optimism, and her innocence all combine to make one of the cutest characters of all time. Now, we are fully aware that if she were a real person, we might want to rip her head off. But she’s a TV character, so it’s fine. Zooey has near-perfect line delivery.
There were plenty of funny and cute little moments. Not a lot of laugh-out-loud funny, but so far, it was sweet and amusing. One of us was disappointed that she had seen most of the funny moments in the preview. Really, the preview was a condensed version of the episode. We will be excited to see all new material in three weeks when the second episode airs. We can’t wait until Jess and one of her roommates hook up.
What was bad? We can already tell that the Jess character is going to have trouble toeing the line between “naïve/strange” and “stupid.” Ern doesn’t like that Jess is singing in the opening credits with her band. Leeard likes it, but suspects that she will get sick of it in weeks to come. The other characters need to be just as funny later on, or it's just going to be the Jess show, and unless they write her perfectly, it's gonna grate.
One of us finds the show a little sexist, but aren’t most modern sitcoms? Most are pretty much based on stock characters and the humorous, stereotypical differences between men and women. You see a little of that here, but this show is not the worst offender by far.
What was good? Zooey Deschanel’s character, Jess, is adorable. Her cute little hair, her quirkiness, her random singing, her awkward eyeglasses, her optimism, and her innocence all combine to make one of the cutest characters of all time. Now, we are fully aware that if she were a real person, we might want to rip her head off. But she’s a TV character, so it’s fine. Zooey has near-perfect line delivery.
There were plenty of funny and cute little moments. Not a lot of laugh-out-loud funny, but so far, it was sweet and amusing. One of us was disappointed that she had seen most of the funny moments in the preview. Really, the preview was a condensed version of the episode. We will be excited to see all new material in three weeks when the second episode airs. We can’t wait until Jess and one of her roommates hook up.
What was bad? We can already tell that the Jess character is going to have trouble toeing the line between “naïve/strange” and “stupid.” Ern doesn’t like that Jess is singing in the opening credits with her band. Leeard likes it, but suspects that she will get sick of it in weeks to come. The other characters need to be just as funny later on, or it's just going to be the Jess show, and unless they write her perfectly, it's gonna grate.
One of us finds the show a little sexist, but aren’t most modern sitcoms? Most are pretty much based on stock characters and the humorous, stereotypical differences between men and women. You see a little of that here, but this show is not the worst offender by far.
Pilot Grade: B+
New Show #22: Ringer
Ringer
The CW. Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Grudge, Cruel Intentions), Nestor Carbonell (LOST, The Dark Knight), and Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected).
Plot: It’s like The Lying Game, only way more adult. We have two twins, Bridget and Siobhan. What is it with twin shows and insisting on giving one of the twins a ridiculous name? Bridget is a recovering addict who used to be in the sex industry. She’s getting better, but, sadly, she just witnessed a murder so she has to spend a lot of time hiding from the mob. Bridget goes to her twin’s home to hide, but then Siobhan disappears. Believing Siobhan is dead (falsely), Bridget assumes her life. But Siobhan’s life is crazy and dangerous.
Why We Are Excited: What’s great about THESE twins is that they don’t really like each other. Enemy twins are a lot more exciting than twins in cahoots. It looks super fun. And Sarah Michelle Gellar! This looks dark and it’s a serial. We love that.
Why We Are Not Excited: The premise is a tad outlandish. What we are most worried about is that it will get cancelled. This is a CW show that doesn’t prominently feature teenage girls. That’s off-brand for this channel. Hopefully the kiddies will embrace it and the adults will tune in. It worked with Nikita (even though one character was a young girl).
Preview:
Anticipation Score: 9/10
Be sure to click on the "##Upcoming Shows## link in the cloud so you can stay apprised. And let us know if you think you will be watching any of them!
The CW. Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Grudge, Cruel Intentions), Nestor Carbonell (LOST, The Dark Knight), and Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected).
Plot: It’s like The Lying Game, only way more adult. We have two twins, Bridget and Siobhan. What is it with twin shows and insisting on giving one of the twins a ridiculous name? Bridget is a recovering addict who used to be in the sex industry. She’s getting better, but, sadly, she just witnessed a murder so she has to spend a lot of time hiding from the mob. Bridget goes to her twin’s home to hide, but then Siobhan disappears. Believing Siobhan is dead (falsely), Bridget assumes her life. But Siobhan’s life is crazy and dangerous.
Why We Are Excited: What’s great about THESE twins is that they don’t really like each other. Enemy twins are a lot more exciting than twins in cahoots. It looks super fun. And Sarah Michelle Gellar! This looks dark and it’s a serial. We love that.
Why We Are Not Excited: The premise is a tad outlandish. What we are most worried about is that it will get cancelled. This is a CW show that doesn’t prominently feature teenage girls. That’s off-brand for this channel. Hopefully the kiddies will embrace it and the adults will tune in. It worked with Nikita (even though one character was a young girl).
Preview:
Anticipation Score: 9/10
Be sure to click on the "##Upcoming Shows## link in the cloud so you can stay apprised. And let us know if you think you will be watching any of them!
The Lying Game - Twinsense and Sensibility
Two dumb things this week: A dream reveals the location of the birthmother’s half-burned house, which also leads to her name. That’s a bit convenient. This episode bordered on magical realism and that’s not the genre of the show, as far as we are concerned.
Secondly, Emma doodles her mom’s name on the notepad in the kitchen that people use to leave Dr. Mercer his messages. Of course, her dad saw it, because Emma also left him a message from a patient who called. Emma did that dumb thing even though she was pretty sure that the male Mercer is hiding something and she shouldn’t tip her hand. We have trouble rooting for dumb characters. There is only room for one stupid character in our hearts, and that is Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games (who took about 100 pages longer than anyone else to figure out what was going on throughout the entire series).
Two awesome things this week: We found out that Nisha used to be Sutton’s best friend. We need more info on Sutton and her evil ways, and apparently so does Emma. The other awesome thing is, of course, Laurel, who is by far the prettiest and coolest character on this show. We love her deadpan humor, and taking the fall for Ethan saved him from weeks of ass-raping, a record that would prevent him from ever getting a good job, and life without Emma. We mean Sutton. Not really. Emma/Ethan is definitely going to happen. Anyway, the point is that we’d totally take a sister who would take the fall to keep our boyfriends out of jail. That’s loyalty, even if she was only repaying a favor.
Secondly, Emma doodles her mom’s name on the notepad in the kitchen that people use to leave Dr. Mercer his messages. Of course, her dad saw it, because Emma also left him a message from a patient who called. Emma did that dumb thing even though she was pretty sure that the male Mercer is hiding something and she shouldn’t tip her hand. We have trouble rooting for dumb characters. There is only room for one stupid character in our hearts, and that is Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games (who took about 100 pages longer than anyone else to figure out what was going on throughout the entire series).
Two awesome things this week: We found out that Nisha used to be Sutton’s best friend. We need more info on Sutton and her evil ways, and apparently so does Emma. The other awesome thing is, of course, Laurel, who is by far the prettiest and coolest character on this show. We love her deadpan humor, and taking the fall for Ethan saved him from weeks of ass-raping, a record that would prevent him from ever getting a good job, and life without Emma. We mean Sutton. Not really. Emma/Ethan is definitely going to happen. Anyway, the point is that we’d totally take a sister who would take the fall to keep our boyfriends out of jail. That’s loyalty, even if she was only repaying a favor.
We guess the episode title was cute too. But after an interesting premise, this show is starting to drag, and we don't know where it is headed. Plus, the dumbness. Will we watch next week? To quote another female dummy, "You betcha."
Episode Grade: C+
Monday, September 5, 2011
True Blood - Soul of Fire discussion
What an action-packed, entertaining episode, especially for one that was so contained. Most of the episode took place in and around Marnie’s hidey-hole, where she was keeping her witches, Tara, and Sookie trapped while the vampires tried to break in and kill her. Our favorite part might have been when Marnie accepted a high five from one of her followers. It was so comedically/awkwardly done.
This episode, Marnie makes us completely lose all sympathy for her by stabbing one of her witches and trying to burn Sookie alive. Weirdly, Eric and Bill didn’t look very panicked when they heard her screaming. That would have been a great opportunity to see them lose it. Also, they talked about being able to sense her fear. That seems like a dumb thing to mention when, again, you can hear the screaming. Antonia turned out to be the kind and sane one. Jesus got even more bad ass. We get a good look at his demon face before he saved the day. Sookie used her fairy powers to help save the day.
There is a dumb part where both Eric and Bill try to sacrifice themselves to save Sookie, as if that will solve anything or protect their vampires. But we guess they are both in equally intense love. They made up for it when Eric pulled the heart of Aunt Petunia’s henchmen and sucked on the artery like the heart was a juice box, and then Bill shot Marnie full of holes. Sookie looked disturbed at these acts, but she needs to get over it, because Marnie was a murderer and that was some cool violence.
One part in this episode actually scared us. We were hella-creeped out when Marnie’s ghost came back to possess Lafayette. Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was that we actually didn’t expect it (even though we totally should have). But that made us cringe. We don’t even think that Debbie coming after Sookie, as she inevitably will next week, is gonna be as scary. Sookie, you’d better study up on how to use your powers at will.
This Marnie stuff has been fun and scary, but she needs to go for good after the finale. This needs to not go into season five. It would be nice if some side characters (ok, just Tara) got killed in the finale so that we could go into season five with a little more room for fresh meat and the focus on the ones we actually care about. They made a good start with Tommy, even though one of us actually pitied and rooted for him. Please keep Pam though. She has such good lines.
Although Eric, Sookie, Bill, and Jesus were pretty cool in this episode, we liked Sam the best. He threw away his weapon so that he could beat Marcus in a fair fight and then let him live. Alcide killed him and dumped Debbie with a very serious sounding werewolf speech. Finally, Andy is not useless anymore. He made a promise to protect a fairy and then had sex with her. We know that’s going to come up later…
We are pleased with this episode and this season. Can’t wait for the finale.
This episode, Marnie makes us completely lose all sympathy for her by stabbing one of her witches and trying to burn Sookie alive. Weirdly, Eric and Bill didn’t look very panicked when they heard her screaming. That would have been a great opportunity to see them lose it. Also, they talked about being able to sense her fear. That seems like a dumb thing to mention when, again, you can hear the screaming. Antonia turned out to be the kind and sane one. Jesus got even more bad ass. We get a good look at his demon face before he saved the day. Sookie used her fairy powers to help save the day.
There is a dumb part where both Eric and Bill try to sacrifice themselves to save Sookie, as if that will solve anything or protect their vampires. But we guess they are both in equally intense love. They made up for it when Eric pulled the heart of Aunt Petunia’s henchmen and sucked on the artery like the heart was a juice box, and then Bill shot Marnie full of holes. Sookie looked disturbed at these acts, but she needs to get over it, because Marnie was a murderer and that was some cool violence.
One part in this episode actually scared us. We were hella-creeped out when Marnie’s ghost came back to possess Lafayette. Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was that we actually didn’t expect it (even though we totally should have). But that made us cringe. We don’t even think that Debbie coming after Sookie, as she inevitably will next week, is gonna be as scary. Sookie, you’d better study up on how to use your powers at will.
This Marnie stuff has been fun and scary, but she needs to go for good after the finale. This needs to not go into season five. It would be nice if some side characters (ok, just Tara) got killed in the finale so that we could go into season five with a little more room for fresh meat and the focus on the ones we actually care about. They made a good start with Tommy, even though one of us actually pitied and rooted for him. Please keep Pam though. She has such good lines.
Although Eric, Sookie, Bill, and Jesus were pretty cool in this episode, we liked Sam the best. He threw away his weapon so that he could beat Marcus in a fair fight and then let him live. Alcide killed him and dumped Debbie with a very serious sounding werewolf speech. Finally, Andy is not useless anymore. He made a promise to protect a fairy and then had sex with her. We know that’s going to come up later…
We are pleased with this episode and this season. Can’t wait for the finale.
Episode Grade: A-
Breaking Bad- short Hermanos discussion
A short one this time, because it’s labor day weekend and we have things to do. But we had time to catch Breaking Bad and True Blood.
Hank is probably going to die this season. Everything he has ever done is leading up to confrontation, then death. We can’t wait. If he ends up NOT dying, we will be disappointed. Harsh, but true. Walt has staved off death a little longer, because he is still in remission.
We were not digging the Breaking Bad flashback opening. We remember who Hector is, and any new information could have been given in real time. This is one of Breaking Bad’s weakest openings, but that’s not saying much, because they are mostly awesome.
Gus is one smooth criminal. Talking with the DEA, we wished this guy were a) not fictional, b) born in the U.S., and c) an honest man so that he could become the greatest president we have ever had. Anyone who can think on their feet like that and stay so cool can do anything. This episode was about "control," and Gus has it.
The rift between Jesse and Walt grew a little more this time, and we also saw that Jesse has been taking good care of Andrea and her young charge. We got enough Mike and Saul to keep us happy too. Those characters had better stay alive for a while.
Hector is such a petulant little jerk, and he was even colder and more despicable when he was young and could talk. We prefer Gus, who seemed so young and human in the flashback. At least he had a heart once before he became a box cutter-wielding sociopath. The flashback went on a little long, but it delivered in the end. After all this waiting, we had better get the most eventful last three episodes of all time.
Hank is probably going to die this season. Everything he has ever done is leading up to confrontation, then death. We can’t wait. If he ends up NOT dying, we will be disappointed. Harsh, but true. Walt has staved off death a little longer, because he is still in remission.
We were not digging the Breaking Bad flashback opening. We remember who Hector is, and any new information could have been given in real time. This is one of Breaking Bad’s weakest openings, but that’s not saying much, because they are mostly awesome.
Gus is one smooth criminal. Talking with the DEA, we wished this guy were a) not fictional, b) born in the U.S., and c) an honest man so that he could become the greatest president we have ever had. Anyone who can think on their feet like that and stay so cool can do anything. This episode was about "control," and Gus has it.
The rift between Jesse and Walt grew a little more this time, and we also saw that Jesse has been taking good care of Andrea and her young charge. We got enough Mike and Saul to keep us happy too. Those characters had better stay alive for a while.
Hector is such a petulant little jerk, and he was even colder and more despicable when he was young and could talk. We prefer Gus, who seemed so young and human in the flashback. At least he had a heart once before he became a box cutter-wielding sociopath. The flashback went on a little long, but it delivered in the end. After all this waiting, we had better get the most eventful last three episodes of all time.
Episode Grade: B+
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