2014-2015 TV Season

[Drunk Monk]

Greg and I have already 'fessed to Castle and Star Wars Rebels.

I am also watching Revenge (still good, but needing another swordfight), Rabbids (still funny), Jimmy Fallon (quite good), Jon Stewart (major news source), Colbert Report (other major news source, soon to end), Sailor Moon R (super funny), Sailor Moon Crystal (not so funny, kinda not good), SNL (but SNL sux this season - good cast of NR4PTP but I think Fallon stole all the writers so it's super crass).

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

So far the season has been pretty meh for me. Nothing really grabs me. And a lot of the shows I usually watch don't seem as good this year.

I've added the following to the list of shows I watch: The Flash, Gotham, Dr. Who

The Flash
I'm going to say The Flash is the favorite of my new shows but not by much over Gotham. The Flash has a lot lighter tone, which I enjoy than the dour crop of shows that are currently on. I'm not completely sold on this show. I keep thinking if I was more of a comic geek I would be getting a lot more out of it as I would know all the heroes and villains they are referencing. Still there is that creepy mystery at it's heart that I like.

Gotham
I like Gotham. Great atmosphere. Great production design. Very two dimensional. Alfred might be my favorite character and I keep waiting for him to be more badass. None of the stories have gripping. I think they are hamstrung by the building up to Batman problem. They can't go too far afield from Canon or fanboys will come and burn down the village. The guy playing Penguin is doing a really good job and his relationship with his mother can be creepy. And why are so many moms bathing their adults sons on TV this season? It was on this show. It was on The Blacklist. And one other I can't remember.

Dr. Who
this is the first time I've ever watched this series. Mostly because I caught a partial bit of an early early episode and felt it looked really cheesy. But since the guy playing Dr. Who this season comes from one of my favorite movies of all time, Local Hero, I thought I would give it a shot. It's okay. Sometimes you have to put on some extra pounds to suspend belief for the story, but they can be funny. They are just so out there, you have to sit back and let it wash over you. I did enjoy seeing the dinosaur in Victorian England.


I've got a lot of hold over shows from previous years, a bunch I feel I'm watching out of habit that aren't particularly good. I'm looking at you Sleepy Hollow.

I will always watch the Daily Show and the first break of Colbert because they are consistently funny. Big Bang continues to chug along. I particularly liked seeing Billy Bob on that show as an advanced generation nerd and hope he reappears. Brooklyn 99 has hit it's stride and is very funny, much funnier than last year. Person of Interest remains engaging and I can't wait for those episodes. I caught one episode of The Simpsons this year after not having watched the show for many years. It was the Futurama cross over episode. Really fun. I missed taping the Treehouse of Terror which is the show I usually catch. Modern Family is another funny comedy that I don't miss.

There is a bunch of shows I don't know why I keep watching like Grim, Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist, and The Arrow.

Grim
I keep hoping this show will kick into gear. But I hate it whenever we go to Austria to see what is up with the witch. The show always bogs down over there. I don't like the Grim girl. Probably because she can't act. And her name is Trouble. Sure, it's a nickname but it's too cute. Plus, the storylines never follow through as if the writers forgot they were telling the stories. Last season Nick, the former Grimm, was becoming a zombie with all these strange health problems until he wasn't having theses problems. The season before that he was manifesting super powers until he wasn't. Every so often we mention the hexen beast baby, another story line I do not like. Why can't the writers let that thread go.

Currently , the show is involved with telling how Nick lost his Grimm powers and efforts to regain them. Just give him the cure already and get back to some new storyline.

The Blacklist
Last year, the show was all cat and mouse. Everyone had secrets especially the marriage at the heart of the show. It was all involving. This year they just seem to be secretive for the sake of being secretive and none of the secrets are very compelling. Ooh, one of the agents is an addict. Ooh, who is Reddington's daughter. Ooh, who does Keane have locked up? Yeah, don't care. I was especially aggrieved by the Wild Aid episode. At least it seemed like an ad for Wild Aid as they FBI was after the Mumbasa poaching syndicate. Everyone in the show, including the bad guys, had to give us a speech why poaching and the slaughtering endangered species is bad. Such a poorly written episode. Although the taxidermist was also in the first film I ever made at Corman studios. You might also recognize him as Lurch from the Adamm's Family movies.

Sleepy Hollow
I liked it better when the Headless Horseman wandered the streets carrying a shotgun and just seemed really angry all the time. Don't really care for him having a head and wooing Ichabod's wife. And Walter from Fringe just seems there to chew the scenery and spout really bad dialogue. The shows needs better villains. The heroes don't seem to be in jeopardy ever. Storylines come and go without any rhyme or reason. What happened to the Sheriff these last two episodes for instance? Just a lot of spinning around waiting for something to happen.

The Arrow
My name is Oliver Queen. I know. Get on with it. Stop being so fucking moody all the time. Just bang Felicity already. Have Speedy and Diggle do something except stand around and nod agreement to you. I can't wait for Brandon Routh to do something, too. Again, reading the comics might help with this story. And have Merlin stop smirking.

As I remember more shows, I'll add. Can't wait for Orphan Black to come back. Don't miss Bones at all. The best reality TV show of the fall is still the Giants winning the World Series.

[Drunk Monk]

FLYING FIVE FINGER ONE ARMED EIGHT POLE SHAOLIN EXPLODING DEATH TOUCH THURSDAYS on EL REY!

Btw, guess who KungFuMagazine.com's new sponsor is. Check out the upper right-hand half-banner on our site. 8)

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

And let the swag flow in.

Congratulations. Should we just start referring to you as Master Sly Dog?

upz:

[Drunk Monk]

I doubt there will be swag. They paid us. But there is opportunity.

That being said, dear DOOMbros, let me tap y'all as movie muse brothers for a moment. If you had a chance to ask Robert Rodriguez about FLYING FIVE FINGER ONE ARMED EIGHT POLE SHAOLIN EXPLODING DEATH TOUCH THURSDAYS on EL REY, what would you ask? ;-)

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Would you rather an unlimited budget or a micro-budget when making a film and why?

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Scorpion and Constantine both fall in the categories of shows I don't know why I'm still watching.

Scorpion is a really dumb show about really smart people. Oddly, this show seemed to start with two or three pilots. Or they thought so little of their audience, they continue to tell us who the players are because we've forgotten who is everyone in the show. The thing that really bugs me are the flashbacks to Ireland where Walter O'Brien grew up. They look nothing like Ireland. And especially egregious is that young Walter from Cavan, Ireland has no Irish Accent.

The stories lack a lot of logic and believability. I think the best one was the 747 that had to fly low over the runway and drop an ethernet cable to the racing car so they could hardwire and upload into the plane.

Constantine. Kind of engaging stories. Another case of multiple pilots to tell us what the show is about. The lead guy playing Constantine needs to tone it down a little. He comes across as very actory. Every sentence needs to be enunciated to it's fullest in his fine English accent. He's just off putting at this point. The stories are okay but I'm hoping for more.

[cranefly]

DM says:
If you had a chance to ask Robert Rodriguez about FLYING FIVE FINGER ONE ARMED EIGHT POLE SHAOLIN EXPLODING DEATH TOUCH THURSDAYS on EL REY, what would you ask?

Wow. Without a context? Well, here goes.
1) Has he considered tapping into old Shaw Brothers properties for future projects? Or is that too much Tarantino's territory?
2) Does he have a guilty pleasure in the Shaw Brothers or old Kung Fu movie universe?
3) What do these older movies generally lack that a remake could capture to give them new life?
4) Is there a martial arts actor he would most love to cast in a movie?
5) What outrageous stunt or fight has he always wanted to see in a martial arts movie?

--cranefly

[Drunk Monk]

Never would have thought of Greg's.

I have some parallel ones to cf's except for #4 & #5.

Thanks!

The context is that I'm totally kissing up to RR as ER just signed for a half-year ad contract. Working on nailing down an interview. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

What is the division of labor when you direct films with Frank Miller ala Sin City?

[Drunk Monk]

...and my interview is more about Shaw Brothers than filmmaking, given our publication.

[Drunk Monk]

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Now, back on topic. Been watching a lot of season and series finales lately. I already mentioned Mentalist and 2.5 Men series finales. I caught the finale of Parks & Rec last night. You know, it amazes me that this show has already done 7 seasons. Seems like just yesterday when I watched the pilot. And I didn't care for it. I think Poehler and Ansari are funny comedians, but I didn't care for any of the characters in P&R. It just never worked for me. So the finale fell a little flat because I think the only other episode I saw all the way through was the pilot.

Speaking of pilots, I checked out Last Man on Earth and Man Seeking Woman. I couldn't make it through LMoE. It just wasnt' going anywhere for me. My jury is still out on MSW. For the most part, I dislike the lead actor and given that it's a Lorne Michaels show and I already watch too much of his work with SNL and Fallon, I'm inclined to avoid it. But the Minka Kelly episode was funny, so remain undecided.

On the flip-side, the season finales for Star Wars Rebels and Downton Abbey were both enjoyable. SWR finally tied in Clone Wars and Star Wars ep4 (A New Hope). DA was sweet as treacle, tastefully avoiding the stereotypical cliffhanger and ending on a very classy note. Watched ep1 and ep-season finale of House of Cards. I'm going to call that bookend binging. I enjoy HoC for the actors and the funny rants, but not enough to watch all of it.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I saw it. The first episode got me thinking that this show wasn't going any where and in slow way. The last man is despicable and I didn't care for him. But then it posed a really interesting question which piqued my interest. This was carried out in the the second episode, which was marginally better than the first. Unfortunately, I forgot to record the third episodes so I don't know if the improvement continued.

I'm really enjoying Brooklyn 99 especially Andre Brauer.

I've added 12 Monkeys to the Queue. It would help if I paid attention to what shows I'm playing so I watch them in order. Although it is a time travel show that jumps around so watching them out of order only adds to the displacement effect. The show is good but it doesn't have the same quirkiness as Gilliam's original, probably because they can't afford it.

I think Agent Carter was the best new series of the winter. The did a really good job with this limited run series. I can't wait for it to come back.

I watched one episode of Black-ish since it was getting such rave reviews. That was one episode too many.

[Drunk Monk]

Maybe I pulled out too soon? Wouldn't be the first time. But then again, I've stayed in way too long and suffered for that too.

I just binged a lot of Empire. I really like Taraji as an actress. As for the show, meh, it was just something to watch. I might watch another ep or two. I might not.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I'm still on the fence about LMOE. I'll probably hunt down the next episode. But I don't think you'll be missing much if you don't catch it. Although . . .

I caught the pilot of Empire and didn't care. They need to tie it to Hustle and Flow more. (3-6-Mafia and Martin Scorcese still have won the same number of Oscars)

I've finally given up on Sleepy Hollow. Too many plot holes. Too much stupidity.