Category: TV

Bonnie and Clyde is a 2013 Lifetime/A&E/History Channel miniseries based on the lives of the titular Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.  It was very successful for the A&E owned networks, but it has been done before and better.

The story starts off with the iconic shot-up Ford being towed through a small town, and some kids uncovering the body of Clyde Barrow (Emile Hirsch).  The corpse then begins to tell us the story of his life, and how he and Bonnie Parker (Holliday Grainger) became the notorious gang leaders.

The problem with this show is that it adds nothing important to the story of Bonnie and Clyde.  It is just an excuse for more sex and violence on television, and because it is based on a true story it can be billed as “educational”.  The problem is that they, like everything based on a true story, like to spice it up a bit.  They decided that Clyde needed the ability to see the future, and that Bonnie Parker’s only will in life was to be famous.

The leads do an admirable job as Bonnie and Clyde, but the script doesn’t give them a whole lot to work with.  I hope they can find more interesting work later.  The gun battles were still fun to watch, and I love all the 1930’s style, but everything between battles and the fashion just fell a little flat.  This may have been better as a ninety minute made for TV movie than a three hour miniseries.

I enjoy the thought of TV networks doing more special event programing like this in the future, but I hope that they can find something a little more entertaining to do.  If you are looking for the best Bonnie and Clyde to watch, it is best to stick with the 1960’s Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway version.

Almost Human is Fox’s new future Police Procedural produced by none other than the industry’s current mega media mogul J.J. Abrams.  The show is actually written and created by J.H. Wyman, but adding J.J.’s muscle made sure this show got made, and after the first episode I am glad that it did.

The show is about a cop John Kennex (Karl Urban) who was seriously injured during a police raid, and when he tries to return to the force he finds out that he needs an android partner.  In his case it is DRN or Dorian (Michael Ealy).  Dorian is not like the other androids because he was made to have feelings, this made his generation of robots glitchy, so they were discontinued and replaced by pure logic machines.

The first show is mostly world building, and an introduction to the surly John Kennex.  Urban plays him as a mix between Dredd and Bones, and it works very well.  Dorian we are still getting a feel for but Michael Ealy is likable, so I think it is going to work out just fine.  The leads are the whole reason I want to see more.  They are so good and so likable that even if the show was sub-par, I would watch it, but it looks like the show will be quite good.

The look for the show is like a cleaner Blade Runner which is cool, but it is a shame they couldn’t find their own aesthetic. It does keep them from having to explain the future setting.  Hopefully this will let them get in to abnormal crimes, instead of the usual Law and Order stuff.

I would watch Karl Urban in just about anything, so it is great to have him in his own weekly show.  I hope tonight’s show can keep up the good work.

Cartoon Network has been on a roll with its shows lately, and in particular Adventure Time, so it is not surprising that one the main writers Rebecca Sugar from that show would get to create one of her own.  The show she came up with is Steven Universe.

The show is about a young boy who is the son of a looser dad who lives in a van, and the greatest super hero of all time who gave up her mortal form to give birth to Steven. Due to his half hero lineage it seems that he may in time be able to be a hero like his mom, but until then he is just doing the best he can while hanging out with three awesome super heroes.

The show is weird, but not over the top like Adventure Time, and it seems much more sweet as the heroes do their best with the enthusiastic and joyful but not very useful Steven.  It has good action and is very funny, and I can’t wait to see how it progresses.

Cartoon Network has another hit on their hands, and they are very rapidly adding more and more must watch TV to their network.  I wonder what writer will break off from this show and create their next hit.