Category: TV

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It Is The End Of An Era: The Soup Has Been Canceled!

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I can’t believe E! did it!  They got rid of the one reason to watch their channel; They canceled The Soup.  When I got the news, I wanted to drive down to LA and yell at some studio executives.  To remind them that they extended Joel McHale’s contract through 2016, but then I was overcome with sadness.  The Soup has been part of my weekly routine for what seems like forever (12 years).  Having Joel make fun of all the absurdity on TV seemed to make everything okay.  Like I wasn’t the only person that couldn’t believe all of the garbage on TV.  Especially since the station that was putting out most of the garbage in the first place was also airing The Soup, so it let us know that they were in on the joke.

Regardless it was sad new to hear, and I am sure Joel McHale will land on his feet, he is on the new X-files for instance, but I will miss his hilarious thirty minutes of comedy perfection every Friday night.

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Supergirl Is Finding Her Feet But…

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Each episode of Supergirl gets better, but the problem is what isn’t on screen: Superman.  The show just can’t shake him.  They are always talking about him.  He is a major character of the show, and he has no screen time (well almost none)!  This is what I was worried about with Supergirl, and why I thought they should have gone with Kara’s Earth Two counterpart Power Girl.  By having the ‘S’ on Kara Danvers chest they are having to write around the most iconic superhero of all time.  That is not an easy task.

For now I think they would be best served by just not talking about him.  The show has established who Kara is, and that she is a hero in her own right, so now they just need to focus on her and her gang.  No more of this ‘what would Superman do’ crap.  He is not around, and this isn’t his show.  Heck it might even be good for Kara to get a new job.  That way they could make her less of a Clark Kent knock off.  Like I said, the show is getting better, and it is keeping its fun airy vibe.  It is nice to have a superhero that is enjoying herself, and there are much worse ways to spend an hour.

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Aziz Ansari Is Proving To Be More Than A Master Of None!

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Netflix is continuing to ramp up its original programing with another sitcom.  This time from Parks and Rec alum Aziz Ansari.  Master of None manages to both be different than I expected, but very familiar.  Aziz is playing a more ‘real life’ charter, but one still based off his usual shtick.  You could almost call Master of None a ‘dramedy’.  It is like FX’s Louie, but less depressing.

Aziz plays Dev, a thirty something actor in New York City trying to figure out how to be a grownup.  Like HBO’s Girls it comes at adult situations from a less than adult point of view.  Also like Girls, Master of None earns its TV MA rating.  Aziz uses all the freedom being on a streaming site gives him.  For better or worse.

I don’t know if Master of None will be a hit like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was, but it certainly fills a niche for Netflix.  I have to admit, I was a little skeptical that I would even enjoy watching a show about an R rated toned down Tom Haverford, but so far Aziz and crew have won me over.  We will see how I feel about it when I finish the series, but so far I like what I have seen.

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Not Sure What To Think Of The Preacher…

AMC dropped their new Preacher trailer a couple of days ago, and I am still not sure what to make of it.  The cast looks good, and the sets are fine, but none of what I saw in the trailer happened in the comic books, well almost none.  I have been less than thrilled with the comic book, I just don’t think it holds up well.  It was very much a book for the 90’s, so maybe the fact they are changing everything is good.  Maybe they are going to use the comic book like a launching off point for their show like the CW did with iZombie.

AMC has been able to make hit show after hit show, so they will at least get me to try Preacher out, but this program is still a big question mark on how they are going to execute it.  They can’t stay true to the comics and air any of it on TV.  Heck HBO might even have issues putting some of those pages on TV, but if they tone it down it will not be the same.  The Preacher is all about being over the top for the sake of being over the top.  We will see if AMC was able to change things for the better next year.  I hope so.

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Why You Shouldn’t Be A Halloween Skipper!

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In the recent episode of The Simpsons titled Halloween of Horror, Homer uses the term “skipper” for the ever increasing number of people that turn off their porch lights and close their blinds on Halloween.  There are any number of reasons to skip Halloween: religious beliefs, agoraphobia, going on vacation, and so on, but it seems like the number one reason people are skipping Halloween is just because they don’t want to bother.  Here is why I think you should bother.  Halloween is the one holiday dedicated to meeting your community.

Think about it.  The big holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter you spend with family.  New Years and the Forth of July (or whatever your local patriotic holiday is) you spend with friends, and the greeting card holidays, Valentine’s Day, Mothers Day, and whatnot, you spend the day with the person you bought the card for.  Halloween on the other hand is the day that you get to dress up and use getting/giving free candy and toys as an excuse to talk to your neighbors.  As your kid joins the sugar crazy hoard, you get to watch and hang out with the rest of the parents from your block and get the dirt on what has been going down on your street.  You get to see how excited the old lady down the lane is to see so many kids at her door, or interact with the imaginative scares the guy across the street came up with.  In short, you get to be involved in the place where you live.

Halloween is unique in its premise, and by skipping, you are opting out of your community.  I will also say this, if your religion is what is stopping you, I would ask that you reconsider.  I grew up being a lumber jack or fisherman more times than I can count because I couldn’t take part in the creepy aspect of the holiday, but I was still out there, and if God is all powerful, he can certainly sanctify a day meant to celebrate the darker forces.  Don’t be a skipper: buy a cheep bag of candy, turn on the light, dress your kid up as a garden patch, and meet the people of your neighborhood.  You will be glad that you did.