Here's 5 recent TV Shows I've Liked, and 5 I've disliked. Do with it what you will. Agree, disagree, agree to disagree, or take my advice and try one of my favorites. Three of them are on regular TV, and you might be able to catch the others on Netflix, Hulu, or other services. Don't say I didn't warn you about the five I didn't like (and yes, despite some talent like Tessanne Chin and Will Champlin, I still much prefer American Idol over The Voice)
Five Favorite Recent TV Shows:
1. Bonnie and Clyde was Murderously Good
I love a good mini-series, and
like last year’s Hatfields and McCoys,
this one didn’t disappoint. Unlike the
Lifetime movie Lizzie Borden Took and Ax,
the production here, including editing and use of music, were very well done,
and I was invested in the characters and the story. Holliday Grainger and Emile Hirsch were very
charismatic and heartless in the lead roles as these two iconic bank robbers
and murderers who got exactly what they deserved: Fame AND an Early Death.
2. Still Walking with the Dead
The best drama on TV (though Elementary, Once Upon a Time, and the
new Almost Human are also favorites),
this gory series is very addicting, and more than halfway through season four,
the producers and writers keep everything interesting from many different
views, whether it’s the characters trying to survive in an unforgiving
landscape, the plot twists, or the hoards of rotting zombies who’d like nothing
more than to sink their teeth into warm, living flesh.
3. The Big Bang Theory is still Big with a Bang!
I love The Middle, but Big Bang
is still the best sitcom on TV, and it’s not quite as raunchy as it was in
previous seasons, now that Howard’s married and Amy and Sheldon are an official
item (even if Sheldon doesn’t quite know it yet). There aren’t that many TV series that are still
going strong after seven seasons, but this show only seems to be getting
better. It’s Friends for the nerd set.
4. Brooklyn Nine-Nine gets 9-9 out of 10-10 stars (twice)
The best new comedy, and, in
fact, the best new TV series this season, is this sitcom starring Andy Samberg
that takes the popular and modern police procedural, like all those endless Law and Order or CSI spinoffs, and about one or two dozen others, and makes it all
so funny. I wasn’t the biggest Samberg
fan when he was on Saturday Night Live,
but here, his character is perfect for him.
The rest of the cast are equally great in their roles, except, perhaps,
Chelsea Peretti’s annoying Gina Linetti, but in a strong ensemble cast centered
by a superb Sandberg, Joe Lo Truglio as Det. Charles Boyle manages to stand out
as a somewhat endearing but courageous sap.
5. Still Idolizing American Idol
Last Season, I found the rivalry
between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj off-putting, and even though the girl
contestants were quite good, the guys pretty much sucked, none of them making
it into the top 5. This year, with JLo
coming back and Harry Connick Jr. joining the judging panel alongside last
year’s Keith Urban, things are back on track.
And after having sat through all of The
Voice this season for the first time, I’m finding that American Idol is still the singing competition to beat.
Five Recent TV Shows I Disliked:
1. Dracula Sucks!
I tried to get into this. I liked Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the movie August Rush and the little I saw of the
cable show The Tudors. I was also looking forward to what they may
be able to do with him at the center of the Dracula legend. Right off the bat (no pun intended), I
noticed his voice and his accent didn’t seem quite right, and the show started
off presenting him disguised as a turn-of-the-century businessman with
political plots mixed in, and doctor Van Helsing trying to create a formula
that will allow him the ability to walk about in daylight. These are tired old plots (remember the Ben Cross TV remake of Dark Shadows from the early 90's? No? See what I mean?), and this is
actually a tired old formula, and after the third show, I asked myself why I
was wasting my time. Boring! This is not something you can really sink your teeth into!
2. Arsenio Hall (pass)
I’ve only caught a little of late
night hosts Jay Leno, David Letterman, Craig Ferguson, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy
Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon over the years, and of the little I’ve seen, I’m happy
to know that Jimmy Fallon is now taking over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno.
He’s the best of them. And now,
after winning Celebrity Apprentice, and
embarrassingly kissing Donald Trump’s butt on nearly every episode, Arsenio
Hall has his old gig back. I’ve seen
it. It’s not very good. In fact, I’d have to say he’s the worst of
the current crop of late night TV hosts.
3. Dads needs some good parenting
Despite what the critics say,
it’s not the worst sitcom on TV. I’ve
already stopped watching the worst ones (or never watched them to begin
with). It is, however, far from being
the best. I finally decided to stop
watching it when I realized I didn’t care if I saw another one.
4. I didn't hit my Button for The Voice
We started watching this, and
started to see the formula: How a singer, whom the judges can’t see, gets them
to turn their chairs around on the strength of their voices alone. From then on, it’s a virtual love-fest, as
the judges heap praises on their charges in an attempt to win, with nary a
criticism among them. After all, why
would they want to criticize someone they chose? The whole show comes dangerously close to
being nothing more than grandiose self-congratulation, for both the contestants
and the judges, and it runs thin, especially after 3 to 4 hours a week! I’d have to say I generally like Adam Levine,
Blake Shelton, and Christina Aguilera, though they all have more than just a
bit of an ego. I don’t care a lick for
CeeLo Green.
Besides, I just barely got done with the last season on my DVR, and now they're starting yet another new season! Can you say "Overkill"?
5. Is The Mentalist finally done with all that RED JOHN shenanigans?
Of the fictional police procedurals we
enjoy, I’m most disappointed by this one.
Simon Baker’s schtick as a mentalist can get a bit tiresome, and that
whole unsolved Red John storyline started taking over every single show until I
no longer cared who the hell he was. Now
that it’s been solved (apparently, hopefully) the writers are shaking things
up, just like the old drama House. Is that a sign of the end? This one is in its sixth season, and I’d have
to say, unlike NCIS (even minus Ziva David), it’s not going very strong.
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