Television Premieres and Notables: September 23-29, 2013

Here it comes...


Monday, 9/23

The Pioneer Woman; Food Network. 4 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

How I Met Your Mother; CBS. 7 pm CST. 9th Season Premiere.
The final season begins. And we have seen The Mother.
Now we get to meet her.
The last couple of seasons have been weaker, but this season will take place during the weekend of Barney and Robin's wedding (with flashbacks and flashforwards), so I have some optimism the show can get back to its peak (I always was a sucker for their non-linear episodes).

The Voice; NBC. 7 pm CST. 5th Cycle Premiere.

2 Broke Girls; CBS. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Mom; CBS. 8:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Anna Faris and Alison Janney star in this show about a recovering alcoholic who moves herself and her kids into her recovered addict mom's house.

Castle; ABC. 9 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

Hostages; CBS. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Dylan McDermott stars as an FBI who is agent blackmailing a doctor played by Toni Collette into botching a surgery she is performing on the President. The storyline of this 15-episode series has been promised to end completely by the season finale, and if the show is renewed, it will "reset" and tell another story next year.

The Blacklist; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
James Spader plays an FBI Most Wanted criminal who turns himself in in order to catch the criminals that aren't even on the Fed's radar.


Tuesday, 9/24

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ABC. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Joss Whedon brings (and directs the pilot) us this series set in the cinematic Marvel Universe where Agent Coulston (he lives!) leads a group on non-powered (misfit) agents tasked with investigating odd things happening around the globe.
This is the series I'm most looking forward to this new season. Whedon can't run the day-to-day, but it sounds like his fingerprints are all over the series, and that's a good thing for me.
And Coulston is back. I've loved Clark Gregg since The New Adventures of Old Christine, and I think Agent Coulston is the part he was born to play: the extremely-capable everyman that the Marvel movies have utilized so well until his untimely demise in The Avengers (sorry, but if you haven't seen it by now, it's your own fault).

NCIS; CBS. 7 pm CST. 11th Season Premiere.

NCIS: Los Angeles; CBS. 5th Season Premiere.

The Goldbergs; ABC. 8:01 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Creator Adam F. Goldberg brings us this series based on his childhood in the '80s. I've liked the previews I've seen, and with Jeff Garlin and Wendi McLendon-Covey as the parents, I have faith this could turn out to be a good one.



Trophy Wife; ABC. 8:31 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Malin Akerman plays Bradley Whitford's third wife, and his first and second wives are still in the picture.

Lucky 7; ABC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Seven gas station employees win the jackpot, and their lives experience the ups and downs of being suddenly rich.
The Wire alert: one of the seven is played by Isiah Whitlock Jr. ("Sheeeeeeit.")

Person of Interest; CBS. 9 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.
This "procedural" keeps things progressing so well that there's always a thread that runs between episodes.
Case in point: Amy Acker (yes!) and Sarah Shahi (yes! yes!) are now series regulars.

Chicago Fire; NBC. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Fangasm; Syfy. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Seven fans move to L.A. to intern at Stan Lee's Comicaze Expo.


Wednesday, 9/25

The Middle; ABC. 7 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

Revolution; NBC. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Back in the Game; ABC. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Maggie Lawson plays a former softball star who moves herself and her no-so-athletic son back in with her former baseball-standout father (played by James Caan).

Modern Family; ABC. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

Criminal Minds; CBS. 8 pm CST. 9th Season Premiere.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; 15th Season Premiere.

Nashville; ABC. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; CBS. 9 pm CST. 14th Season Premiere.


Thursday, 9/26

Shark Tank; ABC. 7 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

The Big Bang Theory; CBS. 7 pm CST. 7th Season Premiere.

Parks and Recreation; NBC. 7 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

Grey's Anatomy; ABC. 8 pm CST. 10th Season Premiere.

Glee; Fox. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.
I hope Blaine's a senior this year, so he can graduate, and I can stop watching...

The Crazy Ones; CBS. 8:01 pm CST. Series Premiere,
David E. Kelley created this show that stars Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar as father and daughter owners of an ad exec firm; he fears he's becoming irrelevant, she fears he's losing his mind.

The Michael J. Fox Show; NBC. 8:01 pm CST. Series Premiere.
MJF plays a news anchor who is returning to the job after he learns to manage his Parkinson's well enough to do so.
The Wire alert: Wendell "Bunk" Pierce is in the cast as Fox's boss.

Two and a Half Men; CBS. 8:31 pm CST. 11th Season Premiere.
Angus T. Jones talked some shit about his show, and now his character is off to college.
But how will the show replace the "half"? By having Charlie's illegitimate daughter show up.
She's a hard-drinkin' lesbian and loves chicks as much as Charlie did.
I doubt that even this show is crass enough to consider a lesbian half a man. I'm just sayin'...

Elementary; CBS. 9:01 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Parenthood; ABC. 9:01 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.
The little show that could already got renewed for a full season.


Friday, 9/27

Undercover Boss; CBS. 7 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

Masterchef Junior; Fox. 7 pm CST.
I hope Ramsey doesn't take it easy on those kids.
They need to learn.

Hawaii Five-0; CBS. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Blue Bloods; CBS. 9 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.


Saturday, 9/28

Saturday Night Live; NBC. 10:35 pm CST. 39th Season Premiere.


Sunday, 9/29

Winx Club; Nickelodeon. 12 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.
 
Once Upon a Time; ABC. 7 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

The Simpsons; Fox. 7 pm CST. 25th Season Premiere.
 
Making Monsters; Travel. 7 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Bob's Burgers; Fox. 7:30 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Revenge; ABC. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

The Good Wife; CBS. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

Family Guy; Fox. 8 pm CST. 12th Season Premiere.

Homeland; Showtime. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

American Dad; Fox. 8:30 pm CST. 10th Season Premiere.

The Mentalist; CBS. 9 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

Eastbound and Down; HBO. 9 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

The Masters of Sex; Showtime. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan play sex research pioneers Masters and Johnson.
It's on Showtime, so expect to see some tit-tays...

Betrayal; ABC. 9:01 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A married man has an affair with a married woman. Hilarity ensues.
This is another case of a cable-sized (13 ep) season, so expect the thrills and WTFs to come fast and furious.

Hello Ladies; HBO. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Stephen Merchant, co-creator of The Office and Extras, co-created this series about a web designer who is trying to make his way through the dating scene.

Television Premieres and Notables: September 16-22, 2013

Since Fox loses much of October due to baseball, they are starting the Fall season a week early. Get ready-- here comes the new stuff!


Monday, 9/16

The Queen Latifah Show; Fox. 4 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Dancing With the Stars; ABC. 7 pm CST. 17th Cycle Premiere.

Bones; Fox. 7 pm CST. 9th Season Premiere.

Sleepy Hollow; Fox. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Revolutionary War soldier Ichabod Crane is transported to modern times and has to team-up with a detective to battle the Headless Horseman.


Tuesday, 9/17

Dads; Fox. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi stars as the sons in this show from Seth MacFarlane which many critics are predicting will be the first show cancelled this season.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine; Fox. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
If you've seen any episode of any program on Fox since May, you've seen the commercials. I'm not a fan of Andy Samberg-- but I do know Andre Braugher will bring it. Hopefully the writing will firm-up a little (the commercials were amusing, but not hilarious), and it'll find its feet sooner rather than later.

New Girl; Fox. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

The Mindy Project; Fox. 8:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
If you gave up on this show early-on last year, it got better.
You may want to give it another shot.

Frontline; PBS. 9 pm CST (check local listings). 32nd Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 9/18

Survivor; CBS. 7 pm CST. 27th Cycle Season Premiere.

Big Brother (CBS; 8:30 pm CST). Season Finale.
After watching almost every episode of every previous season, I was able to skip or sleep through a number of episodes this season.
This show is losing its grip on my summer watching, finally,

Key & Peele; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Thursday, 9/19

The Million Second Quiz (NBC; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.


Friday, 9/20

Last Man Standing; ABC. 7 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Dog With a Blog; Disney. 7:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The Neighbors; ABC. 7:31 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
This show wasn't great-- but I did find it hilarious at least once or twice an episode.
The concept is an eye-roller, but the execution is fantastic. Give it a shot.

Shark Tank; ABC. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

The Hollow Crown; PBS. 8 pm CST (check local listings). Mini-series Premiere.
Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, and Patrick Stewart are just three of the British actors you'll be seeing in this massive adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV (pts I & II), and Henry V.


Sunday, 9/22

65th Primetime Emmy Awards; CBS. 7 pm CST. Special.
I've stopped watching awards shows because they get it wrong at least as many times as they get it right.
But host Neil Patrick Harris may get me to DVR it...

Dexter (Showtime; 8 pm CST). Series Finale.

Television Premieres and Notables: September 9-15, 2013

Monday, 9/9

The Million Second Quiz; NBC. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Ryan Seacrest hosts this game show I couldn't tell you anything about.

Mistresses (ABC; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.


Tuesday, 9/10

So You Think You Can Dance (Fox; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

Snake Salvation; Nat Geo. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Sons of Anarchy; FX. 9 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 9/11

Regular Show; Cartoon Network. 5 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

The X Factor; Fox. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Royal Pains (USA; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.


Thursday, 9/12

Burn Notice (USA; 8 pm CST). Series Finale.


Friday, 9/13

Haven; Syfy. 9 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.


Saturday, 9/14

Cops; Spike. 7 pm CST. 26th Season Premiere.

Raising McCain; Pivot. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Sunday, 9/15

Liv and Maddie; Disney. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Foyle's War; PBS. 8 pm CST (check local listings). Season Premiere.

The Newsroom (HBO; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

The Great Santini Brothers; History, 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Alaska State Troopers; Nat Geo. 9 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: September 2-8, 2013

Monday, 9/2

Fast N' Loud; Discovery. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The Writer's Room (Sundance; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Turn & Burn; Discovery. 9:05 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Summer Camp (USA; 10:05 pm CST). Season Finale.


Tuesday, 9/3

My Big Fat Revenge; Oxygen. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Top Gear; History. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Luther; BBC America. 9 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Cold Justice; TNT. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Brickleberry; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 9/4

Futurama (Comedy Central; 9 pm CST). (2nd) Series Finale.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia; FXX. 9 pm CST. 9th Season Premiere.
Remember to delete your old DVR "season pass"es and set it to record the show on its new network.

The League; FXX. 9:30 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.
See above.

Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell; FXX. 10 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.
Ditto-- but this one's airing nightly instead of weekly.


Thursday, 9/5

Wilfred (FX; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.
This show moved into serious WTF territory. I don't mind a break at this point...


Friday, 9/6

Hello Ross; E!  9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Ross Matthews gets his own talk show. I'll check it out; I find him silly and charming, and his exuberance is infectious.


Saturday, 9/7

Cupcake Wars; Food Network. 7 pm CST. 9th Season Premiere.


Sunday, 9/8

Boardwalk Empire; HBO. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: August 26-September 1, 2013

Monday, 8/26

Get Out Alive With Bear Grylls (NBC; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives; Food Network. 8:30 pm CST. 18th Season Premiere.

Longmire (A&E; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Tuesday, 8/27

Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

Storage Wars Texas; A&E. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Drunk History  (Comedy Central; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Wednesday, 8/28

The Unexplained Files; Science. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Wheeler Dealers; Velocity. 8 pm CST. 10th Season Premiere.

Cheer Perfection; TLC. 8:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Patrick Dempsey: Racing Le Mans; Velocity. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Thursday, 8/29

Hollywood Game Night (NBC; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Friday, 8/30

Cracked; Reelz. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Saturday, 8/31

Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry? Investigation Discovery. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: August 19-25, 2013

Monday, 8/19

Teen Wolf (MTV; 9 pm CST). Mid-season Finale.


Wednesday, 8/21

Surviving Evil; Investigation Discovery. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Not My Mama's Meals; Cooking Channel. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Modern Dads; A&E. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Friday, 8/23

Ghost Adventures; Travel. 7 pm CST. 8th Season Premiere.


Sunday, 8/25

Deadline: Crime With Tamron Hall; Investigation Discovery. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.
I think Invest. Disc. just makes up new show names; they all sound the same to me.

Television Premieres and Notables: August 12-18, 2013

Well, it looks like TV Guide finally gave up on trying to get me to renew, as I didn't get an issue last week (my subscription-- which I've had for about twenty years-- ran out in April). So now I have one less resource for these weekly posts. But the TVG sub was just too much to pay for this little project as I've found the magazine next to useless for about three years or so (pretty much after I made the last payment on my four year re-sub).

But I'm gonna keep tryin' to get as much info out as possible.


Monday, 8/11

Mythbusters Breaking Bad Special; Discovery. 9 pm CST. Special.
With special guests: creator Vince Gilligan and star Aaron Paul.


Tuesday, 8/13

Doomsday Preppers; National Geographic. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Face Off; Syfy. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Thursday, 8/14

The Pitch; AMC. 10 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Friday, 8/15

Say Yes to the Dress; TLC. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Ghost Adventures; Travel Channel. Season Premiere.


Sunday, 8/18

Whodunnit? (ABC; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

True Blood (HBO; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

The Great Food Truck Race; Food. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: August 5-11, 2013

Next week sure will have to work hard to beat this week.

I finished The IT Crowd from BBC (via Netflix). GREAT series that has that slightly "off" British sensibility.

I also finished the Netflix-exclusive fourth season of Arrested Development. I liked it, but found binging wasn't as fun as watching 2-3 episodes at a time, so I stretched my watching out over the past few months.

Watched Dogma for the first time since it was in theatres. Liked it back then; respect it now. It's a shame it caught so much flak in the religious community as I think it really was respectful of the belief in religion-- even if it did it via showing the hypocrisy that organized religions suffer from. ...And a lot of dick jokes.

Sammy Hagar released a new single ("Knockdown Dragout") from his upcoming album. Had a little Kid Rock and a lot of Joe Satriani, and that's a good thing. Sounds like The NFL Network will be using it this season, so good for him. Guys his age are retiring, and he's killin' it right now-- celebrating 40 years in the business as well as getting attention he hasn't had since his Van Halen days.

And just a few hours ago, BBC announced that Peter Capaldi will be the next Doctor Who.  I'm not a giant Doctor Who fan, but I do enjoy it, and I think it's awesome that the BBC is making it such a social media/geeky event.  This is a production company/network that knows how to treat its fans right (except for the stupid-expensive DVDs).  Fifty years of Doctor Who is a huge deal-- and it's just getting more and more popular.
And it's hard to imagine that in fifty years and over 700 television episodes, only eleven (soon to be twelve) people have been The Doctor. I don't know Capaldi's work well, but he held himself very well in the short interview today. I am looking forward to seeing what a more mature and dignified actor will bring to the role (not a knock on Smith; but older U.K. actors-- I'd say "British", but I know he's Scottish-- just have a gravitas about them).
And now we have to wait until Christmas to see a glimpse of him in his new role...

Okay... on to the premieres...

Monday, 8/5

The Bachelorette (ABC; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

The Fosters (ABC Family; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.


Tuesday, 8/6

Hard Knocks; HBO. 9 pm CST. 8th Season Premieres.

The Legend of Shelby the Swampman; History. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Wednesday, 8/7

Broadchurch; BBC America. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Detectives investigate a murder of a young boy in a small town.
And the review I read said this 8-episode season will solve the murder-- and won't use last-second gimmicks to pull the rabbit out of the hat.
It stars David Tennant, who is a heck of an actor. I caught the last half-hour of his run as The Doctor today, and it had me crying like a baby. I didn't even need to see how it all happened again; Tennant had it all in his performance. A guy who knew he was dying saying goodbye-- in a very Tenth Doctor way-- and then declaring "I don't want to go" before his body gives out. Just powerful stuff.
I can't wait to see what he brings to this new role.
And another Who connection: Arthur Darvill has a role as well.


Friday, 8/9

Magic City (Starz; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

Strike Back; Cinemax. 9 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Saturday, 8/10

The White Queen; Starz. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.
This 10-episode series follows the pre-Tudor Plantagenets family, who were crazy-dysfunctional.
And because it's Starz, expect plenty of sex scenes...

Hell on Wheels; AMC. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.
Sometimes the show is a little "too much" (too much of a lot of things), but stars Anson Mount and Common are just damn great to watch. And after last season's deaths, it'll be interesting to see what they do with who's left.


Sunday, 8/11

Marvel's Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. Disney XD. 10 am CST. Series Premiere.
Then Hulk, She-Hulk, A-Bomb, Skaar, and Red Hulk all live and fight bad guys together.
If it's anything like the comics, they could end up being more dysfunctional than The White Queen.
...But I wouldn't count on any sex scenes...

Breaking Bad; AMC. 8 pm CST. Mid-season Premiere.
It's been nearly a year, but technically, it's the rest of the final season.

Low Winter Sun; AMC. 9:04 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A cop kills a dirty cop-- and then gets caught in the Detroit underworld while trying to cover it up.
I've heard good things-- and AMC has a pretty good track record for original dramas. You should check it out.

Talking Bad; AMC. 10 pm CST. Series Premiere.
AMC brings this Talking Dead-style show to Breaking Bad's last few episodes.

Television Premieres and Notables: July 29- August 4, 2013

Monday, 7/29

The Writer's Room; Sundance. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Members of various television writing teams discuss their process.
The premiere's subject is Breaking Bad.


Tuesday, 7/30

Nikki & Sara LIVE; MTV. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The Profit; CNBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Wednesday, 7/31

Capture; The CW. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A wilderness-survival reality series where teams also need to capture/eliminate their opponents.

Through the Wormhole With Morgan Freeman (Science Channel; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Thursday, 8/1

The Awesomes; Hulu. Series Premiere.
An animated series about a young superhero who needs to recreate the team his father quit.

Hatfields and McCoys: White Lightning; History. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Friday, 8/2

Tanked; Animal Planet. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Saturday, 8/3

Zero Hour (ABC; 8 pm CST). Series Finale.

Too Cute! Animal Planet. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Psychic Tia; A&E. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Sunday, 8/4

Secret Millionaire; ABC. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The Killing (AMC; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

Falling Skies (TNT; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Shark After Dark; Discovery. 10 pm CST. Series Premiere.
This Shark Week nightly show discusses sharks of something. I don't know...

This is funnier than the whole 2012 season of HIMYM...

Television Premieres and Notables: July 22-28, 2013

Monday, 7/22

Breaking Pointe; The CW. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Supermarket Superstar; Lifetime. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Tuesday, 7/23

The Vineyard; ABC Family. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Web Therapy; Showtime. 10 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 7/24

Spell-Mageddon; ABC Family. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Top Chef Masters; Bravo. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Joe Rogan Questions Everything; Syfy. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Thursday, 7/25

Childrens Hospital; [adult swim]/Cartoon Network. 11 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Saturday, 7/27

America's Cutest Dog; Animal Planet. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Sunday, 7/28

Unforgettable; CBS. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: July 15-21, 2013

Tuesday, 7/16

Whose Line is it Anyway? The CW. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere/Series Return.
Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, and Colin Mochrie are back-- and Aisha Tyler replaces Drew Carey as host.

Covert Affairs; USA. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Suits; USA. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Thursday, 7/18

Project Runway; Lifetime. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Showville (AMC; 9 pm CST). Series Finale.

The slice we deserve...

Television Premieres andf Notables: July 8-14, 2013

Monday, 7/8

Get Out Alive With Bear Grylis; NBC. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Warehouse 13 (Syfy; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Tuesday, 7/9

Betty White's Off Their Rockers (NBC; 7:30 pm CST). Season Finale.

Drunk History; Comedy Central. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Based on the YouTube series where comics act out historical conversations given by drunk people.


Wednesday, 7/10

Moone Boy; Hulu. sometime today. Series Premiere.
A ten-year-old in Ireland manages his days with the help of his imaginary friend (played by co writer Chris O'Dowd).

The Bridge; FX.  9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir star as detectives investigating a dead body found on a bridge between the U.S. and Mexico.

Camp; NBC. 9:01 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Thursday, 7/11

Orange is the New Black; Netflix. today. Series Premiere.


Hollywood Game Night; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Saturday, 7/13

Being Human; BBC America. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Bounty Hunters; CMT. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Bill Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy, and Larry the Cable Guy voice the title characters in this animated series.


Sunday, 7/14

The Newsroom; HBO. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Jesus-- I'm stayin' away from Facebook

Happy Birthday, America

Television Premieres and Notables: July 1-7, 2013

Monday, 7/1

Goodwin Games (Fox; 7:30 pm CST). Series Finale.
Not a great show, but the cast was a lot of fun. I hope they can get together again on something a little less uneven.

Bizarre Foods America; Travel Channel. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Tuesday, 7/2

Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central; 9:30 pm CST). Season Finale.


Sunday, 7/7

Marvel's Avengers Assemble; Disney XD. 10 pm CST. Series Premiere.
It's a crime that the last Avengers show was cancelled so Disney could make their own version on their own channel, but I'll give it a try nonetheless.

Telvision Premieres and Notables: June 24-30, 2013

Monday, 6/24

Under the Dome; CBS. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
This 13-week event comes right from Stephen King's book.
CBS is hoping this can turn into a multi-year summer series of a limited run of episodes.
I've heard good things.


Tuesday, 6/25

Rizzoli & Isles; TNT. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Perception; TNT. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 6/26

Big Brother; CBS. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.
More houseguests than ever, longer stay (100 days) than ever, more nominees than ever...
I hate myself for watching this show every summer-- but I still watch...

How to Live With Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life) (ABC; 8:30 pm CST). Series Finale.
It wasn't bad-- but it wasn't great, either.


Thursday, 6/27

Small Town Security (AMC; 10 pm CST). Season Finale.


Friday, 6/28

Maron (IFC; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Saturday, 6/29

Do No Harm; NBC. 9 pm CST. Summer Burn-off.
If you were one of those who enjoyed the show before NBC yanked it, here is your chance to see some of the unaired episodes...


Sunday, 6/30

Dexter; Showtime. 8 pm CST. Final Season Premiere.

Ray Donovan; Showtime. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Liev Schreiber stars as a Hollywood fixer in this new drama.

Premieres and Notables: June 17-24, 2013

Monday, 6/17

Love, Marilyn; HBO. 8 pm CST. Special.
HBO's doc about Marilyn Monroe.


Tuesday, 6/18

The Voice (NBC; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

Blood and Oil; Discovery. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Another f-ing reality show...


Wednesday, 6/19

Franklin & Bash; TNT. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.
Heather Locklear joins the show.
But I don't I'll be sticking around. It's a cute show, but there are others I should be using my time for.

Futurama; Comedy Central. 9 pm CST. Final Season Premiere.

Hot in Cleveland; TV Land. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.
This live episode guest stars William Shatner.

The Soup Investigates; E!. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.

The Exes; TV Land. 9:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Thursday, 6/20

Hannibal (NBC; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Wilfred; FX. 9 pm CST. Wilfred.

Gigalos (Showtime; 10 pm CST). Season Finale.


Saturday, 6/22

666 Park Avenue; ABC. 8 pm CST. Summer Burn-off
If you were one of the handful who liked this show, here's your chance to see the rest of the episodes.


Sunday, 6/23

Whodunnit? ABC. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Crossing Lines; NBC. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Mad Men (AMC; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Copper; BBC America. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
Donal Logue joins the cast in the new season.

Devious Maids; Lifetime. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry brings this us Americanized Mexican telenovela about a group of Beverly Hills house cleaners.

Surprise Review: The Annoying Orange Season One

So, I got asked to review The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange Season One DVD set.  I'm never one to turn down a review copy of something, so I decided to give it a shot.

I actually enjoyed it.  Obviously, this Cartoon Network show is meant for kids, but I found a lot to enjoy, myself. Orange can certainly be annoying, but I think the show does a good job of taking him to "the line", and then pulling it back. Not that he lived up to his name every episode, but the odd time when he did, it was tolerable.  Toby Turner's "Nerville" is the only human character, and he does the comedy a little broad (see video clip)-- but I really do admire his commitment to the part. It isn't easy acting alone on a green screen, but he did a good job. And I could tell from some of the bonus material as well as some of the credit sequences that he's got a knack for improv with some of the alternate lines he was coming up with.

The standout character for me has to be Marshmallow; I just loved his high-pitched voice (thankfully, not overdone) hollering "Yaaay!" one second, and then being fatalistic another. I wish I could remember a specific line, but it would usually go something like, "Yaaaay! I like to watch things burn!"

I found many of the jokes to be rather witty, and I liked how the plots were all over the place from episode to episode. They'd do a little bit on the Revolutionary War in one episode, then a riff on Star Trek in another; from a road trip to a vineyard, then holding off an invasion of vegetables.  If you don't like one episode, they're only about ten minutes long, and there's good odds you'll enjoy the next one.

My nine-year-old just loves the Annoying Orange You Tube series, so he and I knocked-out this DVD set with all 30 episodes in about a week.  The total run time on the 4 discs is 339 minutes, so they obviously didn't utilize the full capacity of DVD. But I am going to assume the first three discs with episodes are the same discs previously released singly. The fourth disc with bonus features is pretty light; maybe a half hour of content.

But if your kids are fans of Orange, this isn't a bad deal. It's a little over my price point ($30 retail; places like Amazon has it for $25 right now), but kids DVDs are typically a little on the pricey side. Wait a bit, and the price will probably drop below $20; then I'd bite.   Cartoon Network hasn't been overexposing this show, only airing one or two half-hour episodes a week, so you can't say it'd be a silly purchase because it's for free on cable.

As a grownup, I give it a B-. I think most kids would give it more like a B+. My super-fan son gives it an A.

Here's a taste of some in-episode footage:



And here's some green screen work from the bonus materials:

Monday, 6/10

Switched at Birth; ABC Family. 7 pm CST. Mid-season Premiere.

Major Crimes; TNT. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

King & Maxwell; TNT. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Jon Tenney and Rebecca Romijn star as two disgraced Secret Service agents who go into private investigating.

Street Outlaws; Discovery. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Underground racers in Oklahoma City star in this docuseries.

John Oliver takes over the host's spot this summer on The Daily Show (Comedy Central; 10 pm CST) while Jon's off being a director.


Tuesdays, 6/11

Pretty Little Liars; ABC Family. 7 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Twisted; ABC Family. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Who Gets the Last Laugh? (TBS; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Awkward (MTV; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Wednesday, 6/12

Royal Pains; USA. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Necessary Roughness; USA. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Thursday, 6/13

Save Me (NBC; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.
(I'm guessing it's actually a series finale.)

Sullivan & Son; TBS; 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Friday, 6/14

Magic City; Starz. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Vice (HBO; 10 pm CST). Season Finale.


Saturday, 6/15

Zero Hour burns-off the episodes in the can on ABC at 7 and 8 pm CST.

AFI Lifetime Achievement Award (for Mel Brooks); TNT. 8 pm CST. Special.


Sunday, 6/16

Inspector Lewis; PBS. 8 pm CST (check local listings). Season Premiere.

True Blood; HBO. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The Client List (Lifetime; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.