Television Premieres, Finales, and Notables: April 21-27, 2014

Monday, 4/27

Archer (Vice) (FX; 9:00 pm CST). Season Finale.
This usually-looney show went way off the rails this season-- and it was a beautiful thing.

Boondocks; Adult swim. 9:30 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.
After a too-long absence, Boondocks is back!


Tuesday, 4/28

Deadliest Catch: The Bait; Discovery. 7:00 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 4/29

Dual Survival; Discovery. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Just want to give a heads up to check out Billy on the Street (Fuse; 10 pm CST) if you want to see a screaming guy walking the streets asking silly questions to random people-- and often berating them if they get the questions wrong.
It's not great TV, but it's often very funny TV.

Television Premieres and Notables: July 21-27, 2014

Monday, 7/21

Hotel Hell; Fox. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Counting Cars; History. 9:03 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.


Tuesday, 7/22

Food Fighters; NBC. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Face Off; Syfy. 8 pm CST. 7th Season Premiere.


Thursday, 7/24

Hell's Kitchen (Fox; 7 pm CST) Season Finale.

Project Runway; Lifetime. 8 pm CST. 13th Season Premiere.

Who Do You Think You Are? TLC. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.


Saturday, 7/26

Almost Royal (BBC America; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.
Come back soon...


Sunday, 7/27

Manhattan; WGN. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Thomas Schlamme brings us this series about the beginnings of the Manhattan Project in New Mexico.

Ice Lake Rebels; Animal Planet. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: July 14-20, 2014

Monday, 7/14

Backpackers; The CW. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.

24: Live Another Day  (Fox; 8 pm CST). Series Finale.


Tuesday, 7/15

The Hotwives of Orlando; Hulu. Series Premiere.
Just in case the Real Housewives shows aren't clownish enough, Casey Wilson, Angela Kinsey, Kristen Schaal and others do a parody of it for us.

The Night Shift (NBC; 9:01 pm CST). Season Finale.


Thursday, 7/17

Rush; USA. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A private doc does work for the rich people of L.A.

Married; FX. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.

You're the Worst; FX. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Saturday, 7/19

Sanjay and Craig; Nickelodeon. 8:30 am CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Sunday, 7/20

The Lottery; Lifetime. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
In a near-future Earth where infertility runs rampant, one scientist may have figured out how to get those babies coming again.

Telekinetic Scare Prank

My friend Tom showed me this one...

Leaked Star Wars Ep VII Footage

Okay, not really. But this vid that Frank Wunderlich posted is pretty awesome.

(Props, too, for my pal Brian for sending me the clip in the first place.)

Yeah-- I haven't forward to a movie this much in a long, long time...

Aliens... Spaceships... Disparate characters coming together... Groot nibbling on himself... Rocket... And a quick shot of Michael-freaking-Rooker at the end... This movie is going to rock and rock hard.

Television Premieres and Notables: July 7-13, 2014

Monday, 7/7

Ice Road Truckers; History. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Tuesday, 7/8

Inside the Walking Dead; AMC. 9 pm CST. Special.
AMC has realized that six months between seasons is a bit too much for fans, so they're throwing-out these teasers...

And if you missed last week's season premiere, try to find it in repeats/OnDemand. In the meantime, check out this week's episode of Nathan For You on Comedy Central at 9:30 pm CST.


Wednesday, 7/9

Extant; CBS. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
An infertile astronaut spends 13 months alone on a space station and returns-- pregnant. She doesn't know how that could be -- but it's entirely possible her government does.
Pretty intriguing, right?
If not: let's sweeten the pot by telling you the astronaut is played by Halle Berry...
...And the series is produced and overseen by Steven Spielberg...


The Bridge; FX. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
Last season never hooked me-- even with the fine performances by the cast-- but I'll give the first few eps of this one a shot before I make myself decide to bail or not.

East Los High; Hulu. Streaming. Season Premiere.


Thursday, 7/10

Welcome to Sweden; NBC. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Greg Poehler brings this "inspired by his life" story about leaving his life behind to move to Sweden with his girlfriend.

Working the Engels; NBC. 8:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Honestly, I can't get a read on what this one is about...

Leah Remini: It's All Relative; TLC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Remini jumps into the reality show thing with both feet...


Friday, 7/11

The Almighty Johnsons; Syfy. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
This New Zealand import follows the exploits of four brothers who inherit the powers of Norse Gods.

Hemlock Grove; Netflix. Streaming. 2nd Season Premiere.


Saturday, 7/12

Bad Dog! Animal Planet. 7 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Cops; Spike. 7 pm CST. 27th Season Premiere.

And if you haven't yet, check out BBC America's Almost Royals at 9 pm CST. I find it hilarious.


Sunday, 7/13

Ray Donovan; Showtime. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Stan Lee's Superhumans; H2. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Masters of Sex; Showtime. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The Strain; FX. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan enlisted exec-producer Carlton Cuse's help in bringing their vampire novel series to the screen.
FX is pushing this one hard-- and airing it on a Sunday (a first for FX), so it may not be a bad one to try it you can handle a little horror in your TV diet.

Devious Housemaids (Lifetime; 9:01 pm CST). Season Finale.

Happy 4th of July, bitches!

AMC's Walking Dead Marathon this weekend

Just a heads up if you've missed out on the Walking Dead phenomena so far: AMC is doing that coolest of things I wish more basic cable channels did: they're reairing the previous episodes in one big binge-worthy-goodness batch.

Starting Friday, 7/4, at 8 am CST, the marathon starts with the brilliant pilot episode (even if you don't have the DVR space for the whole marathon, you owe it to yourself to watch that film-quality pilot) and doesn't stop until Sunday night's Season Four finale.

I'll tell you straight-up: it's not the best show I watch, but it is my go-to show. It's my favorite four years running, and it never fails to surprise me.  It's the only show where I cannot-- and will not-- go to bed until I watch the episode the night it airs. My sainted wife has even been allowing me to go to another room (it's "too much" for her) during the first airing, so I don't have to stay up until 1 am to watch the second or third airing anymore.

So jump on this train that just gets bigger (and in many ways-- better) every season before it gets so big they don't do these marathons anymore.

Television Premieres and Notables: June 30-July 6, 2014

Monday, 6/30

Under the Dome; CBS. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere
It kinda went off the rails toward the end of last season (not atypical for a show with a specific premise that gets picked up for an unexpected second season), but I'll give it a shot again.


Tuesday, 7/1

Drunk History; Comedy Central. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Nathan For You; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
Sometimes this show gets a little too "out there", but I have to give Nathan credit for being able to keep his clients "in the game".
Worth watching, for sure.


Wednesday, 7/2

American Grilled; Travel. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Sunday, 7/6

Witches of East End; Lifetime. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

The '90s: The Last Great Decade? National Geographic. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Patrick Stewart is so awesome...

Wish I had thought of this...

Television Premieres and Notables: June 23-29, 2014

Monday, 6/23

Teen Wolf; MTV. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

CeeLo Green's The Good Life; TBS. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Tuesday, 6/24

Cake Boss; TLC. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Tyrant; FX. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.


Wednesday, 6/25

Big Brother; CBS. 7 pm CST. 16th Season Premiere.

Young & Hungry; ABC Family. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Mystery Girls; ABC Family. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling star as TV actresses who reunite with other to solve crimes.

Taxi Brooklyn; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A cop and a cabbie team up to solve crimes in NYC.

Wilfred; FXX. 9 pm CST. 4th-- and final-- Season Premiere.


Friday, 6/27

Girl Meets World; Disney. 8:45 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Cory and Topanga are back-- with their teen girl who is trying to navigate the world.


Sunday, 6/29

Reckless; CBS. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.

The Leftovers; HBO. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Damon Lindelof brings us this adaptation of the novel about the people remaining when 2% of the world's population just disappears without a trace.

Penny Dreadful (Showtime; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Television Premieres and Notables: June 16-22, 2014

Monday, 6/16

The Fosters; ABC Family. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Louie (FX; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Tuesday, 6/17

Fargo (FX; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.

Rizzoli & Isles; TNT. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Awkward (MTV; 9 pm CST). Mid-season Finale.
The season that just won't end...


Thursday, 6/19

Defiance; Syfy. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Rookie Blue; ABC. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Rectify; Sundance. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Dominion; Syfy. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Series based on the film of a few years ago where the archangel Michael comes to Earth to help humans defend themselves against an army of angels.


Friday, 6/20

The Pool Master; Animal Planet. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Well, they ran out of animals to highlight, so A.P. is moving into another reality genre: pointing a camera at some person who has a unique business. In this case, the cameras are pointed at a swimming pool designer.

Funniest Wins; TBS. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Marlon Wayans hosts this comedian challenge where funny people of all types compete in some of the many forms we get humor in today's world (stand-up, social media, etc).


Saturday, 6/21

Almost Royal; BBC America. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Two Brits fake being aristocrats on their first trip to America.
This is normally not at all my cup of tea, but the commercials looked funny, so I'll give it a shot.


Sunday, 6/22

Wipeout; ABC. 6 pm CST. 7th Season Premiere.

Enlisted (Fox; 6 pm CST). Series Finale.

Rising Star; ABC. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
ABC finally brings us something there just isn't enough of: a singing competition.

True Blood; HBO. 8 pm CST. 7th/Final Season Premiere.

The Last Ship; TNT. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Eric Dane stars as the captain of ship in the Arctic that may the best hope to save the human race when a virus wipes out 80% of the population.

The Musketeers; BBC America. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
The Three Musketeers get another new reinterpretation.

Falling Skies; TNT. 9:03 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.