Television Premieres and Notables: February 3-9, 2014

Monday, 2/3

Swamp People; History. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.

Inside Comedy; Showtime. 10 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Tuesday, 2/4

Ravenswood (CW; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.


Wednesday, 2/5

Top Chef (Bravo; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Friday, 2/6

Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games; NBC. 6:30 pm CST. Special.
The Winter Games are back, and I am stoked.
I'm going to hit as much curling and ice hockey as my DVR will allow.


Sunday, 2/9

The Walking Dead; AMC. 8 pm CST. Mid-season Premiere.
As has been the case with the mid-season finales, the "game has changed", so we'll be coming back to these characters in a much different place after the wild events of the last episode.
There also was quite a bit of casting announcements last summer of characters we haven't seen yet, so I think we can assume we'll be seeing new faces very soon.

Television Premieres and Notables: January 27-February 2, 2014

Wednesday, 1/29

Toy Hunter; Travel. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond; BBC America. 9 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.
Dominic Cooper plays Ian Fleming, the man who created James Bond.


Friday, 1/31

The Carrie Diaries (CW; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.


Sunday, 2/2

After The Super Bowl (around 9:30-10:30 pm CST), New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine air special new episodes.

Odds and ends

Ok, so I know this blog thing isn't always that creative. Regurgitating web content takes some time (and sorry for the ones that don't post correctly; sometimes I pre-post weeks in advance in the attempt to have something new post every day) but not always a lot of energy.

So I'm going to give a shot at periodic "things I think are cool/lame/etc" a little closer to my actually experiencing them.

[On that note, can I point you to Twitter? @teameckent, where I actually Tweet a few things about what I've watched or read-- around reTweeting/regurgitating the genius I see there. You don't even need to be on it; just go to the website and search for me.]

Won't promise frequency or length for these blog things, but I'm giving it a try...

TV:

I am so stoked to see what Archer comes up with this season. What does a spy agency that gets shut down by the FBI going to do with itself? Maybe sell that $50 million of drugs it had in storage. Archer Vice-- cannot wait.

I am liking @Midnight quite a bit. I am just flabbergasted by the quick wits that show gets. I'm sure there is some content/bad jokes cut out, but, geez, there are really some great stuff. And Chris Hardwick really is coming in his own as a host.

I'm also really loving The Goldbergs. Great cast that gibes me at least one huge laugh every episode. I love Bert on Trophy Wife. Love him. I think How I Met Your Mother is finally finding some of the greatness it lost a few years ago. Still erratic, but the highs are higher, and the lows aren't as awful.

Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. had a bit of a slow start, but it's really found its legs of late. Gotta give Clark Gregg big props. He has been the father figure and emotional center to this show-- and he's really great at it.  I also love that bits of the mysteries are being revealed and often coming in very unexpected ways. And they are revealed in ways that set-up more-- or give us very interesting reactions by the characters.
Case in point: last week revealed a big part of Skye's backstory. But instead of us seeing how she reacted to it, Coulson related the reaction to May-- and it went a big way to explaining what type of person Skye is. Brilliant scriptwriting there.

I had the Big Deal that happened on Person of Interest in November spoiled to me, so I couldn't bring myself to watch it until last week. Damn... Gut wrenching.  And then they took it to an even darker level the next episode when the ends were being tied up. Using Johnny Cash's rendition of "Hurt" to open the episode while the remaining members of the "team" went on a tear... Didn't think I could hurt more than I did the episode before.

But my favorite show right now is The Neighbors. Completely, absolutely surprising every week. Killer cast that has really found its groove within all the craziness.  And it always lands back on a very human center by the end. Love, friendship, breakups, mid-life crises, new careers... the show really is a lot of fun.


Music:

I really liked Jordis Unga on Rock Star: INXS from a few years back and even watched her on The Voice a couple of years ago (didn't like her songs as much on that show). So when she released a song recently ("Neva Eva") I actually downloaded it (I'm still old school-- would rather have a CD than a file that can disappear). And it's great. Just great. It has a '50s Motown vibe, but still sounds very contemporary.

A woman knows her man has been messing around on her, and she's calling him out. Jordis had a pretty cool idea to change her tone throughout the three minute song that really accentuates her skills. The chorus (she knows her man will say he would "Neva Eva" cheat on her) is sung first as a matter-of-fact statement, then moves to "cute" then has an angry tone. Love it. Give it a try and then download it yourself if you like it. She may have moved to L.A. (I think), but I still consider her a hometown (Twin Cities) girl I can root for.


The Web:

I've been pointed to two great Amazon review pages; one for a crazy-expensive TV and another for a candy that makes one lose bowel control.
I just f-ing love the genius of the average person on the internet...

Samsung 4K HDTV

Haribo Gummy Candy




Well, that'll do for now. I'll try to get to movies and books the next time...

Television Premieres and Notables: January 20-26, 2014

Monday, 1/20

Sleepy Hollow; Fox. 7 pm CST. Season Finale.

Hollywood Game Night; NBC. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Klondike; Discovery. 8 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.
Three-part mini about the gold rush.


Wednesday, 1/22

Ghost Hunters; Syfy. 8 pm CST. 10th Season Premiere.

Workaholics; Comedy Central. 9 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Wahlburgers; A&E. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
The Wahlberg brothers open a restaurant in Boston.

Broad City; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson bring their Web series concept to the small screen.


Thursday, 1/23

Rake; Fox. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Greg Kinnear stars as a sleazy lawyer.

King of the Nerds; TBS. 9 PM CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Friday, 1/24

Dracula (NBC; 9:01 pm CST). Season Finale.


Saturday, 1/25

Black Sails; Starz. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Pirates!


Sunday, 1/26

Barefoot Contessa; Food Network. 10:30 am CST. 21st Season Premiere.