Okay, this could be a total disaster, or a big hit, or maybe even both? After last year's Peter Pan Live flop, NBC is going for it again with a production of The Wiz, and they certainly attracted a starry enough cast, so maybe people will tune in for this? These kinds of shows always inspire a certain kind of morbid curiosity in me, but I have to admit I never even saw the old movie version of The Wiz.
AMC Teaser for 'Preacher' Series
This show was based on a cult graphic novel and adapted for AMC by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen of all people. Despite that, I actually think it looks kind of good? I don't trust these guys with non-comedic properties, fair or not, but Dominic Cooper looks pretty compelling in this teaser. I may check this out when it premieres next year- it's been ordered for ten episode season.
2015 People's Choice Awards TV Nominations
As always, there are at least a million categories for the TV nominations at the People's Choice Awards, and I can't say I agree with many of them, aside from the Outlander love- right on, people. The rest is a big pile of meh this year.
Favorite TV Show
The Big Bang Theory
Game of Thrones
Grey’s Anatomy
The Voice
The Walking Dead
Favorite Network TV Comedy
2 Broke Girls
The Big Bang Theory
Mike & Molly
Modern Family
New Girl
Favorite Comedic TV Actor
Andy Samberg
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jim Parsons
Johnny Galecki
Matthew Perry
Favorite Comedic TV Actress
Anna Faris
Kaley Cuoco
Melissa McCarthy
Sofía Vergara
Zooey Deschanel
Favorite Network TV Drama
Empire
Gotham
Grey’s Anatomy
How To Get Away With Murder
Scandal
Favorite Dramatic TV Actor
Jesse Williams
Justin Chambers
Scott Foley
Taylor Kinney
Terrence Howard
Favorite Dramatic TV Actress
Ellen Pompeo
Kerry Washington
Sara Ramirez
Taraji P. Henson
Viola Davis
Favorite Cable TV Comedy
Baby Daddy
Faking It
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Real Husbands of Hollywood
Young & Hungry
Favorite Cable TV Drama
Bates Motel
The Fosters
Pretty Little Liars
Rizzoli & Isles
Suits
Favorite Cable TV Actor
Adam DeVine
Christian Slater
Eric Dane
Kevin Hart
Taye Diggs
Favorite Cable TV Actress
Ashley Benson
Hilary Duff
Lucy Hale
Sasha Alexander
Shay Mitchell
Favorite Premium Cable TV Show
Girls
Homeland
Masters of Sex
Shameless
Veep
Favorite Premium Cable TV Actor
Dwayne Johnson
Joshua Jackson
Justin Theroux
Matt LeBlanc
Nick Jonas
Favorite Premium Cable TV Actress
Claire Danes
Emmy Rossum
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Kristen Bell
Lisa Kudrow
Favorite TV Crime Drama
Bones
Castle
Criminal Minds
NCIS
Person of Interest
Favorite Crime Drama TV Actor
Jim Caviezel
LL Cool J
Mark Harmon
Nathan Fillion
Shemar Moore
Favorite Crime Drama TV Actress
Emily Deschanel
Lucy Liu
Mariska Hargitay
Pauley Perrette
Stana Katic
Favorite Network Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show
Arrow
Beauty and the Beast
Once Upon a Time
Supernatural
The Vampire Diaries
Favorite Cable Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show
American Horror Story
Game of Thrones
Outlander
Teen Wolf
The Walking Dead
Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor
David Tennant
Ian Somerhalder
Jensen Ackles
Misha Collins
Sam Heughan
Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress
Caitriona Balfe
Emilia Clarke
Ginnifer Goodwin
Jennifer Morrison
Lady Gaga
Favorite Competition TV Show
America’s Got Talent
American Ninja Warrior
Dancing with the Stars
MasterChef
The Voice
Favorite Streaming Series
House of Cards
The Mindy Project
Transparent
Orange Is the New Black
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Favorite Daytime TV Host
Dr. Oz
Ellen DeGeneres
Rachael Ray
Steve Harvey
Wendy Williams
Favorite Daytime TV Hosting Team
Good Morning America
Live! With Michael and Kelly
The Talk
Today
The View
Favorite Latenight TV Host
Conan O’Brien
James Corden
Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Kimmel
Stephen Colbert
Favorite Actor In A New TV Series
Chace Crawford
John Stamos
Josh Peck
Rob Lowe
Zachary Levi
Favorite Actress In A New TV Series
Emma Roberts
Jamie Lee Curtis
Lea Michele
Marcia Gay Harden
Priyanka Chopra
Favorite Animated TV Show
American Dad!
Bob’s Burger
Family Guy
The Simpsons
South Park
Favorite New TV Comedy
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Dr. Ken
Grandfathered
The Grinder
Life in Pieces
The Muppets
Scream Queens
Truth Be Told
Favorite New TV Drama
Blindspot
Blood & Oil
Code Black
Heroes Reborn
Limitless
Minority Report
The Player
Quantico
Rosewood
Supergirl
Wicked City
Fred Thompson 1942-2015
Former senator and longtime Law & Order actor Fred Thompson passed away today at the age of 73. Thompson was an attorney who had a long career in Washington and served in the U.S. Senate as a Republican from 1994 to 2003. He also ran for president in 2008, if you remember that campaign stint, but as an actor he was known for appearances in movies and television, most notably Law & Order from 2002-2007. He appeared on the spinoffs Trial by Jury and SVU, and his movie career included roles in No Way Out, The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard 2, In the Line of Fire and Baby's Day Out. He died of a recurrence of lymphoma.
Monsters Arrive in New 'X-Files' Promo
It's getting closer- the new season of The X-Files premiered at NYCC a few weeks back to very positive reception, so I'm getting more excited for this six-episode revival. Everything looks good and very X-Files-like, so I think it's okay to be optimistic for this one.
'Sherlock' Christmas Special Gets a New Trailer, Air Date and Title
We finally know, everyone- the Sherlock Christmas special, to be called The Abominable Bride, will be airing on January 1st in both the U.S. and the U.K. Looks like we won't have to wait for the months long delay over here for once. I'm psyched- but why is the Christmas special not airing until New Year's Day?
REVIEW: "Mr. Robot" Season 1
Mr. Robot, one of the most intriguing and confounding new shows of the year, comes from the brain of Sam Esmail, and when it comes to mindbenders, one of the issues is that you can never tell if what they’re doing is brilliant, or, well, stupid. It can very easily be one thing or the other, depending on who’s viewing the content in question, and whether that appeals to you or not. There’s a fine line between genius and madness, right? Well, I sort of fall in the middle on this one. Some episodes I thought were great, while others I wondered if the writing sort of veered off course with no direction whatsoever. Isn’t that all part of the plan though? Fans would say that- I’m not sold that there’s a specific endgame for this, despite Esmail’s claims that it was based on his original script for a movie, and the first season would have been the first third or so of the screenplay. Even so, that means a lot of filler along the way, doesn’t it?
One thing that is extremely consistent throughout the season’s ten episodes though, is Rami Malek’s phenomenal performance as the central character Elliot Alderson. A hacker with mental problems, he’s a twentysomething viligante of sorts, the kind that searches for bad people doing bad things so he can work his magic and take them down, but this is only to fuel his sense of aimlessness and disillusionment with the world around him. Elliot has a drug problem and is intensely disturbed, something he knows already but to what extent? And for that matter, to what extent are we being played by his delusions? Yeah, this is that kind of show, so to go into too much about the plot would be spoiler heavy on its face. Let’s just say that it involves a group of hackers taking down an evil corporation that rips off its clients and scams everyone of their rights, and at first I was far less interested in this overarching scheme than I was simply in Elliott himself. I thought throughout the first few episodes, that as atmospheric and well acted and directed as it was, that the show might work better as more of a character study than a wannabe corporate thriller.
Without giving too much away though, all I can say is that if you’re feeling anywhere close to where I was after the first four, keep going. For the first time in a while I was blindsided by the places this show took me, and the seeds of its eventual destination were planted inch by inch every step of the way, so I can safely say that I was wrong in my initial assumption that it wasn’t a character study. I’m normally a pretty firm believer in the idea that if you’re not hooked by four, you can go ahead and bow out. NOT so with this show, trust me. I would endorse sticking with this through at least eight, if you find any of it at all compelling. It will reward your patience and then make you want to go back and see it all over again to catch what you may have missed.
Rami Malek’s wide eyes and glazed over attitude holds the screen for every frame- you can’t take your eyes off him, really, no matter what he’s doing or saying. In a lot of ways he IS the show, but there are a couple of other important characters in the mix, who end up revealing their own roles and the part they play in Elliott’s world, in surprising (shocking, even) and in some cases, still not yet explained ways. Angela (Portia Doubleday) serves as his childhood friend and fellow employee at All Safe, the security tech firm where he works, Carly Chaikin is a fellow hacker involved in the big takedown efforts, and most intriguingly, Martin Wallstrom as Tyrell Wellick, the wannabe CEO of the corporation they’re attempting to infiltrate, and someone whose role goes from apparent smooth operator to hilariously inept cuckold in a performance that would rival Rami Malek’s for attention if Malek wasn’t so utterly dominant. Finally, there’s Mr. Robot himself, the head of the hacker group played by Christian Slater, and frankly he’s someone that I really can’t say anything at all about without giving away the mother load (although not really, since it’s safe to admit there’s a Fight Club thing going on here that is fairly predictable, but trust me, if you go in thinking you know the answers already, you’ll come out blown away, because the parallel to that film is the king of the red herring, if ever there was one).
All of these other characters morph into unexpected roles from the ones they’re introduced as- this is the kind of show where nothing is at it seems, not to Elliott or the audience. You may get frustrated by this kind of misdirection, or you may be dazzled by it, along with the very specific color pallette and direction the show employs, which has the effect of making it look unlike anything else on TV. Yet for all my enthusiasm for much of it, I still have reservations. Most come from my skepticism that every little thing in this hallucinatory universe can mean something significant (Esmail’s done a good job so far of making you think so, but you can’t fool me twice, people- I sat through all six seasons of Lost, and we all remember how Twin Peaks devolved). But if nothing else, this show has one thing those others did not, and yes, that’s Rami Malek. With a maddening yet fascinating character to play around with, I could seriously watch him for hours and not feel my time has been wasted. He’s that good, and I feel pretty confident he can carry this show through the mystifying elements it’s bound to journey through. I’m hooked, and I think you should at least give it a shot, since very few things surprise me by simply sticking with it to the end, and this was one of them. That counts for a lot.
Grade: B+
First Full Trailer for 'Jessica Jones' Lands
Finally, we have the full trailer for the first season of Jessica Jones and it looks pretty fantastic. This is officially my most anticipated show this fall- I can't wait till the episodes drop on November 20th. Krysten Ritter looks great in her first lead after so many years in supporting roles on TV.
Jimmy Kimmel Reunites Doc Brown and Marty McFly
Despite the silliness of Back to the Future day, I do get a kick out of movies that have become so ingrained in the cultural consciousness that people go nuts for the actors showing up in character thirty years later. Here, Jimmy Kimmel reunited our favorite time travelers for a bit about the real 2015 they showed up in.
RECAP: SNL 10/17 "Tracy Morgan"
Tracy Morgan came back to host SNL tonight, and the good news is he was just as energetic as ever in the skits. And it was one of the better episodes too, if only for the opening debate sketch, as you'll see below.
COLD OPEN: One of their best debate skits, lampooning Tuesday's democratic debate but bringing on Larry David of all people to do a brilliant and funny impression of Bernie Sanders. It's pretty awesome to see him on that stage and even funnier that you immediately buy him as Sanders. Love it. The best thing they've done in a while (Alec Baldwin shows up as an angry Jim Webb too).
MONOLOGUE: Tracy comes back! It's very sweet, because he's so grateful and happy to be there, and he also brings back his 30 Rock co-stars (so that's why Alec Baldwin was on earlier) to pay him a little scripted tribute from an "episode" that supposedly aired in 2012. It's more nice than funny.
FAMILY FEUD: A funny setup for this FF, which pits Leslie and her three kids against Tracy, her ex-husband with his new wife and stepkids he left her for. The setup is inherently funny, which carries it through. Kenan's Steve Harvey is good as always.
BRIAN FELLOWS: One of Tracy's old bits revived with a real camel brought on that kept getting in the way of the camera- that's the most memorable part of this, actually. That camel was huge!
FAKE COCAINE: An ad for fake cocaine to hide bowel movements at parties- Beck is the culprit who tries to hide his deeds. It's amusing.
UPDATE: Some more debate jokes and shots at outsiders Trump, Carson and Fiorina, then Tina Fey comes on to riff on the news of Playboy getting rid of their nude pictures- she's funny. Kenan's also funny as Willie the neighbor, waxing on about Halloween since there's no Halloween episode this year. A pretty good Update, which is rare.
MUSICAL: A weird, random skit that's set in the opening of a stage musical with Tracy interrupting the song to say inappropriate things. This one doesn't really work- I think the joke could have been executed better.
THE STANDOFF: Pre-taped bit with Tracy and Taran facing off in a bar, but Tracy wants to literally dance, not fight. Kinda funny, but not laugh out loud. Again, the execution could have made this work better.
WHERE JACKIE CHAN AT?: Kenan and Tracy host a show that asks where's Jackie Chan's been, a question no one seems to know the answer to. Not that funny either- the second half of the show has really gone downhill.
ASTRONAUT JONES: Another revived Tracy sketch that spoofs The Martian in a quick joke that mostly plays on the opening, as it always did in his old skits. Cute.
Well, the first half was much stronger than the second, but it was nice to see Tracy up and about, and hey, Larry David as Bernie Sanders pretty much made the episode no matter what came after it. I give tonight a B. That may be a little generous overall, but on the other hand I do think it's the best episode of the season so far. SNL's off for two weeks now, and it comes back on the 7th with Donald Trump (yikes) as host. I don't quite know how I'm going to stomach that (also not sure how the cast members will either) but I guess I'm going to have to try. It's going to be interesting. See you guys then!
