GOT: Season Five is Coming

Winter is here, but season five of HBO's Game of Thrones will not start until April 14th.  In the meantime, you have a new trailer showing the full breadth of the new season.  It is impressive, with scenes of a wedding and funeral, the plight of the remaining Stark children, fierce battles across the sea and far to the north, and talks of a new leader, be it a man or woman who can eventually unite the land.  Certainly plenty to enjoy and ponder. 

If you would like to dissect each piece of the trailer above, I recommend you visit DenofGeek for an enlightening tour.   For instance, you can learn about the Brazen Beast serving Daenerys Targaryen in Meereen (picture  below).  And the website compares the images to the underlying books, to give you some idea if the story is still on track.  As with more and more trailers these days (such as the latest Star Wars installment), we get plenty of speculation.  And yet, as someone who has not read all of the books, I still expect plenty of surprises in the new season.

A Good Find: Man Seeking Woman

I was not sure what to expect after all the failing romantic comedies (and deservedly so) on television this season, but FX's Man Seeking Woman was a very strange yet pleasant surprise.  Talk about bad dates!  Nothing can prepare you for the main characters view of his surrounding plight.  While somewhat extreme it always contains a kernel (yes, at times quite small) of truth.  Have you ever had a first date similar to the one pictured above?  No need to answer.

Here is FX's summary of the story:

A sweet and surreal look at the life-and-death stakes of dating, Man Seeking Woman follows naïve twenty-something “Josh Greenberg” (Jay Baruchel, How to Train Your Dragon) on his unrelenting quest for love. Josh soldiers through one-night stands, painful break-ups, a blind date with a troll, time travel, sex aliens, many deaths and a Japanese penis monster named “Tanaka” on his fantastical journey to find love. 

Starring alongside Baruchel are Eric Andre (The Eric Andre Show) as “Mike,” Josh’s confident and daring best friend; Britt Lower (Unforgettable) as “Liz,” Josh’s intimidating older sister; and Maya Erskine (Betas) as “Maggie,” the ex-girlfriend Josh can never quite forget.

The 10-episode run is based on Simon Rich's (son of former NYT's Frank Rich) love stories in The Last Girlfriend on Earth.  Simon's book is said to be somewhat autobiographical, though I hope he did a little better in real life.  Simon also said other story tellers, such as Matt Groening's Life in Hell, also inspired him.  You can see him discussing his book in this video.  We have not seen the book's time traveler or caveman yet in the first two episodes, but I expect they will fit right in.  

Asked about the show's craziness in an interview with Hitfix, Simon Rich said,

My hope is that if we do our jobs right it will feel seamless and the madness won't feel digressive. And I think there are a lot of shows that are able to employ supernatural elements while remaining emotionally grounded. The biggest ones that I can think of are "South Park" and "The Simpsons," which are two of my all-time favorite shows. And I know those shows are animated, which is a big difference.

The two names shows above are hard acts to follow, but this new series is clearly on the right track.  All I can say is see the comedy for yourself.  The series only started two weeks ago, so you should have no trouble catching up.  You might get a laugh and even see some of yourself in the story.  Hopefully, you are not identifying with the troll.

 

More History: Sons of Liberty

Television drama is moving in the right direction, realizing you do not need to make up so many new stories when the stories of our past are already so interesting.  As we saw with AMC's Turn and HBO's John Adams, the early years of our nation around the time of the Revolutionary War has plenty of heroes, forbidding battles, and hair-raising outcomes.  

The History Channel is also mining this era with its new drama Sons of Liberty.  It has assembled quite a cast to bring the founding of the nation to life.  The series stars tomorrow night (January 25) and runs for three nights.  Here is the History Channel's description of the series:

SONS OF LIBERTY, the three-night, six-hour event, follows a defiant and radical group of young men–Sam Adams, John Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock and Dr. Joseph Warren–as they band together in secrecy to change the course of history and make America a nation.

The Sons of Liberty sparked a revolution, the cast depicting them includes: Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia) as Sam Adams, a natural born leader with charisma and a penchant for mischief; Ryan Eggold (The Black List) as Dr. Joseph Warren, a doctor and man of conscience and integrity; Michael Raymond-James (Jack Reacher, Terriers, True Blood) as Paul Revere, a veteran who wholeheartedly joins forces with Sam Adams; Rafe Spall (Prometheus, Life of Pi) as John Hancock, the wealthiest man in Boston at the time; and Henry Thomas (E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Gangs of New York, Legends of the Fall) as John Adams, a lawyer and the conservative, smart cousin of Sam Adams. Additionally, Marton Csokas (Equalizer, The Lord of the Rings, Rogue) plays the ferocious General Thomas Gage who is sent to handle the colonial unrest in Boston; Emily Berrington (24: Live Another Day) as Margaret Gage; Jason O’Mara (The Good Wife, Terra Nova, Life on Mars) as General George Washington and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad, Under the Dome, Men, Women & Children) as the brilliant yet mischievous diplomat Benjamin Franklin.

Calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, they light the spark that ignited our revolution. While many of their names have become legendary, this group of young rebels didn’t start off as noble patriots. They were a new generation of young American men from varied backgrounds, struggling to find purpose in their lives. They were looking for equality, but they found something greater: Independence.

SONS OF LIBERTY is a dramatic interpretation of events that sparked a revolution. It is historical fiction, not a documentary. The goal of our miniseries is to capture the spirit of the time, convey the personalities of the main characters, and focus on real events that have shaped our past. For historical information about the Sons of Liberty and the dawning of the American Revolution, please read the Historian’s View section on history.com/sons.

Notice in that last paragraph that the "History" Channel is engaging in historical ficiton.  I am not sure if I like that bit.  At least the website steers us back to actual history if we get lost, but how many will do this research?  

The Los Angeles Times is already raising a ruckus about the incomplete retelling of the past, stating 

Writers Stephen David, David C. White and Kirk Ellis don't bother explaining the many laws and policies that caused people like Adams to organize and agitate — presumably the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts seem too much like school. Instead "The Sons of Liberty" focuses the big action — the smuggling done to get goods past the British forces, the Boston tea party, the Boston massacre, Revere's famous ride, the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill.

The proof is in the viewing, so I will be testing the new series against my own knowledge of the past and maybe do a little research as well.  That said, I also look forward to a good story. 

Rainn Wilson Returns In A New Role

I was hoping we would see Rainn Wilson on his own series as Dwight the beet farmer following his success on The Office, but that was not to be.  However, tomorrow night on Fox you can see Wilson in a new role as a brilliant yet disagreeable Portland detective in the new series Backstrom.  Seeing Rainn Wilson as a jerk should not be a huge leap for many, though this new character is definitely darker than his last one. 

Here is Wilson on his character in an article from USA Today:

He has no filter and he hates everyone. Stuff he says is going to come out as racist, but he sees flaws in everyone...He hates no one more than he hates himself...I think people in general like to watch jerks because they see so many in their real lives.

So if you are in the mood for another police procedural, but this one with a familiar face, you may want to add this to your television line-up.

In The Flesh No More

It appears BBC Three will not be making a third season of In The Flesh.  This better-than-average zombie series did well for the first two seasons and had more heart than others of this genre (yes, zombies are now a genre). 

The underlying reason for no third season is not the lack of an audience but rather the lack of a budget. BBC Three faces closure and is instead staying open but as a much smaller version of itself.  The Controller of BBC Three recently stated:

But with a falling income and increased costs, BBC Three can only make one drama a year and I want the latest and freshest ideas, ideas that will break new talent on and off-screen. This is part of what BBC Three does and should do.

I would have thought In The Flesh is pretty "fresh," so to say.  As far as an audience, 35,000 viewers have signed a petition on change.org to bring the show back for a third season, stating:

This show has changed the lives of many watchers and addresses real problems in the world. It really deserves a third season.

Another petition is asking Netflix to pick up the series, which is not a bad idea. 

The creator of the series says he already has a third season written. So will someone save this show? I hope so. Stay tuned. 

Don't Miss the Final Season of Justified

Tomorrow night on FX is the start of the end; the sixth and last season of Justified.  The hard-scrabble, drug-running, dead-end antics of one corner of Kentucky may continue forevermore, but our small window onto this story will close in a few short weeks.  And what a view it has been!

Each season some great actors and actresses join the show (in addition to a great cast), and this season is no different with Sam Elliott, Garret Dillahunt, and Jeff Fahey.  This should be a good way to go.  For while there is enough story to keep the series fresh for this one last season, this is about it, according to Timothy Olyphant (aka Raylan):

You want to stop before you’re repeating yourself. There are only so many situations where Raylan can confront Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) before it feels to you and the audience that we’ve seen it before.

So will we see the final match between Raylan and Boyd, the two friends who grew up together then went their own ways finding themselves on different sides of the law?  This seems to be the case, and we will miss both of them, regardless of which one goes out (feet) first.  Given that Boyd was only supposed to last a season, he already had his nine lives, or at least five until now.  And staying alive around Raylan is not an easy task. 

Check out the final season trailer.  You can see the tension building and poor Ava caught between the two boys.  It doesn't look very comfortable. 

Red Band Society Has a Few More Episodes To Go

If you have been bothered that Fox showed only 10 episodes of the new series Red Band Society, take heart because the last three episodes of the first season will be shown later this month.  Fox really flubbed this show by yanking it from the line up early (as they did with Enlisted, but don't get me started), but at least we can see how the season wraps up, even it is does appear to be the first and only season.  

So plan on watching how it all ends.  Episode 11 will run on Saturday, January 31st, followed by a two-hour finale (episodes 12 and 13) on February 7.  This is another fine show to add to the list of network television train wrecks.  I am starting to like the Netflix and Amazon approach where they commit to and film an entire season before releasing it.  The major networks seem to be too timid to complete what they started. 

Syfy Brings You 12 Monkeys

Tonight you can see the premiere of Syfy's 12 Monkeys, a new series that may sound familiar if you saw the 2005 film of the same name with Brad Pitt.  Set between 2015 and 2043, we watch the main character travel back in time to change the past so 7 billion people do not fall victim to a ravaging plague on the future.

It sounds like the most recent plague-infested series The Ship with a time-machine. And while Ebola is still making a mess of Africa, I think it's the computer viruses that are more likely to take us down than the medical sort.  I fear Revolution more than The Strain or The Walking Dead.  And yet, here we are.  So enjoy it, so to say.  And here is a trailer for the new show if you want to learn more.

Golden Globes No Friend of Major Networks

This year's Golden Globe winners provide continuing evidence that the major networks continue to lose in terms of great programming.  While they may be the reliable standby for late night comedy, news, and police procedurals, they are not pushing any envelopes. 

Below is a list of the television nominees and highlighted winners for 2014, revealed last weekend.  Good news for Amazon (Transparent) and Netflix (House of Cards) as they show they can compete head to head with the networks and cable.  Of the nine categories listed below, the two online providers had nominees in 6 of the categories, and a winner in 3 of them.  If the networks thought cable competition was tough, look at the ambitious schedules for Netflix and Amazon this year and you might wonder if the networks can ever catch up. 

Best TV Series, Drama

The Affair
Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

The Good Wife

House of Cards

Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy

TransparentGirls

Jane the Virgin

Orange Is the New Black

Silicon Valley

Best Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Fargo
The Missing

The Normal Heart

Olive Kitteridge

True Detective

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Clive Owen, The Knick

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

James Spader, The Blacklis
 Dominic West, The Affair

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama

Ruth Wilson, The Affair
Claire Danes, Homeland

Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Louis C.K., Louie

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Ricky Gervais, Derek

William H. Macy, Shameless

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical

Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Lena Dunham, Girls

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Julia Louis Dreyfus, Veep

Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black

Best Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Billy Bob Thortnon, Fargo
Martin Freeman, Fargo

Woody Harrelson, True Detective

Matthew McConaughey, True Detective

Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart

Best Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman

Jessica Lange, American Horror Story

Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge

Frances O’Connor, The Missing

Allison Tolman, Fargo

We Will Miss Pawnee

Don't miss tonight's premiere of the last season of NBC's Parks and Recreation.  Set three years into the future, we get to see Leslie and Ben's triplets, as well as a Pawnee branch of the National Park Service. 

After watching six seasons of this amazing program, I am sad to see it go yet happy for a cast that is so well recognized they will never want for work again.  It would almost be unfair keeping them in the show when each of them have grown so much and are ready to do great things elsewhere.

So enjoy the show. It will entail six weeks of back-to-back episodes with a final one hour episode - 13 in all. 

MTV: Online Dating Gone Bad

Tonight on MTV you can experience the dark side (or another dark side) of our cyber-connected world.  The new show Eye Candy is a change in pace for MTV, known for lighter young series such as Awkward, Faking It, and Happyland.  And while we have seen blood in MTV's Teen Wolf, here the monsters are all humans.  

Here is what you can expect per MTV:

Eye Candy centers in tech genius Lindy, who is persuaded by her roommate to begin online dating and begins to suspect that one of her mysterious suitors might be a deadly cyber stalker.  When her friends at the elusive cyber-police uncover a potential serial killer on Manhattan, all signs point to one of Lindy's dates.  Teaming up with this band of hackers, Lindy works to solve the murders while unleashing her own style of justice on the streets of New York City.

It is not clear if this is Catfish, Batman, or Kick-Ass, but it is certainly a new turn for MTV and I am interesting in seeing how it plays out. 

HBO: Try Togetherness

Tonight on HBO you can watch the premiere of the new show Togetherness.  HBO has a simple summary to what may be a complex story:

Four adults nearing 40, living under the same roof, struggle to keep their relationships and individual dreams alive.

Two of these adults are married with kids, one is an older sister, and last is a high school friend.  And when you learn that brothers Jay and Mark Duplass are the creators (yes, that Jay from Amazon's Transparent), you know that you are in for a strange and bumpy ride.

In describing his show, Jay Duplass calls it drama and comedy:

The way that we approach our stuff is first and foremost as dramatic work, trying to capture truthful things that are happening and represent them. And comedy, for us, is really a secondary thought. It just naturally comes from our personalities. We tell each other these potentially cringe-worthy stories and we end up giggling about them.

Jay and Mark grew up in New Orleans with Steve Zissis, who plays the high school friend and has a role much like that in his real life.  And Mark Duplass plays the married character. As you can see, this is an intimate story among friends that we get to see over the next few months - eight episodes on all. But the brothers are already planning on a second season and maybe we should as well.

Update: Togetherness has been picked up for a second season. 

An Interesting Batch of Girls, Gays, And Not Gays

If you want to experience an odd weekend, I recommend on Sunday night (January 11) you watch season four's first episode of Girls on HBO, followed by an episode of the season two premiere of HBO's gay buddy series Looking, and then finish with TLC's premiere episode of My Husband's Not Gay.  If that doesn't mess with your head I'm not sure what will. You will certainly see America in all its diversity and craziness. 

In case you have not heard of the TLC series, it follows Mormon men who are married to women yet attracted to men. Years ago you would simply call this normal repressed America, but nowadays it seems somewhat unnecessary, though it might meet the needs of the Mormon church. That's right, the church where not so long ago men could have multiple wives (though wives were always limited to one husband, gay or straight).

Needless to say, the LGBT community is incensed, which only gins up more attention for another dumb "reality" show that thrives on controversy the ways a flame thrives on fuel.  For every million mad moms, we now need legions of mad counterparts. 

It shall pass, as did the earlier poorly contrived TV show The New Normal.  The great thing about TV is that you can always change the channel if you don't like what you're watching.

Update: Girls has been picked up for a fifth season.

Spies, Music, and Comedy

If you have caught up on all your shows over the holiday break, you may be ready for these new and returning shows.  And this is just the start. 

Marvel's Agent Carter, ABC, January 6:  Yes, we have a new hero on television, but this time it is not a man in tights.  Tonight's two-hour premiere will introduce you to wartime-era Peggy Carter and the covert Strategic Scientific Reserve, the predecessor to S.H.I.E.L.D.  

Empire, Fox, January 7:  Here you have a family struggle within a multimillion dollar music empire, with all of the trimmings to keep it interesting.  The Seattle Times calls is a "cliché-ridden but eminently watchable nighttime soap opera."

Portlandia, IFC, January 8:  Season five is here and I expect it to be as good as ever.  You cannot go wrong sitting down for half-an-hour and watching these strange and amusing skits.  Portland will never be the same. 

Glee, Fox, January 9:  This two hour premiere of Glee's last season with the kids from McKinley High.  Going into its sixth season, the glow has worn off, but they can still belt out some interesting variations on well-known songs.  Empire may be the new way of television shows, but the glee club certainly had its moment in the sun.  

Update: Empire has been picked up for a second season.

Galavant: Can ABC Pull Off a Musical?

With NBC pulling off musicals The Sound of Music and Peter Pan with a fair amount of success, maybe Disney-owned ABC felt it was falling behind.  Of course, the creators of tonight's Galavant could have just as easily been watching The Princess Bride and Monty Python given what they have created.  Pitched as a "Medieval Musical Fairy-Tale," it is not too far from the other fairytale shows on ABC, such as Once Upon a Time (we will not talk about Once Upon a Time in Wonderland).  

The trailer for this new series shows plenty of song and dance to keep everyone engaged.  It is the age old story of lost love, as ABC explains: 

Once upon a time, the dashing hero, Galavant (Joshua Sasse) lost the love of his life, Madalena (Mallory Jansen), to the evil King Richard (Timothy Omundson). Now, our fallen hero is ready to take revenge and restore his “happily ever after.” But it won’t be without a few twists and turns along the way.  

With composer Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast) and lyricist Glenn Slater (Tangled) on board, we should hear a few decent songs as well.  And to mix things up, the show guest stars include Hugh Bonneville, John Stamos, Weird Al, Rutger Hauer, and Ricky Gervais.  It will last for only eight episodes over four weeks, but I expect we will see more if it does well.  In the meantime, you can sing along with this clip as you learn more about the series.

Robert Lloyd's review in the Los Angeles Times did not give it high praise, but merely declared it watchable:

The plot, though made of recycled parts, is just twisty enough to pull one along. And as the premise inclines toward a resolution, and the story involves a journey, which also implies an end, perhaps four weeks of comedy extravaganza will be just enough.

David Wiegand in The San Francisco Chronicle was somewhat more impressed with what ABC was able to put together:

Many of the performances are top notch, and Omundson is even better than that, creating a perfectly credible and delectable mix of childishness and unrepentant evil in Richard’s character. Sasse is great as the self-admiring Galavant, and equally fine performances are delivered by Youngblood, Vinnie Jones as Richard’s dumb-like-a-fox henchman Gareth and Darren Evans as Richard’s Chef, constantly worried that one bad figgy pudding will mean the end of his sorry life. 

I am interested in seeing what ABC has created and will be among the viewers tonight.
 

Downton Abbey Season Five Starts Tomorrow

Yes, I know it is unfair that the Brits get to see Downton Abbey before we do in the United States.  In fact, the finale for season five was shown last November (with a Christmas special broadcast last month) and we have yet to see episode one.  This is something that we need to fix, yet that does not deter from the interest in this Sunday's return of season five. 

Here is a trailer to show you whats in store as well as an interview with the characters on The View (we learn that Thomas was supposed to be killed off in the first episode).  The trailer indicates more change at Downton Abbey, including some mingling between the servants and the served.  Lady Mary also seems to be shocking her parents once again.  Finally, as you may recall from last season, we will need to deal with a questionable murder, ongoing blackmail, and Lady Edith, who still has plenty to hide. 

And if you want to hear a little more from Dan Stevens concerning his departure from the role of Matthew on the series, you can see him on the Today show.  

Favorite New Shows of 2014

As I did last year, I am providing a list of my favorite new shows from 2014.  I added one category since last year - "Science and Documentary" - since this category represents a strong segment of television.  I highlighted my top 10, while also naming some others in that categories that merit mention as well.  

I cannot claim I had a chance to watch everything I wanted to, nor gave every show enough viewings to truly decide on its merits.  But in a very busy year of new shows, I did a fair amount of viewing and this list may help others to pick and choose among the enormous selection of shows (not including those programs from prior years that continued to keep our attention in 2014, such as Sleepy Hollow, Vikings, The Fosters, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Blacklist from last year's list). 

Science Fiction/Fantasy:   In this category, my favorites were The 100 and The Flash.  While The CW's The 100 started out slow, it picked up speed and characters as it rolled along, and the second season exploded with intriguing characters and multiple story lines.   The CW's The Flash started out fast (pun intended) and never stopped.  But unlike Gotham, it has heart with a very likeable Barry Allen played by Grant Gustin.  Runner ups include Showtime's Penny Dreadful, which had just the right mix of monsters, and ABC's The Last Ship, though the ending indicates this show may be heading in a new and strange direction. 

Historical Fiction:  My clear favorites here were Outlander and Turn.  Outlander on Starz was a beautifully filmed story that brought the Eighteenth Century Highlands alive and shared the customs of the time, even if time travel is a little out of the ordinary.  AMC's Turn did not need any such twists to be a fascinating view of Colonial America at the time Long Island was occupied by British troops.  My runner-up is the Discovery Channel's Klondike and its tale of man's inhumanity to man (as well as Nature's inhumanity, if you forgive the expression) for a few pieces of gold. 

Family Shows:  My surprising favorite here was Fox's Red Band Society. I did not expect the story to be so interesting (I mean it was Chicago Hope with nothing but kids), while the acting and plot kept the show lively and unpredictable.  Unfortunately, Fox ended the show after 10 episodes and has yet to show the remaining three.  Very odd treatment, yet Fox has a tendency to do this (as you will see in the next category).  Runner up position goes to Amazon's Transparent, a family show that hopefully does not represent too many family since the combination can be explosive. 

Comedies:  Sadly my two favorites, Fox's Enlisted and Surviving Jack, were both cancelled before being given a fair chance (the Fox website does not even acknowledge the existence of Surviving Jack).  And while it seemed like Enlisted might find life again under a new parent, it never worked out.  This is a loss for all TV viewers.  The runner up for me was The McCarthys, where we see John Ritter's son take on his dad's comedic role and Roseanne's Laurie Metcalf become the central mom for once. 

Drama: In this category, both Fargo and The Affair were the clear winners.  FX's Fargo was a brilliant take-off from the movie, but it created a set of characters and chilling scenes that are forever memorable.  Showtime's The Affair gave us a new way to see a story, from two perspectives, and kept us guessing all along as we watched the tortured characters.  The runner-up is HBO's Looking, a show that relocated Girls in San Francisco and told the tale of friendship from a whole new angle.   

Science and Documentary:  Showtime's Years of Living Dangerously was my favorite here, a scary story about the changes happening in the Earth's environment and its impact on its inhabitants today and tomorrow.  A must see.  Runners-up in this category are PBS's The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, which shows all of us what leadership can be, and Fox's Cosmos, a  series that fell short of the original but luckily it was supported in a time where science is not on the front burner (if it can be found in the kitchen at all).

It was a good year in television, and one that will be hard to match in 2015.  That said, this year may have a few surprises in store as well.  I will discuss that in upcoming postings.