More Easter Season Shows: The Dovekeepers

If you are looking for a seasonal special, and Killing Jesus was not enough (or maybe not what you wanted to see), then tonight on CBS you can see The Dovekeepers.  Here is the plot from CBS:

Set in ancient Israel, THE DOVEKEEPERS is based on the true events at Masada in 70 C.E. After being forced out of their home in Jerusalem by the Romans, 900 Jews were ensconced in a fortress at Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. Besieged at Masada, the Jews held out for months against the vast Roman armies. The project will recount the events from the perspective of a few extraordinary women who arrive at Masada with unique backstories, but a common bond for survival. Additionally, these women, who work together daily as dovekeepers, are all concealing substantial secrets.

This is a two-night special - tonight and tomorrow night.  The story is based on Alice Hoffman's popular historical novel of the same name and produced by the same duo who gave us the History Channel's The Bible two years ago. Of course, this duo turned the biblical figures into action figures more Marvel than historic. Maybe a good book (not THE Good Book) will prevent it this time.

Religion, Cults, and Roasts

If you have extra time this weekend, you can see a few shows that may shock and entertain you in different measures. You decide. 

First, tonight (March 29) National Geographic is showing Bill O'Reilly's Killing Jesus. I will abstain from this O'Reilly's version of events since he is often uninformed and bullying, but some may want to seek out this program in the Lenten period.

Tonight you can also catch HBO's expose on Scientology titled Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. Again, you can determine for yourself if this system involving well known personalities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta is a typical church or a money-focused scam with a silly sci-fi origin.

And if that's not enough, on Monday night (March 30) you can watch the Comedy Central roast of Justin Bieber. Many of the comments have already been released online, such as this one from Kevin Hart:

Justin's Canadian. He's actually considered American, because no Canadian has ever been this much of an a--hole.

And that is a kinder joke.  Be prepared, or ignore it altogether. I plan to skip the roast.

The End of the Line for Looking and Other Shows

It is unfortunate HBO decided to cancel Looking after only two seasons. The characters were finally defining themselves and new relationships were blooming in the second season. HBO was gracious enough to promise a special so we can get some closure, but that is a lousy consolation prize when I hoped for a third season.  David Canfield wrote a good piece in Indiewire titled "The Journey to Self-Acceptance: Why HBO's 'Looking' Is One of the Most Important Shows on TV" that highlights how the show stands out in today's TV culture.  He notes:

Like in "Transparent," its characters are distinct and their problems hitherto unseen, and yet their respective developments as sexual, romantic and individual human beings sting for how broadly they reach and for intensely they resonate. The community of "Looking" is a rainbow -- and that's a strange, sad fact to consider, since next-to-none of its participants can be found elsewhere, on TV or in films.

Other shows have been cancelled or appear to be cancelled, including The McCarthys, which was pulled from the CBS lineup late last year during its first season, and BBC America's Atlantis, which had two good seasons but seems to be caught up in the BBC budget cutting (much like In The Flesh).

I was afraid Sleepy Hollow was also on the cut list, but Fox recently decided to renew it. It certainly experienced a weak second season, with too many characters and strange X-Files like episodes, but it is still a unique show with well-liked characters.  And I look forward to more retelling of American history from Ichabod Crane's perspective. 

How Did James Corden Do?

This is the week where the Late, Late Show on CBS stars its new host, James Corden.  After many years of Craig Ferguson, he had big shoes to fill and he did pretty well Monday night.  

In his opening monologue on Monday night, he was very thankful to the fans, CBS, and Craig Ferguson.  And parents were in the front row cheering him on, having traveled from Great Britain to stay with him for a week.  It all made for a very humble and fun start to a new era.  And it was nice to see that there was still a place for a non-American on late night TV (of course, Mr. Ferguson later obtaining US citizenship). 

The opening skit parodying on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a story by another Brit, involved personalities such as Jay Leno, Billy Crystal, Chris Rock, Shia Labeouf, Meryl Streep, and others.  This was a nice way to start the next iteration of the Late, Late Show and grounded Mr. Corden in that strange place called Hollywood.  He later went on to chat with his first guests, Mila Kunis and Tom Hanks. 

National Pubic Radio gave the show a passing grade, stating:
  
Monday's debut showed Corden has a well-tuned format that showcases his charm and talent. He's just got to figure out what he wants to do with it. It's not the kind of show that will transform late-night TV, at least not yet. But for the third white guy named James hosting a talk show on network television, it wasn't bad.

All in all, it was a solid show and I think it will be a good addition to the evening celebrity chatter.

GOT Forever?

Do we need Game of Thrones forevermore, as good as it is, or should it have an appropriate ending?  Listening to HBO you would think the show could go on forever, rather than the seven planned seasons.  According to Entertainment Weekly, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo recently stated “Would I love the show to go 10 years as both a fan and a network executive? Absolutely.”

I hope HBO figures out sooner rather than later that quality beats quantity every time if the goal is art.  If the goal is draining every last dollar out of a series then go ahead HBO, but you will bury your jewel in a pile of dung.  The last three movies from Lord of the Rings, as with the last three movies of Star Wars, did nothing to enhance what came before.  Instead, it lessened the entire enterprise and trivialized what should have been a limited set of classic movies.  One can only hope the artists, and especially George R.R. Martin, can talk some sense into the network.

In the meantime, you can view one of the latest trailers for season five here, with an explanation of everything you viewed here. 

The 100 - A Futuristic Game of Thrones

If you have missed the first two seasons of The CW's The 100, you still have plenty of time to catch up before the third season is broadcast.  The second season just ended after an exhausting battle between three sets of humans - the "Sky People" who had orbited the Earth for generations after a nuclear war, the "Mountain Men" who tried to keep civilization safe while hiding from the radiation, and the "Grounders" who stayed on the surface, never hid, and suffered the effects of the radiation.  And Iet's not forget the "Reapers" who are Grounders converted to wild men by the Mountain Men.  Have you got all of that?

While I will be the first to admit season one got off to a slow start, it was a wild ride when the sky people, represented by 100 teenagers sent down as guinea pigs, fought the Grounders and finally met the Mountain Men by the end of the season.  Then the series really took off in season two.  At times you had five stories lines trying to converge, and each story was riveting.  

One interesting aspect was the battle among generations. The teenagers became the tutors of the reluctant adults when they finally came down to the surface. And the Mountain Men had their own father versus son struggle that threatened the very existence of the Sky People. 

And all along the way, lives were lost, many times gruesomely, on the new Earth.  As with Game of Thrones, you soon learned that no character's life was guaranteed, and life was easy to discard.  While I don't want to give too much away, you are best not to pin your hopes on any one "hero."

The Wrap had a good story titled "10 Ways to Die on CW's The 100" with an accompanying graphic (below) on how 46 of the 100 teenagers had died before the start of season two.  The deaths continued throughout season two and I now have no idea how many of the 100 are left.  At this point the show could be call The 10 Remaining Scared Kids.  At least try it out before you return to Game of Thrones.  You many not find dragons, but mankind can be scary all on its own. 

Get Ready for More Zombies

On March 17th you can either hit the pub for St. Patrick's Day or stay home and experience one more zombie show.  The CW's new show iZombie is loosely based on a comic book and may  be somewhat different than your regular zombies, though making zombies more lovable has been going on for awhile on TV and on the movies (as happened with vampires). 

Here is the set up from The CW:

Olivia “Liv” Moore was a rosy-cheeked, disciplined, over-achieving medical resident who had her life path completely mapped out…until the night she attended a party that unexpectedly turned into a zombie feeding frenzy. 

After the party, Liv found herself consuming brains and "inheriting" the memories of the former owners. Luckily, she works at a coroner's office, which she treats as an all-you-can-eat buffet.  And, lest I forget, she solves crimes.  Here is a trailer if you need more.  

I will skip this one like many others of this sort. My plate is full, so to speak, and my horror needs will be sated when Penny Dreadful returns.

Are You Ready for The Royals?

Tonight on E! you can catch the network's first scripted drama, The Royals.  But don't expect a tame story similar to the real British royal family, or somewhat tame given the untimely death of Princess Diana, the marital infidelity practiced by a king in waiting, and a playboy prince in Las Vegas. 

Starring Elizabeth Hurley as Queen Helena, Joan Collins as the Queen Mother, and William Moseley as Prince Liam, you could say this as the Dallas of the British Isles.  Or, to bring it up to present day, maybe it can be compared to the Washington-based drama Political Animals.  You can expect tawdry drama if that is what you need, but few insights concerning the workings of a royal family.  I suspect this is a good thing, since any royal family that lived this way would be quickly removed.  I think Mr. Moseley would have been better off staying in Narnia.  Here is a trailer.

London's The Guardian had nothing nice to say, noting:

Helena’s son is played by whichever actor happens to have the closest DNA match to Prince William, while her daughter is a drugged-up Skins-alike who seems to spend about 75% of her time on-screen bopping around in her knickers. There are sword fights and fire-eaters, and people driving Range Rovers into red telephone boxes. Best of all, Hurley doesn’t seem to be able to say the word “England” without sounding like she’s being waterboarded with several gallons of jelly

You have been warned.

House of Cards Cannot Compare to Reality

With some talking down the third season of Netflix's House of Cards, one can always read through the newspaper to find similar political intrigue around the globe.  For instance, the suspicious suicide of Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was investigating the government's possible involvement in a bombing, has become the story to follow in Latin America.  Some have already equated it to House of Cards.   And we know how "suicides" just seemed to happen to people associated with Frank Underwood. 

But nothing can beat the Russians when it comes to strong-arm politics and mysterious murders.  Sadly, we saw this again with the murder last month of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was gunned down just outside the Kremlin.  Mr. Nemtsov's daughter stated she believed President Putin was behind the murder, as quoted in the Guardian newspaper, stating,  “I don’t have evidence but politically he is responsible.”

While most of us can content ourselves that television is simply spinning a tale, some are living under governments where politics is still a blood sport and life is cheap.  Let's just hope Frank Underwood and his real life fellow thugs get what's coming to them.  

Changing of the Guard: Jon Stewart

I am happy to continue watching Jon Stewart on The Daily Show each night as he tells the real news and heckles the pretenders (Fox News being formost). I can pretend it will never end, but we know it will. 

Does this mean Fox News wins? Not really. The news in general is losing, and Fox simply runs one brand of loser.

When I watch ABC News what I see is the local news writ large. Everyone gets excited about snow, we all feign shock about a Football Star beating his wife, and we wait for the celebrity piece.  In fact, now that I think about it, local news is more relevant. I don't expect an interview with an intelligent author on the evening news, similar to The Daily Show.  I don't expect analysis of the big stories, unless it's a deep question such as, "What can we do to avoid the flu?" Of course, the evening news is only a little better when you compare it the morning news shows, such as Today, which have become puppy parades and cooking shows.

Television shows such as 60 Minutes (yes, your grandfather's show but still standing) can still compete with magazines, but the evening news cannot compete with a newspaper. Only the newspaper provides a choice of 200+ potential stories every day that acknowledges a world outside the 50 states (unless we are bombing a foreign locale, and then it is newsworthy for TV). Nor can television news compete with a smart phone loaded with news apps, which continue to kills the newspapers even though the newspapers have the only news worth stealing (or "linking to" to play into the jargon).

So do we need a new leader of snarky news? We still have plenty, including offshoots from The Daily Show. So we are safe for now.

What we maybe need is a better audience that demands more if its leaders and themselves. If we won't pay newspapers to send teams to faraway places, we cannot feign surprise when the government's version of the truth is all we get. And we cannot hold corporate America's feet to the fire, and avoid future scandals and collapses, unless we have a media capable of more than printing corporate press releases. 

That may mean we need to pay for our news from time to time. We can amuse ourselves to death with a tweet about the latest celebrity shenanigans or learn something more about the world about us. The mind (and jobs) you save may be your own.

The Unstoppable Kimmy Schmidt

Tonight on Netflix you can see the premiere of the comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  First scheduled to appear on NBC, it was scooped up by Netflix for an initial 13 episodes.  A second season has already been green-lighted.

Produced by Tina Fey, the creator of 30 Rock, and starring Ellie Kemper from The Office, the show's plot covers Kemper's character as she emerges from a cult and learns the world has moved on without her.

Variety magazine expressed some concerns about the timing and quality of this new release:

While “Kimmy” should benefit from having a celebrity producer to help promote it, the prevailing sense is the streaming service was bamboozled into taking a property about which NBC harbored understandable concerns regarding its broader appeal. (The show would actually be more compatible with “The Last Man on Earth,” an upcoming Fox comedy with a post-apocalyptic theme, than with anything on the network’s current lineup.)

Sample, binge, or don't bother. Your choice.

Middle East Prophesies and Crime California Style

Tonight you can follow a murder in the Middle East if you are looking for an overseas adventure, or remain state-side and view a community drama set in California.  Or both, if you have the time. 

-- Dig, USA Network:  This 10-part series, starring Jason Isaacs and Ann Heche, sounds a lot like a television version of the successful Da Vinci Code.  Here is the basic outline.

 

When Peter Connelly, an FBI agent recently stationed in Jerusalem, begins investigating the murder of a young American, he realizes that he has uncovered an ancient international conspiracy that threatens to change the course of human history. Certain that the dangerous prophecy is nearing fruition, Peter must race against the clock to unravel its mystery. From a remote farm in Norway, to an enigmatic compound in New Mexico, to the serpentine tunnels of Jerusalem, this immersive, fast-paced adventure will take viewers on a quest for a truth that will shake the world's beliefs to its very core.

Of course, this new series also reminds me of ABC's earlier adventure Zero Hour, which crashed after a few episodes. Given everything else crowding the television these days, I think Dig is on thin ice.

-- American Crime, ABC:  This series follows all of the community ripples and intersecting stories following a house invasion and murder.  Starring Timothy Hutton and Regina King, who you may remember from another crime drama Southland, it sounds a lot like what we saw in the movie Crash.  That is enough to make me want to watch it.

According to Willa Paskin in Slate magazine, this is a show may be even better than Crash.  She notes:

Of all the series this season to take on race and diversity— Black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat, Empire, How to Get Away With Murder—American Crime is the most serious-minded. It has no sense of humor to speak of. It’s relentlessly focused on its themes. It can be harrowing and bleak. But what it lacks in fun, it makes up for in intelligence, complexity, and boldness.

CSI: Whatever

I have no idea how many CSI and NCIS shows are out there, but they include CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Las Vegas, CSI: New York, CSI: Miami, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and NCIS; New Orleans.  It is pretty endless. 

And tonight we will be able to watch CBS's NCI: Cyber.  I bet you are excited because it must be different than those the preceded it.  Or maybe not.  You decide after reading the basics from CBS:

CSI: CYBER stars Emmy Award winner Patricia Arquette in a drama inspired by the advanced technological work of real-life Cyber Psychologist Mary Aiken. Special Agent Avery Ryan heads the Cyber Crime Division of the FBI, a unit at the forefront of solving illegal activities that start in the mind, live online, and play out in the real world. She also knows firsthand how today’s technology allows people to hide in the shadows of the Internet and commit serious crimes of global proportion. Ryan’s supervisor, Assistant Director Stavros Sifter, is a shrewd FBI career insider and the clearing house between FBI Cyber and all other branches of government. Also on the team are FBI Agent Elijah Mundo, a self-proclaimed action junkie who is an expert in battlefield forensics; Daniel Krumitz, an introverted tech genius with a quick wit; Brody Nelson, an expat hacker who chose to work for the FBI over a life of cyber-crime; and Raven Ramierz, a rookie tech who is an expert in social media, cyber trends and international relations. While other agents search for criminals in dark homes and alleys, Ryan and her team search the “dark net,” a place deep in the bowels of the Web where criminals are anonymous, money is untraceable and where everything is for sale with just a keystroke. 

While Patricia Arquette is the main name associated with the series, James Van Der Beek is another member of the cast.  This may not be a good sign given the fact that Van Der Beek is good at two things: playing the part of Dawson from Dawson's Creek and playing a part talking about Dawson from Dawson's Creek.  Everything else he has touched has fallen apart.  Will it be different here?  Maybe, but I expect he might do better on CSI: Dawson's Creek.  I am sure it is part of a future line-up.

Secrets and Lies on ABC

ABC premieres Secrets and Lies, starring Ryan Phillippe, tonight in a 2-hour episode.  This should provide enough time to get into the story of Phillippe's character Ben Crawford, who finds the body of a neighbor's son and becomes a suspect.  Based on an Australian television series, the U.S. version will be 10 episodes.  You can see a trailer clip here.

Mary McNamara in the Los Angeles Times is already expressing some concerns about the series, stating:

Unfortunately, although the form of "Secrets and Lies" is something relatively new, the execution is not. As with so many adaptations, "Secrets and Lies" suffers from an American tendency to speed up and overplay, to force emotion rather than evoke it.

However, I look forward to a well-told crime story involving an actor who does not get enough roles.  Last time I way Ryan Phillippe was in the Damages where he  played a Julian Assange-like character Channing McClaren in that series' final season.  He did a great job then and I expect we will see more of that talent tonight.