Shadowhunters on Freeform

Do you live in a mundane world? The new Freeform series Shadowhunters may show you what you are missing. The new series premieres tonight.

These Shadowhunters, also called Nephilim, are angel-like humans who protect regular humans from vampires, werewolves, and other monsters that go "argh" in the night. By the way, we regular humans only see the "Mundane World" as Mundanes in the regular world.  Yes, we are like the Muggles from Harry Potter's world.

It all sounds a little like Supernatural's Winchester clan who have also been deputized by angels at times, and demons as well occasionally (that's you, Sam).

We have no lack of demons on TV these days, and I am ignoring the presidential debates in my count. But if you do not mind being a Mundane, you may want to try it out tonight. 

Update:  This did not work for me at all.  The parts were overacted, the monsters were not very scary (or subtle), and the "age 18" thing has been overdone.  I say stick with the Winchester brothers if you want good hunting with some humor mixed in.  

Golden Globe Winners

You can read about all the Golden Globe winners on your own (I recommend this TV.com site because the award site itself is crowded with too much junk) but I wanted to highlight a much-deserved Best Actor in a Drama Series Award to Jon Hamm for Mad Men.  He has been plugging away for years in that role and it is about time his industry recognizes him for this work.

Okay, a few more points. I have been hard on Christian Slater over the years for all of his failed TV roles, but he certainly deserves his Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Award. His character in Mr. Robot is surprising, endearing, and mysterious in all the right ways.  I'm glad he finally found his role (and Mr. Robot deserved the Best Drama Award as well).

Finally, newcomer Rachel Bloom was a surprising win as Best Actress in a Comedy Series (or is it musical series), yet Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a surprisingly good show. Empire may have brought us music, but Ms. Bloom brought us song and dance.

Congrats to all. 

Deadwood: I Do Not Want a Movie

That's right, I do not want a Deadwood movie.  What I want is a continuation of the terrific Deadwood series that ended far too early.  David Milch completed only three seasons before he moved onto the dreadful John from Cincinnati series that never made any sense. 

Heck, Timothy Olyphant is done with Justified (though he is bugging Rob Low on The Grinder) and Ian McShane may have a few things to do on Game of Thrones, but I am sure he has some time.  

Yes, I am happy that we will see any part of Deadwood again, but I wanted to make it clear that the more we see of this crew the better.  We may be flooded with great television shows nowadays, but Deadwood will always have a special place with its fans who experienced its demise while still in its bloom.

Season Three of Todd Margaret on IFC

What a strange name for a show. Maybe that is why I missed the first three seasons, and I think it was originally called The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. But now season three of Todd Margaret starts tonight on IFC.  And take a look at this cast:

- David Cross from Arrested Development,

- Jack McBrayer from 30 Rock,

- Will Arnett from Arrested Development,
- Blake Harrison from The Inbetweeners 2,
- Sharon Horgan from Catastroph,
- Amber Tamblyn  from Two and a Half Men, and 
- Russ Tamblyn from Django Unchained.

The story sounds simple enough.  Todd Margaret was an office temp chosen to run an energy drink company in London.  But for some reason I think it was not that simple.  And now I read that everyone died in season two and this is a reboot.  Okay, maybe starting on season three is safe and I can revisit the first two seasons later.  

Bad Dates and Strangeness in Philadelphia Returns Tonight

You have another chance to get hooked on FXX's Man Seeking Woman, starting its second season tonight. Josh has had a horrible time finding a girlfriend, and various parties including Hitler and Satan haven't helped. Will he find love, or at least some respect? Maybe, yet I think it would hurt ratings. 

And speaking of no respect, the eleventh season of FXX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia also premieres  tonight. This irreverent show is going strong after more than 10 years, and crazy Danny DeVito remains front and center at Paddy's Pub in his ever-over-the-top role.  

Russian television has already adapted the show for its viewers, calling it В Москве всегда солнечно, or It's Always Sunny in Moscow. Sounds like something President Putin would say.

And just in case you are wondering, season 12 is in the works.

Get Ready for The Shannara Chronicles

MTV has taken on a massive task bringing The Shannara Chronicles to television tonight. What are these chronicles, you ask?  This is post-apocalyptic fiction from author Terry Brooks, just in case you haven't seen enough in such series as The 100, Revolution, Into the Badlands, The Walking Dead, and others. Yet this story includes elves and Orc-like creatures, and was filmed in New Zealand.  Now it sounds like Lord of the Rings.  And it involves the preservation of an important tree.  Avatar?  And deadly games.  Hunger Games?  However, executive producer Alfred Gough said it is closer to Star Wars.  Maybe it is a little of everything. This trailer may help.

Here is a summary of the second book in the The Sword of Shannara Trilogy, The Elfstones of Shannara, from which this story comes: 

The magical Ellcrys tree is dying, loosening the spell that bars the Demons from enacting vengeance upon the land. Now Wil Ohmsford must guard the Elven girl Amberle on a perilous quest as she carries one of the Ellcrys’ seeds to a mysterious place where it can be quickened into a powerful new force. But dark on their trail comes the Reaper, most fearsome of all Demons, aiming to crush their mission at any cost.

Brooks wrote multiple trilogies and dozens of books, so the supply of material is endless if the story takes off. So if you want to see what MTV can do with this story, pull up a chair and enjoy the show.  Maybe it will weave its way between all those other tales and turn out to be be something truly unique.  

Update: After watching the first five episodes I can say it's a worthwhile tale even if the acting is shaky at times and the storyline already a little repetitive.  For example, the shape-shifter's abilities make a sham of any defenses and should have ended the story in the second episode. And the seed, as well as the related quest with humans, elves, a "wizard" and others, is too reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings.  And yet, the series has some appeal and odd twists to keep it interesting. For instant, who thought a superfund site would wipe out a demon? I guess I will stick around for a little while longer.

Part Two of Teen Wolf Returns

Tomorrow night (January 5) MTV will premiere part two of the fifth season of Teen Wolf.  It has been a bloodbath to date and I don't expect things to get much better, as the image above may demonstrate.

The Dread Doctors have been truly dreadful and the body count overwhelming. And now Theo is about to take his zombie army and finish off the high school crowd. We haven't seen such mayhem since Buffy. What a senior year!

Tune in to see who survived and who leaves the playing field. Each season tends to leave a soul or behind. 

If you missed the first 10 episodes of the season, you can view them here.