NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 10

A wedding!  An affair uncovered!  Heated rivalries!  Honestly, I really have nothing to say up here this week.  On to the reviews!

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 9

I had an extra week to write these up due to Thanksgiving, and it's still being posted at the last minute.  Even with a few days off, I'm barely getting this up in time.  Just goes to show my ability to procrastinate knows no bounds.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 8

After being weirdly scheduled on a Wednesday, 30 Rock takes a week off.  Guess they had to get that election themed episode in before the election.  That leaves only two shows to review this week, and for once, I didn't completely hate The Office.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Weeks 6 & 7

Another combo week.  Hurricane Sandy knocked out a large portion of primetime television last week, and the Thursday night comedies had to be put on the back burner for The Voice.  For some strange reason, 30 Rock was put on Wednesday.  It was a two-parter anyway, so it kind of works out for this post.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 5

Whew, finally caught up.  A normal week this time, too.  Just three shows and three reviews.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Weeks 3 & 4

30 Rock premieres for its final season!  With Community moving to Fridays (premiering someday) and most likely going to be cancelled and The Office and 30 Rock announcing final seasons, Parks and Recreation may be the only survivor of the two hour comedy block I loved.  I enjoy Go On, so there's promise in the NBC comedy lineup, but most of the new stuff is crap.  A presidential debate preempted everything except 30 Rock on Week 4, so we've got two reviews for that this post and one of each for the other shows.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Weeks 1 & 2

I'm back!  Time to get some major blogging done.  The first two weeks of the season had Weekend Update Thursday in place of 30 Rock.  I'm therefore combining the two for a four episodes post.  Last year I said I was done with The Office, and I meant it at the time, but then they had to go and announce that it was going to be the final season.  I've been watching for eight years, might as well finish it out.  I don't have particularly high hopes, though.

Programming Note - Orioles Magic

Most years when the fall premieres roll out, the Orioles are way out of contention, sometimes in dead last.  This year has been wonderfully different, the O's are in the postseason for the first time since 1997.  This had led to the time that I would usually spend in front of the TV watching the new fall shows being spent watching the Orioles instead.  Sometimes at the stadium, eating up even more TV watching time as I sit through rain delays.  Put that on top of all the other things going on (a trip to New Orleans, going camping, Ravens games, my actual job, etc.), and there is precious little time left.  It's been a great ride, but the lack of TV watching means a lack of writing about TV.  I've caught up with a few shows, many I'm still slowing working on.  I plan to get out my weekly NBC comedy posts, one about new shows, and even one about the recent half season of Breaking Bad I've had brewing for a while, when I finally have the time (maybe November?).  So for the five of you who actually care, posts are coming...eventually.

Ain't the beer cold!  Go O's!

Emmy 2012 - Predictions

The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards are tonight and since it conflicts with a Ravens game, I, unfortunately will not be watching.  I will be recording it to at least watch the intro before going to bed.  Not watching it live will in no way hamper my trying to guess who's going to win tonight.  I'm offering up who I personally think should win the category and who I think will actually win.  Last year was my first attempt at this and I did really bad, so let's see how this one goes.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 1

I was a late convert to Joss Whedon.  My gateway drug was Firefly, and that wasn't even until after the movie had been out for a couple of years.  It just so happened my roommate had the DVD set and one summer I decided to sit down and finally watch something from this Joss guy I'd heard so much about.  I was hooked immediately and have since devoured any new stuff he's put out (except his comics work).  Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible, and just this year The Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers.  Going backwards though, was a more daunting task.  Seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and five seasons of Angel is a lot of episodes.  I finally got the push I needed when two of my favorite TV critics were going to be revisiting the first season of Buffy on their podcast.

Emmy 2012 - Dream vs Reality

Wow, have I been lazy.  It's been a month since the Emmy nominations came out and the last time I posted anything.  I'd like to make excuses about real life, vacation, and blah blah.  The truth is that it's summer and I'm lazy.  I'll try to keep things a little more lively around here moving forward.  So here's the post (finally) that compares my dream nominations against the actual nominations.

Emmy 2012 - Dream Ballot

It's Emmy time again, and tomorrow morning the nominations for the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced.  Considering how late I'm posting this, most of you will read it after the announcements.  In any case, you can see how different my tastes and the tastes of the Academy are (hint: very, very different).  I'll have a post up later highlighting those differences, but for now this is who or what I would choose to nominate if I had any say in the matter.

Breaking Bad - Season 4

I swear this show gets better every season.  Breaking Bad is about the slow build, and this season perfected the technique.  We knew from the first episode that this season would be about Walt vs Gus, and slowly over 13 episodes things would move closer and closer to that confrontation being resolved.  Then they hit you with the last string of episodes where everything comes together and things get crazy.

The Legend of Korra - 1x11/12 - Skeletons in the Closet/Endgame

I want to say upfront that for the most part, this was a pretty great finale to an overall pretty spectacular season.  Knowing that there were going to be two seasons, I kind of expected the Amon story to play out over both seasons, with this one ending on some sort of downer (a la Book 2: Earth) or maybe with a resistance building in the underground.  Instead the Amon storyline is brought to a close and done very well.  Overall, this is not a bad thing, many series do season long arcs with one big bad, a problem arises in the final wrap up though.

The Legend of Korra - 1x09 & 1x10

Real life has intruded into my writing these past couple of weeks.  You'd think there would be less things going on in the summer.  Therefore, this will be a quick post on the past two episodes of The Legend of Korra before the double episode finale tomorrow.

Game of Thrones - 2x10 - Valar Morghulis

We've come to the end of the second season of Game of Thrones, and I've had almost two weeks (so lazy) to mull over the finale and the season as a whole.  Comparing it to the first season is inevitable and I think there are ways that the second was better, and ways that it's not.

The Legend of Korra - 1x08 - When Extremes Meet

The new Team Avatar has finally been officially formed and Tarrlok has a few shady schemes he's cooking up.

Game of Thrones - 2x09 - Blackwater

The big battle has finally come.  I usually structure my reviews by locale, but due to the scale of events happening this week, the entire episode takes place at King's Landing.  The focus gives the episode a clarity that a few of the preceding episodes were lacking because of having to jump around and serve so many stories.  I wonder if the show could do this more often without viewers losing the threads of the stories left out.

Game of Thrones - 2x08 - The Prince of Winterfell

Mostly a table setting episode, but a good one none the less.  Dany and Jon get a scene each, but most things are focused in Westeros proper and even more focused are the scenes gearing up for the climatic battle of Stannis trying to take King's Landing.

The Legend of Korra - 1x07 - The Aftermath

After the attack on the stadium, the hunt for Amon has gone full force.  Lin Bei Fong and her Metalbending Police are doing their best to make up for the being blindsided at the arena.  Meanwhile, Korra thinks a friend may really be a foe.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 29

So we finally come to the end with a triple dose of Community and one final 30 Rock.  With a trio of great episodes, Community as we know it has probably come to an end.  Dan Harmon being fired by Sony makes it hard to imagine the show that was mostly his singular vision will not being irrevocably changed.  We can hope that it will still be funny, ambitious, and heartfelt next year, but it will certainly not be the same.  At least Dan Harmon leaves on three strong episodes that are kind of a microcosm of Community.  A high-concept episode, a parody episode, and a character based "normal" episode.

Game of Thrones - 2x07 - A Man Without Honor

A little disjointed this week, but a very strong and welcomed return for Jamie Lannister.

The Legend of Korra - 1x06 - And the Winner Is...

After the relative playfulness of last week, it's back to the dark stuff with Amon moving forward with his plans.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 28

The Thursday night finales have begun with The Office and Parks and Recreation finishing off their seasons this week.

Game of Thrones - 2x06 - The Old Gods and the New

I really liked the structure of this week's episode.  With the exeption of Daenarys, our main storylines this week followed the Stark children and those raised by the Starks, such as Jon and Theon.  That leaves no room for the Stannis camp this week.

The Legend of Korra - 1x05 - The Spirit of Competition

Last week I was fearing a love triangle.  Instead we got a love rectangle, and it turned out to be not so bad.  The main reason for that was Bolin, quickly becoming my favorite character of this new series.  After the darkness of the last two episodes, it was also nice to have lighthearted breather for a change.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 27

The season is winding down and the final arcs of shows are beginning.  This week we have the penultimate episodes for Parks and Recreation and The Office, while Community makes a major story push.

Game of Thrones - 2x05 - The Ghost of Harrenhal

While starting off with a bang, this episode was largely a set up episode.  Many pieces were moved into place for the climax of the back half of the season.

The Legend of Korra - 1x04 - The Voice in the Night

You'd think after the big Amon reveal last week, they'd have a lighter episode following.  Not so at all this week.  It was almost a less silly version of A:TLA's "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" where the Avatar has to deal with the fear of what they must face.  Unlike Aang, though, Korra is not the type of person to admit fear.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 26

Another great night of comedy...and The Office.  I am getting very, very close to that point where I doubt I'll be watching that show next year.  A lot of the actors' contracts are up this year, so who knows who will even be back.  Robert's already leaving and Dwight is suppose to be getting a spin-off.  Isn't eight years enough?

Game of Thrones - 2x04 - Garden of Bones

Danearys returns this week and she gets to do something besides wander through the Red Wastes.  However, that means no Jon, Bran, or Theon.  Overall it wasn't as strong as last week, but better than the second episode.  This week certainly had a crazy ending, though.

The Legend of Korra - 1x03 - The Revelation

Our antagonist, Amon, gets a showcase and Korra now sees what she's up against.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 25

Parks and Recreation returns!  It was nice to get this show back, even though it was only gone for five weeks.  Once again the four NBC comedies that I watch are back on Thursday together where they belong.  While NBC is doing things for me, they should definitely not cancel Community, and bring back Bent, and then replace The Office with it.  Yeah, that would be nice.

Game of Thrones - 2x03 - What is Dead May Never Die

I planned on writing this this yesterday afternoon to have it in before the new episode aired, but you know the many things people say abut plans and how they never work out.  In any case, I think this is the strongest episode of the season so far, due to some great maneuverings in King's Landing.

The Legend of Korra - 1x01/02 - Welcome to Republic City/A Leaf in the Wind

Avatar: The Last Airbender was ostensibly a series for kids, but, like the best of the Pixar movies, had a depth of characters and themes that made it resonate with a much larger and older audience.  It also had a lot of awesome bending battles.  Being the sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, this show had a lot to live up to, especially after the truly terrible live-action movie adaptation by M. Night Shyamalan.  I'm happy to report that it does, in spades.  I've watched these first two episodes four times now, and each viewing it seems better than before.  Out of all the shows I watch, right now this is the show I look forward to watching the most every week.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 24

The Office returns!  Community does a "normal" episode!  30 Rock does what it always does!  I'm not always great at writing the intro paragraph!

Game of Thrones - 2x02 - The Night Lands

Another week in Westeros, and this second installment isn't quite as strong as the premiere.  There was no more shots of the comet to link all our stories together and it made the episode feel a little more scattershot.  There are a lot of characters in a lot of different places, and it's going to be tough for the writers to make coherent throughlines.  This week they didn't quite live up to the standard they have set so far, but it was only a small drop in quality.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Weeks 22 & 23

I thought with Community being a two-parter and The Office still on break, I'd take a week off and do another double-up post.  It turns out that while Community continued the Abed and Troy at odds story, the second episode was so radically different from the first that waiting didn't really mattered.  Ah well, it was mostly and excuse to be lazy anyway.

Game of Thrones - 2x01 - The North Remembers

Game of Thrones has returned in fine form this year.  I enjoyed the first season so much last year that it prompted me to read the A Song of Ice and Fire book series that it's based on.  So unlike last year where I knew nothing about anything, I now have five (very large) novels worth of information.  That means no more speculation this year, I already know what's going to happen, unless David Benioff and D.B. Weiss change up some things.  Let's look at how they've done so far in adapting the second novel, A Clash of Kings.

Breaking Bad - Season 3

I read an interview with Vince Gilligan, the creator and showrunner of Breaking Bad, where he said that "this show is going to take Mr. Chips and turn him into Scarface."  Walter White was probably no Mr. Chips when he first started out and it's doubtful that he'll reach the level of Scarface, but the transformation from unassuming chemistry teacher to drug kingpin is in full force this season.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 21

No Office this week to make room for a double dose of 30 Rock.  I'm afraid that lowers the bitching of this post considerably.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Weeks 19 & 20

Doubling up this week.  As you may have noticed (probably not), there wasn't a post last week due to all extra time being spent on filling out my NCAA Tournament Brackets.  Therefore, this post will cover the past two weeks of the NBC Thursday lineup.  These two weeks give us our last Parks and Rec for a bit, but feature the return of Community (hence the two images above), so things even out.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 18

I suppose overall solid is a good way to describe the night.  30 Rock was meh, Parks and Rec was good, and The Office did okay.

Sherlock - Series 2

Series 2 brought more of the Sherlock I loved the first time around.  No great changes to what made the first series great, just overall more of it.  These three episodes were as dense as the finale of last series, with this finale getting even denser.  The amount of plot at work in 90 minutes is astounding.  Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, and company are churning out movie-length scripts that are more entertaining than most movies out there, including the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movies.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 17

This week on NBC it's Leap Day (except on The Office)!  There is news for that show, though.  James Spader will be leaving after this year.  Apparently the Robert California character was only suppose to be around for one season.  There's also talk of a Dwight spin-off.  That show needs to go before it becomes really sad and people forget that it was ever once good.

2011 Oscars Best Picture Rank

I usually write about TV here, but since I make it a point to watch all the Best Picture nominees each year, I thought I would offer up my personal rank of the nine nominees.  I don't have time to do write up for each picture, so this will be just a simple rank with a few quick thoughts at the end.  Also, this is not what I think will win, it's just how I felt about them.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 16

Great news this week, Community is returning!  NBC released that Community will return on March 15th at 8.  The only downside is that it kicks Parks and Recreation of the schedule for five weeks.  So 30 Rock will move to 8:30, The Office stays where it is at 9, and Parks and Rec will return at 9:30 on April 19th, when Up All Night finishes its run.  Everyone got all that?  Scheduling is fun!

Breaking Bad - Season 2

I knew this show was suppose to get better as it went along.  I was most certainly not disappointed.  There was a little bit of struggle in the early episodes of season one, but most shows go through something of a learning curve and this one's was minimal.  Once they found their voice before being cut off by the writers strike, it has been pretty phenomenal ever since.

NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 15

There was a reason only Parks and Recreation had a Valentines Day episode last week.  It's because it was a whole week and a half before the holiday and Parks and Rec is not on this week.  Instead, 30 Rock has an hour-long Valentine's episode.  Goes to show how aware I am of this particular day.