Live From New York...

The season premiere of Saturday Night Live was last Saturday.  Unfortunately I was not able to watch it live, so therefore I’m a bit late in talking about it.  It’s currently beginning its 37^th season and it’s still going strong. Well, sort of.  Many people have different opinions about SNL, especially older people.  Anytime you ever mention the show to an adult they will always respond with something like, “Oh, that show used to be good!” or “The writing was way better back in my day,” or of course the response “my generation was the best one.”  We all think our generation on SNL was the best. So get over it! One thing I would like to stress to these critics is the fact that comedy is always changing to fit the demographic.  This show is all about American culture, which is evolving every day.  Do you think the same people that were watching it in the 80’s are still watching today? No! So why do you want the show to still act like they are? I don’t know.  Us young kids are watching SNL now, so you need to give it up.  Or, try to keep an open mind.  I know, you’re going to miss pin heads, Wayne’s World, or the church lady, (yes, I am just reciting random skits that I know off the top of my head) but there’s only so long that you can stretch bits like that out.

Speaking of the church lady, last year one of the SNL legends Dana Carvey hosted.  In his monologue he brought up this same topic, suggesting that there is more than one good generation. Of course then he slipped in that his was the best and sang a song about it. But we get that he’s obviously joking and that people need to loosen up about it and for gosh sake’s stop complaining! Here’s a clip of the monologue:

Watching the season premiere of SNL got me really excited.  I remember 3 years ago (wow has it really been that long?) when the presidential elections were going on and it was a really fun year.  We got to see the great Tina Fey impersonate Sarah Palin alongside other great actors, such as Amy Poehler as Hilary Clinton and Katie Couric, Fred Armisen as Barack Obama, Will Ferrell as George W. Bush and many others in awesome political sketches.  For me, that really made the presidential election exciting.  So what political skits does this year have in store for us?  Well, it’s not the election year so we’ll have to wait for next season. But don’t worry! If you saw the premiere, or any SNL show for that matter, you know there is almost always a political sketch.  Last Saturday was no exception with the cold open of the republican candidates in yet another debate. Not making fun of how many debates SNL has, but how many these candidates have (I mean come on, how many has there been?).  I really enjoyed this sketch, not only because it was written well, but because the actors did a really good job of portraying the character.  The makeup, I might add, did a fantastic job.  Some of them really looked similar to the actual candidate.

The rest of the episode was pretty good, but there definitely have been better.  It was interesting to see Alec Baldwin hosting for a record of 16 times, breaking Steve Martin’s record who paid him a visit during the monologue.  By the way, the monologue was not very good which surprised me considering the great actors incorporated. Oh and also somehow Seth Rogen got mixed into this too.  The premieres and finales are always supposed to be great, but this one just somehow didn't suffice.  Of course it had it’s great moments such as the Baldwin impersonating Tony Bennett on the Weekend Update and the fake perfume commercial with the very funny Kristen Wiig.  


Maybe not the perfect start to the season, but I'm not worried. Whether SNL has a skit that flops, or a clip that goes viral, it's going to be here for awhile, and it's always going to have something that makes us laugh again.

Premiere Week #1

The first premiere I watched this week was Pan Am mostly because I was interested in if it was going to good or not.  My first reaction wasn't the greatest.  Right away I made a connection to Mad Men because it's set in a similar time period.  I think networks are trying to mooch off the success of Mad Men and create their own similar shows.  It's kind of like the whole vampire thing that seems to be repeated all throughout entertainment relentlessly.  But ABC isn't the only one, I believe the new show The Playboy Club on NBC is also set in the 60's. When I began watching this show I started to think to myself how the writers were going to make this show interesting.  I think the fact that I had to think that is the first hint that this show isn't that exciting.  Yes, they did set up a plot that may have potential to intrigue people, but I already found myself being slightly confused and uninterested. I also kept asking my mom, who was watching this with me, which character was which because many of the women have similar haircuts and they are all wearing the same uniform. This is just my opinion what I saw from the first episode, but I don't think the show itself will do very well.  If you like Mad Men, you probably won't like this show.  If you've never seen it, then you might. Obviously this is probably an inaccurate generalization, but I'm thinking most people will decide the show itself isn't really worth their time.

Just because I wasn't a fan, doesn't mean you won't be. If you want to watch the first episode it should be on Hulu.com in a few days or check out a new episode every Sunday at 9pm on ABC.

The Wait Is Over

This week has been an exciting week for television.  So many great shows have started their seasons, all of them being exciting and fun to watch. Some of the shows that I was excited to see begin include: How I Met Your Mother, Glee, The Middle, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Community, Parks and Recreation, and of course the Emmy winner of the night Modern Family. So many shows, not enough time! There were also some new shows that premiered their pilots, this includes: Pan Am, The Playboy Club, New Girl, The X Factor, 2 Broke Girls, Revenge, Charlie's Angels, and Whitney.


Each week for about a month or so I will watch one of the new shows and talk about how I think their pilot went and whether or not I think the show will do well.  This probably will not be an accurate prediction.  Not because I can't tell what good TV is, but because the first episode of shows are often chaotic trying to get in information about their show in a timely matter and still have an eye catching and enjoyable pilot.  That's really hard.  In fact I read a book by Tina Fey called Bossypants where she joked about how bad she thought their first episode of 30 Rock went. "If you want to see a great pilot, watch the first episode of Cheers. It's charming, funny and well constructed. If you want to see an awkward sweaty pilot episode, watch 30 Rock. I will not be joining you, because I never want to watch that mess again." We all know how much better 30 Rock has gotten, even though I do like their pilot, I think it portrays that shows can and probably will change if they get the chance.

The USA Formula

What do a CIA agent, psychic, concierge doctor, lawyer, ex-con artist, detective with OCD, and FBI agent have in common other than all having fairly awesome jobs? They are all characters on the USA network!  It’s their motto, “characters welcome.” They reel viewers in with their new and exciting characters, and honestly it works. Who wouldn't want to watch a show about any of those awesome people?  This title may be a bit misleading if you have never heard of the USA, but I like to think of this channel as entertainment television. USA is probably one of my favorite channels, but that is beside the point.  What I’m trying to say here is, USA has some really interesting and exciting shows that intrigue a lot of people… but they are not done well.  Maybe you love sort of good acting, cheesy writing, and non-believable dialogue. Don't worry, I find myself liking it too at times.

So what USA formula am I talking about? Well, as I’ve mentioned earlier, USA has found that using interesting characters is a way to get viewers. All of their shows have kind of the same set up. It's centered around the character with interesting qualities and their life at home and work. Now I'm not saying it's just USA, obviously every show out there has an interesting character that's centered around their life, but I feel like their shows are all a bit too similar.

For example, in 2009 they came out with a new drama called White Collar where a FBI agent teams up with an ex-con artist.  I actually enjoyed watching this show and thought it was a fairly innovative duo of crime fighters.  The show itself did pretty well and was picked up for multiple seasons.  Another show which just came out this year in June is called Suits. It's kind of scary how many similarities there are between these shows.  Suits also stars two men, one is a well established lawyer, the other a brilliant college dropout. The older guy in these two shows is the one with the actual job and ends up having to look out for the younger one who even though doesn't have a job is somewhat more knowledgeable in the subject of the job.  Now, these are just some of the basic ideas of the shows, but I think you get the idea.

What does this mean?  It means that maybe USA isn't the most original with their ideas. But does that make them bad? No, I don't think so. In fact I think they deserve more credit than they actually get.  In my opinion one of their best shows that ended a couple years ago was called Monk. This show is sort of like the role model for the other shows that they make.  It was pretty popular and actually well done.  In fact the show itself aired for a solid 8 seasons and the amazing Tony Shalhoub who played the obsessive compulsive disorder patient, was nominated for an Emmy every single season and won 3 times.  What I'm trying to say here is USA can make good shows, or at least make popular shows with good actors.


To end this strangely bi-polar blog post of being against something and then not, I will say one thing. USA network is pretty awesome.  If you're looking for shows that are interesting, funny, or thrilling (yes I did just purposefully use the three most common traits for good shows, come on I'm trying to get you to watch this channel!) then check it out.  So what if they don't have the best shows in the world, sometimes it's fun to just look past that and enjoy.

Pictures courtesy of hulu.com

Fall Television

It's fall and you know what that means. TV is back! Of course TV hasn't left completely, but most of the good shows that go through a season during the year go on hiatus in the summer.  It's been a long wait for people like me who are addicted to the many shows returning. This blog will be short,  but for those of you who are wondering when different shows are starting here is a link to TV Guide that has a useful calendar that lists the dates and times of all the awesome shows premiering now and in upcoming months. Happy watching!

Also, to get you all excited for the fall lineup here are some exciting promos for various shows coming to your televisions soon!


This clip previews the intense new season of my favorite show House.

Here's a promo to a new show called Up All Night that came out last Wednesday. I'm hoping it does well, I love Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph.





And lastly, this isn't really a promo. It just makes me excited to see how The Office will do without Steve Carell.

The Emmy Awards

Ah the Emmys. Definitely my favorite award show of the year.  Always a good host (sorry Anne Hathaway and James Franco at the Oscars), and always great entertainment. This year should be no exception with the very funny Jane Lynch hosting. From Glee, Jane has always had the best lines of comedy on the show. Now that she's writing her own lines (with the help of writers) I'm wondering whether it will be a different kind of comedy or whether she'll continue her character when hosting the show. Either way I'm very excited as to what she brings to the awards. I would also just like to throw out there that I am a huge fan of Jimmy Fallon who hosted last year, so we'll see if she beats his comical performances.


Looking at the list of nominations I find myself smiling.  Not only are almost all my favorite shows nominated, but a lot of the actor/actresses that I also love are nominated. Notice how I said almost… Yes, there are also a few shows that I am not currently watching that were nominated, which then replaced some of the ones I did want to be nominated.  But, let’s start with the glass half full and talk about what I’m happy about in this nomination list


First off, Parks and Recreation! Yes! This show finally is getting some much deserved attention. Just this summer I started watching Parks and Rec. and was stunned by the really funny characters that they portray on the show. But what surprises me even more is the amount of non-attention they get.  Like nine times out of ten when I’ve asked people if they’ve ever watched Parks and Rec. their responses are something like “I’ve heard of it…” or even worse “Parks and what?”  So yeah, that’s why I’m excited it’s finally getting some attention.  Honestly, I’m very happy about the whole list comedy shows which include: 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory, Glee, Modern Family, The Office, and of course Parks and Recreation. I watch all of these shows on regular basis and I think they’re all deserving of the award. Which one will win? I have no idea. But that’s okay because that’s what makes the Emmy’s exciting! I’d also like to point out that Louis C.K. was nominated for his performance on Louie which made me happy. The show was also nominated for comedy writing as well.  I just recently started watching Louie, but didn’t realize how popular it really was.  The writing is really good and I enjoy watching Louis C.K.’s “life” with the real stand-up comedy and the fake story lines that make up the show.

Don’t worry drama fans I’m going to mention your shows too! Actually not really, because I’m fairly happy with the nominations going on with them. Yes, I would like to have seen House get nominated again for best drama. But Hugh Laurie is still being nominated so I’ll live.  As for the rest of the dramas, I’m not really into most of them. I know that’s kind of sad considering they were nominated for an Emmy, but the only nominated drama that I watch a lot is Dexter and that gets nominated every year, as it should. 

Alright, now for the upsets.  Sorry if you’re not a Parks and Rec. fan but here I go again talking about it.  The character on the show named Ron Swanson is so funny and very creative and just really needs to get nominated. I’m sorry, maybe I’m the only one that thinks this, but come on! I’m just waiting for the day that Nick Offerman, the guy that plays Swanson gets a little recognition. And then there’s Community, another great comedy in the sea of NBC comedic waves.  Okay, it’s no 30 Rock or Modern Family, but it’s still a good show! I feel like Community is getting better and better and yet I don’t think anyone notices.

Well, the Emmy Awards are on tonight at 7 on FOX.  I hope you all have as much fun and I will watching them.  Hopefully I didn’t bore you too much with my little raves and rants for the various shows.  Just remember, if you do or don’t watch, we all need you to chant for people like Jimmy Fallon, Colbert, or Conan to win best variety, music, or comedy series so somebody can finally beat the dang Daily Show!

For the complete list of nominations for tonight’s awards, click here for the Emmy Awards website. 

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog!

Now you're probably wondering what this is all about. Well, I'm happy to explain. This blog, as the title might suggest, is all about television. Why television you might ask? Throughout my life TV has become a guilty pleasure that I've never really been able to stop being obsessed with. There are always new shows coming out, always good ones that are still running, and of course the legends that are still being played on random channels that everyone watches once in awhile. 

So what kind of TV? I love it all! But if I must be specific, I mostly watch comedy and dramas. Yes, that covers a broad amount of shows, but that's where the interesting part about my blog comes in. I like A LOT of shows. My friends make fun of me constantly for the amount of shows I watch.  I'm periodically trying out new shows and following up on old ones.  

So what about television am I going to talk about? I want you to know right here, right now. I'm not going to summarize shows.  This isn't a blog about what happens in each show I watch. I mean, how boring would that be? You obviously are already interested in the shows I'm talking about, so why would I repeat what you've already watched? With that, what I will write about is what the show makes me feel about it. I don't want to say I'm going to analyze because I don't want you to think this is going to be a biology report or something. No, I'm just going to peel off the outer layer of the entertainment factor, and dig deeper into the gooey middle of topics such as plot, characters, and how they relate to the world. 

That may sound boring to you. And that's okay! This blog isn't for everyone. But what I will say is if you enjoy watching TV and you want to think through it a bit more or just go over how awesome or not it was, this blog just might be right for you! I'd also like to add that because it's a blog about TV, it's pretty broad.  I can honestly talk about I wide range of topics. So my focus points may change over time.  In fact, once in awhile I might throw in a news clip that catches my eye or I think is interesting.

In conclusion, this blog will be about TV if you haven't caught that yet. No summaries here, you'll have to go somewhere else. But, you will find interesting content about exciting and fun shows that are swarming our TVs today. 

Thanks for reading and hopefully you'll continue in the future!