Category Archives: Television

Favorite new TV shows of 2015

Wow. This has been a year filled with extraordinary debuts. Some of them were expected – like a spinoff from one of the best dramas ever – and some of them weren’t – a techno-thriller that debuted on a network known for campy sitcoms – but all of them were stellar. What’s scary is that I haven’t even seen remotely close to all of them. I debated putting HBO’s miniseries Show Me a Hero on here, but decided to only include continuing series. Similarly, The Jinx was left off because it is a docu-series, and I only wanted fictional shows. However, I wanted to give them a shout out for captivating my attention.

Here we go:

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Favorite returning TV shows of 2015

Any show worth watching has already premiered in 2015 (thank you, Amazon, for waiting until the last month). Here’s a list of my favorite shows that returned this year. You’ll notice some heavy hitters missing. For instance: I unfortunately don’t watch Game of Thrones regularly. That means I realize that this isn’t a best of list. You can’t really argue with me on my personal taste. Also, this is based off of episodes airing in 2015 only; not considering the whole series. I actually left off one of my favorite shows from last year (How to Get Away with Murder) simply because this season isn’t living up to my expectations.

Here we go:

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‘Master of None’ reviewed

I just devoured all ten episodes of Aziz Ansari’s fervently honest and funny Netflix series, Master of None. You should go watch it. It’ll take five hours. Go on, I know you’re not doing anything. Here’s a brief review to convince you to go watch it.

Master of None

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Five best Super Bowl XLIX commercials

This was probably the greatest Super Bowl in recent memory. At least the greatest last half minute. But let’s take a look at the five best commercials from the event. I’m going to stay away from trailers for films, because that’s a different ballgame. 

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21st Screen Actors Guild Predictions

SAG AwardsMeant to post this right after the Oscar nominees were announced, but I got tied up and forgot to upload it.

The SAG Awards are a terrific predictor for the Academy Awards. Unlike the Golden Globes, this ceremony doesn’t break up the film categories into drama and musical/comedy. There are five nominees in each category (occasionally six on a rare occurrence). While there is no “best film” there is a Best Ensemble category, which can help as a predictor for the Best Picture Oscar.

The SAGs air Sunday January 25 on both TNT and TBS.

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Holiday binge watch: British murder mysteries

One of the best perks of being a teacher is the time off. Having built in vacations is truly top notch because I don’t ever have to use Paid Time Off like 90% of this country when they want to relax. I also love it because I don’t feel guilty when I binge watch shows. If I was using my valuable PTO, I’d be out every day of my vacation doing awesome activities. Luckily, I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time over the past two weeks because I spent awhile on Netflix watching a very specific genre: British murder mysteries.

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Top 10 television shows of 2014

I’ll keep this short and sweet. Here are ten television (streaming) shows I dug this year, in alphabetical order, and why I like them. I’m giving myself a tweet (140 characters) to explain why I like each release.

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‘Homeland:’ what it was and what it is now

Showtime’s Homeland was about a bipolar CIA agent convinced that an American POW that was rescued was really turned by a terrorist group. If you haven’t watched any of the Emmy-winning show, stop reading now.

HomelandThat was the initial premise of the first season. Then politics got in the way. No, not on the show; in real life. Carrie and Brody’s chemistry (Claire Danes and Damien Lewis, respectively) was undeniable. It wasn’t the most important aspect of the show, but it became one of – if not the most – luring and enduring. While the first season premise was only supposed to be the first season, people got it in their ehads that this POW storyline was what the plot was supposed to be. Like it was going to focus on Walter White breaking bad.

 

No, it never was supposed to be about Brody. That just happened because of Emmy wins and chemistry. Brody was supposed to die at the end of season one, but creators realized they had something in the Carrie+Brody storyline that they could explore. So Homeland seasons two and three became the last two parts of a trilogy of the initial premise. Brody wasn’t supposed to last that long. Now that he’s gone, the fourth season can finally do what the second season was supposed to do: show Carrie doing what she does for homeland security.

Carrie is in Kubal running drone strikes. Saul is in the private sector. Quinn is in Islamabad. Brody is dead.

There are still remnants of where the show wandered and lost its way. Carrie has Brody’s child; only the newborn is back in America with Carrie’s sister. This will be an insufferable plot because Carrie shouldn’t have kids and we all know it. Yet, it is already certain that it will be a reoccurring character development that is going to hinder the show’s political plots.

The aspects that hindered the previous seasons, particularly Brody’s family, are gone. Now the show can move on. What Homeland is now is not what it once was, but what it should have been. It’s a shell of it’s former self, but like Cheers it could be considered two shows in one. (For example: Cheers was able to rehash and last so long because it was really two shows: the Diane Years and the Rebecca Years.) This former Emmy queen might never be able to reclaim its crown, but it can climb back into contention. The show can become a smart political thriller with remnants of a love triangle.

Homeland premiered on October 5 with back to back episodes you can watch via YouTube below. It airs weekly on Sundays at 9pm via Showtime.