BuzzFeed has this fun quiz to keep you occupied while we wait for The Mindy Project to return. Unlike most TV quizzes, this one asks you to pick pictures! Aside from a glaring omission in the “Pick a TV doctor” category, this was pretty fun, and I think they got my personality matched up well!
Month: February 2014
BBC News – Doctor Who casts Samuel Anderson in new role
The TARDIS is getting a new occupant! Samuel Anderson is joining Doctor Who on a reoccurring basis for series 8. His character’s name is Danny Pink, and he’s a teacher at Coal Hill School, where we saw Clara teaching at the beginning of the anniversary episode.
I’m pretty excited by this bit of casting news, probably the best I’ve heard since David and Billie were announced to be back for the special. Glad to see there will be a young guy around to help us transition to an older Doctor! Might there be a bit of romance in the air for Clara? I don’t know if this photo indicates Pink’s look or not, but if so, I highly approve!
More details at the link below:
Monday Madness: Favorite TV Brothers
ABC’s new drama Mind Games premieres this week (Tuesday, February 25, at 10/9c on ABC), and since the show focuses on two brothers, our poll this week features TV brothers! First, here’s the logline for Mind Games:
Centers on the complicated relationship between the Edwards brothers: Clark, a bipolar genius in human psychology, and Ross, a slick ex-con, who solve their clients’ problems using the real science of human motivation and manipulation.
It features one of my favorite comedic actors, Steve Zahn, so I can’t wait to check it out!
I didn’t realize until I started putting together this poll that it would pit some of the most popular fandoms against each other! (Sherlock, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, etc.) I only included more recent shows (hence the absence of The Brady Bunch boys), and included both half- and step-brothers (but not brothers-in-law).
I also did not include brothers when one of them is only in a handful of episodes. For example, Seeley Booth’s brother Jared is only in 5 episodes. I’d planned to include Michael Westen and his brother Nate, until I realized Nate was only in 15 episodes out of 111. My general rule of thumb was going with brothers who had both/all been in at least 1/3 of the episodes. Be sure to keep that in mind with any nominations!
The winner of last week’s poll, by a landslide, was Battlestar Galactica!
This poll will be open for one week two weeks, and you can choose up to 5 of your favorite TV brother duos (or trios). Be sure to spread the word so your favorites will make it into the top 10!
Even though there are many options on this list, I know there are shows I left out! As always, you can cast write-in ballots by leaving a comment, and if I receive several nominations, I may add them to the poll! Want more of a say in what makes it onto the poll each week? Be sure to follow me on Twitter, since I usually ask for nominations for the next Monday Madness the weekend before the new poll.
Without further ado, here’s the poll for this week’s Monday Madness! Voting ends around 12AM March 3rd 10th.
Who are your favorite TV brothers? (Choose up to 5!)
- Dean and Sam Winchester (Supernatural) (19%, 25 Votes)
- Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock) (15%, 20 Votes)
- Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson (The Originals and The Vampire Diaries) (10%, 13 Votes)
- Damon and Stefan Salvatore (The Vampire Diaries) (8%, 11 Votes)
- Pete, Derrick, and Randy Hill (Enlisted) (5%, 7 Votes)
- Don and Charlie Eppes (Numb3rs) (5%, 6 Votes)
- Peter and Nathan Petrelli (Heroes) (5%, 6 Votes)
- Frankie and Tommy Rizzoli (Rizzoli and Isles) (5%, 6 Votes)
- Ben and Danny Wheeler (Baby Daddy) (5%, 6 Votes)
- Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows (Prison Break) (5%, 6 Votes)
- Francis and Sebastian (Reign) (4%, 5 Votes)
- Lucas and Nathan Scott (One Tree Hill) (3%, 4 Votes)
- Reggie Jackson and Dick Butkus (The Neighbors) (2%, 3 Votes)
- Gob, Michael, and Buster Bluth (Arrested Development) (2%, 3 Votes)
- Earl and Randy Hickey (My Name is Earl) (2%, 3 Votes)
- Danny and Jamie Reagan (Blue Bloods) (2%, 3 Votes)
- Adam and Crosby Braverman (Parenthood) (2%, 2 Votes)
- Tim and Billy Riggins (Friday Night Lights) (2%, 2 Votes)
- Jack and Declan Porter (Revenge) (1%, 1 Votes)
- Tommy, Kevin and Justin Walker (Brothers & Sisters) (1%, 1 Votes)
- Ethan and Dan Whitehorse (The Lying Game) (0%, 0 Votes)
- Silas and Shane Botwin (Weeds) (0%, 0 Votes)
- Chuck Bass and Eric van der Woodsen (Gossip Girl) (0%, 0 Votes)
- Hank and Evan Lawson (Royal Pains) (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 50
Pilot Scoop: Doctor Who’s Karen Gillan to Star in Suburgatory Creator’s Selfie Comedy for ABC – TVLine
Okay, this ABC comedy pilot just became a must-watch if it makes it to series! Not only is Karen Gillan (Doctor Who’s Amy Pond) starring, but it’s from the same mind behind the hilarious Suburgatory. Also, with Gillan’s character being named Eliza Dooley, I’m guessing they have some “My Fair Lady” homages up their sleeves?
Star-Crossed – Pilot
I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for sci-fi shows (and movies and books) about people who look human but really aren’t, and all the twists and turns that can bring to the story. So it was pretty much a given that I’d been at least checking out this show. But even with that anticipation, I was pleasantly surprised by how good the pilot episode of Star-Crossed was.
We open on the day the aliens invade. Only from their point of view, they’re Atrian refugees who crash-landed on Earth after their planet was destroyed. Adorably cute little alien boy Roman runs away from the fighting caused by this misunderstanding, and hides out in a nearby shed, where he discovered by adorably cute little human girl Emery (played by Ben & Kate’s Maggie Elizabeth Jones). She brings him a blanket and cold spaghetti, and he in turn tries to protect her when police dogs sniff out his location the following day, and is shot (and she believes killed) for his efforts.
Fast forward 10 years, and Emery is about to go back to school after 4 years battling an autoimmune disease, though not without stopping for a quick chat with her still-ill hospital buddy, Julia. I like how this background puts Emery out of sync with the “normal” teenagers she meets at high school. I wish we’d gotten a better look at her relationship with her friend Lukas, who at this point is little more than token platonic African-American school tour guide. He was helping with the hospital club table – is that how Emery knows him?
Emery’s first day back is also the first day for seven Atrian teenagers to start attending a human high school as the initial attempt at integration. Of course, Roman and Emery eventually reunite, and there are sparks, but the sci-fi elements are just as intriguing and perhaps even more so. The armed guards and curfews of the Sector (the government internment facility where the Atrians are forced to live) contrast strongly with the exotic bazaar-like vibe inside.
I expected Roman to be more open-minded toward humans than the rest of his species, but instead his father and sister have that role. In Roman’s experience, only one human has been kind to him – Emery – and his reactions to others are filled with hilarious sarcasm, which was easily one of my favorite parts of the episode.
There is still a lot of mystery surrounding the Atrians. I enjoyed the reveal that Roman’s two hearts was what saved him from dying as a child (are we sure they aren’t refugees from Gallifrey?). And the cost of what Roman did for Julia puts an interesting twist on sharing technology. I’m also curious to see what effect the ending scuffle in the Sector will have on the rest of the series.
The CW will be airing a repeat of the pilot today at 9/8c. Be sure to check it out if you missed the initial airing, or watch it online on the CW’s official site!
Monday Madness: Favorite Bear McCreary Show
Update: this poll is now closed. You can vote for this week’s poll here.
He’s composed music for some of TV’s top shows, and today’s his birthday! So for this first poll back after this site’s long hiatus, we’re going to celebrate the work of Bear McCreary!
I first noticed Bear’s stunning scores on the short-lived NBC series The Cape, and soon began paying special attention to who was scoring upcoming shows. I was excited to find out he’d been selected for Agents of SHIELD. His work encompasses everything from the groundbreaking Battlestar Galactica to the culture phenomenon The Walking Dead to the brand new Black Sails.
This poll will be open for one week, and you can choose up to 3 of your favorite Bear McCreary-composed shows. Be sure to spread the word!
Want more of a say in what makes it onto the poll each week? Be sure to follow me on Twitter, since I usually ask for nominations for the next Monday Madness the weekend before the new poll. Also, feel free to suggest your own poll ideas!
Without further ado, here’s the poll for this week’s Monday Madness! Voting ends around midnight next Sunday night.
What is your favorite TV show for which Bear McCreary has composed music? (Choose up to 3!)
- Battlestar Galactica (35%, 43 Votes)
- The Walking Dead (11%, 14 Votes)
- Black Sails (9%, 11 Votes)
- Da Vinci's Demons (7%, 9 Votes)
- Eureka (7%, 9 Votes)
- Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (7%, 9 Votes)
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (6%, 7 Votes)
- Defiance (5%, 6 Votes)
- Caprica (5%, 6 Votes)
- Human Target (2%, 3 Votes)
- The Cape (2%, 3 Votes)
- Trauma (2%, 2 Votes)
- Holliston (0%, 0 Votes)
- Shelf Life (0%, 0 Votes)
- Daybreak (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 63
Ralph Waite Dead — ‘The Waltons’ Actor Dies at 85 – TVLine
The man who played Jackson Gibbs on NCIS (as well as Booth’s grandfather on Bones) has passed away. These shows definitely benefited from his reoccurring roles. More details at the link below.
Fall TV 2013 – Part Two
Before I get started blogging about the latest news in TV, I figured I should probably wrap up my thoughts about fall TV, since there was so much I didn’t touch on in the earlier post.
To start, Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s 3rd episode was amazing, and it’s now one of my favorite new TV comedies (about even with The Crazy Ones, despite that show’s significant Mork/Buffy pull). My favorite, however, is the regulated-to-the-Friday-death-slot-before-it-even-had-a-chance Enlisted. Geoff Stults, Chris Lowell, and Parker Young have incredible chemistry as three very different brothers, and I especially love that Parker Young’s character Randy is similar to his character Ryan from Suburgatory, as I’ve missed him on that show!
For returning comedies, How I Met Your Mother’s final season has been a mixed bag of amazing episodes and boring fillers. The rhyming episode was just painful. Community is returning to its old self, but Troy will be very missed (Pierce, not so much). New seasons of The Big Bang Theory, New Girl, The Mindy Project, and The Neighbors have been consistently good, with only a handful of blah episodes for the entire bunch.
Sleepy Hollow’s entire first season was great, and I’m looking forward to the next. I’m enjoying Almost Human and Intelligence with their sci-fi crime bents, but prefer Almost Human (and while both shows aren’t doing well in the ratings, it has a better chance of survival). Once Upon a Time in Wonderland started slow but got better, and I’ll finish the show when the final episodes air, but I won’t mourn the loss. Michael Socha’s great performance may push me to finally watch the end of the UK’s Being Human.
CW’s The Originals has been a great twisty guilty pleasure show, and I’ve actually kept up with it more than The Vampire Diaries. I’m behind on The Tomorrow People (it has potential but feels unpolished), and I only saw a few episodes of Reign, though now that it has been renewed I’m more likely to watch another episode or two before I make a decision on whether to keep watching. Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD has finally found its groove.
Returning dramas have been good if unremarkable – save for the following bits: Once Upon a Time’s Neverland stint was sluggish, but the mid-season finale was blow-your-socks-off amazing. NCIS bid a proper farewell to Ziva, and new team member Ellie isn’t half bad. Person of Interest went for the tears and it still feels like there’s a hole in the team. Arrow remains one of my favorites.
Look Who’s Back – Veronica Mars Movie
Yes, Veronica Mars is back! As one of the Kickstarter backers, I couldn’t be more excited! I’ve watched the trailer, but I’ve tried to avoid some of the rumors swirling around this sure-to-be-epic movie, as I want to be surprised!
Also, I’m back! I’ve been without a computer for more than half a year, and the one post I managed to scrape together on my Kindle Fire was torturous. But yesterday while I was home sick in bed, my tax refund came in, and I promptly scoured the internet for the best President’s Day deals on laptops. Best Buy enticed me with a great deal on a new HP (I was looking at refurbished/used ones) that I could pick up in-store that day. I ordered it, took medicine, and fell back asleep, only to wake up to hear I’d been laid off from my office job.
But my loss is your gain! This site was born from unemployment and TV binge-watching, so when better to return? I’m sure I can find an acceptable job application/TV episode/blog post ratio!
So what shows are tickling your ears and dancing before your eyes lately? Leave a comment and let me know! I’ve finally started making some headway on Supernatural (now that I’m sadly not blogging about every episode) and am partway through season 3!