Monday, October 13, 2014

TV Discussion: Week of 10/12/2014 - 10/18/2014

Hello fellow TV Addicts!  As always, this is our place to discuss all non-recapped shows.  See you in the comments!

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shield--who's agent Carter? OH yea, this show helps the marvel stuff promote. But it's not reaching a lot of people. You're right about the comparison of premieres in one way, but that tells you if they want this show to reach many, many millions then maybe the format should include more stars. Like Jackson who they got rid of.

I'm reminded of people who blame Fox or MSNBC news for stuff and yet they only reach a few million, especially MSNGC.

I'm really looking forward to Blacklist tonight. Should have some reveals.

Richard

Mike V. said...

Shield - Agent Carter was Captain America's girlfriend in the first movie, and they showed her in the present day in the 2nd movie. She had a life after Captain America was frozen for 60ish years....and the show is going to dive into that. The premiere had a flashback to the 1940s and had Agent Carter and her team front and center. It was probably a bit of a backdoor pilotish episode. (of course, they only showed once scene to show that the guy that wanted that artifact is still alive in the present day and didn't age too much)

Ratings are misleading these days. S.H.I.E.L.D probably has lots of streaming viewers, downloaders and hulu'ers. Clearly whatever Marvel is doing is working for the films. Any extra advertising that can be down on a dedicated hour of marvel television probably helps in some fashion.

Fox News/liberal media....I don't watch the channel, but I certainly see postings all day on social media. Their message gets out to the masses, just not in the traditional ways that it used to. Same concept.

I also saw an article, but didn't read it fully, that Nielsen came out and admitted there was an error in their stats for the past couple months or something. So, it might have been another indication of why ratings were down for many things. But, the constant "nichification" of the TV industry will continue to cause all shows to shave "mass audience" ratings and gain more "dedicated and attentive" viewers to their shows.

What exactly do you mean they "got rid of" Jackson? Samuel L. Jackson? Agent Fury? That huge movie star that is in every movie under the sun? You think they wrote him off of that tiny TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? I'm sure it was in his contract that he had to make a few "appearances" on the television show. Maybe he did it out of the goodness of his heart....but there should be absolutely no expectations that at this stage of his career Samuel L. Jackson needs to be doing a mediocre TV show to earn a paycheck. (Yes, I like the show but it's definitely mediocre when compared to the premiere dramas out there lol) I would not even entertain the idea that they "got rid of him". Same goes for Bill Paxton. They're in a lucky situation that they can get them for any amount of time. If they can somehow get RDJ/Ironman on the show, that would be HUGE for the show. But it would be AN appearance, he wouldn't just be on the show from then on.

The whole concept of the TV show was to focus on the non-superhero Agents of SHIELD living in a world WITH superheroes. There is no movie-sized budget to have Iron Man, Thor, Captain America.....and most definitely not the Hulk on the show every week.

Blacklist - I'm looking forward to a new episode too. Hopefully, I can stay awake this week! lol

AHS - Started it, halfway through. Agree the clown is creepy!

Mike V. said...

Homeland - Good episode! Is it me or does it feel like they're force feeding this Quinn/Carrie relationship? My wife says she saw that brewing from season 2 when they brought him on. I see it like "Brody's gone...guess we need to make this cute guy the new love interest!" lol It's fine, but it certainly felt heavy handed this episode.

ONCE - I like that they're tying the ACTUAL Snow Queen myth into the show with the Frozen characters too. Frozen was loosely based on the Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen....but it kind of took a life of its own on in the script. So now they're making it all part of the ONCE landscape. Elizabeth Mitchell seems to be relishing the role and she finally seems like she's portraying a new role other than Juliet. lol And she knows Emma somehow. So Emma has some more lost memories? Interesting. Did she come in contact with one of the Frozen trolls? lol I thought she gained all her memories back in the 2nd half of last season so this has to be something else.

MJ I forget if I commented on your Ice Monster comment from last week, but that monster was a creation of Elsa in Frozen so it's not like ONCE just made it up. lol Another reason why I said a quick watch of the movie might help a bit. :) It's a decent movie and you're the only person that hasn't seen it!! lol Granted, I've seen it a zillion times but I have kids. The funny thing is I'm able to watch ONCE while Parker is still awake because I tell him Anna and Elsa are on it. lol

mj said...

Once/Frozen - yes u did say it was fr Frozen. So behind - had to watch my team stink up SNF.

Mike V. said...

SNF - the phone notifications were enough for me. lol I just can't watch football unless it's on Sunday afternoon. Too much television to keep up with! Hence, I probably will miss a lot of the niners game tonight too...lol

Mike V. said...

Gotham - Got a full 22 episode season order. Only thing that surprises me is that I thought Fox was trying to do shorter seasons. Of course, they even bumped up Sleepy's season 2 order to 18 eps during the off-season. lol There's a new person in charge of Fox now too so who knows what they'll do?

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/13/gotham-fox-expanded-order-22-episodes/

AHS got renewed for season 5 too - no big shock there

Anonymous said...

Not surprised about Gotham, it's surprisingly complex and well done.

Anonymous said...

Blacklist--another great ep. Liked the irony/twist on Naomi trusting her cheating husband and not Red. I really think Tom is behind that door. And yes Liz is getting darker, but I expected that--lol, Much more could be said, but will wait until I am sure all have seen.

Richard

MJ said...

Sleepy - I was so tired I caught myself nodding off towards the end - which I cannot believe I did since it was another good episode. Case of the week was horrible - making a mom choose between giving up her daughter or all her kids die. Loved them using the ipod to control how long Abby is in the trance. hawley had some good lines - calling Ichabod Pride and Prejudice and Shakespeare, but Abby breaking that flute before giving it to him is not playing nice. But Ichabod calling Hawley a Mercenary and Reprobate was fun too LOL Was not surprising that Henry was the one who wanted the flute in the end. i got confused by the Irving part - why did he see himself fighting with evil ? Is it cause he signed in blood ? An how is he explaining to the nut house that his book caught fire ? LOL While we've gotten some amusement out of Ichabod's clothes (re-stocking at the reenactment) its time to update his clothing. I see him in a nice leather duster ! ;-D

Bad Judge - any one watching ? I have not been that impressed. Quit Black-ish too.

No time for Gotham nor Blacklist

Homeland - why does everyone have a hard time saying no to Carrie. Poor Quinn - when he started he was such a strong character now he's a wimp. I'm already feeling sorry for this poor college kid who lost his mom and sister.

How to Get away with Murder? Anyone watching. I've only seen the first ep - was shocked it was her husband they were trying to bury. Don't know that I like it yet

Once - meant to say 'good one' on your comment Mike that you can watch it cause you tell your kid it's Frozen.

Anonymous said...

LOL, MJ, I'm not watching any of those 3 shows. But, am all over Gotham and Blacklist.

Gotham--another good ep. I expected this show to be a little campy and it keeps turning out solid performances. I mean you know how I think May and Skye are weak female leads, well Fish is great. And I bet she's setting up that new girl to take a fall. She wants a weapon--lol. That's Will Smith's wife too.

So Barbera admitted the relationship and then left Gordon because he wouldn't divulge case info. Seriously, what does she expect--to know all the stuff that could get her killed for knowing it. To know stuff that is legally not to be disclosed. I mean they're not even married yet and so there's no legal protection. She'll come back I think.

Love the Cobblepot stuff--he's just so ruthless and yet looks harmless. Kind of reminds me of how Liz will turn out--lol.

Richard

Leslie said...

How to Get Away with Murder - Yes, MJ, I've been watching. The jury is still out for me (pun intended - lol), but I'm interested enough to keep watching. One of the students looked familiar to me, but I couldn't place him. Checked IMDB and he's the guard on Orange is the New Black with the prosthetic leg.

Mike V. said...

Blacklist - I watched Richard but as I feared, I was super tired and missed a lot of details again. Just reading your short post made me think..."did I even watch this episode??" lol I don't remember the "door" or that even Naomi's husband was cheating on her. I did hear them talking in the beginning of the episode of how they both know Lizzy and how she was involved in the infamous Fire day too. But then they were talking about Naomi's daughter which Red seems to have an interest in too.

Sleepy - That was me with blacklist! (nodding off)...but I watched Sleepy this morning with fresh eyes and loved it as always! Yeah..the case of the week was pretty rough, I guess....but the concept of the pied piper was cool to bring into Sleepy Hollow...and it looks like Jeremy/Henry is going to use it somehow. What do we think of this Indiana Jones/Han Solo/Nathan Drake (Uncharted Video Game) archaeologist dude that is all of a sudden getting involved in the show (Ahh I see you know his name..Hawley lol)? I guess he is sorta comical. I wonder if they're trying to introduce another love interest to the show for Abby since Abby and Crane are meant to be purely platonic. Certainly the rivalry between him and Crane has comedic value. Agreed on the ipod....and of course Crane's driving skills were hysterical. lol on the leather duster. I think they really mean to stick with him wearing that gear, but maybe they'll eventually change their minds.

Gotham - I'm 2 behind but I got the go ahead to watch this on my own. lol Of course, this probably means Scorpion is going to suffer. Already 2 behind on that too.

Homeland - Yeah I agree on the college kid. Agree on Quinn....not sure what they're doing with his character.

ONCE - lol yeah if only the show was worth watching! :-) But Elizabeth Mitchell does always make things fun so there's that.

Bad Judge/Murder - Nope not watching. Though I have recorded every episode of Murder. Waiting to hear if it continues to be worth watching then we might make some time to catch up.

mj said...

Sleepy - I like Hawley - def an Indiana Jones vibe but he's a little bad. I want neither ofthem as love interest for Abby but I could handle Hawley.

Resurrection -- season 2 so far is pretty good

mj said...

Murder -- I did not recognize him at all! I def have to get a few more eps in to get an opinion

Scandal - love how Jake is messing with Olivia but he had no right to lock Quinn in with thatguy. And good for Quinn yelling at them for not noticing she was gone. David really has crossed to the dark side with his black mailing

Mike V. said...

Sleepy - That's why I threw in the Han Solo mix with Indy. Han had a little bit of a scoundrel bad side but in the end had a heart of gold. lol I figure this guy is in it for the wrong reasons but will come around the more he is exposed to their world.

Scandal - Agreed on all fronts! Mellie is still getting all the MVP votes for me this season. She's hysterical in mourning. lol

Anonymous said...

The Blacklist, you should really rewatch this ep. Lots there to see and of course you can skip all the case of the week stuff. But some reveals on some level. For example, the fact that Naomi knows about Liz's past is new info and important. At the end with REd/Naomi speaking nice to each other and prior with Liz questioning Naomi it seems pretty strong to definitive that Red is Jennifer's Dad. The scene with Liz sucking on the suds twirling the keys looking at a padlocked door in a creepy warehouse was great. She also had that jekyl and hyde thing going on when she gave the password to Aram.

Loaded ep

Richard

Anonymous said...

I want to propose a Blacklist theory that's new.
1. Red has gone undercover as a criminal to deal with very high levels of corruption within the government and other places that are serious threats but not on the radar of official agencies. He has fought this criminal effort for years and sacrificed his family to do so.
2. Liz is a girl born from actual or potential criminal parentage whose life was threatened but in the pursuit of those criminal parents REd discovered. Probably while carrying out an attack on her parents. Red saved the girl basically letting others believe she died but turning her over to Sam to raise.
3. Liz was raised by basically a criminal/con man. She learned the trade well. She was recruited by one of those very same high level criminal elements that Red has been targeting.
4. Red decides to simultaneously go after the criminal element and to find a way to keep Liz from doing something she will regret. He even referenced this in telling her not to do things she would eventually regret. She could also be used by Red to lead him(knowingly or not) to the bad guys she works for.

There are many things Liz has done/is doing which are not only being hidden from Red but also the FBI. Her wanting Aram to break the law--keep in mind he stated this so that we would know--was not a huge deal by itself but it's not a one off. Ressler has called her on this too.

Saram is spying on her for Red for a reason beyond just for giggles.

Once I started looking at the factual details with this theory things started fitting into place. I can't say it's perfect because I haven't thoroughly tested it.

Richard

Mike V. said...

Blacklist - Richard, I'll try to rewatch but with the onslaught of fall TV, if I don't catch it the first time chances are I won't have time to go back! lol Most of what you mentioned in this comment here I do recall.

Theory is pretty solid. Red undercover as a criminal makes a lot of sense. Granted, he's very good at his cover. lol But, judging by some of those conflicting scenes with higher levels of government (i.e. Fitch), it certainly means there's more going on and there's more knowledge of Red at those higher levels. I know there's more to your theory, which I also read but it all stems on that....and I certainly think that's plausible given what we know so far.

Gotham - almost caught up..started the latest episode.

SHIELD - Solid episode...liked the digital face reimaging mask technology. A new spin on an old trope! lol (i'm thinking face-off Cage/Travolta here as an example) Interesting to think that Coulson thinks he may go nuts like Garrett. I actually felt emotion for Fitz when he got to bond with the guys at the end of the episode. And his immediate reaction to spill his guts about Simmons (without a name) was pretty funny.

I also don't think we've mentioned that the guy playing that General dude (with the weird hair and mustache) is none other than Nathan Petrelli from Heroes. I didn't recognize him last season, but his voice this season was more recognizable to me. No Ward, so I'm sure that annoyed you Richard! lol

Mike V. said...

SOA - Watched this too...and will comment in a bit. :)

Mike V. said...

Links:

SHIELD - interview with May actress on the big fight scene among other things

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/15/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-will-melinda-may-be-forced-to-kill-coulson/

SOA -

Interview with Alvarez - http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/15/sons-of-anarchy-emilio-rivera-alvarez-alliance/

Recaps of both shows on EW too, but I didn't read them. lol

mj said...

Homeland - agree feels forced. Quinn is the guy who watched her and Brody at the cabin and let them be against orders. He didn't seem to like her then

Mike V. said...

MJ posted this on The Walking dead post. :)

"Shield - kinda a fun episode with the faux faces. I want that ! LOL The minute Talbot was on the phone with Hydra you knew something was off - but just not quite what. Very interesting that someone else out there is carving these symbols. My husband went to the Face Off thing too - but they didn't switch faces. YOU didn't recognize the general as the guy from heroes ? LOL wow !

Blacklist - Oh - so close to getting real info about Red from Naomi ! And what she said is true - he manipulates, he makes you feel special and he always wants something. PeeWee was def more creepy this week. Liz was def talking about her self in that eval - so Aram def should have won that bet. And she has her own personal sniper ! Nice ! And where was Liz at the end - some cabin or something ? The Mossad chick - did she conveniently change the genetic tests from the file before giving it to Liz - or did Liz get the real thing ? My usual frustration - the FBI knows Red is just leading them where he wants for his own benefit - they even say it aloud now - but just go with it any way. Most interesting - Naomi says Red isn't who you think he is. So - is he one of the good guys in deep cover - that would be surprising but boring. And it was very clear that naomi kept saying 'my daughter' - probably to throw us off as we are meant to say 'ah hah - it's Red's daughter too.

Funny - I don't feel we got alot of answers. Just alot of red herrings (pun intended) as usual. Some will pan out - other won't. To me the only real info was that Naomi knew Liz back when Red first supposedly rescued her. The rest is more conjecture.

Ha Richard - I just read your theory. I pondered up above that Red could be a good guy in disguise. Though I disagree that Liz is doing alot that Red does not know about. Between her sniper following her and the Mossad chick I thnk Red knows all.

Legends - finally watched the 2 hour finale. Was pretty good. Can't believe we finally get his name from when he is in MI-5 only to find out that was a Legend too. A great summer show.

SOA - didn't get to watch again. The husband is killing me with the early bed times he's keeping. LOL"

Mike V. said...

Homeland - Good point. Didn't even think of that. But my favorite TV podcast I listen to that hate everything made the same comment about Quinn too...so this time I fully agree with them. Feels like this show may go the way of Dexter eventually where people just stop caring about it. lol Showtime's M.O.

Shield - No I know it wasn't a face SWITCH...but it was like a technology upgrade from Face-off. Just a cool mask that replicates the face and audio. I liked it! lol Even Mission Impossible does masks. I recognized it was Adrian Pasdar in the season premiere this year. Season 1, I don't think I really placed it. But I was flying through episodes and on the treadmill so I didn't quite hear the voice (I use closed captions so I can make out what they're saying while I'm running lol)

Blacklist - That's kind of how I feel too...lots of red herrings. I usually pay close attention at the beginning and end of an episode because that's when they usually expand on the ongoing plot. lol But, I'll have to go back and rewatch some stuff that I nodded off through!

Legends - I thought that was comical too! lol I enjoyed the show as well. I'll definitely tune in next season.

SOA - So funny! I'll hold off on commenting then. I'll admit, I wasn't excited when I saw it was 1.5 hours. Kids have been pretty rough this week with bedtime so we were exhausted. Somehow I managed to stay awake...with just a couple rewinds to make sure I caught things. lol

Mike V. said...

Nice! I was intrigued enough to look at the DVR Live +7 numbers for everything. These are the latest stats for end of september ratings. GOTHAM got a huge boost too from DVR ratings. It even says SHIELD got an 80% absolute increase from DVR watches.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/10/12/gotham-has-biggest-adults-18-49-ratings-increase-gotham-red-band-society-top-percentage-gains-in-live-7-ratings-for-week-ending-september-28/313337/

This doesn't really tell millions of viewers on this site though, just the rating which I never can understand...I just know above a 3.0 in the demographic is considered good these days.

Mike V. said...

My bad, if you scroll down it does show total viewers. Marvel is right around 10 million after all is said and done.

Anonymous said...

Shield--absolutely hilarious watching Maye and Maye.

Blacklist--I don't think I said Liz was doing a lot that he doesn't know about. I think he actually suspects or knows she's on an op and as part of that op joined the FBI. He may or may not know what's behind the door. Liz is partly ticked off about Red having her trailed with the sniper and Samar. I think the case of the week was for Liz to find out what's going on with her and that she got her real blood results.

Richard

MJ said...

Oops ! I must have forgot which one I was in. Thanks for moving it. ;-D

SOA - Crazy Gemma talking to Tara again - in public no less. This season is getting complicated. Took me awhile to figure out who the black guy was that they killed for Tyler - he's the jerk that dragged the wheelchair last year i think. And they killed all these guys just to make the aryans think they hated black ? Jax is really gone bad this year. Oh Juice - did you really think the Mayans would want a traitor ? I kept half expecting that Juice would tell Nero what Gemma did but I guess he's going to keep his word. Jax's face when he sees Juice - it was chilling.

No AHS. And I've given up on Once yet again. I just don't have time to watch it.

New Girl - was an alright episode. The funniest part was the land line. The whole thing with sex and the teachers was dumb though

Streaming - I agree - none of them are going to have evry thing you want so you'd have to pay for several of them. that is happening already. netflix which I have does not have Big Bang Theory so I've never been able to catch up to it. Cause I'm not going to pay for Amazon Prime and Netflix both.

But - with the HBO thing - that could be a good thing. Probably be cheaper then the 18.99 a month that you'd pay to cable company but give people the ability to watch HBO shows.

mj said...

Ah - just saw that Cbs is starting streaming. So now they will charge for online access - does that mean no commercials? So now if I miss a show I can't watch it for free? Yikes

Anonymous said...

MJ, I think I pay about $5 for HBO/Showtime, if you separate it out of my bill.

I am concerned that fragmentation will keep occurring until it blows up in the face of the TV execs. Just look at the layoffs of news personalities, more coming. And they use skype for broadcasting on news with a grainy image. Because a satellite feed is too expensive to get set up. I refuse to watch such shabbily produced news.

Richard

Mike V. said...

Don't have much time to comment but I am intrigued by HBO's decision. Really want to see where they come in on price. If it's less than what I pay for in my cable bill, I'd consider it.

So funny though, cord cutters want an a la carte option, but eventually they're going to want a package deal where you get many offerings at a discount...i.e. a cable package! lol There has to be a happy medium where you can select the content you want at a much cheaper price than what the cable companies are offering.

For now though, HBO offering a streaming service is something cord cutters have long wanted.

I'll comment on shows later...in meeetings all day. :-(

Anonymous said...

MJ, I think I pay about $5 for HBO/Showtime, if you separate it out of my bill.

I am concerned that fragmentation will keep occurring until it blows up in the face of the TV execs. Just look at the layoffs of news personalities, more coming. And they use skype for broadcasting on news with a grainy image. Because a satellite feed is too expensive to get set up. I refuse to watch such shabbily produc

Richard

Mike V. said...

Game of thrones - good news http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/16/game-of-thrones-flashback/

mj said...

5.00 for Hbo ? Dang thats cheap.

I liked Hbo doing a streaming - but not Cbs. If successful all the nets will do it.

MJ said...

How Get Away with Murder - Leslie I've given this one up. Too much stuff to watch. Checked out the second one and was annoyed they were showing the 4 of them getting rid of the body yet again - from another persons perspective. Felt like they were wasting my time. LOL

Gracepoint - still have to check this one out.

AHS - doesn't Elsa own this show? I was confused by how the strong man can just make up rules as he wants to. Clown was even scarier behind that mask. The character Dandy was actually annoying early on - until he helped the clown at the end. Then he got interesting. But those twins sure are in trouble since they are taking the spotlight from Elsa. I totally did not get why all the men in the audience started dancing when Dot/Bette were singing though. But poor Meep - killed because Jimmy and Del are messing with eachother. Still can't figure out Cathy Bates' accent. LOL

Ratings - very good to hear that the +7 are being kind to some favorite shows.

Mike V. said...

Streaming - I checked my bill, I'm paying $29 for the HBO, Showtime, Starz entertainment pack with FIOS. Insane. Though, I think if you just try to add HBO by itself it's $20. So, I'll have to reevaluate my cable options once they announce their price.

CBS - yeah, that's interesting. I'd probably opt for an HD antenna with my DVR before I'd pay for network TV. I'd have to look at all the channels I usually watch and multiply by $5 (maybe more for premium) to see how much that is compared to my regular bill. And you know the cable companies will just charge more for internet service if more people start dropping cable TV. lol There's no way out! And it'll just be more annoying to the customer who will have to subscribe to each channel.

AHS - Watched like half but yeah Jessica Lange is always bringing her A game. I heard this or next season might be her last.

SOA - Yeah it was a good episode, and Juice was certainly an idiot for thinking he could trust the Mayans while ratting out his club. I think I missed Gemma talking to Tara this time. Nero is certainly getting close to the truth. I agree though, this season is confusing.

New Girl - Yeah the landline stuff was hysterical.

Scandal - Really good ep last night!

mj said...

Scandal- heard it was extra scandalous - have to watch it tonight

Soa - when sitting in diner she was talking aloud to Tara - waitress (glee chick) told her no smoking and asked if she was alright since talking to no one

Mike V. said...

Soa - lol makes sense. That was the one scene where my wife had to wake me up!! I forgot I nodded off for a sec.