NEW SITE!

After almost a year of blogging, I’ve done a little redesign.  I’m still pretty new to this whole thing so I’m not changing things up too drastically, but I will have a fancy new slideshow feature, there’s a nifty calendar where you can find out the dates of show premieres and special events, I’m going to be posting links to news stories as they happen (instead of randomly compiling them every now and again) and there is a featured post element that will allow me to highlight trends or just remind you about how awesome TV is.

As of today, I will no longer be posting at this address.  But there will be plenty of TV commentary at the new site.  I’m really excited about these changes and hope to keep increasing my features and making the blog as fun as possible.  Won’t you please follow me over to www.tvjunkiesunite.com?

P.S. None of this would have been possible without the help of Claudia Vazquez.  She helped me add all of the features I wanted, reconfigured the theme I liked and basically figured out a way to make my blog everything I want it to be.  I am a moron when it comes to this kind of stuff.  🙂

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The Amazing Race: Those sneaky devils

Bill was able to gain on the other teams, not only with a quick taxi, but with some great upper body strength.

I’ve always loved The Amazing Race.  Something about the travel with the adventure and challenges of the race have always kept me really invested (even if I haven’t always loved the teams running the race).  This year they seem to have recognized the need to switch things up more than ever and I think it’s working in their favor.  The biggest problem that has always faced the race has been bunching at airports.  When they go to a smaller country or more remote location, there are often less flights available and therefore all of the teams catch up to one another in order to catch the flight.  It’s the great equalizer because even if the last place team starts out four hours behind the first place team, that usually just means they don’t have as long a wait at the airport and when the plane lands, all of the teams are racing for first place again – which is why Bill and Cathi (affectionately referred to as Ma and Pa by their fellow racers) found themselves at the head of the pack last night when they landed in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.  They seemed to luck out with a particularly speedy cab driver (whom they thanked profusely at the end of their time together which I found charming) who got them to the roadblock pretty far ahead of the other teams.  Of course it also helped that their speed bump (the penalty for coming in last on a non-elimination leg) was about as uncomplicated as they come – they just had to untangle a knotted rope – but really, they ran a much smarter race this second leg and definitely deserved their fourth place finish.  (I would really like to see these speed bumps and hazards actually be speed bumps and hazards.  Something that takes them off the path of the other racers for a while and requires some effort on their part (I do like the U-Turns that require teams to complete BOTH detours.  Usually those come up when one of the detours is particularly awful).

Fringe: An indelible mark

Broyles and Olivia discover that John still has the lessons that Marjorie taught him, if not the actual memories of her.

You guys, I love this show so much.  What started out as a purely sci-fi creepy crawly fest has turned into something with depth and emotion and heart.  At the end of last night’s episode of Fringe, Broyles (on our side) tells Olivia that he believes “there are people who leave an indelible mark on the soul” and no other show has shown this in a more poetic way.  There have been other characters on other shows that go missing without a trace, and their presence is always felt, but never with the subtlety that Peter’s is felt right now.  Yes, Walter is having visions and hearing Peter’s voice, but beyond that, it’s the noticeable changes in Olivia and Walter as characters that are really interesting.  We see how Peter loving Olivia has softened her up and made her more vulnerable and open.

The Vampire Diaries: The Ripping 20’s

A long time ago. . . we used to be friends (Paul Wesley & Joseph Morgan)

Last night I had some drinks with friends and one of them told me about how embarrassed she was that she got teary eyed during The Vampire Diaries season premiere.  I assured her there was nothing to be embarrassed about – The Vampire Diaries is a good show with writing that gets the viewer so invested that they tear up from time to time.  It’s ok to admit that you are involved in the story!  When am I going to get to stop defending this show?  I know it is on the CW, it has teenagers in it, it’s about vampires (one of whom can be a bit angst-y), it’s on the CW, but none of that discounts the fact that it is pretty well written, has some great performances in it and keeps its viewers hooked with its rich mythology and unrelenting pace.  There are many more “prestigious” shows that could learn a thing or two from The Vampire Diaries.  There’s nothing to be embarrassed about J.S.  I promise.

Facebook/Webseries integration: Aim High

Aimee Teegarden and Jackson Rathbone in a scene from Aim High

I don’t know if I really understand how this new show Aim High is going to work, but apparently if you sign up for the Facebook app you could find yourself (your photos, your name etc) embedded into a future episode.  Starring Jackson Rathbone (of the Twilight series) and Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights), the series is about a spy who has to go to high school. . . or something.  I think we’ll probably have to watch the show to fully understand how Rathbone’s character became a spy before completing, or even aging out of, high school.  But it’s a double life thing and there will be a lot of ass-kicking and teenagers in love so it sounds like it’s right up my alley.  It is produced by McG and Wonderland Sound & Vision (full disclosure: I was an intern there a few years ago and they are awesome) who also produced The O.C. and Chuck so it’s also got some good pedigree behind it.  But I’m not sure the social media angle is an actual hook or just a nuisance.  I suppose if I was a youngster who used Facebook to a dizzying degree, it might be cool to hear my name over the loudspeaker or see my photo used in the yearbook, but as it stands, I can barely watch videos on my computer (because it’s a dinosaur) and this whole thing makes me feel old.

Wednesday Night Funnies: Up All Night, Modern Family & Happy Endings

Chris apologizes to Reagan for moaning about her sweatpants.

Up All Night (NBC): Chris makes a new friend at the playground who encourages him to try to subtly get Reagan to step away from her sweatpants and help keep things sexy and Reagan has to deal with Ava who blames her for losing the love of her life, B-Ro, complete with 90’s flashback.

“That’s like 40% more butt” – Chris “I don’t like to put a number on it, but that’s about right” – Chris’ new playground friend.

“I have an addiction to being fancy.” – Reagan all dressed up for breakfast after Chris tries to tell her to dress up a bit when she get’s home.

This episode was a winner for the flashback alone.

“Hey girl.  Pragmatically speaking.  You’re the perfect girl for me right now” – B. Ro “I appreciate it.” – Ava (in a cheesy 90’s R&B song)

“It’s like rec room on the outside, strip club on the inside.” Reagan.  “I’m like nerdy dad on the outside, tennis star on the inside.” – Chris about their new “fancy comfy” looks.

Ringer: The third episode can be wrapped up in one paragraph

Bridget (as Siobahn) makes amends with Andrew (Sarah Michelle Gellar & Ioan Gruffudd)

I may not like Ringer at all.  The temporary blindness caused by my excitement over having Sarah Michelle Gellar back on the small screen is starting to pass and what I’m finding is a pretty boring show with wet blanket characters that doesn’t seem to have any ideas about how to have fun.  Three episodes in and things have seemingly slowed to a halt as far as the plot goes, there seems to be a lot of background information that we’re still missing about Siobahn and Bridget’s relationship and I find it incredibly hard to believe that no one has caught on to the fact that Bridget is not Siobahn.  No one seems to even suspect it.  Overall, I find the pacing to be a bit plodding and the characters to have as much depth as a piece of paper.  Not even SMG can save that.

Glee: Unicorns and mixed messages

I am Unicorn. (Chris Colfer and Heather Morris)

Outside of all of Brittany’s one-liners I don’t think I enjoyed anything that happened on Glee last night.  I think that Shelby’s return is completely unnecessary (outside of adopting Quinn and Puck’s daughter, she was a unsympathetic character), the idea that Kurt can’t play Tony in West Side Story seems to go against everything that this show, and the word “acting”, intends to be about, and Sue’s tirade against the arts is sort of repulsive to me.  However, I am a big fan of Brittany’s unicorn theory (a unicorn is someone who is unafraid to show the world how special he is) and all that it represents.

The Sing Off Premiere Part Deux

Eight new groups perform the opening number. It's like a singing rainbow.

This week we got to see the remaining eight teams perform and watch as two of those were unceremoniously sent home by the judges.  Can any of these new groups out-perform last week’s clear champions, Delilah?  Because they set the bar really high and announced themselves as the team to beat.  The big group kick off number this week is “Sing” by My Chemical Romance.  I totally dig these opening numbers because the groups blend surprisingly well with each other and end up sounding like a big wall of perfection.  Also, I love seeing the groups made up of old guys trying to fit in with all the youngsters.  It’s amusing.  Also, I wish I could sing in an a capella group.  They look like they’re having a lot of fun.  It’s kind of crazy how non-geeky it looks on this show.

First Impressions: Terra Nova

Jim (Jason O'Mara) in 2149 where things are dark and dingy.

My first impression of Terra Nova?  I like it!  I thought it was a nice mix of family drama, sci-fi intrigue and dinosaurs!  The show clearly has a pretty healthy budget considering all those special effects and they seem to put it to good use (compare it to Pan Am, which admittedly didn’t really have “special effects” so much as fake backdrops, for an example of a show that could use a few extra bucks).  The two hour pilot introduced us to a pretty scary future – one in which the air is toxic, overpopulation is so bad that families are limited to two children, and everyone seems to live in caves.  In other words, it looks pretty miserable.  Jim Shannon (Jason O’Mara) is a police officer, married to a doctor (Elisabeth played by Shelley Conn), who get caught with an extra kid and when he goes to protect his youngest daughter, he attacks another officer and is hauled off to jail.  Two years later, his wife has been recruited to travel 85 million years into the past to help start civilization all over again.  In the process she breaks her husband out of jail, stuffs her youngest daughter into a duffle bag and then walks through the portal (or whatever it was called) to the land of dinosaurs, clouds and greenery.  I really liked the tension in the scene right after everyone walked through the portal, but overall, I feel like more of that is needed.