tv

new and noteworthy tv: 11/25-12/1

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NationalDogShow2013_P

Not a lot of note going on this week as we roll into the official holiday season, time for some movies…

Monday

  • Generation Cryo (MTV, 10pm) Series Premiere – A look at a woman whose sperm donor dad had some other offspring.

Tuesday

  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (CBS, 8pm) – This one is jumping the gun with a pre turkey day ho ho ho.
  • Boston’s Finest/Marshall Law (TNT, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premieres – Real life crime fighters.

Wednesday

  • Sound of Music Live: Making Of/SNL Thanksgiving (NBC, 8/9pm) – Behind the scenes of something I’m not interested in and then some of the historical funnies.
  • Haunted Highway (Syfy, 10pm) Season Premiere – More ghosts to be found.

Thursday

  • Thanksgiving Day Parade (NBC/CBS, 9am) – Floats, bands…
  • Magnificent Mile Lights (ABC, 11am) – Lighting…
  • The National Dog Show (NBC, 12pm) – Woof.
  • A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/Lady Gaga and the Muppets Spectacular (ABC, 8/9:30pm) – Charlie and the gang and then some songs and celebrations by celebrities and felted friends.

Friday

  • Hoops & Yoyo Ruin Christmas/The Elf on the Shelf/Garth Brooks (CBS, 8/8:30/9pm) – And here they all come.
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas/Shrek the Halls (ABC, 8/8:30pm) – More holiday fare.
  • Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (CW, 8pm) – And yeah more.

Saturday

  • The Flight Before Christmas/The Story of Santa Claus (CBS, 8/9pm) – And more…

Sunday

  • Christmas in Conway (ABC, 9pm) – Made for TV flick with a dude making a very special Christmas.
  • Hawaii Life (HGTV, 9pm) Season Premiere – Aloha.
  • Treme (HBO, 9pm) Season Premiere – Yes we can, Obama-style.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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new and noteworthy tv: 11/18-11/24

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betas-amazon-w724

 A little delay on this posting, partly because there’s not much going on…

Monday

  • Whoopi Goldberg Presents: Moms Mabley (HBO, 9pm) – A look at the vaudeville vet.

Tuesday

  • The iHeartradio Album Release Party with Lady Gaga (CW, 8pm) – Gaga it up.
  • Risky Listing/White Collar Brawlers (Esq, 9/10pm) Series Premieres – Night life real estate and dueling colleagues.
  • David Blaine: Real or Magic (ABC, 9:30pm) – Watch a lot of celebrities say ‘wow’ at his antics.

Wednesday

  • How I Rock It/Alternate Route (Esq, 10/10:30pm) Series Premieres – Stylin’ dudes and photographers exploits.

Thursday

  • You Oughta Know In Concert (VH1, 8pm) – Artists I haven’t heard of perform together.

Friday

  • Betas (Amazon, 12:01am) Series Premiere – Misfits trying to launch their startup.
  • Where Were You? (NBC, 9pm) – Tom Brokaw reports on the day JFK died.
  • Nikita (CW, 9pm) Season Premiere – Nikita is on the run, still? again?

Saturday

  • Atlantis (BBCA, 9pm) Series Premiere – A search for his father leads a dude to the ancient fabled city.
  • Lucas Bros/Golan the Insatiable (Fox, 11pm) Series Premieres – Additions to the animation domination.

Sunday

  • American Music Awards (ABC, 8pm) – I really don’t want to hear anything about Miley Cyrus.
  • Getting On/Ja’mie: Private School Girl (HBO, 10pm) Series Premieres – Comedic hospital fare and school drama.
  • Breaking the Faith (TLC, 10pm) Series Premiere – Leaving the religious compound.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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new and noteworthy tv: 11/11-11/17

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AlmostHuman1

Monday

  • None of the Above/Church Rescue (NGC, 9/10pm) Series Premieres – Burning experiments and then what looks like religious Restaurant Impossible.
  • Bear Grylls: Escape from Hell (Disc, 10pm) Series Premiere – I guess he was tired of living in comfort.

Tuesday

  • Black Mirror/Secret State (DirTV, 9/10pm) Series Premieres – Two more British imports, an hour long satirical drama on the state of tech today and then a conspiracy thriller, no DTV for me but otherwise would take a gander.
  • Lost Survivors (Trav, 11pm) Series Premiere – Married survival experts test their mettle.

Wednesday

  • Secrets of the Dead (PBS, 10pm) Season Premiere – George Clooney narrates the premiere on JFK.
  • Burning Love (E!, 10:30pm) Season Premiere – The laugher version of the dating shows.

Thursday

  • Ground Floor (TBS, 10pm) Series Premiere – Another dip into the sitcom pool where opposites attract, banker and maintenance together at last.

Friday

  • Raising Hope (Fox, 9pm) Season Premiere – The Chance family returns.
  • Sweet Home Alabama (CMT, 9pm) Season Premiere – Will the latest sweet country girl pick a country boy or a city guy?

Saturday

  • Orange County Choppers/Swamp Pawn (CMT, 9/10pm) Series/Season Premieres – Bikes and swamp stuff sales.

Sunday

  • Almost Human (Fox, 8pm) Series Premiere – Future cop buddy show, emotionally damaged human working with the emotionally questionable robot is worth a look.
  • The Drama Queen (E!, 11pm) Series Premiere – Take a look at a talent manager in action.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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new and noteworthy tv: 11/4-11/10

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findingbigfoot

Monday

  • The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills/Vanderpump Rules (Brav, 8/9pm) Season Premieres – I don’t know who the Vanderpumps are but they’re combining their shows tonight.
  • Mike & Molly (CBS, 9pm) Season Premiere – Molly has a meltdown.
  • Bizarre Foods America (Trav, 9pm) Season Premiere – The Garden State’s treats.
  • Love It or List It (HGTV, 9pm) Season Premiere – Growing family needs a bigger house.

Tuesday

  • Moonshiners (Disc, 9pm) Season Premiere – Life changing events.
  • Shahs of Sunset (Brav, 10pm) Season Premiere – Stuff happens to them or by them or whatever.

Wednesday

  • CMA Awards (ABC, 8pm) – Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood host, again.
  • Beverly Hills Pawn (Reelz, 9pm) Season Premiere – Stuff.
  • Extreme Yachts (Trav, 9pm) Season Premiere – Because if you’re going to have a yacht it should be extreme.
  • Guy Court (MTV2, 11pm) Series Premiere – Comedic courtroom rulings of dude behavior.

Thursday

  • Urban Suburban/Reno vs. Relocate (Health, 9/10pm) Series Premieres – In the city or in the suburbs and then to move or to move to Reno, ok that’s how I read that but it’s actually move or renovate.

Friday

  • The Lylas (WE, 9pm) Series Premiere – Bruno Mars’ sisters are musicians too.
  • Say Yes to the Dress (TLC, 9pm) Season Premiere – Adrianna Costa a ‘television personality’ looks for a reception dress.

Saturday

  • Miss Universe (NBC, 8pm) – Mel B and Thomas Roberts host from Moscow.
  • Jobs that Bite! (NGW, 9pm) Series Premiere – Challenging animal jobs like giving a lion a physical

Sunday

  • 24/7 (HBO, 12:15am) Season Premiere – Pacquiao/Rios.
  • Ax Men/American Jungle (Hist, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premieres – Cutting it down and living off the land in Hawaii.
  • Thicker than Water (Brav, 9pm) Series Premiere – A look at the family of former basketball player/gospel-jazz musician Ben Tankard.
  • Finding Bigfoot (AnPl, 10pm) Season Premiere – Not only do they have seasons of this but there is also so much to talk about that they have an Untold Stories following it.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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my schedule

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blacklist

I’m just still waiting to check out Almost Human but until then here’s where things are looking for me.

Monday

  • 8pm – How I Met Your Mother (CBS) / Bones (Fox) / Hart of Dixie (CW)
  • 9pm – Sleepy Hollow (Fox)
  • 10pm – The Blacklist (NBC) / Castle (ABC)

I’m kind of over Mother, Bones, and Castle, with Mother wrapping I am sticking it out, but Castle is very close to being deleted from the season pass; fortunately I’ve added a couple new shows the ridiculous and enjoyable Ichabod series and the untrustworthy Spader sort of helping the FBI, and yeah I still like the repetitive but cute Dixie.

Tuesday

  • 8pm – SHIELD (ABC) / Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox)
  • 9pm –  New Girl/The Mindy Project (Fox) / Trophy Wife (ABC)

Joss Whedon’s latest hasn’t quite found its groove but we’ll give it some more legs, and I am still and newly amused enough by some of these comedies, good ones are still few and far between but much needed in the lineup.

Wednesday

  • 8pm – The Middle (ABC)
  • 9pm – Modern Family (ABC)
  • 10pm – Nashville (ABC)

More funny though I am pretty over Family, and I honestly need to cut the cord on Nashville, I have to admit I haven’t even finished last season but just keep recording them, I remember thinking it was entertaining.

Thursday

  • 8pm – The Big Bang Theory (CBS) / Parks & Rec (NBC)
  • 9pm – The Crazy Ones (CBS) / The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC) / Reign (CW)
  • 10pm – Elementary (CBS) / Parenthood (NBC)

The 8 and 10 slots remain solid but none of my 9pm options have gotten a season pass though there is something I like about each of them, one more week…

Friday

  • 9pm – Grimm (NBC) / ANTM (CW)

Yeah don’t judge about the models, there’s a little less Tyra and adding dudes actually freshened it up.

Saturday

  • Day of rest or frolic

Sunday

  • 9pm – The Good Wife (CBS)
  • 10pm – The Mentalist (CBS)

Wife is still firing on all cylinders and although I’m over Red John I still enjoy the fake psychic out for vengeance.

And still working in my less time slot specific cable entries of It’s Always Sunny (FX), The League (FX), Project Runway (Life), Sons of Anarchy (FX), The Walking Dead (AMC).

What’s in your queue?

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new and noteworthy tv: 10/28-11/3

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great_pumpkin

Monday

  • Love & Hip Hop/Chrissy & Mr Jones (VH1, 8/9pm) Season Premieres – Realities continue.

Tuesday

  • Restaurant Redemption (Cook, 5pm) Series Premiere – Helping out struggling Asian restaurants.
  • Little People, Big World (TLC, 6pm) Season Premiere – More world.
  • Naked Vegas (Syfy, 10pm) Series Premiere – Because we haven’t yet focused on artists specializing in body painting.

Wednesday

  • The Art Of (Ova, 5pm) Season Premiere – Starting with a look at costume designers.
  • Extreme Cheapskates (TLC, 9pm) Season Premiere – Sharing a toothbrush?
  • Girl Code/Ke$ha (MTV, 10/10:30pm) Season Premiere – More girls and more of that girl.

Thursday

  • SNL Halloween/It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (NBC/ABC, 8pm) – Happy Halloween!
  • The Returned (Sun, 9pm) Series Premiere – Airing of eight part supernatural French drama, might be worth an all hallows eve look.

Friday

  • Time of Death (Show, 9pm) Series Premiere – Profiles of people living out their final days.
  • The Dead Files (Trav, 10pm) Season Premiere – On a very different note, paranormal profiles.

Saturday

  • 2013 Breeders’ Cup (NBC, 5pm) – The 30th cup concludes.
  • Pit Bulls & Parolees (AnPl, 6pm) Season Premiere – More of each?
  • Flipping Vegas (A&E, 10pm) Season Premiere – Cat house.
  • Houston Beauty (OWN, 10pm) Series Premiere – Beauty schooling.

Sunday

  • The Real Housewives of Atlanta/Fashion Queens (Brav, 8/11:30pm) Season Premieres – More of that and then a look at the fashion across the airwaves.
  • Restaurant Express (Food, 9pm) Series Premiere – Vegas baby! Nine contestants arrive.
  • America Declassified (Trav, 10pm) Series Premiere – Mysteries and conspiracies across the country.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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new and noteworthy tv: 10/21-10/28

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Dracula

Monday

  • Bar Hunters (Disc, 10pm) Series Premiere – Perfect location for a bar?

Tuesday

  • American Hoggers (A&E, 7pm) Season Premiere – Hiring some help.
  • Mother of All Talent (TVGN, 8pm) Series Premiere – Can they find the right stars and can they get them where they need to go?
  • Ravenswood (ABCF, 9pm) Series Premiere – The latest spin-off brings us to a town nearby to the Pretty Little Liar, filled with lots of drama you can be sure.
  • The Car Chasers (CNBC, 10pm) Season Premiere – More cars more locations.
  • American Daredevils (Hist, 10pm) Series Premiere – A look at the lives of stuntmen.
  • Chasing Nashville (Life, 10pm) Series Premiere – A look at four Appalachian teens trying to make it in Nashville.
  • Snooki & Jwoww (MTV, 10pm) Season Premiere – They’re apparently still making these.
  • Trust Me I’m a Game Show Host (TBS, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – Hosts deceive in this comedic competition.

Wednesday

  • World Series (Fox, 4:30) – The baseball.
  • Restaurant: Impossible (Food, 10pm) Season Premiere – Make over the meal makers.

Thursday

  • Restaurant Divided (Food, 10pm) Series Premiere – Rocco DiSpirito helps family restaurants.
  • Scrubbing In (MTV, 10pm) Series Premiere – A look at some nurses who leave home to help at understaffed hospitals.

Friday

  • Adam Devine’s House Party (Com, 12:30am) Series Premiere – Sketches and stand-up.
  • Gold Rush (Disc, 7pm) Season Premiere – Pay day?
  • The Carrie Diaries (CW, 8pm) Season Premiere – Meet Samantha Jones.
  • Styled to Rock (Brav, 8pm) Series Premiere – Rihanna works with wanna be rock stylists in this latest competition.
  • Grimm/Dracula (NBC, 9/10pm) Season/Series Premieres – Will our hero wake up from his slumber and then the latest look at our vampire pal, this time Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
  • Secret Princes (TLC, 10pm) Season Premiere – Four princes look for their princesses in Austin.
  • Strike Back (Cin, 10pm) Season Premiere – Action packed drama for the troubled special forces guy.

Saturday

  • Spooksville (Hub, 10pm) Series Premiere – Move in to a new town with some supernatural intrigue.

Sunday

  • The Governor’s Wife (A&E, 10pm) Series Premiere – A look at the former Louisiana governor and his young bride.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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spin it off…

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saul

The spinoff is not a new idea but recently I feel like it’s been top of mind. First folks were all abuzz about discussions on proposed new AMC spinoffs. Now completed Breaking Bad, is turning out Better Call Saul, and still on air Walking Dead is turning out something (how could more zombies be bad?).

Then adding to that we’ve got the currently starting spinoffs The Originals, stemming from The Vampire Diaries, and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, from Once Upon a Time. I don’t watch either of those initial shows so although a good spin off creates a standalone world of its own, one wonders if I didn’t do the original perhaps I should plan to skip them. I of course can’t skip entirely but I found the first ep of the vampires in New Orleans almost unwatchable (a similar reaction was had to the campily popular VD). The Alice version sits in my TiVo queue awaiting a watch.

I may not enjoy them all, but who could argue with cashing in on an existing popular series. In today’s world we can’t imagine fewer than seven Law & Order shows. And with the boom in reality, the franchises were sure to follow, Flavor of Love, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, The Real Housewives of Orange County have spawned countless versions. Unfortunately for every Frasier there is a Tortellis, for every Melrose Place there is a Models Inc. for every Laverne and Shirley there’s a… not even addressing reboots like Star Trek, Dallas, and 90210.

Considering that to a certain extent you do have a built in audience I wonder if there is a difference in carryover between a true character spinoff (Angel or Frasier) a more backdoor pilot version (where they might introduce the characters and a different world in an episode mostly solely for the purposes of selling the pilot) vs. a franchise that can introduce yet another CSI. Whichever way when new dramas or comedies appear I can’t resist a peek.

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new and noteworthy tv: 10/14-10/20

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What-Not-To-Wear

The premieres are getting closer to wrapping up so I’m getting closer to culling it back down to a watchable list, one or two more to go…

Monday

  • Russell Peters vs the World (Net, 12:01am) Series Premiere – Check out his world tour, whoever he is.

Tuesday

  • The Biggest Loser (NBC, 8pm) Season Premiere – From the promos I know that Ruben Studdard is on.
  • Baggage Battles (Trav, 9pm) Season Premiere – More unclaimed items up for bid.
  • Real Husbands of Hollywood (BET, 10pm) Season Premiere – So some stuff happens with some people.

Wednesday

  • Toy Story of Terror! (ABC, 8pm) – The toys face their fear.
  • Nature (PBS, 8pm) Season Premiere – The season starts with otters, who are in fact adorable.

Thursday

  • Big Bad Wood (NGC, 9pm) Series Premiere – Following tree cutting companies.
  • Reign (CW, 9pm) Series Premiere – Formalized marriage meets some complication, worth taking a peek at this new take on the old, well young monarchs.
  • White Collar (USA, 9pm) Season Premiere – Can Neal clear Peter’s name, was sort of over this last season but let’s hope they can keep the episodic fun without too much overarching drag.
  • #Rampage4Real (Spike, 11pm) Series Premiere – Following fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Friday

  • What Not to Wear (TLC, 8/9pm) Series Finale – Stacy and Clinton answer some viewer mail and then offer their final tips on combining color, pattern, texture, and shine.
  • Comedy Bang! Bang!/The Birthday Boys (IFC, 10/10:30pm) Season/Series Premieres – Rainn Wilson and Andy Daly guest and then more sketch-comedy.

Saturday

  • When Calls the Heart (Hall, 9pm) Series Premiere – Based on Janette Oke’s Canadian West book series, city teacher hits the frontier.
  • Dancing on the Edge (Starz, 10pm) Mini-Series Premiere – Kicking off with upstart jazz band in this five part dramatic series.
  • The Graham Norton Show (BBCA, 11pm) Season Premiere – Guests Benedict Cumberbatch and… oh you had me at Benedict.

Sunday

  • Guy’s Grocery Games (Food, 8pm) Series Premiere – Cooking competition right in the store.
  • Queer Eye (Brav, 9pm) – Reunion special 10 Years later.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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new and noteworthy tv: 10/7-10/13

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the-walking-dead-season-4

Time conflict number two presents itself, Monday at 8 with the return of Hart of Dixie up against Bones and How I Met Your Mother…

Monday

  • Hart of Dixie/Beauty and the Beast (CW, 8/9pm) Season Premieres – Will Zoe stay in Bluebell, not great but still a cute show, and then more of the pretty dumb, or pretty but dumb.
  • Dream School (Sun, 10pm) Series Premiere – A docuseries focusing on 50 cents effort to educate troubled youth with teachers such as Oliver Stone and David Arquette.

Tuesday

  • Supernatural (CW, 9pm) Season Premiere – The brothers battle on.
  • Criss Angel BeLIEve (Spike, 11pm) Series Premiere – Magic?

Wednesday

  • American Pickers (Hist, 5/6/7pm) Season Premiere – A best of leads into the new season.
  • Arrow/The Tomorrow People (CW, 8/9pm) Season/Series Premieres – More fight for right and then the latest take on folks getting powers, worth a check I suppose.
  • Full Circle/Call Me Fitz/Less Than Kind (Dir, 9/10/11pm) Series/Season Premieres – A new Neil LaBute take on dinner conversations
  • American Horror Story (Fx, 10pm) Season Premiere – I was off this last season but am intrigued by the new take on witches, do I or don’t I?
  • Big Tips Texas (MTV, 10pm) Series Premiere – Women working at a Texas bar,
  • Preachers of LA (Oxy, 10pm) Series Premiere – A look at six different pastors of megachurches.

Thursday

  • Alaska Gold (AnPl, 8pm) Series Premiere – A California woman and her four daughters work Alaskan mines.
  • Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC, 8pm) Series Premiere – Another spinoff of a show I don’t watch, I suppose I could check in to see what’s up with their take on Alice.
  • Pawn Stars (Hist, 10pm) Season Premiere – More stuff.
  • Million Dollar Shoppers (Life, 10:30pm) Series Premiere – Might tune in to check out a possible career as a high end personal shopper.

Friday

  • Gold Rush (Disc, 8pm) Season Premiere – Million dollar season?

Saturday

  • Vanilla Ice Goes Amish (DIY 10pm) Series Premiere – Yeah, you read that right.

Sunday

  • America’s Funniest home Videos (ABC, 7pm) Season Premiere – What’s the prize for this, maybe I should get my vine on and enter.
  • The Walking Dead/Talking Dead/Comic Book Men (AMC, 9/10/11:59pm) Season Premieres – I’m still liking the zombie fights and the moral decisions, then talking about it and more comic book store tales.

The procrastinator lists items that may not be on your regular season pass, though notation does not imply recommendation other than those underlined. Times noted are typically PST.

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