new and noteworthy tv: 1/23-1/29

It’s funny how when I get busy my TiVo backlog starts to creep up, plus I’m finally allowing myself a little Australian Open.

  • Outsiders (WGN) Season Premiere, Tuesday, 9pm – This might not be an amazing TV show but I got wrapped up in the SAMCRO-esque group of bad(?) folks outside the norm and like Sons can’t imagine how they’ll keep the story going.
  • The Path (Hulu) Season Premiere, Wednesday – I’m not onboard with Hulu so don’t have a personal opinion but think this has gotten relatively mixed reviews.
  • Riverdale (CW) Series Premiere, Thursday, 9pm – Not your father’s Archie Comic I’ve actually heard some good things about this reboot with a more murder mystery teen soap approach.
  • Z: The Beginning of Everything (Am) Series Premiere, Friday – Christina Ricci takes the role of Zelda Fitzgerald in what I hear isn’t a convincing or engaging run.
  • Australian Open (ESPN) Saturday/Sunday, 12am – The women’s and the men’s finals, the possibilities…
  • SAG Awards (TBS/TNT) Sunday, 5pm – The award season continues.
  • Miss Universe (Fox) Sunday, 7pm – Steve Harvey returns as host.

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

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new and noteworthy tv: 1/16-1/22

Hmm I’m not sure I have time in my busy schedule for tennis but I’ll have to check in to see how Federer is doing on his return after injury time away.

  • Australian Open (ESPN2) – Play continues throughout the week.
  • Howie Mandel All-Star Comedy Gala (CW) Monday, 8pm – A stand-up comedy showcase.
  • Throwing Shade (TVL) Series Premiere, Tuesday, 10:30pm – Comedian hosts talk politics and pop culture.
  • People’s Choice Awards (CBS) Wednesday, 9pm – Joel McHale hosts.
  • Six (Hist) Series Premiere, Wednesday, 10pm – The only review I read of this new dramatic Navy SEALs series was bad.
  • Baskets (FX) Season Premiere, Thursday, 10pm – For those of you who fell for this very odd dark and yet funny show.
  • Frontier (Net) Series Premiere, Friday – Jason Momoa stars in this Canadian fur trapping drama which reportedly isn’t so compelling.
  • Hunted (CBS) Series Premiere, Sunday, 7pm – Ordinary people try to evade investigators tracking them.

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

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new and noteworthy tv: 1/9-1/15

I guess it’s time for me to acknowledge the new year and get started on my year end lists. Until then there’s always more tv!

  • Big Fan (ABC) Monday, 10pm, Series Premiere – The latest game show slant with three superfans competing against a celebrity about trivia, about the celebrity.
  • President Barack Obama’s Farewell Address (Multiple) Tuesday, 6pm – The end of an era.
  • Taboo (Fx) Series Premiere, Tuesday, 10pm – This latest Tom Hardy period piece hasn’t gotten rave reviews but always worth checking out.
  • Jeff & Some Aliens (Com) Series Premiere, Wednesday, 10:30pm – An animated look at a regular dude and some ‘chill’ aliens probably isn’t my cup of tea.
  • Taking the Stage (ABC) Thursday, 9pm – Entertainers gather for the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
  • My Kitchen Rules (Fox) Series Premiere, Thursday 9pm – Celebrity pairs take on dinner parties and of course critique.
  • The Investigator (Net) Series Premiere, Friday – Another look at real life crime, British style.
  • A Series of Unfortunate Events (Net) Series Premiere, Friday – The movie version of this didn’t get a ton of raves but the series with the always good Neil Patrick Harris is supposed to work on pretty much all levels.
  • Sneaky Pete (Am) Series Premiere, Friday – Cranston and Giovani Ribisi pairing up against each other with a mix of cons and good supporting cast worth a try.
  • Australian Open (ESPN2) – Opening rounds.
  • Victoria (PBS) Series Premiere, Sunday, 9pm – This is supposed to be a soapy take on royalty, though for a non-royal follower between the Crown and the Royals I may be all booked up.
  • The Young Pope (HBO) Series Premiere, Sunday, 9pm – At 47 Jude Law isn’t all that ‘young’ but he’ll play the protagonist trying to make the church great again, worth a look.

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

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new and noteworthy tv: 1/2-1/8

Regular programming is starting to return as are a few new items to keep a little diversity in the queue. I’ve been making some progress on movies as well as a few of my Netflix backlog items.

  • The Bachelor (ABC) Season Premiere, Monday, 8pm – This is happening again…
  • Masterchef Celebrity Showdown (Fox) Monday, 8pm – ‘Celebrities’ test their culinary skills.
  • Kids Baking Championship (Food) Season Premiere, Monday, 8pm – Kids return for a cuter side of baking.
  • Beyond (Free) Series Premiere, Monday, 9pm – Waking up from a 12 year coma with special skills and to a conspiracy, I’m sure our key players are also young and attractive.
  • It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Fxx) Season Premiere, Wednesday, 10pm – Somehow this show is striking out with their 12th season of the gang getting into ridiculous messes.
  • One Day at a Time (Net) Series Premiere, Friday – I’ve actually heard a few good reports on this reimagining of the ’70s Lear sitcom.
  • Emerald City (NBC) Series Premiere, Friday, 9pm – I love a retelling though I’m dubious I’ll certainly check out this modern take on Dorothy’s journey.
  • Mythbusters: The Search (Sci) Series Premiere, Saturday, 4pm – For those who miss the original this brings contestants to bust myths.
  • Golden Globe Awards (NBC) Sunday, 8pm – the 74th annual gala.

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

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new and noteworthy tv: 12/26-1/1

Time to go see some movies!

  • Happy New Year, Charlie Brown/Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (ABC) Monday, 8/9pm – We’re getting ready to celebrate another new year.
  • Kennedy Center Honors (CBS) Tuesday, 9pm – Stephen Colbert hosts.
  • Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (ABC) Saturday, 8/10/11:30pm – Ryan Seacrest keeps the helm with the help of Fergie and Jenny McCarthy.
  • A Toast to 2016/Late Night with Seth Meyers/NYE with Carson Daly (NBC) Saturday, 8/10/11:30pm – Kathie Lee and Hoda host followed by the regular evening hosts at special times.
  • Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution (Fox) Saturday, 11pm – When did Pitbull become a celebrity that warrants his own NYE show, no diss necessarily I really just didn’t know he was a thing?
  • The Bachelor: Countdown to Nick (ABC) Sunday, 8pm – A look at the newest bachelor and his bimbos.
  • The Mick (Fox) Series Premiere, Sunday, 8pm – A fan of the shouldn’t-be-funny-but-is Always Sunny I’ll check out Kaitlin Olsen’s latest turn at irresponsible caretaker.
  • Ransom (CBS) Series Premiere, Sunday, 8pm – No early word on this hostage negotiator new drama.
  • Sherlock (PBS) Season Premiere, Sunday, 9pm – If you haven’t been watching get on board as the fourth season begins.

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

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new and noteworthy tv: 12/19-12/25

Digging into the official ho ho ho week there’s not a ton new going on but I’ve still got some backlog to get through.

  • First Lady Michelle Obama Says Farewell (CBS) Monday, 8pm – Oprah and Michelle (I’m clearly on first name basis with both) chat one-on-one.
  • Marie Claire Young Women’s Honors (CW) Monday, 9pm – Gina Rodriguez hosts the first annual honors.
  • Michael Buble Sings and Swings/Tony Bennet Celebrates 90 (NBC) Tuesday, 8/9pm – Catch some tunes.
  • Terry Crews Saves Christmas (CW) Series Premiere, Tuesday, 8pm – Design and food experts help a family.
  • Toy Story that Time Forgot/Shrek the Halls/The Year (ABC) Tuesday, 9pm – Old school holidays and the year that was.
  • Game Changers with Robin Roberts (ABC) Wednesday, 10pm – Some of the most influential people.
  • Project Runway Junior (Life) Thursday, 10pm – A new crew of youngsters start to make it work.
  • Sense8 (Net) Friday, Special – Picking up where the last season left off, I haven’t checked in yet but this series is supposed to be worth a watch picking up after a few.
  • Travelers (Net) Friday, Series Premiere – A new time traveling drama where consciousness is sent back to the 21st century to save humanity, I haven’t heard about this yet so we’ll see.
  • A Home for the Holidays (CBS) Friday, 8pm – Performances in the special to raise awareness about adoption and foster care.
  • Yule Log (KOFY) Saturday, 11pm – Burning log and holiday music can get you into the spirit!

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

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new and noteworthy tv: 12/12-12/18

More holiday fare to be found and a few other things…

  • Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer/Greatest Holiday Commercials Countdown (CW) Monday, 8/9pm – A little holiday fare for all.
  • ANTM (VH1) Season Premiere, Monday 10pm – Yes it’s true this CW show is resurrected in new form, still produced by Tyra we’ve got a new host and panel, can’t wait!
  • The Top 12 Greatest Christmas Movies of All Time (CW) Wednesday, 8pm – In case you need to stock up on suggestions for the holidays.
  • A Pentatonix Christmas/SNL Christmas (NBC) Wednesday, 8/9pm – Tunes and jokes.
  • Star (Fox) Series Premiere, Wednesday, 9pm – From Lee Daniels this may or may not be a good follow to Empire, focusing on girl group, but Latifah and Benjamin Bratt might make it worth a look.
  • iHeartRadio Jingle Ball (CW) Thursday, 8pm – Elvis Duran hosts.
  • Prep & Landing/Naughty vs Nice (ABC) Thursday, 8/8:30pm – Something about an elf.
  • The Man in the High Castle (Am) Season Premiere, Friday – Another season returns.
  • Hollywood Christmas Parade (CW) Friday, 8pm – Olivia Newton-John serves as grand marshal.
  • I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (ABC) Saturday, 8pm – Hanging with Snoopy and Spike.

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

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prague, budapest, viking cruise, munich…

It all started in Prague, with lots of jetlag and no clear mass transit opting for the hotel pickup to the lovely 987 Prague Hotel was a good call; the hotel’s in a pretty good locale with all walkable though a bit on the outer side of the old city. The Wenceslas Square shopping area was a good pass through to get to the more traditional old town. First stop the Black Madonna, one of the cubist style buildings housing both the cubist museum and the Grand Cafe Orient for a nice coffee. Then further to Tyn Church in the main square where there are some fun old timey car ride tours to get a look at spots near and far including the castle (photo above), the Rasin Building aka Fred and Ginger, the Lenin Wall, and a view of the glass blocked National Theater building, Nova Scena. Heading back for a more detailed look with a stroll across Charles Bridge to funicular number one of the trip up to the Eiffel tower’s little sister the Petrin Tower; some pretty gardens and up top a nice view. Walking the Old Jewish Cemetery is a poignant visit seeing the list of Holocast victims in the Pinkas Synagogue followed by a walk of the small span fitting the hundred thousand graves is beautiful nonetheless. A stop at a recommended hot spot for Hot Chocolate at Hotel Neruda (I can only assume it’s good if the delicious Soy Latte and croissant dipped into a pool of chocolate were any indication), up to the changing of the guard at Prague Castle at noon followed by a bit of a tour and of course an ice cold beer to drink in the cold, but with that view who could resist sitting outside. And they do love their beer, a visit to the Beer Museum (the pub not the museum) to continue to explore the love of pilsners with a flight of samples, not to stick to all things beer there’s also the Champagneria and La Bodeguita del Medio for a quick mojito. And a couple amazing dinners at Kampa Park for a fancy, beautiful, and delicious seafood meal and a more traditional Italian dinner at La Finestra, also stumbling upon Vinograf Wine Bar near the hotel for a perfect merrying of pasta and a little vino.

Then hopping on a train and heading onto Budapest which was Airbnb action, a great location and had the weather been better we would have quite enjoyed our rooftop deck. We were right by the Central Market Hall for a nice look at some of the local fare before journeying out for the sites. The Castle District is worth a visit and not just for my second funicular of the trip. The Hungarian National Gallery was pretty impressive while the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art was not. One can head across the Chain Bridge and check out the fabulous looking Parliament (photo above). Food and drink were had at some hotspots like The Four Seasons which has fancy fare but also amazing architecture, Mai Mano Cafe where the arty hipsters are reported to be, Trattoria Toscana for some delicious Italian, traditional fare at Hung(a)ry, and Csendes one of the ruin pubs for a complete experience. And no trip complete without a trip to the traditional baths at Veli Bej Baths we managed our way through the protocols to great relaxation (basically you should bring anything you need including towels).

And onto the cruise up the Danube on the Viking riverboat! So it’s basically set up like a floating hotel (rooms, restaurant, bar…) that mostly travels overnight to give you the most time in each port city each day. And of course meals are included as is Julie McCoy cruise director to let you know every day what you’re going to see and coordinate your included tour, as well as some options. We arrived for our first outing (we skipped the organized Budapest trip) in Bratislava, Slovakia with a bus tour including the Castle followed by a walking tour of downtown. Our freetime was capped off by our special outing for drinks and dinner at the UFO Restaurant atop the “new” bridge – it only sways a little in the wind! (photo above). Then three separate days in Austria. Vienna, which after a morning of walking tour and history was followed by a Viennese coffee at Cafe Hawelka and an afternoon of good museums both Belvedere and Leopold. November is too early for the Christmas Markets but the structures were starting to pop up everywhere (which was actually kind of annoying). I skipped our next port stops of Melk & Dürnstein, which were undoubtedly charming, mostly due to a minor onboard injury. And then went for the day trip outside of Linz (which was a bummer not to check out more of) to the Czech Ceský Krumlov which was in fact a charming site (photo above) including a nice pop in to the interesting Egon Schiele Art Centrum. And then on to Germany with a stop in Passau for another walking tour covering days of yore including yet another church differentiated by the largest church pipe organ and a lackluster exhibit at the MMK Modern Art Museum was balanced out by a charming lunch stop at Anton coffee house and winebar before wrapping this part of the trip.

After a decent bus ride an amazing final respite in Munich (here’s to a cheap Flixbus that took us from Passau and caught a few of the more architectural highlights on the way in). Our hotel Deutsche Eiche was on an adorable street and as we took off our first evening to see what we could see and turns out we were right by the Viktualienmarkt (market), where it was actually warm enough to pop in to the beer garden with the most giant soft pretzel you’ve ever seen in close proximity of the amazing St. Peter’s Church (photo above). Museum day started with a walk through the impressive but never ending Residenz, then the four part Pinakothek der Moderne, which houses Design, Architecture, Contemporary, and Classical Modernism, followed by a pop over to the slightly too modern Museum Brandhorst. For the Sunday where it turned out most things are closed we went through the large Englischer Garten with a stop off at the Chinese Tower. And lest one worries there is also good food to be found, from a fun Burger & Bier to Italian at L’Osteria Kunstlerhaus to more traditional fare at Wirsthaus in der Au we were more than covered.

A good time was had by all! Where to next?

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new and noteworthy tv: 12/5-12/11

I am finally making a dent on my backlog but have dropped Pitch and Timeless in the process, while Queen Sugar and Undercover are sitting backed up their fate to be determined, just too many other things I’d rather be watching and even I have limited TV watching time after all.

  • Showtime at the Apollo (Fox) Monday, 8pm – Music and comedy stars perform.
  • Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (CBS) Monday, 10pm – How is this still a thing?
  • Shut Eye (Hulu) Series Premiere, Wednesday – Fake psychic becoming psychic sounds played but with Burn Notice‘s Jeffrey Donovan it might be worth a look.
  • Taraji’s White Hot Holidays (Fox) Thursday, 8pm – Celebrate.
  • Toy Story that Time Forgot/Shrek the Halls (ABC) Thursday, 8pm – Ho ho ho!
  • Captive (Net) Series Premiere, Friday – This docuseries looks into the captives and captors of false imprisonments.
  • Fuller House (Net) Season Premiere, Friday – They’re back.
  • Mozart in the Jungle (Am) Season Premiere, Friday – I’ve heard some good things about this series.
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer/Frosty the Snowman/Frosty Returns (CBS) Saturday, 8/9/9:30pm – And a little more good cheer.
  • Critic’s Choice Award (A&E) Sunday, 8pm – What the season is really about.
  • Frozen/The Making of Frozen (ABC) Sunday, 10pm – I think this movie was a thing.

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

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new and noteworthy tv: 11/28-12/4

I’m trying to measure out Gilmore Girls so I’ve still got some tv catch up to do.

  • CMA Country Christmas (ABC) Monday, 8pm – Jennifer Nettles hosts.
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (CBS) Tuesday, 8pm – You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen…
  • Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (A&E) Series Premiere, Tuesday, 10pm – She’s looking into the whole thing.
  • Christmas in Rockefeller Center/Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors (NBC) Wednesday, 8/9pm – The tree will be lit and a look back at a Dolly family tale.
  • Incorporated (Syfy) Series Premiere, Wednesday, 10pm – Dennis Haysbert is one of the known commodities in this Affleck/Damon look at fictional life in sinister corporate future, pedigree makes it worth a look.
  • A Charlie Brown Christmas/The Great American Baking Show (ABC) Season Premiere, Thursday, 8/9pm – Holiday pageantry and bakers bundting.
  • Top Chef (Brav) Season Premiere, Thursday, 10pm – Eight new and eight returning chefs compete.
  • Pacific Heat (Net) Series Premiere, Friday – An animated cop unit…
  • Mariah’s World/The Royals (E!) Series/Season Premiere, Sunday 9/10pm – I was tempted not to list Mariah but it is happening, followed by a cheesy show I’ve so far quite enjoyed.

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

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