Monday, December 31, 2012

Anticipating returning tv shows in 2013, but one in particular...

Cougar Town returns in January - its on a new channel, but hopefully its still got the heart & laughs of a typical Bill Lawrence sitcom.

Psych is another long-awaited returning show - I believe new episodes start in February, and despite how little I care for the Shawn-Jules romance, I'm still in love with this show, thanks mostly to the ever reliable and adorable Shawn-Gus bromance. Oh show, don't ever leave me alone for so long again.

But perhaps my most anticipated and long-awaited returning show is not on television, but on Netflix. According to Zap2It.com, Arrested Development will make its 14 episode fourth season on Netflix beginning May 4. This news makes me so happy I could cry.

Oh Bluths, you deplorable but hilarious family, thank you for returning to my life!! :)

You can read the full article at Zap2It.com here.

arrested-development-return-date.jpg

Saturday, December 22, 2012

CBS renews 'How I Met Your Mother' -- with full cast -- for season 9

I am beyond disappointed at this news.

At one point, I would have been thrilled. At one point, I was a die-hard How I Met Your Mother Fan. I didn't just love the show - I was IN love with the show. It was a creative, hilarious, off-color, heartfelt, and realistic coming-of-age and finding-your-way story that any New Yorker in particular and any twentysomething in general could relate to, all at the same time. As I was just saying to my fiance, I could watch the repeats every day. And in fact, sometimes I do. I even turned him onto the early seasons of the show. He's a huge Barney Stinson fan. Who can blame him? Barney rocked.

But the past few seasons have been shaky at best, sucky at worst. I don't want to accuse the showrunners and writers of getting lazy, but its got to be difficult to put together 22 episodes every year for eight years. Sometimes, the story is just finished. The British TV model is almost better - 6-12 episodes every year (or sometimes every other year) for four years, tops, with the exception of Dr. Who, and then the story is done.

Is it network greed? HIMYM is still a successful show for CBS. CBS still wants to make money. Hence, bring the show back. If I was any of the showrunners or actors, I would have a hard time turning down a lot of money to show up and phone it in. I had hopes when I heard Jason Segel didn't want to return for a season 9. Out of all of the actors, his career is the one on the fast track. He's putting together a pretty successful movie career. He doesn't need this show. If it was the old days, I would've called him a hero, how even though he's a Hollywood big shot he was remembering the show and people who (mostly) put him on the map. But I was really hoping he would hold out and force the show to end this season.

Season 8 was supposed to be the last. I started watching again this season because it was supposed to be the last, and I wanted to see how this once-great show that I once loved, ended. HIMYM was supposed to be like Lost - it was supposed to have been given a set number of seasons and episodes to go so that the creators could think of and set up, convincingly, their end game. I thought it was a great plan. Shows very rarely get that certainty, that end point that they can plan for. HIMYM is a show that kinda sorta required a plan and an end game. And now, we have a whole new season next year to contend with.

Obviously, I feel a lot more passionately about this than I thought - I didn't expect this blog entry to be so long. It makes me mad that a show that I used to love is now a show that I wish would just go off the air already. But maybe a change in their game plan requires a change in my game plan - since this is no longer the final season, maybe I'll watch 1st-5th season repeats on Monday nights instead, when the writing was crisp, sharp, and witty, when the characters were three-dimensional, well-rounded people who grew and learned and changed, when this show still made me laugh, then made me cry, then made me laugh again. I can tune in next year to see how the series FINALLY (HOPEFULLY) ends!

You can read the Zap2it.com article here.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

AV Club's TV Club 10: 10 episodes that show how Buffy The Vampire Slayer blew up genre TV

As a bona fide Buffy-phile & Whedon-phile, I can't NOT recommend this article. Simply reading the article brought tears to my eyes at the memory of some of these outstanding eps (sue me - I'm pregnant and hormonal!), but absolutely made me want to rewatch the 10 eps on the list PLUS the 10 more suggested. And, y'know, the rest of the series.

Read the whole story here at AVClub.com.

Friday, December 7, 2012

From Zap2It.com: 'Castle' casting scoop: Nathan Fillion reunites with fellow 'Firefly' alum Gina Torres

I have come to love Castle in its own right as a smart, fun show with well-rounded, well-written characters but one of the things that makes me fall in love with this show over and over again is the constant love and homage it pays to the dearly departed Firefly. As we all know, Nathan Fillion, the character Castle from the show of the same name, was Captain Mal Reynolds on Firefly - we got a Captain Tightpants space cowboy Halloween costume a few seasons back, more recently a guest spot by the always awesome Adam Baldwin, and now, apparently Gina Torres will be appearing. I don't know if the writers/creators of Castle are the fans or if they just love Fillion and Fillion loves Firefly, but I will take that love wherever I can get it! Read the whole story here.

Happy weekend, y'all!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

2013 WGA Award nominations for television announced

According to the story on Zap2It.com, "Breaking Bad" and "Modern Family" are the front runners for drama and comedy, respectively. I tend to respect awards such as the Writers Guild of America Awards because it's writers nominating and voting on writers, so in theory they should know what's good and what's not (as opposed to awards like the Golden Globes, which are given out by entertainment reporters. Not for nothing, but I'm not impressed by most of the WGA nominees - I can't comment on shows I've never seen, such as "Breaking Bad," but "Modern Family" is overrated. Period. It has "awww" moments but I almost never laugh at it. "30 Rock" is another overrated comedy. I wanted to like "The Mindy Project," which was nominated for best new series, but again, not a laugh out loud show. Which I expect from my comedies. Like "Parks and Recreation," which was also nominated for awards, and unlike the other shows, deservedly so. That show is such an underdog, the little show that could..."P & R" is equal parts "awww" and laughs, and both out loud.

I of course think "Mad Men" deserves its noms. And I caught the first two episodes of "Homeland" finally and loved it, so I'm also on board with those nominations. Anyway, for the whole article, go here. And for the full list of nominees, go here.