My Bonnie Lies... and Kills and sleeps with younger man, while Annalise Likes the Older Ladies. The Insanity is Real. How To Get Away With Murder is Back #HTGAWM #PremiereWeek

My Bonnie Lies... and Kills and sleeps with younger man, while Annalise Likes the Older Ladies. The Insanity is Real. How To Get Away With Murder is Back #HTGAWM #PremiereWeek

All Pictures Courtesy of ABC 

Wow! Along with Empire, How To Get Away With Murder's (#HTGAWM) premiere was probably the best. There was a whole lot of drama, sneaky, twisty, turn-y goodness that I’m sure a lot of us fans didn’t see coming, and some stuff that is sure to send a few long-time viewers into a tizzy and earn Viola Davis at least another Emmy nomination. We’ll see if the writers can scrounge up some love come this time next year.

To start, everyone wanted to know who killed Rebecca. Cute little grunge rocker Rebecca caused so much trouble last year for Annalise, her team and her students that anyone within the group could have killed the girl just out of spite. And that was exactly what happened. After Annalise and Frank spent half the episode trying to figure out if Wes or one of the other kids did it, Frank finally made his decision that it was his past girlfriend/bunk buddy Laurel who killed her. But by that time, Annalise had already figured out the real killer was Bonnie. We all should have known that this quiet little white woman always giving everybody the side-eye and looking like a defective model of the Stepford Wives was doing dirt just from the fact that she slept with Asher. I mean Asher... really? And she had kissed on Sam once before. And I thought that swerve Asher gave her was a thing of wonder and beauty. Whatever they did that night must not have been too impressive to him or he knew she was screwed up because he did not want to go to her house for more.

Why did Bonnie kill the girl? Because she was an inconvenience. She knew too much, they couldn’t keep her on a leash and Wes would end up doing her bidding like the little errand boy he is. Speaking of Wes, he got all bold and hostile with Anna last night when he showed up late to her class, then told her he wanted her to pass him over on a question. He searched for old dead girl but still couldn’t find her, giving that up after he and Annalise talked.

Apparently, all that teenage angst he showed served no other purpose but to get Annalise even more hot and bothered for him than she hinted at being last season. It culminated in her rubbing down his body in a club. Listen black kid from Harry Potter, she’s too old for you, you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re going to get hurt. And I’m not just talking emotional scars, either. Mrs. Keating looks like the kind of woman that will have you bring a pack of red bulls and make you do your stretches before you come to her bedroom. Enter at your own peril.

As if Annalise had just one place to turn for satisfaction, the producers threw a wrench at us all when they had Famke Janssen arrive as an old law school friend. She was called to defend Annalise’s ex-cop boyfriend from having to go away for Sam’s murder—secret lover vs. jealous husband always plays—but refused to take the case when she learned of Lise’s set-up of the man. But everything was made alright when Anna went to visit her and they explored some wounds left behind. Apparently, they were more than just friends and put each other to bed circa J. Holiday 2007. Now, I’m well and fine with LGBT characters as I have some in my own books, but just so we’re clear, can we get a solid history sheet of each character on the show? I mean, is everybody gay or bisexual? Or is it just the minority characters? Also as a side note can you believe Famke is going to be 51 and Viola is 50. Yet Hollywood has a problem. Check my article later about what Anne Hathaway said a few weeks ago.

Finally, there was the case of the week which will turn into the case of the season as two adopted children are charged with killing their billionaire parents a la the Menendez brothers. First, the gang had to get their current lawyer thrown off the case by leaking him footage so clearly doctored they shouldn’t have even bothered. Then Annalise took over. And finally, we saw a shot of the real big mystery of the season as Annalise lay dying in the very house of those children a few months down the road and Wes running away like always.

Who stabbed Annalise? What craziness will this season bring? Who is going to wear the other out in the bedroom first, Annalise or Wes? And were you shocked by the whole Annalise is bisexual twist they threw at us last night? Do you love it, do you hate it? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

As always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for Halloween scares check  #AFuriousWind,  #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen). For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The final episode of season one of The Writer is OUT NOW. Ahh! That’s right, all 15 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.

Until next time, “you is kind and you is important.”

P.S. Words from the movie The Help? Yes. Remember, without it we probably don’t have this show. We can all use a little help sometimes. I think it fits. Oh, so you don’t like that one either? But... but... fine. I’ll think of something else.

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At Last... Scandal is Back! #Scandal #PremiereWeek

At Last... Scandal is Back! #Scandal #PremiereWeek

                                                                          All pictures and media courtesy of ABC

Rolling in the sheets. Skin against skin. Black against white in the sweetest of ways. Flirty kisses and a little tongue action. Yeah, Scandal (#Scandal) came back tonight and it started as expected—with a hot, steamy, sexy, good love scene.

Picking up not far after the season finale, the opening moments of the show found Liv and Fitz, uh... Living and Fitzing all over the place and in the White House? Goodness gracious. From there, the show took a meandering turn down setting up the rest of the season.

Like the premiere of Gotham, to me Scandal returned with a quiet episode. While it did hold true to what Shonda said in a recent interview about getting back to the basics of solving cases, white-hatting and putting out the flames of scandal, it didn’t have as much punch as I wanted. For starters, I might have enjoyed more love scenes between Liv and Fitz. Hey, they didn’t do much with each other the last half of the last season. They should be hotter than the devil’s cornbread in July. Now that was country as hell, wasn’t it? Just made that up but you know you can imagine Colonel Sanders saying that on those new KFC commercials. Back to Scandal, while they did have their moments, I craved more.

Much of the episode focused on the “where are they now” that any new season of a show with a massive cliff-hanger does; however, I felt it went on a little too long. Why would Olivia not tell “Red” about her on-again relationship with the president? She couldn’t have thought it would undermine her job because she made moves that undermined the woman’s job anyway. And while we know why Elizabeth jumped from the first lady/new senator’s cabin to the president’s, what was the point in him not communicating with her his plans? I know they’re probably trying to build tension between the two, but it didn’t feel right. And what about Cyrus? He was in, what, two scenes and didn’t do much other than turn Mellie down. I get it. Huck is broken, the USADA is still trying to white-hat, Sally is still being an overly-conservative nuisance, Abby is still bad at her job at the White House, Mellie still thinks she and Fitz have some chance of working things out and the only person who really has their stuff together is Quinn. Oh and Jake is... well, not being Jake from State Farm. I’m sure he’ll help Huck become Huck again real soon but until then, we’ll have to wait for their side story to develop.

The case to be solved for the week happened to be a murdered American princess married to the prince of some country that Fitz wanted to build a military base in after throwing a dinner for them. Why he’s throwing this dinner now after 3 years of marriage, I don’t know other than the clear political move. But in a scene that mimicked Princess Diana’s death, she was found dead next to her toppled dignitary car in a tunnel. A very obvious case, I guessed immediately that the killer was someone in the family, most likely the mother. Few suspects stood out otherwise. She had the woman killed because she discovered the young lady’s affair with her bodyguard had led to a pregnancy and couldn’t have this chick Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner-ing all up in her monarchy. She got away with it because of diplomatic immunity but her son made her abdicate the throne to him as punishment. All said and done, the case took about 12 minutes actual show time and wasn’t that involved. Hopefully we’ll get better as the season progresses.

Wow, this post is almost over already? Seems short. Well, I told you it didn’t have much to bite into as far as I saw it (How to get away with Murder was a different story). Now, next week’s episode looks to be explosive as Sally has shot the first arrow into exposing Fitz and Liv’s secret White House relationship. Can’t wait.

What did you viewers think about this episode? Did you expect a little more? Or did it completely blow your mind and you can’t understand why I’m so demanding (I’m not trying to be. I’m sorry)? Do you think Fitz will actually divorce the first lady or no? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Hint: click where it reads “no comments” to comment.

As always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for Halloween scares check  #AFuriousWind,  #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen). For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The final episode of season one of The Writer is coming LATER TODAY! All other 14 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.

Until next time, “if I ruled the world. Imagine that. I’d free all my sons. I love ‘em, love ‘em, babeyyyy! ”

P.S. More song lyrics? Yes. Don’t blame me for this one though. S.M. Dahman @twistedgreenz on Twitter totally put it into my head and I was singing it all day. Go to her Blog and blame her.

P.P.S. Sorry, Dahman.

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Why I am offended by Ellen Pompeo’s response to why Grey’s can’t go on without Derek. #GreysAnatomy

Why I am offended by Ellen Pompeo’s response to why Grey’s can’t go on without Derek. #GreysAnatomy

Pictures Courtesy of ABC

A few weeks ago, in late August sometime, I read an article on The Wrap (thewrap.com) entitled "Ellen Pompeo Is Offended Fans Think 'Grey’s Anatomy' Can’t Continue Without Patrick Dempsey’s McDreamy." In summation, the actress defends the long-running show’s (of which I have been a fan since day one) decision to kill off Dr. Derek Shepherd. For those not in the know, in the most controversial part of last season, Shonda Rhimes decided to murder one of the lead and favorite characters of the show when contract disputes and other behind-the-scenes foolishness went on with Mr. Dempsey. Naturally, fans were upset as this was not the way we wanted to see this heart-wrenching TV love end, especially after investing 11 years in their courtship, marriage and the trials and tribulations of raising a young family. Even worse was the way the show decided to get rid of him—by having him narrate his own death and dying alone, devoid of any other characters interacting with him on his deathbed or any long goodbyes. They didn’t even have a scene of ghost Derek having hot sex with Mere. Then, they skipped ahead a year so they could sprint through the grieving process and, apparently, take on a lighter tone as has been hinted at by the actors this season. Mind-boggling!

These changes left many viewers (including yours truly) sick to their stomach. Don’t get me wrong, Grey’s has a history of killing you off the show if you want to leave. However, the way in which they treated McDreamy felt dirty, callous and just plain wrong. Cristina had a complete farewell season, stocked full of teary-eyed moments and recalls of how great the friendship between her and Mere had been. George got to appear in his military uniform and at least got to be around his friends when he died. Little Grey was surrounded by “family” in the calamity of the plane crash. McSteamy got a whole episode where he talked to everyone he loved and cracked jokes. This is not to mention some of the other more controversial exits of Katherine Heigl’s Izzy and Isiah Washington’s Dr. Burke who talked bad about the show and/or their fellow castmates and got to live for a possible future return.

No, McDreamy was made a bastard for wanting to go to D.C. to cure Alzheimer’s! He was told he wasn’t needed and basically that he was a hindrance to his wife’s proliferation. Then, to try to redeem him in the last second, they gave him half an hour of heroism before a jumping-the-shark-worthy death narration. This felt like a dagger to the heart, a dramatic Shakespearean twist that left you dissatisfied and your literary professor saying, “you just don’t get Shakespeare.” No, I got it, I just didn’t like it (note: I actually enjoy Shakespeare quite a bit and did take a course on it in College to revisit some of my high school favorites).

I thought, wow this was a real disservice to the fans but maybe there’ll be some redeeming quality in the show for the season ahead. And then came this article.

In it, Ms. Pompeo argues that Meredith is perfectly capable of carrying the show all herself just like the two other Shondaland shows How To Get Away With Murder (#HTGAWM) and Scandal (#Scandal). In it, creator Rhimes also makes a psuedo-argument for feminism in some way, saying that

“Meredith could evolve as a woman, independent from a man.” 

What the hell? So much wrong with this.

Side Note: As an author I am always challenged whenever I write something on just how my work will be used, interpretated and consumed. My episodic novella series The Writer (#TheWriter) this summer was meant to explore that very thing. However, I also realize that artists at some point are expected to cater to their fans as the work is no longer theirs. It is for this reason why this phrasing from these two women upset me.

Making this into a feminist move and declaring this as an opportunity for Meredith to grow is missing the essence of the show and why fans fell in love with it in the first place. Grey’s, unlike Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, was always meant as a coming-of-age love story (or at least viewed that way by the fans). That is how it was presented to the audience. Coming-of-age for adults (baby meds as I called them, fresh from med school) into fully-formed people, doctors, life-savers, and how they navigate those waters. The love triangle was between Meredith, Shepherd/McDreamy and Cristina to see who was going to love and be there for Meredith the most to help form her into the woman she would one day become. It was a romance that also tested the bonds of true friendship and sisterhood. Hell, the very first episode, the very first scene sets up the love affair between Shepherd and Grey. It went from being a fling, to a forbidden love, to a complicated love, to a disdainful love, to a sacrifice everything love, to a real adult love, to a family love to a people will write about us kind of love.

This is what we tuned in for week after week. The people. Not the cases, not the drama with who would be chief, not even to find out who would next be living in that trailer in the woods. No, we tuned in for the McDreamys, the McSteamys, the Averys, the Dennys—and this is coming from a guy. Some of us also tuned in for the music, but mostly the relationships. Shondaland’s other two shows, however, are different.

Both Scandal and HTGAWM were always solely about the one woman and not the group around her, but even when you did remove the forbidden love triangle from Scandal, the show veered into something it wasn’t per Shonda’s own admission. Scandal turned into Alias. Sidney Bristow, where the hell are you (probably still chasing Rimbaldi artifacts). They were completely different. They didn’t rely on love. Grey’s did.

Now, Cristina (one part of the triangle; the best part of friendship) is gone. Shepherd (the other part of the triangle; the yin to Cristina’s Yang (see what I did there; holy crap a parenthetical in a parenthetical. You're breakin' the rules, man!) that balanced Meredith) is gone. This is a love story devoid of love, replaced with, what? Independence? Hmph! Well, OK. That’s fine in the end, just don’t try to make fans believe and rally behind something the show never was. I once looked to Grey’s to have my true love and friendship fantasy satiated. I guess I’ll look elsewhere for that from now on.

What do you think fellow Grey's fans out there. Am I overreacting to her comments? Do you like this new direction the show will go in, moving away from the love that once bolstered the show? Do you think it'll be the same show without Cristina and Derek for Meredith to balance herself off of? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Oh, and don't construe this as me never again watching the show. I will watch, but I have to wait and see if I like it anymore as last season disappointed in so many ways. Hint: click where it reads “no comments” to comment.

As always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for Halloween scares check  #AFuriousWind,  #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen). For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The final episode of season one of The Writer is coming this Friday. All other 14 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.

Until next time, "... then I'll know how to save a life. Ba-doo ba-doo ba-doo ba. Ba-doo ba-doo ba-doo ba. Ba doo doo doo." 

P.S. OK, so that may be lyrics from The Fray's "How To Save A Life"--a song made even more famous by the early days of the show--but I think they're good lyrics here and they apply, especially since I so hope Grey's doesn't need saving after this season of upheaval. 

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#FreeLucious, Chris Rock is a Bad Guy, Kill Him and Make it Loud and Make It Long and If You Don’t, I’m Tellin’ Momma #Empire #EmpireSeason2 #PremiereWeek

#FreeLucious, Chris Rock is a Bad Guy, Kill Him and Make it Loud and Make It Long and If You Don’t, I’m Tellin’ Momma #Empire #EmpireSeason2 #PremiereWeek

All pictures courtesy of FOX 

Whoa! So. Much. Drama! Empire returned for its season two premiere tonight, bringing more drama than your high school theatre teacher. More drama than that one time you took your cousin’s favorite toy from him because you thought it was going to be a hilarious joke and he ended up breaking your favorite CD/mixtape of romance songs, and you were the one that ended up crying. You know you loved them songs. Your first crush made that tape for you. Now you’re all in your feelings talkin’ about how he overreacted. Yeah, it was that intense.

First off, as if the night couldn’t get any more racially-charged with Black-ish doing their thing over on ABC, these fools right here had Cookie hopping around in a cage dressed in a gorilla costume. I just almost lost everything. They’re lowering her down onto a summer jam-esque stage so she can make some BS speech about how they need to free Lucious because he didn’t kill this guy she knows he clearly did. After that, they ran through a string of cameos that showed everybody from old, crusty Pimp Reverend Al Sharpton and his graying slick-back to a meatier-looking Don Lemon who took time away from his busy schedule of being yelled at in the streets by ticked off black people. To top it all off they brought out the new Aunt May, Marisa Tomei, to play a lesbian hot for Cookie’s drawers. And that was all before the first commercial break. I mean... I just... can’t!

Then we switched into prison where Lucious is apparently enjoying himself. Nothing bad has happened, he looks like he’s eating good and he’s even watching TV, catching the concert given in his honor to get him out of jail. Yet, he still has all the venom and piss of a rich black man behind bars as evidenced by his meeting with a future black attorney general. Not distracted by her overwhelming cleavage, this negro went after her shoes. Cheap shoes? You really had to point out she had on some cheap shoes? That’s a low blow, bruh. Side note: You know those shoes was cheap as hell. They didn’t even show them, so you know she got her some of those two dollar Payless shoes, the same kind Star Jones used to lie and say she wore. She knew dang well she wasn’t wearin’ no Payless shoes, especially when she was heavy. Those shoes be exploded right off her feet the moment she stepped out of the store, leave her leaning sideways like Gumby’s head.

Meanwhile, as Jamal is trying to run Empire Records and his brother is preparing for his album release, Cookie has been secretly plotting to buy a majority stake in the company and lined up a secondary investor in Tomei’s character to fork over 250 million. Why they think Lucious won’t find out, I don’t know. Naturally the deal is undercut by Lucious who makes her a better offer to stay in charge of Empire, thwarting the hostile takeover. He’s still running everything from the inside. This fool should have gone to prison a long time ago.

Then, this business with Frank Gathers, the big dog, the feared one, the man that runs the streets... uh, Chris Rock? Wait, you mean Everybody Hates Chris grew into a gangster? OK. I thought it would be comical that he was supposed to be the big baddy, but you know what... Chris actually... really didn’t convince me I was wrong. Don’t get me wrong, he did a great job but I just couldn’t fear him, not that I can never see him as anything other than a comic, I just couldn’t see him as a non-whiny Pookie (New Jack City reference? Check.) On top of that, he was apparently supposed to be a cannibal. Yeah. Take that in for a minute. Any lip-licking and crazy-eyed stares weren’t just because he was mad, but because he was hungry. Last time I checked, the main thing other than real food that they eat in men’s prisons is—you know what? We don’t even have to go there. I’m sure you can figure it out.

With this fool sending Cookie people’s heads in boxes from prison, something had to be done and Lucious had to do it. And do it he did. After hearing old boy’s daughter rapping at a prison visit, he promised not only to sign her to Empire records but give her his magic stick too. Damn! Will he won’t. Won’t he will? Ha ha ha, I have no idea what the hell that even means, but it’s definitely some words they used tonight.

The Lyon he is, Lucious bothered not with cheap roaring words but beat the cannibal to the first bite, ordering him to be killed “loud... and long” in what had to be the prison cafeteria. Fare-thee-well Frank Gathers. We hardly knew ye.

The takeover failed and the family safe from harm, Jamal acted like a true don (read: new puppet of his father) when he kicked his entire family out of Lucious’ house and his mother gave him the two-slap for good measure. And to top it all off, Empire finally upgraded their Becky wig budget. Thank god, because those raggedy wigs they had been giving her looked like they were Miss Piggy rejects. We all need to hold on to our wigs, because this season looks to be an electrifying and exhilarating ride.

What did you think? Did Empire near wear you out with all the drama tonight? Will you still have enough left to get through Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder tomorrow? Are you still loving the cameos by every black star currently walking the face of the earth? Or do you find yourself already going through withdraws and it’s only been a few hours? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Hint: click where it reads “no comments” to comment.

As always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for Halloween scares check  #AFuriousWind,  #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen). For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The final episode of season one of The Writer is coming this Friday. All other 14 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.

Until next time, Miss Boo Boo Kitty gets an A for effort.

P.S. OK, so that is not a perfect sign-off for every single post I do, but it works here. Man, has that light-skinned Betty’s hoe-ishness reached critical mass yet? But she can still walk around in all that white and pastel colors like she on her way to her virginal wedding night or a Memorial Day barbecue? Girl, stop.

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Dees Niggas Here #Black-ish #PremiereWeek

Dees Niggas Here #Black-ish #PremiereWeek

 Pictures courtesy of ABC

OK, so this is a loaded post. Obviously just from reading the title some of you are probably offended or cringing or doing a whole gaggle of different things reacting to “THE Word” as it is called on tonight’s season premiere of Black-ish (#Black-ish, #DeesNiggas). Personally, I always thought THE Word was Jesus or the Bible or some form of that, as Christians tend to say it is. But apparently the N-word is THE Word that everyone wants to discuss. Let me explain.

First, let me start by saying that I truly don’t like talking or writing (especially in my novels) about race. I have a few written stories and screenplays I haven’t released that focus on the topic. However, I find that for any minority or non-minority continuing to focus on race is what can impede the forward march of more creative writing. Maybe one of the reasons we don’t see as many non-white characters in or leading sci-fi or fantasy books, films and TV is because so few minority writers want to write that stuff (we all know the other reason is because they aren’t given a chance or quality or a million other things). With that said, I continue.

ABC’s Black-ish makes its season premiere tonight at 9:30. Now, there are tons of things going on tonight sense it is premiere week. Seeing as how the networks want to destroy each other, Fox’s Empire will also be returning a half hour earlier (#Empire). So, in order to draw in those ratings and really get “black twitter” talking as was mentioned in an Essence.com interview with Anderson and Barris (one of the show’s creators), they have decided to go for the most click-baity topic they can by addressing the use of the word nigga.

To be fair, this is a topic discussed in Black households, families and communities of both affluent blacks as well as less upwardly-mobile Blacks. But the problem I have with this is that it is a commonly discussed topic. Everybody wants to talk about niggas and whether it’s OK to say it. Even Empire (its competition for the night) had its own controversial dust-up last season when Terrence Howard came out and said that he believed the word should be used on the show to bring authenticity to it. In fear of repeating myself as my book DARKER (#DARKER) has an epic nigga-rant that tries to look at the use of the word from all sides, I don’t want to delve too far into what people should and shouldn’t do and whether they should say it or not.

Why, then, am I a little ticked by this? Mainly because of the way it was advertised. The advertisements were so blatant and in your face with how we should essentially be excited for the use of the word and the crazy and hilarious shenanigans that will follow, it almost felt like they were selling niggas at a market. “Hey, we’re gonna use the word nigga. Some of you out there, especially you niggas (you know who you are *wink *) better get ready to tune in and talk about it, because we’re doin’ it for you.” What?

Look, don’t get me wrong, Black-ish is a nice family show that has its funny moments. Admittedly, I don’t watch it on a regular basis. But what ticks me off is not just the feel of the advertisements that this is somehow edgy when this is literally the oldest conversation that Blacks have been having in this country, but I am a little ticked at how well the marketers thought it’d work. And you know what, they might actually be right. Man, if I just think to mention that my horror novel DARKER uses the N-word in one tightly compact little area in the novel—though it is based off of Stephen King’s Carrie—I’m sure millions of people will flock to Amazon to purchase it just to see how I spell it: er or a -ending.

To sum it up, I’m not necessarily mad at the show for tackling the common conversation, I’m more mad that it is used so flippantly as a ploy to draw in more viewers. But hey, if it works (and we all know how often niggas used to work) so be it.

Note to first time readers: I tend not to use nearly as much cursing or bad words in my posts as I find them generally unnecessary. However, there are curses throughout most of my books. Also, I rarely get this inflammatory about a subject, so just consider that when viewing other posts.

What do you all think? Is the use of the topic justified? Will you be too busy watching Empire or something else to care? Or will you watch and have no effect on you? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Hint: click where it reads “no comments” to comment. I will close the comments after a few weeks or if they get out of hand.

As always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for Halloween scares check  #AFuriousWind,  #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen). For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The final episode of season one of The Writer is coming this Friday. All other 14 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.

Until next time, “Fight the power. You gotta fight the power. Fight the Power. You gotta fight the powers that be!”

P.S. OK, admittedly those were lyrics from a Public Enemy song. No, they weren’t aimed at the producers of the show or any specific people. You’re reading too much into this. Just because I sound angry and look angry, doesn’t mean I am angry!

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What Can I Say? I’m Attracted To Pigs #Muppets #PremiereWeek

What Can I Say? I’m Attracted To Pigs #Muppets

Pictures courtesy of ABC 

First, I would like to announce that I’ve made the decision to do a cumulative post on most of the new shows I listed in my #PremiereWeek post a few days back. This means that I will withhold talking about most of them until their third episode has aired so I can get a good sense of where the show is going and what it wants to be. For anyone saying they’d like to see a review of the show before they tuned in, but they also don’t want to be behind, I’m sorry. All I can say to you is that if you do come to find my opinion about shows that important, most channels (cable and network broadcast) tend to keep the first three episodes On Demand so you can catch up. Three (really two and a half) hours of bingeing on a good show isn’t that bad. And actually, it is much better than bingeing a full season of something. This way, I won’t break my back trying to review every single new show all at once. Oh, and some of those reviews will come either the week of the third episode or the week of the fourth.

With that said, I have to break that thought and post about The Muppets’ (#Muppets) new show. If you read my initial premiere week post, you will know that I was not too thrilled with this show or idea. Honestly, I think many people have soured on the Muppets or at least I thought they had soured on them as their second movie in their big comeback a few years ago didn’t do so well. I thought, “well, people are clearly not that interested in puppets anymore.” But with the final winner of America’s Got Talent just last week being a puppeteer—the second one to win the million dollar prize in its ten year run—I clearly don’t know as much as I thought I did. Maybe the jubilation from watching that has carried over to this show. I don’t know. But what I do know is that I actually found it pleasant, far more than I thought I would.

A mix between The Office and 30 Rock—two NBC shows that both were good in their time but I thought stayed longer than they should have—this new incarnation of the Muppets follows the behind-the-scenes exploits of a fictional show entitled Up Late with Miss Piggy. The first episode saw Miss Piggy trying to veto guest Elizabeth Banks because of a failed Hunger Games audition. It also saw Fuzzy meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time and Kermit getting acclimated to having a new pig girlfriend/assistant to his Liz Lemon. And you know what, it was actually funny a few times.

Before you go there, remember what you’re getting people. This is not going to be highbrow humor; in fact, I would argue that no sitcom really has that (yes, that includes the Big Bang). But I will say that if you lifted this script and put it into an episode of 30 Rock, few viewers would know the difference. It’s on that level. Much of the humor is geared toward adults just like the two winning puppet masters of AGT also had adult humor mixed in with Will Ferrell-esque silliness (love Will Ferrell).

In talking about the kind of humor, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the controversy. A few conservative groups have come out against the show believing it would be too dirty or too adult for its eight o’clock time slot, especially since it was marketed as a family show. While I have yet to see the other episodes, I didn’t find anything too offensive or dirty in the show to warrant such outrage. I actually find it funny that this is the show magnet-ing controversy when ABC clearly expected that crown to go to Black-ish’s season premiere, which they quite cheerfully promote for approaching the use of the N-word (so edgy! Has it ever been done before?). Another post will follow about that.

If anything, the humor wasn’t adult enough. Here’s my thing, after watching the show I really don’t know who it is geared to. I thought there’d be more jokes for younger children (under 10 crowd) but not really. Adults will get all of their silliness, but will they tune in weekly for it and what will motivate that? The crowd I see most likely to both be young enough still for the novelty of puppets and old enough to get all the jokes would be the tweeners, teens and new adults (11-22). The question is will that be enough to keep it afloat or will older people tune in for nostalgia and the Office-like humor? Again, The Muppets always skewed a little older even in their original show. Will this attract the fans left over from shows like Community, Parks and Recreation and the like? Only time will tell.

What do you think? Did you see the premiere of the new show or were you too busy watching Scream Queens over on Fox or The Voice over on NBC or something else on some other channel... or reading? Even if you didn’t see it, are you interested now that you know what kind of humor it has? Do you think you would watch it with your family? And will you give it the three episode challenge as I do most shows? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Hint: click where it reads “no comments” to comment.

As always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for Halloween scares check  #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen). For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The final episode of season one of The Writer is coming this Friday. All other 14 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.

Until next time, “Pope, the floor is not a hamper.” “Maaannn!”

P.S. Fine, that’s not really a sign-off line. It’s really more dialogue than anything. And yes, it’s from Family Guy from, like, ten years ago. But gimme a break, the Pope is here. Am I Catholic? No. But it’s the pope. The pope, y’all!  

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I Am Zaardon And The Passcode Is “BRUCE” #Gotham #PremiereWeek

I Am Zaardon And The Passcode Is “BRUCE” #Gotham #PremiereWeek

All pictures courtesy of FOX

So, there was a heck of a lot of TV going on last night and I still haven’t decided how I’m going to cover the new shows. I have been debating whether the new shows I’m interested in will get an individual post for each episode or if I’ll do a first three episode summary and my ultimate judgment on whether I’ll continue watching them or not. For now, I’ll just cover a few of the old returnees, and as you can see, we’ll start with Gotham (#Gotham).

In my opinion, Gotham whimpered back last night. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of stuff happened, but it wasn’t as “umph!” as I might like. However, the fact that it is a season premiere is the big reason why I will excuse that as this looks to be an amazing season.

It opened with Bruce and Alfred still looking into that cave they found behind the fireplace. The nosy little boy he is, he had to get that door open. Remembering that this is not the all-out genius detective Bruce will one day become, I still found it a little ridiculous that he would decide to build his own bomb and blow the door open, rather than taking a strip of clear tape and lifting the fingerprints from the most used numbers on the keypad. But the bomb making will come in handy too. Strangely, it looked nothing like a clock. Huh.

Meanwhile, Gordon suffered through his own version of Breaking Bad or the latest episode of The Writer (#TheWriter) after he was fired from police duty for touching an officer who showed up late for work. The fact that the guy even told on him shows just how ridiculous the cops in this show can get. While Gordon struggled to figure out what was right for him to do—go and collect a debt for Penguin of whom he asked a favor—crazy Barbra managed to get a phone in Arkham Asylum and called him and his new girlfriend.

Adjusting quite well to her new residence in Arkham, Barbra befriended Jerome (our supposed future joker and current redheaded Dennis the menace), as well as some rich guy with not a single lick of back story. Didn’t matter because he refused to be a criminal under another criminal mastermind who seeks to bring total anarchy to the city. The white guy let his black sister (oh no! Somebody call the people who complained about the Fantastic Four’s race discrepancy) gut him in front of Barbra and Jerome.

Oddly, this new big menace was the same guy speaking at Commissioner Loeb’s forced retirement—a favor the commissioner owed to Penguin for sparing his life... and his head (shocked that the FCC let FOX get away with a severed head in the eight o’clock hour). This a favor to Gordon from Penguin, Jim not only got reinstated to detective but also saw his black lady boss become the new commissioner.

All that acted as setup for the season as now a slew of villains will be let loose and puppeteered by this new guy, and revenge from Barbra and Loeb is sure to come. From some of the internet’s theories and rumors circulating, many are saying that Barbra will turn into Harley Quinn as she and Jerome already get along swimmingly. While I can see that in some respects, I’m not sure if Warner would want to do that so close to Suicide Squad releasing. For one, while viewers of the cartoon are well aware of her background, most people are not, especially those who didn’t read the comics after the 90s. Muddying her origin story on the show, then introducing an entirely different background in the film could make people hate both as the disparity in age between the two was always a key aspect of her character. Also, Barbra still seems too put together to become as loony as Harley needs to be. We’ll see if her character devolves into lunacy on par with Jerome, but for now I wouldn’t like this idea.

Probably the biggest thing from this episode that actually ticked me off was its still unresolved spirit of what it wants to be. Does it want to stay completely grounded in reality or will it venture into the paranormal, bizarre and magical which could introduce some of Batman’s stranger villains like Clayface and Killer Croc. This, evidenced by the use of some strange potion imbibed by Zaardon. No, not Zordon the Power Rangers’ pale white benefactor and mentor, but a cheap, costumed villain who Gordon arrested at the beginning of the episode. The potion turned out to be a smoke bomb of some sort that magically went off at the most convenient time for an Asylum break. My reaction: “Really? He just happened to kill over and die from the potion at the same exact time the villains came to get Jerome, Barbra and the others? Well, OK. If you say so, Gotham.”

Still, I had fun and it’s nice to see that they’re building on character—is it too early to say that I suddenly like the kid playing Bruce and could totally see him growing into Batman?

Anyway, what did you all think about the season two premiere of Gotham? Did it not have enough action for you? Are you disappointed in the background they’re building for the Joker (I always liked his mystic and the fact that he had no reason for his evilness; sometimes bad is just bad)? Do you think Loeb will return for revenge or is he forever off the show now? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Hint: click where it reads “no comments” to comment.

As always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen). For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The final episode of season one of The Writer is coming this Friday. All other 14 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.

Until next time, “ridin’ through the six in my popemobile, just ridin’ through the six makin’ hope so real.”

P.S. OK, maybe I made that up. It was about time I made up a good sign-off, right? So what if it’s a play on Drake’s song lyrics. According to Meek, he didn’t even write them. And just because I’m not pope doesn’t mean I don’t have a popemobile. Alright, fine, I keep workin’ on it.

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