I’ve always been a Letterman man. I mean, Carson was king, but he exited the game when I was 14 years old. Even when Carson was on the air I watched him because I knew Letterman was on afterwards. Letterman was relevant, irreverent, and goofy; Letterman was hip because of his un-hipness. I’ve always felt Leno was a complete bore. Similarly, I find Fallon, while at times slightly endearing, painfully hard to watch. I was sad when Letterman announced his retirement—I mean, we knew it was inevitable, but still, an era was coming to an end. When the announcement came earlier this year that Letterman’s replacement would be Stephen Colbert, I must admit I was sceptical. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Colbert fan, however, the record of new hosts successfully taking over established late night shows was not good, at least by my count. I was worried Colbert’s “personae shift” would not work, I was worried expectations were too high, and ultimately, I was worried I would have to re-evaluate my opinion of one of my comedic heroes. Luckily, after having watched the first week (4 episodes) of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, I realized my worrying was for naught.
Clip Show
Remember when it used to be acceptable for a TV show to air a turd of an episode – an episode that had a loose frame but only 5% new content? Ah the clip show, that hated episode wherein the characters reminisce about past hijinx and the viewers relieve those once funny moments out of context. Why did they do it? Was airing a terrible episode really better than simply airing nothing that week? Folks, welcome to my Katie Man clip show!!!!
Remember When?: Growing Up on Playing House
WARNING: If this opening sequence makes you cringe, if it’s too sweet for you, you should probably stop reading now.
Playing House (one of USA Network’s surprisingly great shows, along with this summer’s breakout, Mr. Robot) is in its second season and stars Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair (both of whom you may have seen recently on Review) as two long-time best friends. St. Clair plays Emma, who left her childhood hometown of Pinebrook for China to become a super successful business-woman. Maggie, played by Parham, stuck around Pinebrook her whole adult life, got married and got pregnant. Maggie lives in her childhood home, too, the one she inherited after her parents died. The little playhouse is still in the backyard, now infested with a family of deranged raccoons – things are the same, with an added air of anxiety. When Emma returns to Pinebrook, she finds Maggie distraught. Maggie’s bumbling husband has been cheating on her with a woman online. And so, with Emma’s help, Maggie drums up enough courage to leave her husband. Emma then quits her job overseas, move back to Pinebrook and moves in with Maggie to help her through the pregnancy and, once the baby is born, raise the child with her. The world hasn’t changed so much in Pinebrook in the time Emma was gone but the clock kept ticking.
Awful Americans and Great Americans
Before I go into the very nub of my gist; I believe I have found a new program that vies for the title of worst show on TV. I do love me some awful TV. I wrap myself in the world of the show, pitying those who are involved and celebrating their effort to purposefully make a terrible product. These shows basically just take the best/worst parts of Melrose Place and make a reality show from them. Melrose Place was soapy fun. Pretty, wealthy people scheming and backstabbing each other. The reality shows that follow this model just take out the pulpy enjoyable dialogue and semi-likeability of the characters and go for decadence and backstabbing. Continue reading
Quality Time With Terrible People: Finding My Next TV Show
After finishing 6 wonderful seasons of Parenthood it is time for me to find a new TV show! I set out this weekend to find something to replace it and came across two promising shows. I watched the first two episodes of both Review with Forrest MacNeil and Difficult People and while both were very funny, for me there was a clear winner. Continue reading
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
If you were a fan of the movie, Wet Hot American Summer, then I’m sure you’ll be a fan of Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, the new, 8-episode Netflix series. If you’ve never seen Wet Hot American Summer, like I hadn’t before a few weeks ago, then welcome to this review. Continue reading
Channel Surfing #6 – Dog Days Edition: You’re the Worst, True Detective Season 2, Another Period, Mr. Robot, Hannibal
It’s summer. You are probably outside. But maybe it’s too hot and there are bugs and you got a sunburn. So, now you have to go inside. What else are you going to do except watch TV? Continue reading
Crackle in the Shield
Many people that I chat with have taken to the act of “cord cutting”. Getting rid of one’s cable service, and relying entirely on online streaming. I see the benefits, but the act of television viewing goes beyond the watching. Flipping is a main cog in the TV experience. I really enjoy aimless wandering around the dial. Often getting lost during shows I’m watching to meander around my vast cable package. I really couldn’t tell you how many channels I have. It’s in the 300 range, but some of those are just music feeds and/or Greek news. Continue reading
Email Roundtable #51: TV in Fits and Spurts, or what we watch when we are busy
Kerri and Jane attempt to discuss how they fill their down-time during busy times.
Jane: So, full disclosure, Kerri and I are both fully immersed and crazily busy with the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. Obviously, we still have time for TV; meaning we have some things to say this week. We’ve discovered that both of us turn to cooking shows during those hectic, busy days when we have a bit of time to ourselves. Kerri, why are cooking shows so important to your down-time and what are the favourites that you rely on? Continue reading
Something old, something new, something blue
It’s summer and it’s wedding season. This week I watched a bunch of cool stuff in between editing wedding videos, so in honour of all the people I’ve seen kiss in front of their families, here is a wedding themed blog post. (Spoiler, there will be no further talk of weddings.) (Secondary spoiler, there won’t be any actual spoilers.) Continue reading
The Golden Age of Television 