Tag / Alan Cumming

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NBC Upfronts

Sports continues to be a big driver for NBC For the first time in 23 years, with the NFL, MLB, the NBA, and college football taking up a good part of the fall schedule, which was released on Monday.  The week gets off to a familiar start in September with two hours of The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by Line of Fire, a new drama starring Peter Krause.  Come November, St. Denis Medical and The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins take over the first hour as The Voice goes to a single hour.  Tuesday will belong to the NBA when its season begins in October.

Wednesday and Thursday continue to be dominated by Dick Wolf franchises, with his three Chicago series running back-to-back-to-back on Wednesday and the two original entries in his Law & Order franchise the following night.  Thursday starts with a civilian version of the Peacock hit reality show The Traitors, hosted by Alan Cumming.  Happy’s Place and Newlyweds, a new comedy starring Téa Leoni and Tim Daly, kick off Friday, followed by a two-hour block of Dateline.  The weekend is dominated by football, with the Big Ten or Notre Dame on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday.

On the bench, NBC has one drama, one comedy, and a game show waiting for midseason.  The Rockford Files stars David Boreanaz in the role originally made famous by James Garner in the 1970s.  Sunset P.I. takes a comedic approach at the private investigator space, starring Jake Johnson and Jane Levy.  Finally, Today co-host Savannah Guthrie will host a live version of Wordle.

Shows gone from our television sets include Brilliant Minds and Stumble.

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2021: The Year In Books

As we wrap up 2021, my first full year remote working, I managed to read a whopping 54 books, an increase of 31 books over last year and my first year completing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  I surpassed last year’s total in mid-June, passed my best years, 2015 and 2016, in late August, and completed book 52 with two weeks left in the year.  I read (or listened) to 18,670 pages, by far my highest total of all time and only the second time I’ve passed 10,000.

Of those books, 16 were non-fiction and, of the 36 novels, 10 were tied to a TV show, either as the source material or as a tie-in.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, with 43 e-books and 4 audiobooks.  For the first time since I was a kid, I got myself a library card, which helped me procure 14 of the books.

Just less than half of the books I read this year were by authors I have read before. The 31 authors that I read for the first this year were:

  • Tegan Quin
  • Sara Quin
  • Lucy Foley
  • Jenna Fischer
  • Matt Haig
  • Eric Nusbaum
  • Jon Taffer
  • Charlotte Douglas
  • Susan Kearney
  • Fredrik Backman
  • Jeff Pearlman
  • Minka Kent
  • Alan Cumming
  • Megan Goldin
  • Molly Bloom
  • Barack Obama
  • Ali Wong
  • Timothy Ferriss
  • Issa Rae
  • Walter Tevis
  • Tess Gerritson
  • Gary Braver
  • Andy Weir
  • Matthew Walker
  • James Clear
  • Grady Hendrix
  • Simon Sinek
  • Jason Fung
  • Julia Spiro
  • Jon Pessah
  • Ruth Ware

Erle Stanley Gardner, Mary Kubica, Jeffery Deaver, Andy Weir and Karin Slaughter were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2021.

6 of the books I read were released this year, while 5 of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1933.

Finally, the breakdown by month, which was fairly consistent across the entire year.

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Book 21 (of 52) – Not My Father’s Son

Not My Father’s Son – Alan Cumming

When the producers of the popular UK genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? approached Alan Cumming in 2010, he agreed, hoping to solve a family mystery involving his maternal grandfather, who disappeared in the Far East following World War II.  That kicked off a few months of ups and downs, as Cumming learned not only the truth about how and why his grandfather disappeared from his mother’s life, but also brought an unwelcomed reconnection with his father, whom he had not talked to in 16 years.  An insinuation, followed by a DNA test, initially rocked Alan’s world but ended up giving him the answers, and the closure, he was looking for.

The title Not My Father’s Son is both literal and figurative for Alan Cumming, as he’s informed by the man he has known as his father for his entire life that his mother had had an affair and that another man was responsible for his creation.  This was devastating, yet welcome, news for Cumming, as his entire life was thrown for a loop but he was glad to learn that the angry, abusive man he had grown up with was not really his father.  When a DNA test confirms that his father was lying, Cumming proves to not be his father’s son by overcoming the abuse he suffered as a child and becoming a happy, mostly well adjusted adult.  This was an intriguing journey, even if one is not familiar with Cumming’s work on stage and screen.

 

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CBS Upfronts

With very few holes to fill in their lineup, CBS presents easily the least changed lineup for the fall.  With the network again airing football on Thursday nights for the first 2 months of the season, there will be much juggling going on, starting on Monday, where The Big Bang Theory returns until football ends.  It will be followed by 9JKL, a new show starring Mark Feuerstein, Linda Lavin, and Elliott Gould.  New comedy Me, Myself & I, with Bobby Moynihan about the defining moments in one man’s life over three distinct periods, is sandwiched between the returning Kevin Can Wait and Scorpion.  Once football ends, Kevin moves up to lead off the night and Superior Donuts moves in.

Tuesday stays exactly the same.  Wednesday night sees Criminal Minds move back an hour for its 13th season, with its old time slot given to Seal Team, starring David Boreanaz in a military drama that follows the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALs.  Thursday, starting in November, starts with The Big Bang Theory, followed by the spin-off Young Sheldon, about, well, a young Sheldon Cooper.  The night finishes with S.W.A.T., a new drama based on the old series and film remake starring former Criminal Minds star Shemar Moore.

Friday stays exactly the same.  Sunday adds Wisdom of the Crowd, starring Jeremy Piven as a visionary tech innovator who creates a cutting-edge crowdsourcing app to solve his daughter’s murder, and revolutionizes crime solving in the process, which will in no way be the similar to last year’s APB, which bombed on FOX.

On tap for midseason, along side returning favorite Elementary, are Instinct, which stars Alan Cumming as a former CIA operative who is lured back to his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer, and By The Book, a comedy about a modern day man at a crossroads in his life who decides to live strictly in accordance with the Bible.

Gone and never to be seen again are The Great Indoors, 2 Broke Girls, The Odd Couple, Pure Genius, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Doubt, Training Day, and Ransom.

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2015 Emmy Awards – Drama

Emmy_statueTonight’s the night for the Emmy Awards, so it’s time to finish off my predictions for the awards.  Today, we’re focusing on the awards for Dramas.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Drama

Better Call Saul

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

Homeland

House of Cards

Mad Men

Orange Is The New Black

Now that Breaking Bad has moved on, I’m assuming that Game of Thrones will take its place.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Taraji P. Henson, Empire

Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

Viola Davis, How To Get Away With Murder

Claire Danes, Homeland

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Robin Wright, House of Cards

I was pleasantly surprised to see Tatiana Maslany finally recognized for her excellent work in Orphan Black, but I assume that Taraji P. Henson will take home the prize.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Kyle Chandler, Bloodline

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

With the final season of Mad Men in the books, I assume that Jon Hamm will take home the trophy for his overall work on the series.

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