Tag / Happy Endings

by jim

Post Mortem – Marry Me

MarryMeMarry Me reunited star Casey Wilson and series creator David Caspe, who had previously worked together on the sublime Happy Endings.  Caspe, who had recently married Wilson, loosely based the show on their relationship.

The show aired at a bad time for me, conflicting with multiple other programs, meaning that I had to record it on a different TV.  Because of this, I never got around to watching all of the episodes, and I don’t see much of a reason to do so now.

I was a big fan of Happy Endings, so I was looking forward to this.  Plus, Ken Marino has not disappointed in other endeavors.  Sadly, it didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped.  I look forward to both stars showing back up on my television soon, hopefully in a better project.

by admin

Midseason Review – Tuesdays

old-tv-set1We continue our look back at my expectations for the fall television season, and today we are focusing on Tuesdays.

7:00

Selfie – I love Karen Gillan and am quite fond of John Cho, but put them together in this loose adaptation of Pygmalion and, at least based on the pilot, you get a steaming pile of something or other.  I will give this a chance to improve due to the talents involved, but I don’t hold out a great deal of hope.

Well, the show was quickly pulled off the air and cancelled.  Hopefully, Karen Gillan returns to our television screens quickly, in something worthy of her talents.

The Flash – Spinning off from Arrow comes this latest forray from the CW in to the world of DC superheroes.  Hopefully it follows more from Arrow‘s example than Smallville‘s.

I don’t know if this has been the best new show of the season, but it has certainly been the most fun.  It has a sense of joy that neither Smallville nor Arrow had before it that brings a bit of levity to the DC television universe.

7:30

Manhattan Love Story – I’m not too sold on giving this new show, about the romance beteen two nuerotic New Yorkers, a shot.  But, I’m willing to try anything once.

Well, some show had to be the first one cancelled this season, which is about the only thing this show accomplished.

8:00

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – The show, which greatly improved following the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier, returns for a second season at a later timeslot and with a new status quo.

The battle between SHIELD and Hydra continues in a much improved show from one year ago.

Supernatural – For some reason that nobody can particularly understand, the show returns for its 10th season.  The show has been adrift for quite some time now and last season really started to drag.  I’m willing to keep watching, but I don’t know for how much longer.

Due to timeslot conflicts, I had to record this on a different TV.  To date, I’ve watched maybe 3 episodes of the new season and I’m not in much of a hurry to watch the rest.

Marry Me – Casey Wilson reunites with the creator of Happy Endings, who also happens to be her husband, for this new comedy.  Happy Endings was a tremendous show that ended way too early, so I will give this a shot and hope that it rekindles some of that magic.

This also needed to be recorded on a different TV due to timeslot conflicts.  I haven’t watched much of it, but I have enjoyed what I’ve seen.  It does seem to scratch, at least a little bit, that Happy Endings itch.

New Girl – The group returns for season 4, and less couples than we have seen in year’s past.  Hopefully, the funny keeps coming.

I think the problem is that they have too many characters that they don’t really know what to do with.

Continue reading →

by admin

2014 New Fall Season – Tuesdays

old-tv-set1Continuing our look at the new fall season, here are the offerings that I may find myself interested in for Tuesdays.

7:00

Selfie – I love Karen Gillan and am quite fond of John Cho, but put them together in this loose adaptation of Pygmalion and, at least based on the pilot, you get a steaming pile of something or other.  I will give this a chance to improve due to the talents involved, but I don’t hold out a great deal of hope.

The Flash – Spinning off from Arrow comes this latest forray from the CW in to the world of DC superheroes.  Hopefully it follows more from Arrow‘s example than Smallville‘s.

7:30

Manhattan Love Story – I’m not too sold on giving this new show, about the romance beteen two nuerotic New Yorkers, a shot.  But, I’m willing to try anything once.

8:00

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – The show, which greatly improved following the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier, returns for a second season at a later timeslot and with a new status quo.

Supernatural – For some reason that nobody can particularly understand, the show returns for its 10th season.  The show has been adrift for quite some time now and last season really started to drag.  I’m willing to keep watching, but I don’t know for how much longer.

Marry Me – Casey Wilson reunites with the creator of Happy Endings, who also happens to be her husband, for this new comedy.  Happy Endings was a tremendous show that ended way too early, so I will give this a shot and hope that it rekindles some of that magic.

New Girl – The group returns for season 4, and less couples than we have seen in year’s past.  Hopefully, the funny keeps coming. Continue reading →

by admin

Midseason Review – Tuesdays

old-tv-set1We continue our look back at my expectations for the fall television season, and today we are focusing on Tuesdays.

7:00

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Following the success of The Avengers, ABC, corporate sibling of Marvel, gets to air the spin-off featuring a team of SHIELD agents tracking down threats across the globe.

What looked to be the hit show of the fall has thus far disappointed.  From a strictly Marvel perspective, the lack of any recognizable characters, beyond Coulson, from the movie universe has been a disappointment.  From a Whedon perspective, the show has lacked any of the heart that previous Mutant Enemy productions have shown.  It may be that this show just has too many corporate masters to appease in order to put on a decent show.  I’ll keep watching, though, in the hopes that it improves.

7:30

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – There hasn’t been a real police workplace comedy since Barney Miller left the air in 1982.  The premiere episode wasn’t bad, but sometimes a little bit of Andy Samberg can go a long way.

The show still struggles occasionally with Andy Samberg overload, but, besides that, it has been a very surprising comedy hit.

8:00

New Girl – This show really found its footing once Zooey Deschanel’s Jess and Jake Johnson’s Nick hooked up towards the end of last season.  The two have incredible chemistry, and keeping them apart really served no purpose.  Now if only they could find a consistent usage for Winston.

With Happy Endings ending, Damon Wayans Jr. was available to return to the role he played in the pilot, at least for the remainder of this season.  Things have been a little uneven this season. Continue reading →

by jim

Post Mortem – Happy Endings

happy-endings-abcEvery year there is that one show that you enjoy so much that you can’t understand why nobody else is watching it and you hope and pray that it doesn’t get cancelled and then it does.  This year’s version of that show is Happy Endings, one of many faux-Friends type ensemble shows that debuted in the spring of 2011 and the only one worthy of the comparison.  I am not ashamed to say that I probably missed a third of the jokes in this show over the years, and that’s because they came at you so fast and sometimes with so little fanfare that they were easy to miss while you were still laughing at the previous one.

There was a brief moment of hope where it looked like the show would be saved by another network, but, alas, it was not to be.  Meanwhile, Two and a Half Men is preparing for its 11th season.  Seems reasonable.

by jim

Midseason Review – Tuesdays

We continue our look back at my expectations for the fall television season, and today we are focusing on Tuesdays.

7:00

Raising Hope – The quirky Fox drama returns for its third season with more of the same hilarity.

Nothing new to report on the Raising Hope front.  You know what you are going to get: no more, no less.

7:30

Ben and Kate – The premiere episode wasn’t bad, and I was pretty impressed with Dakota Johnson as Kate, but I could feel Nat Faxon’s Ben starting to grate during the first half hour.  I’m not sure how much more of him I am willing to take.

As it turns out, I wasn’t willing to take any more, since I never went back to watch any subsequent episodes.

8:00

Go On – Matthew Perry’s latest attempt to escape the shadow of Chandler Bing has aired three episodes already and it isn’t bad.  Perry plays a sports radio host who joins a support group after his wife died.

Like most of Perry’s post-Friends output, a lot of the heavy lifting is left to his charm.  There are flashes of something here, though, and if the writers can figure out how to consistently offer something beyond Perry’s innate likability, they will be on to something.

New Girl – Zooey Deschanel returns in one of last season’s break out comedy hits.  The show got stronger as the season went on and the writers found their footing, and I’m looking forward to its return.

New Girl continues to impress, and has even started to find interesting things to do with Winston this year.

Happy Endings – This went from a late season replacement to one of the most consistently funny comedies on TV last season.  The ensemble group plays well off of each other and the writers bring the funny every week.

Still funny, but it seems that hardly anyone is watching.  With ABC burning off episodes by airing them on both Tuesdays and Sundays, I fear we may be looking at the unhappy end of Happy Endings.

Continue reading →

by jim

2012 New Fall Season – Tuesdays

It’s time to take a look at the Tuesday night offerings for this season.

7:00

Raising Hope – The quirky Fox drama returns for its third season with more of the same hilarity.

7:30

Ben and Kate – The premiere episode wasn’t bad, and I was pretty impressed with Dakota Johnson as Kate, but I could feel Nat Faxon’s Ben starting to grate during the first half hour.  I’m not sure how much more of him I am willing to take.

8:00

Go On – Matthew Perry’s latest attempt to escape the shadow of Chandler Bing has aired three episodes already and it isn’t bad.  Perry plays a sports radio host who joins a support group after his wife died.

New Girl – Zooey Deschanel returns in one of last season’s break out comedy hits.  The show got stronger as the season went on and the writers found their footing, and I’m looking forward to its return.

Happy Endings – This went from a late season replacement to one of the most consistently funny comedies on TV last season.  The ensemble group plays well off of each other and the writers bring the funny every week.

Continue reading →

by admin

Midseason Review – Wednesdays

Time to look back on our thoughts regarding Wednesday’s television slate from the fall.

CBS

Criminal Minds – Last season saw A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster written out of the show and replaced by Rachel Nichols.  Someone must have realized it was a mistake, as this season Rachel Nichols has been replaced by A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster.  As it enters its seventh season, it may not be the best move to return back to the old status quo.

Well, we certainly are back to the status quo.  It is still entertaining, but I don’t know how long you can keep beating this horse before he dies.

NBC

Up All Night – Two espisodes in and it has been decent so far, with the appeal of Christina Applegate cancelling out the annoyances of Will Arnett.  The scenes at home with the baby have far surpassed those at work to this point.

This has turned into a pretty decent show, and has been rewarded with a move to Thursdays.  Christina Applegate has been her usually charming self and I have even come to enjoy Will Arentt’s performance in this. Continue reading →

by admin

Midseason Review – Tuesdays

Once again, we continue our look back at my expectations for the fall television season, and today we are focusing on Tuesdays.

CBS

Unforgettable – This may end up being utterly forgettable, but I’m going to give it a shot.  The main hook, that Poppy Montgomery’s character has total recall of her memories, was played off in the pilot where she was witness to a crime.  As she re-joins the police force, it may be interesting to see how they use this ability without her being personally involved in every case.

This is by no means a good show.  I really should stop watching it.

NBC

Parenthood – Nothing really new to say here.  It is what it is.  Never great, but usually good enough.

I think this show works better in bunches than in week to week doses.  I caught up on the latest 6 episodes during the December vacation and enjoyed it.  But, I hadn’t enjoyed it enough previously to not let the 6 episodes pile up.

FOX

New Girl – The one pilot I saw early, thanks to the magic of OnDemand.  I find Zooey Deschanel to be very charming, and would likely watch her reading the phone book for a hour.  Thankfully, this seems to be much more impressive than that.

Continue reading →

by jim

2011 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

CBS

Criminal Minds – Last season saw A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster written out of the show and replaced by Rachel Nichols.  Someone must have realized it was a mistake, as this season Rachel Nichols has been replaced by A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster.  As it enters its seventh season, it may not be the best move to return back to the old status quo.

NBC

Up All Night – Two espisodes in and it has been decent so far, with the appeal of Christina Applegate cancelling out the annoyances of Will Arnett.  The scenes at home with the baby have far surpassed those at work to this point.

Free Agents – This has not been very good so far, despite featuring the return of Anthony Stewart Head to American television sets.  I give it until January, if that long.

Continue reading →