Tag / Modern Family

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2017 Emmy Awards – Comedy

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here are my predictions for the awards for Comedy shows.  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 Comedy

Atlanta

Black-ish

Master of None

Modern Family

Silicon Valley

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Veep

Veep has won for the past two years and would seem to be a good choice to three-peat, so I’ll go with that.

Outstanding Actress In A Comedy

Pamela Adlon, Better Things

Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie

Allison Janney, Mom

Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won this award the past four years, and I see no reason why she won’t repeat again this year.

Outstanding Actor In A Comedy

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish

Aziz Ansari, Master of None

Zach Galifianakis, Baskets

Donald Glover, Atlanta

William H. Macy, Shameless

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Jeffrey Tambor brought home the award the past two years for his gender-bending role on Amazon’s hit series, but I’m going to go out on a limb and go with Donald Glover.

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Midseason Review – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the half way point of our look back at the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays had on tap for the fall.

7:00

Arrow – Season 5 finds Oliver Queen trying to save the city, both as the Arrow and as mayor.  This also promises to be the last season of flashbacks, making me look forward to season 6.

Honestly, Arrow’s new team isn’t really clicking with me.  Hopefully the spring switches back to the old configuration.

Lethal Weapon – FOX reboots the movie series with Damon Wayans.  Might be worth a look, at least.

I made it through a couple of episodes before bailing. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really anything special.

8:00

Modern Family – The comedy, entering its eighth season, is really starting to show its age.  It’s still fun, but the plots are starting to get a little out there.

A strong first half of the season for the long time favorite.

Criminal Minds – The show returns for its twelfth season minus original stars Shemar Moore, who left last spring, and Thomas Gibson, who was fired for attacking a writer in the early going of this season.  To fill the void, Aisha Tyler has been bumped up to a regular cast member and Paget Brewster returns as Emily Prentiss.

A few new faces have joined the BAU and they continue to solve crimes.

Frequency – The CW reboots the movie, replacing Dennis Quaid with the fetching Peyton List.

The first season wraps up tonight, as father and daughter fight crime together, separated by time.

8:30

Black-ish – After a strong second season, the show returns looking to improve yet again.

This might be my favorite comedy currently airing.

9:00

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2016 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the half way point of our look at the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays have on tap for the fall.

7:00

Arrow – Season 5 finds Oliver Queen trying to save the city, both as the Arrow and as mayor.  This also promises to be the last season of flashbacks, making me look forward to season 6.

Lethal Weapon – FOX reboots the movie series with Damon Wayans.  Might be worth a look, at least.

8:00

Modern Family – The comedy, entering its eighth season, is really starting to show its age.  It’s still fun, but the plots are starting to get a little out there.

Criminal Minds – The show returns for its twelfth season minus original stars Shemar Moore, who left last spring, and Thomas Gibson, who was fired for attacking a writer in the early going of this season.  To fill the void, Aisha Tyler has been bumped up to a regular cast member and Paget Brewster returns as Emily Prentiss.

Frequency – The CW reboots the movie, replacing Dennis Quaid with the fetching Peyton List.

8:30

Black-ish – After a strong second season, the show returns looking to improve yet again.

9:00

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2016 Emmy Awards – Comedy

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here are my predictions for the awards for Comedy shows.  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 Comedy

Black-ish

Master of None

Modern Family

Silicon Valley

Transparent

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Veep

Veep won last year and would seem to be a good choice to repeat, so I’ll go with that.

Outstanding Actress In A Comedy

Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Laurie Metcalf, Getting On

Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won this award the past three years, and I see no reason why she won’t repeat again this year.

Outstanding Actor In A Comedy

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish

Aziz Ansari, Master of None

Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth

William H. Macy, Shameless

Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Jeffrey Tambor brought home the award last year for his gender-bending role on Amazon’s hit series.  My guess is that Aziz Ansari rides the same wave of good feelings to take home the trophy for his Netflix series.

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ABC Upfronts

agents_of_shield_bannerLots of changes coming this fall on ABC, as the network announced their upcoming schedule this week.  4 shows that I’ve been watching, Castle, The Muppets, Agent Carter, and the summer series Rookie Blue, were given the heave ho, leaving lots of holes in their, and my, schedule.

Conviction, a new legal drama starring Agent Carter star Hayley Atwell, moves in to the post-Dancing With The Stars slot on Monday vacated by Castle.  Tuesday sees the network expand their comedy block to two hours, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. moving back to the 9pm hour.  Minnie Driver stars in the new comedy Speechless, airing before Modern Family on Wednesday.  Following Black-ish comes Designated Survivor, a new drama starring Kiefer Sutherland as the new President after a devastating attack on Washington DC.

Thursday gets some new blood, thanks to Scandal star Kerry Washington’s pregnancy, in the form of Notorious, a sexy legal drama starring Piper Perabo and breaking Shonda Rhimes stranglehold on the night, at least until the spring.  Friday nights stay exactly the same, as do Sundays.  Saturday is still left for college football.

The mid-season slate, aside from the returning Scandal, looks uneventful.

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Midseason Review – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the half way point of our look back at the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays had on tap for the fall.

7:00

Arrow – After a dark third season, Arrow returns for more angtsy fun.  The plan seems to be to bring Oliver Queen more in line with his comic book persona, so the tone may lighten up a little.

A bit of a lighter tone in the first half of the season ended with Felicity paralyzed and the gang on the hunt for Damien Darhk.

8:00

Modern Family – The comedy, entering its seventh season, is really starting to show its age.  It’s still fun, but the plots are starting to get a little out there.  Maybe sending Ariel Winter off to college will breathe some new life into the show.

I’m still entertained by the show, but it isn’t the must see it once was.  It’s probably closer to the end than it is to the beginning.

Criminal Minds – The show returns for its eleventh season minus Jennifer Love Hewitt and, for a bit, AJ Cook.  Aisha Tyler steps in for a recurring role, which should be fun, or at least what passes for fun on this show.

With both AJ Cook and Matthew Gray Gubler missing time for maternity leave and outside projects, Aisha Tyler played an important role in the first half of the season.  Now that both are back, it will be interesting to see how often she appears the rest of the way.

Supernatural – I fell completely off the Supernatural bandwagon last year, only seeing a few episodes, and I don’t think I’ll be jumping back in here for its 11th season.

Nope, I think I’m officially done with the Winchester brothers.

8:30

Black-ish – A somewhat surprising hit last season, I’m looking forward to more of the same this year.

Probably the funniest show of the night, surpassing its lead in.

9:00

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2015 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We have reached the half way point of our look at the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays have on tap for the fall.

7:00

Arrow – After a dark third season, Arrow returns for more angtsy fun.  The plan seems to be to bring Oliver Queen more in line with his comic book persona, so the tone may lighten up a little.

8:00

Modern Family – The comedy, entering its seventh season, is really starting to show its age.  It’s still fun, but the plots are starting to get a little out there.  Maybe sending Ariel Winter off to college will breathe some new life into the show.

Criminal Minds – The show returns for its eleventh season minus Jennifer Love Hewitt and, for a bit, AJ Cook.  Aisha Tyler steps in for a recurring role, which should be fun, or at least what passes for fun on this show.

Supernatural – I fell completely off the Supernatural bandwagon last year, only seeing a few episodes, and I don’t think I’ll be jumping back in here for its 11th season.

8:30

Black-ish – A somewhat surprising hit last season, I’m looking forward to more of the same this year.

9:00

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2015 Emmy Awards – Comedy

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here are my predictions for the awards for Comedy shows.  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 Comedy

Louie

Modern Family

Parks and Recreation

Silicon Valley

Transparent

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Veep

Modern Family won last year and would seem to be the obvious choice here, since the voters love it.  But Veep is certainly my dark horse candidate, so I’ll go with that.

Outstanding Actress In A Comedy

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won this award the past two years, and I see no reason why she won’t repeat again this year.

Outstanding Actor In A Comedy

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Louis CK, Louie

Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth

Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

William H. Macy, Shameless

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Jim Parsons brought home the award last year for his role as Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, but managed to not be nominated this year.  My guess is that Jeffrey Tambor takes home the trophy for Amazon’s hit series.

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ABC Upfronts

agentcarterThe biggest surprise about ABC’s schedule for this fall’s television season is how stable it is from this spring.  4 out of the 7 nights remain untouched, and only one returning show is moving to a new time slot.  In case you are wondering, this is relatively unheard of here in the 20th century.

Monday remains the same as it has been for years, with Castle following the latest installment of Dancing With The Stars.  Tuesdays start off with the return of the Muppets starring in The Muppets.  Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD returns at its current time slot, followed by the new FBI drama Quantico.

Wednesday nights also remain unchanged, with Modern Family continuing to anchor the night.  Thursdays will continue to belong to Shonda Rhimes, thanks to Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How To Get Away With Murder.  Former Community and The Hangover star Ken Jeong gets his own sitcom, Dr. Ken, which will air on Fridays.  Sundays will air 2 new dramas following the returning Once Upon A Time.

Agent Carter will return at mid-season, once again filling in for her present day SHIELD contemporaries.

Obviously, The Muppets are the most exciting of the new shows.  I’m also likely to give Dr. Ken a shot.  Beyond that, nothing here seems too spectacular.

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Midseason Review – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1It’s Hump Day. Time to take a look back at my thoughts on the midweek offerings for the fall season.

7:00

Arrow – After a stellar second season, Arrow returns for more angtsy fun.  On tap for this season are DC stalwarts Ra’s Al Ghul and Ray Palmer.

Considering the main character was killed in the winter finale last month, the show will have to jump through a hoop or two to bring him back.

The Mysteries of Laura – Quite possibly the worst pilot I’ve seen ever.  What a waste of good talent.

I did not go back for any future entries after having suffered through the pilot.

8:00

Modern Family – The comedy, entering its sixth season, is starting to show its age.  It’s still fun, but the plots are starting to get a little out there.

I think it is safe to say that we are much closer to the end of this shows run than we are to the beginning.

Criminal Minds – The show returns for its tenth season with a new team member, the lovely Jennifer Love Hewitt.

I don’t know what else there is to say about this show at this point.  It is what it is.

Red Band Society – My initial instinct was to give this one a pass, but a few good reviews, plus an early premiere, made me decide to tune in.

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