Tag / Shameless

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Travelling The 50 States – California

Over my 47 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Working in alphabetical order, we start today with the 31st state to be added to the Union: California.

State: California
Joined the Union: 1850
Visits: 11

With eleven visits between 1998 and 2019, the Golden State is the state I have visited the most, outside of those I have lived in and/or attended college.

My first visit was in 1998 to attend Comic Con International in San Diego.  I went early, spending the entire week and enjoying some pre-Con time checking out the sights, including the San Diego Zoo.

I returned the following year for Labor Day weekend, but this time up to the San Francisco Bay area, to visit my old friend Scott, who had moved out there after graduating to work at AMD.  What I remember from that trip is my first Giants/Phillies tilt at the former Candlestick Park, my first trip to the toilet that at the time was called Network Associates Coliseum, and a car trip over the Golden Gate Bridge.

I returned to San Diego for Comic Con in 2000 and 2003.  I don’t remember much of the 2000 trip, but the 2003 trip included my one visit to the former Jack Murphy Stadium to see the Padres face the Diamondbacks.  At the Con, I managed to see many of the stars (or, at least, bit players) from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Smallville, and Tru Calling.

With the Cubs coming off their first division title since 1989 and a new stadium opening in San Diego, my friend Pete and I planned a trip for the Cubs mid-May road trip.  We attended all three games at PETCO Park, which the Cubs swept, while also taking in the local sights and the ambience of the Elephant and Castle bar in our hotel. Continue reading →

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Post Mortem – Shameless

In January 2011, Showtime debuted a show focusing on a poor family on Chicago’s south side, headed by a deadbeat father and an older sister who holds everything together.  10 years and 11 seasons later, Shameless wrapped up its run this past April as Showtime’s longest running original scripted series.

Adapted from the long-running, British television drama of the same name, the show starred William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum as father and daughter of the Gallagher clan.  Rossum left after season 9 in 2019, and my interest waned soon after that.  I think I’m two or three episodes into the 10th season, with the rest of the series sitting on the DVR, so I hope I’ll find my way back at some point in time.

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Midseason Review – Sundays

With the advent of winter premieres, the start of the premium cable network shows, and with February sweeps around the corner, it’s time to revisit my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Sunday nights.

Well, Sunday fell a little barren in the fall, leaving me with nothing to watch, but some things have started to show up as we approached the mid-season.

Shameless – The final season.  Maybe I will catch up soon.

Your Honor – A judge uses his knowledge of the law to keep his son safe after he accidently kills the son of a crime boss.

Batwoman – A new woman is wearing the cowl after Ruby Rose cut bait.

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Midseason Review – Sundays

With the advent of winter premieres, the start of the premium cable network shows, and with February sweeps around the corner, it’s time to revisit my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Sunday nights.

7:00

Batwoman – The Arrowverse expands once again, with this entry coming out of last year’s crossover event.  Ruby Rose puts on the cowl to protect the streets of Gotham.

Outside of the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover episode, I haven’t actually gotten around to watching this yet, though the episodes are piling up on the DVR.

7:30

God Friended Me – The latest “do-gooder has a direct line from God” returns for a second season after being surprisingly entertaining.

I’m still enjoying this, but I am a little concerned that they’ve already leaned hard into the “keep the obvious couple apart for dubious reasons” trope.

8:00

Supergirl – The fifth season sees the return of Jeremy Jordan and the exit of Mehcad Brooks.

We’ll see how the outcome of the Crisis crossover impacts the show moving forward, as it looks to have a completely new status quo.

9:00

Silicon Valley – The Pied Piper gang returns for their final season.

The show got an honorable wrap up, with the crew finally succeeding, but forced to kill their own creation for the good of the world.

Shameless – Season 10, the first without Emmy Rossum, may be a bit of a stretch.  But, I guess if I’ve watched this long, why stop now?

I am slowly working through the season, which is turning out to be a bit of a slog without Emmy Rossum.  It’s been renewed for an eleventh, and final, season, so I may as well keep going with the finish line in sight.

New entries hitting the screen this winter include:

Doctor Who – Jodie Whitaker returns for her second go-around as the Doctor.

Homeland – The Showtime drama returns for its final season.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist – Jane Levy returns as a coder who starts to hear people’s inner musical dialogue.

The Outsider – Based on a Stephen King book, the new HBO drama stars Jason Bateman.

Avenue 5 – A sci-fi comedy from the creators of Veep.

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2019 New Fall Season – Sundays

It is time once again to dive in to the new fall lineups for the television season that will kick into gear tomorrow night. We start this year with Sunday night’s offerings, which features a little less programming that interests me than last year’s slate.

7:00

Batwoman – The Arrowverse expands once again, with this entry coming out of last year’s crossover event.  Ruby Rose puts on the cowl to protect the streets of Gotham.

7:30

God Friended Me – The latest “do-gooder has a direct line from God” returns for a second season after being surprisingly entertaining.

8:00

Supergirl – The fifth season sees the return of Jeremy Jordan and the exit of Mehcad Brooks.

9:00

Silicon Valley – The Pied Piper gang returns for their final season.

Shameless – Season 10, the first without Emmy Rossum, may be a bit of a stretch.  But, I guess if I’ve watched this long, why stop now?

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Midseason Review – Sundays

We continue our annual look back at my thoughts on the new fall season plus any new offering coming soon on Sunday night.

7:00

God Friended Me – What if you took last season’s Kevin (Probably) Saves The World and add in social media?  Then you probably get this show.

I am a sucker for this type of show and Brandon Michael Hall and Violett Beane have tremendous chemistry.

Supergirl – The CW expands to a new night, and moves one of their DC hits to kick off the festivities.

A season-long story on xenophobia that echoes the feelings of the current administration.

8:00

Charmed – A reboot of the old WB hit, replacing the Halliwell sisters with a new collection of witches.

I watched the first episode and felt like I didn’t need to go back for more.

Shameless – Season 9 of the show started a few weeks back.

The show premiered while I was in Europe last fall and I’ve yet to catch up.

Ray Donovan – The show returns for its sixth season at the end of October.

Yeah, I haven’t watched this yet either.

Doctor Who – The 11th season kicks off with a new show runner and a new Doctor, Jodie Whitaker.

The new doctor finished her first series of adventures, which I think was a success.

9:00

Camping – Jennifer Garner and David Tennant team up for this adaptation of the British comedy.

Eh, a decent enough way to spend a half hour.

New entries that will be hitting the screen this winter include: Continue reading →

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2018 New Fall Season – Sundays

It is time once again to dive in to the new fall lineups for the television season that kicked into gear two weeks ago. We start this year with Sunday night’s offerings, which features a little more programming that interests me than last year.

7:00

God Friended Me – What if you took last season’s Kevin (Probably) Saves The World and add in social media?  Then you probably get this show.

Supergirl – The CW expands to a new night, and moves one of their DC hits to kick off the festivities.

8:00

Charmed – A reboot of the old WB hit, replacing the Halliwell sisters with a new collection of witches.

Shameless – Season 9 of the show started a few weeks back.

Ray Donovan – The show returns for its sixth season at the end of October.

Doctor Who – The 11th season kicks off with a new show runner and a new Doctor, Jodie Whitaker.

9:00

Camping – Jennifer Garner and David Tennant team up for this adaptation of the British comedy.

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Midseason Review – Sundays

old-tv-set1With the advent of winter premieres, the start of the premium cable network shows, and with February sweeps around the corner, it’s time to revisit my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Sunday nights.

8:00

Shameless – Season 8 of the show is on tap to return in November.

The Gallagher clan is close to wrapping up their latest season, which has been interesting, as always.

The Walking Dead – I kind of lost interest in season 7, following the (in my opinion) bungling of the introduction of Negan in the previous season finale.  I have 14 episodes sitting on the DVR, so it may soon be time for a decision on whether to continue with the show or not.

While I continued recording the show, I have yet to jump back in and watch any.  I may be about ready to jump ship and delete them.

So that’s where we stand with the shows I planned to watch in the fall. Let’s take a look at new shows starting this spring:

Homeland – The show returns in February for its 7th (and final?) season, with Carrie goes up against a president who she feels is abusing the power of the office.

Counterpart – STARZ enters the fray with a sci-fi espionage drama starring J.K. Simmons.

Crashing – Pete Holmes returns to HBO for his second season.

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2017 New Fall Season – Sundays

old-tv-set1It is time once again to dive in to the new fall lineups for the television season that kicks into gear tonight. We start this year with Sunday night’s offerings, which features very little programming that interests me.

8:00

Shameless – Season 8 of the show is on tap to return in November

The Walking Dead – I kind of lost interest in season 7, following the (in my opinion) bungling of the introduction of Negan in the previous season finale.  I have 14 episodes sitting on the DVR, so it may soon be time for a decision on whether to continue with the show or not.

 

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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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