Tag / The Good Wife

by admin

2014 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, once again, with the Sunday night offerings, which features some returning favorites, but nothing new to watch, except on cable.

7:00

Once Upon A Time – The fairy tale show is back for season 4, after an uptick in quality during the past season.  With little else in competition, I see no reason not to continue turning in.

7:30

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – FOX has moved its breakout comedy hit from Tuesday nights, where it was ill-matched with New Girl and The Mindy Project.  Now it will compete along side more like minded, if animated, comedies.

8:00

Resurrection – ABC’s tale of what happens when the dead start to return, as though nothing had happened, became the surprise hit of the spring.  The mystery of why seems to be a big part of the show, so I imagine they will need to tackle that sooner rather than later, and I can’t imagine how they can come up with something reasonable.

The Good Wife – More like the Great Wife, if you catch my drift.  Rarely do you see a show hit a creative high point in season 5, but that is exactly what The Good Wife did last season.  The status quo was upset once again in the season finale, so it will be interesting to see things play out once again.

The Newsroom – HBO’s and Aaron Sorkin’s take on 24 hour cable news returns for a third and final season, dealing with the fallout of last season’s faked story storyline.

Homeland – The fourth season gives the show a fresh start, with Brody finally dead.  Time will tell if they are able to pull out of the talespin that overextending the Brody story put them in to. Continue reading →

by admin

2014 Emmy Awards – Drama

Emmy_statueWith the Emmy Awards scheduled for Monday night, it’s time for day three of 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

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Mad Men

True Detective

Well, so much for having seen most of these.  True Detective was the only one of these nominees that I’ve seen.  This is a tough call, but I imagine that the final season of Breaking Bad takes home the prize.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex

Claire Danes, Homeland

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Julianne Margulies, The Good Wife

Kerry Washington, Scandal

Robin Wright, House of Cards

This past season of The Good Wife was spectacular, and a lot of that was due to Julianne Margulies.  She should definitely take home the trophy, especially since Tatiana Maslany was overlooked again for her work in Orphan Black.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Woody Harrelson, True Detective

Matthew McConaughey, True Detective

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

My guess is that this is a person race, between Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey and Bryan Cranston.  I think this will be Breaking Bad‘s night once again, which means that Bryan Cranston will have another trophy to lord over the Adam Carollas of the world.

Continue reading →

by jim

Post Mortem – The Michael J. Fox Show

The-Michael-J-Fox-ShowMichael J. Fox returned to television to star in his first show since leaving Spin City in 2000.  The show was given a full season without even producing a pilot, and, predictably, things did not work out as well as expected.  The show was pulled off the air in February, after months of disappointing ratings, but was not officially cancelled until NBC announced their fall schedule last month.

In addition to Michael J. Fox, who had shined recently in guest appearances on The Good Wife, this show also co-starred Katie Finneran from the tragically short Wonderfalls.  Unfortunately, the show wasn’t very good.  Which isn’t to say it was bad, it was just kind of blah.  I think I saw all of the episodes that aired, but there might have been one or two that I forgot to DVR and, to be honest, it didn’t bother me.  Two things I did enjoy about the show were Betsy Brandt, who was new to me (yes, I haven’t watched Breaking Bad yet) and Juliette Goglia, who impressed as the daughter.

by admin

CBS Upfronts

PersonOfInterestRelevance1CBS, which fell behind NBC in the battle for 18-49 year olds thanks to the NFL and Olympics, mixed up their schedule for the fall at their upfront presentation this week.  After inking a deal to simulcast 8 weeks of Thursday Night Football, The Big Bang Theory will temporarily move back to Mondays, bumping 2 Broke Girls off the schedule until November.  Katharine McPhee stars in Scorpion, which will take the 8:00 hour.

Person of Interest stays where it is on Tuesday and Criminal Minds continues on Wednesdays.  Kevin Williamson brings a new drama, Stalker, to Wednesday featuring Dylan McDermott and Maggie Q.  Once the football commitment ends at the end of October, BBT and Elementary return to Thursdays.  The Amazing Race moves to Fridays, where it will be followed by holdovers Hawaii 5-0 and Blue Bloods.  The Good Wife continues on Sundays, where it will be joined be OG CSI and Tea Leoni’s new show, Madam Secretary.

The Mentalist will start off on the bench, along with a new version of The Odd Couple, starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon.  Missing altogether is How I Met Your Dad, the “spinoff” of How I Met Your Mother that seemed like a shoe-in to get picked up.

by admin

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.

7:00

Once Upon A Time – Season 2 of the show about fairy tale characters in the real world started to go off the rails a little as new characters showed up and the plot expanded.  This season promises a more focused plot, which will hopefully result in the show becoming more enjoyable again.

Well, the first half of the season mostly jettisoned most of the characters and focused on a small group fighting Peter Pan in Neverland.  While things were more focused, they may have been too focused.  The show returns in the spring with (another) new status quo, so we’ll see where it goes from here.

8:00

The Good Wife – Last season, the show moved from solid to really good.  With Alicia and Cary planning on leaving the firm, the season ended on a cliffhanger that will hopefully continue to carry it to new heights this year.  The big problem once again will be catching the entire episode when football runs long, as it always does.

This show has become crazy good.  The slow burn of when will Alicia pull the trigger and leave and then the explosion of what happens once she (and the others) do was tremendously done.  The one complaint, and it is a small one, is that every case since has been the new firm versus Lockhart Gardner.  It would be nice to see them do battle against some other law firms as well.

Revenge – Another ABC show that became much more convoluted in its second season.  This went from one of the better shows of the previous season to one that, more often than not, was a chore to get through.  Hopefully a new show runner will get things back on track this year.  Otherwise, it might be time to say goodbye to the Hamptons.

Things did get back on track somewhat, but the soapier elements are starting to seep through.  I’ll be sticking with the show for now, but I can’t say for how much longer.

The Walking Dead – Now here’s a show that keeps building and building.  Following last season’s story with the Governor, things get shaken up at the prison this year.  I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

The first part of the season ended with the Governor dead, but Rick and the rest of the survivors forced to separate and go their own ways.  Things should pick up again next month when the show returns. Continue reading →

by admin

2013 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, once again, with the Sunday night offerings, which features some returning favorites, but nothing new to watch, except on cable.

7:00

Once Upon A Time – Season 2 of the show about fairy tale characters in the real world started to go off the rails a little as new characters showed up and the plot expanded.  This season promises a more focused plot, which will hopefully result in the show becoming more enjoyable again.

8:00

The Good Wife – Last season, the show moved from solid to really good.  With Alicia and Cary planning on leaving the firm, the season ended on a cliffhanger that will hopefully continue to carry it to new heights this year.  The big problem once again will be catching the entire episode when football runs long, as it always does.

Revenge – Another ABC show that became much more convoluted in its second season.  This went from one of the better shows of the previous season to one that, more often than not, was a chore to get through.  Hopefully a new show runner will get things back on track this year.  Otherwise, it might be time to say goodbye to the Hamptons.

The Walking Dead – Now here’s a show that keeps building and building.  Following last season’s story with the Governor, things get shaken up at the prison this year.  I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

Continue reading →

by jim

2013 Emmy Awards – Drama

With the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, it’s time for day three of my predictions for the awards, today focusing on Drama 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 Drama

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Homeland

Mad Men

This is a tough one, as I can see either Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, or Game of Thrones taking home the prize.  Given the amount of press it is getting in its now airing final season, my guess is that Breaking Bad takes home the prize.

Outstanding Actress In A Drama

Connie Britton, Nashville

Claire Danes, Homeland

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Kerry Washington, Scandal

Robin Wright, House of Cards

I think Claire Danes will take this for the second year in a row.

Outstanding Actor In A Drama

Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Damian Lewis, Homeland

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Damian Lewis took this award last year, but I think this will be Breaking Bad‘s night, which means that Bryan Cranston will have another trophy to lord over the Adam Carollas of the world.

Continue reading →

by jim

Midseason Review – Sundays

With the advent of winter premieres 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

Once Upon A Time – ABC found themselves a winner last year with this series about fairy tale characters who have been forced to live in the real world thanks to the evil Queen.  Last season ended with the characters remembering their true selves, which promises a new status quo for season 2.

 

Snow White and Prince Charming were split apart for most of the first half of the season, but were reunited in the midseason finale.  Now that the evil Queen’s eviler mother has come to Storybrook, it might allow Regina to be softened somewhat.

8:00

The Good Wife – Thanks to the great DVR crash of 2012, I missed the last few episodes of last season.  While never flashy, this show is always solid.  The big problem in the fall will be catching the entire episode when football runs long.

For the most part, The Good Wife continued to be its strong self, but it did have a slight misstep with the story surrounding Kalinda and her ex.  Fortunately, following fan backlash, that storyline was wrapped up quickly, hopefully to never be seen or heard from again.

Revenge – ABC’s other breakout hit of last season moves from Wednesday to Sunday as Emily VanCamp continues her secret rampage through the Hamptonites that ruined her father’s life.  This was a surprisingly good soap that delivered the goods last season.

The second season of Revenge has been more of the same, but seems to be lacking some of the excitement of the first season due to familiarity.  I am enjoying the show, but I can see myself burning out on it at some point.

Dexter – Speaking of shaking up the status quo, last season ended with Jennifer Carpenter’s Deb walking in on Dexter mid-murder.  To make things more interesting, former Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski joins the crew at Miami Metro.

Dexter wrapped up its season in December with another shocker, Dexter under suspicion for being the Bay Harbor Butcher and Deb murdering LaGuerta to cover his tracks.

Continue reading →

by jim

2012 New Fall Season – Sundays

It’s that time of year again.  The new fall season is upon us.  Time to delve into the offerings that will clog up the DVR every Sunday night.

7:00

Once Upon A Time – ABC found themselves a winner last year with this series about fairy tale characters who have been forced to live in the real world thanks to the evil Queen.  Last season ended with the characters remembering their true selves, which promises a new status quo for season 2.

8:00

The Good Wife – Thanks to the great DVR crash of 2012, I missed the last few episodes of last season.  While never flashy, this show is always solid.  The big problem in the fall will be catching the entire episode when football runs long.

Revenge – ABC’s other breakout hit of last season moves from Wednesday to Sunday as Emily VanCamp continues her secret rampage through the Hamptonites that ruined her father’s life.  This was a surprisingly good soap that delivered the goods last season.

Dexter – Speaking of shaking up the status quo, last season ended with Jennifer Carpenter’s Deb walking in on Dexter mid-murder.  To make things more interesting, former Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski joins the crew at Miami Metro.

Continue reading →

by jim

Midseason Review – Sundays

As we start to gear up for midseason premieres and February sweeps, let’s take a look back at what I said and thought back in September.

ABC

Pan Am – ABC’s attempt to hop on the Mad Men brigade premieres tonight, with Christina Ricci making her move to television.  It looks somewhat interesting, so I will give it a shot.

Not a bad show, but it didn’t take off (see what I did there?) as expected.  Kelli Garner made more of an impression than Christina Ricci did, but that still wasn’t enough to save the show.

Once Upon A Time, which I either didn’t plan on watching or didn’t include because it didn’t start until late October, turned out to be pretty good and one of the highest rated new shows of the season.

CBS

The Good Wife – Slowly built itself up to a top performer last season and should do even better on Sundays without much competition.  The only problem with the new timeslot will be in the fall due to football overruns.

Still a strong performer.  Should be much easier to watch now that football is over and it will air at a consistent time.

Not included in the fall were the cable shows that made up most of my Sunday night viewings, The Walking Dead, Dexter, and Homeland.  TWD started and ended strong, but spent entirely too much time on a plot that should have taken 2 episodes, 3 tops.  Dexter explored religion and whether it was possible for a serial killer to grow.  Homeland was the breakout hit of the fall, with both Claire Danes and Damian Lewis giving standout performances.

New shows for the spring include the second season of Shameless and the new show House of Lies, both of which premiered on Showtime earlier this month.