Tag / X-Files

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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 my thoughts on what Wednesdays had on tap.

7:00

Riverdale – The sexy version of the Archie comics returns for its second season.

I mean, there’s really no particular reason for this show to exist, but it is a decent way to pass the time.

The Blacklist – Now that the mystery of Red’s relationship to Liz has been cleared up, things promise to take a lighter tone in season 5.

I have a feeling we may be seeing the end for The Blacklist sooner rather than later.

8:00

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

Ridiculous is still the name of the game, but there is still entertainment to be had.

SEAL Team – David Boreanaz returns to television mere months after the end of Bones in what is likely to be another CBS procedural.

If it weren’t for Boreanaz, I wouldn’t bother.

9:00

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by jim

The Truth Is Out There… Again… Again

The X-Files is returning to FOX for another 10-episode run that will premiere during the 2017-2018 season.  Stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, along with series creator Chris Carter, are back for the second revival of the long-running show which originally went off the air in 2002.

The 2016 revival was spotty, to say the least.  One could only hope that this go-around produces better results.

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Book 8 (of 52) – TV (The Book)

TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick The Greatest American Shows Of All Time – Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz

Lamenting the lack of serious television criticism in book form, like there has been for years for film, former newspapermen Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz team up to rank the 100 greatest American television shows of all time, giving their explanation on why each one deserves its spot in the American cultural landscape.  Aside from The Simpsons, which has been on the air for 50 years or so and took home the top spot after much deliberation, currently airing shows were not eligible for consideration.

Separated into 4 categories, The Inner Circle, No-Doubt-About-It Classics, Groundbreakers and Workhorses, and Outlier Classics, the list runs the gamut from television’s earliest days, with classics like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners, to today’s (well, yesterday’s) biggest hits.  As we are living in the golden age of Peak TV, the majority of the list is certainly from the past 20 years or so.

My television watching has had me watch all or a good portion of 24 of these classic series, either in first run or syndication.  Those shows are:

The Simpsons
Cheers
Seinfeld
MASH
Louie
The X-Files
Lost
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
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iTunes Top 200: #118

itunes_image3 years ago, we first counted down the then Top 100 songs in my iTunes library. Since that time, I’ve successfully managed to migrate my music collection to a new PC with the stats intact. So, I figured it was time to take another look, expanding out the field to the top 200 songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2016.

Today, we break into the first grouping of songs tied for 118th place with 19 plays apiece since late 2007.

#118: Toad The Wet Sprocket – Something’s Always Wrong
iTunes stats: 19 plays, most recently on 7/20/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

The second single from the band’s fourth album reached #9 on the Billboard modern rock charts.

#118: Tegan and Sara – I Bet It Stung
iTunes stats: 19 plays, most recently on 7/21/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

An album track from Tegan and Sara’s fourth studio album.

#118: Mark Snow – X-Files Theme
iTunes stats: 19 plays, most recently on 12/18/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

The theme song from the long-running sci-fi hit on FOX.

#118: Lustra – Scotty Doesn’t Know
iTunes stats: 19 plays, most recently on 8/20/2015
Previous ranking: Unranked

The main song from the film Eurotrip, explaining how poor Scotty doesn’t know his girlfriend is cheating on him.

#118: Less Than Jake – I Think I Love You
iTunes stats: 19 plays, most recently on 7/21/2015
Previous ranking: #96

This cover of the Partridge Family hit was featured on the Scream 2 soundtrack.

#118: The Knack – My Sharona
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by admin

Midseason Review – Mondays

old-tv-set1Day 2 of our look back at my thoughts on the new fall television season and what is new for the winter and spring.

7:00

The Big Bang Theory – For the second year in a row, The Big Bang Theory moves back to Mondays until late October to accommodate the NFL.  The show continues to be a ratings powerhouse, so I assume the move won’t shake things up too much.

With the NFL season having come to an end, The Big Bang Theory did indeed move back to Thursdays.  I’ll share more thoughts later this week.

Supergirl – Once The Big Bang Theory returns to its Thursday perch, the latest DC superhero show, from the fine folks who brought us Arrow and The Flash,  takes over, bringing Superman’s cousin to the small screen.  The early presentations that I saw look interesting, so I’m going to give this a shot.

The show has been trying to find its footing, balancing its use of Superman’s name while trying to stand on its own.  So far, I think there have been more hits than misses.

Gotham – After a slow start, the first season kicked into a higher gear as the police and mob of Gotham faced off against one another.  I’m hoping for more improvement in season 2.

More often than not, I feel more like I have to watch this show rather than enjoying watching this show.  Hopefully, things will pick up again this spring.

7:30

Life In Pieces – I’m not sure about this show, but the cast has a few people worth checking out, so I’ll give it a shot.

I watched the first few episodes, but then dropped off for no discernible reason.  In the meantime, the show has moved to Thursdays.

8:00

Jane The Virgin – One of the surprise hits of last season, I’m a little concerned about how they will continue the story now that the baby has arrived.  Similar to Ugly Betty, I fear that I will quickly tire of the show in its second season.

Well, so far my fears have been unfounded, as the quality has remained consistent.

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FOX Upfronts

X-Files LogoAfter a successful season, which featured new hits like Gotham, Empire, and The Last Man on Earth, FOX released a fall season that is without the usual churn that the network is known for.

Gotham will continue to kick off Monday nights, and will be followed by Minority Report, a sequel of sorts set 10 years after the 2002 Stephen Spielberg film.  Tuesdays get shaken up a bit as the comedy block moves up an hour and becomes more guy-centric, with new shows starring John Stamos, Rob Lowe, and Fred Savage.  They will be followed by the horror-comedy anthology Scream Queens, from American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy.

The Morris Chestnut project Rosewood leads off Wednesdays, followed by this springs monster hit Empire.  Bones stays put on Thursdays, followed by the relocated Sleepy Hollow.  Friday remains the domain of disposable reality programming while the Sunday lineup remains unchanged.

The X-Files returns for its 6-episode run in January, debuting following the NFC Championship game and then airing again the following night.  New Girl is also expected to return sometime next spring, allowing it to air uninterrupted.  Finally, American Idol will return in the spring for a final season.

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The Truth Is Out There… Again

X-Files Logo13 years after signing off the air for the last time, and 7 years after their last big screen outing, The X-Files will be returning to FOX for a 6 episode run.  Series creator Chris Carter and original stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are on board for the “event series”, which has yet to be scheduled but is due to shoot this summer.  No other details were made available at this time.

In a perfect world, the event series would be used as a springboard to reboot the show without Duchovny and Anderson, bringing in a new team of agents to explore the unexplainable.  Who knows if FOX, or Carter, is interested in that.

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Book 9 (of 52) – Skin

Skin - Ben Mezrich

Skin – Ben Mezrich

For those of you who don’t remember, The X-Files was a popular television show at the end of the 20th century.  This novel, released in 1999, doesn’t necessarily fit in to any particular time frame in the series run other than having both Mulder and Scully, which would place it somewhere in the first 7 seasons.  The author, Ben Mezrich, is best known for his non-fiction work, which has been adapted into the movies 21 and The Social Network.

When a mysterious disorder causes an ordinary professor to exhibit extreme feats of strength, Mulder and Scully get pulled in to a mystery that leads them from the streets of New York to the jungles of Thailand in order to find the answers they are looking for.

It looks like this was the one X-Files novel that I had not read during the shows original run, other than the movie novelizations, so this was a one time journey back into the world of the FBI’s premiere team for strange and unusual occurrences.

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Mix Tape Monday – June 2002

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended.  That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

This CD has a crazy mix of songs used as part of talk radio shows and odd live cover versions of songs along with the latest releases from Eminem, Abandoned Pools, and reality TV star Kelly Osbourne.

Soup Dragons – Running Wild (edit)

This edit of the Soup Dragons song was used as the opening theme of the old Q101 morning show hosted by Wendy Snyder and Bill Leff.

Eminem – Without Me

The latest smash hit from the non-Vanilla Ice.

iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 5/30/2012

Kelly Osbourne – Papa Don’t Preach

Fresh off the surprise reality smash of the year comes Ozzy’s youngest daughter.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 9/7/2011

Abandoned Pools – The Remedy

The debut single from a band that was never heard from again.

iTunes stats: 1 play, on 7/30/2012

Garbage – Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)

The unofficial third release from Beautiful Garbage was a number 1 hit in Australia.

iTunes stats: 11 plays, most recently on 8/2/2012

Dave Grohl – TIny Dancer (Live)

This live performance of the Elton John hit comes from the old Craig Kilborn show.

iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 3/13/2012

Ednaswap – Torn (Acoustic)

This live performance by the original performers of the Natalie Imbruglia hit comes from the Howard Stern show.

iTunes stats: Never Played

Pink – Janie’s Got A Gun (Live)

Pink’s cover of the Aerosmith hit comes from a performance on MTV.

iTunes stats: Never Played

Weezer – American Gigolo

Another in a long line of Weezer songs that I had completely forgotten about.

The Strokes – Hard To Explain

The first UK single from The Strokes was their third in the US.

iTunes stats: 12 plays, most recently on 5/25/2012

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by jim

25 Years Of Fox – Drama

The Fox network celebrated its 25th anniversary last Sunday night in a 2 hour retrospective.  Here’s a final look back at some of the dramas they have broadcast over the years, based on Wikipedia’s list:

24: One of the best shows ever to air on any network, let alone Fox.  The nation’s introduction to Jack Bauer and the Counter Terrorism Unit was ironically delayed, as the pilot was pushed back following the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Ally McBeal: David E. Kelley’s special brand of whimsy took hold at a Boston (where else?) law firm featuring young, mostly attractive lawyers who lived for their quirks.

Beverly Hills, 90210: It started off as a show tackling the relevant teen issues of the day, but took off when it embraced its inner soap.  Who can forget Dylan and Kelly on the beach while Brenda was in Paris, Brandon leading the student body protest declaring that “Donna Martin Graduates”, or Donna trying to keep her virginity for years and years, before finally giving it up to young David Silver.

Boston Public: David E. Kelley again infiltrates Boston, this time focussing on the teachers and administrators at a school.

The Chicago Code: A one season wonder focusing on a group of cops trying to take down corruption at city hall.

Class of ’96: I enjoyed the show, but it tried to be the original issues-based 90210 except in college, and who needed that when we had the current 90210 in college?

Dark Angel: Jessica Alba starred as a genetically altered being trying to take down the people that created her.

Drive: Only four issues of this show starring Nathan Fillion and a young Emma Stone ever made it to air.

Dollhouse: Somehow Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku got two seasons of Dollhouse on the air.

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