Tag / Archie Comics

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2021: The Year In Television

Now that I am home full time, I have plenty of time to catch up on the streaming shows I may have missed in years past or that were newly released. Since we cover the network and cable shows that I watch elsewhere, let’s take a look at the 34 seasons of the 24 shows I streamed on 8 different platforms this year.

13 Reasons Why Seasons 1-2 (Netflix)
When a high school girl commits suicide, she sends a series of confessional tapes to the people she deems responsible.

The Blacklist Season 8 (Netflix)
Having missed an episode or two along the way, I had to wait for the season to hit Netflix to combine with what was on my DVR to come up to date as the story of Elizabeth Keen wraps up.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 4 (Netflix)
The final installment of the darker interpretation of Archie Comics character somehow found a way to crossover with the 90s ABC version before ending its run.

Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (Peacock)
A very unfaithful adaptation of the novel which I probably should not have watched right after reading the book.

Devs (Hulu)
A woman keeps digging into the death of her boyfriend, running afoul of his employer, who is up to some sketchy stuff.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+)
Burdened by the legacy of Captain America, both the Falcon and the Winter Soldier try to find their way in a post-blip world.  When the government’s replacement Cap goes bad, the Falcon finally decides he is ready to take on the legacy Steve Rogers left for him.

The Flash Season 7 (Netflix)
I used a combination of Netflix and my DVR to catch up on the goings on from last season.

Hawkeye (Disney+)
Hawkeye takes on a new apprentice when the re-emergence of his old Ronin costume causes an uprising in New York’s underworld.

The History of Swear Words (Netflix)
Nicholas Cage hosts this look at some of our culture’s favorite words, including their etymology and most popular uses.

Loki Season 1 (Disney+)
Loki teams up with many different versions of himself to find out who is behind the TVA.

Love Life Season 1 (HBO Max)
An anthology series that follows one person’s romantic history per season.  The first season focused on Anna Kendrick’s Darby Carter as she learns to love herself and let herself be loved.

Mad About You Season 8 (Amazon Prime)
The 12-episode revival, released in 2019 on something called Spectrum Originals, finds the Buchmans rediscovering themselves after their daughter leaves for college.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation Season 1 (Netflix)
I wasn’t originally planning on watching Kevin Smith’s revival of the old He-Man cartoons, but when fandom acted all butthurt by them, I needed to see what the fuss was all about. Continue reading →

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2020: The Year In Television

Last year was a bit disjointed when it comes to television shows.  The corona virus shut down most productions along with the rest of the world back in March, leaving the 2019-2020 season to end abruptly and causing the 2020-2021 season to roll out late, if at all.  On the other hand, it also caused me to be home full time since March, giving me plenty of time to catch up on streaming shows I may have missed or that were newly released.  Since we cover the network and cable shows that I watch elsewhere, let’s take a look at the 23 seasons of shows I streamed on various platforms this year.

Away Season 1 (Netflix)
Hillary Swank plays an astronaut who leaves her family behind on Earth to captain the first manned mission to Mars.

Blindspot Seasons 4 & 5 (Hulu)
I had fallen a bit behind on this NBC show that wrapped up last summer so I combined what episodes I still had on the DVR with Hulu to burn through the final two seasons.

Bosch Season 1 (Amazon Prime)
Based on the book series by Michael Connelly, I watched the first of six seasons last fall.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina Part 3 (Netflix)
The latest installment of the darker interpretation of Archie Comics character is probably the only show I had watched pre-pandemic.

DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow Season 5 (Netflix)
I had only watched the first episode of the season pre-pandemic, which was the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover, as it aired, so I combined what was on my DVR with Netflix to burn through the season quickly.

Dead To Me Seasons 1 & 2 (Netflix)
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini get entwined in each other’s lives after killing each other’s husbands.

The Flash Season 6 (Netflix)
Like most of the DC shows, I hit pause after the Crisis crossover and before the season ended early, using my DVR and Netflix to catch up.

The Flight Attendant Season 1 (HBO Max)
Kaley Cuoco returns as a flight attendant with drinking issues who finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Lost In Space Season 1 (Netflix)
The remake of the 60s classic came out a few years back, but I never got to it until my December vacation.

Never Have I Ever Season 1 (Netflix)
A comedy about a high school aged Indian girl fighting against her traditional family while wanting to be a “normal” teen.

Ozark Season 3 (Netflix)
The latest installment of the money laundering family in Missouri and their dealings with the Mexican drug cartels. Continue reading →

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Book 4 (of 52) – Just The Funny Parts

Just The Funny Parts: …And A Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into The Hollywood Boys’ Club – Nell Scovell

Television writer and producer Nell Scovell looks back at her career in this funny and biting memoir.  She tells the story of her career, starting in magazines, moving to television and movies, and teaming with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg on her book Lean In.  Usually one of the only women in the writing room, Scovell was only the second female writer hired by Late Night with David Letterman and, following Letterman’s 2009 admission of improper “relationships” with female staffers, she wrote an essay in Vanity Fair calling his show a “hostile work environment” for women.  Besides Late Night, Scovell has written for The Simpsons, The Wilton North Report, Coach, Monk, Murphy Brown, Charmed, Newhart, The Critic, NCIS, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast, amongst others.  She also created Sabrina The Teenage Witch, adapting the Archie Comics character for ABC.

Odds are good that you have seen a program written by Scovell at some point over the last 3 decades.  She tales a serious subject, the roadblocks to a writing/directing/producing career in Hollywood for women, and wrapped it in funny anecdotes of her time bringing beloved characters to life.  Hopefully this work opens more opportunities for her, and others like her.

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2017 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

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

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.

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.

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

9:00

Continue reading →

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Midseason Review – Thursdays

old-tv-set1Time for our look back at Thursday nights, which has traditionally been the busiest night of the week for my television viewing habits.

7:00

Grey’s Anatomy – The medical drama enters its 13th season, with the last 8 episodes of season 12 still sitting on the DVR waiting to be watched.  Since I don’t know how last season ended, I’ve avoided looking at what lies ahead this year.

Surprisingly still watchable here in season 13.

The Big Bang Theory – The show returns to Thursdays in late October, following the midpoint of the NFL season.

The show has focused on personal growth this year, with Sheldon and Amy moving in together and Bernadette and Howard having a baby, opening up new avenues for comedy.

DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow – The grouping of DC’s also-rans returns for its second season, with a promised appearance from the Legion of Doom.

The show is moving to Tuesdays with their revamped team lineup.

7:30

The Great Indoors – Former Community star Joel McHale returns to network TV with this comedy about the new generation gap in the workplace.

Well, I had planned on trying this, thanks to Joel McHale.  Sadly, I never got around to it.

8:00

Pitch – Strangely, I don’t usually enjoy movies or TV shows about baseball despite loving the sport in real life, which means I don’t know if I’ll get in to this tale of the first female professional baseball player.  Having Gregg Olson and Chad Kreuter on board as technical advisers certainly can’t hurt.

The first season has come and gone and it went surprisingly well.  I’m hoping for a second season.

9:00

The Good Place – Kristen Bell stars as a new arrival to the afterlife in this new comedy from the creator of Parks and Rec.

A big swerve at the end of season 1 leaves me wanting a second season.

Continue reading →

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The CW Upfronts

Supergirl-CBSThe CW has gone all-in on the comic book adaptation front, with 6 series planned for next season based on properties that originated in the comics world.  They get things started on Monday, where Supergirl lands the same timeslot it enjoyed last year on CBS, followed by returning hit Jane The Virgin.  The Flash remains on Tuesday, leading in to No Tomorrow, a romantic comedy with an apocalyptic twist.

Arrow stays in its usual Wednesday slot, followed by Frequency, an adaptation of the old Dennis Quaid film starring Peyton List.  Legends of Tomorrow remains on Thursdays, followed by the 235th season of Supernatural, where the Winchester brothers investigate the deal with the devil struck to keep this show on the air.  Returning shows Vampire Diaries and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend move to the dead zone that is Friday nights.

iZombie moves to mid-season, along with Riverdale, an adaptation of the Archie comics.

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Book 4 (of 52) – Melissa Explains It All

Melissa Explains It All: Tales From My Abnormally Normal Life - Melissa Joan Hart with Kristina Grish

Melissa Explains It All: Tales From My Abnormally Normal Life – Melissa Joan Hart with Kristina Grish

Starting right with the subtitle of her memoir, Melissa Joan Hart, star of Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina The Teenage Witch, wants you to know that she is normal.  To prove it, she offers up what might just be the worst of these celebrity “tell-alls” ever produced.  Certainly the worst that I have read.  Which is a shame.

Clarissa debuted on Nickelodeon during my junior year of high school.  Clearly, I was not the target audience, but, during the summer, we would occassionally come across it, along with other classics like Hey Dude and Salute Your Shorts.  5 years later, Sabrina debuted, which I watched for most of its run on ABC.  I guess you could say I was (am?) a Melissa Joan Hart fan, so you would think her book would be right up my alley.  Sadly, she hardly touches on her experiences on these shows, glossing over most of her time on the shows and instead on who she roomed with or how she was out with her hairstylist.

The one big “scandal” that Hart was involved with was her racy Maxim cover, which wasn’t out of the ordinary for the magazine, but landed her in hot water with Archie Comics, the owner of the Sabrina property.  This whole thing is covered in about 3-4 paragraphs, while an entire chapter is devoted to her husband’s love of Alabama football.

In her attempt to tell us little people how normal she actually is, Hart succeeds in showing how out of touch she truly is.  She lists the 4 things that she is unable to do to this day, things normal girls learned as teenagers, like putting on makeup or making fashion choices, but she always had professionals to do them for her.  She could have listed a 5th, tell a compelling story in a way that makes a reader relate to her.