Fridays in Primetime Version 7

Fridays are the least competitive nights on television although there are some good shows out there. Viewers aren’t regular, but those that are and even those that aren’t give the show these ratings. The CW shows Dynasty and Charmed. CBS is showing Blue Bloods, Come Dance with me, and Magnum P.I. ABC is showing 20/20 and Shark Tank. NBC shows Dateline and The Blacklist. FOX is now just airing Friday Night Smackdown, also known as WWE Smackdown. Beware that most of the shows come here to die and they are only here right now to enjoy them before they are gone, although some shows have thrived here since they have never really seen another night throughout most of their run or even after having previously not been on Fridays.

 

Shark Tank: Status- Currently on ABC at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I was flipping channels and stayed here because it seemed interesting. Description- A reality show where a group of rich sharks, as they’re called, decide whether or not to buy into a business of an entrepreneur. Pros- The segments are usually short and the decisions are interesting. It can be very intense. These are actually proceedings among people which makes it more real. Cons- You may not like their decisions. It is hard to find a rerun. You might not watch unless you’re a regular viewer. Note to Parents- Mostly everything in this is acceptable for kids. Maybe some products pitched aren’t for kids, but most of the episodes are okay for younger audiences. Recommendation- Take it or leave it. I like it and you might but whether you should watch or not is up to you. My viewing habits- Prediction- It will stay on as it gets good ratings on Fridays. I’m not sure what could end it, although it getting different people doing the deals might cause some problems. Reception: positive. Grade: B+.

 

Come Dance with me: Status- Currently on CBS at 8/7 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I wanted to see a new Friday show to update my reviews on Fridays for the first time since the pandemic had started. Description- Professional child dancers compete with one of their parents who is not a natural dancer. Notable People- Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J, known for their work on NCIS: Los Angeles, are producers and helped created the show. Pros- This works to some degree. It is fine in some ways. Cons- It seems a lot like Dancing with the Stars, only without the stars. It is overall expected in some ways. Note to Parents- This should be fine as it attempts to be family friendly and seems that way from what I’ve seen of it thus far. Recommendation- Take it or leave it. I’m largely busy with what I watch, but it is not bad at all. My Viewing Habits- I’ve seen this once, but am unsure if I will watch again even if to not give it the stigma of only having seen it once. Prediction- This isn’t the style of show that CBS airs so enjoy what is likely the only season of it that will ever air. Reception: somewhat positive. Grade: C-. New review

 

The Blacklist: Status- Currently on NBC at 8/7 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I don’t know why I started watching it, but it was probably because the promos made it look good or something like that. Description- It seems to be about some law enforcement agency going after very dangerous criminals that are on something called the blacklist with the help of a criminal. There’s more to it than that and not every episode features someone on the blacklist. Notable People- James Spader, from movies and other things I’m not familiar with, is a main character on the show. Harry Lennix, who was on Dollhouse and Emily Owens MD, is on this show as well. Pros- This show can be interesting at times. Cons- It can be hard to understand. The show is very violent and bloody. Note to Parents- Don’t let young people watch this. Recommendation- I’d pass on this. My Viewing Habits- I came in early into the first season (after it started) and had been watching this until it lost my interest after I went on a hiatus from it and tried to come back to it. It wasn’t any good to me anymore and has changed too much. Prediction- I think that it is close to ending now. Reception: critically acclaimed. Grade: D.

 

Charmed: Status- Currently on the CW at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I tend to watch all CW shows that I can and was interested in it since I liked the original show. Noteworthiness- This is a remake of a classic WB show. Description- Three sisters find out that they are witches with powers and have to save the world from evil. Pros- It is quite interesting and good. It changes nothing about the original while creating its own story. Cons- It has a cast that is younger than it needs to be and much of it can be too mysterious. Parts of it can be predictable with its parallels to the original show. Note to Parents- There is enough creepiness in here that might scare younger children. There are lesbian characters. There is more violence then sex, but there are still issues with both, although the violence isn’t nearly as bad as other shows. Recommendation- I think that it is good, even if you liked the original. My Viewing Habits- I have seen the first episode and have kept watching. I plan to see all of it so I review all of them for my YouTube channel. Prediction- It will probably last as is renewed for season 4. Reception: somewhat positive. Grade: B.

 

Link to my video reviews of Charmed: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO8vECGH5CX-BmCMoA7kF11I1gsQOuX2X

 

Dynasty: Status- Currently on the CW at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I try to watch every CW show once, if I can. Noteworthiness- This is a remake. Description- A family has to deal with changing dynamics and working with their respective companies. Notable People- Alan Dale, who had a role on NCIS for a bit, is a character on this show. Pros- The plot works for the most part. It is interesting enough to keep some people into it. Cons- The characters are bad people so it has that against it. There could be more to this. It seems too strange. Note to Parents- There are some of the usual problems like sex and violence. There are gay characters. Recommendation- While I might watch this at times, I’d put this as a toss-up in terms of if people should watch this. My Viewing Habits- I’ve seen little of this thus far due to scheduling issues in my life or against other shows. I watched a lot of the second season, but don’t know yet if I’ll see much of this current one yet. Prediction- This has a pretty sweet deal with Netflix, so it will probably last elsewhere if it doesn’t last here. Reception: mixed or average. Grade: B-.

 

Magnum P.I.: Status- Currently on CBS at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I tend to watch all CBS shows at least once when and if I can. Noteworthiness- This is a remake of a classic show with the same name. This is set in the same universe as Hawaii Five-0 and NCIS. It is filmed in Hawaii where it is set. Description- A private investigator and his friends help solve crimes. Notable People- This has Tim Kang, who used to star in The Mentalist. Pros- It pretty much works for the most part. It has fun characters and isn’t always the same type of crime. Cons- It can seem too generic and run of the mill. Note to Parents- I don’t think that this is as bad as others in terms of who can watch it, but I’d still be safe and let only teens and maybe preteens watch. Recommendation- I think that this is good and recommend it. My Viewing Habits- I don’t think that I’ve seen every episode, but have seen it since the first one. Prediction- This is likely to last for now. Reception: mixed. Grade: B.

 

Dateline: Status- Currently on NBC at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- Nothing else on and it seemed interesting. Noteworthiness- It is the longest running primetime news show on NBC and sometimes airs multiple times in one week. Description- Pretty much an NBC version of 20/20. I don’t know which came out first. Pros- It can be interesting. Cons- It can only be interesting if you like it. I haven’t seen enough of it to find out how different it is from other networks versions of this show. They mostly only do murder mysteries from real life. The promos for it make it seem like if you watch TV on your own, you are better off without it. Note to Parents- This show is gruesome a lot with what they show on it. They even promote it in a way that implies that the squeamish shouldn’t watch it, at least by themselves. So you probably shouldn’t let your kids watch this. Recommendation- Take it or leave it. My viewing habits- I watch at times but normally don’t care enough as I don’t like true crime shows that much, although this does catch my interest at times, but not always. Prediction- It will last forever. Reception: mostly positive. Grade: B.

 

20/20: Status- Currently on ABC at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- It looked interesting when I first saw it. Noteworthiness- It is the longest running primetime news show on ABC and the longest running ABC show in primetime at least. It premiered when Jimmy Carter was president. Description- This is an in-depth news show regarding issues relating to current events or just anything like a murder mystery. Pros- Can be quite interesting if you don’t watch anything else at that time. Cons- There’s a show like this on every network. Re-runs rarely exist. Some episodes are better than others. It can be hard to watch all the time. Note to Parents- If you typically let your kids watch the news, then this is something you can let them watch. Although, I’d honestly stay clear of letting most kids watch this as it is far too grim for them. Recommendation- I like it, but don’t watch it unless I know that I want to. Maybe you’ll like it or consider it a complete waste of time. My Viewing Habits- I don’t watch all the time, but I do when it works out although I tend to avoid the murder mystery episodes. Prediction- It will last unless something weird happens. Reception: currently positive, although the first episode was panned which lead to a retooling of the good show we know today. Grade: A.

 

Blue Bloods: Status- Currently on CBS at 10/9 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- It is on CBS. Nothing else good was on. Description- This is a cop show where the cops are related. It is set in New York City. Notable People- Tom Selleck from Magnum PI and movies is a character. Donnie Walburg, who is in the band New Kids on the Block, is a character as well. Pros- Something good exists on Friday nights for you to watch. A partial family aspect is added to the show which makes it more relatable. They rarely deal with murder and seem to deal with every sort of crime and problems that you might hear about in real life. Cons- The ways the officers catch and interrogate some of the suspects/criminals is unethical some of the time. It can be like a lot of other dramas. They have made some questionable off-camera choices regarding at least one actress who works on the show. Some episodes are better than others. There have been some episodes which use unfair stereotypes for villains. Note to Parents- This is better in terms of what is acceptable to show your kids than a lot of shows are. Recommendation- Take it or leave it. I like it. You might too. My Viewing Habits- I have seen most episodes and watched this from the very first episode. Prediction- It will stay around for a while unless they decide to end it. It could wind up on the chopping block with little to no warning. Reception: mostly positive. Grade: B-.

Saturdays in Primetime Version 6

I never thought that I’d get as caught up on Saturday shows considering how typically there is nothing new to add for these reviews. But that is changing and I will be adding one for Fridays so that most of the new shows in the next season can hopefully start fresh and I can get caught up on other reviews of it. I had to wait for a new Friday show for quite a while. But that should be next week’s post. For now, enjoy this post on Saturday shows.

Whose Line is it Anyways?: Status- Currently on the CW on Saturdays at 8/7 Central. Why I’ve seen it- I liked the original show and am a general fan of improvised comedy. Noteworthiness- It is the remake of an ABC show and retains much of the original cast. Description- A group of comedians make up stuff and make us laugh while competing for meaningless points. Notable People- There are guests from certain shows that are noteworthy, whether they are the fourth member of the group (which changes) or a different special member. Aisha Tyler, who used to co-host the Talk, is the current host of this show. Pros- This is more or less the same great show that we all knew and loved when it first aired. Most of the original cast is back. Even though everything is made up, it still manages to be really funny. Cons- There are normally guests on the show that tend to slow things down and take away from the talent of the true part of the show. There tends to be some sexual related things that come up often enough. Note to Parents- Some of the humor is not things you’d want your kids watching, but most of it is okay and shouldn’t cause any problems if they watch it. Recommendation- You should probably watch it. I don’t know why one wouldn’t like this. My Viewing Habits- I try to watch this as often as possible, although I know that I miss it a lot. I watched the original version when it was on too and plan to keep watching it until it ends. I haven’t seen it when other shows I like compete against it. Prediction- This should last a very long time, provided that the cast can stay together throughout the run of this show. I’m pretty sure that the cast not being able to stay together is what killed it the first time, although low ratings didn’t help. Reception: positive. Grade: A+.

Would I Lie to You?: Status- Currently on the CW at 8:30/7:30 Central on Saturdays. It also reruns the same episode exactly 25 hours later. Why I’ve seen it- I reviewed it for another blog of mine and also watch a new CW show at least once. Noteworthiness- This is an adaptation of a British show of the same name. Description- Two teams of three discuss various stories and they have to figure out whether or not it is a lie or the truth. Notable People- It is produced by Robert and Michelle King who have been showrunners of The Good Wife, The Good Fight, BrainDead, and Evil, among other things. Pros- This seems good enough to keep up with at times. It is an acceptable form of entertainment. It is funny at times. Cons- I know that there are problems such as this not being as funny as it could be. The most notable problem is that the panel can be won before the first commercial break, making the rest of the show rather worthless. Note to Parents- There might be some issues here and there, but this is a pretty acceptable show for kids to watch. Recommendation- Take it or leave it. It might work better if you don’t have any plans at that time on that day of the week. But you aren’t missing much if you don’t see it at all. My Viewing Habits- I may watch it some here and there, but won’t care too much if I don’t see it much, if at all. Prediction- This might last. On a network like this, it could easily keep airing over and over again. I, personally, don’t think that it will last, but it just as easily could so I won’t know for sure. I think that it is more likely to fail than to last. Reception: mixed. Grade: C. New review

Masters of Illusion: Status- It airs on the CW at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- It first aired right after a show that I normally watch. Noteworthiness- Looking up the history of this show, I found out that it has aired off and on various networks in recent history. That means that if it ends, it could be brought back. Description- Simply put, this show has various magicians doing performances for people. Pros- A lot of stuff happens in one episode. Tricks and magicians always change so you know you can expect something different in each episode. The show happens quickly and this isn’t something that you always have to watch as the episodes are always standalones. Cons- Well, some of the pros can also be cons. They seem to focus on putting too much in a single half-hour. A lot of the tricks are things you’ve seen before. It is hard to tell a new episode from a rerun as a lot is repetitive. Note to Parents- There isn’t too much in here that would be worrisome for kids to see. All one would have to worry about is mild innuendo every now and then. Recommendation- I would say that you should watch it if magic is the type of thing that interests you. My viewing habits- It can be hard to stay into this show although I do watch it at times, but not always. Prediction- I think that this show will last a good while and if it ever ends, it can come back again as it has in the past. Reception: somewhat negative, although, it was hard for me to find a good place that mentioned the reception that the show got. Grade: B.

48 Hours: Status- Currently on CBS at 10/9 Central on Saturdays. There are times when it fills gaps in the schedule caused by cancellations on CBS, although that hasn’t happened in a while. Why I’ve seen it- I guess it was just me wanting to watch something that was on, although on occasion, I was interested in what the episode was dealing with. Description- A true crime series that is basically a documentary type show exploring a criminal case. Pros- The episodes are typically quite interesting. Cons- It airs at a bad time. It can also be gruesome and drawn-out. Note to Parents- Don’t let your kids watch this. It is far too dark for them. Recommendation- I guess that this is worth watching from time to time, although I don’t typically go out of my way to watch it typically. My Viewing Habits- I have seen this at times, but don’t tune in most times as it isn’t my cup of tea. Prediction- Somehow it has remained a long time on the air despite it typically airing on Saturdays all the time. I imagine that it will continue to last a while. Reception: positive. Grade: C-.

Midseason Shows 2022 Part 2

There were some delays due to holidays and family visits in regards to this post getting done at a better time than this. But it’s completely fine and good that this is getting done when it is. Any new show that will be airing will count as a summer show so don’t expect one until then. I have a few more reviews after this before the main season ends soon so this had to be done soon. Here it is.

Would I Lie to You?: Show Description- Two teams of three discuss various stories and they have to figure out whether or not it is a lie or the truth. Behind the Scenes- This is an adaptation of a British show of the same name. Supposedly, they are going to air the UK version as well, but I’m not sure of that at the moment. It is produced by Robert and Michelle King who have been showrunners of The Good Wife, The Good Fight, BrainDead, and Evil, among other things. My Thoughts- This seems good enough to keep up with at times. I know that there are problems such as this not being as funny as it could be. The most notable problem is that the panel can be won before the first commercial break, making the rest of the show rather worthless. But it is an acceptable form of entertainment. I give this three out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- This might last. On a network like this, it could easily keep airing over and over again. I, personally, don’t think that it will last, but it just as easily could so I won’t know for sure. Where to Find- This airs on the CW at 8:30/7:30 Central on Saturdays. It also inexplicitly reruns the same episode from the previous day on Sundays as well.

Domino Masters: Show Description- This is a reality show about people creating domino rallies with various themes to them. Behind the Scenes- This has Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family who also had hosted The Toy Box. My Thoughts- This could have been better than it was in many ways. There was too much fighting in the first episode that practically gave away who would be eliminated that week. There are some interesting aspects to this, provided that the rally works as intended, but even then, there is far too much setup for something that doesn’t last as long as it could in the end. I give this two out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- This could last, but I have no idea if this will or not. It seems to have more of a weirder format of how teams advance or don’t. I think that it all depends on what some people want or won’t want. Where to Find- On FOX at 9/8 Central on Wednesdays

Welcome to Flatch: Show Description- This is a mockumentary about people from a small town. Behind the Scenes- This is adapted from a foreign show, I’m pretty sure. My Thoughts- This was dumb and really pointless, not at all funny. I give this one out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- This won’t last. Where to Find- On FOX at 9:30/8:30 Central on Thursdays

How We Roll: Show Description- Inspired by a true story, a man follows his dream of becoming a professional bowler. Behind the Scenes- Chi McBride, from Pushing Daises and Hawaii Five-0, is a person on the show. My Thoughts- It wasn’t bad so much as it was boring. I give this two out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- This probably started too late for it to last. Where to Find- On CBS at 9:30/8:30 Central on Thursdays

Come Dance with me: Show Description- Professional child dancers compete with one of their parents who is not a natural dancer. Behind the Scenes- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I write that at times when I want to say something, but not much of anything. My Thoughts- This could work to some degree. It seems a lot like Dancing with the Stars, only without the stars. I think that it is fine in some ways, but overall expected in others. I give it three out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- I have no idea if this will last or not. I would have to guess that given how this isn’t the style of show that CBS tends to air, it won’t last. Where to Find- On CBS at 8/7 Central on Fridays

The Intro Has Nothing to do with the Rest of it

Faith regained consciousness, having to quickly remember what had just happened. She was ready to arrest a suspect, but there must have been another person in the room who knocked her out. She now knew of all of the evidence that linked this man to a drug cartel. The evidence was in the building that she was in at the time. But this building was going to be demolished very soon with people in it besides them clearing it of people and other important things.

This leads to her current problem. While her suspect was supposed to have been taken into custody, it was her who wound up handcuffed. She realized that her arms were now stuck behind her back, attached to each other at the wrists. She also realized that she was blindfolded and couldn’t take off her blindfold due to the handcuffs. She carefully stood up, knowing that she was probably in the same place where she was knocked out. She didn’t have time on her side. All of the evidence was either known by her or in this building she was now trapped in. If the building were to be destroyed with her still in it, she would die as would all of the evidence of the crime.

Thinking quickly, Faith had to figure out how to get out of here. She didn’t know if anyone other than the people who left her here knew that she was still here or here at all. She wasn’t sure if her team had any idea where she might be other than looking into the case at hand. She hadn’t contacted any of them since last night and they might now know that she was now in danger. She had to get out of this building somehow. And she had to do it without the ability to see and with limited use of her arms.

Have you ever watched an episode of a TV show where there is an introduction in there that does not have anything to do with the rest of the episode? It is often a cheap trick. They are putting something in there that will only be covered in future episodes that you’ll have to come back to see later. Why would they do that? It is quite annoying and shouldn’t be done.

It was after the pandemic that there were a few shows here and there doing this as part of the show. Starting with what became the season premiere, they added a tease that they wouldn’t get back to for quite some time. Dynasty had a flashforward of some unknown character’s funeral taking place. This was years after Arrow did this in season 4, setting up a future character’s death in the season premiere. NCIS also did this by including a moment that had people feeling, what? They showed Gibbs shooting another fellow agent for reasons yet unknown and didn’t get back to this for a while, but still much shorter than Dynasty’s gap wound up being.

But while those are shows that I like, shows that are brand new don’t win me with this gimmick. The show Trickster had a weird scene that they began with that they never returned to in the pilot. They might have in future episodes, but the promise of extra salty fries could not keep me interested in this show at all. The show Filthy Rich also started with an angry woman setting a fire to a house of a man that she didn’t like before going back to the present. Skimming the episode’s plots shows me that they did not return to this exact moment again until the episode that became its series finale. I also did not care about that show to ever see it again.

There was a show that FOX aired where this gimmick actually had the potential to work. Although, I can’t remember the name of the show even. It started with the main character, a man, in traffic but in like a bind of something that he was trying to get out of while someone took him out of it and then they didn’t go back to this in the pilot. I wanted to get back to this summer show, but for various reasons that I don’t remember, I never could see any episode that revealed why this man was like this and what had happened to him to get him either in or out of this situation.

The worst example I can think of this is the TV show Sherlock that aired on BBC. This wasn’t the first episode of the series, but it was something I found quite appalling. You see, there was this dramatic hook at the beginning featuring Sherlock being confronted by Moriarty and an unseen gunman. And after this intro, we never again see Moriarty for the rest of the episode and the plot of the episode is completely unrelated to the very beginning. I felt betrayed by this. It has this potential to be full of all of this great stuff and was a 90 minute episode of a show that they never went back to in that episode. Why would they do that to people?

This, of course, leads back to the beginning of this post. Can you imagine how big of an asshole I would be if I never went back to it or paid off to it in this whole post? If you had to wait until some unknown future post to find out what happened to Faith?

I’m not going to be so cruel to you. In fact, if it wasn’t already clear, I don’t know all of the aspects of my own made up story relating to this right now. I do know that it wouldn’t be how I’d want to actually begin whatever TV show episode in question would start this way. I was thinking that her being knocked out would be the cliffhanger of a previous episode with the actual beginning being the criminals then talking about her and putting her in that situation with the reason why they went with that instead of simply shooting her dead in there as well. Most of the episode would be in real time with the team noticing that Faith is missing and trying to find her while the villains are trying to lead them on a wild goose chase to ensure that Faith is in the building when it gets destroyed. Of course, Faith is in there trying to get out.

And I will spoil the fact that she would survive this. She manages to bust out of the building despite it being locked on the outside all while remaining blindfolded and handcuffed. Her team is able to find her as she gets out of the building. In a moment of poetic justice, she is able to get one of the villains after all, using the very handcuffs she was in her when she arrests him while saying, “Let’s see how you like wearing them.”

There are other works of fiction that I was working on such as one where the opening was actually a set up to something that didn’t happen until the planned series finale. I wouldn’t actually do this in this show that needs a whole lot more work on so that things in it make more sense. But you don’t need to know more about that now. All that you need to know is that I don’t want to do that gimmick ever. The intro should have to do with the rest of the episode or it shouldn’t be there like that. Otherwise, you are doing a cruel thing that shouldn’t be done.

The CW Schedule: Currently TV's Greatest Juggling Act

The only thing that I can think of that is harder to juggle than the CW schedule is my blogging. But that’s not what I’m talking about this time. In fact, I’m trying not to blog about blogging as I don’t have a blog for it and only put it in this blog at times because I want to write something but am unsure where to put it at all. But I’m supposed to be talking about what the title of this post is about.

You see, ever since around the spring of 2020 when the world of TV production went to hell because of the pandemic, some networks knew what to do. FOX largely took a temporary break from the normal season pushing the bulk of their main programming to midseason. They had the sense not to do full seasons so that they could return to normal episodes from the next season onward. The networks called the big three, namely CBS, ABC, and NBC, were largely hopeful of a regular season, but had to delay it just a bit to November with other promised shows here and there delayed until midseason or even later as in future seasons if it couldn’t be done as normally right away. They weren’t abnormal for long.

And then we get to the CW network. They have to juggle between shows that have special effects and all of them that don’t. They have to deal with some shows not being filmed in California versus a lot of them in Canada versus some in Georgia and plenty of others places as well. The main issues that could have been affecting some shows over others might not even be known. Why did it take so long for a show like Dynasty to return? It is hard to know offhand without looking up more about the production of some shows versus others.

One of the main issues with the CW in terms of why they have to deal with such a bloated schedule is that they weren’t willing to cut a lot of the episode orders. If I ran a network, I probably would have done more like the FOX approach. I would have wanted each show to have 13 episodes plus whatever number wasn’t done the previous season that was supposed to be. I highly doubt that I’d ever be in that part of the production schedule if my dream of being involved with TV shows ever comes true. I do know that I plan to have a taste of some of my fiction writing (versus the usual blogging that I do) in one of this blog’s posts in the end.

Still, how has the CW been juggling shows since the spring of 2020? Well, they were able to air a lot of shows, most of them acquired, to finish out the spring and summer that we might not have otherwise got to see at all. They had their fall schedule largely good in terms of new shows with the last of the one main holdover from last season finishing out its run.

It took a while for some of the regular shows to return and they had the issues of Supergirl having to deal with its star Melissa Benoist being on maternity leave, a schedule complicated a lot by the whole pandemic which could have also seen a different final season if they had gotten what they wanted originally. It had some episodes in the spring but largely didn’t finish until the fall.

This lead this season to have the latest airing fall shows that I remember seeing ever. That’s why both of the season shows that finished out the Tuesday night before the Christmas break wound up having five episode events before taking another break to both return later. The Flash had its arc. And Riverdale veered off into the absurd with its own arc.

While the schedule remains complicated still with us, the viewers, not knowing whether or not it will ever go back to normal, we have to remember that even when it was normal, the network still had a whole lot of the unusually late airing shows in the schedule that went off into all sorts of unnormal airtimes of various sorts. This could become the new normal for some shows. It is hard to know and keep track of for sure.

That’s about all I can think of for this post. I wondered about a bit some, more than I would have liked, and I included more than I originally thought that I would say as this is supposed to be an easy post to get done and over with for me to finish out the Easter weekend. Well, I’m done with this post now and hope that it makes sense and explains what I meant to cover.

Eobard Thawne is a Continuity Nightmare

In Arrowverse, there is one of the characters that seems to be problematic and not just as his role as a villain. He started out as the original big bad in season 1 of The Flash where he started out as a mentor under the guise of a character who would appear more times than any other versions of a character throughout the entire series. But this isn’t about Harrison Wells.

After being erased from reality when his ancestor killed himself, you’d think that would be the end of his adventures. But when The Flash created a new timeline and then another one trying to fix it, one of the notable things that resulted from this was Eobard Thawne lived, but as a paradox being chased by a creation of the time wraths, beings meant to protect time travel issues, he was ultimately caught by the black flash and then turned into a fixer, meant to prevent time travelers from changing a fixed point in time, this one being the assassination that brought forth the start of World War I.

This is where he wound up once again encountering the Legends of Tomorrow, people he had to fight when he trying simply to live before they helped bring forth his demise. He actually wanted to help them out just once, but wound up dying with another person being made a new fixer for that same moment that he once protected.

If this were the extent of his story on Arrowverse, it wouldn’t be so problematic or contain such a huge nightmare in continuity. But his continued stories on The Flash create one huge issue after another which would have the writers of fandom wondering: where does this all make sense?

You see, he has appeared as a villain in the future setting in motion other aspects of season 5 and the fight against the villain Cicada. But how was he a prisoner of the future? Where does it make sense in the timeline? And that wasn’t his first time returning to the franchise. He also appeared helping the villains of Earth X in a major crossover that was largely among the greatest parts of television, but still had the issue where it made no sense that he had returned to it at all. Then, after an even more major crossover that had happened, he was another villain who became formless but then created yet another series of events that left him powerless. And all of this was going on with the Legends subplot.

Ultimately, we have no way of knowing for sure when all of what Eobard Thawne has done and when he has done throughout the whole franchise. It doesn’t even seem like the writers of each show in the franchise are making sure that they know what was going on. The most likely explanation is that there were time remnants of Eobard Thawne that he created after the events of Flashpoint, but even then, it doesn’t make sense entirely.

Doctor Who has its own problem with something like this regarding an evil, future version of the Doctor called The Valeyard who was created sometime and returned when the sixth doctor was around. They might not have him appear in the modern show ever. But Eobard Thawne is a worse problem.

I have no idea how or even if all of this could be explained in the franchise’s history or throughout the history of just The Flash alone. I know of the phrase comic book death where there is some sort of bullshit explanation as to why a character that was killed off is alive again. I feel like even if they explain some huge reason that explains resurrections or something like this, it still wouldn’t work all the way or make sense. As much as I like Arrowverse and even Eobard Thawne as a villain due to his complex nature and horrifying affect on the shows he’s on, it may never make much sense as to why he is on the show when or what all he has done since his existence is a nightmare of continuity.

Does Hollywood have a Trans Problem?

There has been something that I’ve been wondering for a while now. I’ve noticed something that can seem a bit weird regarding how transgender people are portrayed on TV in regards with trans actors and actresses. Why do trans actors only seem to play trans characters?

Why do I think this is a problem? Well, there seems to be no issues that people have with cisgender people playing trans characters. Shouldn’t trans people be allowed to play cisgender characters? Would they not look the part? But doesn’t that sound offensive? It seems weird that every notable trans actor that I’m familiar with only plays trans characters and never any cisgender ones. Surely, they should be able to play cisgender people if they want to.

Do they not want to play cisgender characters? Do they want to increase trans representation by always playing characters that are trans like them? I have no idea what their thoughts are on this. This could mean that they aren’t offended by only seeming to be given the roles of trans characters. This could be the only role that they ever want.

Honestly, I’m not sure if there really is a trans problem in Hollywood. I think that they should be able to play cisgender characters and have no idea why this doesn’t seem to happen at all. And maybe if we never saw cisgender actors and actresses playing trans characters, then this wouldn’t seem weird at all to me. I am not sure myself if there is a problem. Maybe I’m seeing things that aren’t there.