Tuesdays in Primetime Version 9

Tuesdays are a competitive night on television. It is also when some of television’s most popular shows are on. The only problem is that the shows are so good, you won’t be able to watch them all. What all is good? Well, let’s delve into it.

 

Night Court: Status- Currently on NBC at 8/7 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- I tend to watch a new NBC show at least once. Noteworthiness- This is a sort of continuation of a show of the same name. Description- A newboot of the original show of the same name, we see people deal with night court. Notable People- John Larroquette reprises his role from the original. Melissa Rauch from The Big Bang Theory plays the star of the show. Pros- It seems to be pretty well. Cons- Parts of it don’t seem that well acted. Note to Parents- It has the usual issues, but isn’t nearly as bad as what you can see so this is much better than what it could otherwise be. Recommendation- It seems like a thing worth watching and it also works pretty well for fans of the original. My Viewing Habits- I won’t be able to watch much, if any of this, starting out. I will see what might change in the future of this show. Prediction- It will last if the current ratings keep up. Reception: positive. Grade: B. New review

 

9-1-1: Lone Star: Status- Currently on FOX at 8/7 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- I watched the original so I figured that I might as well check this out too. Noteworthiness- This is a spin-off of the original 9-1-1, set in Texas. Description- A man dealing with personal problems brings his son to Texas and starts a new team there of firefighters there from other places since the old team had died in a previous crisis. Notable People- Rob Lowe, who was and is in a lot of other shows, such as The West Wing, Brothers & Sisters, Parks and Recreation, The Grinder, and Code Black, is the main character. Gina Torres, from Firefly, among other projects, is another character. Pros- The show is interesting and the characters are wonderful. Cons- Some of the characters don’t have as much material to them as others. Parts of it are way over the top. Note to Parents- There’s a lot of questionable content in here for kids and it airs with a content adversary warning most, if not all, of the time. Recommendation- This is quite a good show and worth keeping up with. My Viewing Habits- I have seen this from the beginning, but am not sure that I saw all of this thus far. Prediction- This will probably last for a while. Its only issue right now is if the other show will eclipse it. Reception: mostly positive. Grade: B.

 

The Rookie: Status- Currently on ABC at 8/7 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- I was interested in it enough to watch it. Noteworthiness- Supposedly, this is inspired by a true story. Description- After major life changing events, an older man winds up becoming a cop for the first time. There are other rookies on the show as well. Notable People- This stars Nathan Fillion who used to star in Firefly, Drive, and Castle. Pros- It seems interesting and different in a way from most other shows like it. Cons- I am worried about the typical relationship issues that you might see from time to time. Note to Parents- There are issues with it due to violence, sex, and other problems. Recommendation- I think that it is worth watching. My Viewing Habits- I was a fan of this since the first episode. I missed the first half of the second season in order to focus on Madam Secretary, am back to this long term in the future as long as it continues to last. Prediction- I think that this could go either way right now, although it is more likely to last than not. It is in syndication so it has that in its favor since they will likely need more of it to last throughout it. Reception: generally favorable. Grade: B.

 

FBI: Status- Currently on CBS at 8/7 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- It aired on CBS. Description- Needless to say, this is about the FBI and it features various threats that the team has to face. Notable People- This stars Missy Peregrym, who used to star in Rookie Blue. Dick Wolf, who created the Law and Order franchise and the Chicago franchise, also did this as well. Pros- It seems better than most shows are nowadays. Cons- Its main problem is being too generic. Note to Parents- This has the same sort of problems that you would often see on shows nowadays, but it is not nearly as bad as what you might see on other shows. Recommendation- I would say that one should watch this if one is able to. My Viewing Habits- I have watched this since the first episode, but have not seen every episode. Prediction- This will last until syndication. Reception: mixed. Grade: B.

 

Accused: Status- Currently on FOX at 9/8 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- I tend to watch a new FOX show at least once. Description- If I understand the premise of this correctly, we see the story of someone on trial, the events leading up to it, and what the end result is. Notable People- It might at some point star Keith Carradine from Madam Secretary. He might only appear in one episode. Pros- It is different from the usual courtroom drama. Cons- This show is all kinds of terrible in many ways. It doesn’t spend enough time in the courtroom, which is not a problem on its own, but seeks to take away why we are there in the end. It also seems to support the idea of vigilante justice instead of, you know, calling the police to make sure that a crime does not happen. Note to Parents- Don’t let your kids watch this show. Recommendation- Don’t waste your time with this. My Viewing Habits- I watched the first episode of this show and will never see it ever again. Prediction- I have no idea if this will last right now or not, but I would say that it might for now. We’ll see if it keeps the ratings that it has or if it gets lower ones in the future. Reception: positive. Grade: F. New review

 

FBI: International: Status- Currently on CBS at 9/8 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- I watch the other FBI shows so I might as well watch this one as well. Noteworthiness- This is the third show in the FBI franchise. Description- An FBI team investigates cases internationally. Pros- I like what I’ve seen of it. It works as a show. Cons- A lot of it can be cliché. Note to Parents- There have been sex scenes at times with potential romance issues that shouldn’t be happening. There are also the usual problems with crime and violence. Recommendation- This is worth the watch even if you don’t see the other shows in the franchise. My Viewing Habits- I haven’t seen all of the episodes, but I have seen this since the first episode. Prediction- It seems likely to last for now. It is renewed for another season beyond what it is airing now. Reception: good. Grade: A.

 

La Brea: Status- Currently airing on NBC at 9/8 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- It looked good and interesting. Description- A sinkhole appears in LA, but it appears to be in a wormhole to the past. This causes a man who has visions to seek for the people in the sinkhole to prove that they are alive as people seek to figure out what’s going on. Pros- It is quite interesting. You probably want to see what keeps happening on the show. Cons- This shows has typical science fiction clichés. It seems that some of the bare, basic elements of this could be ripping off Chrono Trigger. Note to Parents- Outside of maybe just the usual violence and a character obsessed with weed with other drugs being brought up as well, this doesn’t have much wrong with it. Recommendation- It is worth keeping up with as long as it lasts on TV. My Viewing Habits- While I have seen this from the first episode, I haven’t seen all of them. I plan to watch all that I can. Prediction- I think that this will last for now. We’ll see if it lasts longer and keeps up the good ratings that it currently has. Reception: negative. Grade: B.

 

The Rookie: Feds: Status- Currently on ABC at 9/8 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- I watch the original show so I might as well watch this as well. Noteworthiness- This is a spin-off of the show called The Rookie. Description- We see a new, older woman train to become a fed in addition to the other agents. Notable People- This has Britt Robertson from Life Unexpected, Under the Dome, For the People, and The Secret Circle. Pros- It works and is pretty good, even if you haven’t seen or don’t watch the original. Cons- It can be too much like existing crime shows. Note to Parents- This has about the same amount of problems that you would see in other shows. Recommendation- It is worth keeping up with and one should see it. My Viewing Habits- Prediction- It seems like it will last for now. Reception: bad. Grade: B.

 

Will Trent: Status- Currently on ABC at 10/9 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- It looked good to me and I promised to watch a new midseason show on ABC. Noteworthiness- This is based on a series of novels. Description- An eccentric detective seeks to solve a potential series long missing persons case and other mysteries that come along with it. Notable People- It stars Erika Christensen from 10 Days in the Valley and Parenthood. Pros- It is good enough to keep watching. Cons- It has the potential to be drug out for too long. Note to Parents- It has the usual problems with violence and sex. Know that crime is a part of the show on a regular basis. Recommendation- It is good enough if you want to watch it, but not so good that you may feel that you have to keep up with it. My Viewing Habits- I might be more interested in seeing this simply to know what happens with the missing person part of it more than anything else as I otherwise wouldn’t care about seeing it again. This means that if it resolves that plot too soon or drags it out too long, I might not stay into it if there is nothing else to keep me involved. For now, I am likely to stay into this and be a fan of this since the first episode, although I might not have stayed into it if the first case was resolved in the first episode. Prediction- I think that it is going to last at the moment. Reception: positive. Grade: B. New review

 

FBI: Most Wanted: Status- Currently on CBS at 10/9 Central on Tuesdays. Why I’ve seen it- I watch the original so I figured that I might as well watch this too. Noteworthiness- It is a spin-off of FBI and by the same creator as it. Description- An FBI team tries to find the most wanted criminals. Notable People- Dylan McDermott from Law and Order: Organized Crime, Hostages, and Stalker is on this. Pros- It seems like a good show that you would like and expect. Cons- I say that the problems with it are it seeming generic and like a carbon copy of the original with new characters instead of something new we could get from it. It is also much darker than it needs to be. Note to Parents- This probably doesn’t have as much of an issue as other shows do, but I would say that it might not be safe for the younger ones, but is probably fine for older kids. Recommendation- I think that one should watch this and one doesn’t yet have to see both this and the original in order to understand it. My Viewing Habits- I have seen this from the beginning and plan to watch it until the end. Prediction- This will last a while. It is renewed for next season. Reception: somewhat good. Grade: B.

Midseason Shows 2023 Part 1

I know that I should be catching up on things, but I also want to stay ahead on other blogs and some of that ties in with this blog. I might extend the deadline of getting caught up to March. I just hope that I can get caught up and do a fantasy schedule this year since I haven’t done one since 2020 and am normally always missing that post each year. Anyways, enjoy part of one more than one my reviews of the new shows thus far from 2023. Also, enjoy this blog post on my hiatus:

 

http://adamdeckercsicyber.blogspot.com/2023/01/tech-explaining-blogging-hiatus.html

 

Alert: Missing Persons Unit: Show Description- Detectives seek to find missing people after one of their own sons went missing and is later found again unless he isn’t who he claims to be. Behind the Scenes- This has Scott Cann from Hawaii Five-0. My Thoughts- I like this show so far, even if it stands the risk of being too mysterious for its own good. I give it four out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- This seems likely to last for now. Where to Find- On FOX at 9/8 Central on Mondays

 

Night Court: Show Description- A newboot of the original show of the same name, we see people deal with night court. Behind the Scenes- John Larroquette reprises his role from the original. Melissa Rauch from The Big Bang Theory plays the star of the show. My Thoughts- It seems to work out pretty well, although parts of it don’t seem that well acted. I give it three out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- It will last if the current ratings keep up. Where to Find- On NBC at 8/7 Central on Tuesdays

 

Accused: Show Description- If I understand the premise of this correctly, we see the story of someone on trial, the events leading up to it, and what the end result is. Behind the Scenes- This seems to be an anthology show and I have no idea if this even has the same cast from episode to episode. It might at some point star Keith Carradine from Madam Secretary. My Thoughts- This show is all kinds of terrible in many ways. It doesn’t spend enough time in the courtroom, which is not a problem on its own, but seeks to take away why we are there in the end. It also seems to support the idea of vigilante justice instead of, you know, calling the police to make sure that a crime does not happen. I give it one out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- Initial ratings are potentially bloated and unreliable in this case so I will not know for a bit whether or not this will last. Where to Find- On FOX at 9/8 Central on Tuesdays

 

Will Trent: Show Description- An eccentric detective seeks to solve a potential series long missing persons case and other mysteries that come along with it. Behind the Scenes- This is based on a series of novels. It also stars Erika Christensen from 10 Days in the Valley and Parenthood. My Thoughts- I might be more interested in seeing this simply to know what happens with the missing person part of it more than anything else as I otherwise wouldn’t care about seeing it again. Still, it is good enough to keep watching, even if it has the potential to be drug out for too long. It better not fall into the same trap that Big Sky did. I give it three out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- I think that it is going to last at the moment. Where to Find- On ABC at 10/9 Central on Tuesdays

 

Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test: Show Description- Various celebrities do what military personal do. Behind the Scenes- This is a reality show that has a lot of famous people in it. My Thoughts- It has some potentially good parts to it, but seems largely too serious and potentially harmful. I give this two out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- I’m just going to guess that this won’t last, but have no way of knowing for sure right now. Where to Find- On FOX at 9/8 Central on Wednesdays

Top 25 Episodes of 2020

Welcome back! I have a lot of big posts to write and not much time to do them. I have a special catch up time to do in this month and the next one. I might even do some of this in March as well. I want to keep up on this blog now that the hiatus is over. And this post, once to be the last post of 2021, is the first one that’s going to do it.

 

Now when it came to ranking the top 25 episodes of 2020, there were some changes with the pandemic and what happened with it. This meant that some episodes were made to focus on the pandemic and there were a lot of good ones of these that we wouldn’t have otherwise seen. We also got at least one episode on the racial injustice. And some sudden season finales were good episodes that might not have stood out as much otherwise. Now let’s get to the episodes.

 

#25 Chapter Seventy-Three: The Locked Room (Riverdale): This almost wasn’t on the list as I was going to instead include an ABC news special on the pandemic instead. But then I remembered just how good this episode was and how it belonged on the list. While I missed the first half of this season, this was one of the reasons why it was good to come back for a while as I could see some of what had happened on the show come to fruition as one of the arcs on the show came to an end. Jughead explained some of what had gone on while identifying those who would have had him murdered. It was just what we needed to see to end this arc of the show in a great way.

 

#24 Saturday Night Live at Home (Saturday Night Live): One of the few socially distancing episodes that we saw, it was nice to see the cast perform and do stuff even without a live studio audience. While most people hated such a thing as zoom meetings and whatnot, we never would have seen such a great time like this without it.

 

#23 Fasten Your Seatbelts (Manifest): The season 2 premiere of this show, it provided a lot of great twists and turns throughout the whole episode as it continued the previous season’s cliffhanger in a good way while also setting up a surprise ending and giving a good episode the rest of the way as well. For a show that kind of jumped around in quality when I saw it, this was a good standout.

 

#22 Fade Out (Arrow): The series finale of the show did what I wonder if it should be done more often or if I should ever do as a showrunner of a show: end the series with the funeral of the protagonist. There was more in there than just the end of Oliver’s arc to the franchise as we saw other characters in the show’s history reunite and include the last major mission involved with the show.

 

#21 Pilot (Big Sky): As I think about just how far in quality and content the show has strayed from its original plot and purpose, I still think that the way this show started was a pretty good way to set up all of the major plot elements of the original episodes and its arc.

 

#20 The Clue in the Captain’s Painting (Nancy Drew): What became the first season finale had quite a lot of interesting parts to it as it had cliffhangers going into what would become its next season. That wasn’t all that was good about it, but in a TV season where most shows couldn’t get out the cliffhangers that they were wanting to, this one happened to have a good set up for the future making fans even more disappointed that there would be an even longer wait until we got it. But that’s what a good season finale cliffhanger does: leave fans wanting more as we eagerly wait to see what happens next.

 

#19 Aloha (Hawaii Five-0): This series finale made the list as a lot of them did as it provided a good way to end the series at hand. It makes you glad that they were able to finish filming the series before the pandemic related shutdowns. Speaking of which…

 

#18 Clueless (Schooled): For a show that didn’t know that this episode would end the season, much less the whole series, it provided a great homage to the movie Clueless while also ending the series nicely in a way it otherwise might never have done.

 

#17 Pilot (9-1-1: Lone Star): Here’s a great way to start a TV series. It shows you why the leads in the show got together where they did in the place that they did while also talking about series issues like PTSD and missing persons. There was a lot in there, which is why it became a two parter, but you never felt like you were missing much of anything in it.

 

#16 Frontline (The Good Doctor): This two parter focused on the pandemic in the show’s season premiere and first episode filmed right after it had started as we saw this show’s take on the whole thing at hand. I quite liked it and felt that it was a good way of addressing this.

 

#15 3 Seventeen Year Olds (S.W.A.T.): Focusing more on the recent racial injustice than the pandemic, it was nice to see this season premiere go in a bit of a different direction than focusing on the other main issue of the year instead going into a cultural reckoning of today’s times versus those in the past and how they related together.

 

#14 In the Air Tonight (NCIS: New Orleans): Set in March of 2020, one of the strangest times in the whole world, another two part episode focused on the pandemic and how it changed a lot of things in the world including how these people were reacting to it. It was a strong start to what became the final season of the show.

 

#13 Whenever You’re Ready (The Good Place): The last episode of the show may have had some issues as it seemed to imply that one would want to erase their own existence in eternity due to the boredom that you would succumb to there, it still had a great send off to the characters that we would know and love throughout the whole series.

 

#12 Like Father… (Prodigal Son): Officially the best cliffhanger of the year, it was shocking to see the twist at the end of Malcolm’s sister turning into a killer and all of the events leading up to it. Just the way that she did it in addition to knowing that it needed to be done as well made the season’s end even more shocking than we otherwise would have gotten.

 

#11 My Corona (Bull): This was the best of the episodes focusing on the pandemic as we got to have a more humorous look at it than just a serious one. While this episode was largely just instead the head of Bull given his dreams while suffering from covid, he was still able to do what he knew he needed to in the reality of this world where people randomly burst into song.

 

#10 Day of Death (The Rookie): I had taken a bit of a break from this show to focus on watching the final season of Madam Secretary and not even bother trying to record it. Sometimes when you come back to a show after a break from it, you see a really good episode that makes you wonder why you ever gave it up in the first place. Ultimately, following the cliffhanger of the midseason finale, we got to see one of the characters try to outwit her captor and stay alive even while buried in a barrel and wanting for the rest of the team to get to her in time. It was a wonderful episode to see.

 

#9 Save+The+Dam+World (MacGyver): There wasn’t much not to like about this episode where the Phoenix foundation had to continue with the threat of Kodex with some of them having infiltrated it and the other part worried that they might have turned with even one of the villains willing to save their own planet in the end.

 

#8 Pilot (Stargirl): A lot of shows that aired on the CW after this one had terrible origin stories in their first episodes. This was what a show should strive for when creating a first episode. There was a lot of back story into the characters at hand as we saw the beginnings of the main character’s turn at being a superhero in the end and start the series.

 

#7 Deus Lex Machina (Supergirl): Episodes like this makes me think that Jon Cryer missed his calling. He never should have been in comedy. He should have always been a dramatic villain. This show explained a lot about how Lex Luthor was living in the post crisis world and managed to make people believe that he was a hero with few people knowing the truth at the time.

 

#6 My Hangover’s Arrived (Dynasty): In what was a clear homage to The Hangover movie, the clear difference between that movie and this episode is that this episode was actually good in a very fun way as it set up a lot for the future while also providing a whodunit of sorts as they sought to piece together some of what had happened over the previous day and night.

 

#5 The One Where We’re Stuck on TV (Legends of Tomorrow): If you had told me that I would have wanted to see what effectively a crossover between Friends, Downton Abbey, Star Trek, and Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, I would have thought that you were either crazy or telling me what you think the plot of an episode of Legends of Tomorrow should be. And this was a great episode, going as far as using the filming styles of each show and making sense in the world of the show. It even combined the high stakes of the previous episode Doomworld while also combining the fun of Legends of To-Meow-Meow and being one of the best homages to TV ever made.

 

#4 Out of the Past (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.): As much as I wanted to include the series finale of the show in this list as it did just about everything right a finale could do, this episode was better in the final season of the show that was better than all the rest, rising above the occasion to be a good end to the series. This episode finally resolved the cliffhanger ending of Agent Carter while providing a great link for the future of the series with a new character as part of it.

 

#3 Leave a Light on (Grey’s Anatomy): Perhaps the most controversial part of the list as it is not only on the best episode list, but this high on it, this episode explained what happened to Alex Karev in a way that many didn’t like, but I felt was one of the best episodes in terms of character development that we ever saw in TV history. Everything actually made sense about this episode in terms of where we last saw him in the series, why he would have left, and why it would have been so hard to explain what had happened to him. He narrated perhaps the most heartbreaking episode of the series where no one even died, but it still provided a satisfying ending to his arc on the show.

 

#2 The Arizona (NCIS): In a nod to World War II and a quest to right potential wrongs, a man goes to drastic lengths in order to get the award he deserves for serving his country and proving that he could. Christopher Lloyd was spectacular in this as was the rest of the cast with the writing top notch.

 

#1 Dancing at Los Angeles (All Rise):  I have no idea just how short turnaround this episode got, but it was great how the writers of this show could do a virtual episode so quickly with the actors able to accommodate and the show going out around the time when it was and would be one of the most topical episodes in TV history.