Arrowverse Drinking Game

As you might expect from the title of this post (it being a drinking game), I didn't have much time over the Thanksgiving weekend to come up with a new post for this blog. Only this time, this type of post was done mostly late by choice as there is a four series crossover between the shows starting tonight. I hope it is as good or even better than the last one. Remember that one takes risks when one plays drinking games and I take no responsibility for any harm caused to you or any other person playing these games. Now I might as well get to what this game is like. Take a shot if any of the following happen:

• Any fight scene of any kind.
• The heroes disagree with each other about something.
• Any secret is revealed. Includes those previously revealed but not to this person.
• Oliver Queen says, "You have failed this city."
• Kara Danvers is awkward in any way, shape, or form.
• Any superpower is used.
• Any characters travel through time.
• A character from one show shows up on another show.
• Firestorm is formed.
• Anybody learns of someone's secret identity or reveals their secret identity. Includes fake outs.
• A character is knocked unconscious.
• A character speaks highly of their alter ego.
• A character says he has spoken to his alter ego to learn something. e.g. Oliver Queen says that Arrow gave him important information.
• Any change from the comic books, even one that winds up temporary.
• A character impersonates another character, real or imagined.
• Doppelgangers show up.
• Someone new gains powers.
• Someone with power loses them for a time.
• Person is confused with doppelganger.
• A new Harrison Wells shows up.
• Any mention of a different earth for any reason.
• A dead person comes back to life in any way.
• A character disappears in some way for a while.
• Travel to any other earth, even temporary.

Are Life Lessons in Modern, Primetime TV Shows?

When you watched shows as a kid, you watched shows targeted towards your demographic. Shows made for kids have or should some sort of life lesson in it. But then you wonder if this sort of thing is actually in a lot of shows you’d see on network TV at different times. You may or may not know of the concept of a special episode. But some shows do this all the time. While this could just be me and what I think about some shows, I figure that this is worth an analysis.

One of the things that you can’t do in children’s shows are address the serious topics that people that age don’t face. Thus, when it comes to lessons in life about sex or drugs, you’d have to learn them on primetime shows or they wouldn’t teach them at all.

Before I get too far, a life lesson in some shows may just be what some people would write off as liberal propaganda. Some shows might admit that. Now what could be called that might have some good to teach people. Just know that not everything would be accepted as a good lesson to everyone.

While you wouldn’t expect an outrageous show like American Dad to teach you lessons about life, I have noticed some of those in the show when I used to watch it. One taught about the dangers of sexual objectification and how you shouldn’t be with people who see you as just an object for some form of sexual need on their behalf.

The Flash is a show that seems to include life lessons in it from time to time. It makes sense since there are probably a lot of teens watching a superhero based TV show and they could teach good lessons with it from time to time. A recent episode showed that people should focus on saving lives even if it means letting the villain go. Earlier, they had the main character learning the perils of trying to change things that shouldn’t be changed. Of course, this occurred in a way that wouldn't happen in real life.

The main idea behind life lessons in primetime is in the show called Blossom. It frequently made use of concepts known as special episodes where they wouldn’t focus on the laughs that a sitcom like it would normally have on a regular basis. While this doesn’t happen all the time, it is something that happened, maybe not so much anymore. Well, it happens on Arthur, but that isn’t a primetime show.

Family Guy was criticized for trying to do an episode about the perils of abusive relationships as that show isn’t known for being serious most of the time. They have done other good episodes such as those that talked about the anti-vaccine movement or pointed out the flaws of those who wouldn’t treat their kids with medicine (as that actually happens with some dumb religions). They even tried to talk about abortion, but the episode in question was banned from airing, although it is out on DVD.

I don’t know what else there is to mention regarding this post. Maybe there are life lessons in some TV shows. Maybe there aren’t. I could be seeing things that aren’t actually there. But I only brought up some examples and there could be a lot more. That’s just my thoughts on the matter.

My Planned Viewing Habits: Midseason 2018

Well, while I am coming up with different posts to fill out the rest of this year, I might as well do the last of my regular posts that I’m sure I can still do this season. I still have to do whatever posts I can while the year is still happening. Sometimes I wonder how I get all the posts I require myself to do done in time. This year already has the most posts I’ve had in a year and I’ve done that a few times every year now. I’ve had a complicated time trying to watch and keep up with shows that I would normally watch. Too much has changed and gone wrong this year in terms of what I watch. Hopefully I’ll get into all of what I want to watch but who knows what will happen? This is just a plan and I’m not sure if all of this will happen or not. I guess that you’ll have to see when I do reviews what I was able to end up watching and if I had originally planned to do so or not.

Anyways, what are existing shows that are on TV that I still care about? I forget if I told you this before or not, but I started watching How to Get Away with Murder to fill the gap in shows that I would have since CBS wouldn’t be showing any shows until November. That’s the only returning show that I just got into for the first time to tell you about.

I am still planning on watching the following ABC shows: Grey’s Anatomy, The Middle, Fresh off the Boat, American Housewife, Modern Family, Once Upon a Time, and Designated Survivor. There are times when I might watch 20/20 and Shark Tank. As for CBS, I will keep watching Survivor, The Big Bang Theory, Madam Secretary, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Bull, Scorpion, MacGyver, Kevin Can Wait, Blue Bloods, and Hawaii Five-0. There are times when I watch 60 Minutes and that happens a lot more during midseason after football is over.

Switching to the CW shows, I still watch Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Jane the Virgin. Since Survivor will be on hiatus for a bit, I’ll probably watch Riverdale during the break should it still air at the same time. I need to get caught up on that online if I can. As for the FOX shows that I’m into, they are The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Last Man on Earth, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Gotham. I also do watch Bob’s Burgers at times.

Speaking of things that I only do sometimes, I can’t really watch any NBC shows right now as the website sucks most of the time and the channel isn’t coming in. That means that I’m giving up on The Blacklist since it airs against Survivor most of the season. If I were normally watching it, I’d be into the shows of Blindspot, Law and Order: SVU, The Good Place, and Chicago Med. But I haven’t seen them yet this season, although the last one hasn’t started as of me writing this.

Because of these complications, I never watched The Brave like I was planning to. I still could end up seeing it, but I doubt that I will in the end. I only saw Law and Order: True Crime once online. It wasn’t something I was that into, although I would have kept watching it if I could have.

What are the new fall shows I’m still watching? The new FOX shows that I still care about are Ghosted, The Orville, and The Gifted. The new CBS shows that I still care about are Young Sheldon, Wisdom of the Crowd, 9JKL, SEAL Team, and S.W.A.T. The new CW show I care about is Valor, although that might be ending soon. I don’t know if I’ll watch more of Dynasty or not as I’ve only seen one episode thus far when it worked out for me. It would be a fourth show for me which I can’t do. Only it is an NBC show that makes this a fourth show so maybe I should watch it. The new ABC show that I care about is The Good Doctor. What about other ABC shows that were new? Well...

There are new shows that I would watch if they were still on at midseason. 10 Days in the Valley will be burning off the rest of its episodes on Saturdays fairly soon. Inhumans was a limited run series so while it might be back for future seasons, it won’t be back this season. The same is true of Law and Order: True Crime. The show Me, Myself, and I was cancelled so it won’t be back, unless it is to burn off the rest of its episodes. I'd watch it if it does come back.

What are the new midseason shows that I can about? Well, there is a yet unnamed spin-off of Grey’s Anatomy that will air sometime on ABC that I’ll watch. I’ll be watching the FOX show The Resident. I would watch 911 if it didn’t air at a bloated time for me. On CBS, I’ll watch Instinct and By the Book. I don’t know yet if I’ll watch Celebrity Big Brother, but I think that I might avoid it if I can. I’ll be watching the CW shows of Black Lightning and Life Sentence. If I can get something in on NBC, I’ll watch Ellen’s Game of Games, although I don’t care enough about anything on that network right now to go out of my way to see if it is new unless it has alumni from The Good Wife or CSI: Cyber.

I do want to see the NBC shows of Timeless and Shades of Blue when they come back on. But if NBC still has the problems that it does, it seems unlikely that I’ll see anything of it that isn’t online. Even then, I might only watch a series finale of a show that I like since the website fails too much. I probably will not watch The 100, although it is possible that I give it another chance.

In terms of the other shows from previous seasons returning at midseason, I’ll be watching the FOX show of New Girl since it will air its final season. I’ll get more into that later. I’ll be watching Ransom again since it has a surprise return, even though it might not be on until the summer a la Flashpoint. Other shows on CBS that I’ll watch are Elementary and Code Black. I’ll watch the CW show of iZombie, which may not be on until the summer, although I won’t know for sure until the schedule is announced. I’ll be watching the ABC shows of Quantico and Match Game. I might even tune into To Tell the Truth as well, if it works out. It is also worth noting that two shows that could be considered midseason shows, Chicago Med from NBC and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. from ABC, will have already returned when I get to them later. And I really hope that I can watch Chicago Med.

Now is when I normally talk about any of the new fall shows that I’m not sticking around for. Only I don’t have to as any of them that I can watch, I will watch. This means that Dynasty might be the only one that I’m not into and not because I don’t like it, but because it airs at a bad time.

Of course, the only real thing to note here before closing is that these are merely plans and I may not stick to them or be able to stick with them. I may care less about primetime on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the later airing shows and skip them as a result due to my new job. I will give priority to all of the final season shows that I care about. This means that I might have to give up an existing show that I know is coming back in order to watch or keep watching New Girl and The Middle. This also means that I will watch any episode I can easily see of 10 Days in the Valley as well as Me, Myself, and I, should it air again. I am also making sure that I watch both Instinct and The Resident regardless of when they air. And I should note that I might not even get to watch any of the new shows mentioned should they air at a bad time for me, which can easily happen. One can never know what will change against the original plan.

And that’s pretty much it for this blog post. I need to write more of this blog as I don’t know when I’ll need a post published all the time. In addition to Saturdays and random other days, I could wind up with any number of changes affecting this blog of mine here. If you don’t see a Saturday post, then wait for the next one (whenever it is) and I’ll explain what happened and changed due to my OCD rules. I hope to have a lot written soon to close out this year.

Scheduling Voids and How they are Handled

When you get to knowing TV shows as much as I do or even as much as pretty much any basic person does, you will notice that there are times when there are gaps in the schedule that probably shouldn’t be there but are because of cancellations. They could quickly fill the gap, but this doesn’t always work. Whenever a show is cancelled, something must air in its place. But what?

Sometimes gaps can be dumb in terms of what replaces it. What do I mean? Well, the dumbest of these are when they effectively air nothing but reruns in an empty timeslot. CBS has done this in two back to back seasons with comedies. In one, they got rid of Partners and replaced it with encore programming. This was despite the fact that a show called Friend Me was something they ordered to air. But the man who created it killed himself and CBS liked the empty timeslot better. That is understandable. But in the next season, they pulled The McCarthys from the schedule in February and never really replaced it until the next season giving them an odd number of comedies for the rest of the season, which is around four months of people getting extra Big Bang Theory reruns instead of something new all the time.

There are things to be concerned about when a show you like quickly returns and fills the gap of a cancelled show. You’d think that it wouldn’t be concerning, but it is. The quicker it is filled, the more likely that it is to be cancelled in the future, whether it is the end of this season or the end of the next season after it. Look at Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. It filled the gap of Doubt’s cancellation quite easily and was cancelled too. Beyond the Tank started to air again the week after Of Kings and Prophets last aired. There is no sign that Beyond the Tank is ever coming back with new episodes.

Sometimes you have to have voids in the schedule since it wouldn’t make sense to fill it. In February, when they have all these special programs on Sundays, some new shows won’t start because they’d be competing with things like the Super Bowl or whatever else is on. That’s why NBC, which airs football until midseason, will typically wait until March to roll out their Sunday schedules.

Comedies can be the hardest to work with in terms of voids in the schedule. While any drama can be replaced by another drama as hour long shows are easy to deal with, if you have an odd number of comedies, someone is probably doing something wrong. This means that a half hour is being wasted in terms of the schedule since they don’t have the right number to air. There are ways to fix this, but it doesn’t normally change since the longer you wait into a season to start working on a new show, the more likely it won’t come out that season.

While it can be seen as bad for a show to quickly replace another, it is actually the best course of action to have one show replace another once it fails. Otherwise, dumb things can happen like one show airing more than once in a season, which typically happens with non-scripted shows like Dateline or, most recently, Shark Tank. Other dumb things could be encore programming for an extended amount of time. I would not have been so annoyed at some shows’ cancellations should there have been an actual replacement for the show instead of just tons of reruns or additional episodes of shows already on the air. Why even pull the show if you can’t give it a real replacement?

An empty timeslot can give networks an excuse to air specials in their place until they feel that a more proper replacement can be used. You’ll see this if a show is cancelled and Halloween in near. When the TV show Hank was pulled from the schedule, that gave ABC time to air things like It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown in its place until they found a new slot for it. You’ll see Christmastime used as a lot of specials that air which normally don’t replace anything long term (unless you are a Christmas show, in which place, you are in until the season’s over and the other show gets its slot back), but if there is a place for it, it will air then and not some other time.

I don’t know what else there is to say on this subject. Maybe there is more that I could bring up, but there really isn’t. The main thing to summarize is that voids can come up in the schedule often enough and they can be dumbly resolved often. But they are always interesting things to watch.

Fall Shows 2017 Part 2

Well, I’m back with part 2 of my review of the new fall shows of 2017. The next reviews will be on the midseason shows. Keep in mind that to keep things linked up with other blogs of mine, you will not see updated reviews of primetime shows for a while. I’m just glad that I have the same number of reviews for now with all the primetime shows. When I do, you won’t see any new sections like you have in the past because I can’t think of what else to add.

Dynasty: Show Description- A family has to deal with new dynamics and working with their respective companies. It replaces the 100 at the moment, although that show will be back. Behind the Scenes- This is a remake. My Thoughts- The characters are bad people so it has that against it. But the plot works for the most part. I give it three out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- This probably won’t last. Where to Find- On the CW at 9/8 Central on Wednesdays

Valor: Show Description- This is a military show, although I can’t tell the long term plot of it just yet. It replaces Reign. Behind the Scenes- I don’t know what to add here since I haven’t done research into this show. My Thoughts- I couldn’t tell what this was about so it doesn’t seem to offer much to it. But there are interesting parts to it. I give it three out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- This doesn’t look likely to last. Where to Find- On the CW at 9/8 Central on Mondays

S.W.A.T.: Show Description- This is about a team of people who try to help others in different situations. Just insert standard CBS drama into the plot line here. It replaces, for the moment at least, The Amazing Race, only that show will return at some point. Behind the Scenes- This is a remake of some sort. It also stars Shamar Moore, who used to star in Criminal Minds. My Thoughts- It seemed pretty good even if it didn’t seem that different from other shows. I give it three out of five stars. Long Term Prospects- It might last some, but I don’t know for sure. Its timeslot has been a disaster lately. Where to Find- On CBS at 10/9 Central on Thursdays

Why Advertisers are More Important than Viewers

While viewers will always be important to the world of television, advertisers will in all instances be more important than the viewers are. That’s the main reason why shows that don’t have enough total viewers get cancelled. But there’s more to it than just that. What are they? Well, I might as well get to mentioning all the ways that I can think of.

If you read any blogs of mine besides this one, you might notice that I frequently complain about tape delay after sport events. You can tell that they have to account for the long time they show whatever sports events that they air a lot of commercials with it as well. It seems like they always have to make up missing commercials at the end. That’s why on CBS after football is over, even if the show is already delayed, they air four minutes of commercials before starting the next show. FOX can have a similar problem when sports end on their network. If the show is running late, they air commercials, some of the theme song or title card, even more commercials, and only then do they start the rest show. At least when that happens, they are airing a rerun of a show.

How else are advertisers more important than viewers? Since you know that too little viewers means that shows get cancelled, that’s the main reason. But there is also the use of product placement in shows that help advertisers any way they see fit. Even shows on PBS technically have advertisers who they mention before and sometimes after the show despite them not airing breaks for shows (unless it is to sponsor your local PBS network).

Mostly live specials such as the Oscars, Tonys, Emmys, or the like mess up regular programming, but they never mess up commercials. They will always take the usual breaks that you normally see even as the program runs longer than it should be. You’d think that they could cut out commercials. But it goes over a pretty long time and they still takes breaks before the end.

I thought that I would have more to this post starting out, but I thought that I would just end the post here and not be much more. Maybe I could do more. You can’t blame advertisements for a show getting cancelled as that relates to there being far too few viewers. But you’ll see them a lot relating to sporting events and they help aggravate tape delay. Networks may screw viewers, but they’d never screw the advertisers cause they need them to survive.

Fridays in Primetime Version 4

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 Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. CBS is showing Blue Bloods, MacGyver, and Hawaii Five-0. ABC is showing 20/20, Once Upon a Time, and Inhumans. NBC shows Dateline and Blindspot. FOX shows mostly reality shows, shows that are ending, or shows that they don’t strongly care about. 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.

MacGyver: Status- Currently on CBS at 8/7 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I typically always watch a CBS show once and I honestly wasn’t interested in anything else at the timeslot when it first started airing. Noteworthiness- This is a remake of a show by the same name. Description- This show is about a man who uses whatever he can to do cool spy things. There are also other people in the cast as needed. Notable People- George Eads, who was in CSI, plays a character on this show. Justin Hires, who was on the Rush Hour TV show, is another character. Pros- It has the same type of interesting quality that you’d see in spy dramas like it. Cons- I’ll admit that some of it seems predictable and cliché. Note to Parents- This has the standard amount of what would be considered objectionable to kids concerning sex and violence. Recommendation- I think that you should watch it as I think it is good. My Viewing Habits- I know that I haven’t seen every episode, but I have seen it since the first episode. Prediction- It is doing good, for now, so we’ll see if it stays that way or not. Reception: generally negative. Grade: A.

Blindspot: Status- Currently on NBC at 8/7 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I was interested in the idea of it. Description- For mysterious reasons, a woman has amnesia and tattoos all over her body and there are crimes solved based off of this. Notable People- Archie Panjabi, who was on The Good Wife, is or was a character on the show. Pros- The show is intriguing and interesting. Cons- The show may seem a bit scatterbrained and it seems like they are trying to do a female version of Jason Bourne. The show can seem similar to other types of dramas in a way. It can also be more violent than it needs to be. Note to Parents- I’d say that this is something that teenagers can watch, but not any younger than that. I think that all the episodes I’ve seen thus far were TV14. Recommendation- I’d say that this is worth watching. My Viewing Habits- I will watch this when I can. Prediction- It might not last long on Fridays or it might be a great new night to stay at. I won’t know for sure until I see more of what changes this new season. Reception: positive. Grade: B+.

Once Upon a Time: Status- Currently on ABC at 8/7 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- General interest in the whole fairy tale genre. Description- The world of fairy tales are trapped in our world (a world of “pure horror”). Well, the show has evolved since then, but that was the original purpose of that at least. Notable People- The creators of Lost also created this show. There might be others in there as well in addition to them. Pros- A captivating drama, it keeps you interested with the writers’ take on fairy tales. It can be hard to stop watching. Cons- One could wonder if the show moves fast enough. Due to the frequent use of flashbacks, one could wonder also if they can keep their stories straight and avoid continuity errors. Plus, it could be too much like a soap opera for those of you who don’t like that genre. Its biggest problem is being too confusing. Note to Parents- It’s borderline wondering whether or not younger people can watch this show. There’s enough in there that you might find objectionable, but most of it might be considered okay to watch with your family. Recommendation- It is a good show, if you don’t mind the other shows at the same time. You should watch it sometime. My Viewing Habits- While I do miss episodes frequently due to poorer reception of this network in my area, I have more or less watched this since the very first episode. Prediction- It is hard to know how long it will keep lasting in general. The contracts for cast members could be too expensive to keep this around still. I don’t know if it will end this season or not, but it might not be long until they announce a final season or series finale of this show. Reception: positive. Grade: A.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Status- Currently on the CW at 8/7 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I watched due to my promise to watch a new fall show on each network a season and the fact that this was the only new show on the CW during the fall the season it started. Description- A woman randomly moves to where her ex-boyfriend lives in hopes of winning him back. There’s more to the show as needed. Pros- There are some good parts about it. It can be funny at times. Cons- While this wasn’t bad, I didn’t like it. It was strange and didn’t seem to have much of a point to it. Note to Parents- Having only seen the pilot, there is not much advice to offer here. I’d say this is probably good for teen and preteens but not younger than that. It may be safe for some ages, but I wouldn’t think that. Recommendation- I’d pass on this. Mostly it’s a toss-up between good and bad, so that is why I’ll pass. My Viewing Habits- I only watched the first episode and while this wasn’t that bad, I didn’t like it that much. Prediction- I don’t think that it will last, but it just as easily could. I’ve been wrong about things before. For now, it looks likely to stick around. Reception: positive. Grade: D.

Marvel’s Inhumans: Status- Currently on ABC at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- I like the type of universe that the show is in and the genre too. Noteworthiness- This is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and might link with Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D. in different ways. This was originally going to be just a movie before they made it into a show. Description- A royal family of inhumans get lost on earth and there are issues with people’s lives and powers. Pros- It seems pretty good in terms of quality. There are enough interesting things in here for me at least. A lot happens in an episode. Cons- It could use some work on character development and the fish out of water concept. It seems all over the place in terms of writing. Note to Parents- There’s a lot of bad things in here, but this is still okay for teens to watch, just not much younger. Recommendation- I would think that people would like this and should watch it. My Viewing Habits- I had problems watching it over time, but plan to watch what I can of it. Prediction- This will probably not last. Reception: generally negative. Grade: B-. New review

Jane the Virgin: Status- Currently on the CW at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- A dream of mine implied that I should watch it. Description- Based off of a Spanish telenovela, a woman named Jane, who’s a virgin, is accidently artificially inseminated and becomes pregnant. The show has evolved since that. There are others in the cast that make this interesting. Pros- If you actually watch the show, you’ll probably find something very interesting and worthwhile. Cons- It’s hard to tell what to make of this show. I mean, the premise itself seems kind of strange and the promos make it look more than weird. Also, the recurring storylines can drag on throughout the show. Note to Parents- This has some serious topics in it that could be useful discussing with teenagers. I’d say that young kids shouldn’t watch this, but preteens and teens can watch this. Just know that it doesn’t have the best morals present, which is to be expected actually. Recommendation- I would say that you should watch it, but only if you can see it all the time. My Viewing Habits- I missed some of the earlier episodes, but have more or less watched this since sometime in the first season. Prediction- I don’t know how long it will last, but it might not be for too much longer if its ratings don’t pick up soon. Reception: critically acclaimed. Grade: B+.

Hawaii Five-0: Status- Currently on CBS at 9/8 Central on Fridays. Why I’ve seen it- Devotion to the CBS network and curious about what the show is about. Noteworthiness- It is a remake of an old, popular show. Description- An elite crime fighting team works in Hawaii to solve cases. Notable People- Alex O’Loughlin, known for his work on the TV shows Moonlight, Three Rivers, and various movies, is on this show as the main character. Pros- This show is actually filmed where it set. It is an interesting drama. The bickering between the two leads is entertaining. Cons- Some of the methods the characters use to catch the perps are unethical. Since it is a remake, it could just be considered trying to reclaim what it once was. Note to Parents- I’d say maybe on this, although it is probably better to not let your kids watch this unless they are teenagers. Recommendation- Watch this if you have the time to. My viewing habits- I have watched since the first episode, although I have not seen every one yet. Prediction- It will last awhile, even on Fridays. Reception: positive. 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. 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.

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. Reception: mostly positive. Grade: B-.

20/20: Status- Currently on ABC at 10/9 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.