Author: Emily

Marvel Cinematic Universe Watchalong

mcuphase1Last month, I got a crazy idea. It all started on the fourth of July. Two of my friends had a bunch of people over for a barbecue. There were burgers and brats from the grill, salads, fruit, and homemade meringues. A couple of episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic were brought up so I watched my first-ever full episode of that followed by my second-ever episode. We had then settled into being inside people and wanted something else to watch. The most thematically-appropriate thing we could think of to watch was Captain America: The First Avenger because we are a bunch of nerds and it seemed patriotic enough. Continue reading →

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The 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

emmys_2015_ad_f3_simp_hires2Almost a week later and I’m finally ready to talk about the Emmys. As much as I often roll my eyes at the Emmys, this year’s were pretty good. Most of the awards actually made sense and Andy Samberg seemed to really understand what was needed of him as a host. He was an excellent balance of being entertaining while also keeping the show moving along.

Part of the reason the show seemed to move along so quickly is that a large number of categories are announced at the Creative Arts Emmys eight days before the live ceremony. Notable wins there were guest actor and actress in a comedy, Bradley Whitford (Transparent) and Joan Cusack (Shameless), guest actor and actress in a drama, Reg E. Cathey (House of Cards) and Margo Martindale (The Americans), and Bessie for Outstanding Television Movie. Inside Amy Schumer won outstanding original music and lyrics for “Girl You Don’t Need No Makeup”, Jane Lynch won Outstanding Reality Host for Hollywood Game Night, and Late Night for John Oliver won for Best Interactive Programming. I hope that Oliver and company have a better chance at the bigger awards next year now that the voters are going to start finding shows that aren’t The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to give them to.
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Netflix is Trying to Kill Me

unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt-ban3I’m pretty sure that Netflix is trying to kill me. They’ve released four full seasons of TV shows that appeal to me in less than two months. They’re making my TV watching schedule next to impossible. I already barely have time for all of the broadcast and cable shows I want to watch. How am I supposed to squeeze in another 6 to 13 hours in a weekend?

The answer is, I haven’t been able to. Gone are the days of the first seasons of House of Cards and Orange is the New Black where I could start them on a Friday after work and finish them by Sunday afternoon. I require more sleep than I used to even a couple of years ago and I’m trying to be more convincing as a responsible adult. I’m still finishing the shows in less than a week after their initial release dates so that responsibility is very much a work in progress.
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Golden Globes 2015: TV Reactions

fargoEven later than the movie results, it’s time to talk about the TV Golden Globes category. At this point, it’s practically an afterthought but that’s appropriate considering that that’s kind of how the Hollywood Foreign Press Association treats the TV awards.

The best and worst part about the TV Golden Globes is that they make really weird decisions, most of which would never happen on the Emmys. Note the lack of wins for Jim Parsons or anything from Modern Family. We’re going to break the awards down into different degrees of expected and unexpected.
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Top 10 TV Shows of 2014

fargo

Now that 2014 is over, I’ve given some thought to my top 10 TV shows of last year. I’m certainly leaving something out and this might not even be the order that they should be in but I did make a list of TV shows that I liked an awful lot this year.

Other shows that didn’t quite make my top 10 but were still excellent in 2014 are Arrow, Black-ish, Bob’s Burgers, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Colbert Report, The Fall, The Flash, The Fosters, Hannibal, Orphan Black, and Veep.
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New Fall 2014 TV Shows: Midseason Report

janethevirginIn September, I decided that I was going to try 18 new shows this fall. In fact, I tried 19 shows. USA’s Benched managed to sneak up on me with its October 28th premiere date. Now that most TV shows are on midseason hiatus, it’s time to assess the relative success of these shows.

I’m completely sold on five shows and I’m still watching an additional five shows with some trepidation. That’s a pretty good success rate for a slate of new shows that seemed less than promising.

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Why Can’t I Stop Watching Sons of Anarchy?

sons-of-anarchy-3This post contains mild spoilers up to and including the most recently-aired episode of Sons of Anarchy. If you do not wish to be spoiled, do not read beyond this point. You should keep reading though because maybe you’ll be able to save yourself from watching the last season of SoA even though I can’t.

I’m mad as hell and I’m going to take it for about five more episodes.
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Guide to Selecting New TV Shows

Best-New-Comedies-Fall-TV-2014This week, a lot of TV shows are premiering so this is the perfect time to discuss how to choose which new shows to watch. This isn’t going to be a listing of the new shows coming up (TV Guide has a list of those) or a recommendation for specific shows to try. I don’t have access to the shows ahead of time so I’d only be making recommendations off of promos and other people’s reviews.

Instead, I recommend that you just try a show that looks interesting to you and give it at least three episodes to find its place before you make a decision unless you absolutely hate the first episode. Even if I hate the first one, I’ll at least try the second episode but I will bail on it before finishing if it’s obvious that the problems that I had with the first episode are going to remain part of the show.

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You Should Be Watching Arrow

arrow_season_2_posterThis is the inaugural post in our You Should Be… series. We’ll be using it to make occasional recommendations on pop culture properties that we think you should be reading, watching, or listening to.

You should be watching Arrow. This CW adaptation of the DC Comics’s Green Arrow has become a captivating action show with a well-developed ensemble cast that entertains from week to week.

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