Weekend Catch Up Pt 9: Comedy Premiere and Drama Finales

Here's this week's Weekend Catch Up with two finales and a premiere of a new show.

The Carmichael Show: "Pilot"/"Protest" 

It's the latest new comedy from NBC this summer, The Carmichael Show brings a spiced up comedy that is like All in the Family and The Cosby Show put together. In it's one hour premiere, the show turns out to be hilarious from the start.

The show is about Jerrod Carmichael and his life with his girlfriend and his family. The show makes fun in a conversational way of issues from religion to race and marriage to politics. It takes light of the issue but also takes some seriousness too.

Jerrod is hilarious along with David Alan Grier and Loretta Devine as his parents that remind me of The Bunkers and the Barones in a way.

The is hilarious with some hysterical jokes and the performance. I would have to say this series might be funnier than Mr. Robinson.

You can catch The Carmichael Show Wednesday nights at 9/8c after the LIVE America's Got Talent Results on NBC.

Suits "Faith" Summer Finale

In the summer finale of Suits, someone is about to leave but who would that be and will they go quietly?

As an emergency meeting to remove Jessica from the firm, Louis and Jessica try one last effort to get support. But Louis goes to the big problem and makes a threat but that back fired with two threats of the guy's own one being sued and the other taking over his sister's company after buying it.

Harvey couldn't be found as Jessica was desperate for his help. But he was with his therapist discussing the situation and why he couldn't back down. We get a back story to his past with his father and mother and the situation that his mother has caused on the family.

It kind of left a bad taste to his mouth. After the session, Harvey makes it back to the meeting before the votes even started. He makes a statement about how a termination is in order and talked about how this firm has been a real family with Jessica in control.

That speech worked and saved Jessica from being dismissed.

As for Mike, he had to face his demons back at home. We get the back story of the moment his mother and father died in a car accident. He was never the same after, going to catholic school and becoming a real trouble maker.    

He goes back to the school and talks to the father that still there when he went. Wanted to ask for advice but got a real life lesson when he realized that he should make a fresh new start and that's what he did.
He resigning from the firm and told Harvey first. That could have been the feel good moment of the episode, with them talking and hugging it out.

As Mike tells Rachel of his resigning, as soon as he packed all his stuff, he then gets arrested for fraud and is taken away. I'm surprised that Rachel was just standing there from that time like a deer in the headlights.

I should probably say that there were two people that were leaving. As Jessica thanks Harvey, he gave her another surprise that he too is resigning.      

This was a real turner for the show, now that Mike is no longer with the firm and arrested. Who turned him in? I've never seen Harvey sacrifice to anything until now to save someone from the job.

Overall, I give this episode a 8/10. The summer finale was very good and Harvey and Mike had the best story lines in this episode.

Suits will return this winter on USA Network.

Hannibal: "The Wrath of the Lamb" series finale 

Drop the mic!! The series finale of Hannibal literally dropped the mic.

As the Red Dragon confronts his darling "girlfriend" of who he is. He plays with her mind by feeling his chest, removing the key, walking down to the door and opening the door. He comes through the front door and has her go back to the bedroom.

He plays with her mind, thinking that he shot himself in the head, but that's not at all true as Will gets a visit from the Dragon himself.

Will has a plan to get the Dragon and that was to release Hannibal as bait. The bait was set but not in any terms of the Dragon's wanting as he ambushed the police and release Hannibal. Hannibal takes Will to his get-away house.

There Will and Hannibal have a drink but shots are fired hitting both Lecter and the bottle of wine (sad).
The Dragon who look like was going to kill Hannibal, he turns the attacks Will by stabbing him in the face with a knife.

Right there, become one of the most epic fights I've seen on television. Will and Hannibal taking down the Red Dragon. There were a few moments where I thought that they couldn't take him but after slicing and dicing they manage to take the Dragon down.

And after seem like a Thelma and Louise moment when Hannibal and Will hugged and leaned over the cliff ending it with a scene shot from the cliff and the song "Love Crime" by Siouxsie Sioux. It was so beautiful and eerie that went so along with not only that scene but the show itself.

As for other characters, Bloom and her wife took their son to another place to get away from things. I don't think that she will ever be happy but this might come close to being as happy as she can get. And for Fredrick, the poor man is getting skin graphs, but nothing else for him.

Overall, I give this finale a perfect 10/10. It was beautiful, it was remarkable, it was all-in-all the best episode that felt so much like a ending finale.

Plus, the post-credit was remarkable too. Bedelia is seen at the dinner table with a meal that was yet to be served. It turns out that the main course is a leg but it was until we see a shot of her and that she lost her left leg. Did she do it to herself? Is Hannibal still alive? I couldn't get enough of that scene.

You can catch Hannibal On Demand at NBC.com

USA Network Pulls the Plug on Complications

The diagnosis is in and USA Network's Complications has been cancelled after one season, reported by Deadline.

The medical thriller drama about an ER doctor (Jason O'Mara) goes through a life dangerous turn when he witnesses a drive-by shooting.

In it's first season that wrapped on August 13, when Dr. Ellison and his colleague nurse Gretchen take in more or less one set of complications behind the, by making a deal with a gang leader who had been controlling them and staging their murder of a dirty cop that looked like a gang shooting. That until a phone call came and a whole mess of problems.

The series debuted to a total of 1.9 million viewers and a 0.4 demo rating, but by the time the show ended it's run the rating had fell to 1.4 million and 0.3.

Not only did O'Mara started in the series but also Jessica Szohr (Gossip Girl), Beth Riesgraf (Leverage) and Lauren Stamile (Burn Notice).

In a way, I'm kind of surprised that the series got cancelled but after Deadline reported that "there were business factors- Complications is not owned by USA, it comes from Fox 21 TV studios - that stood in the way as the network brass deemed another season not economically feasible."

For example that when USA showed two new dramas last summer with Satisfaction, that's owned by UCP, got renewed but Rush, from FOX 21 TV Studios, was cancelled.

The Blacklist Season 3 - Official Promo

The latest promo for The Blacklist has been released today and for season three, it feels so good to be wanted.

The season will pick from where they left off as they are now on the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list. As a fugitive from the FBI, Liz will be relying on Red and Tom's knowledge of the DC underworld to evade capture to take down the Cabal.

Executive Producer Jon Bokenkamp told Entertainment Weekly that "Step 1 is get out of D.C., which is a city that is designed to be bale to be locked down in an incredibly short amount of time. Things go wrong."

And while on the run, Liz gets a new hair do.

Bokenkamp says that,  "What we hit on in the story is that by virtue of her being on the run and having to change her look, she ends up relazing that she may look like her mother. It felt like a really nice, organic way to take the on-the-run story of two fugitives and yet tie it back into the mythology of who Liz is, who Red is, what their relationship is and to lean into the bigger question of identity."

The first episode is titled "The Troll Farmer" with Edi Gathegi guest starring at the villainous machination Mr. Solomon. Known to handle the dirty work for the Cabal who maybe be soft spoken on the outside but a hidden capacity for violence.

Here's the trailer:


You can catch the season premiere of The Blacklist Thursday, Oct. 1st at 9/8c on NBC.

Homeland Season 5 | Official Trailer | Claire Danes & Mandy Patinkin Sho...

The full trailer of the new season of Homeland has been release.

Saul says that "there are still terrorists out there and that problem is not going away" anytime soon.



Looks like the job is going to grab Carrie once again and into another dangerous mission.



Here's the trailer:





You can catch the season premiere of Homeland Sunday, Oct. 4th 9/8c on Showtime

Chicago Fire - Coming Up: Casey's in Trouble (Preview)

Here's the first promo of the new season on Chicago Fire.

Casey is in trouble. What will happen to him and will they get there in time to save him?

This season premiere will probably have us falling down from out seats.




You can catch the season premiere of Chicago Fire Tues. Oct. 13th at 10/9c on NBC.

Chicago Fire - First Look at Season 4 (Digital Exclusive)

Here's the first look of the upcoming new season of Chicago Fire.

OMG!!!

This season premiere will be so high that we'll probably fall down from our seats.






You can catch the season premiere of Chicago Fire Tuesday, Oct. 13th at 10/9c on NBC

Chicago Med: New Showrunners for the Medical Drama

Changes have been made for Chicago Med as they have found two leaders.

TVLine has reported that Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov (Former Executive Producers on HBO's Broadwalk Empire and The Sopranos) are replacing Andrew Dettman as showrunners on the NBC medical drama.

Dettman left the Chicago Fire spinoff series "due to creative difference" as reported by TVLine.

This is the latest changes that the medical drama has gone in the past few weeks.It was earlier this month that Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead), who'd was to play ER surgeon Dr. Hannah Tramble, left the show due to family concerns.

You can catch the premiere of Chicago Med Tuesday, Nov. 17th at 9/8c on NBC.

Silver Lining Playbook to Friendship: Playing House "Employee of the Month"

When a friend is going through a rough patch, you tend to be there for them even if they don't think anything is wrong.

This week's episode puts Emma and Maggie in a situation when Mark enters Silver Linings Playbook mode by wearing a garbage bag while exercising in front of their house. This is due to his divorce after last week's incident.

When they invite Mark into their house, he pretends he isn't too busy.
It's like what Emma quoted from Steve Harvey: "When you don't fix your problems, you'll spend time fixing other people's problems." And that's what Mark has been doing from the sink to the roof from which he fell and sprained his ankle.

Mark has been one of the funniest characters in this series. Maggie tells him that he needs to rest and ice his ankle, but Mark thinks he needs to go to the ER, but tIts out the doctor tells him the same thing.

In the meantime, Maggie runs into an old friend from nursing school and gets her thinking of going back to finishing nursing classes. After being named employee of the month at Rosie's, she quits her job and tells Emma she wants to be a nurse.

Emma is all for Maggie to be a nurse because she knows that Maggie has always helped people for a long time.

One of the best scenes in this episode came when Emma and Mark got hooked on playing a video game, and it seemed like their relationship wasn't over even when she was putting her shark toes on him (shark toe is sharp nails).

In the end, Mark seemed to be fine since he went home the following day. But soon after that's all over with, Tina is outside of their house doing the same thing that Mark did the other day, except not wearing a trash bag.

This episode had many hilarious moments, from Mark doing his exercises to telling Emma she shouldn't speak in a Steve Harvey voice. Hell, I couldn't get enough of Maggie talking to her boss that she quitting.

Also, Mark and Emma playing a video game was the LOL moment of the episode.

Overall, I give this episode an 8.5/10.

You can catch Playing House on Tuesday nights at 10/9c on USA, and you can see next week's episode On Demand.

 

Heroes Reborn - First Look (Teaser)

Here's a first look teaser of the upcoming Heroes: Reborn.

I have to say that Greg Grunberg said it best, "that it's Heroes on steroids."



You can catch the 2-hour season premiere of Heroes: Reborn Thursday, Sept. 24th at 8/7c on NBC

Chicago PD: How long will Lindsay "Check Out"?

After turning her badge in after going down a dark spiral path that had her turning her badge in following the death of her pal and colleague Nadia, Lindsay has "checked out" in the season three premiere, Executive Producer Matt Olmstead telling TVLine.

"She's at a club, drunk," said Olmstead. While her boss/mentor/father figure, Voight is "heartbroken," he moves on and accepts that Erin isn't coming back to the team. But her ex might have a different point of view.

"Halstead's the one who doesn't really want to believe it's true," said Olmstead. He added that Halstead would go far as to confront Erin and tell her, "'I want to hear if face-to-face: tell me that you're done.' She tells him she's done, and he walks away. Her last champion walks away."

So that kind of leads to no romantic rekindling between Lindsay and Halstead. "His only concern is, 'I'm just trying to get her to live,'" said Olmstead.

Meanwhile for Erin, she's "drowning in 'self-loathing'" and having to deal with her mother Bunny, "Who's more than happy to keep the party going because (she) finally got (her) daughter back. It's very unhealthy."

But Lindsay's issue is put on pause as one of the Intelligence team members gets in a "dire straits when Lindsay volunteers with the case. Returning for work, Lindsay "creates a major triangle between Bunny, Lindsay and Voight, because Bunny now feels very spiteful towards Voight," Olmstead previews. "He did it again. He pried (away her  daughter."

But that leads to the question, will Erin remain in the Intelligence Unit? "Offering (Her) service to help out on this case is different than actually getting her job back," said Olmstead. "Gettng her job back is a bigger journey. She has to prove (herself) to a lot of people. She walked away. She handed her badge in."

Shows I Would Like to See Comeback

Weren't we expected and pumped when 24 returned for a short 13-episode special or even Arrested Development? Oh, I bet you're super excited that The X-Files is returning for a six-episode season next year.  It seems like past shows are making a comeback in revivals, and that doesn't seem to be a bad thing.

Better than rebooting a show, revivals bring back the original characters with new and updated stories of what's going on and the challenges they are getting into.

Besides The X-Files, to name the latest show, I figured I would give out a list of shows I hope to make a comeback.

1. Law & Order. 

Yes, I know that SVU is still on the air, and it's gotten better than ever since the changes in characters and storytelling format. But I can't argue enough that The Original is simply the best. It was the show that got the Law & Order franchise going.

There's word that there are discussions about having the show come back, but due to scheduling, the actors are doing another project. It seems that we'll get one down the road. Heck, I do think Dick Wolf is all into it. We do want a Season 21, even if it's a 13-episode or a 6-episode.

2. Crossing Jordan 

It's one of my favorite shows that happen to be on television. Before Bones came on the airwaves, Jill Hennessy, as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, was the medical examiner on television who helped solve crimes with attitude. The series had great supporting characters, with Miguel Ferrer as DR. Macy, Ravi Kapoor as "Bug," Kathryn Hahn, Steve Valentine, and Jerry O'Connell as Det. Woody Hoyt.

The series showed that crime-solving drama with an eerie look and sound that drew me into the show in the first place. This show should be good enough to offer 13 episodes. Created by Tim Kring, who's bringing back the series Heroes in a short season called Heroes: Reborn this fall. It should be the only reason to bring it back.

3. Caroline in the City 

The comedy series that was hugely popular in the mid-90s; only lasted four seasons and left us with a cliffhanger that deserves a resolution.  The series started with Lea Thompson as Caroline Duffy, a famous cartoonist living in New York City, dealing with situations and relationships from love to friendship.

The show had an excellent supporting cast with Eric Lutes, Malcolm Gets, and Amy Pietzwhicht made this series hilarious. The series had some funny stories from Caroline dealing with a runaway Thanksgiving Day balloon of her and the beef with Richard and his ex-wife. And not to mention the final moment when Richard came back to see that Caroline was about to get married, which ended with a cliffhanger.

When The Michael J. Fox Show was on the airwaves, I was hoping that, in a path, Michael would interview Caroline Duffy to make a Back to the Future reunion and also a bit closer for "Caroline."

4. Will & Grace 

I know the series had its closer, but who wouldn't want these characters back in a 6 episode season that brought us laughter for eight seasons?

Who doesn't want to see Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, Megan Mullally, and Shelley Morrison back? This show is in a great lineup with All in the Family and Golden Girls, and they're the only show that has won both Lead Actors and Supporting Actors along with Best Show at the Emmy Awards.

The series is still prevalent on cable, with it being on almost every day of the week, including the marathons. It's a pop culture hit and still shows excellent pop references.

If we can't get a Friends reunion, the second best thing is Will & Grace.


That's my list of shows I would want to see revived. But for a show to come back, it's got to be the right time along with the correct stories and, of course, if the actors can come back to do it. But I don't think any of these actors would say no to not doing it.

My Summer Viewing on the Couch

Depending on when classes start, summer is officially over, and school is in session. I thought that I would take this time to write up about what shows I've watched over the summer. Of course, there are shows from Suits, Royal Pains, Hannibal, America's Got Talent, and the new series like Aquarius and Stitchers.  But I'm talking about shows that either have been on or just recently that I've never had a chance to watch. This is my summer viewing.

Daredevil 

This new series released this year has become the biggest show on Netflix, next to House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. I'm never much of a superhero series. I never watched Smallville or Agents of Shield, but when I watched this series, it blew my mind.

We all know the story of Matt Murdock, a lawyer by day and a hero by night known as Daredevil. This 13-episode series stretches out the origin story and the story of Daredevil's first time fighting crime. The series was released on April 10th, but I never watched it until a month later.

As soon as I watched the series' first two episodes, I was hooked and amazed. Charlie Cox playing Murdock/Daredevil is fantastic, and may I say that he's way better than Ben Affleck. When I first saw this guy, I thought it was Will Forte. He hit a home run, but I was impressed with former Law & Order CI star Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk. D'Onofrio hit a grand slam. He was dark and scary, and the character was well done.

This is one of the darkest shows and Marvel series I've ever seen, and I'm counting the films, too. This is what comic-book series and the Marvel Universe should be like: dark and edgy.

Arrow

Speaking of comic-book series, after watching Daredevil on Netflix, I had a chance to binge-watch one of the popular series on cable television, Arrow.

I've heard of the show, and my first thought was, okay, this might be something. I could never watch it because I don't have The CW and always forget to watch it online. So my chance to watch was not disappointing at all.

I was amazed and thought to myself after watching the first season that this seemed to be like what Daredevil was with its origin story by mixing it in with each episode. But the issue is that it could be too long for me to sit and watch all 24 episodes of this series. I did manage it and enjoyed it quite dearly.

Stephen Arnell is unique and gives an excellent performance as the Green Arrow. I enjoy watching Oliver learn from the art of crime, fighting the ups and downs, and facing his fears when he gets his ass kicked by The Archer. I have to give a lot of credit to Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Marc Guffenheim for bringing this series to the airwaves and other shows from The Flash, soon-to-be Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl coming to CBS. I wonder if there will be any more. I hope it's maybe a Batgirl series.

I haven't started watching season two yet, and hopefully will get through season three before the fourth season begins this October.

Mr. Robot 

I was so engaged in watching this series from watching the trailer. Mr. Robot had so much buzz around social media and critics. The series is about Elliot Anderson, who works at a computer security company daily and is a hero by night for catching criminals through the web. But he gets picked up by a man who goes by Mr. Robot, played by Christian Slater. He wants Elliot to take down ECorp (Evil Crop). But things get twisted, and Elliot realizes what's going on.

Rami Malek puts on a fantastic performance. He'll be up for awards for this series—the definition of hitting a home run performance. Not to mention that it's got a great cast, from Christian Slater to Carly Chalkin to Portia Doubleday.

The best part is that this series was renewed for a second season just before the series premiere. What perfect timing for this series to come on the airwaves, with the internet hacking of Sony and Ashley Madison situation.

You can watch the show on demand and catch the series finale this Wednesday night at 10/9c on USA Network.

Bloodline 

You can see where I've been staying most of this summer, at the Netflix Inn. This series, Bloodlines, was such a thrilling and gripping series I've seen.

The series is about a family whose eldest son comes back and brings hell and threatens to bring the family down. He was starring Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) and Linda Cardellini (ER and Freaks and Geeks), along with a great supporting cast.

The show was such a delight,t with enough thrill and suspense that I wanted more. I recommend this series. The series was renewed for a second season that will air sometime next year. Kyle Chandler received an Emmy nomination for his role in this series, and don't be surprised if he wins because he's outstanding.

List of recommendations:

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix
Aquarius, NBC
The Flash, The CW
The Liaison, Showtime
The Americans, FX
Sirens, USA/Netflix
Playing House, USA
Chipped, TBS

So I guess most of my summer I spent watching on Netflix. And now that the summer is over and only a month away, the new television season begins. I'm looking forward to recent seasons of these shows and others in the coming months