The Final Begins: Parks & Recreation "2017" & "Ron and Jammy"

As the farewell season of Parks & Recreation began, from the last season's finale to the season premiere we've jumped two years to 2017. The one thing still stands Leslie still working to get a national park going in Pawnee, IN.

But there's one or a few people that are standing in her way to do it...Ron Swanson. Apparently there's a feud between them that has them going from best friends to best enemies.

Both are working to make the either a corporate business or a national park. Game is on!!

In the meantime, Ben received a recognition award for his services, Tom is one of the most successful business man in town, that's how he puts it. And Andy and April think they are now the boring old married couple that they don't want to be.

As for the second episode, the beast is back and this time it's not who you think it would go, unless the title gives it away.

As Leslie and Ron battle out to win the open land, Leslie tries to convince Jam to vote for her proposal but one thing stands out, Tommy 2 and Jam are dating.

Leslie thought this would be a great idea to get back at Ron but that didn't work out.

Leslie saw in Jam what Tammy has done to Ron in the past and she has transformed him into Ron like. So Leslie asked Ron for help Jam to get over Ron. It wasn't pretty. But he did get over her. Apparently he don't need to crotch mask to defeat Tammy, which you had inside you all along. Jam decided not to vote for the proposal because of what Leslie and Ron did.

Meanwhile, Tom and Chris head to Chicago to see a familiar face, Tom's old girlfriend. She joins Tom and his business.

Tom still has feelings for her but too late...she has a boyfriend.

The one thing that got me in this episode was that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Okay I'll take that bet. First Back to the Future and now Parks & Rec.

Feel like the season has started off strong. I literally love the friendship and chemistry between Leslie and Ron. Put them up there along with Liz and Jack and Mary and Lou.

You can catch "Parks & Recreation" Tuesday nights at 8/7c on NBC.

Don't Spoil the Fun out of It: Tuesday Night Comedies and Drama

Marry Me: "Spoil Me"

How often do couples fight over this issue? Probably more than you think thanks to binge watching and DVR's were invented.

When Anne and Jack get home trying to avoid the spoil alerts from friends and coworkers of a hit show "The Moors" and making it their special night together. But as they get everything in place Anne has notice that the finale of the show has been watched.

Both turned on each other, think that one of them watched it.

It got so crazy that each took a lie detector test from a cop that Annie's friend was dating.

Turns out that both of them have watched the how's season finale.

This episode might not be as funny as last week's but it still held up to be pretty funny.

You can catch "Marry Me" Tuesday night's at 9/8c on NBC.

About A Boy: "About a Boy Becoming a Man"

When Andy tells Will that he was going to a music producer's son's Bar Mitzvah. Will wants to go and give some songs that.he.has written. But as he's Andy's plus one, that turn out to be Andy's boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Fiona is having trouble with her relationship with Chris. The problem: telling Marcus about it. When she tries to tell him and learning code words like "night biking" meant. She was going to tell him but when Marcus asked to stay home without a sitter.

That's when she didn't tell him and let him stay home. For Marcus, staying home alone was a plan to have Shay come over and soon those two went to the Bar Mitzvah party.

Everything fell apart for Will but him and Andy inspired the producer's son to come out. But probably no deal with music. Fiona and Chris...he's letting her talk to Marcus about their relationship.

This episode was hilarious and heartwarming at the end.

I love the relationship with Marcus and Shay those two are hitting it off. Will and Andy pretending to be a gay couple was funny. And there were awkward moments for Fiona with Chris and Marcus but at the end watching her sing at the bedroom door to Marcus and him soon to sing along was heartwarming.

You can catch "About A Boy" Tuesday nights at 9:30/8:30c on NBC.

Chicago Fire: "Ambush Predator"

Last week we were left with a stunning end that the warehouse fire that an arsonist is to blame not just this fire but that he kept.a clipping of a story of Shay's death.

Severide and Dawson go into the arson fire and try to find if that fire was caused by the same from the fire that killed Shay. They go back into the building, memories come back them, mostly Dawson who tells Severide about what happen.

They try find something but nothing even though Severide saw something different like where the fire was placed at. Soon they went to one of the head officers and asked for help. She does and gives Dawson and Severide a flash drive of photos of documents. Soon they find a piece of metal that help caused the fire which tells them that Shay was murder.

Meanwhile, one accident turns into a real Sophie's choice when a lady and the fire chaplain are in a car crash. Casey takes leadership and takes the risk of getting her out first and then him out.

After a difficult couple of days, both of them were okay.

Bowden's father finally came to see his grandson. He might be a.control freak but there might be a reason for that...Bowden's dad has stage four cancer.

And one of the other moments was of Mils and Britt. They have a.chance to talk to someone about what they went through last week. Mils thinks he's okay but when they get a call and see a lady with a bloody nose, he.gets upset. But.the lady refused treatment so they left them. Soon after bringing in a person with four cut fingers, they see the lady badly beaten. Mils goes to the house and beats the guy up and threatening him. Mils is off the edge.

The next episode seems to be another great crossover with PD on the hunt of Shay's killer which turns out to a real character.

You can catch "Chicago Fire" Tuesday nights at 10/9c on NBC.

A Newer Version of Cat and Mouse Game: Eye Candy "K3U" Series Premiere

Think of it as a cat and mouse game but in this case both are playing each other. That's what the new MTV series Eye Candy, based on the novel by R.L.Stine.

When a young computer hacker, Lindy (played by Victoria Justice) is off probation of her computer  hacking. She celebrates with her friends and soon gets signed up to an online dating service, given the nickname Eye Candy.

After talking to over a bunch of guys some ranging from good to no way, she leaves and soon receives a text message from one of them. Unknown to her who he is, he starts playing with her by hacking onto her computer and stalking her, sending her messages that are just the creeps.

Lindy goes and searches for the guy that it could be one of those guys she's has met. As she met with them, hacking on their.phones, her plan backfired when the last one leaves and accidentally switched phones with her. By the time she gets to him, he's dead on the park benched, with her phone in his mouth and.soon a text appears telling her that he thought they were exclusive.

By telling her ex-boyfriend and cop, Ben, and another cop, Tom, Lindy shows them that three people who've been on the online dating service has disappeared.

After spending sometime with Ben, Lindy was back at work the next night and soon gets a message on her computer and a four camera videos of her place seeing her best friend and.the stalker. When she told Ben, they both rush to the house but only Ben got there first and got knocked out.

When Lindy gets there she sees a dummy body with a computer and a video of Ben. The stalker wants her to say what she feels and that is that she loves him. That's when she later found him up the roof of her apartment dead.

This stalker is playing such mind games with Lindy. A bit of Hannibal Lecter-like serial killer who has an issue with people lying about how perfect they are.

Lindy seems to be tough character and has a will to do anything to stop. We meet her in the beginning with her sister, who was kidnapped on her own watched, about three years early before everything happen.

This is a totally new side of Victoria Justice's acting. This separates her from her Victorious character of a funny, singer into a young adult sexy and tough side.

As I said this series seems to be a cat playing with a mouse but also the other way around as the mouse catching the cat. We'll see what the series will bring and learn more about Lindy and.her missing sister, plus these murders that appear left and right.
I'm looking forward to this series, seems to be one of best new series of the new year, so far.

You can catch Eye Candy Monday nights at 10/9c on MTV.
You can catch recaps of Eye Candy and others on here or on The Quiet Corner. 

Emotions & Tensions: Parenthood: "How Did We Get Here?

There are sometimes words that are never enough to describe tonight's episode of Parenthood. But for me the only two words that fit best would be emotion and tension.

The story began minutes after Camille called 911. We see Zeek being taken in the ambulance and heading to the ER.

In one of the most emotional first openings I've ever seen on television, with seeing Zeek being taken in, Adam and Kristina looking at each other, Crosby in a hurry looking for keys, Sarah leaving and Julie and Joel sleeping made it one of the best director shots I've seen.
You would be crazy not to get at least teary eye from that.

The Braverman gather up trying to get information and helping Camille calm down. The wait. Began for them. In the meantime, Adam and Crosby got word that the luncheonette has been broken in and later been robbed of everything.

Meanwhile Sarah was supposed to give Amber her baby shower that day but it was taken care of as Sarah, Julia, Kristina, Jasmine and Camille gave her one in the ER, probably the best place right? One of the best scene was when all five gave Amber advice of motherhood that they came together and put it in a book, a tradition in the family.

The one character in this episode that grab attention would be Hank, who is trying his best to be supportive to Sarah and her family. And that led to a proposal outside the ER. Sarah never did gave an answer to him.

But the center of the episode belongs to Zeek's health. His health isn't in a good state. The doctor has given him two options one surgery and the other is to wait. Zeek want him and Camille to make the decision without the kids involved.

I can't say how many times tears were being shed but I admitted that I cried at times. This episode is probably the definition of what Parenthood is and now that we have only three episodes left there's plenty of more tears coming.

This episode should be a hit for the Emmys for writing, directing and supportive role for Bonnie Bedelia.

Next week's episode will deal with Adam and Crosby on the future of the Luncheonette. Will Sarah accept Hank's proposal? And what will Zeek and Camille decide?


You can catch the final three episodes of Parenthood Thursday nights at 10/9c on NBC.

(Note: you can read recaps and others on The Quiet Corner.) 

A Look Back: Goodnight Desdemona

( Nearly two years ago, I was a features editor for a student run newspaper at a local college. I got to cover and write reviews and features. There was one play that I got to cover and looking back on it, it still is one of my favorite plays that I've seen at the college. It had so many elements and mostly it was hilarious. I thought that I might post it and share it.)

Different Look at Two Classics

On April 12, the Illinois Central College Arts and Communication Department Theatre Program presented the show “Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)” in the Studio Theatre at the Performing Art Center. A story about a female writer who thinks that two of William Shakespeare plays, “Othello” and “Romeo and Juliet,” can be turned into a comedy and later is transported into three worlds.

This being a college theatre the setting was a bit different than the previous play, where the setting was set in a studio. It had a stone-look with some trap or hidden doors for both the characters in the story and also to help change the setting of the next scene in the story. It made the production move quickly as possible when each scene was done and the lights went to black. The lighting in the production was remarkable to watch. 

There were so many different kinds of lights throughout the production that the one scene or multiple of scenes was when Constance, played by Lindsay Nolan, was transported into three worlds.

The green-shaped circles spinning around her, then a flash of a single white light came on her with two flashes of yellow light that gave way that the transporting is about done and with the music playing it sounded like it came from a classic science fiction program or even a bit of like “Alice In Wonderland sort of thing. There were characters in the production that really stood out with one of them being Nolan’s Constance. 

A female writer, who doesn't have much of a life, has a crush on Professor Claude Night, played by Logan Henderson.  The character was funny and delivered some of the comic lines very well that it made me think of the character Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey, in the award-winning TV series “30 Rock.” 

Two others that stood out were Othello, played by Tannen Skriver and the Nurse and Ghost, played by Dusty Bredeman, who also portrayed another character in the production as a solider. Skriver playing both Othello in a dramatic scene and humorist was well played. 

But it was Bredeman’s characters both Nurse and Ghost that had the audience laughing. In one scene he comes out and helps calm Juliet down after Romeo left to go have some fun. He dresses as an older female nurse that has way too much makeup on and sounded like she was from the Bronx or something.  And the other scene when Constance was in the cemetery, Bredeman appeared the Ghost with an introduction from “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” Acting like he is really Carson walking around the set and at the end swung a golf club like classic Carson would do on his show.

Even though there was some really good acting, there were a couple of actors that had stumbled on their lines, but it wasn't a huge ordeal in the show. And there were was one that was playing the character a bit too much. As Constance was in each world she would find three things that she had thrown away before she was transported into the world of “Othello” and “Romeo and Juliet.” 

I believe that those items symbolized that it gives the character, Constance, a way that maybe she has a something better going on with her in life than she really thinks. There were some scenes in the production that was a bit predictable. For example, when Professor Night came in the office of Constance to ask her a question and showed her a small box that had a ring in it, she thought that he was going to propose to her but really was asking if Ramona, played by Natalie Holland, would like it. 

It’s one of those classic comedy scenes that you would see over and over in film, theatre and on television. It seemed that the audience enjoyed the more when Constance was in the world of “Romeo and Juliet,” which received the most laughs in the show, mostly between the relationship between Constance and Romeo and Juliet.

“Goodnight Desdemona” is a farce play about how life isn't all bad that there is harmony. It’s about how three people who are different have about the same issue in life and that there are people that care about for one another. It has showed a lot of variety in the production than you could even imagine coming from the characters of William Shakespeare.

(I got to cover a lot of plays but this one probably has to be the very top of the rest. This production had everything that I could have imagine and more. It really blew my mind away.)

Testing the Relationship that Might Break: Tuesday Night Comedies and Drama

Marry Me: "Test Me"
 It's probably one of the show's best episodes to date. When Anne and Jake are thinking about having a baby, they try to be friends with a doctor to get him tested to check his junk juice (there were a lot of rhyming of junky, trunky and such throughout the episode.). 
But when Jake talks to the doctor at the guy's home during a baby shower, he freaks out and does all these weird stuff to help his junk get pump. Anne learns after she saw the baby camera at the doctor's that.her and her friend took. 
As she tries to find him, they come to terms and Jake seem to calm down and excited. But that's not all. When they get to the Doctor's building there's a bit of an issue, they couldn't remember the guy's first name. 
That led to them at first to the wrong office, but they get there and soon the doctor finds out that they couldn't remember his name. I find this episode hilarious and the best one so far of it's season. The way they talked about yanky that tanky and Anne praising the lord singing baby baby baby. 

You can catch Marry Me Tuesday nights at 9/8c on NBC. 

About A Boy: "About A Manniversary"
 Can you believe it's been one year since Marcus and Will met for the first time. What a difference a year makes, right. To celebrate the occasion, Marcus got Will a Manniversary gift on the eve of the holiday. 
When Will learns about it he had to top the gift he got, so he told him that he.got tickets to a female music concert featuring Lisa Loeb. Will learns that the tickets are sold out but later got some from someone. But his efforts to get Marcus to meet Lisa got difficult when the bodyguard wouldn't let them in unless there was some payment. 

Will paid the guy and soon looked for Lisa's trailer. When they find it, Marcus got a look in and soon taken away by security. As soon as they were cleared, Marcus learned that Will never jade backstage passes to see Loeb and that Manniversary isn't real even at Hallmark.

 But soon Lisa Loeb walks out to perform but Will stops her to get her to talk to Marcus but instead called them perverts and left. But Marcus was happy just to get a wave from her. Meanwhile, Fiona is having a bit of trouble with moving her relationship with Chris. 

So she takes advice from Leslie Bibb's.character about sexing it up from getting wax to wearing special clothing to even wearing sex boots. Also had to changed her bedroom which had way too many photos of Marcus.
As Chris came over things got awkward like when those boots were too small and Chris tries taking them off and gets hit in the head, ends up with a cut. But after talking about it Fiona comes to terms and had finally had sex. 
This was another hilarious episode of the series. Marcus and Will's to find Lisa and learn that.she thinks that they're perverts. Also Andy is such a funny supporting character friend of Will. And Fiona and Chris...what a storyline that was and even that awkward scene taking the boot off was hilarious. 

You can catch About A Boy Tuesday nights at 9:30/8:30c on NBC! 

Chicago Fire: "Let Him Die"
 Where we last saw the gang of Firehouse 51, Bowden and his wife had a baby boy but soon the wasn't breathing and took him to the ICU. Casey let Dawson off for the day after a tough day and.oh yeah Britt and Mills were.kidnapped too. 
We learned what happened six hours after being taken. Two men with guns take Britt and Mills away and into a car. Soon as Mills talks he knocks  one guy out and chokes the driver til they crash into a junkyard. As the gang of 51, try to find them, they get the help from Halstead. 

Both Halstead and Cruz search and found the abandon car. Later as Bowden and wife wait on news on their baby, Hermman calls and comes with his wife for support. Soon Bowden knows the news of Britt and Mills missing. 
As the gang spilt up search anything wrong, Dawson finds a trail packs of alcohol wipes on the ground leading to a building. Where we see Mills and Britt trying to save of the kidnappers. Things get heated up and Britt tries to tell Mills to let the guy die. 

But he doesn't and saves him. Soon, the gang gets in and saves Britt and Mills. But the guys aren't talking and the only suspect is they guy who lost his son under Mills care. But have no proof so that upsets both them. But what to do, Britt called that guy who she saved during that helicopter crash. 

Later on, when things look to get worst they do seem to get better. As bad news came for baby Bowden, a turn around came and turns out to be healthy. As things couldn't get any better, a relationship takes a break with Casey and Dawson. 

Casey not fighting for their love even when she walked out. Idiot! But the next day, the gang gets a call of a storage building fire, fire came in a locked room and when Severide saw what was in it, tanks, he takes the fire out. 

But one thing leaves us in a stand still, who ever started this arson also started that building fire that killed Shay. Questions are a rising here. 
Next week's episode will make the gang decide on a difficult choice: save the victim or save a friend when a car accident comes between them. 

You can catch Chicago Fire Tuesday nights at 10/9c on NBC!

Note: Due to difficultly of getting on the online at home, you can catch recaps and other things on my backup blog: The Quiet Corner until further notice. I'll be writing through my smartphone which it won't carry Blogger.  So I hope you continue to read recaps, reviews and other things. 

Top 10 List of 2014

Goodbye 2014, time has gone bye so fast. Now that we're in the new year and I'm a bit late on doing this, I thought that I would put up my top ten list of TV shows of 2014 and others.

Top 10 Drama:
1. Parenthood
2. The Blacklist
3. The Americans
4. Homeland
5. Mad Men
6.Chicago Fire/PD
7. The Affair
8. Bones
9. Sons of Anarchy
10. The Mysteries of Laura

Top 10 Comedy
1. Parks and Recreation
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. Board City
4. Shameless
5. Louie
6. Benched
7. Orange is the New Black
8. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
9. About A Boy
10. Girls

Must See New Series in 2015
1. 12 Monkeys, SyFy premieres January 16th at 9/8c
2. Eye Candy, MTV, premieres January 12th at 10/9c
3. Bloodlines, Netflix, premieres in March
4. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix, premieres in March
5. Allegiance, NBC, premieres Feb. 5th 10/9
6. Dig, USA Network, premieres March 5th

Must See Shows in the New Year
1. The final four episodes of Parenthood. Bring plenty of tissues
2. The final season of Parks and Recreation.
3. Netflix streaming Friends! I hear a Friends party going on!!
4. The Walking Dead returns in February!!

Here's to 2015, hopefully this will be another awesome year in television. Happy New Year!!!
For more on recaps and more, check out The Quiet Corner due to access problems to Blogger.