Author Archive: patrick

A to Z

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On October 2nd NBC will air A to Z.  This is the complete story of Andrew and Zelda’s dating history.  I caught the pilot episode online.  Overall the show was good.  Andrew (Ben Feldman) works for a online dating company who’s boss cares more about monthly subscriptions than people finding their true love.  Andrew believes in destiny and meets Zelda (Cristin Milioti) when she comes to his office which just happens to be across the office park from her office.  He friends her on Facebook and uses his social connection to ask her out.  He realizes during the date that Zelda was the destiny girl that got away at a concert.  She tells him it wasn’t her when it was….mayhem ensues.

Feldman (a young Scott Baio) and Milioti have great chemistry.  I’m not sure if I have enough patience though to stick with this show for their 8 month courtship though.  The script is good, though not great, needs to be beefed up a bit.  A cubicle worker and a lawyer show is not that creative.  I need to know what makes them both special.  I’ll give it a few episodes before I tune out.

Grade: B-

Red Band Society

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Another Hospital Drama……  That’s what I thought going into this.  Do we need yet another McDoctor going into the on call room and getting it on with an intern show?  Then I watched the pilot episode and to my ecstatic surprise the show was about the patients in the pediatrics ward.  I wonder though how long I can root for a protagonist who is in the hospital?  Won’t they inevitably get better or unbetter and die?  Does FOX really want to put their audience through that?  They’re kids.  I’m glad I am not making those choices. I was, though, happy I made the choice to watch The Red Band Society.  The writing was fresh and it is always good to see young people as the leads in shows instead of those you see in every new drama that gets canned every season(I’m talking to you Christian Slater).  The story is told by a kid who is in a coma, this is a neat device in my opinion.  But how does he know what is going on outside of his room??….suspension of disbelief…ok.  The kids are all kinds…one that needs a heart, needs lungs, has cancer, an eating disorder, and one who needs courage.. Wait no.. that last one was The Wizard of Oz….different kid story.  The first episode was mostly exposition.  Now that we know the characters, I am excited to see what the next few episode have in store.  It officially premiers on September 17, 2014, but you can see it on Hulu until then.

Grade: B+

 

Louie Season 4:1 & 2

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Comedian Louie C.K. is my hero.  He has taken the entertainment business, that says you need to follow these rules and has said that ‘s nice but I want to do it this way…and he is getting away with it.  Why?  His work is art.  He takes his sitcom out of the normal paradigm and doesn’t settle for trite.  The first episode has a great scene with Charles Grodin that makes the audience wait along with Louie for him to finish his lunch before he can be engaged in conversation.  (It was great to see Grodin again.) The second episode features Jerry Seinfeld and Yvonne Stahovski (who also premieres the sam night in Fox’s 24) and just to land a joke about how the rich keep getting richer off the poor.  This episode really is what Louie is all about.  He puts his own work out there without the rich middle men taking their 99% of the show.  I wonder how much longer it will be before Louie is one of them?

Grade: A+

24:Live Another Day Episode 1

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Jack Bauer is back and he’s wanted.  He rescues Cloe from the US Government in London while the the President is there as well meeting with the Prime Minister about the use of drones.  A drone pilot is accused of killing 2 American troops and 2 British troops, Jack knows who is the real culprit and will do whatever it takes to bring them to justice and save the President, who is also the father of the woman he loves.  This is why I love this show.  Years of action put into 24 hours, well 12 in this season’s case.  My wife calls this the ulcer show, because it never lets you stop worrying about Jack.  I call it exciting and fun.

Grade: A+