I love the 80s. I grew up in the 80s. This show is about growing up in the 80s and it is rad. This is a retelling of the childhood of Adam F. Goldberg the creator of the show as he grew up in the 80s and his obsession with filmmaking and recording everything with his camcorder. The early seasons for this show were quite interesting and remarkable, however as the series tears on it has grown a bit stale relying on an 80s stereotype for each episode.
Grade: B-Category Archives: B-
Gold Rush: Whitewater
In my previous post about the original Gold Rush show I mentioned that it has all levels of miners, this version is miners of all ages that are new to this kind of mining. They mine in raging raging cold water that is storming down mountains. It’s dangerous and exciting. A father son duo who have a disconnected relationship work together and apart to find gold at the bottom of the stream. Fun show but not as good as the original in the franchise.
Grade: B-
Star Trek: Discovery
I’ve been watching this show since it came out and have been watching Star Trek since I could remember. This show is the most adult version of this brand ever: they even swear! A space ship has new technology to jump from place to place as opposed to traveling there. They are just there and this is before the time of Kirk but it does have Spock at least the first season. Some of the episodes are full of too much dialogue and not enough action. Not action like fighting and explosions, but they talk about doing as opposed to doing. I like this show, but it is not the best Star Trek show.
Grade: B-
The Rookie
Captain Hammer has joined the police force at the age of 45. Oh my. This ABC show has been on a couple of seasons now and my initial review was that it was hokey and I loved it. I still think it is a good show. Nathan Fillion, the lead actor, does a great job and is able to make you like him no matter the situation. This past season they have tried to make the show more dramatic which is noce but I think they can go a lot farther, but perhaps the distance I want is more than network TV is allowed to go.
Grade: B-
Utopia
“You wouldn’t abandon ship in a storm just because you couldn’t control the winds.”
― Thomas More, Utopia
The idea of Utopia originally came from Thomas More’s book, Utopia. This is a place that is the promised land, but not just the promised land for the chosen but for all. This is the enter-speriment that FOX is conducting with Utopia. Taking 15 people from all walks of life and putting them together for a year with limited resources to create a society that they all can thrive in that would be their Utopia.
With everyone being so diverse from a Pastor to a polygamist to a lawyer to an ex-con, I don’t see how they can resolve and become one Utopia, but it may be entertaining to watch. It may also be an eye-opener to the public that we need to respect differences more and be more than tolerant. I really don’t like that word, tolerant. It means to me that you are allowing something to happen even though you don’t agree. In my Utopia, that word is null. If someone is different then they are different, it is not up to me to decide to let them be. Just be. I think with the personalities that have been chosen by the producers that there will be a lot of conflict that will make the show watchable for the masses, but it will not be a great experiment.
I will continue to watch the show to see how much of an experiment it actually is and I will stop when I decide that it is more about entertainment.
Grade: B-
A to Z
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-