TV Show Reviews

The Muppets (2015-?)

The Muppets

The Muppets (2015-?)

Network:

ABC

Starring:

Steve Whitmire

Bill Barretta

Dave Goelz

Eric Jacobson

Plot:

Jim Henson’s loveable puppets return to the small screen in this mockumentary-style series that follows their personal and professional lives.

Review:

I’ve only seen a couple episodes of the original series and honestly don’t remember much about them, so my thoughts on the episode are based purely on the pilot and how it compares to the most recent movies.

There’s a lot more adult material and themes in the TV series. Not to the point where you wouldn’t want kids to watch, but they aren’t going to catch on to everything. Fozzy is dating a human which causes problems between him and her family. Kermit and Miss Piggy have broken up and he’s dating a new pig. I never understood why Kermit was with Miss Piggy but whatever floats his boat. He’s apparently into pigs since his new woman is one too. I’m not sure how I feel about the new girl. We’ll see.

The show wasn’t awesome and it wasn’t bad. I’m really noticing a theme with these new shows. Nothing has really blown me away or made me excited to see more. It’s kind of sad.

3/5

 

Minority Report (2015-?)

Minority Report

Minority Report (2015-?)

Network:

Fox

Starring:

Stark Sands

Meagon Good

Nick Zano

Plot:

10 years after the end of Precrime in Washington DC one of the three PreCogs attempts to lead on a normal life while still suffering from visions of the future. Will they be able to hold it together or mentally breakdown and give up?

Review:

It doesn’t make sense for someone with uncontrollable precognitive abilities to live in a large city where violent crime occurs frequently. Big cities are nice, but they aren’t worth what he goes through. He gave a kind of explanation, but you don’t have to live in isolation, there is a middle ground.

The tech was cool looking with moments of me rolling my eyes. I don’t know how they can keep that budget up past the first episode, though.

Honestly the show just makes me bitter that it isn’t Almost Human. It has some potential, but I’m close to my cap on cop shows so I’m not sure if I’ll continue watching past the next couple episodes.

3/5

Life in Pieces (2015-?)

Life in Pieces (2015-?)

Network:

CBS

Starring:

Dan Bakkedahl

Holly J. Barrett

Betsy Brandt

James Brolin

Colin Hanks

Zoe Lister Jones

Plot:

A family comedy told through the separate stories of different family members.

Review:

The format of the show is going to take some getting used to, it’s divided up into four stories. Each were fairly funny, with the story from the oldest child’s point of view being the funniest to me.

It was a nice comedy and since I don’t have too many of those on my docket I’ll probably watch it a few more times. There wasn’t anything amazing about it though.

3/5

The Last Ship Season Two

the last ship

The Last Ship Season Two

Network:

TNT

Starring:

Eric Dane

Rhona Mitra

Adam Baldwin

Plot:

The crew of a naval destroyer is forced to confront the reality of a new existence when a pandemic kills off most of the earth’s population.

Review:

So I watched The Last Ship in a weird way. Well not weird, just not how I use to watch shows. I DVR’d all the episodes and only when the season was finished did I watch all of them. I did this with the final season of Falling Skies and I’ve done it the last two years with Supernatural. All my binge watching on Netflix and Amazon has altered how I watch shows.

Anyway, I really like The Last Ship. Like really like it. I was so not expecting this last year when it first aired. I only picked it up because it reminded me of the show Last Resort that was prematurely canceled. It was summer and I had a shortage of TV shows. I’m so glad I did.

This season was better than the last in many ways. I didn’t feel like a ship romance was being forced on me, the characters were better developed, and I feel like the action was better.

So many explosions!

Love the Aussie they picked up. Best fighter.

I really enjoyed the way they did the season finale. You thought it was going to be the fight between the ship and the sub, and that was awesome, but that was just the beginning. Fight wise, that was bigger, but the ending really set it up for the next season and gave you a great reason to come back. I like that.

After being beat down a lot this season, not to the point where you felt hopeless but close, the ending made you believe that they might actually survive this whole ordeal. Don’t get me wrong, they still have a lot of work ahead of them, but this was a major victory in the war.

4/5

Sense 8 (2015-?)

sense8_cast_netflix

Sense 8 (2015-?)

Network:

Netflix

Creators:

J. Michael Straczynski

Andy Wachowski

Lana Wachowski

Starring:

Aml Ameen

Donna Bae

Jamie Clayton

Tina Desai

Tuppence Middleton

Max Riemelt

Miguel Ángel Silvestre

Brian J. Smith

Plot:

A group of people around the world are suddenly linked mentally, and must find a way to survive being hunted by those who see them as a threat to the world’s order.

Review:

First, this review is not based on just the pilot. Normally I’ll watch a pilot episode, decide if I’m at least mildly interested in the show and then give it three to six episodes to catch me. I would not recommend that for Sense 8, you really need to watch all the episodes to make that decision.

I loved Sense 8 and I’m on pins and needles waiting to hear if Netflix has renewed it. I’ve talked myself down several times already with assurances that Netflix is willing to try new things and was aware that the show was pitched as multiple seasons. Still, I’m on edge.

I can completely understand if you watch this and end up not liking it. Sense 8 is not for everyone. The pacing is slow, it’s very much an origin story, and it’s almost all character building.

I flip flop between who my favorite character is, Lito, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, is awesome and I love his partner. Van Damm, Aml Ameen, is hilarious and so much fun to watch. Then there’s Wolfgang, Max Riemelt, who’s the troubled bad boy that doesn’t believe he deserves love. There are some characters I don’t like as much, but none that I out right hate.

The pacing did get annoying at times. It was pretty slow for a show that is twelve episodes long. There was a lot of information that they were feeding you, though. I wished there was a bit more action and I thought the action they did show wasn’t on par with other Wachowski movies. Of course this wasn’t a movie and they had to deal with a smaller budget and actors who don’t necessarily have fighting experience.

I could easily see this becoming one of those things that people either love or can’t make it through. It’s almost like Jane Eyre in that the first three hundred pages can be a little dry, but then it starts to really pick up. The first eight episodes are a lot of information and unanswered questions, but by episode nine things pick up. A little. When it ends there are still a lot of questions unanswered, but they’ve also answered a fair amount too.

I really enjoyed this show and would highly recommend it, but I’m not going to be mad if you don’t like it. Just give me some good reasons, though.

5/5

EDIT: So happy this was picked up for a second season!