TV of 2013

[flyonthewall2983]

First look at David Fincher/Netflix's House of Cards, and FX's The Americans.

[dx23]

Al-Jezeera buys Current TV from Al Gore.

[Donald Brown]

Al-Jezeera buys Current TV from Al Gore.

I was just wondering how soon it would be for cable companies to cowardly drop the channel when I saw that Time-Warner did so within hours of the announced sale.

[dx23]

Wouldn't be surprised to see Dish drop it too. What strikes me as ironic is to read that TWC dropped it because they didn't consent to the sale. Since when cable or satellite providers have to consent to the sale of any channel? How many networks have changed hands throughout the past 10-15 years, especially in the Time-Warner conglomerate?

[mfunk9786]

Matt Drudge hasn't ejaculated this hard since that bathhouse in Miami that he visited a few nights ago.

[Murdoch]

For all those looking for a life-imitates-art, cult-hiding-in-plain-sight show that isn't Following, I suggest the new CW show Cult. It's more of a mystery than the Kevin Bacon vehicle, which relies too heavily on gore and shock deaths, and focuses on how the fake show bleeds into reality as the main character searches for his fanboy brother. Also, and this may be just me, but I find the idea of a cult forming around a TV show a far better premise than one forming around Poe since the former offers a lot more potential for Lynchian style mixing of fantasy and reality as the fiction of the show becomes the characters' reality (not that I expect the show to go to such depths, but the mere potential for it intrigues me).

[mfunk9786]

I love that because of the frequent threadsplitting, my Matt Drudge remark is practically in amber for the rest of the year.

[The Narrator Returns]

Contrary to what I have heard some say, The Neighbors has not gotten better. It still resembles a bizarre bit of conceptual art, where a family-friendly sitcom gets a helping of smutty jokes so that it's too inappropriate for its target audience, and too immature for anyone who knows that Santa Claus isn't real. If it wasn't for the bizarre addition of sex jokes, it wouldn't be out of place on mid-80s ABC, considering tonight's episode features jokes about men stealing the covers, how women are always overworked, and how hilarious it is when people forget to wear pants. The lone bright spots come from the main alien couple, who try their very best and sometimes even turn the jokes into things that merit smiles. Give them their own show, and better jokes along with it.

Oh, and tonight's episode features a Michael Bay cameo. The only jokes that come from this cameo are that he's really Michael Bay, and that he likes hot women and explosions.

[flyonthewall2983]

Cinemax's Banshee is definitely what I would call a guilty pleasure. A mix of crime genre tropes, unremarkable but bearable performances and soft-core pornography, it's custom-made for the channel it's being broadcast on.

[Murdoch]

I don't know how long it can sustain itself, but the lightning rounds of Billy on the Street have been the hardest I've laughed in a while. There's something about a guy running up to people on the streets and screaming simple questions at them that's hilarious to me. Exhibit A

[flyonthewall2983]

Rectify which premieres on Sundance next month. Between this and Top of the Lake, this seems like a good start for them to be doing original programming now.

[Murdoch]

Hemlock Grove - Eli Roth's name being attached didn't inspire much confidence but after Netflix hitting a home run with House of Cards I gave the series the benefit of the doubt. That was a mistake. The first five minutes are composed of a high school class on particle physics in what appears to be a school for future Playboy bunnies and a gruesome death scene where we not only get to see a girl's fingernail ripped off, but also her being brutally murdered by some unseen creature as the camera focuses on her upper torso and what sounds like thrusting ends the scene. Blech.

[domino harvey]

Whitney's finally canceled, and Up All Night's now been retooled into nothingness

[The Narrator Returns]

Guys with Kids and 1600 Penn have also been canceled. Thousands ask, "Wait, they weren't canceled already?"

[flyonthewall2983]

Kevin Pollak said on his chat show that Eddie Murphy was given a ten million dollar golden parachute for CBS not picking up Beverly Hills Cop.

[domino harvey]

The most illegal move in wrestling history

[Cold Bishop]

Wrestling sure has gotten pretty implausible. Not like back in the day...

[flyonthewall2983]

Comedy Central airing Bill Cosby's first stand-up special in 26 years this November.

[rohming]

Contrary to what I have heard some say, The Neighbors has not gotten better. It still resembles a bizarre bit of conceptual art, where a family-friendly sitcom gets a helping of smutty jokes so that it's too inappropriate for its target audience, and too immature for anyone who knows that Santa Claus isn't real. If it wasn't for the bizarre addition of sex jokes, it wouldn't be out of place on mid-80s ABC, considering tonight's episode features jokes about men stealing the covers, how women are always overworked, and how hilarious it is when people forget to wear pants. The lone bright spots come from the main alien couple, who try their very best and sometimes even turn the jokes into things that merit smiles. Give them their own show, and better jokes along with it.

Oh, and tonight's episode features a Michael Bay cameo. The only jokes that come from this cameo are that he's really Michael Bay, and that he likes hot women and explosions.

yeah, i've only seen one episode so maybe i'm being too quick to judge, but what i did see was painfully unfunny and pointless.

[domino harvey]

Fuse gave ICP their own TV show. Clearly this will be the best show of 2013

[warren oates]

In case The Americans doesn't go far enough back for you, there's AMC's upcoming Revolutionary War spy thriller/drama Turn.

[domino harvey]

Why would anyone watch Ryan Murphy's self-described "sex show" for HBO? If he cast Jennifer Jason Leigh and Anna Torv as lesbian lovers, of course

[domino harvey]

Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 creator working on new show, Jim Rash and Nat Faxon to direct pilot

[domino harvey]

Magic City cancelled by Starz

[Andre Jurieu]

Donald Glover is getting his own comedy series on FX?