I like sci-fi movies in theory, by which I mean many of them aren’t very good. But the concepts of science fiction are filled with potential, using ideas about far off technologies and futures that tell stories about how humanity is in the present. These days, we’ve seen a lot of dystopian movies or ones without much in the way of “hope.” And even when you do have that, there’s usually a very strong element of “evil science” in such films.

Of course, anytime you have an “evil empire,” they always have the best tech, like in The Hunger Games or the recent Maze Runner. So the good guys have to take down the system using wit and gumption. Rarely is science seen as what it truly is — objective. Luckily, we have a new movie where science is hero and villain alike, where humanity can doom or save itself by action, not due to evil. From my perspective, it’s about time science had something positive in its portrayal in popular media beyond the propensity for people to use computers as magic.

Interstellar is the latest from acclaimed film director Christopher Nolan and it’s already getting very mixed reviews (mostly positive, but a few very angry outliers). I stand in the camp of liking the movie, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best I’ve seen this month, year, or from Nolan. The movie takes place in the “not too distant future,” where humanity is running out of food so everything else becomes less important. Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey) is a corn farmer raising two kids, his son Tom who plans to become a farmer after his father, and his daughter Murph (played by Mackenzie Foy of that last Twilight movie) who is more of the scientific nerd/genius type.

But ah, you see, Cooper was actually trained as an engineer and NASA test pilot, but when food became an international priority, he stopped doing what he “was good at.” The first hour or so of the movie does a few things, and is mostly uniformly interesting. After a dust storm, Murph and Cooper find mysterious lines in her room that lead them on a new adventure. Soon enough, they discover a secret NASA program that’s seeking new planets that might support human life. You may be thinking, wait, there aren’t any nearby!

Which is true, the nearest planet that might be habitable is many light years away from Earth. But in the movie, they have discovered a mysterious wormhole near Saturn that is connected to a distant galaxy near several possibly useful planets. So this is the final two intersecting points of the first part of the movie. Setting up the critical relationship between father and daughter, Cooper to Murph and vice versa, showing parallels obvious and subtle, and trying to get the audience to be invested in their future. And this relationship is the trigger to get Cooper to decide to go on the mission (because otherwise there wouldn’t be a movie). Assisted by Cooper’s old professor, Professor Michael Caine (technically it’s “Brand,” but … you know) and the professor’s daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway) as a fellow astronaut, the team leaves on their mission. But due to science stuff (general relativity, where time moves slower as you move closer to the speed of light), Cooper may not be back for years. Or ever, because space is dangerous.

The second hour of the movie is the adventure in space, action pieces and thrills, with a few snuck in character moments. This is the best part of the movie, the part I was most emotionally connected to and thought was the most exciting. The visuals were superb and wondrous, from the bizarre wormhole to the practical effects of the spaceship. We are also introduced to a few corollary characters, including the wonderfully funny robot TARS (voice of Bill Irwin), but they aren’t as important. Back on Earth, Tom and Murph have grown up into Casey Affleck and Jessica Chastain respectively, and have done what was expected. Tom’s running the farm with a wife and child, while Murph is working with Professor Michael Caine on the secret equation that could move people off the Earth en masse and save humanity. This is when things get a bit … muddled, though, as we finish off in our third hour of the movie (49 minutes, but c’mon!). The final hour of the movie gets a bit weird and the themes a bit simplistic. In terms of enjoyment, the movie started strong, got really strong, and kinda petered out. Was it a terrible ending?

No, it was not a terrible ending, but a bit overly sentimental and obvious. I expected better from the guy behind Memento and Inception, two great movies that expand your mind. This one tries to be clever but it doesn’t quite pull off that cleverness. Although at some points I gripped my seat in suspense and other times I felt affected by the emotions on display, in the end I was more along the lines of “I enjoyed that, but didn’t love it.” But that’s just one piece of it. How about the acting? It’s great! Matthew McConaughey is, of course, great as the self-assured cowboy astronaut farmer engineer pilot rationalist father who cares about his kids and humanity too, if he has time for them. This is not a shlocky performance, but it’s a bit hammy in places. That’s the script though, not him.

Similarly I enjoyed Anne Hathaway as a reasonably interesting character and Michael Caine did his Michael Caine impression to a tee. Mackenzie Foy was excellent as the young Murph, so wipe those worries of Twilight away! Jessica Chastain is great when she gets a chance to be subtle, which is about half the time. The rest of the time, her character gets a bit “exposition” heavy, which is a problem many other characters have as well. I tend to like dialogue and explanations, although I don’t need everything spelled out precisely. This movie is nearly three hours long, and it didn’t need to be as currently written and edited. There are certainly concepts and ideas enough to find in that length of film, but this one felt like it dragged a bit, especially near the end. This won’t be the most memorable space movie of all time, but one thing you can’t deny is that majesty of those visuals.

See this one on a big screen or IMAX, and any quibbles you may have with the story or script will probably just fade away, at least until you leave the theater. But as for me, I liked it well enough that I’m more than okay with seeing it again, and considering the length, that’s saying something. Maybe about me.

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Update: Check out the iTunes chart rankings as of the lose of voting at 12:00p Eastern at the bottom of the post.

I swear, I’m not bitter about the results of last week’s episode. I’m perfectly content with the idea that Kat Perkins found herself in the bottom three and stole the Instant Save that I predicted would rightfully go to Bria Kelly. Nope, not bitter at all.

With Bria and Tess Boyer sent packing, The Voice is down to eight contestants. And while as much as Blake and Carson wanted to make the start of this live show about Adam’s new hair, this is the point in the timeline of any Voice season where the performances are great across the board. Now it’s about the little things that the coaches can help their performers find to improve on. That, and song choice, song choice song choice. This week, three people will be sent home, raising the stakes even higher.

Sisaundra Lewis: “River Deep, Mountain High” (Tina Turner) – Team Blake

Blake brought Season Two contestant Gwen Sebastian in to work with his artists this week, but the real story is that Lewis is covering a Tina Turner song just like I said she should last week (Granted, “River Deep, Mountain High” is a 60’s song instead of the 80’s time period I recommend, but I totally called that, right?).

I don’t know if it was the fact that Sisaundra’s mother was in the house (seeing her perform live for the first time in a long while) or the fact that she covered Turner or just how amazing she looked on stage, this was easily the best performance I’ve seen this entire season. If she doesn’t vault to the top of the iTunes chart tomorrow, The Voice fans need to be taken behind the woodshed.

Josh Kaufman: “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (Bonnie Raitt) – Team Usher

Usher brought Josh to Henson Studios where, among its many famous moments, was where they record the original “We Are the World.” Bonnie Raitt probably isn’t the first artist you’d think of for him to cover on the show, but I think it’s an inspired song choice – which we know from the last couple of weeks is pretty much the most important thing to get right at this point. (That Usher’s last contestant is a stolen artist from another team is a fact that shouldn’t be lost on the audience.)

Shakira complimented Josh’s intuition as an artist, a point that I think is spot on. This song works for him (though I’m beginning to think Josh Kaufman could sing anything and make it sound great), because he knew how to tailor the song to his voice, and tailor his voice to the song.

I get that they have to fill two hours, and that’s too short for everyone to sing twice, but I’d rather us spend more time on the contestants somehow rather than featuring the coaches. I don’t remember Gwen Sebastian from Season Two, but I will admit I liked the way her and Blake’s voices blended on his newest single “Come a Little Closer.”

Kat Perkins: “Get Lucky” (Daft Punk) – Team Adam

Adam brought in Maroon Five guitarist James Valentine to work with his team this week. The recap of last week, where Adam guaranteed Kat would make it to the finals if saved, just served to remind us of the tragedy of her being in the bottom three to begin with. I’m curious (read: worried) about the song choice here.

“We knew we had to go big” says Adam. He definitely loved the performance, as he was jumping up and down and screaming as she finished. It was something special: different and powerful and distinct. The live audience loved it. I’m not entirely sure it translated nearly as well at home, but we’ll see tomorrow.

Kristen Merlin: “I Drive Your Truck” (Lee Brice) – Team Shakira

Eight contestants left, and both Shakira and Usher are down to one artist. As much as I like the two of them, this isn’t necessarily because the voters like Teams Blake and Adam more (Though, admittedly the dynamic between those two is one of the show’s hallmarks). Either it’s because Adam and Blake are better at grabbing the multi-chair turns early on, or they’re simply better at talent evaluation. It’s a point to look closely at next cycle with two new coaches.

I’ve underestimated Kristen Merlin both of the last two weeks, and am determined not to do it again. It’s curious that country fans seem to be reacting better to a country artist not on Team Blake. I’m not as familiar with “I Drive Your Truck” as some of the other songs Kristen has taken on, but its emotional core makes it a great choice.

It was a beautiful performance, but I’m not sure I agree with Shakira that it was transcendent. Kristen’s placement on the iTunes charts make her a front-runner, but I still think she needs one or more “game changing” performances before she becomes the front-runner.

Delvin Choice: “I Believe I Can Fly” (R. Kelly) – Team Adam

Carson said that “I Believe I Can Fly” might be the perfect choice for Delvin, and just seconds later Adam mentions his doubts. It takes the artist having an emotional moment for the coach to change his tune and say that “Delvin Choice was born to sing this song.” Don’t get me wrong: I believe Delvin’s moment was sincere … the packaging, however, was a little convenient.

Until the final note, I wasn’t connecting with this song nearly as much as the audience was. I appreciated the way he was rooted in the song, in a way that it he was almost living the song as much as singing it, but it didn’t feel like it topped the original. I get that most people will disagree with me here, but I just wasn’t as happy as everyone else.

Audra McLaughlin: “Forgive” (Rebecca Lynn Howard) – Team Blake

Audra is the artist that I keep expecting to explode each week. Her jump to third on the iTunes chart (compared to the other artists) was nice, but I’m waiting for the week that she’s the highest charter of the contestants. “Forgive” might showcase her voice enough to get her there (but when you’re going to pick a song more than 10 years old, I think you’ve got to pick a classic … I’m concerned this doesn’t fit the bill). Audra’s covered some Martina McBride; I think she should revisit her catalog.

It is a big song though. They featured the ending note during the prep-session, and it was enough to get me to set down my laptop and listen. It was a killer performance, but we’re already too far behind to get even three of the coaches a chance to tell her how great it was.

Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani both performed as well. I am looking forward to them both joining the coaching ranks next cycle, especially as it signals the departure of CeeLo and Christina Aguilera – the weakest of the whole bunch. Plus, anyone dropping a “TV-Land” reference is top-notch in my book.

Jake Worthington: “Hillbilly Deluxe” (Brooks and Dunn) – Team Blake

I think NBC needs to option a sitcom that’s Blake Shelton and Jake Worthington as a father and son country act. Ratings gold, baby. The question will be whether Jake can overcome his “allerngies” on stage.

Jake is the artist who is probably most ready to go out on tour – with Blake – tomorrow. This wasn’t necessarily his best performance (I think his allergies did have a small impact), but he’s still kicking ass and taking names. But I’m not sure that we saw the introduction of “Jake the Artist” tonight, more like “Jake the Performer,” an important distinction.

Christina Grimmie: “Something” (Lil Wayne) – Team Adam

I liked that the show highlighted the fact that Christina’s two closet friends on the show went home last week; that’s the kind of behind the scenes point that critics are likely to discount, but I think has big impact. It’s also interesting that Adam would advocate a song choice that might be seen as a similar direction to last week (especially considering he originally cautioned Delvin against a choice that might be perceived as being a little on the nose).

Christina Grimmie could win this whole thing (words you wouldn’t have expected from me even two weeks ago). As great as the performances were tonight, this was the first that I rewound and watched again. There’s just something special about those “big notes” that always do well on this show, but it’s even more impressive when they seemingly come from nowhere.

So who goes home? Picking one artist at this point is hard; picking three is nearly impossible. In this stage of the game, it’s more about the performances than raw talent (because everyone left has the talent to win). So did Kat Perkins’ Daft Punk cover go over well with voters? Did Jake’s allergies affect his performance just enough? Will Delvin’s song choice not be as beneficial as I hoped?

Update: Here are the iTunes Chart positions at 12:00pm Eastern (one hour prior to the close of voting). It’s particularly interesting how last week played out. Kat was the 4th highest charting contestant on iTunes, but slipped into the bottom three in the overall voting. That means that Josh, Jake, Sisaundra and Delvin all sold less MP3s but gained more votes.

Note: Previous tracks appearing in the iTunes top 200 include “Hold On, We’re Going Home” (Grimmie) at 31, “Stay With Me” (Kaufman) at 99, “I Won’t Give Up” (Grimmie) at 145 and “This Is It” (Kaufman) at 198.

Belief is dangerous. No matter how you want to look at it, faith can lead to very bad choices, but there is also the reverse: it can also lead to the best choices. Common beliefs have changed and evolved through the course of humanity, but there are a few threads that have continued since the start of storytelling and writing. There is a strong desire to want life and reality to mean something in some “higher than” life way, that life isn’t just random or meaningless. Stories try to create heroes, people that make a difference and change the future for the better, sometimes in small ways, sometimes with great importance. That’s one thread.

Another is death. The acceptance of death and the end of everything you know, this is something stories have talked about since we could think about it. Modern art, like TV and movies, often bring this sort of thing up, sometimes making the “point” of a piece of art the importance of that acceptance. But I won’t talk too much about that, because it would end with many spoilers … well, okay, just one: The Sixth Sense. But again, this ties back to the importance of choice, and the dangers of believing how you’re supposed to choose. How many people died or suffered because someone thought a deity or higher power wanted them to do something? How many did something wondrous and regal?

Noah is the latest from brilliant director Darren Aronofsky, who may be my favorite director, not because I think his movies are the greatest of all time but because they are all filled with courage and creativity, pushing the boundaries of what is reasonable from a mainstream release. Even The Wrestler, probably his most mainstream in terms of story structure and narrative arc, absolutely wrecked me. I own it, but I have yet to be able to rewatch it. Noah is loosely based on the tale (or fable or myth or true story or whatever you want to think) from the Bible, right near the beginning after the story of Adam and Eve. As something of a biblical reader myself, I recognized many of the apocryphal and less known elements, but also the ones explicitly mentioned in the text.

Of course, much of the movie is wholly invented full cloth to provide a full narrative arc that does an enormous amount on many, many themes and ideas. This is one of the few problems I had with the movie: it sometimes gets a bit lost, because it’s trying to do so much. The movie retells the story of Noah, starting from him as a child of the line of Seth, one of very few uncorrupted (for the most part) by the evils of humanity. Throughout the world, the descendants of Cain (as Abel, naturally, died young) have built off the land to the point of exploitation and severe damage. This is where the environmental message comes in, but there are a few points to be made on that. One is that a common interpretation of the Noah story is that he was vegetarian until after the flood, after which he was “permitted” to eat specific animals, and only without causing them undue pain. There is a strong message in the movie of “use but do not abuse,” one that shows that industry is not necessarily evil.

After all, the ark is built using tools and the mind of man, tearing down trees and hurting the environment — but not permanently, or anymore than is needed to complete the task. But that’s just one of the many ideas in the movie. Noah (Russell Crowe) is just living his life, raising his family with his wife (Jennifer Connelly) and three sons (Shem, Ham, Japeth) until they find an orphaned girl Ila (later played by Emma Watson). And then Noah gets a vision in a dream, trippy and dark, that tells him that the Creator (the only way any deity is referred to in the movie) is planning to flood the world. So Noah must travel to his grandfather, the ancient Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins in excellent extreme old age makeup) for some  help on what to do.

Noah decides he must protect the “innocents” of the world, the animals of the sky and ground, and starts building his ark. This is an important point of the movie, the initial decision and interpretation Noah makes of his visions. At no point is there an explicit command or Heavenly word of warning, Noah needs to decide for himself … although there are a few supernatural things to help him along. This is where some will begin to have issues with some parts of the movie. I don’t think everyone will like the inclusion of fallen angels here, which I won’t describe for spoilers sake, or the miraculous way Noah is helped to build the ark. But I think it all ties into several key themes of the movie.

One is that sometimes you can make a bad decision that doesn’t necessarily ruin things, if you figure out how to redeem yourself. Another is that trying to interpret the messages of a Creator is foolish when you don’t allow for the possibility that you might have it wrong. There is another potentially divisive element, the other humans, led by complicated but essentially villainous Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone). Tubal-cain is described in the Bible as essentially the inventor of “instruments of bronze and iron,” and according some interpretations, also all warlike weapons. Tubal-cain’s arc, the inverted arc of Noah (I can’t really explain without spoiling), is not without flaw, but hopefully will leave you feeling like it had weight and purpose. It all comes down to choices; Noah needs to decide how to fulfill the Creator’s will, sometimes when it breaks him or hurts the ones he loves … if he’s even doing the correct thing. But in the end, there is this feeling, with the mystical elements and large action scenes, that this is fantasy in the vein of Lord of the Rings, but with more maturity and complexity of character.

Now putting the story aside, how are the other elements of this movie? The acting … well, it’s slightly mixed. Russell Crowe is uniformly excellent from beginning to end, showing the best acting I’ve seen since LA Confidential. The other supporting players are good, although sometimes I found Ray Winstone a bit hammy, Jennifer Connelly a bit weepy in a scene or two, and Emma Watson sometimes a bit stretched. But this is Crowe’s show, with his physicality and gruff voice being used to great effect. As for the visuals, except for a few minor CGI faults, they are wonderful, and at times, truly beautiful. There is one particular sequence that is one of the best I’ve ever seen in any film — this is the sort of reason I admire Aronofsky so much. While others may harp on minor logical issues or inconsistent performances, sometimes the movies just ties it all together in away that is both subtle and loud, obvious and insidious. There are also the less obvious issues, like how the cast is basically entirely Caucasian, but I can’t really blame the director for that because I don’t know how much of a choice he had. But I will see this movie again, and ponder about it again.

The more time I think about this movie, the more I believe there is something to think about and discuss. It’s not the best movie Aronofsky’s done, or even the second best, but I am really happy it got made. Oh, and the music from Clint Mansell is truly epic.

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To subscribe to the below schedule in iCal, copy this link and paste into the “Subscribe…” menu item in iCal. You can also just click it to open iCal or even click to add to your iPhone calendar. The same link will work in a Google Calendar as well! Or see the calendar as a web page (also embedded at the bottom of this post). The calendar will update as new shows are added/changed.

* All times are in EDT PM, unless otherwise mentioned.
* New series premieres are in Bold Italics

SERIES PREMIERES/RETURNS

SEPTEMBER

Tuesday, September 3

10:00 Cold Justice (TNT)

10:00 Luther (BBCA)

10:00 Tosh.0 (Comedy)

10:00 We’re The Fugawis (History)

10:30 Brickleberry (Comedy)

Wednesday, September 4

9:00 Inside the NFL (Showtime)

10:00 Ghost Mine (Syfy)

10:00 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX)

10:30 The League (FXX)

11:00 Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell (FXX)

Thursday, September 5

8:30 Sunday Night Football (NBC)

Friday, September 6

10:00 20/20 (ABC)

Saturday, September 7

8:00 Cupcake Wars (Food)

Sunday, September 8

9:00 Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Monday, September 9

8:00 The Million Second Quiz (NBC)

Tuesday, September 10

10:00 Sons of Anarchy (FX)

12:00AM The Heart, She Holler (Adult Swim)

Wednesday, September 11

8:00 The X Factor (FOX)

9:00 Restaurant Stakeout (Food)

10:30 Thieves, Inc. (Food)

12:00AM Derek (Netflix)

Friday, September 13

10:00 Haven (Syfy)

10:00 Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Sunday, September 15

10:00 The Great Santini Brothers (History)

Monday, September 16

8:00 Bones (FOX)

8:00 Dancing with the Stars (ABC)

9:00 Sleepy Hollow (FOX)

Tuesday, September 17

8:00 Dads (FOX)

8:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX)

9:00 New Girl (FOX)

9:30 The Mindy Project (FOX)

10:00 The New Atlanta (Bravo)

Wednesday, September 18

8:00 Survivor (CBS)

10:30 Key & Peele (Comedy)

Friday, September 20

8:00 Last Man Standing (ABC)

8:30 The Neighbors (ABC)

9:00 Shark Tank (ABC)

Sunday, September 22

11:30 China, IL (Adult Swim)

Monday, September 23

8:00 How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

8:00 The Voice (NBC)

9:00 2 Broke Girls (CBS)

9:30 Mom (CBS)

10:00 The Blacklist (NBC)

10:00 Hostages (CBS)

10:00 Castle (ABC)

Tuesday, September 24

8:00 Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC)

8:00 NCIS (CBS)

9:00 The Goldbergs (ABC)

9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)

9:30 Trophy Wife (ABC)

10:00 Chicago Fire (NBC)

10:00 Fangasm (Syfy)

10:00 Lucky 7 (ABC)

10:00 Person of Interest (CBS)

Wednesday, September 25

8:00 The Middle (ABC)

8:00 Revolution (NBC)

8:30 Back in the Game (ABC)

9:00 Criminal Minds (CBS)

9:00 Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

9:00 Modern Family (ABC)

10:00 CSI (CBS)

10:00 Nashville (ABC)

10:00 South Park (Comedy)

Thursday, September 26

8:00 The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

8:00 Parks & Recreation (NBC)

9:00 The Crazy Ones (CBS)

9:00 Glee (FOX)

9:00 Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

9:00 The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC)

9:30 Two and a Half Men (CBS)

10:00 Elementary (CBS)

10:00 Parenthood (NBC)

Friday, September 27

8:00 Masterchef Junior (FOX)

8:00 Undercover Boss (CBS)

9:00 Dateline (NBC)

9:00 Hawaii Five-0 (CBS)

10:00 Blue Bloods (CBS)

Saturday, September 28

10:00 48 Hours (CBS)

Sunday, September 29

8:00 The Amazing Race (CBS)

8:00 Once Upon a Time (ABC)

8:00 The Simpsons (FOX)

8:30 Bob’s Burgers (FOX)

9:00 Family Guy (FOX)

9:00 The Good Wife (CBS)

9:00 Homeland (Showtime)

9:00 Revenge (ABC)

9:30 American Dad (FOX)

10:00 Betrayal (ABC)

10:00 Eastbound & Down (HBO)

10:00 Masters of Sex (Showtime)

10:00 The Mentalist (CBS)

10:30 Hello Ladies (HBO)

Monday, September 30

8:30 We Are Men (CBS)

OCTOBER

Wednesday, October 2

9:30 Super Fun Night (ABC)

10:00 Ironside (NBC)

10:00 Top Chef (Bravo)

Thursday, October 3

8:00 The Vampire Diaries (CW)

8:30 The Millers (CBS)

8:30 Welcome to the Family (NBC)

9:00 The Originals (CW)

9:00 Sean Saves the World  (NBC)

10:00 Scandal (ABC)

Sunday, October 6

9:00 Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime)

9:00 The Paradise (PBS)

Monday, October 7

8:00 Hart of Dixie (CW)

9:00 Beauty and the Beast (CW)

Tuesday, October 8

8:00 The Biggest Loser (NBC)

9:00 Supernatural (CW)

Wednesday, October 9

8:00 Arrow (CW)

9:00 The Tomorrow People (CW)

Thursday, October 10

8:00 Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC)

Sunday, October 13

9:00 The Walking Dead (AMC)

10:00 Talking Dead (AMC)

12:00AM Comic Book Men (AMC)

Tuesday, October 15

10:00 Real Husbands of Hollywood (BET)

Thursday, October 17

9:00 Reign (CW)

9:00 White Collar (USA)

10:00 Covert Affairs (USA)

Saturday, October 19

10:00 Dancing on the Edge (Starz)

Tuesday, October 22

9:00 Ravenswood (ABC Family)

10:00 Awkward (MTV)

Friday, October 25

8:00 The Carrie Diaries (CW)

9:00 Grimm (NBC)

10:00 Dracula (NBC)

NOVEMBER

Sunday, November 3

8:00 It Takes a Choir (USA)

Monday, November 4

8:00 Almost Human (FOX)

Friday, November 8

9:00 Raising Hope (FOX)

9:30 Enlisted (FOX)

Saturday, November 23

10:00 Atlantis (BBCA)

Monday, November 25

9:00 Major Crimes (TNT)

Tuesday, November 26

9:00 Boston’s Finest (TNT)

This week sees the release of the fourth season of Community, which was a shadow of itself but hopefully the return of Dan Harmon can bring back some of the spark — even if Donald Glover is leaving after five episodes. The second, and final, season of Smash gets a home video encore, while reality TV scores with Duck Dynasty, Top Gear and Auction Kings. Classic TV gets a boost with the long-awaited release of the cult classic late night sketch show Fridays, and if you’re scratching your head trying to figure out who the new Doctor Who is, Peter Capaldi’s series The Thick of It gets a four season set on DVD. To see the highlights of the August 6 TV on DVD releases, have a look at our shopper’s guide and click on a link to make a purchase or to get more information.

Like Raising Hope, PramFace addresses teen pregnancy realistically without glamorizing the personal, familial or school backlash. It casually shows the financial responsibility and time required. However, in PramFace, the characters always surprise you. Meet Jamie, the average 16-year-old boy next door, who crashes a high school senior party and hooks up with Laura, the university-bound 18-year-old pretty girl. In most high school universes, average, working-class Jamie would never have met posh, upper-middle-class Laura, but through a quirk of fate, alcohol and a torn condom, they’re thrown together for better not worse. Before meeting Laura, Jamie would’ve served as a punching bag for his horny best friend, Mike, or his didactic, liberal proselytizing best friend, Beth. He was the nice guy who always did what they wanted, to his own detriment, rather than raise a fuss. However, his relationship with Laura forces him to step up, take responsibility and place his child before his friends’ selfishness.

The pregnancy similarly matures 18-year-old Laura. Like the average pretty girl whose doting parents give her everything, she acts out by drinking and sleeping with whoever, whenever someone confronts her. However, with a baby on the way, she no longer acts out in the usual means and faces her responsibilities. Surprisingly, Jamie’s family relaxes her. Because her uber-ambitious, successful attorney parents push her, Laura receives above average grades and appropriates their career plans as her own. But, with a baby possibly derailing her plans and a failing parental marriage, she camps out on Jamie’s couch, plays video games with his “loser” friends and finally discovers comfort with herself.

PramFace consistently surprises me with its intelligent self-awareness. I love each character’s individual arc that challenges age-based maturity, class hierarchy and traditional gender roles. Although Laura’s two years older, it’s Jamie who continuously stands up to their families for their child. Although Laura’s family’s wealthier and seemingly more stable, it’s Jamie’s family that houses Laura during the second half of her pregnancy and pushes for a baptism while Jamie’s part-time job handles her initial finances.

Although both families start with traditional male-as-wage-earner structures, in the second season that changes. Jamie’s working-class father, Keith, quits his job to find fulfillment while Laura’s posh mother tires of her stay-at-home status. The show even subverts standard high school categories. Season one surrounds Laura as the pretty, popular girl pushing away loser Jamie. But, in season two, Laura enters unfamiliar adult territory while Jamie reaches 18 and starts considering his future.

If you thought you might like Raising Hope, but didn’t, you’ll enjoy PramFace. And, if you enjoyed Raising Hope, you’ll definitely enjoy PramFace. Although Raising Hope is smart-ish, the high-paced energy frequently undercuts the text. PramFace embraces the wacky without reducing the characters’ three-dimensional sides. Like the rest of America, I’m tired of American reality TV stars that glamorize teen sex without displaying the negative tenets. I fear for a world with TV teen moms like Jenelle Evans and Farrah Abrahams. Ironically, fictional TV shows us a more true-to-life picture. Featuring Anna Chancellor (Miss Bingley in the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle Pride and Prejudice) as Laura’s mother and Game of Thrones’ Ben Crompton as Jamie’s dad, PramFace is a show to watch.

Check out all of season one on Hulu. Season two currently airs on Hulu with new episodes airing every Monday through June 10. https://www.hulu.com/pramface Teen pregnancy is no joke … unless you watch PramFace.

httpv://www.hulu.com/watch/385089

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In 1940, Woody Guthrie released what is considered to be one of the first, if not the first, concept album, a collection of songs that has a narrative beginning, middle and end. In the years since, many artists from Frank Sinatra to Frank Zappa have recorded concept albums, and some concept albums have seen life beyond the audio recording on stage and screen. Pink Floyd The Wall became a movie. The Who’s Tommy went from album to movie to Broadway musical. Les Misérables actually started as a French concept album and became one of the most loved musicals in history. And in 2004, Green Day released their concept album (born when the tracks for the album that was in production had been stolen) American Idiot.

In September 2009, after eight months of preparation, the first staged version of American Idiot premiered at the Berkeley Rep to great acclaim, breaking box office records. The show opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway on March 24, 2010 and won two Tony Awards for Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design but lost to Memphis in the Best Musical category. The cast recording also won a Grammy. The show ran on Broadway until April 24, 2011 and the first national tour commenced in December of 2011.

American Idiot has rocked and rolled into Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre (May 7 – May 12), and they are raising the roof. The story focuses on three friends, Johnny, Tunny and Will, young men in a post 9/11 world, stuck in a small town with nothing to do and nowhere to go, wondering if the good guys still wear red, white and blue. The friends decide they have to get out of town to find themselves, but Will finds himself with an unexpectedly expecting girlfriend and is forced to stay behind. Johnny and Tunny find that life in the big city isn’t so great either when you’re flat broke, and Johnny is left alone when Tunny commits the ultimate betrayal – he enlists. Johnny becomes the central character as we follow him through months of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll while Tunny’s and Will’s lives become peripheral but important to the story.

As a rock opera, the show has a surprisingly deep story of love and life, asking the audience to think about how they fit into the world around them, and to examine what paths their lives have taken while Johnny seems to go from one dead end to another, especially after he falls under the spell of St. Jimmy, a pusher who gets him hooked on drugs to help ease the pain of his life. Not even meeting the girl of his dreams can break him out of his downward spiral, but he learns that hitting rock bottom is the only way he can come back out on top … or perhaps just exactly where he started.

I’m no Green Day fan, nor a fan of any hard rock music with a punk edge, but I have to say I was totally enthralled with this production of American Idiot. I can’t imagine the toll singing these songs night after night takes on the cast, but they deliver with all the ferocity, anger, despair and even hope that is required of the material. Alex Nee (Johnny) in particular is just stunning, delivering the leads on the bulk of the show’s songs (his resemblance to Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong is certainly no accident). There isn’t a weak voice in the entire cast from the leads to the co-stars to the rest of the ensemble. And not only do they have to sing, they have to deliver some powerfully intense choreography as well. In one stunning number, Tunny and his “dream girl” do a song and dance while flying high above the stage with some beautifully balletic moves.

The set itself is a character in the show as well. Looking like a three-story warehouse interior with about three dozen video monitors scattered from one end to the other, each character manages to have their own separate unique space on stage even though there are no walls or major set changes save for a rolling staircase and a large structure that is turned on its side and used as a bus for one ingenious number. In addition to the video monitors, which bombard you with various images and graphics, the wall of the set becomes a screen itself when video is projected along its full expanse. It is quite a remarkable set and it’s not hard to see why Christine Jones (set) and Kevin Adams (lighting) won those Tony Awards.

If you’re in the Baltimore area, do yourself a favor and head down to the beautiful Hippodrome before the show closes on May 12. American Idiot is a stunning theatrical experience. Be warned though, the show is loud and contains many scenes of sexuality and drug use as well as a liberal use of the F-word. It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you can handle a rock and roll musical that makes you think and feel, then this is the show for you. The American Idiot tour will continue in Jacksonville, Ft. Myers and Tampa through the end of May before heading to San Diego, San Jose, Las Vegas, Tokyo and Seoul (with more dates to be announced). You can get more information about the show and ticket information by visiting the official website.

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If you like twisted dark comedies, Fresh Meat is for you. Otherwise, it’s an acquired taste. On the base level, Fresh Meat surrounds the creepy, bitingly satirical things college co-op roommates do to each other. If you liked Freaks and Geeks, Bob’s Burgers or Raising Hope, you’ll probably like Fresh Meat. And, if you enjoyed the UK As If, Peep Show or The Book Group, you’ll definitely enjoy this. But, if you stray towards the light, be forewarned. This is more for the Angela Chases of the world. The second season covers the pre-existing characters — streetwise Vod; posh pratt JP; creepily awkward Howard; pretty literature major Oregon; ordinary guy Kingsley; insecure Josie — and their new non-student roommate Sabine.

Because it hits all of my buttons simultaneously – it’s British, witty and a comedy — technically, I should like it. But, it took me a while to warm up to it. Despite the comedy cover, it’s a little bit gritty. Similar to As If or Freaks and Geeks, it deals with the “under society” of society, the alternative of the cool kids. There aren’t any overachievers, Mr. Schues or Rachel Berrys. Fresh Meat’s students are the opposite of fresh. They’re the forgotten ones. They’re jaded, cynical, and slightly knowing. They’re freeloaders, sperm freezers, teacher affair holders, competitive gits and creepy meat lovers. Once you stop looking for blatant, aspiring good in the characters then you can actually start to enjoy it. That’s when the mild obsession starts.

The love-hate relationship I have with Fresh Meat is reminiscent of my love-hate relationship with any TV show that isn’t blatantly warm and sunny. When I started watching The Book Group, another UK show about discontented strangers gathering out of loneliness, I initially disliked it. But, I KEPT watching it, because I found it obsessively addictive. Despite the characters’ dissatisfaction with their own lives, each episode ended with a grain of hope and unity. Similarly, no matter how hideous the characters might appear in Fresh Meat, each episode typically ends with mild warmth towards each other. In season two’s initial episodes, JP hilariously comes to terms with his heterosexuality. Vod forces her roommates to take her belongings in exchange for her freeloading. Plus, Vod and JP have an odd bonding moment during his illness. I won’t lie, if I lived with a bunch of twenty-somethings, they’d probably treat me the same way they treat Sabine. Like Sabine, I’d hide my appliances and charge them for stolen food.

So, while I didn’t instantly LOVE Fresh Meat, like I instantly loved Spy, Whites, Spaced, Campus and Green Wing, it slowly snuck up on me. If you like shows that don’t tend towards the mainstream, you’ll love Fresh Meat. It addresses the dark, murky uncertainty we all face, especially when living on the fringe.

Hulu already has the first two seasons available. Go ahead and check it out. P.S. Hulu, when are you acquiring rights to Miranda?

Also, for other shows on Hulu, check out the French police import Braquo whose season finale airs on Tuesday, March 12.

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Best Kiss – Nick and Jess, New Girl

Of course Nick has thought about kissing Jess. He’s probably spent the last two years on and off thinking about it and cycling through self-loathing and reasons why not to … why it was never the right time, what the right time would be … and so to see him kiss Jess wasn’t just good because it was a great kiss (and it was a great kiss), but because we finally got to see Nick get over himself enough to make that move he’s been waiting to make for a long time. And Nick’s move was perfectly timed and placed; wait longer and it becomes unbelievable that Nick and Jess wouldn’t have hooked up sometime, or that when they did Jess wouldn’t cite their friendship as a reason not to continue. Do it earlier and there isn’t enough of a friendship foundation to make them hooking up high stakes. But have them kiss now, two years in, and the timing is just right.

Also, it was a really great kiss. Have I mentioned that yet?

Best Meta – Raising Hope, “Modern Wedding”
So here’s the thing – I hate Modern Family. I don’t understand the appeal. It’s bland fare that’s been overdone a million times and employs some truly lazy writing. I am so tired of it winning awards that should rightfully go to other, more deserving and innovative shows. And so anything that makes fun of Modern Family is immediately going to be, in my book, superlative. But what was so great about “Modern Wedding” wasn’t just the lampooning of Modern Family, but the fact that it effortlessly displayed what the show is missing: an element of surprise, a sense of tongue-in-cheek self-awareness and heart.

The gauntlet has been thrown, Modern Family. Top that if you dare.

Most in Need of a Steady Job – Wilmer Valderama
Has anyone else noticed he plays basically the same character in both Suburgatory and Raising Hope? Maybe it’s time he got a new gig.

Biggest Tearjerker – 30 Rock, “Hogcock!/Last Lunch”
I can’t discuss this coherently, but let’s just say this finale was everything I hoped for and more. I loved every minute of it, cheered every bit of character resolution, adored Jane Krakowski‘s work more than ever before (where is her Emmy???), sobbed at every goodbye (Hot bowl of bear meat! And did you know Tina Fey hand-wrote Liz’s goodbye to Tracy? Nope, too many emotions. Shutting it down), and adored every last second of it. It was perfect and I will miss this show more than words can express.

Goodbye, 30 Rock, you really went to there.

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To subscribe to the below schedule in iCal, copy this link and paste into the “Subscribe…” menu item in iCal. You can also just click it to open iCal or even click to add to your iPhone calendar. The same link will work in a Google Calendar as well! Or see the calendar as a web page (also embedded at the bottom of this post). The calendar will update as new shows are added/changed.

* All times are in EDT PM, unless otherwise mentioned.

* New series premieres are in Bold Italics

SERIES PREMIERES/RETURNS

JANUARY

Tuesday, January 1

9:00 Dance Moms (Lifetime)

9:00 Dual Survival (Discovery)

9:00 Emily Owens, M.D. (CW)

10:00 Parenthood (NBC)

10:00 Storage Wars: New York (A&E)

10:30 Double Divas (Lifetime)

Wednesday, January 2

8:00 Whitney (NBC)

8:30 Guys With Kids (NBC)

9:00 Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

9:00 NOVA (PBS)

10:00 Chicago Fire (NBC)

10:00 American Horror Story (FX)

Thursday, January 3

8:00 The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

9:00 Person of Interest (CBS)

10:00 Buck Wild (MTV)

10:00 Elementary (CBS)

Friday, January 4

8:30 Need To Know (PBS)

9:00 CSI: NY (CBS)

10:00 Bering Sea Gold (Discovery)

10:00 Blue Bloods (CBS)

10:00 Merlin (Syfy)

10:00 Over/Under (USA)

Sunday, January 6

8:00 Mob Wives (VH1)

8:00 Once Upon a Time (ABC)

8:00 The Simpsons (FOX)

8:30 Bob’s Burgers (FOX)

9:00 The Biggest Loser (NBC)

9:00 Downton Abbey (PBS)

9:00 Family Guy (FOX)

9:00 The Good Wife (CBS)

9:00 Rachael Vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off (Food)

9:00 Revenge (ABC)

9:30 American Dad (FOX)

10:00 The Mentalist (CBS)

10:00 Happy Endings (ABC)

10:30 Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 (ABC)

11:00 Watch What Happens: Live (Bravo)

Monday. January 7

8:00 Antiques Roadshow (PBS)

8:00 The Bachelor (ABC)

8:00 Switched at Birth (ABC Family)

9:00 Bunheads (ABC Family)

10:00 Deception (NBC)

10:00 Vanderpump Rules (Bravo)

10:00 Castle (ABC)

Tuesday, January 8

8:00 Betty White’s Off Their Rockers (NBC)

8:00 NCIS (CBS)

8:00 Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family)

8:00 Raising Hope (FOX)

8:30 Ben & Kate (FOX)

9:00 Go On (NBC)

9:00 The Lying Game (ABC Family)

9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)

9:00 New Girl (FOX)

9:30 The Mindy Project (FOX)

9:30 The New Normal (NBC)

10:00 Africa (Discovery)

10:00 America’s Supernanny (Lifetime)

10:00 Chopped (Food)

10:00 Cougar Town (TBS)

10:00 Frontline (PBS)

10:00 The Joe Schmo Show (Spike)

10:00 Justified (FX)

10:00 Million Dollar Decorators (Bravo)

10:00 Private Practice (ABC)

10:00 Snooki & JWoww (MTV)

10:00 Vegas (CBS)

10:30 The Burn With Jeff Ross (Comedy)

Wednesday, January 9

8:00 The Middle (ABC)

8:30 The Neighbors (ABC)

9:00 People’s Choice Awards (CBS)

9:00 Modern Family (ABC)

9:30 Suburgatory (ABC)

10:00 Barter Kings (A&E)

10:00 Nashville (ABC)

10:00 Washington Heights (MTV)

Thursday, January 10

8:00 30 Rock (NBC)

8:00 Critics’ Choice Movie Awards (CW)

8:00 Last Resort (ABC)

9:00 Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

9:00 The Killer Speaks (A&E)

9:00 Millionaire Matchmaker (Bravo)

9:00 The Office (NBC)

10:00 Kathy (Bravo)

10:00 Property Wars (Discovery)

10:00 Scandal (ABC)

Friday, January 11

9:00 Fringe (FOX)

Saturday, January 12

10:00 Banshee (Cinemax)

Sunday, January 13

7:30 The Cleveland Show (FOX)

8:00 Golden Globe Awards (NBC)

9:00 Girls (HBO)

9:00 Shameless (Showtime)

9:30 Enlightened (HBO)

10:00 House of Lies (Showtime)

10:30 Californication (Showtime)

Monday, January 14

8:00 Bones (FOX)

8:00 The Carrie Diaries (CW)

8:00 Continuum (Syfy)

8:00 How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

9:00 2 Broke Girls (CBS)

9:00 Being Human (Syfy)

9:30 Mike & Molly (CBS)

10:00 Hawaii Five-0 (CBS)

10:00 Lost Girl (Syfy)

Tuesday, January 15

8:00 Hart of Dixie (CW)

8:00 Pioneers of Television (PBS)

9:00 Face Off (Syfy)

9:00 The Ultimate Guide to the Presidents (History)

10:00 Real Husbands of Hollywood (BET)

10:30 Second Generation Wayans (BET)

10:30 Total Blackout (Syfy)

Wednesday, January 16

8:00 American Idol (FOX)

8:00 Arrow (CW)

9:00 Criminal Minds (CBS)

9:00 Ghost Hunters (Syfy)

9:00 Supernatural (CW)

10:00 Bobby’s Dinner Battle (Food)

10:00 CSI (CBS)

10:00 Ghost Mine (Syfy)

10:00 Workaholics (Comedy)

10:30 Kroll Show (Comedy)

Thursday, January 17

8:00 The Vampire Diaries (CW)

8:30 Parks & Recreation (NBC)

9:00 Anger Management (FX)

10:00 Archer (FX)

10:00 Suits (USA)

10:30 Legit (FX)

11:00 Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell (FX)

12:00AM Newsreaders (Adult Swim)

Friday, January 18

8:00 Nikita (CW)

10:00 Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Saturday, January 19

9:00 Ripper Street (BBCA)

Monday, January 21

9:00 90210 (CW)

9:00 The Following (FOX)

Tuesday, January 22

8:00 The Taste (ABC)

8:00 The Ultimate Fighter (FX)

10:00 White Collar (USA)

10:00 Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan (BBCA)

Wednesday, January 23

10:00 Necessary Roughness (USA)

Thursday, January 24

9:00 Beauty and the Beast (CW)

9:00 Glee (FOX)

9:00 Project Runway (Lifetime)

Friday, January 25

9:00 Spartacus: War of the Damned (Starz)

Sunday, January 27

8:00 Screen Actors Guild Awards (TNT, TBS)

Monday, January 28

9:00 Dallas (TNT)

Tuesday, January 29

9:00 Top Gear (History)

10:00 Southie Rules (A&E)

10:00 Ultimate Soldier Challenge (History)

10:00 The Americans (FX)

11:00 Nikki & Sara Live (MTV)

Thursday, January 31

10:00 Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell (Food)

10:00 Do No Harm (NBC)

FEBRUARY

Friday, February 1

8:00 NAACP Image Awards (NBC)

8:00 Undercover Boss (CBS)

Sunday, February 3

6:30 Super Bowl XLVII (CBS)

Monday, February 4

8:30 Rules of Engagement (CBS)

10:00 Monday Mornings (TNT)

Tuesday, February 5

9:00 Smash (NBC)

10:00 Body of Proof (ABC)

10:00 Tosh.0 (Comedy)

Wednesday, February 6

9:00 The Spies of Warsaw (BBCA)

Thursday, February 7

8:00 Community (NBC)

11:30 Brand X with Russell Brand (FX)

Friday, February 8

8:00 The Job (CBS)

8:00 Touch (FOX)

10:30 The Jenny McCarthy Show (VH1)

Sunday, February 10

8:00 The Grammy Awards (CBS)

9:00 Bar Rescue (Spike)

9:00 Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (Syfy)

9:00 The Walking Dead (AMC)

10:00 Car Lot Rescue (Spike)

11:00 Talking Dead (AMC)

Monday, February 11

11:00 Inside Comedy (Showtime)

Tuesday, February 12

8:00 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (USA)

Wednesday, February 13

8:00 Survivor (CBS)

10:00 Southland (TNT)

Thursday, February 14

8:00 Zero Hour (ABC)

9:00 Comic Book Men (ABC)

9:30 Freakshow (AMC)

10:00 Immortalized (AMC)

Sunday, February 17

8:00 The Amazing Race (CBS)

Tuesday, February 19

9:00 Cult (CW)

10:30 The Jeselnik Offensive (Comedy)

Sunday, February 24

8:30 The Academy Awards (ABC)

Tuesday, February 26

10:00 Golden Boy (CBS)

10:00 Robot Combat League (Syfy)

Wednesday, February 27

9:00 Boston’s Finest (TNT)

9:00 Haunted Collector (Syfy)

10:00 Psych (USA)

10:00 Stranded (Syfy)

MARCH

Sunday, March 3

9:00 The Apprentice (NBC)

9:00 Red Widow (ABC)

10:00 Vikings (History)

Friday, March 8

8:00 Fashion Star (NBC)

9:00 Grimm (NBC)

Monday, March 18

8:00 Dancing with the Stars (ABC)

Tuesday, March 19

8:00 Celebrity Diving (ABC)

Monday, March 25

8:00 The Voice (NBC)

10:00 Revolution (NBC)

Saturday, March 30

9:00 Orphan Black (BBCA)

Sunday, March 31

8:00 Ready for Love (NBC)

9:00 Game of Thrones (HBO)

9:00 Mr. Selfridge (PBS)