October | 2014 | Jmunney's Blog

New Girl 4.5: “Landline”

October 16, 2014

jmunney New Girl, New Girl Episode Reviews, Television Leave a comment

The loftmates were very confused by old technology that they should have been familiar with: http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/10/15/new_girl_season_4_episode_5_review_a_b

Fuse Top 20 Countdown – 10/14/14

October 15, 2014

jmunney Fuse Top 20 Countdown, Music, Television Leave a comment

Each week, I check out FUSE’s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Meghan Trainor – “All About That Bass”
2. Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
3. Nicki Minaj – “Anaconda”
4. Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora – “Black Widow”
5. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
6. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
7. Enrique Iglesias ft. Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, and Sean Paul – “Bailando”
8. Ariana Grande ft. Zedd – “Break Free”
9. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – “Rather Be”
10. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
11. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj – “Bang Bang”
12. Sia – “Chandelier”
13. Tove Lo – “Habits (Stay High)”
14. Coldplay – “A Sky Full of Stars”
15. Echosmith – “Cool Kids”
16. Ed Sheeran – “Don’t”
17. Katy Perry – “This Is How We Do”
18. Jason Derulo – “Trumpets”
19. Tinashe ft. Schoolboy Q – “2 On”
20. Calvin Harris ft. John Newman – “Blame”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Break Free
3. Bang Bang
4. Black Widow
5. Blame
6. Boom Clap
7. Shake It Off
8. Stay With Me
9. Rather Be
10. Habits (Stay High)
11. This Is How We Do
12. Cool Kids
13. Don’t
14. Anaconda
15. All About That Bass
16. Maps
17. A Sky Full of Stars
18. Trumpets
19. 2 On
20. Bailando

Mulaney 6.2: “The Doula”

October 14, 2014

jmunney Mulaney, Mulaney Episode Reviews, Television Leave a comment

My review of episode 2 of Mulaney, in which we meet “Mr. Episiotomy”: http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/10/13/mulaney_season_1_episode_2_review_whit

SNL Recap October 11, 2014: Bill Hader/Hozier

October 13, 2014

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Bill Hader, Hozier, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 40, SNL, SNL Season 40 1 Comment

SNL: Hozier, Bill Hader, Cecily Strong (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)

This review was originally posted on Starpulse in October 2014.

Recent alumni returning to host “SNL” has lately served as an excuse to fill the episode with cameos, with last season’s finale hosted by Andy Samberg serving as a particularly egregious example. That tendency is not a good fit for a show with a large repertory cast including several rookies and sophomores fighting to make themselves known. Luckily, this episode only featured two cameos, only one of whom was a former cast member, and neither of whom overwhelmed the show. Hader did resurrect a few of his most memorable characters, but he did not get in the way of what the current cast is doing. The bottom line is, it is pretty much impossible to have a bad episode hosted by Bill Hader. He was in a lot of sketches while a cast member, because he could take on the lead and the utility roles just as easily. Thus, putting him in the entire episode, as is the norm with the hosts, served to guarantee at least one good performance per sketch. Let’s take a closer look at each segment of the show:

Kim Jong-Un – The running time of this sketch was about 3 minutes, a speed that is practically unheard of for “SNL” cold openings in 2014. It harked back to a time when the first sketch could get in there with a familiar routine, make it point, and get right to the “Live from New York!” But the weird thing about this sketch was that Bobby Moynihan’s Kim Jong-Un impression is not particularly popular, nor has North Korea really been dominating headlines. This sketch did not really focus on being timely anyway, instead making bizarre observational points about the Korean leader, such as how he fancies himself the world’s greatest athlete and that his haircut resembles Brad Pitt in his current movie. Ultimately, this was admirable for being stranger than most openings, but disappointing for being too slight to do something with that strangeness. B-

What Won TV? – October 5-October 11, 2014

October 12, 2014

jmunney Television, What Won TV? Leave a comment

In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.

Sunday – The civil forfeiture segment on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was possibly the show’s best so far.
Monday – Jeopardy!, with some crazy editing
Tuesday – The Flash
Wednesday – Key & Peele
Thursday – Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories – come on, Scotty.
Friday – Whose Line is it Anyway?
Saturday – Vintage SNL (with plenty of Jan Hooks). Doctor Who and new SNL were great, too, but I have been watching the B-52’s performance of “Channel Z” over and over.

VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 10/11/14

October 11, 2014

jmunney Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown Leave a comment

Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
2. Meghan Trainor – “All About That Bass”
3. Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora – “Black Widow”
4. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj – “Bang Bang”
5. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – “Rather Be”
6. Ed Sheeran – “Don’t”
7. Coldplay – “A Sky Full of Stars”
8. Echosmith – “Cool Kids”
9. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
10. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
11. Tove Lo – “Habits”
12. Katy Perry – “This Is How We Do”
13. Calvin Harris ft. John Newman – “Blame”
14. Jason Derulo – “Trumpets”
15. Kiesza – “Hideaway”
16. Train – “Angel in Blue Jeans”
17. The Script – “Superheroes”
18. Mr. Probz – “Waves”
19. Nick Jonas – “Jealous”
20. Sam Smith – “I’m Not the Only One”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Bang Bang
2. Black Widow
3. Blame
4. Shake It Off
5. Boom Clap
6. Waves
7. Hideaway
8. Rather Be
9. Habits
10. Cool Kids
11. Don’t
12. This Is How We Do
13. Jealous
14. I’m Not the Only One
15. All About That Bass
16. Maps
17. A Sky Full of Stars
18. Trumpets
19. Angel in Blue Jeans
20. Superheroes

The Middle 6.3: “Major Anxiety”

October 9, 2014

jmunney Television, The Middle, The Middle Episode Reviews Leave a comment

Frankie hosted a talk show in the living room and taught Brick how to dance. Meanwhile, Sue almost fell the roof: http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/10/09/the_middle_season_6_episode_3_review_c

Fuse Top 20 Countdown – 10/7/14

October 8, 2014

jmunney Fuse Top 20 Countdown, Music, Television Leave a comment

Each week, I check out FUSE’s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Meghan Trainor – “All About That Bass”
2. Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
3. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj – “Bang Bang”
4. Tove Lo – “Habits”
5. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – “Rather Be”
6. Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora – “Black Widow”
7. Nicki Minaj – “Anaconda”
8. Ed Sheeran – “Don’t”
9. Pitbull ft. John Ryan – “Fireball”
10. Echosmith – “Cool Kids”
11. Sia – “Chandelier”
12. Jason Derulo – “Trumpets”
13. Ariana Grande ft. Zedd – “Break Free”
14. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
15. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
16. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
17. 5 Seconds of Summer – “Amnesia”
18. Katy Perry – “This Is How We Do”
19. Coldplay – “A Sky Full of Stars”
20. Calvin Harris ft. John Newman – “Blame”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Break Free
3. Bang Bang
4. Black Widow
5. Blame
6. Shake It Off
7. Stay With Me
8. Rather Be
9. Habits
10. Boom Clap
11. Cool Kids
12. Don’t
13. This Is How We Do
14. Anaconda
15. All About That Bass
16. Maps
17. A Sky Full of Stars
18. Trumpets
19. Fireball
20. Amnesia