Jeff "Jmunney" Malone's Self-Styled "Expert" Thoughts on Movies, TV, Music, and the Rest of Pop Culture
February 6, 2016
Best of 2015, Best of TV 2015, Television 12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer, Bird Up, Bojack Horseman, Community, Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television, Inside Amy Schumer, Let's Find Out, Rick and Morty, The Eric Andre Show, Total Rickall Leave a comment
If you binge through this list, you will get a good sense of the televisual excellence of 2015. These selections lean heavily toward comedy, for two reasons: I watch more comedies than dramas, and comedies naturally distill their greatness more readily into individual episodes while dramas do so more naturally in multi-episode arcs. The top 5 are ranked below, while the rest are unranked and organized alphabetically by show.
February 6, 2016
Best of 2015, Best of TV 2015, Television Bojack Horseman, Rectify, Review, Review (TV Series), The Grinder Leave a comment
I have already posted my picks for the top 10 shows of the year on Starpulse, but of course I wanted to expand that list, because there are obviously much more than 10 excellent programs in any given year. This year I decided to do something little different and organize my rankings by platform. So we have the best of network TV, the best of basic cable, the best of premium/subscription cable, and the best of streaming. The organization of these categories is a little informal, considering, for example that whether a cable channel is basic or premium can depend on the cable provider and/or location. But I did my best to stay consistent. Basic cable is easily the most impressive field (as it has the most channels).
February 4, 2016
Conan, Television, Watch And/Or Listen to This Conan, Puppy Andy Richter, Puppy Carly Fiorina, Puppy Conan, Puppy Donald Trump, Puppy El Chapo, Puppy Larry King, Puppy Sia Leave a comment
I’d like to adopt them all.
February 4, 2016
New Girl, New Girl Episode Reviews, Television Bob & Carol & Nick & Schmidt, e-broccoli, e-fireworks, New Girl, New Girl 505, New Girl Season 5 Leave a comment
February 3, 2016
Muppets (2015 TV Series), Muppets Episode Reviews, Television Swine Song, The Muppets, The Muppets 111, The Muppets on ABC, The Muppets Season 1 Leave a comment
“No. Ow. Don’t. Stop. Let go. Cease. Desist.” http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/02/03/the-muppets-season-1-episode-11-recap-
January 31, 2016
Television, What Won TV? American Dad!, Angelique Kerber, Australian Open, Baskets, Childrens Hospital, Man Seeking Woman, New Girl, The X-Files 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 – It wasn’t exactly its best, but The X-Files was mighty fun.
Monday – American Dad!
Tuesday – New Girl
Wednesday – Man Seeking Woman (Woman Seeking Man 2)
Thursday – Baskets
Friday – Childrens Hospital
Saturday – Australian Open Ladies’ Final
January 27, 2016
New Girl, New Girl Episode Reviews, Television New Girl, New Girl 504, New Girl Season 5, No Girl, Veg-ass Leave a comment
“Veg-ass! You see what he did?” http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/01/27/new-girl-season-5-episode-4-recap-no-g
January 24, 2016
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Ronda Rousey, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live 4111, Saturday Night Live Season 41, Selena Gomez, SNL, SNL Season 41 1 Comment
SNL: Selena Gomez, Ronda Rousey, Cecily Strong (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in January 2016.
With a few exceptions, athletes tend to be rather limited in their usefulness on “SNL.” Just having the host play him or herself or some variation in every sketch can solve this problem. But Ronda Rousey and/or the writers concede this point and give her very little to do throughout the night. Thus, she does not really affect the overall quality of the episode one way or the other. There are a few great sketches, a few okay ones, and some recurring sketches that seem to be hiding their recurring status.
Trump Rally – With Sarah Palin’s typically loopy endorsement of the Donald dominating this week’s election coverage, it felt like a no-brainer to bring Tina Fey back home (so long as she could make it through the snow). Back in 2008, there was the sketch parodying the Katie Couric interview of Palin, which was basically just a recreation of the original. The same approach could have easily been employed again this time around, but it ends up just being the jumping off point; she mentions the “bitter clinging” and adds some new rhymes and free associations (“Mom, 2 Broke Girls, and Three Men and a Baby” is a highlight). In addition, the asides from Trump serve as an astute, though not especially deep, commentary. B
January 24, 2016
Television, What Won TV? Baskets, Childrens Hospital, Jeopardy!, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Saturday Night Live, SNL, The Grinder, The Middle 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 – Mike Tyson Mysteries
Monday – Jeopardy!
Tuesday – The Grinder
Wednesday – The Middle, which is best appreciated not from a distance, but intimately
Thursday – Baskets is the best show of 2016.
Friday – Childrens Hospital
Saturday – “The Screen Guild Awards,” as seen on SNL
January 21, 2016
Television, The Middle, The Middle Episode Reviews Floating 50, The Middle, The Middle 713, The Middle Season 7 Leave a comment
The Middle can’t be this good in Season 7. http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2016/01/21/the-middle-season-7-episode-13-recap-f
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