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New Shows: April 5 - 11, 2014

Another relatively quiet week for new shows. Many old favorites, however, return or end next week. Make sure to check out the last section to make sure your DVR is ready.

The New Shows color code: red means don’t bother; blue means maybe; green means good; magenta means great.

SATURDAY, APRIL 5
Lucky in Love (Hallmark)
Prepper Hillbillies (Destination America)

SUNDAY, APRIL 6
49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards (CBS)
With age comes wisdom. Much like all things sci-fi, I came to and fell in love with country music later in life. This is now one of my favorite award shows of the year. Unlike so many of the ilk, the producers keep the extraneous stuff to a minimum and just have artists sing. In fact, it was an hour into the show before the first award was handed out. All in, there are few breaks between one great song and another. If you like music, especially country music, you will like this.

Patton Oswalt: Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time (Comedy)
Although he managed to avoid being completely offensive as so many of his kind are, Oswalt did skirt the line from time to time. Some of these stories were funny; others were not. If you are a fan of the man (he was a regular on King of Queens), you might want to check this out. Otherwise, you really won’t be missing that much.

Silicon Valley (HBO)
A comedy about a start up tech company that was a tad too on the nose for me. As I know nothing about this life, I kept thinking that many of the jokes were too inside for me to fully appreciate them. There were a couple of jokes I got because, well, everyone knows about Google, Apple, Microsoft and the men who run them. The rest? I’m not sure. This may be a comedy that needs to settle into itself a bit, and reviewers who have seen more than one episode have loved it. Check it out for yourself and then let me know what you think.

Turn (AMC)
Loosely based on the Culper Ring, a group of spies that is now credited with helping the US gain its independence, this historical drama is a very engaging tale of friends, enemies, divided loyalties, and love gone wrong. I was instantly drawn to the relationships among the characters, especially between Abraham (our hero) and Anna (his former fiancée with whom he spies and with whom he is still in love although both are married to others) and Abraham and his father (who is decidedly on the side of the British). The one downside is that, at least for right now, the red coats are all villains and the blue coats are all heroes. If the writers can mix that up a bit, this just might be a fantastic addition to Sunday nights.

Chow Masters (Travel)
Hotel Secrets and Legends (Travel)
Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains in Paradise (Adult Swim)

MONDAY, APRIL 7
Kitchen Casino (Food Network)

TUESDAY, APRIL 8
Secret Lives of Stepford Wives (Investigation Discovery)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9
Deadbeat (Hulu)
Kevin Pacalioglu is a medium whose job is to help ghosts stranded in this realm move on. What could have been a very funny show makes the mistake that so many comedies are making these days. The writers have assumed that all adult humor revolves around sex and doing drugs. Unfortunately, here the jokes go too far and just become cringe worthy. Not terrible, but one episode was enough for me.

The Tom and Jerry Show (Cartoon Network)
Barring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Tom and Jerry are the greatest nemeses in the history of cartoons. Based on the classic series, this new adaptation will bring a smile to those of you who remember those Saturday mornings of yore. The cat and mouse games (you knew I had to go there) are in full force as are Spike and the humans with whom these three live. Certainly not a show I will watch on a regular basis, but it made me grin while I watched the pilot.

Cyber Stalkers (TLC)
Susan Boyle: Her Secret Struggle (Oprah Winfrey Network)
Women of Homicide (TLC)

THURSDAY, APRIL 10
FNA USA (CMT)

FRIDAY, APRIL 11
Boss Hogg (Discovery)

DON’T FORGET:

Sunday, April 13:
2014 MTV Movie Awards will air at 9:00 on MTV.
Nurse Jackie returns at 9:00 on Showtime.
Californication returns at 9:30 on Showtime.
The Bletchley Circle returns at 10:00 on PBS.
Mad Men returns at 10:00 on AMC.

Monday, April 14:
2 Broke Girls moves to 8:00 on CBS.
Warehouse 13 returns at 9:00 on Syfy.
Mom will air its finale at 9:30 on CBS.

Thursday, April 17:
Community finale is at 8:00 on NBC.
The Crazy Ones finale is at 9:00 on CBS.
Scandal finale is at 10:00 on ABC.
Parenthood finale is at 10:00 on NBC

Friday, April 18:
The Writers’ Room returns at 9:00 on Sundance. This is a brilliant series that I highly recommend. This year, the writing panels will include House of Cards, Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead, Scandal, and The Good Wife.

ChrisB is a freelance writer who spends more time than she ought in front of a television screen or with a book in her hands.

4 comments:

  1. Chris--
    I love the writers' room show! Looks like a great lineup for their season. Still moderated by Jim Rash I assume...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heather -- I should have mentioned that The Writers' Room is still moderated by Jim Rash. Thanks for the catch!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chris, thanks so much for pointing out Silicon Valley - as usual, you find shows I haven't even seen mentioned anywhere else. As I work in IT and know quite a bit about startup culture, I was eager to see this and I wasn't disappointed. It's brilliantly observed and absolutely dead on. The best new comedy I've seen for some time.

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  4. Gavrielle -- thank you so much for your comment. I expected someone on the inside to appreciate it much more than I did. As I said, other reviewers absolutely loved it, so I'm glad I was able to let you know about it.

    ReplyDelete

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