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Doux News Shows: November 10-15, 2013

mash-up: noun
  1. a mixture or fusion of disparate elements;
  2. in web development, a web page or web application that uses content from more than one source to create a single new service displayed in a single graphical interface;
  3. a movie or video having characters or situations from other sources;
  4. a song comprised of elements of two or more pre-existing pieces of music;
  5. this week’s edition of Doux News fused with New Shows.
This Week: Downton Abbey -- Cast Additions -- Full Season Orders -- Some New Show Reviews -- Who or What’s Hot? -- Duos -- Reboots -- Orange Is The New Drama -- Bad Robot -- Batkid Lives! -- Game of Thrones -- Next Week in Television -- This Week in Cats

The New Shows color code: red means don’t bother; blue means maybe; green means good; magenta means great. As a reminder, shows with an asterisk will be part of a special JFK edition of this column once they have all aired.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10
Downton Abbey
The fourth season of Downton Abbey has not yet kicked off here in the US and I am a bit worried about it. Normally, my UK Facebook friends go wild during the airing, so I know a lot of what will happen before it does. The silence this year is deafening. But, not to fear, the show has been picked up for a fifth season. How do sharks swim on a grand English estate that doesn’t appear to possess so much as a pond?

New Shows
*Killing Kennedy (National Geographic)
-- Although I will be giving this movie a blue, its numbers were impressive. It gave National Geographic its largest audience ever.
American Jungle (History)
The Drama Queen (E!)
Thicker Than Water (Bravo)


MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11
Cast Additions
The astonishing list of guest stars for the fifth season of Community continues to expand as David Cross joins the gang for an episode. The fifth (final?) season will kick off January 2.

Camryn Manheim and Saul Rubinek will star in multiple episodes of Person of Interest in the new year.

Brooke Shields will play a cougar on The Michael J. Fox Show.

Dee Wallace and Chris Mulkey will play Monroe’s parents on Grimm later this season. They turn up in time for the long-awaited wedding.

Full Season Orders
Three CW shows have received full season orders. The Originals, Reign, and The Tomorrow People will all continue at least until the end of the year. Whether or not they should may be up for debate.

New Shows
Crisis Hotline: Vets Press 1 (HBO)
A statistic that TPTB in Washington would prefer that we not focus on is that, since 9/11, more service members have taken their own lives than have died on the battlefield. A friend of mine was recently badly wounded and his mother explained to me what the VA shrink told her. In places like Afghanistan (where my friend served), these young kids spend their lives in one of two mental states -- bored or terrified. It completely screws them up physiologically and the military machine is only now beginning to realize what a big problem this is. This documentary, although very short, focuses on one veterans helpline in Upstate New York. The stories they hear are heartbreaking, but the good they are doing is beyond measure. Watch this, please.

The Wrong Mans (Hulu)
This show is weird. On the one hand, it is a mystery/thriller; on the other, a workplace buddy comedy. A nebbishy guy witnesses a car crash and events are set in motion that put him on a collision course with people who have kidnapped some stranger’s wife. He is helped in his search with another nebbishy guy from his office, the comic relief. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t really get into it either. It is only six half hour episodes, but I stopped after the first. Many other reviewers love it, so watch the first one and decide for yourself.

*American Experience: JFK (PBS)
Church Rescue (National Geographic)
Life After Anna Nicole: The Larry and Dannielynn Story (E!)
*Oliver Stone’s JFK (Reelz)


TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Who or What’s Hot?
The latest edition of TV Guide is the annual Hot List. In it, the magazine talks about the hot shows, actors, couples -- you get the idea. I don’t always agree, but it does make for fun reading. For this week’s poll (one of us will publish the results next week), what would you consider the hottest thing to come out of the fall television season? It can be anything or anyone. I’ll kick it off by saying that my answer is too easy. Tom Mison from Sleepy Hollow is wonderful, both as an actor and a character. And, yes, he is far too easy on the eyes.

Television Duos
I’m not the only one who thinks Mison is a credit to this fall’s lineup. Here is a really interesting article on which television duos are working and which ones are not. I like the fact that not all of the couples discussed are romantically linked.

New Shows
Black Mirror (DirecTV)
A Crime To Remember (Investigation Discovery)
Lost Survivors (Travel Channel)
Secret State (DirecTV)


WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Reboots
While we’re on the subject of hot, the pottery wheel scene in Ghost was one of the most romantic, ever. I guess others think so as well as Paramount is threatening to adapt the film as a television series. This can only end in tears…

As if Hawaii Five-0 and Sleepy Hollow were not enough to keep Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci busy, they have been tapped to EP a “reinvention” of the 1980s Tales From The Darkside.

I’m sure that most of you have heard by now that our holiday season this year will be enlivened by a Carrie Underwood/Stephen Moyer version of The Sound of Music. Here is your first look, albeit short and revealing very little.

Netflix has saved The Killing. I’m not at all sure why, but Mark put it best, “This show is proving harder to kill than Captain Jack Harkness.”

We may have met the mother, but now CBS wants us to wait another eternity to meet the dad. It seems to me that this premise has been done.

New Shows
*JFK: One Central Standard Time (PBS)
*NOVA: Cold Case JFK (PBS)


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Orange Is The New Drama
If you haven’t yet seen the wonderful Netflix series Orange Is The New Black do so now. Especially as the producers have decided to submit it as a drama for the Golden Globes and Emmy races. An interesting decision, it could mean fewer statues for the show than it might have received as a comedy.

New Shows
Ground Floor (TBS)
I’m not sure why, but the sitcom seems to be something that nobody can get quite right this year. The premise is promising; a money manager from upstairs falls for a woman who works in the basement. He has money; she has fun. Unfortunately, the jokes weren’t all that funny and the characters were all stock. You’ve seen it before. You also seen much, much worse -- this fall season alone.

*The Sixties: The Assassination of President Kennedy (CNN)


FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Bad Robot
JJ Abrams has tweeted the first view of the new R2-D2. Can someone please point out the difference to me from the old one?

Batkid Lives!
Few things have gone as viral as this, but wow was it worth it. The world really can be filled with wonderful people. As the author of the article points out, I defy you to read this without a tear in your eye.

Game Of Thrones
If you have ninety minutes to spare, here is an interview with George R.R. Martin, Lena Headey, and Michelle Fairley. I love the author’s comment about wanting the books more than the interview...

New Shows
Against The Tide (Showtime)
An interesting documentary about a football game in 1970 between the University of Alabama and USC. Alabama’s team was still segregated; USC was fully integrated. The Tide got its ass handed to it and, as it more important to win in Alabama than it is to segregate, this game changed the color barrier in southern university football. Filled with interviews of guys who played in the game, I enjoyed this much more than I imagined going into it.

Alpha House (Amazon)
Amazon has thrown its hat into the original series ring with this comedy. Four Republican senators all share a house and a political agenda. The acting is fantastic and the show was fairly sharply written. Given time, it just might gel into something really fun to watch. For now, it is taking its time setting up the characters and what I presume are season long arcs.

Rogers & Hammerstein’s ‘Oklahoma!’ (PBS)
In that role that made him famous, Hugh Jackman sings and dances through one of the best musicals ever put on the stage. This production, directed by Trevor Nunn, is sublime. The staging is new; the dancing is incredible; the songs are ones you know sung by people who belt them out with gusto. If you are at all a fan of musicals, don’t miss this.

*JFK: The Final Hours (National Geographic)
*JFK: The Lost Bullet (National Geographic)
*The Lost JFK Tapes: TheAssassination (National Geographic)


NEXT WEEK IN TELEVISION:
Almost Human:
The latest from J.J. Abrams kicks off tonight (Fox at 8:00pm) with the second part to air tomorrow.  The previews look good.  I'm ready for another great show.

Doctor Who:
In addition to almost nonstop running of past episodes of the show, several specials will air during the week leading up to the main event on Saturday:
Doctor Who: Tales From The TARDIS (BBCAmerica, Monday the 18th at 9:00pm)
The Science Of Doctor Who With Brian Cox (BBC America, Monday the 18th at 10:00pm)
Doctor Who Explained (BBCAmerica, Friday the 22nd at 8:00pm)
An Adventure In Space And Time (BBC America, Friday the 22nd at 9:00pm)
The Day of the Doctor, The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special, will be telecast simultaneously around the world. In the US, it will air on BBC America, Saturday the 23rd at 2:50 PM Eastern/11:50 AM Pacific. It will also screen in 3D in select cinemas.

Nikita:
The first of the final six episodes of Nikita will air on The CW, Friday the 22nd at 9:00pm. J.D. will be reviewing them as they air.


THIS WEEK IN CATS:
No cats, but check out this gorgeous ball of fluff. He is the newest member of our family and gets to come home to us in the middle of December.

7 comments:

  1. What's Hot? I'd have trouble choosing between The Originals and The Blacklist! Can't get enough of either of them!!! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. So much to comment upon!

    I like The Originals more than I thought I would. Fingers crossed that it gets a second season. I haven't even tried Reign and I stopped watching Tomorrow People after the pilot.

    The "television duos" NY Times article put Sleepy Hollow at the top! This is another show I didn't think I'd like, but I am so enjoying it and it's very much because of Tom Mison and Nicole Beharie.

    I sort of get why OITNB decided to go for drama instead of comedy. Here's hoping they're taken seriously. So to speak.

    That Batkid story made me cry.

    Puppy! Awww.

    Terrific job with the mash-up, Chris. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great mash-up, Chris!

    Sam T. Cat sends his greetings to your new fluffy friend.

    ReplyDelete
  4. PUPPY!!!!!! PUPPY! PUPPY! PUPPY! PUPPY!

    That is all.

    Great job with Doux News/New Shows this week, Chris!

    PUPPY!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations on your new family member, ChrisB!

    I saw Oklahoma from the front row at the National Theatre in London. Hugh Jackman was incredible. And hot. Very, very hot. Extremely recommended!

    ReplyDelete
  6. All I'll say about Downton Abbey season 4 is I thought it was a bit better than season 3. For what that's worth.

    Of course, there's still the Christmas special...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gavrielle -- I am jealous beyond the telling of it. I would have given anything to see the production live. As it is, I can't bring myself to delete it from my DVR and have watched it twice. It's becoming the background music as I do things around the house.

    TSK -- you give me hope for season four. I've been a bit worried about it, not least because I thought the ending last year was weak.

    After I posted this, I saw that season 4 of Downton will kick off January 5 here in the US.

    ReplyDelete

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