I have a new favorite show. The latest in the Netflix family of original series is Orange is the New Black. Terrible title. Awful. But the show is fantastic. If you were a fan of Weeds, if you liked the writing and the direction and the overall feel of the show – then you’re going to love this. Created and written by the same, Jenji Kohan – this show is stylistically very similar in tone. It’s centralized around women, their struggles for power, acceptance, finding their inner strength and forcing a path in their own lives. Plus there’s boobs, lots of them. And lesbian prison sex. And lesbians in general. And That 70’s Show’s Donna. Donna… I love so many things about this show. It’s funny, dramatic, personal, touching, uncomfortable and it deals with real shit. From grungy prison shit to middle class white shit, we’re brought into the personal lives of each and every character (so far as I can tell). Before they were incarcerated, each of the women have a story of their own, and via flashback, we’re invited into their lives and what brought them to this point. Whether you empathize with their situation or just come to understand them on a different level – these are real women, and I am learning to appreciate them all on a human level. Every episode focuses on the journey of the main character – Piper Chapman, while at the same time inviting us into the history of one additional woman she’s interacting with that episode. Netflix has hit the nail on the head with this one. So much so that it’s already tagged for a second season, right out of the gate. Had it not been, I’d be rallying for it. I don’t think one season is going to be enough for me. Piper’s in there for 15 months. We’ve barely scraped the surface so far. In doing some research for this article, I learned that Orange is based on a true memoir by Piper Kerman. I didn’t know that before I had formed my opinion, but it makes complete sense now why every hour feels so personal. As is my Modus Operandi, I will not give spoilers because I want you all to turn on your Netflix, or subscribe to it now, and watch this show. If you’re a woman, you’ll appreciate that it portrays women in a real, sometimes unflattering light. Men, you might learn a thing or two about what it’s like to be a woman – plus all that lesbian stuff. Buzzfeed’s 11 Ways Orange is the New Black is Doing it Right. Image Credit: Laura Prepon on...

When I was 18, I moved to a new city. After finding a job, the next thing I did was get a library card. That summer I made it a point to read every single Stephen King book on the shelves (that I hadn’t already read). It took me about a year, but I managed to do it, so you might say that I take Stephen King pretty seriously. We won’t talk about how that next summer he got hit by a truck and lost all ability to write a good story. We won’t talk about that. I guess we’ll have to because Under the Dome is one such story. It’s only fair to mention that if you haven’t read a Stephen King novel, but have watched the movies based on them – cut the guy a break. His stories do not always translate well to screen. I was going to say they rarely have, but then I remember Carrie, Misery, The Running Man, The Green Mile, Stand By Me, The Shining, and my all time favorite, The Shawshank Redemption. So ok, a good percentage of his books make good movies. Hell, even the miniseries IT was fantastic for a miniseries in the 90’s. And it’s a cult freaking classic. But let’s not forget the absolute failures. Sleepwalkers, Maximum Overdrive, The Langoliers, Tommyknockers (which is my all time favorite of his novels). Damn this guy is rich. Ok so some of his books translate well and some don’t. Maybe the reason certain stories work is because they are based in character. They look more at the people in the stories and their individual motivations from within – rather than crazy supernatural happenings that either can’t be explained, or are just plain weird. The Shining and Carrie are examples of a little of both at play, but we all were far more fascinated with the people than whatever was driving them crazy. Admit it. When you get into “other realm” territory on a grand scale, it always works so much better in our own imagination than it does on screen. At least when it comes to the crazy stuff Mr. King comes up with. Under the Dome falls more into the category of the former. It is very character focused, though not yet character driven. So far it falls victim to the one thing that Stephen King miniseries (and sometimes movies) usually fail from. Too much story to work into a short amount of time. There are so many different back stories and focal characters that it’s hard to care about any one of them at this point. Or sometimes to even know or realize how they all come together. Mix that with the dozens of suspicious things they were all up to – and it’s just too much story to shove into an hour long episode and still drive the plot forward. Perhaps that’s a matter of direction, or screenwriting, or poor vision of the overall work. I don’t know because I never read the book. There became a serious lack in quality writing since his brain injury back in 1999. I’ll give props to the guy, he just keeps going and going – but I think that’s more because he’s a writer and he can’t not write or he won’t know who he is anymore. And people will continue to buy his books because he’s Stephen King. I won’t because I can’t suffer through another one of them in a hopeful attempt that one might actually be good. No offense Steve, love ya. Not that reading the book in any way influences the watching of the show. If anything, it’s better to have not read it because it’s going to veer off course from the original framework at some point if it hasn’t already. Look at Dexter and True Blood. It will have to in order to maintain...

There are so many different kinds of reality shows these days, I don’t even know where to start. I’m going to focus today on three categories of “reality” for you. The first kind takes people with actual talent and either showcases or hones that talent while at the same time entertaining us and making them a little cash and recognition. These are shows like Top Chef, American Idol, Project Runway. I’ll even lump America’s Next Top Model into this category though the drama meter on that one is pretty high. Second are reality game shows. Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelor/ette, etc. I think we’re supposed to believe that these are real people that just want a vacation from their lives, to win lots of money, or to meet Mr(s). Right. But I have a friend who has a friend whose entire career is being on reality shows of this nature. She makes her living this way. She doesn’t have to win, she just has to get on and stay on long enough to make rent, and with each new show she becomes more and more recognizable to the point that she’s known as a “star of reality television” — much like Kendra Wilkinson who has never done anything to warrant having her own show, but got one because she’d been on so much reality TV, they figured they’d let her star in her own series (see category below). The third category is strictly mindless entertainment for no purpose but getting big ratings for very little production value. Shows like Duck Dynasty, any of the Kardashian/Jersey Shore/Honey Boo Boo/Gypsy Wedding style horrorfests, and the like. You know what I mean. We should be embarrassed that most of these shows are not only on the air, but that they continue to make more of them because so many people actually watch them. Will wonders never cease? We will not be discussing this category today in hopes that it will one day die the uninteresting death it deserves. So You Think You Can Dance falls into group one. The good group. If you haven’t seen it yet, this is no Dancing With The Stars. But if you like that show, you should check this one out. You’ll never appreciate D-list celebrities making fools of themselves again, because this will blow your mind. The first round of actual competition started last week, which you can probably catch On Demand but should set your DVR’s now to make sure you don’t miss another week. #SYTYCD is like the American Idol of dance competition, only better. It’s head judge, Nigel Lythgoe, used to be the Executive Producer of American Idol, so I know this to be true. Trained and untrained dancers from all over the country go through a grueling audition process to make it on the show. Only 24 will make it to the big stage. Some of the most amazing choreographers I’ve ever seen (and let’s face it, the ONLY choreographers I’ve ever seen) produce routines for them to learn week after week that will evoke literal emotion as you watch. These kids are talented. They might be an animation street dancer (2 made it on this year) or a trained ballroom champion – but they all have to go outside of their comfort zones and master every style of dance to make it to the end. This year the bar already seems to have been set ultra-high. I’m so excited that the famed Mia Michaels is back. And all the favorites are still on board – Sonya Tayeh, Nappy Tabs, Travis Wall, Tyce DeOrio. Some of the previous winners and favorite dancers have gone on to make great careers that are out of the limelight completely – because their focus is not to become the next big celebrity – but to actually be a dancer. Check it out. Fox Tuesday nights. I mentioned...

We’re running out of time until the last 8 episodes of the best show on TV airs. It will conclude the story of Walter White and his evolution from devoted family man to maniacal drug kingpin, Heisenberg. If you haven’t seen this series, stop reading now. Order Netflix if you don’t have it, and pull up a comfy chair. iTunes has it on sale. If you have a local mom and pop video store in your neighborhood (yes, they still exist) check to see if they carry the seasons on DVD (mine does). Whatever it takes, watch it. You have eight Saturdays to catch up. That’s one season a weekend. Like you don’t already do that with your time. Shut up and do it. You want to. Trust me. August 11th the debut of the last half of the final season commences on AMC. Set your DVR’s boys and girls! I’ve had some debate with folks over the years as to whether Walter White is a good guy or a bad guy. Clearly he has done terrible, terrible things and I believe at first they were with only the best intentions. He started cooking Crystal Meth when he learned he had terminal cancer, to earn enough money to take care of his family after his death. And nearly everything he did after that point can be drawn back to this initial, good hearted intent. Nearly. Being involved in this kind of secret life will have to take its toll. Walter wanted to and tried to play it clean, to do fair business, but he quickly learned that wasn’t going to happen and had to play ball. For a long time he really suffered through the decisions he had to make on who to take out and needed to justify every step. But as his place in line neared further and further to the top and his product became more and more invaluable – the power got the better of him. [SPOILER ALERT] Some may point out that his first cross of the line took place when he killed Jesse’s girlfriend. He didn’t literally kill her, of course, he just let her die in front of him and did nothing to stop it. Some might argue that it was for Jesse’s own good, that Walter did this to save Jesse from the hole she was leading him back down. Others, that it was only because Walter still needed Jesse to produce the amount of cook required to make the money he still needed and she was in the way. Differing perspectives, but it was the first time Walter realized his own god-like control. I have to admit that I have always been a Walter White fan. I always give him the benefit of the doubt and it wasn’t until the first half of this season, that I realized that I might have been holding on to some semblance of the man Walter White used to be. I always loved that his heart led him to protect the people in his life, even if it was for their own good when they didn’t know it and hated him for it. And I always thought I knew that Jesse was one of those people – because I love Pinkman too. How could you not? He’s totally fucked up, but has a heart of stupid gold. But there came a point when Walter kind of turned on him and when we, as the audience realize this, that’s when it became real. There was no more Walter White, the man we’re watching now is really Heisenberg. That is what’s so fascinating to me about this show. It explores the evolution of a man from hero to villain. It gives us the insight into how a man so genuine and loving could become a feared, influential and terrifying man. To be able to watch him...

Set your DVR’s to Showtime on Sunday June 30th kids! I don’t know about you, but I’m excited about Dexter. I’m excited it’s going to be coming back this month (4 months early!) and I’m kind of excited to see it go. It’s had a couple of weird seasons, but if last year is any indicator (it is), then this season is going to be the perfect kind of ending. According to show producers, they’ve been gearing up the thru stories to end with a bang.   SPOILER ALERT I had a friend who saw the first couple of episodes and then quit. It wasn’t a moral conflict over who’s right it is to determine if a person is bad enough to warrant death without due process. Dexter’s Code that keeps his killing in check, nor his Dark Passenger as he later began to refer to his innate need to kill was also not the problem. It was that she didn’t like how Harry’s spirit hung around to guide Dexter after his death. The father that took him in after he was found in a shipping container sitting in a pool of his Mother’s blood. The father that understood his darkness and taught him to harness it for good, rather than for evil. Good being up for debate here – Harry was a police officer and kind of wanted to see some justice when none had prevailed. The father that became his voice of conscience when he had none of his own. That annoyed her and she just couldn’t go on. Admittedly, there were better times to quit the show. Two seasons ago for example, I was almost out. That was after a rough season 5 with Julia Styles acting as Dexter’s counter-part – the first person he ever shared his secret with. And some other things too, if you believe the rumor mill that he left his co-star wife and onscreen sister for her (loser!). After John Lithgow’s Trinity Killer it was going to be hard to top anything on this show. But season 6 was the biggest stinker of all. Sorry Colin Hanks, you gave it a shot – but you and Edward James Olmos are just not believable as a psychotic duo. The storyline left a lot to be lacking – namely interest. I barely made it through that religious horror show. It wasn’t just that storyline that nearly killed it for me though, it was the way they made his sister Deb admit her sexual feelings for her own brother. Really? Really show? Once they revealed his real identity to her in that season’s cliffhanger finale though, I was sucked right back in. Soap Opera Drama with a little blood and tears, what’s better than that? You could tell they were working toward an end game last season in the reveals they made. Dexter’s tether to the world of normalcy he’s tried to create is getting tighter and tighter and we spent the entire seventh season on edge, waiting for the snap. Season 8 has some heavy strings to tie. Now that Deb is facing her own moral conflict after choosing to kill La Guerta over Dexter (in dun dun dun…a shipping container!) in last season’s most shocker of a cliffhanger, she’s sure to pull away from her brother and face some tough decisions. I wouldn’t be surprised if she quits the force – she was about to lose it all last season as it was. Will she turn him in? Will they go out in a lover’s suicide pact? Will he shake lose this mortal coil to save his sister’s mental health? Seriously – poor Deb has not had good luck in love. I don’t know, but if you believe the buzz, this isn’t going to be a Lost/Soprano’s ending. We are promised total...

I’m a pretty big fan of How I Met Your Mother. The characters are fun, they utilize flashbacks, foreshadows and running jokes that play out sometimes seasons later. Plus, it helped re-launch the career of everyone’s favorite teenage doctor. It seemed to me to be such an original concept that it took me several seasons and someone else to tell me it was basically Friends in a bar instead of a coffee house. Whatever, I loved Friends too. The concept of having an end game in mind though – Meeting the Mother – is something that I really appreciate. It constantly moves the plot forward and gives us something to look forward to. So when I heard that a new show by the same creators of one of my favs was going to be a mid-season replacement on FOX, I was stoked. The Goodwin Games has another unique, end game concept. Three estranged siblings are brought together by their recently deceased dad (Beau Bridges) after they discover he’s left one of them a $23 million inheritance. The catch? They have to complete a series of games until one is somehow announced the winner. The first game is a customized version of Trivial Pursuit about the lives of the Goodwins as they grew up together.  So far, that’s taken up the first two episodes. I’m sure that once there’s a winner of this game, there will be another game and another until dead daddy is satisfied his kids have learned enough life lessons and they’ve turned into the family he’s always wished they would be. Blah blah blah None of them especially want to be there, but even by the second episode they’re all starting to realize they need to change their ways and become better people. Yet still they only stick around to beat the others out for daddy’s fortune. So that’s a conundrum. The Goodwins are comprised of: Scott Foley from Felicity fame, T.J. Miller, a comedian I’ve seen once on Chelsea Lately but probably won some kind of game show to kickstart his career and Becki Newton, best known as Barney’s ex-fiancé & stripper Quinn Garvey on How I Met Your Mother. Right now I’m going to give them maybe another two episodes before I call it quits. It’s predictable, the acting isn’t great and they’re using the same Universal back lot that How I Met Your Mother uses (also used for Gilmore Girls, I might add – I know because daughter Goodwin was sitting right there on Lorelai’s porch) without any attempt to make it look like somewhere else. That’s just annoying. I’m hoping this show will work out its first few episode hiccups and end up being good enough to make up for the fact that all the Bays/Thomas creative energy was spent realizing this concept, leaving us with a nearly unwatchable second to last season of...

Now that somehow its cult audience has convinced God and everyone else to bring the show back (and by God I mean Hollywood, because they are God in this town), it was time for me to have a seat on the couch with an ice cream sandwich and see what all the hype was about. I was not an original Arrested Development fan. IFC started running the show at odd times here and there and I caught a few episodes. The only thing I could appreciate about it at that point was that it resurrected Jason Bateman. I love him. Turns out, AD is a well written, smart show with great acting. I really enjoyed every single episode. I can certainly see the draw of the off handed (pun intended) humor and senselessness of it. It obviously wasn’t as popular at the time or it would have lasted. It only later garnered its cult following, so why the desperate need to keep it going 10 years later? I can’t say I’m sure. Granted, I absolutely loved the episode entitled S.O.B’s where they were very blatantly pleading to save the show. That was genius. Right now everyone is buzzing about this Sunday’s Netflix release. In a way, it’s the movie everyone’s been waiting for. Fourteen episodes back-to-back to continue (complete?) the show in one giant sitting. From what we’re hearing it’s a super-sized epilogue, which might be all that fans really want. What happened to the Bluths? Which is awesome because how often do we want to know what’s happened to our favorite characters once we’ve parted with them at the end of a series? If there’s any success with this, though, does that mean more “reunion seasons” for other shows in order to give the fans what they want? Freaks and Geeks and My So Called Life are two others I can think of that fans were extremely upset to see go. MTV aired My So Called Life for years even though it was only a season long. Claire Danes and Jared Leto built their careers off that failed show. Freaks and Geeks hosted an impossible amount of talent during its short run and is still on the air thanks to IFC. Will they be next? Probably not. In fact, no. But this is an interesting precedent being set Arrested Development. Rather than take the Sex and the City path to disaster and making a movie out of it, we have the world’s first television sequel season (Futurama doesn’t count, it’s a cartoon). I’m interested to see what comes of it. I’m sure there’s the fear that it won’t live up to the audience’s outsized expectations, even if it’s just as fresh and strange as the original three seasons. There’s the very real chance it could fall flat and this will simply become a failed experiment. Especially considering that it’s exclusively on Netflix streaming. How smart is Netflix, by the way? I can imagine that their May subscriptions quadrupled over any other month in simple anticipation of this show. I guess I don’t really understand why one solitary season after a decade with no hope or promise for another or the always anticipated movie is something to get excited over. It’s like getting excited to be with the cousin you’re in love with because you just found out her mother was adopted only to be disappointed that you actually can’t be with her because she’s still considered family. Okay, maybe it’s not exactly like that, but you get my point. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ddjzGft0k Image Credit: Details...

If you haven’t already started watching BATES MOTEL, you should do it. Now. The season is probably halfway over or more at this point, so there’s some catching up to do. Eight shows in fact. You need cable to catch it. A&E. You might be a little apprehensive because it’s a prequel to a movie made over forty years ago based on a novel based on a real life serial killer…set in 2013. If you’re anything like me, you’re picky about the details in a show – especially a show that has a history based in something else (like a show/movie/book/etc.), and if they don’t get it right, then they better make it really freaking good. This show is. Both. Freddie Highmore – who you might recognize as the adorable August Rush, or Charlie from the Tim Burton rendition of the Chocolate Factory — is the only kid on the planet who could play Norman Bates. He’s incredible in this kind of shy, nice guy, creepy, mama’s boy role. You like him. You really do – even though you know that later in life he’s going to be a total–well, psycho. You root for him to get away from his mother’s influence, and to win over one of the two girls who seem to want his attention. But at the same time you can just tell there’s something wrong with him. In fact, in episode 6 you realize there’s something really really wrong with him. But we’re not sure what yet, or why. Suspense! His Mother Norma, Vera Farmiga (hot!), makes you like her, then hate her, then sympathize with her, then hate her, then understand her, then hate her, then pity her, then empathize with her and almost trust her, then hate her some more. She’s really got the overbearing, co-dependent thing down. But you’re not really sure if it’s even her fault, or if she’s the way she is because of the way Norman is. It’s complicated. You’ll see. There are other people in the cast, too: a second son – brother to Norman; and a deputy sherriff one tends to confuse with the second son at times, they look so similar. This adds a weird element to the mama’s boy angle of things considering Norma beds the sheriff by episode 2. There’s also the two love interests for Norman; a dead guy; another dead guy; an Asian sex slave; and the town sheriff who totally has it out for Norma. (She kind of killed his best friend in the first episode.) The town itself is its own kind of character – very much a small town that takes care of its own. Everyone has a secret of some kind or is involved in something seedy. The town members also practice an Old Testament kind of law. In the first episode, a mill owner is killed when his mill burns down. Rather than prosecute, the town holds a public body burning of the suspected arsonist. Then there are the drugs. Every good small town needs a mary jane field to compensate for the high rate of unemployment these days. Each episode is suspenseful and mysterious, sometimes violent. And isn’t that really what makes good TV anymore? In all honesty, I haven’t been shocked by television in a very long time. And I watch a lot of the stuff. When the first episode aired, I was a little overwhelmed by the brutal and violent rape scene that happens in the first 20 minutes of this show – it doesn’t hold back on the detail. So if you can’t handle that sort of thing, jump ahead on the DVR and keep going. Don’t let your sensitive stomach keep you from what ends up being a show worth getting hooked...

The Logline reads thus: “A teenage girl is brutally murdered, sparking a hunt for her killer. But in a town where everyone hides a secret, will they find the monster among them?” TWIN PEAKS, you say? That would be an excellent guess. The cult classic probably spawned later and lesser versions of the same premise of a murdered girl in a town full of inane characters and crazy secrets. But nobody’s ever going to rival the originality–nay genius–of David Lynch on television. (Even if he did decide to trash the end of the series with a big “F You” to ABC for cancelling him.) Alright, THE KILLING,then? Actually this show was so un-original that AMC ripped it off from a popular Swedish show that probably ripped off TWIN PEAKS. The premise of it anyway. And I speculate, purely to make my point for this post that TWIN PEAKS rocks hardest and everyone else can kiss it. THE KILLING was more of a straight-shooting crime drama mystery than the soap opera storyline of its superior originator, so even though it wasn’t good, I doubt it was specifically related. I digress. The logline cited above comes from the new NetFlix original series, HEMLOCK GROVE. I can tell you from the title shot that werewolves are involved. Yes, that’s right. Netflix chose that bandwagon to jump on for its third dive into “original content” on its streaming service. The show is capitalizing on the Twilight fan base by fusing it with a Fifty Shades sexiness that most other supernaturally-based network shows are missing. It also digs into its weirdness and gore a little deeper than TRUE BLOOD. Admittedly I’ve only watched the pilot episode so I can’t tell you if it gets any better. What I can tell you is that I nearly turned it off based just on the opening sequence. Close up on a brooding Billy Skarsgaard (brother of TRUE BLOOD’s Alexander Skarsgaard), sitting in a café staring straight ahead, hold for 20 seconds. Pan nauseatingly fast to a girl standing at the café door, staring straight ahead, hold for 20 seconds. Jump cut to the pair having sex in a car in the parking lot of said café. Seriously? This is how you choose to hook me? It felt amateur and awkward and I wasn’t sure what was happening or why. The entire episode. Almost every female character is a thin brunette with similar features. So much that I’m not sure if the dead girl is the cheerleader or the girl from the sex car. Or if they’re on in the same girl. Though whoever she was, she’s having an affair with her female English teacher. That’s a new one. Mostly I felt annoyed by every character. They’re all a little too dramatic. A little too serious. A little too, “I’m so mysterious right now, can’t you tell how mysterious I am by the way I’m acting all mysterious?” Yes, we get it, move along. I was pretty sure I had everyone’s number the second they appeared on screen: Of course the main character is the werewolf that splayed open that girl like a baked potato. He even looks wolfish. And his mother drops the hint that he’s got the touch, or the gift, or the whatever. The point is, there’s something up with that kid. He wears black and sits around his house smoking and looking all…bothered. I suppose if you’re a fan of this kind of storyline and enjoy every character being more than what they seem on the surface, even if they’re never as opaque as you might hope; where everyone has a secret that plays into someone else’s secret and they all sleep with and kill each other – then you’ll probably enjoy this show on some level. Once you get over the awful direction (thanks Eli Roth). I happened to cringe through most of the...