TV review

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Friday Filter-More TV Premieres

Thought we were done? I told you I am obsessed. But don’t worry, we still find time to do other things.

I believe this is the last one for awhile. And looking back my shows are all over the place theme-wise…

Hart of Dixie

This show is a gem. I love it’s light-hearted stories and silly drama. It is about a NY doctor who was transplanted to a small town in the deep south. Some of the things that she experiences are things I went through when I moved to SC, so it is pretty funny to watch. Although until I moved to SC, this Missourian never really thought of myself as a Northerner. My dad turned me onto this show, sweet huh? He says that he sees a lot of me in Dr. Hart, which is probably true. Except, I could never pull off her heels on a daily basis. There is a continuing love triangle between her, George and Wade. I think she should be with Wade, but I see a lot of Tom in him, so it makes sense why I like him more. There is a lot of hilarity in the small town of Bluebell. Small town traditions at its finest. My favorites are the antics of the Belles, which is the women’s social society, which were shook up in the first couple episodes when Lemon and AnnaBelle up and quit. The disgrace! This guide says that my personality matches that of North Carolina, so it seems only natural that I would love a show about the South.

The Biggest Loser

This show is a feel good reality show. These are people looking for a second chance to become healthier and more active. I become a sap and feel really connected to the people on the show. To me, it is really inspiring. For the past few years, I have moved my schedule around to watch this as I train so I can watch this show as I run on the treadmill. For someone who was not a runner a few years ago, this show was really inspiring to do something about my own inactivity. It was like the trainers were yelling at pushing me through the screen, and it was a huge motivator to keep going with my running. It is only the second week, so there is not a lot of drama yet and they seem to be working well together. There are some seasons that I feel that the contestants are super selfish and overly dramatic in a bad way. I haven’t seen that yet this time around. I love seeing what creative ways the trainers get the contestants moving. It has really showed me how to be creative with my own workouts and the important thing is your life style. I do like that they focus on changing the lifestyle, and it is not just about dieting. They seem to do a lot about educating about healthy foods and exercising so these people can go back home and succeed without the trainers. It’s just a feel good show that I love to watch!

Pretty Little Liars

I started watching this show last Christmas when Tom was deployed. It was exactly what I needed as a distraction. It is ridiculous and awesome. I usually have no idea what is going on, and they keep me guessing every episode. Just when I think I know who A is, my hypothesis is proven wrong. They are making you believe that Ezra is A right now, but I just can’t believe it. I still think there is someone else controlling the game. And big shocker this week on the Halloween episode, Allie is really alive! WHAT? How does this happen? In all seriousness, how does she look that good and not disheveled after a couple years in hiding? This show is silly and totally not realistic, but that is why I love it. It will suck you in with the mystery and how things are overlapped. The intricacies of the details are numerous, and often times I have to play an episode over again so I can see an important piece of the puzzle. You have to come back each week because you have to figure out A! I think this was just a Halloween special instead of a premiere, so we’ll have to wait a bit for another episode.

Awkward.

I really liked the first season this show. It was perfectly awkward. The last season, I wasn’t so keen on. As like many MTV things, there is now a lot of focus on teen sex. It still has some pretty good moments, but I am not as invested as the first season. I will probably come back just for Tamara. I love her quick witty remarks, and spastic abbreviations for everything. The first episode made me really disappointed in Jenna. I thought she was better than what they have made her. So we’ll see how this affair goes. This is a good show that just gets your mind off of things. Its so random and awkward in its teenage angst. And who doesn’t love watching awkwardness when it’s not you in it? I think we can all relate.

The Walking Dead

Ahhhh! This show makes me have a heart attack or puke almost every episode, and yet I am addicted. I have only watched the first episode, so some of my question may be answered once I get through this week’s episode. In the first episode, they came back after 6 months from the huge chaos that the Governor let out. It was nice for them to ease back into the storyline to show how they have progressed over the last 6 months. (They never show how they get through the winter in this show.) There really wasn’t anything crazy until the last 15 minutes, which I am ok with because I watched it by myself this time…ahhh! This show scares the daylights out of me. I have had so many zombie and ambush nightmares in the last month. I really want them to stay in this life that they have made for themselves at the prison, but with the last 5 minutes I know this won’t happen. So is the zombie stuff like a real disease now-airborne or passing through food? I think there was something between Violet the pig and Patrick. That will mess things up fast. This show is pretty raw, and besides the zombie action, I appreciate the realness of the emotion. It really pays homage to the spectrum that we as humans can possess on the emotional/compassionate scale. It has sparked some interesting conversations. It is fascinating to see how morals evolve through the season, or stay the same for some. It brings up a great debate on whether character and what moral fiber will last at the end of the world as we know it. I love these debates, and I love this show, as long as I can fast forward through the scary parts or Tom tells me when it is a jumpy moment…

So that is all of them, I think. I hope you enjoyed it.

Send good thoughts our way today! Tom is having minor outpatient surgery today, so positive thoughts in our direction is welcomed.

Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

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Friday Filter-TV Show “Southland”

Before all the shows started back up this fall, Tom and I kept busy watching the entire series of Southland.

This is a cop drama based on a department in the heart of LA.

You will have a love/hate relationship with all the characters, except for Detective Ruben. I always liked him.

This takes a very raw look at police departments and all that they deal with. Since this is Tom’s chosen profession, it was interesting to hear his take on the accuracy. For the most part, being from Hollywood, it wasn’t too bad.

They dealt with everything from murders, addiction, gang wars, under cover, family dynamics of cops, and everything else under the sun.

What I appreciated about this was the focus on the actual day to day calls, and how in a split second everything can change your day. For the most part, it never really followed one single plot line. And life is really just a web full of plot lines instead of one steady stream.

This show only had 5 very short seasons, but it was all good. It was nominated for several awards throughout it’s airing, and was even brought back after a pro-longed hiatus for the last couple seasons.

It reminded me a lot of the real-life show Cops, just with a script. It had very in your face camera angles, which I believe helped catch different emotions than we see in other cop shows. The lighting and hues highlighted I believe also added to the “realness” effect. It didn’t have that “shot in a studio” feel to it.

You see how cops (new and veteran) struggle with trying to find a balance of upholding the law and how the job fits into their own lifestyle, views, and morals. The show talks about instincts and what can make or break a cop.

It also does not follow just one pair of cops. You get to see a variety of layers in the department and how they all may interact. This was particularly refreshing because for the most part it was not just a single story-line as with most shows.

I will say that the finale didn’t really feel like a finale. There were so many unanswered questions and ambiguity in how it ended. The fact that the show was not sure if they were going to be coming back for a 6th season or not probably played a huge role in how the last three episodes went down. They must have known that it was a possibility that they may not come back so they went out pretty heavy with these episodes, but also left enough open in case they did get the nod to go ahead with another season.

I also liked that most of the actors in this were unknown to me. Regina King was the only one that I knew off the bat. So that was nice to see some fresh faces get some screen time.

This is a great show that we binge watched in a couple weeks. If you are looking for something new, I highly recommend putting this in your Netflix queue.

Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

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Friday Filter-More TV Premiere Reviews!

I am really enjoying reviewing the premieres. Here is another round of goodness. These are both brand new shows.

Super Fun Night is a new show starring Rebel Wilson. She is the reason I thought to try this. I loved her in Pitch Perfect, and all the interviews I have seen her in, she is just hilarious. The first couple episodes have been moderately funny. It follows Kimmy (Rebel) who is a lawyer who seems to be an odd duck in most situations. She lives with her two best friends, and when the three are together they really remind me of moments of the Spice World movie (yes I watched this). So it is pretty corny, but it has some good moments. It does connect with me though because you can tell that Kimmy is trying to prove herself and overcome some confidence fears. She obviously does it in a more humorously graceful way. It’s only a 30 minute show, so I will probably keep watching but I am not sure that it will keep going. Don’t quote me on that though; Rebel has a pretty big following.

I am convinced that they attempted to do a spin off of Once Upon a Time too soon. However, that didn’t stop me from tuning into it this week. It follows Alice in her search to find her love, who happens to be Genie. He disappeared and is being held hostage by Jafar. There is some agreement between the Queen and Jafar to get something from Alice and Genie. There are some hints of the original Once, but it is a separate story. This one is a little more fairy talesque and dreamlike with the hues used. It reminds me of a mix between the Wizard of Oz and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the layout. I think if they continue to show connections to the original, they will continue to keep people coming. It is pretty good, but again, I wonder if they are trying to have too much of a good thing.

There are a few more shows that will be starting back up at the end of October. Goodness my schedule is full!

Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

Come back on Sunday for “Autumn on My Mind.” Sunday’s is the last episode, and we want you to make a fall collage. What are the things that you love most? You can see the full schedule here.

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Friday Filter-TV Review Premiere Week 1

One of my favorite things about fall is all the shows coming back from their summer hiatus.

The next couple weeks shows are beginning again, so I figured I would do my initial reactions to the season openers.

Ellen Season 11

I adore Ellen. A life bucket list item is to get on her show (preferably the 12 day give away). She is truly a role model for life. I usually end up having a marathon every weekend to catch up on her daily shows. It is a constant reminder for me to laugh and live in the moment. She always has the greatest YouTube clips too! She has had some good guests the past two weeks. And like clockwork, I cry every episode and also bust a gut laughing so hard. My favorite story so far is the Homeless to Howard story. Look it up if you haven’t seen it. Just wonderful. I also am loving that she is doing different Deejays everyday. It really spices things up, although I do miss her daily razzing of Tony. I love the message that she ends with every day. “Be kind to one another.” I am so glad she is back!

Dancing With The Stars

This is my favorite reality show out there. I love love love this show. Every season I groan and mumble that I don’t really like the cast, and then opening night happens and I am hooked. To be honest though, I actually did have a lot of favorites before the season stated which is not typical. This will be a tight race because there were so many high marks that first night. I don’t think I can ever recall a 9 in the first night let alone how many 8s there were. I am interested to see how this new format will go with only having it one night. Now that I don’t have Monday night meetings, I can get to the voting apps much easier, but still, I am just not sure. Besides watching the stars out of their element, I come back each week for two reasons. One) I love dancing, and I secretly wish that I had done more of it when I was a kid instead of just choosing basketball. And Two) I love Derek Hough and Tristan Macmanus, who are two of the professional dancers. I have always swooned over Derek, but Tristan may be stealing his place…It must be the darker hair and accent. Also who wouldn’t love a show that Tom Bergeron hosts? So happy to see this back!

New Girl

Ok so I may just say that all these shows are my favorite…I really love this show though because the character Jess really resonates with me. She is a little dorky and awkward, which is basically my life. The season ended last spring with Nick and Jess finally getting together! So there was much anticipation to see what would happen to these two beloved and must be together characters. You are always nervous though to put two main characters together because you don’t want to curse your show and have reached the pivotal point to early. I honestly was not that engaged in the first episode. I think I may have anticipated too much. It was still funny, don’t get me wrong; I laughed. But I always expect a laughter that will make milk come out of your nose, and that just didn’t happen this week. Maybe I was having an off day. Work is hard; Tom was gone, who knows…Anyway, I only assume though that it will continue to get better in the wittiness. Hopefully Schmitt decides on a woman instead of dragging two women along on his journey of love. Winston just may be my favorite character, and he was awesome as usual with his puzzle masterpiece. So I still liked it, I just wasn’t as wowed as I hoped for this season premiere.

There are a whole bunch coming next week! Tom watch out! This lady is takng over the remote…or DVR!

Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with this work or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

Come back on Sunday for “Autumn on My Mind.” Sunday’s episode is about fall activities that you do in your community. You can see the full schedule here.