Television

When the new TNT regime took over, they got rid of quite a few shows I loved like PERCEPTION, FRANKLIN AND BASH, and SULLIVAN AND SON.  I haven’t given up on TNT entirely;  they still have THE LIBRARIANS, and some of the new shows they launched this year look entertaining.  Critical Blast got an early look at the first two episodes of PROOF: “Pilot” and “Til’ Death.” 

On July 14, BBC Video will be releasing Doctor Who: The Daleks. This collection features a Doctor Who story from each of the modern Doctors facing off against the Daleks, a classic Doctor Who story, and a new Documentary called Dalek Origins. 

Dalek (season 1, episode 6)

TNT's MAJOR CRIMES returns to television for a fourth season starting June 8, with a double homicide that seems to be an open and shut case. But then, when are they ever that easy on MAJOR CRIMES?

Returning to the series is Raymond Cruz as Detective Julio Sanchez, and not everybody is happy about that, particularly Lt. Andy Flynn (Tony Denison), who is very vocal about his concerns that Sanchez might blow up again at any crucial moment.

The homicide provides an opportunity for Rusty (Graham Patrick Martin) to develop a story for his college journalism course, and he obtains the necessary permissions from Chief Taylor (Robert Gossett) to do this. However, the lessons he gets from trying to follow the story end up having little to do with writing and more to do with the business. But it also leads into something else that is going to have repercussions throughout the season when he takes a hint from police photographer Buzz Watson (Phillip P. Keene).

After basically going into hiding since The Colbert Report went off the air, Stephen Colbert launched a new "Late Show With Stephen Colbert" channel on Youtube, and this teaser for his return to TV.  Its typical Colbert.  Funny and weird.  I've really missed having Colbert around and I can't wait for September!

Update:  Later in the day, Colbert posted a new video announcing that Jon Baptiste will be his new band leader:

John Noble will star as Sherlock Holmes’ wealthy, estranged father when he joins the cast of ELEMENTARY as a series regular in the fall. The character has been referenced in past seasons as being instrumental in Sherlock’s first stint in rehab three years ago and in pairing his son with Joan Watson, his former sober companion, now his current investigative partner and friend. In the season four premiere, Mr. Holmes arrives in New York City to deal with the aftermath of his son’s recent relapse.

There's more than once in my life that I've engaged in the schadenfreude that comes with some personality's fall from grace. But in the case of the Duggar family and the recent cover-up scandal of sexual misconduct by a (then) 14-year-old Josh Duggar, I'm overcome with disappointment.

It's saddening, and not without its own "ick" factor, when one considers some of the victims were his sisters -- which may hardly be surprising given that they were fairly much the only girls with whom he had constant contact while going through puberty in a structure that proscribes any form of dating. Hormones are a hell of a chemical.

USA Network just released the pilot of one of their new shows entitled Mr. Robot. The description intrigued me, despite never having heard of it before today. The blurb reads, “A cyber-security engineer by day and a vigilante hacker by night…” and is accompanied with a cool comic-esque image to boot. I’ll admit though I was initially a little weary due to the terrible title for a show. Mr. Robot. I feel like the title song should be song by Styx and it gives the impression of a slapstick comedy troupe. But, ok, USA, you have my interest since I’m always willing to give you the benefit of the doubt because of our past together.

Ripper Street: Season Three is set to hit the streets on DVD and BluRay on June 23^rd, and if you’re a fan of the Leman Street good guys you’ll mark this date down on the calendar! I was hooked on Ripper Street half-way through the first episode of season one and I haven’t stopped loving every episode since.

Season Three is 8 episodes in length, and starts out four years after Season 2 ended. It takes the events that ended in season two and progresses them outward to what we see they’ve become four years hence. Things have not been so cozy in the time that has elapsed.

Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn) left Whitechapel and moved to Manchester to start over again and become the police officer/man he always wanted to be, foregoing violence to become a man of peace. Having risen quickly through the ranks, we see him here now as Inspector Drake.

It's been a week now since we bid adieu to the first season of CW's THE FLASH -- and we still can't stop talking about it! So rather than keep the discussion just around the Critical Blast virtual water cooler, we thought we should let our readers in on the conversation.

Have something to add? That's what the Disqus comments below are for. Please, throw your thoughts into the pot!

R.J. Carter: This is where it was all supposed to come together and make sense. And yet, I’m left with more questions than ever. Is Barry living in an alternate timeline ever since he stopped the tidal wave? Did he just disappear from that Central City? And if Eobard Thawne is out of the picture -- might we still see Harrison Wells in Season Two?

Amid a somewhat tamer St. Louis Comic Con this year, one of the highlights was the Behind the scenes with CW's The Flash with Liam McIntyre and Rick Cosnett panel. Rick (Eddie Thawne) and Liam (The Weather Wizard) were all smiles when they entered the room and immediately started joking with the crowd. Rick even sent Liam into the audience saying this was his panel, but Liam quickly returned to the microphone.

Liam started by asking Rick, "I hope you can talk a lot, because I can talk a lot." Rick continued on by asking who had seen the season finale to which most the hands in the room went up. Then he apologized to those who hadn’t because he was sure there would be spoilers.

And spoilers there were. (**SPOILER WARNING** if you haven't seen The Flash season finale you might want to stop reading until you have).

I've been a regular at comic and sci-fi conventions, or whatever you want to call them these days, since the '80s.  The experience has changed quite a bit in those decades.  In the past, they were mostly a place to shop for merchandise and meet creators.  Today cosplay, video games, movies, and, most especially, celebrity signings, are the predominant aspect of cons.  Geek has inherited the Earth and everyone wants to take part in the fun.  That popularity has caused ticket prices to spike, show floors to be overcrowded places impossible to navigate, and worst of all, it's increasingly difficult to get tickets for San Diego Comic Con or New York Comic Con.

by Tricia Delloiacono and Mike Maillaro

Mike: This column is dedicated to our mom.  Along with her love of reading and writing (and MANY other things), Mom passed on a great love and appreciation for David Letterman. Thanks, Mom!  My sister is far more eloquent than I am, so I am passing the mike to her:

There’s a good portion of America these days that probably hasn’t heard of Ed Sullivan or his variety show and thus don't know just how popular and important it was to the people of the US and to the careers of the performers who now occupy the status of legend in the entertainment industry.

Then there’s a good portion of us who were too young to remember THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW when it was on because we were too young by the time it wound down in 1971.

But there is still a sizable number of Americans who remember the show because they tuned in every week to see it. Those, dear reader, are the luckiest of all… because they got to see Elvis, the Beatles and so many more before all the rest of us.

Now, thanks to StarVista Entertainment, the rest of us can count ourselves lucky too. This 6-DVD set spans the entire run of THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, showcasing many of the talents that performed on it through the years.

HOLY CRAP!!  THIS LOOK GREAT!!  I wasn't all that sold on the Supergirl trailer, but I loved this one.

Some spoilers:

• Sarah Lance is alive thanks to Lazarus Pit. She's called White Canary now.
• Arthur Darvill's accent as Rip Hunter is incredible.
• The team consists of Captain Cold, Heatwave, White Canary, Atom, Firestorm, and Hawkgirl.  Though we also see Flash and Arrow in the teaser.
• Team is brought together to fight Vandal Savage.
• THE ATOM SHRINKS!!!

Without any further delay, here's the trailer:

If you weren’t lucky enough to get swept up in Chuck the first time around, you truly missed something unique. I got caught in the tidal wave at the very last scene of season two. My husband was watching the show and I was on my way through the living room. I stopped, watched the lead character, Chuck, do this thing where he looked at his bad guys, had some sort of flash, then did crazy, flipping kung fu. I remember looking at my husband and saying, “That was cool. Does he always do that?” To which he laughed and said, “Not like that!” I didn’t realize until I watched the seasons and caught up for myself that that scene was an awesome ending to season two. It truly only takes one scene to pull the viewer in. It’s a show made with passion that bleeds through to the audience.

I very clearly remember when they announced there would be a second series of this critically-acclaimed, fantastic show Broadchurch, and thinking, how on Earth is that possibly going to work? If you’ve seen the first series, it is quite clear, cut, and dry. The ending is a complete wrap-up. Sure, maybe there are a few lingering questions, but nothing that couldn’t be swept away with a short epilogue or possibly even left hanging on purpose to have the viewers realize that nothing is ever completely tidey. But, nonetheless, since the first series was amazing and the acting was spot on, how could I resist not coming back to Broadchurch for another visit? I hoped with crossed fingers the producers knew what they were doing and this wasn’t just a cash grab to keep a wayward series going, ie. Lost-style.

I know what everyone's going to say at the end of this trailer: How come everyone in the cast already seems to know that Kara is Supergirl? Her sister, her boyfriend, James (not Jimmy) Olsen (played by Mehcad Brooks), the DEO agent. Didn't THE FLASH take a whole season to do that (and he's supposed to be the fast one)? Seems the only one who doesn't know is Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) who named the Maid of Might after her initial appearance.

Peter Dinklage's star has been on the rise for a number of years now, but it certainly began shining its brightest when he took on the role of Tyrion Lannister in the HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin's sword and sorcery epic novel series, GAME OF THRONES. The series features a wide cast of characters (and rumor has it you should never get too attached to any of them), but it was Dinklage and his portrayal of Tyrion that captured the hearts and minds of fans, as reflected in the votes for this category.

According to Hollywood legend, Martin had no other actor in mind for the part of Tyrion, and no other auditions were held for the role; there was no one else to be considered but Dinklage. Whether that's true or just an interesting bit of filmmaking apocrypha, what ultimately matters is that Dinklage brings the wit and wisdom, the comedy and tragedy, of this character to a level that resonates with fans.

There's a reason why the CW is the #1 broadcast network on Tuesday nights among men 18 to 34, and that reason wears a red uniform. His name is Barry Allen, and he is not only The Fastest Man Alive, he's a ratings bonanza.

Grant Gustin is accompanied by an ensemble cast that has made THE FLASH one of the must-watch series on television. His premiere episode outpaced every show in CW history to become their most watched telecast ever, pulling in more than 13 million viewers across all viewing platforms.

It's no surprise, therefore, that THE FLASH won handily in the voting for Best Television Series of 2014. But it wasn't without some pretty stiff competition. Close on its heels was ARROW, followed by BBC's DOCTOR WHO.

Mike Maillaro: So, this week’s topic is something I have been thinking about a lot lately.  With the rise of Netflix exclusives, Amazon, Hulu, Sling, Roku, and on and on, it is harder and harder to justify the cost of cable TV.  So the question is:

Where do you see Television in 5 to 10 years?