2021-2022 New/Returning TV Shows

[clairecloutier]

Friday Night Lights is one of my all-time faves. So, so good. I personally didn’t find it too dark, but just real. Also, imo, the show got better as it went on. not that the first season wasn’t good, but the next three are even a level better, I think.

 

[BaileyCatts]

Agree about Alter Ego. Its a fun concept, like The Masked Singer is a fun concept, but that is celebrities and they are doing it ... for fun. I don't get the end point of Alter Ego, other than you win this contest. And they need better singers. I mean they can sing a hella lot better than I can, but like a lot of people can sing that well, just look at any church choir and you'll find some damn good singers. But so far these people are just meh. I'll probably keep watching and keep it on as background noise.

 

[BaileyCatts]

Survivor ... the self-proclaimed Mafia Pastor. She's probably going to be the most devious player we have ever seen. At least I hope it turns out that way.

 

[made_in_canada]

Friday Night Lights is one of my all-time faves. So, so good. I personally didn’t find it too dark, but just real. Also, imo, the show got better as it went on. not that the first season wasn’t good, but the next three are even a level better, I think.

I agree. I didn’t find it that dark either, though my tolerance might be different if I watched it now.

 

[love skating]

I agree about Alter ego, I like the premise of Alter Ego but the "avatars" just come off as creepy and singers aren't good enough to hold my interest. I don't expect it to last too long.

Regarding The Big Leap and Ordinary Joe - I liked both, but they both could be better. Ordinary Joe took a lot of getting used to cause my head was spinning trying to keep the storylines straight. I think once I get used to identifying the three different timelines I might enjoy it more. I do like a good twist! I was hoping for some more/better dancing in The Big Leap but I guess the point of the show within the show is that these aren't professional dancers. I feel like a lot of it is too formulaic but will keep watching for now.

 

[MacMadame]

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[PeterG]

.

Did you just close this thread?

 

[MacMadame]

Did you just close this thread?

You mean like a mic drop?

I just deleted my response because I was just repeating what other people said but I didn't see when I made my response.

 

[PeterG]

Just watched episode two of The Masked Singer. I am wondering if the judges assumed Pufferfish was safe, so they gave their votes to other performers. I thought there was nothing about how the voting works on the show, but I just found this:

How to vote for ‘The Masked Singer’: Voting process explained (Sorry, there’s no app for that)

You’re sitting on your couch rocking out to the latest wild and wacky performance on “The Masked Singer” when you feel the urge to vote for your favorite fruit/animal/monster. The…

www.goldderby.com

Because the show is taped weeks in advance, no live voting happens. It's only the small studio audience and the judges. Nothing about whether the voting of the judges is weighted as half the voting power, or if their four votes are equal to those in the audience. It seems strange to think that if there are 100 people in the studio voting (the judges included), that the judges votes would only count as 4% of the voting power? Maybe that's the case, as Pufferfish going home before Hamster or Baby is CRAZY.

Which makes me wonder if the superstars who have gone home early in the past (Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick) only wanted to do a few shows and had a contract that said they had to be voted out early. Having Victor Oladipo going farther in a singing contest than Patti LaBelle is certainly questionnable. But that was the season where Wayne Brady won, so...

Anyway, with the best singer of this group gone, we're left with two good singers (Skunk and Bull) and two comedians who can barely hold a tune (Hamster and Baby). At least, I think they are both comedians if Gold Derby is right. Their spoilers are the most accurate.

 

[HeatherC]

Its hard to judge a show by the pilot episode because all that episode is supposed to do is introduce you to the characters and set up the premise. It's not always going to be awesome writing and outstanding acting especially with having to fit so many things into that first episode. Sometimes a pilot grabs you by the shoulders and drags you in with all it's might (my examples: Lost, This Is Us, Friday Night Lights, NCIS:LA), sometimes it's just enough to get you to watch the second episode to see if you still want to continue the journey with the characters (my examples: Chicago Fire/PD, All American, Ordinary Joe), and sometimes it just sucks so bad that you're not even interested in watching any more of it (I can't think of any recent examples for me b-c I'm super picky about checking out new shows now). I've learned that having some patience isn't always a bad thing when you're trying to decide whether or not keep watching a show.

I will be checking out the second ep of Ordinary Joe to see where the characters go next and as long as I still want to know what comes next, I will continue watching it. I don't really ask for a lot of my TV shows anymore....just entertain me and make me want to see more of the characters and I'll be just fine. I think this is coming from this freaking long C19 bug sticking around for so long that all I want is some comfort TV!

Tomorrow night I will be checking out La Brea to see if it will be my new 'misadventure' show that gets cancelled after one or two seasons. I'm such a sucker for these types of shows and I just can't help checking them out even with the expectation that it probably won't make it very long, LOL

 

[MacMadame]

sometimes it just sucks so bad that you're not even interested in watching any more of it (I can't think of any recent examples for me b-c I'm super picky about checking out new shows now).

Call me Kat!

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

Which makes me wonder if the superstars who have gone home early in the past (Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick) only wanted to do a few shows and had a contract that said they had to be voted out early. Having Victor Oladipo going farther in a singing contest than Patti LaBelle is certainly questionnable. But that was the season where Wayne Brady won, so...

I think this is true. Toni Braxton was wearing a mask underneath a mask which is already stuffy under studio lights. I can't imagine that she wanted to do weeks of this.

 

[PeterG]

Tomorrow night I will be checking out La Brea to see if it will be my new 'misadventure' show that gets cancelled after one or two seasons. I'm such a sucker for these types of shows and I just can't help checking them out even with the expectation that it probably won't make it very long, LOL

I'm really looking forward to LaBrea. I can't wait to find out what the world is like that the woman falls down into in the advertisements. As long as there is no Mad Hatter down there.

I think this is true. Toni Braxton was wearing a mask underneath a mask which is already stuffy under studio lights. I can't imagine that she wanted to do weeks of this.

Yeah, maybe Braxton thought, I'll give you two performances, then I gotta go home. And Nick said both he and Toni suffer from Lupus, so that might be another reason she wouldnt want to do the entire season. Although this would mean the show is rigged.

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

I'm just hoping Masked Singer stays on Hulu because only the 1st season is there right now. They are supposed to have all of them and also air the current one a day behind Fox. If they suddenly changed how they are airing it I might not be able to watch at all.

 

[PeterG]

I'm just hoping Masked Singer stays on Hulu because only the 1st season is there right now. They are supposed to have all of them and also air the current one a day behind Fox. If they suddenly changed how they are airing it I might not be able to watch at all.

They have the performances (only) on youtube shortly after the episode airs on the east coast. I watch those clips when I am impatient and it's two hours until the show begins on the west coast. You dont get to see intros or judges guesses, though.

 

[PeterG]

I liked the performers on episode two of Alter Ego more than the debut episode. How I’d rank the performers:

1. Aster (singing Kasey Musgrave’s “Rainbow”) – So good, I couldn’t decide if I like her version better than the original.

2. Wolfgang Champagne (singing Il Divo’s “My Heart Will Go On”) – I wonder if I should move him to third place for that name choice. Y ou can tell he has singing experience. Not really into faux-opera, personally. But he has the best line of the night. When Nick Lachey said he’d be buying drinks, Wolfgang replied, “It’s gotta be you…I ain’t got no prize money yet!”

3. Kai (singing Backstreet Boys “Larger Than Life”) – He has a lot of potential, he just needs more experience under his belt.

4. Safara (singing Lizzo’s “Good As Hell”) – I was confused that someone who is plus-sized chose an alter ego who is much slimmer…singing a plus-sized person’s hit song. Someone (Lizzo) who strives to push the body-positivity movement forward quite often. Safara's vocals were good, but she’s no Lizzo. She couldn’t match Lizzo’s charisma.

5. Loverboy (singing Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer”) – Should maybe get demerits for his alter ego’s name as well. Plus the character looked a bit sleazy. The eyes freaked me out a little. Most of his performance was fine, but he sounded like a demo singer. Until the last two lines when he let loose. I wondered why he didn’t show that much style earlier in his performance.

Sad to see Kai go. He seemed really moved by having this opportunity. Made me tear up a bit.

 

[ross_hy]

I just finished watching the first two episodes of The Big Leap. It's just interesting enough to make me keep watching. The ratings don't look great, so I'm hoping Fox is willing to give it a chance. I'm not really into Teri Polo or Piper Perabo's characters yet, but I'm sure there's more backstory to come in future episodes.

 

[HeatherC]

Well, I'll probably be in the minority here but I really liked La Brea tonight! I'm a sucker for a good supernatural/mystery show so this one is right up my alley. It will probably get cancelled before I find out any of the answers but hey, I'm just gonna go along for the ride as long as possible. I also love Jon Seda, Eoin Macken, and Karina Logue (the rest of the cast seems great too) so those are more reasons for me to keep watching. Looking forward to next week's ep!

 

[Jay42]

Just watched NCIS: Hawai'i. The fourth in the NCIS franchise. I only watched because it stars Alex Tarrant, who was on the incredible Australian/New Zealand drama 800 Words. NCIS: Hawai'i does exactly what it's supposed to. A well-produced police procedural with an interesting story and talented cast. Not sure if all the NCIS casts look like models, but boy, do they bring the pretty. Vanessa Lachey does a decent job as the lead and the rest of the cast do what is needed of them. But the script is full of recycled dialogue that makes you think there should be a drinking game where you have to take a shot every time you hear dialogue that's been used on one or more shows before. So originiality is not in play much here. In addition to the beauty that is Tarrant and Lachey, there's the stunning Hawaiian scenery, Canadian model/actor Noah Mills (seen a few years ago in the MUCH better show The Enemy Within) and in a recurring role as a love interest for Lachey, Enver Gjokaj (who was in the fantastic series Dollhouse from about a decade ago).

I'm like 2 days late seeing this I can only apologise but as someone who used to dedicate a lot of time to NCIS and NCIS:LA with occasional dabblings in the New Orleans spinoff, the recycled dialogue is more of a feature than a bug with NCIS related franchises. Though I have no doubt the Hawai'i spinoff will settle more as it goes on. I'm not going back to NCIS as a franchise, I can barely keep up with the shows I'm watching now and they're mostly old.

Some friends of mine started watching Elementary and now I'm thinking about watching that again. I'm watching the final 3 seasons of Smallville instead but Elementary is so good and doesn't kill off one of my favourite characters in the last season.

 

[Allskate]

Friday Night Lights is one of my all-time faves. So, so good. I personally didn’t find it too dark, but just real. Also, imo, the show got better as it went on. not that the first season wasn’t good, but the next three are even a level better, I think.

I don't find it dark, but I also don't find it light. These days, I'm looking for light. Plus, I tend to watch Netflix just before going to sleep, so I look for something light and simple.

 

[PeterG]

I loved Friday Night Lights. It had a great cast. I haven't seen it in years. I keep saying that I'm going to re-watch it, but I haven't. I think that may be because there are a lot of difficulties and I'm looking for more escapist shows these days.

Friday Night Lights is one of my all-time faves. So, so good. I personally didn’t find it too dark, but just real. Also, imo, the show got better as it went on. not that the first season wasn’t good, but the next three are even a level better, I think.

Thank you for your posts. I have re-added Friday Night Lights back on to my To See list. I did enjoy it even though I found it heavy at times. I will have to get some great TV comedies when I start watching Friday Night Lights again to balance out my viewing.

 

[jeffisjeff]

It still keeps me interested though.

That didn't last, unfortunately, and not just because they killed off Zach Gilford's character in episode 5 . The main problem is that I really didn't need another show about vampires, along with a supposed scientific explanation for it.

 

[vgerdes]

Agree about Alter Ego. Its a fun concept, like The Masked Singer is a fun concept, but that is celebrities and they are doing it ... for fun. I don't get the end point of Alter Ego, other than you win this contest. And they need better singers. I mean they can sing a hella lot better than I can, but like a lot of people can sing that well, just look at any church choir and you'll find some damn good singers. But so far these people are just meh. I'll probably keep watching and keep it on as background noise.

Well, they do get the chance to be mentored by the judges, whatever that means. And they do appear on national television. For some, that's the point.

I've enjoyed a couple of the singers, but no one has blown me away yet.

 

[Buzz]

Oh happy days!!!

The original 'Law & Order' is coming back for a new season

'Law & Order' — no colon, no subtitle — is returning for a new season after more than a decade off the air.

ew.com

 

[PeterG]

Well, I'll probably be in the minority here but I really liked La Brea tonight! I'm a sucker for a good supernatural/mystery show so this one is right up my alley. It will probably get cancelled before I find out any of the answers but hey, I'm just gonna go along for the ride as long as possible. I also love Jon Seda, Eoin Macken, and Karina Logue (the rest of the cast seems great too) so those are more reasons for me to keep watching. Looking forward to next week's ep!

I liked La Brea as well. Moreso the premise (which I LOVE) more than the writing. The opening scene was cinematic and wonderful to watch. I like the cast as well. But I fear this will be the type of show where the characters do stupid things because the writers needs them to do so to move the story in the direction where the writers need the characters to end up. I'm going to spoiler the rest of my thoughts for those who haven't watched the first episode yet.

Spoiler

The birds that flew out of the sinkhole looked otherworldly, so I should have figured out the sinkhole had a time portal connection to it, but I didn't figure this out until later in the episode when Gavin (the husband) found the rock with the red handprint on it. I think the birds and this rock made me realize that Gavin and his wife Eve were in the same place but at different times. This is a cool idea for us as viewers to get to watch.

I liked how Eve checked her cell phone after falling forever into this other-world. "No cell service." But the the stupid dialogue begins. "Do you know anything?" Come on, you all just got sucked into a sinkhole, fell hundreds, if not thousands of feet...and nobody died. Plus there's a glowing green neon rip in the sky...as if somebody would shout out, "got it all figured out everybody, gather round and let me fill you in"! Then wasn't happy to see the cop as someone with obvious inner rage issues...then later is caught stealing food. Ugh.

Stupid thing #2: The science people hold a press conference half a block from the edge of a sinkhole. Now I'm no scientist, but I'm guessing the ground is pretty unstable that close to the sinkhole and chunks of land might fall into the sinkhole at any point. Including where you and your microphone stand are located.

Josh and Riley: young love storyline to follow? (Thank you for saving my life, Riley...bats eyelashes..)

Stupid thing #3: Dad's crazy because he has visions. Nobody around him has heard of psychic phenomena of various kinds?? Also, why can't the Dad just say that he has the ability to see things? (They already think he's crazy, why not just share everything he can until they realize he is sane and has an ability?)

Eve and Ty: middle-aged love storyline to follow? (I'd kind of like her to end up with someone who is not suicidal, but hopefully there's something to his story where this will make sense).

Stupid thing #4: Can't somebody put something under Jack's head to act as a pillow? Isn't he suffering enough with a wolf bite to the stomach to have his head smack against cold, hard metal for hours on end?

Stupid thing #5: RUN! Eve screams at the appearance of a sabre-toothed tiger? Umm...why not just jump into the ambulance behind you and close the doors shut? I'm guessing ol' sabre-tooth can out-run the three of you.

Stupid thing #6: In the end credits, in big capital letters, the words "WHERE ARE THEY" appear. Umm, between the sabre-tooth tiger, extinct gigantic birds and the caveman in the wolf-fur apparel, we've figured out they are now living far in the past.

Oh, and bonus stupid thing: when they get their bearings at their new location, surely there's somebody there with organizational skills to set up a makeshift hospital area and encourage people to help there, or establish a food and shelter volunteer group and a security/weapon-finding (big sticks if nothing else) volunteer group to defend themselves if necessary. Surely there are other people like @HeatherC and me who watch these shows and know that being prepared is the first thing everybody needs to work on?

So it may sound like I hate the show already. But I don't...the sneak previews look really great for upcoming episodes. My problem is the writing. And you can tell the actors playing these characters are much smarter than who they are playing. That in real life, the actors would make MUCH better decisions. So the sloppy writing from the very start is a disappointment. But I'm still looking forward to this ride!

 

[Allskate]

I will have to get some great TV comedies when I start watching Friday Night Lights again to balance out my viewing.

Let us know if you find any good comedies. I've slowly been making my way through Kim's Convenience, mixed in with food shows and youtube chat show clips like Graham Norton.

 

[PeterG]

Let us know if you find any good comedies. I've slowly been making my way through Kim's Convenience, mixed in with food shows and youtube chat show clips like Graham Norton.

Two British ones I'm currently watching are more dramedies...light comedic dramas: Mum (Lesley Manville as Mum) and The Detectorists (Toby Jones is the biggest name in the cast). But when I get around to season two of Friday Night Lights, I'll go for something like continuing with The Simpsons (I think I'm on season three). And perhaps it's politically incorrect, but Roseanne really makes me laugh. I'm at about season three of that one as well.

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

Hulu is having issues with Masked Singer. They are supposed to have all seasons up with the newest episode added the day after it airs on Fox. I reported the issue and everything is showing up in Chrome browser at the moment. Roku is still only showing season 1. Hopefully they will fix it soon.

 

[PeterG]

Survivor ... the self-proclaimed Mafia Pastor. She's probably going to be the most devious player we have ever seen. At least I hope it turns out that way.

It's cool that the pastor's #1 is a gay guy. Their tribe is on a smooth sailing vibe with them winning everything. Unlike the yellow tribe who keep voting off strong players at a time in the game where physical strength is a necessity. I know at this point the women get picked off as the "weaker players". And I can see that if your weakest woman is doing okay, having the women stick together is smart. But Tiffany...she is just a disaster. And I was wondering if Evvie was spreading herself too think by playing both sides of her tribe. But looks like she picked a side...let's see how that works out for her. I was trying to figure out if she can rationalize her actions to Xander which would make him feel safe, but I got confused trying to piece all the details together. Imagine being out there with no food and having to spend time under the hot sun! My mind would work even less effeciantly.

Not to self: When you find a clue, don't read the package. Hold the back side of the wrapper towards you and then toss the wrapper so you don't have to follow the limitations stated on the wrapper. Because I didn't see/read it!

 

[Allskate]

Two British ones I'm currently watching are more dramedies...light comedic dramas: Mum (Lesley Manville as Mum) and The Detectorists (Toby Jones is the biggest name in the cast).

I'd like to check these out. Are you watching these on tv or streaming them?