The Walking Dead Season 1 Review

The Walking Dead is a tv series about life after a zombie apocalypse. It is based off of a comic book series of the same name and premiered Halloween night on the AMC network. The first season, comprised of six episodes, recently finished airing. Because I only got around to watching the show this past weekend, I thought it would be a good time to review the first season.

While drawing its name from the undead creatures that permeate the series, The Walking Dead is really about the human survivors trying to stay alive in a world that has changed dramatically. The main character of the show is Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln) who was a Sheriff's deputy before the dead rose. After being shot in the line of duty, Rick falls into a coma. When he awakens, he finds himself in a much different world. All of his loved ones have fled town and apparently left him for dead. After receiving some help from another survivor (played by Lennie James), Rick leaves his home in search of his family.

Before anyone thinks that The Walking Dead is about a man searching for his family all by himself, it is not. Rick encounters other survivors early in his journey. These survivors have built a small community just outside of Atlanta, GA which includes Rick's wife and son as well as his former partner. Once Rick joins these survivors, things start to get really interesting as Rick and his former partner, Shane (played by Jon Bernthal), begin to clash over leadership of their small group. That conflict kind of drives the last few episodes of the season.

I quite enjoyed these six episodes as a lot of story and character development got crammed into a small number of episodes. The acting was sharp and the writing was excellent. However, the season felt kind of lacking because of so few episodes. Also, very little happened in the last two episodes so they detracted a bit from a strong debut season.

Aside from these gripes, The Walking Dead is a very enjoyable and gory series. The first season may be over, but all of the episodes are available online at AMC's website. Unfortunately, it seems like season 2 will not be airing until late 2011 so you may want to make those six episodes last. That is, if you can.

My thoughts on Christmas episodes

TV has reached that point in the year where basically every show has a Christmas episode. Ordinarily, I have no problems with this because I understand that the majority of America is Christian, but I don't like it when you have a show that makes a point of having a diverse cast of characters and they do a Christmas episode without paying homage to the other cultures being represented as it completely alienated me.

So far this season I have seen three Christmas episodes and only one of them managed to make me angry. The first one I saw was Glee's. Glee has two characters that are Jewish and they usually say that they are proud of their heritage, but in this episode both of them were basically Christian. Neither of them protested singing Christmas songs or even suggested maybe singing a Hanukkah song (which was still going on when this episode aired). It also didn't help that the plot for the episode was a rehash of a Dr. Seuss book (if you're wondering it's the one that has Christmas in the title). So for me, that episode just made me angry.

The other show whose Christmas episode I am going to mention is Community. The entire episode was done in stop motion animation and was centered on Christmas, but they made several pluralism jokes and acknowledged the fact that all of the characters have different beliefs. Aside from the nearly constant talk about the holidays, Community also managed to throw in a rather adult story about growing up and how things change as time progresses. So, the episode ended up being a lot more relatable and enjoyable.

And that concludes my thoughts on Christmas episodes.

What I'm Watching

So I have a TV blog, but I haven't really discussed the shows that I watch on a regular basis. To fix that, I am going to run down through the shows that I watch with a couple of comments about the show and why I like it thrown in for good measure. Now onwards to the shows.

First off is Castle. Castle is about a mystery writer and a NYPD detective teaming up to solve crimes, usually murders. I like it because of the great ensemble of characters and the lead actor, Nathan Fillion, is one of my all time favorite actors. Castle airs Monday nights on ABC.

Then we have How I Met Your Mother. This show is a hilarious sitcom about a man telling his kids the story of how he met their mother. Again, I like the show because of the characters. Also, I like the show's commitment to their jokes as certain ones recur throughout the series. How I Met Your Mother airs Mondays on CBS.

Next up is The Event. The Event is a new show that is a true successor to Lost. I like it because is uses some of the same storytelling techniques that were employed well on Lost. So if you are looking for a show that is driven by story as well as characters this is one to check out. The Event airs Mondays on NBC, but it is currently on break until February.

Skipping Tuesday and Wednesday (I already mentioned the shows that I watch on those nights in previous posts), we have 30 Rock. 30 Rock is a sitcom that takes place at the NBC Studios in the Rockefeller building in New York. It focuses on the people running a fictional variety show called TGS. As with most shows, I like this one because of the characters. Also, the absence of a laugh track is definite win. 30 Rock airs Thursdays on NBC.

Moving on to Friday, there is only one show that I consistently watch then and that is Smallville. Now in its tenth and final season, Smallville focuses on the life of a pre-Superman Clark Kent. I like the show because they have managed to pay homage to Superman's storied past and make him more relatable to modern audiences. Smallville airs Fridays on the CW.

That concludes this look at my TV watching habits. There were a few shows that I decided not to mention (mostly cable shows, but there were some broadcast shows that were mentioned in previous posts that I decided not to bring up again), but I hope that this gave you a better insight into the kind of TV viewer I am.

Review: Glee Season 2 (To Date)

Glee is a show that is, at least in terms of story if not ratings, rapidly going downhill in its second season. Some people might not think so, but in the five episodes of Season 2 to date, I have had serious problems with the story and the characters.

For those who don't know, Glee revolves around a high school glee club that is considered the lowest of of the low by their school. The show airs every Tuesday at 8pm on Fox. Each episode features covers of popular songs that are sung by members of the club. The quality of the covers is always up for debate, but they usually reach number one on iTunes the day after a new episode airs. Season 1 started with the club having to build itself from the ground up and ended with the them losing at the regional glee competition.

Anyway, Season 2 picks up the fall after their unsuccessful attempt at a trophy. The kids arrive at school believing that their very meager success has moved them up in the social hierarchy at their school only to find out that they are still considered the bottom of the totem pole. Also, the club needs new blood after one of their members transferred to a different school so they go on a recruiting drive. The first episode ended with the club failing to recruit any members and making a new rival.

I had no problems with first episode because it had a similar feel to the series pilot episode. However, the other four episodes of Glee Season 2 could not keep that momentum alive. The second episode was a Britney Spears-themed episode and all of the covers were of songs that she had recorded. I thought this was a terrible episode because it revolved around the glee club members having hallucinations while at the dentist (I am also not a Britney Spears fan, but that is another story). This was only the second themed episode (the other one was not one of my favorites either) they had done so I thought that it was just a misstep. The very next episode revolved around a well known religious figure being seen in a grilled cheese sandwich. The sheer stupidity of that completely took me out of the episode even though there were some touching moments in it. In this episode, and the one that followed it, I was also not particularly pleased with the song choices because they did not seem to fit the singers' voices and some of the choreography seemed absurd to me. I am not going to go into the most recent episode because that would probably take an entire review all itself.

Despite the bad story, there have been some bright spots in Glee Season 2. The brightest of them would have to be Jane Lynch as cheerleader coach and sort of villain Sue Sylvester. Lynch, who won an Emmy for Season 1, is the only actor who seems to have shown up for Season 2 since the moment they started filming it. Everyone else seems to come and go.

Regardless, I will still be watching the show if only because I hope that this is only a sophomore slump and not indicative of what the show will be like in the future (they were picked up for a third season in May).

My thoughts on one reality TV show

Recently, I started watching the show Hell's Kitchen. I don't normally watch reality TV, but my roommate is a fan of this show and I decided to give it a try. I was quite surprised at how entertaining Hell's Kitchen turned out to be.

For those who don't know, Hell's Kitchen is an import of a British reality competition for chefs. The show is on Fox on Wednesdays from 8-10pm. The host and judge on the show is award winning chef Gordon Ramsay. The contestants are split into two teams eventually becoming one team near the end of the season. Chef Ramsay puts the contestants through a grueling set of team and later individual challenges. The winner is then given a high profile job (the current season's winner will be head chef at a high class LA restaurant).

I am typically not a fan of reality TV, but Hell's Kitchen has managed to draw me in. This is in large part due to the intensity of the show. In every episode, the contestants make one individual dish that is presented as part of a team challenge and then the two teams run a dinner service for customers at night. Chef Ramsay does not typically eliminate a contestant based on their performance during the team challenge, but instead on their performance during the dinner service. When the teams are preparing dinner, Chef Ramsay is standing there watching how the contestants react under pressure. The choices of music and the quite real pressure of living up to Chef Ramsay's high expectations make Hell's Kitchen very intense. Chef Ramsay, for his part, is completely unafraid to yell at the contestants when they mess up and he has occasionally thrown contestants out of the kitchen for making too many mistakes.

It is for these reasons that I am eagerly anticipating the return of Hell's Kitchen on Wednesday, November 8th (the show is currently being preempted for the MLB playoffs). Also, don't let the fact that the show is currently part way through its 8th season dissuade you from watching Hell's Kitchen because it is easy enough to start in the middle without feeling as though you are missing something.

Why I feel that "Community" accurately portrays college

Community is a sitcom on NBC that follows a diverse group of students at a community college. Each week they get into various sitcom situations that take place at the school. From my experiences at a community college the show is actually quite accurate (if you leave out the sitcom tropes).

The atmosphere at the fictional school in Community is very relaxed. There are events being held there all of the time and the school has students who range from straight out of high school to adults who are going back to school after getting sidetracked for a few years. My personal experiences were similar, but not exact. The atmosphere at my former school was the same and the ages were as well. There were not as many events, but there were enough to make the two schools similar.

One of the main points of Community is that the main characters have a study group. While, I was not really part of one (there was a sort of informal study group that met before one of my classes) I know there were several groups at my school similar to the one in the show.

So while Community is not entirely representative of a real community college, it is too similar to my experiences to not applaud the show's creators for their accuracy when developing the show for TV.

Scripted TV vs Sports

I watch a lot of scripted TV, but I also like to watch sporting events. I have found that there is a large difference between watching the two. One lets the viewer watch someone else's life and the other can be a lot a more involved for the viewer. However, each has it's merits and they will be examined in the next few paragraphs.

When I am watching a TV show, I prefer to not really talk to other people so that I can better concentrate on the story that is unfolding before me. On the other hand, I think of watching a game as a social activity and I prefer to watch sports with someone else. I only talk or, more often, yell at the TV when I am watching sports. However, on the rare occasions I do talk at the characters in whatever TV show I am watching, it is usually much more direct.

Yet what really sets the two apart is how much I can be invested in a sports team over the characters in a TV show. I know people, and can be one of those people, that seem to be emotionally involved with a sports team. What I mean by this is that when a sports team does good or bad it can evoke emotions in someone that a TV show does not.

In the end, both forms of TV can, depending on the person, have enormous entertainment value, but at the same time each of them give the viewer something different. I have found this to be very fulfilling as a TV watcher.

Why "Mad Men" makes my friend sad

A friend of mine has been watching the show Mad Men recently and he has found that the show makes him sad. The show does not make him sad because it is a bad show, in fact he really likes the show. No, it makes him sad because of the era in which the show takes place.

Mad Men takes place in the sixties. In the sixties, people were less concerned with people breaking into their homes or stealing their cars. But most importantly, at least to my friend, smoking was a social norm. If you watch Mad Men, you will see almost all of the major characters smoking. In addition to that, all of the smokers are smoking in their offices, their homes, restaurants, etc. These days it is nearly impossible to find a public place where smoking is allowed outside of a designated smoking area that is located a decent distance from where you're working or sitting. Also, more and more movies and TV shows are not allowing their characters to be shown smoking because it is believed that it sends the wrong message to their viewers (Mad Men escapes this because it is a period drama on a cable network).

While I don't smoke, my friend does and he smokes almost as heavily as the characters on the show. So for him, watching Mad Men makes him nostalgic for a time that he may not have lived in, but wishes that he had and that makes him sad.

Review: Running Wilde Pilot

When I first heard about Running Wilde, I had high hopes for the show. The creator, Mitchell Hurwitz, is someone whose previous sitcom work I have enjoyed and the show was going to be starring one of my favorite comedic actors so I thought that it would a well put together and smart show. Well, the pilot met my expectations and more.

Running Wilde centers around Steven Wilde (played by Will Arnett), an incredibly rich man who only does things for personal gain. As the pilot begins, Steven is preparing to receive a humanitarian of the year award. The only catch is that he is giving the award to himself just so that he can have an award. Meanwhile, Steven is also trying to reconnect with the first, and it seems like only, woman he ever loved.

The woman in question is Emmy (played by Keri Russell), a real humanitarian, who, when we first see her, is trying to stop Steven's family from drilling for oil in a rainforest. When she receives an invitation to Steven's award ceremony she decides to take her daughter, Puddle, with her to the ceremony and see if Steven has actually changed into a caring human being since the last time that she had seen him. Instead, typical comedic hijinks ensue (although in this case it is not really a bad thing).

Both Arnett and Russell really delivered in this pilot. The role of Steven really plays to Arnett's strengths. He acts both spoiled and egotistical which he perfected on the (sadly) canceled Arrested Development. While, I am not all that familiar with Russell's work, I thought that she was excellently cast in the role of Emmy. While her character is not as crazy as Arnett's, she is very believable in the role of a woman out to change a ridiculously spoiled man.

The supporting cast is also great. My personal favorite is Steven's neighbor Fa'ad (played by Peter Serafinowicz), who is constantly one upping Steven, much to Steven's annoyance.

Anyway, I thought Running Wilde did not suffer from being a pilot. This probably in large part due to the fact that it is a half hour sitcom instead of an hour long show. So if you are in the mood for a new sitcom that is at times smart, in addition to being funny, check out Running Wilde every Tuesday on Fox at 9:30.