Best (and Worst) New Shows of 2014

Best:

True Detective

The 8-episode HBO crime miniseries starring Matt and Woody. The first season was a very good character drama, as well as an intriguing mystery. Every season will be a different story and cast so hopefully it's great again.

Fargo

The sequel-but-not-really to the mid-90s movie, Fargo is set in 2006 and stars Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton. This is actually the show that made me a fan of Freeman. If you're a fan of the movie, you'll like the show, same tone, humor, kind of crime. It's 10 episodes, with season 2 set in 1979 and being a different story.

Silicon Valley

A show about nerds making an app. Raunchy, nerd and sex humor. Some great comedy actors in it, TJ Miller obviously, and some random ones you've seen in random stuff such as Martin Starr (the bearded one) and Kumail Nanjiani. The red-hoodied one makes a super sweet app that Hooli (a made-up company making fun of Apple) tries to buy. Season 2 starts April 2015.



The Leftovers

3% of the entire population disappear at the exact same time. The show is the aftermath of that happening. Nobody knows why. Coming from one of the two main writers of Lost.

Disappointments:

Crisis

A terrorist organization takes a bus-load of important kids hostage. It tries to be intense and have a complicated plot. I only made it through 5 episodes, and then was cancelled.

Believe

This one was a bit better, and it came from Alfonso Cuaron (the famous movie director), and some things he did good, such as the main character, but the rest was just them running around, and not getting to know the characters to care. Only watched 5 episodes as well.

Has Potential:

Helix

Season 1 starts out with a bad biological virus starting in Antarctica and the CDC trying to contain it. The show started out good, then went down to kinda-good around episode 6. If it was less cheesy, and more gory, it'd be a much better show. Season 2 starts January 16, 2015.

The 100

This is mostly for season 1, since season 2 (and even at the end of season 1) already righted it's wrongs.

The Strain

A vampire virus is spreading around New York but we didn't feel the danger we should have. Also, some of the characters thought stupidly, especially for CDC scientists. Season 2, starting July 2015, will hopefully course-correct.

What Shows I'm Trying Out This Fall

These are all about new shows, not returning ones.

Updates to whether I watched/continued with them are in red, written on October 25.

Gotham, drama.

This is a prequel to the Christopher Nolan-Christian Bale-Batman movie series but this is focused around Jim Gordon before he became Commissioner. It also shows the origin stories of classic Batman villains such as Penguin, Riddler and the Joker. 

The first episode will be Bruce Wayne's parents dying I'm pretty sure, so it's basically all the flashbacks in Batman Begins but expanded to 16 episodes this season.

I'll try it out. The trailer didn't jump out at me much. Starts Sept 22. 

Tried it out, liked it, will continue.

A to Z, comedy.

I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt for this one. I really like both actors, the guy is from Mad Men and the girl is from How I Met Your Mother. There's some definite cringey parts in the trailer, but so did the Brooklyn-99 trailer and that was one of the best new shows to come out last year.

Here's the trailer. Starts Oct 2.

Tried it out, liked it, will continue.

Constantine, drama.

It's dark, based on a comic book, and he's Scottish/Irish/whatever and seems like a cool tough guy. It's a dark fantasy show about him fighting some supernatural threat. I'm intrigued and will try it out.

Trailer is here. Starts Oct 24.

Gracepoint, drama.

This is a remake of a British show, but starring the same actor David Tennant and Skyler White AKA Anna Gunn. It looks like an intense 10-episode murder mystery and I'll check it out after seeing this cool trailer.

Starts Oct 2.

Didn't end up trying it.

Stalker, drama.

I'm a fan of Dylan McDermott and stalking is a creepy-but-interesting topic. I'm expecting this to be a "stalker-of-the-week" type show so I'll likely not stick with the show unless there is an ongoing story, which I doubt.

Trailer. Starts Oct 1.

Tried it out, liked it, won't continue because it's stalker of the week each episode.

Marry Me, comedy.

Changing it up with some comedy. A happy couple gets bad signs that they shouldn't be together, and signs they should. I don't know, I like both actors so I'll try it out, here's the trailer.

Starts Oct 14.

Didn't end up trying it.

Utopia, reality.

15 people go onto some land and do whatever they want. Build a house, make stuff, and just live together on a 3-acre land. Seems interesting, and it airs 2 nights a week, Tuesday and Friday. The trailer uses footage from the UK version but the people being interviewed are for this version I'm pretty sure.

Starts Sept 7. There's also a live stream up that I've been listening to (and sometimes watching) for a few days, it's really cool. There's 2 streams (camera angles) for free, then 2 more that you have to pay for.

Tried it out, liked it, will continue.

There we are! All the new shows I'm trying out this fall. In early January I'll have another post about new shows starting then.

Final Guesses

Here are my final guesses for the shows on the chart that is Bubble or lower. Anything above Bubble (possibly Suburgatory and The 100) that was cancelled will be added as well. Updates will be in red.

NBC (decisions on May 12)
Dracula - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 10.
Crisis -  Cancelled. Cancelled on May 9.
Believe - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 9.
Parenthood - Renewed for final season. Renewed for final season on May 11.
Revolution - Renewed. Cancelled on May 9.
Community - Renewed for final season. Cancelled on May 9.
Hannibal - Renewed. Renewed on May 9.

If Revolution is renewed, it's basically getting a fourth season as well. Unless it's a 13-episode order. Parenthood is likely to end next season but it could be cancelled. Dracula may get another 10 episodes because it's an international co-production like Hannibal (it's very cheap to make and cheap for NBC to air) so it may get more but it doesn't have the fan-base or critic-love that Hannibal has so I'm putting Cancelled.

Fox (decisions on May 12)
Dads - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 7.
Surviving Jack - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 7.
Almost Human - Cancelled. Cancelled on April 29.

I'm personally hoping for an Almost Human renewal but realistically it won't. Nothing else to see here, really.

ABC (decisions on May 13)
Betrayal - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 9.
Super Fun Night - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 9.
Killer Women - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 9.
Mixology - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 8.
The Neighbors - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 9.
Trophy Wife - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 8.
Nashville - Renewed. Renewed on May 9.
The Goldbergs - Renewed. Renewed on May 8.
Suburgatory was cancelled.

Nashville may get 13 episodes or could be a full season, I don't know, but if renewed, a fourth season is to come too unless ratings get even lower. The Goldbergs may be a "schedule filler" order for a new show coming this fall that gets cancelled and it needs its timeslot filled. Of Trophy Wife, Neighbors and Mixology, one of those three may get another season.

CBS (decisions on May 14)
Hostages - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 10.
Intelligence - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 10.
The Mentalist - Cancelled. Renewed on May 10.
Crazy Ones - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 10.
Friends with Better Lives - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 10.
Bad Teacher - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 10.

The Crazy Ones has the best chance of getting another season out of all those because of Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar but I still vote cancelled.

The CW (decisions on May 15)
Carrie Diaries - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 8.
Beauty and the Beast - Cancelled. Renewed on May 8.
Star-Crossed - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 8.
Tomorrow People - Cancelled. Cancelled on May 8.

Tomorrow People may squeak by with another season, but we'll see. With 1 pilot a sure-thing (The Flash) and previous renewals (Arrow, Originals, Vampire Diaries, Reign and Supernatural) and with Hart of Dixie most likely getting another season, the CW doesn't have much room in it's schedule for any more.

24/28 I got right.

Season 4 Finale FAQ

Season 4 finale spoilers ahead.

Why did Rick get suspicious by looking at the people?

Pangea: What would the world and humanity be like today?

Pangea was a super-conintent about 300 million years ago. Most of the lands were connected with one huge ocean called Panthalassa.

 

If Pangea were still around today:

 
• Huge huge hurricanes
• Ocean exploration would be different
• Beach-front property would be more expensive
• Family road trips from end to end would suck
• Way less likely to threaten nuclear war
• Worldwide currency
• Worldwide government?
• Water disputes. Who controls what part of the rivers? Where does waste go?
• No Australia, so all the crazy huge spiders would roam freely around
• Fishing would be more expensive and also make more money
• There would defintiely be a huge wall somewhere
• If there's a World War, Africa would be screwed
• Trading and communication would be better
• An idiot will set sail from East Pangea, sail across the huge ocean and lands in West Pangea, thinking he discovered new land.
• Border protection would be more insane
• World conflicts would be more relatable to us, no more thinking oh North Korea and South Korea are bombing each other
• Airline tickets would be cheaper, or would trains be more popular?
• The little islands not connected to Pangea would either be for the super-rich, or prisons.

Might be completely pointless to some, interesting to others. It's interesting to me to think about.

Writing Prompts (Part 2)

Some more interesting writing prompts.

Professor walks into his classroom, shoots a student in the head, then has a conversation about why he did it.

You should be worried for Daryl Dixon

Potential future spoilers ahead. I don't know any insider info, it's all speculation.

Wow. Rick, Tyreese, Daryl, Michonne and Abraham all on the show together... and one of those four men have to die because there is too much manly awesomeness/safety on the show right now.

HIMYM Final Season Hopes

If you're not caught up on all 8.5 seasons, don't click "read full article."

With the final seven episodes of How I Met Your Mother continuing on Monday the 24th, here's a few things I hope will be answered, addressed or shown.

Film and TV Conspiracy Theories

There are some bad conspiracy theories (Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon synced up with Wizard of Oz), and then there's some good ones that are really interesting and sometimes improve the product.

These are completely plagarised from Cracked (but edited a bit).

WALL-E is a serial killer

Walking Dead creator/writer answered ANOTHER letter of mine! And Dead speculation

The first letter I wrote, if you missed it.

That's right! He loves me!
I wrote to him November 30th, 2013. Just after Issue 117 was released.

My letter then appeared in Issue 119 on January 8th, 2014! Nice!

I'm the normal font, assistant Sean is bold, Robert Kirkman is italic.

I ask two questions plus a BONUS question.

Storyline and Characters For Future Seasons of Walking Dead

If you click "full article", it is completely your fault and have spoiled for yourself things that will happen in seasons 5, 6 and 7 and on. 100% spoilers ahead.

The midseason premiere is Sunday the 9th, and I'm just gonna write my thoughts about how things will go. Of course, there will be direct adaptations, remixed storylines, and new stuff completely as the show has done since the beginning.

Everything talked about will be up to Issue 120 and I'm assuming each season is 16 episodes.

Themes/Settings for American Horror Story Seasons

As you may or may not know, each season of American Horror Story is it's own standalone story with a beginning, middle and end with some of the same cast and some new.

For example, the first season is set in 2011 in a haunted house that the Harmon family buy. Second season is mostly set in 1964 in a psychiatric facility run by nuns. Third season is set in 2013 New Orleans and is witches vs voodoo witches. Those are all basic plotlines. They all go deeper than that.

The writers take lots of references from many different things, and even use real-world events and people, such as Black Dahlia, Anne Frank, The Axeman, and Delphine LaLaurie.

Because season 3 ends tomorrow night, I thought I'd write about some cool ideas/locations/things the crew could do for season 4 or 5 or 9.

Writing Prompts

I found some cool writing prompts. They're not too long.

A survivor of the zombie apocalypse stands trial for murder after the apocalypse

Best (and Worst) New Shows of 2013

I did the movie version, now here's the small screen version of shows that started in 2013.

The Pixar Theory

I completely plagarised from here, just so you know, and made a few edits/changes myself. My edits will be in red font. The guy who wrote this updated with blue text.

Walking Dead creator/writer answered my letter!

This guy.

At the end of every comic there's a 2-3 page section devoted to letters from fans/haters about the comic and some info about the TV show, answered by Walking Dead comic creator Robert Kirkman and his assistant Sean I-forget-his-last-name.


On March 13, 2013, when Issue 108 came out, I decided to write in a stupid letter that talks about the new Pope.

On May 8, 2013, my letter was in the back of Issue 110.

It was pretty cool, having my name in print for millions of people to see. I got a digital copy and here it is.

Walking Dead: Comic vs Show (Part 4)

Spoilers for both the TV show if you're not caught up to season 4.8, and if you haven't read up to the comics. I won't spoil ANYTHING that happens after the point we're at.

Here's part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Carol in the comic is younger, she's 24 when the series starts. Her husband Ed was never in the comics, only mentioned, although he was abusive as well, he committed suicide within a few days of the apocalypse starting therefore he was never seen.

When the group first meet Tyreese before they get to Hershel's farm, she instantly grows attraction for him. Within their relationship she becomes more self-confident though unfortunately Tyreese cheats on her with Michonne, leading to Carol to commit suicide by walker just before the prison assault. Weirdly enough, both versions of Carol never participate in the prison assault and have never met the Governor.

Show does Carol better.

Educated Horses: My infamous english short story

In grade 11 I had to write a short story. Halfway through writing it I hyped it up so much for my teacher that he read it last. I've been wanting to continue the story for some time now but haven't gotten around to it. This is one of my favorite stories I've written.

Here it is, unedited.