Fashion or Foe: Today I Became a Fashion Victim

(c) PipPepPop

     Yesterday was my worst hair day of the year. Today, I focused so much on trying to make my hair "on fleek" (as the kids call it), that my wardrobe took a hit. Suddenly the mornings are cold and as low as 40 degrees when I wake up. Naturally I decided a long sleeved gray shirt and boots were necessary for keeping warm at work. Upon quiet reflection,  I'm struggling to figure out why I was so against black pants this morning. They might have helped keep me in a more neutral palate. I could have made my legs appear like one long, sleek line. I wore black pants yesterday and I didn't think I could pull it off  two days in a row.  Daringly, I went for a bold burgundy cropped pair of pants. I thought the crops would be safely tucked into my boots, but they were not. The pants puffed over my suede below-knee boots and created a very unattractive weird knee bulge. My knees looked larger than when I had a strengthening brace under my jeans due to a  partial tear in my ACL. It didn't help that the crops were just a tad big on my hips so they kept slipping down. I'm seriously considering burning these pants because of today's bad associations. I vow to stick to skinny jeans, tights or leggings tucked into my boots from this day forward.

At least I had a great hair day...

Should the "Truth Be Told?"

     I really wanted to like Truth Be Told. I am programmed to like any show that Zack Morris (a.k.a. Mark-Paul Gosselar) stars in, including but not limited to Franklin and Bash, later seasons of NYPD Blue, Hyperion Bay, and Saved By the Bell: The College Years. Yes, there were other TV roles, but these are really the most notable after the original SBTB.

     Unfortunately, I had a bad feeling about this show from the start. First thing, the show was on at 8:30 on a Friday night in its first season. The program was led in by the live showing of Undateable (this is a separate but equally important  tangent to cover because this show is nowhere near the class of a live Will and Grace or 30 Rock). Gosselar plays Mitch, an ethics professor married to a Tracy, a Filipino lawyer (Vanessa Lachey). They live next door (and are only friends with)  an African-American newlywed couple, comedian Russell and pediatrician Angie.  Mitch and Tracy have a 4-6 year old daughter, Sadie that always need to be watched or baby-sat whenever something comes up, like backstage passes to a Jay-Z concert, or admission to the adult film awards. It is also important to note, I am almost certain Sadie was re-cast after the first episode or two for a less likable kid).

     The situation is laid out, so where is the comedy? Stereotypes, race differences and adult content are a big part of the jokes on this show. Taboos such as getting a medical marijuana card or using the same gym pass as another woman of the same race are the bread and butter laughs of this show. Mitch and Russel are mistaken as a gay couple when they are looking at cars and are offered a great deal by the dealer, who is also gay.  The perfect babysitter may be a former porn star, and the new babysitter is free on Friday night because she also works for a Jewish family across the street...
   
     Do you see where I'm going with this? A lot of issues in this show could be funny or story-worthy in real life, but hearing them out loud on TV makes everyone who can relate seem pretty shallow. It's not the same dark comedy of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, where not a single character has redeemable moral value. These people want to do the right thing, and it often gets them in trouble. In the Winter finale (which is likely the series finale a sets have been torn down), Mitch is asked to marry friends an Russell holds a grudge over it because he is the comedian of the gang. Angie holds a grudge over Russell making tons of jokes during his wedding vows, and Tracey spends the whole weekend trying to get Mitch to enjoy a childless night in the hotel room. This is unfortunately not the next Seinfeld. I guess the truth is still out there... (It really is, the X-Files is coming back to TV in a few weeks)!

Don't Hate "The Player", Hate the Game

     As I predicted in September, NBC's The Player has been cancelled, which once again means Must-See TV has fallen by the wayside at the peacock network. I didn't follow the show after episode 1, but I think a big part of their downfall was showing on Thursday nights opposite ABC's "Shonda Thursdays," specifically the gut-wrenching, heart pounding triumph, How to Get Away With Murder.  I did see Alex Kane as a sympathetic character, after all, he did just rekindle his relationship with his sobering ex-wife Ginny, only to have her murdered hours later. On top of all that, he was considered as a suspect in the murder, and playing "the game" was his only hope to get himself cleared and kind out what really happened to Ginny.  But the show had a lot of action packed into each scene and some very layered conceits set up, so it was not helped by things like Thursday night football or an earlier lead in of Heroes:Reborn and James Spader's retirement fund, The Blacklist. In a eperate post, I have to explore how this show is still on air because I'm pretty baffled. The show's 9 episodes ended with several twists and many questions, which can be found here.

Players Gonna Play

     In my humble opinion, don't bother spending your time watching NBC's The Player, a.k.a. Endgame. It seems that it work better as a movie plot. If you like the action adventure of " 24 " and the glamour of "Las Vegas" with the crime fighting of everything else on NBC/CBS, maybe this show is for you. In my advanced screening, people cheered when Wesley Snipes appeared in the first scene as Mr. Johnson, "the pit boss". He employs a pretty blonde (Cassandra) to be "the dealer" and offers Alex a chance to be "the player" in a life or death game of chance. Phillip Winchester's Alex Kane is offered 24 hours to stop a crime, allowed to only receive help from Cassandra and her online network of phone taps and cameras. Rich people around the world be on whether Kane can stop the crime, or if it will go down. Kane begins the journey because his estranged wife Ginny was a murdered as part of a crime that was part of the game. I give it two months...

Please Don't Page Dr. Ken

Let me first start out by saying, I liked community, and I liked the hangover, but I couldn't make it past the first episode of Dr. Ken. It was pretty dreadful. It's a workplace comedy with too many different personality types, it's a medical show with too many doctor,s it's a family sitcom with too any lessons needed to be learned. The one thing I will treasure for this show and remember for the rest of my life is Ken and his young song in a school talent show acting out the words to Katy Perry's Roar through mime.

TV FALL PREMIERES!

I watched over 5 hours of new TV shows from the Big Networks at the Paley Center for Media and I'll be giving updates and reports as the season rolls on. Here's the lowdown on the shows.

ABC
Quantico (DRAMA) Review t/c.
Blood and Oil (DRAMA) Review t/c.
Dr. Ken (COMEDY) Review here.

NBC:
The Player (DRAMA) Review here. There were 9 episodes and more cancellation info is here.
The Blindspot (DRAMA) Review here.
Truth Be Told (COMEDY) Review here.

CW
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (DRAMA) Review here.
Containment (DRAMA)
Review: A zombie apocalypse situation envelops Atlanta as a virus begins to effect the city. Follow the CDC, police, a pregnant girl, and a school class trapped in a hospital as things get seriously infected. This show was pushed to an April 2016 release and ran 13 episodes.
DC's Legends of Tomorrow (DRAMA)
     Review: This is part of the CW's Arrow and The Flash expansion. I only saw a 7-minute preview but I feel we should just call it Victor Garber's time jumping superhero misfits.