<p>I agree about Homeland - can’t wait for it to return. I am at the end of Season 3 of Breaking Bad. I finally decided that I shouldn’t be the only person in the country who hasn’t seen it. I already feel that way about “Mad Men.”</p>
<p>Thanks, alwaysamom…I wonder if the documentary will be played on TV again, now that it is getting some air time…</p>
<p>I watched the pilot of The New Normal and was so pained by seeing a wonderful actress like Ellen Barkin reduced to playing a cartoon that I couldn’t watch again. One Sue Sylvester-type character on TV is enough. I also have a low tolerance for precocious kids on TV. And I didn’t laugh once. One and done.</p>
<p>Count me among the NO votes for The New Normal. Grandma is publically demanding that a preteen start taking birth control? And a pint sized boy receive condoms (size extra small)? If these are the new normal values in our society, we are all in serious trouble.</p>
<p>ksm, I think you’ve missed the point of the show’s title. Ellen Barkin’s character is the antithesis of ‘the new normal’, which is that families come in all shapes, sizes, types, and configurations. The hateful and bigoted Nana doesn’t get it, clearly. I think that in typical Ryan Murphy fashion, Ellen Barkin, so far, has had to play pretty much a caricature. My guess is that that will soften. The three main characters are well-cast and well-written, and I think it will be easy for the audience to feel invested in them. Murphy’s shows are not for everyone, and often go badly off the rails eventually, e.g., Nip/Tuck and Glee. We’ll see if this one follows that trend.</p>
<p>I gotta say, I watched the next two episodes of The New Normal and I actually liked it way better than the pilot.</p>
<p>So … Revolution:</p>
<p>I watched the premiere and then watched last night. I doubt I watch again.</p>
<p>This thread is making me want to see “The New Normal.” Will have to see if it is on demand.</p>
<p>I tried to watch the new Matthew Perry show - Go On - but only lasted about 6 minutes. He should do a cameo on Matt LeBlanc’s great show - Episodes.</p>
<p>*
So … Revolution:</p>
<p>I watched the premiere and then watched last night. I doubt I watch again*
^^^i heard it needed more commercials.
;)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Agree on both counts. One of my favorite episodes of Episodes is the one where Matt tries to get one of his Friends castmates to appear. </p>
<p>Happened to catch the premiere of Partners and I had to force myself to watch the entire episode. Terrible writing, simply terrible.</p>
<p>Forced myself to watch the premiere of Revolution last week, and the last scene intrigued me enough that I sat down to watch it again last night.</p>
<p>I lasted 10 minutes!! Don’t know yet whether my H will continue watching or not!</p>
<p>I don’t mind being the minority. I liked Revolution. Not saying it’s the best thing ever, but I think it’s interesting.
When does Nashville come on?</p>
<p>kathie, I think Nashville starts on Oct. 10th.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Agree! That’s what I had in mind. I didn’t watch “Friends” often but I would not have guessed that LeBlanc and Kudrow would be my favorites years later. I loved “The Comeback” and “Episodes” cracks me up every time.</p>
<p>
I agree with you. I was really looking forward to this show. I actually liked the pilot but have to say I cringed at so many of the overtly offensive remarks made, mostly by the grandmother. I totally get that Ryan Murphy pushes the envelope and is making a statement about how obnoxious and outrageous these kinds of things are. I am about as open minded as you’re going to get on this front, so the show’s theme doesn’t bother me. The really over the top ‘hate one liners’ coming from grandma…well if I have a hard time with it, I’m afraid RM may loose too much of an audience that may otherwise really like this show. There is such a thing as too far in the name of making your point. That being said, I did feel that it was less so in the following episodes. Maybe that was by design, they just wanted to lay the background for the character. Or perhaps from the pilot, focus groups indicated toning it down a notch would bring in more viewers. Either way, I’ll continue to watch. There’s just too much to love about this show.</p>
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<p>And I agree with you that she is already softening (well, a little). The character reminds me a lot of Archie Bunker.</p>
<p>How I Met Your Mother is stale. They need to stop. </p>
<p>Partners is very Will & Grace. I never liked that show. Some of the jokes were funny and too many are played for kitsch. Same with this. </p>
<p>2 Broke Girls was ready to move into the 9PM slot. Great casting decision to have Steven Weber as Caroline’s dad. </p>
<p>Castle was surprisingly good. The plot was stupid - heck, the entire shadowy guys in the background pulling the strings nonsense was bad - but I guess it’s hard to come up with clever 1 hour procedurals each week. CSI did it for years but they’d have 2 or 3 threads each show to play with. The actors are really good together. </p>
<p>And the NFL premiered its comedy show: replacement refs embarrass the game. If anyone thinks we should just let the players play, this is the reason why not: fouls on every play generate tremendous inconsistency which generates more out of whack play which repeats the cycle. The end of the Seattle/GB game was a travesty, but then much of the game was. And I remember that the game looked something like this not long ago and that we take for granted how good the officiating is and how well the games run. The NFL built this machine and now they’re knocking it down. Give the players an inch and they’ll take a mile and each play will be a mess until the game is just muck again. But it’s comedy night on CBS!</p>
<p>(You know what’s frustrating? One of my kids works in network TV and will not tell me a thing about what will happen. They’re better at secrecy than the Pentagon. Think of this: the Real Housewives of NJ managed to keep secret for an entire year that the last reunion show was a mess because of what we finally saw this past Sunday. Some rumors, some talk from others but nothing substantial for an entire year.)</p>
<p>^^^ Same for the quiz shows including stuff on GSN and Jeopardy. Contestants are sworn to secrecy. My D couldn’t tell me the outcome of her Catch 21 appearance until the show aired. Same for my friend on Jeopardy.</p>
<p>The Replacements is my favorite new comedy :-)</p>
<p>Last Resort just pushed Revolution out of my Fall shows watch list. I wonder if Capt. Chaplin will be the new Jack Bauer? I love Braugher and Speedman. </p>
<p>I can only watch a few shows and the insipid acting in shows like Revolution (except for Esposito) is the reason why people watch reality talent shows instead. I wish though that Last Resort is a movie instead so I could be done with it instead of being stretched for a year or two. In fact, all these new drama shows should probably copy American Horror Storys reboot tactic wherein there is a new, different story line every season. Cant wait for AHSs premiere on Oct. 17.</p>
<p>Also excited to see Jennifer Jason Leigh join Madeleine Stowe in Revenge. </p>
<p>Elementary was just ok. Modern Family, New Girl and 2 Broke Girls are still in my comedy watch list.</p>