Favorite Thing of Last Week (1/2/14- 11/8/14)

NOOP!: No Flash this week, Supernatural is building up tension for their 200th, and Agents of Shield is off so I've chosen the wrong week to quit not watching TV.

First off. Shout out to Gotham for having a spectacularly cathartic sequence for Jim Gordon this week. That scene of him and Harvey on the attack and finally on the same team was uber refreshing. It's that point where two seemingly opposite people realize they work great together (a la The Heat, Hot Fuzz, and literally every other buddy cop comedy.) "Penguin's Umbrella" had the culmination of all those tasty crumbs the show's first few episodes laid out. Det. Jim Gordon out for blood. Totally awesome. Last week had their best individual case with Spirit of the Goat which shot right into this monster of an episode.  However it is not my number one. 

(Two Four Grace: Forewarning for our readers (we know you're out there)- When we speak of "Winston's World" we are referring to the show commonly known as "New Girl." The show that pulled us in with Zooey Deschanel, hooked us with Schmidt, and keeps us watching because Winston is one of the most brilliantly written characters in comedic television history. Seriously Deschanel could leave the show for all I care.)

NoOp: Next up is indeed this week's Winston's World. My favorite thing this week goes to Duquan Feldman lighting it up at the end. "Big Brother Wimston's World" (that's a double change, New Girl became Winston's World which was adapted to Duquan's monologue commencing exclamation) slamming home joke after joke this week. Every single male character was absolutely incredible. Really putting the HA into BackgrHAound Checks.

Winston Bishop- Favorite Thing of Our Lives

TFG:  It truly was a great week for Winston humor, with lines like:

"I'm pretty sure they call her the fish because she's tough, but fair. Just like most fish I've interacted with."

-and-

"You guys are like rubbing alcohol. You sting me in the now but you save me in the later."

-plus-

"Like I always say you can't put peanut butter and jelly on the same shelf and expect them not to mix, heh heh. Because somebody gotta eat a sandwich."

Of course out of context line reading it does no justice to Lamorne Morris' expert delivery, so you should really just go ahead and watch the episode. This would probably be a good place for a clip but there is a severe lack of "Best of Winston Bishop" videos on the Youtube and, well, I'm not very adept to making video compilations.

NOop: BOOM! (I think)

Still nOOp: I'm also really glad they are giving Winston a respectable story line. He's insane, yet the other character's lives are the ones that are pathetic. Homeboy's gonna be a cop!

He puts the POINT in GRACEPOINT.
As in, you know, he's the whole point
of watching that show.

TFG: A lot of the shows I watch took a break this week, so I guess this would be a good one to bring up some Gracepoint. Still not what I'd call spectacular, but interesting enough (and Tennant enough)...
(Noop: Tennant to the max!)
TFG: ...to keep me watching. My favorite thing of this week is going to go the awkward failed sexual passes seen on Gracepoint this week. Starting with co-star Anna Gunn's character (Detective Miller) getting a drink request from unnoticed background character- crime scene investigator Hugo ("I'm happily married" "lots of people are... happily married, though"). Followed soon after Detective Carver (Tennant) asking Gemma Fisher (Sarah-Jane Potts) if she wanted to "relax... in bed with me here tonight." Is this show about a small town murder investigation or my failed attempts at relationships in high school?

NoOP: Hugo was actually a bearable character until that hilarious massacre of a scene, one of the few left as nearly every character is stupidly and detrimentally hiding something. Guess he's hiding his nature as a total creep. 

Carver's supremely awkward and out of nowhere pass at Gemma (who, by the way, after seeming oddly familiar, was learned to be the sister of Primeval's Andrew Lee Potts), I'd say that's a slightly less off putting situation as neither really seemed to be too affected by it or into it after both acknowledged their mistakes. Also I keep thinking they are great for each other as they're both British until I remember that Tennant is doing a phenomenal job as an American.

Was it me or did both of those scenes seem like none of the actors wanted to be a part of them?

My stab at determining the killer is that I no longer care as every character is a jagbag, but I do hate that crazy, friends-with-rapist lady the most. I don't hate Carver yet and Tennant is still enough to keep me fully invested in this passable The Killing-esqe drama. 

Did you notice Nick Nolte quoting King Theoden while looking like the Maine version of King Theoden. What do you call people from The Pine Tree State? Mayonnaise? A Mayonnaise King Theoden. 

TFG: Wicked beard: ☑ Tragic loss of son: ☑. Okay I'll give you that one. If this show accomplished anything it's the first time I've ever truly mourned the end of a Nick Nolte role. His was a very interesting and well executed story line. Now we only have to look forward to how the whole crazy lady story pans out (or, if we're lucky, she dies and embarrassingly horrible death next episode).

TFG final thought: One more thing I wanted to address before posting this already late Favorite Thing of (last) Week: Constantine. It's the Doctor (as in Doctor Who) of the supernatural world, amiright? Okay time to take out the nifty check marks again-
whimsical and lovable brit ☑ genius in the world the show takes place (Supernatural as opposed to DW's Time and Space sci-fi) ☑ female companion joins as newcomer to said world to provide a compass for the audience ☑ AND NEW FROM THIS PREVIOUS EPISODE: Has psychic paper (or Tarot Card to fit the nature of the show) that appears to viewer whatever they need to see so the Doct... er... Constantine can get where ever he needs to go to progess the story ☑

Noop: Lets take it one step further and one show deeper. Not only does Constantine deal with the supernatural, it might as well BE Supernatual, as in the show. It not only looks like the same world, they say the same Latin demon banishing spells. Constantine is not only the Doctor, he is both Winchester brothers. 

TFG: Oh and I can't forget, Constantine is in the possession of Doctor Fate's helmet. Doctor Fate.

Geronimo

Favorite Thing of the Week! (10.18.14 - 10.25.14)

Two For Grace: What was your favorite thing on the TV this week?

Noop: I have yet to watch the full slate for the past few days but its turning out to be a tough choice this week. There was a stellar Key and Peele skit about a massage, Jensen Ackles in Supernatural's third episode was zoned in, and Flash had the line "It's been a while since I watched you sleep" delivered in possibly the only context where it's not creepy. 

Constantine also premiered and as I had hoped, it was visually like the movie but without Keanu. (We'll discuss the sames and unsames of the two in an upcoming post. Let's let the show get some more eps in.)

Out of all of those Ill anoint the look-both-ways-slam-dunk of a line from the Flash as my favorite thing of the week. 

TFG: It was a fine week. Flash is certainly turning out to be a good choice for favorite things. I love/hate this previous episode's wonderful portrayal of Dr. Snow's (Danielle Panabaker) tragic backstory with added relationship development between her and Barry. Love because it was so well done, hate because I realized how much I don't care for the show's actual love interest, Iris West.

(Noop: Barry should man up and realize that Iris is basically his sister. You can't call her dad your dad, Barry! Also, like the rest of the world, I've been in love with Danielle Panabaker since Sky High.)

TFG: But my favee thing from this past week was from Doctor Who- Flatline (not the episode that just aired due to late bloggeria). I just want to highlight a character who defeated the Doctor's classic psychic paper (blank paper that portrays what the viewer thinks they should be seeing) by simply being not creative enough. That's right, the Doctor experienced a slight defeat because someone was literally too boring. Oh that episode also featured the doctor sticking his regular sized hand out of a miniature TARDIS, causing Adams Family cousin Thing hilarity.

Noop: I'm only all Capaldi episodes behind in Doctor Who. So much shame I'm bringing unto my family that doesn't realize all the shame they've been untooed. 

TFG: Good stuff. To close this week: list some other contexts you might hear the line "It's been a while since I watched you sleep", good or bad.

Noop: Good - Telling it to your insomniac family member whose bed is in the living room.

Bad - Telling it to literally any nonrelative. For example, a librarian saying it to an avid but often tired homeless man who may have not come by the library in a while. Actually that might be good. 

Favorite Thing of the Week (10.11.14 - 10.18.14)

Be Advised: The following may contain spoilers of all sorts. We are a diversified pair of watchers and we are up to date. 

Noop Gingrich: Hey ToothFurGrapes, what was your favorite thing you saw on tv this week?

Toothfur, I mean, Two For Grace: Well SHIELD hasn't lost any steam for me and Flash is already making its way up the ranks, but my favorite thing of the week has to go with the Walking Dead Season 5 premiere.

Noop: I did enjoy this week's Flash, their villain was quite well portrayed. I know you havent seen Fringe too much but that story was very Fringesque. On to your favorite thing! Walking Dead Premiere. Hold on a second while I go watch it... (2:39 PM)

Noop: Aaaand we're back! (4;00 PM) After having skipped virtually the entire fourth season, I'll agree with you that this was a solid episode. I did have a problem with how Rick, Daryl, and Glenn got lucky by that bat dude halting his swing two or three times just as he got to Glenn, (Quick shout out to blond Oswald Cobblepot there dying first) but aside from that, really good episode. Last I remember, Carol was separated and the baby was presumed dead. As far as I can tell, they done resolved that plot swiftly within two episodes. I was a bit lost with the whole Terminus thing and to be honest, it felt a lot like the Woodbury situation. My question to you, do you mind that there is no discernible end to this chaotic show, i know they mention a cure but come on, you really think that's gonna happen?  As good as the premiere is, are you not weary of the same old same old? It's like sports, all I need are the highlights and I'll be satisfied.

TFG: You know the formula for The Walking Dead seems to be great premiere, followed by a major slow down in pace, a shock in the mid-season, more drull, then a great finale to keep me from leaving. My hope for season 5 comes from being rid of the annoying characters. You know, Lori, Andrea, Dale, Hershel- all the characters that were great in the comics and unfortunately made everyone cringe when they had screen time (okay Hershel wasn't that bad). Even Carl took a seat so far in the background of this episode that I blissfully forgot he existed. Best of all Tyrese finally makes his debut as awesome. He was my favorite in the comic and I have been sad until now at his whiney paranoia in the show. But in regards to your "will it ever end" point- I think you're out of luck there. Robert Kirkman's whole idea behind the source material was "you know what I hate about zombie movies? They end. I want to tell a story that keeps going." Not a direct quote, but that's the jist of it. Of course the series will end eventually, but I'd be surprised if there's any true resolution to it.

Noop: Yeah, but how do you feel about that? Knowing that this is the type of show whose ending will piss people off regardless of what it is. 

TFG: That's the nature of the beast, right? Ever since Roseanne completely effed with my mind I realized I need to just enjoy the ride and not worry about the destination. I could see this show successfully ending the personal drama (of course Rick is going to somehow die saving everyone), with hints at humanities salvation in the future, well after the series actually ends. But how do I feel? I don't. Thanks Roseanne.

Noop: What would you say was the best kill this week. My vote goes to a dookie-faced Carol exploding a gas tank with a firework. That was the pyramid's tip. 

TFG: Smaller scale, but I'm going to repeat myself and say Tyrese is awesome. He took out a whole zombie horde like a champ. Sure it was off camera, but that was part of the glory of the sequence. Just being stuck outside and slowly the zombie pounding turning to silence. Beautifully done. Oh and then that tackle. He's the MVP of the episode for me.

Noop: That was pretty sweet. It has shades of River Tam's Reaver massacre. 

TFG: Time to watch Serenity again.

Noop: As River would say, "My turn." My favorite thing of the week was from Supernatural. I don't think you watch the show but it was from the second episode of their tenth season called "Reichenbach." Not the entire episode, which was good, but the part where Dean, who is now a demon, lets a guy live not because it was merciful but because it was a fate worse than death. I love me some proper evil. 

TFG: Dean's a demon? As in an evil hellspawn? Man, I have some catching up to do. Well I can at least watch the newest episode and try and figure out what's going on...

TFG: Okay, watched. The beginning was a bit confusing for someone who is still making their way through season 3, but I'll be damned if that fight at the end wasn't one of the greatest things I've seen on TV in a while. Well filmed and the music fit just right, unlike my prom date's dress (who am I kidding, I never went to prom). The stakes seem pretty high with demon Dean, huh?

Noop: Nice vampire pun? That is pretty funny how you just skipped 7 seasons. FAVORITE THING OF THE WEEK!

Word Bubble Squared: Comic Book TV Shows 2014

You ever watched a TV show and think: "Hey, this a comic book?" Here we begin to unravel the mysteries of the ever expanding dweebanomically powered audible word bubbles that populate our eventually watched screens. This begins our weekly conversations on the topic of superpowers on tv as we shout hesitantly into an iPhone and vigorously yet minimally edit the conversation for your bipartisan viewing pleasure.

Two For Grace: Noop! Rank the following TV shows based on season premiere- Agents of SHIELD, Gotham, Arrow, The Flash.

Noop Gingrich: I'm gonna put SHIELD first, then The Flash, followed by Gotham, then Arrow. Arrow continues it streak of being a garbage show.

TFG: I can't defend the Arrow. I've never seen it.

Noop: Let's not forget we also have to add Constantine and Agent Carter when they come out.

TFG: Constantine. Is that about the 40 year old that's stuck in a teenage body?

Noop: What's the joke here aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand [TFG: constant teen]. Got it. This conversation would work better as a Google chat and less dictation and pausing for their further dictation and more pausing and editing and more pausing 

TFG: True but I hate my voice. My order is the same. Arrow last, but that's also because I haven't seen it and it looks like it's probably garbage. But it is CW.

Noop: CW as in good or bad? Because Supernatural is CW and that show is phenomenal, but then again that was WB.

TFG: Gilmore Girls was a WB show. Was there ever a Gilmore Girls/Supernatural crossover?

Noop: Actually Supernatual is basically a Gilmore Girls spinoff. Supernatual is the result of smashing Smallville and Gilmore Girls into one show.

TFG: CW has a target audience. I've never figured out what that target is.

Noop: Probably puberty. What CWness did you see from the Flash? Was it how there was a clear love quadrangle that they ever so obviously constructed?

TFG: That a CW thing?

Noop: Yup. It's what skunked up Arrow when I first watched it. Everyone has a secret relationship. That megacrap Supernatural spinoff was ripe with love affairs that we should "care" about. While I did enjoy a lot of what the Flash brought, they clearly had that love dependence flowing through the main characters. I'll say this about Arrow, it's generally well cast and the story has potential but the obnoxious flashbacks, the looking off into widows expressing all sorts of emotions and most importantly, the lack of an arrow cam are offensive and I hate it.

TFG: What the hell is an arrow cam?

Noop: You use it when you pull the arrow back and then you fire it but the camera follows the arrow either from the tail going to the target or from the head going away from the shooter into the target, kind a like how they do for Hawkeye in The Avengers and in Wimbledon, that movie about love and tennis with Paul Bettany. 

TFG: Maybe we should be making a podcast... I agree Avengers really grabbed everything that Wimbledon established and just took off with it.

Noop: I'm glad to see the trend continue with Avengers 2. And they'll finally get Paul Bettany on screen too. Now, they didn't have Arrow cam in the Arrow pilot and that's sad but it's season 3 now and those punks still haven't realized it should be the number one camera trick they use non stop in a freaking show called Arrow. With the Flash however, they did good. They had slow mo ready to go. If there was one thing the Flash had to have, it's that sweet sweet nonsensical slow mo. Now, what would you say that Gotham does that is not CW-like? Its on FOX and while they do cancel great shows, they still get them on air and they allow great stories to be written.

TFG: Well with any luck Gotham will be just not great enough to cancel. I don't even know how to describe it yet. I'm not quite sure what the mood was they were trying to capture. It's, like, dark and gritty but also goofy. It's like the Haunted Mansion of comic television adaptations.

Noop: I did get a Batman The Animated Series vibe coming from it.

TFG: Great point. I've always been a Harvey Bullock fan. He is probably my favorite part of the show so far.

Noop: I actually really dig the casting. Ben McKenzie [Det. Gordon] will be great. Lemme add one thing that irked me about the pilot and it was a holdover from the Nolan Movies. Gordon never put his coat around little Bruce's shoulders. I'm so pissed about that.

TFG: In the movie Gordon wasn't a detective yet, right? He also was already sportting the 'stache?

Noop: Yeah. Wonder if Gordon's 'stache will be treated like Clark Kent wearing the suit and flying in Smallville. Saving it for the last minute of the last episode.

TFG: I'm sure that is what everyone will be waiting for while watching the series.

Noop: Has to be, Bruce cant go Batmaning until, like, 20 years from now and it's just unfeasible for a genre show to last that long. Last up, we both agree that Agents of SHIELD was the top premiere, yes?

TFG: Yeah. It's still running off the glorious steam it gained by the end of Season 1,

Noop: -hot damn such steamy steam.

TFG:  ...and I will say, I am already liking the additions to the cast.

Noop: Good show.

TFG:  Great show.

Noop: Yeah. When do the second episodes come out for all these shows?

TFG: Like 2 weeks ago I think.

Noop: You're right. I've already seen them.