Howdy do, b-rollers! My apologies for disappearing, but April and May were just about two of the more hectic months in recent history. But thankfully, life is a bit calmer now so I plan to be b-rolling a bit more often, if you please. To begin, a few notes on our season finales and general TV thoughts:
- I have not forgotten about The Voice, but I STILL haven’t watched the last two episodes of the year. (Yes, that busy.) So I shall recap them for you this week, and while I know this gives new meaning to the phrase “a day late and a dollar short,” our journey would feel incomplete otherwise.
- Speaking of musical journeys, what a bizarre little world American Idol has become. Our finale this week will pit a ridiculously talented teenage android (she can hit a note, but don’t ask her to register emotion) against a very limited yet adorable boy who plays the guitar. It’s quite a toss-up, since cute white guitar-playing boys really struggle to win this thing. (Although judging by this slideshow, “win” is a relative term when discussing former Idol contestants.)
- House ends tonight, and frankly, it’s time. The two hour finale will begin with a retrospective, during which the show’s creative team will surely talk about their decision to “go out on top, while the show’s still fresh” while the rest of us chuckle to ourselves. Still, we can mourn for the end of a once-awesome-but-still-enjoyable show, and an iconic character for which Hugh Laurie deserved a bazillion Emmys. And we can applaud the fact that someone was smart enough to give the gorgeous Australian doctor his own show this fall. Which I will watch. Frequently.
- Speaking of iconic characters, series two of PBS’ (BBC import) Sherlock wrapped up last night, and holy hell, is that thing good. (Did you know that House/Wilson were based on Holmes/Watson? Tis true!) CBS is rolling out their own modern Sherlock series this fall, and it has a lot to live up to.
- Smash ended last week, finishing its rocky inaugural season up by showing Katharine McPhee’s character, Karen, conquer the Marilyn Monroe musical Bombshell (which, for the record, looks way more interesting than Smash). My favorite moment of the episode – and maybe series – came when the musical’s writers sprinted through the halls of the theater with a new ending that would hopefully fix the flailing show with just five minutes to curtain; talk about a metaphor. Here’s hoping that Season 2 (with a new showrunner in place) brings more showing, less telling, no Ellis, and let’s agree never to discuss that Bollywood hallucination again.
- That “five minutes to curtain” thing is still more believable than the high school show choir that wins Nationals despite nailing their set list down two days before the competition. Accurate as ever, Glee.
- Grey’s Anatomy also concluded last week, with another plane crash that claimed the life of one of our beloved doctors (and maybe more, they’re still shivering in the woods somewhere). Okay, I watch this show every week and am incredibly invested, but did you note the use of the word “another”? That’s right, kids, there have now been two plane crashes in Seattle on Shonda Rhimes’ watch, and we haven’t even discussed the accidents involving ferries, cars, trains, buses, sinkholes, lions and deranged gunmen. The series finale will someday conclude with the Rapture, yes?
- Community will go on (yay!) without the distinctive, warped stylings of series creator Dan Harmon (nay!). Leave it to NBC to follow up one good “let’s axe the showrunner and hope things improve” decision (Smash) with a terrible one (Community).
So – what are YOU watching?
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