Category Archives: If We Controlled Your Remote

What do we think you should be watching each night? Find out!

If We Controlled Your Remote… 12/4/19

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Tonight, FOX kicks off the fun but also heartwarming limited holiday series, The Moodys. Dan Moody (François Arnaud, Midnight, Texas) is the youngest of the three Moody children. He moved to New York City to become a photographer but is returning home for the holidays to spend a week with his dysfunctional family. His parents, Sean (Denis Leary, Rescue Me) and Ann (Elizabeth Perkins, Sharp Objects, Weeds), were expecting to finally meet Dan’s girlfriend. However, the couple broke up just before the trip, due to Dan’s inability to commit to moving in together. Dan’s oldest sibling, Sean Jr. (Jay Baruchel, Man Seeking Woman) still lives at home with his parents. He’s a maintenance man at the local ice rink, but he has a grudge with his boss. His parents are eager for Sean to find a real job and get out of the house. Sean Sr. thought that one day his son might join him in the family heating and air conditioning business. Middle sister/lawyer Bridget (Chelsea Frei, Sideswiped), on the other hand, appears to have it all together – but there’s a secret she’s been keeping from her husband that is about to throw her world into chaos. Speaking of chaos, Ann Moody just wants to be able to relax, but Sean has hired some underqualified guys from his AA group to renovate the master bathroom – a project that has no end in sight. With the holiday quickly approaching, Ann is eager to get their house back in order. Meanwhile Sean has a major secret that he’s been keeping from his children, which could put a major damper on the holiday celebration.

The Moodys have a list of traditional activities planned for the week leading up to Christmas, many of which involve the oddball extended family. The first event is a welcome home party for Dan, where the guest of honor has a meet-cute with Cora (María Gabriela de Faría, Deadly Class). There is instant chemistry between the two, but the only problem is that Cora is dating Dan’s cousin Marcos (Josh Segarra, Orange Is the New Black, Arrow). Marcos can be an obnoxious Bro at times, but he’s still Dan’s best friend, and Dan couldn’t do that to his best friend…or could he? And this is just the start of what is going to be quite the crazy week for the Moodys.

The Moodys is based on an Australian series. In that show, each episode followed a consecutive family holiday get-together. However, in the US version, the events take place over just one week, with each episode covering one day of the holiday adventures of the Moody family. As the family members try to partake in their various holiday traditions, things go comedically and disastrously wrong. However, no matter what the holidays throw at them, the Moodys always manage to stick together. I was expecting more of a wild, irreverent comedy, but the series has a surprising amount of heart. The six-episode series will air across three nights, with two back-to-back 30-minute episodes each night. The story plays out like one long movie, though there is usually some event with family or friends that is the focus of each episode. The cast is amazing – they feel like they could actually be a family – and they are joined by some fun side characters, such as the talkative uncle, the bumbling underqualified contractors, Sean’s rival AC installers, and Bridgitte’s old high school friend/high school wrestling coach Monty (Kevin Bigley, Sirens), who still pines over her a decade later.

On tonight’s premiere, “Pilot; Episode 2,” freshly single, Dan returns to his childhood home for Christmas to find it’s in various stages of disarray; Dan meets and instantly clicks with Cora, but she’s dating his cousin; Bridget returns to her childhood home after a fight with her husband.

Meet the Moody family tonight on FOX at 9/8c.

I’ll also be watching/recording The Goldbergs, Schooled, Modern Family, Single Parents, Stumptown, Survivor, Making It, The Masked Singer, Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

If We Controlled Your Remote… 12/3/19

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Just when you thought you’d seen the last of the Dreamworks Dragons franchise, NBC is bringing back Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), Astrid (America Ferrera), Stoick (Gerard Butler), Gobber (Craig Ferguson), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and more of your favorite characters for the all-new animated holiday special, How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming.

This new tale is set 10 years after the end of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, just before that film’s epilogue. The latest generation of Vikings in New Berk hasn’t grown up with dragons and are unaware of the great bond that had once existed between dragons and humans. So as New Berk prepares to celebrate the Snoggletog Festival, Hiccup decides to put on a pageant to celebrate the dragons, which leads to some fun and exciting moments.

How to Train Your Dragon is probably my favorite animated franchise, so I’m excited that we are going to get a new story set in this world, especially with the original voice cast reprising their roles! I am really looking forward to checking out tonight’s holiday special.

Don’t miss it tonight on NBC at 8:30/7:30c.

I’ll also be watching/recording Making It, The Resident, The Flash, Arrow, The Purge, and Treadstone.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

If We Controlled Your Remote… 12/2/19

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Kyle’s Choice

Tonight, NBC returns to the farmhouse to kick off another season of the delightful crafting competition series Making It. This season, ten new makers will compete in various challenges that put their creativity and craftsmanship to the test, and in the end one will be named Master Maker and take home the $100K prize. The contestants come from all kinds of backgrounds, including a costume maker, a construction manager, a portrait artist, a calligrapher, a DIY blogger, a software engineer, a muralist, an interior designer, an installation builder, and a scientist. Back again this year are hosts Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, who provide hilarious commentary during the challenges as well as fun interstitial banter and sketches between the segments. Each episode consists of two challenges – a 3-hour Faster Craft round, followed by the longer Master Craft round. At the end of each challenge, the winner receives a patch, and at the end of the Master Craft round, one of the contestants is also sent home. Judging the rounds and determining who will be sent home are judges Barneys NY Creative Ambassador Simon Doonan and Etsy Trend Expert Dayna Isom Johnson.

This year the competition will take place over just two weeks, with all 8 episodes airing over 7 week nights. I checked out the first two episodes, and it took all of my strength to not just binge through more of them. This show is so much fun – Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman have such amazing chemistry and had me laughing out lough throughout each episode. There are so many puns! Somehow this second season is even better than the first, which I also loved. I can’t recommend this show highly enough. If there’s one crafting competition show you watch this holiday season, make it this one!

On tonight’s premiere, “What Are You Made Of?” ten new makers join Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman to show off their skills; for their first faster craft, they make a physical representation of themselves as a food item, and for the master craft, they recreate a favorite craft from their youth.

Meet the new crafters tonight on NBC at 10:01/9:01c.

I’ll also be watching/recording The Good Doctor, 9-1-1, Prodigal Son, Wrap Battle, and His Dark Materials.

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 12/2/19

If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/29/19

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight!

Phoebe’s Choice

With recent shake ups between HBO Max, Warner Brothers, and DCU, the streaming platform dedicated to DC properties may not last that long, but for the time being they have been certain to make sure of one thing: Every week since its launch the service has had at least one new episode of completely original content, including such shows as Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, & Young Justice. They keep that streak alive today by debuting Harley Quinn on the same day Titans season 2 ends.

This new Harley Quinn cartoon is NOT for kids. It is adult material in animated form, a la South Park or Rick and Morty. It is set to be violent AF and funny as well. Harley will be breaking away from her co-dependent abusive relationship with the Joker and striking out on her own. Many will be sad to see that this means she’s trading in the mallet and mime outfit for the “Suicide Squad” outfit and a metal baseball bat. Poison Ivy will be a regular and Harley’s bff. To make a name in the underworld independent of Mr. J, she’ll be forming a new crew. With the voice talents of Jason Alexander, Alan Tudyk, & Kayley Cuoco, this show should be an instant classic. There are plenty of other recognizable names & voices as well: Chris Meloni, Diedrich Bader, Giancarlo Esposito, J.B. Smoove, Jim Rash, Lake Bell, Natalie Morales, Ron Funches, Tony Hale, & Wanda Sykes.

Thirteen episodes means about three months, during which hopefully Doom Patrol season two wraps!

On today’s episode, “Til Death Do Us Part,” Harley Quinn is fed up being the Joker’s sidekick and strikes out on her own – determined to become the criminal Queenpin of Gotham City.

Don’t miss the premiere this morning at 9AM/8AMc.

I’ll also be watching that Titans finale, Ancient Aliens, & Black Jesus.

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/29/19

If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/28/19

Have you ever been at a loss as to what to watch? Too many shows to pick from? We’re here to give you our opinions on what we feel is worth watching. Check it out and then let us know in the comments below what you’re choosing for tonight! And to our fellow US TV viewers, may you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Kyle’s Choice

Today, Apple TV+ launched the new psychological thriller Servant, from director M. Night Shyamalan and writer Tony Basgallop. The series follows couple Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose, Six Feet Under) and Sean Turner (Toby Kebbell, Dead Man’s Shoes), who are in mourning over the recent loss of their infant son, Jericho. The two have taken different approaches towards dealing with their grief, and this has caused a bit of a rift in their marriage. Dorothy appears to be in denial, pretending that nothing has happened, treating a doll made to look like the child they lost as though it were actually their son. Sean just wants his wife to snap out of it and is annoyed that he must pretend to love and care for this doll. It’s been almost nine months, but the couple hasn’t even told anyone about their loss – the only people who know the truth are Dorothy’s father and her younger brother Julian (Rupert Grint, Harry Potter). The couple lives in a large, expensive townhouse in Philadelphia. Sean works out of the home as a consulting chef, developing recipes for high-end restaurants. Meanwhile, Dorothy works as a field reporter for a local TV news station, and so she needs help taking care of “baby” Jericho. Enter the couple’s new live-in nanny, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free, Too Old to Die Young), a quiet, reserved eighteen-year-old from Wisconsin, who doesn’t seem phased at all by the couple’s unusual situation.

While Dorothy is eager to please the new houseguest, Sean doesn’t feel the same way. He’s confused as to why Leanne insists on treating “Jericho” like a real baby even when Dorothy is not around to see. He senses something is off about this young woman, and when odd, creepy things start happening around the house, his suspicions intensify. I really enjoyed what I’ve seen of the series so far. M. Night Shyamalan projects usually involve strange, unexpected twists and turns, and this show certainly has many of those. As the episodes progress, things get increasingly mysterious and creepy. Shyamalan has a very unusual way of framing the scenes, which adds to the uneasiness and tension of what’s happening. Much of the series takes place inside this house, which can be at times beautiful but also a bit claustrophobic (though in a good way that helps set the tone). The series does a great job of ending each episode in a way that makes you eager to check out the next one. While this series could easily be binged, I like that it will be released weekly, as it is certainly a show that is going to promote water cooler talk. This is easily my favorite of the Apple Originals thus far.

Today Apple released the first three 30-minute episodes, and new episodes will continue to roll out weekly, every Friday, starting next week. Due to the holiday, new episodes of Apple’s other three weekly originals (The Morning Show, See, and For All Mankind) will also drop today, instead of their usual Friday release.

I’ll also be watching/recording Merry Happy Whatever, Holiday Rush, and Almost Family.
 
Jump with us to see else we think you should watch. Continue reading

Share
Posted in If We Controlled Your Remote | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/28/19