Category Archives: If We Controlled Your Remote

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

If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/27/19

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, Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race returns for an all-new but abbreviated holiday installment. This time around there’s just five food truck teams that will hit the road to see who has the best combination of culinary skills and salesmanship to win the $50,000 grand prize. And for this holiday race, the teams are headed to my neck of the woods, New England.

The five teams competing include “Big Stuff,” comprised of two professional private chefs who work on yachts and their marketing friend; “Creole Queens.” a married couple from New Orleans along with their friend; “Lia’s Lupima,” an executive chef who started a catering company with his mother, joined by a friend; “Magical Mystery Heroes,” a chef along with his cousin and his cousin’s wife; and “Slap Shot,” a Northern Minnesota culinary student, her sister, and their mother.

Even though it will just be a short, 4-episode season, it should be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to this winter-themed installment of the series.

On tonight’s premiere, “Holiday Hustle: Blizzard Brawl,” five aspiring food truck teams kick off the season in snowy Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Tyler Florence challenges the contestants with naughty and nice holiday ingredients, and they compete for sales while battling the elements in a winter wonderland.

Don’t miss the start of the winter fun tonight on Food Network at 10/9c.

I’ll also be watching/recording The Irishman, Survivor, and Almost Family.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/25/19

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, Freeform kicks off the all-new holiday-themed reality competition series Wrap Battle, with two back-to-back episodes. The series finds nine contestants trying to out-wrap one another to be the first ever Wrap Battle Champion and take home the $50K prize. You read that correctly: it’s a present-wrapping competition series! With Christmas just a month away, it’s as good a time as any to get into the holiday spirit, and this show certainly has that in droves.

The competition is hosted by comedian Sheryl Underwood (The Talk), who serves as a judge, alongside Carson Kressley (RuPaul’s Drag Race, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy), and gift wrapping expert Wanda Wen (founder of fine stationery and luxury paper brand Soolip). Each episode consists of two rounds. The first round is the Swift Gift Challenge, a short 45-minute challenge, at the end of which the winner will be given an advantage for the second round. The second round is the Big Gift Challenge, a longer 3-hour challenge that involves a much bigger effort. At the end of that round, some of the contestants will be put on the Nice List, while some others will make the Naughty List. And it will be a wrap for a contestant from the latter list, as they are sent home.

I checked out tonight’s two episodes and found the show to be a lot of fun. It’s got an eclectic mix of contestants ranging in age from 24 to 47. While some of them are professional gift wrappers, designers, entrepreneurs, and event coordinators, there’s also an insurance agent and a mom/PTA president. And if you like wrapping puns, this show is loaded with them – the contestants are often sent off to the present-tation room to display their work to the judges. Tonight’s second episode features a guest judge for one of the challenges, and I’m sure there will be more of that in later weeks as well. I’m looking forward to seeing more of this battle and what crazy tasks the contestants are given in upcoming episodes.

On tonight’s premiere, “Wrap Big or Wrap at Home,” nine talented gift wrappers compete to become the Wrap Battle Champion and win a grand prize worth $50,000. In the second episode, “Shopping Mall Wars,” wrappers team up to operate gift wrapping kiosks, each team try to out-hustle and out-wrap their competition; featuring guest judge Sherry Cola.

See how talented these wrappers are tonight on Freeform starting at 9/8c.

I’ll also be watching/recording The Good Doctor, 9-1-1, Prodigal Son, and His Dark Materials.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/22/19

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!

Jenny’s Choice

Last week’s American Housewife was pretty fun. When Oliver tried giving his mom advice about her new lasagna business, she ignored him at first…until she was reminded that business & money were something Oliver was very good at and very interested in. So they became partners. He changed the name and the packaging and tried to get them into the Flavor of Westport (where chefs/restaurants from town could feature their food in order to draw customers), Oliver even showed how prepared he was when the man in charge said they weren’t a restaurant, and Oliver gave him paperwork stating that since the property had been a speakeasy or something way back when and it’d had a liquor license, that meant the house had one and was considered a restaurant. Silly old laws! LOL But then the man said everything had to be socially conscious (my wording): gluten free, nut cheese, yada yada. Katie refused, but when Oliver protested, she made up a lasagna to meet their terms…and Oliver couldn’t eat it, it was so terrible. So they made up Katie’s regular lasagna and snuck into the festival, secretly giving out a bunch of samples. It was a lot of fun seeing them work together.

Meanwhile, Greg had been trying to come up with something new to write about, but he’d been struggling. So when Angela recommended him to ghost write for a young YouTube star whose schtick was pulling pranks and shooting people with a paintball gun, he eventually said okay. He took Trip’s advice about pranking the guy in order to show he could hang and be “hip” and shot the guy with a paintball gun when they first met. The guy stormed off, and later, at the food festival, police stopped Greg and arrested him for it. But then the YouTube guy showed up, laughing, and said it was all a prank and that he’d read Greg’s book (really? LMAO) and that he’d love to work with him.

I enjoy this show. It’s far from perfect (Katie’s pretty over the top sometimes, to an annoying degree), but I really like it. I both like and dislike that they’ve moved Anna-Kat away from her OCD, although we get to see a lot of really strange Franklin, so I guess there’s that.

On tonight’s episode, “Women in Business,” Katie’s feud with Chloe Brown Mueller is reignited when Oliver discovers Chloe’s attempts to sabotage Katie’s lasagna business. Meanwhile, Anna-Kat and Franklin play matchmaker for Principal Amblin in an attempt to secure more privileges at school.

See how Katie and Oliver handle Chloe Brown Mueller tonight on ABC at 8/7c.

I’ll also be watching CMT’s Nashville Squares, Hawaii Five-0, & Blue Bloods.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/21/19

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, ABC’s Thursday drama lineup airs its fall finales. One of these shows about to take a break is A Million Little Things. Last week, Rome’s mother and father were preparing to go on their anniversary cruise when Gina got the call that Rome’s mother had died. Rome had a great relationship with his mother, and one of her dying wishes was for Rome and his father to mend their broken one. Rome and his father had never really gotten along. Rome always believed that his pop loved his brother Omar more and treated him better. But Rome made the first steps toward fixing his relationship with his father. Everyone came to the funeral, where Rome gave the eulogy. Gina was worried that this loss might send Rome into another suicidal depression, but he assured her that his sadness was just normal grieving. During the post-funeral party, PJ discovered his DNA kit hiding under the bed and learned that there was a 99.9% that Jonathan was his real father. So he silently stormed off, upset that Rome had been hiding the results from him.

At the party, Delilah suggested she might take the children to France for the summer, and this increased Eddie’s concern that his name wasn’t on his daughter’s birth certificate – Delilah could decide to just run off and never return, and there was nothing he could do about it. So he and Katherine confronted Delilah, even threatening her with legal action, but Delilah was adamant that her children not found out that Jonathan wasn’t their baby sister’s father. This didn’t stop Eddie and Katherine, who had bonded a bit over this, and Eddie started to fill out some legal paperwork. It seems like Eddie and Katherine could just simply let the cat out of the bag directly to Delilah’s kids, and then it’s too late, the truth would already be out there!

Meanwhile, Gary had been fired from work for taking too much time off to help Maggie. However, he didn’t want this to have an effect on Maggie’s decision whether or not to take a fellowship at Oxford, so he hid this news from her. Instead, he decorated the apartment with British paraphernalia to show her that he supported her decision, whatever it may be. Though, honestly, from a show standpoint, it seems highly unlikely that this would happen because one or both of them would be then leave the series.

As the episode came to a close, Delilah learned that PJ was Barbara Morgan’s son, and so she showed up at Rome and Gina’s door, asking why they hadn’t told her this. Will Rome and Gina finally tell her the truth about Jonathan’s relationship with Barbara and that PJ is Jonathan’s son? And will this finally convince Delilah to reveal the truth about her own daughter’s parentage? And how will Delilah’s children react to the news of all these secret love children? Will it be a relief to Sophie that PJ is her brother and that’s why he rejected her, or will this only make things worse? And how will PJ’s parents deal with him discovering the truth?

On tonight’s midseason finale, “Time Stands Still,” Rome helps PJ through a personal crisis; Gary and Maggie’s relationship takes a turn; Delilah, Eddie, and Katherine make tough decisions that will affect their families.

See how the first half of the season ends tonight on ABC at 9:01/8:01c.

I’ll also be watching/recording The Knight Before Christmas, Grey’s Anatomy, Young Sheldon, Carol’s Second Act, Superstore, Perfect Harmony, The Good Place, and Will & Grace.

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If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/20/19

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

In September of 1992, NBC premiered a new sitcom called Mad About You, which starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as newlyweds Paul and Jamie Buchman. The series ran for 7 seasons, following the ups and downs in the couple’s relationship, including the arrival of their daughter Mabel. In the series finale, the show jumped ahead 22 years into the future (2021). However, as no show ever truly ends these days, Spectrum Originals has revived the series for a limited 12-episode 8th season, which ignores those flash-forwards (or maybe those events just haven’t happened yet).

As the new series opens, Paul and Jamie are saying goodbye to their daughter Mabel (Abby Quinn, Black Mirror), who is heading off to college. But Mabel is attending NYU, which is just 5 blocks away. Jamie has a particularly difficult time letting go, and due to the close proximity of Mabel’s dorm, she is constantly showing up announced. Meanwhile, Paul is ready to start enjoying the couple’s empty nest and take the trip to Tahiti they always talked about. However, Jamie doesn’t seem to have any recollection of these plans.

Watching this revival series brought back a wave of nostalgia of the original series. It is shot in the same multi-camera format with limited sets and a laugh track. Over the first few episodes, the series pretty much takes place either at the Buchman’s apartment, Mabel’s dorm room, or Paul’s office. The show is very dialogue-driven, primarily consisting of a series of long conversations between characters. But this time around Paul and Jamie aren’t dealing with newlywed or newborn issues, but rather how they are going to spend the next phase of their life now that Mabel is out of the house, and Paul and Jamie have differing opinions on this topic. Instead working on films, Paul is now producing TV commercials, while Jamie is trying to figure out how to occupy her time now that Mabel is out of the house.

Also back for this revival are Jamie’s sister Linda (Anne Ramsay) and Paul’s brother Ira (John Pankow). Ira now owns a restaurant, which he runs with his Italian girlfriend/head chef Lucia (Antoinette LaVecchia). Paul’s friend Mark (Richard Kind) has also made some life changes – he’s divorced from Fran and is now re-married to psychiatrist Tanya (Kecia Lewis, The Passage).

The first 6 episodes of the revival are available today on Spectrum Originals, while the second half of the season will be released on December 18. You may be asking, “What is Spectrum Originals?!” Well, unfortunately, much like DirecTV/AT&T with its Audience Network exclusive original programming, Spectrum Originals is another provider-specific source of programming only available to Spectrum TV subscribers. While I don’t see anyone changing their cable provider to watch this series, fans of the original Mad About You who do already subscribe should enjoy this nostalgia trip.

I’ll also be watching/recording The Goldbergs, Schooled, Modern Family, Single Parents, Stumptown, Survivor, The Masked Singer, Almost Family, and Riverdale.
 
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