Category Archives: Just My Opinion

Looking For Something New To Watch? 9 Popular TV Genres To Consider

Television has changed a great deal over the years, and as a result, we now have more choices than ever when it comes to finding new TV shows and movies. However, sometimes it can be hard to choose what to watch, as you may get confused with everything that is available to you. If you have already watched all of your favorite genres and you are flipping the channels in search of something new and exciting, look no further. Within this article, you will find information about the most popular TV genres to consider right now, which can add some variety to your routine. From reality TV to docudramas, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Sitcoms

Television sitcoms have been a popular choice for many years now, and they never seem to disappoint. Many of them are still shot in front of a live audience, and they use classic three-camera formatting and laugh tracks. However, you will also find a variety of sitcoms that don’t use laugh tracks, such as Community, Young Sheldon, Modern Family, and Arrested Development. In general, sitcoms tend to focus on relationships between family members, friends, and coworkers, which makes them even more relatable to the audience. They are the perfect way to relax after a tiring and busy day at work.

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Will House of the Dragon Beat Game of Thrones in Viewership?

As we all return to Westeros for another round, it’s hard not to compare the Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, with its blood-soaked forerunner. While many have focused on the tangible differences between the type of storytelling and the focus of the two shows, it also pays to give some attention to how well they are doing overall in the market. How does House of the Dragon stack up against Game of Thrones in the viewer numbers? Will it manage to surpass the excellent first series, marred only by a quality decline in later seasons? With the run of the first season only halfway complete and at least one more season to come, it is tough to tell, but let’s look at some of the figures.
 
What is House of the Dragon?

House of the Dragon is an independent spinoff from the original Game of Thrones fantasy drama TV series. Set in the same world (Westeros) as the A Song of Ice and Fire books (written by George RR Martin) that the original takes place in, it follows the tangled Targaryen family tree and is set about two centuries before the original series.

It has a slightly different action focus, too. While Game of Thrones was packed with blood-soaked battles, gore, and a wide canvas of all the surviving Houses fighting it out for the Iron Throne, House of the Dragon focuses only on the Targaryens and has a lot more of a courtly intrigue feel. Not that the blood, gore, and occasionally incest-y vibes from the original are wholly missing. It’s just a tighter and more nuanced look at the same bloody canvas.
 
How Was the Pilot Received?

When it comes to the pilot, the message is clear: House of the Dragon outperformed Game of Thrones. Of course, we can argue that that’s only because people already know what to expect and are familiar with the world of Westeros and its eponymous dragons, whereas Game of Thrones had to break new ground as a fantasy series.

However, HBO has reported a global audience of 9.986 million viewers on both HBO Max and its linear TV services for the sequel’s first episode when it went live. Game of Thrones only managed 2.22 million viewers across the same platforms. Interestingly, this makes it the largest series premiere of any in HBO history, too. It also crashed their streaming platform, there were so many simultaneous viewers.

So the message there is clear. Despite the disappointing ending and concerns around the rushed quality of the final few seasons of Game of Thrones, fans and curious newcomers alike are more than willing to give Westeros a second chance.
 
Subsequent Performance

While it is tough to give further stats on a series only halfway through airing, the rough average viewers per episode for House of the Dragon is believed to be around 29 million across the first five episodes. For a premium cable series, which this still counts as, that’s remarkable indeed.

By the eighth and final (albeit disappointingly received) Game of Thrones season, the show was pulling in an average of 44 million viewers, so House of the Dragon still has a way to go to make those numbers. It could be the different setting, the disappointing reception of that same Season 8 of the original, or just changing streaming tastes that have kept House of the Dragon lagging. Or it could just need time to build up a loyal following. For now, we can’t really know.

Nielsen does report that viewership is increasing steadily, with the latest cited figure being about 5% per episode. As the action heats up and the story gets into full swing, this is likely to improve.
 
A Boost for Game of Thrones

However, the release of the first few episodes in the new show didn’t just work their magic for it alone. We also saw a profound bump in ratings week-to-week for Game of Thrones on the service, too. In fact, it has improved its overall ratings stance by about 30% so far. Not bad for a show that’s long since wrapped and fallen out of the cultural zeitgeist. It now stands only just short of 600 million viewing minutes.

Surprisingly, this was enough to bump its own prequel further down the Nielsen charts. In the latest Nielsen Top 10, we see House of the Dragon take 6th spot, with Game of Thrones snagging itself 3rd place.

While the Nielsen charts are a little incomplete (they only take the US into consideration, and they don’t show mobile streaming), it’s still a very interesting scenario!
 
A Surprising Competitor

House of the Dragon has one other hurdle to face that Game of Thrones did not: a powerful non-series competitor. We also have The Rings of Power, based on Tolkein’s world of The Lord of the Rings, to contend with. So far, The Rings of Power is managing to beat out both of the Westeros series, having come on top a few times in Nielsen’s lists. It’s notable that Game of Thrones had no such powerful, high-budget, and well-known fantasy series to compete with on its first release, and this will likely affect how the numbers work out for all three series together.
 
Will Game of Thrones Stay King?

So, will House of the Dragon manage to out-perform Game of Thrones, or will the original series remain supreme?

It’s really too early to tell, with the much-anticipated time shift and actor change announced for House of the Dragon only just hitting our streams and screens – albeit very dramatically! Game of Thrones has the advantage of a longer planned timeline and all those eager rewatches it’s getting off the back of House of the Dragon, so they may not tie in numbers completely.

However, it’s very clear that House of the Dragon is being well received, and the fanbase viewership numbers are ticking up steadily. With a second season for the show now confirmed too, we may see even more people decided to start watching. For now, we just have to wait and see.

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Blue Bloods: The Twelfth Season DVD Review

The Blue Bloods: The Twelfth Season DVD was released on August 30. The five-disc collection includes every action-packed episode along with exclusive bonus features from the latest season, including cast interviews, deleted scenes and more.

This is an incredibly dependable show. You know what you’re going to get—the good guys are the good guys. There’s no real conspiracy theories or wishy-washy characters who you aren’t sure if you can/should root for or not. It’s one of the best parts about the series, in my opinion. This season, Danny seeks the help of Maggie Gibson, a psychic medium, during his investigation into the tragic murder of a two-year-old boy, while Frank finds himself at odds with the mayor over how to protect the city after a recent uptick in crime. Also, Jamie and Eddie defend Officer Witten when she receives departmental and public backlash for pulling her gun on an unarmed man during an arrest at a local deli, and Erin investigates a murder case from 1993, in which the sole witness was her boss, DA Kimberly Crawford, who was 13 years old at the time of the crime.

The 5-disc DVD collection includes all 20 episodes plus deleted scenes, a gag reel (my favorite!), and three featurettes:

My Best Friend – In season 5, Steve Schirripa joined the cast as Detective Anthony Abetemarco. Since then, Anthony and Erin (Bridget Moynahan) have become unlikely best friends. In this featurette, Steve, Bridget, and the writers discuss Anthony and the special relationship between the two characters.

Directed by Bridget Moynahan – Bridget made her directorial debut this season with episode 1217, “Hidden Motives.” She talks about her decision and experience being behind the camera, and we hear from the cast and crew about her efforts.

The Story of the Reagans: Season 12 – Twelve seasons in, and we are still learning more about the Reagan family. In this featurette, the cast and producers talk about the individual journeys of the beloved family.

Don’t miss this chance to take home your copy of a fun show for the whole family! Blue Bloods Season 12 DVD

 

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Ray Donovan: The Movie DVD Review

Ray Donovan, starring Liev Schreiber, was unexpectedly cancelled after season 7, when fans thought they were gearing up for season 8 to be the final season. Fans weren’t happy, especially since so many story lines were left open. Maybe due to that fan reaction, at least partly, Showtime ordered a movie to wrap up the series, and Ray Donovan: The Movie was released on DVD in May 2022. In Showtime’s words: “A showdown decades in the making brings the Donovan family legacy full circle. As the events that made Ray who he is today finally come to light, the Donovans find themselves drawn back to Boston to face the past. Each of them struggles to overcome their violent upbringing, but destiny dies hard, and only their fierce love for each other keeps them in the fight. Whether they stand together or they go down swinging, one thing is certain – Ray doesn’t do loose ends.”

The movie picks up almost right after season 7’s finale, so if you’ve never seen the show, don’t expect to watch the movie and know what’s going on. If you HAVE seen the series, you’ll want to jump in on this. (Although you might want to do what I do for books and go back and watch the previous season, or even just a few episodes, to remind yourself!) The quality of the DVD is great in terms of audio and video, although since this is more like a wrap-up of the series and not a “full series” DVD or anything, there are no extras. For fans of the series, though, I think you’ll find that’s okay. At least you’ll get *most* of the closure you were hoping for when the show ended in January 2020.

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Dexter: New Blood Season 1 Blu-ray Review

Official Synopsis: The world at large believes Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) died in a tragic boating accident, and in a way the world at large isn’t wrong. Far from the life he knew, living under a false name in the small town of Iron Lake, New York, he’s successfully tamped down his Dark Passenger for nearly 10 years. With a normal job and a Chief of Police girlfriend, it seems he’s got life under control – until his son shows up and turns his world upside down. Rattled, Dexter yields to his homicidal urges and soon finds himself on a collision course with a very dangerous local.

I loved the original Dexter series, and while the revival, Dexter: New Blood wasn’t perfect, there was a lot to like about it. So being able to watch it again to review the Blu-ray was fun. I especially love Julia Jones as Dexter’s girlfriend and seeing the return of Jennifer Carpenter as Dexter adopted sister Deb. Having Harrison show up out of the blue definitely brought an interesting dynamic to both Dexter the man and Dexter the series!

As for the four-disc Blu-ray set, it features all 10 episodes that aired on Showtime plus some great extras.

Disc 1 includes episodes 1-3, “Cold Snap,” “Storm of Fuck,” & “Smoke Signals.” It also includes two special features: “Why Now?” — Showrunner Clyde Phillips and stars Michael C. Hall & Jennifer Carpenter talk about what to expect in the revival series; & “Dissecting Dexter: New Blood – Deb is Back” — Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter dive into their roles as Dexter and Deb Morgan.

Disc 2 includes episodes 4-6, “H is for Hero,” “Runaway,” & “Too Many Tuna Sandwiches.” It also includes the special feature “Dissecting Dexter: New Blood – The Kill Room” — Viewers get a behind-the-scenes look at Dexter’s kill room and the psychology of it all. Fascinating stuff, but I could have used a lot more!

Disc 3 includes episodes 7-9, “Skin of Her Teeth,” “Unfair Game,” & “The Family Business.” There are no special features on disc 3.

Finally, disc 4 includes the season finale episode, “Sins of the Father,” as well as the special feature “All Out on the Table.” Viewers will enjoy a whopping thirty-minute retrospective about the making of the show as the cast and crew lay it “all out on the table” to dissect their characters, as well as revealing exclusive behind-the-scenes moments, breaking down the emotional finale, and more.

Overall, this is a beautiful Blu-ray set and a fantastic show, well worth buying and watching for a first (or second!) time.

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