Tag Archives: Chicago PD

If We Controlled Your Remote… 1/8/20

Posted on January 8, 2020 by , and

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 newly reimagined Party of Five, which is similar in concept to the original 1990s FOX series but with a more modern take. Nearly 23 years ago, Javier Acosta (Bruno Bichir, Narcos) and his wife Gloria (Fernanda Urrejola, Narcos: Mexico) came to the United States illegally and set down their roots, opening a popular local restaurant and expanding their family to include five children. Their eldest son, 24-year-old Emilio (Brandon Larracuente, 13 Reasons Why) is a DACA child who now lives on his own, pursuing a career as a musician. However, when ICE raids the family restaurant, arresting the Acosta parents, taking them away to be deported to Mexico, Emilio is forced to put his own dreams on the back burner and step up to take care of his younger siblings: Lucia, Beto, Valentina, and baby Rafael. Sixteen-year-old Lucia (Emily Tosta, Mayans M.C.) was a straight-A student, but after her parents’ arrest, she starts to act out and party rather than concentrating on her grades. Meanwhile, her twin brother Beto (Niko Guardado, The Goldbergs) is also neglecting his schoolwork and sports in order to step in and try to keep the family restaurant afloat. And precocious young Valentina (Elle Paris Legaspi, Vida), who was celebrating an academic achievement with her parents at the restaurant when ICE arrived, probably misses and needs her parents the most, as she is just hitting puberty.

I had never seen the original series, but I thought tonight’s premiere was really well done. It feels like a very modern take on the same concepts of the original show – the kids weren’t left orphaned, but for all intents and purposes, it’s almost like they are. I feared that with a topic like this, the series may get too political, but in the first episode, it never felt so. It is just heartbreaking drama depicting this family being torn apart by an unfortunate situation. With no other family to turn to, the siblings are now on their own and must quickly learn how to balance their lives as children while also taking on more adult responsibilities – from making sure they keep what’s left of their family together, to desperately trying not to lose their home or the family business (their only source of income) and raising their baby brother, who may never know his parents. At the same time, they are working to try to work the legal system and reunite with their parents. I look forward to checking out more of this series to see how the story progresses.

On tonight’s series premiere, “Pilot,” when ICE deports their parents, life for the five Acosta siblings is turned upside down; oldest son Emilio puts his music career on hold to move back home and take care of his siblings.

You can check out the episode right now on Hulu and at Freeform’s website or tonight on Freeform at 9/8c.

I’ll also be watching/recording Modern Family, Single Parents, Stumptown, and Almost Family.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/20/19

Posted on November 20, 2019 by and

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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If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/13/19

Posted on November 13, 2019 by , and

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

My pick once again this week is #OneChicago. Boy, I’m enjoying these shows. I’ll just do a quick recap of each one with the highlights… Chicago Med: Creepy vampire kids. The girl was clearly either a really bad girl (not evil, but just…bad!) or delusional. She had the boy so snowed into thinking they were both vampires, because his medical problem caused him to be blistered by the sun. As for relationships… Ethan and April are trying to get pregnant, but while April is wanting to take a laidback approach, Ethan is all about tracking her cycles, being proactive, etc, and it’s pushing April the wrong way – so much so that she nearly kisses Dr. Marcel at the party he and Maggie threw. Thankfully Ethan didn’t see, but could this spell trouble? Guess we’ll see! Oh, and speaking of Maggie… She met a guy while getting her chemotherapy who was also there getting his. Sparks!

Then on Chicago Fire: Severide was approached by a young female lieutenant from OFI (Office of Fire Investigations) who wanted to bring him in to help with the backlog of cases, but he turned her down, said his place was there at 51. But not much later, Boden received a transfer order, sending Severide to OFI. Boden thought for a moment it was Severide’s choice, but Severide thought it was the female lieutenant. But they were both wrong. It was Grissom. Dun dun dun! Grissom had a good point, that they had to go where they were needed…and Severide has good instincts when it comes to sniffing out arsons. So they made a deal that Severide will go over to OFI to help with the backlog, and after a few months, he’ll be free to decide whether he wants to stay or return to 51. Meanwhile, Herrmann clashed with a uniformed CPD officer at a scene, and it looked like he was going to get in big trouble over it (even though he wasn’t really wrong about it and the officer was a repeat reporter douche bag), but fortunately for him, part of Severide’s deal with Grissom is that Grissom is calling off the complaint against Herrmann.

And then finally, on Chicago PD: Darius the big-time drug slinger/gang dude (played by the great Michael Beach) was pulled back in as a CI when a dangerous drug was getting put out on the streets. Things seemed to be going okay…until one of Hailey’s CIs (who had basically become a professional CI for a lot of people/organizations) thought he was smarter than he was and walked into CPD (and into Intelligence’s operational space in the basement!) and showed his face in front of Darius…who then had someone kill him. That really shook Hailey big-time. She felt responsible, but frankly, the guy was an idiot. Not that he deserved to be killed, but dang… And while I won’t spoil it, if you saw the preview for this week’s episode, you know tonight is going to be life changing. Eek!

On tonight’s Chicago Med, “Too Close to the Sun,” Maggie gets unsettling news about a new friend and breaks protocol to support him. One of the doctors from the Med family is rushed into emergency surgery after a violent assault. A social media influencer lets his users vote on medical advice, forcing Dr. Charles to make a decision.

Then on Chicago Fire, “Seeing is Believing,” Severide begins his assignment at the Office of Fire Investigation and gets off on the wrong foot when, despite his orders, he reopens an old case. When the cause of an apartment fire hits close to home, Herrmann is on a mission to get to the bottom of it. Kidd finds herself burning the candle at both ends.

Finally, on Chicago PD, “No Regrets,” after injuring herself while pursuing a suspect, Burgess receives a shocking diagnosis. A homicide case turns into a missing persons case, with a sinister twist. Voight has to decide between justice and the letter of the law.

Spend the evening in Chicago with me tonight on NBC starting at 8/7c.

I’ll also be watching Guy’s Grocery Games & S.W.A.T.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 10/30/19

Posted on October 30, 2019 by , and

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

I always enjoy when sitcoms do holiday-themed episodes, but the Halloween ones are always my favorites. TV characters always seem to have the most creative costumes – way more creative than anything you typically see from your local trick-or-treaters or at an adult costume party. Plus, the writers usually have a lot of fun mixing in some spooky and supernatural storylines into these normally pretty-grounded shows. Tonight, the entire ABC Wednesday night comedy lineup is Halloween-themed. as it goes from the 80s to the 90s and the present day.

In The Goldbergs, “A 100% True Ghost Story,” Beverly scores a bargain on four paintings, but something supernatural is causing them to be destroyed; Barry decides to throw a huge Rocky Horror Picture Show-themed party against Erica’s wishes. Barry Bostwick, Steve Guttenberg, & Stephnie Weir guest star.

Then, in Schooled, “Run, Rick, Run,” Coach Mellor is excited to celebrate Halloween in a couple’s costume with Julie, but his plan might be derailed by Principal Glascott; CB tries to scare the students into not tormenting each other during the school’s annual Halloween parade.

In Modern Family, “The Last Halloween.” Phil is determined to scare Claire on Halloween; Gloria feels self-conscious about her age when someone correctly assumes she is Jay’s wife; Mitch and Cam go to the WeHo Halloween Carnival after Lily decides to go to her first Halloween party alone.

And finally, in Single Parents, “Welcome to Hell, Sickos!” the kids head to the school for a spooky Halloween celebration with Douglas; Will has a stressful night trying to do too much; Poppy and Angie throw a Halloween party at Douglas’s house to try to prove to themselves that they are cool moms.

Check out the Halloween fun tonight on ABC starting at 8/7c.

I’ll also be watching/recording Stumptown, Survivor, Riverdale, Nancy Drew, and American Horror Story: 1984.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 10/23/19

Posted on October 23, 2019 by , and

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

I’m enjoying the new season of S.W.A.T.. Last week was a good one… The new Lt. Lynch really fumbled the ball when she spoke signed SWAT up for an undercover operation and went to the team with it first before even speaking with Hicks. Not only that, but she talked with and gave the mayor all the details as well, which is a no-no for Hicks. Fortunately, when Chris and Street went undercover in a counterfeit money op to take down (again) a local gang, things went as good as can be expected. No one was hurt, although it looked shaky for a minute, and they were able to nab all the bad guys and get all the counterfeit money before it could be distributed. But the whole thing left a bad taste in Hicks’s and Hondo’s mouths about Lt. Lynch.

On the personal side of things, Hondo’s parents were still at odds (no surprise, really), but Hondo convinced his mom to come out to the car show for both Daryl and Hondo himself, not for his dad. She did, and I could tell it meant a lot to Daryl to have her there, since he’d worked hard helping Hondo’s dad with his car. We’re still wondering what Senior’s health issue is, since he coughed up blood a couple of episodes ago. When will we (and more importantly, Hondo) find out? Gotta be something serious, I’m guessing… As for the not-so-serious, Chris helped smooth the way for Street and Molly Hicks, even though she didn’t look entirely happy about it. She’s trying so hard to be happy with Kira and Ty, but obviously she has some feelings for Street. I want her to be happy with them. I love that odd relationship. I don’t want her with Street, simply because on this show, they won’t keep them together (I mean, look at how it went with Hondo & Jessica…). Guess we’ll see…

On tonight’s episode, “Immunity,” Deacon’s family gets caught in the crosshairs of a drug cartel when he and the SWAT team aim to bring down its leader, a former foreign rebel force leader running drugs in plain sight via a local flower market. Also, Hondo receives troubling news regarding his father, and Tan is forced to go before an internal review board due to his girlfriend’s indiscretion.

See if Deacon can protect his family tonight on CBS at 10/9c.

I’ll also be watching Limetown, Chicago Med, The Goldbergs, Schooled, Chicago Fire, Guy’s Grocery Games, Nancy Drew, SEAL Team, Single Parents, & Chicago PD.
 
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