Tag Archives: The Orville

If We Controlled Your Remote… 4/25/19

Posted on April 25, 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!

Phoebe’s Choice

For the last four years, I have affectionately referred to Gotham as my favorite #SlowMoSharkJump, and it has been a great cheeky ride, but tonight our allegorical Arthur Fonzarelli crashes down to the water on those jet skis when the series finale airs. From the start this has been a tale about a select set of Batman characters: Bruce Wayne, Alfred, Jim Gordon, The Penguin, The Riddler, & Selina Kyle…who will become Catwoman. This core crew lasted from the pilot to now as we saw in last week’s penultimate episode, wherein they united to face down Bane and Nyssa al Ghul and the army they have co-opted control of.

Bruce tried to use the Joker’s old bombs to corner the army, but that did not cut them off from the Green Zone. Jim & Selina rescued Barbara and the baby from Nyssa, and he tried to have them all escape through tunnels. When Bane’s army showed up to kill Jim, the refugees stood in the way and the army refused to kill innocents. In the aftermath of this battle, Gotham was ready to rebuild. Penguin & Riddler vowed to be great villains again as Gordon was finally made Police Commissioner. Bruce left Gotham, seeking some sort of solace, leaving Selina only a note. She tried to head him off at the airport but failed.

Honestly, this could have been the last episode, but they wanted to fast forward the tale to when Bruce is fully Batman, hence tonight. I think we move into the future a few years, so maybe now the same gawky teen Bruce Wayne we’ve endured for years. I can’t wait either way and am mega-sad to see this show go. Guess we have Batwoman to look forward to at least!

On tonight’s episode, “The Beginning…” the series flash-forwards 10 years into the future, as Bruce is set to return to Gotham for the opening of the new Wayne Tower. A series of crimes leads Gordon to believe Penguin and the Riddler are up to their old tricks. However, when Bullock is framed for a murder, Gordon begins to piece together an even more sinister plot targeting the city, and a new figure emerges from the shadows to be the hero Gotham desperately needs.

Meet the new Batman on tonight’s series finale on FOX at 8/7c.

I’ll also be watching the season finale of The Orville, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 1/17/19

Posted on January 17, 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

First thing this morning, A Discovery of Witches made its U.S. debut on streaming services Sundance Now and Shudder. The series, which aired on Sky TV this past September in the UK, is based on the bestselling “All Souls” trilogy by Deborah Harkness. Historian Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer, Hacksaw Ridge) is a witch who refuses to use her magical powers – not that she really knows how to control them anyway. After her parents were murdered, Diana was raised by her Aunt Sarah (Alex Kingston, ER, Doctor Who) and her partner Emily (Valarie Pettiford, Being Mary Jane) in their farmhouse in Madison County, New York. Sarah is upset that Diana denies her magical heritage and wants her niece to embrace being a witch, but Diana is more concerned with her academic career. While she received tenure at Yale, Diana has now returned to Oxford in hopes of obtaining a professorship.

While doing research for a paper on Alchemy, Diana accidentally discovers a bewitched manuscript that had been thought to have been lost for hundreds of years. When she opens the book, she finds herself thrust into a dangerous world of witches and vampires, with many parties eager to get their hands on the manuscript. Vampire/geneticist Dr. Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode, The Crown, Downton Abbey) has been trying to figure out why his breed are dying out and are having trouble siring new vampires. He has been looking for The Book of Life for over 100 years and believes the manuscript contains information about how the vampires were created – this information may be the key to their survival. He finds himself inexplicably drawn to Diana after she opens the book but must try to control his urges. Meanwhile, power-hungry witch Peter Knox (Owen Teale, Game of Thrones) is also after the book, but he has other, more nefarious purposes in mind.

This series is beautifully shot, with some really great production value. The pilot quickly establishes the main characters and some of the rules of this world, where vampires, witches, and other demons hide in plain sight among the humans, always fearful of being discovered. The first season is 8 episodes and covers the events of the first book of the trilogy. The series has already been renewed for two more seasons, and the plan is to cover one book per season, so there’s plenty more to come for fans! I’m not sure if there are plans to eventually air the series on the linear Sundance TV network, but today the entire season is available on both the Sundance Now and Shudder streaming services.

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I got the chance to speak with some of the cast and creators of the series and hold the actual book itself! Check out my interview videos at NoReruns.net.

Check out the entire first season streaming now on Sundance Now and Shudder!

I’ll also be watching/recording Grey’s Anatomy, A Million Little Things, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Fam, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, Gotham, and The Orville.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/9/17

Posted on November 9, 2017 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

On last week’s episode of The Orville, the ship was docked for repairs, so Dr. Finn was taking her two sons for a vacation on a resort planet. Isaac was along for the ride as her pilot and to study Dr. Finn and her family to learn more about human nature. However, their shuttle hit some turbulence and they crash-landed on an uncharted moon far away from any help. Upon landing, Dr. Finn was separated from the others and was taken captive by a hermit who was living in a bunker where he was safe from the chemical weapon that has poisoned the water supply and had wiped out most of the food supply. Meanwhile, Isaac had to try to discipline the unruly boys while also trying to locate Dr. Finn and fix the shuttle in order to contact the Orville for help. And to make matters worse, the natives were circling, looking at the boys as a new food supply.

I am really enjoying this series. I like how they’ve managed to tackle some pretty serious topics but also manage to explain both sides and don’t get really preachy about one point of view or another. I was kind of surprised to see Isaac showing one of Dr. Finn’s young boys how to use a gun to kill the approaching aliens! The series has also done an excellent job at featuring different characters each week, giving them their own story lines. I haven’t been watching Star Trek Discovery due to CBS putting it behind their All Access paywall, but The Orville has certainly filled the Star Trek void for me.

On tonight’s episode, “Cupid’s Dagger,” the Orville is called to mediate a peace treaty between two warring cultures, but tensions run even higher between Ed and Kelly when a familiar face boards the ship. Meanwhile Yaphit declares his love for Dr. Finn with surprising results.

Find out who boards the ship and how Dr. Finn reacts tonight on FOX at 9:01/8:01c.

I’ll also be watching/recording Grey’s Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Life in Pieces, Gotham, Nathan for You, Van Helsing, Ghost Wars, and Chrisley Knows Best.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 10/5/17

Posted on October 5, 2017 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 #1

Tonight, Syfy kicks off a new Thursday night lineup, beginning with the second season premiere of Van Helsing. In the first season, Vanessa Helsing awoke from a long coma to find herself in a world overrun by vampires and learned that her young daughter was missing. She banded with a group of survivors while she looked for her daughter. In the process, she discovered that she had special powers — her blood could turn vampires back into humans. Dmitri, the leader of the vampires, managed to capture Vanessa and brought her to his citadel, where he had his doctor perform experiments on her, trying to learn more about her unique blood. However, the experiments seem to have left Vanessa with super-human strength, and she managed to break free. As Vanessa roamed the building, she found her daughter, but Dylan had been turned into a vampire. Meanwhile, Taka, with the help of vampire Rebecca, led a small Resistance army into the citadel to take down the vampires. While the others spread out, he found Dmitri and was about to kill him, when Dmitri made him an offer.

Tonight’s second season premiere picks up right where the first season left off. How will Vanessa deal with her vampire daughter? Will she try to use her blood to save her, or is it already too late? The same goes for Julius, who was also turned at the end of last season. What did Dmitri offer Taka, and will he betray the Resistance? Will Vanessa rejoin the others? How will she react to reuniting with Mohamad after his betrayal last season? It should be another exciting season!

While she’s not in tonight’s episode, Missy Peregrym (Rookie Blue) will be joining the cast this season as Scarlett Harker. I’m sure that last name is no coincidence, so I’m looking forward to seeing how she fits into the story. I had a chance to talk with some of the cast members and producers about the show at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. You can find my video interviews at NoReruns.net.

On tonight’s premiere, “Began Again,” Vanessa and Mohamad search for Dylan as Dmitri’s citadel crumbles around them; Flesh acquires an unexpected ally in one of the Resistance Fighters; Taka clashes with the Vampire Elite.

Catch all the action tonight on Syfy at 9/8c.
 
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If We Controlled Your Remote… 9/17/17

Posted on September 17, 2017 by

Last week FOX launched the new series The Orville. The series is set in the year 2418 and stars Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy) as Ed Mercer, a promising officer whose career derailed after he caught his wife Kelly (Adrianne Palicki, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Friday Night Lights) in bed with a blue alien. It’s been about a year since the divorce, and Mercer finally gets his first and last chance to prove he is worthy of captaining a ship, the Orville. When assembling his crew, Mercer hires best friend Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes, ER, American Dad ) as his helmsman, but Malloy isn’t one to stick to the rule book. The rest of the crew is comprised of folks from an assortment of human and alien species, races, and sexes. For fans of Star Trek, these characters have very familiar archetypes but with a slightly more comedic twist. Worf-like second officer Lt. Commander Bortus (Peter Macon, Shameless, Bosch) is from a species that is all male; Data-like science officer Isaac (Mark Jackson) is from a mechanical species known for being racist toward biological creatures; top physician Dr. Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald, 24, Castle) chose her position because she felt she’d be needed the most with this crew; young security officer Alara Kitan (Halston Sage, Crisis, How To Rock) hails from a planet with higher gravity, so she has increased strength and abilities; and navigator John LaMarr (J. Lee) is chill and just wants to be able to drink his soda while doing his job. The only person on his crew that Mercer didn’t get to choose was his first officer, and he is both shocked and dismayed to learn that his ex-wife Kelly was assigned to the position, which leads to some humorously awkward moments both on the bridge and during excursions.

All of the original FOX promos made this series appear to be a Galaxy Quest-like parody, but instead it turned out to be more of a straightforward show akin to Star Trek Enterprise, with a little added humor. Once I got used to this unexpected tone, I really enjoyed the premiere for the show that we got, but it still felt a little torn as to which identity it wants – a serious homage or a comedy. It feels like it will be more of the former than the latter. The special effects were impressive, the cast is great, and I really liked the dynamics of this crew. I’m looking forward to seeing what adventures await the Orville in future episodes.

If you missed last week’s premiere you can download it for free on Vudu or iTunes, and it’s probably also available On Demand or on the FOX app/website.

On tonight’s episode, “Command Performance,” when Ed and Kelly are tricked by a hologram of a ship in distress and find themselves prisoners in a replica of their former home, Alara must step up in her first command of the Orville and attempt a heroic rescue. Meanwhile, Bortus and Klyden receive some happy yet unexpected news.

Check out the second part of the premiere tonight on FOX at 8/7c.

I’ll also be watching/recording The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, Fear the Walking Dead, The Great Food Truck Race, The Strain, The Last Ship, The Deuce, Vice Principals, and Episodes.

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