West Week Ever – 3/28/14

I haven’t really used Netflix in a few weeks, so no news on that front. I RedBoxed American Hustle, but haven’t had the chance to watch it yet. I have, however, been watching a LOT of TV. First up, let’s talk about Chrisley Knows Best. Cable has so much faith in this show that it airs on almost as many networks as Cosmos. Todd Chrisley made a ton of money in real estate, and the show follows him and his super rich family. One son has a halfy baby, one daughter got a boob job, and another daughter got a Mercedes for her 16th birthday. Ya know, normal people stuff. The hook is that they supposedly have “real people problems” even though they seem so extravagant. I wanted to hate them, but it is an entertaining show. One draw, especially, is the “Is He or Isn’t He?” pertaining to Todd’s sexuality. In this day and age, it shouldn’t matter, but here’s this guy with 5 kids and a happy family, who also seems to be really gay ( and there’s nothing wrong with that!). When I first saw the commercials, I thought it was some sort of Queer Eye reboot, where he’d take some poor schlubs and make their lives fabulous. Contrary to belief, though, he’s a married man…who may be living a lie. Well, I’m gonna keep watching just in case there’s a “very special reveal” one episode…

Have any of you been watching Thrift Hunters? For a few years, I’ve been a member of a Facebook group called Thrifting With The Boys, which is a gathering of fellow thrifters who share tips and tricks. Well, the creators of the group – Jason T. Smith and Bryan Goodman – have been given their own show on Spike TV. Airing on Saturday nights, it’s a formula you’ve seen before: think American Pickers but in antique and thrift shops. The guys are likable enough, and it doesn’t feel as forced as a lot of reality TV. Unlike Storage Wars, where the buyers just assign a value to the items they find, you actually get to see the guys sell their stuff on eBay, so you get an idea as to how much profit they made.

Along the lines of reality TV, I used to be a big fan of The Real Housewives of New York City. I never thought I’d be a Real Housewives fan, and I’ve been able to avoid all the other incarnations. Still, something about NYC appealed to me because they were SO over the top and always fighting. Whether it was Bethenny vs. Jill, or The Countess saying something stupid, it was always entertaining. Then, they went and changed the cast on me. They fired most of the cast and hired new housewives, whom I loathed. I eventually stopped watching and was pretty convinced it had been canceled. This week, I found out that it does, in fact, still exist. It seems they’ve gotten rid of The Countess on a regular basis, and Ramona’s the only original housewife left. I can’t imagine how boring the show must be now. I tried to watch an episode, but the quality drama wasn’t there anymore. One of them was crying because her husband made her do a mud run, one of the chicks has a fake leg, and the others…well the others are just boring. I might tune in to the episodes where Countess LuAnn makes a cameo, but I think I’m officially done with the ladies of the Big Apple.

It took me a while to come around to it, but Rick and Morty might just be my new favorite show. Created by Community‘s Dan Harmon, and airing Mondays on Adult Swim, the show follows old drunk scientist Rick and his grandson Morty as they get in crazy adventures. I’m totally underselling it, as the “adventures” are a lot more complex than I’m making them sound. In one episode, Rick buys Morty an alien sex robot, who ends up pregnant with Morty’s baby. Did I mention Morty’s 12 years old? Anyway, I bingewatched every episode that Comcast had on demand and I LOVE it. I can’t wait for more episodes.

Speaking of bingewatching, I caught up on the last month worth of Enlisted. I realized, however, that Fox has been airing them out of order. I hate when networks do that.  Anyway, I’ve written about the show in the past, so I have to ask: Why are you not watching this show? I hear that The Goldbergs has a lot of heart and that there aren’t a lot of shows on the air like that anymore. Well, Enlisted has a lot of heart, too, and it’s a shame that Fox buried it on Friday nights. I really think it would’ve been a great companion show for Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but they had to go with Dads instead. If you haven’t seen it yet, you may not get a chance, as Fox is pulling it from their schedule for Kitchen Nightmares, but they promise it’ll be back at some point. So, be sure to watch it TONIGHT at 9 PM EST!

Remember how I didn’t want to give West Week Ever to the Muppets last week? Well, I was in the right, as Muppets Most Wanted flopped. I’ve got to say that I’m actually surprised, but it just seems like nobody really wanted to see the movie. I blame Ricky Gervais. I mean, I don’t feel like paying $14 to see Gervais convince Kermit that there’s no God. While we’re on the topic of flops, did anyone go see Need for Speed? I haven’t come across anyone who’s admitted to having seen it. According to IMDB, it has only made back half of its estimated $66 million budget. Let’s hope it does well overseas and on Blu Ray.

The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles teaser trailer came out yesterday, and folks are already up in arms ’cause it’s a Michael Bay production. I saw it and I didn’t hate it. The thing about TMNT that people forget is that the franchise is revised every few years for a new generation. Everyone likes to act like the Fred Wolf cartoons are the “original”, but try telling that to the fans of the original comic series. At this point, there’s the comic, the Fred Wolf cartoon, the first movie trilogy, The Next Mutation, the 2003 series, the 2007 animated movie, the current Nick cartoon, and now the Bay movie. Everyone has “their” incarnation of TMNT, and this movie is just another in a long line. There’s no need to be too upset, ’cause there’ll be another one along in a few years. The only thing that’s odd is why they would take such a departure from the current cartoon when it’ll still be on the air when the movie’s released. I mean, in “Bay Turtles”, April’s father created the Turtles, and they seem to be about 7 feet tall – none of which is reflected in the current Nick series. So, that seems kinda confusing, but it’s not the end of the world. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie came out while the show was on the air, and it took a lot of liberties with the franchise, so this is just another example of that.

Speaking of trailers, the new X-Men: Days of Future Past trailer came out this week. Maybe it’s because I’ve settled into suckling at the teat of Marvel Studios, but this thing does absolutely nothing for me. I don’t trust Bryan Singer, and the movie just looks like a bunch of dark angst. I know folks are excited, and I enjoyed First Class, but this ain’t by the guy who gave us First Class. This is the guy who gave us X2: X-Men United (yay!) AND Superman Returns (boo!). Kind of a mixed bag there. I’ll see it, but I may not see it in theaters. I waited until both First Class & The Wolverine were on DVD before I saw them, and that might be the case here, too.

While we’re talking about movies, my good buddy Jay Spence wrote and directed his first film. Here’s the RED BAND (NSFW!!!) trailer for You’re F@#k’n Dead!

It’s an homage to grindhouse cinema, and I’m really impressed to see this all come together. He had an indiegogo for post-production, but I wasn’t too swift about posting it on here before it ended. If he has any more fundraisers for the film, I’ll be sure to pimp them.

My pal Matt over at Awesome Toy Blog has a contest going on where he’s giving away 3 Funko Pop! vinyls from Entertainment Earth. If you’re a fan of Despicable Me, Wreck-It Ralph, or R2-D2, you’re gonna want one of these cute little guys for your collection! You can get all the contest details here.

Also, part 2 of my discussion with @SnoopyJenkins and David Walker has been posted, where we discuss diversity in comics.

Links I Loved

20 Things You Forgot You Had as a Kid – UnderScoopFire!

50 (Okay, 7) Reasons Why Arrow Is Better than Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – The Robot’s Pajamas

Pizza Thrower: A History of Reuse – Crooked Ninja Turtle Gang

Superman is a White Boy – Snoopy Jenkins

I was late to the Psych boat, as I didn’t have cable when it started. A few years ago, ION Television picked up the reruns, and they would have Psych marathons every Saturday night. One episode and I was hooked. If you’ve never seen it, Shawn Spencer and his friend, Burton “Gus” Guster, run a private detective agency called Psych. Oh, did I mention that people think Shawn is a psychic? Well, that’s the hook. He’s actually just really perceptive, but he’s accurate enough that the Santa Barbara police department commonly use Psych as consultants on cases. The beauty of the show is that it’s a love letter to children of the 80s, and Shawn and Gus are just two guys who don’t really wanna grow up. The show could be zany (Gus was in a collegiate singing group with Kenan and Urkel, and Shawn starred in a Spanish telenovela), but could also be really serious (Shawn tangled with psychopath Mr. Yang). The guest stars were always impressive, and a bad episode was a rare occasion. People have said that this season was a little too wacky, and I could see that. Even I couldn’t sit through the 2-hour musical episode, but my love never wavered for Shawn and Gus. This week saw the series finale of the show after 8 seasons. In my mind, I always thought that the show would end with Gus getting married and Shawn being forced to grow up. After all, Gus was basically the straight man, and he seemed to have his life a little more together than Shawn. So, I was pretty surprised when I saw how they actually decided to end the show. That said, I didn’t hate it. It was actually kinda endearing, and it makes me happy to know that there’ll be more Psych adventures, even if we don’t get to see them on a weekly basis. So, for bringing a smile to my face for 8 seasons, Psych had the West Week Ever.