Television

Shameless – Just Like the Pilgrims Intended

What did I just see? For those who have tried their very best to avoid watching childbirth, there’s no escaping it in this week’s Shameless. I’m not sure why, but the sight of a baby slowly popping out wasn’t necessarily something I would ever want to see on my TV screens. That’s why I avoid baby showers, too. But in an episode filled with naked people, a bloodbath and dead animals, there was very little screen time suitable for the prude and innocent. 

Much like a Thanksgiving turkey, this episode might have looked wild and gritty on the outside but it was chock full of goodness inside. It was basically the same old Shameless that had a purpose for every character and a tragic story to boot. Most tragic of all was Lip, who was occupied with shooting a video message for his unborn child—the one Karen is carrying. 

30 Rock – Grandmentor/Kidnapped By Danger

What a treat! We actually got two episodes for the price of one and they were actually both good. 30 Rock had a stellar outing this week with two of its best episodes of the season. Every other line was quotable and every character was at their best during the production process of “Kidnapped By Danger,” the TV movie that was going to free Avery.

In “Grandmentor,” Jack was having trouble getting the story of his wife’s kidnapping back in the news. He tried to contact Amnesty International, but they turned out to be a candle factory. And when he tried to draw attention by presenting the news, a bunch of infant Chinese miners got trapped and had to be saved by puppies. You can’t beat that kind of cuteness.

Alcatraz – Music Soothes in “Webb Porter”

Alcatraz reached another milestone with “Webb Porter.” The mystery surrounding Lucy was partly addressed in an episode that benefitted from all the improvements of the double feature, (“The Ames Brothers”/”Sonny Burnett”) and used violin music to dampen the violence.

Community – Contemporary Impressionists

What an interesting episode. “Contemporary Impressionists” was a classic Community episode in the sense of a stand-alone event, weird antics and personal developments. But it was a stand-out episode concerning one very integral friendship. For the first time, Troy and Abed were at odds.

It all started when Abed was hiring look-alikes to act out scenes from movies. The idea was rather awesome and liberating. Imagine entering the Matrix or saving Middle-Earth, just because you want to. It’s typical Abed and it laid down the very foundations of his free spirit. He did what every fan or geek has thought about at least once and proved that the only limitation is your sense of reality, which is exactly what troubled the group.

The Vampire Diaries – Break On Through

So that was that! Finally, the midseason character development episodes (or whatever you call them) are done and we can get back to the bigger-picture episodes that involve teams, stakes and edge-of-your-seat developments. But it had to get worse before it got better, so this week’s The Vampire Diaries was very much a transition episode. The first half was stuck in a rut, but then the back half left us begging for more. 

Showrunners You Should Follow On Twitter

Have you ever thought, “What on earth were the writers thinking?” Well, thanks to a little medium called Twitter, you can ask them yourselves. And, surprisingly, a lot of them reply back. It’s one of the wonders of the 21st century—allowing fans to interact with writers and vice versa. While there is typically a lot of noise from fans who are displeased with how a show develops, showrunners keep their heads held high. If you fancy people tweeting how they write all day with humor and grace, the following showrunners definitely deserve your attention.

Mythical Creature Smackdown – Does Your Fantasy Show Win?

Mythological creatures are hot. Perhaps not as hot as they were a couple of years ago but there is still a craving for bloodthirsty monsters on the tube. Thanks to a certain teen phenomenon, these monsters are now thought to be sparkly beefcakes, but every vampire, werewolf or witch started out as a powerful creature that could do everything man couldn’t—live forever, be undefeatable or have magic powers. Since technology hasn’t progressed so far that we can do those things, we are bound to just watch them on TV. But, with so many interpretations of what these creatures can actually do, it leaves to wonder: which one is actually the strongest? So, we here at PlayerAffinity present an ultimate smackdown between TV’s interpretations of the mightiest creatures of our fictional universe, the wolf, the witch and the bloodsucker. Let the battle begin!