New Year, New TV Shows

I have a reliable system --some have called it neurotic-- for managing my various platforms, but occasionally I run into a minor snag in my watching habits.  Usually, it involves getting stuck in a season of TV and foreshortening my time to watch movies.  Currently, I am making my way through six seasons of Frasier (I'm nearly done with season 3) and I just finished season one of Pinky and the Brain.  Christy suggested I check out the premiere of a new show on Starz called Blunt Talk and also Fear the Walking Dead.  We're also very excited to be able to see So You Think You Can Dance's 12th season finale this weekend.  (Yes, I know it aired on Monday.  We record it and then watch it together.  And yes, I am aware that is weird.)

  I've been cherry-picking my way through the first few seasons, mostly because I've watched them so many times I practically have them memorized.  This season is memorable because it's when Niles (David Hyde-Pierce) separates from his wife and has to be a bachelor again.  Frankly, his is the only character with a discernible arc this season.  Frasier has moments from episode to episode but the real development is with his brother.

  I had no idea Pinky and the Brain had their own spin-off series from Animaniacs until Netflix recommended it.  It was a surprisingly well-rounded season.  It's certainly dated by its inclusion of jokes about the Clinton presidency, but who knows?  That might well end up being prescient instead of a relic.

  I had to add Starz back to my cable lineup just to see this show.  I didn't do it for this show, I did it because in October Ash vs. the Evil Dead is airing and I must see it.  This was just kind of a lark.  I figured I'd give it a shot because none of my regular Fall programming is back yet and the new shows don't start until the 21st, at the earliest.  This has got to be one of the funniest shows I have seen in recent memory.  Walter Blunt (Patrick Stewart) is a TV talk show pundit desperate to retain his ratings in the face of a myriad of personal problems.  I have seen three episodes now and each one features Stewart being hysterically funny while setting up the supporting characters to have their own backstories and possibilities for pathos. 

  As for Fear the Walking Dead, I watched the pilot and was distinctly unimpressed.  I know The Walking Dead has become a pop culture phenomenon but I have only seen the first season of it.  While I enjoyed the parent show and intend to continue watching it whenever it comes to the top of my queue, I cannot muster much interest in its prequel.  The zombie outbreak story has been done to death --if you'll pardon the pun-- in recent years and frankly FTWD just didn't make much of an impact.