Here is a list of the TV shows I am most excited about in 2013.
1. Breaking Bad (Summer)
The final eight episodes will be airing in the summer and all the fans know is that at some point Walter White will have a beard and a big f'n gun. What he does with it is still up in the air but I am super excited to find out.
2. Game of Thrones (Mar. 31)
Ever since I heard this series came from a book I've done everything in my power to not read the books and have enjoyed the TV show every bit for it. The new characters look interesting. We finally get to see the leader of the raiders and Arya is all growned up.
3. Community (Feb. 7)
This season might be the last one for community and all I have to say about that is, Troy and Abed should get a spin-off.
4. Justified (Jan. 8)
Raylan Givens is back and ready to kick the crap out of crime. Last season their seemed to be a lack of shooting people for no reason except he said he would so I wonder whether they stick to that rode or go back to the cop that shoots first, second and third and then asks questions.
5. The Following (Jan. 21)
Kevin Bacon is a ex-FBI agent brought back in to track down a mad man who has assembled a group of serial killers. James Purefoy plays the killer and it seems like that he was made for the role.
6. Archer (Jan. 17)
The worlds greatest spy is back to get drunk, sleep with random women and demean his butler.
7. Spartacus: War of The Damned (Jan. 25)
If you have followed the three other seasons then you probably know exactly what to expect from the finale season of the series. If you haven't then let me fill you in, there is sex, nudity, blood, fighting, gladiators and much more. Well, actually that's pretty much it but I can't wait to see how they cap the series.
8. Eastbound and Down (Date TBD)
In my TV Review post I mentioned that the last season of Eastbound and Down was the last season. Only to realize that it was in fact picked up for a fourth season and I can't be any happier that I was wrong. Are Kenny and April be together and raise their kid? Probably not but what else do you expect from the baddest bad ass of the all.
9. Defiance (April)
SyFy istrying really hard to go back to the science fiction genre with this show and it looks like they might have succeeded. The show is about a bunch of alien races trying to move to our planet when thier sun exploded. Will we be as hostile as the Americans are to the Mexicans when they try to come in to their country? Probably.
10. The Family Tools (May 1)
I couldn't find a new comedy I was excited about, and then their was this. I am still not to excited to see it but just for the sole purpose of employing Leah Remini they get the 10th spot.
Here are 10 of the movies I am most excited for in 2013.
1. Pacific Rim
When the world is attacked by giant alien creatures from another dimension the only way to survive is to create giant alien fighting robots driven by Charlie Hunnam. From what I can tell in this trailer, the battles between giant robots and dimension travelling aliens are very well done and clear. The robots look way better then the one from Transformers.
2. Star Trek: Into Darkness
All the actors from the first movie in this new rebooted series are back and on top of that they added Benedict Cumberpatch as the main villain I was never really a Star Trek fan until J.J Abrams put out the spectacular Star Trek movie in 2009 and now I am on board. I can't wait to see who Sherlock(Benedict Cumberpatch plays Sherlock Holmes on the BBC show Sherlock) plays in this film.
3. Now You See Me
A group of magicians rob banks during their shows and then give the money to the audience? That sounds like a terrible idea for a movie, no? Actually, if the trailer is any indication, this movie looks really good. The cast of Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Mark Ruffalo only take what seems like a ridiculous idea and make it much more plausible.
4. Man of Steel
The Dark Knight of the Superman universe. From the trailer you can tell that they tried to go really dark when making this movie. I don't know how I feel about that but the fact that Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner play the two fathers of Clark Kent/Kal-El makes me ok with everything else that will happen in this movie. Plus, Michael Shannon playing Zod is amazing.
5. 21 and Over
This looks like a college version of hangover and I am not against it. Skylar Astin is a surprise as the leading man in a movie but after what he did in Pitch Perfect I am loooking forward to what his career amounts to. Also doesn't Jeff Chang look like the coolest.
6. John Dies at The End
Although this movie was released at the Sundance film festival in 2012 it wont be released in theaters untill January 25 2013 which makes in one of my most anticipated movies. The trailer is so all over the place I don't really know what to expect except that John will die at the end.
7. A Haunted House
Marlon Waynes' is back doing what he does best, spoofing horror movies. Ever since the Waynes brothers left the Scary Movie franchise they have suffered from a lack of creativity and tend to rely on the same jokes. Now that Marlon is back we can all relax.
8. Baytown Outlaws
I have no idea who the three main guys in this movie are, in fact I don't even recognize them to see them. Does that deter my excitement for what looks to be a O'Brother Where Art Thou meets Smokin' Aces type of movie. All the gun fighting and explosions help too.
9. Oz: The Great and Powerful
James Franco is the Wizard of Oz? Come on... Anyway I am much more excited to see how the world of Oz is realized in this age of fancy special effects.
10. Oblivion
Tom Cruise is not one of my most liked actors in the world, actually I tend to stay away from movies that are based around how bad ass he is(how can someone who stands 5'2 be a bad ass?) And really the only thing that has me excited about this film is Morgan Freeman with the sunglasses. Is anything better the Mr. Freeman lecturing you with one of the long winded yet encapsulating speechs he does. I am sold on Morgan Freeman as winner of this movie.
Honorable Mention
All my honorable mentions that are comedies that I think will be hilarious but am not to sure if I wont have to be under the influence to find them funny.
The year in music was a little lackluster this year with not one standalone best album but many pretty good ones. If the list's I've found on the internet (some shadier sites) are legit then 2013 looks like it might be a stellar year in music.
1.Aftermath
The record label that Dr. Dre started, and I'm sure will have something to do with both Eminem and 50 Cent's next albums, looks like it is going to have a big year. If Detox drops it could also be an unpredictably amazing year for the label.
The only one of the aforementioned artists actually have a release date set and that's Fifty. His fifth studio Street King Immortal will drop on February 26 and all I can say is that I hope it's more "Many Men" than "United Nations."
Eminem and Dre are two other stories completely. The sole evidence of an Eminem album being released in 2013 is on a baseball cap that the Official Eminem Website is selling. The baseball hat is embroidered with the D of the Detroit Tigers and eight years listed on the side of the hat (1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004,2009, 2010, 2013). To explain the dates the websute states "Side panel is dedicated to the landmark Eminem solo albums." How could 2013 be on the hat if he's not going to put out a landmark album.
As for Dr. Dre, the Detox album has been "in works" for so many years that I can't remember if I was still listening to the Marshall Matthers LP at the time. Well, here's hoping that 2013 is the year of the Detox. Fingers crossed.
2. O.G.s of Rap
On a fellow Blogger site(I don't know how credible it is) I read that Ice Cube was planning to release an album this year. Then I kept scrolling down the list and saw L.L. Cool J was releasing an album on February 12. I kept scrolling and more names started to jump off the list Method Man, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg (Lion?), Mystikal, Fat Joe, Juelz Santana, Jadakiss, DMX, Raekwon. All I can say is, yes please.
3. 1999 Diva's
What year is it? Both Mariah Carey and Cher are planning on releasing albums in 2013. I just checked the newspaper and yes it is 2012.
4. G.O.O.D. Music?
After a lackluster 2012 album, Cruel Summer, Kanye is getting the super group back together for another go around in 2013. Cruel Summer had some good songs except that they all were released as singles before the album was even released which took a lot of steam out of it. Hopefully Cruel Winter (original...), the follow up album, has Kanye's full attention and isn't just one of his side projects.
5. Watch The Throne 2?
Not only does Kanye have a new G.O.O.D. Musis album to help create, he has also been rumored to be planning a solo album for sometime this year and now I'm reading that Watch the Throne 2 is happening I don't know where to begin except to say if Kanye can pull off a year like that he will solidify himself as the entertainer of my generation.
6. Young Ladies Make Music Too
Tegan and Sara, Azealia Banks and Solange all have albums scheduled for release in 2013 and if that isn't enough miss Banks, who is 21, wants to put out two albums this year and then take some time off. You are 21 what could you have done to deserve time off? Too much illegal narcotics?
7. Making Wavves
The band Wavves (I am not too familiar with them) have announced that their 2013 album will be a hip hop or hip hop inspired album. If it is anything like the song they put out with Big Boi, then I am super excited.
8. Earl Who?
The juvenile rapper and member of OFWGKTA has put out singles here and there and been on other Odd Future members songs but his long awaited debut album is set to release this year and I can't explain how excited I am. If the CD is even a fifth of what his first single off the album is then I will be satisfied.
9. Who Will Taylor Swift Date This Year?
Taylor Lautner, Tyler the Creator, the other four members of One Direction? It could literally be anyone. I think the most memorable option would be for her to break up the newly reunited Nirvana by dating Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney, now that would be hilarious. You can be sure though that after they break up they are never ever ever getting back together.
10. R.Kelly's Back! (In The Closet?)
The follow up installments to his internet soap opera (emphasis on opera)Trapped in the Closet were posted on the internet in 2012 and made very little splash in the media pond. I am expecting a lot more hoopla and maybe a conviction or two before the release of his new album Black Panties.
TV
This is the final post in my blog series "Year in Review" and is easily the one I feel most comfortable writing. I know people will disagree with my rankings and that is fine but I have watch enough TV, both bad and good, to know what quality TV is. Here are the lists of my ten favorite comedies and dramas. Also I will add three other lists containing my five favorite new shows, Late Night Show and reality TV shows.
Drama 1. Breaking Bad
The final season of Breaking Bad has been broken in to two parts. The first part which aired this year, which is amazing and is why it's ranked number one, left so many questions with fans that I can almost easily say that my favorite show of 2013 will be one about Meth and i'm not talking about Intervention.
2. Game of Thrones
The battle in the second last episode of the season that built up to the exploding river (if you haven't seen it the YouTube it right now) is one of the biggest TV moments of 2012. Not only was that episode good but the season as a whole was just epic and groundbreaking TV. All I can ask for is that Daenerys can keep a hold on her dragons.
3. Mad Men
This season of Mad Men had Matthew Weiners son with a mustache It had fraud, fighting, prostitution, suicide and even dream murder. It was all over the place thematically and went a lot of unexpected ways. But when you have a product as good as Mad Men you have the ability to do that without the product suffering or the fans loosing interest. And let me make this point I never once lost interest.
4. Homeland
After an off season of how are they going to keep Brody around and how are they going to bring Carrie back into the mix. And after a season of roller coaster fan support and people jumping off the bandwagon because they didn't believe some of the things on the show. Homeland ended their second season with a bang (literally) and with what in my mind was the best episode of this season closed some loose end story line and set it up for an interesting third season. I can't wait!
5. Sherlock
Sherlock airs on BBC and you can watch it on Netflix (even Canadian Netflix) which makes it one of those shows that is too good not being watched. The seasons are three episodes each (each episode is about an hour and a half long) which makes them pretty easy to catch up. You could have a Sherlock night and get through most of them pretty easily. If you don't understand what i'm saying is that you should be watching this show.
6. Justified
After a season where Margo Martindale steals the show and Jeremy Davies limping his way through a great acting performance you wonder if the next season will be able to match up. In 2012 Justified did it's beat to bring in some heavy hitters in Neal McDonough and Mykelti Williamson as the new baddies but they just didn't live up to Mags Bennet. Don't get me wrong the season was great that's why it's number six on the list but it couldn't hold a candle to season 2 of Justified.
7. Parenthood
This has always been one of my favorite shows but it is also one of the hardest shows to watch. It is so emotionally draining sometimes and some of the episodes feel like they have 13 different endings it's constant But this season they seemed to be able to get all of that under control and everyone in the Braverman family seemed to have their place, even the little Mexican one.
8. Dexter
Season 6 of Dexter was way outside the box and almost everyone knew what was coming by the middle of the season. Season 7 on the other hand took what season 6 left us (Deb finding out who Dexter really is) and played on it extremely well. Then adding Yvonne Strahovski as Dexter's love interest and Ray Stevenson as the main baddy were two casting strokes of genius. Hopefully they keep on this upward path and when they finally do end this show (long overdue?) I really hope they can tie Dexter's story together well.
9. Sons of Anarchy
Another season of Jacks getting into trouble and in the last episode or two unraveling everything for everyone else and coming out on top. Or did he? With Tara going to jail for something that is related to the club his conscious can't be clear. We'll see if ha can get himself out of this predicament as well ( I bet he can). Oh, and Jimmy Smits did a good job playing a pimp.
10. The Walking Dead
Zombies getting killed, zombies being used as torture devices, zombie daughters having their hair combed by human daddy... Yeah, all that happened. The effects were crazy though and I enjoyed seeing the new people and hope they play a bigger role in the second half of the season.
Honorable Mention
Alphas
X-Men meets Heroes meets CSI. This is a great show if you like shows about powers.
Treme
Come for the New Orleans music and stay for the New Orleans music. That;s all there really is.
Comedies
1. Louie
Louie is taking a year off before he puts out another season of his critically acclaimed show, so my advice would be to buy/download/steal a copy of the third season of Louie and watch it as many times as you can before then.
2. Parks and Recreation
I am absolutely astonished by how often Parks and Rec. came to my mind when I though about favorite comedies. Most of it was remember crazy stuff Aubrey Plaza and Chris Pratt do or the insane the Aziz Ansari and Amy Poehler's characters say. But they aren't even the best part of the show that would be the bacon and eggs Mr. Ron mmm-f-ing Swanson.
3. 30 Rock
This was 30 Rocks last season and they came out firing on all cylinders. Tina Fey said she wanted the show to go out on top and she has no worries of that not happening.
4. Community
Even thought the best episode of Community's third season (Remedial Chaos Theory) didn't air in 2012 it had enough great shows that did air in 2012 to secure a top spot in my rankings By the way did you hear the news about Dan Harmon?
5. Misfits
This show is about a group of teens on community service duty who end up getting powers from a freak storm. I ranked it as fifth on the comedy side of things because of the character named Rudy and all his ridiculous antics. If you haven't seen it well you are definitely missing out.
6. South Park
Another season of hilarity by the boys who brought you Team America: World Police and the Broadway play The Book of Mormon. This is their 15th season putting south Park on the air and if you thought that would hinder the amount of stories they have to tell you are dead wrong. Not only that but they seemed to push the bar even further this year, and what more can you ask for from the guys who created Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo.
7. Wilfred
A man see's a dog as a man in a dog costume. How much more do you need?
8. The Big Bang Theory
Sheldon and the boys do it again. Mayim Bailik, who used to play Blossom back in the day, is easily a surprise hit and this season she has turned up the funny.
9. Modern Family
As long as you have this cast together this show will be this great.
10. Eastbound and Down
The final season left us with the death and resurrection (not really, he never died) of one of the greatest characters in fictional baseball pitching history.
Honorable Mention
Workaholics
We met Durs' father and found out how the boys met, this was a "loose butt-hole" season.
New Girl
With Nick and Schmidt killing it this show could easily move up in my top ten in 2013.
New Shows
1. Girls
I didn't know whether to put this is comedy or drama so I had an easy cop out and put it as the best new show on TV(which it was) in 2012. Lena Dunham has a voice that speaks to many people (good and bad) as you can see by all the controversy she had over this show. But the season was well put together and you definitely felt like it was a world you could have living in and that's always a nice thing for a TV show to do.
2. House of Lies
Don Cheadle has a lot of sex. Kristen Bell has a lot of sex and Ben Schwartz makes some hilarious jokes. This show came out at the starting of 2012 but is still one of my favorites of the year. It could have made a run at the 10th spot in my comedy side had it been a weaker year for comedy.
3. Awake
This show has already been cancelled so don't feel like you need to watch it but if you have some time and nothing to do...
4. Go On
Matthew Perry doing Matthew Perry things.
5. Penn. 1600
This show just started and I really like the pilot and because I haven't watched Nashville, Revolution sucked and most of the new comedies were terrible it gets this spot by default.
Reality TV
1. Duck Dynasty
This show has become a cult classic within the first season. Now we just have to wait and see if it ends up like Pawn Stars and Storage Wars before it.
2. The Voice
If you watch any other singing competition I can't be your friend. The Voice has the best judges and it lets people who might have already had a small break in the industry try out, which leads to a lot better musical performances.
3. Amazing Race
Another season of Amazing Race is in the books and this time a gay couple won the whole thing after being underdogs the whole time. It had to be one of the more exciting seasons in a while.
4. Big Brother
Before the last couple of weeks I would have called this season of BB the best since the All Star season. But then Ian had to go and win and makes this game about people being liked and not Dan's amazing gameplay.
5. The Challenge
The Real World/Road Rules Challenge on MTV has been said by some to be America's fifth major sport. It is a crazy show where a bunch of random people fomr The Real World or Raod Rules (two other MTV shows) come together and compete for a large sum of money. Most of the season it is just a party and drunken fights. But the last episode or two is devoted to the namesake, Challenge, which usually has contestants running a certain distance while doing puzzles and other competitions at different intervals. The team that finishes the whole thing as a team are crowned the winners.
Late Night TV
1. Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel has quietly toiled in late night for years and is now finally getting some recognition and in the new year will be in the 11:35 slot.
2. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
This dude get's everyone to sing with him. He has brought a new game to Late Night and i like it.
3. The Colbert Report
I think Colbert is starting to outshine his mentor and is making a huge name for himself. I don't know where he goes from here but the likely path seems up. Is that possible.
4. The Daily Show
John Stewart is still winning Emmy's and still killing Bill O'Rielly just like everyone wants.
5. Saturday Night Live
I like to think SNL had a pretty good year so far with Jamie Foxx, Anne Hatheway, JGL, Louie C.K., Daniel Craig and even Bruno Mars, who did double duty.
The year in
sports is a tough subject to break down in a blog so I will be making it a
little easier on myself by choosing, what I think, are the biggest stories from
most of the major sports. I will also recap the champions of the major North
American sports leagues and highlight some of the better plays from each.
Champions
NBA - Miami Heat
The Heat
dismantled the OKC Thunder in 5 games and takes home the first championship
since Lebron, Wade and Bosh teamed up. Lebron also secured the MVP with play
that had every media member saying he had made the leap that he needed to be
the best player in the league.
NFL - New York Giants
The New York
Giants upset the New England Patriots in the 46th annual Superbowl.
That’s not all the Giants also broke the record for having the lowest regular
season record (9-7) for a team that won the Superbowl.
NHL - LA Kings
After being
predicted to be the best team in the NHL during the 2011-12 season, they started
off the year and only managed to get into the playoffs in the eighth seed. They
ended up losing only 4(out of 20) games on their way to becoming Stanley Cup
Champions.
CFL - Toronto Argonauts
Like any
season in the CFL the Grey Cup is always up for grabs, even if you didn’t play
so well all season. This year’s champion is just more proof of that with the
9-9 Toronto Argo’s out playing the 12-6 Calgary Stampeders to win their 16th
Grey Cup.
MLB - San Franscisco Giants
I don’t
watch a lot of baseball. Barry Bonds use to play for them right? Does that mean
they all do steroids? Are steroids still a big deal in the MLB?
The Giants
winning the MLB championship seems like a good thing because it’s not the
Yankees or Red Socks. Am I right, baseball fans?
Big Stories (and highlights) of 2012
NBA
The Stern and Lake Show
The two
biggest stories of the NBA in 2012 are the announced retirement of one of the
longest running NBA commissioners of all time and all the trades he allowed and
didn’t allow.
David Stern will
have been commissioner for 30 years when he retires in February of 2013. So,
why is an announced retirement such big news? Well, it’s because the man has
not made a great name for himself and created most of the problems the NBA has
to deal with today. All we can hope for is that Adam Silver is a little more
subtle when he’s screwing all the fans over.
Secondly all
the “names” that were traded this offseason is a pretty big deal. There was Harden,
Bynum, Joe Johnson, Lin, Igoudala and those weren’t even the biggest moves of
the year. The honors for that go to the Los Angeles Lakers who brought in a 2
time MVP (Steve Nash) and a 3 time NBA Defensive player of the year (Dwight
Howard), not only that they had a chance to hire arguably the greatest coach of
all time(Phil Jackson). Add that to Kobe Bryant, statistically one of the best
players of all time, and Pau Gasol an Olympic Silver medalist and one of the
top five centers in the league, you would think you had a great team right?
Well Nash is injured, Dwight is recovering from surgery, Pau is not playing at
an all star level and they lose when ever Kobe score more than 30 points (they
are 1 -11 in those situations). Will they put it together and make the
playoffs? Hopefully, all us Canadians want to see in Steve Nash get a ring.
NFL
Tragedy
This year in
the NFL has been all about tragedies. There was a scandal where coaches were
taped telling players to injure certain layers on the teams. There was a
suicide by a man that was so physically and mentally destroyed from football
that he shot himself in the chest so his brain could be used in the research of
concussions. There was a car crash were the passenger (an NFL player) was
killed and the driver (another NFL player) was convicted of intoxicated man
slaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison. There was even a NFL player that
went to the extreme and killed his wife and then himself. Football is one of
the most dangerous sports and after a year like this something definitely needs
to change.
(I did not
name or really talk about any incident specifically because I do not feel
comfortable speaking about something I know very little of. Also this is not
the forum or way to talk about matters as serious as many of those were. Most
or all of the stories can be read about on the internet. Thank you and now some
NFL highlights of the year!)
NHL
Long Live the Kin…(LOCKEDOUT!)
After
another great season Gary Bettman and the owners cannot figured out a way to
make up for their own mistakes and for the second time in six years the NHL is
locked out again. This section of the blog post has now been lockout as well.
(Oh Sid the Kid’s been playing goalie though.)
CFL
CFLame
What can I
say about the Canadian Football League in 2012… Here are some highlights.
MLB
Money, Money, Money
I don’t
follow baseball (if you didn’t know) so here is a list of some of the contracts
signed in 2012.
Albert Pujols
10 year 240 million
Joey Votto
10 years 225 million
Prince
Fielder 9 years 214 million
Matt Kemp 8
years 160 million
Josh
Hamilton 5 year 125 million
That’s just
crazy.
Olympics
The Olympics
are always one of the biggest stories of the year when they are put on. This
year was no different the opening ceremony was directed by a movie director and
had a certain Hollywood feel to it with all the set pieces. The ceremony as a
whole was quite amazing especially when the Olympic rings come together above
the smoke stacks during the industrial revolution part of it.
The actual
Olympics weren’t that news worthy with the US and China coming away one and two
in the medal count. A couple athletes made names for themselves (Rosannagh
Maclennan of Canada and Gabrielle Douglas of the US) There were also those that
solidified there place in the history books (Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt).
Boxing
Paquiao Goes Down
This is
another sport I don’t follow to closely but easily the biggest story of the
year has to be Mr. Paqiauo’s downfall. He had a close loss earlier in the year
and then he gets smashed in his third fight with Marquez who cleans his clock.
This wasn’t his year that’s for sure.
MMA
Dana Red Hot
A lot of
stuff happened in the UFC and MMA world this year. The thing is so much stuff
happened that in kind of fell off the radar. It was like an oversaturation of
the market. Dana White has a plethora of fighters and he seems to be having a
little trouble managing who fights and when. Being that MMA is such a physical
sport it doesn’t help that there are so many injuries. Surprisingly though the
story of the year in the MMA world is not that there were too many events but
that one of them was cancelled completely. UFC 151 had to be cancelled due to
an injury to Jon Jones’ initial opponent (Dan Henderson) and the refusal of Jon
Jones to fight the remplacement fighter (Chael Sonnen) on short notice. Let’s
just say Dana wasn’t too happy about the whole situation.
Cycling
Lance Strong Armed
Lance
Armstrong, the one testiculed former beau of Sheryl Crow, has had all of his
seven Tour de France wins removed from the records when he decided to drop his
fight against the charges of using performance enhancing drugs during those
races. It’s a shame that a man with one ball can’t get a break these days.
