Let's Go "Pocoyo"!!

Pocoyo (2005)

TV-Y

Created by David Cantolla, Luis Gallego, Guillermo Garcia

The Story:

Pocoyo is a curious little 4 year old boy who enjoys hanging out with his best friends Pato and Elly. The narrator (Stephen Fry) guides us through each episode as we wonder what exactly will Pocoyo be up to this time.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I've never been one to be first to the party, but I'm one that happily tells you how great the party is once I arrive.

Which leads us to Pocoyo.

Clearly, having started in 2005, I'm a little late to the adventures, but flipping through Netflix earlier this month, there Pocoyo was staring back at me while I was looking for something to watch with Remy.

And isn't he cute?

That's what I thought, so I figured what the heck, how back could it be?

I was greeted with adorable 3D animation with minimal (normally flat out plain white) backgrounds but some of the cutest characters ever to grace an animated series. These are roughly 7 minute episodes that are packaged together to make one full show that runs less than 30 minutes.

So, do you have children? Grandchildren? Just like fun animation? Then this is the show for you!

Okay, it's for your kids, but you're totally going to enjoy having it on in the background.

The music is good. The animation is adorable. The narration is soft and charming. The characters themselves absolutely charming.

Dialogue, aside from the narrator is minimal.

That said, the narrator will ask once or twice if the viewers can help Pocoyo (or whomever) if we can help solve the problem, and you will hear a few children voices chime in with assistance to get the story back on track.

Then 7 minutes later, the next segment begins with the theme song and the character introductions.

The writing is rather clever, and the characters all have very distinct personalities.

Given a choice of hundreds of animated shows that you can be forced to endure alongside your children, I would easily place this one in the Top 10 shows you could watch and enjoy on repeat viewings.

You might even find yourself watching along after the kid leaves the room...

Just saying...

:)

Viewer Discretion Advised:

The episode "Elly's Doll" darn near killed me.

I started laughing so hard, I could not catch my breath.

I thought, "this is it, I'm going to die...at least I'm going to die laughing..."

Thankfully I did manage to recover, though my wife's continued laughter kept triggering me to laugh again.

I was beginning to think she was after the insurance money!! :)

Needless to say, I did come back the next day to watch the episode from start to finish.

I did indeed still laugh, just not as hard, or as life-threatening as the previous evening.

Thank goodness!

Pocoyo is currently streaming on both Netflix AND Amazon Prime.

There are 4 seasons available on both. The 4th season introduces a new character and changes narrators. Still enjoyable, but not quite the same as the first 3 seasons.


"Bye bye, See you soon!" ~ The Narrator

The Bad News About "Great News"

Great News  (2017)

TV-14

Starring Briga Heelan, Andrea Martin, Adam Campbell, Nicole Richie, Horatio Sanz, John Michael Higgins,

Created by Tracey Wigfield

The Story:

Go behind the scenes of "The Breakdown" one of Cable News many, many shows available to viewers in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

While the premise of the story is Carol (Martin) becoming an intern in her 60s at the Cable News show where her daughter Katie (Heelan) works as a producer, there is oh so much more to the show than simply a sneak peak at one of the wackiest mother/daughter relationships in television history.

Thanks to an eclectic cast of crazies, there is never a dull moment and you're never sure what is going to happen next in front of or behind the camera.

While many of the characters might start out as stereotypical placeholders for their role, the actors breathe life and dimension into them, so that even the supporting cast that I didn't name provides must see moments in the background, or sometimes front and center.

Sadly, after two seasons on NBC, they pulled the plug on it.

I discovered it when Netflix sent me an email that basically said "the best show that nobody is watching".

I gave it a try, and we've cycled through both seasons... a few times now...

:)

Fun comfort food when you want something to fill 22 minutes of your evening.

Although it is an ensemble, I must single out Higgin's portrayal of Chuck Pierce as my favorite. He's always been an actor I've enjoyed whenever I see him in something, and his bombastic anchorman is incredible.

Fingers crossed that Netflix might pick up a 3rd season for the show, but if they don't, we'll keep revisiting the newsroom periodically.

Guilty As Charged..."American Vandal"

American Vandal (2017)

Starring Tyler Alvarez, Griffin Gluck, Jimmy Tatro, Camille Hyde, Eduardo Franco, Calum Worthy, Camille Ramsey, Karly Rothenberg

Created by Dan Perrault & Tony Yacenda

The Story:

Dylan Maxwell (Tatro) stands accused of a heinous act of vandalism: drawing dicks on 27 teacher's cars at the local high school. Now the school's morning show is out to discover whether Dylan is indeed guilty, or being framed.

This Netflix Original premiered this morning.

I posted the trailer the other day, and now halfway into the 3rd episode, it's every bit as compelling as the true crime documentaries that it's poking fun of.

Satire. Loving homage. Mockumentary.

However you want to classify it, they're taking the components of "Making a Murderer" or any other true crime series and making their storyline just as compelling.

But also, hilariously funny.

Each episode is a half hour, so it flies by much quicker than an hour-long drama.

But the cast is believable and again, the storyline works perfectly as a crime whodunit that keeps you captivated.

And at the end of each episode, they toss the next curve ball at the audience to make you go "no way!" and then you're hooked for the next episode.

Not sure how it's going to end, but with nearly half the series over...

A-

Detective "Bosch" Will Get His Man

Bosch - (2014)

TV-MA

Starring Titus Welliver

Created by Michael Connelly

The Story:

Detective Harry Bosch (Welliver) is an L.A. homicide detective who is facing charges of killing an unarmed suspect and then planting a gun on him when the series opens. As the trial continues, Bosch discovers the bones of a teenager that had been killed decades earlier. Then a serial killer is discovered who claims that the bones are that of his first victim. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues that grips all of Los Angeles with fear while Bosch has to deal with his cases and the politics of the Los Angeles police department.

I went into this one with no expectations as I've not read the novels by Michael Connelly nor heard anything about the show.

Amazon just kept putting it on their page whenever I looked to see if there were any new movies or shows I wanted to watch as I was looking to see if the last season of Justified was ever going to get added.

Don't worry, it was, and I enjoyed it.

But this is about Bosch.

It's a pretty solid crime drama.

High production values, which Amazon, Netflix and the rest are throwing at these shows to rival broadcast and cable television. Solid actors, complex, believable storylines that keep you intrigued to see where the story will go.

Welliver carries the show as the detective who cares about the cases he is trying to solve, even if he doesn't really care for the department or the people who work with him.

Not saying he's a lone wolf rebel, but he's simply someone who doesn't have time for politics and refuses to play that game.

That he is a former member of the military speaks volumes for that behavior.

:)

All of the clichés and trappings of cop shows are to be had here in one form or another.

Bosch doesn't set out to reinvent the genre.

It simply sets out to add another detective to a long list of TV cops we wish and hope there are in real life.

On that note, it succeeds quite well.

Season 1 and 2 streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime as of this writing.

Final Grade: Solid B

Aside From The Cast, I Found Little Appeal From "Parks And Recreation"

Parks & Recreation  (2009)

TV-PG

Starring Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Aziz Ansari, Rashida Jones

Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Shur

The Story:

Take a behind the scenes look at the local politics and backstabbing that take place at the Parks and Recreation office in a small Indiana town.

No, I did not watch this show when it aired.

It's now streaming on Netflix, so I decided to take a gander and see what I thought.

Much like Firefly, meh, it didn't really seem that great.

It's a wonderful cast, and from the actors that I saw (Poehler, Plaza, Pratt, Jones) I've loved them in many other things that I've watched them in.

With this show, I've watched 2 episodes...

And I just can't see myself wanting or having to see the remaining 123 episodes.

It was amusing in spots, but nothing gut-bustingly funny nor compelling enough that I have to see it.

I know, it just doesn't seem fair.

How can I judge a series after only 2 episodes?

And yet, we do it all the time.

The networks parade a wide variety of shows each and every season...some stick, some don't.

If you can't grab me by the first episode, what are the odds I will come back next week?

Looking back at what I watched last year, and even going back farther, perhaps I lean towards the hour long shows (42 minute runtime on Netflix!) as it gives the show a chance to flesh itself out in the pilot and grow on me twice as fast.

So with the daunting task of facing 45+ more hours of Parks and Recreation, or going about my business of watching just about anything else...

Yep, I'm aiming for other offerings for my time.

Final Grade-  C

Too Bad "Jessica Jones" Wasn't As Intersting As The Villain

Jessica Jones (2015)

TV-MA

Created by Melissa Rosenberg

Starring Krysten Ritter, David Tennant, Rachael Taylor, Eka Darville, Carrie-Anne Moss, Wil Traval, Mike Colter

The Story:

Jessica Jones (Ritter) is a former superhero who has hung up the costume and now uses her powers as a detective in the hopes of making ends meet. Her troubled past is never far behind, and she tries to keep those demons at bay by continually hitting the bottle, hard. However, when she learns that Kilgrave, (Tennant) the man with the power to make people do whatever he says, is back in town, Jessica vows to stop him, by any means necessary.

The latest from Marvel and their collaboration with Netflix did not disappoint many rabid fans who devoured this show immediately upon its arrival.

I'm still not the world's biggest binge watching fan, mostly because I have more important things to do with my life than power through 6, 8, 12 or more episodes of anything all at once.

I'll get to the end of the season when I'm darn good and ready, quit rushing me.

:)

I'm sure there are many fans that loved this show much more than I did.

For the record, I didn't hate it, but I was troubled by certain aspects of it.

It came across very much like the comic, Alias, that inspired this show. I gave up on that comic early in its run as well. I didn't really care for the MAX line of comics. It seemed like an odd way to shove sex, language and more graphic violence into mainstream comics.

Now, adult situations are one thing, but doing those things for the sake of pushing the envelope as a "look what we can do now" sense of storytelling, I find that boring.

And that's where I fell with most of this series.

There were some pacing issues with Daredevil, but at least things were happening and people were getting killed, so there was always a sense of moving forward with the storyline.

With Jessica Jones, this storyline could have easily been resolved in 8 episodes, 10 tops, so it began to feel padded and dragging as the storyline went along.

Another issue I had with this one is that I liked just about every character in the story...

Except the main character.

Just like in the comics, Jessica Jones comes across cold and not very likeable. Couple her with Hogarth (Moss) and you've got a tandem of the most powerful, yet unlikeable characters in the Marvel universe.

Thankfully, I was interested in the majority of the supporting cast from the series. I'm looking forward to seeing Luke Cage (Colter) get his own series, and hopefully team up with Iron Fist to make the Heroes for Hire. Then there's Trish Walker (Taylor) who I hope will be suiting up as Hellcat by the time The Defenders rolls across Netflix.

Even Malcom (Darville) was a more interesting, well rounded supporting character and I looked forward to seeing what happened to him next.

However, the very thing I praised Daredevil for doing, Jessica Jones made the cardinal mistake of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and killed the villain at the end.

Oops.

Spoiler alert.

Sorry.

:)

Tennant's Kilgrave was the best part of the show, and he could have been a force to be reckoned with (especially against the Defenders) at a later point. Maybe enough to even bridge to the cinematic universe as well.

I've often said that the hero is often only as good as their villain. In this instance, that didn't pan out.

I'd love to watch a Kilgrave series where he tried to reform (Thunderbolts?) but sometimes failed and reverted to his evil ways.

Plus, while we should have hated Kilgrave with ever fiber of our being, the show ended up painting him into a rather sympathetic corner. Really, his powers weren't his fault, and yes, knowing what he had the power to do, he could easily make his choices less gruesome and final.

But still, they lost a great character and actor that would have been fun to have pop up again.

Is it Kilgrave messing with people...or are they really making these decisions on their own.

So many possibilities.

Flushed.

I'm curious when Marvel will realize that they've only got a finite amount of characters. They keep killing them off at the end of every movie and show, eventually they'll run out.

Not the best way to run a long-term strategy with the shows/movies.

Anyway, it wasn't terrible, by any means, but it also could have been so much better.

Or shorter.

Final Grade: B-

Time To Turn In My Nerd Card... "Firefly"

Firefly (2002)

Created by Joss Whedon

Starring Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Summer Glau, Ron Glass, Sean Maher,

The Story:

In the distant future, Captain Mal Reynolds (Fillion) and his ragtag crew take on any and all paying jobs while trying to stay out of the hair of warring factions and authorities bent on catching them.

That's all I'm going to write for the plot, because really, that's all that matters at this point. People that read this are going to be of one of two camps:

I love Firefly.

What's Firefly?

This hybrid western/science fiction crossover is the answer to many fans question of "what show was cancelled too soon?" or "if you could bring back any one television show?" or...

Well, you get the idea.

Fox has a history of cutting short anything that's new and doesn't attract earth-shattering numbers to keep viewers interest.

They also have a tendency to keep animated shows on the air long after they've ceased being consistently funny, or in some cases, ever being funny to begin with.

But at least they compensate their voice actors handsomely, right?

But wait, I'm getting distracted with Fox and their bad business decisions

Let's get back to why we're here today, nearly 15 years after cancelling Firefly, I finally sat down and watched the first episode.

Should I mention I saw the movie Serenity a few years ago with no Firefly experience whatsoever? The movie was alright, nothing great, but it wasn't a waste of time.

Guess what?

I saw Firefly the other night, with only my experience of having seen these characters before in Serenity a few years ago. The show was alright, nothing great, but it wasn't a waste of time.

Now I know why Fox killed it.

That first episode really did nothing for me.

I even gathered the family around to watch with me.

As the show continued, I looked around and most heads were buried in sketch books as they doodled something other than a character from Firefly.

I think I may have been guilty of checking my email and Facebook a few times as well.

There, I said it.

Firefly was okay. Nothing great.

Would I come back and watch the other 13 episodes?

Maybe someday.

Not in any real hurry.

If Netflix were to announce that it's being pulled at the end of the month, I would shrug my shoulders and go " oh well " versus rushing out to binge watch the show and see if it got any better.

Plenty of other things to try out.

And like I said, I saw Serenity. I know how the saga ends, if you will.

So there's not a whole lot of likelihood that the show is going to get THAT much better in the next few episodes.

Sorry for all the browncoats out there that loved this show, I just don't get the hype.

I am however, sorry for your loss.

Currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C+

IHeart "IZombie"

IZombie (2015)

TV-14

Starring Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kholi, Robert Buckley, David Anders

Created by Diane Ruggiero and Rob Thomas

The Story:

Dr. Olivia Moore (McIver) goes to a party at the insistence of her boyfriend, Major (Buckley) who wants her to have a good time. Bad idea, Major. The boat party turns into a massacre, and Liv is scratched by some crazy dude (Anders) and when she wakes up, she's craving brains!  That's right, Liv is now a zombie. She leaves her chosen profession behind and goes to work at the morgue working for Ravi (Kholi) and where she has ample supplies of fresh brains to work with. One apparent zombie side effect is that the brains give Liv bits and pieces of memories from the consumed. She uses this nifty trick to help Detective Babineaux (Goodwin) solve their murders.

The heir apparent to Psych, we have a "psychic" helping the police force solve murders with the help of a funny guy in the morgue. Sure, that's stretching both premises slightly to make my point, but I saw it, and therefore on some subliminal level, it must surely exist. :)

This entry on the CW is, surprise surprise, based on a comic book. Again, that's news to me since I've long ago left reading them on a regular basis.

That it's a good show that I really enjoyed, these thoughts come as no surprise to me as most comics have great stories, ideas and a solid premise behind them.

IZombie is no different, and I'll have to give a shout out to my oldest daughter who discovered this show and converted the whole family into fans.

A tremendously talented cast who can run the gamut of hilarious, terrified, forlorn and just about everything in between, with ease and grace.

Kudos to everyone involved, especially the creators for coming up with another creative take on the zombie mythos and giving us a new (and frankly, terrifying) way that zombies behave.

Frankly, I really enjoyed almost the entire first season.

However...

The Final Episode threw one too many "hey, wouldn't this be a great way to end the season and keep them looking forward to next year?" coincidences and cliffhangers at the audience.

After a season of slow building, the kitchen sink approach fell a little flat for me at the end.

But the 12 episodes in front of that were pretty tremendous.

 Final Grade: B+

A "Quantum Leap" Ahead Of Its Time

Quantum Leap (1989)

Starring Scott Bakula, Dean Stockwell

Created by Donald P. Bellasario

The Story:

Dr. Sam Beckett (Bakula) theorized that it was possible to time travel within the confines of your own lifetime. Hoping to prove his theories correct and continue funding for his project, he entered his own experiment, and vanished. He finds himself popping into the lives of other people, and with the help of Al (Stockwell) who appears to Sam as a hologram, they attempt to put right what once went wrong, hoping with each leap that Sam will leap home.

I don't watch a lot of science fiction shows, but when I do, I try and make sure they are good ones.

This, this was a good one.

I have fond memories of watching it with my dad, and then later with my wife.

We all loved the show, and aside from dabbling with an "evil leaper" later in the series run, for me, this show never jumped the shark.

Sadly, this show never gained the mainstream success and popularity of one of Bellasario's later creations,  NCIS or earlier effort Magnum P.I.

But I will take this show any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.  I think most of the fans of the show would also agree.

Bakula got to offer a great range throughout the series, by leaping into a wide assortment of characters. No topic or idea was off-limits as Sam wound up inhabiting people of different race, color, creed, gender, ability and so-forth.

Putting right what once went wrong was often something as subtle as making sure someone didn't get married or making sure they took a left instead of a right.

They were very human interest stories, and while they tried to show that they weren't sent back in time to change anything major (JFK assassination, things of that nature) the life events for these people, it was indeed very major.

Bakula brought humanity and an earnest performance to every episode, a touch of class and a bit of humor. He was teamed with Stockwell who brought the sleaze, brought the funnies, but brought the friendship and guidance that Sam desperately needed. The two worked amazingly well together throughout.

Most of the series is available to stream on Netflix as of this viewing.  However, the pilot and the finale are not.

In a way, I'm glad the series finale isn't, because it's one that requires a box of tissues after viewing.

Well worth the time to revisit, or to try for the first time if you missed it 25 years ago.

Final Grade: A

Creature Report! Creature Report! "Octonauts"

Octonauts (2010)

TV G

The Story:

The Octonauts are a band of intrepid undersea explorers whose credo is to Explore! Rescue! Protect! Each episode finds them interacting with a sea creature of some sort, and at the end, they break into a catchy little song to recap some of the facts that you've learned about the critter of the day.

The benefits of having children is you get to watch shows you would otherwise never see.

This offering comes, based on some books that were turned into a British children's series, which was in turn redubbed with some American accents for the minor characters and brought to the Disney Channel.

And, as you can see by their picture, they are absolutely adorable, and needless to say, my 3 year old has been enjoying their adventures on Netflix, streaming them in a seemingly endless barrage of Octonaut adventures.

But it's okay, the episodes are short, amusing, and again, your kids are learning some marine biology along the way.

Something that can't be said for that other show about creatures living under the sea.

Just watch out for the catchy "Creature Report" jingle at the end, it's going to stick with you!

Final Grade: B

I Wish I Had Some "Property Brothers"

Property Brothers (2011)

Reality TV

The Story:

Drew and Johnathan Scott are a realtor and contractor. What they provide to people looking to buy a home or upgrade their current living situation is a dose of reality:

It will cost you an arm and a leg to buy a move-in ready home that has all the bells and whistles that you want.

However, if you're willing to take a chance on a fixer-upper, the brothers can get you the house of your dreams for a significant savings.

Does it work?

Absolutely.

Both as an idea and a show, Property Brothers is a joy to watch.   What they are able to do is many times nothing short of miraculous.

Johnathan does the lion's share of the work as the contractor, making sure to deliver what the couple is expecting on time and under budget. Every once in awhile a problem with the house (or a crazy owner!) crops up and he has to deal with it, but he does so with a sense of humor and professionalism that makes you wish this guy was fixing your house.

Again, I cannot believe the price of houses in Canada.

:)

A great show that is streaming on Netflix as of this writing, and well worth the viewing.

Final Grade: A-