VH1 Cancels Hindsight: An American Tragedy

When I heard that VH1 cancelled Hindsight-- after they had previously renewed it-- my first thought was "is this legal?" And my second thought was "of course they did." That doesn't mean that they SHOULD have.

The thing that I sometimes hate about watching TV on the actual TV is how quickly shows are given the boot. If they don't find their audience immediately, if they don't turn over that profit right away, they're gone. It's a frustrating world that doesn't make sense to me, mostly because it doesn't always reflect quality. "This show got cancelled because it sucked" is not something that you can really say anymore. In the age of binge-watching online, broadcast television is more impatient now than it's ever been for what will provide viewers, aka consumers, aka advertising money, in the here and now.

I'm mad that they cancelled Hindsight for the reasons everyone else is-- it ended on a cliffhanger, there's so much mystery left to be solved, etc. etc.,-- but I'm also mad because of the type of show it was. It took place in 1995, and it also kind of felt like 1995. It carried that fun, dramedy, character-driven, soapy-esque type of story telling that used to dominate primetime when I was a youngster. And I loved how focused it was on the music and culture of the 90's. It felt so appropriate for VH1, which to me always seemed like a classier version of MTV. (Or MTV for "old" people? Whatever.)

So VH1 released a statement about the landscape of their programing, how Hindsight didn't fit with what they were trying to achieve, or something like that. Here's what's on VH1 tonight:

Love & Hip Hop Atlanta
Black Ink Crew
She's Got Game

Oh, there's also a preview on their website for Dating Naked!

So basically, instead of quality scripted TV that calls back to the root of what VH1 used to be (a channel about music) they want their channel to not be about music at all, but shitty reality shows that are probably a lot cheaper to make.

And this is a trend on so many channels. Remember why TLC is called TLC? Because it's supposed to be The Learning Channel, but now it's all reality as well. And of course we all know MTV stopped being about music a long time ago.

It's no wonder that so many people are canceling cable and going with Netflix and Hulu and Amazon, considering almost everything on broadcast TV is all the same, just an empty vortex of blackness that's wasting our lives and benefiting from our mindlessness.

THE GOOD NEWS

It's not 1995-- it's 2015, and if you're going to be cancelled in any time period, this is the one. There are so many options for where Hindsight can find a new home--on the internet--regardless of whether or not network TV sees dollar signs in their eyes. My fear is that VH1 has the rights and won't let the show be taken over by someone else, an "I don't want you, but no one else is allowed to date you" type of thing. I hope I'm wrong. It's seems the least they could do is let the show find a new home after renewing it and then changing their minds. Why would anyone ever want to work with VH1 again otherwise?

The other good news is that it's okay if finding a new home takes a while. Today, "finished" shows are able to come back years later as long as there's fans-- like The Comeback, as a matter of fact. Is it right that the show was off the air for ten years? Where did I hear that? It can't be right. I'm not that old. And also Arrested Development, anyone?

So, I'm optimistic. We'll see where all this lands. But if it never get picks up, I really hope creator Emily Fox does what she joked about on Twitter, because I have to know what happens next.

All I know is that I now have no reason to watch VH1 today, tomorrow, or anytime soon, and that maybe it's time to change that cable plan.

Brigette Finally Watches Season 4 of Girls

After months of waiting to watch Girls when Netflix released it on DVD, this genius remembered she could download all the episodes on iTunes. So I binge-watched season 4, and I've got stuff to say. Should I even bother writing this since the season ended so long ago? Well, like my grandmother once said to my mom, "You're always busy doing something, but it's always the wrong thing." I am my mother's daughter, so here we go!

First off, I gotta get something off my chest. I've heard rumblings, starting in season 3, that Girls isn't what it used to be, that people are kinda disappointed. I agree that Girls isn't what it used to be-- it's better. I am about 85-90% comfortable saying that Girls never relied on shock value to draw in the majority of their viewers, that there was always content. But I've noticed that the less vulgar it's gotten, the funnier it's gotten, the more poignant it's gotten, and the richer it's gotten. Maybe that's just because there's been so much character development over time, and that's why the 3rd and 4th season of any show is usually its sweet spot. Maybe it's because all the characters have grown and are in different places, and seeing that kind of movement keeps things fresh. I don't know, but I say seasons 3 & 4 of Girls trumps seasons 1 & 2, and I stand by that.

Now, on to my impression of the season...

1) Adam is the voice of reason in season 4. I can't believe I even typed that, considering he started off as the creepiest character on the show, and I actively hated him. But he's grown over the years, thanks much to his rocky relationship with Hannah. In season 4, Adam was the one who kept saying what I was thinking, like "you're all nuts," "why are you talking about this," stuff like that.

This does NOT mean that Adam is off the hook for his other behaviors. It's bad enough to get a new girlfriend before officially ending things with your old girlfriend, but to move ALL her stuff out of HER apartment and put it in storage, then knock down a wall in, again, HER apartment?!? That was unforgivable. And it's not like Hannah was moving to China for two years. Grad school has this thing called "breaks": fall break, Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, spring break, summer break. Did he really think she would NEVER come back for one of those???

As sad as it was by the end of the season when Adam realized his mistake, I was on Hannah's side when she said "no." That would just be way too hard to come back from. I'm totally cool with the fact that six months later, Hannah is with Ben the Soldier Fran. We'll see where it goes.

2) Jessa. I get why she was a bitch to Hannah before she left and why she set up Adam with Mimi-Rose and even why she was terrible to Hannah when she came back. (I thought Hannah was going to punch her in the face during that scene in her room-- I wish she had.) Jessa felt completely abandoned by Hannah, so she was being completely heartless in return. The fact that after their fight they still hung out and never talked about it makes sense too. These girls have been through so much together by now that to hash out anything further probably felt too exhausting. They know each other, accept each other, and are too self-absorbed to really sit and listen to the others' feelings anyway. Is this healthy? Of course not. Is this going to lead anywhere good? No. I expect an explosion in season 5. Like, Jessa and Adam becoming friends…am I the only one who thinks something may happen between them? And then KABLAM.

3) Hannah at Iowa. I loved this stuff. There truly is nothing more horrifying than that first night of sleeping after moving to some random part of the country and not knowing ANYONE. It's awful enough if you're not needy, and let us not forget, Hannah is a very codependent person. Suddenly the girl who always needed to share a bed with someone is in a huge bed in a huge house by herself (unless you count the bat). This wasn't going to end well.

I also loved all the workshop stuff. (I think anyone who's ever been through a workshop would.) Hannah's inability to take any criticism was cringingly awful/wonderful. When she slams her classmates at the bar and says she just wants their relationship to be "honest," we see why she's friends with Jessa, Marnie, and Soshanna-- because they can fight like that. They can be really mean to each other and still be friends. Maybe that's because no one else will be friends with them-- the group stays together because they're all equally awful. How can Hannah function in an environment where her delusions are not being validated? How can she function if she's forced to interact with people who are  different from her? It makes sense that she left. I do wonder though if Elijah had never shown up if she would have stayed-- he really helped her regress.

4) Maude Apatow as Cleo. This girl's a real actress now, you guys, not just Judd's kid that he puts in movies. She also favorited a tweet Stacie sent of her dog, so let's just all root for Maude.

5) Marnie. Her relationship with Desi is such a horrible train wreck, but I don't feel sorry for her at all. She went from having insight about the relationship to being delusional to having insight to being delusional, and he's the worst, and I'm looking forward to seeing how ridiculous this engagement business goes. I always remember when Lena Dunham said that Marnie was like the Michael Scott of the group, and that was never more apparent than when she 1) told Ray, of all people, that she and Desi were engaged, and then 2) turned Ray's election victory into her own engagement party.

Speaking of which, you know what struck me about Ray's speech? It obviously wasn't about community building-- he was looking at Marnie the entire time-- but everything he said actually fit more with him and Shoshanna. Hmmm.

6) I usually hate parental story lines, but Hannah's dad realizing he was gay actually really worked, and Becky Ann Baker is fabulous, and seeing how Hannah's parents are with each other and with her makes you really, really understand Hannah. It's kind of hard to blame her for being boundary-less and selfish when you see that she learned it all from them.

7) Was Gabby Hoffman really pregnant? I feel like she had to be. I think I need to google this.

8) I just realized that Laird is Jeremy Jamm.

9) I love how things ended with Shoshanna and Jessa, where one decides to go to Japan and the other decides to be a therapist. We know both ideas are probably going to go terribly. But at that age, you get ideas in your head, and you're all inspired and delusional, and you just do stuff. Maybe I'm just cynical or something, but I thought it was hilarious. Was I not supposed to? Was I supposed to take them both seriously?

10) Speaking of Shoshanna's decision, I get what Hermie was saying about her taking control of her life, and he was right, but at the same time, I kind of can't believe Shoshanna found a guy like Scott, who still likes her even when she's being completely weird. I know his appeal to her wasn't the greatest--that "I'm almost in love with you," and I get that he shot down the "maybe he'll take care of me" option, but is Japan honestly a better option for Soshanna? I mean what the hell is this girl doing? Shoshanna has just gotten crazier and crazier.

I'm very excited to see what will happen next season. If there's one thing you can say about Girls, it's that it doesn't sit still, and there's always more going on than what you're watching on the surface. Each character is a world all by themselves, and each relationship is it's own world too. Even when I can't relate to one of the story lines, I still feel like it resonates with me emotionally, and I've heard the same from others. I'm not quite sure how the writers do that, but it's a rare and wonderful thing.

I'm kind of feeling like the end of Girls-- whenever the end may be-- will not be like Friends, where everyone is together and happy. All the relationships are so toxic that I feel like the characters will continue to grow further apart from each other until they're just…apart. And yet, I want to keep watching. This show doesn't make me afraid of directions like that. Because it's so damn good.

So what do you guys think? Can you even remember season 4 since it aired so long ago? Did you like or dislike the season overall? Did you love or loathe any particular story lines? Any predictions for season 5? Lemme know!

Stacie watches PLL Part 2

I think I have an obsession with this show.  I probably shouldn't have started watching it in the first place because we all know how I am with shows, once I start to like it, it becomes an addiction.  I am finally caught up which is apparently what happens when you watch 5.5 seasons in a few weeks.  It has become my favorite show (with Castle as a close second) and it very much intrigues me on so many levels. As I stated in a previous post, I like it because it combines so much of my favorite genres in one show.  It is so multi-layered and full of suspense and intrigue.  Now that I am all caught up.....here is my part 2 of Pretty Little Liars (PLL) thoughts....

I said in the previous post that my favorite was Spencer, but I am currently thinking that Hanna is my favorite.  She is my favorite for a few reasons, but mostly because she has proved to be such a strong character.  She knows what she wants, she is sarcastic, and even if she doesn't know something, she can overcome it with humor.

I love that Marlene King (Writer/Director/the "boss") really did something with season 6 that I don't see very often (especially an ABC family show) when she made it so that the characters are still recovering from PTSD this late in the season.  Normally, a show will focus on trauma for an episode or 2 and then leave it behind, but since the "Dollhouse" these girls are still reeling from the trauma they endured.  Emily is still going through therapy, Spencer gets high in order to sleep, and they are all still scared all the time.  It is almost episode 9 and they are still dealing with the repercussions of everything that happened to them.

This whole Charles thing is very intriguing to me, and after reading a million theories online, it is hard to tell which is true.  Marlene King has promised things in the past, that did not come to fruition, so people are very hesitant to trust her when she says that we will find out all the answers on August 11th.  Why does the Charles thing intrigue me?  I think it is fascinating that we don't know the whole story, but we are left thinking that he is this horrible person and that he is completely insane.  We think he is the infamous "A" who the liars have been searching for, but I am not convinced that he is Uber A, in fact I think someone else is pulling the strings to make him seem like the ultimate villain.

I am with others on social media when I say that I don't understand why they are throwing in new characters so late in the game.  Clark, Rhys (Reece), Nichole, and Sarah are all characters that may end up being red herrings for the actual "A" or be working for him/her without knowing it.  Yes, Rhys looks a lot like Jason and he sure could be a Dilaurtenis, but I don't see it playing out.

I along with most of the PLL universe am not a fan of Sarah Harvey.  I get a bad vibe about her (especially since she doesn't seem to have a chip in her neck like the rest of the girls did) and think that she is super shady.  I feel like Emily is getting too attached and it is going to be her downfall in the future.

I have never been an "Ezria" shipper, but I actually have liked Ezra in the past few episodes.

Here are my feelings about this weeks episode "FrAmed"...

I am glad that the moms now know about Charles/A and are being protective.  I feel that Ella (Holly Marie Combs) was the shining star of this episode.  I have loved her since she played Piper in Charmed and in this episode, she reminded me why.  She is an amazing actress, and her trying to protect Aria and later crying about the whole situation seemed so authentic that it made me tear up.  She even has that chin quiver thing down pat when she is crying and I think that is awesome.

I agree with Hanna that Charles should have to pay for what he has done, but as I previously stated, I'm not convinced that Charles is actually a bad guy.  If I had the information that they did, and he had done that stuff to me, I would be on Hanna's side rather than Alisons.

I loved the Emily/Aria scene about prom. They were actually talking like regular teenagers for a moment and it reminded me of season 1 when things weren't so terrifying all the time.

Let's talk about the Alison thing for a minute...although I like that she is more kind than she was in the past, they are making her seem like a 40 year old woman.  She is wearing clothes that are too mature for her, taking care of Lorenzo (which is oddly sweet) and she stays after he falls asleep to do his laundry.  I just find it weird...maybe she is trying to be normal since her childhood was crappy, but it just seems weird.  Of course she uses Lorenzo's card to get into the police station and gets caught (the old Ali wouldn't have got caught) and when Tanner comes in, she claims she didn't touch anything when she is clearly holding a bag of evidence.  Although I feel bad for how she is feeling regarding Charles, I agree with the things Tanner said to her.

The whole art gallery thing was crazy because Tanner promised they would have full security and still the pictures of them drugged on the tables in the morgue are displayed.  I thought Lucy Hale (Aria) did a fantastic job with her monologue about feeling cold.  It was very refreshing to have an actual monologue about their time in the dollhouse.

We do see redcoat and A in the same scene which is crazy!  We also see them get the tickets out for prom!  In less than 2 weeks, we will come face to face with Charles.  The suspense is killing me and I don't think I have ever wanted to see an episode of a show so badly.  I do however feel like we are going to be somewhat let down with the results because it is so hyped up right now.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.  Sorry that they are jumbled, I just get really excited.