Morning Coffee (1/25/16)

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Me elsewhere: TV news!

In response to the reaction to the very white Oscar nominations, the Academy is making some changes.

Last week I emailed "Wait, does this end in President Bloomberg?" to a friend, and now I am glad I have that prediction in writing.

How Ted Cruz’s best friend drew him into Jamaican politics and business

It's Monday so I bet you need a bunch of pictures of three huskies and their cat BFF.

Stiffing waitstaff on tips in the name of religion is just gross.

Here is your annual reminder of the difference between sound editing and sound mixing. (This weekend I was watching a movie and kept yelling "The sound mixing is so terrible!" so apparently I have learned the difference!)

What A Mostly Black Hockey Club For Kids Tells Us About The Sport's Future

Ooh: The Secret City of the Cosmonauts

These Little-Known Photographs Put an Eerie Face on Child Labor

I'm not even that into vampire movies but this one has a hilarious title and intriguing cast.

Morning Coffee (9/17/15)

Me elsewhere: I'm reviewing the first episode of all the new shows again this year. First up: The Bastard Executioner. Also: teasers for Miss Peregrine and Allegiant.

I saw this Ted Cruz scorpion ad on TV for the first time last night and it was SO bizarre. And I did NOT get the message at all - when it was talking about harmful people striking again, and showing cowboy boots, I assumed he meant Bushes. Or Clintons.

I'm sure everyone has been telling you to read Ta-Nehisi Coates's new piece, but seriously: The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration

Here's the National Book Award nonfiction longlist (including the aforementioned Coates). I feel like there's more personal writing and less history than in previous years? Not that that's BAD, necessarily, but there were fewer things that made me think "Ooh, I want to read that" than usual. (Fiction longlist out today.)

That said, I loved this piece on writing in cafes, which combines personal history with history history. The most productive writing spot for me ever was the cafe at the Borders where I used to work. Like 2k words an hour good. Discounted drinks, people I knew around ALL THE TIME if I needed a moment of interaction, some say over the music, it was basically like being at home and in public at the same time. RIP Borders. Anyway, this has made me conclude that I need to find a good local writing cafe. (Though if you're near Cheshire, CT, let me take a moment to recommend Cheshire Coffee, which my dad and I discovered this weekend when we had a crumb cake/coffee emergency while driving home from New Haven.)

This story about Putin (not) chatting with Elton John is amazing. Did someone just . . . prank call Elton John? That's what's going on here, right? I want it to have been, like, Ringo. Ooh, or Prince Harry.

An important thing to keep in mind during refugee discussions: For Those Who Remain in Syria, Daily Life Is a Nightmare

Ooh: CIA declassifies collection of cold war-era intelligence memos (Actual conversation I had at dinner the other night: How the End of the Cold War Ruined Everything. [Okay, maybe not everything. We were talking mostly about the Olympics and the space program and spy fiction.])

Speaking of: Do real spies write the best spy novels?

"HELEN: I personally prefer to live alone
GILBERT: is this some sort of code
HELEN: No
I just don’t like company
GILBERT: WOMEN
SUCH MYSTERIES
AN ENIGMA WRAPPED IN A RIDDLE AND CLEVERLY SEWN INTO A PUZZLE"

Haven Recap at TheTelevixen: Speak No Evil

Here's my recap of last night's episode of Haven, "Speak No Evil." This episode had some amazing stuff with Duke and Nathan. But I still want Audrey back.

Haven Recap at TheTelevixen: See No Evil

Haven's fifth season started last night, and I'm recapping over at The Televixen, so I'll try to remember to link you over each time a recap goes up. Here's the premiere, "See No Evil."

Where I'm Writing About TV This Fall

Well, this sort of crept up on me. The first fall season show that I write about comes back tonight. So I figured it was time for a little roundup of where and about what I'll be writing this year!

At The Televixen, I will again be recapping each episode of Haven and Castle. I'll be aiming to have the recaps up either the night the show airs or early the next day, so by Saturday morning for Haven and Tuesday morning for Castle. I'll also be reviewing the first episode of almost every new show there, to help you get an idea of whether you should try it, and my Sunday morning TV news column and other occasional features will continue as well.

At Read the Screen, I'll be reviewing (though not recapping) each episode of Sleepy Hollow and Dracula. The Sleepy Hollow posts will probably be the first post on Tuesdays (so at about 11 Eastern), and Dracula posts will go up at some point over the weekend, depending on my schedule. I'll also be covering news about and occasionally checking in on other shows based on books or comics, including Elementary, Arrow, The Vampire Diaries, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and more.

At Vampire-Diaries.net, my colleagues and I will be continuing to cover all things Vampire Diaries, along with new spinoff The Originals. (We have awesome recaps there. I don't write them. That's part of why they're so awesome.)

And here? I'm thinking of writing about Beauty and the Beast, because I thought season one was really problematic in ways I didn't see anyone writing about much. I'm not committing to weekly posts on anything else, because I need to sleep sometime, but I'll probably write about whatever else strikes my fancy. But are there any specific shows you want my thoughts on? I'd rather write things people want to read.

And my other question: Do you want me to post links here to my reviews and recaps elsewhere? I don't want to be obnoxiously self-promoting, but I also don't want to expect people to check three or four different sites if they want to find my writing. So. Opinions? If I do post links here, should I give them their own posts or just throw them in the next day's Morning Coffee? Tell me in the comments!

Castle Recap: Significant Others

Castle returned from hiatus this week, and my recap of "Significant Others" is now up at TheTelevixen:

Castle returned from its holiday hiatus with a character-intensive episode aptly named “Significant Others.” The show has done a particularly good job with the slow burn of Castle and Beckett’s relationship, but it makes sense that now that they are together, some episodes will focus more on personal issues, with the actual procedural element serving as a subplot.

Read more.

Bunheads: You Wanna See Something?

I recapped the winter premiere of Bunheads over at TheTelevixen.

Last night’s winter premiere of Bunheads, “You Wanna See Something?”, centered around the main characters all realizing that they needed Fanny’s dance studio – and each other. This, of course, is the challenge when you have a finale that burns everything down as effectively as Michelle’s macing of The Nutcracker and subsequent flight from Paradise: Before you make any real progress in the next season (or half-season, as I suppose this technically is), your premiere has to get the band back together.

Click through for the rest!

Tonight on NBC: Deception

NBC's new primetime mystery soap Deception premieres tonight, and I have some thoughts at TheTelevixen.

More on Vikings!

Here's the embeddable version of the teaser:


(I feel like I should point out that there is not actually an exclamation point in the title of the show. I'm just excited.)

I've got some more information on the cast and plot over at TheTelevixen, so head on over!

What I Watched: The Vampire Diaries, Beauty and the Beast, Copper

ICYMI, I wrote about the pilot of Beauty and the Beast, which premiered last night, over at TheTelevixen. The short version: BOY, is this bad. And it's not even hilariously bad, as I'd hoped.

The Vampire Diaries, "Growing Pains (EP401)" - I LOVED this premiere. I MISSED YOU, SHOW. This made me VERY hopeful about season four - I love the reset provided by Elena's transition. And the Damon that was there last night is really my favorite Damon. I was also impressed by how well Trevino did with Klaus-in-Tyler. And the Stefan/Elena stuff worked better for me than it usually does. AND SOMEONE GOT STABBED WITH A SHOTGUN. I LOVE THIS SHOW.

Copper, "Better Times Are Coming (EP108)" - This episode made me think "Yes, THIS is what I was hoping this show would be." Election Day! War stuff! And OH MY GOSH that big reveal at the end. I'm glad I hung in there, even though this show has been a bit slow at times.

What I Watched: Drama Premieres, Guys With Kids, & More

ICYMI, my takes on last night's drama premieres: Arrow, Nashville, Chicago Fire

Guys With Kids, "The Standoff (EP104)" - It was nice to see the older boys get some screen time. This is still cute. I enjoy it. I have little to say.

Go On, "Big League Chew (EP106)" - I enjoyed the collision between Lauren's personal life and the group - the inherent power imbalance makes it perfectly natural for the group to want to learn more about Lauren, who knows so much about them, and I thought it was played very well.

The New Normal, "Bryanzilla (EP106)" - For a comedy, this show sure makes me cry a lot! This episode was thoroughly adorable AND funny AND touching, so it's getting harder and harder to keep this show at "Ryan Murphy always betrays me" arm's length.

Hex, "Pilot: The Story Begins (EP101)" - This is an older show, but BBC America just started airing it so I thought I'd give it a try. British boarding school! Sorcery! Michael Fassbender! Joseph Morgan! (Naked Joseph Morgan very early in the pilot, actually, much to my surprise.) This first episode was fine, but I mentioned the show on Twitter and everyone immediately told me that it got completely nuts and not in a good way, so... we'll see.

Morning Coffee (10/11/12)

Oh, hey, fun date.

Today at TheTelevixen: Beauty and the Beast was dreadful. Haven was good but heartbreaking.

Season four of The Vampire Diaries premieres tonight, and as usual, we've got everything you need over at Vampire-Diaries.net.

Oh hey, look, Harlequin's Christmas books are out. Now to begin my annual tradition of struggling not to BUY THEM ALL.

In theory, I want to read some stuff by the winner of the Nobel prize for literature, but has any phrase ever been such a turn-off as "hallucinatory realism"? No, no it has not.

Johnny Depp is making a TV show based on all of Shakespeare. ALL OF IT. This should be amazingly awful. I hope.

Cuteness for the day: Puppy and kitten think they're sisters.

Hobbit coins are now real. HOBBIT COINS. This has gone too far.

Ooh! The Queen is releasing her mother's diaries and letters.

Morning Coffee (10/10/12)

There are three new shows premiering tonight, and hey, I will tell you what to think about all of them before they even air. Don't say I never do anything for you. Here's Arrow, Chicago Fire, and Nashville.

Would you like to hear me speak about TV for a change? Here I am talking about Castle and White Collar and a little bit about various new shows.

Oh, hey, National Book Award finalists. I have read . . . none. Yet.

Don't know much about the new Georgian prime minister? Yeah, no one does, apparently.

Masterpiece continues being Masterpiecey and co-producing things I want to watch.

Hey look, Amazon came up with yet another way to drive authors to drink!

I won't bother trying to claim that this article about Taylor Swift-branded Walgreens store sections didn't make me immediately look up my nearest Walgreens locations.

Alyssa Rosenberg declares for team Mindy-skeptical.

Morning Coffee (10/8/12)

This weekend at TheTelevixen: Castle recap and news roundup.

Castle coffee. In grocery stores. November 1.

Take a look at these Revenge photos.

This state map puzzle game thing was tons of fun. (I got a 92.)

Fascinating read: I Entered My Baby in a Beauty Pageant and Lost My Mind

Did you know Stanley Tucci wrote a cookbook?

This essay about sherry is hilarious.

I don't know anything about Grizzly Bear, but this is still a good read about art and commerce.

Morning Coffee (10/1/12)

October! How did that happen?

Over the weekend at TheTelevixen: my Made in Jersey pilot review, Castle premiere recap, and weekly TV news roundup.

Downton. Abbey. Prequel.

I love this sort of thing: Chinese families pose with their possessions.

3000-year-old jigsaw skeletons? Huh.

Interesting: Taxes Threaten an Island Culture in Georgia

Why was this poor dolphin stranded in Queens?

No, Bill Clinton couldn't be President of France.

Buddhist statue discovered by Nazis is made of meteorite

Emmy Awards Liveblog!

For those of you who have enjoyed my awards show blogs in the past: This year I'm live-blogging over at TheTelevixen.com, so please come join me!

Morning Coffee (9/21/12)

YAY FRIDAY.

Before tonight's Haven premiere, read my feature with the cast: Haven Stars Talk Troubles, Timeslots & Triangles

The new release date for The Great Gatsby is May 10.

Interesting: For Young Jews, a Service Says, ‘Please, Do Text’

Real ale revival sees most breweries in Britain since the war

Stop killing reindeer while you're snow-kiting (??). Santa is displeased.

Ooh, new Demotic Egyptian dictionary!

Massive Luftwaffe plane wreck 'found off Sardinian coast'

I need to try making refrigerator jam.

White Collar Summer Finale Tonight!

I've seen it, and it's awesome. Here's why. Really, you don't want to miss this one.

1. I don’t want to get into hyperbole here, but the final twist really will change Neal’s life forever. As Jeff Eastin told reporters last week (more from that conversation soon!), he prefers to end on still, quiet notes that nevertheless pack an emotional wallop, and he definitely achieves that here.

Bunheads Season One Recaps

After a slight delay (sorry!), my full set of Bunheads season one recaps is up at TheTelevixen.com. This was such a weird show, but I think I like it, but . . . gosh, I just don't know. I keep trying to start writing some sort of end-of-season evaluation, but I still can't decide how I feel about it overall. Hmmm.

Bunheads Pilot Review

In case you didn't see the link on Twitter: My Bunheads pilot review is now live at TheTelevixen.