This episode of On Freddie Roach was intense to say the least.  We got to see and learn a lot more about Freddies past, mostly what his home life was like growing up.  We got to a chance to see him interact with his older brother Pepper as well as his mother Barbara.  Both of them work at Freddie’s Wild Card Boxing Gym located in Hollywood California.  Actually I don’t think his mother works there, I’m pretty sure she just spends time there looking after her two sons.  I’m not too sure if Freddie has other siblings.  From the way he and Pepper spoke of their upbringing it sort of sounded as though they did but maybe not.  Either way, Freddie and Pepper are very close to one another as well as their mother, and Freddie takes care of both them with complete selflessness.

Freddie and his brother Pepper grew up tough.  Fighting was a part of life, their dad fought professionally and he wanted his sons to do the same, in fact he made sure they did the same.  Freddie explains during one of his voice overs in the beginning of the episode that, “boxing in [his] house was part of life.  From day one [he] was taught to fight.”  I really like how as Freddie is saying all of this about boxing in his home life they show old 8mm home movies of Freddie at age 6 and Pepper at age 7, both wearing boxing gloves and punching each other.  Both of them have massive smiles painted on their faces as they chase one another around the house throwing punches.

Freddie’s dad was, to put it bluntly, a real hard ass.  He wanted his kids to grow up tough, and decided that fighting was more important than their education.  Pepper explains while giving someone a tour of the gym that their father told them one day “Fuck school you’ll all be fighters, so none of them graduated.”  He follows this statement immediately by saying “I had 8th grade 4 times.”

We see Freddie going through  his typical work day.  For me this was really interesting because anytime I have ever seen him at work it is with one of his superstars.  I have seen him work with Manny Pacquiao several times, and last week we saw him working with Amir Khan leading up to his fight with Zab Judah. This week, though, we got a chance to see Freddie working with his other fighters, ones who fight for peanuts compared to what Khan and Pacquiao bring in.

We also see Pepper working the gloves with a heavyweight, then after some time goes by we see that something is horribly wrong with Pepper.  It almost seems like he is on drugs or something, at least that was my first impression, but no seems to know for sure.  It isn’t until Canada, one of Roach’s other employees, calls 911 and starts saying that he thinks he had a stroke.  He keeps saying this even though no one else is and it turns out that he is actually correct in his assumption.  Pepper has apparently suffered from several strokes before, and he seems to be doing pretty well considering.  I really hope he is able to recover fully from this one as well because is a very likable character.

This event ends up speaking volumes for Freddie Roach’s character.  Right before Pepper was discovered Freddie was signing a contract with a new fighter.  He took care of the situation with Pepper, and once Pepper was on his way to the hospital we see Freddie step into his office a make a phone call.  While on the phone he is sobbing horribly, but the camera never cuts away.  All in one take of less than 5 minutes we see Freddie let out his emotion and regroup himself and get right back to work.  He begins training the fighter he just signed and acts as though nothing has happened even though he was just sobbing minutes ago.  He works the rest of his day and is on his way home a little after 8pm, to complete his 12 hour work day.  Once home he begins watching fight videos on his laptop, and this is how the episode ends.  Roach lives boxing it is his life and even though it gave him the disease of Parkinson’s, it has given back to him in so many ways.  I’m really hoping we find out next week that Pepper is okay.

“On Freddie Roach” is HBO’s new documentary miniseries which offers a glimpse into the life the most famous trainer in contemporary boxing.  Freddie Roach has trained over 20 world champions though out his career, from Manny Pacquiao to Oscar De La Hoya and even at one point Mike Tyson.  Recently he has been inducted into the boxing hall of fame, and just this year was selected by the boxing writers association as Trainer of the Year for the 5th time.  Roach has accomplished all of this despite being inflicted with Parkinson’s disease.

I have to say that the first thing that really jumped out at me about this series was how completely different it was from HBO’s 24/7.  I was expecting this to follow the same basic format which in my opinion is down right awesome, but “On Freddie Roach” does not follow this format at all.  It has it’s own style and it works amazingly well.  The most obvious difference is that “On Freddie Roach” is almost completely absent of narration.  There are only a few moments where Roach himself is providing voice over during certain scenes and even though what he says is brief, what he tells you carries a ton of weight.

Roach’s Parkinson’s can be somewhat difficult to watch at times.  His tremors are practically constant, but they seem to affect him very little.  The man constantly stays busy training his world champion fighters.  The series starts with him training Amir Khan for his July 23rd (2011) fight against Super Zab Judah.  The parkinson’s is forever present in Roach’s actions but it doesn’t stop him from being a world class boxing trainer.  His work with the gloves is legendary and we see him working them with Amir constantly.  The only thing that the Parkinson’s seems to keep Roach from doing is yelling at his fighters during their fights.  Through the entirety of the Khan vs Judah fight we see Roach telling Khan’s strength trainer, Jeff Ariza, what advice needs to be yelled into the ring.

Of all the amazing things Roach does and has accomplished, his love life and professional life seem to be intwined in a very strange way.  Roach’s exgirlfriend is also his assistant and to be honest I feel like the awkward chemistry between the two is more a product of camera angles and editing than anything real.  I mostly say this because I feel that if their relationship really was that awkward, working that close with one another would be completely impossible.  We also learn at the end of the episode that Roach has a girlfriend, and the status of his assistant, so far, remains a mystery.  I think it will be interesting to see how this plays out over these next 5 episodes.

What I took away from this first episode more than anything else were the short segments of narration which Roach himself provides.  He talks about how he broke his leg while in Carson City Nevada and shortly after his cast was removed his tremors started.  The doctors told him that fighting in over 200 fights inside the ring as well as countless others outside of the ring led to his development of Parkinson’s.  He also spoke of how he became a boxing trainer after fighting professionally for a number of years.  He was only 27 at the time, and just happened to luck into the job.  He discovered right away that he had a real knack for training fighters and from there his popularity began to grow.  He also speaks of how if he hadn’t discovered this hidden talent he possessed, he has no idea what would have become of him.  He was no longer able to box, because of his Parkinson’s and felt completely lost, and had been drinking a lot.

I am really looking forward to the rest of this series.  I can’t wait to see how his interactions between his other fighters are as well as his other family members that have only been hinted at. So far we have only seen him training Amir Khan but we saw his assistant discussing with him that he would have to miss the first day of Manny Pacquio’s training camp for his fight that took place in last November.  I would imagine the next episode will feature him working with Manny which will be an interesting change of pace..  Roach leads a truly inspiring and interesting life, I am excited to see more of it.

With so much of my (Lauren’s) personality constructed by Television, from PBS shows of my childhood to everything Joss Whedon that influenced my sense of humor and sarcasm, it’s no surprise that every year I get pretty excited for the pilots making their attempt to gain viewers.  Not only that, but sometimes I go crazy fanatic for those shows I have come to love for seasons and seasons.  Chuck is only a half season!?  Community is getting shelved!?  NNNOOO!!!!  Good thing there are some great new shows that helped these irritated wounds sting a little less.

Lauren’s Favorite New Shows:

American Horror Story (FX) – This creepy and often disturbing show is about the living and dead cohabiting within a Los Angeles home with a colorful past.  Let’s face it, a house doesn’t get the nickname “The Murder House” without good reason.  And throughout the season we are lucky enough to become privy to just what this history includes.  Long story short, there are a lot of ghosts to discover within the walls of this far from happy home, each with a story as worthy as the last.  Feeding off the feelings built in the viewer while watching films like The Sixth Sense, this show is perfect for any horror fan.

Awkward (MTV)­ – I may not be a fan of MTV’s reality programming, but scripted programming was definitely something this channel got right this year.  Awkward follows a high school girl who accidentally convinces everyone that she tried to commit suicide when everything goes wrong for her in the bathroom.  Suicide is no laughing matter, but that does not stop this show from being one of the funniest shows on TV this year.  Ashley Rickards plays Jenna Hamilton, and the episodes revolve around her less than popular character as she narrates and journals out the events of her school drama and love for the popular boy.  Nothing new, but what makes this show stand out is the amazing script of each and every show, that produces more than a handful of quotable lines from each episode, coming largely from Jillian Rose Reed as Jenna’s best friend, Nikki Deloach as Jenna’s mother who often relives the glory days of high school through her daughter as she has yet to fully grow up, and Desi Lydic as the school counselor who quite possibly never gives out usable advice as she falls victim to misunderstanding and bullying within the school as well.

Game of Thrones (HBO) – Though I cannot speak to the novels that this show is based on, Game of Thrones has to be one of the best examples of adapting books to television.  Granted HBO seems to have a knack for this seeing as True Blood had a smooth transition as well (and I have read a large percentage of those novels).  Another thing HBO does right is shock value.  From the moment a character throws another out a window I was hooked (the first of many shocking moments), and could not wait for each week to be over to see what happened next in this world of corruption, backstabbing, and manipulation.  The story is broken down to follow numerous families and individuals throughout the world, with each character getting the appropriate screen time necessary to form memorable characters, forming the perfect whole, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for these warring families next as winter approaches.

New Girl (FOX) – Though Zac may take the cake on Zooey Deschanel fandom and therefore overall love of this show, even those who believe that Deschanel plays too many of the same characters have to admit that she owns New Girl.  As an awkward teacher with a love of breaking out into song, each episode has plenty of moments that are worthy of rewinding and rewinding due to situational/physical comedy or line reading.  Not only that, but Deschanel is surrounded by one of the best casts on TV.  Jake M. Johnson, Max Greenfield, and Lamorne Morris play Deschanel’s three roommates, and though Greenfield’s Schmidt might steal the spotlight as best roommate (especially when his kitchen habits come into play), this show just wouldn’t be the same without all three.  Plus, Hannah Simone’s model best friend to Deschanel’s Jess is just so adorably perfect because of how unexpected it is, yet with how unquestionably believable it manages to be.

Suburgatory (ABC) – Growing up in St. Louis County I know a thing or two about suburbs, and though I have never experienced anything like how it is depicted in this show, I’m willing to look past my own experiences and fully accept this heightened world.  Then again, maybe for someone moving into the suburbs from New York City it would actually seem this way.  Like the elephants in 300, cuz we all know that they weren’t that huge, but behemoths make a much better story when riling up the troops.  Ok, maybe that isn’t the best example, but these suburbs are their own type of war zone with crazy neighbors, distorted values, etc, all shown through the eyes of a girl trying to fight the assimilation into this culture, giving us the opportunity to laugh at how much better we are than these people.

Teen Wolf (MTV) – When previews first started appearing for this show I was more than skeptical, yet I decided to give it a chance because Teen Wolf just so happens to fall into my guilty pleasure genre of teen supernatural dramas.  Now I can admit that I am unhealthily addicted to the show, already having rewatched the season a few times.  No it’s not because of all the shirtless boys, though that never hurts, but rather the effective blend of high school drama and the downfalls of becoming a werewolf.  No matter how much I laugh at the makeup design of the werewolves in this one (still a fan of how Oz’s werewolf makeup turned out in Buffy), I can’t really find any other flaws with the show.  The mystery stays strong throughout the season, the “star crossed romance” between Tyler Posey and Crystal Reed is adorable, and the show manages to be far more hilarious than I expected it to be thanks in large part Dylan O’Brien as Posey’s best friend.  Perfect blend of everything I love.

Lauren’s Continuing Favorites:  Big Bang Theory, Castle, Chuck (this season started out rough, but I have faith in my spy team to end the series on a high note this January), Community, Fringe, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, and The Walking Dead.

Heather’s Favorite New Shows:

New Girl (FOX) – I am one of those people who has gotten tired of Zooey Deschanel’s relaying of the same artsy-fartsy character in nearly everything she does, but as soon as I saw commercials for New Girl I know I was going to love this show.  It without a doubt is the new show I most look forward to watching each week.  While I was initially a little sad that the token black roommate  in the pilot (Damon Wayans Jr.) was replaced in all future episodes by a different black roommate (Lamorne Morris) – a transition merely glossed over and rather poorly explained in the show if you ask me – my fear that the chemistry between the cast mates would not quite be the same was quickly put to rest.  I pretty much want to be best friends and/or live with all of these quirky roommates, even if they are fictional.  I will definitely be watching again next season.

Up All Night (NBC) – Ever since Samantha Who? (which met its untimely demise after just 2 seasons in 2009), I have been a huge fan of Christina Applegate.  So of course I had to watch her new show Up All Night, in which she stars opposite Will Arnett.  In the show Applegate and Arnett play Reagon and Chris Brinkley, a couple struggling to figure out parenthood.  Chris quits his job to be a stay-at-home dad, so that Reagan can continue to work as the producer of her best friend Ava Alexander’s  (played my Maya Rudolph) talk show.  Although I can’t say that I look forward to Up All Night all week like I do for New Girl, it still has charm, a few laughs, and even better – an adorable baby.  My favorite moment on the show thus far has been on an episode where Chris tries to suggest to Reagan that maybe she shouldn’t change into her frumpy sweatpants as soon as she gets home from work, which consistently kills the mood and with it any hope of romance.  The next morning, Chris finds Reagan dressed in an enormous black gown with satin gloves stretching to her elbows speaking in her “fanciest” voice.   I’m not really sure how long the show is going to stay on the air, but I enjoy it enough to keep watching for as long as it does.

Suburgatory (ABC) – When  Tessa Altman’s father finds a condom in her room, he decides that perhaps she is growing up to fast in the company of her New York City friends and uproots her to the picket fenced line suburbs.  Her neighbors range from over-friendly nosy busybodies (i.e., Sheila Shay – played by Ana Gasteyer) to superficial Real Housewives of Beverly Hills types (i.e., Dallace Royce - hilariously played by Cheryl Hines).  Ok… so maybe this show exaggerates and over-dramatizes what it is really like living in the suburbs (which is made even more ludicrous through the eyes of the ever cynical and witty Tessa), but it is so ridiculous at times that it is hard not to laugh.  The amazing cast of Suburgatory is just the cherry on top of a deliciously packaged sundae.

Heather’s Continuing Favorites:  Modern Family (although it seems to have lost some of its zest this season (e.g. Phil’s Tightrope walking episode), it’s still my favorite comedy on TV), Dexter (after that unexpected season finale I can’t wait for next season), The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad.

 A Tearful Goodbye:  Friday Night Lights (NBC) – This year marked the end of an amazing show, Friday Night Lights, which revolved around a Texas town that lives, breathes, and dies high school football.  I was happy to see some familiar faces from past seasons return (e.g., Tyra Collette and Matt Saracen – there has been a void in my heart ever since he left; he helps make the few and far between Tim Riggins appearances this season more bearable).  Plus, we got to see an all new, gentler side to Mindy Collette as well.  Although I was hoping for a bit more from the series finale (it seemed to slip out with a whisper rather than go out with a bang), I still felt more than a little sad the next day knowing I would never see those character’s that I have grown to love again.  Is it weird to love characters the way I love Coach Taylor, Mrs. Taylor, and Tim Riggins?  Probably… but the heart wants what the heart wants!

Zac’s Shows of Note:

Game of Thrones was the best new show of the year and one that I can’t wait to watch more of, hopefully, for years to come.  The setting, the characters, and the fact that it isn’t afraid to kill off cast members is something every show needs to realize.  It doesn’t hurt that it looks great and has some great effects work as well; I really can’t wait till April for Season 2.

Boardwalk Empire got off to a slow start this season; still good, but by the end we realize they were setting up the brilliant final three or four episodes.  Like Thrones, the show isn’t afraid to kill, and the death toll on major characters is both shocking and fair.  Season 3 is going to be crazy interesting and again, an HBO show has me frothing for more.

Is Louie the second best show on TV right now? Possibly, but the second season of the show can not be classified as it struck a tone that is unprecedented on television and film today.  Louis C.K. gets to show off his brilliance and gets all the credit as he is able to create the show completely on his own and has no one telling him what he can and can’t do.  Maybe we should let smart people do this more often in our entertainment?

There were more than a few continuing shows that had some impressive seasons this past year, Parks & Rec is operating at its highest level, Community continues to innovate and be the most original show on TV (even if it’s constantly an homage), Curb Your Enthusiasm was as sharp as ever, The Walking Dead greatly improved upon a rather rough first season, and Parenthood is easily the best hour long drama on network TV.

Portlandia is a show I just caught in the last week of the year (thank You Netflix) and it is freaking hilarious.  The show is refreshingly weird and silly and irrelevantly biting of society.  And I get season 2 in just a week!

I heart New Girl, Zooey Deschanel, and Jake Johnson.

Sherlock was another recent discovery for me and I enjoy it, so far, as much as the Robert Downey Jr. film counterpart.  Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are excellent as Holmes and Watson, respectively, with the show carrying a sharp wit and wonderfully grounding of the source material in a modern tale.

Life’s Too Short is another feather in the cap for the duo of Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais and I can’t wait to see more adventures of Warwick Davis in 2013.

Friday Night Lights also came to an end this year, and with it one of the best shows in television history ran its course.  The show is still ignored/written off by people when I recommend it to them because it is a “sports show” or “about football,” and they are idiots.  The show is an amazing representation of family, friendship, and love that featured amazing work from Taylor Kitsch, Connie Briton, Kyle Chandler, and Michael B. Jordan.  It’s on Netflix streaming, watch it already, you are missing greatness!

Speaking of greatness, Breaking Bad.  The show has cemented itself as my personal best show in television history this year and has set up its fifth and final season to make sure it sticks the landing.  Walter White is a phenomenal character and performance by Bryan Cranston, but he is flanked on all sides by talent that nearly matches him.  Aaron Paul, Giancarlo Esposito, Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Betsy Brandt and Anna Gunn are all at their best here and creator Vince Gilligan is on the verge of complete greatness here.

Alan’s Favorite New Shows:

Grimm (NBC): A lot of people out there have mixed feelings about this show, and towards the beginning, I did too. I thought it was a typical cop show, just with some supernatural/fairy tale thrown in there. However, it takes the creatures and stories of old (the pilot episode is reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood), and twists them to give viewers a fresh taste on the genre. The current season started out a bit slow, but it really is progressing into a great little show to watch on Friday nights. I hope that NBC doesn’t drop the ball with this show (as it’s known to do), because Grimm has a lot of potential.

Episodes (Showtime): If you came up to me last year, and told me that Matt LeBlanc was going to be nominated for a Golden Globe this year for ANYTHING, I would’ve told you to leave and to never talk to me again. But alas, he did, and he deserves the nom. Showtime’s original comedy was more of a satire of the American television industry than it was about a fake show. Taking something that the British made, spinning it, and turning it into a completely new show is something that we, as Americans, have done with countless shows. But Episodes took THAT idea, and made fun of it. I highly recommend that everyone watch an episode or two, maybe the entire first season.

Alan’s Continuing Favorites:

Community (NBC): C’mon, was this a surprise to anyone? Community has become one of the funniest shows on television, which is a sad fact now that it isn’t getting shown this upcoming spring. But for the past year, which includes the end of season 2 and beginning of season 3, the show has both ended and come out incredibly strong. The two part paintball finale was a fantastic way to cap off an incredibly solid season, while season 3 brought out new characters and predicaments that no other show on television has tried yet (they did an episode replaying the same event, with different outcomes). The mid-season finale Glee homage was the best way to go out; not only with a bang, but with a pop (pop!). I hope NBC brings it back soon to finish off the third season, then sign it to the six seasons and a movie that it deserves.

The End: That about does it for TV. Tomorrow, we will be talking about what video games captivated us throughout our year. Again, don’t be afraid to list some of your favorites below, and to come back tomorrow!

As the year winds down to an end, I find myself trying to squeeze in a bunch of films that I haven’t seen from the past year, all while rewatching some of the highlight films in order to compile a best of list (Be on the look out for those to start the first week of January!).  Click more to see what I thought were possible contenders and whether or not they failed to live up to the high hopes.

Archer Season 1 (2009-2010)

A spy with an affinity for the ladies!?  Psh… That’s just unheard of.  Yet that is what this show is based on.  Oh the fantasy of it all…

Archer is an animated show that somewhat spoofs the highly sexualized world of espionage.  The title character is a man who is apparently the best in the biz, though you would never guess this from how the character is presented in the show.  He is an idiot and a mama’s boy, so reason goes to show he is basically the best through accident because all I witness is mistake after mistake.  Which is where most of the comedy is for me.  The sex crazed working environment got old quickly and I never understood the relationship between super spy Lana and nerdy Cyril (granted the whole point of it is to probably to show Lana going for someone completely different that Archer).

The animation moves about like paper dolls with pins in their joints if you ask me, but one thing that overcompensates for this is the voice acting from a cast that includes Judy Greer, Chris Parnell, Aisha Tyler, and Jessica Walter.  At the top of the list is H. Jon Benjamin for his voicing of Archer, and I don’t think I will ever get tired of the way in which he yells “Mother!”

Seeing as I am not one for spoofs, it isn’t unexpected for me to not be completely blown away by this like many others (though I am in no way saying that this relies heavily on obvious mockery of the genre like the Scary Movie franchise or anything).  However, it does have a strong comedic take on this world, so though I don’t always see it, I can completely understand why so many love Archer. (Available to watch instantly with Netflix)

Final Grade: B

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Two summers ago Cowboys & Aliens was easily one of the films I was most excited for coming out of Comic Con.  Firefly has already proven that sci-fi meets western can be the perfect genre blend if done right; too bad Cowboys & Aliens falls short.

An entertaining film of the simplest form, C&A is one of those movies to put in if you just want to watch something in the background of what you are really paying attention to.  It’s not like you can hear/understand half of what Daniel Craig is saying anyway, not that what he says is probably the best dialog anyway.  The script is actually rather poorly written, with dialog and characters that are ill formed.  Sam Rockwell might get the worst of this, though he does get one of the funniest lines in the film, but the rest of the cast isn’t really given anything better than Rockwell, including Olivia Wilde who must shoulder a lot of the film without having enough character development to make us truly care about her character (other than for being a possible love interest to Craig, as well as the only girl for the majority of the film).

The CGI is done well enough for the aliens, alien jets, etc, and some of the fighting between the aliens and humans is fun enough to watch, but as soon as the movie is over and you actually start thinking about what you just watched the film completely breaks down.  The reasoning for the aliens being here is pretty vague, though what explanation is given creates a rather stupid motive for the battle between Earth and space no matter how well it fits with the time and setting.

Final Grade:  C

The Tree of Life (2011)

I’ll warn you now, if you are not the type of person who will get stuck in front of one of the video screens in an art museum then The Tree of Life may be a little challenging of a film to sit through for you.  Matter of fact, when describing it, “movie” really doesn’t come out as my first word.

Don’t get me wrong, a vast majority of films can be considered art.  For example, The Fall is one of the most beautiful films I have seen, but because of its narrative it is still something I would categorize as a movie first.  On the other hand, with The Tree of Life I would be more likely to describe it as artwork instead of a film because it doesn’t seem to have a place in a movie theater, but in an art show.  Hands down it is one of the most beautiful looking films from the past year, as I jokingly refer to the first 30 or so minutes as one of the best screensavers I have ever seen due to its calming imagery and tendency to push the camera in towards what is the focus of the shot.

Another deciding factor that sets this apart from most films is that I would use the story to describe a film, but art is often described by its concept, which is what The Tree of Life has.  So conceptual in fact that I went on to imdb.com after watching to read what other people thought the movie was about (I needed a little more than what I ended with, which was “WTF!?”).

Because of this it is impossible for me to sit on a grade because I can’t grade it on the usual scale.  However, if I were in a critique in an art class this would definitely be a piece not to be forgotten.

Follow @BewareOfTrees

Complete and utter shock, is the only way I can even come close to describing what I felt when I watched last nights season finally of Boardwalk Empire.  I had a feeling that this show would eventually have only one protagonist, and it was really hard to see them getting rid of Nucky Thompson’s character, but they had me fooled that he was going to prison for sure.  There seemed to be no way out of it, but Jimmy found a way.  A violently awesome way, but effective none the less.  Richard warned Jimmy that Nucky would never forgive him for the assassination attempt but Jimmy still tried.  I have to admit, even though he killed Angela, I still really like Manny Horowitz so I was kind of happy that when Nucky made his decision, it was Jimmy and not Manny.  I’m still not sure how I feel about Eli though.  He is such an idiot, but he is Nucky’s little brother after all so I guess he’ll stick around a little bit longer.

I can’t believe Nucky was the one to pull the trigger, but it does give you an entirely different perspective of his character.  He has always been the man behind the scenes, pulling the strings but never getting his own hands dirty.  It kind of got me thinking though.  Margaret said in her interrogation from Ester Randolph that Nucky has never shown cruelty towards her and that is very true, but there are certainly some people in Atlantic City who Nucky has shown cruelty.  The most of it seems to be directed towards his German butler Eddie and for no reason once so ever.  There is cruelty inside Nucky, even for those who serve him and do nothing but try to please him and why is that?  I doubt very much that Jimmy was the first man Nucky has killed.  I like how Jimmy tried to talk to him about what his first time was like, and how awful of an experience that was, but Nucky seemed to not really care.  He had no problems shooting Jimmy and, like I just said, if it had been his first murder I don’t think it would have been so easy for him.  I wonder why he did it in front of so many people though.  Owen had to be there, that was a given but Manny and Eli didn’t.  They have dirt on Nucky now, but maybe that was all part of Nucky’s plan.  Now everyone in that group has dirt on one another.

I am very happy with Margaret’s decision to stay with Nucky.  I think she did the right thing, and while some of the things Esther said to her are the truth, Esther does not know Nucky the way we do.  Her job is to put him behind bars so she can not and never will see him the way we and Margaret do, and that is fine because Margaret is the only one who matters.  It is kind of nice that they are married now, especially since the children have been calling Nucky dad (under his request) for the past several months.  I thought it was really awkward that they brought Katie and Owen as their witnesses, I was waiting for the truth about Margaret and Owen to come out during the ceremony but it was quickly over.  What was with her signing the deed of the land over to the church though?  What good does she really think that will do for anyone?  I can’t wait to see what Nucky’s reaction to that will be next season.  I would imagine it won’t go over very well.

I am incredibly excited to see what Season Three of Boardwalk will have to offer us.  Nelson and his hired maid/mother are an item now?  I feel like they kind of left that open to us.  They are maybe an item or maybe just pretending to be in order to get a room, but the way they smiled at each other was extremely creepy and makes you wonder a little bit.  I was really hoping he would end up finding Lucy, we never did get any closer as far as she’s concerned.

I still can’t believe they killed off Jimmy.  The more I think about it the more I don’t like it.  I absolutely love this show and I really think that this season somehow managed to out due last season and that’s really saying a lot, but I am really going to miss Jimmy’s character.  I don’t know what it’s going to be like without Jimmy, I can’t even begin to imagine it.  I feel like Lucky, Meyer, Gillian, and especially Richard have almost no purpose in the show without him.  I would really like to see what becomes of Richard.  I hope he does what Jimmy asks and does come home from the trenches but in a way, how can he?  Jimmy had everything, a beautiful family and plenty of money to enjoy life with, but he still couldn’t leave the trenches, and here he is asking Richard to when Richard doesn’t have anything Jimmy had going for him.  To me that is the biggest tragedy in Jimmy’s death, and I cringe to think about what will become of his son under Gillian’s care.  Season three will certainly be interesting, and it’s premiere can not get here soon enough.

In all honesty, I am not a big television watcher, mainly because I can never follow a series to its completion (mostly dramas). For years, I’ve bounced around different networks trying to find a show that, not only I can get into, but I can also relate to. Luckily for me (and what turns out to be millions of other people), Dan Harmon created Community: a smart, witty, over-the-top sitcom following a study group who are just trying to get by.

Now, if you don’t know what has happened to the series in the past couple of weeks, NBC is putting Community “on the shelf” for the time being, replacing it with the award-winning 30 Rock. So, as a sentiment to my favorite show, I decided to post my five favorite episodes (two from both seasons one and two, and one from three) and share my feelings of one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the past decade.

Episode 101: Pilot

It’s amazing how far these people have come in the past three years. Joel (played by Joel McHale) is a lawyer that got caught with a degree from Columbia (the country, not the district), and has to go through Greendale Community College to get his bachelor’s degree back. However, with his need to score, he asks Abed (played by Danny Pudi) who a certain blonde in his Spanish class is. With his need to impress her (the girl being Britta, played by Gillian Jacobs), he starts a fake study group, only for the group to be all too real once Abed invites more people to it. Of course, hilarity ensues, as he tries to get the group to collapse just so he can get some Thai food with Britta. This was a beginning to something great – each characters (including the ones not mentioned) is continually growing. Jeff now thinks of everyone as great friends (almost family, even), the robotic demeanor of Abed now makes him the coolest and calmest in the group, and while Jeff is now almost chasing the forbidden fruit known as Annie (played by Allison Brie), is now seemingly moving towards the first jock-now nerd Troy (played by Donald Glover). If you are already a fan of the show, I highly suggest you see how each of these characters are then, and who they are now; it’s truly astonishing. As for everyone else, this is an obvious starting point.

Favorite Line: “I’m sorry I called you Michael Douglas and I see your value now.” – Abed

Episode 117: Physical Education

The two stories here – the insecurities that Jeff has of wearing short-shorts and the rest of the study group trying to change Abed to get a girl to like him intertwine in an amazing way. Because Jeff doesn’t want to wear the regulation shorts for playing billiards (it is, after all, a P.E. class), he gets kicked out and banished to Urban Outfitters (or wherever hipsters go when they get yelled at). After finding a picture of White Abed in Troy’s math book, the rest of the gang try to change who he is to get the girl (or they’re “Can’t Buy Me Love”ing him). This, of course, end hilariously, with Abed pretending to be a vampire first, then Mad Men’s Don Draper, then Jeff himself. This fails, of course, because the girl is already dating White Abed – aka Abed as a white person. The group believes that they hurt his spirit the next day, but Abed comes back with a great bit of dialogue that a lot of people can relate to. That inspires Jeff to go back to his billiards class, and strips down to nothing to beat the teacher of the class. Both touching and hilarious, this was one of the gems of the debut season.

Favorite Line: “I hate to say ‘I told you so…’ so I’ll say it through cuffed hands. I TOLD YOU SO!” – Jeff

Episode 210: Mixology Certification

A lot of people will probably disagree with me here that this is one of the finer episodes that Dan Harmon put out this past season, probably because that the episode wasn’t deemed “funny” by the fans. It doesn’t have all of the moments that normally fill an episode, but in all honesty, it doesn’t need it. Troy’s 21st birthday party started as just a small hang out in the study room, but once they went to the local bar (not The Red Door or L Street), they all start to unravel. Annie takes on a Texan personality to legally be able to enter the bar, and creates a whole new side of her that she almost wishes were her own reality. Abed gets hit on by a gay guy, but instead of stopping him, he sits and talks about their collective enjoyment of a sci-fi series. And Shirley goes around the place taking down any picture of her wasted, trying to hide her shame and remain perfect to the rest of the group. Of course, it’s found, and drama ensues. The only sober one, ironically, was Troy, who took the high road and made sure that everyone got home safe. Was it funny? Not really, but again, these characters are all still human. Even the most cartoonish characters have to sit down and remember that they’re human.

Favorite Line: “Duh Doi” – Britta

Episode 216: Intermediate Documentary Filmaking

Dan Harmon has said on multiple occasions that he thinks The Office is the best show on televsion. So why not have an episode basically devoted to that sort of Mockumentary format. Pierce (played by Chevy Chase) overdosed on pain pills the episode before, and now is being treated in the hospital. Of course, the study group rush by his side, hoping that they can help on some way. However, Pierce breaks the news that he is dying – of course he is lying, and is just playing psychological games with everyone’s heads. He the starts his bequeathings – handing out everything from a CD of insults, a tiara, Jeff’s father, and LeVar Burton. These all starts incredibly humorous moments between each of the characters – including and incredible conversation between the hypothetical versions of Jeff’s Dad and Britta’s Dad. Also, this is one of the funniest Troy episodes to date, even though he barely speaks. The episode ends with Jeff beating up Pierce, due to the fact that he was posing as aforementioned father of his. From top to bottom, one of the funniest episodes to date, and one of the best homages as well.

Favorite Line: “Set phasers to LOVE ME!” – Troy

Episode 306: Advanced Gay

This is one of the most bittersweet episodes of the current season, as it opens up so many doors, only to have them shut for now. The episode is about Pierce, who’s moist towlette line is becoming a gay icon (due in large part to Urbana Champaign’s catchy techno song). This, of course, sky rockets the sales, but due to his overbearing father’s own personal prejudices towards EVERYBODY, Pierce is pressured into cutting all ties to the community. Meanwhile, due to Troy’s amazing plumbing skills, he is kidnapped in the middle of the night to be initiated in John Goodman’s (yes, THE JOHN GOODMAN) Air Conditioning Annex. This doesn’t settle well with his custodian friends, as he now has to make a decision about his future. Troy picks neither, and would rather just hang out with Abed and watch movies. This doesn’t settle well with the Vice Dean (Goodman), who vows that this isn’t the end. This episode opens up many doors, but due to the benching of the show, we might not know what happens with everything. Here’s hoping.

Favorite Line: “But why kidnap you? Why put a sack over your head and drag you here in the middle of the night? Why is there an astrounaut in the corner making paninis? Simple, we don’t want you tell anyone about this. And if you do, we don’t want them believing you, isn’t that right Black Hitler?” – Vice Dean Layborne

There is still a chance that the show will come back, but right now, it doesn’t look good. But there’s no doubting that the show is worth watching, either through iTunes, DVD’s or watching the last episode December 8th. If you haven’t started watching, then shame on you; you’re missing the best comedy on television. Six seasons and a movie!!!!!

To close, I’ll let Troy express how I feel about the benching of the show. Enjoy!

After last weeks ending, I didn’t think there was anything the writers of boardwalk could have done to match that intensity, but boy was I wrong.  I love the way Agent Sebso has finally come back to haunt Nelson.  He seemed to get carried away in his righteousness at the end of season one, yet we have only seen him being forced to deal with Lucy and their child so far.  I always wondered how Agent Van Alden managed to get away with Murder right in front of an entire church congregation.  Well it turns out Nucky’s butler was part of that congregation and witnessed the whole thing, and happened to be dusting the room while Nucky’s lawyer was discussing Nelson’s testimony.  Jimmy seems to have gone completely off the deep end, and if anyone had their doubts about the relationship between him and his Mother, they were all erased after last night.

It’s kind of funny, to me at least, that the Commodore was beginning to look like he was moving in the directions of a recovery in the last couple of episodes, and then Jimmy killed him.  That was the best shape we have seen the Commodore in since before his stroke.  He was walking around, talking clearer and even strong enough to almost kill Jimmy.  I wish that for once Jimmy could make his own decision.  He seems to always let others make his decisions whether it be the Commodore, the group of young pups, or of course his mother.  Even when he killed his own father, his mother had to tell him to do it.  After he initially stabbed him in the gut he just had a blank expression on his face and didn’t know what to do.  It makes me wonder if he actually would’ve finished off the commodore had his mother not said anything.  It’s probably better that he did though, the Commodore was an asshole and I was happy to see him leave the show.

Last week ended with Jimmy driving a truck full of liquor to Princeton, and I absolutely loved the way we only saw him for the majority of this episode with flashbacks from his time spent there, especially how the episode opened with he and Angela laying in bed together.  The way last week’s episode ended I didn’t think we would ever see her again so I was pretty happy that we got to see her at least one more time, and for the most of the episode too. As soon as Jimmy’s class began discussing the literature they had been reading I immediately began to think of the relationship between Jimmy and Gillian.  I was pretty amused, then, when Jimmy confronted his professor who, once discovering that Gillian was Jimmy’s mother, said that his life was basically the book they had been reading.  It’s never really made clear whether or not Jimmy was expelled because of the incident but it seems that either way the events that took place afterwards are what made him join the army and leave Princeton.  I honestly don’t even know if I can write about what happened between Jimmy and his mother after he brought her back to her hotel room.  It explains a whole lot about their relationship though, and it really seems like Jimmy has not been the same since, because of it.

This episode has shown us that Gillian is pure evil.  You feel for her because of what the Commodore did to her when she was only a child, but she is still evil.  She needs to be stopped, especially if Jimmy wants to have any kind of chance of surviving in Atlantic City.  I hope his much needed vacation in Princeton doesn’t leave him with a heroin addiction.  He snorted all of that sample Lucky gave him, but I have no idea if that’s enough to give him an addiction.  I was kind of waiting for the withdrawals signs to start showing on him but they never did, at least not this episode.

I have a pretty strong feeling that Mickey Doyle will not survive this season.  There’s only one episode left, so I guess I am saying that he will be killed in the next episode.  Everyone knows he is a snitch, and he even tried to snitch out all the young pups to Nelson, and Nelson wanted no part of it.  Speaking of Nelson, what will become of him now?  He’s so afraid of being exposed that he runs, but how long can he run and where can he run?  I really enjoyed the story of his childhood, and how awful it was because his father believed in the second coming so strongly.  You would think for someone who experienced that horrible childhood all because of his father’s insane religious beliefs, would grow up to be anti religious but obviously not.  I can’t wait for next weeks episode to see how this season wraps up.

Well here were are, just hours away from Cotto Vs Margarito II, and I’m finally getting a chance to write this.  As many boxing writers have already said, this is the biggest grudge match boxing has seen in a long time.  These two men have a deep hatred of one another and they will get their chance to leave it all in the ring tonight and tonight only.  To put it bluntly, if Cotto wins that means Margarito used the plaster in their first fight, and Cotto’s claims of Margarito being a cheater and a criminal will be justified.  If Margarito wins, whether he used plaster in their first meeting or not, he is the better fighter.  He also claims to have not used the plaster hand wraps in the first fight so tonight is his chance to prove his claim once and for all.  

I think Max Kellerman said it the best, “How much of Margarito’s success was based on his plaster wraps?”  It is something we all want to know now.  All anyone knows for sure is that Margarito tried to use the plaster in his first title defense against Shane Mosely.  Without the plaster, Margarito was destroyed and suffered his first ever T.K.O. defeat.  Jim Lampley even said after the fight that the hard pounding shots that Margarito rained down on Cotto were absent against Mosely, which immediately gave rise to the suspicions of Margarito using the illegal wraps against Cotto.  Cotto was one of the few who wasn’t quick to point the finger at Margarito, and Jim Lampley sat down one on one with him and asked him why he recently has decided to make the claim that Margarito cheated in their first throw down.  Cotto’s answer was simply, he only said “Pictures.”  The pictures that Cotto uses to support his claim are pretty undeniable.  The red on the plaster from the court evidence is highly incriminating, you have to admit.

Then there is Margarito.  He still claims that he has done nothing wrong and that he had no knowledge of the plaster being used on his hand wraps.  I find this very hard to believe and I absolutely hate the way he threw his trainer under the bus and forced him to take all the blame for the incident.  I don’t know though, I feel there is a lot going on behind the scenes with Margarito that everyone seems to be missing.  His trainer claims he didn’t know the wraps were loaded when he put them on Antonio’s hands and if that is true, then who did know?  Who was the one who put the wraps there in the first place?  Something just isn’t right about this but oh well.  It’s over and done with.  I think one thing that Margarito has done extremely well in this whole build up, is assume the role of the bad guy.  He keeps his sunglasses on constantly, and I don’t think it has anything to do with his eye.  I think that he thinks it makes him look more mysterious, and more evil, so he is running with it.  He will probably even wear them all the way up until when he is inside the ring, the way most boxers wear their crosses.

My prediction for this fight is as follows. (I will post the results right beneath this once the fight is over tonight.)  I believe that this fight will be all Miguel Cotto.  Cotto demonstrated in the first fight that he can outbox Margarito with ease, and he did just that until the 7th round.  In the 7th he lost steam, he was clearly exhausted and that exhaustion caused him to lose his speed, his footwork and most importantly his power.  He had nothing left to throw at Margarito and Margarito took advantage.  He did what he has always done in his career, he moved forward and kept throwing punches, and if Cotto couldn’t throw back, or escape he was done for.  There is no way Miguel has forgotten any of that.  He is going to make sure he does not make the same mistake twice and will do a much better job of conserving his energy.  He has an ability to stay away from Margarito’s body shots, and as long as he keeps doing that he will be in fantastic shape.  Miguel Cotto has plenty of power when facing any top level fighter, but Margarito’s chin is pure diamond.  The guy broke his right orbital bone in the 4th round against Manny Pacquio and he just kept on fighting.  Pacquio couldn’t even stagger him, even when he was landing hard right hands on Margarito’s already broken right eye.  Cotto simply does not have the power it takes to stop a man like Margarito, and there is nothing wrong with that, because apparently only Shane Mosely has that kind of power (had that kind of power).  So with all that being said, I believe Miguel Cotto will win this fight by out boxing Margarito for all 12 rounds, and will therefore win by Unanimous Decision.

Results: Well I had the winner right.  Cotto dominated the entire fight, and he did exactly what he said he was going to do.  He destroyed Margarito’s right eye, and even though the eye didn’t look nearly as bad as it did when Pacquio broke it, the doctors called the fight just as the 10th round was about to begin, giving Cotto a 10th round T.K.O. victory.  The fight looked very similar to their first meeting, except Cotto appeared to never run out of gas.  I for one believe that this was more than enough proof that Margarito used the plaster in their first meeting, and without the damaging blows from his plaster fists this time around, Cotto had a much easier time controlling the pace.  I feel bad for Margarito though, it appears his career is practically done for, and without the plaster on his fists he is not the Express Train he once was.

This weeks episode of Terra Nova was called Now You See Me, but I feel that a more appropriate title would have been, cheese.  Everything cool or interesting in this episode was very close to being completely ruined by this shows cheesiness.  I feel like this has become a recurring event in Terra Nova.  They have to have some type of event going on, usually involving Zoe and dinosaurs, that is nothing but pure cheese.  It’s stupid, has nothing to do with anything else in the show and feels completely out of place.  I am just down right sick and tired of these moments and they seem to be in practically every episode.  They are always at the end of the episode too which is even worse because it leaves me with this pissed off feeling that makes completely forget about anything else that happened in the episode that actually was kind of cool or at least interesting.  Like I said though, the cheesiness almost ruined this episode but thankfully there was still plenty of action, and it was awesome to learn Mira’s background.

Sky’s character has finally become interesting.  I personally find it hard to believe that only the Sixers can keep her mother alive but what do I know?  Sky sure seems to be convinced and maybe she should be, either way she is the Sixers spy that Commander Taylor and everyone else have been looking for.  Commander Taylor will never suspect her either since he believes both of her parents were killed by the harsh winter.  Her name is on the list Jim gets from Elisabeth, but will Jim be naive about her like Commander Taylor seems to be?  I doubt it very much, but the list is 47 people so it will at least take some time.

I like the way Commander Taylor and Mira teamed up to survive against the dinosaurs, and Stephen Lang did an excellent job showing embarrassment on a character who is rarely embarrassed.  When he tried to tell her what to do because he lived all alone in the woods for 118 days, and she looked at him and said that she was coming up on 1,000, he just shut up and knew right away that for the first time in a long time, he was outclassed.  They learned a lot more about one another and we got a chance to learn the back story behind Mira.  She joined the Sixers for an opportunity to live in a dome with her daughter, which is I guess where the rich people in 2140 live.  Her daughter is 7, and she wants nothing more than to get back to her but she has to complete her mission first.  I suppose that is the case with all the Sixers, they probably all have some sort of sad back story similar to hers.  They’re still going to keep fighting each other but they have a mutual respect for one another now so maybe they will fight each other differently?  Probably not.

I do not understand how Commander Taylor, and everyone else for that matter, seems to think it is okay to put Jim in charge of the entire colony during his absence.  Jim has been in the colony for less than a year and already he is Taylor’s second in command?  I feel like Taylor has been running Terra Nova this whole time and has no one he can trust.  I mean did he really not have a second in command or at least some sort of high ranking officer he could confine in?  This obviously is not the first time Taylor has gone out into the woods by himself looking for his son.  It seems like it is a regular event and there had to be someone he put in charge when he went on these little excursions before Jim and the other Shannon’s made their pilgrimage.  Oh and also, Jim was a cop in the future.  He has zero military experience, yet is still put in charge of Terra Nova and mostly the soldiers inside.  I know this show is science fiction, and features dinosaurs but come on, putting a man who hasn’t even been inside the colony a year in charge during Commander Taylor’s absence is just too unrealistic I’m sorry.

When I first saw that the title of this episode was called Georgia Peaches, I was slightly confused.  What could Georgia peaches have to do with Atlantic City, gangsters and liquor?  Then it hit me.  During the scene where Nucky goes to New York to find a new lawyer,  he meets with Arnold Rothstein’s lawyer and is accompanied by Teddy.  When the lawyer sees Teddy he hands the young lad a baseball that is autographed by non other than Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach.  The title is a reference to Cobb, but also to Nucky who, like Cobb, isn’t necessarily a good man but he is very good at what he does, in fact he is the best.  Not everyone agrees with his methods but his ability to get the job done cannot be argued with.  

This week we witnessed the beginning of Nucky retaking his rightful throne.  With his friends across the sea supplying him with genuine Irish whiskey, his troubles seem just about over.  Nucky still has his court date to worry about and just when you think the feds are going to arrest him, we see Eli sitting in a jail cell.  This was of course after his visit with Deputy Halloran where Eli’s attempt to be both subtle and intimidating backfired on him horribly.  Eli looks screwed, and it’s hard telling, at this point, what will happen with Nucky in the court system but he has at least gotten himself a new lawyer.

It seems even without Nucky reestablishing himself as the main distributor of alcohol along the boardwalk Jimmy would have fallen apart on his own.  Nothing seems to be going right for him.  I laughed a little bit as he drove his truck full of booze into Princeton.  At least he finally went there I guess.  I hate to think about what he will go through when he returns though.  Oh my god, I never saw that one coming.  I thought Manny was just going to kill Angela’s lover and leave Angela there to bask in the humility of the situation, but no he shot her too.  Wow, I had a feeling someone important to this show would die this season, I mean this is technically a gangster series after all.  I really like Manny as a character, but now that he shot Angela I kind of hate him because I really liked her, but oh well.

Nelson’s wife filed for divorce, I think anyone could have seen that coming.  I really like the way they chose to have the baby crying as we see a close up of Nelson’s expression after he reads the note from Rose.  I would really like to see what becomes of him, and also where did Lucy run off to?  She has to be somewhere by the boardwalk right?  I have a feeling Nelson will find her sometime before this season ends…at least I hope so.

Poor little Emily Schroeder.  You can’t help but feel sorry for her, Polio was and still is a horrendous disease.  Margaret is not taking it well at all, and how could she?  I thought it was interesting the way they portrayed the church in this episode.  The priest seemed to only like Margaret once she gave him a bunch of gold and a big wad of cash.  Once he accepted her donation, the priest immediately wanted to pray for Emily with her, and of course, that did nothing to help her and her Polio is even more severe than the had doctors originally thought.  I wonder what will become of Margaret now.  It is obvious she believes that her sins have caused this to become of her daughter, but what is she going to do about that now?  Will she stay with Nucky or does she think he is also part of the problem, and she needs to no longer associate with him?  It sure seems that her family in New York feels she is horrible sinner and maybe now she is starting to feel that way about herself as well.  I have a pretty strong feeling all of this will cause her to do something drastic, probably leaving Nucky behind in the process.  I can’t believe there are only two episodes left, I don’t want this season to end!