Tag: NBC

Powerless: Sinking Day – Daddy Issues and Secret Superheroes (Recap/Review)

Powerless - Season 1

After last week’s somewhat lackluster offering, this episode of Powerless offers up a secret superhero mystery and looks at Van’s daddy issues. Corben Bernsen guest stars as the senior Wayne who started the company that Van is running so badly.

At the start of the episode Van manages to lose an account worth millions; one that has been with the company since its inception. Vanderveer Wayne Sr. swoops in to express his disdain and anger at Van’s mismanagement of the situation.

Van retreats into himself and Emily offers to bail her boss out. She tells him about her father’s flower shop, much to his chagrin, and promotes a positive attitude and strong work ethic in order to get Van moving.

Meanwhile, Jackie, Ron and Teddy believe the new guy in the office; Alex, is actually the new superhero in town; The Olympian.  As the trio try to work out if Alex really is the new very active superhero, Ron sets up cameras in the men’s restroom to catch Alex changing into The Olympian.

Emily realizes that Atlantis’s upcoming celebration of “Sinking Day” offers a great opportunity to get a new client to replace the one that Van lost earlier in the episode.  She and Van work together and he almost jeopardizes the whole thing when he lies and says that Aquaman will be attending their own Sinking Day celebrations.

The Atlantians (Ron claims he comes from Atlantis although everyone swears he said he was from Atlanta) ask to attend the Wayne party and Van manages to win them over despite Aquaman not turning up.

Vanderveer intercedes to close the deal, upsetting his son Van in the process, but has to back off when the group insist that they will only deal with Van. The younger Wayne almost gets a compliment from his father but blows it.

Emily has saved the day and as this drama played itself out, Ron, Jackie and Teddy learn that Alex is not The Olympian. (Wendy gets to the root of the matter by knocking the suspected superhero out cold.)

This episode moved back into the campy and unique verse of the superhero theme it promised. The Olympian saves a school bus and appears every time that there is a problem.  It put the show back on board and left the more mundane aspects to run along side the premise of Powerless.

Alan Tudyk was allowed to be hysterically funny this week. His song writing, as a reaction to his father’s rejection and condemnation, was spot on. While Tudyk’s comedic timing prowess is above and beyond the call of duty, the actor is also able to make himself look like a live muppet (All bulging eyes and downward turned mouth) which is the delightful icing on the comic cake.

The rest of the cast; Kirk, Pierson, Funches and Pudi, interacted perfectly after being allowed to move away from Hudgens’ Pollyanna (as in Sunnybrook Farm Pollyanna) attitude and influence. Zeroing in on Van Wayne made the entire episode funnier.

Powerless is faltering a bit as it heads into its first season. If, however, they move more towards including their original premise into each episode things should pick up.

The series airs Thursdays on NBC. Tune in and see what you think.

Cast:

Guest starring Corben Bernsen as Vanderveer  Wayne Sr and Matthew Atkinson as Alex.

Superstore: Super Hot Store – Dina, Garrett and Sex (Review)

Superstore - Season 2

After last week’s romantic episode, that ended in a sexual harassment case for Amy and Glenn, Superstore heads straight to the sex part in “Super Hot Store.” Despite the sub-zero temperatures outside the building, the Cloud 9 establishment is sweltering inside.

Glenn calls corporate and complains only to be told that the computer says that things are a cool 64 degrees. Tempers are frayed as the heat increases in the store and as the episode continues a newly promoted Marcus and Amy butt heads.

Glenn puts the air conditioner on in his office and Garrett decides to stay in the room while the manager goes up on the roof to fix the heating problem. Cheyenne accompanies Glenn. He manages to change the setting language but nothing else.

He and the new mother do bond over their mutual love of travel and later, after the problem is sorted by corporate, Cheyenne extricates herself from Glenn with a few white lies.

Dina enters Glenn’s office and finds Garrett camped out there. She stays in the cool room with him and the two share uncomfortable silence until Dina says, “sex?” Garrett responds favorably and they have sex at least three times behind closed doors.

Marcus is asked by Amy to clean up a leaking pallet of yoghurt and he responds vaguely. Later, after she discovers the mess is still in the floor, Amy gets angry. She and Jonah go to confront the new man running the warehouse.

Jonah works to mediate the confrontation but Marcus blows it when he tells Amy to smile. She reacts angrily and fires him. Jonah tries to save to situation but Marcus once again puts his foot in it and Jonah seconds Amy’s firing.

In sympathy the entire warehouse team walks out with Marcus. The rest of Cloud 9 try to unload the latest shipment and apart from Sandra becoming trapped behind boxes and breaking the scanner, Amy takes a fall after scooting down the rollers.

Marcus returns and apologizes to Amy and Jonah and is “re-hired” (it is unclear whether Amy actually had the power to fire anyone) and the temperature is lowered by corporate .

Dina and Garrett agree to dislike each other but still have sex and Jonah praises Amy on her toughness and being able to take a fall.

One of the highlights of the episode was Dina’s impression of Glenn when corporate, who had kept Glenn on hold for the entire episode, got back to the manager to say it was the computer after all.

While Dina’s aping of Glenn was not perfect the voice on the other end of the line never noticed it was not the manger at all. Even funnier was the admission that Glenn was right all along about who’s fault it was but he was not there to hear it.

The awkward pairing of Dina and Garrett continues to be one of the funnier aspects of the show. Both of them swear that they cannot stand the other and yet they are apparently sexually compatible.  This odd couple get together is just brilliant.

Lauren Ash and Colton Dun are running a close second to America Ferrera and Ben Feldman as “couple of the year” but for entirely different reasons. Granted, Amy and Jonah are not a couple yet but we believe it will not be too much longer before cupid strikes hard.

Nichole Bloom and Mark McKinney were spot on together on the Cloud 9 roof. The storyline, where this week Glenn realizes that his ancestors were slave traders, was priceless.

Superstore continues to be one of the funniest things on NBC right now. Tune in and see what you think.

Cast:

Timeless: Public Enemy No. 1 – The Hart of the Matter (Recap/Review)

Timeless - Season 1

Timeless  “Public Enemy No. 1” is a gripping installment. Things have come to a head with Rittenhouse’s Rottweiler; Agent Neville, who cracks down on the remaining Mason employees. He orders Lucy and Rufus to take a new soldier back in time to murder Flynn’s mother.

The pair refuse and both Mason and Neville threaten the two with prison. They agree to go on the mission. The new guy is shot with a tranquilizer dart and they stop to pick up Wyatt Logan. Their first mission is to save Lucy’s sister.

This plan is scuppered when they learn that Flynn has gone back to 1931 Chicago.  Flynn keeps Al Capone from going to prison and arranges for Elliot Ness to die in his “hidden” apartment. In return, Capone sets up a meeting with Rittenhouse member Mayor Thompson.

After beating the next big Rittenhouse meeting date out of the mayor, Flynn asks Capone to kill Rufus, when he shows up. Later, Capone tries very hard to do just that.

Preston, Logan and Carlin have to hunt down Capone’s brother, a G-man who changed his name, Richard Hart. They talk Hart into confronting his brother and arresting him.

All goes well until Al pulls a gun to shoot Rufus. A short standoff keeps things tense until Capone shoots at the time-ship’s pilot and wounds him. Richard shoots Al and Logan shoots a henchman.

Back in the present, Jiya, who was slipped a burner phone by her boyfriend Rufus, gets into trouble twice. The first time just by the benefit of dating Carlin and the second by shutting Mason’s systems down again.

Previews of the next episode (the season finale) shows Lucy finally agreeing to help Flynn, as he told Preston she does in the pilot episode. He does allude to her coming over to his side repeatedly and now his prediction has come true.

While things have moved forward rapidly plot wise – Agent Christopher is now working with the trio to take back the program from Rittenhouse and Mason – Rufus’s life is in danger, he does get shot by Capone, and time seems to be tuning out for Lucy in terms of getting her sister back.

There was one big boo-boo in the climatic scene in Al Capone’s office, however, that really threw everything out of whack. A continuity mistake, or editing slip-up that yanked us right out of the story.

Thankfully it was not a major character who messed up, but a peripheral one. Capone’s bodyguard, the big chap to the left of the group, pulls two pistols from his holsters…twice.

The second the guns come out, Al’s, Richard’s and Wyatt’s so too do the bodyguard’s. As things heat up and Al takes his shot at Rufus, Wyatt moves to protect the pilot and Hart shoots his brother dead. The bodyguard who already had his pistols out and ready to shoot does not.

The reason?

He apparently holstered them again. The act of drawing his guns a second time allowed Wyatt the chance to shoot him dead.

Oops.

Neither Nicole Baer (who edited this episode) nor director Guy Ferland caught this one and it is a shame as it takes the punch right out of Rufus’ near death experience.

Regardless of this mess up, the episode ends with Rufus collapsing, after muttering “tell Jiya…” with the time machine still whirring but not jumping. A good cliffhanger moment that leaves us wondering if Rufus will make it to another jump.

Timeless airs Mondays on NBC. Tune in for the season finale and see if Carlin lives or dies.

Cast:

Guest starring Jim Beaver as Agent Neville, Mather Zickel as Richard Hart/Jimmy Capone, Misha Collins  as Elliot Ness, Cameron Gharaee as Al Capone and Richard Portnow as Mayor William Hale Thompson.

SNL: Alec Baldwin and Ed Sheeran – Ladies Against Trump (Review)

Saturday Night Live - Season 42

Alec Baldwin broke the record for the number of times anyone has hosted the show since its inception. (This last time made Baldwin’s time number 17.) The monologue was brilliant, made all the more so because Pete Davidson came on to comically mock the host. “Tell me, does everyone’s head expand after a certain age?”

The host reprised his role as Trump not for the cold open but he did show up later in a gag. Once again it was Melissa McCarthy who stole the show with her impression of Sean Spicer.  Everything about the cold open was spot on, the doll show – showing how vetting would work and Kate McKinnon’s cameo as Jeff Sessions was priceless.

McCarthy’s Spicer is nigh on perfect. Her aggression and OTT reactions to the press’s questions were brilliantly funny. The cameo by McKinnon as Sessions was also a comedic highlight.

The Spicer cold open was hilarious but the show’s comic highlight was a toss up between the Kellyanne Conway “Fatal Attraction” and “Ring” style gag with Jake Tapper being stalked and hunted by the publicity mad Conway.

This was comedy of the sublime and sadly, it seemed that the younger “hip” audience missed some of the punch lines. McKinnon quoting Alex Forrest’s lines seemed to go over the heads of the audience. They did eventually catch-up and get the joke but it took a little time.

The final bit, where Kellyanne falls out of the window and falls to the street below, only to get back up and readjust her broken and misshapen limbs, was evocative of a J Horror “moment” and was simply perfect.

SNL made the most of Baldwin but the episode belonged to the ladies. In an apparent answer to Trump’s displeasure at women portraying men in his cabinet, a lot of the female players took potshots at the POTUS.

Leslie Jones with her dream of playing Trump when Alec Baldwin takes off the wig was brilliant.  The confrontation between Jones and SNL creator Lorne Michaels was funny, with all the physical comedy taking place in front of the cast.

It was the Vanessa Bayer punchline that killed it however. With a blond coiffed Bayer wearing the POTUS costume to stab Jones in the back at the last moment. This was just priceless.

It was not just the impressions by the female SNL members who socked it to Trump and his cabinet.  Another skit, which built on an earlier sketch with Baldwin as Trump, had the president taking the three judges to “People’s Court” to challenge their ruling and their right to stop his ban.

Once again, a female slammed the POTUS, the judge was played by Cecily Strong as a younger version of a Judge Judy type. Trump’s appeal is squashed yet again this time by a “TV” court. “That’s okay,”  Baldwin’s Trump replies, ” I’m a TV president.”

The skit ends with Trump going on to another People’s Court case.

Other skits on the night that were spot on was the Russell Stover gag about Black History Month chocolates, the Cheetos pitches for new adverts (both these were brilliant) and the drill sergeant sketch.

Weekend Update was, as usual, topical and amusing but this week it was not the comic highlight of the show. Ed Sheeran killed it. The lad from Framlingham, Suffolk in England proved again just how talented he really is.

SNL continues to hammer away at the latest POTUS and his swamp filled cabinet. Congrats to all the ladies of SNL, and Melissa McCarthy, for ripping it up on the night. Since this was Alec Baldwin’s big night, we will leave you with his opening monologue.

Powerless: Wayne Dream Team – Rumbrella (Review)

Powerless - Season 1

So episode two of Powerless “Wayne Dream Team” steps back from the show’s basic premise and devolves into a pallid version of The Office. It becomes less about living in a verse where super heroes battling super villains is not the most important thing on the table.

Granted, the “rumbrella” is a direct link to a super battle dropping tons of rubble on grandma and those around her. However, this and the Super Hero Fantasy League are not the driving factors here. The SHFL is just another version of fantasy football and this lack of originality will kill this so-so comedy.

The big complaint here is that apart from the opening premise in the show’s pilot, the series really has very little to do with any Marvel or DC caped crusaders. Sure Van Wayne is Bruce Wayne’s cousin but the savior of Gotham was not mentioned this week at all.

Fiery super villain’s equalled one. The baddy flew into the prologue and wiped out the pastry vendor’s merchandise. Apart from the rubble protecting umbrella, invented because of the dangers in living in super hero haven, and the choosing of super heroes for the fantasy league, the comic book allusions were dropped.

Emily trying to fit in with her employees, working to be both friend and boss was amusing, as was the HR tyrant who picked on both Emily and Van, but hardly befitting a show about a world beset with problems due to the constant conflict in the skies about town.

Not to complain but for a show set in a place where comic book heroics are supposed to make life miserable for the average denizen, not to mention  make more money for Wayne Enterprises, there should be more references and interactions.

Hudgens is cutely annoying and amusing. Tudyk plays his role with the usual comic aplomb and the rest of the cast work brilliantly. Michael D. Cohen killed it as the small yet pushy head of HR who bullies everyone but forces those who retaliate to watch a six hour anti-bullying video. 

The relationship between Jackie and Van is spot on, the segment where Wayne tries to make his assistant feel guilty was funny but once again, this could be in any setting.

“Wayne Dream Team” feels like a step backward and one can only hope that as the season progresses that there will be more made of this comic book world and the consequences of living there.

(There was a funny bit where Emily talks of finding a cheap place to rent in Mu-To – short for “Murder Town” and the crack about places near where pedophiles congregate. But, once again, these gags could work regardless of the comic book premise.)

Powerless needs to up its game. Having Superstore as its lead-in will ensure a certain amount of viewers but they will not stick around unless the show really delivers. Superstore is consistently funny each week with a splendid cast and great scripts.  It may well turn out to be a hard act to follow.

Powerless airs Thursdays on NBC. Stop by and see what you think.

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Cast:

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