Entourage (Season 5 & 6)

Season 5:

This season starts off with Vincent Chase hitting a bit of a rough patch, and is both jobless and going more and more broke. I feel as if the concentration for this season was more on the comedic side of things; especially with episodes 3 and 8. Episode 3 involves Ari Gold finally getting revenge on Adam Davis in a very public setting – getting the most out of his revenge. Episode 8 involves Ari Gold showing the power he holds as the CEO of the company, firing two of his agents in a single day because of a lost client and a little mishap caused by the two agents that were fired. Going back to the story however, Vince does get a job in a new movie he had is sights on, but very temporarily. The director of the movie originally didn’t want Vince in the movie at all, and later showed his true colors when insulting Vince and telling him he couldn’t act. This mixture of anger and bitterness finally lead to the shutting down of the movie, leaving Vince and his gang right back to where they started. Turtle, however, does create an interesting love-interest with a very wide known actress named Jamie Lynn Sigler. Surprising huh? Yeah, it seems as if Turtle is the only one moving forward in his life while everyone else is forced to stay in one place.

 

Season 6:

Season 6 is jam-packed with events! It’s definitely a must-watch season of Entourage just because of everything that’s going on. Keep in mind though, if you’ve never seen Entourage before, you should start from the beginning. A lot of the humor is based off of the history these four main characters have with each other. Not following from the start takes away from many of the jokes made, as well as the significance of the storyline.

They started this season off right with Vince being a guest on the Jay Leno show. And the cameos don’t stop there. Later in the season, you’ll get a chance to see Mark Wahlberg and Tom Brady. Anyways, the relationship between Ari and his assistant, Lloyd, begin to crumble when Lloyd finally demands to be promoted to an agent-level position. Things get so bad between them that Lloyd ends up leaving Ari’s company and joins with Adam Davis agency, but as an agent. While this is happening, Johnny Drama is freaking out because he wants to get out of the current contract he’s in, but is uncertain of whether or not his agent, Lloyd, can follow through. For Vince, he bounces back on his feet this season by signing on to do another movie with a little director known as Frank Darabont.

The way Entourage ends this particular season is quite surprising. Eric randomly proposes to the love of his life after getting fed up with the cesspool that is Los Angeles. With Eric being the more emotional type, it wasn’t too surprising for him to go crawling back to his old girlfriend again. On the business side of things, Ari buys out the company he was once kicked out of after overcoming some inevitable hassle. By doing this, he brings Lloyd back into his company as an agent, and fires his mortal enemy, Adam Davis. Season 6 ends off on a very happy note so look forward to this season if you haven’t watched it already. And even if you have watched it, watch it again! It can’t hurt!

 

Blast from the Past

Do you remember all those TV shows we grew up with in the 90s? Such as Kenan & Kel, boys meets world, All That and much more.  My all time favorite show growing up is of course Full House. Who could ever forget this show which starred Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson, Bob Saget, Lori Loughlin, John Stamos and many more stars. There are a handful of episodes that I have seen over and over again. It just never gets old. This show always had me laughing form beginning to end from Michelle’s “you got it dude” to Kimmie Gibblers obnoxious appearance.

For those who have never seen this show here’s a little overview: Set in the beautiful bay area otherwise known as San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone (a comedian) and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis (rock musician) to help raise his three daughter, D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle. Overtime, the three men as well as all the children in the house bond and become closer to one another.

One of my favorite episodes is the 1991 episode, “Stephanie Gets Framed”.  Urkel bestows his comedic genius into the full house. Jesse tries to teach him how to walk with swag and they spend a while gyrating their pelvises together in the family room. OHHHH CLASSIC URKEL! LOL. But as soon as Stephanie comes how with new glasses is so bummed and depressed she goes straight to her room. Who of course follows her up to her room….URKEL. Classic right? Though as goofy as Urkel is he ends up giving  Stephanie what seemed to be good advice and suggests that she make the kids laugh with her before they laugh at her. But later on finds out it just blew up in her face. In the end, Joey Gladstone winding giving the best advice: Always be confident!.

Parks and Recreation

Leslie Knope is perhaps one of the most likable character on television today. When first introduced to her on the mockumentary style tv show Parks and Recreation, she is a bit abrasive and way too energetic, but as the show goes on you realize her vigor and optimism is just what everybody needs in the little town of Pawnee. Parks and Recreation is a show following the lives of the people that work for… you guessed it the Parks and Recreation department in the small town of Pawnee. Although Parks and Recreation had a rocky start with low ratings as well as mixed reviews it soon found its groove and became one of the fixtures of the nbc comedic line up.
Leslie Knope is the glue that holds the group together through her positive attitude and her ability to make friends with basically anyone she meets. Despite her awkwardness in certain social situations she is known to bring out the best in people. She is greatly respected and admired by her peers due to fact that she works harder then anyone. In fact in the current season she is running for city council therefore splitting her time with the parks and recreation department and running her campaign. Understandably her work has been slipping, but it is revealed this is due to the fact that she does the work of 4 people. As amazing as Leslie Knope is she is not the only attraction of the show.
Parks and Recreation’s whole ensemble is a laugh riot. Ron Swanson Leslie’s boss is the definition of manliness. He is a burly outdoors-man type that dismisses the very notion of putting any kind of vegetable in his mouth. He dislikes interacting with people and actually dislikes most people in general with the exception of a few of his colleagues, one of which is his current assistant April Ludgate. Ron enjoys having April as his assistant because she tries to be as ineffective as possible therefore limiting Ron;s interactions with other people. April herself is possibly the epitome of emo, always pessimistic and relishing the chance to make another person unhappy. What is probably the most ironic thing about her is that she choose to be in a relation and later on marry the most affable and approachable guy in the show Andy Dwyer. Always happy and helpful, Andy is the nicest guy anybody will ever meet, but he is also lazy and absent minded, so not somebody you would trust with an important task or even your dry cleaning. Andy believes himself to be a rockstar, being the lead singer for his band Mouse Rat(an ongoing joke, his bands name has gone through multiple changes). He is currently romantically involved with April but in season 1 was together with Leslie’s now best friend Ann Perkins. In the first season Ann and Leslie started out as enemies(somewhat) but their relationship evolved and bloomed into a beautiful friendship, now they are inseparable. Ann even went so far as to get a government job to be closer to her best friend. Ann went through quite a lot of guys through the course of the show some serious some not; currently shes dating Tom Haverford. Tom is an Indian American (possibly the only Indian in Pawnee) and Leslie’s right hand man, although he is very selfish usually only thinking about himself. He is somewhat of a ladies man albeit a very unsuccessful one, which makes it all the more confusing why Ann and Tom got together considering they are two very different people. A somewhat new comer to the show, current romantic entanglement of Leslie Knope, Ben Wyatt, arrived in Pawnee at the end of season 2. Originally there to fix the money woes of the seriously crippled Pawnee government he ends up fired in disgrace to protect Leslie, but surprising no one at last gets together with Leslie becoming her campaign manager for city council in the process. Ben is a good guy with very nerdy tendencies, though not overtly looking nerdy he partakes in many nerdy activities. Though there are a myriad of other characters that make this show great, you will have to watch it to find out who they are.
Often many people compare Parks and Recreation to the Office to the similar formatting, but they could not be more different. Parks and Recreation proved throughout the course of its run that it is not just another carbon copy offering me big laughs as well as touching moments and for that I highly recommend everybody watch this show!

 

Californication

Everything you have ever imagined about what occurs in the L.A. scene, comes true in this Showtime dramedy.  Californication is currently in the middle of its fifth season, with plans to make a sixth later on this year.  The show centers around a writer who is trying to survive out in L.A.  He has to juggle the  relationships with his ex-girlfriend (who is the mother of his child), his daughter, and all the beautiful women that throw themselves at him.

A brief background for those of you who are unfamiliar with the show: Hank Moody is a writer who moves out to L.A. with his girlfriend Karen and their daughter Becca to purse Hank’s career.  Doesn’t seem all that bad does it?  Unfotunately, Hank always finds a way to screw things up, which caused Hank and Karen to split up.  Charlie Runkle is Hank’s agent and best friend.  He often accompany’s Hank in his adventures and ends up facing the consequences, which comes to no surprise that he is divorced from his wife, Marcy.  Hank and Karen made their own odds out in L.A, and now, they’re left trying puzzle their lives together.

Season 5 really impressed me from the very first episode.  Hank flew back to L.A. after three years in New York and on the plane ride back, he made out with a beautiful woman named Kali, which foreshadows the rest of the season.  While back, Charlie set Hank up with a job as a writer for a rapper named Samurai Apocalypse.  Hank only then finds out that Kali is the main squeeze for Samurai and things will only escalate from here.  At home, both Karen and Marcy have new husbands, leaving Hank and Charlie in their lonesome lives raising their kids.  As for Becca, we are introduced to her boyfriend, Tyler, whom everyone but Karen and Becca dislike.  He compares himself to a young Hank Moody, and Hank is not fine by that at all, he feels insulted by that comparison.  Hank is still making countless attempts to win Karen back and start their lives all over again.  After watching the latest episode, Karen’s husband, Bates, goes on a drinking binge and sleeps with a stripper.  This leaves Karen in a dilemma of what to do, and ends up at Hank’s to sleep over.  Are we going to see Karen split up with Bates and get back together with Hank? Tune in for the next episode Sunday at 7:30pm.

Here’s a trailer for season 5:

Dexter

It’s not everyday you find yourself rooting for a serial killer. This Showtime hit series follows the an extraordinarily character and his struggle to turn his unquenchable thirst for murder into something that benefit’s the greater good. Dexter is as you would expect quite the odd ball character. Dexter’s mother was just one of the many women who slept with his unfaithful FBI detective father Harry Morgan. After his mother was brutally murdered Harry took Dexter in and raised him alongside his daughter Debra. However Harry knew that Dexter was “different” from a very young age and in hopes of ensuring that Dexter lead as normal a life as possible Harry taught Dexter a code of ethics to both live and kill by. If Harry was not going to be able to stop Dexter from killing he had to make the acts as justifiable as possible while making certain that Dexter wouldn’t get caught. After Harry’s death Dexter continued to follow the code while putting his attention to detail and lack of squeamishness to use by working as a blood spatter analyst at Miami Metro Homicide. It is through these databases Dexter is able to find and study his next potential victims. Living by Harry’s code Dexter kills only individuals who have murdered someone else and gotten away with it. He uses his meticulous rituals and access to the police force databases to take the law into his own hands and taking out the villains who have managed to escape the wrath of the law. Aside from his weekly less climatic murders, throughout each season Dexter finds himself trying to track down or annihilate a much greater villain which always ends in a stirring and sensational season finale. Each season is so different and so worth watching!

Dexter Morgan: A blood spatter analyst with a thirst to kill. He struggles in his relationships as he often feels unattached and unable to relate to his friends and family, or even feel basic human emotions.

Harry Morgan: Dexter’s father who taught him a unique code of ethics that Dexter strictly abides by. Though Harry past away long ago he is often present to give guidance in Dexter’s life.

Debra Morgan: This is Dexter’s not biologically related sister who also works in Miami Metro but as a detective. Debra is an extremely enthusiastic detective with a mouth like a sailor and a truck load of daddy issues. She brings much of the necessary comedic value to the show.

Rita: Rita is Dexter’s needy girlfriend who has a past of troubled and unfaithful relationships. Dexter has trouble connecting with her in the beginning but finds himself very much in love with her later on, despite her constant nagging.

Dexter also often attempts to join in on the male camaraderie at the station with his entertaining colleagues Vince Matsuka (the perverted lab geek) and Angel Bautista (the stable friend looking for love).

Sex and The City

 

An oldie, but goodie. Although I didn’t start watching this show until
years after the series finale, it has to be one of my favorite shows.
A few reasons I never watched the show when it aired: I didn’t have
HBO and I was in my young teens. Now being in my twenties, I find the
show hilarious and relatable. However, the fashion choices of the
characters are a little interesting at times now that I’m watching the
show in 2012. Most women would agree that they could relate to some
aspect of the show; whether it be the friendship the girls have, the
relationships or the situations they find themselves in.

The show is centered around Carrie Bradshaw whom is a columnist for
the New York Star. Carrie has an on again/ off again relationship with
Mr. Big whom puts her through an emotional roller coaster. Having grew
up in New York City, she is a staple at many different bars,
restaurants and clubs. Her three best friends, Samantha, Charlotte and
Miranda  and very unique in their own way. Samantha is sexually
confident and has many brief sexual encounters, but rarely any serious
relationships. She claims that she is “try-sexual,” which means she
will try anything at least once, but also claims that she will never
get married. Charlotte always sees the good in people and situations.
She is often portrayed as an overachiever and hopeless romantic.
Opposite of Samantha, Charlotte dreams to be married and start a
family. Miranda seems very cynical towards relationships and men in
general. Miranda meets Steve in the second season who ends up being
the father of her child later in the series. Steve is the sensitive
male character that contradicts all of Miranda’s views on men.

Because these characters were so relatable, many women grew attached
and felt as if they were their real friends. Therefore, at the end of
the show in 2004, many women wanted to know what happened to the
characters after the series ended. In 2008, the first movie of Sex and
The City was released. Set four years after the series you see
Miranda’s child much older, Charlotte adopted a child who has grown,
Samantha is still unmarried, yet in a relationship and Carrie is
marring Mr. Big. To everyone’s delight, their friendship has not
faltered and they seem even closer to each other. In 2010, the second
full length film was released. The girls travel to the middle east
where they are faced with new challenges and old relationship ghosts.

Although this series is over ten years old, it’s funny to see that
relationship problems are still the same. There is still that one guy
that you will never forget, the guy that treated you like crap, but
you would still take him back in a heartbeat and that guy who will
kiss the dirt you walk on, but you still treat him poorly. Whatever
the case, we have all been there; I highly recommend watching this
series.

How I Met Your Mother

“How I Met Your Mother” (HIMYM) has to be one of the most frustrating show to watch nowadays, but I still love it and continue to watch their new episodes. The reason I’m a bit frustrated however, is because of how long it’s taking for Ted Mosby to finally reveal how he met his freakin wife!

HIMYM starts off with Ted Mosby in the future. He’s telling this ridiculously long story of how he met wife to his children, along with how he met all of his close friends and all the events that happened in their lives leading up to him finally meeting his wife.

There is a LOT of things that happened in Ted’s journey of finally meeting his true companion, including him getting in a relationship with one of his best friends (Robin) several times, another friend of his (Barney) also getting into a relationship with Robin, Barney slowly falling in love with Robin as time goes by, and just a huge list of other things. There are so much things that have happened the past eight seasons that you begin to wonder how Ted actually remembers all of this history in such explicit detail.

The only two people in the show that don’t have problems finding a decent relationship is Marshall and Lily, who have been together since college and are now married. However, that’s not to say that Marshall and Lily are free of emotional instability like the rest of their friends. They’re actually the most emotionally unstable couple at times; but everyone takes their turn in the spotlight.

After reading everything written above about the show, you may be discouraged from watching this series, and I apologize. But I did say that I continue to watch the show. And the main reason why I do is because of Barney Stinson, better known as Neil Patrick Harris in the real world. In my opinion, Barney keeps the show going because of his hilarious personality. The way he lives his life makes every man want to be like him. Trust me, when you see an episode or two, you’ll see what I mean.

HIMYM overall is decent. It has its moments. But it was definitely a whole lot funnier in the earlier seasons. At this point in its seventh season, I kind of just wish they would actually show how Ted met his wife already.

Entourage (Season 3 & 4)

Season 3:

As E gets more comfortable as his position as Vincent Chase’s manager, even more challenges are thrown their way. Season 3 starts off with the hyping up, and releasing of the long awaited for “Aquaman,” the movie. However, in the midst of Aquaman becoming the highest grossing film of all time, Vince finds a passion project, Medellin, that he is committed to doing. Vince and E both believe that this “Scarface”-like movie would launch Vince to level in his career that no one could have even imagined. And though Ari is a bit skeptical at first – because the movie was originally an indie film – he jumps on board with the rest of the gang when the movie is given more funds.

The weird thing about the process of finally getting Medellin into product was that Ari is temporarily fired by Vince after Ari loses an opportunity to get Vince to do another movie that he wanted to do. A bit complex, I know. You’re better off watching the whole season than reading it here or anywhere else. When you watch season 3, or any episode of entourage, you have this feeling that you’re kind of with Vince’s crew. At least I did. There are few T.V. series that have the capability of doing such things, but Entourage is definitely one of them. Also, if you’re going to try and watch season 3 in a single marathon, you better grab some grub and drinks because season 3 is the longest season Entourage offers; separated into 2 parts.

With season 3’s numerous amounts of girls, relationships, cars, alcohol, cameos, and accomplishments (within the season), I consider it the most action-packed season of them all!

Season 4:

As season 4’s first episode begins, you’re brought onto the set of Medellin. (Yes, they finally got the movie going despite everything that has happened!) The viewers get to see what its like to work with Vince and the director, Billy Walsh. You may have seen how Billy acts around others in season 3, and he’s no different in season 4. The same unstable/vulgar director is alive and well. Season 4 is pretty much based around the shooting of, pre-release, and release of Medellin, the movie. And with all the different opinions that people in the movie business have been saying, especially those of Vince and E, its hard for the viewer to tell whether or not the movie will be box office hit.

Since there is a lot of time between the filming and release of Medellin, there are a few episodes in the season that are purely based off of the everyday lives of Vince, E, Turtle, and Drama. Watching these episodes gives the viewer a deeper perspective on how their relationships work, and how close they really are. Plus, they’re pretty hilarious.

Workaholics

Workaholics is a comedy series that currently airs on Comedy Central.  It has finished its second season, with season three set to debut this May.  The plot revolves around three post-college slackers sharing a house together in Rancho Cucamonga, California all working in the same cubicle as telemarketers for TelAmeriCore.  The main characters are:

• Adam – Rather loud and obnoxious person who has a passion of working out, or as he would call it, “getting swole”.  Adam likes to party pretty hard and has gotten numerous DUIs.  He is a natural-born salesman and can convince anyone into almost anything.  Claims he has enough game with the ladies, but has no track record to back his words up.  He’s the one who will be the center of attention at any social gathering  This guy is someone who is very entertaining to be around just because he is always full of mischievous ideas.  Whether that be stealing a giant plastic dinosaur at a public park because by being a taxpayer, he believes he is a rightful owner of it, or just camping out at the office overnight with the guys to eat mushrooms.  Simply put, he is not someone you can trust, but love to be around.
• Blake – He is a unique character that seems to be the most sensible one out of the three.  He loves to party, but unlike Adam, he knows where to draw the line.  Known for his head of hair and moustache, Blake is someone who is always down to try new things.  He has no real goals for getting a decent job and making a living for himself.  The only things that matter to Blake are his two best friends: Adam and Anders, and his drug dealer/friend: Karl.  He’s the type of person who will pass up a promotion if it requires extra work.  As long as he makes enough money to support his daily activities, then he is satisfied.
• Anders – Out of the three, Anders has the most ambition.  He sees himself one day running for mayor of Rancho Cucamonga, and eventually running for the “governator,” as Adam would say.  He lives the moment, but also realizes his potential for the future and will not allow any mishaps to deter him from getting there even if that means ditching his car after realizing he’s posted at a DUI checkpoint while being above the legal limit to drive.  Between all three, Anders takes his job most seriously and tries to impress Alice with his work ethic.  He is a rapper at heart who has deep admiration for Jamie Foxx.  He will be the one that will establish all the roles for a party, only to have no one listen just because he’s Anders.

While the supporting cast includes:

• Alice – The boss at TelAmeriCore, known for her foul mouth and bad attitude.  Everyday seems to be a bad day for her just because she is at the age in her life where she believes that she should be married and raising children.  Unlucky for her, she is divorced, works at TelAmeriCore and lives with her handicapped brother,.
• Jillian – Really only seen at the office, she is Alice’s assistant.  She desperately tries her best to fit in with the group, because her life outside of the office is almost non-existent, which might explain why she is rarely seen outside of work.
• Karl – Blake’s friend, Adam’s drug dealer and Anders’ nemesis.  He is seen crashing at the guys’ house, often high off marijuana or some other substance.  Not too much is known about this guy, other than he drives a van that he painted ‘rape’ across to scare people away.

Each 30 minute episode revolves around a different theme, in which the gang will be faced with a situation and must overcome it.  This is one show I would recommend to anyone under the age of about 30, as most of it deals with college type humor.  It is a very clever show, one that most people can relate to in some of the situations these characters get themselves in.  This show is full of one-liner jokes that keeps springing up from almost every character.  The viewers can see how each character is motivated and how it translates from his or her personal life to the office.  You can catch all of the episodes randomly on Comedy Central, or if you have Netflix, you can stream the entire first season.

Breaking Bad

This AMC series has not only a captivating plot line but plenty of riveting twists and turns along the way that leave the viewer on the edge of their seat, especially during each of the four season finales. The story asks viewers to take a different perspective on the traditional views of right and wrong, as you find yourself rooting for a pair of ill-equipped but astonishingly resourceful drug dealers. As you would think in the world of drugs many villains come and go, but the main characters include:

Walter White: A risk averse high school science teacher who is diagnosed with cancer, and is much to proud to ask others for help paying for his costly medical treatment.

Jesse Pinkman: One of Walt’s former students who was dabbling in both the use and trade of drugs long before he partnered up with his former professor.

Skylar White: Walt’s concerned and nagging wife.

Hank: Both a DEA agent and the husband of Skylar’s sister Marie. Hank is a relentless workaholic who specializes in the drug trade of Methamphetamine.

As one would expect, after Walt’s diagnosis he is beyond concerned about his future as well as the future of his family. Even without the debt that his chemotherapy will cause, he and his wife are already struggling to get by, and with a son in high school and a daughter on the way their financial situation would only worsen with time. After a conversation with Hank about a recent drug bust he had made, and all the money recovered from the dealers Walt grew curious. After all he did have an outstanding background in chemistry, and if all of these delinquents could figure out how to cook Meth than why couldn’t he? Out of curiosity he asked Hank if he could tag along on their next drug bust and low and behold who pops out of the upstairs window, barely escaping the wrath of the DEA, Walt’s former student Jesse Pinkman. After much convincing Jesse agrees to join forces with Walt, Jesse as the business man and Walt as the chef. Shortly thereafter word gets out about this new Meth, the purest ever seen, Jesse and Walt find themselves being forced to work for, with, or against all of the major drug dealers in the area. The situations that these two find themselves are thrilling and how they manage to get out of them are exhilarating! This show mesmerizes audiences of both varying demographics and interests. I HIGHLY recommend this series!