There are scores of TV shows out there, with dozens of new episodes each week, not to mention everything you can find on Hulu Plus, Netflix streaming, and HBO Go. How’s a viewer to keep up? To help you sort through all that television has to offer, Flavorwire is compiling the five best moments on TV each week. This time, two series make their debut while one very old show makes its return.
Hulu Breaks Into Original Programming
Between The Awesomes and his upcoming late-night hosting debut, Seth Meyers is having quite the year. Meyers’ Hulu animated series attempts to do for superheroes what Archer does for spies, telling the story of Proc, a hero desperately trying to live up to his retired dad by fighting crime with a band of superpowered misfits voiced by an all-star comedy cast. Characters include a conjurer with mommy issues (Kenan Thompson), a no-nonsense government agent (Rachel Dratch), a manipulative super-villain (Bill Hader), and a love interest who can control electricity (Rashida Jones). It’s not uproariously funny just yet, but we’re willing to give it the benefit of the doubt — and time to get to the good stuff.
Pretty Little Liars: Mona Takes One for the Team
Well, we certainly didn’t see that plot twist coming. After coaching Hanna on how to give the perfect false confession to killing Darren Wilden, Mona goes to the police herself and… confesses to killing Darren Wilden. At least it gets the job done, since Hanna’s mom is presumably off the hook if the cops buy it. But also: what? Why did Mona do that? Does that mean she actually killed Wilden? It may be a blatant cliffhanger to keep us interested in the show, but it’s a damn effective one.
Dean Pelton Talks TV With the People Who Make It
TV for TV nerds, by TV nerds: that’s Jim Rash’s The Writer’s Room in a nutshell. Known to most as Dean Pelton from Community and others as the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind The Descendants and this summer’s The Way, Way Back, Rash’s latest venture is a Sundance Channel miniseries in which he talks to the people behind some of the most buzzed-about shows on TV. Fittingly, the first episode, aired this week, centers on the Breaking Bad team, currently staring down the premiere of their final season. Also on the list: Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, and Parks and Recreation. If you’re not already sprinting to Sundance’s website as fast as your fingers can type, there’s nothing we can do for you.
True Blood Kills Off Another Character
This one probably won’t be missed. After just a season of poor characterization and a lame converted-zealot story line, Nora met the True Death, but not before giving the audience the corniest flashback in the history of a show chock full of ’em. Thankfully, it looks like Nora’s demise at the hands of Governor Burrell and his manufactured Hep V plague will give Eric just the motivation he needs to go medieval on the state of Louisiana, Billith in tow. In other news, Alexander Skarsgard can do a mean ugly-cry, much to our pleasant surprise.
The Tonight Show‘s Good Old Days Air on TCM
I’ve been loving — loving — Turner Classic Movies’ Monday night hour of vintage Tonight Show interviews, Carson on TCM, a wonderful compilation show of interviews (many of them unseen since their original airing) conducted by Johnny Carson with Hollywood legends of the past and present. The laid-back vibe of Carson’s Tonight is utterly refreshing; these stars are often just dropping in to chat, in sharp contrast to the sell-sell-plug atmosphere of late-night talk these days. Carson, who is too often remembered as a capital-L Legend rather than a very good broadcaster, is affable and smooth, so accomplished at conducting an interview that he seldom even seems to be doing one. The clips are well-chosen; this week’s edition, for example, included Elizabeth Taylor’s only appearance on the show, a few months before Johnny’s retirement. She’s candid, funny, and sharp as a tack, giving it to Johnny as good as she gets. And on top of everything else, they’re hosted by Conan O’Brien, which is a nice “fuck you” to current Tonight Show host Jay Leno. This week marked the conclusion of the show’s initial five-week run, but hopefully they’ll do more, and soon. — Jason Bailey, Film Editor