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---If you’re looking for substitutions for your summer television viewing please I have a few suggestions plus a classic film worth a look. They should all be available in one of the many one demand services out there in the digital realm.
‘Younger’ – From TVLand; this is a story of a mild manner assistant, working at a major metropolitan media company by day, but at night she sheds her disguise to reveal her secret identity. No it’s not Kara Danvers’s a.k.a. Supergirl its Liza Miller a.k.a. soccer mom. Forty-something Liza gave up a promising career in publishing to marry and raise a family only to have her marriage fail and daughter run off to India for college. To restart her career Liza is forced to pose as a recently graduated twenty-something.now Liza has to balance her life that was with her life that is while maintain her secret.
Technically ‘Younger’ is a sitcom but that’s an unfair definition, I would call it more a light hearted drama if anything. The show is smart, fast paced and the characters are well developed. There’s even the bonus Liza’s nemeses that knows her secret and is being played by actress ‘Goonies’ actress Martha Plimpton. There are two seasons available on demand and season three debuts this fall.
‘Scream’ – From MTV The town of Lakewood has a dark past, back in the 1990’s the local teens tormented a young man named Brandon James with a deformed face to the point of insanity. After going on a killing spree police trick the young man into an ambush and the nightmare was thought to be over. Twenty years later however a new killer has come to town and is going after the children of those involved in the original incident and is donning the mask that Brandon wore to cover his deformity. Now a new generation has to figure out the mystery of who is person behind the mask before it’s too late.
I honestly think that ‘Scream’ the series is MTV’s attempt at apologizing for twenty-five years of reality TV programming. I have found Scream to be as refreshing and exciting to the horror genre as the original motion picture was. Each season features a different killer whose arc is brought to close at the end, while clues are given to a larger series arc yet to be paid off. There are two seasons available on demand and a Halloween Special debuting in October.
‘Gotham’ – From Fox I know exactly what you’re thinking but I disagree this series is most definitely worth a second look. A lot of good changes occurred as the second season progressed but I would point out the development of Bruce Wayne above them all. Yes he started out as a whiny little child, but in truth that’s exactly what he would have been. The idea that the Batman persona would have been instantly born upon his parent’s death is totally ludicrous. The Batman is an evolved personality it’s something that would have to be grown out of time and maturity and we see that in season two. The Bruce starts the season is still the whiny kid but through his search for and his confrontation of his parent’s killer a more mature and inflective Bruce develops along with the beginnings of the Bat persona.
If you could agree to give Gotham one more episode then try “This Ball of Mud and Meanness” (episode 14, season 2). In this episode Bruce finally confronts his parents killer Patrick ‘Matches’ Malone. He goes to Malone’s home with the intent to kill him in revenge for his parent’s death. The two engage in a dialogue that forever changes Bruce. By the end of their discussion Malone is asking Bruce to kill him, Bruce however doesn’t and instead leaves the gun on the table and leaves Malone’s apartment, moments later we hear a gunshot as Malone kills himself. You can see the changes taking place in Bruce’s face as he transitions from a sad and angry child to a young man with a mission. I’ve often heard it argued that Batman was born at his parent’s death. In Gotham however the ‘Bat’ may have been conceived when Thomas and Martha were murdered but the ‘Man’ was born when Bruce chose not to kill Malone.
“A Face in the Crowd” – (1953) From Warner Brother’s given the current political climate in our nation I thought this would make for a fun film to watch. This is a tale of how the media ever in search of higher ratings unwittingly helps a megalomaniac rise to power and influence in America. It stars Andy Griffith as one of the greatest villainous portrayals I’ve ever seen. Andy’s portrayal of Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes will make your skin crawl. This film will definitely give some an eerie feeling when watching against the back drop of current events.
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Knowing is half the battle......!!!
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