Too many things to watch ... not enough time to watch them ... it's time to choose!

[PokerFace]

^ I'm always amazed by the shows that get made, what channels air them, and how long they last. It's also too easy to see some images from a show, read a description and then click a link. Boom! Let the trainwreck begin.

[PokerFace]

--INACTIVE-- First Dates - UK version (S05E05)(Channel 4): Another dull episode. Once again I finished it in about 10 minutes of skip-jumping. Generally I find at least one interesting person/couple per episode, but once again, not this time.

Note: The current Season 5 of First Dates UK has ended at 5 episodes (I've seen them all - although I might have a few episodes from older seasons to watch), but Season 6 of First Dates UK resumes on March 15th, so it will remain Active.

The first episode of the Sixth season was okay, but I still needed lots of skip-jumping to get past the many dull couples and conversations.
(lastwatched Mar 15)

Becomes INACTIVE due to the 1-month time limit of inactivity.

So my Active Watch List will be reduced by 1, in a later more current post.

--------

24) American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson (episode 1 , 2 and now epis 3)(FX)(City also aired the pilot, but no more) (watched Apr 10)

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--INACTIVE-- Hit the Floor (S03 Ep. 04 and now epis 5) (VH-1 drama set in the Basketball world)(10 episodes, last one airs Mar 28 on VH-1)(Super Channel - begins on April 10): Skip-jumping was necessary, but seems to be improving a bit. Each episode has a well-choreographed dance routine that brings me back each week. Probably VH-1's best show, although that's not saying much. (last watched Mar 14)

Becomes INACTIVE due to the 1-month time limit of inactivity.

So my Active Watch List will be reduced by 1, in a later more current post.

--------------

26) Ripper Street (S04 Epis. 01-03, 4, and now epis. 5) (Amazon Prime UK first)(6-episode season ... it was going to be 8 episodes, but they made only 6 episodes instead.): Had to skip-jump through most of it to move things along faster. Episode 4 was better than the rest. Episode 5 was suspenseful in parts. (watched Apr 13)

[PokerFace]

--INACTIVE-- The Weekly with Charlie Pickering (S02 Ep. 01 - Guest: Ben Stiller and now epis 2: Guests Kevin Hart and Ice Cube)(ABC Australia - Public Broadcaster): Australia's version of The Daily Show. (last watched Mar 14) - I was 11 days late beyond the month watch limit, but close enough to keep it Active. But now, on April 18th, even though I'm only 4 days late so far, I still have no time to watch it, especially since there are other shows I'd rather watch first.

Becomes INACTIVE due to 1-month time limit of inactivity.

So my Active Watch List will be reduced by 1, in a later more current post.

-------------------

--INACTIVE-- 10 Things (S01 Ep 5 and now ep 2,3,4,7,1) (TruTV, Action)(10 episodes): Fun-filled facts about various topics ... basically, an expanded Top-Ten list that educates and hopefully entertains. Note: The season ended on Mar 8th.
(last watched Mar 30)

Ran out of time, so became INACTIVE.

29) The People's Couch (S04 Ep. 2 ... epis 3, 9,14 and now epis 17) (Bravo US): A way to catch up with shows that I missed or liked, and skip past what I don't care for. (watched May 10)

[PokerFace]

NOTE: Since I just put Undateables on the INACTIVE list (since it's finished at least for now and I don't expect to watch any older episodes that I skipped), the numbering system will continue with 29 ... to reflect the INACTIVE status of Undateables (prev was #8) ... thus now only 28 shows on the Active Watch List.

29) Fameless (S1 episodes 12,13,14 and now 15) (TruTV): Prank show backed by David Spade. (Note: Season finale epis. #18 aired on Feb 22, but I'm still behind) (watched Mar 30)

Clip from Fameless S1 epis 13:
NOTE: The problem with the clips (TruTV and YouTube clips are the same) is that they take important parts out, so that they actually are not as good as watching the full segment from the episode. I didn't think it would matter much but it does, especially since you don't get to see the girlfriend's discussion with the fake tattoo artist and his explanation of the tattoo after he shows it to her, and then you don't get to see her initial smile suddenly turn into horror as he mentions the ex-girlfriend's names and the fact that Ali's name is just within the face (the nose is the L). Without those sections, it looks a bit too much like Ali is faking her reactions to make for good TV.

[PokerFace]

30) The Voice (US version) (NBC, CTV, CTV 2) Current Season 10-->selected episodes, so far: epis. 3, 4 and now epis. 2 (good one), epis. 8, 17, 18, 19, 9,10,12,14 and others that I also skimmed through with 12 being the only one with some bearable stuff and now episodes 23, 24, 25 and 26; and Season 03 --> so far: episodes 3, 7 and 11- Cassadee Pope's (22 yrs-old) first appearance was on epis 7 : Needs plenty of FF skip-jumping (I lost interest in the judges and mostly lame talent), so it shouldn't take me too long to zip through most of them ... But then I have to also go through most of the Season 4 episodes.
(watched May 18)

--INACTIVE-- The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central, Comedy Network, CTV)(yesterday's episode with Hannibal Buress) (last watched Feb 4)

[Note: The Active list will now be reduced by 1 in my latest post - Mar 4th.]

[PokerFace]

32) The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS, CTV)( Emilia Clarke, etc. - watched Apr 20)

-------

--INACTIVE-- Broke-A$$ Game Show [S02E14 - bad episode from last week and S02E06 - mostly blah episode, and S2E15 and S2E16 - Good episodes] (MTV)
[last watched Mar 14 --four days late beyond month limit, but close enough ... but now, even though I'm only 4 days late again today (so far, as of April 18, 2016), I don't have time to watch this, especially since I would rather watch other shows first.]

Note: Even though this season of Broke-A$$ Game Show ended at epis 16, I'm still behind, so I might be able to keep it on my ACTIVE list a little longer, until I run out of new episodes to catch up with, or simply run out of time.

Becomes INACTIVE due to the 1-month time limit of inactivity.

So my Active Watch List will be reduced by 1, in a later more current post.

[PokerFace]

34) Saturday Night Live (NBC, Global) (Julia Louis-Dreyfus - watched Apr 17)

35) Kickin' It: With Byron Allen (syndicated, ABC affiliates - WHTM Harrisburg Pennsylvania (USTVNow), Sat mornings 4am; OR WKBW Buffalo, Sunday mornings at 1:34am-2:32am ... etc.): Hour-long clone of ES.TV (also on this list), and by the same Entertainment Studios filler network made up of celebrity interviews (via press-junket clips), music videos and whatever else Byron Allen decides to throw in. Byron just bookends the show with brief hellos and goodbyes (and a "classic" interview that he conducted from a time when he actually did anything on this show), while he gets rich collecting the cash from his syndicated entertainment dynasty.(watched Mar 27)

In honour of Byron's talent for creating filler on the cheap, I will now go off-topic and fill some space of my own, complete with links that few will click ... it's time for some real garbage time filler brought to you by my sponsors: Pokerstars and Kiss My Face skin-care products.

I used to watch Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed show about 9 years ago (many, many, junk episodes mixed with a few funny ones), and those same episodes have been running forever and also started appearing this year in even more markets (Byron certainly knows how to sell junk filler). And Byron's now unleashing a new version of Comics Unleashed called Trending Funny (his company's 40th series) which hopes to be like The Social, only funnier and not Canadian.

How does Byron get all this filler spewed all over the TV landscape? Well, one of the many things that he does is he gives it away for free, and then he's allowed to sell 50% of the ad time for his company, often earning him more than he would make if he actually sold the broadcasting rights for all of this filler content.

According to Byron, [taken from the Walmart of Television link below - 2nd last one]

“We’re not saving lives here. We’re filling time. We’re just looking to make people laugh.”

I assume he's often overheard saying, What do you mean you don't want this crap? It's free, so why not give it a try? And if you won't take his free content, he'll sue your ass for discrimination. The guy's "allegedly" a genius prick whose company (as of Dec 2015 he still owned 100% of it ... not sure about 2016, but he said he's open to taking investors, so at some point I assume he'll have investors, if he doesn't already) makes more than 100 million a year. He likes to hire non-union workers, pays them peanuts, with few if any benefits and then laughs all the way to the bank (his net worth is over 300 million). Residuals for the actors are allegedly also often held back until the lawsuits are filed. Nice job if you can get it, and can still sleep at night.

Jon Lovitz considers Byron a friend, and is grateful to be working for Byron ... probably because Byron wouldn't screw his friend over.

And unlike Judge Judy's show, Byron's judge shows are all scripted with actors. Nothing's at stake. He saves millions on locations, no airfare, no hotels (local actors working quickly don't need hotels), less security, no settlement or claims fees for the judgements, and he even once paid $1 for a courtroom set that was soon to be scrapped. Byron for the win!

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowand...eriod-20140908
[2014 - Byron Allen, Power Producer]

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/byro...ls-1201668233/
[2015 - C'mon man, why you be hatin' on the colour of my skin? Lawsuit anyone?]

http://diaryofahollywoodstreetking.c...aking-exposed/
[2013 - Byron's sweatshop of horrors]

http://diaryofahollywoodstreetking.c...s-byron-allen/
[2013 - Bill Bellamy be hatin' on Byron]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr...t-byron-406265
[2012 lawsuit by Comedy.TV folks vs Byron's company -- hey, even Whitney Cummings hosted a few episodes of Comedy.TV]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...studios-399843
[2012 - Justice Central TV - Byron's first group of shows (all judge/court-based), that were solely ad-supported with no subscriber fees taken from cable/satellite providers. The previous 7 groups were not solely ad-supported.]

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles...udget-tv-shows
[2013 - Byron's company is like "The Walmart of Television"]

http://howafrica.com/byron-allen-is-...eard-his-name/
[2015 - Byron's rich enough to live next to Tom Cruise]

[PokerFace]

-- INACTIVE -- The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS, Global)(Guest - Chelsea Handler)(Watched Feb 20)

Although the month time limit hasn't yet expired, I can see that there will be no more upcoming episodes that I will be interested in watching by March 20th (or thereabouts), so Colbert now becomes INACTIVE.

Note: My Active Watch List will be reduced by 1 in my next current post, to reflect the INACTIVE status of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

--INACTIVE-- Caught on Camera With Nick Cannon (NBC Fridays 8pm-9pm ET)(current-->Season 2 Epis. 6): I'm surprised I like this viral-video series, as I hate most of the other ones out there. And then I watched S2E07 on Fri Mar 18th, even though all the videos were previously shown on earlier episodes.

Extra Note: I'm not sure why NBC considers Season 2 episode 7 to be "new" (they even put it up on the NBC website as a new episode), since I've seen all the videos in this episode before, on previous episodes of this series. Perhaps they simply made a highlight reel of various previously-aired content and then stitched them together to make it look like this is all "new," even though it's not.

According to wiki, the next new episode will be April 15th (S02E09). --> It was new, but once again, older footage from previous episodes was included, which is a bit disappointing.

(S02E09 NEW episode- last watched Apr 15)

I'm taking this series off of my Active Watch List because I'm tired of the older footage from previous episodes that they periodically slip into each "new" episode. Enough of that nonsense! I'm going to dump this series for being too lazy to fill the episodes with 100% new content, even though there's still new content I like, a lot of that new content often seems tired, or far too similar to what has come before. Time for me to get off this runaway train.

Nick Cannon, you're Fired!!!

My Active Watch List will now be reduced by 1 in another more current post, to reflect the INACTIVE status of Caught on Camera.

[PokerFace]

38) Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (S01 Epis. 1, and later Epis. 2)(TBS, The Comedy Network - Canada): I thought the first episode was good enough to get me to return for more, even though I'm tired of all the election coverage. Yet another version of The Daily Show, but this time with a woman telling the jokes and providing some insight ... which will hopefully be enough to entertain me. [epis 11 - watched May 20](after a 2-month not-watching gap)

The Comedy Network can't show this online (due to contractual issues -- we be livin' in the slums of Canada), and TBS requires cable/satellite subscription credentials to watch online ... whereas the pirate sites just require that you show up, click a few buttons and then the show begins.

The Comedy Network is happy to "steal" the Full Frontal clips from YouTube and place them on its website, but since those clips are most likely edited and the whole show isn't there, piracy is clearly leading this debate of where to watch this show (even though it took about 22 hours or so after the initial broadcast to appear online for free - beggars can't be choosers).

http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/blogs...eries-premiere
[Did you watch Full Frontal last night?]

If you ignored Comedy’s aggressive advertising and constant reminders that we're airing the show, then you probably missed the big series premiere, which is too bad because due to complicated rights contracts, we can’t provide you with a free digital copy, post-show.

Despite what many of you who take the time to write in and complain about such matters believe, we don’t do it on purpose to make you mad. If we really wanted to make you mad we’d fill the site with think pieces with titles like, “Is Comedy Funny Anymore?”

Anyway, Full Frontal is here and we’re elated. Since we can’t digitize the whole show, we’ll do the next best thing and steal clips from TBS’ YouTube channel that’ll give you a good idea of what the premiere was all about, which was a lot of sharp zings directed toward the dramedy that is the American Presidential election.

[Donovan's Monkey]

All those clips are most of the show anyway. It also seems they're re-running the episode more times than with other shows.

[PokerFace]

--INACTIVE-- Not Safe with Nikki Glaser (Much, Comedy Central, Tuesdays 10:30pm ET)(20 episodes for first season): The first episode was okay, but I'd be surprised if this got a second season. I'll keep watching because that's what I do. Just watched the current 6th episode (still haven't watched the preceding episodes, other than the pilot), and it was mildly entertaining (Guests: Pete Holmes and TJ Miller). (last watched Mar 16th)

Note: The first 10 episodes have already aired, but the next 10 won't begin airing until June 7.

Becomes INACTIVE due to the 1-month time limit of inactivity.

So my Active Watch List will be reduced by 1, in a later more current post.

[PokerFace]

40) Cordkillers (began in 2013)(watch on YouTube or Cordkillers website)(episodes usually run close to an hour in length): Discusses what's going on in the world of media each week. Whether you're a cord cutter or a cable/satellite subscriber, you're sure to learn something while watching each episode. (most current Episode 120: watched May 15) Note: It's been about 7 weeks since watched full episode of Cordkillers, but since this is something I will always follow, I kept it on my Active Watch List.

[Note:Sometimes the Cord Killers YouTube channel might have the new Monday episode up a bit faster than the main Cordkillers site, but if the show airs live on Mondays in the evening (on the http://www.diamondclub.tv website), it then appears on the other linked sites (listed below) the next day.]

41) It’s Spoilerin’ Time (episodes are usually less than 30 minutes in length and they appear for free on YouTube or the Cordkillers own site on Wednesdays ... but if you donate to Cordkillers you get the Spoilerin' episodes earlier, probably on Monday)(most recent ... ep 121 featuring -->Daredevil S02, Game of Thrones, Justified, etc.): This spinoff from the Cordkillers creators, discusses various TV shows (and sometimes a few movies) while not being fearful of spoiling major plot points, so if you haven't watched the episodes/movies yet, that's where the spoilerin' part comes into effect. (watched May 19)

http://www.cordkillers.com/

OR

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGF...dmtiGLA0QT-LXg

OR

http://www.tommerritt.com/category/shows/cordkillers/

Cordkillers Episode 120 (most recent episode from Mon May 9, 2016):

[PokerFace]

42) Late Night With Seth Meyers (NBC, CTV 2)(I've only watched two full episodes in a month)(Latest episode - Jennifer Garner and Melissa George)
(watched March 18)

43) Watch What Happens: Live (Bravo US version ... usually airs Sun-Thurs 11pm-11:30pm)(watched latest epis. with Marie Osmond): Hosted by Andy Cohen, I usually watch this LIVE silly talk show at least once a week (or more depending on the guests) followed by the LIVE After Show streaming from the Bravo website following the show (and then repeated several times in VOD format). The LIVE after show is usually only about 6 minutes in length, so I'm not going to count it as a separate show, especially since if I watched the After Show, I usually also watched the main show, or at least the clips -- all available on the bravotv.com website (VPN/DNS trickery required).
[watched Apr 13]

http://www.bravotv.com/watch-what-ha.../episode-guide
[WWHL episode guide ... clicking on the episode opens up the free clips ... VPN/DNS trickery required to view them]

http://www.bravotv.com/watch-what-ha...the-after-show [watched Apr 6]
[Live WWHL After Show stream ... then becomes VOD ... currently running the most current episode - VPN/DNS trickery required to view]

-----

44) Grey's Anatomy (CTV, ABC) (S12 Epis 12 and now S12E16): I'm still behind with this series, even though I just watched this most recent episode (some skip-jumping was required). [watched Apr 3]

[PokerFace]

45) Garage Gold (DiY Network) (latest episodes: made in 2016 - S05 Epis. 9,10,11,12 - although actual episode numbers vary from site to site): I was in the mood for some treasure hunting, so I ended up watching these. I generally only watch a few of these each month or so, depending on how often the episodes appear online and what stuff they discover. (Note: No new episodes seem to be scheduled in the US, but I still have a few I haven't watched yet)[watched March 24]

[PokerFace]

46) The Voice South Africa (M-Net)(Season 1, 2016 - Episodes 1,2,3 and 4): For it's very first season, this was much better than I thought it would be. I don't know any of the judges, but they held their own and kept me somewhat interested, as did about 35% of the singers. The Voice is expanding to more countries this year and next, so I might as well jump on the bandwagon. [watched Mar 26]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voice_(TV_series)

[PokerFace]

47) Comic Book Men (AMC)(Current Episode -->S05E11): I'm way behind, but since the order doesn't really matter, I restarted with the most recent episode (S05E06) featuring Stan Lee. Excelsior! [watched Mar 22]

[PokerFace]

48) Pawn Stars (History) (from mid March 2016 - S12E27 No Pawn for You - featuring a Donkey Kong arcade game and a Seinfeld cast-signed final script): Awful attempts at staged acting in every episode, but I usually find at least one episode a month that I get some value out of (and hopefully not too much FF skip-jumping required). [S12E20-Stars Wars and then "new" best-of Blockbuster Buys episode, which aired on Apr 6, 2016: the best-of Gangsters, Guns and Guitars epis. and now new regular episodes begin with: S12E33-Every Rose Has Its Pawn- watched on May 5]

Update: History US doesn't have a scheduled date for the new season of Pawn Stars, but there are some "new" compilation, extra scenes/best-of episodes scheduled for the upcoming week(s), although now that Chumlee was recently arrested and then released for drugs and weapons charges, the start of the new season might be delayed even further --- new episodes returned May 5.

Note: As my Active Watch List keeps growing, you'll notice that some of my updated watched dates for various shows are beginning to approach the 1 month Inactive date that I've arbitrarily set (once a show becomes INACTIVE, it comes off the ACTIVE list and the list gets renumbered). My goal is to always try to keep all the shows on this list as ACTIVE shows, for as long as I can, so if I add too many shows to my list, some of the them might become INACTIVE (due to lack of viewing time), even if the series is still ongoing, or if I still have episodes to catch up on. How many can I keep on the ACTIVE list at one time?

[PokerFace]

49) Chicago P.D. (NBC, Global)(S3E17--> Grade: C, 6/10): Oops, I did it again. I stumbled upon a trailer for S03E13 and then wanted to see how it turned out. I'm way behind in the series, but I still might be able to find the time to go back and watch one older episode each month to keep this active. I lost interest way, way back, but I'm hoping I can stumble across a few more good episodes to keep me coming back for more.

And now ... S03E18 [watched Mar 24]

[PokerFace]

Yikes, I'm now up to 50 titles to juggle. Not to mention all the movies, sports, podcasts, etc., that I go through when the mood arises.

50) The Jonathan Ross Show (ITV)(S10E7-Rob Brydon, etc. -- skip-jumping was required)+(S10E12- Russell Howard, Katherine Jenkins, Carrie Fisher, etc.)+(Season finale S10E13 - Anna Friel, Kit Harington, etc.)

Note: Even though the season has now ended, I still have some older episodes I need to watch.

[watched April 3]

[PokerFace]

51) Shark Tank (ABC, CTV or CTV 2)(Viewed S7E20, S05E28, S07E23+24 and now current one S07E25): It's often another good "background" show, while I surf the net.
[watched May 7]

52) The Film Review (BBC News): Mark Kermode reviews films (usually three films, and a home video release). Each episode is only about 11.5 minutes, so they go by quickly. [Reviewed: Mustang, etc. - watched May 14, 2016]

--INACTIVE-- Made in Hollywood Now (WHIO Dayton, Ohio - Sat mornings at 3:30am ET, or Sun mornings at 2am on WNLO Buffalo's CW affiliate, etc.): Yet another half-hour movie interview/clips show that's very similar to Made in Hollywood (also on my Active watch list), but also features more movies that were recently released to home video. Although it mixes in new movies with the old, much of the content has already been part of Made in Hollywood. [Batman v Superman, etc. - Last watched Apr 9]

Get lost Made In Hollywood Now, I'm now tired of the repeated content within each "new" episode. It's a "background show" for while I surf the Internet, that is now becoming a bit too annoying to bother with (not always, but much of the time). Off my Active Watch List you go!

I will now reduce my Active Watch List by 1, within a later more current post, due to the now INACTIVE status on Made In Hollywood Now.

Note: Some of the shows on my Active Watch List haven't been of interest to me for close to a month, so a few of them will fall of the list if I don't find any new episodes worth watching, before the monthly deadline (of about 31 days).