Today’s issue of The Patriot Press newsmagazine included four reviews of new TV shows by members of the Journalism II and III: Broadcasting class which creates WNHS-TV (page 42). Over the next few school days, we’ll print additional reviews here on our online edition.
Simon Helberg, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoko, Jim Parsons and Kunal Nayyar of The Big Bang Theory. Photo courtesy of CBS Television.
The Big Bang Theory, season 6, has been a thriller for any fans wondering what would happen after Howard (Simon Helberg) and Bernadette’s (Melissa Rauch) wedding. So far, the sixth season is full of laughs with the usual know it all facts from Sheldon and great “knock-knock-knock Penny” moments.
The new season has been a real ”Bazinga!” Stuart (Kevin Sussman), the owner of the comic book store on the show, is now more of a recurring character as he hangs out with Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar). Howard started the season living his dream in space at the International Space Station. He eventually returns four episodes later to find that Raj, his lonely single guy best friend has become buddies with Stuart.
Leonard and Penny (Kaley Cuoko) finally define their relationship which has failed repeatedly over the past five seasons. In season six, Penny seems to want to be more dedicated in her relationship with Leonard. Her best friend Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) is desperate to get married, so she is showing more and more unwanted affection to Sheldon, who doesn’t seem to know how to show affection himself. Bernadette has to deal with Howard, who is completely full of himself after returning from space. Howard is now moving from his obnoxious mother’s house to Bernadette’s place.
Will Penny ever become an actress, which is why she left Nebraska to move to Los Angeles in the first place? Will she still be working a dead end job at the Cheesecake Factory forever? The sixth season has the characters growing more mature since Leonard and Penny become more dedicated in their relationship, and Sheldon is actually starting to treat Amy as a real girlfriend. Other things have remained the same, like Sheldon’s spot on the couch. Raj is still a work in progress when it comes to love and women. Howard is no longer considered the creepy guy, although he still looks pretty creepy in his skinny jeans. Hopefully, this season will be even funnier with more air-time for new friends like Amy, Bernadette and Stuart. (CBS, 8 p.m., Thursdays) Grade: A
–Grant Berkley, WNHS-TV
Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan. Photo courtesy of Showtime.
Since the season six finale of Dexter (Showtime, Sunday 9 p.m.), there have been a lot of questions. For those who don’t know, Dexter is about a man (Michael C. Hall) who works for Miami Metro police. In his private time, he is a serial killer, though his behavior is made more acceptable by the fact that he only kills other more evil murderers. At a very young age Dexter’s father (Harrison Morgan) realized that he was a psychopath. Instead of trying to suppress this need to kill, Harrison gave Dexter a code under which to kill which Dexter follows to this day – essentially allowing him only to kill bad guys.
Season seven starts where the season finale left off with a jaw-dropping opening. Throughout these first few episodes, we see that Dexter is dealing with much more trouble than before. New, bigger and worse enemies are coming for Dexter. What will happen to him? …to the people he cares about? To find out you’ll have to tune in Sunday nights. Grade: A
–John Headley, WNHS-TV
Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale and Shay Mitchell of Pretty Little Liars. Photo courtesy of ABC Family.
On Tuesday, October 23, ABC Family’s hit show, Pretty Little Liars, aired a one episode Halloween special between seasons. The episode takes place on a train where a Halloween costume party is taking place. All four liars, Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna are, of course, on the train along with the cast members that they’ve previously suspected to be “A”, the person who sends them hateful text messages and tries to kill them. Throughout the episode, there are allusions to Mona, who was a proven “A”, who escaped from a mental hospital. Jenna, an old suspect, and her boyfriend Noel begin to stir up trouble as soon as the ride starts. They fake Noel choking on candy. Although this annoys the girls, they are brought back to reality when, to their surprise, Adam Lambert begins singing for the audience.
Like all Pretty Little Liars episodes, the show includes flashbacks which hint at the identity of “A”. When the girls see a train crewperson dressed in a scary pale mask and brown hood, the audience is flashed back to the Halloween special last year in which the girls, along with Allison, were chased by characters in the same costume. This creepy character is not alone, however, and is joined by another person dressed in renaissance era dress and a waxy face. The latter character sneaks poison into Aria’s drink. After she passes out, the murderer hides her in a wooden box where she is joined by a dead Garrett, the person previously convicted of Allison’s murder.
Although the neverending story only gets more complex in this single episode special, the audience did learn that there is still more than one “A” and that Mona is capable of escaping from the hospital. The show is available online on ABCFamily.com and Hulu. The new season will premiere at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 8.
– Jess Ward, WNHS-TV