GREASE LIVE! Billions & Downton Abbey

Today is WWTM's 5 year anniversary. I can't even believe I've been able to keep this thing going for 5 years. What's more astounding is that so many of you have been reading for 5 years. I can't thank you all enough for the loyalty, encouragement, feedback, and friendship. I still don't know enough about blogging, but I know I love sharing my passion for all things TV with all of you every week. Thanks for reading...here's to another year!

February 1, 2016

Trivia Answer: Mozzie's real name on White Collar was Teddy (Theodore) Winter

First Fives: Mike O'Dea, Neil Moffatt, Jim Carter, James Gabriele & Karen Feldman

Honorable Mention: Last Day of Brett Blattman's Honorable Mention Monopoly.

Congratulations to MIKE O'DEA who was January's WWTM Monthly Trivia Contest Winner. Slates wiped clean, new month begins today! Get your answers in to be eligible for the monthly prize! 

THE NUMBERS Thursday's Broadcast Top 5
American Idol-FOX 2.3/8.7
Big Bang Theory-CBS 2.0/9.6
Mom-CBS 1.6/7.6
Blacklist-NBC 1.6/7.6
Angel from Hell-CBS 1.4/6.7
Thursday's Cable Top 5
Republican Debate-FOX 2.3/12.4
American Dad-Adult Swim 1.0/2.0
WWE Smackdown-USA .9/2.7
Lip Sync Battle-Spike .8/1.5
OReilly Factor-FOX .7/5.5
Thursday's Social Media Top 5
Republican Presidential Primary Debate- FOX News 1,073,000 Tweets
The 100-CW 61,000 Tweets
WWE Smackdown-USA 51,000 Tweets
American Idol-FOX 39,000 Tweets
2016 Pro Bowl Draft-NFL Network 5,000 Tweets

-Update on The X-Files premiere. Episode 1 has been seen by 20.3 million people, when you add in the Live + 3 viewing. None of those people are me because I hate David Duchovny and this show. When you add in Hulu and the FOX Now App, you're at 21.4 million viewers. As a reminder, since nobody would put this figure in their memory banks when they need to remember 50 passwords and to stop at CVS for a graduation card, the shows live premiere delivered 13.5 million viewers. So if I did my math correctly, total viewing was up 58%.
THE SHOWS SAG AWARDS
I love the SAG Awards because they are quick and to the point. There's no host, long boring monologue, or elaborate dance numbers. Just awards and thank you speeches and NOBODY gets played off by the band. Only one problem. they're on a Saturday night. Move um to Sunday Turner people. Although right now, Sunday's are kinda tough. I DVR'ed the show and watched early Sunday AM which means I didn't watch any commercials and got through the entire show in about 80 minutes. There were 2 big takeaways from the evening. 1) The SAG Awards honored plenty of African American actors and actresses and 2) Leo likes weed. I didn't see this during the show, but the dude apparently took out his Vape pen right out in the open and did his thing. No sneaking into the bathroom for Leo. He's THAT big a star. He'll get high when he wants to where he wants to. It's good to be Leo. 

• Best Actress in a TV Comedy-Uzo Aduba
• Best Actor in a TV Comedy-Jeffery Tambor
• Ensemble in a Comedy-Orange is the New Black
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role-Alicia Vikander
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role-Idris Elba
• Best Actress in a TV Movie/Mini Series-Queen Latifah
• Best Actor in a TV Movie/Mini Series-Edris Elba
• Lifetime Achievement Award-Carol Burnett
• Best Actress in a TV Drama-Viola Davis
• Best Actor in a TV Drama-Kevin Spacey
• Ensemble in a Drama-Downton Abbey
• Best Actress in a Movie-Brie Larson
• Best Actor in a Movie-Leonardo DiCaprio
• Best Ensemble in a Movie-Spotlight

GREASE LIVE! 
Being a HUGE fan of the movie version of Grease, I was really excited for Grease Live but I was also a bit nervous and skepticaltoo. I know EVERY word of dialog and EVERY song from the movie. Once I heard that Vanessa Hudgens lost her Dad hours before the show, 7pm couldn't get here fast enough. I have no idea how much last nights production cost FOX but let me tell you something. It was AMAZING. It, by far, is my favorite of all the LIVE musicals so far. Everyone was amazing, the sets were gorgeous, the cameos and surprise appearances were awesome. I LOVED that Didi Conn played Vy. Julianne Hough was a PERFECT Sandy. Vanessa Hudgens NAILED "There Are Worse Things I Could Do."  Aaron Tveit had some sick muscles and really owned his version of Danny Zuko. Joe Jonas as Johnny Casino, Jan Brady as Mrs. Murdoch, Sonny from the movie as Mr. Weaver, Boys to Men as the Beauty School Drop Out angels, all so much fun. The opening scene, the National Bandstand Hand Jive scene and of course the last scene were all my favorite production numbers. I was SO curious and wondering if they'd do the drag race and if they did how would they pull it off.  They did it and it was really pretty cool. There was a guy strapped in a harness up on the ceiling! Sure they cleaned up the Greased Lightning language and we all noticed and yes there were some tiny nuances but net/net Grease Live was just fantastic. I really hope FOX re-runs it this week for anyone who didn't see it. I'd watch it again! The 3 hours FLEW by and I had THE biggest smile on my face the entire time. Bravo FOX!   

DOWNTON ABBEY

I can't talk about Downton without including some big spoilers so if you haven't watched it yet, don't read any further.
Okay sooooo lots of big stuff happened last night. The Carson's had their first dinner at the cottage and it was pretty much a disaster because Mr. Carson complained about EVERYTHING. He seems to think his cottage should be held to the same standards as Downton. Mrs. Hughes Carson wanted to stab with a knife, but according to Carson, the knives needed sharpening so betting she wouldn't break the skin. This is definitely going to be a problem BUT I have a prediction: The Carson's are going to move into Mrs. Patmore's house and she's going to feed them every single day. Mr. Mason moved onto the farm and Andrew's into pigs so he's going to help out which gave Lady Mary some relief. Only one problem. Turns out Andrew can't read. Of course Barrow was the one to discover his secret and now he finally has something on Andrew that I'm sure he'll use against him at some point. Baxter didn't have to testify, and Lady Edith made out with that dude in London. So she'll definitely be leaving Downton soon. Danka/Dinka stuck her nose in where it didn't belong THINKING she was sticking up for her boss but when the Dowager Countess found out, she FREAKED and fired her. Danka/Dinka blackmailed Spratt to get her job back. UGH I wish Spratt had the b@lls to tell her to F off, but he didn't and Danka/Dinka got to stay. More debate about the stupid hospital but this time things got CRAZY. The Dowager blackmailed the Minister of Health and made him come to dinner. The dude had some insane eyebrows and a nasty mustache and found himself in the middle of quite a dinner party.  First there was screaming hospital debate and then Robert vomited up blood all over the place. He had been feeling "a bit rough" but we've never seen anything like it on Downton. Apparently his ulcer had burst. Carson and the team will be working like crazy to get all the blood cleaned up. Robert left in an ambulance and while the rest of the Grantham's were getting out the door, Lady Mary heard her Mom and Granny talking about Marigold. Can't wait for the sh*t to hit the fan there! I love Lady Mary but I want her to be with Tom. It looks like she's going to end up with Henry Talbott the race car driver. I'd be fine with that but I'm sort of rooting for Tom and Mary to take over Downton and live happily ever after. LOVE THIS SHOW!

BILLIONS

So much goes on in this show it's really hard to recap it all. I'll give it a shot. It was late so I apologize if I don't get it all.  I love that Axe is investing in YumTime and handing out Scrumpetts to everyone, even thoughthey taste like crap. The companies losing money which is the perfect time for Axe to take over. Problem is the owner is just a spoiled rich dude who got his gig because his Daddy died. He's flying a private jet and spending tons of dough but he's running the company into the ground. The thing is that it's really so much more. Chuck's dad has a mistress who sits on the board of YumTime, so when Axe got his way, Hutch Bailey III and the mistress were out and Axe is in. Chuck's Daddy can't be happy if his mistress isn't happy so the pressure is on Chuck now more than ever to take Axe down. While Axe was doin his thing, Lara was busy getting her way too. June's husband died in 9/11 an she wrote a book alllll about it. Chapter 10 wasn't good for Axe, but Lara got the book in 60 seconds and made June's life MISERABLE. First her spot at the gym was gone, then her tee time was gone, then her membership at the club was questioned but then Lara f'ed with June's son's admission to Stanford and June lost it. She deleted Chapter 10 kissed, Lara's ring and went on her merry way. Chuck was in rare form this week, he made some random dude pick up dog sh*t with his hands and was so distracted with everything going on with Axe and his Dad that he couldn't even get into his bondage scene with Wendy. Did Maggie Siff look incredible in that outfit or what? I don't even want to know why a cow prodding thing is a turn on, but I'm glad my 14 year old was watching Sports Center at that point. Wags had some pretty intense sex stuff too, what was with that ATM conversation with Wendy?  He's a twisted dude. I know it's wrong for Wendy to have violated Dr/Patient confidentiality but I'm glad Wags won't have the pleasure of ruining that woman's life. I have a feeling she'll be back in a big way. 

Horace & Pete
On Saturday, I got an alert in my Twitter feed that Louis CK "dropped" a new series called Horace and Pete. Of course I had to check it out. First Beyonce "drops" an album out of the blue and now Louis CK "drops" a new series. Is this a new "thing" surprise series and episodes? I had to pay $5 bucks to watch but I figured it was a "business" expense so I forked over the dough. The show felt more like a play to me and had a lot of amazing actors like Alan Alda, Steve Buscemi, Aidy Bryant, Steven Wright, Jessica Lange, Edie Falco and her Nurse Jackie co-worker, Thor. The show takes place in a cruddy family owned bar that's been owned by a Horace and a Pete for 100 years. Everyone in the bar is miserable in one way or another. Steve Buscemi's mentally ill and off his meds, Alan Alda's a racist, angry, nightmare, Aidy Bryant hates her Dad, Louis CK, Jessica Lange's a drunk, Edie Falco's just angry and Louis is just...well...Louis. I definitely won't pay another $5 bucks for another episode. I reallllly wasn't worth it at all to me. There are plenty of miserable people I can watch on the stuff I already pay for. So heads up people...don't spend the dough on this one no matter how intrigued you might be.
THE OTHER STUFF

-Jada Pinkett Smith's coming back to Gotham during the 2nd half of the season. I know my husband and Howard Stern will be totally stoked about this news. I'm sure Will Smith's totally psyched to get her out of the house and back to work. I just get the feeling she's tough to deal with on a daily basis. Plus the two of them together would probably "you know" each other to death in a single conversation. Have you ever heard either one of them interviewed? OMG the amount of "You Knows" is astounding, annoying and so distracting that you have no idea what they are talking about because you're counting how many times they say "You Know". You'd think their "people" would talk to them about this. 
-Okay, the rumors are over and it is finally official: Rory & Lorelei will be back on Netflix with 4 90 minute episodes called Gilmore Girls: Seasons. Of course Melissa McCarthy's way too big a star now to show up but Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson & Kelly Bishop are confirmed. Unfortunately, Edward Hermann passed away so he DEFINITELY won't be back. Would LOVE it if Milo Ventimiglia, Jared Padalecki and Matt Czuchry all showed up to fight over Rory again. Ah what's old is new again.
-Gotta say, I wasn't shocked AT ALL that Finding Carter was canceled after the 2nd season. In theory, it wasn't a premise that could sustain itself really. Once they found Carter and got used to having her around what was next? The crazy mom came back and there was also a brother nobody knew about and then Carter bagged high school to date the dude from Twilight. The whole thing got stupid fast, hence the axing. 

-For all of the Property Brothers fans out there, my boss Elizabeth is one of them,  Good news, the bro's have been renewed for 52 more episodes. Hope they don't get into any family drama at any point soon. Huge fight with tools around could be a bad thing but then again, it could make for some good TV. Note to producers keep the cameras rolling if the boys get into it about putting Mom in a home or who's hosting Thanksgiving this year. 

-In my opinion, Casey Bloys, the new guy in charge of program development over at HBO, has his hands full. With SO much competition out there HBO has lost it's foothold as THE destination for groundbreaking, cool, cutting edge programs. Sure they still have Game of Thrones and yes, I have high hopes for Vinyl but think about it, there are GREAT shows on Showtime, Netflix, Starz. Amazon, Cinemax and of course all the other stuff out there that I don't even know about. I'm happy to lend Casey a hand if he needs one. Good Luck bud. 
I've listened to 3 podcasts in my entire life. Alec Baldwins, Marc Meron's and now this one: After the Kids Go To Sleep. Thanks SO much to Vince Dunleavy for recommending it. I'm now obsessed with Emily and Ari and need to know everything about them. They are a married couple who put their kids to bed and talk TV. LOVE IT! Emily and I have so much in common with regard to what we love and watch, it's scary! She loved Hindsight and was bummed that it was cancelled. He loves Survivor as much as I do. They both love Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Odd Mom Out. I REALLY need to make a guest appearance on their show just to talk Housewives alone. Ari and Em (Hope she doesn't mind me already calling her Em) we need to do some sort of Podcast/Blog crossover! 
-In one of my articles over the weekend I learned the following:
In Fall 2012 84% of US Adults lived in a home with a TV Service Subscription aka cable
In Fall 2013 83.8% of US Adults lived in a home with a TV Service Subscription aka cable
In Fall 2014 82.4% of US Adults lived in a home with a TV Service Subscription aka cable
In Fall 2015 79.2% of US Adults lived in a home with a TV Service Subscription aka cable
So again, if I did my math right...there has been a 4% decline in homes with a cable subscription from 2014 to 2015
-I'm betting you've seen the Kristen Bell/Dax Shepherd "Africa" video already, but if you haven't here it is. It'll definitely give you 5 minutes of pleasure, so if you get aggravated, frustrated or angry today. Just come back here and press play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgL3puDfuRg
Superbowl Trivia Week begins TODAY!
Monday's Super Bowl Trivia Question-There are 4 current teams that have never been to a Super Bowl. Name them.

WWTM-Kristy

Like me on Facebook at Watching Way Too Much
Follow me on Twitter at tvnme
http://watchingwaytoomuch.com
kristy@watchingwaytoomuch.com