// Category Archive for: TV Reviews

Podcast: TV or GTFO Episode 15, “Cleopatra 2525”

By Sachin Hingoo

In this episode of TV or GTFO, Sachin and Gary explore the dystopian-future sci-fi series about women being driven underground and forced to battle an all-seeing male overlord. Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale? No, it’s… Wait, this can’t be right, Sam Raimi’s Cleopatra 2525?
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Farewell and Thank You to the Makers of “Bates Motel” (Expect Spoilers)

By Tim Murr

This week marked the series finale of A&E’s Bates Motel, a show that many people, myself included, was suspicious of as soon as the series was announced. However, I was won over within the first couple of episodes. I enjoyed the numerous subplots that ran through the five seasons, none of which related back to the original film or book, namely the marijuana and sex slave trades. I also liked the change of setting to Oregon (remember, Hitchcock changed the setting from the novel as well), and nearly all the characters invented for the show and the changes made to the original characters. Yes, at times it was hard to reconcile the show with the film and novel, but when I was able to let go and just enjoy the show as its own thing, that’s when watching Bates Motel became one of the most engrossing and rewarding shows on TV, something it had no reason to be.
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Podcast: TV or GTFO Episode 14, “Dinosaurs”

By Sachin Hingoo

On TV or GTFO, we try to keep things pretty light, and never expect that things will take as dark a turn as they do on this week’s episode. If we’re not mistaken, this is the first show we’ve covered in which a baby dies! Is it another gritty police drama? No, it’s Dinosaurs, a “high” (because you pretty much have to be) concept sitcom about a family of prehistoric lizards, by way of Archie Bunker. It was the final project from Muppeteer Jim Henson, before his death in 1990. What were you smoking at the end there, Jim Henson?

For a show that delves into such heady topics as steroid abuse and body dysmorphia, racism and xenophobia, masturbation, corporate crime, and of course, environmental destruction, it’s easy to forget that these are actors in giant rubber suits, being voiced by the likes of Jessica Walter and Sally Struthers. Regardless, none of the heaviness of those episodes is adequate preparation for the pitch-black non-humor of the show’s final scenes.

And let’s talk about the Baby, shall we? My goodness, this creature makes Steve Urkel look like Don Draper. If you don’t want to strangle him by the end of this episode, I’ll eat my hat. And at the time of the show’s peak, such as it was, this fucker was everywhere. You could barely walk through a mall in the early 1990s without hearing the incessant wail of “NOT THE MAMA!”

So strap in and up your dosage of antidepressants, because things are about to get rough for a family of prehistoric predators as TV or GTFO does Dinosaurs!

Don’t forget to like and subscribe to TV or GTFO in iTunes, on your favorite podcast app, or check out the episode right here!

TV Review: The Walking Dead, “Rock In The Road”

By Laury Scarbro

Things are really starting to pick up on The Walking Dead. Last episode, Negan took off with Eugene, leaving us all to wonder what horrifying music the poor guy will have to endure, not to mention the rest of the degradation commonly visited upon those under Negan’s “care.” This episode serves as the beginning of weaving together all the separate threads that previous episodes have left dangling in the wind.

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TV Preview: Making History (FOX)

By Sachin Hingoo

Time travel shows that use innocuous items to send their users years into the past are my beat here on Popshifter. The new FOX mid-season comedy Making History, though, is a very rare example of a network series that takes a cable concept (in this case, Comedy Central) and does nearly every part of it better by fully fleshing out and committing to its characters and their relationships, rather than watering them down in order to get to their next joke.
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Podcast: TV or GTFO Episode 13, “Seinfeld”

By Sachin Hingoo

We have a very special episode of TV or GTFO this week, and we’ve invited New York City-based freelance writer/general layabout, Seinfeld superfan, and friend of the show, Liz Heather along for the ride! It’s fitting that this episode comes out around Valentine’s Day, because, unlike most weeks when we throw shade on a TV series from the 1990s, this episode is nothing short of a love letter to one of our favorites—the iconic, incomparable show about nothing from the minds of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld!

Gary, Liz, and I grew up watching Seinfeld, and like so many others it’s become a huge part of our lives. For a show that has little in the way of an overarching plot or theme, it’s left indelible marks on our brain and on our culture at large.

Breaking with our usual format of only talking about the series premiere and the series finale, we’ll talk about our favorite episodes from the entire series, how Elaine is perhaps the greatest TV character ever crafted, our differing views about the series finale, and much more! This episode is also notable for being our first tri-country show (Scotland, Canada, and the US). Suck it, borders!

If you’re that person who yells “SEPARATE KNOB” at hapless strangers in the street, chastise your friends and family about double-dipping, have ever uttered the words “NO SOUP FOR YOU”, or given serious thought to stealing a marble rye, this is the show for you!

Don’t forget to like and subscribe to TV or GTFO in iTunes, on your favorite podcast app, or check out the episode right here!

TV Review: The Walking Dead, “Hearts Still Beating”

By Laury Scarbro

I’m not even going to sugarcoat it. Season 7 thus far has been rather lackluster compared to other seasons. With the exception of a few episodes here and there, and how this episode began, I was really beginning to question whether the writers had just lost heart. But thankfully, I was proven wrong.
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Podcast: TV or GTFO Episode 12, “Out Of This World”

By Sachin Hingoo

A show about teenager with near-infinite power, who can bend the very fabric of space and time. A show about the shocking revelation that our main character is half-alien, and her father is millions of miles away from Earth, communicating only through a mysterious glowing cube. A surefire hit? No, it’s Out Of This World, a late 1980s sitcom that more than one outlet has called the worst sitcom ever!
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Podcast: TV or GTFO Episode 11, “Baywatch”

By Sachin Hingoo

It took eleven episodes of TV or GTFO and not one, but two pretenders to the “king of beach-based crime drama” throne, but we’ve finally decided to tackle the OG, the undisputed champion of the lifeguard detective genre, Baywatch!
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TV Review: The Walking Dead, “Sing Me A Song”

By Laury Scarbro

After a fairly slow episode last time, we’re met with, you guessed it, another build-up episode. That’s perfectly OK because there must be build-up if there’s going to be anything explosive to look forward to. And I’m sure the writers at The Walking Dead will not disappoint. I’ll be addressing the different plotlines individually, as this episode had quite a bit of hopping around, with very little detail to them other than a quick scene with only a few lines. At the end of the day, this episode should have been called “This Is Why Carl Should Stay In The House, a.k.a. Dammit Carl!”
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