Welcome back to another update on my TV habits.
As some shows are coming to an end I am starting to look forward to checking out the new shows taking their place

As is tradition here we have our regular segments
News and I Have Been Watching

TV banner with outline.jpg — News

Renewed - Cancelled - Pick-up - Full order

This week was a bit slow in terms of TV news with only Family Guy got renewed for another season and Speechless got picked up by UK entertainment channel E4 who’s viewers are predominantly aged between 16-24 so this show is perfect for the channel and with it being into its third season it means E4 can show a few episodes a week to help catch up to the US.

Speechless (ABC/E4)

The series follows the DiMeo family, each with a unique personality: Maya, a take-charge British mother with a no-holds-barred attitude; her husband Jimmy, who does not seem to care what others think; Dylan, their no-nonsense athletic daughter; Ray, their scholarly middle child who acts as the "voice of reason" in the family; and their oldest son, JJ — a high schooler with cerebral palsy who has a biting wit and sense of humor. Unable to speak himself, JJ communicates by using headgear with a laser pointer to indicate various words, letters, and numbers on a board attached to his wheelchair, while others read aloud what he "says". The DiMeos move frequently in an attempt to find a good educational environment for JJ. They believe they have found an optimal choice when they discover a school that prides itself on being inclusive and where JJ will have an aide to speak for him. Because the school is in an upscale part of town, Jimmy and Maya move the family into the cheapest, most rundown house in an otherwise nice neighborhood. Though they quickly find that not everything is as good as it could be, JJ enjoys having Kenneth, a gentle, well-meaning school groundskeeper with a deep and resonant speaking voice, work as his aide.

Family Guy (Fox)

Sick, twisted and politically incorrect, the animated series features the adventures of the Griffin family. Endearingly ignorant Peter and his stay-at-home wife Lois reside in Quahog, R.I., and have three kids. Meg, the eldest child, is a social outcast, and teenage Chris is awkward and clueless when it comes to the opposite sex. The youngest, Stewie, is a genius baby bent on killing his mother and destroying the world. The talking dog, Brian, keeps Stewie in check while sipping martinis and sorting through his own life issues.

Sunday

Shameless: Los Diablos!

When a cast member chooses to leave a show I can sometimes make the writers focus on them to give them a major storyline before the leave but this weeks episode had a great balance of storylines. Its main storyline was Frank competing to become the mascot Hobo Loco man for a new alcohol drink.

After meeting a fellow contestant they enter into a bitter rivalry using underhanded tactics to keep each other from winning the prize money.

Also in the week episode, the downward spiral of Fiona speed up after a couple of guys tried to rob the dinner while she was cashing up, and that lead her boss to fire her so she retrieved the alcohol from the bins where she had put them earlier in the episode.

For such a long-running show like Shameless, it can be hard to create a believable storyline that would need them to leave or move away but the Fiona storyline is one of the best I have seen in some time. I just hope they can leave the door open for a return in the future even if it's for only a few episodes.

Monday

Man With A Plan: Yeah, Maybe

Back for its third season and being all court up I can say this show is still a great 30ish minute of TV. When I watch my day's TV I try my best to mix up the length and genre so I don't keep watching strong drama's as It can impact my enjoyment of a show.

So shows like Man With A Plan is a perfect pallet cleanser and this weeks story was great and centred on this season over-arcing story of Adam and Andi now working together and finding it hard to deal with conflicts. After Andi wanted to put expensive tiles in the kitchen of the house they are renovating Adam finds it hard to tell her they should use a cheaper alternative.

What makes this show stand out is that yes they may have a big name star with Matt LeBlanc but it's not all about him. They have used the supporting cast brilliantly and give them enough time to shine.

Also, the fact I can watch this and not think about Matt as his Friends character is a testament to the show's writers.

Tuesday

New Amsterdam: The Blues

For a medical show what I love about this one is that the best parts aren't to do with any of the patients it's about the staff and the hospital as a whole.

While Max still struggling with this treatment he is also trying to help make the hospital better and more profitable. So this week Max asked everyone employed at the hospital who for one day was asked to do nothing but wanted to do more to come forward and would be moved to another job they felt would give them better job satisfaction.

Believing they were going to be fired it took some time for people to start coming forward to explain why their job is no longer needed.

One person used to be a parking attendant who would give and take tickets and money from people until an automated barrier was instaled and they were not moved to a new department. Also, another person is employed to print x-rays at a time where it's all done digitally so he's stuck in a room in the basement of the hospital.

Also linking to this storyline fellow Doctor, Dr Jessica Medrano's mother is brought into the hospital how keeps asking her to come back to where she grew up.

So with Max having a small group of employees who are being paid to do an obsolete job and also Dr. Jessica Medrano he asked them if they wanted to move to a soon to be opened Satellite hospital in her home town.

Wednesday

Schooled: Money for RENT

Another show I love to watch in between two 1hr shows where I lot on concentration is needed and this weeks episode of Schooled was a fantastic episode where Lainey is putting on the yearly school play but she discovers they can only afford to do a royalty-free play as all the school funding goes to the sports department so she put up the money put on a version of RENT but after she starts fighting with coach Mellow for use of the school hall.

After Mellor discovers she has had to use her own money to fund the performance he makes some budget cuts to the sports department in order to help the music department have some money for future shows.

Thursday

Fam: Pregnant Pause

Another great 30mins of TV is Fam the story of a young couple who suddenly have a new house guest as Clem's sister moves in to get away from their father. This weeks Episode centred on Shannon being frustrated with Clem invading her privacy so she hides a positive pregnancy test in her room and fakes a phone call just to get clem to search her room and break a promise that she would no longer invade her privacy.

This goes for bad to worse when Clem leaves it out on a countertop and her partner finds it and thinks she is pregnant and goes to break the news to his parent's.

As much as I love this show it's not breaking new ground in terms of style and comedy but it's still great to watch when I have a free half an hour.

Friday

Gold Rush White Water: Mountain Gold

Gold rush is a favourite show for me to watch with dinner as it does not require a lot of thinking and also as no blood and guts that could put me off my food.

With this spin-off being just as good as it's original I have enjoyed following their exploits in trying to find gold in the raging rivers of the Yukon. This weeks episode saw all the guys hard work all go to waste as a landslide coursed a torrent of water filled with dirt, rocks and twig's and thus filled in their hold which they have spent weeks digging out in order to get to a crack they believe is felled with gold.

This freak landslide coursed Dustin to start looking for a new area to mine in as his team don't want to keep having their hard work go to waste every time there is a flood. But as they get back to where they were so quickly they as a group decide to continue mining where they are.

Another reason this show is interesting is there use of the "Next Week" bits at the end as it makes me want a new episode sooner.

Thank you for coming back and checking out another post and I hope to see you back again next time.

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