Orange is the New Black: Season 1

                The easiest and I believe to be the simplest way to describe Orange is the New Black is simply by saying that the people who made this show, simply took every element of every show you’ve ever liked (All of the good, none of the bad) and they put it all together to form this.

                OITNB follows main character Piper Chapman’s life in prison.   Once a normal, sort of spoiled rich girl from Connecticut, Chapman is named in a crime, confesses and feels as if she must do the time before she can move on with her life.

                The show goes back and forth between inside jail and outside jail, allowing it to not only flashback but show the things going on in her life that she is seemingly missing.   I’ve got to say it keeps the story going and also seems to reveal more than it really is. 

                From comedy to drama, suspense and just the idea of being in prison and getting caught up in the fish bowl, this show really does have it all. 

                For that, and other reasons, the concept of this show reminds me a lot of “Lost”.   It has that sort of quality where you will almost always be left on a cliffhanger, if not in the traditional sense then in a way which at least does make you want to watch the next episode immediately.

                I really honestly cannot wait for a Season 2.

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***BELOW THIS LINE OF TEXT CONTAINS SPOILERS***

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                We end Season 1 with Piper beating the ever-loving crap out of her nemesis and this makes for an interesting Season 2 concept.    I really don’t like Jason Biggs and it might not just be his character on the show either.   I’d love to see Season 2 focus more on the crazy inside and less of the drama outside, but I have a feeling they’ll stick with the formula that has made this show so successful in the first season.

                People have compared this to “Oz”, which I’ve never seen, but really, how many other shows have taken place in jail?     

                I really loved every aspect of this show, with the characters you love and those you hate.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of “That 70’s Show” and thus never really cared for Laura Prepon following the series.   However, in this show she is simply brilliant.    If nothing else, this show will potentially start a hugely successful career for Laura Prepon.

                So what happens next?   Does Pornstache go away and we get another guard to deal with, or do we get to keep him somehow?   I think I’d feel robbed if we didn’t keep him next season, as he added a certain element of unintended humor. 

                Will new inmates enter the fray, giving Crazy Eyes a new romantic interest?   One can only hope, as I feel like Crazy Eyes was one of the better characters on this show.

                All I know is that I am eagerly awaiting a second season and Netflix may have just perfected television viewing.

New Girl: Season 1

                It’s not that “New Girl” isn’t funny… Wait, no, it isn’t really funny to me. 

                When I first watched the pilot episode, I couldn’t help but think how awful “New Girl” is.  I wondered why it had such a following and multiple seasons.   Did people really find this funny?  Am I losing my touch or what?   Perhaps it comes down to one of those “Am I just getting slower or are you just talking faster” ideas.

                “New Girl” follows the story of Zooey Deschanel, who basically finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her, so she moves out and has to find a new place, so she ends up living with three guys.   Her character has this off beat, sort of what you might call the quirky form of comedy, only it is painfully unfunny.

                I was trying to explain to my wife what I didn’t like about this show.   It’s not that the timing is off or the acting is bad, it’s just a combination of everything that makes this one incredibly terrible television cliché that, bottom line, is not funny.

                I was hoping that after the pilot it may have found its groove and decided to pick up more of a rhythm.   It did not.    Losing Damon Wayans Jr. was a major blow and, well, nothing about this show hasn’t been done before only those who did it first did it better.

                I understand what Zooey Deschanel is trying to do with this character: somewhere between some of her movie roles and maybe Liz Lemon, but it is simply not working. 

                Stick with movies because “Yes Man” was right on.