#bold move not to have their leading man in the ep for the majority

[pinazee]

Why are they making spock so human in SNW? It has to be part of some arc where he eventually takes up his vulcan discipline again. *Like are they basing this all on the fact that spock was emotional in The Cage but more reserved in man trap?

Also it makes uhuras line in TOS “kirks the closest thing you have to a friend” kind if hilarious because it implies Spock refused to consider any of them his friend despite everything they’ve been through.

[blogger360ncislarules]

Warning: The following contains major spoilers for Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Proceed at your own risk!

Oh, how the tables have turned! Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist wrapped up its second season on Sunday with a heart song — but this time, it was Zoey doing the singing! And on the receiving end of her musical declaration of love was Max, who could suddenly hear Zoey’s heart song!

Prior to that cliffhanger, Zoey and Simon had split up, and then the titular gal got a dream visit from her dad, who encouraged her to take risks and really live life. So Zoey decided to rush to the airport to stop Max from leaving for New York City with Rose. But when she got there, she heard Max sing “When a Man Loves a Woman” and left without saying a word, assuming the tune was about Rose. However, when Max unexpectedly showed up at the park where Zoey was sitting forlornly, it was obvious the ode was about her.

Max explained that he and Rose broke things off because they could both tell his mind was on someone else. Then as Zoey declared that she was all in, she started to break out in a rousing performance of Modern English’s “I Melt With You,” shocking a bewildered Max.

Below, showrunner Austin Winsberg breaks down the big powers twist and what it means for Max and Zoey’s romantic future. (And for the latest intel on Zoey’s Season 3 odds, keep tabs on our 2021 Renewal Scorecard.)

TVLINE | What excited you about this twist with the powers and what it opens up for a potential Season 3? I’m always trying to think of new ways that we can twist and spin and do new things with the powers. We had talked about this pretty early on in Season 1, the idea of Max getting the powers at some point. Certainly, when you think of superhero origin stories, there seems like there’s always a place in the superhero shows where they find somebody else who also has powers. So we liked the idea of being able to do our own version of that.

But the other thing that we had really established a lot in Season 1, especially in Season 2, as well, was this idea that Max feels like there’s an inequality in their relationship, because Zoey has the ability to hear what’s going on in his heart, in his brain, and he doesn’t get to do the same with her. I think in any relationship in life, there needs to be some degree of equality in order for the relationship to work. So just in terms of thinking how could Zoey and Max work long-term, for me, it was important for Max to have an understanding of what it’s like for Zoey to experience heart songs. And I also like the idea that Max could know what’s going on in Zoey’s head as well. And certainly, from a romantic comedy perspective, to be able to play stories where these two people are in a relationship, but they also know exactly what the other person is thinking about, felt like ripe ground for storylines.

TVLINE | To clarify, both Max and Zoey have powers at the end of the finale? Or is it that the powers have transferred from Zoey over to Max? I don’t want to clarify that entirely yet.

TVLINE | Zoey is sometimes a guarded person. So how will this impact her, and how will she feel about Max having all this insight into her? That’s all stuff to explore in Season 3. But I certainly think that it opens up a whole new area of stories to tell, stories about him experiencing heart songs, stories about her having to help him with heart songs, stories about him hearing her heart songs and what that means for their relationship. It just adds new interesting layers of complexity and complication.

TVLINE | Zoey’s heart song was so exuberant, so joyous and free. Were there other songs that were in consideration for that moment, or was it always “I Melt With You”? For some reason, that was the song I kept going back to. Obviously, there are a lot of love songs out there. We might have danced around a few others. But it just always felt right to me. It felt right for Jane [Levy’s] voice. I liked the idea that the first song we ever heard in the pilot was “It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” and this song [goes], “l’ll stop the world and melt with you.” I thought there was some nice bookend world specificity to both of those. I liked that she said, “Making love to you was never second best,” after the whole Zoey/Simon/Max of it all. There was just something about it that felt very right to me, so I stuck to that one pretty quickly.

TVLINE | Speaking of the whole Zoey/Simon/Max of it all, talk to me about Zoey’s choices with regards to Simon and Max in this episode. What went into the thinking behind those decisions? When I mapped out the arc of the season, from the very beginning, I wanted to make sure that Zoey wasn’t indecisive and vacillating between both guys and not making moves in either direction. So I really felt like what was going to frustrate audiences with this idea of Zoey not picking either one. And so we made a conscious choice that I thought was a bold choice for her to choose Max at the end of Episode 1, and for them to at least try to do that and sort of realize pretty quickly that it’s still too early in her grief for her to really be ready for a relationship.

I did feel like because of the dynamic that had been created between Zoey and Simon, and the chemistry between them, I felt like that Zoey really needed to play that out in some way. And we found as we were breaking Episodes 9, 10 and 11, and dealing with the relationship stuff between Zoey and Simon, that there was a fundamental thing that she was keeping from him, which is telling him about the powers. I think that she was afraid to really open up to him that way and afraid of what that might mean, especially since their entire way that they met in the pilot was predicated on a little bit of deception in some way. I think she just didn’t feel like she could be open with him or wanted to be open with him in that way, and then the power kept getting in the way of things between them. It just felt like they were both trying really hard to make it work. So I liked the idea of exploring something where the fantasy of it or the expectation of it is maybe not as rewarding or fulfilling for either of them when they’re actually in it. It was always leading to this place, for me, that Zoey and Simon were going to break up at the end of the season, and then to see how it played out with her and Max.

It was just important to me to not make Simon feel like the victim in it, to not hurt Simon. That’s why I wanted him to be the one to say, “I think we should break up,” and then to also give Simon his own victories in the episode [as the boss of SPRQ Point’s new minority-run acquisition], because we’ve seen Simon at his depths of despair in Season 1, and I didn’t want to end in that way. I wanted to end him in a more positive, forward-facing place and feeling like he’s excited about the future.

TVLINE | Between the breakup with Simon and Zoey, and Zoey’s declaration to Max at the end, is it safe to say the love triangle is officially concluded, and moving forward, it’s about Zoey and Max giving it a real try? Certainly, my intentions going forward are that she and Max are going to try to make it work in a real way. And I don’t have intentions to uproot that or implode that, but it’s also TV storytelling. You have to create complications and challenges in relationships. Otherwise, if there’s no conflict, you don’t have a show. But certainly, my intention moving forward is to approach Zoey and Max dating and being together in a meaningful way, for them to try to work out their differences and their challenges together.

TVLINE | It seemed like a very deliberate and mature choice to have Zoey come to the airport and not stand in the way of Max and Rose. But then it ends up being on Max to make the first move. So how did you come to the conclusion that that’s the way the chain of events needed to go? In the spirit of not wanting to pit women against women or men against men, and what that would actually look like if you approached someone outside of the airport and said, “Pick me over her,” it’s pretty dramatic. I also felt like there was a delightful mislead that she hears him sing “When a Man Loves a Woman,” and she thinks that’s about Rose, and fundamentally, Max’s happiness is what’s more important to Zoey, and she doesn’t want to take that away from him. And so even though the reveal at the end is that he was actually singing that song about Zoey, I think that Zoey and Max have always had the other person’s best interest in mind, as evidenced when he gave up the job for her in the last episode. So I think for her, that was that wakeup call moment, where his happiness was more important to her than maybe her own loss in that moment.

TVLINE | You set up a really wonderful romance for Mo this season. Is there anything you can hint about what we could expect in a Season 3, if that goes forward? Part of the design of the season was to wrap up certain chapters in these characters’ lives or at least put some conclusion on it, but also set the path forward for everybody. And for me, I’m really excited about Mo and Perry. I think David St. Louis has been a great addition to the cast as Perry. I’m really excited to see what it looks like for Mo to be in a real adult relationship, but also to be in a complicated adult relationship with kids and an ex-husband, and the prospect of a character who is kind of an independent, free character getting brought into a domestic life, and maybe getting a little bit more than he bargained for, kind of insta-family. There’s a lot of opportunity for comedy and drama within that.

And I’m really excited for the next chapter for Maggie, too, and this idea of Maggie, potentially, slowly dipping her toes back into the dating world… The idea of Maggie and Deb as partners in crime, and Maggie exploring the idea of how a woman of a certain age, what it actually looks like for her to try to go back into the dating world in a meaningful way, I think there are a lot of stories we can derive from that.

[obtusemedia]

Ranking Lady Gaga's albums, from worst to best

Being a Lady Gaga fan can be an exercise in frustration.

Gaga is far more ambitious than most popstars — I doubt we’ll ever see Ariana Grande or Ed Sheeran make an album as left-field as Born This Way or ARTPOP. But she's also far less consistent, with numerous misbegotten projects.

Gaga's undeniably successful, with five #1 hits, an Oscar and multiple iconic music videos to her name. But her messy album rollouts and tradition of underperforming lead singles make her feel like an underdog compared to the more polished, precise careers of her contemporaries like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé or Bruno Mars.

Gaga is kind of a mess. But she's our mess. This album ranking will cover some records I can't stand — albums that make me constantly hit the fast-forward button, or albums I ignore altogether. But there isn't a single record on here that wasn't a bold move. Even the "back to basics" albums made strong aesthetic choices.

So let's dive into the career of the most fascinating Millennial popstar.

#8: Cheek To Cheek (2014)

This really shouldn't count. It's a Lady Gaga album in name only. But, technically it's a Gaga album, so here we are.

I've got nothing against Gaga having fun playing Rat Pack-era dress-up with Tony Bennett. She's a theatre kid at heart, and I'm sure every theatre kid would kill to make a Great American Songbook covers record like this. It sounds like she and Tony enjoyed themselves, so I'm happy for them!

...but I'm sorry. I can't be objective about Cheek To Cheek, it's the opposite of my taste. There's only so many bland lounge ballads I can take.

BEST SONGS: I have to pick one? "Anything Goes" is cute, I guess.

WORST SONG: "Sophisticated Lady"

#7: A Star Is Born (2018)

Let me first make this clear — A Star Is Born, the movie starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga? It's a masterpiece. It's electrifying and tragic and I'm still upset it didn't sweep the Oscars that year. There's even a cute dog! You won't hear me say a bad word about it.

But A Star Is Born, the accompanying soundtrack? It's extremely hit-and-miss.

Yes, it includes arguably Gaga's best-ever song and one of the greatest movie hits ever written, "Shallow." And there's plenty of other great tunes in the tracklist too — "Always Remember Us This Way," "I'll Never Love Again," the "La Vie En Rose" cover.

Even the country-rock songs from Bradley Cooper (who, reminder, is not a professional singer) are mostly good! "Black Eyes" RIPS, and "Maybe It's Time" feels like a long-lost classic.

But sadly, there are so many mediocre filler tracks on this thing. The second half of A Star Is Born's hour-plus runtime (Gaga's longest!) is padded with generic songs like "Look What I've Found," "Heal Me" and "I Don't Know What Love Is." The only good one out of the bunch is the silly, intentionally-bad "Why Did You Do That?"

In the movie, these filler tracks serve a point – they're meant to show Gaga's character selling out. They work in the movie when you hear them for a few seconds and see Cooper make a drunkly disappointed scowl. But I don't want to listen to them, and sadly, they make up half the album.

In other words — A Star Is Born would've made an incredible six or seven-song EP. But as an 63-minute-long record? It's a slog.

BEST SONGS: "Shallow", "Always Remember Us This Way," "Maybe It's Time"

WORST SONG: "Heal Me"

#6: Joanne (2016)

After Born This Way and ARTPOP, I get why Gaga needed to make a more lowkey, back-to-basics album. I also understand that many of these songs have extremely personal lyrics for her.

But is a down-to-earth album what I really want from our most outré popstar? Not really.

Luckily, Joanne is better than that description suggests. Yes, there are some bland acoustic ballads and awkward hippie-era throwbacks (two styles that are really not in Gaga's wheelhouse), but there's also some Springsteen-style heartland rockers! And those go hard in the paint.

Joanne works best when Gaga works the record's dusty aesthetics into her brand of weirdo pop, like on the sizzling "John Wayne," the winking "A-YO" or the delightfully extra Florence Welch duet "Hey Girl."

The record also has "Perfect Illusion" — a glorious red herring of a lead single that sounds nothing like anything else on Joanne. It's a roided-up mixture of woozy Tame Impala production and hair metal histrionics, and it rules. It might be Gaga's best-ever lead single! (at the very least, it's her most underrated.)

And there is one slow tune that's unambiguously great: "Million Reasons," another solid Gaga lighters-in-the-air power ballad pastiche.

Despite what some Little Monsters may tell you, Joanne isn't a disaster. There's some great stuff in there, and even the worst songs are just forgettable. But it's still far from her best.

BEST SONGS: "Perfect Illusion," "Diamond Heart," "Million Reasons"

WORST SONG: "Come To Mama"

#5: Chromatica (2020)

When Chromatica was released near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it had been seven years since Gaga had released music in her classic gonzo-synthpop vein. I can easily picture the record serving as an "ugh fine, I'll give you what you want" response to the many Little Monsters annoyed with Gaga's half-decade of folksy ballads and Julie Andrews cosplay.

I'll say this about Chromatica — outside of The Fame Monster, it's her most consistent record. There's not a single track that's a glaring mistake. And the three singles — "Stupid Love," "911" and the triumphant Ariana Grande duet "Rain On Me" — easily stand among her best tracks.

But although "all bangers, no ballads" album sounds rad in theory, it doesn't really succeed in practice. Chromatica is solid, but it's also a very same-y record. It feels like Gaga had one really great idea for the album ('90s club music with super-depressing lyrics) and repeated it over and over and over again to diminishing results.

There are some songs that are able to separate themselves: the three singles, of course, as well as the goofy "Babylon" and "Sine From Above," the Elton John duet that's the closest Chromatica gets to a ballad. But by the end of the album, you feel more worn out than electrified.

Also — and this is probably unfair, but still — Chromatica came out just a couple months after another retro-dance blockbuster pop album: Dua Lipa's magnum opus, Future Nostalgia. That's not a flattering comparison.

BEST SONGS: "Rain On Me," "Stupid Love," "911"

WORST SONG: "1000 Doves"

#4: The Fame (2008)

Out of all of Gaga's records, The Fame is most like a time capsule. It REEKS of late '00s/early '10s pop — which isn't an entirely fair criticism, seeing as Gaga popularized that era's sleazy, synthy aesthetic. It's also not a bad thing! I don't mind a little nostalgia!

As you already know, The Fame's singles are masterworks. "Just Dance," "Poker Face," "Paparazzi" — these tracks have titanic legacies for good reason. And although it's probably the least-beloved of this album's hits, despite being a total banger, "LoveGame" should still be commended for having arguably the most Gaga lyric ever (you know, the "disco stick" line).

And even though those tracks are front-loaded on The Fame, there are some gems deeper in the tracklist. "Summerboy" is basically Gwen Stefani covering The Strokes (so obviously, it's great). "Eh, Eh" is adorable. "Starstruck" is the most 2008 song ever recorded, with aggressive Auto-Tune and Flo Rida showing up to make Starbucks jokes.

Sadly, The Fame still feels like Gaga before she became fully-formed at certain points. The back half has a number of songs that feel like generic club tracks forced by the label, and "Paper Gangsta" is one of the clunkiest songs in Gaga's catalogue.

But at the very least, the bad songs on The Fame at least serve as little nostalgia bombs for that era of pop. And the best songs are untouchable classics.

BEST SONGS: "Paparazzi," "Just Dance," "Summerboy"

WORST SONG: "Paper Gangsta"

#3: ARTPOP (2013)

For much of Gaga's career, she's been ahead of the curve. She tries something, and a year or a few years later, other popstars try something similar to diminishing results.

That doesn't just apply to the successful stuff, like Gaga's extravagant music videos inspiring many copycats from 2010-2013. It also applies to the mid-late '10s trend of legacy popstars making a controversial record with risky aesthetic or lyrical choices that backfired: reputation. Witness. Man of The Woods.

Gaga did this first, with ARTPOP — arguably the most abrasive, and bizzare major label album released by a major modern popstar. And she did it better, because unlike Swift, Perry and Timberlake, Gaga's weirdness was for real. And it was in service of some prime, hyper-aggressive bangers.

ARTPOP isn't Gaga's best work — some of her experiments on it are major misfires, from the obnoxious "Mary Jane Holland" to the bland Born This Way leftover (and Romani slur-utilizing) "Gypsy."

But when ARTPOP is on, it's ON. The opening stretch in particular, from "Aura" to "Venus" to "G.U.Y." to "Sexxx Dreams," is chaotic synthpop at its finest. Those songs took Gaga's classic sound to an apocalyptic, demented extreme, and they're fantastic.

"MANiCURE" is a great glam-rock banger, "Dope" is another classic Gaga piano ballad, the title track is some sikly-smooth dreampop; even the misguided, clunky trap anthem "Jewels N' Drugs" is bad in a hilarious, charming way!

Trust me: ARTPOP will go down in history not as a flop, but as a gutsy, underrated record from a legend. Less Witness, more In Utero.

BEST SONGS: "G.U.Y.," "Venus," "Sexxx Dreams"

WORST SONG: "Gypsy"

#2: The Fame Monster (2009)

Objectively speaking, this is probably the best Gaga album.

It's her one record with no fluff, no filler — only 34 minutes and 8 tracks, all of them stellar.

It's the record that took Gaga from "wow, this new woman is a fresh new face in pop!" to "this woman IS pop."

It's the record with her signature track, "Bad Romance," which was accompanied by arguably the greatest music video of the 21st Century. (It also has my absolute favorite Gaga track, the relentlessly catchy "Telephone.")

I don't think I need to explain what makes mega-smashes "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" and "Alejandro" great, nor the accompanying legendary deep cuts "Speechless" and "Dance In The Dark." They speak for themselves.

However — the sleek, calculated perfection of The Fame Monster, while incredible, isn't something I return to often. It's just not the side of Gaga that's my favorite. That honor would have to go to...

BEST SONGS: "Telephone," "Dance In The Dark," "Bad Romance"

WORST SONG: "So Happy I Could Die" (but it's still pretty solid)

#1: Born This Way (2011)

One of my favorite podcasts is Blank Check. The concept of the show is to analyze each movie by a famous director — in particular, those who had big success early on and then got a blank check to make whatever crazy passion project they wanted. Here's a great example: because Batman was a massive hit, Tim Burton got to make whatever Hot Topic-core movies he wanted to for decades, from Edward Scissorhands to a creepy Willy Wonka remake.

That long-winded tangent is just to say: Born This Way was Lady Gaga's blank check. By early 2011, she had conquered the pop universe, notching hit after hit after hit. Every other pop star was copying her quirky music videos. So the label let Gaga do whatever she wanted — and she didn't waste that opportunity.

Born This Way is wildly overproduced. It's both extremely trend-chasing (those synths were cutting edge at the time but charmingly dated now), but also deeply uncaring about what the teens want (I don't think Springsteen and Queen homages were big at the time). And I love every messy, overblown second of it.

From the hair-metal/synthpop hybrid opener "Marry The Night" to the majestic '80s power ballad "The Edge of Glory," Born This Way starts at an 11. And Gaga never takes her foot off the pedal for the album's entire hour-plus run time. Clanging electric guitars, thunderous synths and Clarence Clemons (!!!) sax solos collide into each other as Gaga champions every misfit and loser in the world. It's gloriously corny in the best way possible.

Born This Way is also the perfect middle ground of pop-savvy Gaga and gonzo Gaga. It doesn't go quite as hard as ARTPOP, but the hooks are stronger. And the oddball moments are tons of fun, from the sci-fi biker anthem "Highway Unicorn" to the goofy presidential-sex banger "Government Hooker" ("Put your hands on me/John F. Kennedy" might be the greatest line in pop history).

Born This Way will always be my favorite Gaga album. It's armed with nuclear-grade hooks, slamming beats, and soaring anthems. Although it's not as untouchably pristine as the Mt. Rushmore of '10s pop classics (for the record, that's 1989, EMOTION, Lemonade and, of course, Melodrama), Gaga isn't best served by meticulousness. She's proudly tacky and histrionic, and so that's what makes Born This Way an utter joy.

BEST SONGS: "The Edge of Glory," "You and I," "Marry The Night"

WORST SONG: "Bloody Mary"

[straykidsupdate]

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR: STRAY KIDS FORGE THEIR OWN PATH ON MIROH

IN THE GREATER K-POP LANDSCAPE, WHEREIN MELODIC SOUND IS MAINSTREAM, ‘MIROH’ IS FEARLESSLY DEFIANT

The opening line of "Boxer" is a perfect introduction to Stray Kids: Translated, it goes, "Hello, I’m a young man who can fly anywhere." It's a confident declaration, at once cheeky and polite, and it speaks to the Korean boy group's signature tenacity. It's charismatically delivered by main dancer Lee Know, the intensity building with every word. "Everyone, attention!" he spits before the song erupts into a flurry of chaotic synths and brazen emotions. It's loud and relentless, representative of the bold sound Stray Kids have been carefully honing since their pre-debut days in 2017 — and of the group itself: eight young individuals navigating the labyrinth of adulthood. (A ninth member, Woojin, left the group in late October 2019 for personal reasons.)

That tempestuous coming-of-age journey is seeped into their ambitious March EP, Clé 1: MIROH. Inspired by the word miro, or "maze" in Korean, MIROH kicked off a confident new chapter for Stray Kids, beginning to answer the introspective questions posed by their 2018 I Am... series of EPs, which focused heavily on the theme of identity. Who am I? Who am I trying to be? And importantly, who do I want to be? With MIROH — the first in the Clé trilogy, which also includes June's Yellow Wood and December's Levanter — these important questions persist, but Stray Kids strengthen their resolve as they charge away from the systems that seek to control them and into the thorny, often scary unknown.

That maturity isn't just reflected in the lyrics and production, so thoughtfully crafted by the members themselves, but on Clé 1: MIROH as a whole. Released a year after their debut, the group's fourth EP is their strongest and most cohesive body of work. Etched into these seven songs is not just a story, or a concept, but a collective journey from self-doubt to resilience. The album's intro track, "Entrance," invites you into the chaotic world of MIROH — rich in texture, pulsating beats, and ad-libs from other songs on the album — with assurance.

At first listen, "Miroh" sounds like an odd choice for a lead single. It's a cacophony of sounds, rhythms, chants, and animal noises that doesn't seem to follow any familiar song structure. There's no real melody, just powerful rap verses over a repetitive bass line. But the hook is massive; it's meant to be screamed at the top of your lungs, like the K-pop imagining of a My Chemical Romance headbanger — that is, if Gerard Way had been less a fan of The Misfits and more into EDM. It isn't a song so much as a heightened experience.

In the greater K-pop landscape, wherein melodic sound is mainstream, "Miroh" is fearlessly defiant. It's unabashedly noisy, and its message is resilient. As Stray Kids rush into the maze before them, they do so with impenetrable confidence. "But there’s no time to rest," Hyunjin smoothly raps on the second verse. "I’m alright, I’m holding on and I keep on going / I just need to look ahead and run."

Running is kind of their thing. Stray Kids have been releasing music at a tireless pace since "Hellevator" premiered in October 2017. The angsty pre-debut song established the JYP Entertainment-repped boy group's grungy style and affinity for explosive EDM drops. They made their official debut in March 2018 with "District 9," a genre-agnostic track about disaffected youth with in-your-face energy and staggering rhythmic intensity. Since then, they've released six EPs, particularly impressive for a group who write and produce all of their music.

Members Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han — otherwise known as the production trio 3RACHA — are responsible for a heavy majority of the group's discography. They're credited lyricists and composers on every Stray Kids track to date and have been making music together since their teenage trainee days, uploading self-produced mixtapes to SoundCloud and YouTube. The other members also participate in the songwriting process; they all contribute lyrics to the mixtape songs that are part of each physical release — like MIROH's "Mixtape #4," a rearranged version of 3RACHA's "Broken Compass" about the importance of trusting yourself and following your own path, no matter how scary the road ahead looks.

Stray Kids challenge these fears throughout MIROH. "Victory Song" is an anthemic rallying cry to move forward with confidence and bulletproof ego. "Who else is like me, there’s no one," Han raps. But that bravado starts to crack on "Maze of Memories," a dizzying track that stimulates the feeling of wandering in hopeless pursuit of an end that's nowhere in sight. "Now I run for an answer that I cannot see," Han laments. There's an uneasy cadence to the track as it switches between two tempos; it's disorienting and visceral, like the experience of growing up. "Chronosaurus" is similarly introspective. The song, inspired by leader Bang Chan's own fascination with time, personifies the phenomenon as a monster they must outrun. "Day and night, every day," Seungmin sings. "I am afraid / I think I'll get caught."

Time is a continuous theme for Stray Kids. On the EP's standout track "19," written and produced by Han, they yearn to stop time. It's a confusing paradox, the desire to grow up but fearing the real meaning of being an adult. But the ways in which Stray Kids empathize with this conflict is precisely what makes them the voices of their generation. "Twenty years old that I wanted to become so badly," Han raps. "Did everybody go through this same experience or am I the only one that’s anxious?"

And while main rappers Changbin and Han get plenty of room to flex on the album — Changbin's aggressive bite is a perfect match for Han's more melodic flow — MIROH smartly showcases rappers Hyunjin and Felix as a testament to their growth. Hyunjin's versatility is his strength. On "Maze of Memories," he switches up his flow effortlessly, a potent mix that leaves you breathless. Elsewhere, Felix delivers one of the album's smoothest verses on "Victory Song" with a newfound sense of confidence. Vocalists Seungmin and I.N also shine in unexpected ways; Seungmin's English rap on "Maze of Memories" is a genuine highlight, while youngest member I.N. soars on "Chronosaurus."

Throughout the Clé series, the members of Stray Kids are running toward something that is never clearly defined. That's the point: the realization that the destination doesn't matter nearly as much as the journey. But the journey isn't an easy one. Sometimes the voices inside their heads get too loud, too consuming, and feel insurmountable. But that's what makes MIROH a seminal work from the young group — just because you can't see your way out of the maze doesn't mean you should stop trying.

Find all of MTV News's 2019 Albums of the Year right here.

Source: MTV News

[bestdjkit]

Trivecta Pioneers "Folk Bass" In His Debut EP [Interview]

Trivecta opens up about joining Ophelia Records and finally releasing his debut EP, "Everyday."

In another life, electronic producer Sam Dobkin, who performs under his alias Trivecta, was a business major at the University of South Florida, utterly confused by his roommates’ fascination with EDM.

“I was like, 'Screw this, it’s the same kick drum on every beat.' I hated it,” Dobkin told EDM.com. "But then, plot twist, producing it was really hard, and in doing it I found music I liked."

Fast forward a few years and the 29-year-old is celebrating the release of his first EP, Everyday, out today via Ophelia Records. The four-track project, including the previously released “Leave It All Behind” with Fagin, is an innovative fusion of indie folk music and the melodic bass championed by the label, and features Dobkin himself playing all of the instruments. Major influences include Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters and Men on the band side and Avicii, who pioneered the unique sound, on the electronic side, Trivecta divulged.

View the original article to see embedded media.

His inspirations are evident throughout the EP, from the soothing acoustic guitar melody launching the project in “Intro (The Feeling Of It All)” to the chorale-like vocal line in the closing “Everyday” with Rico & Miella. With bright, melodic bass drops and anthemic vocalist features, Everyday is an immersive exploration of new ground in the electronic world—one dubbed “folk bass” by his fans.

“To watch that niche get carved out and become filled with something I’ve been working on for so many years is so cool,” Dobkin said. “This is my first time really trying to make something that hasn’t been made before.”

It’s certainly a bold move for an artist to switch up their sound for an entire EP, and even bolder for a debut EP. Backing Dobkin along the way has been his family at Ophelia Records, the imprint  spearheaded by Seven Lions. Trivecta listed Wooli, Kill The Noise and Seven Lions himself as major backers, giving him the confidence to pursue something new. He even compared Seven Lions to Lebron James, declaring, â€œHe forces you to level up without even meaning to. It raises the bar.”

Joining a team of like-minded melodic bass producers has also given Dobkin a “game changing” family within the electronic music scene, providing him with an entire group of creators to bounce ideas off of. It’s helped him gain the confidence to work through and develop new concepts, and lead to more complex music.

“When I ran this EP through everybody, the feedback was like, ‘Oh man, I’m onto something.’ If I’d run that by some other dudes, there’s a good chance they wouldn’t have gotten it, and the idea might’ve gotten stuck in my head,” Dobkin said. “The entire group has made me feel empowered, and like there’s weight behind my thoughts.”

It’s also been an especially valuable community during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve been talking every day on WhatsApp and messing with each other on social media, including Dobkin’s steak-making battles with Wooli. With his 19-date tour supporting Dabin and MitiS on hold, it’s a daily challenge to stay positive. He does so by keeping busy with his 20 guitar students, who he now teaches virtually, and working on new music, including two collaborations with Seven Lions. And, like the rest of the music industry, he’s looking forward to the day he can once again hop on stage and perform.

“I envision being able to celebrate with the crowd for my first live show back,” Dobkin said. “I imagine the crowd being able to sing along to these songs and me singing along with them, and it being a really special moment.” 

FOLLOW TRIVECTA:

Facebook: facebook.com/trivectamusic Twitter: twitter.com/trivectamusic Instagram: instagram.com/trivectamusic SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/trivectamusic

from Best DJ Kit https://edm.com/interviews/trivecta-interview-on-debut-ep-everyday

[emikothewriter]

Escaping the glaringly sparkly and sharp bold colours used in most anime nowadays, the animated adaptation of Umeda Abi’s Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau (Children of the Whales) is a fantasy story taking place in an apocalyptic magical world where we find our protagonist, Chakuro, living in a small colony (with a population of 513 people) on a floating island (the Mud Whale), riding above a vast ocean of sand. Upon discovering an abandoned floating island (a driftland), Chakuro comes across a mysterious girl, whom he dubs Lykos and with this strange encounter comes a wave of change in Chakuro’s life. As I mentioned in my watch list, I picked up the original manga a while back and liked the premise of the story but never ventured any deeper into it because I was interested in the anime series I was watching at the time. For that reason, I decided to check out its first episode and report back my thoughts on it.

We’re on a boat afloat on a whole lotta sand for this one folks.

Animation studio J.C. Staff took on this project this year for the Fall 2017 anime season with Its first episode released in early October. In terms of the anime’s looks, J.C. Staff decided to stick with varying line thicknesses and textures that you’d typically find in the pages of a manga. The studio combines this art style with a soft watercolour palette to bring the world of Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau to life. Clouds seem as if they were painted on with a winged brush, and the tips of these clouds extend outward to create different shapes. Shading is made through a blend and layering of gradiant colour and small thin lines create texture to backdrops that the characters move across. This artstyle reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki’s illustrations of his work, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which appears simplistic but possesses personality.

This screen cap shows how beautifully detailed and aged the Mud Whale is, making us question how long the apocalyptic world appeared like this and how it came to be.

The characters themselves are drawn with soft expressions and stand apart from the detailed background.

Nearly everyone in this anime has the same face as Sami.

At some points this isn’t an issue, but there are moments during the episode where the scene looks jarring because the characters look like they are smacked on top of an environment, as pictured below.

Welcome to the 2D world.

Where characters look flatter against the detailed backdrop.

…Or maybe I’m just being picky for no reason.

I know I’ve been spoilt by KyoAni.

Chakuro, our protagonist in Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau, is our guide into the story’s world and was assigned the role of archivist in his colony. As a fantasy genre anime, I also feel that its slow pacing is its downfall but to explore and explain a unique world like the one in this anime, using the main protagonist as a vehicle to not only give context for world building but also as a narrator for the story is important. The world of Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau is pretty extensive as Chakuro explains the politics and the culture of his home on the Mud Whale, along with the superhuman power Thymia of which the grand majority of the colony is able to use. Thymia is an ability dependent on magical symbols which allows the user, the “Marked”, to do any number of tasks, such as levitating objects or travelling on bamboo boats through the sand, via their emotions.

Up, up and away…!

No need for rowing these boats.

The Marked have short life spans, living up to their twenties or thirties. As Chakuro also explains in the first episode, the small ten percent who live without using Thymia are called the “Unmarked” and make up the Council of Elders and the Chieftain of the colony (the colony’s leaders) who live a regular human life-span.

Chakuro’s internal monologue can be useless at small points of the episode and does make the story lag on for a bit longer than what I’d like. For instance, I think that the episode could do without the obvious narrative cue to lead the viewer into the next scene because we already have moving visuals to help the viewer understand the story. For example, to transition from the Council meeting where we learn that Suou is assigned the role of leader in the driftland expedition through the Chieftain’s direction to the expedition group traveling to their destination was made longer because Chakuro repeated the same information.

Another factor are the interactions between nameless background characters which drag moments for longer than they should, such as the cutting of the tall bamboo poles and the travelling scenes, could easily be cut out in the animated version of the story. I suppose the reason for keeping these minimal conversations acts as foil to the characters possessing a larger role in the storyline, giving the important characters more detail. For example, the fact that Chakuro is not deemed as important by the other Marked people in the colony and is considered useless because of his inaccurate Thymia wielding ability.

At this point in time, the characters are not all too interesting since the episode didn’t spend so much time on them individually, but they all hold potential.

Introduce the man who will get shit done by the end of the episode.

The music used in the first episode fits the fantasy genre quite well, utilizing either an orchestra or a simple melody with a piano and some string instruments to accompany Chakuro’s internal monologue by imbuing his objective observations with emotion, especially in his first encounter with Lykos. The story itself removes any panic Chakuro may be experiencing when being pinned down by Lykos aiming all of her swords at him to essentially make a pin cushion out of him. Once Chakuro is pushed down, the string instruments enter into the scene like a heavy wave of dread, leaving me with some goosebumps as the camera shot moves from Chakuro’s opened gasp of shock to his impending doom.

A wild dangerous cutie pie has appeared!

  The ending theme of the series, Hashitairo by rionos is also a delight to listen to. The ending theme captures the listless journey of those on the Mud Whale, travelling onward through the boundless sand with no clear destination in sight and holding onto a small yet improbable dream of worlds lying beyond the sand. The song begins slowly and calmly with string instruments and builds to the chorus with its orchestra of flutes, guitars, drums, and piano adding depth to the sound. It has a dream-like quality to it but is also melancholic with its lyrics. Quite fitting for the characters in this anime.

My consensus for this series: Watch it whenever or watch it for Ouni who is the only interesting character trope thus far.

First Impressions: Kujira No Kora Wa Sajou Ni Utau (EP.1) Escaping the glaringly sparkly and sharp bold colours used in most anime nowadays, the animated adaptation of Umeda Abi’s…

[carmine10z5607-blog]

Don't Deception, You Considered The Eclipse Much Like Donald Trump Performed.

It's 12:59 am actually the early morning from the 27th. If you're up on your Classical mythology, you know that Venus possessed her off times. It is definitely hard for me to point out when this are going to take place because this relies on exactly how the sheepskin has been basted, made use of, saved and just how much sunlight that has actually obtained over its life-time. Both of these conjunctions happening in Capricorn are followed by a partial photovoltaic eclipse during the course of the brand new Moon on February 15th. In previous lifestyles, a person along with Venus in Libra possessed companions that were actually intimately and also passionately primitive as well as emotionally callous. This time around, however-superb star that he is-the benefit he's carrying out comes with his performing an unfortunate disservice to Hansberry and her autobiographical play concerning a black household who matriarch Lena Younger (LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who early replaced Diahann Carroll) is actually at odds with 35-year-old chauffeur child Walter Lee (Washington) over exactly what to carry out along with a $10,000 life insurance policy examination pertaining to her. His emotional gestures and pleasantly down-to-earth courting could be just as fulfilling as the moving, metrical sighs of additional colorful fanatics, or even the rushing exhilaration from the flashier Don Juans, quite often a lot more thus. Talk to any type of female who's been actually practical enough to get herself excellent and also loved through a solid Taurean. Particularly adored the Venus in the 8th home blog post. A white-water journey is a bold means to view Richmond while appreciating creatures like deer, bald eagles, herons and ospreys. Appearing toward the future, the Paul Smith Children's Village in the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens showcases maintainable bodies for electricity production, water premium, food items production and even more. This is very important that is dries out gradually far from direct warm like straight sunshine and artificial warmth or even the leather could possibly diminish or even solidify (I chose a clouded but hot day). It may be enjoyable to become with an individual with Venus in Aries if you have the ability to be really individual and also have traits as they come without an assumption from the start of having along-term or even long-lasting partnership.

Along with your Venus in Capricorn you'll present affection through showing just how capable you are from dealing with business in life and also assisting your affection perform simply that. Large exposure to power market places the firm in a difficult job as GE's incomes were actually hammered by the clinically depressed oil cost. In finalizing our company continue to be confident that our experts will certainly find more rapid growth in the 2nd half from 2017 as well as in summary, we are actually counting on working purchases growth from 5.5% to 6% for the year, our working altered EPS growth as well as our advice remains tough in the variety of 7% to 8% regular with our target from developing profits a lot faster in comparison to sales as well as our companies are remaining to spend while additionally delivering on our near-term priorities. While the majority of people understand that exterior air toxins may be harmful to health, not everyone recognizes that inside pollutants could lead to skin layer problems as well as other serious health risks too. You can discover an indication from the contrary sex in one of the most virile, sturdy Libran man, and Venus participates in the same trick on the women incrustation balancer. The legal professional, that informed HuffPost he performs certainly not directly recognize McLaren, mentioned McLaren's function in Charlottesville and also his engagement in an October anti-refugee rally in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, held due to the white supremacist team Identification Evropa. http://twoja-przepowiednia.pl/leczenie-emocjonalne-Alcostopex-jest-kluczem-w-calym While a number of this could lead to higher EPS, as our company have actually performed often times previously, very most just recently in 2015, our team intend to redeploy a lot of those increases back right into your business to enrich our lasting growth prospects. Sagittarians are actually laid-back as youngsters, and they certainly never, outgrow that. The little Jupiter woman may go through a gamine phase, as well as you'll constantly be reminding her to "simulate a girl" as she matures. But these young boys and women have their own concepts of exactly what creates "a little bit of woman" and also "a little men." It starts out along with credibility.

[amygarlesky]

TLS: Featuring // Charly Bliss

A wise man once said “everything in moderation”—and after, Charly Bliss ignored him. From lead vocalist Eva Hendricks’ ear-splitting screams, to the layers of fuzz-infused pop hooks her bandmates weave around her sharply tongued words, there’s very little about the New York-based band one could ever call “restrained.” The group’s sound heavily backs itself on a riotous energy that the four have been perfecting over the past half-decade. However, as their debut LP Guppy proves through its 10 whiplash-inducing power-pop anthems, it’s an energy not based solely on melody, but also on Hendricks herself. As the album endlessly teeters back and forth, it begins to mirror Hendricks inner extremes—her fears, embarrassments, self-criticisms, and joys. Not necessarily to shed those parts of herself, but to indulge herself on their irrelevancy. By subverting the meaning of her insecurities, Charly Bliss reinvents Hendricks' extremities, redefining them, and wrapping them into infectious melodies where listeners can relish in their commonality. Yet, the road to Guppy was not as simple as it seems. Getting their start at 15 when Hendricks met guitarist Spencer Fox at a local Tokyo Police Club concert, it wasn’t until 2014 when the group, then a newly formed four-piece, released their 3-track EP Soft Serve. Holding on to the slowed-down grittier punk that resonated throughout the early EP, the band released a few more singles and recorded the first version of Guppy. However, after finishing the production of their debut, the four decided to scrap the take and restart. “We all lived with the record for a few months, and I think each of us separately came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the best we could do,” Hendricks shares. Even with unanimity within the group, the decision took a toll. “Personally, it was hard to accept at first,” Hendricks further admits, “I’m super hard on myself, and I think I felt some major guilt and disappointment in myself for not getting it right the first time.” Aiming for perfection, the choice to re-record spurred a change in perspective—the group knew they needed to change to move forward. Setting their sights on pure polished pop, the band narrowed their focus for the second version of their debut. Along with this decision, the group’s production grew tighter, and Hendricks’ words sharper. Taking her humor and wit up a notch, Hendricks maintains but intensifies the bubbly, yet piercing attitude that drenches Charly Bliss’ sound. Showing itself as early as the first lines of the album opener “Percolator,” Hendricks shows her lyrical ability to keep her words light but simultaneously sting, cutting after every line. Peeking through the pounding grit of guitar, Hendricks first jokes of her sensitivity, “I cry all the time / I think that it’s cool / I’m in touch with my feelings”—but as the band drives through the track, Hendricks takes her aim elsewhere, “I’m not scared to lick the floor / Cause I have sucked on something worse / Put your hand on my knee / That’s what friends are for.” This double-edged tone isn't new for Charly Bliss, but as it saturates each track of their debut, Hendricks shows herself growing into her own as a lyricist. As she blends her lines into every hook, Hendricks keeps the album on its toes, never fully repressing or freeing the darker feelings behind her words.Guppy then becomes a balancing act for Hendricks. Through its 10 tracks, there’s a clear struggle of emotional extremes—one relying on the band’s bouncing melodies and spirited lyrics, and the other, where Hendricks’ self-criticisms surface. Hendricks first sees this as a reflection of herself, “I’m either 0 or 100 about everything, and I see myself always careening between ecstatic joy and feeling completely distraught,” she admits. Un-isolated, these moments fluidly move throughout the record, peering through in many of the group’s songs. One example being the synth-pop infused “Scare U.” whose bright upper melody relentlessly shakes on the drums below, only feeding into Hendricks’ anxiety and indecisiveness about a casual hookup. She repeatedly agonizes to herself, “I wanna talk about it but I don’t know what I mean / I don’t wanna scare you / I don’t wanna share you.” This is only furthered in tracks like Hendricks’ personal favorite, “DQ,” where she reflects on her insecurity in relationships, singing “I laughed when your dog died / Take me back, kiss my soft side / Does he love me most now that his dog is toast?” Through the entire album, each side of Hendricks’ extremes remain at constant contest, forcing herself and the group as a whole to wrestle them into balance. Stemming from deep inside herself, this outward struggle was never purposely embedded into Charly Bliss’ music or in Guppy. Through delving into the polar ends of Hendricks personality and fears, the record became an outlet for her to face her insecurities. Recalling her discovery of an old therapy “worry log,” Hendricks mentions the perspective she gained from reflecting on her past problems; yet, on the other hand, she was also surprised by how relatable they were, “I was like, fuck, I still spend so much hung up on the same general things. Am I disappointing everyone? Am I too much? Am I too loud?” And the singer feels similarly when looking back on Guppy today, “I’m not totally over the hurdle,” she shares, “but I think putting those feelings into lyrics…make[s] me laugh about all my deep, dark, personal fears and self-criticism [and] helps me not feel so consumed by that stuff.” In writing out her personal anxieties, Hendricks tries to not wallow in them, but strip them of their power and laugh in their face. “To me, hopelessness isn’t really an interesting emotion,” she explains to me, “I think in Charly Bliss, I’m always trying to use our songs as a way to reframe certain things I hate about myself or others as funny, or at least just say, WHO CARES!” By undermining the power of her self-criticism, Hendricks narrows in on her goal of Guppy, or rather, Charly Bliss in general: honesty. “One of the most important things to me when I’m writing lyrics is saying things in the way that I would say them in real life,” she confesses, “I always want to give an accurate portrait of myself and my thoughts, ugly or otherwise.” Whether that means recalling the embarrassing moments of clinginess, or the time she peed herself playing popcorn on a Stanford University trampoline—Hendricks uses Guppy to lay herself out to her listeners, and does so in the most bold, poignant, and fearless way possible; both as an attempt to confront her own insecurities, but also to help others overcome their own and recognize the commonality of their experiences. “I like people who will risk humiliating themselves in order to relate to other people,” Hendricks shares, “It is the most comforting thing in the world to hear that someone else has had the same thought you’ve had that you’re terrified by or embarrassed of. I wan[t] [to] do that for other people more than anything.” As she topples her fears with stark wit and slight, Hendricks ultimately uses Guppy to further and unabashedly pierce deeper into pop’s depth. Finding small moments in each track, Hendricks takes a harsh look at herself in the mirror, but by the end, turns it back onto her listeners. She does so not with the intention of creating anguish or fear of ourselves, but in learning how to appreciate and humor our insecurities, Hendricks tries to teach us and herself one of the most valuable lessons: how to not give a fuck.

[eichy815]

Fall Fusion 2017 (NBC)

In another month, the broadcast networks will select their newest slates of comedies, dramas, and reality offerings to strategically place on its fall and spring schedules in anticipation of the May “upfronts.”  However, this year, there’s an added wrinkle:  a potential WGA strike could delay summer production of all scripted TV shows...pushing their premieres back by two or three months – or, if the actors’ union of SAG/AFTRA joins them, it could be even longer.  

Still, since we won’t know whether there is a writers’ strike until May 2 – and no one knows how long it would take to resolve the strike itself – ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and The CW must proceed as though the strike might not happen at all...while being prepared to adjust its schedule depending on how long it is before such a strike ends.

NBC and Fox announce their fall schedules on May 15, followed by ABC on May 16 and CBS on May 17.  As per tradition, The CW will announce last, on May 18.

With a similar number of early renewals compared to last year, only a small chunk of series remain “on-the-bubble” (teetering between renewal or cancellation).  These contenders include Powerless, Taken, Emerald City, The Blacklist: Redemption, Trial & Error, Timeless, and Blindspot on NBC; Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Real O’Neals, Once Upon a Time, Secrets and Lies, American Crime, The Catch, Dr. Ken, Imaginary Mary, Last Man Standing (due to contract negotiations), and Quantico on ABC; Elementary, Training Day, Code Black, The Odd Couple, Ransom, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, The Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, and The Great Indoors on CBS; Frequency and No Tomorrow on The CW; and Sleepy Hollow, Scream Queens, Pitch, Shots Fired, The Exorcist, Making History, Son of Zorn, 24: Legacy, APB and Rosewood on Fox.

So, with an eye on this year’s comedy and drama development slates – and taking into consideration which shows have had a fall pilot ordered – I’ve constructed a tentative lineup that the Big Five networks should consider mapping out (regardless of whether or not there ends up being a prolonged writers’ strike).

When a show is picked up for the fall, it usually gets a 13-episode order – which can then be extended (usually via a “Back-Nine” order), if the show performs well enough. Some freshmen series fall short of receiving a full 22 episodes (usually with an 16- or 18-episode order).  If the show stays far enough above the network’s average in terms of ratings and demos (the estimated number of viewers between the ages of 18-49, who are coveted by advertisers), it will most likely return for the following season.

As for the series that are held over to be midseason replacements: they usually get 13-episode orders, as well.  Sometimes, a program that looks like more of a gamble might only get picked up for 6, 8, or 10 episodes instead.  If those shows attain a significant audience when they step in to fill gaps anytime between November and May, they may also find themselves on the next fall schedule.  

There are yet other TV series that are intended to be “limited series” or an “event series” – airing for a finite period of time during one predetermined juncture of the year – similar to many original cable television shows intentionally designed with shorter runs.  Fox now appears to be headed toward joining The CW in planning more year-round programming; it’s only a matter of time before ABC, CBS, and NBC all follow suit.  For this reason, we may see more of the broadcast networks “time-sharing” different programs within the same time slots as they transition from winter to spring to summer and back to autumn.

After all, there are a limited number of available time slots on the primetime schedule.  With the frequency of limited-run “event programming,” we should expect to see less of the traditional model where one solitary series occupies one specific time slot for nine months of original programming (followed by three months of reruns).

(All times are Eastern/Pacific; subtract one hour for the Central/Mountain time zones)

(New shows highlighted in bold)

Featured network for today’s column…

NBC

Sunday

7:00 – Sunday Night Football (fall) / Dateline NBC (Mar.-May)

8:00 – Sunday Night Football (fall) / Little Big Shots (Mar.-May)

9:00 – Sunday Night Football (fall) / The Carmichael Show (Mar.-May)

9:30 – Sunday Night Football (fall) / Marlon (Mar.-May)

10:00 – Sunday Night Football (fall) / Chicago Justice (Mar.-Aug.)

As usual, original programming on NBC’s Sunday nights will be delayed until March due to autumn football and the early-winter award show season.  Dateline NBC and Little Big Shots should retain their standard time slots; but NBC should place The Carmichael Show back in the post-Little Big Shots time slot, coupled with the upcoming Marlon Wayans sitcom Marlon (assuming it puts up respectable numbers when it premieres in August).  

Chicago Justice can lead out the night with a 22-episode order of original episodes to span from March through August – giving NBC a leg up in the quest of broadcast networks to gradually shift toward year-long original programming.  Once June 2018 rolls around, the gap left behind by Little Big Shots, The Carmichael Show, and Marlon could be potentially filled by “event programming” such as The Biggest Loser, The Night Shift, or Midnight, Texas.

Monday

8:00 – The Voice (Sep.-Nov., Mar.-May) / Strong (Jan.-Feb.)

10:00 – Shelter (Sep.-Dec.) / Drama High (Mar.-May)

The big question is what new shows NBC execs are hoping will break out in the post-Voice time slot for the fall and spring, since Timeless and Taken haven’t registered the numbers that The Peacock Network had been hoping for.  In the fall, I’d go with the Rachel Griffiths medical drama Shelter, while trying out the musical-themed Drama High (starring Rosie Perez and Josh Radnor) in the spring.  A cost-effective reality show option such as Strong could bridge The Voice’s fall and spring editions.

Tuesday

8:00 – The Voice (fall/spring) / Hollywood Game Night (Jan.-Feb.)

9:00 – Reverie (with possible Back-Nine)  ) / A.P. Biology (Mar.-May)

9:30 – Reverie (with possible Back-Nine) / Untitled Mindy Kaling Project (Mar.-May)

10:00 – This is Us (Sep.-Mar.) / Redliners (Mar.-May)

Airing after The Voice’s results show did wonders for exposing This is Us to viewers – who clearly loved what they sampled.  So now, with This is Us being a major hit (renewed for at least two seasons of 18-episode runs), I’d move it to 10pm to close out the night.  In-between, a fall premiere can be given to Reverie, a virtual reality crime drama featuring Dennis Haysbert (24), Sarah Shahi (Person of Interest), and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes).

In the spring, NBC could follow up The Voice’s results show with high school sitcom A.P. Biology starring Patton Oswalt alongside the as-of-yet-untitled new Mindy Kaling-produced family comedy (although the latter might end up going straight to Hulu on its own, given The Mindy Project’s success there).  After This is Us airs its season finale, its time slot could be turned over to Redliners, a drama about suburban spies based on the Charlaine Harris series of short stories.

Wednesday

8:00 – Chicago Fire

9:00 – Chicago Med

10:00 – Chicago P.D.

I’ve been promoting this idea for the past two years, and I’m going to keep doing so until NBC listens:   fix the problematic lead-off slot on Wednesday nights by turning the evening into an “all-Chicago” three-hour bloc.  Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D. as a trio should stabilize this night for The Peacock Network.

Thursday

8:00 – Superstore (fall/spring) / Trial & Error (winter)

8:30 – The Good Place (fall) / Great News (winter)

9:00 – Will & Grace (Sep.-Nov.) / The Blacklist (Jan-May)

9:30 – Relatively Happy (Sep.-Nov.) / The Blacklist (Jan.-May)

10:00 – Law & Order: SVU

From September through mid-November, Superstore and The Good Place worked well together in Thursday’s earliest time slot.  Bring them back as a pair – and, assuming there’s no significant production delay due to a writers’ strike, fill that second hour with the revival of Will & Grace (which recently saw its forthcoming episode order increased from 10 to 12 episodes) complemented by the new sitcom Relatively Happy (formerly titled The Happy Peppers), which is also created by Will & Grace showrunner Max Mutchnick and features NBC power player Jane Lynch as a co-star.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit can take the 10pm time slot all season long.  Thursday Night Football shifts over to NBC in the second half of November...just in time for Will & Grace to have finished up airing its twelve episodes.  In January, The Blacklist can return to its regular time slot for the remainder of the season (and probably running into the early-summer, if it gets a full 22 episodes).  The potential returns of Trial & Error and Great News could bridge a midseason hiatus for Superstore, with one possibly airing double-episodes over the course of five weeks whereas the other eventually fills The Good Place’s time slot (after The Good Place finishes airing its limited run of 13 episodes).

Friday

8:00 – Caught on Camera (fall/summer) / The Wall (spring)

9:00 – First Dates (fall/summer) / Shades of Blue (Feb.-May)

10:00 – Dateline NBC

With the “retirement” of Grimm, Friday night has become low expectation grounds for originals.  The safe choice for September would be to pile on the cost-effective programming here:  Caught on Camera, First Dates, and Dateline NBC.  Game show entry The Wall could return in the spring, leading into a third season of the Jennifer Lopez cop drama Shades of Blue.

MIDSEASON:  The Blacklist (22 episodes), Chicago Justice (22 episodes), The Wall (16 episodes), The Carmichael Show (16 episodes), Marlon (16 episodes), Hollywood Game Night (16 episodes), Shades of Blue (13 episodes), Little Big Shots (13 episodes), Trial & Error (10 episodes), Great News (10 episodes), Strong (10 episodes), Redliners (13 episodes), Drama High (13 episodes), A.P. Biology (10 episodes), Untitled Mindy Kaling Project (10 episodes)

LATER THIS MONTH (APRIL 2017)

Pretty Little Liars (Freeform)

Better Caul Saul (AMC)

The Leftovers (HBO)

Veep (HBO)

Silicon Valley (HBO)

Angie Tribeca (TNT)

Bosch (Amazon)

MAY 2017

Animal Kingdom (TNT)

12 Monkeys (SyFy)

The Bachelorette (ABC)

America’s Got Talent (NBC)

So You Think You Can Dance? (Fox)

MasterChef (Fox)

Casual (Hulu)

Sense8 (Netflix)

Playing House (USA)

Master of None (Netflix)

House of Cards (Netflix)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)

JUNE 2017

Fear the Walking Dead (AMC)

The Fosters (Freeform)

Preacher (AMC)

Orphan Black (BBC America)

Zoo (CBS)

Big Brother (CBS)

Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

The Last Ship (TNT)

Major Crimes (TNT)

Teen Wolf (MTV)

Suits (USA)

Food Network Star (Food Network)

Hollywood Game Night (NBC)

Ray Donovan (Showtime)

American Grit (Fox)

The Night Shift (NBC)

Odd Mom Out (Bravo)

Scream (MTV)

Still the King (CMT)

UnReal (Lifetime)

Wrecked (TBS)

Younger (TV Land)

JULY 2017

Game of Thrones (HBO)

Killjoys (SyFy Channel)

Dark Matter (SyFy Channel)

Ballers (HBO)

Insecure (HBO)

Survivor’s Remorse (Starz)

AUGUST 2017

The Strain (FX)

Difficult People (Hulu)

Bachelor in Paradise (ABC)

Broad City (Comedy Central)

Better Late Than Never (NBC)

Another Period (Comedy Central)

BoJack Horseman (Netflix)

SEPTEMBER 2017

The Mindy Project (Hulu)

Narcos (Netflix)

Z Nation (SyFy Channel)

Episodes (Showtime)

Drunk History (Comedy Central)

Falling Water (USA)

One Mississippi (Amazon)

Outlander (Starz)

Project Runway (Lifetime)

School of Rock (Nickelodeon)

Transparent (Amazon)

Van Helsing (SyFy)

You’re the Worst (FXX)

OCTOBER 2017

The Walking Dead (AMC)

Halt and Catch Fire (AMC)

American Horror Story (FX)

Mr. Robot (USA)

Ash vs. Evil Dead (Starz)

Berlin Station (Epix)

Chance (Hulu)

Channel Zero (SyFy Channel)

Divorce (HBO)

Goliath (Amazon)

Good Witch (Hallmark)

Graves (Epix)

Haters Back Off (Netflix)

People of Earth (TBS)

Stranger Things (Netflix)

NOVEMBER 2017

The Affair (Showtime)

The Librarians (TNT)

Marvel’s Jessica Jones (Netflix)

Good Behavior (TNT)

Red Oaks (Amazon)

Search Party (TBS)

DECEMBER 2017

Fuller House (Netflix)

The Man in the High Castle (Amazon)

Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon)

The O.A. (Netflix)

Shut Eye (Hulu)

JANUARY 2018

Colony (USA)

Homeland (Showtime)

Portlandia (IFC)

Atlanta (FX)

Baskets (FX)

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix)

Beyond (Freeform)

One Day at a Time (Netflix)

Sneaky Pete (Amazon)

Taboo (FX)

Westworld (HBO)

Workaholics (Comedy Central)

FEBRUARY 2018

The Expanse (SyFy Channel)

Billions (Showtime)

Crashing (HBO)

Detroiters (Comedy Central)

The Good Fight (CBS All Access)

Legion (FX)

Santa Clarita Diet (Netflix)

MARCH 2018

The Americans (FX)

Feud (FX)

Daredevil (Netflix)

Love (Netflix)

Nobodies (TV Land)

APRIL 2018

Brockmire (IFC)