Ed Sheeran On Undateable

This Tuesday, NBC's comedy "Undateable" did something very daring, a live show. This show revolved around a open mic night at a bar. The cast did two live performances, to air different versions of the episode on the east and west coasts. The special was a star studded experience. Actress and singer, Victoria Justice guest stared, and Grammy nominated singer/song-writer Ed Sheeran had a cameo role.

The east and west coast episodes have the same concept, but certain details changed. I watched parts of both episodes On Demand. The east coast version, Ed Sheeran opened the show singing his hit single "Thinking out Loud." After finishing the song he was then kicked out of the bar by the owner (Brent Morin), who was not aware that he was the real Ed Sheeran. Later on Sheeran comes back to comfort Morin's character, telling him "I wont let anyone hurt you again."

The west coast version of the episode was undeniably more daring. Sheeran opened this show singing "Photograph," which will be the next single off his album "x". Later in the episode, when he comes back to condole Morin, he surprises the audience by planting an intense kiss on the actor. A moment that was later spread across social media in repetitive glory. The episode wrapped with Sheeran coming back to sing a cover of Britney Spears's "Hit Me Baby One More Time" accompanied by Victoria Justice and "Undateable" star Bridgit Mendler.

Overall, I thought that the show was funny. I liked to see Ed Sheeran try his hand acting, even though it was clearly out of his comfort zone. There was clearly an excited energy surrounding the entire cast, something you could feel through your TV screen.

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The Big Bang Theory

"The Big Bang Theory" on CBS has been a fan favorite sense its premiered in 2007. The show centers around a group of friends/scientists. It is a comedy about life and love through the eyes of these "geeks." The highlight of the show is Sheldon Cooper, portrayed by Jim Parsons.

The show is funny in a brainy way, but not so much that it is hard to understand or follow. It hit a huge market of people, from teenagers to the older demographic. The show has inspired a craze of merchandise and Bazinga! shirts, which is Sheldon Cooper's catch phrase.

With the show going so strong for so long, the question we have is when will it end? The show is currently on season eight, and even though it is still maintaining a large audience. However, it has received mixed reviews from the critics. The Inquisitr called it "not quite up to par" and "none of the humor particularly stood out."

Personally, I for see the show going on for a while longer because as long as they are getting views the network will continue to renew the show. The only reason why I could see the show stopping is because of loosing actors. Jim Parsons recently did a movie and is going to be on a Broadway show. If he decides to leave The Big Bang Theory to do other jobs, I would assume a huge decline in ratings would follow.

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Grace's Show Review

I mentioned a few posts ago that YouTuber, Grace Helbig has her own TV show on E! now. The show is now two episodes in, so I figured it was time I give my opinion on it.

The show takes place in Grace's "house" (really it is just a set designed to resemble Grace's home). The first episode had guests Aisha Tyler, Mamrie Hart, and Flula Borg. The second episode brought in comedian Nick Kroll and internet personality Tyler Oakley. It seems like Grace is trying to balance airtime between standard celebrities and internet celebrities. This is a huge move for Team Internet, because it give a lot of YouTuber a chance to be on the television platform.

I must say that Grace comes off quite differently on TV than she does on YouTube. Some of this may be due to the fact that she is in a different atmosphere on TV. She is dressed in cute dresses with her hair and make up done accompanied by flattering camera angles. On YouTube she typically wears sweats with old make up and one single camera angle provided by her tripod.

In the second episode Grace responded to a comment that she received saying that it sounded like she was reading her lines off of a teleprompter the entire time, when in fact there was no teleprompter. Helbig does in fact have a way of talking sometimes when she pauses at weird places. This is something that you are used to on the internet, but on TV it makes her come off as awkward (which is actually what she is going for I think).

As far as pop culture TV shows go, I think that this show is pretty decent. I am looking for to the next episode with guest Jim Parsons because I am excited to see how their personalities work together. My favorite thing about the show is how Grace incorporates YouTube styled challenges for her guest, because this is much more interesting than the typical interview that hosts normally give.

Tyler Oakley on Catfish

Yet another You Tuber has made a transition to the TV screen. Tyler Oakley, guest hosted on Catfish last week. Catfish is reality show on MTV, that aims to uncover whether or not people online significant others are real. 

Tyler Oakley has proved through his online medium that he is great at interviews and creating entertaining material. However, reality TV was outside of his normal element. Most of Oakley's vlogs are humor based. Even when he talks about a serious subject, he approaches it in a humorous light. Catfish didn't allow him this luxury. Throughout the episode, you could tell that Tyler was unsure of what to do or say. Seeing someone deal with an emotional experience left him awkwardly covering his mouth. 

The moments that Tyler did shine was when it came to making predictions and making entertaining commentary. I could see Tyler do a TV show in the future, but I would imagine him taking a route similar to Grace Hellbig. Celebrity gossip and pop culture commentary are his forte, and he should stick to that. 

The Middle

The Middle on ABC is about a middle class family dealing with the struggles of the standard American family. The show often gets overshadowed by ABC's money maker, Modern Family. Contrary to popular opinion, I much prefer the Middle.

My entire family loves The Middle. We watch it all the time, and sometimes quote it even. It is filmed like a typical sitcom, but the characters and the narrative are so strong, that the show is downright hilarious.

The Heck family has three kids, Sue, Axl, and Brick, and they all have completely different personalities. Axl is the jock, Brick is the book worm, and Sue is the optimist. Their personalities are exaggerated to the point that they are almost like caricatures. This could make the show cheesy, but the writers play it off well.

The thing I like the most about the show is that each episode can stand on its own and be funny whenever you watch it. You can skip a whole season and still understand the plot. Also you can re-watch episodes and catch jokes that you didn't get the first time.

Skins

Recently, I have been re-watching the British show Skins with one of my friends. I have already seen the entire series, but I have been enjoying watching it for a second time because there are a lot of things that I did not notice the first time around. 

The show revolves around a group of teens that go to a local College. The show tells stories of growing up and the problems that life brings us. Some story lines include eating disorders, pregnancy, death, and relationships. The show is a lot like my favorite show, Degrassi, however it is made for a more mature audience. 

One big way that Skins differs from any show I have seen is that it covers controversial subject matter without going into a moral-of-the-story sort of set up. The show seems to have a running theme that life is dark sometimes but that is just the way it is. The characters live a very extravagant lifestyle, with lots of partying and irresponsible behavior, but they are never represented in a negative light because of this behavior. 

The show is set up in three generations. Each generation has two seasons. The show does one thing very well, and that is developing characters. By the end of each generation you are sad to see the characters go. At the beginning of each generation, I found myself struggling to get used to the new characters because each batch is so different from the rest. But in the end you grow to appreciate each character. You love some and you hate some,  but they are so developed that you recognize the beauty behind them no matter what. If you are looking for an addicting TV show, Skins is definitely a show to watch. 

Glee Says Goodbye

With the series finale of Glee on last Friday night, Glee has officially come to an end. While the series has seen its ups and its downs, it is still sad to see it be over.

The final episode "Dreams Come True" showed all of our beloved characters of McKinley High in five years time. Rachel is a Tony award winning actress. Sue is running for president. Kurt and Blaine and Santana and Brittney are happily married. Mr. Schue is the principal of McKinley High School for Performing Arts.  Sam took over his place coaching the New Directions, and Mercedes is on tour with Beyonce. Everyone has achieved their dreams and are happy with the direction that life took them.

In the final moments of the episode, everyone came back to dedicate the auditorium to Cory Monteith's character, Finn Hudson. This was one last tribute to the deceased cast mate. In this scene, every past Glee character was back to sing One Republics song "I Lived." This gave viewers sentimental feelings of time gone by and old friends uniting.

It was nice to see that the show got a proper se
nd off. The last few seasons have not been to the standard of Glee's glory days. However, the show has a very strong group of fans who have an emotional connection with the characters. In many ways, seeing each characters success in this episode was like seeing an old friend after years apart. These characters have been on our screens for years, and we have rooted for them sense the beginning, so this was the best ending that Glee could have given us.