TV Show Spotlight: Locke & Key

Locke & Key is a 2020 Netflix show starring Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, Jackson Robert Scott, Laysla De Oliveira, Petrice Jones, and Griffin Gluck. It's based on a comic book series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, and since I loved Hill's Horns, I was excited to watch Locke & Key.

After the murder of their father, three siblings and their mother move to his ancestral estate in Massachusetts. They discover magical keys that give them powers and abilities, but something sinister wants the keys and will do anything to get them.

I really enjoyed Locke & Key...the acting and writing are incredible, and once I started watching it, I didn't want to stop. I've never seen another show quite like it, and that's something I really appreciate. If you're looking for a show that's moving, spooky, fun, and truly unique, check out Locke & Key! 🙂

My rating: 8.5/10

Netflix: Locke & Key

TV Show Spotlight: Project Blue Book

I recently read about an upcoming TV series called Project Blue Book in Entertainment Weekly, and since I'm a fan of alien movies, of course I'm excited to see it. The series stars Aidan Gillen, Michael Malarkey, Laura Mennell, Michael Harney, Ksenia Solo, and Neal McDonough and is about J. Allen Hynek and the U.S. Air Force investigating UFO sightings in the 1950s. You can find out more about Project Blue Book and watch the trailer here:

Aidan Gillen investigates UFOs in History's Project Blue Book trailer

I think the show looks great, and I like that the episodes are based on case files from the real Project Blue Book. I'm generally pretty interested in shows and movies about UFOs and aliens, but the fact that Project Blue Book is based on something real makes me even more excited to watch it. : )

New TV Show: Jeff & Some Aliens

Jeff & Some Aliens is an animated show that premiered on Comedy Central on January 11, 2017. It features the voices of Brett Gelman, Alessandro Minoli, Jon Daly, Richard Kind, Alicia Silverstone, and Tress MacNellie. Jeff (Brett Gelman) is an average guy...except for the fact that he shares his one-bedroom apartment with three aliens (Alessandro Minoli) who were sent to Earth to learn about the human race.

I'm always interested to see new shows and movies about aliens, especially when they're comedies, so of course I had to check out Jeff & Some Aliens. I've watched the first two episodes so far, and they were funny, weird, and inappropriate, which happen to be my three favorite qualities in a TV show. If you like shows about aliens, you should definitely give this one a chance. : )

New episodes air on Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m., and you can check out the official website here:

http://www.cc.com/shows/jeff-and-some-aliens

Ash vs. Evil Dead trailer

The first trailer for Ash vs. Evil Dead was released a few days ago, and it looks pretty great...I really wish I had the Starz network. Ash vs. Evil Dead premieres on Halloween 2015, and here's a preview of what's coming up:

https://youtu.be/unnLg1TPCYM

New Paranormal Show: iZombie

On March 17th, the CW began airing iZombie, a new show from Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright; Rob created Veronica Mars and co-created Party Down, and Diane was a writer on Veronica Mars, so of course I had to check out their new project.  Liv Moore is an ordinary medical resident with a devoted fiancé; against her better judgment, she goes to a party, and the unthinkable happens: she wakes up in a body bag the next day and realizes that she has been turned into a zombie. (Worst. Party. Ever.) She breaks up with her fiancé and gets a job at the morgue, where she can eat brains without hurting anyone, but the brains affect her in a strange way...they cause her to see flashes of the former owner's life. 

 The Cast

Olivia "Liv" Moore: Rose McIver
Clive Babinaux:  Malcolm Goodwin
Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti: Rahul Kohli
Major Lilywhite: Robert Buckley
Blaine DeBeers: David Anders 
Peyton Charles: Aly Michalka
Eva Moore: Molly Hagen
Evan Moore: Nick Purcha
Lowell Casey: Bradley James 

I'm normally not that into zombies, but I thought iZombie was great and very different from the other zombie stuff I've seen.  All of the acting and writing was fantastic, and I'm definitely going to keep watching. Also, I was happy to see Daran Norris, a familiar face from Veronica Mars, show up in the pilot, and I hope to see some more Veronica Mars alums on the show. : )  iZombie airs on Tuesday nights at 9/8c, but if you missed the pilot, you can watch it here:

http://www.cwtv.com/shows/izombie

My rating: 8/10 

New Paranormal Show: Intruders

Intruders began airing on BBC America on Saturday, August 23rd, and it stars Mira Sorvino, John Simm, James Frain, Millie Brown, and Tory Kittles.  According to the show's website, it's about "a secret society devoted to chasing immortality by seeking refuge in the bodies of others"...sounds interesting!

http://www.bbcamerica.com/intruders/about-the-show/

Intruders takes place in Washington and Oregon, and the primary characters are:

Jack Whelan (John Simm): A writer and former cop
Amy Whelan (Mira Sorvino): Jack's lawyer wife, who disappears in the first episode
Richard Shepherd (James Frain): An assassin who is in pursuit of a young girl
Madison (Millie Brown): A nine-year-old girl who is not what she seems
Gary Fischer (Tory Kettles): Jack's friend from high school, who asks Jack for help with a murder case

I enjoyed the first episode and will definitely watch the rest of them...I want to see where this goes.  : )  If you missed the first episode, you can watch it here:

http://www.bbcamerica.com/intruders/videos/full-episode-1-she-was-provisional/

Things I've Learned from ALF

1. Malmacians live for 100 years.

2. ALF stands for Alien Life Form.

3. Melmac has a purple sun.

4. ALF doesn’t get Sesame Street on Melmac and doesn’t “get” it here either.

5. Melmac no longer exists because it exploded.

6. If the Army takes ALF to a lab, they’ll see how he reacts to extreme cold, heat, poke him with needles, and dissect him.

7. ALF’s real name is Gordon Shumway.

8. ALF uses a blender to make peanut butter sandwiches.

9. ALF is 98% hair.

10. It’s against the law to shoot anteaters.

11. A family is like a crescent wrench.

12. The 3 C’s are “cooperation, courtesy, and respect.”

13. Nuclear disasters are “no picnic.”

14. The reason that Melmac exploded was not because “everyone plugged their hair dryers in at the same time.”

15. ALF likes cats “with a side of fries.”

16. Hamsters taste just like rats.

17. Cats can be hypnotized.

18. There’s a family of “cucumber people” on Mars.

19. Decorating involves posters and paint, and that’s it.

20. Gold is worthless on Melmac, but foam is worth a lot.

21. It’s pretty easy for an alien to write a soap opera script and get it on the air almost immediately.

22. On Melmac, the postage rates were “first class, second class, fish, and ham.”

23. Everyone on Melmac could communicate with the dead.

24. There are two planets next to Pluto called Dave and Alvin.

25. It would take two hours to pull the hair out of Alf’s body.

26.If you spray a Melmacian roach with bug spray, it will grow to be the size of a door and can be killed with perfume (and it will be horrifying).

27. Cats are delicious.

http://www.amazon.com/ALF-Season-One-Paul-Fusco/dp/B0002DB5N6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386182910&sr=8-2&keywords=alf

Ghost Hunters: The Henson Studios and the "Manson" House

Yesterday I watched a season 3 Ghost Hunters episode called "The Henson Studios and the 'Manson' House," and it was pretty creepy!  The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) gets a call from a man who lives next to where the Manson Family murders took place, and since the house where it occurred is no longer there, the man believes that the victims are now haunting his house.  The TAPS team meets with David Oman, the homeowner, and he tells them that strange things have been going on since he was building the house...a construction worker said that he heard voices and footsteps on the stairs that kept getting louder and then stopped; when he felt a cold breeze on his shoulders, he left and didn't return for six weeks.  David tells the team that one night he saw a ghost standing next to his bed, pointing toward the driveway; when David was researching the Manson murders a few months later, he realized that the ghost was Jay Sebring, one of Manson's victims.  The team calls in fellow investigator Chris Fleming since he has some equipment that they do not have, and they think it would be useful for this investigation.  Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango investigate the guest room; Steve asks the spirit to give them a sign that it's there, and the blinds start moving.  Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, and Chris take the living room and also ask for a sign; they hear a loud noise in the kitchen and cannot figure out what made the sound.  They then move to the master bedroom, where they feel cold spots, and the K-2 meter, which measures energy, starts going crazy.  They change the batteries to see if it's causing a malfunction and then start asking yes or no questions, hoping that a spirit will communicate with them by making the K-2 meter blink; they find out that the spirit who is communicating with them is male, he was murdered by the Manson Family, and there are more spirits in the house.  Chris asks if the spirit is Jay Sebring, and the K-2 meter blinks once for yes; they also learn that Sharon Tate is one of the spirits who is haunting the house.  They ask the spirit to prove he's there by making the temperature drop from 66 degrees to 62 degrees; the temperature in front of the thermometer changes, but the temperature in the rest of the room stays the same.  When reviewing the recordings from when Donna LaCroix and Steve were using the EVP meter in the living room, they hear a female voice answering Donna's questions; they did not hear this voice when they were in the room.

Next the TAPS team goes to the Jim Henson Studios, where studio employee Johan Filla says he saw a dark figure in a top hat on the roof one night; when he went to the roof to investigate, no one was there.  There have been many ghostly sightings there, including when one employee saw a woman disappear into a wall.  On the soundstage, Jason and Grant get a thermal hit that looks like a female body floating three feet off the ground, and in an area known as "The Barn," Dave and Donna hear a "Shh!," and Donna hears a voice whisper "Tango, Tango."  I was hoping that the paranormal activity was really The Muppets coming to life, but no such luck. ; )

The Manson Family part of the episode was pretty creepy, but the Jim Henson Studios wasn't too scary...I don't really want to meet any ghosts though, so I'll probably never take a tour of the studio, even though I'm a little obsessed with The Muppets.

My rating: 9/10

http://www.syfy.com/ghosthunters

Shows I Love: The 4400

One of my favorite paranormal/sci-fi shows, The 4400, began airing on the USA network in 2004.  It started out as a miniseries, but the ratings were so strong that USA added three seasons before canceling it in 2007.  The show is about 4400 people who had disappeared over the past sixty years reappearing on Highland Beach, Washington in a beam of light.  None of them have aged, and some of them come back with paranormal abilities.  The main characters are Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch) and Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie), who are NTAC (National Threat Assessment Command) agents investigating The 4400.  Tom's son Kyle (Chad Faust) has been in a coma since 2001, when he was drinking on Highland Beach with Shawn Farrell (Patrick Flueger), his cousin; Shawn was abducted that day, and when he returns in 2004, he discovers that he has the power to heal and brings Kyle out of his coma. 

Other notable characters include Lily Moore (Laura Allen), who disappeared in 1993 and came back pregnant, Richard Tyler (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), who vanished in 1951, has a special connection to Lily, and develops telekinesis, and Maya Rutledge (Conchita Campbell), a child who disappeared in 1938, has precognition, and is taken in by Diana.  Of course I can't forget Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell), who becomes the self-appointed leader of The 4400; despite the fact that he builds a place where the 4400s can live safely, we're never quite sure whether he's good or bad (I'm leaning toward bad; there's just something about that guy...).

I mostly watch comedy shows, but I was hooked from the first few minutes of The 4400 and was really disappointed when it ended.  I may have even been a little obsessed with it, as evidenced by this small shrine that is still on my bedroom wall at my parents' house:

Do any of you guys like The 4400?  Who's your favorite character?  Mine is Kyle. : )