The intro from YDR’s Smart blog where you can read about Zack from Saved by the Bell, my love for Noah Wyle, and more.

School’s out for the kids. Work’s still in for you. It’s hot out. You’re busy, and sometimes you just need to take a break from summer.
But how do you do that when your DVR is practically empty compared to fall and spring when network television has plenty – if not too many – options?
Or wait, maybe you’re not crazy about DVRing TV shows. But you’re looking for some light entertainment to take your mind off the heat and take up an hour of your strenuous summer schedule?
Here’s a snippet of some of my faves. Nothing too heavy, mostly funny, and all kick butt. Share your faves on facebook.com/smartmagazine, or this post.

Read more here.

Learning my shows are cancelled makes me as sad as the time this pumpkin ice cream fell off this cone.

It really REALLY drives me nuts when shows are cancelled unexpectedly. Now I know they’re monitoring how shows are doing and if their ratings aren’t good enough, they get the ax. But when it’s a show I like, or one I tolerate but has a good plot, it drives me nuts. 

What the hell was happening at Alcatraz? Well, we’ll never know. That secret room? The blood with special powers? What was up with her granddad? Was he a baddie? Why were they back from the past? What was their mission? Seriously?

And The Finder? Come on, it was so funny and cute. I loved Geoff Stults ever since Happy Town. Which also got the ax too soon. 

And the Ringer? I actually liked Sarah Michelle Gellar’s role. (Closet, or not-so-closet Buffy fan.) How can we not know what happened? She finally told everyone the truth! What happens to her sister and her babies? Does Henry take Bridget back now that he knows the truth? Ahhh!!!

I’m not going to miss Missing (Ashley Judd just didn’t catch my interest). I will miss The River. Though to be honest, I didn’t think there was going to be a season 2. I thought it was supposed to just be one. I never really got hooked by Awake, but would like to know what the deal was. Same with The Firm – although I had heard their ratings sucked. 

I really like when shows are told ahead of time that it’ll be their last season. That way that can plot out everything and tie up loose ends. Like my fave, Lost. Or In Plain Sight from USA. In Plain Sight just wrapped up its final season and tied nice little bows around Mary’s daddy issues, her sister’s problems, Marshall finding love, and the whole Mary-Marshall conundrum. 

Fringe knows the next season will be its last, and it has A LOT of mystery to wrap up. And it better! 

I feel like showrunners should have an option for if they know they’re not being renewed. Then they can wrap up as much as possible. I know that’s not often the case, as they find out after the season ended. But can’t they be nice enough to do an interview and explain what was going to happen? 

Not sure if your faves are sticking around? Check this running list. 

I know what you’re thinking, no movie based off a book is as great as the book was. But it was still easy to get swept away in the pre-premiere hype that was everything about “The Hunger Games.” And from what I’ve been hearing, those who didn’t read the book seemed to love the movie a little more than those of us who loyally read along.

And while there’s nothing really wrong with that — the movie was already more than two hours, things had to be cut — I felt like it deleted some of the key aspects to the first of the triology. It’ll be tough to get some of the major plot points that carry throughout all three after the first movie.

I’m sure you know the gist by now. After the uprising years ago, The Capitol requires each of the 12 districts to sacrifice a young boy and girl each year to The Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor as you fight to the death. Don’t get me started on how this shouldn’t be a young adult book, or PG13, but I’ll pick my battles. I am a fan after all. Continue on only if you’ve read the book, seen the movie, or don’t care about spoilers as I tackle some of the major things I think shouldn’t have been left out.

Check it out here. 

I’ve been trying out the first few episodes of some new shows, and I’m not sure how I feel about some of them. One I’ve already made a decision after the pilot and I won’t be tuning in, much to my surprise.

That show is Touch, which is based on Kiefer Sutherland and his mute son. The son is obsessed with numbers, and as Sutherland’s ability to care for his son is called into question, you find out there is significance to the numbers the boy is repeating. On the surface, it sounds like something I could get into, but I have to admit, I couldn’t care less. I’m wondering if Sutherland has anything to do with it. I’m not a huge fan. And I keep expecting things to be blown up or shot — damn you 24.

Two others I’m giving a little more of a go. Those are Missing and Awake.

We’ll start with Awake. A police detective was in a horrible crash with his wife and son. And since then, he lives in two separate realities — one where his wife survived, and one where his son did. And on top of that, his cases are often intertwined. Tips from one can help solve a crime in the other. The world with his wife is shot in brighter colors and often sunlight, where those with the son are more muted, shadowy scenes. I really enjoy the scenes where he goes to counselors in both worlds. In the first, one asks if he can tell he’s awake right now and seems shocked at the fact that he can’t be sure he’s awake. When the doc says I can assure you this is reality, he scoffs, saying that’s what the other shrink said, too. I’m not sure where the story is going, and I’m not sure just yet what I think is going on. But I’m willing to suspend my judgment for a few more episodes.

Missing started last week with Ashley Judd as a former CIA agent whose son goes missing in Italy. Her badassery comes out of nowhere, and even in the pilot, we’re lead to believe there’s far more going on than the average missing persons case. Her son’s disappearance is likely tied to CIA work, maybe even what got her husband, who was also CIA, killed. It’s still very early on for me, but what I don’t like so far about this show is that Judd plays the exact same type of character she always seems to. Like the victim in Kiss the Girls who helps Morgan Freeman track down her assaliant. Or the wife accussed of killing the husband who didn’t die, and tries to actually do so because she can’t be tried for it again. It’s this head-strong, badass lady whose emotions seem somewhat fake to me. Who knows, maybe I’ll be surprised. And the fact I forgot about the CIA angle I had read about until it popped up means something, I guess.

In between trying out new shows, I’m now compiling a list of summer shows to watch but struggling to find concrete dates. Booo for late dates and an upcoming Smart magazine deadline.

I’ve done my fair share of following the cases of the West Memphis 3. (If you haven’t, here’s the short version from Wikipedia.) I’ve read books on the charged – Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., and Jason Baldwin — and they were finally released last year after spending 18 years in prison. To recap, the three were arrested when they were in their teens for killing three younger boys in the woods near their neighborhood. They were accused of being Satanists, and after a day worth of questioning, Misskelley (who is mildly mentally challenged) gave a false confession. They had always maintained their innocence, and had been put on a national stage after the first HBO movie about them. In 2011, they were released, having entered Alford pleas, which allow them to assert their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict them.

I have to admit, I’m only about halfway through Paradise Lost 3 but it just brings up all these questions for me as a journalist. It mixes actual crime scene footage and interviews done from the time of the deaths in the early 90s to now. In the beginning, the media asks the police chief how sure he is of his case on a scale of 1 to 10 and he says 11. That is then followed by talk of how the whole thing was blown out of proportion and how he shouldn’t have said stuff like that. You have these parents, who are sitting on their couches in the 90s talking to the media saying things like if the WM3 were burned at the stakes, it wouldn’t even be enough for them. Then you have their interviews in the later 2000s and they’re blaming the police department and the media for misleading them.

The police chief tries to explain the pressure that was on them back then. And he talks about the media adding to that pressure, saying it was about as crazy as semi-recent coverage of Michael Jackson. And at that time, it was kinda unheard of.

So then I start thinking, what would I — a former cops reporter and current newspaper editor — have done if I were reporting on that case back then. Obviously, all of our crime stories are based mostly on the statement of police. I know that they often keep things from us. And I’ve fielded plenty of phone calls from loved ones of suspects saying that I was wrong, and the police are wrong. But I always tell them, we have to report what police are telling us. They’re their authority. But I always, ALWAYS give them a chance to tell their side of the story. I don’t know too much about the “other” side to the story back then. It seems like one of the girlfriends of the suspected talked about how he wasn’t a monster. But having done that interview, too, I tend to know that people can be blind to things they don’t want to see in people they love.

And it’s not like it was all the media’s fault. I’m not sure I would have done anything differently than they did back then. You listen to the court testimony. You listen to the jury. To the families of the victims and the accused. And you try to make sense out of the story. I’m not sure what you do if the root of it all was a lie. And to be honest, that scares the crap out of me. It gets down to the base of what I’ve been taught to do. Listen to people, tell their stories, yes. But you must verify, verify, verify. And when an entire legal system and community turns on someone, what do you do then?

I’d say now, you continue to follow-up. You tell the stories of these men who went into prison in their teens. Who were sentenced to life in prison or even death. Who were betrayed by nearly everyone they knew. Who by some miracle, are now free. And it shouldn’t be a miracle. It should have never happened. People should do the right thing. The legal system should afford every right to every accused.

It makes me so mad. And it makes me so sad. And scared. But you know what blows my mind the most? The West Memphis 3 themselves.

It’s what Damien Wayne Echols — who was accused of being the ringleader; who was blamed for just wearing black and being weird — simply said: If I focused on the things I can’t change, the things that have hurt me, what people have done to me, then they would have already broken me. They would have killed me inside and out. I can get up in the morning and I don’t feel sorry for myself, I don’t hate my life. You have a lot of people in here that all they can think about is what they don’t have and how much they want out and how much they want something else. But for some reason, this situation has helped me to see more of what I do have and to be thankful for that. You know, I have, in a lot of ways, I have a truly incredible life.

In the back of my mind, I knew Alcatraz was coming. I had made a mental note to check it out, and boy was I glad. I loved Lost. I loved Lost so much, that I was so excited for the return of Hurley, I nearly forgot Alcatraz was produced by Lost’s very own JJ Abrams. Here’s the gist without giving too much away. The blonde, is a San Fransisco cop who gets pulled into an investigation where the prints are from an inmate who died many years ago. Turns out everyone from Alcatraz mysteriously disappeared and everyone just said they were transferred and died. They’re not returning, committing crimes, and haven’t aged a bit. For a partner, after being transferred to a secret division tracking down these felons, she brings aboard Hurley, who is a genius and has done lots of research on Alcatraz.

I must admit, I’m disappointed no polar bears jumped out of thin air, or since Sam Neill’s on the show — no dinosaurs. Sadly I can’t think of much he’s done other than Jurassic Park.

The first episode had a few great twists, involving what the cop knew about her own family, and someone you really didn’t give much thought too along the way. Definitely worth sticking with if you ask me. It’s on Monday nights, which is kinda  a slow night anyway so my DVR wasn’t clogged.

While relishing in my free Showtime now that Dexter is over, I’ve seen a lot of previews for a new show called House of Lies featuring Don Cheadle. The plot seemed a little weak — based on the book House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time. Cheadle’s with the No. 2 consulting company and will stop at nothing to win clients — from headbutting them to insulting them. He also has a son, who dresses like a girl and wanted to be Sandy in his school’s production of Grease. The first episode I caught starts with him naked in bed with his ex-wife whom he calls a “sociopath” and drug addict. She’s also with the No. 1 marketing show. Cheadle has sex with a lot of random people in this show, but overall it’s so funny I found myself laughing throughout most of it.

My worry though is that it won’t go anywhere, and the characters though hysterical, seem fake and fall flat. I’ll keep watching though, until I stop caring, or lose my free Showtime.

And for the show I’m most on the fence about: The Firm with Josh Lucas. It’s set about 10 years after John Grisham’s novel and film adaptation of the same name. Lucas’ character was already an FBI whistleblower against the mob and had to relocate his family. Things are finally getting settled: he’s got his own practice and his daughter is finally making friends at a school. 

But something’s obviously up, as the show began several weeks in the future as Lucas is running again from someone. He calls his wife and says it’s happening again, and to pack up their stuff and run. I like how’s it done so far, jumping back and forth in time. I like the characters so far — especially the dreamy Lucas and his office helper Juliette Lewis, who I find can only really play one type of character.  But I feel like this should would have been newer and more fresh if it was done several years ago. I’m not sure it can compete with what’s out there. Apparently it’s been in the works for years.

Either way, I’ll give all these guys a chance. But I warn you Alcatraz, you have my hopes up. Don’t let me down. Lost’s finale has left a gaping hole in my heart.

Well, despite my overall reservations about this show from the start, I gotta say, I really didn’t expect Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) to be killed. And to have it happen in the first 15-20 minutes of the finale. My immediate thought, after jumping from my seat, was well, now what? Plot-wise, I’ve not been too happy with the show. (Plus I find Connie Britton’s character’s whining impossible to tolerate.)

I also wasn’t expecting the first baby (non-evil baby) to be alive. Well, not alive. But a ghost, because he lived a second to breathe in the home. I found the finale to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, episode of the show’s inaugural season. Between the Harmons teaming up with the “good” ghosts to scare out a new family before the house could get them, too (OMG the scene between the couple in the basement was amazing), to the three years later when the evil baby goes on a rampage leaving bloody hand prints around — Jesus. So well done.

The end really did leave me feeling satisfied. That the time I spent dealing with the aspects of the drama that I hated, was worth the story wrapped up with a bow on top. Or a tree with a bow on top, with a loving family that only found its love in death. Bravo. But in the same vein, I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d be dumb enough to keep this plot going in season two. Yeah, let’s just keep scaring people out of the house, but how about with disemboweling them this time?

Lucky for me, it’s already been announced by the writers that the next season will see a mainly new cast (Jessica Lange, say it isn’t so!?) and a new house with new backstory. Hooray! Some of the cast will show their ghostly faces again, and hopefully Lange and the evil baby will come, too. It would be disappointing not to conclude that storyline.

Was AHS what I hoped it would be? No. But I kept watching because it was filmed well, and interesting enough, and I do feel as though it was worth it. And I guess that’s really all we can ask from a show.

If you haven’t finished this season, DON’T READ ON. Just skip down to the next line in all caps.

My final thoughts on the season, let’s see… I liked Colin Hanks as this season’s baddie: Travis. I definitely called the Professor Gellar is dead and it’s just Travis being crazy. There were some obvious hints along the way. And while I hate being able to call things ahead of time, I think it worked because Travis’ character was so complex. You almost felt bad for him when you thought Gellar was still alive. And once you realized he wasn’t, you still see he’s got some obvious mental issues. Should that have saved him in the end? HELL NO! He kidnapped Harrison. No one touches Harrison, especially when he’s dressed like an adorable lion. 

I’m not really sure what’s going on with Masuka’s new intern. I don’t think he knows Dexter is a serial killer, but I can’t figure out his hero-worship and why he sent the Ice Truck killer hand. Speaking of the Ice Truck Killer, I sure am glad having Rudy back to corrupt Dexter only lasted one episode. I couldn’t stand it.

As for the finale kickers, seriously, when did incest become OK? Now, I know, that Deb and Dex aren’t related by blood, but it’s still creepy. Plus it’s just a little mean, given that they just divorced in real life. I would wager a guess that she won’t really be pursuing much now that she saw him kill Travis. I imagine that Deb won’t hate Dex just because he killed Travis, especially since she unknowingly let him and Lumen go last season. But I’m not too sure she’ll be jumping on the it’s cool to be a serial killer if you’re killing bad guys bandwagon. Needless to say, I’m very excited about where the last two seasons of the show will go. But I’m mad we have to wait so long to see.

OK YOU CAN START READING NOW DEXTER FANS! But seriously, finish the season. And let’s talk.

I also tried getting into Homeland on Showtime, but I can’t seem to completely like it. I think that Claire Danes is doing a great job — SPOILER — especially now that she’s struggling with bipolar disorder and kicked out of the CIA. (END SPOILER) I bet that Saul uses his leverage to get her back in next season. But I wonder where we’ll go since it seems like we’re right back at her not trusting Brody, and everyone thinking she’s crazy.

I thought the scene where Brody is prepared to blow up everyone in the bunker was really well done. Damian Lewis really nailed it as he pressed the button the first time and was gearing up to do it again.

Everything else seems to be wrapping up for many of my shows since it’s almost Christmas. But none of the episodes are really standing out to me right now. I shall report back after American Horror Story tonight. Though I have to admit I totally saw the Violet and her mother twists. It was almost a happy ending with the two of them at the end of last week’s.  The show’s still really weird and disappointing for what I initially hoped it would be. If Ben Harmon doesn’t leave the house now, he should just be killed off.

Wouldn't want to run into this guy...

I might usually be quick to judge, but I can’t help it. I love zombies, too. Is it because they’re cuddly? Probably not. Because anything involving them is gory? Nah, not so much? Maybe it’s the fact that when it comes to things that might kill us, you can outrun a zombie for a while. Or just outrun (or trip) one other person.

I must also admit that I am fully aboard The Walking Dead train on AMC. And if you’re not, I strongly suggest you hop on. Unless you’re my sister, who I’ve tortured her entire life by watching horror films. (I’m sorry. But not really.)

We’re on a break in season two for the show, which started off with a giant bang and hadn’t let up going well into its second year. The gist? We’re following a group of people who have survived the zombie apocalypse in the Atlanta suburbs. You’ve got do-gooder Sheriff Rick, his bff Shane whose got a bad side, and a whole gang of characters.

And while the show is just done well — good script, acting, awesome zombies, shots, etc — I feel like we’ve hit a wall. Everyone wants to stay in the somewhat-safe farm where there’s medical care, a quasi-clean water supply, and GASP, not a lot of zombies. That might give us some hope for if a zombie apocalypse were to occur, it’s boring on TV. Too safe. And now that Laurie’s preggers, they want to stay forever. Let’s hope they wear out that welcome. Not like I’d stop watching, I just friggin love zombies.

And sidenote: I can’t spell apocalypse to save my life. And spell-check wants to capitalize it. Is it a proper noun now? Like a holiday we should observe? Or the end time? (Wait wasn’t that already supposed to happen this year?)

I know I’m guilty of it, but I don’t know why there’s such an attractive to the post-apocalypse genre. Movies about viruses that wipe out whole cities, zombies on the prowl. One of my favorite books is Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, about a man and his son walking through post-apocalyptic America. There are no zombies here, or much gore, but a touching tale of father and son in a popular setting it seems. The movie’s pretty good, too.

So you, yes you! Why do we love zombies so much? Is it that we fear the coming end of the world brought on by zombies and we want to study up? If so, Zombieland’s got some sweet rules to live by — zombies or not. Some highlights: Beware of bathrooms, doubletap and always wear your seatbelt. I love Zombieland, too. Shocker, right?

Either way, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. But while I was in Florida/on a boat last week, I knew my DVR was trustingly plugging away at home. So I used the few days at my parents’ house to watch some shows I don’t normally have access to — old episodes of Dexter and Weeds. Those silly rents have Showtime on Demand!

I was late jumping on the Weeds bandwagon, and managed to get up to the most recent season 7 over the past year or so. I found the show hilarious at times, while I was sad for Nancy’s kids, Silas and Shane. It was almost too over the top, because you had to wonder what crazy shenanigans were going to happen next. And each season tried to outdo the last. But I can say that after getting through 10 of the 13 episodes of the last season, I can officially say I think they’ve ruined the show. Nancy’s always had random sex with people, but this was a little insane — a lesbian lover, and her brother? And Doug’s boss? Come on.

After three years in prison, Nancy’s out and in a halfway house. Her family even comes from Denmark to see her, but she could care less. In fact, she hides. And she’s so concerned about her youngest son (who’s now 3-4 and with her sister) than the family who came for her. She’s always been a horribly selfish character, but I’m tired of her family (especially Andy, her brother-in-law) sticking by her side.

She should go back to prison, and they should end the show. I don’t care anymore.

As for Dexter, I’m glad I caught up, and now I can tape the new episodes each week. They just do the show so well, and each season brings something new and well thought out. I like that they’re going with smaller “bad guy” arches, since they can’t really outdo John Lithgow as the Trinity Killer. And for the record, I’m calling that Professor Gellar is a figment of Travis’ (Colin Hanks) schizophrenia. I haven’t watched Sundays, so maybe that’s already been answered. Don’t tell me!

Other than that, I at least 3 episodes of The Walking Dead to watch (I’m ashamed!). And a lot more of the other shows. I think I’ve also given up on Person of Interest, Law and Order SVU, and Prime Suspect. I think Prime Suspect has already been canceled. Good riddance.

More later, I promise. I just need time to veg out.