Thoughts on The Soup, Man Vs. Wild, and The Walking Dead Mid-Season Finale

Originally, I hadn't planned on writing about "Working With Wild." Discovery should've aired the episode in August; however, when its air date arrived, all traces of Man Vs. Wild disappeared from the television schedule. I thought it odd that the season of Man Vs. Wild would end so abruptly. Suddenly, "Working The Wild' showed up on the TV schedule in the midst of one of the slow periods of the television season as well as the blog (because I write about television). I thought I'd watch the episode, and then decide on whether or not to write a full review-cap of the behind-the-scenes episode. Well, I won't write about the episode in depth because the behind the scenes didn't differ at all from other behind-the-scenes episodes I've already written about. Instead, here are some thoughts about various television shows:

-E!'s The Soup moves to Wednesday nights TOMORROW NIGHT at 10PM. The Soup's been a consistently enjoyable show throughout recent years. Joel McHale's enthusiasm and commitment to the material never wanes. Some weeks he's forced to deliver some truly miserable punchlines or a cheap joke. By gum the man tries to sell each joke as if he's paid by the laugh. The lame jokes fail but McHale gets a laugh anyway by poking fun at the lame joke. Sometimes he's forced to explain a joke to the audience. These jokes aren't too dated, though. Anyway, I don't know why E! decided to move the show from Friday to Wednesday. I assume the show's successful enough not to waste away on a Friday at 10PM. If you enjoy The Soup, do note that the show will air on Wednesdays (with repeats on Fridays at 10PM, as well as various other times throughout the week).

-I'll offer one or two thoughts about the behind-the-scenes episode of Man Vs. Wild. I liked the time spent on Bear's food history. Bear Grylls has eaten some truly horrible things during his time as the host of this action-adventure-how-to-survive-in-places-an-average-person-wouldn't-last-a-day-in. Dan Etheridge, a cameraman, explained why Bear compares his disgusting food to common American dishes or food products. Bear rotates through the same horrible food in the wild, so he can't simply describe a spider's taste as terrible every episode. The reason I opted against writing about this episode when I thought it'd air in August was because I reached a point where I felt each review/recap repeated itself every week. Like Bear and the food, I need to find a way to differentiate my thoughts episode-to-episode. I should have time to figure it out because the new season of Man Vs. Wild is not imminent.

-The Walking Dead concluded its first half of season two on Sunday. Facebook and Twitter were full of thoughts from individuals about the end of the season. I didn't find out about the surprise of the mid-season finale until the following afternoon. At night, as I prepared to slumber, I thought The Walking Dead deserved the acclaim for successfully pulling off that zombie twist. A critic undermined the surprise by stating its obviousness post-reveal, which was cheap and unnecessary. Criticism of The Walking Dead's become trendy; Twitter's used as an avenue by ironic hipsters and critics to one-up one another about the series. The four episodes devoted to discussions of morality and personal responsibility were panned because people just want their zombies tearing flesh and getting shot in the head. The show was described as boring. Kirkman's zombie verse was always about the humans more than the zombies, about human behavior when confronted by the horrific and horrible. The series could use more humor and better characterization, but the tone of the show reflects the world the narrative's set in.

-I don't have any other thoughts about television right now. It is a slow period.

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