January 2015 Television Reviews

The Exes: Seasons 1 & 2
Paramount
Street: 11.04.14
The premise of three divorced dudes living together is something you’d find on CBS. Throw in the fact that their landlord is also their divorce attorney? Things get TBS weird. Somehow, all three of them turn into The Odd Couple and the live audience shoots it straight to TV Land. It’s actually quite funny, and the dynamics between the characters are almost effortless. The pilot is campy, like most pilots, but the show improves with each episode. It doesn’t grab for laughs like other TV Land original programming, and instead I found myself being naturally amused. The show is entering its fourth season on TV Land, but the DVD set includes the first two seasons—and it’s easy to binge-watch. 
–Rebecca Frost

Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand-Up Revolution 3
Comedy Central
Street: 11.11.14
Have you ever attended an open mic night at your local comedy club? Was it the type of show where you watch 20 or so comedians and really, only five of them were worth the cover charge and $8 chicken strips? Gabriel Iglesias has been there too, and saw an opportunity. Stand-Up Revolution sets Iglesias as your host (with an exotic Paul Shaffer-type bandleader) for a 30-minute “open mic” where three comics perform a few minutes of comedy in front of a live audience. Each episode ends with an animated short reminiscent of Shorties Watchin’ Shorties (you know, that weird animated stand-up thing from 2004? What was the deal with that, Comedy Central?) Now in its third season, the show is a good example of what many comedy showcases should strive to be. –Rebecca Frost

Hit & Stay: A History of Faith and Resistance
Brink Vision
Street: 09.23.14
Simply stated, Americans have forgotten their populist heritage, their history of civil resistance. From the riots over higher wages, to the right to speak ill of corporations, the vast majority of Americans live in a state of ignorance on these subjects. When civil disobedience is brought up, we often turn to the stale works of Thoreau, which have merit, but gloss over modern acts of resistance. Hit & Stay tells the story of how the Catholic Left kick-started a series of government sabotage actions by religious leaders and youth across the US, notably, the destruction of draft documents. The film flows seamlessly and is well directed—I never felt the mid-story lag typical of documentaries. The film is rife with several interviews with participants and leaders of the American Left, like Noam Chomsky and Amy Goodman. This movie should be played in ever history classroom in America and everyone under the age of 40 should watch it too. –Alex Cragun