Have you met Hank? Let us introduce you!

     Hey everybody! Jenna here. I'm very excited to introduce our guest blogger Christine. This is her first post in a 4 (maybe 5) part series where she will get you caught up on everything you need to know about the shows airing this summer. This post is for everyone, but especially for those who have not seen Royal Pains. So don't switch websites! Go ahead and read what Christine has to say!

     Summer may not officially start until June 22, but in my book, the beginning of June IS the beginning of summer. And why am I so pumped about summer? For the same reason YOU should be. It means the start of some of my favorite shows on USA Network. In fact, Royal Pains and Burn Notice premiere on Thursday, June 3. Mark your calendars (mine has been marked for months). You DON’T want to miss these amazing dramas.

     Now you may be thinking “That’s all good and fine for YOU, Christine, but I’ve never really watched (fill in the blank show), and I have no idea who the characters are or if that dude in the corner is a series regular or an extra, or why that last line was apparently significant based on the reactions of the people on-screen…and I’m not sure I want to invest the time in becoming involved with a new show.”

     I hear you. I really do. And that’s why I’ve put together the quintessential viewers’ guide for you all. It should hit on everything/one you need to know to enjoy the show. And for all you series regulars already out there, it will serve as a good reminder about what happened last season and what we should be looking forward to this season.

     Royal Pains is up first. It has one successful season under its belt, and Season Two is premiering on USA Network (obvs) Thursday, June 3 @ 10/9c (I’ve got your back, Midwesterners!)

More after the jump...

In Plain Sight 3x08 Review

Episode 8: Son of Mann Recap/Review

Good morning! I would've posted this yesterday but we got a new internet provider so it screwed up my whole day's schedule and I finished this too late to post yesterday.

Before you read this. Remember one thing:

EVERYTHING MATTERS. ;)

The episode starts off 1 year ago at the US/Mexico border. We see an American teen hide from the border patrol before crossing from Mexico to the US. He has drugs duct taped to his chest and once he gives them to the dealer and gets paid, he goes into the bathroom to wash off the duct tape residue. While he’s in there, the dealer gets murdered and robbed. This is how Billy enters WitSec.

Marshall is acting like a father to Billy because he’s entering WitSec and is still a minor. Convinced him education was a good idea and he should stay in the boarding school they enrolled him in. Billy says that where he goes to school doesn’t matter. Marshall tells him what his dad told him as a kid, “Everything Matters. Everything you think feel and most of all every thing u do, it all counts.” This is a sentiment that keeps coming up throughout the episode.

Marshall’s dad, Seth, comes to Albuquerque and Mary is ecstatic. Seth is in ABQ because he’s looking for a man named Liam, a dangerous drug dealer, as a part of Operation Falcon. That's where the Marshals look for fugitives with open warrants. This means bulletproof vests, guns, shouting, and it’s all very awesome.

Seth, Mary, and Marshall (BTS photo from FaceBook)

Brandi returns to ABQ. Mary’s still pissed at her and Brandi wants to convince her she’s changed for the better. Brandi returned with a man named Scott (played by Aaron Ashmore) who is apparently the brother of Lauren who we met last year. Therefore, he’s the son of Mary and Brandi’s dad and their brother as well. The money Brandi borrowed from Peter a few months ago was used to help Scott with his business as a day trader in Miami even though she doesn’t know him. Brandi worked for Scott and not only paid Peter back, but she made ten thousand dollars as well.

They raid another house and this time they find Liam. Marshall chases a female suspect who ran off with a lot of money, and Seth chases Liam. Both of them lose their suspects and while in pursuit, Billy almost hits Marshall while fleeing the scene. It’s the first time since the flashback he’s even been mentioned. Turns out he’s the boyfriend of Amber, the suspect who was running from Marshall.

Marshall’s not a big fan of his dad. Its mentioned quite often, and Mary doesn't understand why until she realizes Marshall’s dad keeps interrupting their attempts to find Billy. They try to evade him but he still shows up and arrests Amber before Marshall can even talk to her.

While Mary goes on a stakeout with Seth, she learns Seth named him Marshall to discourage him from being a Marshal, not to encourage it. His dad thinks he’s too sensitive to work in WitSec. Marshall proves him wrong though; Seth tries to interrogate Amber to figure out where Billy is and where she hid the money that Liam is looking for, but since Amber is only a teenager, she’s clamming up. Marshall tries in a much nicer way and gets her to tell where the money is and then set up a trap for Liam. More specifically, Amber said Billy tried to get her to quit. She said none of it mattered if she worked for Liam and he said “Everything matters….it all counts.” So that’s why she tried to leave and get out right before the Marshals showed up. See there? Another mention of "everything matters."

Mary Marshall and Seth show up at the storage center where the money was hidden and find Liam attacking Billy for the money. While deflecting Liam’s gun off of Marshall, Billy gets shot in the leg. Mary eventually finds up to Liam and catches him right before Liam can fire his gun at Seth.

Later, Marshall thanks Mary for saving his dad and then talks with him. During this talk we find out Seth has always kept a drawing Marshall drew of the two of them when he was a child. Marshall had no idea. He was touched.

Seeing Marshall try to fix things with Seth, Mary calls Scott over to the house. She wants to know why he’s there and has connected with the family. He says he wants to know more about his dad. The dad just up and left his family as well. In the closing monologue, Mary admits that she still really wants to know where her dad is and misses him.

Notable Quote:

Marshall to Mary: I wish I had you in High School.

This was mostly a recap. Sorry about that. I was very excited to see Aaron Ashmore since I have been a fan of him and his brother Shawn (they're identical twins) for a long time. I loved how excited Mary was at the beginning of the episode to meet Seth but by the end her opinion changed drastically.

I'm also happy that Brandi is back. Mostly because I wanted to know what the hell she was up to. Now we know and I am SO relieved that its not drug-related. I wonder if we're going to find Mr. Shannon any time soon or if its like Monk and won't be until the very end.

One last note, I asked how many episodes were this season and there are only 13. That means we have 5 left! There's no new episode next week because its the week before Memorial Day and they like running marathons.

What are your opinions on the episode? Are you happy Brandi is back or do you wish they would just focus on cases? Any other opinions?

-Jenna

In Plain Sight 3x06 Review

Here’s my review for In Plain Sight Episode 6: No Clemency for Old Men.

I’ll be honest. This episode didn’t hold my interest (can’t love them all!). When it aired the first time, I kept getting distracted and couldn’t write a decent review. It took me forever to make myself watch it again and write this.

The episode starts off in 1972 in Chicago. During a bank robbery, one of the robbers had a heart attack. His partner Frank is probably one of the noblest criminals ever; he had the guard they were holding hostage go call an ambulance for his friend and then the FBI. Frank becomes Witness of the Week #1. Since it was the 70s (the early days of WitSec) Frank spent 38 years in jail while being in protection. So now he is free and Mary has to introduce him to the modern world as well as make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.

Teaching Frank about cellphones and Twitter

In the beginning of the episode, we see Mary at Peter’s car dealership. I get excited every time we see Peter. Josh Malina, in my opinion, is the only person who could play Peter. He’s also adorable. Mary is visiting Peter because her nasty purple car (a Probe) is officially dead. Peter gives her a loaner (a Mustang) and says that if she likes it he’ll give her a discount.

We find out Brandi still hasn’t contacted anyone in a while and Peter is getting worried because he gave her 20K and never heard from her. After Mary leaves a threatening message [in the quotes section] to have Brandi call her back, she finally does. After getting nothing out of Brandi herself, Mary does a little research and finds out that Brandi is actually in Miami not New Jersey. The plot thickens….

Lois is Witness of the Week #2. She starts off as Mary’s witness. She’s incredibly unhappy with her new life. BUT! We learn something new about WitSec! Apparently you can get mail from family and friends! She also doesn’t like Mary at all. That’s why she goes to Marshall and requests him to be her Marshal instead. Mary takes the news by laughing and wishing Marshall luck. Throughout the rest of the episode, Marshall keeps trying to make Lois happy. She used to be a writer and in her new life she works at a copier store. After attacking a copier with a 3-hole-punch, she decides to leave the program.

Damn those copiers. Always sticking...

Mary spends the episode trying to figure out what Frank is up to. There was a great, albeit short, bar fight scene where Mary got to throw a few good punches. Then one of Frank’s prison-buddies Ray gets shot by two guys, Big Mike and Little Mike, and goes to Frank instead of a hospital. Frank tells Mary that the Mikes were going to rob a bank in a supermarket. Ray was shot because he didn’t want to be involved. Mary and Marshall stake out the store and have the Mikes promptly arrested. Ray died of his wounds and Frank was so upset with losing his only friend, he decided to go “back where he came from.” Mary knew what that meant: he was going to attempt to rob that same bank so he could go back to prison or be shot, he didn’t care which. But since Mary is that good, she convinces him that he can make a new life and in the end, we see him at the bar he frequents. He’s putting some golf balls and kisses the bartender. Life will continue for Frank and it’ll get better. Mary successfully saves another witness.

And just a side note, I'm starting to miss Bobby D. He would've been perfect in this episode since it dealt with bank robbers and a gunshot victim. I hope he will pop in at least once this season. He has to come back eventually, right? RIGHT??

Notable Quotes:

Mary: [about the loaner car] Just give me something like the Probe!

Peter: I don’t have anything like the Probe. I like the cars I sell.

Mary: [to Brandi’s voicemail] If you don’t call me back in the next 24 hours, I’m telling the police you died, having a funeral, selling everything you own, and if you ever show up again I’ll have you arrested for identity theft.

And that's my recap. In my opinion, this week was slow. Lois just annoyed me. I had no sympathy for her. Frank's storyline was confusing and took too long to develop. But every show has its off weeks. Next week, Steven Weber returns and I'm very excited!

What did you think about the episode? Did you love it or hate it?

-Jenna

Syndication Success: NCIS

Hi everyone. Suzanne here. Sorry I haven’t been on the blog much lately. I’ve been dealing with some unfortunate health problems. No worries. Nothing too serious. Just painful and annoying, not to mention very distracting. In the meantime however, I’d like to introduce you to a guest writer this week. Her name is Sara. She will be talking about the syndication success of NCIS on USA Network. Hope you enjoy! :)


~Suzanne

NCIS began showing in syndication on USA Network in 2008, a move that has been great for not only the Network, but for its original shows.



For those in the minority who are unaware, NCIS, which stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is a procedural series that focuses on a team of NCIS agents who investigate crimes against Navy and Marine personnel. When NCIS premiered on CBS in 2003, CSI was at the top of the TV rankings and similarities between the crime drama of NCIS and CSI can, and have, been drawn. NCIS started with some popularity, ranking just outside of the top twenty shows in its freshman and sophomore seasons, then broke into the top twenty it its third season and stayed in the position through its fourth season.



Though NCIS was gaining popularity, it was a bold move by USA Network to purchase the syndication rights to the show in 2006. It was that bold move, and incredible foresight, which has added to the success of USA Network.



Why? Because, though USA purchased the rights to NCIS while it was just inside the top twenty, over the next years to the present, NCIS has become one of the most popular TV shows on broadcast TV. It broke into the top five TV shows during its sixth season and has continued to rank even higher in the current seventh season. The seventh season premiere drew NCIS’s largest viewing audience ever. When the current season ends, there will have been 162 aired episodes of NCIS.



Not only is NCIS currently a wildly popular TV show on CBS, but, because it grew in popularity over seven seasons, there have been many fans like myself who are latecomers to the series. This is what has added to the success of the show in syndication on USA, at least in my opinion. The ability to catch up on episodes is made much easier by the frequent airings on USA. Currently USA airs two consecutive NCIS episodes in a row every week night starting at 6pm/5pm central (at least, when there isn’t a marathon of another show running during those times), often has NCIS marathons during the weekends, another two episodes on Wednesday nights during primetime, and various other showings. Personally, I catch these airings whenever possible, trying to catch up on all the episodes I have never before seen. USA Network has given fans plenty of opportunities to see NCIS episodes from a variety of seasons.



NCIS also works well into USA Network’s theme of “Characters Wanted”. With a strong cast of interesting characters, NCIS seems a good fit for the growing cable network. However, some USA Network fans have expressed dismay over the frequent airings of acquired series when many USA Original Series are rarely aired in repeats on the Network. Though Monk repeats were often shown on the network, programs such as Psych, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Royal Pains, and White Collar seem to be hard to catch up on outside of rare airings of old episodes and DVD viewing.



When asked about rerun of USA originals, Ted Linhart, the Vice President of Program Research at USA Network and a popular Twitterer for USA fans, reported that original series usually don’t bring in the viewing numbers that acquired shows like NCIS do, even when shown in marathon.



However, fans of the original series shouldn’t fear network acquisitions like NCIS, but should embrace them. Not only has NCIS added to the overall success of USA Network, but it can add to the success of the original series as well by being a strong lead in to prime time original shows on USA Network. More viewers for original series are always a good thing for us fans, hopefully leading to greater popularity and continued renewing of our favorite series. And, maybe, with some hope, if established series such as Psych and Burn Notice continue to gain popularity over their upcoming 5th and 4th seasons, we may be rewarded with more frequent airings of older episodes.



It was recently widely announced that USA Network has also bought the syndication rights to the NCIS spin-off, NCIS: LA. A surprising move as the show has not even finished its freshman season on CBS. Though it has ranked in the top ten, the long term success of NCIS: LA is yet to be seen and not guaranteed. Under the purchasing agreement rights, USA will not be able to show episodes until September 2011, what would be the expected premiere year for the 3rd season of the show.



Though NCIS has been a huge success for USA Network, the risk may be even greater for the network for NCIS: LA. Not only was the show sold into syndication in a record amount of time, after the airing of only seven episodes (most shows are established, with around 100 episodes, before being sold into syndication), but it was purchased for a rumored more than 3 times what USA paid for each original NCIS episode.



While the risk and reward of the NCIS: LA purchase is yet to be seen and can’t be assessed for a couple years, it is clear that USA Network has had great success with risks taken in the past. Many of the highly successful USA Original Series were passed on by many networks before coming to a home at USA. USA’s “Characters” branding has also made for a large fan base of these quirky and interesting shows, all of which fit in well into the network’s theme. NCIS, though an acquired series, has also found a large viewing audience in USA’s line-up and is another risk that has paid off for the Network.



If USA Network continues to maintain the balance between strong original series and popular acquired series, which can draw a wider audience base to the cable network, then shows such as NCIS will continue to be beneficial to USA Network and its original series.

~Sara

In Plain Sight 3x05 Review

     Sorry about last week. It was another great episode with the fantastic Steven Weber and Stan had a great storyline, but I didn’t have time to write it.

     And this is late because I’m moving back home for the summer, so I’m writing this after hours of packing.

     Enough with my excuses for everything. Here’s this week’s review for Episode 5:  Fish Cut or Betta.

     The episode starts out and you see someone making a pipe bomb. Then you see a woman named Naomi turning off an alarm and Mary quickly tries to save her from being blown up by said bomb.

     We then go back three months and find out this man we saw is Dominic. He is testifying against his uncle, who was in the mafia. When Mary and Marshall ask what job Dom wanted now that he couldn’t kill people anymore, he comes up with a surprising answer, “I’ve always wanted to work with fish.”

     Doesn’t seem so tough now, does he? But Dom has an interesting dilemma. He has never had a girlfriend, and the only time he has had sex was by paying for it. So, this episode focuses on Dom getting relationship advice from Mary, of all people, and then see how it inevitably goes horribly wrong.

     For an example of how Mary isn’t the best role model, Dom wanted to bring his date, Naomi (the same woman who will later trigger that bomb), to a nice restaurant but the wait was 2 hours without a reservation. Dom wanted to literally kill the host, so Mary intervened. Instead of telling Dom to wait his turn at the restaurant or go find a new one, she tells him to bribe the host with a $20 instead.

Giving advice at the Bar&Grill

     While at the bar and grill with Dom, Mary spots Raphael with another woman. OUCH! We had seen him earlier in the episode getting boxes of his stuff from her house. It was a very sad scene that ended with Mary crying in the car. Made me want to cry too! So here he is with a younger woman, and in my opinion, she's slutty; but maybe I'm biased. Mary sticks around to spy on him and has him come over later to ask about it. Instead of a fight, they kiss and then end up sleeping together. It seems like this is going to be a very bipolar relationship with the two. They both still love each other but they won't get back together. This could become annoying quite easily so the writers better tread carefully.
     On a side note, did you catch the red mark from her exit wound? I LOVE the continuity in this show. I wish more shows would do that. (Psych did not have a scar on Shawn's shoulder in that decontamination shower scene. Lets hope its just because we wouldn't see it at that angle, yes?)

     Back to Dom, it turns out Naomi is back with her ex and doesn't want to be with Dom which puts him over the edge. And its at this point we're back to the opening scene. Dom has decided to blow up Naomi's store with her in it. Mary runs (literally) to save Naomi. She gets there in time to get Naomi out, but they get blown over the hood of a car while escaping. Awesome! Neither of them were hurt except for some cuts. In the end, the Marshals end up in Houston and find Dom waiting for his cousin to give him a fake ID so he can leave the country. Case solved.

Action shot. BOOM!

     Its also worth mentioning that Stan once again proves that he can be bad-ass. It still surprises me because he can look so...unassuming? I don't even know the word. We were introduced to a woman named Theresa who will be handling finances. Right off the bat she said how she did not work for Mary and Marshall. Later, she ordered them to stop their search for Dom who had disappeared. Stan was very quick to put Theresa in her place since, after all, she was not the boss of them because she did not work for any of them. It was awesome.

     There's also a mention of Brandi. She hasn’t contacted anyone and according to Mary,  Peter’s a lost puppy and her and her mom are both concerned. I wonder when she will be back or at least mentioned.

Now for Quotes/funny moments:

Mary to Dom about being dumped: I've been through it. Marshall's been through it….a lot! 

Mary "Gibbs-Smacks" Marshall after he shares more of his minutia.

Mary to Marshall: With what I'm going to do it'll probably get me fired. And if you get fired too I’ll have no one to move in with and mooch off of!

Stan: Take all the time you want and all the money you need and bag this son-of-a bitch.

After playing with her Betta fish, Mary calls Marshall and says: "I'm starving....sushi?"



There you go! Did I miss anything? What did you think of last week's episode? Leave a comment!

-Jenna