YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

American TV shows (tag archive)

Archive of American TV shows. Trailers, news and casting for American TV series, dramas, comedies, documentaries and variety shows.

Game of Thrones beginner’s guide

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An uncensored recap of popular American TV series Game of Thrones, narrated by Samuel L Jackson. Fans need little intro about the HBO fantasy drama series that’s making waves across the globe. This video is a nice guide for people like me who are not familiar with the show instead…

I’ve known about the TV phenomenon for a while but I don’t have free access to watch it in Malaysia, and I’m not fond of illegal downloads and stuff. I’ve watched a few episodes while in Korea though, and it’s pretty awesome despite the limited exposure. I can understand why it’s so popular worldwide.

Well, perhaps I will pay and binge watch this after the end of the show. I don’t have much patience waiting between seasons these days, and I’m fine with missing the buzz and catching up later.

Hathaway wrecks a ball on Lip Sync Battle

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Video of Anne Hathaway performing Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball on Lip Sync Battle – a musical reality competition show which pits celebrities against each other in lip sync performances.

This performance was from the third episode last April, which also featured Emily Blunt. I watched the preview video back then, which was fun; but this full version is simply awesome in a satirical way.

Blunt’s reaction is extra bonus. The duo was co-stars in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006; it was Blunt’s breakthrough film which boosted Hathaway’s career too. The two also became good friends since.

Merida meets Mulan in Once Upon a Time

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Short video of Merida meeting Mulan in Once Upon a Time. It’s an American fantasy drama series on ABC which borrows elements from folklore and fairy tales, especially those from Disney. The clip comes from its latest (fifth) season, with Amy Manson and Jamie Chung portraying the roles.

The show, first aired in 2011, features characters from fairy tales who are transported to the real world while robbed of their memories by an evil queen. The initial story follows the daughter of Snow White who try to break the curse, and the plot revolves between both the real and fantasy world.

It’s a cute and brilliant idea. I’ve watched a few episodes in the past, it’s average but I’m fond of it. Couldn’t find time to follow the series regularly though, perhaps I should binge-watch the show if there’s a chance. Hope it’s on Netflix when the online streaming service comes to Asia early next year.

BTW, Mulan was a legendary Chinese warrior who’s the main character in Disney’s 1998 animated film. Merida meanwhile is a fictional princess in the 2012 Pixar movie Brave. Both are recurring characters in the TV series – Mulan first appears in season two while Merida made her debut in current season.

Knight Rider original show intro

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Intro video for popular American TV series Knight Rider from the 1980s. It’s one of my favourite shows when I was a kid and it had a huge following worldwide too. The video gives some good information for those who are too young to know about the series, watch it for nostalgia sake otherwise =)

David Hasselhoff plays Michael Knight, the main human character. The high-tech car, KITT, is arguably the real star of the show though; it can communicate and self-drive among other things, stuff that people are developing in real life these days. The car still looks pretty cool regardless.

It’s suggested at end of the video that we can watch the series for free on NBC’s website. There’s geographic restriction though, the offer is probably available only in North America.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series trailer

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is an American TV series based on the Marvel Comics organisation S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s an acronym for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. It’s a spy agency in a world of superheroes, and they obviously create the name on purpose to spell SHIELD.

The show is a spin-off from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie franchise, and its plot will coincide with the major events in the film series. Clark Gregg will play the main lead in the TV show, reprising his role as Phil Coulson, one of the top SHIELD agents in the movies.

The TV series will premiere on ABC in America in September 2013. Check out the official trailer…

I’ve not watched any of the MCU films except The Incredible Hulk, which is probably the least relevant movie in the franchise. I’m not sure if I can appreciate the content of the TV series because of that. On contrary it could be a good place to start immersing into the universe instead.

Regardless, the series also stars Ming-Na Wen, an actress I like since the 1990s. She still looks amazing (and kicking ass) at the age of 49. I’ll probably give the show a try just for that. The rest of the main cast includes Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge.

For Malaysians, the show will be on Astro but no details so far, please follow up on your own. They will spam their channels with teasers when things are confirmed though, it’ll be hard to miss.

Update, end of season one – It’s a decent series, with plenty of drama and action. And it works as a show of its own even if we are not familiar with the movie franchise. I did watch the The Avengers at the mid of the season though, and it does make the series even better. I presume it could be pretty epic for people who have watched all the MCU films. Will continue watching the second season regardless.

On side note, check the Marvel Entertainment tag for future Marvel related blog updates.

Not a zombie fan but The Walking Dead is good stuff

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The Walking Dead, an American zombie apocalypse TV series, seems to be a craze lately. Its third season is coming soon and my local channel did a marathon run for the first two seasons; I’m not a fan of zombie shows but decided to give it a go regardless, and it was surprisingly good.

The main character is deputy sheriff Rick Grimes (starring Andrew Lincoln) who leads a group of survivors in Georgia after a worldwide apocalypse. They have to fight against not just the zombies – known as walkers in the series – but other survivors too, including threats from within the group.

Video below is a nice summary of the first season by IGN. The second season features similar (albeit darker) theme… with more people, relationships and also larger herd of zombies.

It’s not the first zombie show to dwell on humanity side in an apocalypse, but it’s probably the first to tell the stories in such depth. The series also struck a nice balance between human drama and horror plot; it could become a boring show if they focused too much on either part but they got that right.

Korean American actor Steven Yeun stars as the smarty of the group; that’s racial stereotype right there but good to see an Asian in a popular series regardless. The cast also includes Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride.

A few of the new faces in season two e.g. Lauren Cohan and Scott Wilson will probably be credited as the main cast in the new season, which will start airing on October 14 in the United States.