Family matters on both sides of the law become the focal point of this latest episode of THE FLASH, "Family of Rogues." Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) grapples with the unexpected return of his wife, Francine (Vanessa Williams), who abandoned the family when Iris (Candice Patton) was just a child. He's told Iris that she died and painted a picture of her as a perfect mother, rather than tell her the truth -- that she was an addict who fled from rehab. Now Francine is back in Central City, and Joe has to decide whether or not to tell Iris the truth.

The world of THE FLASH just got infinitely more diverse with the arrival of Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears, 666 PARK AVENUE), who comes from another Earth where he was called The Flash. But after his arrival on our Earth, shortly after his battle on his world with Zoom, he was brought to our world through the singularity that Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) fought at the end of Season One.

He comes with a warning, but the team doesn't know what to make of him -- and Barry certainly doesn't trust him. In fact, he's a real jerk towards Jay. So their response is to run tests on Jay -- and keep him locked up in the STAR Labs facility.

Doctor Who Series 9 - Episode 3 and 4 - Under the Lake/ Before the Flood

Writer: Toby Whithouse

Director: Daniel O'Hara

Cast:

So last night was the hotly anticipated return of CW's hit series, THE FLASH, now entering its second season. When we open, we are well past the cliffhanger ending of season one, which saw Central City, the Earth, and everything else about to be sucked into a singularity caused by the wormhole opened by the Reverse-Flash. In fact, Central City is preparing a "Flash Day" to present their hero the key to the city for having saved them.

So why doesn't Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) want to attend, and why is he moping around, pushing away all his friends and rebuilding Central City building-by-building every night?

Well, it turns out Barry doesn't think he saved Central City -- that it was accomplished by someone else, at a great sacrifice. And when we flash back to the events to see them play out, he's partly right. He did get help, and that help came with (apparently) tragic losses.

Following up on the 2014 hit movie MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN, Netflix has announced an all-new original series titled: THE MR PEABODY & SHERMAN SHOW. Adding to their growing list of original content, the show will debut on Friday, October 9th. This will be Dreamworks Animation Television's seventh show, quickly making them a leader in producing high-quality television series.

Netflix continues to provide content that sets them apart from cable providers and other digital subscription services. Adding to a growing list of kid-friendly shows such as SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED and DINOTRUX, Netflix has solidified itself as the leader in original digital content. Chris Parnell will lend his voice to Mr. Sherman, while Max Charles reprises his role from the movie as Sherman.

This was probably the best season opener since The Eleventh Hour. It gave us some real depth to dig in to, and showed us some new tweaks on the Doctor’s relationships with his enemies, Davros and Missy. There was quite a few genuinely funny lines in the episodes, and the story was pretty easy to follow. Moffat can get a little far out there at times, but he kept things under control and the end result was one of the best Dalek stories since Doctor Who returned.

Disclaimer: I won't bury my thoughts in this article. I absolutely loved the premiere episode and cannot wait for more. However, I understand that many people weren't happy with it and feel there was something missing. So I'm attempting to take an objective look at THE MUPPETS, to find out what prevented many fans from enjoying the show. With that out of the way...

It's time to get things started.

In the annals of television comedy, some pairings are simply classic to the point of everlasting. I thus posit that the partnership of Leonard and Sheldon has already made that list (although Sheldon might point out that it would be more proper to call the team Cooper and Hofstadter, because traditionally comic pairings are known by their last names, the listing would be alphabetical, and -- most importantly -- it would list him first).

However, to simply reduce THE BIG BANG THEORY to nerdy roommates Leonard and Sheldon (Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons) would be grossly unfair, because the show's success is due to its ensemble nature. The science squad would be woefully incomplete without the acerbic man-child Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and innocently naive Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).

His name is Barry Allen. And he is the fastest man alive.

When CW's SMALLVILLE began to introduce additional DC Universe characters, the trend was to stay away from anything that looked like a costume if a hoodie could suffice, finally giving way to the traditional Superman costume in the final episode. When ARROW debuted, it was, to a degree, still the hoody look, with some leather armor and facepaint added. It seemed the super-suits were definitely a no-go area for the network. So when they announced THE FLASH was coming, I was wondering what the new outfit would look like. I was ecstatic to see that it looked very Silver Age -- and that Grant Gustin was able to pull the look of Barry Allen off without it appearing to be a convention cosplay (which I love, but not in a television show).

With television premieres starting this week, let's take a look at the top 5 most anticipated shows for the 2015 Fall season. With two returning series, and three new ones, I've compiled a list that's diverse in both genre and network.

The Muppets - ABC (premieres 9/22 8:00 pm)

Didn you notice someone missing from last night's Emmy Award ceremony? How about the former "Big Three" -- ABC, CBS and NBC? Oh, they were there, but with the onset of original programming offered through Internet channels, their presence is more of a token than ever. (We've discussed in the past, at length, that this was coming.) It was hard enough for traditional, free broadcast channels when the cable networks entered the fight, but with the advent of Netflix and Amazon, the competition for market share just got that much stiffer.

Last week, we covered the “modern” Doctors.  Today, we wrap up our coverage of Doctor Who by going back to talk about all seven classic Doctors.  I tried to list my favorite episodes for each Doctor, but I have to admit, the titles for many of these serials were so generic that I may have missed some.  

Lots to cover here, so let’s get started:

There's an interesting, long-standing trope in comic books that posits a superhero creates his own villains; that before the arrival of the superhero, there were no super-threats to the city he calls home, and that they are attracted there solely because the hero exists there to fight them.

The theme of GOTHAM runs counter to that proposition, putting forth the story of the titular city at least a decade prior to the arrival of the Dark Knight who would make Gotham City a name known around the world. It's a grim place, where the forces of law and order and the forces of the criminal underworld aren't pitted against each other but rather are entangled so much as to be indistinguishable one from the other.

I've been a fan of SUPERNATURAL for a very long time. I still remember when I first watched the show. My future wife, Patti, and I were in the midst of a cross country journey, and we stopped in Missouri for a couple days to visit my close friend Daron. He got us hooked by watching several episodes of the fledgling show's first season DVD. We picked up our own copy of the season as the journey took us to states further on down the road, and a love for the series was built traveling much the way Sam and Dean Winchester do in the series.

Logged on this morning to a nice surprise!  We finally got a release date and a teaser trailer for Marvel's Jessica Jones.  It will begin airing on Netflix on November 20.  It also looks like they stopped calling the show AKA JESSICA JONES.  

Jessica Jones is an adaptation of Bendis and Gaydo's brilliant comic series ALIAS.  Jessica Jones (played by Krysten Ritter) is a former superhero who has become a private investigator.    The series will also feature:

Last season, I managed to do reviews for each episode of Doctor Who within a day or two of them airing, and I definitely plan on doing that again this year when Doctor Who returns on September 19.   So, what I decided to do is create this little primer on Doctor Who for anyone new to the series who might want to check it out.  
 

Actually, Doctor Who superfan Craig Ferguson beat me to this years ago, so I guess I should start with stealing from him:

For my own part, if I'm going to watch the animated Teen Titans, I'm going to go with the YOUNG JUSTICE series. Following that, the Filmation shorts, and then the Cartoon Network's TEEN TITANS -- all of which I would forego for a DC Universe animated movie of THE JUDAS CONTRACT, but let's not go there while there's still another BATMAN adventure to make. Watching TINY TOON ADVENTURES acted out by cutesified versions of superheroes wouldn't really top my list.

The seven-year-old boy who has taken up (and taken over) residence with me has other ideas. He thinks they're hilarious. He loves the butt-jokes. He even has a little crush on Raven. (When he grows up and sees Tara Strong, who provides the character's voice, he'll still have it and we'll have something in common.)

So while I wouldn't choose to watch TEEN TITANS GO! I nonetheless have viewed it and...I survived. In fact, some of it was actually fun, and funny.

Today, in an effort to expand on it's DC properties, CW is offering an animated mini-series set in the world of their live action properties (ARROW and THE FLASH) titled:

VIXEN

Grant Gustin and Stephen Amell will both lend their voices to the animated versions of their live action counterparts. The show will introduce Megalyn Echikunwoke as the voice of the title character, to the universe DC is building on television.

Criticized for not merging their cinematic universe with television, like Marvel has done, DC is building an expansive world on the small screen. VIXEN brings the total to 4 current shows, with 3 more yet to debut: SUPERGIRL (CBS), LEGENDS of TOMORROW (CW) and TEEN TITANS (TNT).

Posing in full Supergirl costume, Melissa Benoist visited with some Girl Scouts from Oklahoma. Judging by their blue vests and patches, they were Daisy Scouts, which is the entry level for young girls. This provides us fans with comfort, knowing that Ms. Benoist truly understands the importance of not only putting on that costume, but what it means to girls all over the world.

She will be looked up to.

Actors and actresses will often dismiss the idea that they are 'idols' and will feed reporters with quotable lines such as, 'children should idolize their parents'. The truth is, to young children, the characters portrayed on film and television are fantastical. And provide the youth with hope and mysticism in an otherwise dreary world, that us parents fight to protect them from.

I'm a lifelong fan of comics, and of the actors who portrayed the characters in them. However, there are only a very few who had a pivotal impact on my life, those being the ones I encountered at my youngest, most formative years.

Actress and dancer Yvonne Craig was chief among those, one of those people who had always been there and, in my unthinking naivete, I presumed always would be.

Today, I have learned that Ms. Craig has passed away on August 17 at the forever young age of 78, after battling breast cancer.

While Craig will be eternally remembered for her portrayal of Batgirl in the iconic 1960s BATMAN television series, starring alongside Adam West and Burt Ward, fans will also recall her stunning portrayal of the green-skinned dancer, Marta, on STAR TREK. She also acted opposite of Elvis Presley in the 1964 musical, KISSIN' COUSINS.