Rueben's Ramblings

Rueben’s Ramblings is celebrating its 10th Anniversary!!

In honor of that I decided to highlight some of the big events that took place during each year of the past 10 years.

Today’s salute is focused on 2017:

A couple of the more memorable shows that debuted during that year included:

* The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – In the late 1950s Miriam “Midge” Maisel has everything she has ever wanted: the perfect husband, two kids and an elegant apartment on New York’s Upper West Side. Her seemingly idyllic life takes a surprising turn when she discovers a hidden talent she didn’t previously know she had — stand-up comedy. This revelation changes her life forever as she begins a journey that takes her from her comfortable life on the Upper West Side through the cafes and nightclubs of Greenwich Village as she makes her way through the city’s comedy industry on a path that could ultimately lead her to a spot on the “Tonight Show” couch.

* The Handmaid’s Tale – Based on the 1985 novel, the streaming series is set in a dystopian future, where a woman (Elizabeth Moss) is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship. The first season won 8 Emmy Awards among countless others.

It was in 2017 that the end came for the following drama:

* Grimm – This fairytale drama came to an end after 6 seasons on NBC with a very twisty series finale that found Nick literally losing everyone he cares about because of the final season’s big bad: Zerstorer. But in the end, Nick – with a little unexpected help – he is able to defeat this devil; but then he’s swept through a vortex back to moment before the final war with Zerstorer was waged without the devil coming with them. In the final scene, it’s 20 years later with the second generation – little Diana all grown up, baby Kelly grown up and looking much like his dad and the triplets of Monroe and Rosalee – working together with their parents to continue the work of the grimm.

There were also a couple of disappointments that year as well:

* Marvel’s Inhumans – Given all the success of the Marvel films, ABC was determined to get a successful series on the air – other than the mediocre success of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. [primarily in terms of ratings] – and you would think that the new 2017 series Marvel’s Inhumans would have done just that given how famous these characters are in the comic book world. Unfortunately, the show was disappointing, a ratings failure and for many it was dull.

* Prison Break: Resurrection – When Prison Break debuted in 2005 it was a breakout (no pun intended) hit; but the same cannot be said for this limited event series that took place 8 years after the series finale in 2009.

There were a couple big TV events that took place in 2017:

Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak AND Barry Allen and Iris West got married in a joint impromptu ceremony with John Diggle preceding. This event took place during the big crossover episode of all the DC Comics-based shows that were airing on The CW at the time entitled ‘Crisis on Earth-X.’

Here is the video of that ceremony:

Fans of Downton Abbey and the character Matthew Crawley saw a VERY different side of actor Dan Stevens when he starred in the new FX series Legion where he played David Haller, the mutant son of Professor Charles Xavier (of the Marvel franchise X-Men) and Gabrielle Haller. David was a troubled young man diagnosed as schizophrenic, but after a strange encounter, he discovered special powers that would change his life forever.

The remarkably moving albeit short-lived series Underground featured amazing performances by actress Amirah Vann, who portrayed Ernestine and Aisha Hinds, who portrayed Harriet Tubman.

Hinds was so moving, in fact, she was chosen by the folks at TV Line as the Performer of the Week.

Another big event to take place in 2017 was the resurrection of the NBC series Timeless that was cancelled by NBC but then three days later the network changed course, giving the show 10 more episodes. This kind of rescue is extremely rare, but the cast, creative minds and fans were very happy about the additional episodes.

Our photographer Dom was in attendance, once again, at that year’s ATX Festival in Austin, snapping pictures of the reunion of Battlestar Galactica.

You can see his pictures from that panel here.

It was also in 2017 that I attended – for the last time for quite some time – both Wonder Con in Anaheim, California and San Diego Comic Con. I have to admit it was hard to give up attending the events after going to them every year for so very long, but the expense was just getting to be too much. However, I quickly learned how much easier it is to cover the events right from home thanks to all the outlets that are covering the two events, as well as coverage from Roz and Dom who have helped out with pictures and stories from both cons.

The top movie at the box office in 2017 was Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens while Wonder Woman thrilled audiences all over the globe. Meanwhile two of the worst movies for the year were CHiPs and Father Figures.

Following in the tradition, I had started a number of years earlier, I selected a group of interesting people as part of my faces of the year and new faces to be on the look out for in the new year.

Some of the people I picked for 2017 included: Florence Pugh, Keala Settle, Zoey Deutch, Dafne Keen, McKenna Grace, Kathryn Newton and Kumail Nanjiani.

The Faces of 2017

The New Faces of 2018

COMING SOON: Salute to 2018

Rueben’s Ramblings is celebrating its 10th Anniversary!!

In honor of that I decided to highlight some of the big events that took place during each year of the past 10 years.

Today’s salute is focused on 2016:

Some memorable shows that debuted during that year included:

* The Magicians – The Syfy fantasy series debuted in December of the year, following a group of students at a secretive academy (think Harry Potter but on acid) where they learn that the magic they read in a book series is not only very real but also extremely dangerous.

* Stranger Things – This Netflix thriller captured viewers interest with its cast of pre-teen characters, a mom and a police chief who had to battle terrifying supernatural forces to get a missing boy back.

* This Is Us – This gripping multi-layered, decade-jumping drama about a unique set of triplets, their ups and downs and their wonderful parents consistently had viewers crying every week with its heartwarming and gut-wrenching stories. It also didn’t hurt that the show garnered impressive ratings, averaging over 14 million viewers (when all viewing options were added in) every week.

* Timeless – This NBC time-traveling series eventually ended up being the little show that could, but during its debut season it had a rocky road in the ratings, but a very loyal and rapid following. The series followed an unlikely trio who travel through time to battle unknown criminals and protect history. It was like getting a history lesson while travel around in a dome-like time machine.

* The Crown – The series depicted the life inside the Royal family, following Queen Elizabeth II, as she got married, took over the throne and the early days of her rule. For the most part the series has been commended for its depiction of events, but it has also been criticized for excessive dramatization as well as depicting some events that bear no relation to historical evidence.

A few of the shows that came to an end that year were:

* Person of Interest – The CBS crime drama about an ex-CIA agent and a wealthy programmer who saved lives via an extremely advanced surveillance AI that sent them the identities of civilians involved in impending crimes came to an end in June. The team was up against Samaritan, and in the end they defeated the evil AI, but lost Root and Reese along the way. It was a gut-wrenching finale, but in the end Shaw (who became the new owner of Bear) are out for a walk where a pay phone began to ring; and when she answered it, she smiled. Looked like the missions weren’t ending after all.

* Downton Abbey – After 6 seasons of very tumultuous stories for both the residents of the upstairs and the downstairs of the regal home Downton Abbey, the final episode of the long-running and acclaimed international hit aired in March with a two-hour Christmas-themed story that gave a happy ending to, well, pretty much everyone: Edith finally got to be happy and married, Mary was remarried and pregnant, Anna and Bates welcomed their child and even Barrow got to redeem himself.

* Castle – After 8 seasons of crime-fighting and solving, the ABC drama came to an end, but not without its problems. It had long been known (although never outright publicly confirmed) that the show’s two leads did not get along with each and due to financial constraints [too long of a story to haggle about here and now] both series lead Stana Katic and long-running co-star Tamala Jones were – for all intents and purposes – fired from the show in the spring – a move that caused a lot of controversy – but only a few weeks later it was decided by the network to simply pull the plug on the show altogether, giving viewers a patched up, and somewhat disappointing series finale with a flash-forward to the couple still together, and raising three children.

One of the fun experiences at San Diego Comic Con that year was watching The Flash stars Grant Gustin and Jesse L. Martin tap dance during their moderated panel. Check out the following video:

It was also in this year that extremely talented actress Tatiana Maslany FINALLY won an Emmy for multi-roles in the BBC America drama Orphan Black. That season of the show wasn’t it’s best, but the Emmy voters finally paid attention to her talent.

2016 also marked the year that I was proud to announce a new member of the Rueben’s Ramblings staff: my good friend Roz, who is also on the staff with me at NiceGirlsTV.

One of Roz’s articles that year was the salute to the late Carrie Fisher and her mother, legendary Debbie Reynolds, who passed away within a day and a half of each other

It was also in 2016 that actress Meghan Markle and Prince Harry began dating, and we all know how that later turned out.

The top movie at the box office in 2016 was the animated film Finding Dory while some of the worst movies included Why Him?, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and The Brothers Grimsby.

Following in the tradition, I had started a number of years earlier, I selected a group of interesting people as part of my faces of the year and new faces to be on the look out for in the new year.

Some of the people I picked for 2016 included: Brie Larson, Felicity Jones, Haley Bennett, Mahershala Ali, Bridget Regan, Auli’l Cravalho, Tom Holland and Millie Bobby Brown.

The Faces of 2016

The New Faces of 2017

COMING SOON: Salute to 2017