Orange Is The New Black

8 Muslim Characters…

This was, unfortunately, a much harder list to put together than my lists of Jewish and Christian characters. While we have started to slowly move away from the stereotype of Muslim characters only being depicted as terrorists, there still are not very many who are lead or recurring characters on mainstream television shows. I will preface this by saying I do not watch all of these shows, so I apologize if my descriptions of any of the characters is wrong.

1. Nasir Khan – The Night Of, played by Riz Ahmed
Nasir is Pakistani-American college student, born and raised in Queens, NY, who is accused of murdering a girl on the Upper West Side. He is denied bail when the District Attorney uses his Pakistani background to claim that he is a “flight risk.”

2. Nimah and Raina Amin – Quantico, played by Yasmine Al Massri
Arab-American twin sisters from Michigan who begin training for the FBI as one person to see if they could do the same while undercover in the field. Raina is the more conservative of the two, and the one that wears a hijab.

3. Arastoo Vaziri – Bones, played by Pej Vahdat
One of the Squinterns working at the Jeffersonian, he is originally from Iran but was exiled for his political views. His family still resides in the country, and Arastoo is allowed to visit Tehran when his brother is diagnosed with a brain tumor.

4. Aliyah Shadeed – American Crime, played by Regina King
The sister of drug addict Carter Nix, who has been accused of murder, she is relentless in trying to prove her brother’s innocence. She is American-born and a convert to Islam.

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Quotes of the Week: June 28-July 11

These are my favorite quotes from the past two weeks, not just from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Poldark
Charles Poldark: She is a plain girl, and that makes her easy prey.

The Last Ship
Jed Chandler: Whether you like it or not, you’re Noah, and that ship is your ark.

UnREAL
Shia: You could make a perfectly happy person jump off a bridge.
Quinn: Thank you!

Zoo
Mitch: Usually when a girl gives me her phone number, it doesn’t have anything to do with rampaging lions.

Suits
Gretchen: It doesn’t take Albert Einstein to figure out why you hired somebody who looks like me to replace somebody who looks like her.
Harvey: Listen, Gretchen, I…
Gretchen: You don’t have to worry about that with me. I prefer my men manly.
Harvey: Am I not manly?
Gretchen: Well…if you have to ask.

Mr. Robot
Mr. Robot: The world is a dangerous place, Elliot! Not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing!

The Astronaut Wives Club
Scott: If you want people to know the real you, you gotta let ’em actually see it.

Scott: Life’s not about repeating what you’ve already done or regretting the way you did things the first time around. It’s about moving on. Moving forward. Stayin’ you.

Killjoys
John: I have to go see a girl about an ear.

The Last Ship
Captain Chandler: They don’t ambush us. We ambush them.

Ravit: I like you guys. You’re crazy.

Orange Is The New Black
Taystee: You know what I hate? Shrimps. Damn, dirty shrimps. Don’t even talk to me about shrimps!

Quotes of the Week: June 14-27

These are my favorite quotes from the past two weeks, not just from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Sense8
Riley: Death doesn’t let you say goodbye.

UnReal
Jeremy: You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t like the taste of blood.

Orange Is The New Black
Crazy Eyes: I will potato her at a future time.

Sister Jane: Thou shalt not make musical references!

Jack: What seems to be the problem there?
Piper: The thermal fuse blew.
Jack: And you can fix that by yourself, honey?
Piper: Well, I sure can, if I concentrate *extra* hard with my lady brain

Scott: In your heart of hearts, you know as well as I do, red velvet is bullshit! It tastes like play-doh. It is not velvety. And the only thing that’s good about it is the cream cheese frosting, which is meant to live on top of carrot cake like God intended!

Orphan Black
Crystal: Why do weird things keep happening to me?!

Jesse: Holy moly.
Helena: Yes, much moly.

Alison: Thank you, seestras, for your bravery, for protecting us, for making us feel normal. I know that whatever comes next, we’ll face it together, as a family.

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8 Awesome Hairstyles…

I grew up with a mother who did not really know how to do anything to my hair except put it in a ponytail. (Yes, I had a bowl cut for much of my childhood, let’s not talk about it.) Needless to say, I have always been jealous of people who can pull off funky hairstyles. This is my list of female TV characters with awesomely crazy hair. Spoiler Alert: there are lots of braids.

1. Naevia – Spartacus, played by Cynthia Addai Robinson
When you are spending most of your time killing Romans, you need some badass hair to go along with your new badass gladiator skills.

2. Suzanne ‘Crazy Eyes’ Warren – Orange Is The New Black, played by Uzo Aduba
This hairstyle totally suits her personality and I do not think her eyes would look quite as crazy without it.

3. Rayanne Graff – My So-Called Life, played by A.J. Langer
Rayanne’s style is totally ’90s Grunge and I always loved the one random strand in the front that was usually blonde, but was sometimes other funky colors.

4. Octavia – The 100, played by Marie Avgeropoulos
Once she joined the Grounders, Octavia needed to look the part of one of their warriors.

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8 Great Police Officers and Firefighters…

In honor of Patriots Day and the 13th anniversary of the September 11th attack on our country, I present you with my list of favorite TV firemen and police officers. There was a huge number of people I could have listed, but these are some of my favorites.

1. Tommy Gavin – Rescue Me, played by Dennis Leary. Gavin is a third generation New York City Firefighter. As one of the first responders, his house lost four men in the attacks on 9/11, including his cousin Jimmy.


2. Wayne Unser – Sons of Anarchy, played by Dayton Callie. When the series started, Unser was Chief of the Charming Police Department. While he was Chief, he worked with the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club to keep drugs and violence out of their small town.


3. Kate Beckett – Castle, played by Stana Katic. Beckett originally planned to be a lawyer, but decided to join the New York Police Department after her mother was murdered.


4. Lennie Briscoe – Law & Order, played by Jerry Orbach. The character is introduced in season three as a senior detective for the New York Police Department after Detective Logan’s partner was shot. He remained on the show for 11 seasons, until his character retired.



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8 of My Favorite Returning Summer Shows…

Two weeks ago, I told you which new summer shows I was planning to watch, so I will now give you the list of returning shows that I enjoy the most.

1. Orange Is The New Black, season 2 will be released June 6th on Netflix. In my opinion, this is the best of Netflix’s original shows. Every one in the main cast is great, but it is the phenomenal supporting cast that really makes up the heart and soul of this show. They are each amazing and essential to the story and I am excited to delve deeper into their individual stories.

2. Suits, season 4 premieres June 11th on USA. The writing on this show is so fun and smart and I can never predict where they are going to take us next. In the season three finale, Mike left Pearson Specter to work for an investment company, so it will be interesting to see how they keep him connected to his former firm and to his mentor.

3. Graceland, season 2 also premieres June 11th on USA. This show started off a little slow for me but definitely picked up steam at the end of the first season, which will hopefully carry into this new season. It has a lot of potential to be great and it offers up some twists and turns that definitely keep things interesting.

4. Rookie Blue, season 5 premieres June 19th on ABC. I have been watching this show since the first season and I just cannot stop. I really enjoy the cast and even some of the ridiculous storylines. Will Andy choose Nick or Sam? I HAVE TO KNOW! Also, now every time I see Eric Johnson I cannot help but think, “Chad, shut your stupid mouth and feed the kids.” FYI: The below video preview is from the Canadian channel that airs the show, so the date is incorrect.

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8 Things I Am Most Looking Forward to at ATX Television Festival Season Three…

I was so lucky to have gotten involved with the ATX Television Festival before the first year and have looked forward to this weekend every year since! In case you do not already know, the festival brings together actors, writers, directors, producers, music supervisors, studio executives and fans to talk about the past, present and future of television here in Austin, Texas. From June 5-8, there will be screenings, panels, parties and live music with some of the industry’s leading professionals. There are SO MANY awesome things going on over the weekend, but this is what I am most looking forward to, in no particular order.

1. Hey Dude Reunion – I loved this show growing up and would watch the reruns on Nickelodeon whenever they were on. I remember wanting to be just like Brad and if there had been dude ranches in Philadelphia, I probably would have wanted to work at one. Just watch out for those man-eatin’ jackrabbits and those killer cacti!

2. Friday Night Lights Outdoor Screening – This is my favorite event every year. What could be better than watching Tim Riggins on a big screen out under the Texas sky?! This year there will also be great music from Sarah Watkins and Guiney & Grimes before the sun goes down.

3. Henry Winkler – ATX is presenting the first ever Achievement in Television Excellence award at this year’s festival and Mr. Winkler is the perfect recipient. His body of work encompasses the standards that drive ATX Television Festival: genuine, thoughtful, expansive, and most importantly, entertaining. His conversation with Royal Pains Executive Producer Michael Rauch is sure to be something you do not want to miss!

4. The Awesome Food and Drink Sponsors – Since I work all weekend from about 9 a.m. to whenever the party stops each night (or I fall asleep standing up), I pretty much live off of this food for four days. This year that includes KIND Snacks, Cornucopia popcorn, Blue Bell ice cream, Cuvée Coffee, Topo Chico, Tito’s Vodka, Bulleit Bourbon, Treaty Oak Rum and Waterloo Gin.

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