Welcome Back, DESIGNATED SURVIVOR!

It was just revealed about two hours ago that Designated Survivor—the political drama starring Kiefer Sutherland as U.S. President Tom Kirkman—was revived on Netflix! This is the second network TV show (behind the former FOX series Lucifer) to be picked up this year by the internet entertainment giant. This is also the second TV program, behind Tim Allen's Last Man Standing (which will now air on FOX starting September 28), to be cancelled by ABC...only to be brought back elsewhere. Awesome. The difference between Designated Survivor and Last Man Standing, however, is that I'm excited to watch the political drama when it returns for Season 3 next year. My interest in Last Man Standing somewhat dampened when Molly Ephraim, who played Mandy Baxter, decided not to return to the sitcom for a seventh season. Oh well.

So Designated Survivor, Last Man Standing, Lucifer and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (another former FOX show that returns next season on NBC) have been given new leases on life! Who's gonna be cool enough to bring Will Forte's The Last Man on Earth back to the boob tube? That defunct FOX comedy deserved a fifth season... Happy Hump Day.

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE and LAST MAN STANDING Just Got a New Lease on (TV) Life!

Despite the fact that my other favorite TV programs Designated Survivor, Lucifer and The Last Man on Earth will be no more after this season, I'm so glad that Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Last Man Standing (LMS) will be back to grace the boob tube sometime later this year! In regards to Last Man Standing though, online reports suggest that two of the sitcom's most hilarious stars, Kaitlyn Dever (Eve Baxter) and Molly Ephraim (Mandy Baxter), will only make recurring appearances and not be regulars on the show's revival. That's a bummer, though in Ms. Ephraim's case, not a surprise. I've been one of Molly's loyal Twitter followers for over two years now, and her constant tweets and re-tweets of posts attacking Trump (which I have absolutely no problem with) since before the 2016 presidential election have probably caused her to sour to the thought of being on a show where the main star (Tim Allen, who plays Mike Baxter) is a Trump supporter in real life and on this show. Of course, this is a huge assumption on my part...and Ephraim may surprise and excite LMS fans next week by announcing that she'll be fully aboard with playing Mandy on the sitcom once more. If Molly only decides to appear on LMS sporadically and focus on other projects instead, might I suggest that she does theater again? I attended her play Bad Jews in west Los Angeles almost three years ago, and it was delightful.

So yea, I'm really glad that Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Last Man Standing are back...even though the latter might be missing two of its most awesome cast members when it returns. Brooklyn Nine-Nine will air on NBC next year (which will kind of suck for me since I get crappy reception on this channel; my TV is hooked up to an antenna and not to a cable or satellite receiver) after being on FOX for five seasons, while LMS will make its debut on FOX after being on ABC for six seasons. Anyways, lookin' forward to seeing Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) get married during the Nine-Nine's season finale on May 20—while I can't wait to see what type of anti-liberal comment will be made by Mike Baxter in the LMS Season 7 premiere. Even though I myself am a liberal...but it's all good. Welcome back, Mike! And screw Trump. Have a Happy Mother's Day weekend, everyone!

Designated Survivor...

Just thought I'd end this month by raving about my favorite new TV drama, Designated Survivor. After so many years of saving U.S. presidents by breaking arms and shooting bad guys as Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland is now saving America by being the POTUS himself. It's intriguing to watch Sutherland play President Tom Kirkman with the sort of dignity and charisma that will be missing from the real White House come January 20, 2017 (yes, I went there)...depicting a character that is the complete opposite of what Sutherland portrayed for nine seasons on FOX's 24 (this includes the 2014 mini-series 24: Live Another Day). Instead of solving political problems through brute strength, firearms and fury, Kirkman solves issues through diplomatic prowess and strong leadership... qualities that people underestimated in him early on in this season.

Designated Survivor has such a great cast surrounding Sutherland—with Natascha McElhone (who was previously on Showtime's Californication) as his wife Alex, Adan Canto as his chief of staff Aaron Shore, Italia Ricci (who was great as the villainous Silver Banshee on the former-CBS/now-The CW TV series Supergirl) as White House consultant Emily Rhodes, LaMonica Garrett as Secret Service agent Mike Ritter, Maggie Q as FBI agent Hannah Wells, Malik Yoba as FBI director Jason Atwood, Virginia Madsen as congresswoman Kimble Hookstraten (I just realized how weird that name sounds) and Kal Penn (who actually worked for President Obama in the White House) as press secretary Seth Wright. And let's not forget the main villain himself (spoiler alert): congressman Peter MacLeish, played by Ashley Zukerman, who looks like he could be the twin brother of either Jake Gyllenhaal or The Office's B.J. Novak.

With the winter finale airing next Wednesday (December 7), I can't wait to see how Designated Survivor will end in a mid-season cliffhanger. Will Peter MacLeish finally become vice president? Will Hannah Wells finally find herself in mortal danger (I'm glad she made it through tonight's episode in one piece...what with that guy in the car watching her snoop on Jason Atwood and that MacLeish conspirator on the rooftop)? Will there be another controversy unfold for the Kirkman family even after the mystery surrounding Leo's (Tanner Buchanan) biological father was resolved? (Spoiler alert: It's President Kirkman.) And just who is that whistleblower shown in the sneak preview for next week's finale? We shall see.

It's the awesome suspense in Designated Survivor, that—like 24 before it—makes me take Wednesdays off from work just to see how ABC's hit political drama continues to unfold. Along with Sutherland, fellow 24 alumnus Sean Callery also returned to compose Survivor's music score. (Kal Penn played a regular character in 'Day 6' of 24 ten years ago.) And like 24, Designated Survivor is compelling because it deals with timely issues that affect our country right now. Whereas 24's focus on terrorism was potent considering that it made its debut on television around the same time as the September 11 attacks in 2001, Designated Survivor's focus on a man who's learning the ropes after having the U.S. presidency thrust upon him applies to real life as well.

I'm not gonna fully elaborate on that last sentence above (otherwise, this entry will have six more paragraphs), but the man who most of America (unfortunately) voted for as president on November 8 showed numerous signs that he doesn't really want to be Commander In Chief. If footage of his meeting with President Obama two days after election night is any indication, Donald Trump is overwhelmed and stunned at the fact that he will (unfortunately) lead this country for the next four years. (Unless a miracle happens and he eventually emulates Richard Nixon...) It's sad that I myself watch Designated Survivor for the personal comfort of seeing a fictional president do a better job in the Oval Office than what the real president-elect will do come next January. Am I underestimating Trump? All signs points to no. If only Tom Kirkman were a real person, hah. But enough of the dreary real-world comparisons between actual American politics and a successful TV show... Designated Survivor is awesome. I can't wait to see what next week's episode, the second half of this season (and subsequent seasons, hopefully) will hold for this series. Hail to the Chief! That chief being President Kirkman, that is. Carry on.