I loved NBC’s weird little jukebox musical show. Buried as a midseason replacement then rolled out strangely with the pilot dropping long before the actual series launch, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist was easy to miss. Even I missed most of it and had to go back and catch up after weirdly seeing episode ten before episodes […]
If we’re grading on the specific curve of CBS comedy, The Unicorn is an A- sitcom. The cast is sharp (multiple cast members, mostly Michaela Watkins, are all-time greats) and the show has a big ole heart that it refuses to apologize for. I like how well the friend group has developed around Wade and that […]
When it premiered in July 2013, Orange is the New Black was only the third original show on Netflix. House of Cards, which I’ve always maintained wasn’t half as good as reputed, will be remembered for the worst reasons. Hemlock Grove isn’t likely to be remembered at all. Which leaves us with OITNB. There are […]
As a sworn loyalist to the dying landscape of network television, I spend much of the year watching TV the old fashioned way- on the TV, one week at a time. So, when summer finally hits and the networks shut down their programming for a few months, I finally have the time to catch all […]
Well, this is it. The series is done. I started writing these articles in 2016, right before season six started. It seems like such a long time ago, three years and two seasons. Almost seems like a simpler time, when Jon was coming back from the dead and Dany was getting reintroduced to the Dothraki. […]
I’ve been thinking a lot about Grey’s Anatomy lately. That show,…
I hated Veep when it premiered back in 2012. Armando Ianucci’s biting satire of American democracy felt to me like useless cynicism, a crass comedy of bad behaviour like It’s Always Sunny without the insight. Veep grew into itself in season two and I at least started to intellectually appreciate its style even if I […]
Sunday’s night’s season nine finale was the final episode of Shameless starring Emmy Rossum. Fiona’s open-ended exit leaves room for a return- for a holiday episode a few seasons away, maybe even a longer arc if the show runs long enough without her (Cameron Monaghan will be rejoining the cast for season ten after taking […]
If you told me week one of this season that I would…
Welcome to the sweet release that is the final resting place of Survivor: Ghost Island…
Last year, Ashley I(aconetti) won our award for Outstanding Female Reality TV Star and, when she did, I wrote the following: “She’s a refreshingly frank, sneakily smart, consistently funny person who makes the audience feel like a friend and, in return, we just want her to be happy”. In 2016, when he was on The […]
I actually just finished telling a friend that I don’t think recapping/reviewing/discussing The Good Place in any kind of semi-formal forum is all that useful. My argument was that, with very few exceptions, it’s most likely that you’re not nearly as smart as the show and its creators so, especially right now, in the immediate […]
Welcome back to the final recap of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers! It seems like only yesterday I was sitting down to pen my first recap of this season, feeling slightly let down by a lukewarm premiere but bubbling with hope and anticipation about the possibilities of such a fun and diverse cast, all […]
Melora Hardin is always in charge. Known as the hard-ass from corporate always squashing the Scranton Office hijinks, Sarah Pfefferman’s uncompromising ex on Transparent, and the high-end event planner keeping Brian Austin Green’s Wedding Band in line, Hardin has made a career as an authority figure who says no to pretty much everything and never […]
The Dragons I can’t think of a better way to start talking about the season seven finale of Game of Thrones than by talking about Daenerys Stormborn. When we first saw her, she was a girl with nothing and everything. In one sense, she had nothing because she had no agency, no chance for self-determination. […]
In a lot of ways, both for me as a reviewer and for this show that I cover, we end like we began. I started with a two-episode binge that at turns entranced and horrified me, and I end on a two-episode binge that left me agitated and exhilarated – just like June, who ends […]
I’m sure by now you have come up with a list of reasons why you can’t watch every show. No time, no interest, and no access are all valid excuses for being behind on all those water cooler moments you’ve missed out on. When it comes to the show Big Little Lies, I fear your […]
*spoilers throughout* The second season of Rachel Bloom & Aline Brosh McKenna’s wacky, honest, fun, moving, groundbreaking, silly, progressive gem of a musical comedy moved fast. Really fast. Like, a full series worth of plot and character development in 13 episodes kind-of-fast. The ensemble was re-shuffled with one major character exit, one major character addition, and […]
Every conversation I’ve had about NBC’s afterlife comedy The Good Place to date has gone in pretty much the same direction. Other Person: Do you like The Good Place? Me: Yeah. It’s not blowing my mind but I like it. Other Person: The cast is good. Me: The cast is great. Other Person: I like […]
On Monday CBS announced the cancellation of two shows after just one season each. Both BrainDead and American Gothic were summer series- a seemingly cushy spot for a network drama where cable-like 13-episode seasons, less competition and lower ratings expectations often result in good-faith renewals that give critical darlings time to find their feet. A […]
Another summer over means another half season of Suits also coming to an end. And while my summer has been great, season 6A of Suits has stunk more than the streets of Toronto it films on after garbage day. Look, I love Suits as much at the next proud Toronto resident whose claim to fame […]
When a show ends, we expect it to answer questions. There are, of course, famous examples of shows that leave questions without answers: Lost, Heroes, 24, The West Wing, The Sopranos- big budget dramas and network television broadcasts that have a lot going on, too much going on to answer every last little question. But none […]
That’s it, the network TV season is over. I would ask how you felt about it but, let’s be honest, you don’t watch network TV anymore. You watch Game of Thrones and, if you’re really cool, you maybe downloaded Horace & Pete (if you haven’t, you should). You’re a young, busy, hip person; you don’t […]
That’s it, the network TV season is over. I would ask how you felt about it but, let’s be honest, you don’t watch network TV anymore. You watch Game of Thrones and, if you’re really cool, you maybe downloaded Horace & Pete (if you haven’t, you should). You’re a young, busy, hip person; you don’t […]
Finale Season six is over. Hard as it is to comprehend, girls and boys, they ended the season with an hour and twenty-two minutes of the best scenes everyone wanted, stuck together with the fading glue of human interest. The audience got what it wanted in this episode, “The Winds of Winter,” and it got […]
Is it better for a show to announce it’s ending as far in as advance as it can so fans have time to come to terms with their impending loss? Or should a show employ a rip-the-bandage-off kind of approach when it comes to series finales? Penny Dreadful decided to blindside viewers, not announcing the […]