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“Veep” is Fun Politics
Published on 2012-05-13 20:15:48
HBO's new comedy “Veep” will probably not inspire you but it will make you laugh. Related posts:Dirty Politics Meets its Match in ‘Scandal’ > read more
“Baggage Battles” Will Make You Think Twice About How You Pack For Your Next Trip
Published on 2012-05-06 22:22:37
This show fascinates me for the simple reason that I don't get bored thinking: People put what in their bags? No related posts. > read more
‘Touch’ Has Big Ideas but Little Excitement
Published on 2012-04-30 00:46:14
I had high hopes for Kiefer Sutherland's new series “Touch.” I really wanted to like it. It had an interesting premise, an excellent leading man (he's “24's” Jack Bauer, after all!) and a child actor who doesn't actually speak. Related posts:To: “New Girl” To: “The Event” & “The Real Housewives of D.C.” Healing the Oprah way on ‘Beverly’s Full House’ > read more
Sea Shepherd Takes on the Faroe Islands in “Whale Wars: Viking Shores”
Published on 2012-04-23 00:36:13
According to the Faroese, it takes two minutes to kill a pilot whale. If Paul Watson is successful, it is two minutes that will never happen. No related posts. > read more
When good sitcom characters go bad, it’s time for a change.
Published on 2012-04-15 22:59:33
“Californication,” the raunchy comedy on Showtime about the sexual and relationship misadventures of novelist Hank Moody (David Duchovny), recently ended its fifth season and it will probably be the last for me as a viewer. I blame Charlie Runkle. Related posts:The Worst TV Characters of 2011 To: “Game of Thrones” > read more
Healing the Oprah way on ‘Beverly’s Full House’
Published on 2012-04-09 03:36:43
Aah, the joys of mother/daughter relationships. They can be contentious and loving all at the same time and it's this balancing act, familiar to many mothers and daughters, that “Beverly's Full House” is hoping will entertain you. No related posts. > read more
Dirty Politics Meets its Match in ‘Scandal’
Published on 2012-04-01 20:40:10
Pope (Kerry Washington) is a lawyer turned crisis manager who used to work for the president but now “fixes things” for private clients. She's smart, confident, connected and works by trusting her gut which we are told more than once is never wrong. No related posts. > read more
“GCB” Everything’s Meaner in Texas
Published on 2012-03-27 03:27:55
If television has taught us anything about female friendships it's that they're often sweet on the outside and tart on the inside (“Real Housewives” anyone?). ABC's new comedy, the oddly titled “GCB,” plays off this idea with an added dose of religion and Texas swagger. Related posts:On “Jane By Design” Being a Teenager is Hard “Work It” Doesn’t Work > read more
“Shark Tank” Revives the American Dream, One Deal at a Time
Published on 2012-03-14 02:00:52
“Shark Tank” is all about achieving the American dream. In fact, it's practically an exercise in American dream propaganda, so obvious is its reliance on this tenet of the national belief system. The surprising thing is, I'm buying the sales pitch. Related posts:The Personal is Political on “All American Muslim” > read more
“Bering Sea Gold” is Quality Television
Published on 2012-03-09 19:36:43
What I'm about to argue may be surprising: “Bering Sea Gold” is a quality show and one you should be watching. Related posts:To: The Parents Television Council To: Reality Television > read more
On “Jane By Design” Being a Teenager is Hard
Published on 2012-03-04 22:43:42
“Jane By Design” is the latest offering in the “being a teenager is hard” genre. On this ABC Family show, Jane Quimby (Erica Dasher) finds it tough because at her high school, she is a social and romantic outcast. Related posts:To: “Switched at Birth” To: “A Gifted Man” > read more
‘Spartacus:Vengeance’: It’s Back and Bloodier Than Ever
Published on 2012-02-24 20:45:26
In a past review, I've argued that one of the strengths of the “Spartacus” franchise is its ability to push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable viewing. But now that it has done that over one season and a prequel, has it lost its impact? Related posts:The Top 10 TV Shows of 2010 > read more
“Downton Abbey” returns for another season of upstairs, downstairs drama.
Published on 2012-02-09 20:50:51
In season two of “Downton Abbey,” we rejoin the Crawley household in the midst of World War I. If you haven't been watching this Emmy award winning British drama series, the crisis that sets it in motion is one of inheritance. Related posts:Real Medical Drama, Stat! > read more
“Work It” Doesn’t Work
Published on 2012-01-08 19:50:44
Lee Standish (Ben Koldyke), a former top salesman has been unemployed for a year. After he overhears that a pharmaceutical company is hiring female sales staff, he impersonates a woman and is hired when he shows impressive knowledge of the company's products. Related posts:I Could Do That. Making Art Accessible on “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” To: “New Girl” > read more
The Worst TV Characters of 2011
Published on 2012-01-03 00:28:25
For this year's "worst list," I want to focus on characters that drove me crazy because frankly, I need to vent. This is not a list of “love to hate them” characters like the delightfully vicious Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe) on “Revenge.” This is a catalog of the characters that I really, actually hate. The ones who annoy me to the point that upon seeing them in a scene, I swear that I will abandon the show forever Related posts:To: “Game of Thrones” The Top 10 TV Sho [..] > read more
I Could Do That. Making Art Accessible on “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist”
Published on 2011-12-20 01:35:40
For many people, contemporary and abstract art is inaccessible. Its often conceptual nature is sometimes difficult to embrace. “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” works hard to change this. Related posts:To: “Platinum Hit” “Work It” Doesn’t Work > read more
The Personal is Political on “All American Muslim”
Published on 2011-12-12 01:26:21
On series television, there are very few representations of Muslim characters that don't have sinister intentions or aren't caught up in terrorist plots. On shows including “24,” “NCIS” and “Sleeper Cell,” Muslim characters are more likely to commit an act of violence while Islam is often depicted as a challenge to Western values and a threat to the West's economic and political interests. “All American Muslim,” a new reality show on TLC, offers its own challenge by trying to giv [..] > read more
Real Medical Drama, Stat!
Published on 2011-12-04 18:47:04
In my sleep deprived state I randomly chose an episode that I soon realized was about a face transplant. (Word of advice: Do not watch real medical procedures that involve removing faces as a sleep aide). While the episode didn't help my insomnia, it did remind me that reality television has the potential to inspire. Related posts:To: “A Gifted Man” To:The Real Housewives of New York City “Downton Abbey” returns for another season of upstairs, downstairs drama. > read more
To: “Say Yes to the Dress”
Published on 2011-11-29 00:45:16
No matter what you think of the televised Kardashian wedding spectacular and its equally spectacular crash and burn, the media coverage it generated benefited from the powerful idea that a wedding is one day where a woman's fantasies and dreams come true. This dream has a big platform in reality television shows that feature wedding planners, lavish weddings, budget weddings, weddings planned by grooms and most importantly, wedding dresses. Related posts:To: The Kardashian Sisters > read more
To: “A Gifted Man”
Published on 2011-11-08 13:19:03
Holt is a typical over-achieving doctor character. Then he has dinner with his ex-wife Anna, who happens to be dead. Related posts:Real Medical Drama, Stat! > read more
To: Tim Allen
Published on 2011-10-17 00:15:25
In “Last Man Standing,” Allen treads familiar territory playing Mike, father of three girls and a catalog photographer for an outdoor lifestyle business. When his boss decides to sideline the catalog in favor of the company's online presence, Mike is put in charge of increasing web sales. He starts an online video segment where his angry rants bemoaning the loss of tough, rugged, 'real' men become an internet sensation. Mike is, you guessed it, a man's man. Related posts:To: “Pan Am [..] > read more
To: “New Girl”
Published on 2011-10-09 23:03:03
Ever since “Friends” set a high standard for situation comedies featuring the 'singles as dysfunctional family' concept, new additions to the formula (see: “How I Met Your Mother” and “Big Bang Theory”) have tried with varying degrees of success to meet that benchmark. How “New Girl” fits into the legacy established by “Friends” will depend upon how much viewers like the character of Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel). Related posts:“Work It” Doesn’t Work To: Tim [..] > read more
To: The Parents Television Council
Published on 2011-02-06 20:59:44
"Skins" is a new scripted drama on MTV that focuses on a group of friends. They have sex and spend a lot of time trying to have sex. They take drugs and talk a lot about taking drugs. They don't apologize for their behavior, suffer many consequences > read more
Dear TV Executives
Published on 2011-02-02 20:38:21
In the spirit of new beginnings, here are a few resolutions that television executives can make to improve my time spent with the small screen. No related posts. > read more
The Top 10 TV Shows of 2010
Published on 2010-12-21 22:25:27
In 2010, television brought us cops in Hawaii, bikers in California, British investigators and a different kind of situation at the Jersey shore. The shows on this year’s list however, gave us more than a few intriguing characters. They questio > read more
To: “The Event” & “The Real Housewives of D.C.”
Published on 2010-10-22 22:10:24
If The Event wants to successfully take license with its time line, it would do well to learn a lesson from the recent D.C. installment of The Real Housewives. Related posts:To:The Real Housewives of New York City > read more
To: Maggie Q
Published on 2010-10-07 22:17:39
In the opening sequence of the first episode of Nikita, Maggie Q is wearing a slinky bathing suit while fighting bad guys. Really? She’s so thin that I’m pretty sure they could just blow on her and run away. Related posts:To: Hoarding–Bur > read more
To: People Magazine
Published on 2010-09-16 00:51:18
Re: Kate Gosselin, Again Kate Gosselin is on the cover of People, again. This time she’s in a bikini and apparently she’s looking for a man. I guess it’s her version of a dating ad, now that she’s too ‘famous’ for > read more
To: Hoarding–Buried Alive
Published on 2010-09-03 04:16:05
Hoarding: Buried Alive is a TLC show that focuses on people who suffer from a compulsion to collect and keep things until those things literally take over their house. The structure is: exposition, desperation, consultation. It begins with the partic > read more
To: Spencer Pratt
Published on 2010-08-25 00:06:36
Re: Sex, Lies & Videotape Spencer Pratt is the soon to be ex-husband of Heidi Montag. He is known for being on the reality show The Hills and for being married to Montag who is mostly known for having 10 plastic surgery procedures in one day. She > read more
To: New Jersey
Published on 2010-08-02 18:15:46
Dear New Jersey: After years of enduring turnpike exit jokes and feeling like the poor cousin to New York, you have finally come into your own. Thanks to Jersey Shore, Jerseylicious and The Real Housewives of New Jersey, the rest of the country is ge > read more
To: Lindsay Lohan
Published on 2010-07-27 21:48:20
Lindsay Lohan went to jail last week. This is a surprise to no one except maybe Lindsay herself. Oh, and her mother Dina who told the press that the incarceration of her daughter was "unfair." No related posts. > read more
To: Mel Gibson
Published on 2010-07-15 19:55:01
With the release of audiotapes allegedly featuring the voice of Mel Gibson wishing his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva very bad things, commentators are now speculating on the future of Gibson's career. No related posts. > read more