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Posts tagged as “TV Shows”

TV Mid-Season '010: The Complete Review – What is new

We almost got side-tracked by the Oscars, didn’t we?
No worries, I’ve got you covered on the new series coming your way in the next few months.

New and shiny. Will you tune in?


– Miami Medical (premieres April 2): At first you might think we’re talking about NBC’s Trauma (hell, the show was even first named Miami Trauma), but the truth is, it’s a riveting original new medical drama unlike any other. Except all the others. Lana Parrilla stars in this soon-to-be-canned new series. Did someone say three for three? If there’s one thing to point out however, is that the show was created by residuals-millionaire Jeffrey Lieber (yes, that one).


– Parenthood (premieres March 2): Is it really Modern Family meets Brothers & Sisters? If anything, the cast is incredible. However with that said, I wasn’t overly impressed by the pilot but I’ll stay tuned to see if it does get better.
– Persons Unknown (premieres June 7): Created by Oscar-winner Christopher McQuarrie (thanks to a little film called The Usual Suspects), this new mystery drama is about a bunch of amnesiacs waking up in an unknown location. Who are they? Where are we? Add an island, flashbacks, a smoke monster and, well, you know where I’m going with this.

The Big Unknown
Day One (Spring): What a ride it has been. First it was an event series premiering post-Olympics, then an event mini-series, and now a backdoor-pilot/TV-movie with (still!) no premiere date. No need to pull the plug on this one, the cord has already firmly secured the neck.


– Happy Town (premieres April 28): No, I’m not going to make a Twin Peaks joke. The pilot was pretty much a bore and a waste of its great cast (more Amy Acker!).

The Big Unknown
Copper (Spring): Grey’s Anatomy, but with cops. How original.


– Sons of Tucson (premieres March 14): It’s been promoted for almost a year, the pilot leaked ages ago, and it’s only premiering now. Don’t ask if it’s going to blend, ask if it’s going to last.
– The Good Guys (fka Code 58/The Five Eight) (premieres June 7): Bradley Whitford with a ‘stache, Matt Nix behind the typewriter, and Colin Hanks as the snarky rookie. Do I hear Starsky & Hutch meets badassery?


– The Pacific (premieres March 14): You know you’ve been waiting for it for a decade. It’s finally here.
– Treme (premieres April 11): Will it be The Wire: New Orleans, or something else? In either case, people will declare it snubbed at the 2011 Emmys.


– Justified (premieres March 16): By Graham Yost, with Timothy Olyphant and Natalie Zea. This looks like another FX winner to me. Despite all of this though, the pitch doesn’t appeal to me.


– The Phantom (premieres in June): We’ve already taken a look at this backdoor-pilot. A trailer is also out there. If you’re not really interested, let me just add that it was written by non other than Daniel Knauf (from Carnivàle fame). Now are you gonna watch?

This mid-season certainly has an “edge” to it…

TV Mid-Season '010: The Complete Review – What is coming back

Now that the Olympics are over, everyone is proud (or ashamed?) to bring back new episodes for their own shows.
And like last year, it is now time to get this Complete Mid-Season Review started (albeit a bit late).
As always, we kick things off with what is coming back (from March and on).

Back with medals.


– Trauma – Season 1.5 (premieres March 8): Let’s be honest, its first half wasn’t that good.
– Friday Night Lights – Season 4 (premieres April 30): A bit late for NBC to show it. This new season however is great.


– FlashForward – Season 1.5 (premieres March 18): The first half was an overwhelming disappointment. I’m not even sure it will live to see another season.
– V – Season 1.5 (premieres March 30): On the other hand, this show was pretty decent. But please, I want more Alan Tudyk.


– Glee – Season 1.5 (premieres April 13): Possibly the best new show this season. Rock on.

Yet again, I shan’t comment since I neither watch nor care about The CW shows.

– Gossip Girl – Season 3.5 (premieres March 8)
– 90210 – Season 2.5 (premieres March 9)
– Melrose Place – Season 1.5 (premieres March 9)


– Southland – Season 2 (premieres March 2): Saved by the bell, it returns from the dead. Will it find an audience on TNT and show NBC that this was the drama to be counted on?
– Saving Grace – Season 4 (premieres March 29): The final nine episodes.


– Nurse Jackie – Season 2 (premieres March 22): Haven’t gotten around to seeing the show.
– United States of Tara – Season 2 (premieres March 22): The high-point was definitely the presence of Patton Oswald.
– The Tudors – Season 4 (premieres April 11): It’s the final countdown.


– Stargate Universe – Season 1.5 (premieres April 2): Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the first half of he season. Let’s see if it can hold up.
– Eureka – Season 4 (premieres July 9): Last season was actually entertaining, so I’ll still be tuning in.
– Warehouse 13 – Season 2 (premieres July 13): For the same reason as Nurse Jackie, I can’t really comment on it.


– Breaking Bad – Season 3 (premieres March 21): If Glee is the best new show, then Breaking Bad is simply the best show on television.

Next up are the brand new shows coming our way.

Tips and stories from around the Web, Part 2

Being deep in the renovations, you may have noticed the lack of fresh enjoyable content. And, like in mid-June, don’t worry, it’s coming.
Meanwhile, here’s a collection of the most interesting articles from the past few days.

As you may know, yesterday was The Twilight Zone’s 50th anniversary. On October 2, 1959, CBS broadcast the first Zone episode, written by Rod Serling himself.
For this occasion, The New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff wrote a piece about the classic anthology series over here.
There is also this great interview with Sterling dating back before the premiere of the show.

Another anniversary is The Blair Witch Project‘s, which this year celebrates its 10-year mark.
Jeff Otto over at Bloody Disgusting has an article on how the movie revolutionized marketing by introducing the now-called viral component into the mix.

Can you believe it’s been ten years since THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT took the world by storm? Remember the build-up? Those mysterious posters months before release making everyone think it was a documentary? “In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary… A year later their footage was found,” read the eerie teaser.

Two big news stories these last couple of weeks have been Dick Cook’s eviction from the Disney Corp. and David Letterman’s admission of his sexual relationships with a few of his staffers.

Following Cook’s ousting, Peter Bart from Variety asked a simple question:

There were rants in the media last week that Bob Iger, the Disney CEO, had not been sufficiently respectful in terminating his venerable studio chairman, Dick Cook.
I can understand this position, except for one issue: Is there really such a thing as a “respectful termination”?

As for Letterman, Verne Gay exposes eight dangers that may face Letterman now that he’s publicly admitted about his sex stories.

And in case you were wondering about My Little Pony’s villain, Overthinking It has posted its own in-depth analysis of why The Smooze is one of the greatest villains ever.