Both “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” and “The Regime” are about the power moves behind oppressive states, and the lies it takes to sustain a dictatorship. By almost any conceivable metric, “Regime” is the better show–more cerebral, more realistic, more relevant, smarter characters, less “Comic Con” influenced–but, shockingly, “The Ones Who Live” actually…
Category: TV Reviews
All 2023 TV Shows Ranked from Worst to Best
Note: It is now impossible for any one human to watch all TV shows in a given year, especially all the bad ones. This list is 70-odd shows that I had a reasonable expectation would be good, and I ranked/graded them only on the basis of what I actually watched vs. hypothetically lousy shows I…
Reviewing, Grading, and Ranking the “Succession” Seasons From Worst to Best
I had planned to post this article right after the “Succession” series finale, but the bleak finale (combined with “Barry”‘s equally hopeless ending that aired right after it) was a little too harrowing to review immediately after it was over. I can’t say I’m entirely surprised that it ended in a depressing place (some of…
“Succession”‘s Apocalyptic Series Finale Made “Barry”‘s Look Upbeat, and Confirmed Kendall was Always Surrounded by Assholes
“Succession”‘s series finale was so bleak it made “Barry”‘s bruise-black finale (which aired right after it) look downright sunny in comparison. More than half of “Barry”‘s main cast was killed or wrongfully convicted for murder–with Hollywood even giving them the full villain treatment, which is probably worse than death for most of Barry’s limelight-obsessed characters–and…
Season Finale Reviews: “Schmigadoon,” “Lucky Hank,” “The Diplomat,” and “Rabbit Hole”
“Schmigadoon”…I loved the first season of what turned out to be one of the best TV series Apple+ had ever produced (no small thing on a platform rapidly becoming known for its high-quality), but was skeptical if it really needed a second season. It turns out that it probably didn’t, but the second season is…
TV Reviews: “You,” “Your Honor,” and “Mayor of Kingstown”
Although “You” remains the worst show I watch, it definitely had some competition with the completely unnecessary second season of “Your Honor.” Both had such lousy seasons, that it makes me question watching any more shows with variations of the word “you” in the title. “You”…Although I’m sure this isn’t actually the worst show on…
All 2022 TV Shows Reviewed, Graded, and Ranked From Worst to Best
Note: It would actually be impossible to watch all of the scripted series that came out in 2022, but 100 shows is certainly nothing to sneeze at. I usually just do a movie countdown, but I figured I watched enough TV series to be close to complete for the year’s best shows (somehow I just…
The Best TV Characters of 2022
This was such an exceptionally good year for TV characters, I had to extend the usual “Top 10” list to 15 mentions. Of course, I did the same thing for the “Worst” list as well, but why focus on the negative? The bottom line is that if you couldn’t find a TV show (and character)…
All Seasons of “Better Call Saul” Ranked, Reviewed, and Graded
“Better Call Saul” is often called the “Best Show on TV” and sometimes even “the last great TV drama,” referring to how 20’s television is definitely trending more towards “quantity” than “quality.” And it’s true that every year there are a dozen heralded “new” series that feel more like interesting trifles than shows that can…
Ranking and Grading the Seasons of “Ozark”
If “Ozark” was ever a contender for the title of “Best Crime Drama on Television” then it long ago seceded that mantle to “Better Call Saul” (another crime drama finishing its run this year, albeit in a much higher quality). “Ozark” was as frustrating as it was excellent, often alternating between choice bits of drama…
TV Reviews: “Vikings: Valhalla” and “The Girl Before”
“Vikings: Valhalla”…As a long-suffering “fan” of the original “Vikings,” I kept watching all six seasons years after most people had given up. So I wasn’t totally thrilled to see Netflix revive the “Vikings” brand, and in a way where changes are so minimal, they’re practically non-existent. Fans of the original will recognize some very familiar…
TV Reviews: “Ozark” Season 4 (Part 1) and “The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window”
I’ve made a New Year’s resolution to include more TV and Film reviews this year (they were almost completely absent from this site in 2021). Luckily, Netflix had a pair of buzz-worthy shows in January that almost everyone on Earth has already seen and weighed in on. However, they were both improperly reviewed on Rotten…
Best TV Shows of 2021
Note: One thing I noticed about the TV shows I selected as the “Best of the Year” are that setting plays a huge role in almost all of them. I can’t remember a time I’ve done this annual list, and the distinctive locations of each series were so central to them; that’s even true of…
