Three series premiered at the same time last night, two of them brand-new. And although you never can judge a series by its pilot alone, I already feel “The Terror” and “Barry” are worthy of watching for a full season… The Terror…An 1845 British expedition through the arctic, as two naval vessels attempt to find…
Category: TV Reviews
The Season Finales of “American Crime Story” and “X-Files” Play to Strengths and Weaknesses
Two very different series had their season finales last night (possibly series finale in “The X-Files” case), and even if both were inconsistent experiences, it was quite surprising which show ultimately had the stronger season… American Crime Story: The Assasination of Gianni Versace…There could’ve been no clearer example of this series strengths and weaknesses than…
TV Reviews: Did “Crashing” Get Better in Season Two?
That’s a deceptively simple question since in many ways “Crashing”‘s season two was a more satisfying, more consistent experience with an interesting arc (perpetual lost puppy Pete Holmes meets a razor-sharp, competitive female comic in a very realistic and twisty version of “Boy Meets Girl”), but I also found myself mysteriously sluggish in watching the…
TV Reviews: “UnReal,” “McMafia,” “Final Space”
Three very different series premiered this week, and the only returning show of the bunch (“UnReal”) may have waited a little too long to come back after a weak season 2… UnReal, Season 3…The show had a terrible second season, but–to me–it doesn’t look like they fully understand what the problem is: stagnant, obnoxious characters…
“The Walking Dead” is TV’s First Unisex Soap Opera
Cables two biggest soap operas are back this week with premieres for “The Walking Dead” and “UnReal.” Now before you scoff at the definition of TWD as a soap opera remember that zombie Godfather George A. Romero dissed “Dead” as a “soap opera with zombies.” And I might have to agree after watching the mid-season…
TV Reviews: “Homeland,” “Here and Now,” and “Another Period”
Three shows that really have nothing in common except they premiered new seasons around the same time… Homeland, Season 7…It’s a cruel irony that the better “Homeland” gets, the less other critics pay attention to it. For me, the series has only gotten better with age, starting with the amazing, Afghanistan-set season 4 that fully…
“The Good Place” Just Might Make You a Better Person
The Good Place…How many TV shows (network or otherwise, drama or comedy) actually get you to think about “Am I good person?” I would say out of the shows currently on TV, exactly one: “The Good Place.” Sure, not everything featured on Michael Shur’s bananas-comedy (the wildest network show since “Pushing Daisies” and “Arrested Development”…
TV Reviews: “The Alienist,” “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” “Counterpart”
Three very different crime series are early into their seasons, but so far it’s become pretty clear which one is most worth watching… American Crime Story Season 2: The Assassination of Gianni Versace…In season one of “American Crime Story,” I resisted watching (at first) largely because I had no interest at all in rehasing the O.J. Simpson…
Reviewing the end of “Episodes” and Ranking the Seasons
It’s extremely difficult to rank the five seasons of Showtime’s recently departed “Episodes” partly because the seasons are fairly consistent in quality (you might argue that not enough changes over the course of the five seasons spread out over seven years) and also because I suspect I might be the only person who even watched…
TV Review: “Episodes” and “The Good Place”
Episodes…Halfway through its fifth and final season, “Episodes” is playing to its already established strengths (a showbiz-satire that’s actually accurate, sharp dialogue, and Matt LeBlanc’s excellent skewering of himself, he’s clearly enjoying the best role he’ll likely ever get) more than risking it all on too many bold new directions, but that’s probably for the…
TV Reviews: “The Deuce,” and “Outlander”
The premieres of two big period dramas were last Sunday, and I had a somewhat mixed reaction to them overall, even as I’ll freely admit I’m excited to see where both go… The Deuce…In a bizarre way, David Simon’s new HBO series (loaded with sex scenes, most of which aren’t sexy) is just as romantic…
AMC’s Long-Suffering (For the Viewer) “TURN” Finally Ends, & Ranking the Seasons
Why did I watch all four seasons of AMC’s “TURN?” A stubborn mix of pride and because the show’s premise—following American spies during the Revolutionary War—is unique and intriguing enough to keep me hooked on the idea that it could become excellent…or better-than-average…or non-frustrating. And, to be fair, some episodes were very strong. It just suffered from…
TV Reviews: “American Gods,” “Fargo,” “Better Call Saul,” “Veep,” “Silicon Valley”
Various critically beloved shows finished their seasons over the last week. Here now, a quick review of all… American Gods…I’m not quite a believer yet, and even if I liked Bryan Fuller’s over-the-top, ghoulish style in “Hannibal” (adding a surrealistic dimension to a series that would’ve been laughably far-fetched otherwise), it tends to smother a…