In which I arbitrarily rank the latest episodes of sitcoms. This week: Tatiana “Clone Club” Maslany comes to Pawnee, and a couple other shows flounder a bit.
Category Archives: Television
David’s Favorite TV Series, #23: MAD MEN
On its surface, Mad Men is a show about terrible people getting away with whatever they like in a time of white privilege, sexism, and cigarettes. Good thing it’s SO MUCH MORE than that.
What’s the new “Best Show On TV?”
With Breaking Bad coming to a triumphant close — depending on who you ask — this past Sunday, it’s time to take immediate, knee-jerk stock of the television landscape and anoint a new MVP: Most Valuable Program. Here are 25(!) series that are vying for the prize. Let’s choose one, shall we?
BREAKING BAD: “Felina”
And so it ends, with a surprisingly elegiac, old-school sendoff for Walter Hartwell White.
Comedy Roundup: Week of 9/24
A review of The Michael J. Fox Show pilot, Pawnee goes to London, and more in a new weekly feature where I rank sitcom episodes based on my arbitrary whims.
Review: BROADCHURCH, Season 1
A great long-form murder mystery is hard to pull off in the 21st century, because audiences have gotten more cynical and are quicker at putting the pieces together. With entire message boards devoted to theories and speculation as a series like Broadchurch progresses, the “big reveal” at the end will always run the risk of underwhelming (if there even IS a reveal, as The Killing learned to its peril) — but Broadchurch skirts that issue, and does so brilliantly.
Pilot Review: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
There’s an awful lot riding on this one. With the full weight of the Marvel/Disney publicity machine behind it, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t be anything less than an out-of-the-box smash. Good news? It’s probably the best drama pilot of the year. Bad news? All it has to be to clear that bar is “okay.”
BREAKING BAD: “Granite State”
Last week, creator Vince Gilligan said that “Ozymandias” was “the best episode we ever had or will ever have.” While that might be a red flag to some about next week’s grand finale, it absolutely signaled the piece-moving, comedown episode we had last night. I didn’t love it, but it was necessary.
David’s Favorite TV Series, #24: FRINGE
A brainy science-fiction show with romantic’s heart, a procedural with fully-formed characters, a crazy action series with a brilliant cast — FRINGE was many things, and always great.
EMMYS 2013: Who Will (and Should) Win?
This Sunday, Neil Patrick Harris hosts the Emmys, which purports to honor the finest television of last year, but is mostly an opportunity for the voters to repeatedly honor the same people over and over again. If the Golden Globes are awful because of their nomination process, at least they usually get the winners right. The Emmys, meanwhile, are constantly behind the curve. Will anything change this year? Let’s dive into the nominations…