BACKSTROM:  Midseason TBD on FOX THE FACTS:  Rainn Wilson plays your basic difficult-but-brilliant homicide detective in a procedural based on a series of Swedish mystery novels, adapted for television by Hart Hanson, the creator of Bones.  Backstrom is grumpy and dismissive of his colleagues, and unhealthy in his eating, drinking and general living habits, […]

  Come February, Thursday nights are going to feature an old-fashioned broadcast network slugfest, as ABC’s announcement that Scandal is moving to 9PM will put it squarely in the path of NBC’s The Blacklist when that series moves at midseason–may the best crazy plot twist-laden melodrama win.  The Scandal move is part of ABC’s new […]

  HIEROGLYPH:  Midseason TBD on FOX THE FACTS:  Ancient Egyptian fantasy-adventure, given a direct-to-series order by FOX.  The series creator is Travis Beacham, a screenwriter of Pacific Rim and the remake of Clash of the Titans, and let’s pretend that’s something to boast about. WHAT IT’S SAYING:  There will be mystery, magic, palace intrigue and […]

  JANE THE VIRGIN:  Monday 9PM on CW – If Nothing Else Is On… PLAYERS:  Ugly Betty, plus the whole notion of basing US TV shows on Spanish-language series (Red Band Society and The Mysteries of Laura are two more this season), and especially Executive Producer Ben Silverman, who’s was one of those behind Betty […]

  CBS is launching the bulk of its fall schedule during the broadcast networks’ official Premiere Week, Sept 22-28, but with a few exceptions, including a slightly early kick-off for its Sunday shows, and some shifts caused by its Sept-Oct Thursday Night Football games and the temporary move of The Big Bang Theory to Mondays.  […]

The EMMY AWARDS could hardly have gone more emphatically HBO’s way, with wins for Best Drama, Comedy, Limited Series and Made-For-TV Movie, not to mention many of the acting, writing and directing awards that went with them.  It was a night with a lot of exciting new winners, but the show itself was very much […]

  MADAM SECRETARY:  Sunday 8PM on CBS  – Potential DVR Alert PLAYERS:  Series creator Barbara Hall, a veteran of everything from Northern Exposure to Joan of Arcadia (which she created), and Army Wives to Homeland.  Star Tea Leoni, and an A-list supporting cast that includes Keith Carradine, Tim Daly, Bebe Neuwirth and Zeljko Ivanek.  Pilot […]

  CONSTANTINE:  Friday 10PM on NBC starting October 24 – If Nothing Else is On… (but also Incomplete) PLAYERS:  DC Comics.  Series creators Daniel Cerrone (a showrunner, although not creator, of Dexter) and David S. Goyer (of DaVinci’s Demons and the Dark Knight movies).  Pilot director Neil Marshall, who’s best known for directing the “Blackwater” episode […]