Author Archive
 

 

THE SKED PILOT REVIEW: “About A Boy”

  ABOUT A BOY:  Tuesday 9PM on NBC (Preview Tonight at 11:05PM) – If Nothing Else is On… ABOUT A BOY, which NBC will preview tonight at the close of Olympics coverage ahead of its regular timeslot premiere on ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED REVIEW: “Saturday Night Live” with Louis CK

  Louis CK’s last visit to host SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE in 2012 was one of the show’s best recent episodes, and now that his signature Louie is resuming (finally!) on FX in May, he came back tonight for a return en...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “The Walking Dead”

  There were so many ads for summer blockbuster movies during tonight’s Season 4 finale of AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD, it was almost like watching the Super Bowl.  One by one, the latest installments of Planet of ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “The Following”

  It was no easy feat for the second season of THE FOLLOWING be even more idiotic and vicious than its Season 1.  But devotion to craft pays off in the end, and series creator Kevin Williamson and his writer/producer part...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

The Tony Award Nominations

  In a Broadway season with seemingly just one overwhelming favorite (that would be Neil Patrick–wait for it–Harris), the Tony Award nominations were bound to have their share of omissions and oddities.  The f...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “Nashville”

  It took some down-to-the-wire negotiations between ABC and production studio Lionsgate, but NASHVILLE made its way to a Season 3 renewal this week.  (And barring further ratings collapse, that makes a Season 4 more like...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “Elementary”

  Luckily for ELEMENTARY, appearances by the BBC’s celebrated Sherlock are so sporadic and brief (this season’s 3 episodes were the first in 2 years), that the two series only infrequently need to be judged aga...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “Penny Dreadful”

  PENNY DREADFUL:  Sunday 10PM on Showtime Previously… on PENNY DREADFUL:  In 1890s London, a mysterious set of figures exist in a world where literature’s classic horror characters are as real as Jack the Ri...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Review: “The Normal Heart”

  THE NORMAL HEART:  Sunday 9PM on HBO – DVR Alert When Larry Kramer’s just-barely-semi-autobiographical THE NORMAL HEART was first written and performed in 1985, it was as “ripped from the headlinesR...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Series Finale Review: “Californication”

  CALIFORNICATION knew going in that this 7th season would be its last, and we’ve grown used to series in that position, from Breaking Bad to Friends to–God help us–Lost, making a special effort to provid...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “Welcome to Sweden”

  WELCOME TO SWEDEN:  Thursday 9PM on NBC – Potential DVR Alert WELCOME TO SWEDEN has one of the more unusual provenances of any show on a US broadcast network.  It was commissioned by Swedish television, where it ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “Crossbones”

  CROSSBONES, despite some hoopla when it was first announced, turned out to be a series hardly anyone wanted to watch.  Adjusting for the fact that Starz is only in 1/3 of US households, even that network’s Black S...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “Legends”

  LEGENDS:  Wednesday 9PM on TNT – If Nothing Else Is On… After serving as a home for middle-aged procedurals for years, TNT has done well with its recent run of more macho adventures like The Last Ship and Fa...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Series Finale Review: “Wilfred”

  Considering what a deeply strange series WILFRED was–even for the wilds, eventually, of FXX–tonight’s series finale provided a surprising amount of closure.  The more-or-less comedy began as a raunchy ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 8/17/14

  OPENINGS:  On an unspectacular weekend, LET’S BE COPS (20th) was able to top the new arrivals with $17.7M (and $26.1M since its opening on Wednesday).  It should get to $40M in the US, and with a reported product...
by Mitch Salem