THE FOLLOWING:  Monday 9PM on FOX With the exception of those whose livelihoods depend on it, is there anyone who really wanted a third season of THE FOLLOWING?  After a promising start, the mass murder thriller wallowed in gore, torture and plotting that was pretentious, repetitive, and often downright silly.  The ratings reflected that, […]

  THE LAST MAN ON EARTH:  Sunday 9:30PM on FOX – Potential DVR Alert THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is both excitingly original and disappointingly cliched, an odd mix that leaves its future prospects somewhat unsettled.  However it ends up, though, FOX and its creator/star Will Forte deserve credit for embarking on a show that’s […]

  SECRETS & LIES:  Sunday 9PM on ABC – If Nothing Else Is On… How much do you find yourself missing Gracepoint?  Not Broadchurch, mind you, the brooding and powerful BBC child-murder mystery (which is returning to BBCAmerica next week), but the flat US remake that came and went on FOX last fall?  ABC hopes […]

  BATTLE CREEK:  Sunday 10PM on CBS – Change the Channel While not the worst show of the season, BATTLE CREEK may well be the most disappointing.  The light procedural combines the talents of two of TV’s premier writer/showrunners, Breaking Bad‘s Vince Gilligan and House‘s David Shore, with a cast that includes Josh Duhamel, Dean […]

  50 Shades of Grey has only been playing in theatres for 2 weeks, but it’s plunged so quickly from its opening weekend that Dakota Johnson already seems a bit like the answer to a pop culture trivia question.  Nevertheless, the star of the presumed franchise (produced by Universal, which also owns NBC, which also […]

  A weaker show than HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER would be crippled by its sizable flaws.  With the all-important exception of its central character, Philadelphia law professor and expert criminal lawyer Annalise Keating, and Viola Davis, the richly talented actress who plays her, the rest of the characters and cast are bland to […]

  THE ODD COUPLE:  Thursday 8:30PM on CBS Previously… on THE ODD COUPLE:  You know the drill.  Oscar Madison (Matthew Perry) is an emotionally superficial slob sportswriter, his old friend Felix Unger (Thomas Lennon) is a neurotic neat freak photographer, Oscar’s a longtime divorcee, Felix’s marriage is just breaking up, Oscar invites him to move […]

  The final hour of PARKS & RECREATION was more conceptual than one might have expected, in a way that made it feel more like an epilogue than a conclusion.  Written by series co-creator/showrunner Michael Schur and star/producer Amy Poehler, and directed by Schur, it was an omnibus of flash-forwards, advancing the action as much […]