Pilot Reports

THE SKED’S MIDSEASON PILOT REPORT: NBC’s “1600 Penn”

Posted August 2, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  1600 PENN:  TBD Midseason on NBC – If Nothing Else Is On… Disclaimer: Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall. Pilots are often reedited and re-scored, and in some cases even recast or reshot. These critiques shouldn’t be taken as full pilot reviews, but […]

Full Story »

Pilot + 1

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Copper”

Posted August 27, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  COPPER:  Sunday 10PM on BBCAmerica – If Nothing Else Is On… A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover) […]

Full Story »

Pilot + 1

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “The New Normal”

Posted September 13, 2012 by Mitch Salem

A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover) give plenty of notes, helpful and otherwise, and critics begin to rear […]

Full Story »

Reviews

THE SKED’S SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Modern Family”

Posted September 27, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  MODERN FAMILY:  Wednesday 9PM on ABC WHERE WE WERE:  Gloria (Sofia Vergara) is pregnant.  That’s really all you need to know.  Well, that and Cam and Mitchell (Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson) failed in their attempt to adopt a second child.  But mostly, Gloria is pregnant. WHERE WE ARE:  The next day, which […]

Full Story »

Reviews

THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “The Walking Dead”

Posted October 15, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  THE WALKING DEAD:  Sunday 9PM on AMC WHERE WE WERE:  Finally leaving the farm owned by Herschel (Scott Wilson), where for most of a becalmed season, there had been at least as much soul-searching as zombie killing, much of the philosophizing having to do with whether pregnant Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) should bring a […]

Full Story »

Film Festival

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE 2013: “The East”

Posted January 21, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  A couple of Sundances ago, the actress/writer/producer Brit Marling was a festival darling, with two acclaimed pictures unveiled the same week.  In the end, while both Another Earth and Sound of My Voice received distribution, neither found much of a mainstream audience.  (Marling’s also established an acting career that included a very good turn in last year’s Arbitrage.) […]

Full Story »

Other

THE SKED NETFLIX REVIEW: “House of Cards” (Full Season)

Posted March 13, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  It took me just under 6 weeks to get through the 13 hours of HOUSE OF CARDS, the first original Netflix series.  That’s a little less than half the time a regular weekly run would have taken, although nowhere near the weekend binge-viewing that some were planning when all the episodes of Season 1 […]

Full Story »

Pilot + 1

THE SKED PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Rogue”

Posted April 10, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  ROGUE:  Wednesday 9PM on Audience Network (DirecTV only) A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover) give plenty of […]

Full Story »