Pilot Reports

THE SKED Fall Pilot Report: NBC’s “Marry Me”

Posted August 14, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  MARRY ME:  Tuesday 9PM on NBC starting October 14 – If Nothing Else Is On… PLAYERS:  Series creator David Caspe, of the late and lamented Happy Endings.  Stars Casey Wilson and Ken Marino, but especially Wilson, because while starring in this comedy about an engaged couple, she’s engaged in real life to Caspe.  Pilot […]

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Reviews

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “Franklin & Bash”

Posted August 14, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  FRANKLIN & BASH:  Wednesday 10PM on TNT Until very recently, FRANKLIN & BASH was what people had in mind when they talked about “Summer TV.”  It’s a fluffy, undemanding procedural whose buddy heroes Jared Franklin (Breckin Meyer) and Peter Bash (Mark Paul Gosselaar) are at least as interested in partying as in winning cases, […]

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Reviews

THE SKED Series Finale Review: “Wilfred”

Posted August 14, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  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 riff on “man’s best friend” stories about guys and their dogs, based on an Australian format and starring Jason Gann, who’d co-created and starred in […]

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Pilot Reports

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “Legends”

Posted August 13, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  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 Falling Skies.  Its latest entry in that genre is the spy thriller LEGENDS, based on a […]

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Reviews

THE SKED Summer Finale Review: “Chasing Life”

Posted August 13, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  CHASING LIFE, which aired its not-quite-half season finale tonight, could better have been titled What Not To Do If You Get Cancer.  That, in itself, isn’t a criticism:  a story about a narcissistic idiot who gets sick and does absolutely everything wrong once she finds out about it is a perfectly valid subject for […]

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Reviews

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “Murder In the First”

Posted August 12, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  The season finale (if it’s lucky) of TNT’s mediocre MURDER IN THE FIRST was rather sad, pallid proof that the powerhouse writer/producer Steven Bochco has been outstripped by the genre he helped invent, the serialized adult crime drama.  Murder In the First tried, sometimes painfully, to be newfangled, throwing in the latest in basic […]

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2014-15 TV Season

THE SKED Fall Pilot Report: NBC’s “State of Affairs”

Posted August 11, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  STATE OF AFFAIRS:  Monday 10PM on NBC starting November 17 – If Nothing Else Is On… PLAYERS:  Star and Executive Producer Katherine Heigl, who developed the series for herself and pitched it to all the networks, hoping to spark a bidding war (which never really happened).  Series creator and pilot director Joe Carnahan, a […]

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Pilot Reports

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “Outlander”

Posted August 9, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  OUTLANDER:  Saturday 9PM on Starz – If Nothing Else Is On… After an uncharacteristic stop in the urban milieu of Power, Starz returns to its comfort zone of historical drama with OUTLANDER, based on the bestselling series of books by Diana Gabaldon.  The TV version retains a distinctly romance novel tone (with a pay-cable […]

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