Fall Pilots

PREMIERING TONIGHT: FOX’s “Dads”

Posted September 17, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  Read All Our Fall Pilot Reports here. DADS:  Tuesday 8PM on FOX  – Change the Channel It’s hard to believe that the comedy executives at FOX, who have put such high-quality shows as New Girl, The Mindy Project and Raising Hope on the air in recent years, not to mention the upcoming and very […]

Full Story »

Reviews

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Major Crimes”

Posted August 20, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  TNT’s MAJOR CRIMES, like its predecessor The Closer, belongs to the “procedural-plus” subgenre, with a crime to be solved every week combined with a secondary amount of continuing serialized plot.  However, there was very little of the “plus” to be found in tonight’s season finale (really a half-season finale, with the show scheduled to resume […]

Full Story »

Film Festival

TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: “The Last of Robin Hood”

Posted September 12, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD is an odd miss, a sliver of movie history that seems to have all the right elements but never quite jells.  The title refers to Errol Flynn, legendary swashbuckling star of The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, The Dawn Patrol and many other classic Hollywood adventures, and it’s hard to […]

Full Story »

Pilot Reports

THE SKED SERIES PREMIERE REVIEW: “Masters of Sex”

Posted September 29, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  MASTERS OF SEX:  Sunday 10PM on Showtime – Potential DVR Alert After the macho angst of Ray Donovan and–notwithstanding its excellence–the heavy going of Homeland, Showtime smartly changes pace with MASTERS OF SEX, an engrossing, sexy and sometimes funny history based on the real lives of Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson, trailblazing sexuality […]

Full Story »

Pilot + 1

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “Super Fun Night”

Posted October 9, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  SUPER FUN NIGHT:  Wednesday 9:30PM on ABC Previously… on SUPER FUN NIGHT:  Kimmie (series creator Rebel Wilson) and her BFFs Marika (Lauren Ash) and Helen-Alice (Liza Lapira) share a New York apartment and nonexistent romantic life.  One night each week, they go out to have adventures.  On the professional front, Kimmie is a lawyer […]

Full Story »

Current Release

AFI FEST Film Review: “Lone Survivor”

Posted November 13, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  LONE SURVIVOR:  Buy A Ticket – A Powerfully Visceral Tale of War Peter Berg’s LONE SURVIVOR, which was shown at the AFI Film Festival tonight in advance of its release late next month, is a docudrama in the truest sense:  based on the memoir by Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, it exists with one aim […]

Full Story »

Current Release

SHOWBUZZDAILY FILM REVIEW: “Delivery Man”

Posted November 20, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  DELIVERY MAN:  Not Even For Free – Vince Vaughn Tries Wholesomeness DELIVERY MAN, alas, is Vince Vaughn’s Patch Adams.  Vaughn’s desire to try something new is understandable:  he’s in his mid-40s now, and his rat-a-tat schemer schtick has been running thin lately (his last real hit was Couples Retreat in 2009); at this rate, […]

Full Story »

Midseason Finale

THE SKED Fall Finale Review: “Nashville”

Posted December 12, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  How much guitar string does NASHVILLE have left?  Last night’s fall finale had a 1.4 rating in 18-49s, half a point below last season’s–which was already considered a major disappointment.  When you’re already below a 2, half a point is critically important, and at some point, the revenues ABC/Disney get from Nashville iTunes sales […]

Full Story »