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, […]

  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 […]

  THE ASSETS:  Thursday 10PM on ABC Previously… on THE ASSETS:  In 1980s Washington, the hunt is on for a CIA agent who’s actually a mole for the KGB.  But there’s no mystery for viewers, who know that the double agent is Aldrich Ames (Paul Rhys).  The agent who doesn’t know, and has been tasked […]

  Zach Braff’s WISH I WAS HERE, his first film as a writer-director since Garden State 10 years ago, mixes genuine, deeply-felt emotion with the kind of contrivances that would grate even on a second-rate sitcom.  (This week’s episode:  Dad tries to homeschool the kids!  And Uncle Jonah wears a costume to Comic-Con just to […]

  VIKINGS:  Thursday 10PM on History The season 2 premiere of VIKINGS neatly demonstrated the series’ knack for straddling brawny historical action and engrossing historical soap.  Written by series creator Michael Hirst and directed by Ciaran Donnelly, it separated into two halves, both dealing with the consequences of events from last season’s finale. The first […]

  BROOKLYN NINE-NINE kicked off the beginning of the end of the 2013-14 network television season tonight, the first full-season series to reach its finale, so it’s time to start making some summarizing judgments about the year in television.  Brooklyn was the best of the fall’s comedy pilots, and unlike some of its brethren (Hostages […]

  SURVIVING JACK:  Thursday 9:30PM on FOX Previously… on SURVIVING JACK:  In the 1990s, Frankie Dunleavy (Connor Buckley) chafes under but also learns valuable life lessons from his disciplinarian father Jack (Christopher Meloni), who’s taking a larger role raising Frankie and his sister Rachel (Claudie Lee) while their mother Joanne (Rachael Harris) is resuming her […]

  CHASING LIFE:  Tuesday 9PM on ABCFamily – Change the Channel ABCFamily is launching all its summer shows over the next week or two, so it appears to be luck rather than careful planning that’s resulted in its new CHASING LIFE, about a lovely young woman diagnosed with cancer, just a few days after the […]