Midseason Premiere

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Colony”

Posted January 12, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  COLONY:  Thursday 10PM on USA (pilot available via on-demand and streaming) – If Nothing Else Is On… USA’s new COLONY falls into the category of alien-invasion science fiction, but its pilot has more in common with World War II films like The Last Metro or the recent alt-history chronicle The Man In the High […]

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Midseason Premiere

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “The Fosters”

Posted January 14, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  THE FOSTERS:  Monday 9PM on ABCFamily In its first half-season, THE FOSTERS pulled off a feat of considerable difficulty.  Its saga of multi-racial lesbian couple Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) and their mixed brood of Stef’s biological son Brandon (David Lambert), adopted twins Jesus (Jake T. Austin) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez), and […]

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Midseason Premiere

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “The Real O’Neals”

Posted March 2, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  THE REAL O’NEALS:  Tuesday 8:30PM on ABC – Change the Channel Whatever its other ailments, over the past few years ABC has had an extraordinary run of diverse, smart family sitcoms,–an area where other networks have struggled badly–with Fresh Off The Boat, Black-ish and The Goldbergs building on Modern Family and The Middle.  (Even […]

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Midseason Premiere

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Allegiance”

Posted February 5, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  ALLEGIANCE:  Thursday 10PM on NBC – If Nothing Else is On… ALLEGIANCE is what happens when broadcast network executives watch cable.  The story of long-term, deep-cover Russian agents is clearly, shall we say “strongly influenced” by FX’s The Americans, even if the specifics of the storyline aren’t identical.  But broadcast networks desperately need “big […]

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Midseason Premiere

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “American Crime”

Posted January 7, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  AMERICAN CRIME:  Wednesday 10PM on ABC AMERICAN CRIME‘s first season was, if not great network television, certainly ballsy.  John Ridley’s series took on race and class and religion to boot, and it was shot in a self-conscious “art film” way, with lengthy, intense close-ups, a measured pace, and a minimum of both music and […]

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Midseason Premiere

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “CSI: Cyber”

Posted March 4, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  CSI:  CYBER – Wednesday 10PM on CBS – If Nothing Else Is On… Nobody tunes into a CSI show to be surprised.  The franchise has been spectacularly successful for CBS, and even now, 15 years into its run, the mothership series does a fair number each week (better than Battle Creek, which replaced it […]

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Midseason Premiere

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “The Royals”

Posted March 16, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  THE ROYALS:  Sunday 10PM on E! – Change the Channel This week’s cable network eager to expand its portfolio to the world of scripted programming is E!.  Just as Bravo attempted to appeal to its Real Housewives audience with The Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, E! is courting its celebrity gossip crowd with THE ROYALS, […]

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Midseason Premiere

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments”

Posted January 13, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  SHADOWHUNTERS: THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS:  Tuesday 9PM on Freeform – If Nothing Else Is On… Fans of mediocre YA fantasy adventure may remember SHADOWHUNTERS: THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS from its last incarnation, as a 2013 feature film based on Cassandra Claire’s novels.  That was supposed to kick off a franchise, but the movie flopped, and the […]

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