ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK may be the most tolerant show on television (or “television,” or whatever it is we’re calling distributed entertainment content in this new Netflixed world).  All the characters, even those who commit the most heinous acts–inmates and guards both–have their reasons and their frailties.  They’re miserably in love, or living […]

  SPOILER ALERT:  This review will discuss events that occur throughout Season 2 of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. The second season of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, like the first, ends with an act of violence–and this one is (seemingly) more fatal than the first–and yet the tone couldn’t be more different.  Season 1 […]

  After an absence of more than 7 years, in many ways the early episodes of the new, Netflix-produced 4th season of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT feel like the show never left.  (In fact, it would be unwise to tackle Season 4 without at least a working knowledge of what preceded it.)  The familiar stylistic quirks are […]

  MISS AMERICANA (Netflix – January 31):  There are certainly areas of Taylor Swift’s life that are carefully elided in MISS AMERICANA (her actor boyfriend’s face and name are absent, for example, and there’s no mention of Cats), and Lana Wilson’s documentary culminates in an inspirational push that is very much on-message with Swift’s latest […]

  See also:  THE SKED NETFLIX REVIEW:  “Arrested Development” (Episodes 1-3) A second helping of Netflix’s ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT includes 4 episodes that give a better feel for the scope and ingeniousness of this new season, 15 interlocking episodes that, for the most part, become increasingly complex and ambitious as they unspool.  Meanwhile, although Netflix doesn’t […]

  See also:  THE SKED NETFLIX REVIEW:  “Arrested Development” (Episodes 1-3)                  THE SKED NETFLIX REVIEW:  “Arrested Development” (Episodes 4-7) Rounding into the second half of Netflix’s ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Season 4, the storyline is starting to become as twisty as a John Le Carre espionage thriller–a quiz, at this point, about just who wants and […]

    See also:  THE SKED NETFLIX REVIEW:  “Arrested Development” (Episodes 1-3) THE SKED NETFLIX REVIEW:  “Arrested Development” (Episodes 4-7) THE SKED NETFLIX REVIEW:  “Arrested Development” (Episodes 8-11) It turned out that the one thing not to expect from Season 4 of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT was an ending.  Rather than build its intricately plotted season toward […]

  With the arrival of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK after House of Cards, Hemlock Grove and Arrested Development, Netflix has completed the first quartet of its initial plunge into high-profile original programming .  Based on the available evidence (Netflix doesn’t release viewership information), the process has gone extremely well, with both subscriptions and the stock […]