> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques shouldn’t be taken as full reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content of the […]

> A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and production of episodes for the regular season:  a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover in the off-season) give plenty of notes, both helpful and otherwise, and […]

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques shouldn’t be taken as full reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content of the […]

> Previously… On ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA?:  “Chelsea Newman,” aka the fictionalized Chelsea Handler (Laura Prepon) works in a New Jersey sports bar, knocking back drinks and men, and trading barbs with co-workers and family alike. Episode 2:  If it weren’t for hour-mate Whitney, Chelsea might be the least sexy show ever to be obsessed […]

> Last night, of course, was not intended to be the end of LUCK.  The enormously high-profile show, created by David Milch and with production supervised by pilot director Michael Mann, and fearuring a cast headed by Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, had already been renewed for a second season, with one of those instant […]

      COMING THIS WEEK:  The New and Improved SHOWBUZZDAILY!     It’s a paradox of American pop culture of the moment that you can barely sell a movie ticket for anything that even smells like a western (Cowboys & Aliens and John Carter were the most recent to discover that), but the older […]

  THE CLOSER:  Monday 9PM on TNT   WHERE WE WERE:  The LAPD, where Atlanta emigre Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick), having triumphed over the initial prejudices of her all-male squad, has forged a well-earned reputation as the person a guilty suspect would least want to face in an interrogation room. WHERE WE […]

  MADE IN JERSEY:  Friday 9PM on CBS – Change the Channel CBS is the network of The Good Wife, but don’t get your hopes up for its new legal drama MADE IN JERSEY.  This one is a thin example of why the words “CBS Drama” typically get little respect, an undistinctive procedural with nothing […]