> See A Word About Busted Pilots The pilot for HOMEGROWN, produced for CBS by Warner Bros Television, seems determined to hit as many dysfunctional-but-loving-family cliches as it can.  We have one grouchy alpha male in a household of women (here played by Gerald McRaney), the multiple generations living in one sitcom (huge living room!) […]

  FEAR THE WALKING DEAD:  Sunday 6PM on AMC   Previously… on FEAR THE WALKING DEAD:  Something odd is happening in Los Angeles, years before and a continent away from Rick Grimes and his troupe of survivors.  People are dying and then coming back to life, hungry for more than sushi and protein shakes.  High […]

  GAME OF THRONES:  Sunday 9PM on HBO GAME OF THRONES is such an assured, expert piece of work that it’s easy to forget how many rules of conventional TV storytelling it routinely violates.  It’s not just the teeming mass of central characters–so many that tonight’s Season 4 premiere wasn’t even able to visit all […]

  Television is a little less berserk and interesting tonight with the departure (although not the death) of Kenny Powers (Danny McBride), the unstoppable id of EASTBOUND & DOWN.  The series finale, written by series co-creators McBride and Jody Hill (who also directed) and Consulting Producer John Carcieri,  cleverly managed to have its cake and […]

  TWISTED:  Tuesday 9PM on ABCFamily TWISTED finally uncorked some revelations to kick off the back half of its first season, and it was about time.  The show’s summer episodes had spent far too long dithering around the same mysteries without any solution, coasting on its luck at having Pretty Little Liars as a lead-in.  […]

  NIKITA:  Friday 9PM on CW WHERE WE WERE:  Vanquishing Division.  Percy is finally, truly dead, Amanda is gone, and Nikita (Maggie Q) and her cohorts–lover and now fiance Michael (Shane West), protege Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca), hacker Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford), the more bureaucratic Ryan (Noah Bean), as well as Sonya (Lyndie Greenwood), who had worked […]

  ANGER MANAGEMENT:  Thursday 9:30PM on FX – Change the Channel The most interesting thing about ANGER MANAGEMENT–by far–is the deal that put it on the air.  When Charlie Sheen found himself at liberty, following his low-key and barely even noticed departure from 2 1/2 Men, he clearly wanted a shot at a payday that […]

  SCORPION:  Monday 9PM on CBS Previously… on SCORPION:  Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel) is the leader of a group of geniuses–behaviorist Toby (Eddie Kaye Thomas), mathematician Sylvester (Ari Stidham), and engineer Happy (Jadyn Wong)–who solve high-tech crimes for the government, represented by Homeland Security agent Gallo (Robert Patrick).  The team’s ambassador of empathy is Paige […]