Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere TV Review: “Here and Now”

Posted February 12, 2018 by Mitch Salem

  HERE AND NOW:  Sunday 9PM on HBO – In the Queue HERE AND NOW is sort of the Alan Ball/HBO version of The Fosters, which means that its characters are a generation older, it has a lot of sex, a lot of talk, and a lot of angst, and there’s a mystical “mystery” element. […]

Full Story »

Articles

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Pan Am”

Posted October 3, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> 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 […]

Full Story »

Pilot + 1

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “Witches of East End”

Posted October 14, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  WITCHES OF EAST END:  Sunday 10PM on Lifetime Previously… on WITCHES OF EAST END:  Joanna Beauchamp (Julia Ormand) is an immortal witch with a family curse.  Over and over again, she bears her daughters, free-spirited Freya (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) and studious Ingrid (Rachel Boston), only to see them die before they reach 30 years old […]

Full Story »

Pilot + 1

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “The Originals”

Posted October 9, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  THE ORIGINALS:  Tuesday 8PM on CW Previously… on THE ORIGINALS:  The Mikaelsons have come (back) to New Orleans.  The literally original vampire family (their witch mother cast the spell that created vampirism), brothers Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Elijah (Daniel Gillies), and sister Rebekah (Claire Holt), beloved of Vampire Diaries fans even–perhaps especially–when they’re trying […]

Full Story »

Reviews

SHOWBUZZDAILY Review: “Saturday Night Live” with Chris Hemsworth

Posted March 8, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  It was an odd SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE all around tonight, starting with the fact that host Chris Hemworth was there to plug The Avengers:  The Age of Ultron, which won’t even open for 2 more months.  Hemsworth isn’t exactly known as a comic stylist, so although he had a few enjoyably goofy moments, the […]

Full Story »

Midseason Finale

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “Vinyl”

Posted April 17, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  VINYL watchers, HBO feels your pain.  Late in a run that matched low ratings with little buzz or critical enthusiasm, the network took the unusual step of not just firing co-creator/showrunner Terence Winter, but of publicizing that decision before Season 1 even finished airing, despite the fact that HBO and Winter have a history […]

Full Story »

Fall Pilots

PREMIERING TONIGHT: THE SKED Pilot Review – ABC’s “Trophy Wife”

Posted September 24, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  Read All Our Fall Pilot Reports here. TROPHY WIFE:  Tuesday 9:30PM on ABC – If Nothing Else is On… If you like your comedy innocuous, TROPHY WIFE may fit the bill.  The title is ironic:  although Kate (Malin Akerman) is the young, beautiful third wife of Peter (Bradley Whitford), she’s not after his money–he’s […]

Full Story »

Articles

COUNTING TO 10: The Tonys

Posted June 13, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> The Tony Awards aren’t quite like any other televised awards show.  They’re happily, unapologetically insular (and so are the ratings–thank god for CBS, where “young” audience is a relative term), and there’s hardly ever anything like an upset; this year the closest was probably Mark Rylance winning Best Actor In a Play for Jerusalem […]

Full Story »