> Since we last saw our rag-tag band of survivors, they’ve had to endure the loss of their leader, the man most responsible for mapping out their initial strategies and saving them along the way from all manner of deadly predators…   Oh, wait.  That’s THE WALKING DEAD series itself, where the vanished hero is Series […]

  USA’s THE SINNER was a genuine if moderate sleeper of this summer’s TV season, not a breakout hit but consistently rating ahead of its lead-in, the veteran Suits, and it’s not entirely clear why.  The show marked the return to TV of Jessica Biel, playing the seemingly ordinary Cora Tannetti, who committed a violent […]

  There was one last super-powerful conspiracy for NIKITA (Maggie Q) to bring down in tonight’s series finale, and a climactic showdown with arch-villainess Amanda (Melinda Clarke) to survive, as CW’s low-rated yet hard-to-kill action series finally came to an end after a truncated 4th mini-season. The final episode (fittingly entitled “Canceled”), written by Executive […]

  Like a middle schooler suddenly realizing that final exams are around the corner, the mostly tired 9th season of BONES went into overdrive tonight to deliver a super-dramatic season finale. The season had inherited a bummer of a cliffhanger from Season 8:  Booth (David Boreanaz) was blackmailed by petulant recurring serial killer Pelant (Christopher […]

  HBO’s GETTING ON was generally close to unwatchable, and that’s meant as sort of a compliment.  Even in the world of pay-TV, where ratings aren’t always at the forefront of a network’s expectations, there’s usually some concession to conventional entertainment value, especially in a show that purports to be a comedy of sorts.  But Getting […]

  There were so many ads for summer blockbuster movies during tonight’s Season 4 finale of AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD, it was almost like watching the Super Bowl.  One by one, the latest installments of Planet of the Apes, X-Men, Spider-Man, Transformers–pictures not opening for months, sometimes two or even three in a single commercial […]

> 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 […]

> CALIFORNICATION lost a step this season, which is what often happens when a series of limited scope reaches Year 5.  Unlike other Showtime series like Weeds and Dexter, Californication has never had the appetite for seasonal re-invention.  It tends to merely introduce a few new supporting characters and run the same basic story again.  […]