THE ASSETS:  Thursday 10PM on ABC – Change the Channel It’s easy enough to see why ABC would like to be in the spy-TV business.  Homeland, whatever its flaws, is a major hit, and The Americans, while not as sizable, has been a critical success and buzz magnet.  The novels of John Le Carre […]

  2 BROKE GIRLS:  Monday 9PM on CBS WHERE WE WERE:  At a Brooklyn diner, where Max (Kat Dennings) is a loudmouth waitress from the streets, and Caroline (Beth Behrs) is a former Manhattan socialite, down on her luck since her father was arrested for Madoff-like swindles; in the logic of TV comedy, naturally the […]

  In its ninth season, GREY’S ANATOMY remains a model of smoothly operating network soap.  This week’s midseason finale, written by Consulting Producer Debora Cahn and directed by Rob Corn, had the bonus of being built around the upcoming wedding of Bailey (Chandra Wilson), and proved again that any episode featuring that character and actress […]

  LOW WINTER SUN:  Sunday 10PM on AMC Previously… on LOW WINTER SUN:  Detroit Detective Frank Agnew (Mark Strong), along with fellow Detective Joe Geddes (Lennie James), have murdered Geddes’s partner, a third Detective named McCann.  Geddes convinced Agnew that McCann had brutally killed Agnew’s girlfriend Katya, sawing off her head, hands and feet, but […]

  Mick Jagger isn’t exactly known for his comedy stylings.  But the man knows a little bit about performing, and he was an extremely game host for tonight’s 37th season finale of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.  He didn’t have much to do, though, with the night’s highlights. The highest of those was the sweet, teary farewell […]

  THE JIM GAFFIGAN SHOW:  Wednesday 10PM on TV Land (and Nick At Nite) Previously… on THE JIM GAFFIGAN SHOW:  Stand-up comic Jim (Jim Gaffigan) lives with wife Jeannie (Ashley Williams) and their 5 children in a crowded NY apartment–all elements to be found in Gaffigan’s stand-up act and comic memoirs.  Her best friend is […]

  PRISON BREAK:  Tuesday 9PM on FOX – If Nothing Else Is On… Where was the clamor for a return of PRISON BREAK?  The show had pretty much run its course both critically and with viewers by the time it went off the air in 2009 after a 4-season run, and even at its peak […]

  DOWNWARD DOG:  Tuesday 8PM on ABC – If Nothing Else Is On… Television may have undergone a revolution over the past few years, but one thing hasn’t changed:  broadcast networks don’t air their A-level material during the summer.  ABC’s odd gimmick comedy DOWNWARD DOG is premiering a pair of episodes at the very tail […]