PARENTHOOD:  Thursday 10PM on NBC It’s something of a miracle that PARENTHOOD, with its marginal-or-worse ratings, low concept and large, expensive cast, even survived to a 6th season on NBC.  Much of its luck had more to do with the collapse of the network’s schedule around it than Parenthood itself–its audience, while small, was loyal, and […]

  Did we really need THE FLASH to go dark?  What had been the peppiest of CW’s DC/Berlanti-verse shows spent its 3rd season marked by existential angst, 22 episodes of Barry Allen’s (Grant Gustin) penance for having created “Flashpoint,” a parallel timeline where his mother and father survived.  Even after Barry reversed reality more or […]

  MIND GAMES:  Tuesday 10PM on ABC Previously… on MIND GAMES:  Bipolar genius Clark Edwards (Steve Zahn), an expert in the study of the brain and how it responds to stimuli, was recently fired from his post as a Psychology professor after his obsessive romance with student Beth (Katherine Cunningham).  He’s partnered with his recently […]

  CROSSBONES:  Friday 10PM on NBC – Potential DVR Alert Viewers of Starz’s Black Sails will find much that’s familiar in NBC’s summer pirate adventure CROSSBONES.  We’re back in the Caribbean, this time in the early 18th century, and there’s a powerful pirate king, a dangerous newcomer who saves his skin by memorizing a secret […]

  In this new era of serialized television drama, plot–and the skill with which it’s doled out–is more important than ever.  An overall clumsiness with the handling of its storylines is what’s held back Lifetime’s WITCHES OF EAST END from being more than a pleasant diversion, and tonight’s season finale was sadly no exception.  The […]

  LIMITLESS:  Tuesday 10PM on CBS Previously… on LIMITLESS:  Office temp Brian Finch (Jake McDorman) got his hands on a drug called NZT, which made him an unmatched genius for 12 hours, allowing him to use every cell of his brain to outlearn, out-calculate, and out-strategize anyone.  Unfortunately, NZT also leads to painful side effects.  […]

  DA VINCI’S DEMONS:  Friday 9PM on Starz – If Nothing Else Is On… Starz has been searching for a signature original series it can call its own, especially now that Homeland has brought Showtime, arguably, into parity with HBO.  The Spartacus franchise was successful, but so heavy in sex and gore that it crossed […]

  It made plenty of strategic sense for Showtime to reclassify SHAMELESS in its 4th season as a Comedy for Emmy Award purposes, since television is now swamped with contending dramas, but if the plan works, the result will be pretty ironic, since this was the season where the actions of the mostly happy-go-lucky Gallagher […]