HART OF DIXIE barely survived the hunger games known as network scheduling season this year–it won’t be back until midseason, with an abbreviated (and probably final) set of episodes, and even then only so it can hit the 4-season mark that increases syndication prices.  The show’s ratings were passable at best when it aired […]

  SPOILER ALERT:  This review will discuss events that occur throughout Season 2 of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. The second season of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, like the first, ends with an act of violence–and this one is (seemingly) more fatal than the first–and yet the tone couldn’t be more different.  Season 1 […]

  With a full season of experience and audience feedback under its belt, it’s not unusual for a TV series to improve in its second season.  What’s considerably less typical is for the reverse to happen.  Yet whether due to the addition of new showrunner Brad Kern (although series creators Sherri Cooper and Jennifer Levin […]

  STALKER:  Wednesday 10PM on CBS starting October 1 – Change the Channel PLAYERS:  Series creator Kevin Williamson, of The Following, The Vampire Diaries and Scream fame.  Stars Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott, and a supporting cast that includes Victor Rasuk, Mariana Klaveno and Elisabeth Rohm (the latter added in a recasting after the pilot […]

  SURVIVOR’S REMORSE:  Saturday 9PM on Starz Because Starz only airs one scripted show at a given time, its identity tends to shift with whatever that series happens to be.  Recently it’s been fluctuating in an almost schizophrenic way between contemporary big-city stories and costume dramas:  from Boss to DaVinci’s Demons, from Power to Black Sails, and now […]

  BENCHED:  Tuesday 10:30PM on USA – If Nothing Else Is On… BENCHED, USA Network’s latest attempt to broaden its repertoire beyond its core of light-hearted procedurals, doesn’t have much of a pilot, but there’s some potential for growth.  The pilot, written by series co-creators Michaela Watkins (better known as an actress–she was the dippy […]

  A weaker show than HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER would be crippled by its sizable flaws.  With the all-important exception of its central character, Philadelphia law professor and expert criminal lawyer Annalise Keating, and Viola Davis, the richly talented actress who plays her, the rest of the characters and cast are bland to […]

  It wasn’t until the last few minutes of tonight’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE that the show seemed to figure out what to do with this week’s host–which was weird, because Michael Keaton, making his return to SNL after decades, much as he returned to public consciousness with last year’s Birdman, has a wide range that […]