After almost 4 decades (!) on the air, it’s a little silly to describe any given SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE episode, or even season, as “critical” or “vital.”  Nevertheless, this is a big transition year for the show, with such veterans as Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis and Fred Armisen (on top of Kristin Wiig the […]

> Last night ABC’s REVENGE became the first of the network serialized dramas to return from its long midseson hiatus.  Let’s see how the show managed its 2012 arrival. WHERE WE LEFT OFF:  Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp), who’s really Amanda Clarks, continued her plot to bring down the super-rich Grayson family, headed by matriarch Victoria […]

  THE MAYOR:  Tuesday 9:30PM on ABC – Worth A Click The premise for ABC’s breezy THE MAYOR is wall-to-wall gimmick, in a likable way.  Courtney Rose (Brandon Micheal Hall) is a young aspiring rapper in the small town of Fort Gray, CA who decides to get himself some publicity by declaring his candidacy for […]

  Every so often, a show comes along that makes you want to run up to random people in the street and yell “Why aren’t you watching this?”  right in their uncomprehending faces.  ORPHAN BLACK probably wasn’t–OK, wasn’t–the season’s best new show; The Americans, for one, was more layered and expertly crafted.  But Orphan, airing in […]

  You would have thought that if there was one SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE host who’d escape the cliche of a musical monologue, it would be Christoph Waltz, but you’d be wrong.  “Smile, Damn It, Smile” wasn’t even a funny song, an Austria gag without any teeth or edge.  (Although Taran Killian’s Casual Hitler was a […]

  BLACK SAILS:  Saturday 9PM on Starz – Worth A Look The pirate action-adventure BLACK SAILS is Starz’s latest attempt to swing for the fences with ambitious original programming and finally be taken as seriously as its pay cable brethren HBO and Showtime.  This project seems intended to split the difference between Starz’s successful, but […]

  KILLER WOMEN:  Tuesday 10PM on ABC Previously… on KILLER WOMEN:  Molly Parker (Tricia Helfer) is your basic aggressive, rule-breaking, sharp-shooting Texas Ranger–except that she looks great in a dress.  She loves her job, has a fine relationship with boss Luis Zea (Alex Fernandez) and a hot DEA boyfriend (Marc Blucas) to boot, but she’s […]

  The network is preserving its contractual rights, but the signs are rife that tonight’s HART OF DIXIE was the last we’ll see of the series.  After being banished to Fridays, it was held for midseason, then left off CW’s extensive list of early renewals; star Rachel Bilson has made it clear that she wants […]