ELEMENTARY is a very classy, enjoyable network procedural that has the misfortune of existing at the same time as the altogether more dazzling BBC/PBS Sherlock, which has the same premise:  Sherlock Holmes as a modern-day detective.  Both the strengths and weaknesses of the CBS approach were evident in last night’s 2-hour season finale. What […]

  WELCOME TO THE FAMILY:  Thursday 8:30PM on NBC – Change the Channel NBC continues is retro approach to fall comedy with WELCOME TO THE FAMILY. Even more than Sean Saves the World and The Michael J. Fox Show, Family seems intended for viewers just an AARP mailing away from TVLand, for whom the very idea […]

  Read All Our Fall Pilot Reports here. TROPHY WIFE:  Tuesday 9:30PM on ABC – If Nothing Else is On… If you like your comedy innocuous, TROPHY WIFE may fit the bill.  The title is ironic:  although Kate (Malin Akerman) is the young, beautiful third wife of Peter (Bradley Whitford), she’s not after his money–he’s […]

  Read All Our Fall Pilot Reports here and Midseason Pilot Reports here. RAKE:  Thursday 9PM on FOX starting Midseason TBD – Worth A Look FOX’s high-profile midseason dramedy RAKE wastes no time in establishing its protagonist Keegan Deene’s (Greg Kinnear) lovable-heel bona fides.  In the opening minutes, we see Key (as he’s called) with […]

  CHICAGO FIRE:  Tuesday 10PM on NBC At a time when network programmers’ fingers are ever-jumpier on their cancellation buttons, NBC has done an unusually good job nurturing CHICAGO FIRE into a success.  The show, which mixes firefighting procedural plots with more serialized storylines, got a slow start, but it was noticeably boosted whenever it […]

  THE VAMPIRE DIARIES:  Thursday 8PM on CW Walter White, that student of change, would enjoy this fifth season of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES.  Behind the camera, showrunner Julie Plec is now splitting her time with the Diaries spin-off The Originals, and is also an Executive Producer of The Tomorrow People; Executive Producer Caroline Dries wrote […]

  THE CARRIE DIARIES:  Friday 8PM on CW When THE CARRIE DIARIES was almost unaccountably renewed by CW despite its awful ratings, even by that network’s standards (supposedly because of online and DVR strength as well as appeal to the young female demo–although the latter wouldn’t make the network’s move of the show to Fridays […]

  Today’s CW announcement that in March, THE TOMORROW PEOPLE will move to Monday nights, swapping the hit Arrow for the untested Star-Crossed as its lead in, probably starts the clock ticking on the show’s remaining time to prove itself.  The series has made a few steps to improve since its underwhelming pilot, but it’s […]