THE FOSTERS:  Monday 9PM on ABCFamily In its first half-season, THE FOSTERS pulled off a feat of considerable difficulty.  Its saga of multi-racial lesbian couple Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) and their mixed brood of Stef’s biological son Brandon (David Lambert), adopted twins Jesus (Jake T. Austin) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez), and […]

  VIKINGS:  Thursday 10PM on History The season 2 premiere of VIKINGS neatly demonstrated the series’ knack for straddling brawny historical action and engrossing historical soap.  Written by series creator Michael Hirst and directed by Ciaran Donnelly, it separated into two halves, both dealing with the consequences of events from last season’s finale. The first […]

  MR. SELFRIDGE:  Sunday 9PM on PBS MR. SELFRIDGE, the solace for PBS viewers between editions of Downton Abbey, has returned for its second season.  It lacks the dramatic urgency of Downton and is altogether a more conventional piece of work–it’s literally a show that, set in 1914, climaxes its opening hour by having someone […]

  BLACK BOX:  Thursday 10PM on ABC – Change the Channel In ABC’s (partial) defense, BLACK BOX wasn’t intended to run during the regular broadcast season.  It was meant to be seen in summer, when standards are lower, but the network was caught flat-footed when Kerry Washington’s pregnancy caused Scandal to cut its season by […]

  TURN seemed to have its finger on a fascinating footnote to American history, telling the story of colonial undercover spies during the Revolutionary War under the direction of George Washington, but it’s never succeeded in coming to life.  Craig Silverstein’s series offered oddly little spycraft in the course of its season, and the plotting […]

  TYRANT:  Tuesday 10PM on FX Previously… on TYRANT:  Barry Al-Fayeed (Adam Rayner) is a contented Pasadena-area pediatrician–and he’s also Bassam, the younger son of the longtime ruler of a Middle Eastern military dictatorship, who fled that life 20 years ago.  He travels with his wife Molly (Jennifer Finnigan), son Sammy (Noah Silver) and daughter […]

  INTRUDERS:  Saturday 10PM on BBCAmerica – Worth A Look The premiere of BBCAmerica’s INTRUDERS, which received the network’s marquee slot following the season premiere of Dr. Who, provided the creepiness associated with series creator Glen Morgan, a veteran of The X-Files and the Final Destination movie franchise, and director Eduardo Sanchez, who co-helmed The […]

  SCORPION:  Monday 9PM on CBS Previously… on SCORPION:  Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel) is the leader of a group of geniuses–behaviorist Toby (Eddie Kaye Thomas), mathematician Sylvester (Ari Stidham), and engineer Happy (Jadyn Wong)–who solve high-tech crimes for the government, represented by Homeland Security agent Gallo (Robert Patrick).  The team’s ambassador of empathy is Paige […]