It was an odd SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE all around tonight, starting with the fact that host Chris Hemworth was there to plug The Avengers:  The Age of Ultron, which won’t even open for 2 more months.  Hemsworth isn’t exactly known as a comic stylist, so although he had a few enjoyably goofy moments, the […]

  AMERICAN CRIME:  Thursday 10PM on ABC – Potential DVR Alert Recently, the broadcast networks have started kicking the tires of what we think of as “cable” oriented programming, by which we mean serialized, darker, more emotionally ambiguous and less genre-bound stories that require serious attention from viewers.  This kind of programming is against broadcast TV’s […]

  CSI:  CYBER – Wednesday 10PM on CBS – If Nothing Else Is On… Nobody tunes into a CSI show to be surprised.  The franchise has been spectacularly successful for CBS, and even now, 15 years into its run, the mothership series does a fair number each week (better than Battle Creek, which replaced it […]

  THE FOLLOWING:  Monday 9PM on FOX With the exception of those whose livelihoods depend on it, is there anyone who really wanted a third season of THE FOLLOWING?  After a promising start, the mass murder thriller wallowed in gore, torture and plotting that was pretentious, repetitive, and often downright silly.  The ratings reflected that, […]

  THE LAST MAN ON EARTH:  Sunday 9:30PM on FOX – Potential DVR Alert THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is both excitingly original and disappointingly cliched, an odd mix that leaves its future prospects somewhat unsettled.  However it ends up, though, FOX and its creator/star Will Forte deserve credit for embarking on a show that’s […]

  SECRETS & LIES:  Sunday 9PM on ABC – If Nothing Else Is On… How much do you find yourself missing Gracepoint?  Not Broadchurch, mind you, the brooding and powerful BBC child-murder mystery (which is returning to BBCAmerica next week), but the flat US remake that came and went on FOX last fall?  ABC hopes […]

  BATTLE CREEK:  Sunday 10PM on CBS – Change the Channel While not the worst show of the season, BATTLE CREEK may well be the most disappointing.  The light procedural combines the talents of two of TV’s premier writer/showrunners, Breaking Bad‘s Vince Gilligan and House‘s David Shore, with a cast that includes Josh Duhamel, Dean […]

  50 Shades of Grey has only been playing in theatres for 2 weeks, but it’s plunged so quickly from its opening weekend that Dakota Johnson already seems a bit like the answer to a pop culture trivia question.  Nevertheless, the star of the presumed franchise (produced by Universal, which also owns NBC, which also […]