Film Festival

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto Film Festival/Series Premiere Review: “Casual”

Posted September 16, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  CASUAL:  October 7 on Hulu Hulu has included some original programming in its inventory for a while now, but it’s signaled its intention to join Netflix and Amazon in that realm in a more serious way with its order of new Mindy Project episodes, and production of a Stephen King minseries, The Way from […]

Full Story »

Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Incorporated”

Posted November 29, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  INCORPORATED:  Wednesday 10PM on Syfy – Change the Channel INCORPORATED is one of Syfy’s periodic big swings.  Although produced in Canada, it’s backed by the CBS and Syfy in-house studios, rather than a low-cost pick-up or license arrangement like the ones that finance Z Nation, Van Helsing and the like.  Enough money has been put behind […]

Full Story »

Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Transplant”

Posted September 2, 2020 by Mitch Salem

  TRANSPLANT:  Tuesday 10PM on NBC A great many shows that we consider “American television” are actually produced in Canada, thanks to favorable tax credits and currency exchange rates.  The creators of these shows and most of the more familiar stars may hail from the US, but the rest of the cast and behind-the-scenes personnel […]

Full Story »

Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce”

Posted November 30, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  GIRLFRIENDS’ GUIDE TO DIVORCE:  Tuesday 10PM on Bravo – If Nothing Else Is On… Bravo has established a very successful brand for itself in the unscripted realm, notably with the Real Housewives franchise and its seemingly innumerable spin-offs, and now with GIRLFRIENDS’ GUIDE TO DIVORCE, the network is attempting to extend that brand to […]

Full Story »

Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Watchmen”

Posted October 21, 2019 by Mitch Salem

  WATCHMEN:  Sunday 9PM on HBO The Damon Lindelof/HBO WATCHMEN provides a new wrinkle to the world of IP exploitation.  It’s not an adaptation of the classic Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons graphic novel (a la Zack Snyder’s all-too-reverent 2009 film) or even a reboot, but a newly conceived work that’s more like a spin-off or a […]

Full Story »

Pilot Reports

THE SKED PILOT REVIEW: “Vikings”

Posted March 4, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  THE VIKINGS:  Sunday 10PM on History Channel In its pilot, at least, THE VIKINGS, which marks History Channel’s first step into the world of continuing scripted drama after its massive success last year with the Hatfields and McCoys miniseries, is so rudimentary a piece of historical fiction that it might as well have been […]

Full Story »

Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Minority Report”

Posted September 21, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  MINORITY REPORT:  Monday 9PM on FOX – If Nothing Else Is On… It’s not unusual for a sci-fi/fantasy or action-adventure pilot to boast a far more generous budget than the amount allotted to ordinary series episodes, sometimes double or more.  So the high-tech production design and snazzy special effects of FOX’s MINORITY REPORT pilot, […]

Full Story »

Articles

THE SKED PILOT REPORT: ABC’S “Last Man Standing” – PREMIERING TONIGHT

Posted October 11, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques shouldn’t be taken as full reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content of the […]

Full Story »