Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Divorce”

Posted October 9, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  DIVORCE:  Sunday 10PM on HBO – In the Queue In its opening half-hour, HBO’s DIVORCE doesn’t show much interest in the “-medy” part of “dramedy.”  The series creator is Sharon Horgan, who with Rob Delaney is also the co-creator and co-star of Amazon’s wonderful Catastrophe.  Part of what makes that show so extraordinary is […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Escape At Dannemora”

Posted November 19, 2018 by Mitch Salem

  ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA:  Sunday 10PM on Showtime Although the star currency of producer/director Ben Stiller and leading players Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette and Paul Dano doubtless were responsible for the 7 hours of ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA being produced by Showtime, the limited series is far from a glossy big-name vehicle.  As an actor, […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Public Morals”

Posted August 26, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  PUBLIC MORALS:  Tuesday 10PM on TNT – Change the Channel Unless its pilot turns out to be misleading, PUBLIC MORALS looks to be fairly woeful stuff.  The show’s auteur–its star as well as the series creator, writer and director–is Edward Burns, who’s become the forgotten man of American indie film.  Burns’ The Brothers McMullen […]

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Pilot Reports

PREMIERING TONIGHT: THE SKED’S PILOT REPORT: “Family Tools”

Posted May 1, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  FAMILY TOOLS –  Wednesday 8:30PM on ABC – Change the Channel   J.K. Simmons is one of our national character actor treasures, but he tests the bounds of our willingness to follow him anywhere with FAMILY TOOLS, which is getting a last-minute run starting tonight. Tools is sitcom with a capital “sit.”  The rollicking […]

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Pilot Reports

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “Married”

Posted July 18, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  MARRIED:  Thursday 10PM on FX – If Nothing Else Is On… Acrid indie comedy is FX’s brand, with shows like It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, The League, Legit and (although it transcends such categories) Louie.  The network has introduced a new pair for the summer, the first of which is Andrew Gurland’s MARRIED.  It’s on-brand, […]

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Pilot Reports

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Scream”

Posted July 1, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  SCREAM:  Tuesday 10PM on MTV – If Nothing Else Is On… There aren’t a lot of sure things in Hollywood, but here’s one:  you can always make some money by gathering together a group of teens and killing them off one by one.  It’s been true since at least 1978’s Halloween (and its zillions […]

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Articles

THE SKED PREMIERE REVIEW: “Rob”

Posted January 13, 2012 by Mitch Salem

> ROB – Thursdays 8:30PM on CBS – Change the Channel We live in a Dickensian era of situation comedies, the best and worst combined on every network.  ABC is the home of both Modern Family and Work It; NBC contains Parks & Recreation and Whitney; FOX has New Girl and I Hate My Teenage […]

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Pilot Reports

PREMIERING TONIGHT: THE SKED’S PILOT REPORT – CW’s “The Carrie Diaries”

Posted January 14, 2013 by Mitch Salem

    THE CARRIE DIARIES: Monday 8PM on CW – Change the Channel   THE CARRIE DIARIES is CW’s last big gun of the season (Cult, still forthcoming, is smaller caliber), the show that the network hopes will inherit Gossip Girl‘s place (Carrie just so happens to be produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage […]

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