BATES MOTEL:  Monday 10PM on A&E The idea of a pilot is to provide a template for the series that’s to come, but while the first hour of BATES MOTEL is accomplished and well-acted, it’s difficult to tell what kind of show it plans to be.  The premise is straightforward enough:  a prequel (although […]

  MR. SELFRIDGE:  Sunday 9PM on PBS To get the obvious over with quickly, MR. SELFRIDGE, PBS’s attempt to find a partner for its blockbuster hit Downton Abbey, isn’t in that show’s league.  Instead it’s a merely pleasant traipse down another corner of early 20th-century British history. While Downton offers a cornucopia of sharply-drawn characters […]

  FEAR THE WALKING DEAD:  Sunday 9PM on AMC – In the Queue The opening episode of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD was audacious as only a sure thing can be.  The new series is, of course, a spin-off of the fantastically successful The Walking Dead–even if it lost two-thirds of its parent show’s ratings, it […]

      COMING THIS WEEK:  The New and Improved SHOWBUZZDAILY!     It’s a paradox of American pop culture of the moment that you can barely sell a movie ticket for anything that even smells like a western (Cowboys & Aliens and John Carter were the most recent to discover that), but the older […]

  DOMINION:  Thursday 9PM on Syfy – Change the Channel Was there really a pressing need to make a TV series out of the schlock horror movie Legion?  It’s not as though the film was much of a hit ($40M total box office in the US, $68M worldwide), nor is it well-remembered even 4 years […]

REVOLUTION:  Monday 10PM on NBC – If Nothing Else Is On… REVOLUTION is Falling Skies without aliens, The Walking Dead without zombies, Jericho… well, actually it pretty much is Jericho.  We’ve all strolled down this post-apocalyptic road before (let’s not even try to count the number of movies set there), and based on its pilot, […]

  THE MICK:  Tuesday 8:30PM on FOX – Change the Channel FOX has ushered in network TV 2017 with a show that feels less than fresh:  THE MICK, a sitcom that’s basically a not-quite-cable retread of Uncle Buck. The irresponsible relative is an aunt this time, and Mackenzie (Kaitlin Olson) is meant to be edgier, […]

  CHARMED:  Sunday 9PM on CW CW’s reboot of CHARMED wants to be a lighthearted supernatural romp, but it also seeks to push as many topical buttons as it possibly can.  So while the basic story of a trio of young women witches provides a built-in tale of female empowerment, the new pilot also comes […]