TRAINING DAY:  Thursday 10PM on CBS – Change the Channel If the idea that CBS, of all networks, could turn the dark, ruthless police drama TRAINING DAY into a TV series seemed counterintuitive–well, they haven’t.  There’s a show with that title on the network schedule, and the general outlines of the character dynamic and […]

  CHICAGO PD:  Wednesday 10PM on NBC – If Nothing Else Is On… This season, NBC went retro in a big way with its new series, from its Don’t you still love Michael J. Fox and Sean Hayes? comedies to its Doesn’t anyone remember Ironside? dramas (The Blacklist, of course, being the single exception), and […]

  MARON:  Friday 10PM on IFC – If Nothing Else Is On… Everyone wants their Louie.  TV comedies built around fictional versions of real-life comics are nothing new–they go back to the days of Jack Benny and George Burns–and Larry David followed Seinfeld with his own notable success on Curb Your Enthusiasm.  But the near […]

      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 […]

  PREACHER:  Sunday 9PM on AMC – Potential DVR Alert It’s not quite clear what on earth AMC’s new PREACHER is after watching its pilot, but it’s certainly intriguing.  Based on a celebrated comic book series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, and widely considered unadaptable after several cycles of development hell over the years, […]

  ENLISTED:  Friday 9:30PM on FOX  – Change the Channel Not all goofy, barely-functional family sitcoms are alike, and although FOX has paired the new ENLISTED with Raising Hope on its Friday schedule, the two aren’t much of a match.  Raising Hope is a very smart comedy about people who aren’t necessarily rocket scientists, while […]

  SUPERSTORE:  Monday 8PM (starting January 4) on NBC – If Nothing Else Is On… If a weak form of The Office‘s DNA seems to flow through NBC’s new sitcom SUPERSTORE, which previewed tonight before beginning its regular run on January 4, it’s not a coincidence:  the series was created by Justin Spitzer, a writer/producer […]

    THE MINDY PROJECT: Tuesday 9:30PM on FOX – DVR Alert Companion shows don’t come more perfectly designed than FOX’s THE MINDY PROJECT.  When FOX launched New Girl last fall, it became an instant hit, with a quirky, likable heroine in Zooey Deschanel, a very strong supporting cast, and a sophisticated, urban tone.  it’s […]