Although both fairy-tale inspired dramas that were introduced to network TV last fall have been renewed for 2d seasons, there’s no comparison in quality between Once Upon A Time and GRIMM.  Once has created a captivating, complex narrative of parallel universes and the loves and hates that reach across them, while Grimm is far […]

  The renovations on Season 3 of NECESSARY ROUGHNESS worked out quite well.  The series jettisoned its original setting and much of its supporting cast, moving Dr. Dani Santino (Callie Thorne) from her job as in-house therapist to the NY Hawks football team to the high-powered V3 talent agency run by new regular (for this […]

  The original CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION turned the corner on its 14th season tonight, and at its age, the show has little interest in reinventing itself beyond the bare minimum.  The days when William L. Petersen starred and people like Jerry Stahl were writing dark-humored, sometimes transgressive episodes are long past, and after a […]

  It was utterly on-brand for THE AMERICANS that the most electrifying sequence of its series finale was about four people talking to each other.  This was the epic confrontation six seasons in the making:  FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) had finally, once and for all, discovered that his neighbors and supposed best friends […]

  After 4 seasons as a smash hit, MODERN FAMILY isn’t too concerned with creating forward momentum.  The show is better at what it does than just about anything else on television; the ratings may be down, but so are everyone’s; in short, it ain’t broke.  If that makes for a season that’s more pleasant […]

  Luckily for ELEMENTARY, appearances by the BBC’s celebrated Sherlock are so sporadic and brief (this season’s 3 episodes were the first in 2 years), that the two series only infrequently need to be judged against one another.  Those comparisons aren’t to Elementary‘s advantage in terms of conceptual brilliance and sheer inspiration, but then Elementary […]

  Professional sports are so central to American culture, and so particularly critical to the television business, that it’s surprising the area had been largely ignored as the locale of a series until USA’s NECESSARY ROUGHNESS debuted.  Of course, since Roughness is a USA show, it’s mostly been content with superficial light drama, without any […]

  NEW GIRL only got better this season.  There are TV comedies that are good at silly (Happy Endings, The Neighbors), and there are some that are great at soulful (Parks & Recreation more than any).  But combining silliness and soulfulness at once is a remarkable combination, and even in its first-rate initial season, New Girl […]