No one expected DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES to end with the revelation that the housewives had been dead all along, and Wisteria Lane existed in a Sideways alternate dimension.  (Although that might’ve been interesting.)  The show, which exited tonight after 8 seasons, always knew its audience, and it left the scene with a satisfying […]

  For the most part, Shonda Rhimes and the Season 10 finale of GREY’S ANATOMY kept its Cristina Yang Farewell Extravaganza confined to a 20-minute chunk in the second half.  The opening half of the hour, written by Co-Executive Producer William Harper and directed by Tony Phelan, was concerned with an explosion at a shopping […]

  The first season of THE ORIGINALS has been entertaining, if a bit more sprawling than it needed to be.  A good season finale makes up for a lot, and tonight’s climactic hour, written by Co-Executive Producer Diane Ademu-John and directed by Matt Hastings, did a very satisfying job of resolving the season’s major storyline […]

  The fact that ABC’s QUANTICO has been renewed for a third season (albeit with a 13-episode order, a reduced network license fee and an as-yet-unchosen replacement showrunner) tells you everything you need to know about broadcast network television circa 2017.  Qnantico has recently been earning same-day 18-49 ratings at the 0.5 level, a number […]

  Hardly anyone in America watched THE DIVIDE this summer, and it wasn’t because the series was some kind of bleak, off-putting experiment in reinventing the form of television drama, taking pleasure in alienating all but the most esoteric viewers.  On the contrary, the series was a big-tent crime melodrama that energized its traditional format with […]

  Cable’s USA Network has the reputation of being a place where procedurals basically repeat variations on the same episode over and over for years, until the series finally dies of old age.  That’s certainly the case with some of the network’s stalwarts like Psych and Burn Notice, but recently USA has shown a welcome […]

  Even by the standards of current network TV, the ratings drop for SCANDAL has been steep and swift.  It’s down 50% from where it was 2 seasons ago, and down 30% this season.  It’s still one of ABC’s higher-rated hours, because it had been so huge at its peak, so its renewal was never […]

  As of this week, there’s just one CSI left standing on CBS, and after 13 years, it’s the original recipe.  Having survived the bump in its creative road a couple of seasons ago when the misguided hire of Laurence Fishburne was repaired with the arrivals of Ted Danson and Elisabeth Shue, the show has […]