SUITS:  Wednesday 9PM on USA 7 seasons ago, Aaron Korsh’s SUITS was introduced by USA Network as the story of a young con man with a photographic memory named Mike Ross, hired by flashy New York lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) to be his mentee, sidekick and quasi-little brother.  Along the way, Mike became […]

  TAKE TWO:  Thursday 10PM on ABC ABC’s TAKE TWO has an unusually classy set of auspices for a summer broadcast series.  Its co-creator is Andrew W. Marlowe, who gave the network its long-running hit Castle (his writing partner on the new show is Terri Edda Miller, a Castle writer/producer and also Mrs. Marlowe), and […]

  THE AFFAIR:  Sunday 9PM on Showtime It’s a bit surprising to be talking about a 4th season of Showtime’s THE AFFAIR at all, and not just because the ratings have always been mild, and the series has never attained the buzz or awards attention that prestige TV aspires to.  The Affair seemed to reach […]

  DIETLAND:  Monday 9PM on AMC AMC’s DIETLAND is a big swing, but it seems to be trying to hit to all parts of the field at once.  The series, created by Marti Noxon (from a novel by Sarai Walker), and with its first 2 episodes directed by Noxon as well, begins with a relatable, […]

  SUCCESSION:  Sunday 10PM on HBO HBO’s new drama SUCCESSION may be too much of its moment for comfort.  The series, created by Jesse Armstrong (previously a writer/producer on Armando Ianucci’s Veep, The Thick Of It and In the Loop), shares the fascination of its Sunday-mate Billions with the hideously scheming ultra-rich of Manhattan.  Unlike […]

  REVERIE:  Wednesday 10PM on NBC In recent seasons, original summer dramas on the broadcast networks have tended to cluster in two varieties:  straightforward procedurals like Rookie Blue and The Night Shift, and fantasy-thrillers like Under the Dome and Extant.  NBC’s new REVERIE, created by Extant‘s Mickey Fisher, tries to mix the genres, with indifferent […]

  SWEETBITTER:  Sunday 8PM on Starz – In the Quene Starz’s SWEETBITTER is, with Vida, part of the network’s unusual run of back-to-back half-hour dramas, each of them with a short 6-episode order.  Both shows make use of indie tropes, with Vida on the “gritty estranged family that has to co-exist” end of the Sundance […]

  I’M DYING UP HERE:  Sunday 10PM on Showtime Showtime’s I’M DYING UP HERE is a behind-the scenes showbiz story, and fittingly the series itself is part of one.  Despite terrible ratings and reviews that were generally less than enthused, the network picked it up for a 2nd season just days before also announcing that […]