Posts Tagged ‘drama’
 

 

THE BIJOU @ TIFF: “Peace, Love & Misunderstanding”

> I wasn’t aware that the Toronto Film Festival showed TV pilots until I caught a screening of PEACE, LOVE & MISUNDERSTANDING.  As a pilot, Peace certainly has its appeal, with a strong cast that includes Jane Fo...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED PILOT REPORT: NBC’s “Grimm”

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques sh...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED’S BUSTED PILOT THEATRE: “Exit Strategy”

>See A Word About Busted Pilots On paper, EXIT STRATEGY looked like one of the hot FOX pilots this past season, a high-profile (Ethan Hawke’s first TV project) espionage thriller in the vein of 24 that could inherit that ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “True Blood”

HBO’s version of a summer drive-in movie is back. WHERE WE WERE:  In the midst of multiple cliffhangers.  Telepathic waitress and series heroine Sookie'(Anna Paquin) had just seen her best friend Tara (Rutina Wesley) ge...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED REBOOT REVIEW: “Law & Order: SVU”

> Until now, LAW & ORDER:  SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT has been unique to the franchise in not having undergone a periodic reshuffling of its cast.  For 12 seasons, SVU had been the only one of the series to be star-driv...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “The Newsroom”

Here’s what Aaron Sorkin’s THE NEWSROOM is, for better and very often for worse:  a deadly serious, indeed doggedly self-righteous, primer on how news should be reported and, by extension, how America should be gov...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “The Good Wife”

> The title “Best Drama On Network Television” used to mean a lot more than it does these days (what’s the competition?  Parenthood has lovely moments but also its share of contrivances; Fringe and The Va...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED REVIEW: “Hemingway & Gellhorn”

    It wasn’t so long ago that the announcement of an epic period love story starring Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen as war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and legendary novelist Ernest Hemingway, directed by Philip...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Dallas”

  The title of tonight’s season finale of DALLAS was “Revelations,” but really it had only one reveal worthy of a SPOILER ALERT, and even that one was increasingly guessable as the hour went on, for anyon...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Political Animals”

  POLITICAL ANIMALS: Sunday 10PM on USA A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weig...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Mad Men”

The title of MAD MEN‘s Season 5 finale was “The Phantom,” and as is almost always the case with Matthew Weiner’s opus, it had several meanings.  (Weiner shared credit for the finale’s script with ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Enlightened”

  ENLIGHTENED:  Sunday 9:30PM on HBO HBO’s decision to renew Mike White and Laura Dern’s ENLIGHTENED for a second season was one of the least ratings-driven calls in memory.  The show barely registered with v...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Common Law”

  A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “The Big C”

The problem with making a show about someone dying of cancer is that no one really wants to watch a show about someone dying of cancer.  Viewers will roll along with the dark and disturbing, but by and large they draw the line...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED FALL PILOT REPORT: CW’s “Beauty & the Beast”

  BEAUTY & THE BEAST: Thursday 9PM starting 10/11 on CW – If Nothing Else Is On… Disclaimer: Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall. Pilots are often ree...
by Mitch Salem