Posts Tagged ‘serialized drama’
 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “True Detective”

  The idea of applying a deep coat of existential angst to thriller conventions isn’t new–every Sundance Film Festival has at least a couple of examples of the sub-genre, and there are even sub-sub-genres of th...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “Witches of East End”

  In this new era of serialized television drama, plot–and the skill with which it’s doled out–is more important than ever.  An overall clumsiness with the handling of its storylines is what’s held...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “Manhattan”

  MANHATTAN:  Sunday 10PM on WGN America – Potential DVR Alert If Salem was WGN America’s Hemlock Grove, the new MANHATTAN is the network’s bid for a House of Cards, a serious, classy drama that takes on...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Midseason Finale Review: “Beauty & the Beast”

  New showrunner Brad Kern (working with series creators Sherri Cooper and Jennifer Levin) has made plenty of changes to BEAUTY & THE BEAST, but mostly they haven’t been improvements.  The gothic romanticism of ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “Satisfaction”

  SATISFACTION:  Thursday 10PM on USA – If Nothing Else Is On… Sean Jablonski’s new series SATISFACTION is a rarity for USA Network:  a drama that isn’t built around a familiar procedural franchis...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “Ray Donovan”

  RAY DONOVAN:  Sunday 9PM on Showtime It’s a bit surprising that RAY DONOVAN has been a steady performer for Showtime, considering that its tone tends toward the glum and monotonous, but next to Homeland, it’...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Pilot + 1 Review: “Red Band Society”

  RED BAND SOCIETY:  Wednesday 9PM on FOX Previously… on RED BAND SOCIETY:  In a Los Angeles hospital, a half-dozen adolescents struggle with their health and with the general problems of being teenagers.  Kara (Z...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Series Finale Review: “Treme”

  TV is a little poorer for the loss of TREME, a series that never fully received the appreciation–from viewers or critics–that it deserved.  Even a bit watered down from its usual density in a last season of ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Mr. Mercedes”

  MR. MERCEDES:  Wednesday 8PM on Audience Network (DirecTV) – DVR Alert It’s been quite a week for the splintering of television.  FX announced that it, like AMC, would launch a pay version of its service, a...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “Grey’s Anatomy”

  GREY’S ANATOMY:  Thursday 8PM on ABC The occasional misguided NY Times profile aside, it’s a good time to be Shonda Rhimes.  With an entire night of ABC’s primetime real estate put into her care, she&...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Fall Finale Review: “Reign”

  REIGN rang down the curtain on the first piece of its season (it returns on January 23, having managed to hold onto its post-Vampire Diaries timeslot) in fine historical romance style.  The script, by series co-creator ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “The Knick”

  THE KNICK:  Friday 10PM on Cinemax Previously… on THE KNICK:  New York’s Knickerbocker Hospital circa 1900 is a highly respectable institution, funded by wealthy benefactors and with a conscientious staff, ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Quantico”

  QUANTICO:  Sunday 10PM on ABC – In the Queue The first hour of ABC’s QUANTICO is a bit of a mess, but it’s one of the most slickly enjoyable of the network fall TV season.  Think of it as Shondaland m...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “Hannibal”

  HANNIBAL:  Thursday 10PM on NBC The languidly brutal art-horror thing HANNIBAL has returned, much to the joy of its acolytes.  The series is, without question, unlike anything to be found on even the most adventurous c...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “Manhattan”

  MANHATTAN:  Sunday 10PM on WGN America Previously… on MANHATTAN:  Starting in 1943, the New Mexico desert housed a mysterious, ultra-secret military and scientific operation code-named The Manhattan Project, its ...
by Mitch Salem