Posts Tagged ‘serialized drama’
 

 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “Halt and Catch Fire”

  A serialized drama without major stars, a familiar genre or a grabby premise simply can’t afford to take half its season figuring itself out.  (Having a title that says absolutely nothing about what the series is ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “The Bridge”

  THE BRIDGE:  Wednesday 10PM on FX THE BRIDGE was simultaneously one of the best and most frustrating series of last season.  Loaded with atmosphere, superbly acted by an expansive cast headed by Demian Bichir and Diane...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Premiere Review: “The Fosters”

  THE FOSTERS:  Monday 9PM on ABCFamily In its first half-season, THE FOSTERS pulled off a feat of considerable difficulty.  Its saga of multi-racial lesbian couple Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) and their mixed...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “Grey’s Anatomy”

  GREY’S ANATOMY is no longer Shonda Rhimes’ brightest, shiniest toy, but in a way her skills as a producer are most evident in the way that her first hit hums along, now in its 2d decade on the air.  ThatR...
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
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “Power”

POWER:  Saturday 9PM on Starz POWER, like Empire, revolves around an African-American drug dealer who seeks respectability in the music business., but who will still commit murder when necessary to protect his interests.  Alt...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

PREMIERING TONIGHT: SHOWBUZZDAILY Pilot Review – “How To Get Away With Murder”

  HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER:  Thursday 10PM on ABC – Potential DVR Alert PLAYERS:  Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes–and you can repeat that name several more times without overstating her importance.  The ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “The Night Shift”

THE NIGHT SHIFT:  Monday 10PM on NBC THE NIGHT SHIFT was a workmanlike performer for NBC last summer, but its promotion to The Voice‘s lead-out on the network’s midseason schedule says more about the empty shelves ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “Revenge”

  REVENGE made a concerted effort this season to earn back its… well, let’s call it “credibility,” although that word doesn’t have much to do with this series.  Creator and original showrunne...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “Hell On Wheels”

  HELL ON WHEELS:  Saturday 9PM on AMC In its 5 seasons on the air, HELL ON WHEELS has never achieved a sustained stability, shifting tones and narrative thrust on an almost seasonal basis as a perpetual bubble show in th...
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
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “Outlander”

  OUTLANDER overcame a shaky conceptual start to become a thoroughly compelling historical romance, and probably the best original series Starz has aired thus far.  There’s still something fundamentally odd about th...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “The Good Wife”

  In its 6th season, THE GOOD WIFE continued to delightfully flout every depressing lesson the rest of network television tells us.  Under the remarkable stewardship of Robert and Michelle King, the series turns out seaso...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “Halt and Catch Fire”

  HALT AND CATCH FIRE is in part a show about the cold realities of business, and business logic suggests that a third season for the series is unlikely.  The ratings, cool in Season 1, were icy this year; the show neithe...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Fall Finale Review: “Nashville”

  How much guitar string does NASHVILLE have left?  Last night’s fall finale had a 1.4 rating in 18-49s, half a point below last season’s–which was already considered a major disappointment.  When you&#...
by Mitch Salem