Posts Tagged ‘tv review’
 

 

THE SKED SERIES FINALE REVIEW: “Fringe”

  The most paranormal thing about FRINGE, in the end, was that it actually survived 5 seasons on the air, as very possibly the lowest-rated series to be regularly renewed in the history of network television.  (Made possi...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Suits”

  SUITS:  Thursday 10PM on USA Last season, SUITS took a leap up in class, becoming not just the smartest and most sophisticated show on USA–which, let’s face it, isn’t the highest bar in the business...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “Haven”

  Not even HAVEN‘s worst enemy would have wished on the series its season finale experience of the past few weeks.  More serialized than ever before, the season was approaching its ending with a second-to-last episo...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Girls”

  GIRLS:  Sunday 9PM on HBO The newly Golden Globe-winning GIRLS has returned, despite all its intervening success and attention, with its messiness intact.  “Messy” is a relative term in the world of Girls,...
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 SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Californication”

  CALIFORNICATION:  Sunday 10:30PM on Showtime Even in the relatively free-and-easy world of paycable, there’s something about CALIFORNICATION that seems to get under people’s skin.  Perhaps it’s the ca...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Shameless”

  SHAMELESS:  Sunday 9PM on Showtime SHAMELESS often feels like the raging id of its showrunner and (US) creator, pillar of the Hollywood establishment John Wells.  Wells is the man behind ER, the senior producer who gui...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “House of Lies”

  HOUSE OF LIES:  Sunday 10PM on Showtime Marty Kaan (accent on the “con”) and his management consulting crew are back for a second season at their HOUSE OF LIES tonight on Showtime, and apart from a purge of ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SERIES PREMIERE REVIEW: “Banshee”

  BANSHEE:  Friday 10PM on Cinemax Alan Ball’s name is the one most often thrown about in connection with the new Cinemax series BANSHEE, and that’s understandable, what with him being the creator of True Bloo...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “1600 Penn”

  1600 PENN:  Thursday 9:30PM on NBC 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 ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SEASON (and New Network) PREMIERE REVIEW: “Cougar Town”

  The cul de sac has moved south along the dial, but aside from that, there’s nothing very different about the TBS version of COUGAR TOWN, transported last night pretty much intact from its prior home on ABC.  (It&#...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED MIDSEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Bunheads”

  Within the first two minutes of its midseason premiere tonight, BUNHEADS featured a Harold Clurman gag.  For those not up on their celebrated left-wing Depression-era theatre directors, Clurman was–well, yeah.  (...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED PILOT REVIEW: “Deception”

  DECEPTION:  Monday 10PM on NBC – Change the Channel Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:  a beautiful young woman returns to the Long Island estate of the family she knew when she was growing up, becomi...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED SEASON PREMIERE REVIEW: “Downton Abbey”

  Ah yes… the clink of silver on fine china, the lords and ladies sitting down to dinner in their best evening dress, the barely perceptible rustle of servants smoothly executing their duties behind the scenes–...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED SERIES FINALE REVIEW: “Gossip Girl”

  After 6 years and a 55-minute clip show retrospective, and bearing enough promos for The Carrie Diaries for that show to establish a network of its own, GOSSIP GIRL came to a breezy, mostly satisfying end by concentratin...
by Mitch Salem