Last night was the premiere of ABC’s military-political thriller Last Resort. At the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles in July, after watching the pilot, I sat down with creators Shawn Ryan and Karl …
TV Tonight: Last Resort
A really good drama pilot is like a submarine. It’s densely packed, purposeful and efficient; there’s little wasted space or dead weight. Everything on board has to justify its existence and preferably serves multiple functions. …
TV Tonight: The Neighbors Is Bad, But Not for the Reason You Might Think
ABC’s The Neighbors, which debuts tonight, is a sitcom about space aliens living in the suburbs. The Neighbors is a bad sitcom. But–and I think this is important to point out–The Neighbors is not a bad sitcom because it is …
“The Pollsters Are Biased” Is the New “The Reporters Are Biased”
You’re entitled to your own opinion but not to your own facts; that political dictum was coined by the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, because he was no fun. Well, good news, folks! Now you can have your own facts! Even …
TV Tonight: Can Vegas Be The Good Wife in a Cowboy Hat?
As I say every time I write a Test Pilot preview of a new fall show over the summer, those posts are not final reviews, because the pilots of new series are often revised or recast before airing. But sometimes they’re not, nor do …
TV Tonight: The Mindy Project, Ben and Kate
You can see why Fox picked The Mindy Project and Ben and Kate to launch together on Tuesday nights with New Girl. They’re both about young, single adults gettin’ by and lookin’ for love. They’re both somewhere on the …
The Emmys’ Balancing Act: Predictable, Except When Not
You can often count on Jon Stewart to offer the pithiest comment on a news event, even when the event involves him. Stewart came onstage at the 2012 Emmy Awards after a wild physical comedy bit, in which Stephen Colbert and other …
The 2012 Emmy Awards: My Not-Predictions
Sunday night the Emmy Awards will honor the best shows and performances on television (that the Emmy Awards are willing to nominate). Which means it’s time for Emmy predictions — from people other than me. Who will win Sunday? …
The Office Watch: Back (I Hope?) In Business
Spoilers for last night’s season premiere of The Office below:
Why did The Office go downhill? Some say the show was Michael Scott’s story and it never should have gone on without him. Others, that even before Michael left, it …
TV Tonight: Parks and Recreation Goes Big and Goes Home
“Go Big or Go Home” was the title of the premiere episode of Parks and Recreation‘s third (and best) season and the guiding philosophy of civil servant Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), who since went on to run for and win a spot on the Pawnee, Indiana city council. The season five premiere of the show, tonight, both goes big and goes home, as …
You Got Served: A Waiter’s-Eye View of Mitt Romney
There are plenty of people out there–too many, maybe–analyzing what Mitt Romney said in the secretly taped fundraiser video posted in full at the Mother Jones website: what his comments about “the 47%” say about his campaign, about his character, about his attitude toward the working class, about his base of voters and Barack Obama’s. …
The Morning After: Rise or Fall of Boardwalk Empire?
OK, technically this counts as two mornings after, but I realized that I should let you all know that I’m not doing weekly reviews of Boardwalk Empire this season. The main reason: I’m doing Homeland when it returns two Sundays …
The Morning After: SNL’s Early Election Returns
Over the weekend on Saturday Night Live, President Barack Obama stepped aside and was succeeded by President Barack Obama. The show make a deft meta-comment on the casting, having former Obama Fred Armisen introduce Jay Pharoah as the President, quipping, “Wouldn’t want his job, right?”