Tuned In+Uncategorized | April 6, 2011

Lights Out Watch: The Final Countdown

By James Poniewozik
FX
LIGHTS OUT: L-R: Billy Brown and Holt McCallany in LIGHTS OUT airing Tuesday, April 5 on FX. CR: Will Hart / FX.

Quick spoilers for the season finale of Lights Out:

FX sent out the entire 13-episode season of Lights Out before it premiered, and I watched the entire thing over Christmas break. Back when I reviewed it in January, I obliquely noted the ending: “it all builds toward a stunning final few minutes which … would work either as a season or (if the ratings don’t materialize) series conclusion, and that they serve the stories in and out of the ring equally well.”

Lights Out did not get another season, and in retrospect, I think the finale of the series was actually a more fitting—if bleak—series finale than a season finale.

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | March 25, 2011

Best of Both Universes: Fringe Renewed! (But Lights Out for Lights Out)

By James Poniewozik

Strawberry milkshakes for everyone! Fringe, whose ratings have not exactly been keeping pace with its creative growth, was officially picked up for a full fourth season yesterday. I was modestly optimistic the show would be saved—though it’s ratings have fallen off, arguably they’ve fallen less than you would have guessed when it moved from high-profile [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | January 26, 2011

The Morning After: Lights On?

By James Poniewozik

Lights Out, FX’s strong new boxing drama that I gave a positive review, has been on the ropes in the ratings,* and I have no time today to review last night’s episode at length. I am part of the problem. But I want to see if Tuned Inlanders have stuck with the series up to [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | January 12, 2011

The Morning After: Lights On

By James Poniewozik

Time and interest permitting I may do a regular (or semiregular) Lights Out Watch here as the season goes on. Having some catching up to do, however, and having written about 1500 words on the show in my review this week, I’ll leave further breaking down of the pilot to you. I will say that [...]

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Tuned In+January 11, 2011

TV Tonight: Lights Out

By James Poniewozik

[Special spoiler alert: The following review mentions certain plot points that, at first viewing, I thought would be spoilers, but that FX's commercials and promotions have abundantly given away--specifically, where the story goes after the pilot episode. I didn't give away anything I wouldn't want to know in advance, but in the event that you've [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | December 30, 2010

Vacation Robo-Post: TV to Look Forward to in 2011

By James Poniewozik

Having spent a lot of time this past couple of weeks looking back on 2010 here, it’s time to look forward. TV doesn’t have the same kind of lead time that, say, movies do: this time last year, we did not know what the broadcast fall schedules would be, or that Conan O’Brien would end [...]

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Tuned In+October 1, 2009

P.I.s and TKOs for FX

By James Poniewozik

With Jay Leno on five nights a week, somebody has to make dramas at 10 p.m., and increasingly that somebody is FX. Having already ordered the promising-looking Lawman for next year, the network adds to is stable of largely testosteron-ey dramas with two more drama orders for 2010. Terriers stars Donal Logue (pictured) as an [...]