Web series have famously become an outlet for creators for whom it affords opportunities and freedom of expression that they can’t get in traditional media—Joss Whedon, Felicia Day, Issa Rae of Awkward Black Girl. But now the Web has also attracted the attention of stars who have all the freedom and attention they need. Tom Hanks went …
Review
Sexts from “Hillary”: Political Animals’ Bawdy Alternative History
USA network says the miniseries Political Animals (debuts July 15), about a First Lady who dumps her philandering husband, then becomes Secretary of State for the man who beat her in a run for President, is not about Hillary …
Jimmy Fallon, Number-One Musical Late-Night Host
A confession: unless I’m specifically watching a late-night show to review it, it’s been ages since I’ve sat down and watched an episode of one, live, from beginning to end, and as long as I have a DVR, I’m not sure I ever will. (Exception: sometimes, The Daily Show and Colbert.)
So I usually don’t have a “favorite” late-night show so …
Louie Watch: Dad of Anarchy
Spoilers for last night’s Louie below:
In “Something Is Wrong,” the the season premiere of Louie, Louis CK’s alter ego protagonist bought himself a motorcycle. I’ve seen the first five episodes of the third season by now, and …
TV Tonight: Anger Management
Anger Management is about a former baseball player whose career was ended by anger issues and who in turn became a therapist. Anger Management is about the motley group of ragers and court-remanded cases who meet for group …
TV Tonight: Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp
Let’s forget for a moment—maybe you already have—that Bristol Palin’s mother ran for vice president in 2008 and has been a figure of occasional media attention since then. Let’s forget the whirlwind of attention surrounding …
The Killing Season Finale: A Semi-Semi-Defense
I cannot say that I hate-watched The Killing‘s second season. My connection with it was not passionate enough, the feelings it prompted not strong enough, for that. Let’s say that I sad-watched it. I was disappointed like a lot …
Girls Watch: She Takes the Cake
SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this post, wear something nice, get all your estranged friends together and watch the season finale of Girls.
“Your dreams are not what you thought they’d be!” —Jessa Johansson
If one line …
TV Tonight: Dallas Returns, 20 Years Later
In the original 1978–91 series of Dallas, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) and his brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) fought each other over the future of the family oil business. In TNT’s remake, they’re back, but now J.R.’s son John Ross …
TV Tonight: Bunheads
A decade ago, two of the most distinctive voices in TV belonged to writer-producers whose characters machine-gunned crisp dialogue at a blinding words-per-minute rate. Aaron Sorkin, with The West Wing, turned his verbal …
Mad Men Watch: Open Your Mouth and Say Ennui
SPOILER ALERT: Before you read this review, put a mask on your face, breathe deeply and watch last night’s Season 5 finale of Mad Men.
Season 5 of Mad Men ended with Don Draper in a bar, fielding an advance from a cute young …
TV Weekend: Nurse Jackie’s Road to Recovery
At some point in the third season of Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, I thought I had a sense of what its pattern was going to be from here on out. The show had set up a provocative scenario by focusing on Jackie Peyton (Edie Falco), a …
The Morning After: Wheel Women
Cable TV has given us reality shows about attractive young urbanites in all kind of permutations: geographic (The Real Housewives of Your City Here), ethnic (Shahs of Sunset), and occupational (Million-Dollar Listing, et al.). …