Primetimely

Prime, timely commentary on primetime TV.

Post archive for ‘Raves’

“Lost”: Even More Sublime in Real Time

The events of September 22, 2004, as viewed in split-screen format

What if Lost were presented like 24, replete with a ticking timecode and split-screen? YouTube user pyram1dhead gives us the answer, and it is done incredibly adeptly—so much so that you almost wish you could watch the whole series this way. Culling footage from [...]

Endings, As It Is Known, Are Where We Begin

Lee Pace and Anna Friel of "Pushing Daisies"

Rarely do shows get to end on the creators’ own terms, especially those that are cancelled. And even though Bryan Fuller surely would have preferred a more robust ending to his much-beloved fantasy noir Pushing Daisies, the show didn’t exit on a cliffhanger or, worse, with the whimper of a [...]

Nothing but the Blood

Anna Paquin, Rutina Wesley, and Sam Trammell in "True Blood"

Note: The following review first appeared as an article entitled “True Blood: HBO’s newest (and most misunderstood) hit” in The Climax, Hampshire College’s newspaper.

Enough vampires, you say. And you’re entitled: pop culture is oversaturated with blood-sucking stories these days. True Blood might [...]

2009 Emmys: My Recap

Neil Patrick Harris, hosting the 61st Annual Emmy Awards

Now that I’ve finally watched the last hour of the 61st Annual Emmy Awards, I can confidently say that this year’s broadcast was one of the best in recent history. And here are my favorite aspects of the big show:

  • Neil Patrick Harris. Coming off of last [...]

2009 Emmys: My Winners

Chandra Wilson in "Grey's Anatomy," Jon Hamm in "Mad Men," Glenn Close in "Damages," Aaron Paul in "Breaking Bad," and Kristin Chenoweth in "Pushing Daisies"

The Emmys snuck up on me this year, but ever since I learned that the ceremony [...]

Alan! Alan! Alan! Alan! Alan! Al! Alan!

A scene from "Walk on the Wild Side"

Thanks to a link Christina Applegate posted to Twitter, I’ve been exposed to some of the funniest comedic anthropomorphism on TV since the claymation stylings of Creature Comforts. It’s a show called Walk on the [...]

The Whore in the House of Prayer

A frame from the title sequence of "True Blood"

Per usual, all five of the Emmy nominees for Main Title Design are stellar achievements—and nice counterpoints to the the title card some shows display in lieu of an actual sequence. But the most captivating of these year’s contenders is the one Digital Kitchen designed for [...]

“Kings”: A Momentary, Glorious Reign

Ian McShane and Christopher Egan of "Kings"

Start with The West Wing. Now make the democracy an autocracy. Place that autocracy in a fictional country. Throw in marital strife, filial betrayal, oppressive corporations, hostile nations, wearisome wars, a young hero, and a tyrannical ruler. Pepper in some biblical references and glaze with poetic words structured in antiquated syntax. Do [...]

The Future of Classic

Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad"

The following post was originally published on my old blog on July 7, 2009.

After watching the second-season finale of Breaking Bad, the dramatic series about a chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-dealer desperate to not let his cancer treatment bankrupt his family, I had one thought: thank God this show is on AMC.

[...]

Follow That Sound

Benjamin Bratt of "The Cleaner"

The following post was originally published on my old blog on June 28, 2009.

Lately, the trend regarding opening titles has been to make them as short as possible. Gone are the days of ones lasting a minute-and-a-half. And rapidly going are the days of ones lasting thirty seconds. For example, both Grey’s Anatomy and [...]