The Prime Times: Post “Lost” Edition

By on Feb 26, 2010 in In Brief |

Lordy lordy, do I have a ton of news items to share. Let’s waste no time: Most excitingly, William Keck at TV Guide reports that Terry O’Quinn (Lost’s Locke) is pitching a series in which he and Michael Emerson (Ben) star as “suburban hit men juggling family issues.” My buddy Andy says he might not be able to see these Emmy-winners as anything other than their iconic Lost personas, but I think that we’ll eventually get accustomed to them portraying different characters. Eventually. And speaking of shedding past roles, SCI FI Wire tells us that James Callis (Battlestar Galactica’s Gaius Baltar) has joined the cast of FlashForward and will appear in this season’s last handful of episodes. The fate-defying drama returns March 18 for an uninterrupted run of 13 installments. Nip/Tuck’s series finale airs on Wednesday, which means I...

2009 Primies: Best Shows

By on Jan 17, 2010 in The Primies | 1 comment

Because I’m theoretically on vacation, let’s just speed through this! Here are my picks for the ten best programs on the boob tube for the year of 2009. (Hint: AMC takes the cake!) Breaking Bad Mad Men Lost Battlestar Galactica 30 Rock True Blood Modern Family Fringe Glee Dollhouse

2009 Primies: Best Episodes

By on Jan 14, 2010 in The Primies |

Aloha, dear TV junkies.  I may be on vacation, but thanks to some coffeshop wi-fi, I’m still able to update this here blog with cinnamon-bun-sticky fingers.  Surely you didn’t think I’d forgotten about honoring the best small-screen moments of 2009!  Listed below are my favorite episodes across the airwaves from all of last year.  Is the list comprehensive?  Maybe not.  Does the order tend to be arbitrary?  Perhaps.  But still, I believe this to be a pretty good representation of 2009’s highlights.  Writers and directors of the below episodes, I raise my iced-coffee cup to you. Battlestar Galactica “Daybreak, Part 2”  No matter if you loved the end or hated it, the final two hours of this show boldly went where no show has gone before. A catastrophic first hour was followed by a contemplative second. The epic space saga went out with a bang and then...

41 Shows Reviewed in 140 Characters or Less

By on Dec 23, 2009 in Inanities | 1 comment

Note: The following post first appeared as an article by the same name in The Climax, Hampshire College’s newspaper. Also, some of these micro-reviews may exceed 140 characters—my bad! I am a student of television. Writing television scripts is my Division III [a senior project, in Hampshire speak]. So I have no shame in the fact that I watch all of the shows below religiously. I study the craft, folks. That’s a lie—I am ashamed of some of them, but I’m feeling forthright in my fourth-year-ness. Anyway, I only assumed that I couldn’t review all my shows for The Climax before I graduate. And then it occurred to me: I could review each in 140 characters or less. (Arbitrary number, I swear.) 24 Some seasons fire on all cylinders, and some make you want to shoot yourself in the kneecap. But I’m still a fan of the Bauer Power Hour. 30 Rock Is Tina Fey God? Even if not, this show is in...

The Prime Times: Peacock Overload Edition

By on Oct 16, 2009 in In Brief |

Here’s this week’s batch of freshly-baked television news: Two big names will “sho” up on Showtime: Laura Linney will star in The C Word, a half-hour comedy series about a woman who turns her life around following a cancer diagnosis; and William H. Macy will star in Shameless, a comedic drama about a drink-swilling father of six (based on a BBC hit). In a classless move by NBC, the Glee cast is no longer invited to perform at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Jumpsuits will surely be worn at the festivities, but apparently none by Sue Sylvester. No sooner did I finish singing the praises of Kater Gordon, the Mad Men writer who went from writing assistant to Emmy winner in no time, than she was let go from the show’s writing staff. As they say in fashion… Lest you thought your eyes deceived you, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane did appear as...