2010 Primies: Best Characters

By on Dec 31, 2010 in The Primies |

In the waning hours of 2010, allow me to kick-start the Second Annual Primie Awards. Below are my favorite fifteen characters from the past year of television, again listed in descending order of awesomeness. (One could only dream of a context that would bring all of them together to share the screen!) Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife) If mystery is sexy, Kalinda is a bombshell. The tight-lipped private investigator radiates allure and ambiguity while keeping herself impassive and collected… most of the time. And when she let her emotions show, she does so in grand fashion, like taking a baseball bat to her rival’s car before leaving a kiss on the rear-view. She wins cool points even when she loses her cool. Played by Archie Panjabi. Phil Dunphy (Modern Family) There’s not one weak link on this show, but this year, I’m honoring Phil. (Or, as Gloria would say,...

2010 Emmys: My Winners

By on Aug 29, 2010 in Inner Monologues |

For those of you wondering where the latest installment of my Lost re-watch is, don’t fret. I’ve decided to take a two week hiatus after every two seasons just to publish a few other non-Lost stories for the non-Lost fans. (Blog post variety is the spice of life.) And here it is Emmy time again! As I said last year, I’m not predicting the winners here, mind you, but stating for whom I’m rooting. I haven’t seen all of the nominated shows and performances, but from what I have seen, here are my picks for some of the top categories. Outstanding Drama Series Lost I know, this post was supposed to be non-Lost, right? But this show should be commended for providing a powerful and daring end to the Island saga—and one that was incredibly satisfying emotionally (if not mythologically). And as far as cultural touchstones for the decade go, Lost tops this particular...

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: Lawn Mower Meets Foot Edition

By on Sep 27, 2009 in In Brief | 1 comment

I can’t even fit all the news that’s fit to print into one blog post, but here are some of this week’s most interesting tidbits: Some of the shows that premiered this week got impressive ratings. FlashForward scared up 12.41 million viewers. (I realize now that there’s no space in that title. The world’s in crisis and people are blacking out—there’s no time for spaces, folks.) Modern Family welcomed 12.74 million. And The Good Wife attracted 13.72 million watching. I didn’t preview that show, but it seems promising so long as it keeps up the scorned-political-spouse angle and doesn’t become an average law drama. Just to make the wait for Season 3 of Damages (set to start in January) that much more excruciating, Jace at Televisionary tells us that Martin Short and Lily Tomlin have joined the cast. The addition of two comedians to the cast...