"Television is a goddamned amusement park."
If we’ve learned something after four seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead, then it’s the fact that in the post zombie outbreak world there is no safe place. Herschel’s farm. Woodbury. The prison. Each location was treated as a zombie-free oasis, and Rick strived to raise his son, Carl, as if the same rules and …
Continue reading “The Walking Dead: The Butcher or the Cattle”
I have a confession. I am a huge fan of Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader. When he joined the SNL cast with Andy Samberg some 10 years ago, a friend of mine and I predicted Hader would be the show’s next big breakout, largely based on his brilliant impersonations. His Al Pacino sealed the …
Continue reading “Saturday Night Live: In Praise of Hader (and Stefon)”
Nurse Elkins puts herself on the line to help Thackery through his severe cocaine withdrawal. Enter the Golden Lotus.
FX Networks and Ryan Murphy are continuing their prolific partnership with American Crime Story, a companion piece to the anthology series American Horror Story that premieres its fourth season, Freak Show, tomorrow night. The subject matter of the premiere Crime season will reportedly focus on the infamous O.J. Simpson trial. Similar to American Horror Story, …
Showtime’s Homeland returns in its fourth season a show reborn. Gone are the repetitive, overlong opening credits, sullen Dana, and Brody family drama. Risen in its place, at least over the first two episodes, is a taut, focused, and compelling drama series that is reminiscent of the series’ first season. This is the Homeland we …
The highlights of last night’s Sarah Silverman-hosted second outing of Saturday Night Live were few and far between. That’s bad form for SNL as the noted comedienne surely attracted a broader audience than your average host, and the episode bitterly disappointed her fans, this one included. Silverman’s opening monologue probably featured a significant clue to …
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Due to eastern skirmishes that are sinking the shipping freights, cocaine is in near-absent supply from NYC area hospitals, including The Knick. As goes the cocaine, so goes Dr. Thackery. Having seemingly addicted Nurse Elkins to the drug during their lovemaking, Thackery (and his body itself) is …
Billed as a 10-episode limited series, Gracepoint is the American adaptation of the UK series Broadchurch. It comes with a strong pedigree as the director of the original British series, James Strong, also directs this remake. He has assembled an eclectic cast of Emmy winners (Breaking Bad’s Anna Gunn) and Oscar nominees (Nick Nolte, Jacki …
I hate nothing more than a television show that peters out in its season finale. There is some unwritten theory that some showrunners seem to follow where the major plotlines/story arcs are largely resolved in the penultimate episode, leaving the final episode of the season as something of an epilogue. But, too often, our expectations …
Saturday Night Live kicked off its 40th year the right way by opening with host Chris Pratt. A comic actor previously best known for his inspired lunacy on Parks and Recreation until his star-making lead performance in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Pratt knows his way around silliness with impeccable comic timing and a willingness …