Category: Featured
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Test Pilot: File #19, St. Elsewhere
Test Pilot #19: St. Elsewhere Debut date: October 26, 2982 Series’ legacy: Another jewel in the MTM crown, one of — if not the — most-heralded medical drama of all-time Authorship is a really tricky thing and perhaps no more so than in the world of television. Numerous scholars have discussed the problems with analyzing television…
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Surveillance Summer Watch: Cheers, “Father Knows Last,” “The Boys in the Bar” and “Diane’s Perfect Date”
This is the newest post in 2011′s Surveillance Summer Watch series featuring Cheers and Hill Street Blues. For the next couple of months, I’ll be writing weekly reviews of episodes from each series’ first seasons, with Cheerson Tuesdays and Hill Street Blues on Thursdays. For more information, see this post and for all the SSW pieces, visit this page. It very difficult to manage…
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Series Finale — Friday Night Lights, “Always”
One LAST TIME, this is the review I wrote during FNL‘s DirecTV run. I will be completely honest with you, I’ve avoided reviewing the last handful of episodes of Friday Night Lights because it’s just been too damn hard to let go. From “Fracture” onward, I’ve basically been left in a heaping ball of my…
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Clear eyes, full hearts: Ranking the top 25 episodes of Friday Night Lights
Note: I posted this list right before the Friday Night Lights finale aired for the first time on DirecTV. I’m re-posting it now just in case you’re watching on the NBC schedule. No spoilers, but the finale, “Always,” would be at or near the top of the list had I edited it. Tomorrow night, Friday Night…
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Surveillance Summer Watch: Cheers, “The Spy Who Came In for a Cold One,” “Now Pitching, Sam Malone” and “Let Me Count The Ways”
This is the newest post in 2011′s Surveillance Summer Watch series featuring Cheers and Hill Street Blues. For the next couple of months, I’ll be writing weekly reviews of episodes from each series’ first seasons, with Cheerson Tuesdays and Hill Street Blues on Thursdays. For more information, see this post and for all the SSW pieces, visit this page. Hola, everyone. Thanks for not…
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From Route 666 to The Apocalypse: Ranking the episodes of Supernatural, Episodes 25-1
Throughout its six years on the air, Supernatural has had a substantial amount of good-to-great episodes, which made this list difficult to compile. However, like any long-running series, Supernatural has aired its fair share of missteps, problem children and downright horrible episodes. These things happen. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing all the series’…
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True Blood, “If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin’?”
I tweeted earlier tonight that I’m now fairly convinced that I was just an idiot when I thought True Blood was kind of a good television program. But what I am realizing is that I think I only thought these things for like six weeks, sometime near the middle part of season two. Those glorious…
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2011 Emmy Nomination Predictions
I’ve done my wishful thinking, now it’s time to make some last-minute official predictions for this year’s Emmy nominations. As you might notice, this “ballot” is much different than my dream one. This makes me sad, but oh well. I’ll have some reflections on the nominations after they are announced on Monday THURSDAY (thanks to Myles…
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From Route 666 to The Apocalypse: Ranking the episodes of Supernatural, Episodes 49-26
Throughout its six years on the air, Supernatural has had a substantial amount of good-to-great episodes, which made this list difficult to compile. However, like any long-running series, Supernatural has aired its fair share of missteps, problem children and downright horrible episodes. These things happen. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing all the series’…
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Test Pilot: File #18, Rhoda and Lou Grant
Test Pilot #18: Rhoda and Lou Grant Debut date: September 9, 1974 and September 20, 1977 Series’ legacy: Somewhat worthy successors to the Mary Tyler Moore throne Authorship is a really tricky thing and perhaps no more so than in the world of television. Numerous scholars have discussed the problems with analyzing television with an…
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2011 Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
It’s that time again, folks. The Emmy nominations will be announced on July 14, which means I have almost an entire month to flood this space with hopes, dreams and predictions about what could happen come nomination time. To kick things off, I’ll be bringing back the Dream Emmy Ballot. It’s something I did last…
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True Blood, “You Smell Like Dinner”
After last week’s disastrous season premiere of True Blood, I saw a number of tweets from critics and fans watching on HBO GO that episode two, “You Smell Like Dinner,” was a dramatic improvement. A few folks even told me that it was one of the better episodes the series has done in a long…
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From Route 666 to The Apocalypse: Ranking the episodes of Supernatural, Episodes 58-50
Throughout its six years on the air, Supernatural has had a substantial amount of good-to-great episodes, which made this list difficult to compile. However, like any long-running series, Supernatural has aired its fair share of missteps, problem children and downright horrible episodes. These things happen. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing all the series’…
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Surveillance Summer Watch: Hill Street Blues, “Film at Eleven” and “Choice Cut”
This is the newest post in 2011′s Surveillance Summer Watch series featuring Cheers and Hill Street Blues. For the next couple of months, I’ll be writing weekly reviews of episodes from each series’ first seasons, with Cheers on Tuesdays and Hill Street Blues on Thursdays. For more information, see this post and for all the SSW pieces, visit this page. This week, I have a…
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White Collar, “The Dentist of Detroit”
I haven’t written about White Collar since the season premiere. This is disappointing. But you know what else is disappointing this season of White Collar. Perhaps it’s just my personal taste, but I cannot get into this season’s overarching plot. After the season two finale and this season’s premiere, I voiced my concerns over the…
CB, PhD 