Category: Featured
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Glee, “A Very Glee Christmas”
If there’s any series that should be able to integrate the overwhelming joy that is supposed to come from Christmas specials, it’s Glee. The combination just seems so obvious, which is perhaps why I can’t really say that I’ll be too critical of this episode. But at the same time, there needs to be some…
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Christmas Special — Warehouse 13, “Secret Santa”
I have a surprisingly strong affinity for Syfy’s Warehouse 13. I quickly caught up on season one before the second aired this past summer, and by the time things came to an end in late September, I was really impressed with how the series expanded its universe nicely by continuing to rely on the dramatic…
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“Hey, did you guys see Toy Story 3?” — Exploring pop culture as a catalyst for 21st century interpersonal relationships in NBC’s Community
Note: This is the “final draft” of an essay for my Television Comedy class at Bowling Green State University. It’s posted here for the purposes of a makeshift, internet-powered peer review. I’ll field any comments or emailed questions as they come in. If you read the whole thing, I really appreciate it. I intend to…
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Season Finale — The Walking Dead, “TS-19”
For series with a fairly high concept and only six episodes to fill out the first season, the season finale of The Walking Dead was bound to be at least partially unsatisfying. There’s just not enough time to introduce the concept, the characters and really make the audience feel (especially those who aren’t familiar with…
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Smallville, “Luthor”
Time travel, alternate universes, these storytelling techniques are such gimmicks — gimmicks Smallville uses on a fairly regular basis. However, because the series is so good when they do employ this gimmicks, I’m willing to give them a reprieve for dipping into an elseworlds-type tale in “Luthor.” Plus, the series is based on a comic…
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Community, “Mixology Certification”
I imagine that “Mixology Certification” is the most divisive episode of Community‘s second season. It’s set outside of the safe Greendale walls, features little pop culture referencing and for the most part, isn’t funny in the same kind of way all the “great” episodes of Community are. Instead, it features a fairly boiler-plate sitcom plot…
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The Vampire Diaries, “The Sacrifice”
Figured it was time to update the title card image! Though I really enjoy episodes where the big ensembles come together for one important task like “Masquerade,” (which is still probably my favorite episode of the season) The Vampire Diaries is ridiculously good at pairing off its ever-expanding group of characters without losing any sense…
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Season Finale — Terriers, “Hail Mary”
I’m a little short on time, but I certainly wanted to get some thoughts about the Terriers finale out there. Even though I suggested it might be fine for Terriers to drive off into the sunset (to Mexico, apparently) after this one great season, I still approached the season finale, “Hail Mary,” with some sadness.…
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Value in departure: Why a Terriers cancellation isn’t the worst thing in the world (but it’s probably close)
Terriers airs its season finale tonight at 10 p.m. on FX. You should, without question, watch it. It is the best new series of the fall and probably my favorite new drama series of the post-WGA strike era. With this being the afternoon before said finale unspools, I could spend a thousand words imploring current…
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Glee, “Special Education”
Glee‘s competition episodes should be a big event. Of all the things the series does really well, it’s big, celebratory moments. Those moments don’t require any subtlety and instead the series can just revel in grand gestures, lots of smiles and soaring hooks. The wedding sequences last week we just wonderful, despite the angelic rendering of…
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How much can a great ending save a mediocre (or worse) season?
Tonight, the finale to Sons of Anarchy‘s third season airs on FX. It’s a 90 minute episode that, as you can see, showrunner Kurt Sutter has been hyping on Twitter. The last two Sons finales have been pretty damn great, as have the other extended episodes of the series so I should be filled with…
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Dexter, “In The Beginning”
After last week’s quick detour, “In The Beginning” ramps up the crazy as we head towards the conclusion to a very solid season of Dexter. The episode features a number of great moments, makes Jordan more of an interesting character and of course, features a complicated ending that surely has all fans talking. Let’s start…
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The Walking Dead, “Wildfire”
I’ve taken something of a hiatus from reviewing over the Thanksgiving holiday, and it is very nice to return slightly refreshed with a really tremendous episode of The Walking Dead. I know I’ve been hard on the series thus far, but I think a lot of that stems from the fact that I think the…
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Test Pilot: File #7, The OC
Test Pilot #7: The OC Debut date: August 5, 2003 Series legacy: The pivot point for a new generation of teen dramas, a genuine cultural phenomenon that burned out very quickly and perhaps the most well-respect straight-up teen drama of all time. Welcome to the newest regular feature here at TV Surveillance, the fantastically titled, Test Pilot.…
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Glee, “Furt”
Marrying the conclusion of Glee‘s “bullying trilogy” with an extremely fun celebration of a wedding is one of the weirder mash-ups the series has done over its run, but despite a number of issues — doesn’t every episode of Glee have a number of issues? — “Furt” pulls things together in such a way that…
CB, PhD 