Category: Featured
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Mad Men, “The Summer Man”
In almost every piece of criticism I read about last week’s fantastic episode of Mad Men, the writers wondered if Don and Peggy’s night together signaled a turnaround for Mr. Draper. Well, I think “The Summer Man” answers that question fairly handily.
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Series Premiere — Terriers, “Pilot”
Obviously, pilot episodes have a lot of balls in the air. Good pilots have to set up the plot in the most broadest of ways. They have to present compelling characters who are interesting to watch. They have to create a sense of place that is worth enough to bring the audience back. And most…
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Series Premiere — Hellcats, “A World Full of Strangers”
If you thought that Hellcats, the new CW series about collegiate competitive cheerleading, would do for that sport what Glee did for high school music programs, you had the same thought process as the creators of this series. Or perhaps I should say the same hopes, as Hellcats follows many of the same beats as the…
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Season Premiere — Sons of Anarchy, “So”
Damn, what a way to usher in the new television season.
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Fall TV “Preview”: Are there any broadcast hits in this group?
The fall television season is just about to begin! To celebrate, I’ll be doing a series of fun features and previews for both returning and brand-new series. I have not seen any of the new pilots or premieres from veteran series, and thus the quotes around preview. No matter, that won’t stop me from doing…
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Mad Men, “The Suitcase”
I’ve been taking some much-needed R&R over the holiday weekend, a little rest up that included a television without AMC. But I couldn’t take it anymore when my Twitter feed completely blew up last night with hyperbolic praises for last night’s Mad Men. I didn’t read any reviews, but multiple folks were using phrases like…
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Fall TV Preview: Four returning series that have something to prove
The fall television season is just about to begin! To celebrate, I’ll be doing a series of fun features and previews for both returning and brand-new series. I have not seen any of the new pilots or premieres from veteran series, and thus the quotes around preview. No matter, that won’t stop me from doing…
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Fall TV “Preview”: Eight cliffhangers I can’t wait to see resolved
The fall television season is just about to begin! To celebrate, I’ll be doing a series of fun features and previews for both returning and brand-new series. I have not seen any of the new pilots or premieres from veteran series, and thus the quotes around preview. No matter, that won’t stop me from doing…
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Test Pilot: File #1, The Sopranos
Test Pilot #1: The Sopranos Debut date: January 10, 1999 on HBO Series legacy: The dawn of a new era for television, a cultural phenomenon in its early years, one of the 2-3 best drama series in the medium’s history. Welcome to the newest regular feature here at TV Surveillance, the fantastically titled, Test Pilot.…
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Sometimes origin stories take 10 years — Ranking the episodes of Smallville, Episodes 25-1
After the positive response to my ranked list of Lost and Office episodes, I just had to do another. Heck, even if there wasn’t a positive response for those two features, I probably would have done another one anyway because I love lists. I’ve been thinking about what series to tackle for nearly a month…
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The Emmys to split into two shows? Other suggestions for TV’s biggest award night
Just one day after the Emmys aired, the Hollywood Reporter ran a story that speculates the Emmys could be split into two different shows in the future. Under the possible (and let me stress that word) deal, one telecast would air on the usual rotating trolley of broadcast networks and focus on the comedy, drama…
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Mad Men, “Waldorf Stories”
“Waldorf Stories” is a really compelling hour of Mad Men and definitely the most enjoyable hour of the season, but I feel like there’s an odd reason for that fact.
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Rubicon, “Look to the Ant”
Rubicon has quietly (and I only say quietly because no one is watching anymore) morphed into a damn good series over the last three episodes. There were a few missteps along the way as the series transitioned between showrunners and tried to figure out what the hell it was all about, but since “The Outsider”…
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Huh? Reflections on the 2010 Emmy Awards
The 62 Annual Emmy Awards just wrapped up a few minutes ago, and if there’s one thing I’ll say about this telecast: It was far from boring. Well, at least the first 90 minutes weren’t boring. I did a live blog for the folks over at TV Overmind (you can check out that out here…
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Sometimes origin stories take 10 years — Ranking the episodes of Smallville, Episodes 49-26
After the positive response to my ranked list of Lost and Office episodes, I just had to do another. Heck, even if there wasn’t a positive response for those two features, I probably would have done another one anyway because I love lists. I’ve been thinking about what series to tackle for nearly a month…
CB, PhD 