Category: Featured
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#TVFail Entry 18: Dexter, “The British Invasion”
The accused: Dexter, “The British Invasion” (Season 2, Episode 12) The crime: Allowing its lead character to avoid major consequences and therefore damaging the narrative forever How much impact, both positive and negative, can one bad episode have on an entire series? How do long-running series continue onward in the aftermath of an episodic failure?…
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Review: Glee, “On My Way”
Watching and writing about television is a pretty painless experience in the grand scheme of things. But disregarding the world’s real problems for a moment, watching and writing about Glee can be fairly traumatic, you guys. Every time I think the series has lost its way for good, it pulls me back in with a…
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Talking about television is not ruining television
When you run in certain circles online or follow a bunch of people in the same field on Twitter, certain events or pieces become “things.” Over the last 36 hours, the “thing” has been Ryan McGee’s piece about The Sopranos and the HBO model’s impact on television narrative. McGee’s well-reasoned and detailed piece created a…
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Chitchat: The Office’s Jim and Pam, World’s Worst Humans?
I talk television with a lot of people. Friends, family, other critics on Twitter, vagrants on the street. I just love talking about TV. Because I don’t have the time and resources to do a podcast like I used to in college, I’m going to sort of replicate that experience in textual form in a…
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Test Pilot: File #37, Cupid
Test Pilot #37: Cupid Debut date: September 26, 1998 Series legacy: Intriguing high-concept (but not too high-concept) premise cut down not once, but twice in a decade Welcome back to Test Pilot guys and gals! With that extra-special Joss Whedon Theme Week behind us, it’s time to fall back into the typical, but still lovely…
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Review: Glee, “Heart”
By now, you know that my schedule/workload/life changes keep me from writing as much as I would like here at TV Surveillance. Of all series I miss writing about, Glee someone still tops the list (well, since Community is still trapped out there in the ether). I don’t even understand how that’s really true, but…
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Showrunner Series: Adam Horowitz and Eddie Kitsis, Flashbacks and Self-Awareness
Welcome back to the Showrunner Series, an occasional TVS feature where I discuss the work of one or more major television voice(s). When a great, popular television series says goodbye, members of that series’ writing staff are going to be hot commodities. They’re going to be asked to run their own series, pitch their own…
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Chitchat: Does Parks and Recreation have a Leslie Knope problem?
I talk television with a lot of people. Friends, family, other critics on Twitter, vagrants on the street. I just love talking about TV. Because I don’t have the time and resources to do a podcast like I used to in college, I’m going to sort of replicate that experience in textual form in a…
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Series Premiere Review: Smash
It is difficult to think or talk about Smash without considering the context of its much-awaited arrival to television. Despite what still-new NBC honcho Robert Greenblatt says about the series’ ultimate impact on the fate of the Peacock network, Smash is a supremely important property. In fact, I would say that this is the…
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Review: House, “Nobody’s Fault”
I’ve said this a few times this season, but House has few good ideas left. Don’t get me wrong, I still like the series quite a bit, and I think this season has been mostly solid because the writers finally realized that the few remaining strengths of House are twofold: Hugh Laurie and moderately amusing…
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TV Surveillance Podcast Episode 25 – Goodbye, Chuck
In the first new episode of the year, I’m joined by Wes Ambrecht for an extended conversation about all things Chuck, from the final season and the finale to what went wrong along the way. Don’t forget, you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, if that’s your kind of thing.
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Review: The Vampire Diaries, “Bringing Out The Dead”
Boy, did I pick a great episode to check in with The Vampire Diaries. After what I thought was a fairly weak midseason finale by typical TVD standards, the series bounced around a little bit in its first three episodes of 2012. That’s not to say I didn’t like them or that they didn’t include…
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Test Pilot: File #36, Profit
Test Pilot #36: Profit Debut date: April 8, 1996 Series legacy: Known for its dark, complicated story and even darker lead character; thought to be ahead of its time Welcome back to Test Pilot guys and gals! With that extra-special Joss Whedon Theme Week behind us, it’s time to fall back into the typical, but…
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#TVFail Entry 17: 30 Rock, “The One With The Cast of Night Court”
The accused: 30 Rock, “The One With The Cast of Night Court” (Season 3, Episode 3) The crime: Embodying the big dangers with high-profile guest casting Television’s failures are supposed to be obvious. From the overhyped non-starters that flop from the very beginning (hello, FlashForward, Lone Star) to the much-discussed clumsy conclusions of series we were convinced…
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Series Premiere Review: Touch
Let’s get this out of the way first: Tim Kring is the worst. He is not just the worst because he took a series with a great concept and a handful of truly good episodes in Heroes and quickly ran it into the ground, repetitively. Tim Kring is just the worst because he knows exactly…
CB, PhD 