With House airing its series finale this evening, I thought it was time to bust out a list or two. I love House and I love lists. It seems only fitting. First up, one of the lists I “do best”: ranking the seasons. Obviously, the finale could have some influence on the placement of season … Continue reading Goodbye, House: Ranking the seasons of House
Tag: Hugh Laurie
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 … Continue reading Review: House, “Nobody’s Fault”
TV Surveillance Podcast Episode 20 — Be More Like Lost, Walking Dead
In the new episode of the podcast, I'm joined by The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen for a discussion about the "mehs" of House season eight and the highs and lows of The Walking Dead season two. You can pre-order Zack's new book on Amazon and also don't forget to subscribe to the pod on iTunes.
#TVFail Entry 14: CSI:, “19 Down”/”One to Go”
The accused: CSI:, “19 Down” and “One to Go” (Season 9, Episodes 9 and 10) The crime: Embodying the internal tension between character and procedural in contemporary network crime series 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 … Continue reading #TVFail Entry 14: CSI:, “19 Down”/”One to Go”
Review: House, “Charity Case”
Even at its lowest point (which was definitely season five, by the way), House has never been a bad series. It has turned in some really tepid episodes – and even those are relatively rare – and for the last three seasons, the series has been generally coasting, but there’s still something about House … Continue reading Review: House, “Charity Case”
Season Premiere review — House, “Twenty Vicodin”
House is pretty much out of ideas at this point. The series spent the majority of last season focusing on the House-Cuddy relationship, a decision that made half the audience swoon and the other half vomit. I was somewhere in the middle on Huddy, but it always sort of felt like if the series was … Continue reading Season Premiere review — House, “Twenty Vicodin”
2011 Primetime Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama Series
The 2011 Primetime Emmys are so close! September 18th to be exact. Up until the ceremony airs on FOX, I’ll be working through most of the major categories and discussing who could win, who should win and of course, who will win. I’ll likely be tackling two categories in each post, just so you know. Happy … Continue reading 2011 Primetime Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama Series
Fall Television “Preview”: Four series with problems to solve
With September upon us, the fall television season is just around the corner. At random times over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some preview-like pieces about what is to come over the next few months. Just like last year, I haven’t seen any of the season’s new series – no pilots or anything. … Continue reading Fall Television “Preview”: Four series with problems to solve
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 … Continue reading 2011 Emmy Nomination Predictions
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 … Continue reading 2011 Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
2010-2011 season wrap: House
With the 2010-2011 television season officially over, I'll be taking some time over the next week or so to look back on how some of television's best fared this season. General thoughts: End dates are not normal in television and most series limp towards the finish line. This is often more true for series with procedural … Continue reading 2010-2011 season wrap: House
Season Finale — House, “Moving On”
For a season finale, "Moving On" is not an entirely exciting episode. In fact, this episode includes one of the season's most obvious commitments to a medical case. At various points of the episode, I found myself just slightly bored with the proceedings. But despite all of that, "Moving On" is exactly what House ends as … Continue reading Season Finale — House, “Moving On”
House, “After Hours”
When heading into a season finale, there's always a danger of ramping things up too much. The desire to make everything seem MORE IMPORTANT and MORE URGENT is always there, especially for drama series, but it doesn't always work in the context of the episodes that came before it. Histrionics for histrionics sake is never, ever a … Continue reading House, “After Hours”
House, “The Fix”
UGH. I have no problem with House going to extremes at the end of its seventh season. This is a series that likes to pull out "big" moments and twists during the final few episodes every season, so I expected season seven to try to accomplish those same goals. It's part of the series' storyteling DNA … Continue reading House, “The Fix”
#TVFail Entry 2: House, “Simple Explanation”
The accused: House, "Simple Explanation" (Season 5, Episode 20) The crime: Presenting a terribly manipulative version of the "Very Special Episode" gimmick. 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 had it all planned … Continue reading #TVFail Entry 2: House, “Simple Explanation”