Tag: Josh Schwartz
-
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.
-
Chuck Versus the Final Season: Four things the series needs to do to make the final season great
It is hard for me to say this, but Chuck has been a disappointment. I’m well aware of the high expectations everyone had for the series after fans, critics and randos on Twitter decided that they wanted to spread the word and eat a bunch of Subway sandwiches. When you feel like you personally helped…
-
Pilot rapid-fire review: Hart of Dixie
The next couple weeks are going to be insane. There are so many new series debuting and unfortunately, there is only so much time in the day for me to write about television while balancing my “real” life. You know, the one I spend on Twitter. ANYWAY, I’m going to try to touch on each…
-
Fall Television Network Preview: The CW
If you’re one of my 11 regular readers, you know that I am very interested in exploring the position and meaning of network strategy and branding. I understand that a lot of people are turned off by any sort of in-depth discussion of a television network’s “brand” and how they cultivate it, but it is…
-
#TVFail Entry 8: Chuck, “Chuck Versus the Mask”
The accused: Chuck, “Chuck Versus the Mask” The crime: Delaying the eventual union of the series’ primary romantic couple even further by pairing them off with new characters, subsequently creating a fan panic/outrage 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…
-
Gossip Girl, “The Princesses and the Frog”
Gossip Girl is not a good television program. Most of you already probably knew this. Hell, I knew this. Because of the series’ pedigree (the Josh Schwarz/Stephanie Savage part, not the teen girl novel part), I watched Girl during the first season and found it to be moderately charming. Less so than The OC, but more…
-
The TVS List: Three broadcast series that need to be canceled
Note: I’m hopefully going to have more time to write things here over the next few months, so I’ll be trying to bring back the weekly list feature. Trying. Anyway, here’s the beginning of that attempt. It’s spring, which means it is the time of year that everyone takes to the internet to stump for…
-
Chuck, “Chuck Versus The Cat Squad”
In his guest review of this episode last night for the A.V. Club, Myles McNutt discussed his frustrations with this season’s general staleness and lack of real stakes. If you’ve been reading my reviews of Chuck this season, you know that I’ve often felt exactly the same but if you take a look at Myles’…
-
Chuck, “Chuck Versus The Push Mix”
Josh Schwartz has gone on record countless times, both on Twitter and on the Firewall and Iceberg Podcast, that the final 10 minutes of “Chuck Versus The Push Mix” were the greatest in the series’ history. Even for a series that’s been on varying planes of struggle for a full calendar year, that’s a big,…
-
Chuck, “Chuck Versus The Balcony”
“Chuck Versus The Balcony” is a weird episode. It’s built around the most anticipated moment of the season, but seems interested in sucking most, if not all of the tension out of that moment. This is an episode and moment that the fans have been waiting for and even though the first half of “Balcony”…
-
Test Pilot: File #8, Gossip Girl
Test Pilot #8: Gossip Girl Debut date: September 19, 2007 Series legacy: Shinning beacon in today’s slate of teen dramas Welcome to the newest regular feature here at TV Surveillance, the fantastically titled, Test Pilot. In this bi-weekly feature, I will be joined by a rotating batch of guest writers in an analysis of, you…
-
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.…
-
Chuck, “Chuck Versus Phase Three”
Last week, I said that the nonsense with Rob Riggle and the sketchiness of how the Intersect wouldn’t totally be a loss if the makeshift part two of that story was effective and satisfying. Well, even though “Chuck Versus Phase Three” didn’t do a few of the things I hoped it would last night, it…
-
Season Premiere — Human Target, “Ilsa Pucci”
Writing about the Human Target season two premiere is particularly interesting to me for a few reasons. First of all, I have rarely, if ever, just jumped into a series without seeing most of the episodes leading up to said jump-in point. I literally can’t think of any series that I’ve done that with in…
-
Chuck, “Chuck Versus The Fear of Death”
After a string of rock-solid episodes, “Chuck Versus the Fear of Death” feels more in-step with the earlier episodes of season four. Despite the episode’s attempts to keep the stakes high after the Mama Bartowski stuff from the last few efforts, the value of the plot movement found within “Fear of Death” won’t really be…
CB, PhD 