tv diary '19- winter and spring
what's all on the teevee an' whatnot.
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- CreatorSeth MacFarlaneStarsSeth MacFarlaneAdrianne PalickiPenny Johnson JeraldSet 400 years in the future, the crew of the U.S.S. Orville continue their mission of exploration, navigating both the mysteries of the universe, and the complexities of their own interpersonal relationships.We will continue with season 2. The premiere has exactly one gut-busting hilarious joke, but smartly weaves it into the plot of the episode; that's about par for the course-- no, more accurate to say that that's about as good as it gets for this show. The Orville really needs its sense of humor; without that, it's just a pale imitation of Star Trek. The Trek franchise, love it or hate it, comes with a wealth of worldbuilding and lore that the Orville nakedly aspires to, but is hard pressed to match. Meanwhile it can only gesture toward the imagination and cerebrality of the best of Star Trek.
- CreatorJoel HodgsonStarsJoel HodgsonFelicia DayPatton OswaltKinga Forrester continues the B-movie watching experiments of her father and grandmother on a new test subject aboard the Satellite Of Love.I have survived... The Gauntlet.
Hoping to see Jonah and the bots again soon. In the mean time, there's always MST3K Classic. - DirectorBen O'BrienAlan ResnickStarsKerry DonelliJacqueline DonelliJackson ManningShort film that starts as footage of a grizzly bear and is then interrupted by a commercial for a drug called "Claridryl." The protagonist talks about the drug. But it quickly becomes clear that something is very wrong.A nature documentary interrupted by an extended commercial for a new product that can help you get back to being a mom... if you can avoid spiraling into madness.
- CreatorByron MinnsScott SandersMichael Jai WhiteStarsMichael Jai WhiteByron MinnsKym WhitleyAction comedy-spoof that follows ex-C. I. A. Agent and full-time ladies man, Black Dynamite, who's out to avenge the death of his brother against kung-fu masters, drug-dealing pimps, and The Man.Not loving it.There is too much of that Family Guy-style comedy of reference here; you got your episode riffing off "Diff'rent Strokes", you got Black Dynamite and the gang fighting Fred Rogers, Elvis and the Muppets. Occasionally it hits you out of nowhere with a great gag; my favorite is Joe Jackson confiding that Michael was fathered by an alien, which finally provided him with talented offspring AND saved him two minutes of hard work. There is too a lot of gratuitous content, homophobia, racist banter and caricatures of all stripes.
I guess I don't remember the movie a whole lot all these years later, but Black Dynamite wasn't a pimp in the movie, was he? It makes the character a bit harder to take. (also, somehow Bullhorn and Cream Corn are still alive) The show does smartly undercut his machismo from time to time, but as a paragon of black masculinity he remains a fairly static character. - CreatorVernon ChatmanStarsVernon ChatmanJaneane GarofaloZadieA miniature propellant cluster bomb of painfully mutinous nightmares, all dripping with the orange sludge of dream logic.The latest unsettingly oddity from the madmen who brought us Wonder Showzen (yay!) and Xavier: Renegade Angel (can I go now?).
- CreatorSimon BeaufoyStarsHarris DickinsonDonald SutherlandHilary SwankIn 1973 Rome, John Paul Getty III, the heir and younger member of an oil tycoons' clan, is kidnapped by the Italian Mafia in order to get a ransom.slowly going through this. It's pretty good, though.
This is far better than the Ridley Scott joint that came out just before the show. Sure, in 10 episodes they have more space to develop the cast and setting, but "Trust" makes a stronger impression in less time than "All the Money in the World". Look at the character of Fletcher Chase, the Getty family fixer. In the movie he's the lead, essentially, a stock Mahky Mahk action hero who in the climax, essentially shames his employer to death, or something. It's a boring nothing character that does little but take screentime away from Michelle Williams. In 'Trust' Chase is a wily operator who invites his foes to underestimate him with his cowboy get-up and brash manners. After the Getty boy disappears he flies into Rome in a bolo tie and ten gallon hat and he hangs an American flag off the balcony of his fancy hotel room. He is our occasional fourth-wall-breaking narrator as well, providing bits of expositional and geopolitical context in little asides to the audience. I never though I would be so happy to see Brendan Fraser on the screen. - CreatorMichael SchurStarsKristen BellWilliam Jackson HarperJameela JamilFour people and their otherworldly frienemy struggle in the afterlife to define what it means to be good.Season 3 sort of starts shakily as it struggles to bring the gang back together, but that's the risk you take with this sort of gung ho plotting, and it recovers very well. Consistently hilarious and affecting.
- CreatorRachel BloomAline Brosh McKennaStarsRachel BloomDonna Lynne ChamplinVincent Rodriguez IIIA young woman abandons a choice job at a law firm and her life in New York in an attempt to find happiness in the unlikely locale of West Covina, California.
- CreatorPeter BergStarsKyle ChandlerConnie BrittonZach GilfordA drama that follows the lives of the Dillon Panthers, one of the nation's best high school football teams, and their head coach Eric Taylor.season 1 on demand. really great show, great ensemble cast. I love these characters (even the Garritys).
Rough start to season 2. - CreatorPat BishopMatt IngebretsonJake WeismanStarsMatt IngebretsonJake WeismanAdam LustickA dark, edgy look at life as a Junior-Executive-in-Training at your average, soulless multi-national corporation.Watching season 1, and shall continue into season 2. A comedy for our dystopian times. Frequently hilarious, but very frank about the toll this insane world takes on our minds and bodies.
- CreatorMiles Orion FeldsottRick RemenderStarsBenedict WongBenjamin WadsworthLana CondorA coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of late 1980s counterculture, which follows a disillusioned teen recruited into a storied high school for assassins.It's a fun show. sort of a punk rock Harry Potter, set at a secret boarding school for assassins.
- CreatorFrank DarabontStarsAndrew LincolnNorman ReedusMelissa McBrideSheriff Deputy Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma to learn the world is in ruins and must lead a group of survivors to stay alive.I'm sticking with it. Walking Dead is now on its fourth showrunner, the talented Angela Kang, and with all the years of baggage the show has accumulated, not to mention a number of cast departures, she certainly has her work cut out for her. The result feels like a whole new show, and largely for the better, though the seams of patching it all together still show. The new castmembers are actually pretty great. I don't know if I ever especially liked a Dan Fogler character before. And the Whisperers are good villains. Hopefully Kang can make the old principals just as compelling.
- CreatorLiz HeldensStarsMark-Paul GosselaarSaniyya SidneyJamie McShaneWhen a botched U.S. government experiment turns a group of death row inmates into highly infectious vampires, an orphan girl might be the only person able to stop the ensuing crisis.Already Fox wants to bring back The Strain? If only this were as good as that (note: The Strain was not very good).
the s.o. likes it enough, so I guess this is my one allotted hate-watch of the season. But it elicts rolled eyes rather than laughs.
So, it's a vampire thing. Zack Morris IS Brad Wolgast, ex-soldier extraordinaire, who now works in the private sector by offering convicts on death row a stay of execution if they volunteer as test subjects for a drug that turns them into telepathic bloodsuckers. The show establishes him as the good guy by surrounding him with people who are even worse; you know he's the hero because he draws a line when his partner punches a little girl in the face. Also, it's a Lost-type thing, with each character taking turns with the formative flashbacks. Top notch, cutting-edge stuff, huh? Innovative storytelling at its finest. - CreatorBill ArhosStarsWillie NelsonLyle LovettJohn PrineEstablished singer-songwriters and acclaimed newcomers perform country, blues, rock, folk, bluegrass, and related styles of music from Studio 6A of public television station KLRU (formerly KLRN) at the University of Texas at Austin."Iggy Pop", "Cyndi Lauper". Strong performances. Iggy, electrifying as ever, plays the hits with Josh Homme and the Arctic Monkeys. Lauper offers a set of country music covers and countryfied versions of her signature songs.
Excellent show from Robert Plant and the Spectacular Space Shifters, with new songs and fresh arrangements of some Led Zeppelin standards.
Also watched shows' by Dan Auerbach, Shinyribs, the Pretenders.
But the Tom Waits concert from 1979, that is just an incredible, once in a lifetime performance. - CreatorDan GoorMichael SchurStarsAndy SambergStephanie BeatrizTerry CrewsComedy series following the exploits of Det. Jake Peralta and his diverse, lovable colleagues as they police the NYPD's 99th Precinct.Back from the dead and better than ever.
- DirectorDavid SladeStarsFionn WhiteheadCraig ParkinsonAlice LoweA young programmer starts to question reality when he adapts a mad writer's fantasy novel into a video game.Like the best episodes of Black Mirror, this interactive movie from Booker and co. has a bunch of fascinating ideas. Perhaps too many ideas, even, which pull it in too many different directions. I plan on seeing it again, but I'm not sure that another viewing will make me more than lukewarm.
- CreatorLiz FlahiveCarly MenschStarsAlison BrieMarc MaronBetty GilpinA look at the personal and professional lives of a group of women who perform for a wrestling organization in Los Angeles during the 1980s.
- CreatorDylan MoranStarsDylan MoranBill BaileyTamsin GreigBernard Black runs a book shop, though his customer service skills leave something to be desired. He hires Manny as an employee. Fran runs the shop next door. Between the three of them many adventures ensue.finished season 3. goes off on a good note, with Manny meeting a nice girl who shares his hangdog charm and Bernard revealing a tragic past which is ultimately undercut in one of the show's very best jokes.
- StarsSimon PeggJessica HynesJulia DeakinFriends Tim and Daisy, 20-something North Londoners with uncertain futures, must pretend to be a couple to live in the only apartment they can afford.
- StarsRowan AtkinsonTony RobinsonTim McInnernyIn the Tudor court of Elizabeth I, Lord Edmund Blackadder strives to win Her Majesty's favour while attempting to avoid a grisly fate should he offend her.
- CreatorJoel HodgsonStarsJoel HodgsonMichael J. NelsonTrace BeaulieuIn the not-too-distant future Joel Robinson is held captive by Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank, forced to watch B-Grade movies on the Satellite of Love with the help of his robot friends: Cambot, Gypsy, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot.
- CreatorAdam ScottNaomi ScottStarsAmanda AnkaJeff ProbstJon SchroederAdam Scott is determined to make the greatest event in television history by remaking the opening sequences of TV shows.“Bosom Buddies”
- CreatorJames L. BrooksMatt GroeningSam SimonStarsDan CastellanetaNancy CartwrightHarry ShearerThe satiric adventures of a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield.Rewatching classic episodes. “Bart Sells His Soul” is a new favorite. “How can someone with glasses that thick be so stupid?”
- CreatorJeff BuhlerStarsEoin MackenDavid AjalaJodie Turner-SmithA crew of scientists embarks on a mission aboard a ship called the Nightflyer to investigate a mysterious alien signal, but they soon begin to question if something is already on the ship with them.George RR Martin says that he wrote his story Nightflyers when he was told that scifi and horror weren't compatible, and he took that as a challenge. But he didn't challenge himself to combine the two in an ongoing tv series; that's harder to do. This is a show that is far too stingy with its mysteries. Time and again characters promise answers later for questions they could answer now. Fresh horrors arise, and whatever dilemma the characters were last puzzling over is forgotten as the crew deals with the new threat. So how did a space probe sent out into the void magically appear back on the ship? Nevermind. Why doesn't the captain ever come out of his room? Oh, I guess his agoraphobia is cured. What's up with the weird bee lady? Whoops, she's gone. What's causing these infectious spores? Ok, guess it didn't matter.
- DirectorAaron SpringerGenndy TartakovskyStarsDiedrich BaderCorey BurtonJohn DiMaggioUnsold TV pilot and a dark, violent and gory sword and sorcery spoof set in a postapocalyptic new dark age about a Conan-like barbarian warrior hired to steal a golden goblin from a dangerous wizard who lives in a tower in the sky.Gleefully violent, over the top and vulgar pilot from Aaron Springer and Gennedy Tarkovsky, sadly rejected by Adult Swim.
- CreatorChristy KaracasBen GruberStephen WarbrickStarsDavid WainTeddy CohnChristopher McCullochIn a surreal world, a large maximum security prison, which houses thousands of dangerous inmates is run by an eccentric warden and his equally odd staff.Animator Christy Karacas is a wild talent. His cartoons seem to spring from the id of a 12-year-old boy, unceasing bloody mayhem that spirals off into increasingly bizarre and horrifying tangents. After he made the short film “Bar Fight”, where a ruckus at a watering hole takes on intergalactic proportions, he signed on at Adult Swim and created Superjail!, each episode of which culminates in an absurdly grisly prison riot. The warden of Superjail, terrifically brought to life by the voice of David Wain, takes his fashion cues and management style from Willy Wonka, and his flights of draconian whimsy regularly visit new horrors on his helpless prisoners. Superjail’s anxiety-stricken accountant Jared is oft tasked with figuring on the nuts and bolts of the Warden’s crazy schemes, then watches helplessly as it all goes awry. Burly chief guard Alice and murderous security droid Jailbot usually bring things brutally to heel. Formulaic stuff, sure, but Karacas’ scribblings really come alive in these scenes of ultra violence, vividly and fluidly rendering flayed corpses and spattering gore, mangled faces and deadly projectiles, all with an unsettling yet contagious glee.
Subsequent seasons lack the anarchic energy of season 1. Maybe its the switch from Augenblick Studios to the crisper animation of Titmouse; the change is subtle, but it looks more cartoony and a bit less like demented scribblings from a notebook now, and with that it loses a bit of its looney charm. - CreatorAmy SedarisPaul DinelloStarsAmy SedarisCole EscolaAna FabregaAmy Sedaris applies her distinctive, sincere brand of silliness to a mash-up of hospitality, variety, and talk-show formats, showcasing her diverse, necessary homemaking skills.Finished season 1. Continuing to season 2.
- CreatorHugh WilsonStarsGary SandyGordon JumpLoni AndersonThe misadventures of the staff of a struggling Top 40 rock radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio.I think this show had really hooked me with "Les on a Ledge".
- CreatorChristy KaracasStarsNatasha LyonneJessica DiCiccoDana SnyderAfter a scandalous fall, one of the greatest players of "The Game", Gaz Digzy, must guide the worst team that ever participated to prove herself to the crazed ruler Crayzar.Such is my love for Superjail! that I’m giving Christy Karacas’s new show Ballmastrz 9009 a whirl. It’s a sci-fi anime spoof (one with a wealth of contempt for its target and audience) about a future dystopia obsessed with the titular death sport. The animation is somewhat slicker than the hand drawn look of Superjail!, but rarely reaches the same anarchic heights, and it fails to make much hay out of the rigid stylization of anime. I must confess that Superjail! was not especially witty, but the humor is a shade more sophomoric here, and that’s a shade too far. There’s more plot and dialogue than mayhem, and those aren’t Karacas’s strengths.
- CreatorChris KellySarah SchneiderStarsHeléne YorkeDrew TarverKen MarinoAn aspiring actor and his sister Brooke, a former professional dancer, try to find their places in the world while wrestling with their feelings about their 13-year-old brother Chase's sudden rise to internet fame.Great new comedy. Heartily recommended
- CreatorBen BestJody HillDanny McBrideStarsDanny McBrideSteve LittleKaty Mixon GreerMany years after he turned his back on his hometown, a burned-out major league ballplayer returns to teach Physical Education at his old middle school.
- CreatorDavid HemingsonStarsScott FoleyLauren CohanAna OrtizAn FBI agent and his new partner, a CIA operative, embark on missions to save the world, but have to put up with each other first.Pilot impressions: This was a hectic pilot, trying to cram in 90 minutes of story into 40. Too much exposition is delivered over the phone by an omniscient psychologist. Foley and Graham are good though.
I don't think we'll be sticking with it. - CreatorLoren BouchardBrendon SmallJanice BurgessStarsBrendon SmallH. Jon BenjaminMelissa Bardin GalskyBrendon Small, an ambitious eight-year-old filmmaker, shoots movies in his basement with his two best friends, while coming to terms with adolescence, life, and relationships.Rewatching. A great, underrated comedy. The "squigglevision" animation of the first season struck me as fairly primitive on prior viewings, but that's not a limitation, I think now. The flash animation of alter seasons is a bit cleaner and slicker, without the hand-drawn look of squigglevision, but no one's going to mistake it for Disney animation. It's the cast that really makes "Home Movies" shine. H. Jon Benjamin is a real treasure, not just as brash soccer coach McGurk but also as mumbly kid character-actor Jason and spazzy Walter (or is it Perry?). But there's a deep bench of talent here, bringing their characters to life with sharp yet naturalistic improvised dialog.
- CreatorJoe PeraStarsJoe PeraJo FirestoneConner O'MalleyJoe, beloved choir teacher, discusses topics of interest. First up, iron!Pretty basic adult swim stuff, less juvenile maybe but typically confounding. Joe Pera is midwest teacher with the mannerisms of a much older man. While recording a geology lecture in his living room he is interrupted by an obnoxious family of four at his doorstep. It seems that a realtor planted a for sale sign on his lawn by accident, and though Pera suspects that this is a prank being played on him by local teens he just doesn't have the nerve to send them away.
- StarsSamantha BeeAllana HarkinMike RubensComedian Samantha Bee gives her own wry commentary to the contemporary issues of the day.Watched an episode. It's a pretty good heir to the Daily Show's legacy, but I prefer John Oliver's program. I will, however, probably continue to watch neither on a regular basis as I am sick of helplessly watching the world burn.
- CreatorFred ArmisenBill HaderSeth MeyersStarsHelen MirrenFred ArmisenBill Hader"Documentary Now!" parodies the current obsession with documentaries. Season one features six different stories and stylistic approaches paying tribute to the doc format.
- CreatorSimon RichStarsDaniel RadcliffeGeraldine ViswanathanKaran SoniAn anthology series in which a colorful blend of outcasts and iconoclasts confront universal issues across various time periods: love, faith, societal norms, and venturing into the unknown.very much in the vein of Simon Rich's FX series "Man Seeking Woman".
- CreatorMichael Patrick O'BrienStarsGlenn HowertonLyric LewisMary SohnA former philosophy professor who takes a job teaching advanced placement biology uses his students to get back at the people in his life who have wronged him.Season 2 already feels like a better show. It is more formally experimental, the ensemble is put to better use, and Jack, though still a thorny, spiteful guy, has thankfully grown out of his petty vendetta against Miles.
sadly cancelled. - CreatorSam SheridanStarsChris PineIndia EisleyJefferson MaysIn early 1960s, a teenage girl looking for her real father and a disgraced journalist seeking closure find themselves drawn into a web of secrets revolving around L.A.'s most infamous cold case, the Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short) murder.DVR'ed
- StarsSimona BrownGennady FleyscherClare HolmanAs a Palestinian assassin is targeting prominent Israelis, a young English actress is recruited by Mossad to infiltrate the assassin's terrorist cell, requiring all of her acting talents but also putting her at considerable risk.DVR'ed
- CreatorJemaine ClementStarsKayvan NovakMatt BerryNatasia DemetriouA look into the nightly lives of four vampires who have lived together on Staten Island for over a century.Americanization of the terrific kiwi vampire mockumentary doesn't quite have enough of an idea of how to stand on its own. It does have a wonderful cast, including the incomparable Todd Barry and a star-making turn by Mark Proksh as terminally boring energy vampire Colin Robinson. I'm optimistic that in the next season it will have a chance to become its own thing.
- CreatorGrant MorrisonBrian TaylorStarsChristopher MeloniRitchie CosterLili MirojnickAn injured hitman befriends his kidnapped daughter's imaginary friend; a perky blue flying unicorn.I am enjoying season 2 more than the first. The show has fully moved past the comic and become its own demented thing. Christopher Meloni is a surprisingly gifted physical comedian, and he really sells the gory slapstick.
- CreatorSimon KinbergJordan PeeleMarco RamirezStarsJordan PeeleDavid EpsteinKelly Ann WoodsAn updated version of the classic anthology series featuring various tales of science fiction, mystery, and horror.CBS is streaming the first episode on this Jordan Peele-hosted reboot on youtube. Classic carrot-and-stick tactic: bait potential customers with a dynamite tale, and maybe they'll be suckered into shilling out money for yet another streaming service. Sorry, CBS: this carrot's a bit stale.
"The Comedian" strongly recalls an old episode of a Rod Serling horror anthology: "Night Gallery" episode "Make Me Laugh", directed by a young Steven Spielberg. Frankly, neither episode is very good, but in "Make Me Laugh" there was a good reason why the comedy routines weren't very funny: audiences weren't laughing at the comedian because he was funny, but because he made a wish to a genie that people would laugh at everything he said. In "The Comedian", a hapless standup meets a veteran comic who tells him that he can win the crowds over if he "gives away a part of himself"; thereafter, whenever he tells his clumsy jokes about someone or something in his life, people unaccountably laugh, and the object of his ridicule ceases to exist. If there is a germ of satire in this idea, you have to squint to see it.
Serling's "Twilight Zone" wasn't always great, and may at times seem a bit campy to the modern eye, but it is still a model of economic storytelling, delivering a concise story with a few twists in under 30 minutes. The new series runs a full hour and makes poor use of its padded running time. Here, we get to hear the same bad comedy routine three or more times, when anybody could tell you it was bad the first time. We get a lot of time watching the standup pick and choose who he should erase from existence: a school bully, a racist on the bus, a heckler, professional and romantic rivals. But no one other than Nanjiani gives much a of performance here, or is written with much life or consistency. - CreatorJosh MalmuthStarsNatalie MoralesNelson FranklinJessica ChaffinAs the oddball cast of characters at Abby's will tell you, everyone needs a bar to call home.funny as Natalie Morales and Neil Flynn are, not to mention executive producer Michael Schur, I am loath to sit and watch multi-camera sitcoms with laugh tracks. I find them pandering. I made an exception for the pilot, but though there were a few laughs it feels contrived and hammy. Maybe that's just the expected pilot errors. Pilots are often hammy, as they are overeager to please in hopes of getting audiences to notice. They are often contrived, as the people making the show have usually not yet found the grove, and are still trying to find out what works and what doesn't. But I can't see through to a time when this show could rectify these errors; they feel of a piece with the hammy, contrived sitcom template.
- StarsMatthew GoodeTeresa PalmerAlex KingstonDiana Bishop, historian and witch, accesses Ashmole 782 and knows she must solve its mysteries. She is offered help by the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, but he's a vampire and witches should never trust vampires.This paranormal romance plays like a grown-up Twilight. The plot drags, but the central love story is rushed and unconvincing. Meanwhile the writers introduce a playbill's worth of peripheral characters in each episode and prompty give them nothing interesting to do. Look, here's a clan of vampires in Venice, and here are some young vaguely magical folk who are Very Online, much to the consternation of their elders; if you care to know what these guys have to do with anything, you'll just have to keep watching. This set up may have worked in the books, I wouldn't know, but on a TV show it makes for very poor pacing.
It is nicely shot, I think. There was one glaring continuity error in a dance scene that makes me hestitate to praise the show's technical merits much more than that. - StarsAshleigh CummingsÓlafur Darri ÓlafssonJahkara SmithCharlie Manx, a seductive immortal who feeds off the souls of children, has his whole world threatened when a young woman in New England discovers she has a dangerous gift.
- CreatorPhoebe Waller-BridgeStarsJodie ComerSandra OhFiona ShawAfter a series of events, the lives of a security operative and an assassin become inextricably linked.
- CreatorDavid BenioffD.B. WeissStarsEmilia ClarkePeter DinklageKit HaringtonNine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.The final season is alternately thrilling and rotely plotted. In the end, the rote plotting wins out; the finale has all the thrill of watching two master chess players putting all the pieces back in place after a game.
In its first few season, this is a very good show. As it goes on, the cracks begin to show. Fans of the books may cry foul whenever the show's plot diverges from that blueprint, but the blueprint has not been finished, as Martin has not yet bothered to consolidate things and bring them toward their conclusion. Generally the changes themselves are not bad, but what we begin to see is a loss of consequences.
The consequences are important to Martin; to Benioff and whatshisname, they're not. Ned Stark left home to serve his king, and faced with the treacheries and dangers of the capital he strove to remain upright, just and loyal. There were consequences. Tywin Lannister bullied, belittled and eventually betrayed his son; for this, too, there were consequences. Dani seized power in Meereen, and found herself in a political quagmire. Robb Stark broke an oath. Bran climbed a wall. Jaime loved his sister a bit to much. Consequences ensued.
Benioff and Weiss adapted an intricate fantasy series for cable television before the writer finished writing it. They came to a point, to their chagrin, where they had to finish the story themselves. They were so busy suffering the consequences, apparently, that they forgot that this was pretty much the arc of the story itself. They just wanted to wrap things up already, seemingly.
So Jon and Sam abandon their posts at Castle Black. Arya leaves the Faceless Men with new assassin skills. Ramsay Snow kills and rapes with abandon. Circe seizes the crown and destroys the Faith of the Seven. Dani ditches Meereen. Some of them live and some of them die, but none of them really have to deal with the messy effects and the fallout of their decisions anymore. - CreatorMarc WeissStarsStacey AbramsRashida TlaibLucy McBathPOV, a cinema term for "point of view," is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. Since 1988, POV has presented more than 300 of the best, boldest, and most innovative documentaries to PBS audiences across the country.saw the short "Earthrise" about the iconic picture of the earth rising over the lunar horizon taken during the Apollo 8 mission
- CreatorGenndy TartakovskyStarsPhil LaMarrMakoKevin Michael RichardsonA samurai, sent through time, fights to return home and save the world.elevates the old Cartoon Network house style into capital-A Art.
- StarsÁlvaro RodríguezShane BlackDamon LindelofA look inside the creative process of writers, creators and filmmakers.Greta Gerwig on making "Lady Bird".
writer Scott Alexander on "The People vs OJ Simpson".
screenwriter Eric Heisserer on adaping the Ted Chiang story for "Arrival".
Linda Woolverton on her career with Disney, a body of work that certainly displays a wide spectrum of quality.
John Singleton. - CreatorSusan HarrisStarsBea ArthurBetty WhiteRue McClanahanFour previously married women live together in Miami, sharing their various experiences together and enjoying themselves despite hard times."Blanche's Little Girl"
This sitcom has a strong ensemble in Bea Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan. I am a bit more reserved in my praise for Estelle Getty's mugging performance, but truth is she's the one who's most in tune with the writing; though this is a show with a lot of heart, it is astonishing the level of invective that gets tossed around here. - CreatorMatt MaiellaroDave WillisStarsDave WillisCarey MeansDana SnyderThe misadventures of a milkshake, an order of fries, a meatball, and their retired next door neighbor in the suburbs of New Jersey."Frat Aliens"
"His dad owns a dealership." - CreatorFrancisco AngonesMatt YoungbergStarsDavid TennantBen SchwartzDanny PudiThe comedy-adventure series chronicles the high-flying adventures of trillionaire Scrooge McDuck; his temperamental nephew Donald Duck; grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie; Launchpad McQuack; and Mrs. Beakley and her granddaughter Webby.continuing the second season
- CreatorChristopher McCullochStarsChristopher McCullochJames UrbaniakDoc HammerThe bizarre escapades of pseudo-heroic scientist Dr. Rusty Venture, his competent, high-strung bodyguard, and his two overenthusiastic sons.rewatching from season 1
- CreatorKatie KrentzPatrick McHaleStarsElijah WoodCollin DeanMelanie LynskeyTwo brothers find themselves lost in a mysterious land and try to find their way home.
- CreatorRod SerlingStarsRod SerlingRobert McCordJay OverholtsOrdinary people find themselves in extraordinarily astounding situations, which they each try to solve in a remarkable manner."The Lateness of the Hour" - one of a handful of episodes shot on digital as a cost-cutting measure. it has the flat look of an episode of Dark Shadows, and a histrionic lead performance to match. Intriguing, but not an episode that's aged well.
"It's a Good Life" - best episode of the series that I've ever seen. The citizens of Peaksville, Ohio live in fear of an omnipotent 6-year-old boy, Anthony, who creates and destroys life on a whim and who has done away with modern conveniences and even the outside world. I knew of this episode as the inspiration for Joe Dante's gonzo segment of the 80's Twilight Zone movie, for my money one of the best segments in the film. I am suprised to report that I actually think that this one is even better, though of course the effects are vastly cheaper. The remake created a new character, a surrogate mother who had the strength of will to be firm with Anthony; this gives the story a happier ending, but it reduces Anthony to a mere spoiled child, albeit a superpowered one. Here however Anthony is that and so much more: a stand in for God, playing wth his creations like toys, or for more worldly tyrants as he declaims "That's all the television there is!" after conjuring up a dinosaur rampage on the boob tube.
"Kick the Can" -This one, I groaned a bit when it started up, recognizing then that it was the precursor to Spielberg's schmaltzy offering to the anthology film. I was too soon to judge; this too is superior to the remake. Though "Kick the Can" is gentler than many Twilight Zone stories, the reveal is a layered one: Is the boy who old Ben sees at the end really his lifelong friend Charlie made young again, or is Ben succumbing to dementia? It's just a perfectly bittersweet moment, where feelings of loss, hope and uncertainty collide; this is what it feels like to grow old.
"The Hunt"- gentler and more sentimental again than I expected. The protagonist here, 'coon hunter Hyder Simpson, is a bit of a caricature perhaps, but his simple stubborn loyalty saves him in the end, and you aren't left with the impression that the show is making fun of him.
"The Midnight Sun"- a chilling end of the world scenario from Serling, imagining the last days of life on earth as the planet slips out of its orbit and slowly spirals closer and closer to the sun. This effective episode didn't really need a twist ending, but it still works, and the reversal doesn't detract terribly from the piece.
"Walking Distance"
"Come Wander with Me"- a fascinating episode, though not an entirely coherent one. Still, it gets a lot of mileage out of its eerie atmosphere. Slick musician Gary Burney ventures into the wilds of America looking for an authentic folk song that he can parlay into a hit. He encounters a shrouded siren who sings a song about a doomed wanderer who falls in love with a bespoke woman; by co-opting the song and wooing the siren, Burney unwittingly casts himself as the doomed wanderer. It's a creepy concept, but aside from the siren the locals don't display much interiority; the characters are like puppets in a morality play, and only Burney seems realize that in the end. - CreatorWill CarsolaDave StewartStarsDave StewartKaitlyn RobrockWill CarsolaThe Goodman family lives with their lovable pet dog, Mr. Pickles, a deviant border collie with a secret satanic streak.I hate this show so much I'm obsessed with it. I have barely even watched it, but I think about it more than any program that I actually do watch.
It just looks so ugly, vile and stupid. I guess that just means that I'm getting old. It couldn't be the children who are wrong (I'm younger than at least one of the creators by a few years). - CreatorPhoebe Waller-BridgeStarsPhoebe Waller-BridgeSian CliffordOlivia ColmanSeries adapted from the award-winning play about a young woman trying to cope with life in London whilst coming to terms with a recent tragedy.season 1 on IFC, the rare thing worth watching on IFC these days.
Why are the Independent Film Channel running hollywood movies and re-runs of tv shows these days? Besides the fact that that's probably their best bet in the ratings game, I mean. A rant for another time. - CreatorBrad NeelyStarsAffion CrockettIlana GlazerDarrell HammondBrad Neely brings together and presents a humorous collection of chaotic and frantic "one-off" segments, as well as shorts and comedic songs.it's adult swim nonsense, but more genial than the misanthropic idiocy of robot chicken.