TV Reviews

The Walking Dead: Mid-Season 2 Premiere

Written by Andrew Stires Tuesday, February 14, 2012, 1:40 PM

It's been a long two month wait, but The Walking Dead is finally back with another solid episode that continues to explore the fragile group dynamic of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and company as they deal with the fallout from the Hershel Farm Massacre. Over the past six episodes they have been held together by the common goal of finding Sophia (Madison Lintz), but now that her terrible fate has been revealed, everyone is forced reexamine their place not only within the group, but within the new world order. The hunt for Sophia at least kept them busy, but now what? The overhead shot of everyone walking their separate ways after burying their loved ones says it all. The Cherokee Rose now symbolizes loss. Factions are forming, and various players are vying for the role of alpha. If you thought Walkers were scary, try dealing with the living.

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The River: Series Premiere

Written by Meredith Alloway Sunday, February 12, 2012, 10:14 AM

The Paranormal Activity movies have made something quite obvious: hand-held camera horror is the next big thing. And with the success on the big screen, why not take over the small. The River is ABC’s attempt to present its viewers with some scary fun, the series created by Paranormal’s Oren Peli and Michael R. Perry. The two-hour premiere couldn’t be more jam-packed with the undead; let’s just hope the eight-episode series can keep up the pace.

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Smash: Series Premiere

Written by Meredith Alloway Friday, February 10, 2012, 6:53 AM

Just as NBC was waving their arms in surrender, going under with the heavy tide of ratings failure, a lifeboat comes in the form of Mr. Steven Spielberg.

A show about musical theater! Before you roll our eyes and picture all the Gleeks out there glittering with pop renditions…wait one second. Spielberg first came to Bob Greenblatt, president of entertainment at Showtime, in 2009.  He wanted each season to feature the creation of a new musical and if the show proved successful, to mount them on Broadway the following year. Sounds like a brilliant concept, but after the project landed in the hands of NBC, questions have been raised regarding the authenticity of the show-will it be a true-to-life depiction of the starving-artist New York struggle?

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Skins: Season 6 Premiere

Written by Andrew Watson Friday, January 27, 2012, 7:36 PM

To understand Skins massive popularity in the UK, you have to look beyond the screenplay, and I’d advise to sit down because it ain’t pretty. Although the episodes’ teleplay is credited to show co-creator Bryan Elsley, it is the product of a writing team whose average age is just 21, including a wrath of “teenage consultants”. This is very much a television show that has been designed by committee and for a lot of us; this is our own personal vision of hell. Surely, the focus group is the kind of creativity numbing work that will remove its heart and soul.

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Touch: Series Premiere

Written by Becky Kifer Friday, January 27, 2012, 6:38 PM

As someone who watched Heroes two seasons past its creative expiration date, one goes into the next Tim Kring-helmed series with a certain level of trepidation. In an ideal world, the failures of a past projectshouldn’t reflect on a new television venture. (Just as every post-24 Kiefer Sutherland project shouldn’t judge him by a Jack Bauer standard. Yeah right.) But we genre geeks are a once bitten, we-will-hold-this-grudge-forever bunch. So a joint venture between Kring and Fox—the Grim Reaper of nerd shows—seems a particularly hazardous undertaking.

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