Even when it seems “Buffy” is doing something for laughs, it might actually have a subtext behind it. For example, when Willow’s doppelganger vampire was humorously gay in a third-season episode; it seemed like an off-the-wall funny idea. And yet, a season later, Willow was dating Tara.
“Fringe” (8 p.m. Central Thursdays on Fox) has become such a good show in its own right that it goes beyond being a good “X-Files” rip-off. Even if that’s all it was, I’d love it — I was that one guy who watched “FreakyLinks,” “Miracles,” “Night Stalker” and “The Inside” before they were duly canceled.
I admire shows that address the recession — it’s part of the fabric of “Medium” and “Friday Night Lights,” and “The Simpsons” had a nice episode about it last year. But I also like shows that are completely oblivious to America’s economic meltdown, to the point where they flaunt how out of touch they are.
In its large ensemble cast, “Melrose Place” (8 p.m. Central Tuesdays on The CW) has one likeable character. He’s a 25-year-old comic book fan and budding filmmaker. He asks his girlfriend of five years to marry him, but she’s not sure if she should, because, come on, he likes comic books. Obviously, that’s a sign that he’s […]
There was no second-episode jinx for “Glee” (8 p.m. Central Wednesdays on Fox) when it returned to the schedule this week. It’s too early to declare it the best new show of the fall, but it’s definitely a frontrunner.
Here are seven plot developments I’m looking forward to on old favorites this fall season. (Technically, TV’s best show, “Friday Night Lights,” is a fall returnee — Oct. 28 on DirecTV — but I’ll be blogging about Season 4 next spring when I see the episodes on NBC. I’m very interested to see what Coach […]
The early “Star Wars” novels — “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” and the “Han Solo Adventures” — followed the lead of “A New Hope,” where adventure was the writer’s main concern. With “Heir to the Empire,” the tone shifted toward political and military maneuvering, and “Star Wars” became associated with those genres even more with […]
Here are six new shows you might want to check out: 1. “Community” (8:30 p.m. Central Thursdays on NBC, starts Sept. 17) — When I first heard about this show about a hodgepodge of students at a community college, I thought it’d be like a lower-class “Bedford Diaries.” It turns out, though, that it’s a half-hour sitcom, […]
I’ve already picked up the fall TV previews from TV Guide and Sci Fi magazine (yeah, it’s still called that, even though the channel is called SyFy). It’ll be a couple weeks before I get my Entertainment Weekly Fall TV Preview (I haven’t even gotten this week’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”/”Seinfeld” cover yet), but EW can […]
I used to describe Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child as “like Michael Crichton, only better.” I now know that’s a simplistic comparison, but it’s still useful. The late, great Crichton’s “Lost World” came out in 1995, and earlier that same year, Preston and Child made their collaborative debut with “Relic.” Crichton’s book was a theme piece about […]