John’s 10 favorite TV characters at the moment (Commentary)
Here are my 10 favorite TV characters at the moment, as the traditional season winds down and the summer season begins:
Before ‘Bates Motel’: ‘Psycho: Sanitarium’ (2016) (Book review)
In this series, I’m looking back at the books and movies of the “Psycho” franchise before its TV revival in “Bates Motel,” which will conclude its five-season run this month. (Granted, “Psycho: Sanitarium” came out after “Bates Motel” premiered, but it’s part of the book series that preceded it.) Although Robert Bloch only wrote three
Before ‘Bates Motel’: ‘Psycho House’ (1990) (Book review)
In this series, I’m looking back at the books and movies of the “Psycho” franchise before its TV revival in “Bates Motel,” which will conclude its five-season run this month. Four years before his death at age 77, Robert Bloch concludes his “Psycho” book trilogy with “Psycho House” (1990); like “Psycho II,” it’s a meta-commentary on popular
Before ‘Bates Motel’: ‘Psycho II’ (1982) (Book review)
In this series, I’m looking back at the books and movies of the “Psycho” franchise before its TV revival in “Bates Motel,” which will conclude its five-season run this month. More than two decades after 1959’s “Psycho,” Robert Bloch returned to the Norman Bates saga with “Psycho II” (1982), which has more in common with Wes Craven’s
Before ‘Bates Motel’: ‘Psycho’ (1959) (Book review)
Welcome to a new series where I look back at the books and movies of the “Psycho” franchise before its revival in “Bates Motel,” one of the best TV shows of the decade, which will conclude its five-season run this month. Let’s start at the beginning with Robert Bloch’s novel “Psycho” (1959). At 125 pages, it can
As ‘Bates Motel’ moves into ‘Psycho’ territory, it does its own thing – which is cool (TV review)
The “Bates Motel” (10 p.m. Eastern Mondays, A&E) narrative has steamrolled its way into the plot of the 1960 movie “Psycho,” its source material, the past couple weeks. I was looking forward to seeing those classic scenes play out, particularly the famous “shower scene,” here starring Rhianna as Marion Crane. Then we got a twist: Norman (Freddie
John’s top 10 TV shows of 2016
These were my 10 favorite shows of 2016: 1. “Atlanta” (Season 1, FX) – Donald Glover’s brainchild is a crazy mix of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”-esque wry observations (Earn’s inability to order a kids’ meal), envelope-pushing storytelling choices (the pundit roundtable parody) and outright horrific violence (Earn witnesses a murder, then moves on like it’s just another
John’s 10 favorite TV characters at the moment (Commentary)
As we wind down the traditional season and gear up for some summer shows, here’s a look at 10 TV characters who have my attention:
The golden age of TV prequels: ‘Bates Motel,’ ‘Gotham’ and ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ (Commentary)
At first blush, prequels should be a boring form of storytelling, because we already know the end point. Of course, there are many examples that prove out-of-sequence storytelling can work – the “Star Wars” prequels and “Smallville” have plenty of fans, for example. But three current series – A&E’s “Bates Motel,” Fox’s “Gotham” and AMC’s “Fear the Walking Dead” — have
John’s top 10 TV shows of 2015
These were my 10 favorite TV shows of 2015: 1. “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (Season 1, The CW) – In blending musical numbers, broad comedy and genuine character drama about a troubled 20-something, Rachel Bloom’s brainchild is the most ambitious show of the year. By doing all three of those things well (particularly the musical numbers, which are consistently