John’s and Shaune’s 20 favorite TV shows of the 2010s
2010s in review: In chronological order, these were our 20 favorite TV shows of the 2010s.
‘Fear the Walking Dead’ lurches from bad to good to bad again in Season 4 (TV review)
“Fear the Walking Dead” (AMC) is a strange show. I’m not sure the creators have any idea what to do with it at this point. Season 1 started out as a fresh take on the “Walking Dead” universe with new and interesting characters. My understanding was we were going to get a show about the
Negan, the scariest TV villain of all time, has turned ‘The Walking Dead’ into a slog (TV review)
Inevitability doesn’t make for great TV. That’s what fans of “The Walking Dead” are finding out in this seventh season (which will resume Feb. 12). It began with a masterful (if utterly harrowing) episode: Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) viciously kills Glenn and Abraham. It was a carefully executed – no pun intended – episode that has informed
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
‘The Walking Dead’ goes back to the beginning of civilization (TV commentary)
In my past posts about “The Walking Dead,” I’ve analyzed how some communities stand as metaphors for forms of government – Woodbury as a fascist state, Terminus as a communist state, the Hospital as an autocratic state, and so forth. I may have jumped the gun, though, because now I think the show serves as an examination
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
‘The Walking Dead’ teaches us about the value of life (TV commentary)
Sunday’s episode of “The Walking Dead” featured cinematographically beautiful scenes of Morgan and his mentor, Eastman, practicing the martial art of aikido, along with powerfully acted moments of Morgan begging Eastman to kill him. But the most memorable part of the episode is Eastman’s monologues, which — taken together — tell the story of how he learned
‘Fear the Walking Dead,’ ‘Strain’ villains want power for power’s sake (TV review)
A couple seasons ago on “The Walking Dead,” Rick and the gang agree to march toward Washington, D.C., on Eugene’s promise that there was a governmental structure in place working against the zombie plague. While the characters never spoke in-depth about the question of whether the government – which demonstrably failed to stop the zombie
Fall TV 2015: 6 returning favorites worth checking out (Commentary)
The ax fell fairly lightly on TV shows at the end of last season, and as a result we have a nice selection of returning shows to choose from. Here are the six I’m most looking forward to, ranked in order of my anticipation for them: