mysteries
Predictably Unconventional ‘Backstrom’ Falls to Genre Cliches

The new FOX series Backstrom (Thursdays, 9 p.m. Eastern), which premiered last week and ...

television
CBS, ‘Scorpion’ Stomp Competition in Nielsen Ratings

The latest Neilsen ratings were released today, and they're quite interesting, to say th...

television
‘Sons of Liberty’: Historically Inaccurate, Surprisingly Relevant

The American Revolution is hot. That's the only conclusion one can justify in light of t...

movies
Feb. Netflix Discards Include Some Well Worth Watching

For Netflix subscribers, each month brings a new list of movies and TV series that will ...

television
‘Breaking Bad’ to Live on in ‘Better Call Saul’

For Breaking Bad fans, this has to be good news: one of the show's most memorable charact...

television
Disappointing Ratings for ABC’s ‘Agent Carter’ Reflect Show’s Dreary Tone

It appears that both ABC-TV and Marvel Studios are surprised and somewhat dismayed by the...

people
Woody Allen, Amazon Ink Deal for New Streaming Series

My favorite theologian, Woody Allen, is coming to twenty-first century TV. From this morni...

television
Netflix More Valuable Than Cable and Broadcast Among Millennials, Study Finds

In an observation that should surprise no one except a few cave-dwellers, a new study from...

art
Avenging the Honor of Free Speech

January 7, 2015, will be remembered as the day Islamic terrorists declared war against f...

television
Upcoming TLC Program Sparks Controversy, Calls for Cancellation

The fraught relationship between identity politics and freedom of speech has become evide...

television
‘Downton Abbey’ Returns, Continuing Sympathetic View of Individuals Coping with Modernization

The hit TV drama series Downton Abbey returns to PBS on Sunday night (Jan. 4, check l...

culture101
The Pleasures of ‘Banacek’

I've just discovered that several (and possibly all) episodes of the great 1970s TV series...

culture101
Christmas-Themed TV Movies and Programs Reach Record Numbers

This Christmas season (known to Christians as Advent) has brought the most Christmas progr...

television
CBS, NFL Point Way to New Broadcast Paradigm

CBS, long the nation's most popular TV network, has moved strongly into online distribut...

genres
TNT’s ‘The Librarians’ Checks in With Promising Start

The new TNT series The Librarians (Sundays at 9 Eastern) is a continuation of the three...

mysteries
Acclaimed Crime Drama ‘Foyle’s War’ Returns in February

Here's good news for mystery fans and others who appreciate intelligent TV dramas: Acorn...

humor-2
Carvey: Entertainment Industry Punishes Political Evenhandedness

It's not news that Hollywood and the entertainment community in general have a strong prog...

mysteries
Netflix Bails Out ‘Longmire’ Fans, Will Run Show’s Fourth Season

The former A&E TV crime-drama series Longmire, cancelled this year, has found a new h...

television
NBC’s ‘Peter Pan Live!’ Won’t Match Influence of 1960 Version

Following up on the network's successful live performance adaptation of The Sound of Musi...

television
New TV Network Will Feature True-Crime and Public Service Programming

A new broadcast TV channel, the Justice Network, will feature "gripping stories of true c...

television
Upcoming TNT Series ‘Agent X’ Promises Interesting Concept

The TNT cable network has announced a new ten-part series, Agent X, will debut in 2015....

mysteries
CBS Announces ‘Mentalist’ Return Date

There's good news for TV mystery fans: CBS-TV has announced that The Mentalist will retur...

television
SNL Sketch Skewers Unwavering Black Support for Obama

The most recent episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live included an extraordinarily pithy an...

television
And the Loser Is . . .

Don't get me wrong: I enjoy the Arrow TV series—at least when the characters aren't wall...

television
NBC’s ‘Constantine’ Translates Occult Comic Book Series to TV

Just in time for Halloween, the NBC-TV gothic-action series Constantine arrived last week,...

television
NBC Commits to Full Season of ‘Mysteries of Laura, CBS Affirms Four Series

NBC-TV has given a full-season order for new mystery series The Mysteries of Laura. After...

television
Ax Falls on ‘Manhattan Love Story’; Will Anyone Notice?

The first domino has fallen: after plumbing horrifying MSNBC levels of ratings disaster,�...

mysteries
The Amazing Badness of ‘Scorpion’

The new CBS-TV crime-drama series Scorpion is a clear attempt to refresh the cop show g...

genres
‘Gracepoint’ a Worthy Remake of Ambitious British TV Crime Drama Series

My attitude toward genre fiction is that it's best when the creator is satisfied to make g...

television
City of Houston to Pastors: Your Views are No Longer Allowed

Yesterday when I turned on my computer I saw this headline on Drudge:  “City subpoenas ...

television
CW’s ‘The Flash’ Impresses with Unusual Avoidance of Gloom

The CW network has become something of a cottage industry for B-level (and C-level) superh...

books
Interview with (Fictional) Bestselling Mystery Writer Richard Castle

The ABC-TV series Castle (Mondays at 10 p.m. Eastern) features as co-protagonist a bestse...

mysteries
‘Blue Bloods’ Jumps the Shark

I write this post with a heavy heart. Blue Bloods has been one of our family’s favorite ...