The State of the Primetime Soap Opera: ‘Desperate’, ‘Sexy’ and ‘Sisters’

The primetime soap opera was heralded as the new and resurgent medium when Desperate Housewives arrived and brought steamy, sudsy television back to the forefront of popular culture. Now, three years later, ABC remains at the forefront of the movement but is not alone: CBS is introducing Cane and Swingtown, attempting to break through on [...]

Saturday Night Live (September 29th, 2007): Lebron James and Kanye West

Through the joys of YouTube, but perhaps not for long, I’ve been able to get a glimpse at what Saturday Night Live brought to the table in their season premiere. The episode always presents the show’s biggest challenge, in that the quality of the season to come will be judged based on this hour and [...]

One Week Later: Hey! Nielsen Reflections

Okay, so this is jumping the gun on the week part a little, but the television week has essentially come to a close as of today. With it comes the end of a hectic and exciting public beta launch of Hey! Nielsen, where Television, Movies, Internet Sites and Celebrities are lauded, criticized and given a [...]

Season Premiere: The Office – “Fun Run”

“Fun Run”
September 27th, 2007
I would like to make two observations about this highly anticipated fourth season premiere of The Office. First, I would argue that “fun” is not a proper descriptor for the episode’s events: while certainly with its funny moments, it felt overlong and tired compared to some of the show’s more engaging and [...]

Series Premiere – Bionic Woman – “Pilot”

“Pilot”
September 26th, 2007
I’ve been in possession of the original pilot for Bionic Woman for quite some time, but I decided against watching it. With recasting and fine tuning being considerable (Deaf sister turns to decidedly not deaf sister), and talks of producer issues, the series is perhaps the second most troubled of the fall season [...]

Tuesday Night Wrapup: Reaper and Ratings Report

Tuesday Night Wrapup
September 26th, 2007
Reaper – “Pilot”
What: The reworked pilot to The CW’s new comedy series directed by Kevin Smith. The reworking applies only to those scenes featuring Andy, the love interest, who was recast (Details here).
Highlights: The show remains funny, Ray Wise remains fantastic as Satan, and I didn’t necessarily hate Missy Peregrym.
Lowlights: Peregrym, [...]

Season Premiere: House – “Alone”

“Alone”
September 25th, 2007
House is a series that is always good at two things: finales and premieres. As a procedural drama, the rest of the time is spent meandering through repetitive and predictable medical cases, but it is at these moments of ending and beginning that House becomes a well-written and engaging character drama. After a [...]

Gossip Girl – “The Wild Brunch”

“The Wild Brunch”
September 25th, 2007
Truth be told, I missed the first fifteen minutes of Gossip Girl’s second episode. And yet, I feel entirely able to provide my opinion of tonight’s sophomore episode of the drama series, which is not a good sign. Suffering from a case of the post-pilot doldrums, “The Wild Brunch” was not [...]

A Friendly Warning to Supernatural and Jericho Fans Re: Hey! Nielsen

Over the first day of the public beta stage of Hey! Nielsen, the ratings company’s new online social networking site, there emerged a trend of sorts: mainly, two TV Series emerging from the pack to dominate the popularity charts. Those two series? Supernatural and Jericho.
In the case of Supernatural, the series has performed admirably in [...]

Monday Night Wrapup: Tramp Stamp, Ratings and Weeds

Monday Night Wrapup
September 25th, 2007
How I Met Your Mother – “Wait for it…”
What: The 3rd Season Premiere of my new favourite multi-camera sitcom on television. And yes, that’s still a positive thing even when it’s also the only one.
The Highlights: Ted’s “Tramp Stamp,” Ted’s various mid-shave beards, Enrique Iglesias and Mandy Moore in unobtrusive guest [...]