Showing posts with label Critics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Critics. Show all posts

Monday, September 5, 2011

Critic's Corner Wednesday: 'Dance,' 'Animal Saved My Life'

Posted by cwiney at 2:31 PM Monday, September 5, 2011
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•We get down to business tonight on summer's best reality show, So You Think You Can Dance (Fox, 8 ET/PT), as the Top 20 compete on stage for the first time.





  • Betty White's Elka is on the lam tonight in TV Land's Hot in Cleveland.

    By Matt Sayles, AP


    Betty White's Elka is on the lam tonight in TV Land's Hot in Cleveland.



By Matt Sayles, AP


Betty White's Elka is on the lam tonight in TV Land's Hot in Cleveland.






And, if we really must offer Emmys to reality-show hosts, it's way past time Cat Deeley was up for one. Keep that in mind if you're marking a ballot.


•Nat Geo Wild devotes prime time to all six episodes of its new series An Animal Saved My Life (8 ET/PT), meaning the show will have its season premiere and finale in one night.


You get to see a dog that battled a bear, a dolphin that saved a surfer, a gorilla that saved a boy, an elephant that rescued a girl, a pig that called for help, and a dog that gave first aid.


I'd like to think my dog would have given me first aid had I been incapacitated, but I fear she would have used the opportunity to raid the treat jar.


•TV Land's popular if increasingly far-fetched Hot in Cleveland (10 ET/PT) returns with Betty White's Elka on the run from the law. Hot's a pleasant enough concoction, and many people enjoy spending time with the actors and characters.



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Critic's Corner Thursday: 'Community,' 'CSI'

Posted by cwiney at 5:59 AM
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•Though there's another Thursday left in the season, some of the evening's bigger shows are exiting a week early.





  • Bill Irwin returns as the Dick & Jane killer, Nate Haskell, on CSI.

    By Sonja Flemming, CBS


    Bill Irwin returns as the Dick & Jane killer, Nate Haskell, on CSI.



By Sonja Flemming, CBS


Bill Irwin returns as the Dick & Jane killer, Nate Haskell, on CSI.






The best stop on tonight's farewell tour is likely to be NBC's Community (8 ET/PT), which wraps up with the study group's paintball battle. Few TV rewards have been richer than watching this clever comedy grow this season — let's hope next year holds even better in store.


•Then there's CBS' CSI (9 ET/PT), which, sadly, has been moving in the opposite direction.


Tonight showcases one of its best guest stars, Bill Irwin as serial killer Nate Haskell — but Irwin's vicious character only highlights the uglier, more violent turn the series has taken, and his performance makes Laurence Fishburne's underplayed Ray Langston seem even duller.


Trying to backstop Ray by giving him a tortured back story only makes matters worse; the last thing CSI needs now is more angst. CSI was never a great drama, but it was once a reliably entertaining series.


Obviously, it can never seem as fresh as it once did.

But it doesn't have to feel this stale — and it might not if all concerned would face mistakes and fix them.





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Critics Corner Thursday: 'Dance,' 'All in the Family'

Posted by cwiney at 5:30 AM
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•The 2010-11 season is officially over, and most summer shows are a week or so away.





  • Mary Murphy: Judging the dancers on Fox.

    AP


    Mary Murphy: Judging the dancers on Fox.



AP


Mary Murphy: Judging the dancers on Fox.






But some fun does begin tonight as Fox makes the hot-weather move from TV's most popular talent show, American Idol, to its best, So You Think You Can Dance (8 ET/PT).


You get dancers who are reliably remarkably skilled; dances that introduce a mass audience to choreographers and styles they might not otherwise see; and judges who provide useful, specific, constructive criticism, something in way too short supply on Idol.


Speaking of judges, Mary Murphy is back, which is good news for her fans if not always for America's eardrums.


She and Nigel Lythgoe will make up the show's regular panel, with the third spot rotating among guest judges.


•While Dance is the evening's big new offering, there is also an old offering of note: TV Land's repeat of the 1974 All in the Family (8 ET/PT) retrospective.



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Critic's Corner Wednesday: Final Four on 'Idol'

Posted by cwiney at 3:42 AM
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•We're down to the Final Four on American Idol (Fox, tonight, 8 ET/PT), which means that we can now safely assume that all of the remaining contestants are actually "in it to win it."





  • Vardalos: Visits Cougar Town.

    Matt Kennedy, ABC


    Vardalos: Visits Cougar Town.



Matt Kennedy, ABC


Vardalos: Visits Cougar Town.






So if a certain judge would stop screaming that inane phrase as if it were some just discovered, inscribed-on-a-golden-tablet revelation, a weary nation would no doubt be appreciative.


•Then again, as Idol's panel has proven to be incapable of self-correction, you might be better off over at TV's best traditional family sitcom, The Middle (ABC, 8 ET/PT).


Tonight, Frankie and Mike wonder where they went wrong with Axl, who has text-invited the wrong girl to the prom and plans to fix his mistake by standing her up. Kids these days.


•You can never go wrong watching Modern Family (ABC, 9 ET/PT), which has firmly established itself as television's best and most reliable comedy.


Cougar Town (ABC, 9:30 ET/PT) is more inconsistent, but it should get a boost from the guest playing Andy's (Ian Gomez) sister-in-law: My Big Fat Greek Wedding's Nia Vardalos, who is Gomez's wife.



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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Critic's Corner Thursday: Josh Holloway visits 'Community'

Posted by cwiney at 4:04 PM Saturday, May 7, 2011
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It's paintball time again on Community (NBC, tonight, 8 ET/PT), only this time this hugely enjoyable comedy ups the battle ante with a great guest: Lost's Josh Holloway.





  • Holloway: Makes a game of finale.

    By NBC


    Holloway: Makes a game of finale.



By NBC


Holloway: Makes a game of finale.






He plays a mysterious figure (as witness the episode's title, "A Fist Full of Paintballs") who pushes the game to new levels in this first of a two-part season finale.


•Those looking for more serious fare should consider turning to HBO, which has the award-winning documentary Precious Life (8:30 ET/PT).


Directed by Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar, the film traces joint Israeli/Palestinian efforts to save the life of a 4-month-old Palestinian boy who needs a bone marrow transplant only an Israeli hospital can provide.


•Back in the world of fiction, the big day arrives for Callie and Arizona, who get married on Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 9 ET/PT).


Their big change encourages Meredith and Derek to embrace a change of their own, a change fans should be allowed to discover on-air and on their own.



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Critic's Corner Tuesday: An 'NCIS' flashback

Posted by cwiney at 3:24 PM
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Here's an NCIS (CBS, 8 ET/PT) that should make fans of the popular series even happier: Tonight they flash back to the day DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) met Gibbs. (No word on whether Gibbs smacked him on the back of the head.)





  • Weatherly: Flashback for DiNozzo.

    CBS


    Weatherly: Flashback for DiNozzo.



CBS


Weatherly: Flashback for DiNozzo.






The impetus for this time leap is the death of Tony's former partner, who appears to be the latest victim of the "Port-to-Port" serial killer.


•Cartoon Network's The Looney Tunes Show (8 ET/PT) could be good or bad news, depending on how resistant you are to change.


It presents new, extended adventures of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck— but it moves them into the city, where they share a home and order-in Chinese. Sounds … different.


•Aly Michalka, who plays Marti on CW's Hellcats (9 ET/PT), teams with her real-life sister AJ for a duet on Bob Dylan's Mississippi. AJ plays a record-store employee with whom Marti is forming a bond.



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Critic's Corner Weekend: 'Fringe' wraps third season

Posted by cwiney at 9:38 AM
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Blame Canada. Northern import Flashpoint (tonight, 8 ET/PT) returns, as CBS keeps airing it in an apparent drive to make its own procedurals look better in comparison.





  • Joshua Jackson: Peter on Fringe.

    By Andrew Macpherson, Fox


    Joshua Jackson: Peter on Fringe.



By Andrew Macpherson, Fox


Joshua Jackson: Peter on Fringe.






•There's much better TV news over on Fox with the third-season finale of the already renewed Fringe (9 ET/PT).


What a fraught finale it should be, with the team struggling to save our universe, a struggle all may not survive. Fringe got off to a slow start this season, yet what's become apparent is how carefully that stretch was laying the groundwork for this final, terrific rush.


Think of it as a lesson to all of us (myself included) in patience and in the value of giving writers a little leeway to tell a story in their own way and time.


•When it comes to amusing showbiz shamelessness, you can't top Syfy's Saturday film franchise. Just as the big screen has Thor, SyFy has Almighty Thor (9 ET/PT), another movie that exists solely for its title.



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Critic's Corner Wednesday: 'Breaking In,' 'The Middle'

Posted by cwiney at 5:13 AM
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•Breaking In (Fox, 9:30 ET/PT) courts Comic-Con fans with a plot that sends Oz (Christian Slater) and the team to the comic-book convention to protect the only copy of the new sequel to The Goonies.

Of course the copy goes missing, and one of the team is the chief suspect.

•As Jules decides to finally step back from Travis, Grayson decides to step up on a new Cougar Town (ABC, 9:30 ET/PT). Somehow, that plot also works in an appearance by Lou Diamond Phillips as himself.

•The don't-miss-pick tonight is, of course, the season finale of FX's Justified.

But leave room on your recorder for South Park (Comedy, 10 ET/PT), which airs the elementary school's First Annual Comedy Awards.


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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Critic's Corner Thursday: Josh Holloway visits 'Community'

Posted by cwiney at 1:48 AM Thursday, May 5, 2011
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It's paintball time again on Community (NBC, tonight, 8 ET/PT), only this time this hugely enjoyable comedy ups the battle ante with a great guest: Lost's Josh Holloway.





  • Holloway: Makes a game of finale.

    By NBC


    Holloway: Makes a game of finale.



By NBC


Holloway: Makes a game of finale.






He plays a mysterious figure (as witness the episode's title, "A Fist Full of Paintballs") who pushes the game to new levels in this first of a two-part season finale.


•Those looking for more serious fare should consider turning to HBO, which has the award-winning documentary Precious Life (8:30 ET/PT).


Directed by Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar, the film traces joint Israeli/Palestinian efforts to save the life of a 4-month-old Palestinian boy who needs a bone marrow transplant only an Israeli hospital can provide.


•Back in the world of fiction, the big day arrives for Callie and Arizona, who get married on Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 9 ET/PT).


Their big change encourages Meredith and Derek to embrace a change of their own, a change fans should be allowed to discover on-air and on their own.



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Critic's Corner Wednesday: 'Breaking In,' 'The Middle'

Posted by cwiney at 1:42 AM
0 comments
Labels: , , , ,

•Breaking In (Fox, 9:30 ET/PT) courts Comic-Con fans with a plot that sends Oz (Christian Slater) and the team to the comic-book convention to protect the only copy of the new sequel to The Goonies.

Of course the copy goes missing, and one of the team is the chief suspect.

•As Jules decides to finally step back from Travis, Grayson decides to step up on a new Cougar Town (ABC, 9:30 ET/PT). Somehow, that plot also works in an appearance by Lou Diamond Phillips as himself.

•The don't-miss-pick tonight is, of course, the season finale of FX's Justified.

But leave room on your recorder for South Park (Comedy, 10 ET/PT), which airs the elementary school's First Annual Comedy Awards.


Posted | Updated



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Critic's Corner Tuesday: An 'NCIS' flashback

Posted by cwiney at 1:10 AM
0 comments
Labels: , , ,








Here's an NCIS (CBS, 8 ET/PT) that should make fans of the popular series even happier: Tonight they flash back to the day DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) met Gibbs. (No word on whether Gibbs smacked him on the back of the head.)





  • Weatherly: Flashback for DiNozzo.

    CBS


    Weatherly: Flashback for DiNozzo.



CBS


Weatherly: Flashback for DiNozzo.






The impetus for this time leap is the death of Tony's former partner, who appears to be the latest victim of the "Port-to-Port" serial killer.


•Cartoon Network's The Looney Tunes Show (8 ET/PT) could be good or bad news, depending on how resistant you are to change.


It presents new, extended adventures of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck— but it moves them into the city, where they share a home and order-in Chinese. Sounds … different.


•Aly Michalka, who plays Marti on CW's Hellcats (9 ET/PT), teams with her real-life sister AJ for a duet on Bob Dylan's Mississippi. AJ plays a record-store employee with whom Marti is forming a bond.



TV Calendar









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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Critic's Corner Thursday: Josh Holloway visits 'Community'

Posted by cwiney at 11:34 PM Wednesday, May 4, 2011
0 comments
Labels: , , , , ,








It's paintball time again on Community (NBC, tonight, 8 ET/PT), only this time this hugely enjoyable comedy ups the battle ante with a great guest: Lost's Josh Holloway.





  • Holloway: Makes a game of finale.

    By NBC


    Holloway: Makes a game of finale.



By NBC


Holloway: Makes a game of finale.






He plays a mysterious figure (as witness the episode's title, "A Fist Full of Paintballs") who pushes the game to new levels in this first of a two-part season finale.


•Those looking for more serious fare should consider turning to HBO, which has the award-winning documentary Precious Life (8:30 ET/PT).


Directed by Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar, the film traces joint Israeli/Palestinian efforts to save the life of a 4-month-old Palestinian boy who needs a bone marrow transplant only an Israeli hospital can provide.


•Back in the world of fiction, the big day arrives for Callie and Arizona, who get married on Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 9 ET/PT).


Their big change encourages Meredith and Derek to embrace a change of their own, a change fans should be allowed to discover on-air and on their own.



TV Calendar









Enter your ZIP code below to see local listings.









Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Hud Settlement Statement

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