John Hansen and Michael Olinger review movies, TV, books and comics
“Gossip Girl” Season 4 (8 p.m. Central Mondays, The CW)
1. The actors who play Dan and Vanessa continue to look like they punch a clock, sleepwalk through their scenes, punch out and go home. What’s particularly strange about this is that I thought both Penn Badgley and Jessica Szohr were good actors when “Gossip Girl” started.
Here’s what I’ll be watching for on my top 10 returning fall shows, listed in order of airdate. All times are Central.
Continue reading “Fall TV 2010: What to watch for on 10 returning favorites (Commentary)”
Although two shows on this list are much missed and a third (“Dollhouse”) is on its way out, 2009 was generally a year when TV networks got smarter about marketing.
I thought it might be fun to look back on my picks for “best of the year” this decade as those years were ending (mostly fun for me, but you can enjoy it too, if you want).
Continue reading “The best TV shows of the Aughts … as it happened (Commentary)”
Hilary Duff submitted a pilot episode that got turned down this season; that allowed “Gossip Girl”(8 p.m. Central Mondays on The CW) to cast her for — as every report on the subject says — “several episodes” as starlet-turned-student Olivia Burke. Basically, she’s a recurring character whose amount of recurrence is to be determined.
Continue reading “Hilary Duff has the right stuff for ‘Gossip Girl’ (TV commentary)”
I admire shows that address the recession — it’s part of the fabric of “Medium” and “Friday Night Lights,” and “The Simpsons” had a nice episode about it last year. But I also like shows that are completely oblivious to America’s economic meltdown, to the point where they flaunt how out of touch they are.
Continue reading “‘Gossip Girl’ a welcome break from reality (TV review)”
Here are seven plot developments I’m looking forward to on old favorites this fall season. (Technically, TV’s best show, “Friday Night Lights,” is a fall returnee — Oct. 28 on DirecTV — but I’ll be blogging about Season 4 next spring when I see the episodes on NBC. I’m very interested to see what Coach Taylor does with his new team.)
Continue reading “Fall TV 2009: 7 new developments on old shows (Commentary)”
Charles isn’t currently in the top 10 of most popular baby names, but that will change in the coming years. If television is a trend-setter, then Charles, Chuck, Charlie and Charlotte are about to experience a comeback.
Continue reading “What’s up with all the TV Chucks? (Commentary)”
It’s appropriate that Brittany Snow spells her name the normal way, rather than “Britney,” “Brittani” or “Britni.” The actress strikes me as an old-fashioned girl, because I first saw her as Meg Pryor in the 1960s-set “American Dreams,” that 2002-05 NBC series where Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” played in the background during every episode.
Here’s evidence that “writer” is more of a lifestyle than a profession. When I lost my job to a layoff on Dec. 2, one of my first regrets was that I wouldn’t get to publish my end-of-year top 10 lists.
Continue reading “John’s top 10 TV/Internet shows of 2008 (finally) … and random thoughts”