Even as a limited series, it's hard to imagine that the world needs another go at Dracula. But NBC believes that a reimagining, or some might think a mangling, of the original is in order and thus summoned Jonathan Rhys Meyers to drink some blood in primetime.
Stephen Poliakoff has been one of Britain’s great dramatists since the late 1970s, a master of making compelling movies and miniseries for the small screen, including The Lost Prince (three Emmys including best miniseries), Friends and Crocodiles and Gideon’s Daughter (two Golden Globes and a Peabody).
Maybe it's time to stop mocking and laughing at The CW -- two things I've done extensively because, well, because the shows and the network often deserve it. In fact, just last week I made fun of Tomorrow People because, like so many shows on The CW, it was exponentially ridiculous.
It may be that in some scenarios, the image of showrunner as the all-powerful magical tour guide to your favorite show is just a tad overblown. The Walking Dead enters its fourth season on Sunday with its third showrunner.
In truth, all of them have been good. The show has continued to get better. People flock to it like (and no, I won't make the easy comparison there) well, like they ought to for a buzzed-about, watch-in-real-time television event.
If I didn’t think Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Goldbergs were so funny, then Tomorrow People would be the funniest new comedy on television. Except that it’s a drama on The CW.
I hit the pause button in double-digits to laugh out loud or scoff out loud at various scenes. Sometimes it was just someone actually calling themselves the Tomorrow People, other times it was the wooden acting, the inconsistent application of powers or just the bad writing.
Editor's note: ABC posted the full episode Monday afternoon, after THR.com's deadline and after our story posted online. Tim Goodman will revisit later episodes.
It wasn’t very promising to find that ABC, a mere four days away (at press time – delayed as long as possible!) from the premiere of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, still only had a meager 20 minutes available for critics to watch.
The same 20 minutes they had ready in July.
What, did production shut down for summer holiday?
I've had a change of heart about CBS's latest sitcom, The Millers. I still don't like it -- not even a little. I still think the pilot is broad and dumb. But the revamped pilot, while doing a bit of recasting and some fine tuning, was better, by fractions, than the original pilot, even though series creator Greg Garcia didn't take out the fart jokes that star Margo Martindale has to utter -- more than once.
Fart jokes are stupid. In this case, they are really stupid. And they linger like, well, you know.
How do you mess up a starring vehicle for Rebel Wilson? After acclaimed and hilarious stints in Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids, the Australian actress seemed destined to be the perfect lead in a comedy built around her.
If you're old enough to remember the original Ironside, you're out of the demo and NBC doesn't care what you think anyway. However, you won't be able to figure out why they remade it if you watch this remake.
If, on the other hand, you've never heard of Ironside and this version starring Blair Underwood is your first exposure, you also won't be able to figure out why they remade it or, in this case, made it for any reason.
Where is the place for shows that are good but not great, likable but not compelling, worth some time but existing in a world where time is the most precious commodity?
I ask that because NBC’s newest sitcom, Welcome to the Family, has tons of potential. Well, in fairness, it has a lot of potential that could, in season three, stop up the sink a little bit. But isn’t that getting way ahead of ourselves?
It’s hard to imagine what NBC was thinking when it bought Sean Saves the World, a new sitcom it’s tossing into the now-lost cause that is Thursday night. Clearly it’s not going to save Thursdays, what with its oppressive laugh track. And it’s not going to save NBC, with its years-long, ill-conceived plan to make Thursday night a place for comedies that would actually attract viewers.
The greatest element of a series finale is that the creator gets to make the choice -- and that choice is as equally enormous and difficult as coming up with the original idea and executing it in a way that enthralls an audience. The beauty here is not in the reaction so much but in the triumphant finality of closure that a storyteller gets.
Because, as we know, so many people who create television series never get to write the ending. Some don’t even get to write the middle.
