I review everything...so YOU don't have to!
This is Us
I give
this my highest recommendation. With the world going the way it's going right now, this is the show we need. It's a drama about three 36-year-old triplets and their very different lives and struggles and it's beautiful and moving and human and true.
Black Mirror (Season Three)
This is the exact opposite of
This is Us. An (almost) completely hopeless look at a variety of terrifying technological futures and their effect on humanity. Each episode is a stand-alone tale with near-perfect writing, direction, and performances. Cold as ice. I can only watch maybe an episode a week because it's too bleak. I keep coming back for the shimmering brilliance and reminders of what it is to be human. And fun fact- there is exactly one happy ending on the show and if you've seen it, you know exactly which one it was because it probably made you cry, too. So even when this show ends happily, it still makes you cry. (And it left me wondering if it really was happy because- !!!SPOILER!!!- those two women were just digital versions of themselves as they drove off into eternity together. Did they really exist at the end there or was the show subversively saying that they seemed happy but were just files in a data center with no real humanity? And was it a joyous celebration or reluctant acceptance of euthanasia? I DON'T KNOW!)
Superstore
I love me a good ensemble comedy, and this is a delightfully good ensemble comedy. It's a workplace comedy set in Wal-Mart with a solid cast and lots of belly laughs. Fun to see Ugly Betty looking normal, and one of the Kids in the Hall as the tightly-wound boss. Season one was lotsa fun and the second season is a blast, so far.
The Walking Dead (Season Seven)
Bah.
The Jim Gaffigan Show (Season Two)
I was pretty lukewarm to the first season- it was kind of generic and annoying, disappointingly so for such a brilliant comedian. This second season is a delicious buffet of comedic brilliance, though. Gaffigan finds his rhythm and takes narrative risks and each episode is a gem. Especially the episode where he's in court, on trial for posting a mildly offensive Tweet.
Westworld
I got 15 minutes into the pilot and tapped out. I see what they're going for and I see what they're getting at here. Philosophical questions about what it is to be human, who's the real monster, do androids dream of electric buffalo, what darkness lurks in the hearts of men, etc. It's well-made and cleverly written, with J.J. Abrams and the guy who created
Person of Interest running the show. And they've got solid source material- the 1973 movie written and directed by Michael Crichton (who would recycle this plot with dinosaurs a few years later and make a pretty penny). But it goes to some dark places that I'm just not interested in. HBO's seemingly mandatory rape-and-nudity policy is not cool.
The Good Place
Another wonderful comedy that came from out of nowhere. A girl ends up in Heaven, only to discover it's a case of mistaken identity and she's actually not a nice person at all. She struggles to become a nice person worthy of being there while things go crazy due to the cosmic imbalance her presence causes up there. Good philosophical questioning and plenty of laughs.
Luke Cage
It doesn't work as episodic TV and that's annoying a lot of people. This is a well-acted slow-burn movie divided into 13 episodes. Some great punctuation marks at the end of certain episodes, but it's not TV as we know it. There was an old slogan HBO had about their original shows: "It's not TV. It's HBO." We need a new one: "It's not TV. It's Netflix." I want a billion dollars for coining that slogan. Give me the money NOW.
American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare (Season Six)
Season two really left me cold. Then I gave the third one-
Coven- a chance and was blown away. Then season four-
Freakshow- totally alienated me after one boring, dreary episode. So much so that I didn't bother with season five. But these jokers set season six-
My Roanoke Nightmare- in my backyard and were doing some interesting structural things, so I gave it a shot. Not disappointed. This is nightmarish and brilliant. Kathy Bates knocks it out of the park.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Season Four)
They brought
Eric Roberts in as the villain on a show I already love. I could not be happier.
The Exorcist
I used to jump up and down with rootin'-tootin' rage about the creative bankruptcy of TV shows regurgitating IP. After a huge helping of humble pie courtesy of the golden shows Fargo and Hannibal, I no longer root or toot with my rage. I now know it's not the source material that matters, it's the execution. And hoo boy, does this one execute. Some jaw-dropping shocker moments in the first couple episodes, and a humdinger of a plot twist a few episodes in that reveals this series is actually a (!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!) sequel and not a remake. So far, I still back Exorcist III as the best sequel, but this is a mighty worthy addition to the franchise.
Family Guy (Season 15)
It's decent. The belly laughs are fewer and farther between, but it's still trying.
Channel Zero: Crystal Cove
Well, this nightmarish spectacle came from out of the blue. Or out of the static-filled darkness, if you will. Deeply dark and unnerving show about a small town's secrets, a sinister TV puppet show that only children are able to see (it looks like a static screen to adults), a rash of strange deaths, and A CREATURE MADE ENTIRELY OF HUMAN TEETH. I cannot emphasize that last one enough. I will never recover from seeing that thing. I am broken.
Son of Zorn
A fun fish-out-of-water sitcom about a cartoon barbarian (a He-Man/ Conan pastiche) trying to function in normal society, working an office job, and trying to repair his relationship with his awkward estranged son. Lotsa laughs here, nothing too heavy.
Bones (Season Two)
Improves on the first season's weaknesses in terms of pacing and style. Very funny and gross. Lovable characters. The new lab boss and Stephen Fry are welcome additions to the cast (Fry played Jeeves on the BBC Jeeves and Wooster series). And in one episode, they find a body with no bones- just sewed-up skin- and they attach it to an air tank and inflate it like a balloon to see what the person looked like. That's quality entertainment.
The Simpsons (Season 27)
It's still on. Still throws down non-stop gags. They had their 600th episode this season. And it's all surprisingly good for such a long-running program.
Scream Queens (Season Two)
A worthily demented and sick follow-up to the knockout first season. The mayhem is set in a hospital this time. Featuring John Stamos and the Jacob guy from Twilight as the Hot Doctors.
Parenthood
The first season is a solid family drama. But I burned out on season two. Too much yelling, too much tension, too much autism drama. It's good, but people being mean to each other bothers me more than the worst on-screen violence.
Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell
This Adult Swim show is a workplace comedy set in a very Jonathan Edwards-y version of Hell. People are office drones down there, wearing yellow collared shirts as they mechanically torture people in hideous depraved ways for all eternity. And have zany adventures and navigate office politics. Satan comes across as a grouchy but whimsical boss.
The Following
Kevin Bacon is a cop on the edge who gets pushed over by a cult leader who torments Bacon from prison via his followers. It's tense and compelling, but at some point it becomes ridiculous. The cult has so PERFECTLY infiltrated every corner of our society, you just start expecting people to suddenly reveal themselves as a cultist, then pull out a knife and start stabbing one of our heroes. It stops being surprising after a while.
The Night of
A near-perfect Kafkaesque portrait of what it is to be accused of a crime and put through the system. Performances are all golden. The ending was dead-on and satisfying.
South Park (Season 20)
How weird is it that this seemingly newer and fresher show is only SEVEN years younger than
The Simpsons? Anyhoo, it still swings for the fences and the new season has had some great digs on politics, online trolling, feminism, political correctness, and even
Star Wars.
Freakish
This Hulu original show lost me after a couple episodes. A town's nuclear power plant explodes and people turn into zippy zombies. Our protagonists- high school students- hide in high school. It quickly becomes a boring siege story with characters you don't care about. And the CGI effects suck.
Agents of SHIELD: Ghost Rider
(Season Four)
It's still on. Still some entertaining moments. It's there. The Ghost Rider actor is okay, as is the new guy in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Blindspot (Season Two)
The first season ran out of steam near the end, so I was skeptical about this. But it started strong, with several jaw-dropping action sequences in the first episode. It kept the hits coming, but then started spinning its wheels pretty hard after a few episodes. And they shake the camera too much. It's annoying to look at. And the color palette and relentless close-ups are tiresome. So this one got dropped.
Don't Trust the B in Apartment
23
It's funny. But the characters are pretty awful and it gets a bit too crude too soon. Thumbs down, despite the laughs.
Hotel Hell
Gordon Ramsey- the guy best known for yelling at cooks in his contests and restaurants he visits- takes a break and yells at hotel owners instead. There's this one episode about a nice riverside hotel with a sad family that never recovered from their child's death. Ramsey helps them overcome their trauma and find joy in their inn again. That episode was nice.
Dark Matter
Criminals (or are they?) on the loose on a spaceship. Didn't grab me.
Friends
Never saw it until this year. Not much to it. It's a sitcom. They're friends. They hang out and do stuff. No social commentary or clever writing/playing with the medium a la Seinfeld. Noteworthy: some anti-gay and sexist jokes that are shockingly offensive by modern standards. Also it was neat to see where a lot of 90's memes came from. Or maybe it was just repeating memes that were already in circulation? Someone research that for me, plz thx.
Aqua TV Something You Know Whatever (Season Nine)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force underwent a lot of random title changes. Season eight was
Aqua Unit Patrol Squad. Season 10 was
Aqua TV Show Show. But it's all the same demented zaniness.
Key & Peele
Infectiously funny sketch comedy show. Lots of good racial and social commentary, but
this dumb sketch is my fave.
Sons of Anarchy
First couple seasons are decent hard-hitting drama, but I heard it sucks from there so I stopped there.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Finally caught the last season. Good dark comedy. Very pottymouthed, though.
Supergirl
Saw the pilot, it's okay. Girl power.
Inside Amy Schumer
Saw the pilot, it wasn't okay. Girl power.
Crisis in Six Scenes
Survived two episodes, but then realized I don't like Miley Cyrus' performance and Woody Allen doesn't float my boat anymore. Blah.
Silicon Valley (Season Three)
Consistently clever, biting, and hilarious satire on the tech industry.
Rick and Morty (Season Two)
Gets a bit heavy-handed with the preachiness here and there, but the episode about the Purge was mind-bogglingly brilliant.
Moral Orel
Nah.
Happy Endings
Someone I went to high school with starred on this show. She's great. Everyone else is okay, too. Moderately funny sitcom.
Vice
Wannabe-hard-hitting HBO investigative journalism show. Didn't do it for me.
Loiter Squad
A short-attention span African-American hybrid of sketch comedy and
Jackass.
Playing House
Watchable but overrated show about two ladies who get into silly adventures. Hilarity sort of ensues.
Line of Duty
Decent British cop drama.
Braindead
Wonderful comedy/sf/drama about space parasites who take over the brains of politicians in D.C. Biting but never over-the-top with its political satire, it explains everything about this past year.
Ray Donovan
Too McEdgy.
Schitt's Creek
Love me some Chris Elliott, but everyone else on the show kinda sucks.
Stranger Things
If you haven't seen it yet, you probably never will. It's a delightful 80's horror/ Spielberg pastiche.
Venture Bros.
The tone is off. It feels really disgusting and oppressive and hateful. Why do people find it funny?
Vice Principals
Alternately tender and ridiculous tale of two vice-principals who seek to sabotage the new principal so they can get her job. Well-made but could do with less pottymouth.
Roadies
Ron White's great in the pilot, but it wasn't a grabber.
Master of None
Aziz Ansari did a great job in front of and behind the camera with this hilarious and insightful bad boy.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
A demented musical romantic comedy show. Title tells all. Though the
hilarious opening credits set the stage quite well.
Bloodline
Another nasty family drama where people yell and yell at each other. Nope.
The Characters
Netflix let a handful of comedians each have their own show to showcase their ability to play a variety of characters. They're all like 30-40 minutes, which is indulgent for no-name comedians. Each episode should have been 10 minutes, tops.
Wonderfalls
Before what's-his-name made
Dead Like Me or
Hannibal, he made this show. And it's an enjoyable little romp about a young woman living in Niagara Falls and working at the gift shop. Enchanted items in the shop tell her what to do. Fun ensues.
Hemlock Grove
Swing-and-a-miss for Netflix here. Atrociously bad writing, bad performances, and an uninteresting and offensive premise about Gypsy murders.
Futurama
Just got hip to this one. Non-stop brilliance. Filled to the brim with wonderfully obscure references, too.
Poldark
He's so brooding and mysterious and British! And I didn't care. Sorry, ladies. Wasn't my jam.
The Americans
Decent Soviet-spy-in-D.C. drama set in the early 80's. Just a ridiculous and plot-stopping amount of sex scenes. Attempt at sensationalism ends up weakening and cheapening it.
True Blood
Again- too much with the sexytime. Clever premise, but I'm not a teenager anymore.
Tyrant
This three-season series starts strong, gets stronger, and ends with an emotional land mine that stays with you. It's about an American who returns to his home country in the Middle East, where his father is the dictator. His father dies and the show becomes a political potboiler about brotherly rivalry, religious fanaticism, abuse of power, and the struggle for change. All handled quite well.
The Get Down
Only made it halfway through the pilot. It's colorful and energetic and not exactly badly made. But I didn't want to follow anyone's story and it just felt like a chore to watch. And if I don't wanna watch it, I don't hafta.
Ballers (Season One)
I watched it distractedly and it was okay background material. The Rock is a financial manager for NFL stars, drama ensues.
Sealab 2021
Okay, I didn't like it at first but it finally won me over. It's a dubbed, remixed 70's Hanna Barbara cartoon. So random and all over the place.
Todd Margaret
Wonderfully dark and surreal and funny comedy about a poor sap who ends up in charge of an energy drink company in Britain. David Cross is a joy to watch.
Mad Dogs
Saw the pilot, it had a great twist ending and the characters were interesting and all dramatic cards were laid on the table. But I never watched the rest. Hmm. I should. I'll go do that sometime.
Bojack Horseman
A tender tale about alcoholism and depression. Just happens to be in the form of an animated series about a horse who starred in a hit sitcom back in the 90's.
Hit Record on TV (Season Two)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's experimental crowd-sourcing variety show continues and it's good enough.
Afro Samurai
Great voice work but I don't care for the anime animation style.
Star Trek (The Original Series)
Saw it for the first time. Mixed feelings. The writing is great, thanks to the best writers in the sf genre working on its scripts (Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison, Robert Bloch, etc.). And the acting is mostly fine. But the pacing is slow as molasses. It's cheap-looking, of course. And the fights are ridiculous and you can see the stunt doubles' faces quite clearly. But there's an enduring charm behind it all.
Alpha House
Funny enough political satire show starring John Goodman as an abrasive Congressman.
Dexter (Season 5-8)
I loved this sick show back in the day, but quit after season four in 2010 when it ended WAY too dark. But I'm older and wiser and have a stronger constitution now. And...it's fine. The storylines are compelling. But then it ends with that ending. Now everyone hated the last episode, but that wasn't the problem. It was fair enough. The bit that had me jumping up and down with outrage was (!!!SPOILER!!!) the second-to-last episode where Dexter walks away and leaves his sister to arrest the super-dangerous super-criminal ALL BY HERSELF. When she gets shot afterward, that was the most contrived, annoying, stupid thing ever done in any show. Ever. It's decent otherwise.
Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways
HBO documentary series where the band (Foo Fighters) explores the musical history of a variety of cities and ends each episode by writing a song inspired by each city. A fun exploration of music by people who clearly love their subject matter.
The Blacklist (Season Three)
Still solid. James Spader nails it.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
I got depressed after two episodes. They're all just so awful to each other. I get it- the joke is that they're so awful. But it's not funny.
Teen Wolf
Only watched the pilot. Yeah, it's fine, but it's a teen drama at its core and you need to be a teen to enjoy it.
Portlandia
So so so so funny. It's hit-and-miss, but when it hits, oh it hits so perfectly. Perfect spoof of hipsters and humans in general. If you like this bit, you'll like the show.
Suits (Season Six)
One of the main characters spends the bulk of the season in prison and that's a drag. It bogs down with that storyline a whole lot. We watched it week-to-week, but if you're able to binge it, it might go down easier.
The Tick
Amazon did a gritty live-action version of the whimsical satiric Tick cartoon. Why? (I mean- this feels like the kind of straightforward superhero stuff that show was originally spoofing!)
You, Me, and the Apocalypse
Pilot was a letdown. It's a rambling BBC show with an uneven tone. Great cast, but I didn't care to see where they were going with it.
Mr. Robot (Season Two)
It's a step down from the first season, but that's inevitable. This show is a bright-burning spark of brilliance. Lots of great moments edited to 80's pop music. (It's a hacker drama, btw.)
The Expanse
A surprisingly good sf drama, considering it's from the channel that brought you Z Nation and the Sharknado series.
Ugly Betty
Made it through season one and felt like I survived a war. Way too much snark and people conspiring against each other. Betty is so sweet and I was annoyed when people kept being mean to her. I am done with this show, though I might watch the final episode someday, as I understand she is finally not ugly in that episode.
Longmire
Small-town cop drama. Pilot was fine, just didn't wow me, so I moved on to something else. (There's a lot of other stuff to choose from, in case you didn't notice.)
River
The snooty math teacher from Good Will Hunting is a neurotic detective who speaks to the dead. It's fine.
The Strain (Season Two and Three)
It stays rock-solid. This zippy vampire-apocalypse-in-NYC show keeps kicking it up with each episode. Creative mayhem and monsters. Interesting characters. And the third season's ending leaves you wondering how exactly they're gonna do a fourth season. I'll be there for it!
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself, who it turns out is just a cover for his TRUE identity as an international super-spy. Fun setup, fun execution. I understand this Amazon pilot was picked up for a series order. Good.
F is for Family
Abrasive but on-point animated comedy about a family in the 70's. Showcasing Bill Burr's considerable talents, this is an acquired taste.
Madam Secretary
Closing out strong here. This is my wife's favorite show and I loved it, too. Great political thriller and family drama with a great sense of humor to boot.
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Phony McFakename
