Category: TV Review

Diana Vaccarelli Sees OUTLANDER

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OUTLANDER Returns with a Smash
by Diana Vaccarelli

At the end of last season, this excellent show left viewers with a cliffhanger that made us want more, more more. Because there would be no more, at least for awhile, I decided I had to pick up the first book in the series because I was dying to know what happens. I finished just in time for this season’s premier episode.

OUTLANDER takes a dark turn as our heroine Claire Fraser is held captive by the sadistic Black Jack Randall. To our relief Claire is saved by her husband Jamie. YAY! Just love when things end happy.  Well you’re wrong things take even a more dramatic turn. In a controversial scene when Jamie beats Claire with a belt to her bum for disobeying him.  Afterwards their marriage isn’t in a very good place. Throughout, Jamie makes it up to Claire and they reunite in what I have to say is the hottest scene ever.

I have been in love with this show from the beginning, and it still doesn’t disappoint.  From the costumes, locations, writing, cinematography, directing, and the acting. Everything just flows into place from Diana Gabaldon’s novels. It comes vividly to life. Kudos to Executive Producer Ronald Moore who said from the beginning it’s Diana’s world (wink at the same name) “and we’re just bringing it to life.” read article

How to Ruin a TV Series AKA “Oh no, what’s happened to ORPHAN BLACK?!”

Carumba! Our masters in the executive suites are at it again, fixing things that aren’t anywhere near broken. Why, you morons? Why…?”

What’s that? You think we’re being too harsh? Well, let’s look at another way:

obby Ken Levine

As many of you loyal readers of this blog (who pay attention) know,I’ve praised ORPHAN BLACK to the heavens. This little underground thriller/sci-fi on BBC-America (and now on AMC as well) introduced us all to the wondrous Tatiana Maslany – a luminous actress who plays multiple clones, each one distinctive and memorable. read article

Herbie J Pilato: DARK SHADOWS’ Original Incarnation is Originality in Action

the real barnabasPart 1
by Herbie J Pilato

Live performances.  Rehashed ideas.  Retold stories.  Dead-on scripts.

Turn of the Screw.  Picture of Dorian Gray.  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Dracula.  Frankenstein.  The Wolfman.  Even HP Lovecraft’s The Cthulhu Mythos.

Actors play a piece from each, working, temporarily, steadily.  Stereotyped, indefinitely.  Fallen movie stars, resurrected for the small screen. TV superstars yet to be born.  Future TV angels, present spectres. read article

Is Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’ TV Show Overrated?

Some people think so. (This TVWriter™ minion admits to being one of them.) Mostly we keep our traps shut to avoid conflict. Forbes’ Benjamin Moore, OTH, has no trouble saying what he thinks:

Daredevil_wallpaper_colored_by_sethfrailby Benjamin Moore

Every once in a while, a movie or a TV show will debut to stellar reviews – from critics and the ravenous Internet hive mind – and I’m left feeling like I’m taking crazy pills.

By now, you’ve probably seen the new Daredevil series on Netflix NFLX +1.96%, or at least heard about how amazing it is from your brother-in-law. He loves everything Marvel has ever made, except for Iron Man 3 because how dare that Shane Black fellow make a joke of supervillain/racist caricature The Mandarin. And this new Daredevil series? Well, it’s the best Marvel thing yet, in his opinion – it’s like The Wire of superhero TV shows, only even better than that might imply. read article

Don’t Let Fans’ Silence Fool You. ‘Community’ is as Great as Ever

Last week we ran a post called Why Nobody’s Talking About Community Anymore, which came to certain conclusions about the quality of the series this year and raised a bit of a ruckus. In keeping with our equal time policy – which just started today, but hey – we’re pleased us, um, punch to present another point of view:

More COMMUNITYby Pilot Viruet

The sixth season of Community should have been its biggest and most celebrated. Long before it existed, before it was even a real possibility, it was already the subject of a joking-but-not-really-joking hashtag that began in Season 2’s “Paradigms of Human Memory,” with Abed’s passing reference to The Cape. “Six seasons and a movie” was the rallying cry of fans who believed, accurately, that Community was good enough to run for several more years, despite what NBC (and the ratings) said. And against all odds — Dan Harmon’s firing and subsequent rehiring, a gas-leak season, and even a cancellation — that sixth season did happen and is currently airing. But the fanfare around the series seems to have died down.

It’s a curious development, albeit one that is easy to explain. There is, of course, the fact that Community now airs on a streaming site, Yahoo Screen (which is difficult to navigate and features a less-than-stellar video player), rather than on a broadcast network. But Community has always been fueled by the Internet — I can’t imagine it would have lasted five seasons on NBC, let alone been rescued by Yahoo, if not for the intensity of its fans on social media, who delighted in hashtags and quoted every line and took over A.V. Club comment sections. So it should be just as equipped as any other show to thrive online. read article