Category: TV Review

Z NATION: TV Review

An interesting review of the latest new zombie (aargh!) series in the Hollywood Reporter. We like it cuz the reviewer actually addresses the writing. Too bad there’s nothing better to say about it. (Yeppers, kids, to paraphrase Stan the Man, “With great public exposure comes the chance for great humiliation.”) Oh, well, at least the article doesn’t come out and tell us the guilty writer’s name cuz writing about writing is one thing but writing about a writer? Nah!”

Is this what writers really look like?
Is this what writers really look like?

by Tim Goodman

The best thing that could ever happen to The Walking Dead is the arrival of Z Nation on Syfy on Friday. The super-popular but critically underappreciated Walking Dead may be seen more favorably for its writing, acting, visual acumen and storytelling capabilities now that Z Nation proves you can’t just put hungry zombies on the screen and have something worth writing home about.

On the other hand, if all you want to see are zombies, zombies, zombies — meaning it’s all about the gory and not about the story, then Z Nation may be your thing. In fact, as a B-level entry it’s at least entertaining, and if some of the sillier aspects of the pilot can be improved on could be one of those mindless entertainment options we all need now and again. read article

Herbie J Pilato: Happy Silver Anniversary to Samantha and Darrin

EDITOR’S NOTE: Today is the 50th anniversary of BEWITCHED’s debut on our screens. What better way to celebrate it than to turn this space over to the World’s Foremost Authority on this show, Contributing Editor Herbie J Pilato, author of 3 definitive books on the subject –  The Essential Elizabeth Montgomery, Twitch Upon A Star, and Bewitched Forever? Take it away Herbie J:

bewitched-hp

by Herbie J Pilato

So, what makes Bewitched great – and why are we still talking about it fifty years after its original lengthy hit run on ABC (from September 17, 1964 to July 2, 1972)? read article

Cara Winter: The Anglo Files 4

Tom-Hollander-as-Adam-Sma-006
Tom Hollander as the Reverend Adam Smallbone

REV.
by Cara Winter

In the BBC’s Rev., Tom Hollander and James Wood have created something wholly unique.  And by wholly unique… I mean, I have no idea what I’m watching.  Not only have I never seen anything like it, I was for a long time at a loss for words for even how to describe it.  Except…I’m in love.

Rev. is a comedy, of that I am sure.  Or, at least I think I am.  I find it funny – but not CBS- sitcom-laughter-at-precise-intervals-funny.   It’s more like a cold dish of awkwardness, smothered in general hesitancy, with a side of human suffering – which, as it turns out, is really, really funny.

Rev. is the story of a small town vicar (the Reverend Adam Smallbone) who’s all of a sudden at the helm of an inner city parish.   In addition to co-creating and writing for Rev., Tom Hollander also plays the title character, and in this role he’s absolutely perfect.  His characterization of the Rev. is completely original – wistful, earnest, prone to doubt (both of himself and his creator), fond of beer, and occasionally completely nuts.  In short, he’s human.  And unlike the caricatures we’re so used to when it comes to members of the clergy, the Rev. Adam Smallbone is painfully real; sweet, searching, and maybe a little F’d up.  (Sorry, Reverend.) read article

Sitcoms are Hard

Ken Levine strikes again – and brilliantly so:

Miranda
The daring duo in TVWriter™’s current favorite TV sitcom, MIRANDA, on BBC

by Ken Levine

There seems to be a new trend in sitcoms – the knockoff Romy & Michele’s. Two single ditzy twentysomethings who sort of blunder through life. The difference is that the characters of Romy & Michele were carefully developed, well crafted, and there was a definite story.

BROAD CITY on Comedy Central, GARFUNKEL & OATS on IFC, and PLAYING HOUSE on USA are all very similar. Two comediennes who have worked together either as an act or a musical comedy team write and perform their own sitcoms. They’re all single-camera with a very loose format. Most of the dialogue sounds improvised, and occasionally they say some very funny things. But for the most part it’s just vamping. You’re listening to two people grope around in search of something genuinely funny. read article

Are You Ready for Jeffrey Tambor as a TRANSPARENT?

by Team TVWriter™

We, um, thought we were, until we saw this trailer for Amazon Studios new comedy series, TRANSPARENT .

That doesn’t sound very kind, and it certainly doesn’t seem very smart to attempt to review a show by the trailer, so let’s say that the taste of TRANSPARENT we got here gives us both hope and concern. The writing is bright, funny, fast, probably the most professional writing we’ve seen on an Amazon show, and the acting by Jeffrey Tambor, Judith Light, Gaby Hoffman, and Jay Duplass is equally excellent. These guys rise well above the challenge. read article