[Televisionary]

The Daily Beast: "Mad Men: Who Is Bob Benson?"

2013-06-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

The truth of who Bob Benson is was finally revealed on Sunday’s episode of Mad Men. My take on the revelation and how it connects to Don Draper. Warning: spoilers ahead! At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Mad Men: Who Is Bob Benson?" in which I offer my take on this week's episode of AMC's Mad Men and what the true identity of Bob Benson (James Wolk) means for the show and Don Draper. “I used to wonder how you were so expertly servile.” On Mad Men, James Wolk’s eager-to-please ad man Bob Benson—a sort of golden retriever in an impeccably preppy suit who was always ready with an extra cup of coffee or a deli platter for a funeral—offered one of the season’s most hotly discussed mysteries, second only to whether Jessica Paré’s Megan Draper would be murdered. Theories were rampant. Was the perpetually chipper up-and-comer, who inexplicably seemed to materialize at SCDP (later renamed SC&P), a spy from a rival agency, an undercover reporter, Don’s love child, or a government agent? Last week’s episode, “Favors,” seemed to indicate that Bob was gay, as he appeared to make an advance at Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) by gently touching his boss’s leg with his own and seemingly making a declaration of his love. When I asked Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences panel I moderated last weekend whether Bob Benson was gay, he demurred, saying what passed between Bob and Pete didn’t necessarily indicate that. So,...

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The Daily Beast: "Oxford's No. 1 Sleuth: Inspector Lewis's Kevin Whately on Morse, John Thaw, and the End of the Series"

2013-06-14T07:19:00.001-07:00

Kevin Whately has been playing gruff, sensible detective Robbie Lewis on Morse and Lewis for 26 years. I speak to him about the possible end of the Oxford copper. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Oxford's No. 1 Sleuth: Inspector Lewis's Kevin Whately on Morse, John Thaw, and the End of the Series," in which I speak with Kevin Whately, star of Inspector Morse and Lewis (which returns to PBS' Masterpiece Mystery on Sunday) about playing Robbie Lewis for 26 years, whether this is the end for the Oxford-set drama, and what's next. Inspector Lewis is due for a vacation. After more than 20 years playing Detective Inspector Robert “Robbie” Lewis, actor Kevin Whately has earned a well-deserved break from investigating murders beneath the Oxford spires. Introduced in Inspector Morse’s first episode (“The Dead of Jericho”), Whately’s Robbie Lewis was the Geordie sidekick of the late John Thaw’s erudite and perpetually cranky Inspector Morse before becoming the lead of his own spinoff, Lewis. While Whately has a slew of roles on his résumé—he also starred in British drama Peak Practice and comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, as well as countless other projects, including The English Patient—Robbie Lewis is the role still most closely associated with the 62-year-old actor. He has played the gruff detective from 1987 to 2000 on Morse and from 2006 to the present on Inspector Lewis. The much loved show returns for its sixth (or seventh, if you’re going by the...

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The Daily Beast: "Emmy Awards’ Dark Horse Nominee: Tatiana Maslany of Orphan Black"

2013-06-12T06:37:00.001-07:00

If you didn’t watch BBC America’s clone drama Orphan Black, you missed one of the year’s best dramatic performances. My take on why Tatiana Maslany deserves an Emmy nod. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Emmy Awards’ Dark Horse Nominee," in which I offer a look at one of the year's best television performances, that of Tatiana Maslany on BBC America's Orphan Black, and state why this dark horse deserves at least an Emmy nomination. If you don’t regularly tune in to shows about global conspiracies, illegal medical research, and genetically identical clones, you may be forgiven for not watching Orphan Black, the serpentine Canadian-American science fiction drama that wrapped up its first season earlier this month on BBC America. (Season 2 will air in 2014.) But not watching this compelling and surprisingly emotional cult drama—created by Graeme Manson and John Fawcett—means that you missed out on one of the year’s most intense and astonishing television performances. In Orphan Black, Tatiana Maslany delivers a daredevil turn, playing no less than seven different roles, each one with their own mannerisms and secrets. It’s no surprise that Maslany, a 27-year-old Canadian actress, has already been racking up accolades for her electrifying acting. On Monday, she was awarded the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series and, on the same day, nominated for a Television Critics Association Award for Individual...

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The Daily Beast: "Game of Thrones: Will the HBO Series Catch Up to George R.R. Martin's Books?"

2013-06-10T09:39:00.002-07:00

Game of Thrones may catch up with George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels. So what will HBO do if the inevitable does occur? My take on the show's options. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest post, "Game of Thrones: Will the HBO Series Catch Up to George R.R. Martin's Books?" in which I react to Entertainment Weekly's story on whether Game of Thrones will meet up with (or surpass) the progress of Martin's in-progress novels. After the horror and shock of last week's Red Wedding episode, Season 3 of Game of Thrones ended rather quietly. There were no dragons being born from ancient eggs placed upon a funeral pyre, nor white walkers marching en masse for the brothers of the Night's Watch. Instead, Daenerys Stormborn (Emilia Clarke) is raised above the shoulders of the slaves she freed from bondage and the episode ("Mhysa") more or less set up some new conflicts and story for the fourth season, which should arrive sometime in 2014. Putting that aside, however, is a more pressing concern about the shape of this massive narrative, particularly as showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are dealing with "a ticking clock" in the form of the show catching up with George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Martin is hard at work at the series' sixth book, entitled The Winds of Winter, but there is every indication that the HBO fantasy drama's narrative could either catch up to Martin or surpass him altogether. This trepidation is something...

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The Daily Beast: "The Red Wedding: HBO’s Game of Thrones Reveals Its Latest Twist"

2013-06-03T06:54:00.002-07:00

Yes, that actually did just happen. My take on the latest shocking twist on HBO’s Game of Thrones, and why the disturbing outcome of the Red Wedding was crucial for the series. Spoilers abound! At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "The Red Wedding: HBO’s Game of Thrones Reveals Its Latest Twist," in which I offer my take on this week's shocking episode of Game of Thrones ("The Rains of Castamere") and why the twist was necessary for the longevity and narrative stakes of the series. And they partook of his salt and bread. Oaths are meant to be sacred: after all, a man is only as good as his word. But a world in which oaths are meaningless and void is a terrifying place without logic, justice, or order. On this week’s episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones (“The Rains of Castamere”), we see the ramifications of breaking one’s word. Just as Robb Stark (Richard Madden) betrayed his vow to Walder Frey (David Bradley), promising to marry his daughter in exchange for Frey bannermen, so too does Walder Frey betray the most sacred oath of all, that of hospitality. This week’s gut-wrenching episode hammered home the dramatic stakes at play within HBO’s Game of Thrones, one that perfectly captures the bloodshed of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels and their underlying notion that no one is ever truly safe. That goes for kings and queens, mothers and children, the old and the unborn. In a series that’s already rife with whiplash-inducing plot...

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The Daily Beast: "Mad Men: The Bizarre Megan Draper as Sharon Tate Conspiracy Theory"

2013-05-29T13:59:00.003-07:00

Is Mad Men’s Megan Draper about to be murdered à la Sharon Tate? Internet conspiracy theorists say yes. My take on the rumors and what the show’s costume designer has to say. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Mad Men: The Bizarre Megan Draper as Sharon Tate Conspiracy Theory," in which I examine the current Internet conspiracy theories swirling around Mad Men's Megan Draper and see what the show's costume designer, Janie Bryant, had to say about the star t-shirt and more. On AMC’s Mad Men this season, Megan Draper (Jessica Paré), the actress wife of Jon Hamm’s Don Draper, has had some success in her own career, landing a meaty role on an ongoing daily soap opera where she’s now playing twins Colette and Corinne. In this week’s episode (“The Better Half”), Megan took to the balcony of the Manhattan apartment she shares with her adulterous husband. Nearby, Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) has accidentally stabbed her boyfriend, Abe (Charlie Hofheimer), thinking he was an intruder. As he’s rushed to the hospital, Megan contemplates her future and her marriage to Don as nearby ambulance sirens fill the air. Crime is on the rise and tensions throughout the city are flaring. Dressed in a simple white t-shirt emblazoned with a red star, Megan in that moment deeply resembles Sharon Tate, the pregnant actress wife of director Roman Polanski, who was murdered in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson. In fact, Tate wore the same t-shirt as the one Megan is wearing in...

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The Daily Beast: "17 Shows Worth Watching This Summer"

2013-05-28T06:39:00.002-07:00

Get out of the sun—there’s recovering zombies, addictive serial-killer mysteries, and the Breaking Bad finale on TV. My take on what not to miss for this cool summer season. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "17 Shows Worth Watching This Summer," in which I round up 17 shows worth watching during the sweltering months to come, from FX's The Bridge and BBC America's Broadchurch to ABC Family's Switched at Birth and CBS's Under The Dome. (Plus, Showtime's Ray Donovan, which SHOULD NOT BE MISSED.) Summer isn’t the television wasteland that it used to be. While the broadcasters are still figuring out what to do with their real estate during these lazy months (original drama? reality competitions? burn-offs?), cable channels have long known the power of airing high-profile series throughout the heat, and there is quite a lot of original programming to be seen during these next sweltering months. CBS is launching the event series Under the Dome and attempting to tap into the runaway success of BBC’s The Great British Bake Off (which I reviewed here) with American remake The American Baking Competition. So You Think You Can Dance, The Bachelorette, Masterchef, and America’s Got Talent are all back on their respective networks’ schedules, while many of you will be too busy bingeing on the return of Arrested Development on Netflix to notice much else. But as far as what shows you should be putting on your TiVo’s Season Pass, here are 17 new or...

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The Daily Beast: "Arrested Development: Why Netflix’s Revival Failed"

2013-05-27T10:00:00.003-07:00

Fans eagerly awaited the return of Arrested Development, brought back from the TV graveyard by Netflix. Jace Lacob on why the show’s fourth season revival falls flat. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Arrested Development: Why Netflix’s Revival Failed," in which I review Season 4 of Netflix's Arrested Development revival, for which all 15 episodes were released yesterday. Unfortunately, despite my obsession with Arrested Development's first few seasons, I didn't enjoy this at all. If you have an Internet connection, you know Arrested Development returned from the dead on Sunday, with all 15 episodes of the show’s fourth season available on Netflix on the same day. This strategy falls in line with the other original series rollouts that the streaming platform has launched this year, from House of Cards to the abysmal Hemlock Grove, given the belief that Netflix wants to offer the viewer “choice” as to how it consumes content: will you watch just one episode or will you binge on the entire season, watching anywhere from eight to 13 hours of television in a single day or weekend? There’s something to be said for choice, but there’s also something to be said for restraint on the part of the viewer. The to-binge-or-not-to-binge internal conversation may be happening only in social media-obsessed households, where FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) trumps the time commitment necessary to stay ahead of everyone else you know. I previously compared...

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The Daily Beast: "Meet Flynn McGarry: America's Next Great Chef is 14 Years Old"

2013-05-23T07:20:00.001-07:00

McGarry and BierBeisl chef Bernard Meiringer. (Will McGarry) The chef behind hit Beverly Hills pop-up restaurant Eureka is Flynn McGarry. I sit down for an elaborate 11-course meal and interviews the teenage prodigy. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Meet Flynn McGarry: America's Next Great Chef is 14 Years Old," in which I sit down with 14-year-old culinary prodigy Flynn McGarry, whose $160 a head supper club and pop-up restaurant Eureka has become destination dining in Los Angeles.(Plus, see my Instagrams of my May 1st meal at McGarry's Eureka and read what McGarry has to say about several specific dishes from the menu.) A recent 11-course tasting menu at Eureka, a monthly pop-up restaurant at Los Angeles’ BierBeisl, included a dish of fresh and dried English peas concealing a hidden parmesan and whey pudding, a live scallop under a cucumber foam, gnocchi made from ash, and an unctuous sous-vide egg yolk encircled by hedgehog mushrooms, pork skin snow, and a sauce made from preserved lemons and radish greens. On an evening in early May, this was a meal that showed the precision, vision, and creativity of its gifted chef, one that soared on a deliberate rhythm and flow: plates arrived at just the right moment with an explanation of the dish’s ingredients, each showcasing the season to perfection. The chef, Flynn McGarry, moved in the kitchen with grace, charring ramps for a dish of sturgeon and tapioca with a charred onion sauce before spinning...

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The Daily Beast: "The Dark Lure of Gillian Anderson's The Fall"

2013-05-22T09:27:00.004-07:00

BBC Two’s The Fall, starring Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan, debuts on Netflix on May 28. My take on Anderson and Dornan’s searing performances and why you need to watch. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "The Dark Lure of Gillian Anderson's The Fall," in which I review BBC Two's serial killer drama The Fall, which stars Gillian Anderson and which makes its Stateside debut next week on Netflix. It is virtually impossible to talk about The Fall—BBC Two’s addictive and provocative serial killer drama, which begins streaming stateside on Netflix on May 28—without mentioning the ghost in the room: Prime Suspect. The allusion to Prime Suspect, a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic, is well founded. For one, The Fall is the closest that television has come to capturing the taut alchemy of Prime Suspect: part police chase, part psychological portrait of the hunted and the hunter. At the time of its premiere in 1992, Prime Suspect captured the institutional misogyny of the Metropolitan Police and placed at its center Helen Mirren’s Jane Tennison, a knife-sharp detective who wasn’t content to hover at the edges of a “man’s world.” Over the seven seasons that Mirren portrayed Jane, viewers came to see her as a brilliant, if flawed, protagonist, who somehow remained tethered to the glass ceiling that she had shattered and who turned to drink and sex to dull the loneliness of her life. In The Fall, we see both the hard road that Mirren’s Tennison...

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The Daily Beast: "2013 TV Upfronts Wrap-Up: Bring On the New Television Shows"

2013-05-17T07:14:00.001-07:00

The broadcast network upfront presentations are over. Jace Lacob on the 51 new scripted shows heading to television next season. What will you watch? At The Daily Beast, you can read my final upfronts post, "2013 TV Upfronts Wrap-Up: Bring On the New Television Shows," in which I wrap up our broadcast network upfronts coverage and take a look at the 51 new scripted series heading to ABC Television Network, CBS, NBC, FOX, and The CW for the 2013-14 season. The upfront presentations are (finally) over. Now that the dust has settled, it's easier to get a larger picture of what's going on for next season. The numbers: 51 scripted series have been ordered by the broadcast networks for the 2013–14 season. There are 29 new dramas for next season and 22 comedies. Thirty-one shows will launch in the fall, and 20 are being held for a later date, should some of the fall offerings fail to enflame the public's imagination. On the network level, ABC picked up 12 new scripted series; CBS ordered eight; NBC issued series pickups to 14, while Fox did the same for 12 scripted series. The CW claimed five new scripted shows. ABC picked up a slew of pilots, including a Rebel Wilson sitcom Super Fun Night, and issued a series order to The Avengers spinoff series, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. CBS ordered several pilots, including a Sarah Michelle Gellar–Robin Williams comedy from David E. Kelley, Josh Holloway–led cyberprocedural Intelligence, and Hostages, a political conspiracy...

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The Daily Beast: "The CW Reveals Its 2013-14 Primetime Schedule: Hart of Dixie to Monday, Supernatural to Tuesday, The Carrie Diaries to Friday"

2013-05-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

I examine The CW's 2013-14 primetime schedule, which includes five new dramas and moves around returning shows (Supernatural, The Carrie Diaries, Hart of Dixie) across the week. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest upfront report, "The CW Reveals Its 2013-14 Primetime Schedule," in which I take a look at The CW's fall schedule. (Videos and comments from Mark Pedowitz tk.) The CW took the wraps off of its 2013-14 primetime schedule on Thursday morning, marking the final day of the broadcast network upfronts. Among the changes afoot at the nearly seven-year old network: Hart of Dixie and Beauty and the Beast are moving to Mondays, Supernatural moves to Tuesdays, and The Carrie Diaries gets pushed to Fridays at 8 p.m. Nikita, which will have its final season of a six episodes, will be held until midseason. The network ordered five new dramas for next season, which will be scattered throughout Tuesdays (The Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals), Wednesdays (The Tomorrow People), and Thursdays (period drama Reign) when The CW begins its fall season in October. Two additional dramas—Star-Crossed and The 100—will be held until midseason along with newly ordered reality show Famous in 12; their timeslots are still to be determined. “We had a terrific season last year, growing our audience on-air, digitally and socially," said The CW President Mark Pedowitz in a statement. "Now we are building on that success by continuing to add more original programming all...

Read the full article at Televisionary (http://www.televisionarytv.com).

The Daily Beast: "CBS Announces 2013-14 Primetime Schedule"

2013-05-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

CBS's 2013-14 schedule is here, and it's largely the same, save moving Hawaii Five-0 to Friday and Person of Interest to Tuesday, while Mike & Molly returns in midseason. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest upfront post, "CBS Announces 2013-14 Primetime Schedule," in which I explore the new primetime 2013-14 schedule at CBS, recount some of what CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said to reporters at the network's traditional press breakfast, and offer up some quick thoughts on the changes to the schedule. CBS on Wednesday drew back the curtain to reveal its 2013-14 primetime schedule during its traditional breakfast with reporters ahead of its official upfront presentation at Carnegie Hall. Stability seemed to be the rationale behind CBS's primetime schedule, which returned pretty much intact with a few notable exceptions: Hawaii Five-0 will move to Fridays at 9 p.m., in order to take over the timeslot left vacant by the cancellation of CSI: New York, and Mike & Molly is being held until midseason. Eliminating the lull of repeats, was one of the network's key strategies for the 2013-14, which will see four new comedies and two dramas (one for fall and one for midseason) join the schedule. "Comedy was a priority for us," CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler told reporters. "We shot 23 pilots this year… and our studio really delivered a lot of great content… With comedy, you rely on chemistry and all the right elements coming together at the...

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The Daily Beast: "ABC Announces 2013-14 Schedule: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Gets Tuesday Berth, Super Fun Night Gets Modern Family Lead-In"

2013-05-14T10:49:00.003-07:00

I examine ABC's primetime schedule for 2013-14, which includes Joss Whedon's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a Once Upon a Time spin-off, and Kyle Killen's Mind Games. Plus, read what Paul Lee had to say about the cancellation of Happy Endings and why Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is perfect for Tuesdays at 8 p.m. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest upfronts update, "ABC Announces 2013-14 Schedule: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Gets Tuesday Berth, Super Fun Night Gets Modern Family Lead-In," in which I report on ABC's fall 2013 primetime schedule, sum up Paul Lee's remarks to reporters this morning, and issue some quick reactions to the scheduling announcements. ABC took the wraps off of its 2013-14 schedule on Tuesday morning, following speculation about where the network would slot its highly anticipated television series spin-off of feature film franchise The Avengers, entitled Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Yes, there are a lot of periods there for one title.) Elsewhere, ABC announced that Rebel Wilson's sitcom Super Fun Night would get the plum post-Modern Family timeslot on Wednesdays and its upcoming spin-off of Sunday evening's successful fantasy drama Once Upon a Time, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, would be heading to Thursdays. And comedy The Neighbors, which received an eleventh hour reprieve, is now headed to Fridays. The biggest news, however, was that Dancing With the Stars would be reduced to just one night a week. The announcements were made by ABC...

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The Daily Beast: "Downton Abbey Season 4 Sets PBS Return Date"

2013-05-14T07:37:00.002-07:00

PBS sets a January return date for the fourth season of Downton Abbey, and announces the return of Call the Midwife and the launch of dramedy Last Tango in Halifax. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Downton Abbey Season 4 Sets PBS Return Date," in which Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton talks about the return of Downton Abbey, which has (finally) set a U.S. return date in January 2014. American fans of the Crawley clan can finally mark their calendars: Season 4 of Downton Abbey will kick off on PBS' Masterpiece Classic on Sunday, January 5, 2014. Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton announced the official U.S. airdate for Season 4 of the award-winning period drama Tuesday at the PBS Annual Meeting. Downton's fourth season will run for eight weeks, from January 5 to February 23, 2014, roughly the time timeframe as its third season, which aired in the U.S. earlier this year. (In the U.K., Season 4 will air this autumn on ITV.) "Masterpiece fans will not be disappointed: Julian [Fellowes] has done another brilliant job," Eaton wrote in an email to The Daily Beast, "this time, portraying the Downton family moving on from the tragedies of last season." Those tragedies include the death of heir Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) and youngest daughter Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay). The duo—along with Siobhan Finneran (who played devious maid Miss O'Brien)—will not be returning for a fourth installment of the Julian Fellowes-created...

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The Daily Beast: "Fox Unveils 2013-14 Schedule: 24 Returns, Sleepy Hollow and Almost Human to Mondays"

2013-05-13T12:31:00.001-07:00

Fox has revealed its 2013-14 primetime schedule. My take on the changes afoot at the broadcast network next season, including the launch of 24: Live Another Day. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Fox Unveils 2013-14 Schedule: 24 Returns, Sleepy Hollow and Almost Human to Mondays," which includes full details on FOX's 2013-14 primetime schedule, including comments from Kevin Reilly on the return of 24 and much more. On Monday morning, Fox unveiled its primetime schedule for the 2013-14 season, which included several changes to its current lineup and the confirmation of rumors that 24 will be returning to the network. Fox Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly confirmed the news earlier today on a conference call with members of the press. 24 will return in early May as tentpole event drama 24: Live Another Day, which will "arc through the summer." Speaking on behalf of 24 executive producer Howard Gordon, Reilly said that Gordon had asked himself, “'Why are we killing ourselves trying to crack a feature when this is the perfect format?'” The spine of the proposed 24 feature film occurred over the course of 12 hours and translating the thrust of the film to television was "so liberating for us." The decision will allow the show's producers to take what they saw as the best of the 12 hours and translate for television. "We’ll still go in chronological order, but we will skip hours," said Reilly. "It will be dictated by the plot.” Details are...

Read the full article at Televisionary (http://www.televisionarytv.com).

The Daily Beast: "NBC Unveils Its 2013-14 Schedule: Parenthood to Thursday, Revolution to Wednesday, and More"

2013-05-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

I examine NBC’s fall and midseason 2013-14 schedule, which shifts around a lot of returning shows. Plus, watch trailers for The Black List, Ironside, and more. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "NBC Unveils Its 2013-14 Schedule: Parenthood to Thursday, Revolution to Wednesday, and More," in which I offer full details on NBC's 2013-14 primetime schedule, complete with video trailers for their new fall dramas and comedies (sadly, the network isn't releasing the midseason trailers that they showed at today's upfront yet), thoughts, and reactions. On Sunday, NBC unveiled the sweeping changes hitting its 2013-14 primetime schedule, which includes several night and time changes to pre-existing shows: Parenthood will move to Thursdays at 10 p.m., following the network's traditional two-hour block of comedies (though there was no word on when Community would be returning to the lineup), Chicago Fire will get relocated to Tuesdays, and freshman hit Revolution will be moving to a new Wednesday programming block with an emphasis on dramas, including Law & Order: SVU and the new Ironside reboot. Those aren't the only changes afoot at NBC, however. Critical darling Parks and Recreation will move to 8 p.m. on Thursdays, while The Biggest Loser will move to Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Elsewhere, two of the potentially strongest new entries, J.J. Abrams' Believe (pictured above) and Rand Ravich's Crisis, are being held for midseason launches. Also on tap for...

Read the full article at Televisionary (http://www.televisionarytv.com).

The Daily Beast: "TV Upfronts 2013: Bring On the New Shows!"

2013-05-09T07:19:00.002-07:00

With the broadcast networks' upfront presentations less than a week away, I look at what new television shows the broadcast networks have ordered for the 2013-14 season. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Bring On the New Shows!" in which I start to round up what new television shows the broadcast networks have ordered so far for the 2013-14 season. (It will continue to be updated with each new series order over the next week.) It's that time of year again! I take a look at the new series that are coming to television next season, as the broadcast network upfront presentations get underway next week. The orders started coming in late Thursday night. Fox has so far ordered four comedies and four dramas, including: J.J. Abrams' futuristic police drama Almost Human; Sleepy Hollow, a modern day update of Washington Irving's classic thriller; cop drama Gang Related, which will star Lost's Terry O'Quinn and RZA; and legal drama Rake, a remake of an Australian drama which will star Greg Kinnear. Keep checking this space for the latest updates as the broadcasters prepare to unveil several dozen new shows for the 2013-14 season. Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

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The Daily Beast: "Family Tree Brings Christopher Guest’s Mockumentary Style to HBO"

2013-05-08T07:51:00.002-07:00

He pioneered the mockumentary on film. Now Christopher Guest is bringing his latest comedy, HBO’s Family Tree, to a TV landscape crowded with the format. My take on whether he succeeds. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Family Tree Brings Christopher Guest’s Mockumentary Style to HBO," in which I review HBO's latest comedy, Family Tree, which begins Sunday evening, and which stars Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd) and hails from the fertile mind of co-creator Christopher Guest (Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind). Over the last few decades, the mockumentary format has become almost totally synonymous with Christopher Guest, the writer/director (and often actor) best known for films such as This Is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration. Each film—to varying success—mined the documentary format for laughs, setting up its eccentric characters as the butts of the joke ... or the only ones in on it. It’s no surprise, then, that Guest would eventually seek to bring his brand of comedy to television, which has had significant success with the format: numerous comedies, from Modern Family to The Office and Parks and Recreation, have embraced the single-camera mockumentary format, allowing for characters to engage in “talking heads” segments in which they speak directly to the audience via an unseen film crew. It’s through this technique that characters are able to comment on what the viewer has...

Read the full article at Televisionary (http://www.televisionarytv.com).

The Daily Beast: "TV Upfronts 2013: NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and The CW By the Numbers"

2013-05-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

Is your favorite show safe? I take a look at what’s on tap for the broadcast networks for the 2013-14 season, which shows are coming back, and which ones have gotten the axe. At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "TV Upfronts 2013: NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and The CW By the Numbers," in which I offer a running total (which will be updated throughout the next week) at all the broadcast network shows that have been renewed, ordered, and cancelled as we move into upfront presentations week for the broadcast networks. Every May, advertisers and members of the press descend on New York City as the broadcast networks host their annual upfront presentations, where they will unveil their fall schedules, trot out talent, and announce which shows will be coming back next season and which ones won’t. The Daily Beast will be reporting on every move being made by ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and The CW as they prepare to launch their 2013-2014 schedules. As the week wears on, The Daily Beast will continue to update its gallery of new shows as the individual networks present their schedules and programming and report on what the networks’ top executives are saying. This year’s crop of pilots was heavy on literary adaptations, period dramas, foreign formats (particularly of British, Spanish, and Israeli series), and remakes of movies (About a Boy! Beverly Hills Cop! Bad Teacher!) and old television shows (Ironside! The Tomorrow People!). Plus, there was not one, but two...

Read the full article at Televisionary (http://www.televisionarytv.com).