DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
The Orville doesn’t lack for ambition or expense, or about violating any of the often laughably sacred “canon” from previous versions of Star Trek... on the contrary, The Orville is completely on its own. Which so far is the problem...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
Set in a thoroughly convincing, garbage-strewn mockup of 1971 New York City, The Deuce is the soiled saga of how the hardcore porn industry worked its way to legalization...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
Sometimes stupid humor makes a cool and endearing point. Sometimes in the new Fox series The Orville, stupid humor doesn’t feel like it’s going much of anywhere...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
HBO’s dark new series The Deuce reminds us again that there’s something dramatically irresistible about the Bad Old Days...
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: This new Fox series is a split-personality conundrum. It’s created by, and stars, Seth MacFarlane, and is a sci-fi comedy modeled after the classic Star Trek universe of TV shows. Because MacFarlane also created Family Guy, the reasonable expectation would be for The Orville to be an all-out, perhaps even crude spoof – a less respectful Spaceballs, perhaps. But MacFarlane also was one of the executive producers of Fox’s very good reboot of Cosmos, as was one of
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
SEASON PREMIERE: TV’s most popular pro football showcase returns for a new official season, with the sort of big-city matchup that guarantees high ratings: the New York Giants vs. the Dallas Cowboys.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
SERIES PREMIERE: The newest series from David Simon and company, once again, examines a specific place, time, and set of political and social circumstances, while following a generously large contingent of well-realized, seldom-presented characters. It’s the basic formula – big ideas, large issues, street-level people – utilized so brilliantly in The Wire and other Simon projects. For The Deuce, the setting is 1971 Times Square, and the “big picture” topic is how th
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
SERIES RETURN: When Elisabeth Moss starred in Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake a few years ago, it was supposed to be a one-shot miniseries – but the star and director enjoyed working together so much, they came up with an excuse to do it again, even more darkly. Moss, as Australian Det. Robin Griffin, investigates the death of a young Asian prostitute – a case that continues to get more complex and personal as the episodes unfurl. Co-stars include Nicole Kidman, recently of HBO&
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
With The Deuce and Top of the Lake: China Girl competing for attention tonight, it’d be easy to forget about Ray Donovan. But don’t – this Showtime series is having one of its strongest seasons yet, playing with time and perspective shifts in a way that’s both gripping and haunting.
 
 
 
  
 
 
2017
Sep
10
 
 
And this long-neglected, little-respected Showtime comedy deserves more viewers and attention, too. Matt LeBlanc, playing a cold and loutish version of himself, has provided TV’s best self-satire since Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. And tonight, the Matt of Episodes, after weathering a sexual scandal, has more clout in Hollywood than ever – and tonight, plans to use it to get his old writing team back together for one last TV series. To them, of course, that’s not an oppo