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TV Review: ALPHAS – Season 1 – “Bill and Gary’s Excellent Adventure”

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 08/16/2011

Azita Ghanizada in ALPHAS - Season 1 - "Bill and Gary's Excellent Adventure" | ©2011 NBC/Russ Martin

Stars: David Strathairn, Ryan Cartwright, Warren Christie, Azita Ghanizada, Laura Mennell, Malik Yoba, Alaina Huffman, Peter Wingfield, Melissa Hood Writer: Adam Levy, series created by Zak Penn & Michael Karnow Director: Leslie Bibman Network: Syfy, Mondays @ 10 PM Airdate: August 15, 2011 It’s good for most shows to break from their internal formulas once in awhile, and on ALPHAS, an episode that involves solving an ordinary – that is, non-Alpha – crime is an agreeable change. On the upside, it’s fun and it lets us take a longer look at how the characters deal with issues besides what it […]Read On »

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TV Review: TEEN WOLF – Season 1 finale – “Code Breaker”

By CARL CORTEZ

Tyler Posey and Crystal Reed in TEEN WOLF - Season 1 - "Code Breaker" | ©2011 MTV

Cast: Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Dylan O’Brien, Tyler Hoechlin, Holland Roden, Colton Haynes, Linden Ashby, JR Bourne Writer: Jeff Davis Director: Russell Mulcahy Network: MTV, airs Monday nights Original Telecast: August 15, 2011 When TEEN WOLF began this year on MTV, there were many naysayers who were skeptical that a 1980s teen comedy featuring Michael J. Fox as basketball-playing werewolf could be turned into a scary, darkly humored television series. AX knew better, having seen the pilot and the potential the series had, and now as the show concludes its first season, it stands tall as one of TV’s best […]Read On »

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TV Review: TRUE BLOOD – Season 1 – “Spellbound”

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 08/15/2011

Kristin Bauer van Straten, Alexander Skarsgard, Deborah Ann Woll, Jessica Tuck, Stephen Moyer in TRUE BLOOD - Season 4| ©2011 HBO/Al Streiber

Stars: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Chris Bauer, Nelsan Ellis, Joe Manganiello, Carrie Preston, Deborah Ann Woll, Jim Parrack, Kristin Bauer Von Straten, Todd Lowe, Kevin Alejandro, Fiona Shaw, Marshall Allman, Jessica Tuck, Dale Raoul, Janina Gavankar, Nondumiso Tembe, Daniel Buran Writer: Alan Ball, based on Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels Director: Daniel Minahan Network: HBO, Sundays @ 9 PM Airdate: August 14, 2011 There’s something for almost every TRUE BLOOD fan in the episode “Spellbound.” Witches and vampires getting into all-out war? Check. Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) action? Check. […]Read On »

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TV Review: FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “Fry Am the Egg Man”

By BILL McBRIDE

Dr. Zoidberg in FUTURAMA - Season 6B - "Fry Am The Egg Man" | Futurama TM and ©2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. All Rights Reserved

Stars (voices): Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Di Maggio, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche Network: Comedy Central, airs Thursdays @ 10 PM Original Telecast: August 11, 2011 This was inevitable – Fry and the gang finally take a page from the script of the great, Scooby-Doo. In “Fry Am the Egg Man,” the FUTURAMA crew make a mildly funny attempt at pulling on our pet heartstrings in homage to the Great Dane with a hint of Old Yeller in there. We start off with Leela (voiced by Katey Sagal), Fry (voiced by Billy West) and Bender (voiced by John DiMaggio) taking […]Read On »

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TV Review: iCARLY – Season 4 – “iLost My Mind”

By CARL CORTEZ 08/14/2011

Nathan Kress, Jim Parsons and Miranda Cosgrove in iCARLY - Season 5 - "iLost My Mind" | ©2011 Nickelodeon

Stars: Miranda Cosgrove, Jennette McCurdy, Nathan Kress, Jerry Trainor, Noah Munck Writers: Dan Schneider, Matt Fleckenstein Director: Steve Hoefer Network: Nickelodeon Original Telecast: August 13, 2011 You have to hand it to iCARLY for continuing to be the strangest and most satisfying series on Tween television. As it enters the second half of its fourth season on Nickelodeon, it continues to push and prod the humorous boundaries with its likable characters, silly situations and broad physical comedy. The new episode pays off the Season 4 cliffhanger where Sam (Jennette McCurdy) realized she had feelings for her object of hate Freddie […]Read On »

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YOUR HIGHNESS is one of the Blu-ray and DVD picks this week

By PETER BROWN 08/13/2011

YOUR HIGHNESS | © 2011 Universal Home Entertainment

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections. Movies YOUR HIGHNESS – By all intents, YOUR HIGHNESS should be a complete disaster. Yet, it is at times hilarious. At times completely disgusting. At times not too shabby in the action department. Take Danny McBride’s Kenny Powers from EASTBOUND AND DOWN as a complete wimp and plop […]Read On »

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TV Review: ALPHAS – Season 1 – “Rosetta”

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN

Ryan Cartwright in ALPHAS - Season 1 - "Rosetta" | ©2011 Syfy/Ken Woroner

Stars: David Strathairn, Ryan Cartwright, Warren Christie, Warren Christie, Azita Ghanizada, Laura Mennell, Malik Yoba, Valerie Cruz, Lianne Balaban Writer: Zak Penn, series created by Zak Penn & Michael Karnow Director: Karen Gaviola Network: Syfy, Mondays @ 10 PM Airdate: August 1, 2011 Credit ALPHAS with using science fiction to good and controversial allegorical purpose, although this episode has a pivotal plot twist we can see coming. It’s hard to blame writer Zak Penn for this – there’s a moment where we realize that the story can go down one of two paths, and he naturally picks the more interesting […]Read On »

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TV Review: WILFRED – Season 1 – “Anger”

By RACHEL REITSLEFF 08/12/2011

Jason Gann in WILFRED - Season 1 - "Anger" | ©2011 FX/Ray Mickshaw

Stars: Elijah Wood, Jason Gann, Dorian Brown, Nestor Carbonell Writers: Sivert Glarum & Michael Jamin, series created by Jason Gann & Adam Zwar, adapted for American television by David Zuckerman Director: Victor Nelli, Jr. Network: FX, Thursdays @ 10 PM Airdate: August 11, 2011 Given how WILFRED as a series sends up everything, almost the last thing one would expect in an episode is a note of sincere emotion, but that’s just how “Anger” ends. On its way, it deals once more with Ryan’s (Elijah Wood) awesome passivity in the face of verbal/emotional abuse, Wilfred’s (Jason Gann) diabolical behavior, some […]Read On »

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TV Review: TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY – “The Categories of Life” – Review #2

By SEAN ELLIOTT 08/11/2011

John Barrowman in TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY | ©2011 BBC Worldwide Limited

Stars: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Mekhi Phifer, Alexa Havins, Lauren Ambrose, Kai Owen, Bill Pullman, Arlene Tur, Candace Brown, Tom Price, David Grant Wright, Mark Saldana Writer: Jane Espenson Director: Guy Ferland Network: Starz, airs Friday nights Original Telecast: August 5, 2011 Well, I love TORCHWOOD in pretty any size, way, shape, or form, but the thing I feared the most is blatantly clear in the fifth episode of MIRACLE DAY entitled “The Categories of Life.” The fear that I am addressing is the way a show can lose steam if they are focusing on one single storyline instead of […]Read On »

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TV Review: WAREHOUSE 13 – Season 3 – “3…2…1”

By SEAN ELLIOTT

Jamie Murray in WAREHOUSE 13 - Season 3 - "3...2...1..." | ©2011 Syfy/Steve Wilkie

Stars: Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly, Saul Rubinek, Genelle Williams, Allison Scagliotti, Aaron Ashmore, Jaime Murray, Ashley Williams Writer: Robert Goodman Director: Chris Fisher Network: Syfy, Mondays @ 9 PM Airdate: August 8, 2011 This week’s WAREHOUSE 13 was an interesting episode in the simple fact that “3…2…1” told a multi-part story through several different time periods with Agents of the Warehouse that we were already familiar with. It is nice to see the series tie together Helena’s (Jaime Murray) 1800’s time period with Jack (Chad Connell) and Rebecca’s (Alex Paxton-Beesley) 1960’s and then bring it forward to the current Warehouse […]Read On »

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