How Doctor Who became Nurse Rory
RORY: Just point and think. AMY: But what do I think? — Doctor Who, “Let’s Kill Hitler.” It’s usually hard to pinpoint the exact moment when a beloved TV series goes off the rails. Fans...
Category: TV
Welcome to the Herd: A Feminist Watches My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
I admit it, I was skeptical when I first the buzz about the new My Little Pony show. I like a My Little Pony as much as the next fully grown woman--usually if it’s been modded to look like Star...
Mad Men marathon: 13 hours of the acclaimed series, back to back
Netflix has just made Mad Men available on streaming, just in time for the announcement that shooting for the long-awaited season five is due to start next week. This, of course, led my editor to...
Meth, blood and ketchup: AMC’s Breaking Bad returns
AMC’s Breaking Bad returned last week with a deliciously dark season opener after forcing viewers to wait 13 months after last season’s cliffhanger finale. As the finale had led viewers to...
Spielberg’s Falling Skies: A post-apocalyptic disaster
US network TNT has dipped some toes into the science fiction waters with Falling Skies, a post-apocalyptic narrative set in the United States after an alien invasion. The aliens have settled in for...
True Blood: witches, werepanthers, and wicked sex
HBO's True Blood, a vampire and lust-filled adaptation of the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, has been captivating summer audiences for three seasons now with Alan Ball at the helm....
The 2011 summer cable line-up heats up
Summer used to be the most dire season in television, between the re-runs of television's most insipid offerings and the series of increasingly depressing and dire reality shows. Both are very much...
AMC’s The Killing finale… but no killer
This review contains spoilers. The author doubts that this will matter to anyone by now, but you’ve nonetheless been warned. AMC’s newest show, “The Killing,” ended on an infuriating note...
Review: Slavoj Žižek, Living in the End Times (updated paperback edition)
Slavoj Žižek, Living in the End Times, updated paperback ed. (New York and London: Verso, 2011). The philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek has put reviewers of his latest book, Living in...
The 2011-2012 network TV schedule: What’s new?
In May, the US networks traveled to New York City for the upfronts, a glitzy event where they attempt to convince advertisers, and the public, that they're still relevant. For advertisers, it's a...