On one hand, the debut of Legend of the Seeker this weekend should be cause for happiness, the return of original scripted programming to a syndicated TV landscape dominated by tough-talking judges, paternity tests and makeovers.

Before discussing the merits of NBC's new series Crusoe, a public service announcement to those students who may be studying the show's source material this year: If you write your Robinson Crusoe paper from what's on screen and not what's on the page, you'll get an F.

There are several things to recommend about NBC's new series My Own Worst Enemy: Christian Slater proves himself a very capable TV star, the supporting cast is solid, the pace is quick and the visuals high-quality. It's also saddled with what feels like the most needlessly overcomplicated back story to come along since Sydney Bristow was working for SD-6. Continue reading »

Whatever else there is to say about FX's intermittently amusing new comedy Testees, this has to be said: This is a show that is not afraid.

I'd wager that about 90 percent, maybe more, of the audience for ABC's Life on Mars premiere Thursday will be people who've never seen the British show on which it's based. But either way, viewers shouldn't be disappointed.

Thursday is Remake Premiere Night on broadcast TV, with three different networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) debuting shows -- Life on Mars, Eleventh Hour and Kath & Kim -- they imported from overseas.

Like a lot of 11-year-old boys in the early 1980s, I was a fan of Knight Rider. Even my 11-year-old, uncritical brain realized, though, that a show about a super-intelligent car and its driver, fighting crime together, was a fairly thin premise.

Five episodes into HBO's new vampire series True Blood, I still don't quite know what to make of it. But I'm also pretty sure that I want to see more.

FX excels at taking familiar TV templates -- the cop show, the medical drama, the single-friends sitcom -- and pushing and twisting them until they become original creations like The Shield, Nip/Tuck, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

There are some interesting moments in TNT's new drama Raising the Bar. Unfortunately, they don't make up the bulk of the show.

If you've ever watched Deadliest Catch or Ice Road Truckers and thought, Dang, I wish I could do that, then NBC has the perfect show for you in America's Toughest Jobs.

The problem with remaking science fiction movies is that science and fiction have both moved forward along with the rest of the world. As such, The Andromeda Strain may have been intense and frightening in the late 1960s. However, that story today? We've seen Outbreak.

Greek, ABC Family's latest non-family friendly offering, stars Jacob Zachar as Rusty, a nerdy engineering freshman who wants to join a fraternity for the "real college experience." The show is basically a dramedy about the Greek system. As it happens, I intentionally attended a college that was somewhat lacking in the sorority/fraternity department, so I bring to the table absolutely no firsthand knowledge regarding the accuracy (or lack thereof) of Greek. However, I have seen Animal House, Old School, and a number of Veronica Mars episodes about the Greek system, so I consider myself to be basically an expert.

It's a British Science Fiction Invasion as we review the third season premiere of  Doctor Who and two new shows: the much-anticipated spinoff Torchwood and a superb modernization of a classic Robert Louis Stevenson tale, Jekyll.

If you find the following lyrics funny, you will probably enjoy HBO's newest comedy, Flight of the Conchords. The scene: a guy trying to hook up with a girl at a party.

Inscrutability is the watchword of the day when it comes to new premium cable programming. Continue reading »

As the curtain rises on the fourth season of Rescue Me, things seem a little ... normal.

If the following review of John From Cincinnati is a little short on specifics, forgive me. Having watched the first two episodes, I'm still trying to figure out what's going on.