by Lee Padrick, October 18, 2013
The Blacklist, "The Freelancer", S1 E2
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Watched the second episode of The Blacklist. James Spader (three-time Emmy winner for Best Lead in Drama), playing Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the most wanted criminals in the world, is incredibly talented. The Blacklist writers, not so much.
by Lee Padrick, September 29, 2013
WARNING: This review contains spoilers
OK, so I've been seeing these promos for a new NBC show called The Blacklist. And I didn't know anything about it.
I have seen its name show up on some of the Best Shows of Fall 2013 lists. But thanks to the new ways of watching TV, I have somehow avoided the ads and promos that show up every fall on the broadcast networks. On Saturday, I saw it advertise numerous times during an afternoon football game. So, I fired up the pilot via OnDemand late on a Saturday night, which is apparently not a good time to try to absorb a new show about a Diabolical Mastermind.
by Lee Padrick, Friday, September 13, 2013
The mornings and nights are getting cooler, the leaves are turning brown, and football season has started. What does that mean? The fish are feasting for the winter ahead and TV shows are premiering. Its a beautiful time of the year.
Fall, just a few years ago, meant the broadcast and cable networks kick-started stalwarts and unveiled new scripted fare. That "new show/fall" mentality has been upended somewhat over the past ten years, but this is still the time of year that most networks refresh themselves.
Between now and the Christmas break, I'll be reviewing some select shows. Those on my list include:
- Homeland (Season 3)
- Masters of Sex (Season 1, new on Showtime)
- Walking Dead (Season 4)
- Boardwalk Empire (Season 4)
TV shows often are at their peak in seasons three and four. Many theories abound, but I believe that networks, producers, writers, actors, and fans have sufficiently built a world with well developed characters within the show by 24 - 36 episodes, and all are at their creative peak. We'll test this theory over the next 3 months together.
I'll also be talking about shows that are finishing up their seasons, like Dexter, Ray Donovan, The Bridge, and The Newsroom. I have a few Tivos full of stuff I've been trying to find some time to watch, like Hell on Wheels, Low Winter Sun, Broadchurch, and the History Channel's Vikings (which has been sitting in a folder on a Tivo, only gotten through 4 episodes thus far). Plus, I'll be watching random stuff on Netflix and I'm sure I'll feel compelled to write about it.
So keep checking back regularly and enjoy some of the best TV that we may ever see. The Golden Age of TV is here!
Random Thoughts:
- Had to edit Broadchurch because I spelled it "Broadchuck." Did I mention I'm going to miss Yvonne Strahovski when Dexter ends?
- Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) deserves a spin-off.
- Jesse "Todd Landry" Plemons is cast in a potential HBO project called The Missionary.
- Scandal is going to be my guilty pleasure this fall.
What will you be watching?
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