TV Show Reviews

The Supersizers Go... Is the Best TV Show You're Not Watching

I was digging through Hulu for old episodes of Kitchen Nightmares -- the best TV show to fold laundry to, bar none -- when I found it: my new television obsession. The Supersizers Go... is shamefully hidden deep within Hulu's bowels, when it should be front and center. It's far more than just a foo ... More >>

Notes on Nashville: The Finer Points of Sex and "Songwriting"

There's a saying in the music business that you have your whole life to make your first album, and a few months to make your next one. The second episode of a new TV show isn't quite the same thing (production schedule, for one), but it is just as useful for potential fans to decide whether or not t ... More >>

Gordon Ramsay Delivers Three Delicious Shows for Our Summer Viewing Enjoyment

When regular networks like NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX put their shows on hiatus, they line up mind-numbing, inexpensive-to-produce fare for us to consume while Mark Harmon, Alec Baldwin and Patrick Dempsey (and their expensive hair, wardrobes and sets) get a well-deserved vacation. CBS will bring back t ... More >>

Jack Donaghy: Executive Superhero and Web Exclusive's General Lack of Appeal

NBC recently debuted an animated Web tie-in series for 30 Rock called either The Jack Donaghy Files or Jack Donaghy: Executive Superhero. The titles appear to be interchangeable, which really highlights the level of commitment and confidence the network has in the production. The three-minute segm ... More >>

Joel Osteen's Reality Show

Some suggestions from us.

Joel Osteen's Reality Show: How It Will Be If Based on Any of Six Current Shows

From the producer of Survivor.​TMZ has reported that Lakewood Church's Joel and Victoria Osteen will be the stars of a new reality show by the producer of Survivor. "The premise of the show is that ordinary people will give up several days or longer to go on a mission with Joel Osteen, one o ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Bye Bye, Chicago Code -- Fox's Greatest Crimes Against TV

Fox you, "Code" fans.​The fall network TV schedules aren't set to be released until next week, but the bad news has already leaked for fans of Fox's The Chicago Code, which was not renewed for a second season in spite of a mostly positive critical reception: Answering questions from disappoin ... More >>

HBO's Game of Thrones Will Be Awesome.
And It Will Never End.

Winter is coming...​You may or may not have heard about the new miniseries gearing up to premiere on HBO in April. If you're in any way familiar with the epic fantasy genre, you've doubtless been anticipating Game of Thrones since the project was announced back in 2007. It's based on the first ... More >>

The Dead Walk, But Do They Have Legs?

Just leave those guns anywhere.​The Halloween premiere of AMC's Walking Dead knocked the socks off critics and viewers alike and earned the network the biggest audience for any of its original series to date. Last Sunday's episode ("Guts") looks to have been just as successful, triggering coun ... More >>

Game Time: Rex Ryan -- The Next (Really) Big Reality TV Star (w/ video)

Rex Ryan: A (chubby) star is born​So how many Rex Ryan f-bombs did it take for Houston Texans' owner Bob McNair to realize that "Yeah, HBO probably made the right choice in going with the Jets for Hard Knocks this season."Reportedly, earlier this year, the Texans were one of the teams under seriou ... More >>

This Week in TV: Football Season is Over

Friday Night Lights: Go Lions​One football season ended, another warmed up, and I am this close to canceling cable and just using the Internet. This was the week in TV Land: • I have never wanted a team to win a game as badly as I wanted the Lions to beat the Panthers in Friday's season fi ... More >>

Pop Rocks: They're Baaaaack!

As with government, we get the reality entertainment we deserve​Tonight marks the return of MTV's Jersey Shore. Season 2 moves the juice-headed, monosyllabic cast from East Coast to South Beach (which is still technically the East Coast, but let's not worry about that right now). The gang's a ... More >>

The Week In TV: Who Watched Mad Men?

We didn't watch it. But, hey, at least we're honest.​The best thing I watched last week was an airing of Ratatouille on ABC Family. This was the week in TV Land: • I'll tell you right now: I didn't watch Mad Men. "BUT DAN," I can hear you shouting even though you're reading this at work, " ... More >>

The Week In TV: Boardwalk Empire And Bravo, Two Ends Of A Spectrum

This guy has to be stopped.​The Cup is upon us, the spring season is definitely behind us, and I'm warning you: Don't tease the panther. This was the week in TV Land: • So, the World Cup started the other day. I was with friends at a Mexican restaurant when the USA-England game began, whic ... More >>

The Week In TV: Lost and Found

​I'm tired, hungry, and probably just experiencing all this in a pleasant purgatory of my own making. This was the week in TV Land: • So, Lost ended. I'd be lying if I said I was completely pleased with the way it went down. I wasn't expecting bursts of exposition to answer every little de ... More >>

The Week In TV: Betty White and the Rich Dicks

I've got clear eyes, a full heart, and can't help but notice that you seem pretty practiced at putting on panties with one hand while holding a gun. This was the week in TV Land: • Because Facebook now controls us all, Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live a couple days ago after the booming po ... More >>

The Week In TV: So Long, Julia Sugarbaker

Even with my dependable shows in reruns, it feels good to be back in the stern embrace of David Simon. This was the week in TV Land: • Thank God for Hulu, you know? The video site is the only reason I actually keep up with Saturday Night Live most weeks. The show's had a real hard-on for tweens ... More >>

Treme: Do You Know What It Means?

​The anticipation for HBO's Treme is high among that certain sliver of TV viewers who worship at the altar of David Simon and consider his epic, five-season The Wire to be the best series ever made. (Consider me one of the faithful.) Yes, he also oversaw Generation Kill, but that one felt a li ... More >>

The Treme Files: Do You Know What It Means To Recover, New Orleans?

www.hbo.com/#/treme​ The anticipation for HBO's Treme is high among that certain sliver of TV viewers who worship at the altar of David Simon and consider his epic, five-season The Wire to be the best series ever made. (Consider me one of the faithful.) Yes, he also oversaw Generation Kill, but th ... More >>

Alley Theatre's Artistic Director Gregory Boyd Goes Down the Rabbit Hole With Alice

Photos courtesy of the Alley TheatreNikki Snelson plays the Mad Hatter​Alice is a children's book writer who's estranged from her husband and not doing well at all with her daughter. Worst of all, to Hair Balls's way of thinking, she has writer's block. So she goes to the strange and crazy pl ... More >>

This Week In TV: The Return of 24 and American Idol, Fox's Advertising Revenue

It's the middle of winter, we're about to get new shows, and this is the year I make contact. This was the week in TV Land. • So, New Year's happened. This was my first year not to ring it in with a regular party of friends who get dangerously drunk and watch the ball drop on Telemundo. But my ... More >>

This Week In TV: Joss Whedon Is A Free Man

It's been nice knowing you, Dollhouse. Now how about that Serenity sequel, Whedon?​It's way too cold outside, I can't believe I'm back at work, and I've already braved one after-Christmas sale. This was the week in TV Land: • I watched the finale of The Sing-Off. That's how little there was ... More >>

This Week in TV: Last Flight of the Conchords

I'm tired of shopping, ready for sunshine, and I need you to bring me some pens. This was the week in TV Land: • Blah blah blah obligatory paragraph about how awesome Community is. Maybe you're tired of reading it, but I'm not tired of writing it. It's consistently good, and it just keeps gettin ... More >>

This Week In TV: Miracle Cures From Alien Civilizations

The Yankees won, Doug Hoffman lost, and I'm thinking of joining a neighborhood dad garage band. This was the week in TV Land: • 30 Rock continues to be the quickest comedy on the air and the spiritual descendant of Arrested Development. This week's episode was stuffed with more meta-jokes than ev ... More >>

No Reservations: Thailand

When Anthony Bourdain and his crew visited Thailand in April, Bangkok was in political upheaval. This week's episode of No Reservations opened with flickering images of soldiers, protesters and smoke, with Bourdain admitting, "I don't know what to say about Thailand. I don't know how to make sense o ... More >>

Area Man On TV Tonight

If you got the TV on tonight, click over to TBS and see a local comedian making an impression on television. Mike MacRae, who got his start at Houston’s Laff Stop, is now a cast member on Frank TV. The weekly sketch show – now in its second season – stars Frank Caliendo (you know, that guy ... More >>

Mad Over Mad Men

Our Top DVD Picks Scheduled for Release This Week

Our top DVD picks for the week of June 7

The Big Valley

Kid, You're Gonna Be a (Reality TV) Star!

Lights On or Off?

The fight for a TV show about truth, justice and high school football

Like Star Trek with Worms

On the Bill

Italian Bubba

Damian Mandola -- a big man who's made it big

The Boss

In David Brent's The Office, it's better to be popular than competent

You, Spy

Why can't Americans make TV shows as good as Brit import MI-5?

Reality TV Bites

Shani and Chad Walter lost one of their twin baby boys. Thanks to Houston Medical, thousands of Americans got to witness their pain.

After M*A*S*H

Larry Gelbart is one of TV's last great writers. So why can't he stay tuned?

Les Passé

A tap-dancing Tony Curtis? Yet another My Fair Lady? The shows may be aging and tired, but TUTS remains Young at heart.

Flunk You

If Fox expels Undeclared, blame everyone but Judd Apatow

Net Loss

The government killed TV, and Hollywood's begging it to revive the corpse

Hell of a Long Day

24 has been the most talked-about show of the season and for all the wrong reasons

Back to School

Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks grow up, more or less, and move to a dorm

Shoot Straight

Chris Carter considers the futures of X-Files and Lone Gunmen

Blow Up the Box

TV managed to suck and blow in 2000, but still, we watched...and watched

Potty Training

The Chron's annual fight against "smut" is on again

Supreme Sap

Diana Ross and Brandy act maudlin in TV's Double Platinum

Night & Day

April 8-14, 1999